CLG News

Out-of-staters may have won New Hampshire for Clinton, data suggest --New figures could potentially call into question validity of New Hampshire results for Nov. 8 | 08 Sept 2017 | New data suggest that more than 5,000 people who cast ballots in New Hampshire in the 2016 U.S. presidential election might not have been residents of the state. These voters likely used out-of-state driver's licenses and have not since obtained an in-state license or registered a vehicle. New Hampshire House Speaker Shawn Jasper, a Republican, released the data Thursday following his inquiries to the state's Department of State and the Department of Safety, which supervise elections. The new figures could potentially call into question the validity of the New Hampshire results for Nov. 8, when Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton out-polled Republican nominee Donald Trump by a mere 2,736 votes.

Supreme Court temporarily restores Trump's travel ban | 11 Sept 2017 | The Supreme Court on Monday granted a request from the Trump administration and temporarily blocked a federal appeals court's ruling that placed restrictions on the president's travel ban. In a one-page decision signed by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the high court halted a ruling by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last week that prohibited the government from barring entrance to refugees who had been offered help by a US-based resettlement agency. Kennedy's order puts the San Francisco-based appeals court's ruling on hold until the parties challenging the ban can submit written arguments to the court by Tuesday afternoon.

Bomb threat prompts closure of Santa Monica Pier | 11 Sept 2017 | The Santa Monica Pier was evacuated and temporarily closed down because of a bomb threat Monday. Authorities urged people to avoid the area as a bomb robot searched the parking lot. Santa Monica police said two calls came in, one from Hawthorne around 12:30 p.m. and then one from Culver City, regarding bomb threats.

Disney accused of price-gouging water and food for residents stuck at their hotels while the park is closed | 11 Sept 2017 | Walt Disney World in Florida has been accused of price-gouging for charging guests high prices while they were stuck in their hotels during Hurricane Irma. Jennifer Bruns from Northbrook, Illinois, lashed out at the owners of the Orlando entertainment complex, whose sister park in California is known as the 'happiest place on earth', for selling expensive drinks and snacks to stranded people. The theme park closed on Saturday following the forecast that the hurricane, which has left up to 4.5million Florida residents without electricity, would hit the state as a Category Five.

National Guardsman is arrested for threatening to kill Vice President Mike Pence at the 9/11 memorial in Pennsylvania | 11 Sept 2017 | A National Guardsman was charged with disorderly conducts and making terroristic threats towards Vice President Mike Pence before his visit to Pennsylvania on 9/11. Twenty-two-year-old William Robert Dunbar of Berlin, New Jersey was charged Saturday after his comments before Pence's trip for the annual observance of the Flight 93 crash. Richland Township police claim that Dunbar was on duty at the Army National Guard Training Center when he said, 'If someone pays me enough money, I will kill the vice president.' Witnesses said they contacted commanding officers after they heard Dunbar make the threat twice.

NBC's Kerry Sanders helps rescue two dolphins who were stranded on Marco Island after a massive storm surge caused by Hurricane Irma | 11 Sept 2017 | NBC's Kerry Sanders was one of many reporters who spent days in Florida warning the public to get out of harm's way as Hurricane Irma barrelled into the Sunshine State. However, he's the only correspondent who, while reporting live, helped rescue two dolphins that became stranded on Marco Island. Sanders was in the middle of reporting on a storm surge that came in on the south side of the island after Irma touched down in the area just before he helped rescue a baby dolphin. A passerby who spotted the baby dolphin walked up to Sanders and asked for his help.

Shorelines drained in eerie effect of Hurricane Irma | 10 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Irma's extraordinary strength has caused a seemingly unusual meteorological phenomena: the eerie pushing of water away from shorelines in the Bahamas and the Gulf Coast of Florida. Jason Beisel, a spokesman for the Florida city of Clearwater, described the scene in a tweet on Sunday: "Creepy site - water in Tampa Bay is already being sucked out. This is view from downtown St. Pete waterfront." In Charlotte Harbor, the second largest bay in Florida, Dylan Branscome posted a video on Facebook showing dry, sandy landscape as if the bay had evaporated.

Ahead of Ben Shapiro's Speech, UC Berkeley Offers Counseling Services to Students If They Feel 'Threatened' | 08 Sept 2017 | Ahead of a talk from conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro at UC Berkeley, a letter has been sent by the university to students, faculty and staff, stating that counseling services will be made available to those who feel "threatened or harassed" by certain speakers. "We are deeply concerned about the impact some speakers may have on individuals' sense of safety and belonging," the letter states. The letter also highlighted a slew of security measures that will be taken during Shapiro's appearance, noting an "increased and highly visible police presence."

