THIS WEEK IN REVIEW

Once again, the FBI helped to orchestrate a terrorist plot and then foil it in the nick of time. This one was planned for a 9/11-tribute event in Kansas City, Missouri. The FBI found a mentally unstable and socially isolated person on the Internet who was vulnerable to being enticed into giving advice on how to stage a terrorist attack. The attack initially was suggested by an FBI agent posing as a friend of 20-year Ryne Goldberg, a Florida resident who pretended on the Internet to be a terrorist mastermind living in Australia. Goldberg was asked by his ‘friend’ how best to stage the attack – and, when he gave that advice, he was quickly arrested. The press is saying that the FBI has cracked another terror plot and saved the lives of innocent Americans. Fox News 2015 Sep 11 (Story)

Obama has agreed to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees now arriving from the Middle East, but the FBI says it has no capacity for vetting them. Background records are not available from war-torn countries. InfoWars 2015 Sep 11 (Story) (Cached)

There is a backlog of 39,000 Chinese nationals in the US illegally, awaiting deportation. Immigration officials say that 900 of them are classified as violent offenders. China’s government has failed to provide the necessary paperwork to deport them back to China. It appears that China does not want them back. WochIt 2015 Sep 11 (Story)

The state of Illinois has placed a freeze on paying out lottery winnings over $25,000 until the state budget is passed. The state owes about $288 million in unpaid lottery prizes since the previous budget expired in June. WochIt 2015 Sep 10 (Story)

Japan has been hit with severe floods, and a state of emergency has been declared. The operators of the nuclear facility at Fukushima say that the plant now is leaking tons of radiation-contaminated water into the floodwaters and, hence, into the ocean. The floods also could cause structural damage at the facility, which could create even greater leaks. RT 2015 Sep 10 (Story)

An alternative news source says that dozens of intelligence analysts working at the US military’s Central Command have complained that their reports on ISIS and the Nusra Front in Syria were changed to make the terror groups seem weaker than the analysts believe they really are. [We are reporting this story but urge caution before accepting it at face value. It is in the best interest of the military-industrial complex to exaggerate the threat of ISIS rather than to underplay it. None of the analysts who are said to have complained are named, and the report is not available for inspection, so it is possible that this story is disinformation to generate further support for military action in Syria supposedly against ISIS but, in reality, against the Assad regime.] Daily Beast 2015 Sep 9 (Story) (Cached)

France soon will launch air strikes in Syria. French Prime Minister Manuel Valls says that to end the refugee crisis in Europe, Syrian President Assad must leave office. [The Syrians are fleeing, not from the Assad regime, but from the chaos, death, and destruction being brought to Syrian soil by military and rebel intervention from other countries. Now France will add to that.] CNN 2015 Sep 9 (Story)

The taxpayers of Baltimore will pay $6.4 million for the death of Freddie Gray to settle the civil case against the city, the police department, and the six officers who were involved with the shooting. The president of the police union said the settlement was obscene because it presupposes that the officers are guilty prior to their trial. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake confirmed that the settlement was made to reduce the chance of more riots if the officers are found not guilty. Daily Caller 2015 Sep 9 (Story) (Cached)

The French National Center for Scientific Research announced that it found a 30,000 year old virus called Mollivirus sibericum in the Siberian permafrost, and their scientists plan to awaken it to see if it can still infect other organisms. If that sounds like a bad idea, don’t worry. They say it would not be a threat to humans. [Huh? The virus is not alive, but they know that, if it does come to life, it will be harmless?] CNET 2015 Sep 9 (Story) (Cached)

The CDC has disclosed that biochemical-warfare labs run by the Pentagon may have accidentally shipped out batches of the bacteria that causes Bubonic Plague. WochIt 2015 Sep 10 (Story)

US: A federal judge allowed House Republicans to proceed with a lawsuit claiming that the Obama administration violated the Constitution by spending money on Obamacare that had not been appropriated by Congress for that purpose. Business Insider 2015 Sep 9 (Story) (Cached)

US Representative, Lamar Smith of Texas, lists seven irrefutable and undisputed facts about climate change that are ignored because they do not fit into the alarmists’ scenario. The Hill 2015 Sep 8 (Story) (Cached)

Following the accidental shooting of one of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s top aides, the Governor called for a national gun control policy. His argument was that, since New York’s tough firearms laws did not prevent this shooting, it was time to apply similar laws to the whole nation. Cuomo is a gun owner himself. Reuters 2015 Sep 8 (Story) (Cached)

UK: The government acknowledged for the first time that they used a military drone to kill a British subject in Syria. This follows the model of assassination developed by the US. The House of Commons voted against military action in Syria in 2013. Newsy 2015 Sep 7 (Story)

New York: A traditional pillow fight was held at the West Point Academy where cadets train to become military officers. The event is held at the end of an intensive six-week phase of training and, traditionally, results in bonding cadets closer together. This time, however, it resulted in 24 concussions and other injuries, because some of the cadets put helmets in their pillow cases instead of feather pillows. CBS News 2015 Sep 7 (Story)

Russia is beefing up its military presence in Syria, but Putin said that there is no talk “just yet” about Russian troops joining the fight against ISIS. This leaves the door open for Russian troops on the ground. US News 2015 Sep 7 (Story) (Cached)

Greece has rejected a request from the US to close its airspace to Russian planes flying overhead to deliver supplies to Syria. Russia says the planes are carrying humanitarian aid. The US says they are carrying arms. InfoWars 2015 Sep 7 (Story) (Cached)

Republicans are challenging Obama’s attempt to make a global Climate Pact without submitting it as a treaty to the Senate. His proposed agreement imposes industry-destroying global-warming regulations on the US while allowing China to do nothing for the next sixteen years. Wochit 2014 Sep 7 (Story)

Austria and Germany have welcomed new migrants from war-torn countries, but Hungary stopped the trains going to Germany. This has forced the migrants to begin a 300-mile walk to Germany. Meanwhile, tensions are rising and migrants grow restless on the island of Lesbos in Greece after they were turned away from a boat to Athens. AP 2015 Sep 6 (Story)

As migrants continue to overwhelm Europe, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that hosting the migrants will cost government, federal states, and municipalities $11.2 billion this year as opposed to $2.7 billion in 2014. Germany registered more than 100,000 asylum seekers in August, while 800,000 refugees overall are expected to come to Germany this year – four times the level of last year. A right-wing French politician, Marie Le Pen, says that Germany is encouraging immigration, not out of altruism, but because it wants cheap labor. RT 2015 Sep 7 (Story) (Cached)

Pope Francis urged “every parish, every religious community, every monastery, every sanctuary of Europe to take in one family” in response to thousands of refugees from war-torn countries pouring into Germany and Austria. There are over 25,000 parishes in Italy and more than 12,000 in Germany. USA Today 2015 Sep 6 (Story)

California’s Environmental Protection Agency is considering putting a “known-to-cause-cancer” label on Monsanto’s Roundup Ready pesticide based on a recent World Health Organization report. Under state law, a clear and reasonable warning is required when chemicals threaten human life. [We are mindful, however, that Monsanto is a powerful entity and that considering putting on a warning label is not the same as actually doing so.] Natural Society 2015 Sep 6 (Story) (Cached)