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Moscow getting contradictory signals from U.S. on Putin-Trump meeting: Kremlin | DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Moscow has been receiving contradictory signals from the United States on a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting and U.S. President Donald Trump in Vietnam, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. Peskov also told reporters Putin would meet Trump on the sidelines of APEC summit in Vietnam one way or another . The White House said on Friday Trump will not have a separate meeting with his Russian counterpart. | 0fake |
3 Thugs Try to Rape Grandaughter: Grampa Grabs Shotgun and Blasts Them | 3 Thugs Try to Rape Grandaughter: Grampa Grabs Shotgun and Blasts Them Oct 28, 2016 Previous post
Another terribly violent crime occurred recently but the ending will leave you happy. Three armed intruders broke into a home and tried to gang rape a 19 year old young woman. But her grandfather came and saved the day. 67 year old Kenneth Byrd shot the armed intruders trying to attack his granddaughter!
Sadly, he was very seriously injured during the shootout. The armed thugs terrorized him, his wife, and his granddaughter. Byrd got hit with a bullet but fortunately he survived. They all lived in Lumberton. He is now in the hospital recovering. Robeson County Sheriff Kenneth Sealey confirmed the crime took place around 10 p.m. this past Monday.
Police were called to their home in the 100 block of Yedda Road in east Lumberton when police were called about a reported shooting. When the arrived on the scene they found Byrd had been shot multiple times. Members of the family told police the attack began when one of the suspects knocked on the door asking for water and speaking of car problems. Then, two other men who were wearing black clothing as well as ski masks and gloves came to the house doors and forced their way in demanding a substantial amount of money.
The suspects were shot when they pushed the older couple to their safe and then tried raping the woman. The man fired gunshots at the intruders and each of them were hit. One was 20 year old Jamie Lee Faison and
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 1real |
ISIS update 10/26/2016..Aircraft Carrier "Admiral Kuznetsov" enters Strait Of Gibraltar | Politics | (Before It's News)
Abadi says they enter new phase for liberation of Mosul
“Over 60 civilians killed in US-led air raids on Mosul”
Iraqi forces seize tank, artillery from terrorists
UN says Daesh reportedly executed dozens near Mosul
Battle for Mosul on Wednesday: Battle to Liberate Mosul in Advanced Stage
Military operation by the joint Iraqi forces to liberate the city of Mosul continued on Wednesday and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the military campaign has now come to an advanced phase, noting that the performance of the Iraqi army in the war on ISIL has surprised its international partners.
Abadi: Battle to Liberate Mosul Reaches Advanced Stage
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that the Iraqi forces reached an advanced stage in the battle to liberate Mosul, and said the performance of the Iraqi army in the war on ISIL has surprised the international coalition.
“We reached an advanced stage in the battle to liberate the city of Mosul, and our plan is not to evacuate the families from the cities during the liberation operations,” Abadi said during a news conference in Baghdad.
Abadi also pointed out to the continuous cooperation between the security forces and displaced people’s committees, and confirmed that they were able to provide food and fuel for displaced families in the liberated areas.
Iraqi Forces Evacuate 1,000 Civilians from Front Lines
Iraqi Special Forces moved more than 1,000 people from villages near the front lines of the battle to retake the ISIL-held city of Mosul.
The Iraqi Army Special Forces Major General Haider Fadhil said the residents of Tob Zawa and other nearby villages have been taken to a camp in the nearby Khazer region for their safety, Alaraby reported.
The Special Forces began undertaking clean up operations on Wednesday in areas retaken from the militants to the East of the city.
Large Cache of ISIL Weapons Seized near Bashiqa
Iraqi Peshmerga forces said on Wednesday that they have found a tunnel, which is the largest ISIL weapons depot discovered so far in the Bashiqa front.
The tunnel, which has been found in Tiz Khrab Gawra village, contained a large number of weapons, Rudaw reported.
Iraq’s Peshmerga forces on Monday retook complete control of Bashiqa town, 13 km Northeast of Mosul.
Iraqi Army Kicks Off Zawaya Liberation Operation
Iraq’s joint military forces started their military operations to liberate Zawaya region, Commander of Iraq’s Counterterrorism Forces Major General Abdolvahab al-Saedi announced on Wednesday.
“After seizing back Zawaya region, the security forces will continue their military operation to take control of Kokajli district inside the city of Mosul,” al-Saedi said.
ISIL Militants Disguise as Peshmerga, Shave Beard to Flee Mosul
An Iraqi security source revealed that many ISIL militants have begun to wear the Peshmerga forces’ uniforms inside the city of Mosul and have shaved their beards for fear of being targeted as Iraqi joint forces continued their advanced toward the ISIL-held city.
“Many militants of the ISIL terror group have wear the military uniforms of the Peshmerga forces for camouflage and to divert the suspicion from them within the city of Mosul,” a security source said, Badr News reported.
The source added that “Most of the ISIL terrorists have also begun to shave their beards for fear of being targeted”.
Report: ISIL’s Treasury Man, Economic Brain Disappears with Millions of Dollars in Mosul
A top ISIL member in charge of the terrorist group’s financial resources along with a German woman who trained ISIL’s female suicide attackers fled with millions of dollars from the city of Mosul in Nineveh province, media reports said Wednesday.
“ISIL’s financial chief known as Abi Motaz al-Qahtani has disappeared with a German woman who was in charge of training ISIL’s female suicide bombers,” the Arabic-language al-Sumeriya news channel Quote: d a local source as saying on Wednesday.
The source noted that the disappearance of al-Qahtani and the unnamed German woman has been a planned move as they have escaped with important dossiers and millions of dollars in cash.
Iraqi Analyst Discloses Plot to Transfer Al-Baghdadi to Libya
A prominent Iraqi military analyst disclosed that Riyadh and Ankara had hatched plots to transfer ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from Mosul to Libya but the massive presence of the popular forces and Russian fighter jets at the bordering areas of Iraq and Syria dissuaded them.
“The two countries were working to take al-Baghdadi to Turkey either by moving him through Mosul and Kirkuk to the North or through al-Qa’em and al-Ratba corridor to Deir Ezzur in Syria and then to Turkey to eventually transfer him to Libya,” Safa al-A’asam told Iraq’s al-Ma’louma news agency on Wednesday.
He added that the ISIL concluded that transferring al-Baghdadi through Tal Afar region to Raqqa in Syria is also impossible given the massive presence of Hashd al-Sha’abi (popular forces) in the Southern front near Be’aaj district, Northwest of the Iraqi province of Nineveh as well as the numerous flights done by the Russian fighter jets over the Syrian bordering areas with Iraq.
Russian Military: US Air Force Jet Struck School in Iraq’s Mosul
A US warplane hit a girls’ school in the South of the Iraqi city of Mosul on October 21, the Russian General Staff’s chief said.
“On October 21, a US Air Force plane carried out an airstrike against a girls’ school in the Southern part of the city of Mosul,” said Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoi, RIA Novosti reported.
More than 60 civilians died and 200 were wounded because of the US-led coalition’s airstrikes on residential areas in Mosul and its outskirts in the last three days, he said.
ISIL Burns Nine Own Militants Alive in Iraq’s Mosul
The militants of the ISIL terrorist group executed nine of their supporters for duck-out in the Iraqi city of Mosul, media reported on Tuesday.
“ISIL militants executed nine of their militants, who escaped from the confrontation with the security forces in Mosul, throwing them in the trenches full of black oil for burning with hands and feet tied,” a source in Iraq’s security forces said, Al Sumeriya reported.
On October 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi announced the start of a military operation to retake Mosul from the ISIL terror group.
Arab Media: General Soleimani in Mosul Operations Room
Commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Qassem Soleimani has arrived in Hashd al-Sha’abi (popular forces) operations room in Mosul to play his advisory role in anti-ISIL campaign in Iraq, Arab media reported on Wednesday.
“Hashd al-Sha’abi will soon start its operations in Western Mosul to cut the ISIL’s supply routes to Syria and defuse the US plots to postpone the popular forces’ participation in the Mosul operations, and General Soleimani has also joined them as a military advisor,” the Arabic-language al-Akhbar said quoting renowned Iraqi figures.
No other source has yet confirmed the report.
Washington is pressuring Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi not to allow Hashd al-Sha’abi forces to participate in the Mosul liberation operations.
Spokesman of the Iraqi popular forces Ahmad al-Assadi had confirmed in August that General Soleimani would play a major role in operations to liberate Mosul, stressing that his country is in dire need of Iranian military advisors.
“The presence of Brigadier-General Soleimani in the operations to free Mosul and Nineveh province is necessary and General Soleiman is the greatest advisor that has helped the Iraqi government in the war against the ISIL,” al-Assadi told FNA.
“Hajj Qassem Soleimani is one of the most important military advisors of the Islamic Republic of Iran who is in Iraq at the invitation, demand and agreement of the Iraqi government,” he added.
Stressing that the Iranian advisors are in Iraq at the demand of the Iraqi government and have played a big role in most operations conducted by the popular forces, al-Assadi said, “They provided the Iraqis with strong views and important consultations with respect to their experience and capabilities.”
In relevant remarks in June, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ebrahim al-Jafari underlined that General Soleimani is in Iraq to help the country in campaign against terrorism after receiving Baghdad’s rigid request.
“General Soleimani is in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government to provide military counseling to the Iraqi forces,” the Arabic-language Sumeria news channel Quote: d al-Jafari as saying.
Also in June, Hashd al-Sha’abi Commander Abu Mehdi al-Mohandes underlined that General Soleimani is helping the Iraqi forces in their campaign against terrorism upon a request by the Iraqi government.
“The Iranian advisors, headed by dear brother Qassem Soleimani, have been beside us since the start of war and his presence has happened upon the demand of the Iraqi government and agreement of the Armed Forces’ top commander,” Mohandes said in an interview with Sumeria news channel.
He, meantime, said that the Iraqi nation is able to kick the terrorists out of Iraq with the possibilities in their hands now, adding that Hashd al-Sha’abi doesn’t have any political plan and merely supports the political process.
Aircraft Carrier “Admiral Kuznetsov” Eenters Strait Of Gibraltar
NATO fears Russian battle group to be used against Aleppo civilians
‘Intl community still financing & protecting terrorists’ – Mother Agnes on Syria
“CIA supplying weapons to Daesh, al-Qaeda terrorists”
UK, US training militants to fight Syrian government: Analyst
“Western alliance not after uprooting terrorism”
NATO calls for lasting ceasefire in Syria
NATO Concerned over Al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham Casualties
US-led coalition preparing Raqqa assault, says Carter
‘US coalition with Syria & Russia needed to defeat ISIS’ – former Pentagon official
SAA 1st ARMORED DIVISION DESTROYED 4 BATTLE TANKS FROM JABHAT AL NUSRA IN GHOUTA
Combat footage of the SAA’s operations in Western Ghouta
SAA Soldier destroys convoy of militants in West Damascus
Scenes from the Turkish shelling of the liberated villages
Syria in Last 24 Hours: Terrorists Sustain Heavy Losses in Army Offensive in Dara’a Province
The Syrian army attacked the terrorists in Dara’a province, and inflicted heavy losses on them.
The Syrian army killed and wounded scores of terrorists in the Northeastern territories of Dara’a province.
The Syrian army also inflicted heavy losses on the terrorist groups in other key regions across Syria.
Dara’a
Syrian Army’s artillery units shelled heavily a long military column of ISIL’s vehicles and forces on a road to Northeastern Dara’a, inflicting major loss and casualties on the terrorists.
Syrian army artillery units opened heavy fire at a group of ISIL terrorists in al-Badiyeh region as they were heading to al-Lejat region.
The ISIL’s military convoy was on a road connecting North al-Shahib region to Sweida-Damascus highway when it came under the fire of artillery units.
The terrorists suffered a heavy death toll and their vehicles sustained major damage in the attack.
Positions of Fatah al-Sham Front (formerly al-Nusra Front) in Qasr al-Saudi region North of al-Bitar farms towards the town of Tafas also came under attack by the Syrian soldiers.
In the meantime, army troops targeted a Fatah al-Sham in al-Abasiyeh neighborhood, leaving several militants dead.
Homs
The Syrian Army and popular forces continued to beat ISIL terrorists back from two main oil-rich regions in Eastern Homs, establishing a 10-kilometer-deep buffer zone around one of them.
The Syrian ground troops that received strong air support from the Syrian and Russian fighter strikers inflicted major losses on the ISIL terrorists, driving the Takfiri terrorists out of more strategic heights in al-Sha’er oil-rich region.
In the meantime, the army soldiers pushed ISIL back from a terrain near al-Maher oilfield and established a deep buffer zone around the energy field.
Positions of Fatah al-Sham Front in the villages of Deir Foul and al-Za’afaraniyeh and al-Rastasn region in Northern Homs also came under heavy attacks by the Syrian army men.
Syrian military forces also targeted terrorists’ movements in the villages of Rahoum, Mas’adeh, Um al-Rish and Salam al-Sharghiyeh, destroying their bases and military vehicles.
Lattakia
A notorious field commander of Fatah al-Sham Front was killed in heavy fighting with the Syrian Army troops in the mountainous regions in Northern Lattakia.
Abu Yusuf al-Askari and a number of his forces were killed in Syrian army soldiers’ attack on Fatah al-Sham’s positions along a road to the town of Kabani in the Kurds mountain.
Meanwhile, Syrian warplanes targeted bases, artillery and mortar units of the terrorist groups near the towns and villages of Jabal Kanz, Tadin, Kafr Sandou, Kandeh, Marand and Qarfous in Northern Lattakia, inflicting a heavy death toll on the militants.
Aleppo
Syrian Army troops and Air Force struck a large gathering of the terrorist groups in the Northern outskirts of Aleppo city, killing or wounding scores of them and foiling their plan to hit government strongholds, a military source disclosed Tuesday.
“Following sensitive intel received from army agent in the region, the Syrian government forces and fighter jets carried out surprise attacks on terrorists’ concentration centers in Haraytan and al-Malaah regions near Castello road to preempt them and defuse their plan for raiding army positions in the Northern outskirts of Aleppo city,” an army officer told FNA.
“Dozens of militants were killed or wounded in the attack, and now the Castello road is safe and under the army’s full control,” he added.
Elsewhere, a notorious commander of the Turkey-backed terrorist group of Nouralddeen al-Zinki was killed in clashes with the Syrian Army and popular forces in Salahuddin district.
Abu Omar Danial was killed in a heavy fighting with Syrian government forces in Salahuddin district Southwest of Aleppo city.
In the meantime, Syrian government forces captured several building blocks in Salahuddin after hours of non-stop clashes with al-Zinki terrorists.
The Syrian army and popular forces also engaged in fierce clashes with Jeish al-Fatah in the districts of Sheikh Saeed, and al-Ameriyeh, beating them back from more positions.
Syrian army’s artillery and missile units, for their part, continued to shell terrorists’ centers in Housing Project 1070, and the Syrian soldiers are now engaged in an intense battle with terrorists to take back Mouteh, Ahad and al-Mohebah hills near al-Bazo height.
Syrian and Russian fighter jets, for their part, have been bombing terrorists’ gatherings and bases in the town of Khan Touman, Rashedeen region, Ramouseh road, near Housing Project 1070, and the districts of Bostan al-Pasha, Suleiman al-Halabi and Sheikh Saeed.
Damascus
Terrorist groups lost at least 23 rebels as their attack on government positions in Western Ghouta was repelled by the Syrian Army troops and popular forces.
Syrian government forces fended off terrorist groups’ offensive on their strongholds along Khan al-Sheih-Deir al-Khabiyeh road, inflicting 23 casualties on the militants and destroying at least three tanks of the Takfiri groups.
The clashes occurred in al-Diwan neighborhood in the Southwestern countryside of Deir al-Khabiyeh.
In the meantime, the Syrian fighter jets pounded Jeish al-Islam’s centers near the town of al-Reihan in Eastern Damascus.
Hama
Terrorist groups lost at least 23 rebels as their attack on government positions in Western Ghouta was repelled by the Syrian Army troops and popular forces.
Syrian government forces fended off terrorist groups’ offensive on their strongholds along Khan al-Sheih-Deir al-Khabiyeh road, inflicting 23 casualties on the militants and destroying at least three tanks of the Takfiri groups.
The clashes occurred in al-Diwan neighborhood in the Southwestern countryside of Deir al-Khabiyeh.
In the meantime, the Syrian fighter jets pounded Jeish al-Islam’s centers near the town of al-Reihan in Eastern Damascus.
Fatah al-Sham also lost a large number of military vehicles and tanks in the attacks.
The Russian air force also targeted terrorists’ centers on the Eastern side of al-Salamiyah, inflicting major loss and casualties on the militants.
Military sources said that heavy bombardments of the Russian and Syrian fighter jets pave the ground for the government forces to launch fresh operation to take back Souran and Taybat al-Imam.
Farsnews
Hundreds of Syrian Army Special Forces Arrive in Aleppo
Gov’t Forces Continue to Advance against Terrorists in Housing Project 1070 in Aleppo
Syrian Artillery, Air Attacks Preempt Terrorists’ Great Epic Operation in Aleppo
Long Military Convoy of Terrorists Targeted by Syrian Army in Southwestern Damascus
Syrian Gov’t Forces Take Back Three More Regions From Terrorists in Hama
Syrian Army Seizes Militants’ Weapons, Ammunition in Damascus Countryside
Senior Terrorist Commander Killed in Syrian Air Raids in Hama | 1real |
SEXTING ADDICT ANTHONY WEINER FINALLY Gets Help For Out-Of Control Behavior | Anthony Weiner, the husband of Hillary Clinton s closest aide Huma Abedin, has checked into a rehab facility for treatment of sex addition.Out-of-control Weiner, who has been sending sexually-charged messages and obscene pictures to women and at least one teenage girl for years, is now in a treatment facility, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.Friday s dramatic disclosure by the FBI that it had discovered new emails relevant to their investigation into Hillary Clinton s secret server was a shock unprecedented in electoral history. At the center of it, however, is the tragedy of Anthony Weiner s sex addiction. The rehab center where Weiner is being treated separates men and women and its program includes counseling for those addicted to cybersex and exhibitionism as well as addictions to anonymous sex and porn.WEINER WAS A REPEAT OFFENDER BUT HIS LAST CASE WAS WITH A MINOR A 15-YEAR OLD!In the online messages, Weiner, 51, sent bare-chested photos of himself to the underage girl, repeatedly called her baby and complimented her body, and told her that he woke up hard after thinking about her, according to copies of the conversations. In one particularly lewd message, he told the teen: I would bust that tight p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week. When confronted with the claims, Weiner did not deny exchanging flirtatious messages with the teen. He declined to comment on the specifics of the allegations on the record, but provided copies of two emails the girl sent him that he contends raised questions about her claims.ANTHONY WEINER gave a statement to DailyMail.com:He says, in part: I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgement about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent. I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt. I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgement about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent. The revelation comes just weeks after Weiner s wife Huma Abedin announced that they had separated in the wake of another sexting controversy. In August, the New York Post reported on sexual chats between Weiner and a 40-year-old woman, during which the former congressman sent her provocative shirtless photos of him while his four-year-old son was curled up next to him in bed. Weiner has faced a number of sexting scandals since 2011, when he was forced to resign from Congress after his online sexual messages with a female college student were revealed. Another sexting scandal in 2013, involving 22-year-old Sydney Leathers, derailed his bid for New York City mayor. In the course of that scandal, his alias Carlos Danger was disclosed.Read more: Daily Mail | 1real |
German president tells Putin: we need to work on our relationship | MOSCOW (Reuters) - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday he was unhappy about the state of relations between Moscow and Berlin and that both sides needed to work to improve it. The first visit to Russia by a German president since 2010 happened as relations remain strained over Russia s 2014 annexation of Crimea and a pro-Russian separatist uprising in eastern Ukraine, as well as German accusations of Russian meddling in its politics, something Moscow denies. It s essential that we use this opportunity for us as presidents to continue our dialogue to try to improve our bilateral relations, the state of which we can t be happy about, Steinmeier told Putin at the start of talks. I m convinced that we need to resist the alienation that has grown up between our countries in recent years and to do that we need to continue the dialogue and need long-term attempts from both sides to find solutions in crises. Steinmeier, a Social Democrat who previously served as foreign minister, has long called for increased engagement with Moscow. His party, which will go into opposition after four years in a coalition government with Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives, wants a gradual easing of EU sanctions imposed on Moscow for its role in Ukraine. Steinmeier has also launched a disarmament initiative he hopes will spur Russia and the United States to embark on talks about reducing conventional weapons. Merkel, who has resisted moves to ease sanctions on Russia, is now trying to forge a three-way alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats and the environmental Greens. A new Russia policy is unlikely to take shape until coalition negotiations begin in late November, but the Greens have generally backed a hard-line stance against Moscow for its annexation of Crimea and backing for the Syrian government. | 0fake |
These Blast Points on Hillary’s Campaign… Only The Deep State Is So Precise |
The Deep State’s most prescient elements must derail Hillary’s campaign to clear a path to Trump’s executive team.
Back in August, I asked Could the Deep State Be Sabotaging Hillary? I think we now have a definitive answer: “These blast points on Hillary’s campaign… too accurate for the Mainstream Media. Only the forces of the Imperial Deep State are so precise.”
The Mainstream Media is presenting the FBI investigation as a “lose-lose” situation for embattled FBI Director Comey. If Comey remained quiet until after the election, he would be accused of colluding with the Clinton campaign and its allies in the Department of Justice (sic).
But in going public, he stands accused by Democrats of “intervening in an election,” i.e. raising doubts about Hillary’s judgement and veracity days before Americans go to the polls.
Another narrative has Comey’s hand forced by the threat of disgusted FBI agents leaking information that would show the FBI caved into political pressure from the Democratic Party and Clinton campaign to keep relevant material out of the public eye until after the election.
I submit another much more powerful dynamic is in play: the upper ranks of the Deep State now view Hillary as an unacceptable liability. The word came down to Comey to act whether he wanted to or not, i.e. take one for the good of the nation/Deep State/Imperial Project.
As a refresher: the Deep State is the unelected government (also called the invisible or shadow government) that is not as monolithic as generally assumed.
The neo-conservative globalists who want Hillary to continue pushing their agenda are the more visible camp, but another less visible but highly motivated camp realizes Hillary and her neo-con agenda would severely damage the nation’s security and its global influence. It is this camp that is arranging for Hillary to lose.
The consensus view seems to be that the Establishment and the Deep State see Trump as a loose cannon who might upset the neo-con apple cart by refusing to toe the neo-con line.
This view overlooks the reality that significant segments of the Deep State view the neo-con strategy as an irredeemable failure. To these elements of the Deep State, Hillary is a threat precisely because she embraces the failed neo-con strategy and those who cling to it. From this point of view, Hillary as president would be an unmitigated disaster for the Deep State and the nation/Imperial Project it governs.
Whatever else emerges from the emails being leaked or officially released, one conclusion is inescapable: Hillary’s judgement is hopelessly flawed. Combine her lack of judgement with her 24 years of accumulated baggage and her potential to push the neo-con agenda to the point of global disaster, and you get a potent need for the Deep State’s most prescient elements to derail her campaign and clear a path to Trump’s executive team.
Once this path is clear, the management of Trump’s executive team can begin in earnest, a management process aimed at disengaging the nation and its global Empire from neo-con overreach.
If you think this scenario is “impossible,” let’s see how the election plays out before deciding what’s “impossible” and what’s inevitable. Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
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Contributed by Charles Hugh Smith of Of Two Minds . | 1real |
Watching the Obamas’ First Date, and Feeling a Little Uncomfortable - The New York Times | Last week, Michael D. Shear and Julie Hirschfeld Davis, White House correspondents for The New York Times, went to see “Southside With You,” the new feature film that is a fictionalized account of President Obama’s first date with the woman who would become his wife. The movie, set in 1989 in Chicago, stars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter as Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson. Mike: So, what did you think? Julie: It was an unusual way to see President Obama because you’re watching all these mannerisms and verbal tics that are very familiar to us as people who see him every day, but it’s all in the service of wooing a woman. We’re used to seeing him put his oratorical skills to work to persuade and inspire. Mike: What, you didn’t like seeing him use those skills to hit on Michelle? Julie: It was just a little weird! Right? Mike: None of the trappings were there. He was driving around in that yellow, car and there’s a hole in the floorboard. He’s not wearing the suit we’re all used to, and the presidential podium and all that — it’s odd to see this guy who is so familiar in those settings. I don’t want to be too harsh, but the only reason to care about these two people is that you know who they will become. If you didn’t know that this was the leader of the free world, nothing happens that is all that interesting. Julie: It wasn’t that great of a date! Mike: It sure went on a long time. I found myself paying more attention to the mimicry that was there for both of them. Julie: I thought his Barack Obama was pretty good. He had a little bit of the intonation, and the delivery, and even sort of the body posture — how he holds himself and a bit of his swagger. Mike: I really thought she captured the arched eyebrow that Michelle does sometimes. Michelle Obama has a look when she gets annoyed, when her fierce side is about to emerge. Julie: It was jarring for me, though, as someone who covers him at the White House and travels with him, to see him in such different settings. In the opening, he’s in his undershirt, in his house. That is an image of Barack Obama that we’ve never seen. Then there’s driving a car. Mike: We actually saw him drive with Jerry Seinfeld [in a December episode of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”]. There’s the way that he casually hangs his hand on the top of the steering wheel. I think they got that right. What you also never see, and it’s hard to even imagine, is Barack Obama or Michelle Obama being anonymous. In the movie, you see them going in and out of a theater or a bar, and nobody pays them any mind. That doesn’t exist for them anymore. Julie: The filmmakers plant these seeds of foreshadow or backshadow — I’m not even sure what to call it — where you’re hearing and seeing things that will become part of their public lives. There’s that scene where they’re walking in the park and they come upon a drum circle and Michelle starts dancing with the crowd, and that is something she does so often in public now that she even has that bit she does with Jimmy Fallon. Mike: Or that moment when Michelle asks about his religious beliefs and Obama says, “Let’s just say I’m still evolving,” which of course is an echo of the way he described his development on gay marriage. Julie: There’s lots of exploration of race here, too. She talks about going from her home on the South Side of Chicago into the Loop to go to work at this fancy law firm, and she feels like she’s leaving Planet Black and entering Planet White. That resonates with him. Then she asks whether he prefers dating white women or black women, and he tells the story of his white girlfriend at Columbia, who he was very happy with but decided that he couldn’t be with because he felt like an outsider in her home. These are stories we’ve heard before — he’s written about them himself — but the movie resurrects them. And of course, part of the date is seeing “Do The Right Thing,” which is this movie that conjures up all those issues. But also, I wonder if you think it’s too soon to make a movie like this? I found myself at various moments feeling uncomfortable watching some of it. Mike: You just didn’t like the kissing scene! Julie: The making out, yes, not something you associate with the commander in chief. But in the beginning of the film, she’s walking around in her bra. He’s in this tank top getting dressed. It’s a way of seeing the president and the first lady that feels a little wrong. Mike: We are accustomed to the one degree of separation, where people make fictional movies that are so thinly disguised — a black president clearly modeled after Barack Obama. Or you get into life at the White House — like in the movie “Dave,” where we see all sorts of intimate things, but it’s all fictional. This was different. Mike: Let’s talk about the centerpiece of the movie — this community meeting that is the pretext for the whole date, which she keeps insisting is not a date. Julie: Right, this is where he was a community organizer before he left to go to Harvard Law. It feels very contrived, like the writers were the Obama we all know. Obama gets up, and he makes this very classic Barack Obama speech about fighting for the community center and how we need to take the long view and build one piece at a time, block by block, and he has this line about how when our opponents’ needs align with our needs, that’s when things get done. It sounds so much like the speeches we hear him give now about Congress and the Republicans and the Democrats. You have to really wonder: Did he really sound like that? Mike: It felt kind of lazy on the part of the filmmakers. Shouldn’t you have gone back and tried to find the friends and people there at the time, to help you find the real Barack Obama at 29 rather than just transplant President Obama back in time? Julie: But that’s the audacity of this movie, right? There are only two people on earth who know what that first date was like. And neither one of them is going anywhere near the production of this movie. I did find myself wondering the whole time whether either one of them would ever watch it. How strange would that be? Mike: Totally strange. Totally uncomfortable. You do wonder whether either of them will write about this date in their memoirs, maybe just to correct the record. Maybe you actually want to describe your first date. Julie: Or maybe you don’t. | 0fake |
Macedonia's largest opposition party appoints new leader | SKOPJE (Reuters) - Macedonia s main opposition party, the rightist VMRO-DPMNE formally replaced its leader Nikola Gruevski on Saturday and appointed Hristijan Mickoski, a technocrat, as his successor. Gruevski, 47, resigned earlier this month following an election defeat last year and unrest that rocked the small Balkan country in April. In his speech to the party s convention on Saturday, Gruevski said that a key reason for VMRO-DPMNE s fall from power was his refusal to yield to what he described as international and domestic pressure to accept a compromise in a dispute with Greece. Macedonia, which won independence in 1991 from then-federal Yugoslavia, has made little progress towards EU and NATO membership due to a long-running dispute with Greece which claims Macedonia s name represents a territorial claim to its province with the same name. We wanted a fair compromise and a name solution, but not under dictate, Gruevski said. Gruevski s successor Mickoski, 41, a relative novice in politics, became VMRO-DPMNE Secretary General earlier this year. He served in Gruevski s government as the general manager of ELEM, Macedonia s state-owned power plants managing company. (This story corrects spelling to Mickoski in paras 1 and 6.) | 0fake |
Do Trump's Groping, Clinton's Lying, & Johnson's Honesty Disqualify Them from the Presidency? | "It's like we're testing the proposition that candidates themselves don't matter, that the only thing that matters is their party affiliation. We're offering up people two totally garbage candidates and then saying, 'OK, what if we made it worse.'"
That's Reason magazine Editor in Chief Katherine Mangu-Ward kicking off a new Reason podcast hosted by me and featuring guest Eli Lake, who writes about national security for Bloomberg View.
In the 40 minutes of fast-paced, wide-ranging conversation, we talk about whether alleged past assaults by Donald Trump should disqualify him from the presidency, how Wikileaks is confirming everyone's lowest opinion of Hillary Clinton, and how Gary Johnson's lack of guile may make him unsuited to be commander in chief. Also: Does the United States need to bust Russia's lip to maintain international order and are we living in a fully post-fact world?
Produced by Ian Keyser. Listen by clicking below.
Subscribe to our audio podcast at iTunes.
Subscribe to our video podcast at iTunes.
