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Philosopher Slavoj Žižek: ‘The American Left Lacks Authenticity’ | 21st Century Wire says While America s political left continue to march and occupy college campus spaces around the country, there is little if any serious challenging instrospective analysis or challenging debates as to why liberal Democrats and their mainstream media surrogate outlets continued to inflate their own reality bubble throughout the election cycle. Since the US presidential election, pundits have been struggling to explain Donald Trump s shock win. Prominent Slovenian philosopher Slavoj i ek believes the result exposes the failure of American political elites. Watch: | 1real |
BREAKING: No-Fly Zone Declared as Militarized Police Prep for Assault on ‘Front-Line Camp’ at Standing Rock | Home / Be The Change / BREAKING: No-Fly Zone Declared as Militarized Police Prep for Assault on ‘Front-Line Camp’ at Standing Rock BREAKING: No-Fly Zone Declared as Militarized Police Prep for Assault on ‘Front-Line Camp’ at Standing Rock Jay Syrmopoulos October 27, 2016 Leave a comment
Cannon Ball, ND – Pipeline opponents attempting to protect their water supply from the Dakota Access oil pipeline (DAPL), as well as prevent the continued destruction of burial grounds and cultural sites, are anticipating a confrontation with police today. This news come after “water protectors” refused law enforcement requests to vacate reoccupied land in the pipeline’s path, owned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners.
Last week, native activists took the bold action of declaring eminent domain over their traditional territory and set up a new camp “Front-Line” camp directly in the pipeline’s path. Pipeline opponents say they have simply reclaimed the land under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, clearly noting the Sioux never ceded that territory. The new encampment lies across Highway 1806, where pipeline security guards armed with guard dogs and pepper spray attacked protestors attempting to stop the bulldozing of cultural sites and burial grounds on September 3.
The impending crisis comes after nearly 200 water protectors set up the new camp on land that Energy Transfer Partners last month purchased from a local rancher in an effort to bolster strategic and tactical control of areas surrounding construction of the controversial pipeline.
According to the AP , however, the Native Americans claim the land is theirs by way of an “1851 treaty and they won’t leave until the pipeline is stopped.” “We never ceded this land,” said protester Joye Braun.
This latest flashpoint in the ongoing conflict is north of the larger and more permanent encampments, which have been constructed on federally owned land where over 200 Native American tribes have gathered to oppose the pipeline’s construction.
On Wednesday, a heavily militarized law enforcement presence began mobilizing heavy equipment, including Humvees, armored personnel carriers, buses and demanded the protestors leave the occupied area.
In an ominous sign, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has restricted flights , and banned the use of drones within a radius of about 4 ½ miles of Cannon Ball. The FAA declared that only aircraft affiliated with the North Dakota Tactical Operation Center are allowed within the restricted airspace. The flight restriction went into effect Wednesday and will last until November 5.
Indian Country Today reports :
What began with prayers and a single tipi alongside Highway 1806 quickly grew to more than a dozen tipis surrounded by tents, buses, cars and hundreds of water protectors. Some are calling it the “1851 Treaty Camp” to acknowledge their Treaty rights.
Across the road is the encroaching pipeline and a heavily militarized police force with armored vehicles, helicopters, planes, ATVs and busloads of officers. Tensions are growing as unarmed citizens worry that police will use unnecessarily harsh tactics.
In recent weeks, nearly 300 unarmed water protectors who were arrested have been subjected to pepper spray, strip-searches, delayed bail, exaggerated charges and physical violence, according to interviews with several who were taken into custody. The ACLU and National Lawyers Guild recently sent attorneys to Standing Rock to help the Red Owl Collective, a team of volunteer lawyers headed by attorney Bruce Ellison, who are representing many of those arrested.
The massive law enforcement contingent, consisting of sheriff’s deputies and officers from numerous other states and counties, as well as National Guard, began staging near the encampment — with scores of Armored Personnel Carriers, buses and Humvees poised at the ready.
“At some point the rule of law has to be enforced,” Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney said Wednesday. “We could go down there at any time. We’re trying not to.”
Dakota Access LLC, the pipeline developer released a statement encouraging trespassers to “vacate the land immediately” or be “removed from the land.”
