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Pentagon Reveals China Building Massive Drone Army

The Pentagon’s annual report on the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), released Friday, reveals that China’s military plans to produce over 42,000 land and sea based unmanned weapons and sensor platforms as part of its continuing, large-scale military buildup.

China is currently operating a number of armed and unarmed drone aircraft and is developing long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for both intelligence gathering and bombing attacks.

Its plans closely mirror those of the United States, although with less ties to manned combat systems which are difficult for its developing aerospace firms to produce.

“The acquisition and development of longer-range UAVs will increase China’s ability to conduct long-range reconnaissance and strike operations,” the report stated.

The report estimates the total cost of the Chinese systems will be worth about $10.5 billion, between 2014 and 2023 – much less expensive than traditional manned systems, although at this point still somewhat limited as well.

China’s Four UAV programs include the Xianglong, Yilong, Sky Saber, and Lijian, with the latter three drones able to fire precision weapons.

“The Lijian, which first flew on Nov. 21, 2013, is China’s first stealthy flying wing UAV,” the report stated.

Jimmy Carter Cuts Short Guyana Visit Over Health Concerns

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has cut short a visit to Guyana due to health reasons his foundation reported on Sunday. The former President was in the country to observe ongoing democratic elections.

Sunday’s statement said that the 90 year old former President is returning to Atlanta and did not disclose specifics, only saying Carter was “not feeling well.”

The Guyana observer mission marks his foundation’s 100th mission. While Carter himself has returned home, his staffers will remain in the South American country to observe the vote.

The trip had marked Carter’s 39th mission abroad to supervise democratic elections. .

Guyana’s national elections are being held Monday, which is more than a year earlier than scheduled. The reason is because President Donald Ramotar had suspended Parliament to avoid a no-confidence vote, pitting his People’s Progressive Party against an opposition coalition.

Million Moms March Shows America Is Tired Of Police Brutality

The nation’s capital saw mothers from around the country march from Capitol Hill to the Justice Department, in a national protest against police violence against their children.

The Facebook page for the Million Moms March on Washington, overflowing with posts by mothers who lost their children to violent encounters with law enforcement, shows Americans are starting to take a stand against paramilitary police forces who’s victims are often the poorest and most marginalized.

They are also invariably young men, who leave behind devastated mothers.

Joining the marching mothers are grieving spouses, siblings and friends of those who died. Those who could marched, those who could not posting photos, shared their own experiences and voiced their support.

Mothers for Justice United was the organizer of the march, using social media to attract support for the event. The marchers presented “demands for justice and racial equality,” the organization said.

Among those who marched is the organization’s founder Maria Hamilton, whose 31-year-old son Dontre was shot and killed last year by a Milwaukee police officer after he was discovered sleeping in a park.

Yet the officer was fired instead of charged with a crime.

This is an all-too familiar story for many of the mothers.

For Mrs Hamilton the date of the march, in addition to being mother’s day, is also the first anniversary of Dontre Hamilton’s burial.

Mothers for Justice United’s website says the march is a “call to action … in the wake of the recent unjust murders of Dontre Hamilton, Corey Stingley, Derek Williams, Brandon Johnson, Larry Jenkins, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and so many more at the hands of police officers and racist vigilantes.”

U.S. Birth Rate Hits All Time Low

The CDC just released research that shows the U.S. birth rate remained at an all-time low in 2013, owing to a significant drop in teen births.

In 2013 the United States saw a little over 3.9 million births occur, down a bit less than 1 percent from the year prior, according to the annual report from the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report was published online May 4th, in the journal Pediatrics.

While the drop isn’t alarming given the reason, the general fertility rate also declined by about 1 percent in 2013 to 62.5 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44, reaching another record low for the United States. This could indicate environmental factors, though the leading cause is not what you’d expect: the economy.

As times get tough, people stop having children.

But experts forecast a pick up in both rates as the economy improves.

“By 2016 and 2017, I think we’ll start seeing a real comeback,” said Dr. Aaron Caughey, of Oregon Health & Science University in Portland. “While the economy is doing better, you’re still going to see a lag effect of about a year, and 2014 is the first year our economy really started to feel like it’s getting back to normal.”

The average age of first motherhood continued to increase, rising to age 26 in 2013, compared with 25.8 for the prior year. This again points to the economy.

“You had people right out of college having a much harder time getting a first job, and so you’re going to see a lot more delay among those people with their first child,” Caughey said.

While rates for women in their 20s declined to record lows in 2013, they rose for women in their 30s and late 40s, again showing the pivotal role economics play in the conception decision.

“If you look at the birth rates across age, for women in their 20s, the decline over these births may not be births forgone so much as births delayed,” said report co-author Brady Hamilton, a statistician with the NCHS.

Teenage birth rates also reached historic lows in 2013 of 26.5 births per 1,000 teens aged 15 to 19. Rates fell for teens in almost all ethnic groups, with an overall drop of 10 percent from 2012.

“It is just an absolutely remarkable trend,” Hamilton said. “We are reaching record lows [for teen births], and it’s really quite amazing.”

The shapr decline can be traced directly to TV shows and public ad campaigns that highlight the downsides of being a young mother, Hamilton said.

“They may be looking at the economy as a factor, but there also are a lot of policies and programs out there targeted at lessening teen births,” he said.

Saudi Arabia Condemned By United Nations For Bombing Civilians In Yemen

Saudi Arabia is facing intense pressure from the United Nations and humanitarian non-governmental organizations after a damning UN report was released over the weekend.

The Saudis heavily bombarded Yemen from Friday into Saturday, in an intense attack that the UN called a “breach of international humanitarian law.”

The Saudis attacks against Houthi rebels in Yemen – 130 airstrikes in a 24-hour period – targeted schools and hospitals, as well as densely populated civilian areas.

The Saudis gave very little prior warning of the attacks on populated areas, which is a requirement under the Geneva Convention, which governs international rules of war.