Like us on Facebook. | 0fake |
Trump’s Lawyers Never Talked To Him Without A Corroborating Witness Because He Lies So Much | Wow. That s a lot of lying.Apparently, Donald Trump is such a serial liar with a terrible memory that his own attorneys admitted that they always had to meet with him in pairs.According to a deposition released by Buzzfeed, bankruptcy attorney Patrick McGahn testified during the Trump Plaza bankruptcy case that his client lied so much that the firm made it a policy that a second attorney, identified as George Miller, had to be present as a corroborating witness. It s always been our practice to make sure that two people are present, and we don t have a problem of people lying He s an expert at interpreting things. Let s put it that way, McGahn said,When asked if it was necessary for both of them to meet with Trump, McGahn said that it was. We tried to do it with Donald always if we could because Donald says certain things and then has a lack of memory. In other words, the Republican nominee says a lot of bullshit and has a memory like Ten Second Tom in Adam Sandler s 50 First Dates film.Here are images of the documents via Twitter.In depo for Trump Plaza bankruptcy case, Trump s own lawyer testifies they often met with him in pairs because Trump lies so much. pic.twitter.com/TdEkdf4ZiB southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) October 6, 2016And Twitter users are having a field day with this.@nycsouthpaw @gmarie55 A sociopath lies incessantly to get their way, is often goal oriented and does so with little concern for others. Rebecca Yeates (@yeatesgreats) October 6, 2016@nycsouthpaw I mean if you need to bring a corroborating witness to every meeting with YOUR OWN CLIENT hoo boy delrayser (@delrayser) October 6, 2016@nycsouthpaw I know a venture capitalist who has tried to work out deals with Trump. He says that Trump is a pathological liar. Dan s Monkey Shack (@Yathoon) October 6, 2016@nycsouthpaw @ddale8 Wow, @realDonaldTrump, even your own lawyers admit you are a habitual liar. You have no honesty in you, nor integrity. Harry Meridian (@hmeridian2) October 6, 2016@nycsouthpaw @erinmcnll Seems his brain has as many rooms as his hotels. Not all of them occupied. Dr. Alan T (@kinowords) October 6, 2016Donald Trump is totally unfit to be president and this deposition proves it. Trump will do nothing but lie to the American people and transparency and personal responsibility would be non-existent in his administration.It s time for the American people to end this charade once and for all by electing Hillary Clinton by a landslide.Featured image via Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images | 1real |
Sex and the Presidential City | Sex and the Presidential City Sex and the Presidential City By 0 58
Why does everyone think that presidential campaigns are about “issues,” when anyone over the age of consent knows they are all about sex? But it says a lot about the lasting power of Viagra that this is still the case when we have a couple of seventy-year-olds on the ballot. (“ For an election lasting more than four years, please call your doctor .”)
In last week’s newspaper there was a report on the tenth or eleventh woman (I have lost track) to come forward to say that Donald Trump made suggestive and “inappropriate” advances to her during a golf tournament that took place about ten years ago.
The woman in question is Jessica Drake, who during her press conference announced that at the time of the tournament, she was working in the “the adult industry” (that’s what People Magazine calls porn) for Wicked Pictures (the 20th Century Fox of gang banging) when the randy Donald kissed and hugged her in his room.
Trump was already in his pajamas when she knocked on his door, together with two friends. Normally, in the adult business, when three porn stars knock on your hotel door, it’s considered foreplay.
When Trump’s effusive greeting of Miss Drake did not lead to more snuggling, let alone the suggestion to preview some of her work on the hotel television, he offered her $10,000 to satisfy his suite dreams.
Drake again demurred, saying that the next morning she needed to get back to Los Angeles “for work.” By that point in her career she had… | 1real |
RUSSIA’S HYSTERICAL RESPONSE To Obama’s Sanctions: “Cold War Deja Vu” | The Russian response to Barack Obama s announcement that he was expelling 35 diplomats over the alleged cyber attack on the US election, was fast, and in some cases, rather amusing:The Russian response to Barack Obama s announcement that he was expelling 35 diplomats over the alleged cyber attack on the US election, was fast, and in some cases, rather amusing.As officials in Moscow said that US diplomats would be ordered to leave in a tit-for-tat response, the Russian Embassy used Twitter to make its point with little panache.Read more: Independent | 1real |
Hillary Brands Bigoted Trump Supporters With Brilliant New Moniker In Fiery Speech | Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is not mincing words when it comes to the bigotry that runs rampant among Donald Trump supporters. While speaking in New York at a fundrasier focused on LGBTQ issues, Hillary pointed out what we already know: many on the Trump Train are straight up bigots, and there s no way around that fact. She said: You know, just to be grossly generalist, you could put half of Trump s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic you name it. And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. Hillary then went on to make sure that people knew that she understands that not all of Trump s supporters are like this; in fact likely many are disturbed by many of his statements and the behavior of some of their fellow Trump supporters, and they are likely just desperate for change and have been duped into believing Trump can deliver it. She continued: That other basket of people are people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they re just desperate for a change, she said. They don t buy everything he says, but he seems to hold out some hope that their lives will be different. They won t wake up and see their jobs disappear, lose a kid to heroin, feel like they re in a dead end. Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well. She also added that if you know folks who might vote for Trump, do something about it: If you know anybody who s even thinking of voting for Trump, stage an intervention. Hillary is right, of course. Donald Trump is a demagogue, and this is how demagogues work. They prey on the desperate, they exploit and magnify divisions, all for their own gain of political power. Trump is in no way fit to be president, and his very candidacy is already endangering the country. To that end, we need to listen to Hillary, get out the vote, and make sure she wins, for the future of our own lives and this great nation that we all love.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 1real |
Freedom Rider: Russophobia: War Party Propaganda | By BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley T he world’s most reactionary regime, the head-chopping, terror-sponsoring Saudi Arabian kleptocracy, was awarded the chair of the UN Human Rights Council, while Russia has been kicked out. The travesty was engineered by the Superpower of Lies to punish Moscow for resisting the U.S.-led war of sectarian massacre and regime change in Syria. The War Party is on the march, to the cheers of corporate media – and Hillary hasn’t even been elected yet. “All attempts to stop the fighting were rejected by the U.S. and NATO and sealed the fate of the Syrian people.” Did Russia invade Iraq and kill one million people? Does Russia have a greater percentage of its population behind bars than any other country in the world? Did Russia occupy Haiti after kidnapping its president? Are Russian police allowed to shoot children to death without fear of repercussion? Is Russia entering its 20 th year of a terror war against the people of Somalia? All of these crimes take place in or at the direction of the United States. Yet the full force of propaganda and influence on world opinion is directed against Russia, which whatever its shortcomings cannot hold a candle to America in violating human rights.
Simply put, Hillary Clinton must be denied a victory of great magnitude and any opportunity to claim a mandate. The dangers presented by a Hillary Clinton presidency cannot be overstated. She and the war party have been steadily working towards a goal that defies logic and risks all life on earth. Regime change [3] is once again their modus operandi and they hope to make it a reality against Russia. Nearly every claim of Russian evil doing is a lie, a ruse meant to put Americans in a fighting mood and lose their fear of nuclear conflagration. It isn’t clear if Clinton and the rest of the would-be warriors actually realize they are risking mushroom clouds. Perhaps they believe that Vladimir Putin will be easily pushed around when all evidence points to the contrary. “Regime change is once again their modus operandi and they hope to make it a reality against Russia.” The unproven allegations of interference in the presidential election and casting blame on Russia as the sole cause of suffering in Syria are meant to desensitize the public. It is an age old ploy which makes war not just acceptable but deemed a necessity. The usual suspects are helping out eagerly. The corporate media, led by newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post , are front and center in pushing tales of Russian villainy. Human Rights Watch and other organizations who care nothing about abuses committed by the United States and its allies are also playing their usual role of choosing the next regime change victim. Russia lost its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council in part because of American pressure and public relations assistance from the human rights industrial complex. The UNHRC is now chaired by Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy that funds the jihadist terrorist groups who caused 500,000 Syrian deaths. The Saudis are causing dislocation, death and starvation in Yemen, too, but they are American allies, so there is little opposition to their misdeeds. The openly bigoted Donald Trump has been the perfect foil for Hillary Clinton. That is why she and the rest of the Democratic Party leadership preferred him as their rival. He made the case for the discredited lesser evilism argument and his sensible statements about avoiding enmity with Russia made him even more useful. “Newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, are front and center in pushing tales of Russian villainy.” The United States and its allies are the cause of Syria’s destruction. Their effort to overthrow president Assad created a humanitarian disaster complete with ISIS and al Nusra fighters who love to chop off heads for entertainment. Far from being the cause of the catastrophe Russia left its ally to fight alone for four years. They even made overtures to negotiate [4] Assad’s fate with the United States. All attempts to stop the fighting were rejected by the U.S. and NATO and sealed the fate of the Syrian people. The people of east Aleppo are being shelled by American allies but one wouldn’t know that by reading what passes for journalism in newspapers and on television. The American role in the slaughter is barely mentioned or is excused as an effort to protect the civilian population. The bloodshed was made in the U.S. and could end if this government wanted it to. Nearly every claim of Russian evil doing is a lie, a ruse meant to put Americans in a fighting mood and lose their fear of nuclear conflagration. It isn’t clear if Clinton and the rest of the would-be warriors actually realize they are risking mushroom clouds. Perhaps they believe that Vladimir Putin will be easily pushed around when all evidence points to the contrary. The anti-Russian propaganda effort has worked to perfection. NATO is massing troops on Russia’s borders in a clear provocation yet Putin is labeled the bad guy. He is said to be menacing the countries that join in threatening his nation. The United States makes phony claims of Russian war crimes despite having blood on its hands. The latest Human Rights Watch canards about prosecuting Assad come straight from the White House and State Department and have nothing to do with concern for Syrians living in their fifth year of hell. “Donald Trump has been the perfect foil for Hillary Clinton.” There is no lesser evil between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. She is fully supported by the war party in her desire for a more “muscular” foreign policy. That bizarre term means death and starvation for millions more people if Clinton wins in a landslide. She must be denied a victory of that magnitude and any opportunity to claim a mandate. Peace loving people must give their votes to the Green Party ticket of Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka. They are alone in rejecting the premise of an imperialist country and its endless wars. The United States is the most dangerous country in the world. If it has a reckless and war loving president the threat becomes existential. That is the prospect we face with a Hillary Clinton presidency. If the role of villain is cast on the world stage she is the star of the show. Source URL: http://blackagendareport.com/russophobia_war_party_propaganda | 1real |
#BoycottJemeleHill #ESPN Gives Racist Pig Host Slap On the Wrist For Calling Trump and Kid Rock “White Supremacists” [VIDEO] | ESPN host Jemele Hill called President Trump and Kid Rock white supremacists . It didn t end there she said in one of several tweets that Trump is unfit to be president. The screenshot below gives you an idea of how Hill represents ESPN on twitter. It s disgusting!What did ESPN do? You guessed it NOTHING! They tweeted out a mild apology and that s it!This is after Mike Ditka was fired for supporting President Trump and criticizing Obama. Kurt Schilling was also fired after posting a picture on social media against transgender bathrooms.Why hasn t this woman been fired by ESPN?Please contact ESPN to let them know how you feel about this outrage: ESPNTucker Carlson spoke with the awesome Clay Travis last night. Travis shed some light on why Hill is still employed by ESPN: | 1real |
Russia's Zapad war games unnerve the West | TALLINN/VILNIUS (Reuters) - From planes, radars and ships in the Baltics, NATO officials say they are watching Russia s biggest war games since 2013 with calm and confidence , but many are unnerved about what they see as Moscow testing its ability to wage war against the West. NATO believes the exercises, officially starting on Thursday in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, are already underway. It says they are larger than Moscow has publicized, numbering some 100,000 troops, and involve firing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. Codenamed Zapad or West , NATO officials say the drills will simulate a conflict with the U.S.-led alliance intended to show Russia s ability to mass large numbers of troops at very short notice in the event of a conflict. NATO remains calm and vigilant, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said last week during a visit to an Estonian army base where British troops have been stationed since March. But Lithuania s Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis was less sanguine, voicing widely-felt fears that the drills risk triggering an accidental conflict or could allow Moscow to leave troops in neighboring Belarus. We can t be totally calm. There is a large foreign army massed next to Lithuanian territory, he told Reuters. Some Western officials including the head of the U.S. Army in Europe, Gen. Ben Hodges, have raised concerns that Russia might use the drills as a Trojan horse to make incursions into Poland and Russian-speaking regions in the Baltics. The Kremlin firmly rejects any such plans. Russia says some 13,000 troops from Russia and Belarus will be involved in the Sept. 14-20 drills, below an international threshold that requires large numbers of outside observers. NATO will send three experts to so-called visitor days during the exercises, but a NATO official said these were no substitute for meeting internationally-agreed norms at such exercises that include talking to soldiers and briefings. Moscow says it is the West that threatens stability in eastern Europe because the U.S.-led NATO alliance has put a 4,000-strong multinational force in the Baltics and Poland. Wrong-footed by Moscow in the recent past, with Russia s seizure of Crimea in 2014 and its intervention in Syria s war in 2015, NATO is distrustful of the Kremlin s public message. In Crimea, Moscow proved a master of hybrid warfare , with its mix of cyber attacks, disinformation campaigns and use of Russian and local forces without insignia. One senior European security official said Zapad would merge manoeuvres across Russia s four western military districts in a complex, multi-dimensional aggressive, anti-NATO exercise . It is all smoke and mirrors, the official said, adding that the Soviet-era Zapad exercises that were revived in 1999 had included simulated nuclear strikes on Europe. NATO officials say they have been watching Russia s preparations for months, including the use of hundreds of rail cars to carry tanks and other heavy equipment into Belarus. As a precaution, the U.S. Army has moved 600 paratroopers to the Baltics during Zapad and has taken over guardianship of the airspace of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, which lack capable air forces and air defense systems. Russia s military show of force raises some uncomfortable questions for the alliance because NATO cannot yet mass large numbers of troops quickly, despite the United States military might, NATO officials and diplomats said. NATO, a 29-nation defense pact created in 1949 to deter the Soviet threat, has already begun its biggest modernization since the Cold War, sending four battalions to the Baltics and Poland, setting up an agile, high-readiness spearhead force, and developing its cyberspace defenses. But NATO has deliberately taken a slowly-slowly approach to its military build-up to avoid being sucked into a new arms race, even as Russia has stationed anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles in Kaliningrad, the Black Sea and Syria. The last thing we want is a military escalation with Russia, said one senior NATO official involved in military planning, referring to Zapad. In the event of any potential Russian incursion into the Baltics or Poland, NATO s new multinational forces would quickly need large reinforcements. But a 40,000-strong force agreed in 2015 is still being developed, officials say. Lithuania s Karoblis said he hoped to see progress by the next summit of NATO leaders in July 2018. Baltic politicians want more discretion given to NATO to fight any aggressor in the event of an attack, without waiting for the go-ahead from allied governments. During Zapad, NATO is taking a low-key approach by running few exercises, including an annual sniper exercise in Lithuania. Only non-NATO member Sweden is holding a large-scale drill. NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe James Everard told Reuters there was no need to mirror Zapad. It s not a competition, he said during a visit to NATO forces in Latvia. | 0fake |
Corruption Scandals With Brazilian Roots Cascade Across Latin America - The New York Times | LIMA, Peru — A former Peruvian president is a fugitive, charged with taking bribes. In Colombia, prosecutors say its president’s campaign accepted dirty money. And intelligence agents in Venezuela arrested journalists and researchers looking into scandals there. Latin America’s biggest corruption scandal is shaking the continent’s political establishment. It can all be traced back to Odebrecht, the Brazilian construction company, which has built major projects throughout the region and late last year settled with the United States, Brazil and Switzerland for up to $4. 5 billion under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for an elaborate bribe scheme involving $800 million in payoffs in exchange for lucrative contracts. It was the largest anticorruption settlement in history. Prosecutors said the company paid bribes on 100 projects in more than a dozen countries, from Mexico to Angola, in one case buying a local bank branch to hide the transactions, and even opening a division specifically dedicated to payoffs. Throughout Latin America, the company built bridges, dams, power plants, roads and stretches of a highway to link Brazil and Peru that went more than four times over budget. Nearly three years of investigations have resulted in 77 Brazilian Odebrecht executives signing plea deals, and the company’s former chief executive, Marcelo Odebrecht, is in prison. Now the charges are cascading across the region. “Once you start opening these cases, it’s a Pandora’s box — it could go on for years,” said Shannon K. O’Neil, an analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations. Yet she called it a positive development for the region, showing “the anticorruption movement in Latin America is gaining ground. ” Perhaps the most spectacular case so far involves Alejandro Toledo, the president of Peru from 2001 to 2006, and a wanted man since a judge issued an arrest warrant last week on charges that he had accepted up to $35 million in bribes. Mr. Toledo’s whereabouts was unknown, and Peruvians have been captivated. On Sunday night, he surfaced on Twitter, where he posted a statement attesting to his innocence and denied that he was hiding out. “I never fled from anything. When I left Peru, there were no Odebrecht charges against me, but they call me a ‘fugitive,’ ” he wrote, saying nothing of his location. The current Peruvian president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, has asked President Trump to extradite Mr. Toledo should he be found in the United States. In Lima, the capital, the legacy of Odebrecht is hard to miss. A statue of Christ with arms outspread that overlooks the city’s coast was donated by the company. But Odebrecht has also reaped the benefits of its connections to the country. The Interoceanic Highway, for example, begun under Mr. Toledo’s administration, cost $4. 5 billion, four times over budget. The overruns were approved by an official who is also under investigation by prosecutors. Under Ollanta Humala, Mr. Kuczynski’s predecessor, Odebrecht began a $7 billion natural gas pipeline to connect the Amazon to the coast by cutting through the Andes Mountains. Another former president, Alan García, oversaw the bidding for a subway line in Lima, which Odebrecht won and constructed. If Mr. Toledo is apprehended and convicted, he would be the second Peruvian president behind bars, after Alberto K. Fujimori, the country’s former dictator, who was convicted of human rights abuses. “For Peru, like any other country, even the possibility of having two presidents as prisoners is an embarrassment,” Marisol Pérez Tello, the country’s justice minister, said in an interview. But she added, “I think this is an important moment to think about our ability to institutionalize the fight against corruption. ” Farther north, in Colombia, leaders were on the defensive as prosecutors said they had evidence that Odebrecht had donated $1 million to President Juan Manuel Santos’s campaign in 2014. Speaking to reporters last week, the country’s attorney general said a former lawmaker, Otto Bula, had funneled Odebrecht money through an intermediary to the campaign. Mr. Bula is currently under arrest on charges of having paid about $4. 6 million in bribes for various projects in Colombia, including a road linking the country’s interior to the Magdalena River and Caribbean highway known as the Ruta del Sol. Mr. Santos had said he did not do anything wrong and is interested in a full investigation of the case. Roberto Prieto, Mr. Santos’s campaign manager, said in a statement last week he had not met Mr. Bula, “not even for a coffee. ” Investigators are also looking into dealings involving other politicians’ campaigns, including Oscar Iván Zuluaga, a candidate for president in the 2014 election. Ivan Garzón, a political scientist at Colombia’s University of La Sabana, said Odebrecht had shown how easy it was to hijack the country’s elections for its own gain. “It shows that the problems of exorbitant campaign costs, ones so high the candidates are ready to make a pact with the devil,” he said. In Venezuela, the authorities seem to be taking a different tack toward the revelations: cracking down on outsiders trying to investigate them. Hugo Chávez, the former president of Venezuela, was one of Odebrecht’s principal patrons, steering $11 billion toward Odebrecht for infrastructure projects, including public housing, that undergirded his revolution. But many of the projects, from bridges to agricultural buildings, were never finished. On Saturday, two researchers from Transparency International and two Brazilian journalists were arrested by Venezuelan intelligence agents while looking into an unfinished bridge Odebrecht was meant to construct over Lake Maracaibo, one of the company’s biggest projects. Jesús Urbina, one of the researchers, said they were questioned but not harmed. The Brazilian journalists were later deported. Juan Guaidó, an opposition lawmaker involved in investigating bribes, said the country’s secret police, controlled by President Nicolás Maduro, fears any attempts to document the unfinished projects. “I think the images of the projects as they look now with nothing done would leave them looking naked,” he said of the government. | 0fake |
Trump to issue emergency declaration next week on opioids | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would declare next week a national emergency on opioid abuse, a move that could give states access to federal funds to fight the drug crisis. The United States is battling a surge in opioid-related deaths, including 33,000 lives lost in 2015, more than any year on record, according to federal data. “The opioid is a tremendous emergency,” Trump told Fox Business Network. “Next week, I’m going to (be) declaring an emergency, (a) national emergency on drugs.” Trump is expected to provide a preview of his plans for tackling drug demand and the opioid crisis in remarks on Thursday. Trump said in August that he would declare opioid abuse a national emergency. Opioids, primarily prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl - a drug 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine - are fueling the drug overdoses. The declaration by Trump could help unlock more support and resources to address the drug overdose epidemic, such as additional funding and expanded access to various forms of treatment, and it gives the government more flexibility in waiving rules and restrictions to expedite action. | 0fake |
WATCH: Ted Cruz Lies Straight To The Camera After Trump Calls Him A Canadian Anchor Baby | Ted Cruz was approached at a campaign stop in New Hampshire and asked to give a response to Trump s latest attack, in which he calls Cruz a Canadian anchor baby. In and of itself, the question was not that fruitful but what is important is how Cruz handled it. Basically, all it told us was that Ted Cruz is great at lying (not like we didn t already know that).Senator Cruz looked right at the camera and after giving out a jolly laugh, said: I like Donald. And he s welcome to say whatever he likes. I like and respect him. That s all I got to say and right now its up to the voters to decide. He likes and respects him? How can that even be believable for a second? He didn t even say it sarcastically. No wonder nobody likes Ted Cruz; he doesn t even respect himself with the truth.While it s commendable that Ted Cruz would not resort to any further attacks, he s doing a greater disservice by lending further legitimacy to a guy that deserves ZERO political respect from the voters. And he didn t even mean it. Next thing you know this clip will be used in another campaign ad by Trump as proof that he s a respectable guy. Yet he s nowhere close to it. Ted Cruz needs to grow some balls.While it is true that Cruz and Trump had a bromance before Ted Cruz started rising in the polls, whatever love and affection they had for each other effectively ended when Donald began attacking him below the belt in every way imaginable. How can Ted Cruz respect someone who just a few weeks ago referred to him a nasty guy. The full quote is much, much worse than that: Look, the truth is, he s a nasty guy. He was so nice to me. I mean, I knew it. I was watching. I kept saying, Come on Ted. Let s go, okay. But he s a nasty guy. Nobody likes him. Nobody in Congress likes him. Nobody likes him anywhere once they get to know him. He s a very - he s got an edge that s not good. You can t make deals with people like that and it s not a good thing. It s not a good thing for the country. Very nasty guy. Video of Trump calling Ted Cruz an anchor baby in Canada https://t.co/lI6wle9E2b Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 29, 2016Ted Cruz doesn t respect Donald Trump; he just doesn t want to deal with any more attacks from him. He can t stand up for himself, pure and simple.Featured image via screen capture. | 1real |
Trump presidency would not hurt 2024 Olympics bid-LA mayor | BEVERLY HILLS, Calif (Reuters) - Even as U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump raises concerns among world leaders, the mayor of Los Angeles is confident that whoever reaches the White House will not hurt his city’s chances of landing the 2024 Olympics. “This is something that transcends politics,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said at the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) media summit on Tuesday. “Sports doesn’t ask what your party affiliation is. “When the dust settles on these presidential campaigns and we have a new president he or she will squarely be behind Los Angeles’ bid to bring these Games back to the U.S. “This is something that breaks down walls and something that brings us together.” Making that pitch to the International Olympic Committee, who will select a 2024 host in 2017, could prove challenging if Trump wins the U.S. presidency in November and follows through on his plans to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and ban Muslims from entering the United States. Los Angeles is up against European glamor cities Paris, Rome and Budapest in the race to host the 2024 Summer Games. USOC chairman Larry Probst conceded that at a time when Los Angeles is throwing out a welcome mat to the world the anti-immigration rhetoric being put forward by some presidential candidates will not make the challenge any easier. “At the end of the day this is about building positive relationships with the IOC membership,” Probst said after a USOC board meeting where they were briefed by LA24 officials. “There are extraneous things we can’t control. “We have to work as hard as we can at building those relationships with the voting members.” The USOC has felt the sting from an international backlash before as New York’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games and Chicago’s attempt to land the 2016 Olympics were soundly rejected, much of that attributed to a strong anti-American sentiment within the IOC at the time. “Our relationship within the IOC was not terrific if you look back six or seven years ago and (we) have worked really hard to rebuild those relationships,” said Probst. “That process is well underway and I think we are in a much better place than where we were a few years ago. “The feedback has been positive across the board. I have heard nothing but compliments about everything so far.” Countries bidding to host and Olympics have counted on their leaders to put them over the top. Russian President Vladimir Putin led his country’s bid for the 2014 Sochi Winter Games while British Prime Minister Tony Blair went to Singapore to trumpet London’s successful bid for 2012 Olympics. “Politicians, if they are good, reflect the people they represent and I know how the American people feel about the Olympics and I know how they feel about Olympians and Paralympians,” said Garcetti. “I know that the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games is something that touches our hearts and any good President is going to follow with that spirit.” | 0fake |
Donald Trump and Janet Yellen Look to Be on a Collision Course - The New York Times | Janet L. Yellen, the Federal Reserve chairwoman, made it clear Wednesday that she believes that the American economy is pretty much back on track. And that, in turn, sets the stage for a potential conflict with the incoming Trump administration in the months and years ahead. Congress assigns the Fed two goals: seek maximum employment and maintain stable prices. Ms. Yellen, in a speech in San Francisco, rather explicitly made clear that the nation isn’t far from attaining those goals. “Now, it’s fair to say, the economy is near maximum employment, and inflation is moving toward our goal,” she said. The unemployment rate, 4. 7 percent, is back near where it was before the 2008 recession. And “although inflation has been running below our 2 percent objective for quite some time, we have seen it start inching back toward 2 percent last year. ” It is Ms. Yellen’s clearest indication to date that the era of extraordinary efforts by the central bank to get the economy back in shape is nearing its end. The Fed has raised interest rates in each of the last two Decembers, and it is looking likely that there will be more than one rate increase this year. She said in her speech that she and her colleagues were expecting to increase the federal funds rate “a few times a year. ” As central bankers are wont to do, Ms. Yellen emphasized that those plans were contingent on the economy’s behaving as the Fed expected. If inflation starts to slip again, or improvements in the job market recede, the Fed will presumably hold off. But she spoke clearly of the risks of moving too slowly toward the neutral interest rate that neither stimulates nor slows the economy. “Waiting too long to begin moving toward the neutral rate could risk a nasty surprise down the road,” she said. “Either too much inflation, financial instability or both. ” But if things go as planned, there is a clear risk that the Fed’s goals could be on a collision course with the Trump administration’s goals. The and his advisers have often spoken of seeking stronger economic growth than the United States has experienced the last several years, perhaps seeking 3. 5 percent to 4 percent instead of the percent growth that has been the standard since 2009. A white paper by advisers to Mr. Trump released in the fall assessed the view that this lower growth rate reflected demographics and that it amounted to a “new normal,” and declared it “incomplete — and unnecessarily defeatist. ” That view is at odds with both Ms. Yellen’s comments Wednesday and economic projects that Fed officials have released. For example, the median Fed policy maker viewed the economy’s rate of G. D. P. growth as only 1. 8 percent a year, very much in the ballpark that Trump advisers would view as unnecessarily defeatist. So here’s one way things could go: The Fed steadily raises rates, to the degree that employment and inflation data cooperate with their forecasts, with faster rate increases the higher growth rises. It’s possible that what people in Mr. Trump’s orbit view as a desirable boom will look to Ms. Yellen and her colleagues as overheating, and prompt equal and opposite interest rate increases. There are a couple of potential twists in this story. The first would involve potential Trump appointments to the Fed the second could involve big moves in the dollar. Ms. Yellen’s term as chairwoman expires in about a year. Mr. Trump could appoint a new leader to the Fed who is more hospitable to his view (though she would have the option of continuing her time as a Fed governor, one of seven policy makers who are appointed to terms). There are two governor vacancies available now, so Mr. Trump could quickly influence the direction of the Fed with new appointees. But it’s not clear whether any new Trump appointees would steer the bank toward higher interest rates and greater concern about inflation or let a potential Trump boom advance unconstrained. Big fluctuations in the dollar could also shape a potential tension between Trumponomics and Fed policy. Economists believe a key element of a corporate income tax overhaul advanced by House Republicans, known as a border adjustment tax, would have the effect of creating a huge rally in the value of the dollar compared with other major currencies, perhaps 20 percent or more. The Fed has been more focused than ever in the last few years on how its decisions ripple through the global economy. It held off on rate increases in 2015 and early 2016 in significant part because a rally in the dollar seemed to be destabilizing many emerging markets and fueling risks of a global slowdown. A stronger dollar also reduces inflation in the United States, which in turn makes the Fed more inclined toward caution on rate increases. Mr. Trump has sent mixed messages on his views of a border adjustment tax, seeming to slap down the idea in a Wall Street Journal interview published this week. But if it looks as if policies on Capitol Hill are going to push the dollar up significantly. Of course, that too could cut in the other direction. A stronger dollar doesn’t help with Mr. Trump’s goals of reducing the trade deficit, and just this week he has seemed to try to talk the dollar down. Add up a week of new signals from incoming Trump administration officials and now Ms. Yellen’s speech, and it is looking like a distinct possibility that Ms. Yellen could wake up one morning in the year ahead to tweets directed her way, originating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. | 0fake |
Aspartame Turns Into Formaldehyde and Methanol in the Body: Donald Rumsfeld Got it Legalized | By Cassius Kamarampi Did you know that Aspartame literally turns into formaldehyde and methanol inside your body? It breaks down into, according to one paper, “phenylalanine (50%), aspartic acid... | 1real |
Rivals of incumbent seek to sway Czech policy towards west in presidential election | PRAGUE (Reuters) - A host of pro-western candidates met Tuesday s deadline to run for Czech president, seeking to unseat incumbent Milos Zeman who has leaned toward Russia and China. Czech presidents wield limited day-to-day power but have large informal influence and play a key role in forming governments - now under way following elections last month. The winner of the January presidential election will fuel or tame euroscepticism that has taken hold despite the country s economic success and stability since joining NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004. Zeman, 73, former Social Democrat leader and prime minister, is one of the major figures in the country s recent history, along with predecessors Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus. He remains the favorite to win a second five-year term according to bookmakers, despite limited public appearances in recent months due to diabetes and difficulty walking. So far the most serious rival to Zeman is chemist and former chief of the Czech Academy of Sciences Jiri Drahos who is running as an independent. Drahos, 68, is pro-EU and pro-NATO with a reserved and sober manner, a contrast to Zeman who has a reputation for swiping out at media and opponents. If Drahos wins, it would mean a pro-western, pro-European course, said political analyst Josef Mlejnek jr. Under Zeman, our politicians have often had to remind foreign partners that it is the government and not the president who is in charge of foreign policy, and that does not make a good impression especially if there is such an east-west discord between the two lines. Zeman took a sharp anti-EU turn when he took Russia s line in the Ukraine conflict and opposed EU sanctions. He also has adopted a sharply anti-immigration stance and said Islam was anti-civilisation . Zeman has also given support to Andrej Babis, a billionaire businessman whose ANO party won the parliamentary election last month and who Zeman promised to become prime minister. ANO did not field its own presidential candidate, which removes one of the potential threats to Zeman. Another pro-western contestant is Michal Horacek, 65, founder of betting firm Fortuna which he sold in 2004 and a recognized lyricist for pop music stars. Former centre-right prime minister Mirek Topolanek, whose cabinet collapsed during the country s EU presidency in 2009, also joined the race at the last minute. A eurosceptic, Topolanek s former right-hand man, Marek Dalik, started a 5-year jail sentence on Monday for corruption in army procurement while Topolanek was in office. In a poll published on Monday, Zeman led with 34 percent, followed by Drahos at 22 and Horacek at 13 percent. Another poll on Tuesday gave Drahos a 51-49 percent edge over Zeman in a hypothetical run-off. | 0fake |
Hillary Clinton Just Tossed Charles Koch A HUGE F*ck You After Kinda-Sorta-Endorsement (SCREENSHOTS) | We have some bad news for Charles Koch: Hillary Clinton just isn t that into you. Recently, the evil billionaire backer of the Tea Party announced that Republicans are so terrible, he is forced to admit that Hillary Clinton is possibly better than all of them. Koch told ABC s This Week that Clinton s husband was a much better President in terms of government spending than was George W. Bush, who is idolized by many conservatives. In some ways. In other ways, I mean he wasn t an exemplar. But as far as the growth of government, the increase in spending, it was 2.5 times under Bush than it was under Clinton, Koch said, explaining that for Hillary to be a better President than the entire Republican field, she would have to be a gigantic hypocrite who can be bought and sold like everyone else they back. Asked if he would support her campaign for President, Koch said: We would have to believe her actions would be quite different from her rhetoric, let me put it that way. While Koch is in love with Clinton as anyone on the Right is going to get, he probably should not expect much from her. On Sunday, Clinton let the Koch brothers know what she thinks of them and their money by essentially telling Charles to go f*ck himself.Referencing the Kochs climate denial and attempts to suppress minority voters, Clinton explained that she could not accept an endorsement from someone so evil. Not interested in endorsements from people who deny climate science and try to make it harder for people to vote, she said, linking the interview.Yes, it s no secret that the Republican field is chock-full of terribleness, but Koch is almost certainly not going to find any friends among Democrats these days. It s far, far too late for that.Watch the interview below:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pvqf3mSz8yQFeatured image via Getty Images (John Moore)/screengrab | 1real |
الكرملين: معادلة كلينتون- ترامب لا تهم بوتين - RT Arabic | انسخ الرابط http://ar.rt.com/i5gh أكد الكرملين أن الرئيس الروسي، فلاديمير بوتين، مستعد للتفاوض مع أي رئيس أمريكي جديد، شريطة أن تصب هذه المفاوضات في مصالح روسيا القومية.