“Alternatively and in coordination with local law enforcement and county/state officials, all trespassers will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and removed from the land,” the company said. “Lawless behavior will not be tolerated.”
Just days ago, sheriff’s officials had said earlier they didn’t have the resources to immediately remove activists from the private land, about 50 miles south of Bismarck. Subsequently, law enforcement officials put out a call for reinforcements, with hundreds of officers from out of state responding.
On Wednesday, actor and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo and civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson went to the new camp to speak and pray with the water protectors. Ruffalo had arrived the night before to speak on an anti-DAPL panel with Native activists at the Prairie Knights Casino and Hotel, according to Indian Country Today.
After touring the camp Jackson spoke to the crowd, reminding people that nonviolence is key to winning the battle for justice.
“With promises broken, land stolen, and sacred lands desecrated, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is standing up for their right to clean water. They have lost land for settlers to farm, more land for gold in the Black Hills, and then again even more land for the damn (sic) that was built for flood control and hydro power,” Jackson said.
When will the taking stop? When will we start treating the first peoples of these lands with the respect and honor they deserve?
The rerouting of the pipeline away from Bismarck to its current route is “the ripest case of environmental racism I’ve seen in a long time,” Jackson said. “Bismarck residents don’t want their water threatened, so why is it okay for North Dakota to react with guns and tanks when Native Americans ask for the same right?”
The pipeline was originally scheduled to run north of Bismarck until local residents expressed displeasure with the plan, with the DAPL ultimately being rerouted to its current trajectory near the Oceti Sakowin Standing Rock Reservation.
With an impending militarized police raid of the camp, Mekasi Camp-Horinek, one of the camp coordinators, told officers the protesters planned to stand their ground, saying “Do what you’ve got to do,” according to the Bismarck Tribune
“I don’t have a crystal ball to know when it will happen, but we know it will happen,” said Mekasi Camp-Horinek, a member of the Ponca tribe in Oklahoma. “We’re going to hold this ground.”
Water protectors could be heard chanting, “Stand in peace against the beast.”
“I’m here to die if I have to. I don’t want to die but I will,” said Didi Banerji, who lives in Toronto but is originally from the Spirit Lake Sioux reservation in North Dakota.
The protesters are simply trying to keep law enforcement from preventing their efforts to stop the pipeline said David Red Bear Jr., 30, from the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
“If we don’t stop them here, they’re going to cut us off closer to the pipeline. We can’t let that happen,” Red Bear said. “We’re not trying to force anybody’s hand. We’re just trying to stand up for what we believe in.”
The reality is that the citizens of North Dakota are funding a protection force, in the form of police, for a multi-billion dollar corporate entity. North Dakota’s Emergency Commission previously approved $6 million in emergency funding for law enforcement costs related to the protest — with almost all of those funds having been used already. The Department of Emergency Services plans to ask for more, spokeswoman Cecily Fong said.
Do North Dakotans want their tax money spent on police acting as paid enforcers for Wall Street and big oil interests?
While law enforcement claims they are just doing their job and enforcing the law, in reality, they are acting as enforcers for an unjust corporate oligarchy that consistently puts money over people. The financial elite are the ones who the police are truly protecting and serving — not the American people.