Saudi spokesman Brig. Gen. Ahmed Asiri claimed in a statement that the hospitals and schools functioned as weapons storage sites and was “targeting headquarters of the Houthi leaders.”

The attacks took place on the cities of Sadaa, Maran, Albiqaa and the border area between Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

That rationalization for Friday and Saturday airstrikes was rejected by Johannes Van Der Klaauw, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Yemen.

“The indiscriminate bombing of populated areas, with or without prior warning, is in contravention of international humanitarian law,” Van Der Klaauw said in a statement.

The UN was especially concerned about the attacks on Saada, “where scores of civilians were reportedly killed and thousands were forced to flee their homes after the coalition declared the entire governorate a military target.”

The Saudis want to restore the Yemeni government, a key U.S. ally in the fight against al Qaeda, which lost the capital city earlier this year to rebel forces .

The Saudis see the Iranian-backed Houthis as a threat, analysts say, and are looking to take concrete measures to prevent the spread of Iranian influence within the region.

The conflict has seen more than 1,400 killed since mid-March and nearly 6,000 injured, Van Der Klaauw said.

Doctors Without Borders, a prominent international aid organizations present in Saada, verified the heavy bombing and also condemned it.

“The bombing of civilian targets, with or without warning, is a serious violation of international humanitarian law,” said Llanos Ortiz, MSF medical coordinator in Yemen. “It is even more serious to target a whole province.”

It is impossible for an entire population to leave within a few hours, Ortiz said. Most Saada residents lack vehicles to flee or access to phone or other communication networks, he added.

NFL’s Honoring Of Troops During Football Games Paid For By The Military

Everyone knows the NFL is big business but they always seemed to have a place in their hearts for hardworking the hardworking men and women of our military.

Turns out, they don’t. They are actually just paid promotions costing taxpayers millions of dollars. Call it the ultimate ‘native ad’, minus the required FTC disclosure.

New Jersey-based website, NJ.com, has revealed this weekend that the Department of Defense is paying millions of dollars to many NFL teams to honor America’s heroes.

The touching moment at the beginning of each game when a particular service member is honored for what they’ve done for our country is actually a paid promotion.

To the New York Jets, all those pauses to honor soldiers of the New Jersey Army National Guard, it was worth a total of $377,000 from 2011 to 2014, according to federal contracts.

Overall, records released by the site show the Defense Department paid 14 NFL teams $5.4 million during 2011 to 2014, while $5.3 million was paid by the National Guard to 11 teams under similar contracts.

While not every promotions was paid for, the revelations still will come as a surprise to many Americans.

“Those of us go to sporting events and see them honoring the heroes,” said Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake in an interview with NJ.com. “You get a good feeling in your heart. Then to find out they’re doing it because they’re compensated for it, it leaves you underwhelmed. It seems a little unseemly. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth””

The NFL is the largest recruitment vehicle for the U.S. military and the revelations that all is not what it seems cheapens both those who genuinely support our troops and the NFL as a brand.

The NFL prides itself on having the utmost integrity (although let’s face it – antitrust exemptions mean they have to run a squeaky clean operation) but having such advertising in a game does not seem consistent with integrity. It feel sneaky and underhanded. It also feels wrong to salute our troops because its good business.

They risk life and limb for our country and don’t require payola to get the recognition they so richly deserve.

Insurance Companies Fight For Right To Be Risky, Bailed Out By Taxpayers

Insurance companies are already among Washington’s biggest donors but that’s not stopping them from ramping up efforts to fight the Federal Reserve over new rules that would force the companies to be less risky.

After the industry received hundreds of billions of dollars in bailouts during the Great Financial Crisis the Federal Reserve is looking to prevent a similar taxpayer backstop.

The Fed hasn’t said much about the new rules but the industry worries that it will be treated like the ‘heavily regulated’ Wall Street banks.

And yet the banks aren’t that heavily regulated. This year has seen every single regulated investment bank tied to some type of mass-scale criminal activity that targets average investors. They’ve paid billions in fines and yet continue to concoct new and exotic ways to perpetrate crime.

Overly regulated they are not. So insurance companies shouldn’t have much to worry about, given they’ll receive a lighter touch.

Yet MetLife on Thursday lowered its forecasts for return on equity, citing the unknown impact of the new rules, among other things. Analysts agree which means that the giants, who are strategically important in the U.S. financial system, should be de-risked. If regulation lower the returns it means the returns are coming from too much risk – a bad thing when the U.S. taxpayer is backstopping the risky bets.

MetLife recently filed a lawsuit contesting a decision by regulators to subject the company to tougher rules and direct oversight by the Fed. It’s also spending record amounts lobbying to have the taxpayer pick up its tab if things go wrong.

Some members of congress who took the money have established the ominously sounding Financial Protection and Life Insurance Caucus, which has pledged to advocate for the industry’s interests on Capitol Hill.

The lobbying is troubling for democracy as the Fed is not, strictly speaking, part of the government but an independent body that services the government. The increasingly politicization of the organization interferes with its ability to do its job, which requires it to be impartial. The more politics get injected, the less impartial it becomes.

Richard Neal and Pat Tiberi, both members of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which regulates taxes, are co-chairs of the caucus. Both are huge benefactors of the big insurance companies.

Venezuela Central Bank Teeters As Foreign Reserves Hit All Time Low

A heavy foreign debt burden, falling crude production and increased domestic usage have caused Venzuela’s foreign reserves to fall to a record low of $18.2 billion as of May 7th.

Its international reserves fell $507 million dollars on Thursday alone, pushing toward the $18 billion level and marking a new low since 2003.

While foreign reserves fall, the Central Bank has increased the supply of bolivars in circulation in Venezuela 67.1% in the last 12 months.

The move has caused rampant inflation that local investment bank Caracas Capital Markets now clocks at 165% per year.

In short, the country is in economic free-fall, with the fate of the bolivar now in question. Similar issues in Uruguay 15 years ago led to the country using the U.S. dollar for stability.