وقال دميتري بيسكوف، الناطق الصحفي باسم الرئيس الروسي، الأربعاء 26 أكتوبر/تشرين الأول: "الأهم بالنسبة للرئيس الروسي ليس ترامب وليست كلينتون، إنما الشيء الأهم بالنسبة له هو مصالح روسيا. ومن أجل مصالح روسيا، كما قال الرئيس مرارا، فهو مستعد لإجراء مفاوضات مع أي زعيم دولة أجنبية، ولا سيما مع رئيس الولايات المتحدة، من أجل تطوير علاقات ثنائية متبادلة المنفعة تساهم في ازدهار الدولتين".
وجاء تصريح بيسكوف، في معرض تعليقه على ما قاله المرشح الجمهوري في الانتخابات الأمريكية، دونالد ترامب، حين رجح أن بوتين لن يريد التعامل مع الديمقراطية هيلاري كلينتون في حال فوزها بالانتخابات.
وشدد بيسكوف، قائلا: "سؤال من سيترأس الولايات المتحدة، ليس مسألة تخص بوتين أو روسيا، إنما هي مسألة تخص الناخب الأمريكي".
الخارجية الروسية: ننتظر أن تتهمنا واشنطن بتدبير "ثورة ملونة"
بدوره، أعرب سيرغي ريباكوف، نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي، عن دهشته مما وصلت إليه واشنطن في اتهاماتها السخيفة الموجهة إلى روسيا بالتدخل في العمليات الانتخابية بالولايات المتحدة.
وتابع، في معرض تعليقه على الاتهامات الموجهة إلى روسيا بمهاجمة الشبكات الإلكترونية للحزب الديمقراطي في الولايات المتحدة: "فيما يخص الاتهامات بشن هجمات إلكترونية، فهي أمر مثير للأسف أن نرى انحدار السياسيين الامريكيين إلى مثل هذا المستوى من كره روسيا".
وتابع بسخرية، أنه ينتظر أن يصل الأمريكيون لحد اتهام روسيا بتدبير "ثورة ملونة" في الولايات المتحدة، على غرار "الثورات" التي دعمتها واشنطن في عدد من دول الاتحاد السوفيتي السابق.
وسبق لـ كلينتون أن اتهمت روسيا بالتدخل في الحملة الانتخابية بالولايات المتحدة، من أجل دعم خصمها دونالد ترمب، في الوقت الذي يعتبر فيه المرشح الجمهوري هذه المزاعم مثيرة للسخرية.
وتعود هذه القضية إلى اختراق البريد الإلكتروني التابع للجنة الوطنية للحزب الديمقراطي الأمريكي، إذ بدأ موقع "ويكيليكس" بنشر رسائل مسربة لموظفي الحزب تتعلق بملابسات الحملة الانتخابية الأخيرة، وتثير شكوكا حول انحياز قيادة الحزب في سياق الانتخابات التمهيدية داخله، والتي فازت فيها كلينتون.
وفي الخريف الحالي، بدأ الموقع بنشر رسائل لرئيس حملة كلينتون الانتخابية، جون بوديستا، تتضمن العديد من المعلومات والتصريحات الحساسة لوزيرة الخارجية السابقة، بما في ذلك تصريحاتها في مناسبات خاصة.
وبغض النظر عن الاتهامات بشن الهجمات الإلكترونية، يبقى موضوع روسيا ورئيسها حاضرا بقوة خلال المراحل النهائية للسباق بين ترامب وكلينتون، قبيل الانتخابات التي ستجري في 8 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني. وفي الوقت الذي لا تضيع فيه كلينتون أي فرصة لمهاجمة بوتين وسياسته حول سوريا، يؤكد ترامب استعداده لبناء علاقات جيدة مع روسيا. والبحث عن حل وسط حول سوريا.
وفي آخر تصريح له، اعتبر ترامب أن خطة منافسته الديمقراطية حول سوريا "ستؤدي إلى حرب عالمية ثالثة" بسبب احتمال نشوب صراع عسكري مع روسيا.
وقال ترامب، في مقابلة مع وكالة "رويترز"، إن هزيمة تنظيم "داعش" تحظى بالأولوية على إقناع الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد بالتنحي.
المصدر: وكالات
أوكسانا شفانديوك تعليمات استخدام خدمة التعليقات على صفحات موقع قناة "RT Arabic" (اضغط هنا) العناوين | 1real |
Trump Supporter Kicked Out Of Trump Rally; Bet You Can Guess Why (VIDEO) | Donald Trump s popularity with African-Americans is somewhere near zero. Still, there are some African-American Trump supporters, but it appears that Trump doesn t want anything to do with them, at least not when they show up to his rallies.An African-American Trump supporter attended a rally for the GOP candidate on Wednesday in Kinston, North Carolina. Soon, Trump s other supporters began singling the man out by waving their signs in his direction. When Trump saw him, his initial response was, That s all right, leave him alone. Then, Trump changed his mind. We have a protester, said the candidate to boos from the crowd. By the Way, were you paid $1,500 to be a thug? Where s the protester? Where is he? Was he paid? This was in reference to a heavily edited video by James O Keefe that supposedly implicated Democrats in sending violent agitators to Trump rallies.Then, Trump s security detail began escorting the man out of the rally, with cheers from the audience and You can get him out. Get him out, from Trump.Here s the video:This man was no Democratic plant, even if the Democratic plants exist. He was a longtime Trump supporter and North Carolina resident, C.J. Cary. All he wanted to do was hand the self-described billionaire a note.Cary, in a phone interview Saturday with The Washington Post, said he had gone to the rally because he wanted to hand-deliver a note to the Republican presidential nominee. He made his way to about 20 to 30 feet from the stage and was shouting Donald! while waving his note around to try to catch his attention. Everyone else is waving Trump signs and I m waving this white letter, Cary, 63, said. He said that, coupled with the fact that he was wearing sunglasses during an evening rally to deal with his sensitivity to light, may have been what set people off.Source: Washington PostStrangely, Cary still wants to vote for Trump. He believes he shares a history with the businessman. Cary wrote to Trump back in 1992 when Trump was separating from Ivana. Trump allegedly wrote back. Since then, he s been a fan a yuuuuge fan. He has about 100 Trump signs in his yard and he wants to defeat lying Hillary and lying Obama. Why does he like Trump? He calls him honest, while Trump calls him a thug. Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. | 1real |
Schumer: Trump’s Order ’Will Make Us Less Safe,’ ’Encourage Lone Wolves’ in America - Breitbart | Monday on NBC’s “Today,” while discussing President Donald Trump’s executive order that halted immigration from seven countries into the United States, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( ) declared the act would “make us less safe” and that it would “encourage lone wolves in America. ” Schumer said, “First, it was done in such a sloppy and care less way. Major agencies, the Border Patrol, Customs didn’t know about it. There were major holes in how it was done. It almost seems like a back of the envelope. So even for those who might be for this, I’m certainly opposed, the slap dash way it was done was appalling and created the chaos. More importantly this will make us less safe. John McCain is exactly right. It will encourage lone wolves in America, they have created most of the terrorism. The biggest problems we’ve had with terrorism are not from these countries. In fact, there is something called the Visa waiver program which allows people from France or Belgium, places where there are known terrorists to come in no questions asked. I don’t even get what they were getting at because they are not stopping terror, they are instead doing what in effect as Rudy Giuliani said a Muslim ban. That is against what America is all about. ” He added, “This evening I will ask for a vote on the floor of the senate to repeal this. Senator Feinstein has carefully thought out legislation to repeal this. I hope Mitch McConnell allows that vote. Already 11 Republicans, not just the ones you have shown have spoken out against this. We should repeal this and then we should sit down in a careful thoughtful way, figure out ways we need to tighten up things. ” ( Grabien) Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0fake |
Russia won't hand over suspect in Montenegro coup attempt: RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will not hand over to Montenegro the person wanted by the Balkan nation as a suspect in a coup attempt, the RIA news agency cited the Russian prosecutor general s office as saying on Wednesday. Montenegro says a group of Serb and Russian nationalists had a plan to attack state institutions on the day of an election last year and kill then-Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who held the post for a total of 21 years. The Kremlin has dismissed the accusation as absurd. The Russian prosecutor-general s office said it had refused to hand over to Montenegro the person, who it identified as Ananie Nikic, because he had earlier been given refugee status by Moscow. | 0fake |
White House says Flynn's Russia plea implicates Flynn alone | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The guilty plea entered by former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn to a charge of lying to the FBI implicates Flynn alone, the White House said in a statement on Friday. “Nothing about the guilty plea or the charge implicates anyone other than Mr. Flynn,” said Ty Cobb, a White House attorney. “The false statements involved mirror the false statements to White House officials which resulted in his resignation in February of this year,” Cobb said, adding that the plea “clears the way for a prompt and reasonable conclusion” of the Office of the Special Counsel’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and potential collusion by Trump’s campaign. | 0fake |
Milestones in the Supreme Court immigration case | (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a challenge by 26 states to President Barack Obama’s executive action to defer deportation of certain immigrant children and parents who are in the country illegally. Here is a chronology of the case, United States v. Texas: June 15, 2012 - The Obama administration, through the Department of Homeland Security, initiates the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which suspends deportation for two years for people who entered the country illegally at least five years earlier, before they were age 16, and who were under age 31 as of June 15, 2012. Nov. 20, 2014 - Obama, through unilateral executive action, initiates a new deferred-deportation and work-authorization policy for immigrants whose children are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents and who have been living illegally in the United States since Jan. 1, 2010. These people must pass certain background checks for possible past criminal convictions. The program is called Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA). The Obama administration also expands the earlier DACA program by eliminating the age-31 cap and increasing deferred deportation from two to three years. Dec. 3, 2014 - Texas and other Republican-governed states sue the Democratic Obama administration in U.S. district court in Texas. They assert that Obama’s Nov. 20 executive actions, which bypassed the Republican-led Congress, violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) notice-and-comment requirements for new federal agency rules and violated the U.S. Constitution’s dictate that a president “take care” that laws are “faithfully executed.” In all, 26 of the 50 U.S. states eventually sign on to the lawsuit: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Feb. 16, 2015 - U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in the border city of Brownsville, Texas issues an injunction blocking enforcement of the programs nationwide. The judge says the Obama administration had failed to offer notice and seek comments under the Administrative Procedure Act. Administration lawyers counter that the actions did not arise from official rule-making but rather from Homeland Security Department discretion on deportation priorities. May 26, 2015 - After the administration appeals the judge’s decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, upholds Hanen’s injunction, pending an appeal on the merits of the case. Nov. 9, 2015 - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit rules for Texas and the other states, throwing out Obama’s DAPA and expanded DACA actions because, the court says, they were subject to notice-and-comment requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act. Jan. 19, 2016 - The Supreme Court agrees to hear the administration’s appeal. The justices say they will review the Administrative Procedure Act issue as well as whether the program violates the “take care” mandate. A key question before the justices is whether Texas and the other states even have legal standing to bring the case based on a claim that Obama’s action would cost the states financially in certain public services such as the cost of issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. Feb. 13, 2016 - Justice Antonin Scalia dies, leaving the Supreme Court with only eight members - four liberals and four conservatives - and the possibility of a 4-4 deadlock. Such a split ruling would be a defeat for Obama because it would leave in place the 5th Circuit decision disallowing his executive action. April 18, 2016 - Oral arguments scheduled in United States v. Texas. A ruling is expected by the end of June. | 0fake |
Congregants’ Quiet Agony at the Dylann Roof Trial - The New York Times | CHARLESTON, S. C. — Each morning they flowed into Courtroom Six, escorted by federal officials from a holding room reserved for survivors and families of the victims. The accused, Dylann S. Roof, never turned from the end of the defense table to acknowledge the parents, widows and widowers, children, grandchildren and fellow congregants of the nine he confessed to killing in June 2015 at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Felicia Sanders, who survived the rampage but lost her son and her aunt, watched from the first of six rows of wooden benches, along with her husband, Tyrone. The Rev. Eric S. C. Manning, who now inhabits the office once occupied by the church’s pastor, the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, who was among those killed, sat one row back. The Rev. Anthony B. Thompson, whose wife, Myra, led the evening Bible study that Mr. Roof joined, always took his place in the fifth row, along with John Pinckney, the former pastor’s father. Until the jury returned a guilty verdict on Thursday afternoon, family members stoically endured a week of tormenting testimony in United States District Court, where Mr. Roof, 22, faced 33 counts. Many will be back on Jan. 3 when the same jury considers whether to sentence Mr. Roof to death. On Thursday morning, there were firm hugs between family members outside the courtroom after a prosecutor delivered a stirring closing argument, illustrated by gruesome crime scene photographs. On Wednesday, they heard from a medical examiner about the more than 60 wounds inflicted by his Winchester bullets. On Tuesday, they watched three unnerving videos that Mr. Roof filmed of himself taking backyard target practice with the murder weapon in a grip. Here is what it has been like for some in the courtroom: Mr. Thompson attended Mr. Roof’s trial each day except last Thursday, when he knew prosecutors would show photographs of the blood bath inside the fellowship hall. “I didn’t want to see the images,” he said in his office at Holy Trinity Reformed Episcopal Church, where he is vicar. “I didn’t want to have that in my head every day for the rest of my life, and of course I didn’t want to see my wife like that. ” His decision meant he also missed the videos, captured by a church security camera, of some of the final moments of his wife’s life: the clip of her striding purposefully in the side door at 5 p. m. dressed in a black suit and white blouse then the footage of her slipping out an hour later, warmly hugging two church members. Two hours after that, the camera captured Mr. Roof entering, a black pack around his waist, weighted by a . Glock and eight loaded magazines. “It has been an emotional roller coaster,” Mr. Thompson said. “We have shed tears. There has been fear of the unknown. ” Mr. Thompson, 64, was one of the five family members who, in a spontaneous demonstration of grace, expressed forgiveness for Mr. Roof at his bond hearing less than 48 hours after the shootings. That has not changed, he said, despite watching Mr. Roof’s nonchalant and largely remorseless admission to plotting the assault to foment racial strife. “I have no intentions of taking that back,” the clergyman said, stressing that his forgiveness had been more for himself than for Mr. Roof. “He is not a part of my life anymore. Forgiveness has freed me of that, of him completely. I’m not going to make him a lifetime partner. ” That said, he wished the Justice Department had accepted Mr. Roof’s offer to plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence. “The bad part is having to relive it, the going back to the beginning,” he said. “It’s just a lot to bear. ” Mr. Thompson said he finds Mr. Roof a pathetic figure but not mentally defective, as Mr. Roof’s lawyers would like the jury to believe. As a result, although he opposes the death penalty, he does not much care what happens to Mr. Roof. “His sentence won’t affect the way I live, won’t bring my wife back,” he said. “Whatever he gets I look at it as, well, that’s what he’s supposed to get. I have no choice in the matter. ” Mr. Manning had no connection to Mother Emanuel until January, when he won appointment to the historic pulpit after a tumultuous six months in which the church’s leadership changed three times. Other than his predecessor, Mr. Pinckney, he did not know any of the victims. But he has been in court each day, all day, since jury selection began, often joined by a fellow Emanuel minister, Brenda Nelson. Ms. Nelson would have joined the Bible study on any other Wednesday, but on that sweltering night she drove home to meet an repairman. Mr. Manning, 49, said he felt it important to be at the courthouse to demonstrate “a ministry of presence. ” “You might not be able to say everything, but just that you can smile and they can smile back and you can hug, they know you’re there,” he said. The pastor has been preaching from the Book of Psalms during the trial, reminding his congregation on Sunday that “in the midst of all of this, God’s joy is the one constant. ” Mr. Manning said he had been moved by the stoicism of those around him, and of the two survivors who testified. “What has been displayed,” he said, “is just the determination to show once again the resilience and how strong our faith and trust is in God. ” The video taken before the murders of his church’s stalwarts affected him deeply. “They were just there doing what they have done on so many other Wednesdays, just there to study God’s word,” he said. “And in the midst of that, evil presented itself. ” Although his church opposes the death penalty, he acknowledged that Mr. Roof’s lack of remorse had given him “momentary pause. ” “But you have to always still do what is required, you have to forgive,” he said. “Now, am I there? I don’t know yet. Maybe that’s a question I’ll be able to answer after the trial. ” Jennifer Benjamin Pinckney, who was married to the Rev. Clementa Pinckney for 16 years, and Johnette Pinckney Martinez, the pastor’s adoring younger sister, have been inseparable during the trial. Ms. Pinckney and her daughter were in the pastor’s study when the killings began, and huddled beneath a desk as bullets pierced the office wall. One of her first calls was to her in Irmo, near Columbia. “Get to Charleston,” she implored. Eighteen months later, the trial has brought it all back. “It’s been pretty difficult to hear some of the things, well, most of the things,” Ms. Martinez, a corrections officer, said. “But for me it was another step in the healing process. ” The most painful moment was seeing the photographs of Mr. Pinckney, dressed as ever in his dark suit (he even wore them to high school) dead on the linoleum floor, blood pooling from his upper torso. Ms. Pinckney, a school librarian, said that the experience had been “emotionally excruciating” and that her reactions had coursed from tears to fury. Both women said it had been comforting to see the surveillance video of the Pinckney family arriving at church, the pastor holding his daughter’s hand. He hugged a woman on her way out, patted another on the back, helped a third down a step. “That was him all the time,” Ms. Pinckney said of her husband, who was also a state senator. “He’s always greeting people, always hugging people, always interacting with people. It was his final moment, and it’s something I’ve seen dozens of times over. ” Both women said they were stunned to see evidence downloaded from the GPS in Mr. Roof’s car that he had cased the church on six trips to Charleston from his home near Columbia. “It was an eerie feeling to know he had been there for that period of time,” Ms. Pinckney said. “He was in the midst of everyone, knowing what he was planning. ” She remains bewildered that he targeted Mother Emanuel. Given the devastation he caused, what confounded Ms. Martinez as she observed Mr. Roof was his boyishness and his slight frame. “It’s just unbelievable,” she said. “I would never have thought a child that young — a man that young — would have so much hate in his heart. ” | 0fake |
A guide to the Paradoxroutine | A guide to the Paradoxroutine page: 1 Hah I'm here randomly post, and be good at nothing. If I were to sum up myself in one form or another it would be this: What is it that I wish to create? In a seamless dance of hope and intrigue, I jitter and pounce on that which does define. But in an ends' motion what is it that I have made? More musing of a solid soul, a gasp of an angel brought forth upon the devils mask. Shattered within a hopeless contextual void of self dissolution. To dissolve in ones own thoughts of regard of high and mighty being? In the beginning what is it that we seek? In hell and high water, in times of disregard. What is it that seeks us. From times of happenstance to those of remorse. Again we beckon the call to purpose and resolve. Every time, even without a moments clarity we call too and forth of the void, to give us direction. Show me ways beyond vice, ways not wanted of founded living, shallower within such a world. Should they be down caste or sought without voice? Give me guidance before the light. Hope before the void. I shall know of the kingship of a heralds' life, before the life of a herald be know to his people. To this preponderance I shadow skirt my minds eye, to a veil beyond the guise that which is a worded Maya. I find such things a mere hope of sound falling. Give me hope or the hope of death. Give me light or knowledge of only darkness. Give not guidance, but a misadventured fall into the abysmal realm of chance and near do wells shortcomings. Shall be you chance or stones carved Providence? I beckon the call to truth, yet I hope and pray tell that none does exist. The only way to continue searching, is to never find the answer we seek. To find is to know, to know is to be content. To be content is to stagnant in truth. To find death in one truth, one truth among many. To live is to know nothing, but to know what you understand has already become false by nature is to understand that my musings are bull****. edit on 10|27|2016 by Paradoxroutine because: Because I'm a dumbass. | 1real |
Former Trump Aide Fired For Somehow Being Too Racist Endorses Cruz | Let nobody tell you racists don t have options this election. If you re a racist who is turned off by Trump or perhaps, fired from his campaign you can always jump onto the Cruz train and fit right in.That s what former Trump adviser Sam Nunberg discovered when he was abruptly fired from Trump s campaign for the impressive feat of being too racist for Trump. He didn t have to stay out in the cold for very long, now he s shilling for Cruz.In an exclusive with POLITICO, Nunberg completed his 180 degree spin on Trump and now says Cruz is the only choice for president. Cruz is a Reagan Conservative. Donald Trump does not have a coherent political ideology if anything, I would describe him as a Chris Christie Republican. When did I decide that I could no longer support Trump? Last fall, when he did not have any idea of what the nuclear triad is in a debate. Actually, he didn t decide when he should stop supporting Trump he was fired by Trump for a series of vile Facebook posts targeting President Obama, African Americans, and liberals with racist, violent rhetoric. In 2007, he called Civil Rights Leader Al Sharpton s daughter the N-word.He frequently referred to Obama as a Socialist Marxist Islamo Fascist Nazi Appeaser or a Pan Arabist Marxist Muslim. He is also of course a rabid birther. His comments were so noxious, that Trump was forced to part ways with him.And now he s Team Cruz and he has a completely different versions of events. Hilariously, he told POLITICO that it was Trump s failure to denounce (fellow) white supremacist David Duke as part of what led him to have a falling out with Trump. Apparently Nunberg believes in firing him, Trump got rid of the wrong racist in his campaign.Nunberg s effortless shift to Cruz only reinforces what many critics have been saying all along: The vote Cruz to stop Trump movement within the Republican Party, endorsed by moderates like Mitt Romney, isn t picking the lesser of two evils. Both candidates are shockingly bad options, and vile in their own ways. Voting for either means resigning the Republican Party to its worst elements: Racism, xenophobia, religious fanaticism and war-mongering. The choice isn t between Trump and Cruz, it s between either and decency.Republicans should work on building a party that Nunberg feels uncomfortable in. He shouldn t have options to choose from, he should be left out completely.Featured image via Talking Points Memo | 1real |
Survivor of Connecticut Plane Crash Tells of Argument in Cockpit - The New York Times | In the moments before a Piper Seneca plane plunged into a street in a suburban Connecticut town, tearing through power lines and narrowly avoiding people on the ground, the two men on board had a heated exchange, law enforcement officials said on Wednesday. Only one of the men, Arian Prevalla, a flight instructor, survived the crash on Tuesday, crawling from the wreckage, badly burned and bruised, just before the aircraft burst into flames on Main Street in East Hartford. His account of what took place in those final moments has led investigators to believe that the aircraft was intentionally driven into the ground — although the motive remains unclear. The crash took place near the gates of one of the world’s largest manufacturers of jet engines, Pratt Whitney, so federal agents were called to the scene as a matter of course. When Mr. Prevalla told investigators the crash was not an accident, the Federal Bureau of Investigation took over the case. A federal law enforcement official briefed on the case said that there was no evidence of international terrorism, or that the crash was politically motivated. Given the nature of the argument in the cockpit, investigators are looking into whether the instructor’s student had mental health problems and was trying to commit suicide, law enforcement officials said. The student, Fera M. Freitekh, 28, was a Jordanian national of Palestinian descent who came to the United States several years ago to pursue his lifelong dream of becoming a pilot, according to his cousin Freitekh. A Facebook page that appears to belong to Mr. Freitekh features several videos of him flying over Niagara Falls and making landings. In one picture, he is kissing the nose of a plane. It also includes a video display of a July 4 fireworks celebration, with Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U. S. A. ” playing in the background. Mr. Prevalla, speaking to investigators from his hospital bed, where he was recovering on Wednesday, outlined an argument the two had had in the cockpit in the moments before the crash. The details of that confrontation are what led law enforcement officials to believe it was a suicide and not something more sinister. The plane, used for training, was equipped with two sets of controls, one for the instructor and one for the student. In his statement to investigators, Mr. Prevalla said the arguing occurred as they made a final approach to Runway 20 at Airport. Mr. Freitekh was coming in for a landing when he told the instructor that “something’s a little off here,” a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said. Mr. Prevalla, according to the official, “says, ‘Let me take over.’ And the kid comes in for a second time for a landing, or he doesn’t let him take over. ” Mr. Prevalla was becoming increasingly anxious, and as they made a second approach, he told Mr. Freitekh, “I’m taking over,” according to the official. But apparently before the instructor could get control, Mr. Freitekh sent the plane into a onto Main Street. Looking at the wreckage, which remained scattered on the street on Wednesday, it was hard to see how anyone was able to escape. The plane crashed around 3:30 p. m. on Tuesday, tearing through telephone wires and power lines as it barreled toward the busy street. It burst into flames only yards from a minivan with several passengers, narrowly missing the vehicle and people on the ground. Lt. Josh Litwin of the East Hartford Police Department, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said, “The fact that there were not more casualties is pretty amazing. ” Mr. Freitekh’s cousin, who was interviewed in Jordan, said Mr. Freitekh first came to the United States three years ago to study flying. When he was not able to take his final exam for financial reasons, he returned to Jordan to make money selling video games online and working at a clothing store, according to the cousin. After six or seven months, Mr. Freitekh was able to save enough money to return to the United States and resume his pilot lessons, eventually enrolling at the American Flight Academy in Hartford. Records with the Federal Aviation Administration show he was issued a private pilot certificate on May 29, 2015, and was certified to fly a plane. His cousin said he aspired to fly planes. Mr. Freitekh’s mother lives in a neighborhood in the Jordanian capital, Amman. His father, who remains married to his mother, came to the United States about a decade ago for financial reasons. His cousin said that Mr. Freitekh “was not religious at all. ” “He did not pray,” the cousin continued. “Religion was not an issue. ” Investigators said Mr. Freitekh was most recently living with several roommates in an East Hartford apartment building. A neighbor, Wanda Sanchez, said Mr. Freitekh had shared with her in casual conversation that all five residents of the apartment were studying at the flight school. “They were quiet, peaceful,” Ms. Sanchez said. “They were always home. They told us they were trying to be pilots. ” | 0fake |
The Impossible Is Happening: Cubs Win World Series and Yes… Hillary Clinton is Now Likely to be Indicted | I’m running on about an hour and a half of sleep and my nails are damn near chewed to the bone. This because, as a diehard Cubs fan, I was up until nearly 1:00 AM working to come to grips with what I had just witnessed. Once I finally went to bed I found myself tossing and turning so at 3:30 I said screw it… I’m heading to the office.
My beloved Cubbies had just won the World Series, defeating the Cleveland Indians in what is likely to go down as one of the most EPIC game 7 battles in the history of professional baseball. The Cubs haven’t won a World Series since 1908, making this Championship something we Cubs fans could only dream about until it actually happened last night.
As prediction hub FiveThirtyEight put it just a few days ago… the chances were slim. How slim? Slimmer than the odds of Trump winning next Tuesday.
An impossible scenario just become very possible. And fortunately for America, another seemingly impossible scenario is now suddenly started to look very possible.
A Hillary Clinton indictment is now likely .
This coming via FBI sources telling Fox News host Bret Baier that the FBI is moving towards what is “likely an indictment.”
Baier’s report includes the following key points .
1. The Clinton Foundation investigation is far more expansive than anybody has reported so far and has been going on for more than a year.
2. The laptops of Clinton aides Cherryl Mills and Heather Samuelson have not been destroyed, and agents are currently combing through them. The investigation has interviewed several people twice, and plans to interview some for a third time.
3. Agents have found emails believed to have originated on Hillary Clinton’s secret server on Anthony Weiner’s laptop. They say the emails are not duplicates and could potentially be classified in nature.
4. Sources within the FBI have told him that an indictment is “likely” in the case of pay-for-play at the Clinton Foundation, “barring some obstruction in some way” from the Justice Department.
5. FBI sources say with 99% accuracy that Hillary Clinton’s server has been hacked by at least five foreign intelligence agencies, and that information had been taken from it.
That’s a pretty strong case for indictment. Of course, the corrupted DOJ can still do everything in its power to block justice, but it now appears the FBI is throwing DOJ demands out the window.
Gonna be an interesting few days ahead, folks. For those of us who are Cubs fans and news junkies sleep is not on the agenda.
| 1real |
Everything gentrification | 07-11-16 EVERYTHING is now gentrification, including attempts to stop gentrification. Hairdresser Helen Archer was accused of abetting the gentrification of her community when she tried to protest plans to turn a derelict pub into boutique flats for awful people. Archer, of Hackney Citizens Against Gentrification, said: “Apparently, residents’ associations are very trendy these days, and using direct action to confront property developers might lead to us being mistaken for a collective of Japanese fashion photographers. “Leafleting nearby streets is gentrification, writing to the council is definitely gentrification, and starting a blog about the destruction of local history is exactly the sort of thing a tosser in a corduroy waistcoat would do.” Professor Henry Brubaker, of the Institute of Studies, said: “Once the gentrification of a deprived area has begun, everything that happens there is evidence of its transformation into a pretentious haven for entitled bastards. “The pop-up cycle boutiques and organic juice salons are coming. They will come if you accept gentrification. They will come if you fight gentrification. Nothing can stop them. “Talking about gentrification is also gentrification, and so is reading about it, so this one’s on you too.”