Please share this article and stand with Standing Rock! Share Social Trending | 1real |
After Months Of Concern Trolling, Trump Proves He Really Thinks Chicago Murders Are HILARIOUS | Amid one of the most racist presidential campaigns in modern history, Donald Trump spent a lot of time apparently attempting to appeal to African-Americans by telling them they live in poor, murderous hellholes called, inner cities. By and large, they don t.Trump seems particularly concerned about one city: Chicago. Now, Chicago s murder rate is on the rise, there s no question there, but it s not the most murderous city. It s not even close. So what is it about Chicago?Murder rates are up across the country. The biggest jumps in murder rates have been in cities that Trump doesn t call hellscapes. In fact, he doesn t talk about the rising murder rate in these cities at all. Not coincidentally, they are all in states that voted for Trump. Oh, and did I mention that Chicago is President Obama s home town?Among the notable rises outside of Chicago were increases of 56 percent in Memphis, 61 percent in San Antonio, 44 percent in Louisville, 36 percent in Phoenix and 31 percent in Las Vegas. Taken together, those six cities accounted for 76 percent of the overall big city murder rise in 2016.In all there were six big cities Louisville, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Anchorage, Alaska; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Durham, North Carolina; and Indianapolis that appear to have set records for highest murder counts in one year dating back to 1960.3 There were also at least 16 big cities that tied or surpassed their worst murder years since the start of 2000 in 2016.Source: FiveThirtyEightStill, Republicans insist on holding up Chicago as the perfect symbol of blacks behaving badly and they love it. In fact, on Thursday, Trump and a group of Republicans had a big hearty laugh at the expense of Chicago s dead. This, less than two days after Trump threatened to send the Feds into Chicago to deal with the carnage. If Chicago doesn t fix the horrible carnage going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017To the group of congressional Republicans, Trump asked: What s going on in Chicago? Trump said. I said the other day, what the hell is going on? In response to Trump s question, somebody in the court yelled, Democrats! The room burst out in laughter. Trump smirked and said, There s a lot of truth to that. As of Tuesday, 37 people had been killed in the city in January alone.Oh my god. Isn t that just hilarious! There are dead black people and probably dead Democrats. Trump better get back on Twitter and pretend he cares.F Featured image via Sara D. Davis/Getty Images. | 1real |
TOM HANKS TO JOIN Hollywood Liberals In Facebook Live Fundraiser For Fight Against Trump Agenda | Tom Hanks, Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Amy Poehler are among the notables set to appear on a telethon to benefit the ACLU that will stream March 31 via Facebook Live. Stand for Rights: A Benefit for the ACLU is billed as a modern-day telethon to raise funds for the venerable advocacy organization that has been working overtime with legal challenges to aspects of President Trump s political agenda. Our work in the courts is essential right now to hold off the worst of the abuses, said ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero. But it is also the collective will and tireless actions of we the people that serve as a bulwark against unconstitutional and wrong-headed policies and executive orders. By supporting our work through this telethon, we can fight even harder to defend the rights guaranteed by our Constitution. Here s a little Facebook promo for the event:More talent is expected to sign on in the coming days. NYP | 1real |
Rhodes Is Wrong And Trump Could Have The Last Laugh | 21st Century Wire says Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump accused his predecessor, Barack Obama, of ordering a wire tap at Trump Tower prior to the Presidential Election. Yes, a wire tap . Sounds pretty unsophisticated in this day and age as a means of SIGINT in the post Snowden revelation era where there are numerous more covert methods available to agencies. Democrats and other mainstream pundits wasted no time in defending Obama and criticizing Trump s lack of evidence in the matter. One of these voices was Ben Rhodes, Obama s former Senior Advisor. He also said only a liar could make the case, as Trump suggested, that Obama wire tapped Trump Tower ahead of the election. Shortly after Rhodes took to Twitter in defense of Obama, this article from 2013 became viral that seemed to hold together Trump s allegation of wire-tapping . To add to the Obama accusations, Wikileaks weighed in with the following;Obama has a history of tapping & hacking his friends and rivals https://t.co/XbwyNSwTXg #NSA #PRISM #Merkel #Sarkozy #BanKiMoon #WTO #Trump pic.twitter.com/5CebcnkFgn WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) March 5, 2017More on this report from Zerohedge Tyler Durden ZerohedgeFollowing Trump s stunning allegation that Obama wiretapped the Trump Tower in October of 2016, prior to the presidential election, which may or may not have been sourced from a Breitbart story, numerous Democrats and media pundits have come out with scathing accusations that Trump is either mentally disturbed, or simply has no idea what he is talking about.The best example of this came from Ben Rhodes, a former senior adviser to President Obama in his role as deputy National Security Advisor, who slammed Trump s accusation, insisting that No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you. He also said only a liar could make the case, as Trump suggested, that Obama wire tapped Trump Tower ahead of the election.No President can order a wiretap. Those restrictions were put in