The reserves have now fallen $4.101 billion since the beginning of the year yet even the accuracy of those numbers is in question as, on May 4th, the Central Bank reported that reserves were $19.79 billion but then revised that number a full $1 billion lower at $18.79 a day later with no explanation.

To put how perilous Venezuela’s situation is into perspective, Brazil has $362.74 billion in foreign reserves, Peru has $60.97 billion, Colombia has $46.54 billion, Chile has $38.03 billion, and Argentina has $31.49 billion, according to the IMF.

In addition to falling oil revenue, Venezuela is also paying high prices on its foreign bond debt.

Venezuela, along with state owned enterprises PDVSA and Citgo, will pay over $11 billion to service foreign debt this year. These enterprises along with its nationalized electric company Electricidad de Caracas, paid $755.7 million in foreign bond interest payments in April alone.

Pentagon Warns China Building ‘Counter-Space’ Capabilities To Thwart U.S. Satellites

Despite treaties banning the practice, China is rapidly moving towards a militarized space program, with a specific focus on ‘hunter killer’ satellites designed to destroy American space assets. The communist country is also quickly developing other varieties of space weapons to blind or otherwise interfere with U.S. military and commercial satellites.

While the country has publicly pledged not to militarize space, the Pentagon said in a report to Congress that China is moving ahead despite their words. This fits a usual pattern of Chinese diplomacy – say one thing, do precisely the other.

“By the end of October 2014, China had launched 16 spacecraft, either domestically or via a commercial space launch provider. These spacecraft mostly expanded China’s SATCOM and ISR capabilities, while a few others tested new space technologies,” said a DoD report released Friday.

China’s latest achievements include the first-ever launch of a satellite capable of sub-meter resolution imaging, the Chang’e-5 lunar mission and the completion of a new spaceport on Hainan Island.

At the same time China is acquiring new space assets of its own, it is developing “a variety of capabilities designed to limit or prevent the use of space-based assets by adversaries during a crisis or conflict, including the development of directed-energy weapons and satellite jammers,” the report detailed.

The most interesting item was a July 23rd, 2014 launch, which the Pentagon says was a follow-up of the 2007 destruction of an in-orbit defunct weather satellite. In both cases orbiting objects were destroyed. They could have potentially been U.S. satellites.

Another mission in May 2013 sent an object on a ballistic trajectory, just over 30,000 km. That’s high enough to reach geosynchronous orbit, in which many nations place communication and earth-sensing satellites.

The report says the mission didn’t actually put anything into orbit and was inconsistent with “with traditional space-launch vehicles, ballistic missiles or sounding rocket launches used for scientific research” indicating a test of an anti-satellite weapon.

Denying orbit access and taking out enemy satellites would level the playing field in a conflict against an enemy armed with advanced precision weapons systems. The U.S. relies heavily on just such systems.

“China’s continued development of destructive space technologies represented a threat to all peaceful space-faring nations,” the report said.

Columbia To Stop Spraying Roundup On Coca Crops

In what should serve notice to the world about the dangers of Monsanto-produced Roundup, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced Saturday that authorities will stop using the controversial herbicide glyphosate — also known by its brand name Roundup — to eradicate illegal coca plantations,

“I am going to ask the government officials in the National Drug Council at their next meeting to suspend glyphosate spraying of illicit cultivations” Santos said.

The spraying program is reminiscent of another Monsanto created health nightmare – the Vietnam-era spraying of Agent Orange on jungles. The powerful defoliant burned tree leaves, exposing Vietnamese soldiers underneath.

The legacy of Agent Orange is cancer – virtually anyone who came into regular contact with the powerful chemical contracted the deadly disease.

The Columbian spraying program, launched in 1994, has long been treated as sacrosanct by Colombian officials, who willingly accepted billions of dollars in funding from the United States. The flow of money from drug policy, to police and eventually to Monsanto highlights the parasitic relationship the powerful chemical company has with elected officials and government bureaucrats.

The World Health Organization warned in March that glyphosate is “probably carcinogenic,”. “The recommendations and studies reviewed by the Ministry of Health show clearly that yes, this risk exists,” Santos said.

Drug officials now have until October 1 to come up with a new plan to tackle illicit coca growing.

Arab League Close To Creating Middle East NATO

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri announced that the Arab League is close to forming a joint Arab military force, Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported Saturday.

“Technical teams are already working to develop a vision to establish a joint Arab force, and this will be ready within the next four months,” Shukri said during a state visit to Eritrea.

“There can be no doubt that the situation in Yemen requires serious effort in order to find a solution to the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the suffering of the Yemeni people. We need to find a way to return legitimacy and restore stability to Yemen.” the minister said. Conflict in Yemen, which involves many Arab states, is helping push the initiative forward. Greater coordination of forces would greatly improve the effectiveness of military operations in Yemen while reducing their cost – both financial and human.

“Egypt is continuing its participation in the alliance and is doing everything in its power to stop the escalation,” Shukri said.

“We are in contact with our partners to provide assistance and help reach a political framework conducive to securing a ceasefire, returning Yemen’s legitimate government to power and ensuring Yemeni security and stability,” he added.

Arab leaders said during an Arab League summit in Egypt this past March that they wanted to create a joint military force to help ensure security within the region.

The announcement came after a Saudi-led intervention in Yemen to battle Iranian-backed Houthi militias. A joint Arab force would help clarify who is on which side of the conflict and could have sever ramifications for Iran. A joint Arab force, led by Egypts powerful military, would render Iran’s formidable forces much less potent.

French Company Creates World’s First Artificial Sperm

Tens of thousands of infertile men who cannot develop their own sperm have fresh hope for conceiving as French researchers created sperm in a laboratory it was announced this week.

Kallistem, a company based in in Lyon, France, said they had created human sperm in vitro, the first such report of such a feat.

Isabelle Cuoc, CEO of Kallistem stated: “Kallistem is addressing a major issue whose impacts are felt worldwide: the treatment of male infertility.”

