November 7, 2015

Putin Associate Found Dead in DC Hotel

Source: ABC News

prominent Russian millionaire with high-level ties to the Kremlin has been found dead inside a Washington hotel, a Russian official and a senior U.S. official told ABC News.

Mikhail Lesin, the former head of media affairs for the Russian government who's been accused of curtailing the country’s press freedoms, had been staying at Hotel Dupont when he was found Thursday, according to officials.

It's unclear why the long-time adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Washington, but the Metropolitan Police Department is now investigating his death. On Thursday, U.S. authorities notified the Russian embassy in Washington that one of its citizens had died, and Russian officials are now working with American authorities to determine the circumstances of the death, the embassy told ABC News in a statement.

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Lesin is credited with creating Russia Today, the English-language news network backed by the Russian government. Now known as RT, the network “provides an alternative perspective on major global events, and acquaints an international audience with the Russian viewpoint,” according to its website.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/ABCNews/putin-associate-found-dead-dc-hotel/story?id=35024556

November 6, 2015

Liberals Push Back Against Benjamin Netanyahu's Fence-Mending Effort

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech at a liberal Washington think tank is provoking outrage from some progressives who say that the appearance gives a bipartisan sheen to his government’s right-wing policies.

The Israeli leader’s scheduled November 10 appearance at the Center for American Progress, a Democratic left-leaning institution, is seen as an attempt by the Israeli leader to reach out to a liberal audience. Many have been alienated by recent events like Israel’s 2014 military campaign in Gaza, which involved high Palestinian civilian casualties and hundreds of thousands left displaced or homeless.

“CAP is not just a think tank, it is also the standard bearer for progressive policies,” said Matt Duss, a former policy analyst at CAP who now heads the Foundation for Middle East Peace. “Netanyahu is trying to re-establish some kind of bipartisan credibility. I can understand what he has to gain from it, but what will CAP gain?”

In an interview with the Forward, CAP’s president, Neera Tanden, strongly defended her group’s decision to host the Israeli leader. “I don’t think Israel is a lost cause for progressives,” she said. “I’m a progressive and I believe in change, and that things change for the better.” Tanden rejected the notion that CAP should have turned Netanyahu away, saying that the institute “is a think tank that is dedicated to free exchange of ideas.”

http://forward.com/news/324204/liberals-push-back-against-benjamin-netanyahu-outreach-to-progressive-group/

November 6, 2015

Top administration officials to attend right wing summit at Reagan library

Mingling with stalwarts like condolezza.


Obama pushes military frustration to highest level in decades


Key lawmakers from both parties say frustration with the White House among the top military officers is at its highest level in decades, the product of President Obama’s cautious approach to the wars in Syria and Iraq and an indecisive inner circle of White House advisers who, critics say, have iced the Pentagon out of the policymaking process.

“There’s a level of dissatisfaction among the uniformed military that I’ve never seen in my time here,” said Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain in an interview. “For some of us who are a little older, let’s go back and read the Pentagon Papers — what the administration is doing is the kind of incrementalism that defined much of the Vietnam conflict.”

The Arizona Republican is known as a fierce critic of President Obama’s foreign policy, but his complaints were echoed by an unlikely source: Rep. Adam Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

“Frustration among the uniformed service is real,” the Washington Democrat said, adding that the administration “does keep things in the White House and has not been more inclusive in the decision-making process.”

But Mr. Smith also defended the administration’s overall approach to the troubled Middle East, arguing that the “sheer complexity of the situation” following the Arab Spring and the rise of the Islamic State — also known as ISIS — have defied a simple U.S. solution. “I don’t think dropping 50,000 U.S. troops down is going to fix the situation,” he said.

Both lawmakers made their comments in interviews with The Washington Times this week ahead of Saturday’s third annual Reagan National Defense Forum, a summit expected to feature much soul-searching about America’s current role in the Middle East and beyond among officials and analysts from both inside and outside the administration.

The event, held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, aims to “provide clarity to the debate in a setting outside Washington,” according to Reagan Foundation Executive Director John Heubusch.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will be there. So will Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, a long with a host of lawmakers from both sides of the aisle and such former George W. Bush administration officials as Condoleezza Rice. While Mr. Heubusch told The Times that the hope is “to create a dialogue without partisanship,” he also said a key underpinning of the forum is to get people reflecting on what Ronald Reagan became known for more than anything else in his time in office — his success in bringing an end to the Cold War.”


http://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/nov/5/obama-pushes-military-frustration-to-highest-level/

November 5, 2015

How Did Joe Ganim Pull Off An Improbable Victory In Bridgeport Mayoral Primary?

Ganim's improbable victory in the Democratic mayoral primary had many throughout the state wondering: How did a former mayor driven from office and into prison for corruption pull it off?

Many Bridgeport observers had expected that Mayor Bill Finch would win because he had more campaign money, more union endorsements, and the advantage of eight years of incumbency that began when Ganim was still locked up in federal prison.

When Ganim started his comeback with an apology on New Year's Day in an African American church, few believed at the time that he could win a primary. But Ganim's personality, his strong brand of retail politics, and a strong get-out-the-vote effort in African American neighborhoods helped him win, his supporters said.