Over 11,000 blank Syrian passports in the hands of ISIS - media citing secret docs | 10 Sept 2017 | German authorities believe that Islamic State terrorists have stolen over 11,000 blank Syrian passports, confidential documents seen by the Bild am Sonntag newspaper reportedly reveal. German Investigators have made a list of the serial numbers of the blank passports, the newspaper reported, citing confidential documents of the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the interior ministry and the country's federal police (BPOL). "According to BKA information, there are 11,100 Syrian blank passports...in the hands of the IS (Islamic State, also known as ISIS/ISIL [but still I-CIA-SIS])," the documents from the interior ministry reportedly state.

Deadly eye of Irma makes second landfall in Florida on Marco Island as THREE MILLION are left without power, four people are killed and the state's west coast is faces imminent 10-to-15-FOOT storm surges | 10 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Irma is moving ashore in southwest Florida after making landfall for the second time on Marco Island close to Naples. Irma weakened to a Category 2 storm at about 5pm Sunday as it hugged the coastline moving north with winds of 110mph. Areas of Naples are now suffering substantial flooding and swathes of the west coast - as well as lakes, bays and sounds nearby - are under 15ft storm surge warnings. As Irma continued its unprecedented assault on the state, two of the four victims claimed in Florida were identified.

More than 1 million South Florida homes, businesses without power from Hurricane Irma | 10 Sept 2017 | As Hurricane Irma’s winds, thunderstorms and tornadoes swept through South Florida, more than 1 million homes and businesses in the tri-county region lost power Sunday, according to Florida Power & Light. Broward and Miami-Dade counties experienced tropical force winds Sunday morning, with Hurricane Irma just 30 miles off the coast of Key West before making landfall at Cudjoe Key at 9:10 a.m. as a Category 4 storm...There were 360,750 outages reported in Broward County. Miami-Dade County was most heavily hit with 574,490 without power. In Palm Beach County the total was 135,730.

Sea salt around the world is contaminated by plastic, studies show | 08 Sept 2017 | Sea salt around the world has been contaminated by plastic pollution, adding to experts' fears that microplastics are becoming ubiquitous in the environment and finding their way into the food chain via the salt in our diets. Following this week's revelations in the Guardian about levels of plastic contamination in tap water, new studies have shown that tiny particles have been found in sea salt in the UK, France and Spain, as well as China and now the US. Researchers believe the majority of the contamination comes from microfibres and single-use plastics such as water bottles, items that comprise the majority of plastic waste.

Feds Spend $138,000 Asking Four-Year-Olds About Their 'Internal Sense of Gender Identity' | 08 Sept 2017 | The National Science Foundation is spending over $130,000 on a study that asks four-year-olds about their "internal sense of gender identity." A grant for a two-year study was awarded to the University of Washington this summer. The project will interview 250 children aged four to six, and their parents, asking a series of questions about "gendered behavior." The study will investigate whether gender theories, such as Gender Schema Theory that blames society on differences between genders, are sufficient for today's "wider range of human gender experiences," where there can be anywhere between 3, 37, and 58 genders.

TORNADOES touch down as Irma brings first hurricane-force winds of 74mph to Florida: Warnings of 15ft storm surges after 6.3m are told to evacuate and 70,000 hunker down in shelters | 09 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Irma began pounding southern Florida on Saturday afternoon as emergency officials warned of 15ft storm surges and tornadoes and told those who have so far ignored evacuation orders: 'You're on your own'. While the hurricane's eye will not directly hit mainland US until Monday, its outer bands have already begun pounding parts of Miami and southeast Florida. Two tornadoes hit Broward County after the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch on Saturday afternoon. There is also a deadly threat of 15ft storm surges with residents being urged not to return home given the enormous outer bands. 'Fifteen feet is devastating and will cover your house,' governor Rick Scott said on Saturday. 'Do not think the storm is over when the wind slows down. The storm surge will rush in and it could kill you.'

In all-caps tweet, National Weather Service urgently warns Florida Keys to evacuate | 08 Sept 2017 | The National Weather Service is not mincing words when it comes to the threat posed by Hurricane Irma. On Friday evening, the service’s Key West account posted the following all-caps warning to residents of the Florida Keys: "This is as real as it gets. Nowhere in the Florida Keys will be safe. You still have time to evacuate."