“Our team is the first in the world to have developed the technology required to obtain fully formed spermatozoa [sperm] in vitro with sufficient yield for IVF.”

Kallistem’s method takes male fertility tissue, known as spermatogonia, and turns it into mature sperm in test tubes. The complex process usually takes 72 days.

The company is refusing to disclose any more about the process until the publication of a patent on June 23rd for the process.

The lack of disclosure or peer review has led to experts from around the world to call for caution while further work is conducted.

Professor Allan Pacey, a male fertility expert at the University of Sheffield, was skeptical.

“Claims like this can often cause heartache for infertile couples who see them as hope only to have their hopes dashed later when it doesn’t translate into an available procedure,” he told the Daily Mail.

Kallistem is looking to begin human clinical trials within two years and is crowdsourcing funds for the study.

It forecasts the ability to treat 50,000 men a year, and estimates the market to be worth $2 billion per year.

Sea Of Humanity Flees Fighting In South Sudan As Aid Groups Withdraw

Fierce fighting in South Sudan’s northern Unity State have caused tens of thousands of people to flee for their lives according to reports from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other NGO groups on Saturday.

A late 2013 political crisis in South Sudan sparked fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rebels allied with his former deputy Riek Machar. The conflict reopened ethnic divisions that pit Kiir’s Dinka people against Machar’s ethnic Nuer forces.

The result has been genocide, with entire villages massacred and survivors left starving and without water.

Philip Aguer, a government military spokesman, confirmed the fighting in Unity State.

Doctors without Borders shut down a hospital in the town of Leer after reports of an imminent attack with staff members fleeing on foot, carrying critically ill patients on their backs. They hid on the banks of swamps and survived by drinking swamp water, the group said in a statement.

“Today, we withdraw again with a heavy heart, because we know how civilians will suffer when they are cut off from critical, lifesaving medical care,” said Paul Critchley, who heads the mission.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also been forced to withdraw from Leer and that it feared for the wellbeing of tens of thousands of people who have fled the area.

“These communities face a fight for survival, hiding in the bush in unimaginably harsh conditions,” said Franz Rauchenstein, the head of the ICRC’s delegation in South Sudan.

The fighting will also prevent farming communities from planting much-needed crops during the imminent rainy season, leading to famine later in the year. Food shortages are a key contributor to the genocide, as displaced people who survive attacks often die later due to malnutrition.

Israel Approves Construction Of More Illegal Settlements

Hardliner Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showed his firm commitment to war over peace by authorizing the construction of illegal housing units by settlers in the West Bank this week. The move came mere hours after taking office.

The settlements, condemned by the international community, are a major obstacle to peace between Israel and Palestine. The approval of the illegal construction is seen as an escalation of the conflict and a move away from the peace process.

According to unofficial copies of a deal between Israeli political parties that was leaked to the Jerusalem Post, a professional legal team will be created on the issue, which will create a plan to “authorize buildings and neighborhoods” that were built in the West Bank.

While Netanyahu’s government did approve many housing plans in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, it had so far refused large policy initiatives or shifts that would give wider approval of illegal settlements.

But in order to become elected again, Netanyahu promised to step up settlement construction in east Jerusalem, inflaming tensions in the region and openly defying the international community.

The European Union swiftly condemned the move on Saturday.

“Israel’s determination to continue its settlement policy despite the urging of the international community not only threatens the viability of the two state solution but also seriously calls into question its commitment to a negotiated agreement with the Palestinians,” the EU said in an official statement.

“Settlements are illegal under international law” it added.

In a briefing Thursday at the US State Department, spokesman Jeff Rathke called the decision “disappointing” and “damaging”.

“This is a disappointing development, and we’re concerned about it just as a new Israeli government has been announced,” he said. “Moving forward with construction of housing units in east Jerusalem is damaging.”

The U.S. has been a vocal critic of Israel’s recent hard-line policies, which has led to strained relations between the two countries. John Kerry visited Israel this week to repair the previously close relationship.

Russian Soldiers Quit Army Over Ukraine Invasion

Reports emerged early Sunday that confirm Russia has in fact invaded Ukraine.

According to Reuters, the invasion has caused low morale among troops and sparked waves of them quitting, in protest over the act of war. The reports came from several soldiers and human rights activists.

Their accounts further expose Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s lies on the matter, where he has repeatedly claimed that any Russians fighting alongside rebels there are volunteers.

These claims have never been taken seriously by the world, who saw pictures of Russian soldiers having brand new Russian issue uniforms, Russian weapons and Russian heavy machinery.

The latest findings support both the overwhelming physical evidence and first hand testimony from soldiers’ families and from Ukrainians who say they were captured by Russian paratroopers.

Yet it has been rare to find Russian soldiers who have fought there and are willing to speak about the invasion. Reuters was able to speak to five newly retired Russian soldiers who confirm the invasion was a Russian military operation and that it routinely targeted civilian populations in mass shellings of key Ukrainian cities.

The revelations should spark fresh calls to investigate Russia for war crimes, not only for the invasion but namely for the massacre of civilian populations. Russian troops have repeatedly shelled Ukrainian civilian populations, causing thousands of casualties.

Russia is a permanent member of the U.N. security.

NSA Caught In More Industrial Espionage, Hacked EU Giant Siemens

A German newspaper reported Sunday that the NSA’s campaign of industrial espionage against European companies could be more wide ranging than first reported.

While initial reports only talked of stealing plans from Airbus and passing them to U.S rival Boeing, it has now emerged that the U.S intelligence agency asked its German partner service BND to spy on engineering and technology giant Siemens, .

The latest report on the widening spying scandal is that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) suspected Siemens of supplying communications technology Russian secret service.

The source of the latest leak is an unnamed U.S. intelligence service member, which could indicate the NSA is trying to front-run the news by preemptively offering a justification for its actions.

Industrial espionage is something the U.S. government has waged a concerted battle over, routinely taking China and Russia to task for the activity. Revelations the U.S. itself conducts such activities would weaken its moral position on the matter, which could explain why the latest leaks have occurred.