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A Suicidologist’s New Challenge: The George Washington Bridge - The New York Times | Madelyn Gould is a preternaturally sunny person. She has a broad, easy smile, a charming Brooklyn accent and an infectious laugh. When she talks about herself, she often starts with the personal: She is the mother of three sons — identical twins who are 35, and one who is 27. She is the grandmother of a boy, and has been married to her husband, a pediatric neurologist, for 38 years. Tall and slender, she uses an elliptical trainer daily to keep in shape, and describes a class she takes every Tuesday night as the highlight of her week (aside from video chats with her grandson). She admits to having an anxious personality (“I grew up in East Flatbush! ”) which she learned to tame years ago by practicing Transcendental Meditation. Dr. Gould, a professor of epidemiology in Columbia University’s psychiatry department, has a tidy office in Washington Heights that is lined with books, family photos, multicolored notes and her grandson’s preschool masterpieces. The view is enviable, out across the George Washington Bridge and the shale cliffs on the far side of the Hudson River. But when Dr. Gould looks at the bridge, she sees something deeply troubling. For the past 30 years, Dr. Gould has plumbed the depths of despair, searching for ways to prevent what has exploded into one of the most significant public health threats facing young people: suicide. She is one of the country’s leading experts in its prevention and causes, and her research undergirds much of the modern thinking on the topic, including the phenomenon of suicide contagion. She has helped to establish recommendations for reporters so that they do not glamorize suicide when covering it, and she encourages those who have survived attempts at killing themselves to discuss their recovery as a way of inspiring others who feel they have lost all hope. She is also adamant about what she considers the most powerful deterrent of all: depriving people at particular risk of killing themselves of access to the means for doing so. She has urged the authorities to put barriers on bridges and other buildings, something that copious amounts of research show is effective. (After three suicides in the aughts at New York University’s Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, Dr. Gould consulted on ways to avoid additional deaths. In 2012, the university enclosed the perimeter of the building’s formerly open atrium with aluminum screens.) The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the George Washington Bridge, has put dozens of signs and several telephones on it to link desperate callers to trained crisis counselors, tactics that Dr. Gould’s research supports. Still, a young woman leapt to her death from the bridge in June, and a month later, a passing cyclist pulled from the precipice a man who was about to jump. In the past seven years, 93 people have died at the bridge. The authority has a plan to erect a safety barrier on the bridge, a project that will not be completed before 2024. To Dr. Gould, this is an inexcusably slow response to a public health problem. “From the perspective of saving people’s lives, why not move up that time frame?” she asked. Many who work in the field of suicidology — the study of what causes, and prevents, suicide — have been personally touched by suicide. But Dr. Gould fell into the field by chance in the early 1980s, after completing her dissertation about the classification of childhood psychiatric disorders, which were in their infancy. The child psychiatrist David Shaffer recruited her to Columbia to begin exploring risk factors for youth suicide. After a spate of such suicides in Westchester County and New Jersey in the 1980s, Dr. Gould felt an added urgency to understand why suicide clusters occurred, and to learn how to prevent them. She began to use a method known as a psychological autopsy, in which researchers comb medical records and conduct deep interviews with the friends and families of young people who had killed themselves. By using that data, she wanted to find clues for how to prevent other suicide clusters. It was a novel idea at the time, and Dr. Gould worried that the families would reject interview requests. “We certainly didn’t want to retraumatize anybody,” she said. But most were willing to discuss the events that had preceded the deaths of their children: signs they had overlooked, cries for help they had dismissed. Some clear findings emerged, and Dr. Gould, 65, has been a pioneer ever since in studying how suicide can spread. Media coverage of suicides, she said, has been definitively linked to an increase in their occurrence, especially among young people. Contagion influences at least 5 percent of suicide deaths of young people, she said. She is particularly concerned about a nationwide rise in suicide — it increased 24 percent from 1999 to 2014, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is a leading cause of death among those under 34. “Suicide contagion is real, and the language and publicity surrounding deaths by suicide concern me immensely,” Dr. Gould said during a recent interview in her office, tapping her chest with her palm for emphasis. Much of her work involves removing the stigma surrounding suicide, and she is an outspoken advocate for directly asking young people about whether they are considering taking their lives. Schools routinely screen for eye problems and scoliosis, she said, but until recently they had balked at identifying students whose despair puts them at risk for killing themselves. When she and her colleagues were recruiting schools to participate in their research a few years ago, many refused. “People told us, ‘You can’t talk about this. It will put ideas into kids’ heads,’” she said. Her research has found that the opposite is true. One study of troubled youths found that those asked directly about suicidal thoughts showed less distress than those who were not asked at all. “You have to ask people, you have to be prepared for the answer,” she said, “and you have to be diligent about their safety. ” Dr. Gould emphasizes the need to use different terms — those in the field avoid using the word “commit” in order to make suicide sound less like a criminal act — while avoiding descriptions of the ways people kill themselves that resemble tutorials. One study in Vienna revealed a decrease in suicides when journalists began following recommendations for more cautious coverage. Many people, of course, now learn the sad details of suicide deaths through social media. And some, like Eric Steel, who directed the 2006 documentary “The Bridge,” which examined suicides at the Golden Gate Bridge, argue that there is an obligation to keep the public informed, and to motivate the authorities to enact safety measures on landmarks known to draw the most despondent. Mr. Steel had precisely that goal in mind when he included in his film graphic footage of people who jumped, which appalled Dr. Gould and other suicidologists. “At the time, I thought it was horrible,” she said. Ultimately, the publicity generated by the documentary helped persuade officials to approve a $76 million net that, despite delays, is expected to be completed by 2020, according to news reports. Mr. Steel maintains that stance when it comes to the George Washington Bridge, where the number of suicides in 2015 was 18, according to Neal Buccino, a Port Authority spokesman. Building the planned barrier, which will cost from $35 million to $50 million, presents complexities that Mr. Buccino said include “the challenge of designing and installing a fence that is strong enough to provide for safety, yet porous enough to prevent acting like a sail in strong winds and straining the bridge’s structure. ” Like Dr. Gould, Mr. Steel scoffs at such a wait. “If a study came out that said 18 people were going to die on the bridge next year because of a mechanical issue, they’d shut it down and fix it,” he said. “The solution to this issue is putting up a fence. ” So far this year, eight people have leapt or fallen to their deaths, and or Port Authority workers have intervened in 40 other cases. Recently, a cyclist named Julio de Leon noticed a man on a ledge. He jumped off his bike and told the man: “Don’t do it. We love you, my heart. ” His kind words and quick thinking brought the man to safety. Kevin Hines, who survived a jump from the Golden Gate Bridge and appears in “The Bridge,” is emphatic about the need to find ways to reach those considering suicide before they make an irrevocable decision. In the film, Mr. Hines describes the remorse he felt the moment his fingers left the guardrail, how terrified he was that his last emotion might be regret and how he begged God for help as he plunged toward San Francisco Bay. He is among a tiny fraction of people who have survived that fall — and one of the few in that group to regain full mobility. Mr. Hines, 34, is the author of “Cracked Not Broken: Surviving and Thriving After a Suicide Attempt,” and speaks around the country about suicide prevention and mental health care. (Mr. Hines has been given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.) He has a large following online, and he frequently posts his talks and videos he is also producing a documentary called “Suicide: The Ripple Effect,” which is due out next year. “I survived, but I hurt so many people in my life,” Mr. Hines said in an interview from Atlanta, where he now lives. “Every time the phone rings, my dad wonders, ‘Is Kevin alive? ’” He shattered three vertebrae and spent four and a half months in a rehabilitation unit after his jump in the 15 years since, he has had seven stints in a psychiatric ward. His symptoms — mania, psychosis, depression — remain with him, but now he is able to manage them. “We blame people for suicide, for mental illness, for addiction, all the time,” he said. “But people die from suicide because their brains aren’t working right. If you’re suffering mentally, don’t sit around in denial like I did for so long. Recovery happens. I’m living proof. ” Mr. Hines’s advocacy hit close to home early last year, when a young Brooklyn woman who was gripped by suicidal despair saw one of his videos on social media. The woman, who asked that she be identified only by her middle initial, V, and that certain details of her life be omitted to protect her privacy as well as her family’s, watched the video repeatedly — especially the scenes in which Mr. Hines describes the guilt he and his father felt when they met in the hospital after his jump. V, a tall, athletic woman with a quick wit, is normally quiet and keeps her problems to herself. But she was so moved by Mr. Hines’s powerful statements that she sent him a message, and the two began to correspond. Knowing that I was working on this article, Mr. Hines approached V to find out if she would be willing to be interviewed. She agreed, and we met on a cold spring Saturday. Over omelets at an Upper West Side diner, she described her early life. Her mother struggled with depression and drugs and was often suicidal. When V was 9, she came home from school one day to find her mother’s arms bleeding from a suicide attempt. Because V’s mother often became enraged at family members if they called for an ambulance, V cleaned the wounds with hydrogen peroxide and stitched them up herself with a needle and surgical thread from a medical kit her mother had stolen from a hospital. “It was sort of my personal project to take care of her,” said V, 24, who dresses neatly in jeans and shirts. V fell into depression herself as a teenager when her family began to move frequently, forcing her to change schools as often as every six months. The only adult who ever seemed to pay attention to her was an art teacher, who told V she was talented but needed to make different friends. That helped turn V away from school and into an increasingly desperate cycle of suicidal thoughts, particularly during the gloomy winter months. She sought counseling occasionally but, fearful she would be hospitalized, never revealed the truth of her despair. V, who has expressive hazel eyes she often hides with vintage sunglasses, dropped out of high school and worked at a series of menial jobs, always looking forward to the six months of the year when the sunlight outlasted the dark. She taught herself coping strategies: She learned to meditate by focusing on a skylight in her bedroom, and by drawing and photographing tiny squares of nature — a few inches of a tree, for example — for hours on end. Things began to look up in 2011. She had completed her G. E. D. and enrolled that year in a City University of New York college that she prefers not to identify. She earned top grades in science, a field she had never considered. She started boxing at a local gym, quickly gaining speed, strength, agility and confidence as she sparred with opponents in front of hundreds of onlookers. But in 2013, she ruptured a tendon, and doctors said that even with surgery, she would not box again. She tried other types of exercise — swimming, — but nothing matched the rush she felt in the ring. Her mind returned to suicide as the only way to end her emotional and physical pain. When she saw Mr. Hines’s video, she watched it over and over. “I’d been thinking about doing this myself for years,” V said, “and suddenly I realized, ‘I don’t want regret to be my last emotion. And I don’t want to do that to the people I love. ’” She had a longtime boyfriend she cherished, and a loyal, caring best friend with whom she had never shared her dark thoughts. She poured herself into school and found demanding intellectual work outdoors that helped sustain her. She directed her energy into drawing and taking photographs, and finding corners of the city where nature helped to hush her sadness. Next month, she will enter her final year of college. Epidemiologists typically work at a remove from their subjects. It’s not often that they encounter the people whose lives their research has influenced. But when I mentioned Kevin Hines, whom Dr. Gould had met, her face lit up. “His story gives me goose bumps,” she said, running a hand up the length of her arm. Because V, like Dr. Gould, is a proud Brooklynite who now hopes for a career in science, I wondered what it might be like to introduce them. So on a breezy July day, we all gathered in Dr. Gould’s office. She motioned to me to sit at her desk, so that she could be closer to V. For two hours, they focused on their home borough, the lives of women in science and V’s hopes for her future. Dr. Gould encouraged her to get a Ph. D. They discussed their shared love of meditation, and the idea that thoughts, however scary, need not represent reality. The talk turned to depression. V paused to consider her words. “I’ve learned that I can be O. K. with being miserable,” she said. “I tell myself, ‘All right, I’m miserable, but I’m just going to wait. ’” Some of her best art, she said, came from those dark periods. “I used to think about ending my life,” she said. “But the more I learned, the more I realized that what happens in your mind at the point of death, that’s your last thought. ” Dr. Gould nodded, leaning closer. “I decided instead that I’d rather make more art, learn more, be a part of something,” V said. “And I realized that you’re in people’s lives for a reason. They want you there. ” “It’s important to stay. ” | 0fake |
Russia: No jets have flown over Aleppo for past 9 days | Russia: No jets have flown over Aleppo for past 9 days By Press TV on October 27, 2016 Russian servicemen prepare a Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jet before departure on a mission at the Hmeimin military base in Latakia province, western Syria on Dec. 16, 2015. (Photo by AFP)
Moscow says Russian and Syrian aircraft have not carried out any sorties over Aleppo for nine days in line with their “humanitarian pause.”
The Russian Defense Ministry responded on Thursday a day after a monitoring group sympathetic to militants claimed that airstrikes had killed at least 26 people in a village in Idlib.
Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin challenged the UN and the West to provide evidence of continuing airstrikes in Aleppo.
Churkin said no aircraft has approached the city at a distance of less than 10 km since a unilateral moratorium was announced by Russia and Syria on October 18 “in response to the UN call, and as a goodwill gesture.”
“If you have any information that there were any missile and bomb strikes, please provide this information,” Churkin said, adding he expected an “objective analysis” of the current situation.
Churkin also criticized the UN for failing “to thrash out in a proper way the operation on evacuation of the sick and injured people.”
“The UN staff members have failed to exert required pressure on patrons of the illegal armed units so that the militants could cooperate with humanitarian workers.”
The Russian ambassador also hit out at UN aid envoy Stephen O’Brien for bias and arrogance after claiming that Aleppo had become a “kill zone” under Russian and Syrian bombs.
The US, Britain and France rushed to his defense in one of the stormiest council sessions in weeks after Churkin accused O’Brien of failing to recognize that Russia and Syria had declared a humanitarian pause.
Churkin criticized the UN official for failing to present the facts objectively while foreign-backed rebels and al-Qaeda-linked terrorists are hampering a UN plan to evacuate the wounded from Aleppo.
“Please leave this kind of report to a novel that you might write one day,” the Russian ambassador told the UN official.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry said Takfiri militants continue to indiscriminately target residential neighborhoods of Aleppo, using makeshift rocket launchers, and preventing civilians from leaving the city’s militant-held east.
“Aircraft of the Russian aerospace forces and the Syrian air force have not been carrying out any flight closer than the 10-kilometer zone around the city of Aleppo for nine days,” ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. Fighters from the so-called Free Syrian Army fire an anti-aircraft machine gun mounted near the northern Syrian village of Beraan north of Aleppo, Oct. 24, 2016. (Photo by AFP)
Warships won’t join Aleppo campaign
The Foreign Ministry also dismissed as absurd suggestions from NATO that a new Russian battle group heading to the Mediterranean would join the campaign against terrorists in Aleppo.
The rebuttal came after NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned on Tuesday that the ships could be used to launch more airstrikes.
Andrei Kelin, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official, told the RIA news agency that Stoltenberg’s statement was unhelpful.
“The concerns are not based on anything as our planes have not come near Aleppo for nine days. Our battle group is in the Mediterranean. Our ships have always had a presence there,” said Kelin.
‘Double standards’
Meanwhile, Syria’s Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar al-Ja’afari denounced double standards towards the ongoing conflict in his country.
Ja’afari lashed out at the US for supporting the so-called moderate militants in eastern Aleppo. He said Takfiri terrorists are now in possession of US-built rockets. Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Bashar al-Ja’afari
He also slammed Turkey’s aggressive policies toward Syria amid US support, saying it violated the basics of international law.
Ja’afari said Saudi Arabia – another key ally of the West – is supporting terrorism while Wahhabi muftis are fanning the flames of bloodshed in Syria, Iraq and Yemen through their decrees.
The entire Syrian population, he said, is suffering from the militancy being sponsored by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and Israel.
Ja’afari called on all members of the UN Security Council to exercise their responsibilities concerning the establishment of security and peace across the globe.
‘No Russian, Syrian role in fatal Idlib raids’
In another development on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, rejected as “a lie” claims that Russian and Syrian warplanes had conducted fatal air raids in the northwestern province of Idlib.
She was reacting to reports that 22 children and six teachers were killed in airstrikes that hit a school and nearby areas in Idlib.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a monitoring group linked to foreign-backed militants in Syria, later claimed “warplanes — either Russian or Syrian — carried out six strikes” in the Idlib village of Hass, where the school is located.
Zakharova further stressed “the Russian Federation has nothing to do with this terrible tragedy, with this attack,” adding that Moscow has called for an immediate investigation into the incident.
Commenting on the reports on Idlib airstrikes earlier in the day, Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said “it’s horrible, horrible. I hope we were not involved.”
“It’s easy for me to say ‘no’ but I’m a responsible person. I need to see what our Defense Ministry is going to say,” he added. | 1real |
Germany's surging far-right promises to disrupt cozy parliament | MUNICH/POTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) - More than 8,000 people including hecklers blowing whistles showed up in Munich for one of German Chancellor Angela Merkel s final speeches before Sunday s national election that is expected to sweep her into a fourth term. Merkel, whose conservatives have a solid double-digit lead over the Social Democrats, largely ignored jeers from hundreds of left- and right-wing demonstrators to deliver a stump speech focused on stability, security and a promise to avoid tax increases. Get lost, Merkel must go, shouted some demonstrators as curious foreign tourists, in Munich for its famous Oktoberfest, snapped photographs of the German leader first elected in 2005. Merkel, who has faced down similar heckling at many other rallies, especially in the former Communist east, admonished the peaceful but boisterous crowd: Whistling and yelling certainly won t ensure the future of our country. Merkel defended her 2015 decision to allow in about one million migrants as a humanitarian necessity but said she would prevent a repeat of the migrant crisis by doing more to fund programs in at-risk countries to keep people from fleeing. What happened in 2015 cannot and will not be repeated, Merkel said, saying she would protect Europe s borders. At Berlin s Gendarmenmarkt, Merkel s main rival, SPD leader Martin Schulz urged supporters to make their voices heard, saying that high voter turnout could help offset growing support for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Schulz, flanked by hundreds of red balloons, decried the AfD as gravediggers of democracy, and said his party, which also opposed the rise of Nazis in the 1930s, would do all it could to fight the anti-immigrant group. You are our enemies and we will defend democracy in Germany, he said. The more people vote, the smaller will be the share of the far-right. Schulz told Bild newspaper he had not given up hope of victory and 37 percent of voters were still undecided. Support for the AfD, which was founded in 2013 during the euro zone crisis but has won support since 2015 with its anti-immigrant rhetoric, is running around 11 percent. That means it will become the first far-right party in more than half a century to clear the 5 percent hurdle and enter parliament. The AfD, which has already won seats in 13 of 16 state legislatures, promised to reenergize debate there after four years of grand coalition rule by the two major parties. It must get into the Bundestag lower house so that debates happen again, the AfD s top candidate Alexander Gauland told Reuters in Brandenburg s regional parliament. This parliament...has become totally boring. Gauland said the AfD would bring in completely different political suggestions after four years of agreement between the parties of Merkel and Schulz on issues ranging from sanctions against Russia, the NSA spying scandal or on the refugee issue. Schulz described Gauland as shameless . Gauland provoked outrage by saying at a recent rally that Germans should no longer be reproached with the Nazi past and should take pride in their World War Two soldiers. The language that he speaks is the language of the Harzburger Front, Schulz said, referring to a radical right-wing alliance in Weimar Germany. The gravediggers of the Weimar democracy, they spoke like Mr Gauland. The mainstream parties have ruled out working with the AfD, which may emerge as the third largest party; but Gauland said it would ultimately work toward being able to govern in the medium or long-term. Electoral arithmetic might yet push Merkel into another grand coalition with the SPD, or she may enter a three-way alliance with the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and environmental Greens. The Forsa poll showed support for Merkel s conservatives holding steady on 36 percent, while the SPD ceded 1 percentage point to 22 percent. An Emnid poll put Merkel s CDU and its Bavarian sister party at 35 percent, while the SPD was at 22 percent. | 0fake |
It Was "Just" a Fall from the Couch, But Mom's Instinct to Go to the Hospital Saved Her Toddler's Life | Share on Twitter
Joanne Liberato had noticed a few unusual things about her son Eddie. He seemed to bruise more easily than his older brother, and his cuts took too long to heal. However, nothing seemed worthy of panic until the day when a minor fall turned into a major injury.
If Joanne hadn't followed her instincts, her toddler might have died. Image Credit: Flickr CC/ Damien Ayers
According to Kidspot , it was eighteen-month-old Eddie's penchant for copying his older brother that led to the accident. Although neither boy was allowed to play on the couch, three-year-old Joel often did so anyway.
When Eddie climbed up there himself, his mom called out for him to stop and ran to grab him. Unfortunately, she was too late to catch his fall. She tells Kidspot:
“It was a heart-stopping moment, but then he started crying a second later and I thought he must be okay, people always say if they cry it means they’re okay.”
To Joanne's relief, Eddie didn't seem to have any injuries. However, his cries and the slight swelling she noticed on his head made her uneasy, so the worried mom followed her intuition and took her son to the hospital. Loading Facebook Post...
At first, it seemed as though she had overreacted. After being under observation for four hours, Eddie seemed fine and his mother was ready to take him home. But when the toddler began vomiting, a doctor ordered a CAT scan. Suddenly, Joanne was extremely grateful they hadn't left the hospital earlier. She tells Kidspot:
“They said he had bleeding on the brain and he had to be flown to Lady Cilento Hosptial in Brisbane for emergency surgery. All I could think was, 'what if I had gone home?' I could have lost him.”
After Eddie's emergency surgery, doctors were disturbed to see that excessive bleeding was preventing his wound from healing properly. That's when Joanne told the doctors about her son's tendency to bruise and have cuts that bled for too long.
The mom's recollection spurred new tests that revealed Eddie had hemophilia, a rare disorder that prevents blood from clotting. The discovery saved his life :
“If they didn't stop the bleeding he would have passed away.”
Unfortunately, that was only the beginning of the complications the courageous boy would face. Two successive infections required an operation to remove a portion of infected skull. This was followed by multiple blood transfusions and forty stitches in his head.
Now, Eddie has to wait several months for surgery that will put a plate on his skull to protect his brain. In the meantime, a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with his medical costs. Loading Facebook Post...
Eddie must wear a helmet to protect his fragile head and avoid rough play. His mother tells the Sunshine Coast Daily that keeping the active toddler safe can be stressful:
“It's very hard for him, he just wants to run around with his brother and have fun. I'm living on tenterhooks watching over him.”
Still, after everything her son has been through, Joanne says it's amazing how well Eddie has coped with his injuries. She tells Kidspot:
“He’s just an absolute trooper, I’m really proud of how he’s handled everything.” | 1real |
HOW PRESIDENT EISENHOWER Solved The Illegal Immigration Problem In America | Since this article was written in 2006, the illegal immigration crisis in America has exploded. Barack Obama, his fellow Democrats, leftist organizations (and even some Republicans beholden to corporations who desire cheap labor in America), have desperately tried to shame Americans into accepting amnesty as the only option to solve this crisis. One doesn t have to look too far to see how miserably they have failed. Americans are not interested in giving up our jobs, our national security or the future of our country so the Democrat party can have a monopoly on voters, or to make it easier for business and corporations to hire cheap labor. It is no accident that Donald Trump experienced a meteoric rise in the polls after he boldly proclaimed he would make building a wall on our southern border a priority. The media tried to shame him, only causing him to double down, claiming he would not only build the biggest and best wall on our southern border, but he claimed that Mexico would pay for it. This article is for all of the naysayers who believe the illegal immigration crisis can t be solved. The problem can be solved. We just needed a President with a backbone, who loves his country, is willing to take bold moves to secure our nation and most of all, a President who truly believes Americans come first.Over fifty years ago, when newly elected Dwight Eisenhower moved into the White House, America s southern frontier was as porous as a spaghetti sieve. As many as 3 million illegal migrants had walked and waded northward over a period of several years for jobs in California, Arizona, Texas, and points beyond.President Eisenhower cut off this illegal traffic. He did it quickly and decisively with only 1,075 United States Border Patrol agents less than one-tenth of today s force. The operation is still highly praised among veterans of the Border Patrol.Although there is little to no record of this operation in Ike s official papers, one piece of historic evidence indicates how he felt. In 1951, Ike wrote a letter to Sen. William Fulbright (D) of Arkansas. The senator had just proposed that a special commission be created by Congress to examine unethical conduct by government officials who accepted gifts and favors in exchange for special treatment of private individuals.General Eisenhower, who was gearing up for his run for the presidency, said Amen to Senator Fulbright s proposal. He then quoted a report in The New York Times, highlighting one paragraph that said: The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican wetbacks to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government. Years later, the late Herbert Brownell Jr., Eisenhower s first attorney general, said in an interview with this writer that the president had a sense of urgency about illegal immigration when he took office.America was faced with a breakdown in law enforcement on a very large scale, Mr. Brownell said. When I say large scale, I mean hundreds of thousands were coming in from Mexico [every year] without restraint. Although an on-and-off guest-worker program for Mexicans was operating at the time, farmers and ranchers in the Southwest had become dependent on an additional low-cost, docile, illegal labor force of up to 3 million, mostly Mexican, laborers.According to the Handbook of Texas Online, published by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas State Historical Association, this illegal workforce had a severe impact on the wages of ordinary working Americans.The Handbook Online reports that a study by the President s Commission on Migratory Labor in Texas in 1950 found that cotton growers in the Rio Grande Valley, where most illegal aliens in Texas worked, paid wages that were approximately half the farm wages paid elsewhere in the state.Profits from illegal labor led to the kind of corruption that apparently worried Eisenhower. Joseph White, a retired 21-year veteran of the Border Patrol, says that in the early 1950s, some senior US officials overseeing immigration enforcement had friends among the ranchers, and agents did not dare arrest their illegal workers.Walt Edwards, who joined the Border Patrol in 1951, tells a similar story. He says: When we caught illegal aliens on farms and ranches, the farmer or rancher would often call and complain [to officials in El Paso]. And depending on how politically connected they were, there would be political intervention. That is how we got into this mess we are in now. Bill Chambers, who worked for a combined 33 years for the Border Patrol and the then-called US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), says politically powerful people are still fueling the flow of illegals.During the 1950s, however, this Good Old Boy system changed under Eisenhower if only for about 10 years.In 1954, Ike appointed retired Gen. Joseph Jumpin Joe Swing, a former West Point classmate and veteran of the 101st Airborne, as the new INS commissioner.Influential politicians, including Sen. Lyndon B. Johnson (D) of Texas and Sen. Pat McCarran (D) of Nevada, favored open borders, and were dead set against strong border enforcement, Brownell said. But General Swing s close connections to the president shielded him and the Border Patrol from meddling by powerful political and corporate interests.One of Swing s first decisive acts was to transfer certain entrenched immigration officials out of the border area to other regions of the country where their political connections with people such as Senator Johnson would have no effect.Then on June 17, 1954, what was called Operation Wetback began. Because political resistance was lower in California and Arizona, the roundup of aliens began there. Some 750 agents swept northward through agricultural areas with a goal of 1,000 apprehensions a day. By the end of July, over 50,000 aliens were caught in the two states. Another 488,000, fearing arrest, had fled the country.By mid-July, the crackdown extended northward into Utah, Nevada, and Idaho, and eastward to Texas.By September, 80,000 had been taken into custody in Texas, and an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 illegals had left the Lone Star State voluntarily.Unlike today, Mexicans caught in the roundup were not simply released at the border, where they could easily reenter the US. To discourage their return, Swing arranged for buses and trains to take many aliens deep within Mexico before being set free.Tens of thousands more were put aboard two hired ships, the Emancipation and the Mercurio. The ships ferried the aliens from Port Isabel, Texas, to Vera Cruz, Mexico, more than 500 miles south.The sea voyage was a rough trip, and they did not like it, says Don Coppock, who worked his way up from Border Patrolman in 1941 to eventually head the Border Patrol from 1960 to 1973.Mr. Coppock says he cannot understand why [President] Bush let [today s] problem get away from him as it has. I guess it was his compassionate conservatism, and trying to please [Mexican President] Vincente Fox. There are now said to be 12 million to 20 million illegal aliens in the US. Of the Mexicans who live here, an estimated 85 percent are here illegally.Border Patrol vets offer tips on curbing illegal immigration One day in 1954, Border Patrol agent Walt Edwards picked up a newspaper in Big Spring, Texas, and saw some startling news. The government was launching an all-out drive to oust illegal aliens from the United States.The orders came straight from the top, where the new president, Dwight Eisenhower, had put a former West Point classmate, Gen. Joseph Swing, in charge of immigration enforcement.General Swing s fast-moving campaign soon secured America s borders an accomplishment no other president has since equaled. Illegal migration had dropped 95 percent by the late 1950s.Several retired Border Patrol agents who took part in the 1950s effort, including Mr. Edwards, say much of what Swing did could be repeated today. Some say we cannot send 12 million illegals now in the United States back where they came from. Of course we can! Edwards says.Donald Coppock, who headed the Patrol from 1960 to 1973, says that if Swing and Ike were still running immigration enforcement, they d be on top of this in a minute. William Chambers, another 50s veteran, agrees. They could do a pretty good job sealing the border.Edwards says: When we start enforcing the law, these various businesses are, on their own, going to replace their [illegal] workforce with a legal workforce. While Congress debates building a fence on the border, these veterans say other actions should have higher priority.1. End the current practice of taking captured Mexican aliens to the border and releasing them. Instead, deport them deep into Mexico, where return to the US would be more costly.2. Crack down hard on employers who hire illegals. Without jobs, the aliens won t come.3. End catch and release for non-Mexican aliens. It is common for illegal migrants not from Mexico to be set free after their arrest if they promise to appear later before a judge. Few show up.The Patrol veterans say enforcement could also be aided by a legalized guest- worker program that permits Mexicans to register in their country for temporary jobs in the US. Eisenhower s team ran such a program. It permitted up to 400,000 Mexicans a year to enter the US for various agriculture jobs that lasted for 12 to 52 weeks. Via: CS Monitor | 1real |
Watch out frontrunners, over 1,500 candidates vying for White House | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Michael Petyo is a carpenter, a U.S. Navy veteran, a grandfather and Russian Orthodox church cantor who likes to boast about his homemade nut rolls. He also happens to be a candidate for president of the United States. The 66-year-old Indiana man has no big financial backers, little political experience outside of two failed runs for Congress and his odds of winning are almost nil. But that has not stopped him from thinking he is the one to succeed President Barack Obama. Petyo is among a rising number of Americans who aspire to be president, due to what psychology experts describe as growing narcissism, distrust of leadership and the power of social media to reach the public. Joining more than 1,500 others, according to the Federal Election Commission, Petyo admits he is a long shot, but figures he just needs some attention: “How do they know I’m not the next guy waiting in the wings?” The number of candidates seeking the White House has more than tripled from 417 in 2012, though some entrants have penned in possibly fictitious names such as “Disco Daddy” and “Darth Vader.” Their ranks include Susan Young, a California social studies teacher aiming to give her students a lesson in democracy, Terry Jones, the Florida pastor known for organizing Koran burnings, and anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee. Another candidate, Edie Bukewihge, included her grandma’s chili recipe on her web site: www.vote4edie.org, along with the promise that the last two years of her term could be boring because she will have repaired the country’s “damages.” These hopefuls are not a factor in polls that show businessman Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas battling for the Republican nomination and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic field ahead of next month’s Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. But a lack of attention has not diminished Petyo’s enthusiasm. He frequently compares himself to the Bible’s David, the shepherd who God chose to be king. Like David, “words flow from my lips like honey from a hive,” Petyo said. Petyo meets the Constitutional requirements for the job - he’s at least 35 and a natural born U.S. citizen. “I don’t see how anybody can represent the people unless they’re one with the people,” said Petyo, who owns a construction company and has been handing out business cards at political events around the Midwest. He posts policy positions at www.petyoforpresident.com In an interview, Petyo espoused conspiracy theories, claiming the Internal Revenue Service’s home is in Puerto Rico, al Qaeda members who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks had help from inside the U.S. government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency is setting up detainment camps around the country. For candidates like Petyo, the important thing is finding Americans who will listen to them, said Bart Rossi, a political psychologist. “They want to get their thoughts and ideas out there,” said Rossi. “They want to be on the playing field even if they’re not going to win the game.” Michael Maccoby, a psychoanalyst and leadership expert, said the world is going through deep changes, and more people distrust current leaders. “It’s understandable that you have a lot of people thinking they’ve got the answer,” he said. Petyo is a Republican, but shuns party labels as he supports unions, a typical Democratic position, while espousing the belief that U.S. companies should pay little or no taxes. He should receive at least one vote. His long-time friend and supporter Jim Wright, a 65-year-old retired engineer who hands out flyers for the candidate, said he will vote for Petyo even though he doesn’t have a “snowball’s chance in hell.” | 0fake |
GOP Congressman Hosts Repeal Obamacare Town Hall; It Didn’t Go The Way He Wanted (VIDEO) | Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colorado) is one of the Republicans who is dead set on repealing the Affordable Care Act. Before Saturday, he thought his constituents were with him, that is, until he held a town hall meeting. It went so badly for him that he snuck out before the end.About 150 people showed up at the Aurora Public Library on Saturday. Less than half of those, though, got to speak with the Congressman, and then each of them only got five minutes.Despite booking a large room with ample space, Coffman allowed in only four constituents at once for five minutes at a time. When the crowd grew restless, police put up crime scene tape and Coffman snuck out the back door six minutes before the event was scheduled to end.Source: SlateColorado was one of the states to embrace the Affordable Care Act. Under the law, the state s number of uninsured was cut by more than half.Despite that, Coffman has been on the front line of the repeal movement. The day before the town hall, Coffman wrote an op-ed in the Denver Post advocating its repeal.Yet Coffman has not proposed a clear replacement for the law, an issue constituents hoped to ask him about on Saturday. I am potentially going to lose my health insurance, Berthie Ruoff told NBC 9 while she waited to meet with her representative. I ve had a preexisting condition. I ve had breast cancer. What s going to happen to me? My spouse who had health insurance passed away. What do I do? You know, what am I supposed to do? The crowd at the town hall wasn t sympathetic. Coffman didn t talk to anyone who was at risk for losing their insurance. The crowd reacted by singing, yes singing, and then Coffman snuck out.A few people noticed Coffman sneaking out and attempted to address him. Next time, one woman pleaded, please be sure you hear all your constituents! Coffman ignored them, hopped into a waiting car, and drove away. Have a good afternoon! yelled another exasperated woman.Coffman blamed the time. He said they only had 90 minutes and that the event was only supposed to be one on one.Here s the video of the crowd singing:Crowd starts singing while trying to get in to see Congressman Mike Coffman in Aurora. He only agreed with people a couple at a time. #9News pic.twitter.com/bqZgj4FF6f Nelson Garcia (@9NewsEducation) January 14, 2017Featured image by Mark Wilson via Getty Images | 1real |