Hospitals and care homes are scrambling to save the elderly and chronically ill from Hurricane Irma | 08 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Irma's full-forced winds and rainfall are expected to hit south Florida this weekend forcing hospitals and care homes to scramble to protect their patients. More than 1.4million people in Florida and Georgia have been forced to evacuate so far due to the impending storms. This includes hospitals and care homes who have patients that need around-the-clock care. To prepare, hospitals in the Keys have been discharging patients that aren't as serious and evacuating others to areas such as north Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.

Double trouble: Mexico is hit by tropical storm Katia, less than 24 hours after devastating 8.1 magnitude earthquake which killed at least 61 people | 09 Sept 2017 | One day after suffering from a massive 8.2 magnitude earthquake, Mexico is hit with another natural disaster as tropical storm Katia made landfall Friday evening. The US National Hurricane Center said the storm hit Tecolutla in Mexico. State Officials say that Katia is expected to produce a 'total rain accumulations of 10 to 15 inches over northern Veracruz, eastern Hidalgo, and Puebla.' They added in a statement on Friday that the storm could cause landslides and flooding, and urged people living below hills and slopes to be prepared to evacuate.

Brother of 9/11 victim claims the US orchestrated the atrocity as new study shows it was impossible that the third tower collapsed from fire --Geoff Campbell's brother refuses to accept the official line and insists there was a cover-up --Matt Campbell will protest outside BBC Broadcasting House on the anniversary | 08 Sept 2017 | Next Monday afternoon, Matt Campbell will stand outside BBC Broadcasting House in London's Portland Place, protesting about the killing of his brother, Geoff, and 66 other Britons, in the 9/11 terror attack at the New York World Trade Centre...Matt began asking questions. He has not stopped since. He, and others who will be at the BBC protest, refuse to accept the official story about 9/11: that four U.S. airliners were hijacked by Islamist terror chief Osama Bin Laden's pilots...As Monday's anniversary approaches, Matt, a former City worker who is married with three children and lives in Sussex, insists that 9/11 did not happen in the way we have been told and that there has been a huge official cover-up to disguise the truth...Crucially, a team of engineers at the University of Alaska concluded this week, after two years of forensic research, that fire could not have caused the collapse of WTC7.

Beijing orders banks to close accounts for North Koreans | 09 Sept 2017 | Chinese banks have reportedly banned North Koreans living in China from opening up new accounts, and have ordered existing accounts to be closed. "The Chinese authorities have made no distinction between North Korean consular officials, laborers, or traders; all are banned from opening accounts," a local source reported to Daily NK. According to the source, the new order applies to the four major state banks, as well as the Construction Bank of China, and regional private banks such as Pudong Bank.

Equifax executives sold $1.8 million in stock after breach | 08 Sept 2017 | Three senior Equifax executives sold a combined $1.8 million in company stock just days after the company discovered a massive security breach. Equifax aid Chief Financial Officer John Gamble and two other executives, Rodolfo Ploder and Joseph Loughran, sold their shares on Aug. 1 and Aug. 2, just days after Equifax detected the hack on July 29. The three company executives were not aware of the hack at the time they sold the shares [!?!], the company said. The security breach exposed the personal information of 143 million Americans, including Social Security numbers.

Faster than Harvey and bigger than Andrew, Irma is unlike any storm Florida has ever seen | 08 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Irma continued its deadly sweep through the Caribbean on Friday as residents of Florida waited with frazzled nerves and growing fears over just how bad the storm will be. The Category 4 5 hurricane, with a footprint as big as Texas, is expected to make landfall early Sunday and blow through central Florida with 150-mph winds, reaching Georgia by Monday morning..."All Floridians should be prepared to evacuate soon," Gov. Rick Scott said. "Remember Hurricane Andrew [in 1992] was one of the worst storms in the history of Florida. Irma is more devastating on its current path.… This is a catastrophic storm that our state has never seen." Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine called it a "nuclear storm." The National Weather Service in Key West tweeted in capital letters: "This is as real as it gets. Nowhere in the Florida Keys will be safe. You still have time to evacuate." At dusk Friday, downtown Miami was all but empty except for police.

US military readies for Hurricane Irma | 08 Sept 2017 | The US military was mobilizing thousands of troops and deploying several large ships Friday to aid with evacuations and humanitarian relief from Hurricane Irma, as the Air Force removed scores of planes from the region. The governors of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Florida have together activated nearly 14,000 National Guard personnel to support search-and-rescue missions and evacuations, a Pentagon statement read. Meanwhile, the USS Kearsarge and the USS Oak Hill -- an amphibious assault ship and a dock landing ship -- are being sent to aid in relief efforts.