A Siemens spokesman said the company was “not aware of any facts in the company’s area of responsibility”, a confusing statement seeming to imply it did not, in fact, supply Russian secret service.

The “BND affair”, as it has been dubbed in Germany, refers to the German service spying on Airbus Group, the French government and the European Commission on behalf of the NSA. The scandal has rattled Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government and angered Germany’s European partners.

While straining Merkel’s ruling left-right coalition, her government has so far declined demands by a parliamentary oversight panel to release a list of the NSA’s requested search terms or “selectors” for IP and email addresses and mobile phone numbers.

The United States, predictably, has already rejected the request.

Fugitive whistle-blower Edward Snowden, who is currently hiding from the NSA in Russia, told Germany’s Spiegel that the latest reports show that “massive surveillance is a reality.”

“Industrial espionage is practiced and the intelligence services are working beyond the control of the representatives of the people and of justice,” said Snowden.

Deluded Iranian General “Welcomes War With U.S.”

While tensions eased slightly with Iran this week after the U.S. stopped escorting vessels through the straits of Hormuz, all is not well in the region.

Troubling new comments by Iran’s top general shows a regime increasingly desperate for economic success and shows they may be willing to commit suicide for the mere chance of it. The comments also show just how effective U.S. sanctions against the country have been.

We have prepared ourselves for the most dangerous scenarios and this is no big deal and is simple to digest for us; we welcome war with the US as we do believe that it will be the scene for our success to display the real potentials of our power

Stated the Lieutenant Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Hossein Salami in an interview with state-run TV on Wednesday.

His comments came after US Secretary of State John Kerry was in the region, attempting to rebuild ties with Israel over the U.S.’s revised Iran policy.

The General contradicted himself, first uttering those violent threats yet then going on to say that the era of using force and military power is over. We went on to trumpet Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as one of the world’s top militaries, likely to rally support from a population that is constantly oppressed and increasingly starved of first-world goods thanks to record sanctions.

Prior to being taken over by radical Islam, Iran was the most progressive middle eastern country, with a flourishing arts and culture scene, political freedoms and a free-speaking population.

Now those days seem like a distant memory as the country is controlled by radical clerics who are intent on propagating their violence-infused theocracy across the region.

Salami warned of this yesterday, stating that any military aggression against Iran would ignite a worldwide Muslim war on the US and its interests across the globe. Iran is a known state sponsor of terror and has been linked to Hezbollah, Syrian rebels and even ISIS.

The general long-winded and rambling speech highlight that while Iran may have a large standing army, international sanctions are devastating for the country. He talked openly and repeatedly about ending the sanctions, demonstrating just how front of the mind they are for Iran’s top officials.

The State Department had no comments on the General’s speech.

Widely Prescribed Wonder Drug Shown To Likely Cause Diabetes

Tricare, the military health system, examined its database of nearly 26,000 beneficiaries and found those taking statin drugs to lower their cholesterol were 87 percent more likely to develop diabetes.

The findings throw a large cloud of doubt over the wonder drug, which many doctors have advocated prescribing to every male over the age of forty, regardless of cholesterol history.

The widely-prescribed medication significantly lowers blood cholesterol, reducing the associated risk of heart attack, stroke and overall mortality.

The study, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine on April 28th, confirms past findings showing a link between the statin class of drugs and diabetes risk.

The study is unique because it is the first to demonstrate the connection in a relatively healthy group of people. The study focused only on people who were free of heart disease, diabetes, and other severe chronic diseases.

“In our study, statin use was associated with a significantly higher risk of new-onset diabetes, even in a very healthy population,” says author Dr. Ishak Mansi. “The risk of diabetes with statins has been known, but up until now it was thought that this might be due to the fact that people who were prescribed statins had greater medical risks to begin with.”

The study strongly implied statins caused the diabetes as it found that the higher the dose, the greater the risk of developing diabetes was.

The danger in diabetes is the complications that can arise from it. The study showed that such complications were also strongly associated with statin use. Patients on statins were 250 percent more likely to develop diabetes with complications.

Just over three-quarters of the statin prescriptions in Mansi’s study were for simvastatin, sold as Zocor.

Yet Mansi stressed that statins still have numerous health benefits and advised that “No patient should stop taking their statins based on our study, since statin therapy is a cornerstone in treatment of cardiovascular diseases and has been clearly shown to lower mortality and disease progression.”

“Rather, this study should alert researchers, [clinical] guideline writers, and policymakers that short-term clinical trials might not fully describe the risks and benefits of long-term statin use for primary prevention.”

“I myself am a firm believer that these medications are very valuable for patients when there are clear and strict indications for them,” he said. “But knowing the risks may motivate a patient to quit smoking, rather than swallow a tablet, or to lose weight and exercise. Ideally, it is better to make those lifestyle changes and avoid taking statins if possible.”

Apple Poised To Crush Free Internet Radio As Rival Spotify Reports Massive Losses

Apple may be better positioned to crush free internet radio, as rival Spotify reported net losses in 2014 of $197m, up near 300% from $68m a year earlier.

The losses come as extremely well funded Apple, already with a massive captive user base, looks to launch a similar service in about a month. The news could signal Apple can leverage its financial muscle more than previously thought.

A proposed Apple service would cost $10 per month and have no free tier. Should Spotify’s losses continue it could be forced to abandon its free tier, putting it on much more even footing with the smartphone giant.

Stockholm, Sweden based Spotify blamed international expansion, recruiting more staff and product development for the losses. The company’s employee headcount grew to 1,354 last year when it hired a further 396 people.

While profits were sharply lower sales climbed to $1.3bn, up 45 per cent from 2013.

In January, Spotify reported a global subscriber base of 15 million, hardly the type of scale Apple is used to.

Carolinas Spared Serious Damage From First Storm Of The Season

South Carolina dodged its first bullet of the summer storm season as tropical storm Ana made landfall in South Carolina early Sunday.