VW Chief ‘Personally’ Apologized to Obama Over Cheating - The New York Times | WOLFSBURG, Germany — The chief executive of Volkswagen said on Thursday that he personally apologized to President Obama this week for cheating on vehicle emissions tests, speaking up for its work force as the German carmaker negotiates penalties with United States officials. Volkswagen is in talks with American authorities about the fines it must pay for programming engines to cheat on emissions tests. The company said on Thursday that it had set aside 7 billion euros, or $7. 9 billion, for legal costs worldwide, even though in theory it faces fines of $18 billion in the United States alone, plus compensation to owners. Matthias Müller, the chief executive of Volkswagen, had what he described as a conversation with Mr. Obama during the president’s visit this week to Hanover, not far from Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg. The encounter took place on Sunday at a dinner hosted by Chancellor Angela Merkel for Mr. Obama and representatives of German industry. “I used the opportunity to personally apologize to him for our behavior,” Mr. Müller said during a news conference in Wolfsburg on Thursday. “I thanked him for the constructive cooperation with his officials. Of course I also expressed the hope that I will be able to continue to fulfill my responsibility to 600, 000 employees and their families as well as suppliers and dealers. ” Mr. Müller’s mention of Volkswagen workers and their families may have reflected concern that the punishment the company faces could harm those who had nothing to do with any wrongdoing. Lawyers in the case expect the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department to demand penalties that are painful for Volkswagen, but not so severe that they destroy the company. Thousands of jobs in the United States depend on Volkswagen. The company has a factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. that is preparing to produce a new version of the Tiguan compact S. U. V. as well as an extensive dealer network in the country. Mr. Müller said on Thursday that Mr. Obama appeared receptive to his remarks. The Volkswagen chief said he felt encouraged about a solution that would ensure the company a future in the United States. The White House declined to comment on Mr. Müller’s account of the event. The German carmaker said last week that it had set aside €16. 2 billion to cover costs related to its admission that it had programmed diesel vehicles to evade clean air regulations. On Thursday, it said that within that figure was €7 billion for legal costs, which includes proceedings in other countries, like France or South Korea. Most of the rest of the €16. 2 billion will be used to repair diesel vehicles that are polluting more than allowed, or to buy back ones that cannot be fixed. The €7 billion figure disclosed on Thursday indicates that the company is confident that its legal costs in the United States will be much lower than the maximum. Volkswagen has admitted manipulating software in 11 million cars worldwide, including about 600, 000 in the United States, so that emissions equipment operated at full capacity only when the vehicles were being tested. At other times, the cars polluted much more than allowed. The €7 billion would also cover compensation to the owners of Volkswagen vehicles who have filed lawsuits. On Thursday, Volkswagen also provided details on the loss it reported last week. The company said it had lost €1. 5 billion worldwide during the year, compared with a profit of €11 billion in 2014. Volkswagen A. G. a subset of Volkswagen Group that includes core operations such as the Volkswagen brand but that excludes the Audi unit as well as some foreign holdings, reported a loss of €5. 5 billion. Though Audi has belonged to Volkswagen since the 1960s, it continues to have a small number of outside shareholders and holds its own annual meeting. Volkswagen, which owns brands including Porsche and Skoda as well as manufacturers of trucks and commercial vehicles, sold 10 million vehicles in 2015, down from 10. 2 million in 2014. Sales rose 5. 4 percent to €213 billion. Company executives said they still saw the United States as a growth market for Volkswagen, despite the enormous damage to the carmaker’s image. “We do see a lot of potential, though of course not in the short term,” Herbert Diess, the executive in charge of Volkswagen brand cars, said during the news conference. “We are starting from zero. ” | 0fake |
Chinese state media tells readers how to survive a nuclear attack | (In this Dec. 6 story, corrects newspaper location to Jilin province, from Jilin city, paragraph one) BEIJING (Reuters) - A state-run newspaper in China s Jilin province, which borders North Korea and Russia, on Wednesday published a page of common sense advice on how readers can protect themselves from a nuclear weapons attack or explosion. China has voiced grave concern over North Korea s nuclear and missiles program, as well as calling on the United States and South Korea to stop provoking Pyongyang. U.S. bombers will fly over the Korean peninsula on Wednesday as part of a large-scale joint military drills with South Korea. The North has warned the drills would push the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war . The full page article in the Jilin Daily, which does not mention possible attacks by North Korea or any other country, explains how nuclear weapons differ from traditional arms and instructs people how to protect themselves in the event of an attack. Nuclear weapons have five means of causing destruction: light radiation, blast waves, early-stage nuclear radiation, nuclear electro-magnetic pulses and radioactive pollution, the article explained. It said the first four kill instantly. People who find themselves outside during a nuclear attack should try to lie in a ditch, cover exposed skin in light colored clothing or dive into a river or lake to try and minimize the possibility of instantaneous death, it said. Cartoon illustrations of ways to dispel radioactive contamination were also provided, such as using water to wash off shoes and using cotton buds to clean ears, as well as a picture of a vomiting child to show how medical help can be sought to speed the expulsion of radiation through stomach pumping and induced urination. The influential state-backed Global Times in a commentary on Wednesday described the article as a public service announcement due to the situation on the Korean peninsula. If war breaks out, it is not possible to rule out the Korean peninsula producing nuclear contaminants, and countermeasures must be seriously researched and spoken openly about to let the common folk know. But at the same time, there is absolutely no reason to be alarmed, the Global Times said. North Korea last week tested what it called its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could reach all of the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has warned he would destroy the North Korean regime if it threatened the United States with nuclear weapons. China has rejected military intervention and called for an end to the war of words between Washington and Pyongyang. | 0fake |
Australia defends hardline immigration policy as keeping out 'undesirables' | (Reuters) - Australia said on Sunday it is stopping undesirables such as terrorists, pedophiles, organized criminals and drug smugglers from boarding flights to the country, defending its hardline immigration policy that has drawn criticism from rights groups. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that Australian Border Force Airline Liaison Officers were operating in major transit airports to push those threats beyond our borders . Where other countries allow people to arrive and then assess the threat then , the Australian model was to bar those considered a threat. (Liaison officers) try to identify the threats particularly given that we ve got foreign fighters coming back through Southeast Asia and all over the idea is to stop them getting on planes, the minister told the Nine Network. According to media, immigration officials prevented 1,043 passengers from boarding flights to Australia since 2013. Australia has seen the rise of nationalist, anti-immigration politics with far-right wing parties such as One Nation garnering strong public support, while the popularity of the ruling center-right government has been languishing. Under its policy on asylum seekers arriving by boat, Australia turns back unauthorized vessels at sea to their port of origin when it can and sends those it cannot to controversial camps in the South Pacific for long-term detention. Earlier this year, the government announced it would raise the bar for handing out citizenships by lengthening the waiting period, adding a new Australian values test and raising the standard for English language as part of a shake up of its immigration program. | 0fake |
Trump’s Plan To Repeal Obamacare Is Being DENIED By Health Care Professionals (VIDEO) | Trump promised many things during his campaign and quite a few of those ideas are falling apart already, including his plan to repeal Obamacare.Doctors and CEOs of medical facilities are not as against Obamacare as Trump wants them to be. According to Modern Healthcare, a magazine all about the healthcare industry, insurance CEOs aren t totally against change, but the majority of them are concerned a Republican president won t be able to get the uninsured rate below nine percent like Obama did.Modern Healthcare has conducted multiple surveys among CEOs and professionals in charge of large hospitals, insurance providers, and medical suppliers. They ve found that 60 percent of those who responded said that the first priority in healthcare right now should be to stopping the growth for prescription medications.Another survey showed that 86 percent of medical professionals said that Obamacare should not be repealed unless a replacement plan is in place to expand healthcare for Americans whose employers don t provide for them.Among many CEOs expressing concern for Republican proposals to create more high-deductible plans is Jim Hinton, CEO of Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Hinton said to Modern Healthcare: We ve floated those deductibles so high that for the average person, it is no longer insurance. That pushes the burden onto hospitals or physicians to collect what people might not have. You can see for yourself how medical professionals and advocates feel about repealing the Affordable Care Act in this video:Trump made many promises: building a wall, banning Muslims, creating jobs and repealing Obamacare, not to mention throwing Hillary Clinton in jail. Congress already shut down the first two, the third is being torn apart, and the last he already walked back (much to the chagrin of his supporters). Now we see that his plan to repeal Obamacare is strongly being defied. So what will heFeatured image via video screencapture | 1real |
Former President George W. Bush does not cast vote for president | AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Former Republican President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, did not cast a vote for U.S. president on Tuesday but did vote for Republicans in down-ballot races, a spokesman for Bush said. “They voted ‘None of the Above’ for president,” Freddy Ford said in an email about the couple, who now live in Dallas. In a break from custom, neither George W. Bush, president from 2001 to 2009, nor his father, former Republican President George H.W. Bush, endorsed the Republican nominee for president, New York businessman Donald Trump. Jeb Bush, the younger brother of George W. Bush and the son of George H.W. Bush, ran against Trump in the acrimonious and insult-laced Republican nominating contest this year. | 0fake |
Gov Rick Scott: Florida ’Will Not Tolerate Evil Acts’ - Breitbart | Friday at a press conference addressing a shooting at the Ft. Lauderdale International Airport that resulted in at least five dead and six injured, Gov. Rick Scott ( ) said his heart when out to the families and individuals impacted by the shooting. However, he vowed to hold those responsible accountable. “Whoever is responsible will be held accountable to the full extent of the law,” Scott said. “The state of Florida, the citizens of Florida, law enforcement in this state will not tolerate evil acts. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 0fake |
Berlin votes to keep Cold War era Tegel airport open | BERLIN (Reuters) - Berliners voted to keep the historic Tegel airport open even after a new international hub is completed, creating a headache for the German capital s government, which wanted it closed. Tegel sprang up in just 90 days in 1948 to support the Berlin Airlift, a huge operation to ship supplies and thwart a Cold War Soviet blockade. It is much-loved by many Berliners and business travelers for its proximity to the city center. Berlin s government will now have to rethink its plans to close Tegel after some 56 percent of voters supported the non-binding referendum on Sunday, the same day as Germany s federal election, to reconsider the proposal. This had envisaged the closing of Tegel six months after the Berlin Brandenburg International (BER) airport - a grand project bedeviled by repeated construction and planning problems - finally starts operating. It still has no fixed opening date. Michael Mueller, Berlin s mayor said the result created a very, difficult situation and told rbb radio he would now talk to the airport s state owners about taking a different approach that could be legally and financially challenging. The chief executive of Berlin Airport, Engelbert Luetke Dalderup, said it was up to the airport s owners to decide and that the operator was working on its aim to complete the construction work for BER by August 2018. Opponents argue that Tegel, with its concrete, hexagonal terminal that dates back to the 1970s, is antiquated, does not meet current safety standards and must be renovated at a cost of at least 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion). They want the state government to go ahead with plans to convert the site into a new business and technology park to boost Berlin s economy, and build affordable flats to alleviate a housing shortage. Supporters, however, say that even when complete the new airport will be too small to meet passenger demand and want Tegel retained to serve around 10 million passengers per year, mainly on short-haul flights. Airlines were also divided, with Ryanair calling for it to be kept open to avoid a capacity crunch, and Lufthansa saying it would prefer to operate from one airport. Ryanair, which placed posters around Berlin urging locals to vote to keep Tegel open, on Monday welcomed the result and called on the government to explore all options to keep it open. | 0fake |
Scotland may give Labour another chance at British power | GLASGOW, Scotland (Reuters) - Britain s opposition Labour Party is poised for a resurgence in Glasgow, raising its hopes that a recovery from a disastrous election performance in Scotland two years ago can help its socialist leader Jeremy Corbyn win power in London. A Labour stronghold for decades until it rejected the party in 2015 in favor of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP), Scotland s largest city is showing signs of returning to its political roots. With a 41.5 percent share of the overall British vote in recent opinion polling, Corbyn sees himself positioned to form a government if Prime Minister Theresa May s divided Conservatives falter over Britain s exit from the European Union. Winning back some of Scotland s 59 parliamentary seats is key to his plan. With this in mind, Corbyn toured target Scottish constituencies after June s national election left May s Conservatives severely weakened. There are still many people who need to be persuaded to put their trust in the Labour Party once again, Corbyn told a meeting in the Highlands ski-resort of Aviemore last month. But this is the beginning of the rebirth of Scottish Labour. Scotland, where the SNP lost seats to Labour in the west and to the Conservatives in the northeast in June, is shaping up to be a major battleground in the next British election, due in 2022. Labour winning in Glasgow, a city of one million people that backed secession from Britain in a referendum in 2014, would make the arrival of Prime Minister Corbyn more likely and reduce the chances of Scottish independence by damaging the SNP. Labour policies, such as renationalization of the railways and more funding for public services, appeal to Scots on the left though they may scare off more conservative voters with higher taxes and controls over the free market. Scottish Labour announces a new leader on Saturday, after a contest between trade unionist Richard Leonard, whom many see as favorite because his views align with Corbyn, and more centrist Anas Sarwar, the Glasgow-born son of the UK s first elected Asian lawmaker. Margaret Young, a 50-year-old nurse, lives in Glasgow East, a central district which, until the 1960s, was an industrial powerhouse and is now one of Scotland s poorest areas. Once the site of massive steel-works it is home to a shopping center called The Forge, and around half of residents here are classed by the government as income-deprived. In June, Young switched her vote to Labour from the SNP, because she thinks Corbyn will loosen the government s purse strings. The SNP held Glasgow East by just 75 votes, down from 10,000 two years ago. Young blames May s Conservatives in London for poor public services and the SNP for failing to mitigate spending cuts. Austerity is definitely what is hurting us, she told Reuters, saying it was disgusting that struggling families on welfare were being penalized. Of a dozen people interviewed by Reuters in East Glasgow, 10 said they would vote for Labour or consider it seriously. East Glasgow and seven other seats in the Glasgow area are among 21 Scottish constituencies held by the SNP that would need a swing of less than 5 percent for a Labour win, according to pollster Survation. At present Labour has 7 Scottish seats. With just a handful more votes in each marginal area, Scotland could make the difference between a minority and a majority Labour government in Britain s 650-seat House of Commons. As most of Scotland s budget is controlled by the government in London, Young believes only Corbyn can bring real change. Scots like Young now seem to blame the SNP, in power in the devolved Scottish parliament for a decade, rather than the UK government in London for not sending enough money to Scotland. Glasgow, an industrial center on Britain s northwestern coast, was a hub of left-wing radicalism and a lynchpin of Labour s political success nationwide for nearly a century. Under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, the party took a centrist direction and Labour started to fall out of favor in the north. Labour was spurned by Scottish voters when it campaigned with the rival Conservatives to defend the 300-year-old union of England and Scotland in the 2014 referendum. Scots rejected independence, but in a British election eight months later, Labour lost all but one of its 41 seats in Scotland. A lot of people who voted Yes during the referendum did so because they wanted a sense of change, said Kate Watson, the Labour candidate in Glasgow East. Jeremy s given us permission to be heard again. Corbyn avoids mention of Blair and Brown and namechecks Labour s first leader Keir Hardie as a mentor, appealing to old party values which play well here. Rebecca Hynam, 30, is a primary school teacher who says politicians would be shocked by shortages of staff and materials in schools. She backs Corbyn. In maths, we don t have enough calculators for my class. Glaswegians interviewed seemed to overlook the weaknesses of Scottish Labour: its flip-flops on the independence question and its wobbles on what it wants from Brexit. Nevertheless many trust Corbyn, whose personal style reminds some people of a kindly schoolteacher, to make amends. One is Andrea, a 55-year-old secretary who voted Labour for the first time in June. He seems like a neighbor next door, that s what I like about him. He seems to speak from the heart. (This version of the story was refiled to add dropped word seats in paragraph 6) | 0fake |
Al Sharpton: Bill Maher Apology ’Not Enough, Must Be Held Accountable’ | Al Sharpton says Bill Maher got off easy when he apologized for using a racial slur on last week’s episode of his HBO show Real Time. [“It was disgraceful,” Sharpton told TMZ of Maher. “I have a lot of respect for Bill. He’s a friend, I’ve been on his show many times, but he is totally wrong. This is outrageous. He must be held accountable. There is no joke about using the . ” “I’m very disappointed in Bill and I think to just say it and apologize and not have some accountability is not enough,” the activist and former MSNBC anchor added. On Friday’s episode of Real Time, Maher referred to himself as a “house ni**er. ” The comment sparked backlash on social media and calls for Maher’s firing by Sharpton and Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson. HBO issued a statement Saturday condemning Maher’s remarks, and promised that the slur would be edited out of future broadcasts of the show. “Bill Maher’s comment last night was completely inexcusable and tasteless. We are removing his deeply offensive comment from any subsequent airings of the show,” the premium cable channel said. Maher apologized in a statement Saturday, saying “The word was offensive and I regret saying it and am very sorry. ” But Maher’s apology is meaningless, according to Sharpton. “How do you get a pass for saying something like that?” Sharpton asked. “They weren’t even talking about race! He just out of nowhere took this — you felt you got so comfortable with us that you can denigrate us?” However, Maher will apparently come out of this controversy unscathed. His weekly show is scheduled to air Friday. Sen. Al Franken ( .) has pulled out of his scheduled appearance on the show this week in the wake of the controversy, but rapper Ice Cube, former Florida congressman David Jolly, journalist David Gregory, and Symone Sanders, former national press secretary for Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, are all scheduled to appear on the next episode. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson | 0fake |
Smart Meter Case Testimony Before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission: What No One Wants to Acknowledge About EMF Damage Part 4 of 4 | By Catherine J Frompovich This is the continuation of the testimony I will present before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s Administrative Law Court November 2 and 3, 2016. ... | 1real |
When the Boss Is Half Your Age - The New York Times | Christine Sabo had three decades of experience behind her when, three years ago, she was hired as the vice president for major giving at a nonprofit in South Florida. But right about the time Ms. Sabo came aboard, the chief executive had accepted a new position elsewhere. The replacement in the top slot: a . “The way he operated was classic for that age group: I would get texts and emails any time day and night,” recalled Ms. Sabo, now 59. “If I said I had 30 years in the profession, he hated that. He would say: ‘I don’t want to hear how long you’ve been in the field. I don’t care how long you’ve done this or that. ’” The new boss seemed to be sending the message that the way Ms. Sabo approached and development was out of date. “At the end of the day, it felt like, ‘You need to come into the new millennium,’’’ she said. “I used to chuckle and wonder what kind of relationship he had with his mother. ” Despite her growing discomfort, she tried to do her job and avoid conversation or confrontation with the boss — who first demoted her, then fired her. “He told me that I wasn’t hitting my goals, but that’s not true,” said Ms. Sabo, who has a new job and an older boss. “I think it was that we butted heads. Some of it was style, but some of it was generational. ” Companies these days are looking to fill the management ranks with people who are “digital natives,” which frequently translates to millennials and Gen . Meanwhile, more baby boomers are staying on the job longer, and some retirees, looking for a second act, are rejoining the ranks of the employed, at least part time. Consequently, the odds are increasing that older workers will be answering to managers young enough to be their children. A 2014 Harris Interactive survey on behalf of CareerBuilder, a job recruitment website, found that 38 percent of American workers had a younger boss, up from 34 percent in 2012. “Obviously, there have always been younger people in the work force, but in the past, younger workers were on the lower floors and older workers were executives on the upper floors and in the executive dining room,” said Jill Chapman, a senior performance consultant with Insperity, a personnel management firm. But because younger workers now have the advantage in sheer numbers, “there are more opportunities for them to move into management roles,” Ms. Chapman continued. “They’re in their 30s, and they’ve had lots of experience because of internships we older workers gave them when they were in high school and college. They had those experiences, and they had the chops for exec positions at an earlier age. ” If older workers have difficulty adjusting, there’s a good reason: It goes against the natural order that the subordinate would have several decades on the supervisor. “Research shows that older workers are not as responsive to that younger boss, because they feel he or she shouldn’t be in that position,” said Orlando Richard, an associate professor of management at the University of Texas at Dallas, who recently completed a study on status incongruence. There are implications for the organization, too. “The older workers with younger bosses are less committed to the company,” Professor Richard said. “They’re not as engaged in the job. If they’re close to retirement, they may not leave, but they may not work as hard. ” Of course, there are plenty of older workers who continue to give the job their all, even though they now report to someone who thinks of Nirvana as an oldies band. The way they see it, though, that younger boss sure doesn’t make it easy. Faye Keller, a public affairs specialist in the health care field in Salt Lake City, was 60 when she got a boss who was half her age. “At the beginning, I wasn’t too concerned — I was ready to look for his strengths,” Ms. Keller said But then she started being excluded from certain meetings. At those meetings she did attend, “I’d say something, and my boss would respond ‘yeah, ’ and move on to another topic. ” Colleagues closer to her boss’s age were invited to hang out in his office. “I felt ostracized,” said Ms. Keller, who is now 64. She also felt micromanaged. “I would go out of the building to meet with prospective clients, and when I explained that I was trying to develop relationships, he would tell me I could do it over the phone and through email,” Ms. Keller said. “I don’t believe I’m old school in my ideas, but I think face to face is essential in building successful relationships, and he didn’t value that. ” The boss stayed she went. There are challenges on both sides of the workplace divide. Older workers may feel they’ve lost their shot at running the show, and younger workers may feel their older subordinates just can’t wait for them to mess up, said David Stillman, an author of the new book “Gen Z @ Work. ” The : his son, Jonah, 17, perhaps a future younger boss. Further, older workers, accustomed to the parental role, may reflexively offer advice to younger bosses who chafe at the effrontery. “They’ll say, ‘In my day … ’ implying ‘your day is wrong,’” Mr. Stillman said. For their part, some younger bosses act as though the world began only when they arrived on the scene, “which makes older workers feel that their own considerable experience doesn’t matter,” Mr. Stillman added. Older workers may be made to feel that they’re dinosaurs. Younger bosses may think that, yeah, the older worker is kind of a dinosaur. “My social media skills and computer skills weren’t up to par,” Ms. Keller said. “I’m willing to admit that. ” Some companies are making efforts to address the issue. ATT, for example, offers supervisors a course, “Managing the Workforce,” which “helps prepare them to effectively communicate with and motivate their direct reports,” said Jan Rasmussen, a company spokeswoman. And not every older worker feels marginalized or unappreciated, nor does every younger boss feel disdainful and misunderstood. “I don’t look at age — I look at business intelligence,” said Valentino Lanoce, 54, the regional director of operations for the restaurant chain Verts Mediterranean Grill, who reports to the company’s founders, Dominik Stein, 29, and Michael Heyne, 32. “Dominik and Michael respect my experience in the industry, and they’ll ask for my opinion and advice. It’s very collaborative. ” Mr. Lanoce said that his interview with Mr. Stein and Mr. Heyne “was like sitting with mature officers of a company. ” He said: “They’re disciplined and professional. Otherwise, I never would have left where I was to come and work with them. ” When talking about her tour of duty at O’Connell Goldberg, a public relations firm in Hollywood, Fla. Karen Dennis, 60, likes to invoke “The Intern,” the 2015 comedy that starred Robert De Niro as an unpaid septuagenarian assistant to a much younger chief executive. Ms. Dennis, a former administrative social worker and marketing consultant, had always wanted to work for a P. R. agency — badly enough to work without pay. Nine years ago, through a connection, she got her chance at O’Connell Goldberg. “Social media was starting to emerge, and I was so lacking in skills,” Ms. Dennis said. She clearly learned quickly. After nine months, she was offered a paid position her boss, Barbara Goldberg, a founder of the company, was 10 years her junior. “There’s a great work ethic with older workers,” Ms. Goldberg said. “They come on time, and they stay, and they’re . They also avoid petty drama, because this isn’t their first time at the rodeo. ” Ms. Goldberg said that Ms. Dennis filled an important role: “Karen was so nurturing and motherly to the younger employees — she had the time and patience, and I didn’t. ” But there were some tensions. “As a I tended to step back and assess a situation,” Ms. Dennis said. “When you’re that age, you don’t see jumping in as being to your best advantage, because you haven’t yet seen the whole picture. ” Her boss’s philosophy, on the other hand, was “jump in. ” Ms. Dennis remembers being part of a conference call with a new client. She was silent throughout the conversation, and afterward, was yanked into Ms. Goldberg’s office. “Barbara told me, ‘I need to hear from you,’” Ms. Dennis said. “And I responded, ‘I didn’t have anything to say.’ I wanted to understand the dynamics of the other team before I spoke. I promised that on the next call, I would be more forceful and part of the conversation — and I was. ” “It’s a dance you do,” added Ms. Dennis, who was with the firm for more than six years before leaving to freelance she remains close to Ms. Goldberg. “It’s like marriage,” Ms. Dennis said. “My boss would say, ‘This is what I want,’ and I would say, ‘This is what I can do. ’” As in many new relationships, there’s a struggle to find a way. Diversity issues have long been a part of the terrain, and “there are all these hangups at first,” said Ms. Chapman of Insperity. It was a similar dynamic, she said, when women were coming into the work force. “It’s something we have to work through, and we have to figure out how to make it work,” Ms. Chapman said. | 0fake |
BIZARRE WARNING FROM OBAMA Campaign Manager Screams Shadow Government Coup | David Plouffe was a Campaign Manager and Senior Adviser for Obama and has many, many connections to the Deep State.A tweet (SOURCE) he sent out last June is taking on a whole new life and meaning. Do you suppose Obama s shadow government has been on this since day one of Trump s candidacy and election? This evil is to be taken seriously so this is why we feel the deep state is taking advantage of Trump s inexperience in politics. This is the exact same reason we appreciate and support President Trump. It s what s gotten Trump in trouble because he casually asked Comey to come talk to him. Seasoned politicians might have decided to skip that meeting It s not just political disagreement anymore this is much more serious. The tweet below should wake you up to the evil trying to destroy our Nation and our PRESIDENT:The photo above photo tells you all you need to know about the evil shadow government!Plouffe s twitter account shows Air force One in the background. He can t let it go YOU LOST! GET OVER IT! | 1real |
Iceland leans toward leftist government in snap election | REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Icelanders, angry over a string of political scandals, ousted their center-right government in an election that could pave the way for a charismatic young opposition leader to form a left-leaning coalition, final vote counts showed on Sunday. With the defeat of incumbent Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson s coalition government, his main opponent, the Left-Green Movement s Katrin Jakobsdottir, is likely to get a chance to form a narrow majority in parliament. Still, the composition of any coalition government remained uncertain, as the president had not yet mandated a party to form one. The Nordic island of 340,000 people, one of the countries hit hardest by the 2008 financial crisis, has staged a remarkable economic rebound spurred by a tourism boom. Benediktsson called the snap election in September, after less than a year in government, as a scandal involving his father prompted the Bright Future party to drop out of his ruling coalition, citing a breach of trust. The previous government was defeated last year following revelations in the Panama Papers about then-Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson s use of offshore tax havens. In addition to the political scandals, a growing sense of inequality and unease about immigration in one of the world s most ethnically homogeneous nations have rattled a democracy known for its political and social stability. After the final vote count, Jakobsdottir, 41, of the Left-Greens stood to gain a narrow majority in parliament with three other opposition parties. The result showed a Left-Green-led coalition was possible if they joined forces with the Social Democrats, the Progressive Party and the Pirate Party. Together, they would hold 32 of parliament s 63 seats. The opposition has a majority, so that s a message. But we ve also talked about that maybe things should be done differently and create a broader government, Jakobsdottir said in a TV debate on Sunday. The Left-Greens want to reduce inequality and fund an increase in public health care, education and infrastructure spending by raising taxes for the wealthy and introducing a property tax. The parliament will be split among eight parties. There are two new parties, and one of the parties in the current tri-party government failed to get enough votes to remain in parliament. The Independence Party, the main partner in the current government coalition, lost 4 percentage points from last year s election to take 25 percent of the vote. It remains the biggest party, but the election was the worst since 2009 for a party that has dominated Iceland s politics for decades, getting support of as much as 40 percent of voters. Asked during the TV debate if the Independence Party would get the chance to form a new government, Benediktsson said: I think so. We are the biggest party, and I think it s normal that we should be a part of a future government. We are attacked as a party that bears responsibility for certain things, he said. We are in a new environment, and considering that I am happy with the result. His party wants to reduce the national debt and cut taxes on individuals and businesses. The Left-Greens came in second with 17 percent, up 1 percentage point from last year s election, and its probable ally the Social Democrats in third with 12 percent, almost doubling its share. I think that the opposition with one extra party can create a really strong government, said Social Democrat leader Logi Einarsson, hinting at the possibility of a five-party government. The new Centre Party, which was formed in September by former Prime Minister Gunnlaugsson, won 11 percent of the votes. The Pirate Party, which last year rode a wave of anger against the establishment to become the third biggest party in parliament, stood to get 9 percent of votes in Saturday s election down from 14 percent last year. | 0fake |
WATCH: Adam Schiff Double Dog Dares White House To Let Sally Yates Testify | Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, just double dog dared the White House to let Sally Yates testify.Speaking to MSNBC s Andrea Mitchell on Wednesday, Schiff said, the person that is in the best position to talk about the events that led up to his [Mike Flynn s] firing is Sally Yates. Schiff told Mitchell that he has asked for Yates, who was the acting attorney general until Donald Trump fired her for defying him, to testify on what she told the White House regarding the disgraced former national security adviser s interactions with Russia. She is more than willing to testify, we have asked her to testify, the White House says at least publicly they want her to testify, Schiff said. There is a letter sitting on the desk of my chairman that I ve signed, requesting that hearing to be rescheduled, and we are waiting for a response. Yates was scheduled to testify last month but Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), chairman of the committee, suddenly canceled the hearing without warning. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer keeps claiming that Trump wants Yates to testify and Schiff called their bluff on Wednesday. Sean Spicer has said he would like Sally Yates to testify, so let s hold Sean Spicer to his word, Schiff said. Let s bring her in and allow her to tell the American people just what led to Michael Flynn s firing and what she may know about any conversation he had with the Russian ambassador on the subject of relief from Obama sanctions on Russia over its intervention to help Donald Trump. According to Schiff, the only thing keeping her from testifying is that Nunes hasn t rescheduled the hearing yet. You can watch him double dog dare the White House to allow Yates to testify below:Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
WATCH: Van Jones Epically SCOLDS Trump Supporters For Defending ‘Rigged Election’ Debate Talk | When Donald Trump s CNN stooges tried to defend his remarks about whether he would accept the results of the election or not, Van Jones scolded them into humiliation.Donald Trump s debate performance once again suffered because of his big mouth and his refusal to stop claiming that the election is rigged against him.When asked by moderator Chris Wallace on Wednesday night if he will concede defeat if the election results favor Hillary Clinton, Trump stunned everyone by basically leaving the question into an Election Day cliffhanger. I will look at it at the time, Trump said. I will keep you in suspense. Trump s refusal to accept the democratic process is dangerous and is totally unprecedented in the history of our country. Whoever loses the election has always conceded defeat and acknowledged the winner as the president-elect.But Trump may do the opposite and refuse to accept the results, which could touch off a Constitutional crisis as well as riots and acts of violence by Trump supporters in protest of their candidate s defeat.Trump supporters Jeffrey Lord and Kayleigh McEnany, however, actually tried defending Trump s toddler-like behavior during CNN s post-debate discussion. And Van Jones was having none of it.He ripped both of Trump s mouthpieces to shreds and shamed them for defending a man who is unpatriotic and a disgrace to American Democracy. This is a really sad night, Jones said. This is a very sad night for the country. You can t polish this turd. I m going to be very, very clear about this. Al Gore respected the Constitution, respected the process, respected every voter. He went to our Supreme Court, asked for a resolution on his own terms as did George W. Bush. And when the election results were certified, he told his party and base to stand down and accept this, even though a lot of us were very, very upset. What you just got now was the nominee of a major party for the first time in our history signaling to the American people that he has so little faith in our institutions, that he has so little faith in our people, and so little faith in our courts, and so little faith in the Republican governors, the Republican secretaries of state across this country that he will not stand in front of his own country, in front of his own nation and say that he respects the process and the outcome. Indeed, despite a close race in 2000 that could have gone Gore s way had the Supreme Court allowed the recount to continue, the former vice-president accepting the Court s decision and conceded the race, something Trump may actually refuse to do on November 8th even if he loses by a landslide.Trump s refusal to say that he will accept the results of the election if he loses angered Jones tremendously, enough that he called Trump unpatriotic and told Lord and McEnany that they should be ashamed of themselves for defending him. That is an outrage! The appalling lack of patriotism from this man. The appalling lack of patriotism of this man to say this and praise Putin and Assad more than he has ever praised any American president. He doesn t talk about George Washington, He doesn t talk about Ronald Reagan the way he talks about Putin and Assad. This man has demonstrated an appalling lack of patriotism and you should be ashamed to defend it. Here s the video via VidMe.At this point, anyone who has defended Trump should be ashamed of themselves, and frankly, none of them should be able to get a job after this election is over. The things Donald Trump has said over the course of this campaign are indefensible and embarrassing. As Americans, Lord and McEnany should be embarrassed by their candidate s temper tantrums and outrageous claims. But they are not, and that s why Van Jones took it upon himself to put them in their place.Featured Image: Screenshot | 1real |
