Bombs Sent to Obama, Clinton, CNN Evacuated Over Suspicious Package
October 24th, 2018Via: ABC News:
Explosive devices addressed to the residences of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were intercepted, and the Time Warner Center that is home to CNN in New York City was evacuated after a suspicious package was sent there, officials said Wednesday morning.
Investigators are working to determine whether the two devices addressed to Clinton and Obama are linked to a pipe bomb found earlier this week in the home mailbox of billionaire George Soros, near where the Clintons live in Chappaqua, New York, multiple law enforcement officials told ABC News.
The preliminary belief is that all three devices are of similar pipe-bomb-style construction.
High School Math Scores in Freefall
October 23rd, 2018Via: PJ Media:
The creators of the ACT test announced on Wednesday that scores for the class of 2018 are the worst reported in decades. Math scores, in fact, are in freefall among ACT-tested U.S. high school graduates, falling to their lowest mark in 14 years, according to The Condition of College and Career Readiness 2018, the ACT’s annual report.
The report includes ACT test results from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“The percentage of ACT-tested graduates who met or surpassed the ACT College Readiness Benchmark in math—suggesting they are ready to succeed in a first-year college algebra class—fell to its lowest level since 2004,” the report declared, with only 40 percent of 2018 graduates meeting the benchmark, “down from a high of 46% in 2012.”
The average score on the ACT math test dropped to its lowest level in 20 years — 20.5 on a scale of 1 to 36. American students scored 21.1 in 2012 and 20.7 last year.
Caravan of 7,000 Central American Migrants Plan to Enter U.S.
October 22nd, 2018Via: Reuters:
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said he had alerted the military and federal border authorities that a U.S.-bound migrant caravan from Central America was a national emergency, and that the United States would begin curtailing aid to the region.
Trump, in a series of posts on Twitter, gave no other details about his administration’s actions. Representatives for the White House and the U.S. Border Patrol did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Representatives for the Pentagon and the U.S. Department of State referred questions to the White House.
“Sadly, it looks like Mexico’s Police and Military are unable to stop the Caravan heading to the Southern Border of the United States,” Trump wrote in a tweet, adding: “I have alerted Border Patrol and Military that this is a National Emergy.”
“Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their country and coming illegally to the U.S. We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them,” Trump wrote.
Thousands of mostly Honduran migrants crowded into the Mexican border city of Tapachula over the weekend after trekking on foot from the Guatemalan border, defying threats by Trump that he will close the U.S.-Mexico border if they advanced, as well as warnings from the Mexican government.
Mexican police in riot gear shadowed the caravan’s arrival along a southern highway but did not impede the migrants’ journey.
Saudi Arabia Admits Khashoggi Killed Inside Consulate
October 19th, 2018
Via: CNBC:
Missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi is dead, Saudi Arabia’s general prosecutor said early Saturday morning local time.
The government said that Khashoggi got into a fight with the people he met at the consulate in Istanbul, Turkey on Oct. 2. The kingdom alleged that Khashoggi died in that clash.
China Plans to Launch ‘Artificial Moon’ Satellite by 2020
October 19th, 2018Via: Asia Times:
Officials in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, have unveiled a science fiction-like plan to launch what’s known as an illumination satellite, or “artificial moon,” in two years.
Local newspapers reported that the illumination satellite would be designed to complement the moon at night, with its own brightness eight times that of the earth’s natural satellite, and “bright enough to replace street lights in the city.”
X-37B Military Space Plane Wings Past 400 Days on Latest Mystery Mission
October 19th, 2018Via: space.com:
The latest mystery mission of the U.S. Air Force’s robotic X-37B space plane has now passed the 400-day mark.
This mission — known as Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5) — was rocketed into Earth orbit on Sept. 7, 2017, atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The uncrewed space plane is carrying out secretive duties during the X-37B program’s fifth flight.
Microplastics Found in 90 Percent of Table Salt
October 19th, 2018Via: National Geographic:
Microplastics were found in sea salt several years ago. But how extensively plastic bits are spread throughout the most commonly used seasoning remained unclear. Now, new research shows microplastics in 90 percent of the table salt brands sampled worldwide.
Of 39 salt brands tested, 36 had microplastics in them, according to a new analysis by researchers in South Korea and Greenpeace East Asia. Using prior salt studies, this new effort is the first of its scale to look at the geographical spread of microplastics in table salt and their correlation to where plastic pollution is found in the environment.
Mexican Town Practically Eliminated Crime by Throwing Out Politicians and the Police
October 19th, 2018Via: Al Jazeera:
Trump Threatens to Use Military to Shut Southern U.S. Border
October 18th, 2018Via: Reuters:
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to deploy the military and close the southern U.S. border on Thursday as more Hondurans and Salvadorans joined thousands of migrants in Guatemala headed north.
“I must, in the strongest of terms, ask Mexico to stop this onslaught – and if unable to do so I will call up the U.S. Military and CLOSE OUR SOUTHERN BORDER!” Trump wrote on Twitter.
Several thousand Honduran migrants traveled this week through Guatemala headed to Mexico, with some hoping to cross into the United States to escape violence and poverty in Central America.
China May Have $5.8 Trillion in Hidden Debt With ‘Titanic’ Risks
October 17th, 2018Via: Bloomberg:
China’s local governments may have accumulated 40 trillion yuan ($5.8 trillion) of off-balance sheet debt, or even more, suggesting further defaults are in store, according to S&P Global Ratings.
“The potential amount of debt is an iceberg with titanic credit risks,” S&P credit analysts led by Gloria Lu wrote in a report Tuesday. Much of the build-up relates to local government financing vehicles, which don’t necessarily have the full financial backing of local governments themselves.