The storm weakened as it came ashore just north of Myrtle Beach yet still packed 45 mph maximum sustained winds at 6am. Eastern, according to the National Hurricane Center.

On Sunday radar showed sustained winds of 60 mph which could have cause significant damage.

Instead it brought medium grade rain and storm surges.During high tide, surges were forecast to send 1 to 2 feet of water onto coastal land. The weather service advised of flooding for low-lying areas near the coast.

The eastern Carolinas will receive approximately 4 to 6 inches of rain maximum over the course of the storm.

Yet beachgoers near Myrtle Beach, Virginia Beach and the outer banks are being warned of high rip currents and waves.

On land the winds are expected to break tree limbs, cause scattered power outages and do minor damage to porches, carports, sheds and awnings.

The storm is expected to continue north along the coast and move inland.

Explosion, Fire Hit New York Nuclear Power Plant

Scary reports out of New York this morning show that America, just like Japan, could be vulnerable to a large scale nuclear disaster.

New York’s Indian Point nuclear power plant was rocked by fire and an explosion on Saturday evening, sending thick black smoke into the air that could be seen for miles.

Fortunately the fire occurred at the non-nuclear side of the plant, some 200 yards away from the reactor building.

“The fire is out and the plant is safe and stable,” Entegy, who runs the plant, said via a spokesperson.

While not on the nuclear side of the plant, one reactor unit did automatically shut down.

No one was injured in the blaze according to federal officials.

While the company claims that there was “no threat to public safety at any time,” and that “all Indian Point emergency systems worked as designed”, fires such as this can lead to a cascading series of failure, as all parts of the plant – nuclear or not – are inter-related.

The issue highlights America’s ageing fleet of nuclear reactors. As the powerplants age they become more prone to failures which could lead to a Fukushima grade catastrophe.

The Indian Point plant houses two nuclear reactors and produces approximately 25% of the electricity for New York City and Westchester County.

Flood Of Patents Show Brain Controlled Devices Are The Next Big Thing

What’s more cutting edge than a drone? How about a thought controlled drone. That’s exactly what the Parrot AR Drone 2 connected to an Emotiv Epoc EEG headset can do. All operating over wifi, the two off the shelf pieces of hardware, with some fancy code, can talk to each other allowing a human operator to control the remotely operated vehicle.

Brainwaves or EEG are read from the Emotiv headset and software then controls the drone’s height and flight direction over a Wi-Fi link based on what you’re thinking.

Emotive is one of the leaders in the new space, with its software development kit letting developers build apps that read brainwave activity programmatically on a PC or mobile device.

This isn’t the stuff of science fiction anymore. At a recent presentation, the thought controlled drone’s creator chose a volunteer from the audience to prove it was real. After a short explanation he gave control of the drone to the volunteer. One unique thought for left, one unique thought for right, one for up, one for down. ‘don’t go left’ isn’t yet supported – one thought for one direction. Simple stuff, but it is a mind controlled drone built by a hobbyist.

The availability of mind control technology closely follows patent filing activity.

Brainwave-reading patents quadrupled last year compared to 2010. They’ve doubled since 2012.

SharpBrains, a market researcher who closely studies so-called ‘neurotech’ technology said in a statement on their recent report that the “expansion into non-medical use shows that we are at the dawn of the pervasive non-medical neuro-technology age.” Patent filings strongly support this.

Reuters reports that consumer market researcher Nielsen is the top patent filer, with new ways to detect brain activity and translate it into how someone really feels about a new product or television show.

Tech companies aren’t being left out either, with Microsoft Corp. holding patents that assess mental states to change the way it presents information. There’s also patents from Microsoft about using mental activity to show you advertising when you’re most receptive to it.

As the graph below, courtesy of Sharpbrains, shows – it’s a brave new world for mind controlled everything.

patentfilings

Haven’t Heard Of Uber? You Will. It’s Raising $2 Billion To Fundamentally Change America

Uber has big, ambitious plans. Don’t be tricked into thinking its just a taxi-hailing app, it’s plans are much larger than that.

It’s heavily investing in self driving cars.

It’s working on a nation-wide same day delivery network.

And it continues its aggressive rollout of its signature taxi-hailing business both domestically and internationally, despite fierce legal opposition from the powerful taxi lobby.

But all this takes money and so Uber is now in the process of raising between $1.5 and $2 billion in a new funding round that would value the company at more than $50 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal.

This is significant because it would make San Francisco-based Uber the highest-valued private startup of all time. Facebook is the only other company to get close to this mark.

To get a sense of just how impressive Uber is, the valuation is reportedly going even higher than $50 billion because the grow in revenues of its existing businesses is astounding.

Sources who have seen confidential financial documents say its one of the most runaway business success stories since Google.

While not as large as Facebook, given the company only did $400 million of revenue for its $50 billion valuation compared to Facebook’s $2 billion, the company is far more profitable and its business seems to have far more certainty.

Facebook could easily be replaced by Snapchat, for instance, and has had to resort to buying competitors in the past to defend its business. Uber seems like a far more stable enterprise with high customer and supplier captivity

The funding rumors explain how Uber had the deep pockets to make a $3 billion bid for Nokia’s Here Maps unit.

Stay tuned for more developments from this company as it attracts even more funding and is able to grow even more ambitious.

Nearly 100 Million Americans No Longer In The Workforce

April’s payrolls report painted a bleak picture for wage growth in America. We continue to add low-skill, low paying service jobs as opposed to higher skill, higher pay jobs like manufacturing.

In fact last month we added nearly 30 service jobs (restaurant / retail) for every manufacturing job.

Things have gotten so bad, many Americans have simply stopped looking for work. While the employment numbers can be claimed as ‘victories’ for the economy, the real story is that the unemployment rate is only dropping because the total pool of workers is shrinking faster.

Last month the number of Americans no longer in the labor force grew to 93,194K from 93,175K, meaning a participation rate of 69.45%. That’s the lowest since 1977.

This means a less confusing measure of unemployment, the civilian employment to population ratio, is unchanged from last month, stuck at 59.3%.