At least 60 dead, over 200 injured after magnitude-8.1 earthquake rocks Mexico | 08 Sept 2017 | At least 60 people were killed after a magnitude-8.1 earthquake rocked Mexico late Thursday night, leveling buildings in southern Mexico, triggering tsunami warnings in several countries and causing people to flee into the street. Buildings swayed and lights went out in Mexico City, some 650 miles from the epicenter. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto called it the strongest quake the country has seen in a century. The U.S. Geological Survey measured it at 8.1 magnitude, though initial reports said 8.2.

Florida-bound Hurricane Irma strengthens back to a Category 5 as it makes landfall in Cuba | 08 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Irma strengthened back into a Category 5 storm Friday night as it made landfall on the Camaguey Archipelago of Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Irma's status as a Category 4 storm was relatively short-lived, having been downgraded from a Category 5 storm early Friday morning. As of 11 p.m. ET, Irma was about 300 miles from Miami and moving about 13 mph toward the west, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Irma is forecast to hit the Florida Keys as a Category 5 storm.

Hurricane Irma Barrels Toward U.S., Threatening to Engulf Florida | 08 Sept 2017 | As Hurricane Irma threatened to engulf virtually the entire state of Florida in deadly winds, driving rain and surging seas, the largest evacuation in the state's history saw hundreds of thousands of people scrambling into crowded county shelters and jamming highways as they fled north from the storm. With the clock ticking, some counties issued curfews for Saturday, and more shelters were opened to absorb the crush of people seeking cover from one of the most powerful hurricanes to hit Florida. Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, described Hurricane Irma as "a threat that is going to devastate the United States, either Florida or some of the southeastern states."

Trump signs $15 billion Harvey relief, debt ceiling package | 08 Sept 2017 | President Trump on Friday signed a $15 billion Hurricane Harvey relief bill that includes a short-term suspension of the debt ceiling and funding to keep the government running for the next three months. Earlier Friday, the package passed in the House of Representatives by a 316-90 vote, with all opposing votes coming from Republicans [Koch-owned swamp scum]. Congress moved with uncharacteristic speed on the bill to avert several looming crises -- the prospect of not only triggering a government shutdown, but hitting the debt limit as the federal government burns through cash it needs to respond to both Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma which is barreling into Florida.

Hurricane Jose strengthens to 'extremely dangerous' Category 4 --The eye of Irma passed over Barbuda, a tiny Caribbean island of about 1,800 residents, on Wednesday, damaging about 95% of the buildings on the island, Prime Minister Gaston Browne said. | 08 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Jose strengthened to an "extremely dangerous" Category 4 storm Friday, with maximum sustained winds near 150 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. The storm was about 335 miles east-southeast of the Northern Leeward Islands at 5 p.m. ET Friday, moving west-northwest at 17 mph, the National Hurricane Center said. A hurricane warning was put into effect Thursday for Barbuda and Anguilla, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy. A hurricane watch remained in effect for Antigua.

Hurricane Irma is size of Texas, shows up on earthquake monitors | 06 Sept 2017 | Hurricane Irma intensified into a monster storm in the Atlantic Tuesday, with sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts of 218 mph. The storm's Atlantic wind speeds are behind only 1980's Hurricane Allen, which topped off at 190 mph. The scale of Hurricane Irma, which has grown to the size of Texas, is seen in an illustration.

Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point and St. Lucie nuclear power plants lie in the projected path of 185mph Irma --Officials confident that reactors at two nuclear plants in Florida will stand firm as the deadly hurricane heads for landfall | 07 Sept 2017 | Nuclear power bosses are ready to shut down the reactors of two plants which lie in the path of Hurricane Irma. Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point and St. Lucie plants...are under threat. Spokesman Peter Robbins said: 'Based on the current track, we would expect severe weather in Florida starting Saturday, meaning we would potentially shut down before that point.' It can take more than 24 hours to shut down a reactor, so the decision will have to be made well in advance. When nuclear reactors get shut down they have to be cooled. If they are not, as in the case of the Fukushima disaster in 2011 when a tsunami disabled emergency generators, there can be nuclear meltdowns, hydrogen-air explosions and the release of radioactive material.

Georgia governor issues mandatory evacuations for areas east of I-95 | 07 Sept 2017 | Following a recommendation from Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA/HS) officials and local Emergency Management Agencies, Gov. Nathan Deal is expanding his emergency declaration to include 24 additional counties, with a total of 30 counties now included in a state of emergency. Deal also issued a mandatory evacuation order for all areas east of I-95, all of Chatham County and some areas west of I-95 that could be impacted by the potential storm surge from Hurricane Irma. The executive order also authorized up to 5,000 Georgia National Guard members to be on state active duty to support Hurricane Irma response and recovery.