Former state Sen. Ernie Newton, who served time in federal prison like Ganim in a separate corruption scandal, said Finch's constant criticisms of Ganim's 16 felony convictions backfired.


http://www.courant.com/politics/hc-how-ganim-won-bridgeport-primary-20150921-story.html

November 4, 2015

Scientists say ‘runner’s high’ is like a marijuana high

That happy, invincible feeling you get when you're floating through the air at the peak of a workout?

You've probably heard that it's something called endorphins that your body produced during prolonged exercise. That idea, which has been around since the ’80s, is based on the theory that these chemicals interact with receptors in the brain to reduce your perception of pain and some thought they may also give you that euphoric boost.

A new study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences challenges that notion and puts forth a different theory: That that "high" it could be due to different substance called endocannabinoids.

Endocannabinoids can basically be thought of as the body's self-produced marijuana and, like cannabis, can impact a wide range of physiological processes, including appetite, pain, memory and mood.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/10/08/scientists-runners-high-like-marijuana-high/

November 4, 2015

Family of California man killed in freeway accident had performed lamb sacrifice 'to protect him fro

The family of a California man who was killed in a gruesome freeway accident had performed a lamb sacrifice "to protect him from harm and evil" five days before his death.

The body of Richard Pananian, 20, ended up on a Los Angeles freeway sign following Friday morning's accident. Authorities say Pananian may have been driving recklessly on the 5 Freeway when his car collided with another vehicle. His car flipped several times, and he was ejected from the vehicle.

Pananian, a Los Angeles native, was one of the most "compassionate people you would ever meet," his cousin Armen Kardashian wrote on a GoFundMe page.

"He was a type of person that would remember you, and call you to say hey I hope your having a good day," Kardashian continued.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/lamb-sacrifice-performed-days-fatal-accident-article-1.2421101

November 4, 2015

Ohio Mother Loses Custody of Newborn Baby After Drinking Marijuana-Based Tea

Cleveland couple is fighting to regain custody of their newborn daughter following a magistrate's order to have her taken from her parents because the mother was found to have drunk marijuana-based tea to ease her labor pains.

Despite county family services officials recommending that the child remain at home with her parents, Magistrate Eleanore Hilow had baby Nova removed from Hollie Sanford and her husband and placed in the home of one of their relatives.

Sanford used the tea to treat her symptoms because she understood that doing so would be safer than using prescription pain medication. She said she began researching for natural remedies to alleviate debilitating morning sickness and sciatic nerve pain while pregnant. She had decided to drink tea rather than smoke so that Nova wouldn't be exposed to carbon monoxide.

"We did the research and THC, the psychoactive element, doesn't reach the baby after it's metabolized through my body," Sanford said, "So it's not like the baby is stoned like people might think."

https://news.vice.com/article/ohio-mother-loses-custody-of-newborn-baby-after-drinking-marijuana-based-tea

November 3, 2015

Taco Bell Fires Marketing Manager Who Was Caught on Video Punching an Uber Driver

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Taco Bell has fired Benjamin Golden, a senior marketing manager who was caught on video physically assaulting an Uber driver in the Los Angeles area on Oct. 30.

In a three-and-a-half-minute clip—which has accrued more than 400,000 YouTube views—Golden appears to be too intoxicated to reveal his destination to his driver, Edward Caban. Caban eventually pulled over into a parking lot and told the 32-year-old marketer to get out of the car, which Golden initially refused to do before punching and slapping the driver while also grabbing his hair.

Golden, a resident of Newport Beach, Calif., got out of the vehicle after a couple of minutes, when Caban—in self defense—started spraying him with pepper spray. Golden was arrested soon after by local police, and he was later released after posting bail, according to CBS News.

"Given the behavior of the individual, it is clear he can no longer work for us," Taco Bell said in a statement emailed to Adweek. "We have also offered and encouraged him to seek professional help."

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/taco-bell-fires-marketing-manager-who-was-caught-video-punching-uber-driver-167905

November 2, 2015

IDF warns soldiers: Beware of CIA recruitment

Source: Jpost

Channel 2 reported Sunday that the information security department, part of the IDF's intelligence force, issued a call to its officers and soldiers to beware of recruitment attempts by the CIA.

The advisory called on soldiers to "be aware and report any unusual incidences."

The warning was issued to all officers and soldiers of the IDF.

Attached to the warning was an article from Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot chronicling a phenomenon circa 2012 in which post-army youngsters, upon arrival in the United States, were taken in for extensive questioning by American authorities in an attempt to recruit their services.

Read more: http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/IDF-reportedly-warns-soldiers-Beware-of-CIA-recruitment-431703

November 2, 2015

A hiker stumbled upon a millennium-old Viking sword

Gøran Olsen had taken a break from his hike in Norway's Haukeli region when he noticed something odd beneath the rocks.

It was a sword. And not just any sword, but a Viking sword estimated to be 1,265 years old and in remarkably good condition, the Hordaland County Council announced this week.

"It's quite unusual to find remnants from the Viking age that are so well-preserved," County Conservator Per Morten Ekerhovd told CNN. "[The sword] might be used today if you sharpened the edge."

Indeed, such a find is not common, according to archaeologist Jostein Aksdal. "It is very special to get ... a sword that is merely lacking its grip,” he told the Local.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/10/23/a-hiker-stumbled-upon-a-millennium-old-viking-sword/