Which in turn implies that there will be no wage growth any time soon.

The signs of a truly healthy economy are rising level of employment combined with rising wages. Carefully looking at the numbers shows America has neither going on right now, which is cause for alarm.

The charts below, courtesy of ZeroHedge, show exactly the magnitude of the problem.

employment population ratio_0

notinlaborforce

Why Are Fewer Americans ‘Very Proud’ Of Their Nation?

The latest World Values Survey, which shows the impact of people’s changing wants and needs in life, has some troubling news for America.

Only 56% of Americans said they were “very proud” of their nation, which is down from over 62% in 2009 (71.1% in 2004, and 77% in 1999). That means America now ranks only 30th in the world for national pride.

We have now fallen behind nations such as Libya, Nigeria, Egypt, and Poland.

Perhaps its time to reflect more on yesterday’s Princeton study showing that congress, literally, doesn’t care what we think.

Here’s what the survey does and what its all about:

“The World Values Survey (WVS) is a worldwide network of social scientists studying changing values and their impact on social and political life. The WVS has carried out representative national surveys in 97 societies containing almost 90 percent of the world’s population. These surveys show pervasive changes in what people want out of life and what they believe. In order to monitor these changes, the WVS has executed five waves of surveys, from 1981 to 2007. Representative national samples of each society’s public are interviewed, using a standardized questionnaire that measures changing values concerning religion, gender roles, work motivations, democracy, good governance, social capital, political participation, tolerance of other groups, environ-mental protection and subjective well-being. The countries included in these surveys cover the full range from very poor countries to very rich ones, from authoritarian systems to liberal democracies and covering all major cultural zones. These surveys provide valuable information about a crucial component of social change: the values, beliefs and motivations of ordinary citizens. This new source of evidence has dem- onstrated that people’s beliefs play a key role in economic development, the emer- gence and flourishing of democratic institutions, the rise of gender equality, and the extent to which societies have effective government.”

americanpride
Courtesy of World Values Society / ZeroHedge

The full survey can be seen at worldvaluessurvey.org

Class Of 2015 Holds The Title Of Most Heavily Indebted Graduating Class Ever

Spring is a time of transition, from cold to warm, rainy to sunny and student to employee. For many of the class of 2015 that transition can’t come fast enough.

College graduates this year are the most indebted class ever, yet its a title they’ll only hold exclusively for about 12 months if current trends continue.

It’s an increasingly concerning problem in America – the cost of college education is rising tremendously while wages and employment prospects are steady to declining. Wages, in real terms, have actually been falling.

The average class of 2015 student who owes debt will have to pay back over $35,000, according to an analysis of government data by Mark Kantrowitz, publisher at website group Edvisors.

That number, adjusted for inflation, is still more than twice the amount borrowers had to pay back two decades ago.

All this while the value of a college education is dropping. More graduates are being pumped out than ever, meaning an undergraduate degree isn’t as valuable as it once was. Students are increasingly doing two, three or even four degrees in an effort to out-qualify their peers and land that dream job.

All together, total private and federal education debt will tally nearly $68 billion this year for graduates with a bachelor’s degree which is a more than 10-fold increase since 1994.

The White House is assessing ways to tackle the problem as it closes down for-profit schools costing taxpayers hundreds of millions. The problem could have widespread economic ramifications as credit rating agency Moody’s has warned that $3 billion in student loan-backed paper is at risk for default. And that’s hard default – once deferments, forbearance, and IBR are factored in, actual delinquencies could be above 40%.

Look for developments in this space in coming months, especially if the U.S. economy hits any bumps in the road. Should job markets, especially for new grads, shrink there could be serious knock-on effects in the broader economy.

Senators Want CIA Director To Admit He Lied In Hacking Scandal

While Congress and the Senate seem perfectly happy to have our secret police spy on law abiding Americans they apparently think they should be exempt from such measures.

And they’re particularly upset that the CIA, a distant second to the NSA is terms of spying power, intruded on their personal computers in search of a security leak.

By the standards of the regular spying on U.S. citizens the invasion of privacy here looks downright small. The CIA was tracing a national security leak of top secret information – a little investigating of staffer computers was a reasonable course of action to track down the leak.

And this is the CIA. It’s one of our secret police organizations, sworn to a deep web of secrecy all in order to protect us. They are expected to lie for a living. We pay them to lie for a living.

So it should come as little surprise that in Senate testimony, CIA Director John Brennan lied when he denied ordering CIA employees to search Senate computers to trace the leak.

Yet three Senate Democrats seem frustrated with his unwillingness to admit the obvious and on Friday called on Brennan to admit that he crossed the line.

Brennan initial denials of the hacking were contradicted by an investigation conducted by the CIA’s inspector general, showing he did, in fact, lie.

Showing just how impervious our secret police are from oversight or accountability, the CIA set up an outside review board chaired by former Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), yet the board’s final report did not recommend any punishments for the employees who hacked the Senate systems. It was just business as usual, hard-working Americans doing their patriotic duty. And their day jobs.

Brennan has not acknowledged any misconduct by CIA employees in the matter, which makes sense. This is what the CIA does. This is what a few select government officials have authorized them to do. In the interest of national security those decision makers have said our rights, freedoms and constitution don’t matter – if it catches a single terrorist, it’ll be worth it.

And yet three intrepid Senators, who are perhaps only now cluing in to the real consequences of these authorizations, released this somewhat laughable statement yesterday:

“It is vitally important for the American public to have confidence that senior intelligence officials respect U.S. laws and the Constitution, including our democratic system of checks and balances,”

“In our judgment your handling of this matter has undermined that confidence,” the letter continues. “We call on you to acknowledge that this search was improper, and commit that these unacceptable actions will not be repeated” reads the letter from the not-too-terribly-important Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii).

While it’s nice someone is paying attention, this is a not-in-my-backyard moment if ever there was.

Congress, the Senate and the White House are all in on it. They’ve all authorized our secret police to invade our privacy like never before. They’re all 100% OK with it.