Trump Just Posted Two Rules For This Country On Twitter That He Doesn’t Obey Himself | Donald Trump literally just posted the ultimate do what I say, not as I do tweet and got ripped to shreds for being a hypocrite.After delivering a depressing Inaugural Address on Friday that was full of lies and promises he won t keep, Trump took to Twitter to post some snippets of his speech and included two rules that he expects everyone to follow, except himself of course.We will follow two simple rules: BUY AMERICAN & HIRE AMERICAN!#InaugurationDay #MAGA?? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2017Yes, the man who buys materials for his hotels from overseas and has his products made by overseas laborers literally commanded Americans to buy American made goods and to hire American workers.And the Internet gleefully took Trump to the woodshed for it.@realDonaldTrump lollllll k pic.twitter.com/DwjwUuQKmr Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump buy ..American? pic.twitter.com/fXvDy5mbJp Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) January 20, 2017@JordanUhl @realDonaldTrump That s a typo. He meant buy America . Kristina Harbeson (@RNKit30) January 20, 2017@RNKit30 @JordanUhl @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/o7UwHrgcWY Trump s tweet Editor (@Spyhuntress) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump why is your tie you just wore made in china tho???????? https://t.co/qJaWOofVKL snck (@SNCKPCK) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump so you will no longer use foreign labor for your clothes line or hire foreign workers at Mar a Lago? Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump Are you? Your stupid ties aren t made in the USA. Ben Berkon (@BenBerkon) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/IOgBHxpa3i Austin Gebbia (@DearMorni) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump You didn t even follow those rules. Peter Jackson (@pjackson_nl) January 20, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Buy American? pic.twitter.com/PPDEa7I5TO Im genes Hist ricas (@HistoriaEnFotos) January 20, 2017.@realDonaldTrump Hire American ?Just days after election you applied to hire foreign workers pic.twitter.com/Ie7QVrZQCE Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump Try it with your own business first! pic.twitter.com/bvEqQtUASy The Donald (@LoserDonDrumpf) January 20, 2017@realDonaldTrump The entire 1st family is made up of hypocritical con artists. The real House of Cards! pic.twitter.com/k6vj7J6Vct The Donald (@LoserDonDrumpf) January 20, 2017Donald Trump is a total hypocrite. Again, he literally screwed over American steel workers by buying metals from China to use to build his hotels.Trump also furnishes his hotels with goods made outside of the United States, including lamps, sheets, beds, chairs, etc Even David Letterman exposed and humiliated Trump for being a hypocrite.Donald Trump is already setting a poor example as president. He is telling Americans and American businesses to follow rules that he refuses to follow himself. Just more proof that Donald Trump is a liar and hypocrite who loves himself more than his country. And he should be impeached.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump infrastructure push rolls back environmental rules | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday rolled back rules regarding environmental reviews and restrictions on government-funded building projects in flood-prone areas as part of his proposal to spend $1 trillion to fix aging U.S. infrastructure. Trump’s latest executive order would speed approvals of permits for highways, bridges, pipelines and other major building efforts. It revokes an Obama-era executive order aimed at reducing exposure to flooding, sea level rise and other consequences of climate change. “It’s going to be quick. It’s going to be a very streamlined process. And by the way, if it doesn’t meet environmental safeguards, we’re not going to approve it - very simple,” Trump said at a press conference at Trump Tower in New York. President Trump promised in his election campaign to press for widespread deregulation to spur business spending. The former New York real state developer has complained that it takes too long to get permits for big construction projects. Business groups praised the streamlining of regulations, while environmental groups and others criticized the order, saying it would lead to riskier projects, waste taxpayer dollars and result in a “climate catastrophe.” The American Petroleum Institute said in a statement that the order reflects recommendations the oil industry lobby group submitted to the Commerce Department in March. The National Association of Home Builders also praised the Trump administration’s move, saying the flood rules had raised the cost of housing. But the environmental group Oil Change International said the order would silence local communities that have safety and environmental concerns about major projects like pipelines. “If Trump has his way, we’ll be facing a fossil fuel buildout that locks America into climate catastrophe,” said Janet Redman, U.S. Policy Director at Oil Change International. The order would set a two-year goal for completing permits needed on major infrastructure plans, and create a “one Federal decision” protocol that would appoint a lead federal agency to work with other agencies to complete the environmental reviews and permitting for infrastructure projects. The Trump administration has issued dozens of rules and orders to reverse Obama-era regulations addressing climate change and its consequences such as rising sea levels and more severe storms. The administration proposes $200 billion in government funding over 10 years as part of a goal of getting $1 trillion in public and private infrastructure spending. The Obama-era standard required that builders factor in scientific projections for increased flooding and ensure projects can withstand rising sea levels and stronger downpours. It required all federal agencies apply the standard to public infrastructure projects from housing to highways. Rafael Lemaitre, former director of public affairs at FEMA who worked on the Obama-era order, said Trump is undoing “the most significant action taken in a generation” to safeguard U.S. infrastructure. “Eliminating this requirement is self-defeating; we can either build smarter now, or put taxpayers on the hook to pay exponentially more when it floods. And it will,” he said. | 0fake |
Senator Delivers SCATHING Rebuke To His GOP Colleagues – ‘No One Is Safe’ Because Of You | It s been a tragic, but infuriating day for America. In the wake of the mass shooting at a church in Texas, we ve all heard the obligatory thoughts and prayers and May God be with yous, we ve come to expect from Republicans who are more concerned about their NRA ratings than they are about actual lives. So Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut blasted them for it in his official statement on the shooting.In it, he asks a very, very important question: How can you claim that you respect human life while choosing fealty to weapons-makers over support for measures favored by the vast majority of your constituents? This is something he wants each of his Republican colleagues to consider seriously as they go to sleep tonight, because many of these people (like Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan) claim to value human life in the abortion debate, but behave as though the deaths of thousands of people already here on this Earth due to gun violence is simply the price of freedom. That s not valuing life. That s valuing the money they get from various lobbies.Murphy went on to state his heartbreak, not just over high-profile mass shootings, but others as well: My heart breaks for Sutherland Springs. Just like it still does for Las Vegas. And Orlando. And Charleston. And Aurora. And Blacksburg. And Newtown. Just like it does every night for Chicago. And New Orleans. And Baltimore. And Bridgeport. Then he ended it with quite possibly the most powerful statement there is: The terrifying fact is that no one is safe so long as Congress chooses to do absolutely nothing in the face of this epidemic. The time is now for Congress to shed its cowardly cover and do something. Congress continually fails to act because Republicans won t. So while Murphy diplomatically says that we aren t safe because Congress is too cowardly to act, he s laying the blame for this squarely at his Republican colleagues feet. The saddest part is that the GOP won t heed this. The gun lobby will have to be shut down one way or another for Republicans to open their eyes to reality. You can read his full statement below:Whoa, this statement from @ChrisMurphyCT on the Sutherland Springs, Texas shooting is extremely powerful. Wow. pic.twitter.com/4qyP3sH9co Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) November 5, 2017Featured image via Erich Schlegel/Getty Images | 1real |
Taxpayers Shell Out $100K to Pay for Cops Caught Eating Weed & Assaulting People in Pot Shop Video | Home / #Solutions / Taxpayers Shell Out $100K to Pay for Cops Caught Eating Weed & Assaulting People in Pot Shop Video Taxpayers Shell Out $100K to Pay for Cops Caught Eating Weed & Assaulting People in Pot Shop Video Claire Bernish October 27, 2016 Leave a comment
To settle a federal lawsuit stemming from a highly controversial raid on a cannabis dispensary — in which three nefarious cops were caught on surveillance video munching and edibles and making degrading comments about a disabled woman — taxpayers will be forced to shell out $100,000 via the City of Santa Ana, California.
In addition to the payout for damages to the store, the Orange County Register reports, misdemeanor charges against a dozen people accused of operating the dispensary illegally will be dropped.
On May 26, 2015, a group heavily-armed Santa Ana cops used a battering ram to storm Sky High Holistic with guns drawn , smashed surveillance cameras and confiscated recording equipment, and proceeded to make disparaging comments toward customers, some of whom were disabled.
In particular, these unabashedly power-tripping police suggested they should have assaulted a partially blind paraplegic woman — who was not only confined to a personal mobility unit, but had readily complied in the frightening encounter.
“Did you punch that one-legged old Benita?” a male officer of the law asks a female colleague as cameras recorded their conversation.
“I was about to kick her in the fucking nub,” the female officer of the law glibly replies.
Fortunately for the customers-turned-victims, cameras recorded the officers as they slowly completed the raid in a manner akin to a fraternity party — a few play darts while having a crude and wholly unprofessional conversation, while one samples what appears to be a marijuana edible he then shares with his buddies.
One camera remained surreptitiously hidden, evading officers’ efforts to cover their tracks in this armed burglary, and — when its video evidence went viral — proved to the world how unprofessional, abusive, and criminal these cops actually are.
According to allegations in the now-settled civil rights lawsuit, these errant officers devised a scheme to shut down dispensaries operating without a permit after Santa Ana voters passed a ballot measure allowing 20 dispensaries to operate following a lottery — for which Sky High had not been selected.
“The settlement of civil rights claims and dismissal of criminal actions shows Santa Ana is taking responsibility for improper actions it took, including the raid of Sky High Holistic, in support of its lottery-based marijuana regulation ordinance,” District Attorney Michael Pappas told the Register by email.
After a yearlong battle, misdemeanor charges were finally brought against three of the cops — petty theft for those who chowed down on the shop’s edible protein bars and cookies, and vandalism against the cop who destroyed all of the dispensary’s cameras.
Well, except that one .
Those charges are pending, and none of the three, who were initially suspended after the video went viral, remain employed with the Santa Ana Police Department — though law enforcement refused to elaborate for the Register on whether they had been terminated or had simply resigned.
Should former Officers Jorge Arroyo and Nicole Lynn Quijas be convicted of petty theft, they face a maximum six-month jail sentence and $1,000 fine. Former Officer Brandon Matthew Sontag faces up to 18 months in jail and a $2,000 fine for both the petty theft and vandalism charges if he is found guilty.
Pappas also noted the fight continues to have thousands in stolen cash and items returned to the rightful owners, as does his pursuance of a second lawsuit for an unspecified monetary amount in damages in the Orange County Superior Court.
Although the meager settlement is somewhat a victory for the victims — one of whom was a neighboring physician whose office had power and water cut during the incident — video evidences an armed and violent raid undertaken by cruel cops who appear as if they’ve discovered an enjoyable new sport.
Indeed if justice were truly to be served, all of the officers involved would be locked behind bars for performing a violent raid on a store providing a service to consenting customers on a voluntary basis. Share Social Trending | 1real |
Harry Reid TORCHES FBI Director Comey: ‘I Believed You To Be Principled. I Now See I Was Wrong’ | Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wrote a letter to James Comey on Sunday where he lambasted the FBI director for releasing information relating to investigating a presidential candidate just 11 days before an election. Comey has said he was obligated to tell Congress that he d found more emails, but the law may say otherwise.The Hatch Act, which prevents ICE from endorsing Donald Trump despite his repeated claims, also bars government officials from using their positions to influence the outcome of an election. Comey s, ahem, poorly timed revelation could, in fact, be seen as using his position as director of the FBI to influence this election. Reid said, point blank: I am writing to inform you that my office has determined that these actions may violate the Hatch Act. Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law. New @SenatorReid letter to James Comey re: Hatch Act: Through your partisan actions, you may have broken the law. pic.twitter.com/MplVLQxgdi Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 30, 2016Now, Comey could always reiterate that he was only doing what he promised Congress he would do. However, given that he s a Republican, he could be up to any number of things. It could be as innocent as that. Or perhaps he thinks he can restore some of his standing among his party, which took a hit after he said he wasn t filing charges against Hillary.He could also be responding to all the squeaky wheels in Congress who are bitching up one side and down the other that Hillary is guilty, is a threat to national security and is therefore unqualified to be President; and screaming and crying about Comey not doing his job.But it s the last part of Reid s letter that will really hit Comey where it hurts. Congressional Republicans tried to filibuster his nomination away, and Reid stood up for him. Reid said: Please keep in mind that I have been a supporter of yours in the past. When Republicans filibustered your nomination and delayed your confirmation longer than any previous nominee to your position, I led the fight to get you confirmed because I believed you to be a principled public servant.With deepest regret, I now see that I was wrong. The last line of @senatorreid s letter to James Comey is amazing. ? pic.twitter.com/pdzEKZZCye Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) October 30, 2016Ouch. Just ouch. Comey has really done a number on himself with this.Image of Harry Reid by Alex Wong, image of James Comey by Chip Somodevilla. Images merged by Rika Christensen | 1real |
Blackwell: Energy Security Means Putting America First - Breitbart | Every year, the United States spends $67. 5 billion to ensure the worldwide free flow of oil. Often produced in unstable parts of the world and shipped through insecure chokepoints, the U. S. military works to make sure crude oil from other countries makes it safely onto the global market. Yet while this global oil market benefits some nations, its volatility threatens the American economy and undermines U. S. national security. [From technology to the weather, the factors affecting the price of oil are frequent and varied. One key constant, however, is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Companies (OPEC) a cartel that uses its significant reserves of crude and concentrated political power structures to exert undue influence on the world price, affecting the U. S. economy as a result. This influence was felt most prominently and recently in our own energy industry. Amid the rising oil prices of the previous decade, a small group of innovative American producers used new technology to unlock the oil held in U. S. shale formations, long considered to be too expensive and limited to produce. This new production rewrote the energy rulebook, and our oil imports were halved. Even as U. S. crude production rose, industry watchers were unconcerned about global oversupply, confident that OPEC — led by global swing producer Saudi Arabia — would take its usual approach and cut production. At the November 2014 OPEC meeting on Thanksgiving Day, however, that confidence evaporated. The cartel announced it would maintain its production levels, sending prices into a tailspin. In June 24, the price of oil was $110 per barrel. By January 2016, the price was just $26. Although the price crash benefits consumers in the with average annual household spending on gasoline falling almost 21 percent between 2011 and 2015, the U. S. shale industry has struggled. Since January 2015, more than 220 oil companies have gone bankrupt, taking 150, 000 jobs with them and nudging parts of the country that benefited from the oil boom back toward recession. But despite this success in decimating America’s domestic oil industry, OPEC has not finished yet. Spurred on by domestic issues such as social spending, OPEC is shifting strategy and creating more volatility by bringing in Russia and others to collaborate on production as a “supercartel. ” The group’s unprecedented influence stems from its control of 90 percent of global reserves, but these entities do not act in the profit maximizing manner of American producers. They serve instead as government proxies, generating revenues to support regimes that do not share U. S. strategic priorities. Despite this clear conflict of interest, our military ensures the free flow of their crude because oil is vital to the U. S. economy, powering 92 percent of our transportation system. The global nature of oil pricing means that no matter how much oil we produce, our economic sovereignty remains jeopardized by OPEC and the supercartel. To counter our reliance on this opaque oil market, we must develop a range of policy responses. First, we must develop more resources here at home. Second, we must modernize our fuel efficiency standards to maximize the benefits from the oil we use. Third, we must encourage the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles running on diverse sources of domestic energy, including electricity, natural gas, and hydrogen. Finally, we must have an honest assessment of our ability to respond to OPEC’s actions to influence oil prices. Work has already begun in Congress on this final recommendation, through the bipartisan introduction of H. R. 545 by Kevin Cramer ( ) Collin Peterson ( ) Trent Franks ( ) and David Scott ( ). The bill creates a Congressional commission that investigates OPEC’s influence over the global oil market, examines America’s ability to mitigate the cartel’s effects and proposes a range of policy responses — trade, diplomatic, statutory and regulatory — to President Trump and Congress. As American lives and our economic sovereignty continue to be risked to ensure a free flow of oil for countries that do not share our interests, the time for action is now. The President has rightly prioritized energy security in his America First Energy Plan, stating that his administration wants to, “Become, and stay, totally independent of any need to import energy from the OPEC cartel or any nations hostile to our interests. ” With President Trump in office, the opportunity to tackle OPEC’s outsized influence has presented itself. The swift establishment of this committee will give it the potential to frame the administration’s energy agenda for at least the next four years — and ensure, most importantly, that our energy system truly works in our national interest. Ken Blackwell, a former Domestic Policy Advisor to the Trump Presidential Transition Team, is a Senior Advisor to Securing America’s Future Energy. | 0fake |
DESPERATE: Trump Doubles Down On Wiretap Lie, Says He Will ‘Be Proven Right’ | Usually, if you re in a hole you stop digging but not Donald Trump. The amateur president went on a tweetstorm yesterday, likely to deflect from his own scandals, to accuse Barack Obama of having his phones tapped during the campaign. Trump s newest conspiracy theory isn t going down well. Even Director James Comey asked the Justice Department to publicly reject Trump s claims. That Comey. The one who interfered with the election process by sending a letter to Congress suggesting that there was something the FBI had on Hillary Clinton. As it happens, it was all a ruse to help defeat Trump s Democratic opponent. We re sure Comey is rethinking his actions now.Still yet, Trump is doubling down on his fact-free conspiracy theory.The Hill reports:The CEO of Newsmax Media, known for having a relationship with President Trump, wrote on Sunday that Trump insists he will be proven right regarding his allegation of wiretaps at Trump Tower. I spoke with the President twice yesterday about the wiretap story. I haven t seen him this pissed off in a long time, Christopher Ruddy wrote in an article for Newmax. When I mentioned Obama denials about the wiretaps, he shot back: This will be investigated, it will all come out. I will be proven right, he said.Again, there is zero proof of Trump s claims and a President cannot authorize a wiretap in this manner. Trump supporters, even CEOs, believe whatever the alleged president says. We re still waiting for Trump s team of investigators to get back from Hawaii to prove that Obama, America s first black president, did not legitimately hold the highest seat in the land. Trump dogged former president Barack Obama for years. He then went on to accuse Hillary Clinton of corruption. In both instances, Donald Trump was practicing projection which is something he now excels at.Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo Pool/Getty Images. | 1real |
🚨Bill Clinton and Hillary Lolita Express Pedophilia Ring🚨 | 🚨Bill Clinton and Hillary Lolita Express Pedophilia Ring🚨 11/04/2016 In today’s video, Christopher Greene of AMTV breaks down the connection between convicted felon Jefferey Epstein ‘known pedophile” and the Clinton’s. Will this be the next shoe to drop in the Wikileaks Podesta dump? Will find out this weekend in an Exclusive RT interview with the man himself Julian Assange. Analyst: Most Americans like neither Candidate 11/04/2016 PRESS TV US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s unpopularity among American voters has reached a new h ... Crack in Earth’s magnetic shield detected 11/04/2016 DNA INDIA The world's largest and most sensitive cosmic ray monitor, located in India, has recorded a burst of galact ... Feds warn NYC officials about possible al Qaeda attack 11/04/2016 NEW YORK POST New York City law enforcement authorities are on high alert after receiving a warning by the feds about ... AMTV Archives | 1real |
Economic Racial Disparity in North Carolina | Email
While the recent police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott has led to increased scrutiny on police activities in North Carolina, police-community relations are not the only reason racial tensions are flaring. While encounters with police officers can radically differ depending on the race of those involved, access to economic resources tend to follow a similar pattern. Although racial gaps regarding wealth, incomes, and healthcare are nationwide issues, observing them from a statewide perspective can help understand why specific communities feel maltreated.
A UNC Chapel Hill study found that the income and wealth disparities between African Americans and whites in North Carolina are far worse than the national average. It states that:
…black households, at the median, claim only about 13 percent of the wealth and, stunningly, about 4 percent of the net worth of white households. The corresponding figures for the nation are bleak: 15 and 13 percent respectively. Median wealth for white households is roughly seven times that of black households…Nationally, black households have about half the home equity of whites. In North Carolina, it’s about a third.
The study goes on to state that half of all black households in North Carolina have under $100 in savings. At the median, black heads of household aged between 50 and 65 own $17,000 in assets compared to white households’ median of $143,000, which seriously hampers older, black workers from retiring comfortably. This data paints a picture of a state that fails to allow black communities from advancing economically and obtaining some semblance of equality.
The issue is further exasperated by lack of access to health insurance. A North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services study found that 13% of North Carolina whites have no health insurance as compared to 22% of blacks. 16% of whites were reported to be in “fair or poor” health as compared to 23.2% of blacks. The Kaiser Family Foundation research shows that the majority of non-elderly uninsured North Carolinians were minorities: 30% Hispanic and 14% black, while 10% were white. This is especially concerning considering minorities experience disease at a higher rate than American whites, and visit the doctor at much lower rates. The result: communities most in need of medical assistance are least likely to attain it.
This imbalance is in part due to the state government’s failure to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, something which would have significantly reduced the coverage gap between those receiving Medicaid and those obtaining income-based subsidies. The North Carolina Justice Center finds that, had the expansion gone through, 500,000 low-income North Carolinians would have health insurance who currently don’t have it, and over 1,000 unnecessary deaths would have been prevented.
While the protests in Charlotte appeared to be a backlash against apparent police brutality, underlying economic factors also come into play. A breaking point will eventually be reached by those living in undesirable economic situations which they view as consequential of a racist and unfair system. The case of North Carolina is a particularly negative one, but the principles outlined in this research are not unique to North Carolina. Americans cannot expect race relations to cool until access to income, wealth, and healthcare are equalized and structured in a fair, equitable manner. | 1real |
BALTIMORE MAYOR’S STAFF JUMPING SHIP IN DROVES AS QUESTIONS ARISE ABOUT $20 MILLION ESTIMATE FOR RIOT DAMAGE | I guess the people who work for the Baltimore Mayor are like rats on the sinking Titanic. Maybe they figured out that it s not so smart to let rioters destroy your town and then expect the taxpayers to pick up the bloated tab. Baltimore mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is having a problem with retaining her staff. Ever since she helped bring the hammer down on six Baltimore police officers over the accidental death of Freddie Gray, four members on her Office on Criminal Justice have resigned. As in, her four highest-ranking cabinet members have each resigned, one by one, over a three-week period. That does not paint a pretty picture on what regard the Baltimore mayor is held in with her staff members. Shannon Cosgrove, deputy director of the office resigned Tuesday. Angela Johnese, director of the criminal justice office, and Heather Brantner, the mayor s Sexual Assault Response Team coordinator, left their positions in the mayor s office on May 22. LeVar Michael, who headed the office s nonviolent programs, left two weeks ago. Not one of the departed provided a reason for leaving. The Rawlings-Blake now faces even further scrutiny as it was determined that the costs incurred to the city stemming from the Baltimore riots exceed $20 million, quite a hike from the initial estimate of $9 million. So, who wants a job in the Baltimore mayor s office? VIA: BALTIMORE SUN TIMES | 1real |
Penn Station Inhabitant Finally Has a Home of Her Own - The New York Times | They called themselves the Penn Station Nation, a ragtag group of roughly 50 homeless people who congregated around New York City’s bustling transportation hub. For 10 years, Tamara Hutchinson was a member, but the bonds were that of family — several dozen kindred spirits who watched one another’s backs. “I was homeless and happy,” Ms. Hutchinson, 46, said. She always had a boyfriend, many in fact traveling in pairs kept everyone safer, she said. They always slept in groups in areas where they could rest undisturbed. When she could not find the group at night, she would check into a shelter. “Sometimes you forget you’re homeless until you want to go home,” she said. Every night in New York City, roughly 60, 000 people sleep in a shelter, up from about 59, 000 in August, a striking contrast in a city of gleaming towers and tremendous individual wealth. Thousands of homeless do not make it to a shelter in the winter and end up sleeping in subway stations and on the streets, bundled in blankets and in layers of clothing. During the day, Ms. Hutchinson ate and showered at churches. She begged for money or food outside Madison Square Garden after shows and games, always hoping to find a generous person. She also found assistance through the charitable organization Midnight Run, a volunteer program that distributes food, clothing, blankets and personal care items to the city’s homeless, helping Ms. Hutchinson preserve her dignity. “Most of the time, you couldn’t tell we were homeless,” she said. Throughout her years on the streets, Ms. Hutchinson continued to take her medicine, a rarity among the homeless, for schizophrenia and mood disorder. Without it, she said, her mind was filled with voices. “They wouldn’t let me sleep,” Ms. Hutchinson recalled. “I was tossing and turning. It was horrible. ” Soon after her diagnosis in 1996, Ms. Hutchinson placed her daughter Breyanna, who was 2 at the time, in the care of the girl’s father. She also halted a promising songwriting career in rap. Under the stage name Essence, Ms. Hutchinson had performed at a number of clubs. In 1991, one of her songs, “Lyrics 2 the Rhythm,” was produced by the renowned artist Grandmaster Flash for the film “New Jack City. ” While she was pregnant with her second daughter in 2003, she went off her medication. After her daughter was born, the girl was placed in the care of Ms. Hutchinson’s aunt and uncle and remains in their custody. At 33, Ms. Hutchinson wound up on the streets, where she found unexpected camaraderie amid tremendous struggles. But years later, her life changed. In 2013, Ms. Hutchinson went to University Medical Center because of a persistent cough that remedies had not alleviated. Tests revealed that she had pneumocystis pneumonia and that she was H. I. V. positive. Many people in the Penn Station Nation were sexually active, and she said some of them had also learned they had H. I. V. “Ever since then, I’ve been off the streets,” she said. “They told me that I could never be homeless again. ” Ms. Hutchinson spent the next two weeks at the hospital, where she met a caseworker from the AIDS Service Center for New York City. She was connected to the H. I. V. Services Administration, which assists individuals living with the disease, and secured transitional housing. “When I got the key after getting discharged, I just stood there looking out the window for like 20 minutes,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “Then I took off everything, got in the bed, and I slept for two days. ” This year, she found permanent housing through a social services organization in the Bronx. Her $971 monthly rent is largely covered by the Services for the UnderServed Inc. a social services organization in the city. Ms. Hutchinson’s only monthly income comes from the government: $733 from Social Security and $16 in food stamps. The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, one of eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund, used $1, 000 in Neediest funds to buy Ms. Hutchinson furniture for her apartment, including a dining set, a sofa and a dresser. Ms. Hutchinson remains in contact with her daughters. The older one lives and attends college in Texas her True, resides on Long Island. As much as she misses True, Ms. Hutchinson said she knew it was better for her to be living with her aunt and uncle. Ms. Hutchinson takes online classes in creative writing and business management. Friends in the music industry have encouraged her to write again. But progress on all fronts has been slow. “I’m going to take my time because I want longevity,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “You have all your life to get finished. ” What happened between now and her once promising music career — 10 haunting years of destitution and desperation — is difficult to overcome, she said. She tries to stay positive by focusing on the fact that she has finally achieved what she had longed for. “While I was with them, I missed the music, I missed working, I missed going to parties, clubs,” she said. “Now that I’m home, back in the house, I have to feel better so that I can get back to work. ” She wants to build on the momentum and has created a plan: Save some money, lose weight and receive her degrees and certifications so she can make music again. “I got no excuses,” Ms. Hutchinson said. “I could sit here and act broke, homeless and sick if I wanted to. Nobody would know. But I really can get up and back to work. ” | 0fake |
Pope says his defense of Rohingya got through in Myanmar | ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday defended his strategy of avoiding the term Rohingya in Myanmar, saying he believed he got his message across to both the civilian and military leadership without shutting down dialogue. Speaking to reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from Bangladesh, the pontiff also indicated that he had been firm with Myanmar s military leaders in private meetings about the need for them to respect the rights of Rohingya refugees. He also disclosed that he cried when he met a group of Rohingya refugees on Friday in Bangladesh, where he defended their rights by name in an emotional meeting. For me, the most important thing is that message gets through, to try to say things one step at a time and listen to the responses, he said. I knew that if in the official speeches I would have used that word, they would have closed the door in our faces. But (in public) I described situations, rights, said that no one should be excluded, (the right to) citizenship, in order to allow myself to go further in the private meetings, he said. Francis did not use the word Rohingya in public while on the first leg of the trip in Myanmar. Predominantly Buddhist Myanmar does not recognize the mostly Muslim Rohingya as an ethnic group with its own identity but as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Local Roman Catholic Church authorities had advised him not to say it because it could spark a backlash against Christians and other minority groups. The pope met Myanmar s military leaders privately on Monday, shortly after his arrival in the nation s biggest city, Yangon. The meeting had been scheduled for Thursday morning but the military pointedly asked at the last minute that it be pushed forward. The result was they saw the pope before the civilian leaders instead of the other way around, as had been planned. NON-NEGOTIABLE TRUTHS It was a good conversation and the truth was non-negotiable, he said of his meeting with the military leaders. The latest exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh of about 625,000 people followed a Myanmar military crackdown in response to Rohingya militant attacks on an army base and police posts on Aug. 25. Refugees have said scores of Rohingya villages were burnt to the ground, people were killed and women were raped. The military have denied accusations of ethnic cleansing by the United States and United Nations. Asked if he used the word Rohingya during the private meeting with the military chiefs, the pope said: I used words in order to arrive at the message and when I saw that the message had arrived, I dared to say everything that I wanted say . He then gave a reporter a mischievous grin and ended his answer with the Latin phrase Intelligenti Pauca, which means Few words are enough for those who understand, strongly hinting that he had used the word the military detests while in their presence. Human rights groups have criticized the country s de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was under house arrest for a total of 15 years before the 2015 elections, for not taking a stand against the generals. But Francis, who met with her privately on Tuesday, appeared to give her the benefit of the doubt because of her delicate relationship with the generals who were once her jailers. Myanmar is a nation that is growing politically, in transition, Francis said in response to a question about Suu Kyi and budding democracy in Myanmar. So things have to be viewed through this lens. Myanmar has to be able to look forward to the building of the country . On Friday in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, Francis held an emotional encounter with Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and then used the word Rohingya for the first time on the trip, although he had defended them by name twice from the Vatican earlier this year. He told the crowd where the Rohingya were that God s presence was within them and they should be respected. I was crying and tried to hide it, Francis said on the plane, recounting how moved he felt when the refugees recounted their ordeals to him. | 0fake |
Frankfurt starts evacuation before attempt to defuse WWII bomb | FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Frankfurt emergency service staff started to evacuate patients from two hospitals in Germany s financial capital on Saturday ahead of the planned defusing of a massive World War Two bomb. Some 60,000 people have to leave their homes early on Sunday in Germany s biggest evacuation since the war while officials disarm the 1.4 tonne British bomb. It was discovered on a building site in Frankfurt s leafy Westend, where many wealthy bankers live. More than 100 hospital patients, including premature infants and those in intensive care, were evacuated on Saturday, Frankfurt city councillor Markus Frank told Reuters television. More than 2,000 tonnes of live bombs and munitions are found each year in Germany, even under buildings. In July, a kindergarten was evacuated after teachers discovered an unexploded World War Two bomb on a shelf among some toys. Frankfurt fire and police chiefs said they would use force and incarceration if necessary to clear the area of residents, warning that an uncontrolled explosion of the bomb would be big enough to flatten a city block. The HC 4000 bomb is assumed to have been dropped by Britain s Royal Air Force during the 1939-45 war. The country was pummeled by 1.5 million tonnes of bombs from British and American warplanes that killed 600,000 people. German officials estimate 15 percent of the bombs failed to explode, some burrowing six meters (yards) deep. Three police explosives experts in Goettingen were killed in 2010 while preparing to defuse a 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb. The compulsory evacuation radius of 1.5 km (roughly a mile) around the bomb includes police headquarters, two hospitals, transport systems and Germany s central bank storing $70 billion in gold reserves. Frankfurt s residents have to clear the area by 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Sunday and police will ring every doorbell and use helicopters with heat-sensing cameras to make sure nobody is left behind before they start diffusing the bomb. Roads and transport systems, including the parts of the underground, will be closed during the work and for at least two hours after the bomb is defused, to allow patients to be transported back to hospitals. Air traffic from Frankfurt airport could also be affected if there is an easterly wind on Sunday. Also, small private planes, helicopters and drones will be banned from the evacuation zone. Frankfurters can spend the day at shelters set up at the trade fair and the Jahrhunderthalle convention center. Most museums are offering residents free entry on Sunday, and a few of them will open their doors earlier in the morning than usual. | 0fake |
South Korea's Moon promises thorough probe as anger mounts at deadly sauna fire | SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in comforted mourners in the small scenic city of Jecheon on Friday amid growing public anger at how fire ripped through an eight-storey building, killing at least 29 people, most of them taking a sauna. All but one of the victims had been identified by Friday morning, including 20 women who were overcome by toxic fumes in the second-floor sauna, Jecheon fire chief Lee Sang-min said. Our crew on the scene said the lockers inside the facility were installed like a labyrinth and it s a glass building with few windows, which apparently made way for the smoke from the first floor to quickly fill up the second floor, Lee told reporters. Consoling family members, President Moon Jae-in said he was devastated and promised a full investigation. The government as a whole will thoroughly probe this accident s cause and process of response, and although after the fact, the investigation and measures will be such that, at least, there will not be lingering deep sorrow. Moon s predecessor, ousted former president Park Geun-hye, was widely criticized for her slow and ineffective response to the Sewol ferry tragedy in 2014 in which more than 300 people, mostly schoolchildren, drowned. Anger mounted on Friday at reports of shoddy construction, broken doors and other problems that may have contributed to the deaths. One man shouted at officials visiting survivors in hospital, complaining that firefighters failed to break through to the trapped women in time. Media reported that a glass door leading to the sauna had not been working properly for more than a month, and that emergency stairs were often used for storage. Nothing has changed even after the Sewol tragedy, parliament member Ahn Cheol-soo said. I just cannot understand why the same type of accidents happen over and over again, he said, according to the Yonhap news agency. Jecheon s mayor told reporters the city was considering a mass funeral and planned to cover most of the costs. Investigators were still trying to find out the cause of the conflagration, but were focusing on a first-floor parking lot, Lee said. There were cars parked on the first floor, and as they were burning, a large amount of toxic gases were released. Tragic stories began to emerge as victims were identified. One man told Yonhap that he lost his mother, wife, and daughter. Another said he received a phone call from his trapped wife as she coughed in the gathering smoke, but was later unable to reach her again. Heavy smoke charred glass facade of the building as firefighters struggled to extinguish the blaze, climbing up and down a ladder in a desperate search for survivors. Organizers called off a leg of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games torch relay in Jecheon on what should have been a day of celebration ahead of the games. We thought that having a torch relay at a place where so many people died in a fire accident is just not right, and therefore canceled today s event in Jecheon, Ryu Hoyon, the torch relay manager for the Pyeongchang organizing committee, told Reuters. We are planning to adjust further schedules with those who want to continue the relay. Jecheon is southeast of the capital Seoul and is popular with visitors to its mountains and lakes. (tmsnrt.rs/2BvndG6) The Games begin in February. | 0fake |
Spirit Medicine for the Age of Chaos, Division and Decay | Waking Times
I find it easy to imagine a better world, one in which compassion and brotherhood reign supreme. Where greed has been dethroned and truth is respected and revered. A world where our resources are applied creatively, where technology liberates people instead of killing them, and where the natural world is as precious as the human body.