place to protect citizens from people like you. https://t.co/lEVscjkzSw Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) March 4, 2017It would appear, however, that Rhodes is wrong, especially as pertains to matters of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, and its associated FISA court, under which the alleged wiretap of Donald Trump would have been granted, as it pertained specifically to Trump s alleged illicit interactions with Russian entities.In Chapter 36 of Title 50 of the US Code *War and National Defense , Subchapter 1, Section 1802, we read the following:(1) Notwithstanding any other law, the President, through the Attorney General, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this sub-chapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year if the Attorney General certifies in writing under oath that (A) the electronic surveillance is solely directed at (i) the acquisition of the contents of communications transmitted by means of communications used exclusively between or among foreign powers, as defined in section 1801(a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title; or (ii) the acquisition of technical intelligence, other than the spoken communications of individuals, from property or premises under the open and exclusive control of a foreign power, as defined in section 1801(a)(1), (2), or (3) of this title;(B) there is no substantial likelihood that the surveillance will acquire the contents of any communication to which a United States person is a party; and(C) the proposed minimization procedures with respect to such surveillance meet the definition of minimization procedures under section 1801(h) of this title; and if the Attorney General reports such minimization procedures and any changes thereto to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence at least thirty days prior to their effective date, unless the Attorney General determines immediate action is required and notifies the committees immediately of such minimization procedures and the reason for their becoming effective immediately.While (B) seems to contradict the underlying permissive nature of Section 1802 as it involves a United States person, what the Snowden affair has demonstrated all too clearly, is how frequently the NSA and FISA court would make US citizens collateral damage. To be sure, many pointed out the fact that Fox News correspondent James Rosen was notoriously wiretapped in 2013 when the DOJ was investigating government leaks. The Associated Press was also infamously wiretapped in relation to the same investigation.Furthermore, while most Democrats not to mention former president Obama himself have been harshly critical of Trump s comments, some such as former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau was quite clear in his warning to reporters that Obama did not say there was no wiretapping, effectively confirming it:I'd be careful about reporting that Obama said there was no wiretapping. Statement just said that neither he nor the WH ordered it. Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) March 4, 2017Continue this report at ZerohedgeREAD MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire TRUMP FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Terry Jones of Monty Python Has Dementia, His Family Says - The New York Times | Terry Jones, an original member of Monty Python, has a form of dementia that is affecting his ability to communicate, his family said in a statement. The statement, published on Thursday on the website of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Wales, also known as BAFTA Cymru, said: “Terry has been diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia, a variant of frontotemporal dementia. This illness affects his ability to communicate, and he is no longer able to give interviews. ” On Friday, Ben Timlett, a producer on one of Mr. Jones’s films, said in an email that Mr. Jones’s son Bill confirmed that the statement had been released to BAFTA Cymru on behalf of the family. BAFTA Cymru chose Terry Jones — a Welsh comedian known for his Python characters like a doting mother of a coal worker son criticized for being a slacker by his playwright father and an everyday Superman who needs his bicycle repaired — to receive its award for Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television. Hannah Raybould, the director of BAFTA Cymru, said a retrospective of Mr. Jones’s work starting from 1969 would still be celebrated at an awards ceremony in Cardiff on Oct. 2. “Terry is proud and honored to be recognized in this way and is looking forward to the celebrations,” the statement said. Lydia Jones, a spokeswoman for BAFTA Cymru, said Friday that the organization had been told there would be no further details on Mr. Jones’s condition. Primary progressive aphasia is a rare nervous system syndrome that affects a person’s ability to express his or her thoughts and understanding, or to find words, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms begin gradually, often before age 65, and worsen over time. The news of the diagnosis was also reported by the BBC and Britain’s National Press Association. The announcement of Mr. Jones’s illness dominated Monty Python fan sites on Friday, where it was described as “sad” and “terrible” news. Eric Idle, a of the ribald, outrageous and internationally acclaimed British troupe, tweeted thanks to fans for their support while noting Mr. Jones’s participation in the 2014 stage reunion of the comedy gang. Mr. Jones, 74, was born in Colwyn Bay, a seaside community on the north coast of Wales. He has written and directed dramas, presented documentaries, composed operas and penned short stories, as BAFTA Cymru noted. But it is his work in the Monty Python television series, which was brought to the stage in London in 2014, that arguably contributed most to his fame. He worked on some of the troupe’s films, including “Life of Brian,” 1979 (director and a writer) “The Meaning of Life,” 1983 (a writer and, with Terry Gilliam, a director) and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” 1975 (a writer and ). Last year, Mr. Jones released the documentary “Boom Bust Boom,” about how the economy cycles through periods of growth and collapse. “This film is about the Achilles’ heel of capitalism,” Mr. Jones says at the opening of the film. “How human nature drives the economy to crisis after crisis, time and time again. ” A review in The New York Times called it ominous but enjoyable. In addition to Mr. Jones helped to direct the project. | 0fake |