So long as it doesn’t happen to them.

Or as long as they don’t notice.

The CIA is nothing compared to the vast and even more secretive NSA. The NSA has every single Senator, Congressmen, State Senator, Department of Defense, Supreme Court Judge and public official of note under complete surveillance.

They keep detailed files on their phone conversations, emails, location, social media posts and text messages. When any of these people say or do something, the NSA knows about it.

With Snowden and an assortment of others proving that this is not conspiracy theory, but cold hard fact, the three brave Senators condemning the CIA look like dogs chasing a bus. It’s much much bigger than that.

Until America wakes up and demands change it will just be more of the same.

Qualcomm Latest U.S. Company To Face EU Competition Probe

Qualcomm joins Microsoft, Google and Facebook in feeling the wrath of the European Commission as the EU regulator still continues to scrutinize the chipmaker despite reaching an agreement previously.

The news comes after the company, which has a dominant position in the cellphone chip market, settled a similar probe in China.

According to reports on Friday, the Commission has sent questionnaires to Qualcomm’s competitors in Europe. The surveys ask them detailed questions about the Qualcomm’s business practices and competitors perception of these practices.

There are approximately 40 items on the questionnaire asking specifically about patent cross licenses and mutual non-assertion pacts (agreements where companies won’t sue each other).

The EC also wants feedback on Qualcomm’s practice of giving patent rights it has licensed to its phone-maker customers.

These probes are high stakes for the company as the outcome of China’s probe was the company paying a fine of nearly $1 billion.

China ruled that Qualcomm had a monopoly over mobile chips in the country and that it had abused its market leading position by charging Chinese firms unfair and discriminatory prices, particularly the licensing its extensive portfolio of patents about mobile phone technologies.

Once the company settled in China, South Korea promptly launched an antitrust investigation of its own over similar allegations of market abuses.

The current EC inquiry into Qualcomm’s practices is its second probe in the region. Nvidia filed a complain against the company which is also being investigated by the EC.

FTC Lawsuit Leads To AT&T Reverse On Throttling ‘Unlimited’ Plans

In what is surely a coincidence and has nothing to do with a lawsuit by the FTC, AT&T has re-jigged its policy of limiting data transfer speeds for heavy users who buy to its ‘unlimited’ data plans.

The said on Friday that it will only throttle heavy users if they are in tightly packed areas and alongside other subscribers.

Customers began noticing the policy change on Wednesday, which now reads:

“As a result of the AT&T network management process, customers on a 3G or 4G smartphone with an unlimited data plan who have exceeded 3 gigabytes of data in a billing period may experience reduced speeds when using data services at times and in areas that are experiencing network congestion.”

Prior to this any customer exceeding the 3GB mark would have their connection slowed to a crawl, regardless of where they were.

That’s still a possibility under the reworked policy but the blanket throttling will only happen to customers on unlimited data plans if they cross the 5GB of data over 30 days mark.

The timing of the changes, which appear more consumer friendly, is highly interesting. The carrier has a lawsuit from the FTC on its plate, over this very issue. The FTC alleges the company failed to properly disclose its throttling policies that such acts are an “unfair act or practice”.

AT&T could face heavy fines for its throttling policies if the FTC prevails in the case. The court could also issue a permanent injunction preventing it from doing the same in future, which would effectively outlaw the practice across the industry.

The move by AT&T shows the FTC gets it and isn’t afraid to let the telecoms know it. It’s measures on Net Neutrality have been aggressively opposed by telcos, showing they are indeed consumer oriented. The FTC appears to be one of the rare federal regulators, unlike the SEC, that actually regulates as opposed to rubber stamps.

Liberia Declared Ebola Free

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday declared Liberia, a country which lost over 4,000 people to Ebola, to be free of the disease.

The event marks the semi-official end to one the country’s darkest days.

Patients stood in line to get into hospitals that didn’t have a bed to spare. Thousands of children were orphaned. Burial teams roamed the streets carrying victims to crematoriums.

When the crisis started, officials – both Liberian and from the WHO – held an elaborate opening ceremony for an Ebola hospital. When patients arrived a few hours later no one came out to help them.

People in countryside desperately pleaded for an Ebola hospital but when their cries went unheard they built one themselves. Such resourcefulness is credited with saving the lives of many people.

The story of resourcefulness was a common one. Mothers donned trash bags to care for their ailing children as protective gear was simply not available. They taught the do-it-yourself methods to other mothers and family members who faced the same challenges they did.

Experts do not hold back when evaluating the country’s initial response. The world deserves an “F”, according to Larry Gostin, faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University.

“If the world had mobilized rapidly and decisively, we could have saved 10,000 lives, great human hardship, and enormous health and social costs in three of the poorest countries in the world,” he wrote to news organization CNN.

There are three reasons the initial response failed:

Ebola hit big cities, with people living in close proximity

West African countries have a severe shortage of doctors, nurses, laboratories and supplies

The tradition of washing dead relatives before burial spread the virus

But the WHO has also been faulted specifically for being too bureaucratic and perfectionist in coordinating efforts to help victims. They routinely questioned teams about their qualifications and held up efforts to reach victims through seemingly endless paperwork.

Even a highly qualified organization like or Center for Disease Control (CDC) was held back initially by the WHO. Those early hours are the most critical – stop the virus then and save many lives. Wait and the spreads gets exponential.

Much of this problem stems from a self-sufficiency bias of the African WHO. Leaders both didn’t appreciate the severity and want to do everything themselves. The two together proved a deadly combination that saw much needed aide languish while victims were unable to get treatment. It was a story of so close and yet so far.

Once the CDC and other leading health officials were granted access, the response progressed well. And, eventually, it worked.

Liberia has now gone 42 days without a new case being reported, twice the maximum incubation period. It can now be deemed Ebola free.

Across Africa its getting better too. Guinea and Sierra Leone each had nine new cases last week, a big decline from the peak of hundreds of new cases a week.