On and on it goes. It’s a beautiful vision.
It’s simple to imagine, because it resonates so deeply with what we know to be true about humans: at our root, we are beings of love. What’s difficult, though, seemingly impossible at times, is to envision the transition from today’s world to this high vision.
What is the missing link? What is the secret? Must we overthrow something or someone? Is a revolution in order? Against whom, precisely? Or do we just start building amid the chaos, division and decay surrounding us? How do we get there from here?
If you follow the thread of scientific reason on human consciousness all the way to its essence, you eventually arrive at the revelation that we create reality , and that the world at large is a macrocosmic representation of the experiences of the individual. Everything conscious and unconscious that lives and breathes within the self, is mirrored as fractals in our collective experience. In this way we share each other’s pain, and in this way we contribute to each other’s greatness.
Observation of the world in this light is a diagnosis of the individual. The sicknesses manifest in our shared reality are to be found within the mind and spirit of all people. When we grasp this as the true nature of reality, the path to a better world suddenly appears. The healing of the one is the healing of the whole. The way is clear now. False Cures and Phony Pharmaceuticals
We live in the age of phony solutions, misplaced hopes and false cures. Shallow is the new deep. Substance is nothing in the company of style. Medicines don’t heal, they harm by making themselves necessary. Cures now perpetuate disease, and the root is rarely unearthed, the source rarely revealed.
The disease that keeps us on the path of self-destruction is a spiritual one, for, each and every human being is a container for personal and collective history, trial and trauma. The contents of our past help to color our future. Suffering buried within creates disharmony without. This is one of the fundamental truths about the spiritual essence of human beings. We carry our past with us, never thinking to let go of that which no longer serves us well.
Our heritage as beings of nature includes the medicines which can release us suffering. These are mother nature’s spiritual medicines which serve as tools for personal, community and planetary renewal . Medicines to explore consciousness and one’s truest nature, but deemed illegal in the matrix, and now only available to those who seek them out. For those that do, a glimpse of the deepest areas of the self is possible, bringing extraordinary understanding of the value and meaning in life. “You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” ~ Eckhart Tolle First Let Go, Then Receive, Then Integrate
My personal experience with shamanic plant medicines in their proper ceremonial context has led me to the understanding that to be happy one must be free. And to be free, one must be unencumbered and unaffected by fear. To be unaffected by fear, one must have looked intently into the darkest regions of oneself, thereby expanding the range of the possible, so that a rebound can occur allowing for a unfathomably grand new vision of the self.
I have a good friend who works to preserve the culture and medicine traditions of an Amazonian tribe who is being driven into extinction by our consumeristic way of life. I’ve seen firsthand how their sacred plant medicine tradition can positively and permanently change someone’s life, rescuing them from victimhood, and releasing them to their true purpose and greatness.
Another friend of mine, a shaman whose work with a powerful plant medicine tradition from the African rainforest , works everyday providing an opportunity for people like you and I to explore the vast depths of consciousness and memory, Creating a space that allows us to hold communion with our very own souls and letting us see the full depth, richness and vividness of contents stored in the subconscious mind. READ: Matrix Deprogramming and the Prohibition of Nature’s Red Pill
These sacred healing traditions are mostly unknown and widely misunderstood in the culture of contemporary consciousness. These are the spiritual medicines and experiences outlawed by the matrix . Verboten because they have the power to free us from the death grip of self-destruction .
The core message of these plant medicines, as I’ve come to see it, is three-fold: let go, receive, integrate.
First you are called to let go of that which weighs you down, of the fear which prevents you from accepting truth, and of the expectation of having control.
Then to receive. Receive knowledge of self, both sacred and profane. Receive knowledge of the natural world, without which we are nothing. And receive knowledge of the infinitely complexity, and inspiration inherent in the cosmos within.
Then we must integrate these lessons or they are meaningless. We have to walk with these teachings and these revelations, carrying them with each day, in each interaction with others, forever forward as our lives grow more rich. We must actively rise to the challenge of creating the highest versions of ourselves. Final Thoughts
This is the age of chaos, division and decay, when the sickness within colors darkly the world without.
Culture has worked itself into a destructive and frustrating loop, and as the pattern of stress repeats itself, it leads us ever further away from our true nature. Largely cut off from spiritual medicine and deep spiritual experience, we don’t know which direction to turn for inspiration and strength, and are unable to see the way towards that great vision of our future. Yet, to dig ourselves out of the current trap of destruction the individual must be healed. Read more articles by Dylan Charles . About the Author
Dylan Charles is a student and teacher of Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, a practitioner of Yoga and Taoist arts, and an activist and idealist passionately engaged in the struggle for a more sustainable and just world for future generations. He is the editor of WakingTimes.com , the proprietor of OffgridOutpost.com , a grateful father and a man who seeks to enlighten others with the power of inspiring information and action. He may be contacted at . This article ( Spirit Medicine for the Age of Chaos, Division and Decay Dylan Charles | 1real |
WHEN A GOVERNMENT PUTS IMMIGRANTS BEFORE CITIZENS: Swedish Citizens Have No Place To Live, No Jobs, Need To Carry Guns Everywhere They Go | Barack Obama and the Democrat party would like us to go the way of the Swedes. Do Americans have the fortitude to fight back against a government hell-bent on putting political correctness before national security?The Swedes see the welfare systems failing them. Swedes have had to get used to the government prioritizing refugees and migrants above native Swedes. There are no apartments, no jobs, we don t dare go shopping anymore [without a gun], but we re supposed to think everything s great. Women and girls are raped by these non-European men, who come here claiming they are unaccompanied children, even though they are grown men. You Cabinet Ministers live in your fancy residential neighborhoods, with only Swedish neighbors. It should be obligatory for all politicians to live for at least three months in an area consisting mostly of immigrants [and] have to use public transport. Laila, to the Prime Minister. Instead of torchlight processions against racism, we need a Prime Minister who speaks out against the violence Unite everyone. Do not make it a racism thing. Anders, to the Prime Minister. In all honesty, I don t even feel they [government ministers] see the problems There is no one in those meetings who can tell them what real life looks like. Laila, on the response she received from the government.The recent double murder at IKEA in V ster s, where a man from Eritrea who had been denied asylum grabbed some knives and stabbed Carola and Emil Herlin to death, letters and emails poured into the offices of Swedish Prime Minister (PM) Stefan L fven. Angry, despondent and desperate Swedes have pled with the Social Democratic PM to stop filling the country with criminal migrants from the Third World or, they write, there is a serious risk of hatred running rampant in Sweden. One woman suggested that because the Swedish media will not address these issues, L fven should start reading foreign newspapers, and wake up to the fact that Sweden is sinking fast.During the last few decades, Swedes have had to get used to the government (left and right wing parties alike) prioritizing refugees and migrants above native Swedes. The high tax level (the average worker pays 42% income tax) was been accepted in the past, because people knew that if they got sick, or when they retired or otherwise needed government aid, they would get it.Now, Swedes see the welfare system failing them. More and more senior citizens fall into the indigent category; close to 800,000 of Sweden s 2.1 million retirees, despite having worked their whole lives, are forced to live on between 4,500 and 5,500 kronor ($545 $665) a month. Meanwhile, seniors who immigrate to Sweden receive the so-called elderly support subsidy usually a higher amount even though they have never paid any taxes in Sweden.Worse, in 2013 the government decided that people staying in the country illegally have a right to virtually free health and dental care. So while the destitute Swedish senior citizen must choose between paying 100,000 kronor ($12,000) to get new teeth or living toothless, a person who does not even have the right to stay in Sweden can get his teeth fixed for 50 kronor ($6).The injustice, the housing shortage, the chaos surrounding refugee housing units and the sharp slide of Swedish students in PISA tests all these changes have caused the Swedes to become disillusioned. The last straw was that Prime Minister L fven had nothing to say about the murders at IKEA.Gatestone Institute contacted to the Swedish government, to obtain emails sent to the Prime Minister concerning the IKEA murders. According to the principle of public access to official documents, all Swedes have the right to study public documents kept by authorities with no questions asked about one s identity or purpose. The government, however, was clearly less than enthusiastic about sharing the emails: It took a full month of reminders and phone calls before they complied with the request.What follows are excerpts from emails sent from private citizens to Prime Minister Stefan L fven:From Mattias, a social worker and father of four, a dad who wants my kids to grow up in Sweden the way I had the good fortune of doing, without explosions, hand grenades, car fires, violence, rape and murder at IKEA : Hi Stefan. I am a 43-year-old father of four, who is trying to explain to my children, ages 6-16, what is going on in Sweden. I am sad to say that you and your party close your eyes to what is happening in Sweden. All the things that are happening [are] due to the unchecked influx from abroad. You are creating a hidden hatred in Sweden. We are dissatisfied with the way immigration is handled in Sweden, from asylum housing to school issues. And it takes so long to get a job, many people give up before they even get close. Mattias Marcus, 21, wrote: Hi Stefan, I am one of the people who voted for you. I live in Helsingborg, still with my parents because there are no apartments available. I can see where I live that as soon as an old person moves out, eight foreigners immediately move in: they just bypass us young, Swedish people in line. With all that is going on in Sweden rapes, robberies, the IKEA murders and so on why aren t non-Swedes sent back to their countries when they commit crimes? Of course we should help refugees, but they should be the right kind of refugees. I m sorry to say this, Stefan, but the Sweden Democrats should be allowed to rule for four years and remove the people who do not abide by the laws, and who murder or destroy young women s lives. It is horrible, I have a job that pays poorly because there are no jobs. Sweden has more people than jobs. Peter wrote: Esteemed Prime Minister. I am writing to you because I am very worried about the development in Swedish society. I am met daily by news of shootings, exploding hand grenades/bombs, beatings, rapes and murders. This is our Sweden, the country that, when you and I grew up, was considered one of the safest in the world. You, in your role as Prime Minister, have a responsibility to protect everyone in the land, regardless of whether they were born here or not. Unfortunately, I can see that you are not taking your responsibility seriously. I follow the news daily, and despite our now having suffered another act of madness, this time against a mother and son at IKEA, I do not see any commitment from you? You should emphatically condemn the violent developments we see in this country, allocate resources to the police, customs and district attorneys to slow and fight back (not just build levees and overlook) criminal activity. Sebastian wrote: Hi Stefan! After reading about the horrible deed at IKEA in V ster s, I am now wondering what you are going to do to make me feel safe going to stores and on the streets of Sweden. What changes will there be to make sure this never happens again? Will immigration really continue the same way? Benny wrote: Hi, I m wondering, why is the government quiet about such an awful incident? The whole summer has been characterized by extreme violence, shootings, knifings and explosions. The government needs to take vigorous action so we can feel safe. Laila s subject line reads: Is it supposed to be like this? Are we supposed to go outside without arming ourselves? Rape after rape occurs and no one is doing anything about it. I was born and raised in V rby G rd, but seven years ago, we had to move because we couldn t take the dogs out in the evenings due to the non-Europeans driving on the sidewalks. If you didn t move out of the way, they would jump out of the car and hit you. If you called the police, they do nothing in a suburb of Stockholm. When my brother told some of these men off, a rocket (the kind you use at New Year s) appeared in his mailbox. You can imagine how loud the blast was. Women and girls are raped by these non-European men, who come here claiming they are unaccompanied children, even though they are grown men . It is easy to get weapons today, I wonder if that is what we Swedes need to do, arm ourselves to dare to go shopping. Well, now I am getting to what happened at a major department store: Two people were killed and not just killed, there is talk online of beheading. The Prime Minister will not say a word, but resources are allocated to asylum housings, a slap in the face for the relatives who just had two of their kin slain. Swedish newspapers will not say a word, but fortunately, there are foreign newspapers that tell the truth. We Swedes can t change apartments, we live five people in three bedrooms. Two of us are unemployed, looking, looking and looking for work. The only option is employment agencies. I m 50 years old, on part-time sick leave because of two chronic illnesses, I cannot run around from one place to another. But more and more asylum seekers keep coming in. There are no apartments, no jobs, we don t dare go shopping anymore, but we re supposed to think everything s great. Unfortunately, I believe the Prime Minister needs to start reading foreign newspaper to find out that Sweden is going under. I found out that the mass immigration costs billions every year, and the only thing the immigrants do is smoke waterpipes in places like V rby G rd. This is happening in other places too, of course. Now it s starting to spread; you will see that in the opinion polls, next time they are published. Soon, all Swedes will vote for the Sweden Democrats. They are getting more and more supporters every day. You Cabinet Ministers do not live in the exposed areas, you live in your fancy residential neighborhoods, with only Swedish neighbors. It should be obligatory for all politicians to live for at least three months in an area consisting mostly of immigrants, the car should be taken from you so you d have to use public transport. After three months, you would see my point. I am scared stiff of what is happening in this country. What will the government do about this? Anders wrote: Hi Stefan, why don t you, as our Prime Minister, react more against all the violence that is escalating in our country? [Such as] the double murder at IKEA in V ster s. Add to that the bombings and other things happening in Malm . Instead of torchlight processions against racism, we need a Prime Minister who speaks out against the violence, who says that it s wrong no matter which ethnic group is behind it or at the receiving end of it. Because all the people living in Sweden are Swedish, right? A torchlight procession against racism only highlights the fact that it s immigrants committing these crimes. What we need now is a clear signal from our popularly elected [officials] that violence needs to stop now. Sweden is supposed to be a haven away from violence. I m asking you as our Prime Minister, take a stand against the violence. Unite everyone in Sweden into one group and do not make it a racism thing. Some of the people received a reply from Carl-Johan Friman, of the Government Offices Communications Unit; others have not received any reply at all. A typical response goes: Thank you for your email to Prime Minister Stefan L fven. I ve been asked to reply and confirm that your email has reached the Prime Minister s Office and is now available for the Prime Minister and his staff. It is of course not acceptable that people should be exposed to violence and criminal activities in their everyday life. Many efforts are made to counteract violence, and quite correctly, this needs to be done without pitting groups against each other. Thank you for taking the time to write and share your views, they are important in shaping government policies. Via: Zero Hedge | 1real |
Fruit, prawns off the menu at China's austere party Congress | BEIJING (Reuters) - No free fruit in hotel rooms, no free hair cuts and no prawns on the menu - delegates at this week s Communist Party Congress in China can expect austere treatment in keeping with President Xi Jinping s pledge to crack down on corruption and extravagance. Part of Xi s fight against deep-seated graft has been to ensure officials are not seen abusing their positions and wasting public money, after a series of scandals involving high-living bureaucrats ignited public anger. Wang Lilian, who has helped oversee hospitality for delegates at three previous party Congresses, told state radio in remarks reported on Sunday that this time, things are going to be very different. Delegates will, for example, find their hotels bereft of the large welcoming banners and displays of flowers common in previous years. But the biggest difference will be with their rooms and food, Wang said. There won t be any more fruit put out in rooms, whereas previously there were for delegates and staff. There s none of that this time, he said. The food was also going to be home-style and simple, Wang said. There s no sea cucumber, prawns or the like. It s all buffet style. Delegates won t get free hair cuts or beauty treatments and there won t be any gift shops. There s none of these services this time, Wang said. Xi himself has lead the way in promoting simple living, with state media widely reporting on the basic food he eats when on trips around the country, and giving extensive coverage to cases where officials are found to have hoarded gold, owned multiple houses or had a fondness for banquets. Xi has warned, like others before him, that if corruption is not tackled it could affect the party s grip on power. The once-in-five-years Congress opens on Wednesday with a major speech by Xi. | 0fake |
COMMIE OBAMA BASHES AMERICA: “I personally would not disagree,” with Raul Castro’s criticism of America.” [Video] | Wow! We REALLY do have a serious problem with this anti-American jackhole of a president! | 1real |
The Bond Vigilantes Are Back—-Just In Time To Stop Trumponomics | The Bond Vigilantes Are Back----Just In Time To Stop Trumponomics By David Stockman. Posted On Friday, November 25th, 2016 Early Wednesday the yield on the 10-year US treasury note tagged 2.4o%. That means it's up 65 bps since election day and 105 bps from the post-Brexit low in July. You can call that the return of the bond vigilantes, and just in the nick of time. We have always been skeptical of the Trump economic program because it really wasn't one; it was just a collection of aspirations, quips, bromides and wrong-headed panaceas like the big infrastructure build. As we said in Trumped! You need to login to view this content.
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New Mexico Science Teacher Goes ’Breaking Bad’ with Illegal Meth Business | An teacher stands accused of using his knowledge of science to launch an illegal methamphetamine manufacturing business, echoing the popular TV show, “Breaking Bad. ”[Las Cruces police arrested John W. Gose, 56, who once taught school in Las Cruces and El Paso, New Mexico, and charged him after a traffic stop with manufacturing the illegal drug . Gose was found with lab equipment thought to be part of his operations. Testing later revealed traces of meth. At his home, investigators later discovered traces of meth and other supplies and chemicals to produce the drug. The former teacher pleaded guilty before District Judge Fernando R. Macias in 3rd Judicial District Court in Las Cruces, according to the Doña Ana District Attorney’s Office. Gose spent almost nine years reaching in the El Paso Independent School District, resigning in 2008 to become a vocational teacher at Oñate High School in Las Cruces. After spending only one semester at Oñate High School, Gose took a job teaching science at Camino Real Middle School where he worked until February of 2016. “That the defendant, in this case, chose to plead guilty to all of the charges is a testament to the strength of the investigation,” District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said in statement according to the Las Cruces . “Thanks to the hard work of the Las Cruces Police Department, the New Mexico State Police and the prosecutors in this office, we are able to close the books on this case of life imitating art while saving the taxpayers of New Mexico the cost of a jury trial. ” The teacher’s story mirrors the plot of the AMC series “Breaking Bad,” the story of Walter White who turns to illegal drug production to make enough money for his family after he dies of cancer. While Mr. Gose doesn’t have cancer, his actions are otherwise similar to the series. Gose Pleaded guilty to four counts and will undergo a evaluation period before sentencing. He could face a maximum of 20 and years in prison. Parents at Camino Real Middle School were shocked by the court’s revelations. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I mean, you don’t expect a teacher to have that kind of stuff in his car,” parent Misty Ward told Fox 14. “It’s just conflicting what us parents are trying to teach our children,” parent Eileen Lujan added. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0fake |
NATIONAL PET CHAIN Linked To Outbreak of Bacterial Infection Sickens 39 People In 7 States, 9 Victims Have Already Been Hospitalized | The CDC is investigating an outbreak of a bacterial infection linked to puppies sold through the national pet store chain Petland.The outbreak of Campylobacter infections has sickened 39 people from seven states, including Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.So far nine people have been hospitalized. No deaths have been reported.Campylobacter can cause a gastrointestinal illness in humans with symptoms of diarrhea, cramping, abdominal pain, vomiting, and fever. The illness typically lasts about a week and symptoms appear within two to five days after exposure. People more likely to get a severe infection include children younger than 5, adults older than 65, pregnant women, and people with weakened immune systems, including those with the genetic blood disorder thalassemia or HIV or people receiving chemotherapy.Investigators say evidence indicates that puppies sold through Petland stores are a likely source of this current outbreak. The bacteria can spread through contact with dog feces. It usually does not spread from one person to another.Twelve of those affected are Petland employees from four states. The other 27 people either recently purchased a puppy at Petland, visited a Petland store, or visited or live in a home with a puppy sold through Petland before illness began.The CDC says the pet store chain is cooperating with health officials to address the outbreak. CBS 58 | 1real |
South Korea's Moon says North Korea crisis must be handled in 'stable' manner | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in called on Thursday for the North Korean nuclear crisis to be handled in a stable manner, so that peace was not destroyed. Moon told the U.N. General Assembly sanctions were needed to bring Pyongyang to the negotiating table and force it to give up its nuclear weapons, but Seoul was not seeking North Korea s collapse and the international community was ready to help the country if it stood on the right side of history. In the meantime, Moon said all countries must strictly adhere to U.N. sanctions on North Korea and impose tougher steps in the event of new provocations by Pyongyang. | 0fake |
Reporter: How Creepy Donald Trump ‘Hit On’ Me Today (TWEET) | Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump allegedly hit on a journalist on Monday. According to Karen Attiah, deputy digital editor for the Washington Post, Trump told her she was beautiful as she asked him a detailed question about his policies on racial inclusion. The incident happened as Trump met with the editorial board of the Washington Post on Monday.So. I got hit on today by Donald Trump. Karen Attiah (@KarenAttiah) March 21, 2016As the meeting ended and we were walking out of the room, I thanked Trump for taking my question. He turned to me and said, I really hope I answered your question, and added casually with a smile, Beautiful. I was stunned. I didn t say thank you, and I don t think I smiled. He then walked out to meet with my Post colleagues briefly before heading to the elevator.I stayed in the conference room for a few minutes as it sunk in that the potential GOP nominee for president thought it was okay to comment on my appearance. Did he just say that?The moment made Attiah think about how Trump views the world, noting that, In Trump s world, commenting on a woman s appearance in a professional setting is fair game. She added:At least now I know, firsthand, that the sexism that Trump puts on display against Megyn Kelly under the lights of national TV is not that much different from how he is in real life toward female journalists.Trump has a history of bizarre behavior and language directed towards women.Appearing on the Howard Stern radio show, Trump discussed Latina actress Eva Longoria, telling Stern: She s really cute, I have to tell you, she s really bouncy, really cute. She s about five foot one. Do you like girls that are five foot one? They come up to you know where. He added: You have to get started, you have to like short girls. She s very, very short. You know, she goes out with a basketball player, which is interesting but she s very short. In other clips from his appearances on Stern, Trump could be heard ranking, rating and degrading various women. For instance:In one instance, Trump ranked his top 10 most beautiful women, and while his then-girlfriend Melania Knauss took the top spot, Trump told Stern he definitely would have sex with Mariah Carey, Cindy Crawford, and Princess Diana, who also made the list. In another appearance, Trump assigned each of the actors on ABC s Desperate Housewives a score of 1 to 10 based on their attractiveness. He said of one of the actors, Nicollette Sheridan: A person who is very flat-chested is very hard to be a 10. When he got to Marcia Cross, he asked Stern, Would you go out with Marcia Cross or would you turn gay, Howard? Trump has a problem with women, particularly assertive women in a position of authority. This incident just appears to be more evidence of that.Featured image via Twitter/Flickr | 1real |
Evangelical Jerry Falwell Jr. to head Trump education task force | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr. will head an education reform task force under U.S. President Donald Trump and is keen to cut university regulations, including rules on dealing with campus sexual assault, the school he heads said. Falwell, the son of the late televangelist Jerry Falwell Sr., was described by Trump as “one of the most respected religious leaders in our nation” last year after Falwell endorsed him during the Republican party primary race. READ MORE Trump vows end to prohibition on church political activity Vatican worried about Trump immigration order Falwell is president of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, which bills itself as the world’s biggest Christian university. A school spokesman, Len Stevens, said on Wednesday it was not clear yet when the task force would start its work. Stevens said Falwell was interested in eliminating numerous regulations the U.S. Department of Education has placed on colleges and universities, adding that many college presidents felt the same, regardless of their political orientation. “It’s an autonomy issue for universities to be able to not be micromanaged by the Department of Education,” Stevens said in an email. Falwell also wants to cut federal rules on investigating and reporting sexual assault under Title IX, the federal law that bars sexual discrimination in education, according to Stevens. The Liberty University head believes on-campus sexual assault investigations are best left to police and prosecutors, Stevens said. Falwell told the Associated Press he turned down an offer from Trump to become education secretary, in part because Falwell did not want to move his family to Washington. When Falwell introduced Trump before a speech he gave at Liberty University early last year, Falwell said he saw similarities between Trump and his father, the founder of the Moral Majority organization, including a penchant to “speak his mind.” The Senate Education Committee sent Trump’s nomination of Betsy DeVos, a charter school advocate, to be education secretary to the full Senate on Tuesday for a confirmation vote. | 0fake |
Manafort attorney: No evidence client colluded with Russia | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The attorney for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort said on Monday there was no evidence Manafort colluded with the Russian government while working for the campaign and in fact his work on behalf of Ukraine had ended two years earlier. “I think you all saw today that President Donald Trump was correct. There is no evidence that Mr. Manafort or the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government,” attorney Kevin Downing told reporters after Manafort pleaded not guilty to money laundering and other charges. “Mr. Manafort represented pro-European Union campaigns for the Ukrainians and ... was seeking to further democracy and to help the Ukraine come closer to the United States and the EU,” Downing said. “Those activities ended in 2014 over two years before Mr. Manafort served in the Trump campaign.” | 0fake |
DELINGPOLE: Tom Steyer Is In So Deep With The Russians They Should Call Him ’Impaled by Vlad’ | Liberal Tom “Rhymes With Liar” Steyer has been ranting on Twitter about Donald Trump and the Russians. [Here’s his latest smear job: Is there anyone in this Administration who did not have contact with the Russians? #Trumprussia, — Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) March 2, 2017, In the late 1990s and early 2000s Farallon was involved in illicit attempts to capitalize on the economic liberalization of the former Soviet Union country. The U. S. Agency of International Development (USAID) formed an agreement with Harvard University’s Institute of International Development (HIID) in the to guide the former Soviet Union country towards a market economy. Harvard economist Andrei Shleifer and Jonathan Hay, a top HIID advisor, were the two officials charged with spearheading the project. Shleifer and Hay advised the Russian government on the privatization of more than 200, 000 corporations, the issuance of government debt, and the construction of financial institutions to integrate the nation into the global economy. The two HIID officials were privy to vast inside knowledge of the restructuring of the Russian economy. The U. S. government would later charge them both with using that knowledge to enrich themselves, in violation of USAID agreements. Harvard would eventually shutter the HIID following the scandal. Farallon provided the investment vehicle for a number of those schemes and was also the target of legal action by the U. S. government for its role. Steyer’s subsequent embrace of all things environmental is widely seen by those familiar with his modus operandi as a way of cynically greenwashing his murky fossil fuel past, while simultaneously leaping aboard the lucrative “clean energy” gravy train. It also happens to align with the interests of his Russian pals. Russia is a petro economy highly reliant on its oil and gas revenues. As we learned from Wikileak documents of secret meetings held by Hillary Clinton, businesses have reportedly funneled millions to organisations in the US in order to protect its business interests. A U. S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee report in 2014 exposed the Sea Change Foundation for its major funding from Klein Ltd, a shell corporation run by executives with strong ties to longtime Putin friend Leonid Reiman, Russia’s oil giant Rosneft and Russian energy investment groups including Firebird New Russia Fund and Vimpelcom Ltd. Klein Ltd. has reportedly funneled $23 million to Sea Change. In the period 1997 to 2015, Sea Change donated more than $64. 8 million to the Energy Foundation, a “ ” financing organization to which Steyer’s Tomkat Charitable Trust donated $4, 150, 000. Th Energy Foundation has disbursed to other groups, including the Blue Green Alliance Foundation, Environmental Defense Fund, the Rockefeller Family Fund and many others. If Tom Steyer really now feels so very strongly about the evils of the Russians, maybe he should consider giving away the $1. 5 billion fortune he made from sucking up to them. This post has been updated since publication. CORRECTION: A previous version of the article incorrectly stated “Klein Ltd. in 2011 funneled more than $43 million to groups. ” | 0fake |
Factbox: Trump on Twitter (Aug 2) - Small business owners | The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - Small business owners are the DREAMERS & INNOVATORS who are powering us into the future! Read more and watch here:bit.ly/2uYZdol [0938 EDT] - It was my great honor to pay tribute to a VET who went above & beyond the call of duty to PROTECT our COMRADES, our COUNTRY, & OUR FREEDOM! [1009 EDT] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) | 0fake |
Paul Ryan: Not Appropriate for Trump to Ask for Comey’s Loyalty - Breitbart | Wednesday on MSNBC’s ”For the Record,” while discussing the statement from former FBI Director James Comey ahead of his congressional testimony scheduled for Thursday, House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan ( ) said it was “obviously” not appropriate for President Donald Trump to ask for loyalty from an FBI director. When asked if he believes it is appropriate for the president to ask for loyalty from the FBI director, Ryan said “Yeah, No. Obviously, I don’t think that is. I think Director Comey will probably get a lot of questions about that tomorrow. ” He added, “Yes, FBI directors are supposed to be independent. That’s something that’s very, very critical. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0fake |
World’s First Zero-Emissions Hydrogen-Powered Passenger Train Unveiled In Germany | During last week’s Berlin InnoTrans trade show, French company Alstom unveiled the world’s first zero-emissions hydrogen-powered train. According to The Local, the Coradia iLint hydrogen train... | 1real |
Europe’s Morality Crisis: Euthanizing the Mentally Ill | The Washington Post
Excerpts: Once prohibited — indeed, unthinkable — the euthanasia of people with mental illnesses or cognitive disorders, including dementia, is now a common occurrence in Belgium and the Netherlands.
This profoundly troubling fact of modern European life is confirmed by the latest biennial report from Belgium’s Federal Commission on the Control and Evaluation of Euthanasia, presented to Parliament on Oct. 7.
Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002 for patients suffering “unbearably” from any “untreatable” medical condition, terminal or non-terminal, including psychiatric ones.
In the 2014-2015 period, the report says, 124 of the 3,950 euthanasia cases in Belgium involved persons diagnosed with a “mental and behavioral disorder,” four more than in the previous two years.
Read the full article at The Washington Post .
See Also: | 1real |
TUCKER CARLSON Exposes Radical Middle School Teacher Who Organizes Violent Protesters To Shut Down Free Speech[VIDEO] | Tonight, Tucker Carlson took on Yvette Felarca, a national organizer for By Any Means Necessary, a militant left-wing activist group.Felarca, who helped organize the protests are UC-Berkeley two weeks ago, is calling for similar protests at universities across the country when there are guest speakers she believes are fascists. She said that Milo Yiannopoulos, the subject of the Berkeley riots, is a fascist because he whips up a lynch mob mentality among his supporters and incites violence.Noting that Felarca s group s name calls for fighting fascists by any means necessary, Tucker pressed her on what level of violence they are willing to use. To what extent would you go to stop [a] person from spreading genocidal propaganda ? Tucker asked.Felarca said she would call on others to stand up, counter-protest and shut down that person.Watch the unbelievable exchange here: | 1real |
Economic Nationalism: Alternative To Globalism | in: Corporate Takeover , Economy & Business , Globalism Ivory tower economists, corporate business analysts and financial experts routinely trash any discussion that America needs to institute a national economic policy that actually benefits our own country. The mantra of unchallenged doctrine that globalism is the only path for world commerce has been intensively pushed for well over the last half century. How well did the United States fare? An honest evaluation must acknowledge the diminishing middle class has paid the greatest penalty from the corporatist sedition that has destroyed internal independence and productive prosperity. Building viable enterprises that conduct useful economic activities produce needed and desirable goods and services. Good paying jobs grow when the velocity of money flows in the “real” domestic economy. International trade can and is often advantageous if it benefits all parties involved in prosperity from the transactions. However, in the un-free framework for maximizing the corporatism structure of above and beyond any particular country jurisdiction or trade policies, the globalists have set up the exact opposite from the much lauded “Free Trade” conduit. The next argument points out the inconsistency in Economic Nationalism in the Age of Globalism , and asks: “Is economic nationalism a reaction to global integration, which in essence means cooptation and domination of national markets by the strongest multinational corporations of the richest nations? Neoliberal insist on the forces of the free market operating without government interference to protect the national capitalist class and workers. Naturally, neoliberals advocating global integration have come out against the tide of economic nationalism in any form. However, the same advocates of neoliberalism have no problem supporting corporate welfare in their own countries, a system that is a form of economic nationalism. When governments use taxpayer money to bail banks and subsidize corporations that is a form of economic nationalism, just as when they lobby to have products and services of their industries marketed in countries competing with similar products and services.” Note the error in the assumption that multinational corporatists have a beneficial relationship to any country that flies their business flag. In a perverted business culture which is now based upon the ‘ Citizens United ’ court decision that confirms previous precedents that a corporation is a person, the United States has lost the leverage to reverse the international trade practices that has clearly been the vehicle for domestic economic decline. The alternative to the surrender of sovereignty and globalist blackmail can be found in paleo-conservative populism and the economic history that built America in the 19th century. Still relevant and sound as the day it was written, Pat Buchanan on Free Trade , provides the template for a rational and constructive national economic model. “Good for global business” isn’t necessarily good for US Global capitalists have become acolytes of global governance. They wish to see national sovereignty diminished and sanctions abolished. Where yesterday American businesses suffered damage to their good name for selling scrap iron to Japan before Pearl Harbor, today [war materiel is routinely exported] to potentially hostile nations. Once it was true that what was good the Fortune 500 was good for America. That is no longer true, and what is good for America must take precedence. (Source: “A Republic, Not an Empire,” p.349 , Oct 9, 1999) “Economic Nationalism”: trade only when it helps US Rather than making “global free trade” a golden calf which we all bow down to, and worship, all trade deals should be judged by whether: they maintain US sovereignty; they protect vital economic interests; and they ensure a rising standard of living for all our workers. We must stop sacrificing American jobs on the altars of transnational corporations whose sole loyalty is to the bottom line. “America First”: Tariffs; reciprocal trade; anti-dumping America’s workers are being sacrificed to the Global Economy, and our leaders seem deaf to their distress. Impose tariffs on cheap foreign imports Prioritize the American Economy before the Global Economy by withdrawing from international organizations that imperil our financial stability & economic independence Open foreign markets to American products by requiring reciprocal trade policies Protect vital industries by passing tough anti-dumping legislation. A policy of Rational Tariffs Lower Irrational Trade Deficits is a course for a rebirth in economic vigor. Tariffs Can Restore America’s Greatness sounds like the next topic for the Donald Trump campaign to take directly to the people. Economic Nationalism is a bipartisan issue that offers hope and practical employment for the displaced and discouraged. American companies have been punished for decades under the power elite and globalist betrayers. The Wall Street crowd despises the small investor and by inference the average hard working American. The plutocrats have built much of their ill-gotten gain on the outsourcing of an independent domestic economy. Globalism is on the precipice of a world-wide implosion. The danger is not just a planetary economic depression, but an intentional political crisis that will demand even more control and loss of access to meaningful commerce. The cries that international trade will stall to a halt will be used to economically enslave the populist further. Combat this devious strategy to stamp out the diminished vestiges of national ventures with a total rejection of the internationalist “Free Trade” prototype. Demand for real jobs exists now. In order to achieve the opportunity for earning a living with dignity can be accomplished under a transition to economic nationalism. The discontent of the electorate is distinctly observable at the Trump or Sanders rallies. The frustration is real and the outcry is becoming louder. Nevertheless, the road to a solution cannot rely upon a government nanny state mentality. The globalist juggernaut is formidable, as much as it is destructive. In order to implement the conversion into a merchant economy, the bulwark blockage of crony finance and fatal usury need to be broken. The start to this process begins with an awakening that globalism is the foremost enemy to America. The elites and the entire establishment are hell bent on maintaining a corrupt system. Is it not time to regain our own economic destiny? Submit your review | 1real |
Watch: The Resistance Creates Anti-Trump Aerobics: ’5-6-7-8, F*ck Mar-a-Lago’ - Breitbart | Two California women have choreographed an aerobics class. [“Resistance takes endurance,” says artist Liat Berdugo. “And aerobics is also something that builds your endurance. ” Berdugo and her partner Margaret McCarthy were recently profiled in a video by Fusion. “We’re looking to, like, really, really physicalize this current moment in the political climate and to respond to it, to react to it, to embody it, to make fun of it,” explains Berdugo. Their routine includes moves to chants “F*ck ” “Don’t buy Ivanka shoes!” and “I believe in science!” Each move involves a red tie as an aerobics prop. Other exercises include “Don’t build a wall” and “Trump is led by Bannon. ” | 0fake |
Trump’s and Xi’s Differences Magnify Uncertainties Between U.S. and China - The New York Times | BEIJING — Both came to power vowing to restore their nations to greatness. But America’s loud, Donald J. Trump, and China’s guarded, calculating president, Xi Jinping, are glaring contrasts as politicians, and their pairing has injected new unpredictability into relations between their governments. “I could not think of two more different protagonists in the great drama of U. S. relations,” Evan S. Medeiros, formerly the senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, said by email. “Personalities matter a lot in international relations, especially between great powers. ” A quarrel after China seized an underwater drone from the United States Navy has given a taste of how Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Xi’s different styles could play out if bigger tensions were to break out over the South China Sea, trade imbalances, North Korea’s nuclear weapons or other issues that Mr. Trump has raised. Mr. Trump has recently blared warnings at China, seemingly guided by visceral reflexes and a vague but bold set of demands. By contrast, Mr. Xi, the son of a Communist veteran, is disciplined and steely. He rarely speaks off the cuff in public. Even his seemingly impromptu gestures are often carefully choreographed, and he usually adheres to policy points when meeting foreign leaders. Mr. Xi is certainly capable of bold action, as he has shown in the South China Sea, but he tends to shroud his thinking in a cloud of slogans. That leaves outsiders guessing about when and how he will act on his demands. “The situation could become quite combustible,” said Jessica Chen Weiss, an associate professor at Cornell University who studies Chinese foreign policy. “Xi Jinping is more measured in his public statements than Donald Trump, but the Chinese government will likely hit back quite forcefully against any radical efforts to challenge the status quo,” Ms. Weiss said. “The best thing the ’s advisers can do for our national security is to screen Trump’s tweets. ” Mr. Trump took to Twitter on Saturday after the Chinese military confirmed that it had seized a submersible drone in waters about 50 miles northwest of Subic Bay in the Philippines. The Pentagon had revealed the seizure, and China’s Ministry of National Defense said it would return the device, which can be used to monitor undersea currents and conditions, in an “appropriate manner. ” Mr. Trump suggested that wasn’t good enough. He said China’s seizure was an unprecedented act, and later added, “We should tell China that we don’t want the drone they stole back. ” Mr. Trump did not say how he would handle similar disputes after he is sworn. But his other comments so far suggest that he will take a blunter, less predictable course on China than recent White House administrations. This month, Mr. Trump spoke on the phone with Tsai the president of Taiwan, breaking nearly 40 years of American presidents and avoiding direct conversation with the leader of the island, over which China claims sovereignty. In an interview with Fox News, Mr. Trump then suggested he could depart from the One China principle, which blocks Washington from diplomatic ties with Taiwan, using that as a pressure point to seek trade concessions from Beijing. He also criticized China on trade, the buildup of military outposts in the South China Sea and its reluctance to isolate North Korea. “China is not used to the U. S. asserting and pushing its interests like the Chinese do,” said Dan Blumenthal, the director of Asian studies at the American Enterprise Institute, who praised Mr. Trump’s blunter approach. “If it is prepared for that, we will be able to avoid confrontation and conflict. ” So far, Mr. Xi has not reacted publicly to Mr. Trump’s warnings. The two men had a brief but cordial call after Mr. Trump won the election. Chinese leaders rarely wade openly into disputes, leaving that to junior officials. But pressure for a tougher reaction to Mr. Trump could build in China if he keeps lobbing out warnings, especially after he becomes president. Experts disagreed over whether China’s seizure of the submersible drone was intended as a signal to Mr. Trump, or even authorized by Mr. Xi. But Chinese decision makers probably took into account that Mr. Trump’s team would read it as “a test and a warning,” said Ni Lexiong, a naval affairs researcher at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. “It would be impossible for China not to react to his provocations,” Mr. Ni said by telephone. “Trump seems to want a foreign policy that keeps the other side guessing. But that way of working can easily lead to trouble. ” On Monday, an editorial in a prominent Communist Party newspaper said that Mr. Xi’s government needed to be ready for rockier relations. “Trump hits out with a hammer to the east and a club to the west, and his real thinking is very difficult to fathom,” said the editorial in the overseas edition of the paper, People’s Daily, using a Chinese saying that means to speak or act without rhyme or reason. China, it said, should “stay steady on its feet, keep a good grasp of developments, calmly respond, and that’s it. ” But even China’s calls for calm have barbs and caveats that could rile a Trump administration. When the Chinese defense ministry said it would return the submersible drone, it also said the Chinese ship showed a “professional and responsible attitude” by seizing the device, although the drone appeared to be outside even an extremely expansive view of China’s rightful reach in the South China Sea. Chinese are already urging a harsher response to Mr. Trump. On Saturday, Global Times, a newspaper often dominated by rhetoric, held a forum in Beijing where speakers urged tough retaliation if Mr. Trump moved closer to Taiwan, and praised the seizure of the underwater drone. “China isn’t afraid of confrontation with America,” Dai Xu, a former Chinese Air Force senior colonel and outspoken hawk, said at the meeting. “Without China’s cooperation, Trump will achieve nothing. I dare say that if he opts for confrontation with China, he won’t stay in office for more than four years. ” Another speaker, Jin Canrong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, told Global Times: “China is a dragon. America is an eagle. Britain is a lion. When the dragon wakes up, the others are all snacks. ” Such tough talk does not set Chinese foreign policy, but Mr. Xi and other leaders are sensitive to nationalist ire that they themselves have nurtured. Mr. Xi has summed up his vision of national rejuvenation and strength as the “Chinese Dream,’’ a theme he has promoted since taking office. Pressures on Mr. Xi are likely to grow if Mr. Trump continues publicly excoriating China, especially on territorial issues, like Taiwan and the South China Sea, where public sentiment often favors a tough response. “China tends to give the new leader a grace period to settle in,” Ms. Weiss said, citing her research about China’s response to elections and new leaders. “Trump has moved more quickly to challenge and defy China than other however, so the grace period could end quickly. ” American presidents know how swiftly relations with China can deteriorate. In 1999, President Bill Clinton struggled to repair ties after NATO bombs struck the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, then the capital of Yugoslavia, killing three people. The White House insisted the bombing was accidental, but the Chinese government did not believe that, and days of angry protests followed. In 2001, a United States Navy reconnaissance plane made an emergency landing on Hainan, a Chinese jutting into the South China Sea, after colliding with a Chinese Air Force jet whose pilot plunged to his death. Eleven days later, China released the 24 American crew members, and the plane was recovered in parts over the following months. A scenario like that could unfold very differently under Mr. Trump. “If Trump perceives that he is being challenged, he will probably instinctively not want to be seen as weak,” said Bonnie S. Glaser, the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “It will be very messy if he decides to tweet or speak publicly in a crisis before he has all the intelligence and analysis necessary. ” Mr. Xi also has his domestic political timetable to worry about. He was appointed head of the Communist Party in 2012, and next year a party congress is all but certain to give him five more years in that job. But Mr. Xi must settle on a new cohort of senior officials to work under him, and during elite the party leadership puts even more emphasis on stability. “The leadership has to balance those goals of preserving a more stable and predictable external environment with avoiding the perception of weakness and vulnerability,” Ms. Glaser said. “I tend to believe that the latter will trump the former if the Chinese leadership has to choose. Pun intended. ” | 0fake |
U.S. derivatives regulator to move on from Dodd-Frank under Trump | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. derivatives regulator will move on from reforms undertaken after the 2007-09 financial crisis to a new focus on U.S. competitiveness and the potential for shocks to the global $710 trillion swaps markets under President-elect Donald Trump. J. Christopher Giancarlo, in line to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission once Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20, has said the agency should look beyond mandates from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law to current trends in financial markets. He counts among those cyber threats, liquidity risk, market concentration and de-globalization. As the sole Republican on the CFTC, Giancarlo will at least temporarily run the commission where he is currently the minority member. Even if Trump later nominates someone else for the permanent post, Giancarlo, who was previously an executive vice president at GFI Group, a wholesale brokerage that runs electronic trading platforms, will be influential in the coming months. In a speech in London on Friday, he said regulators should foster best practices for new trading technologies, address diminishing liquidity, and review regulations that could cause market fragmentation as they enter “the new year and, perhaps, a new regulatory environment.” This week, he forced the commission to delay limits on the positions that traders can hold on physical commodity futures and swaps. Redrawn position limit rules are likely to reappear in 2017, as are the following other agenda items. Giancarlo has often argued the United States should not move too far ahead of other countries in tightening regulations governing the swaps market, which the United States dominates. That could put U.S. firms at a disadvantage and drive up trading costs, he says. In August he warned the CFTC could create a liquidity crunch by sticking to its September deadline for implementing a new swaps margin rule, given European regulators had delayed start dates for their similar rules. Indeed, in September Asian swaps markets foundered and trades fell through as the U.S. rules came online. The CFTC then gave swap dealers an extra month to comply. “Championing American markets means no longer asking U.S. market participants to go it alone and take it on the chin in implementation of global regulatory reform,” Giancarlo later told the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “Rather, it means standing up for America’s capital and risk transfer markets and treating them as the vital national interests that they are.” Giancarlo sees the CFTC as “stuck in a 20th Century time warp” when it comes to technology. He can be expected to push the CFTC toward giving industry space for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence guiding trade execution, “smart” contracts that calculate payments and value in real-time, and distributed ledger technology, known as Blockchain. In November he voted against the “Reg AT” - Regulation Automated Trading - to update oversight of fast computer trades, criticizing it for not adequately protecting algorithmic trading companies’ prized source codes and being too prescriptive. Giancarlo says regulators in other countries, notably Britain, are leading the way in financial technology and the CFTC must follow in making room to experiment. Since 2012, any dealer with more than $8 billion in swap activity has had to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which subjects it to stricter federal oversight. That activity value in dollars, known as the “de minimis” threshold, was poised to fall to $3 billion by the end of 2017, but the CFTC recently delayed the drop by a year. Under Giancarlo, the threshold may never fall - or could disappear altogether. He has called the thresholds “made up numbers” lacking policy justification. He also said that in general, a specific de minimis level may not do anything to optimize “the safety, soundness, liquidity or vibrancy of U.S. swaps markets.” In March, Giancarlo failed to launch recommendations on regulating energy markets made by a committee he led, which was dominated by people from the energy sector. Reform proponents said the suggestions were sops to industry and he withdrew its report. When he is in charge, Giancarlo could turn back to the committee’s work. It questioned the need for new position limits and suggested an alternative “accountability system,” where exchanges could grant exemptions to limits. | 0fake |
OBAMACARE TAKING DOWN MORE RURAL HOSPITALS | Let s face it Obamacare s been a disaster from Day 1. The closing if rural hospitals is the latest issue and it s a big one for those who ll need to travel farther to get medical help.The AP has noticed something. Rural hospitals seem to be closing. Now, what has happened to the American health care system in recent years that might help explain that? Hmmm .From The AP via ABC (with some honest commentary mixed in): Sac-Osage is one of a growing number of rural U.S. hospitals closing their doors, citing a complex combination of changing demographics, medical practices, management decisions and federal policies that have put more financial pressure on facilities that sometimes average only a few in-patients a day. Most of the rural hospital closures so far have occurred in the South and Midwest. Of those at risk,nearly 70 percent are in states that have declined to expand Medicaid coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act, although some experts are hesitant to draw a cause-and-effect correlation.At first, the AP tries to blame the closures on the conservative states that decided not to expand medicaid coverage (in spite of Obamacare s explicit instructions), but then admits that this is likely correlation without causation. They don t expound on it, but the obvious reason for the 70% figure is that, generally speaking, the more rural a state is, the more conservative it is, and therefore, the more likely it is to have a governor who opposes Obamacare enough to refrain from expanding medicaid.After all, that was the point (Are you listening, SCOTUS?). Even the AP could see that one a mile a way.Big city hospitals have been closing at about the same rate as rural ones during the past five years, but an abundance of alternatives in most major metropolitan areas typically reduces the effect on patients. When a rural hospital closes, people may have to travel dozens of miles to reach the nearest hospital, an inconvenience that potentially is a matter of life or death.They (briefly) admit that rural hospitals are closing at roughly the same rate as urban hospitals. Isn t this strong evidence that there might be another reason for the closings? What do rural hospitals and urban hospitals have in common? (hint: Obamacare) Declining populations and stagnant economies make it hard on rural hospitals. Rural areas tend to have older, poorer, sicker populations, said Michael Topchik, senior vice president of iVantage.That means they often have a higher percentage of patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid, a pair of government health care programs that pay a lower reimbursement rate than private-sector insurers. Hospitals that rely heavily on those government programs have been particularly hard hit by federal budget cuts and provisions in the 2010 federal health care law that reduced charity care reimbursements and changed other payment criteria.Oh this section is pure gold (and, of course, it all appears on page 2). Not only does the AP admit that part of the problem is that the economy is stagnant, they admit that the closings are, in large part, specifically due to the low rates Medicare and Medicaid pay. And to make it worse, they note that the government is reducing the amount of charity care reimbursements that go to these hospitals.Obamacare is a disaster REPEAL!Via: Poor Richard s | 1real |
UK PM May appoints new Brexit representative in upper house | LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed on Friday a former member of the European Parliament to represent her government on Brexit in parliament s upper chamber following the resignation of the incumbent on medical grounds. The Brexit department announced Martin Callanan had been appointed Minister of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union, replacing Joyce Anelay who had held the role since June this year. I m delighted to welcome Lord Callanan to the Department he brings with him a wealth of experience in Brussels and a proven ability in political leadership, said Brexit minister David Davis. Callanan will have a key role in marshalling Brexit legislation through the unelected upper chamber, in which May s Conservative Party does not have a majority. He had previously spent 15 years as an MEP and also worked in the transport department. In a resignation letter to May, Anelay said the worsening of an injury she sustained in 2015 had forced her decision to resign. She praised the work of the government in preparing for Brexit and said she was certain the negotiations would be successful. | 0fake |
Comey Plans To Tell The World About Trump’s Illegal Requests In BOMBSHELL Testimony | Former FBI Director James Comey is now one of the most dangerous men in Washington to Donald Trump. There is nothing that could harm Trump like Comey testifying under oath in an open session of Congress yet that is exactly what Comey plans to do. Special Counsel Robert Mueller has reportedly cleared Comey to testify, and boy will that testimony be a doozy.Of course, we all remember the reports that Comey kept meticulous notes on his conversations with Trump, because the orange wannabe president unsettled him with his inappropriate requests. We also remember how one of those memos was leaked, and it alleged that Trump tried to obstruct justice. Now, new reports suggest that Comey plans to tell the world about every contentious conversation he ever had with Trump including the parts where what Trump requested of Comey could indeed amount to obstruction of justice regarding the Russia probe which is, of course, a felony.Because of the addition of Special Counsel Mueller to the investigation, there will likely be no testimony regarding what is going on inside the investigation himself. However, that matters not in this instance, as it appears that when Comey sits down before the Senate Intelligence Committee, he plans to sing like a canary; in fact, reports say he can t wait to do it. From CNN:But he appears eager to discuss his tense interactions with Trump before his firing, which have now spurred allegations that the president may have tried to obstruct the investigation. If it happens, Comey s public testimony promises to be a dramatic chapter in the months-long controversy, and it will likely bring even more intense scrutiny to an investigation that Trump has repeatedly denounced as a witch hunt. Indeed, this should be very interesting. We won t have long to wait, either. While there is no date set in stone just yet, Comey s remarks may be up to be scheduled within the next week or two. All he has to do is to make sure that he knows the bounds he must stay within before moving forward.Pop the popcorn for this one, folks. It will definitely be interesting.Featured image via Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images | 1real |
Russian bombing of U.S.-backed forces being discussed at 'highest levels': Mattis | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday that Russia s bombing of U.S-backed fighters in Syria was being discussed at the highest levels and while a communication link between the two countries had worked to avoid such incidents, the strike over the weekend was a departure. When you look at the fact that this is a change, you can imagine this is at the highest levels, Mattis told reporters. Russia s Defense Ministry on Sunday rejected the allegations, saying its planes only targeted Islamic State militants and that it had warned the United States well in advance of its operational plans. | 0fake |
BREAKING: #UnfitHillary Told FBI She Couldn’t Remember Answers To Questions Because Of CONCUSSION…Used 13 Mobile Devices…Hillary’s Lawyers Couldn’t Locate Any Of Them | Dirty, lying, rotten to core Hillary is either lying about not remembering or lying about having fully recovered from the blood clot on her brain. Which one is it Hillary?What a great role model for young girls and women everywhere Clinton was interviewed by the FBI on July 2 but the meeting wasn t tape recorded or conducted under oath The only surviving account of the grilling was released Friday by the FBI She also said she couldn t recall receiving any emails that she thought didn t belong on an unclassified system Said she was concussed in 2012 when she was receiving guidance so couldn t rememberHillary Clinton told the FBI she could not recall answers to some of their questions about her secret server scandal because she had been concussed in 2012.The extraordinary disclosure was made as the FBI published details of its agents interview with the former secretary of state which was conducted days before the agency s director ruled out any charges against her.Agents noted that Clinton could not recall being trained to handle classified materials as secretary of state, and had no memory of anyone raising concerns about the sensitive information she received at her private address.The Democratic presidential nominee also did not recall receiving any emails she thought should not be on an unclassified system, the FBI s report declared.She did not recall all of the briefings she received on handling sensitive information as she made the transition from her post as secretary of state, due to a concussion she suffered in 2012. Clinton said she received no instructions or direction regarding the preservation or production of records from (the) State (Department) during the transition out of her role as Secretary of State in 2013, the FBI files say. However, in December of 2012, Clinton suffered a concussion and then around the New Year had a blood clot (in her head).And the FBI files also showed how she passed the buck to her former State Department underlings, saying she relied on their judgment when deciding what was and wasn t appropriate to send through her homebrew private email server while she was America s top diplomat. She relied on State [Department] officials to use their judgment when emailing her and could not recall anyone raising concerns with her regarding the sensitivity of the information she received at her email address, the FBI s account reads.Clinton told investigators she was unfamiliar even with basic markings of confidential materials, such as the (C) markings that denote confidential material portions of emails.Clinton stated she did not know what the (C) meant at the beginnings of the paragraphs and speculated it was referencing paragraphs marked in alphabetical order, according to the documents.The FBI documents state that on February 9, 2016, the Justice Department asked Clinton s lawyers at Williams & Connelly to turn over the 13 mobile devices she used over the time period. The lawyers couldn t locate any of them, and the FBI was unable to acquire or forensically examine any of these 13 mobile devices. Via: Daily Mail | 1real |
Self-designed homes could provide sustainable future for liberated Mosul | LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Self-designed homes based on traditional Iraqi architecture could be the solution to the drastic housing crisis facing Mosul, where hundreds of thousands are expected to return following the end of three years of Islamic State occupation. An award-winning design would see returning residents create their own neighborhoods in modules that can grow and evolve to suit their needs. The shape of the housing is completely up to the inhabitants, said Ania Otlik, the winner of inaugural Rifat Chadirji Prize, which challenged architects to find a practical and sustainable solution to the Iraqi city s housing needs. Having one measure that fits all is almost impossible, especially when it comes to such a diverse society ... which varies in religion, culture, background (and) family size. Nearly 1 million civilians fled in the three years since Islamic State militants took the city, which Iraq declared liberated in July, according to the United Nations. Iraqi government officials have estimated it will take at least five years and billions of dollars to rebuild Mosul. Otlik, a graduate of Wroclaw University of Science and Technology in Poland, researched traditional Iraqi architectural designs, poring over sketches and schemes to create her housing plan. Each dwelling is constructed around a central patio, providing outside space around which rooms and spaces can be arranged. The plan of the house can be a little more open when the family decides it this way, or maybe another family is strictly Islamic so they will build it in their own traditional way, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Building materials that are easy to source in the battle-scarred city - such as rubble and mud - could be used for construction until more permanent replacements become available, she said. Otlik drew inspiration from her native Poland, whose capital Warsaw was entirely rebuilt after it was razed by Nazi troops during the Second World War. Other finalist designs featured garden bridges over the Tigris river to provide housing and urban farms, and homes connected via a metro repurposed from a system of subterranean tunnels constructed by Islamic State to aid its fighters. It was not a problem finding a winner, said Ahmed Al-Mallak, founding director of the independent Tamayouz Excellence Award, which oversaw the competition. Mallak hopes the winning designs will influence Iraq s construction and housing minister Anne Nafi Aussi and a number of planning officials who are scheduled to attend the formal prize-giving ceremony in Jordan s capital Amman in December. | 0fake |
Under fire, Eric Trump suspends charitable foundation: Washington Post | (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump is suspending the operations of his charitable foundation over concerns that donors could be seen as buying access to the Trump family, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. “No new money will come into the ETF bank account,” Eric Trump wrote in an email message on Thursday, according to the Post, in reference to the Eric Trump Foundation. Eric Trump faced criticism for an online auction sponsored by his foundation offering the highest bidder a chance to have coffee with his sister, Ivanka. The New York Times reported that bids had risen to more than $72,000, and that the top bidders were people seeking to influence Donald Trump’s policymaking. The foundation, which gives most of the money it raises to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, canceled the auction on Friday. Eric Trump told the Times on Wednesday he had decided to stop directly soliciting contributions to the foundation because he now recognized donors could be seeking access to his father. “As unfortunate as it is, I understand the quagmire,” Trump told the Times. “You do a good thing that backfires.” Eric Trump and the Trump presidential transition team did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Eric Trump and his brother, Donald Trump Jr., also came under fire this week for their role in a post-inauguration charity event that offered a private reception with their father in exchange for a $1 million donation. The brothers were listed on a draft invitation as honorary co-chairmen of the fundraiser for conservation charities, dubbed “Opening Day,” set to be held in Washington the day after the Jan. 20 inauguration. The invitation was first reported by TMZ.com last week. On Tuesday, the Trump transition team said Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were not involved with the fundraiser and a subsequent invitation dropped references to donors meeting with any members of the Trump family. | 0fake |
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