Fight night: Rubio, Cruz gang up on Trump in debate ploy | HOUSTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican rivals Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz ganged up on front-runner Donald Trump at a raucous debate on Thursday in a last-ditch bid to keep the billionaire from winning victories next week that could set him up to clinch the presidential nomination. The CNN-hosted debate at the University of Houston was the two first-term senators’ last, best chance to try to shake up the race for the Republican nomination. The contest is dramatically shifting toward Trump, who is leading in opinion polls in nearly all 11 states set to make their choices on next Tuesday. Rubio and Cruz landed blows on Trump, took some withering fire in return and may wonder why they did not pursue such a strategy in the debates of past weeks and months when former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, now out of the race, was the lead Trump attacker. A confident-sounding Trump was unbowed and dismissed the attacks from his center-stage position. He declared Rubio a “choke artist” for a faltering debate in New Hampshire, again labeled Cruz “a liar” and urged his rivals to take their best shot. “Swing for the fences,” he said, wielding a baseball metaphor. Rubio, who got some momentum with a second-place finish to Trump in South Carolina last Saturday and has picked up some Bush supporters, gave his most aggressive performance to date. The senator from Florida wants to be the last Trump opponent standing and perhaps stretch the contest to the Republican nominating convention in July. He brought up Trump’s four past bankruptcies and his use of imported Polish workers to work at a Florida resort, and pointedly suggested the New Yorker would not be where he is today in the real estate business without a family inheritance. Without the family money, Rubio said, “You know where Donald Trump would be right now? Selling watches in Manhattan.” Significantly, Rubio sought to raise doubts about the depth of Trump’s policy knowledge, a point of attack that Trump’s critics in the Republican establishment have been urging candidates to pursue for months. Rubio pointed out that Trump’s sole plan to replace and repeal Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law is to allow insurance companies to operate across state lines. When Trump repeated the same point twice, Rubio interrupted. “Now he’s repeating himself,” said the senator, who was skewered at a debate in New Hampshire last month for robotically repeating his talking points. Trump fired back: “I watched him repeat himself five times four weeks ago, and I gotta tell you it was a meltdown. I watched him melt down on the stage like I’ve never seen anybody.” Cruz, who needs to win his home state of Texas when it votes on Tuesday, also piled on Trump, saying his rival would be a weak Republican opponent to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 general election because he had donated to the Clinton Foundation founded by her husband, former President Bill Clinton. Cruz said Hillary Clinton would say to him, “‘Gosh, Donald you gave $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. I even went to your wedding.’ ... He can’t prosecute the case against Hillary.” Trump ridiculed Cruz for his inability to win more than the early voting state of Iowa and taunted him for being behind Trump in opinion polls in Texas. Since a second-place finish in Iowa, Trump has won New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada. “If I can’t beat her (Clinton), you’re really going to get killed aren’t you? ... I know you’re embarrassed, but keep fighting,” Trump said. The crossfire was so intense that CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer lost control of the proceedings at times. Among the other two candidates on the stage, Ohio Governor John Kasich turned in a positive performance with an optimistic message, hoping Rubio and Cruz will falter and he will end up as the central Trump alternative. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, flagging in the polls, provided some comic relief. He said that, as president, when considering potential Supreme Court nominees he would look at “the fruit salad of their life” and asked plaintively for more time to talk: “Can someone attack me please?” Even with his bombast, Trump turned in a more measured performance than usual, defending his moderate positions on Planned Parenthood and retaining popular parts of the Obamacare law, perhaps mindful that he is closing in on a victory in the Republican race. He said he would not support a ceasefire deal about to go into effect in Syria and declared that Libya would be better off had Colonel Muammar Gaddafi not been toppled from power by a U.S.-backed uprising in 2011. Pressed on whether he would release his tax records as 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney said he should do, Trump said he would eventually do so after a “routine audit” is completed. This did not satisfy Romney, who tweeted that there was no legitimate reason for withholding them even if they were under audit. Rubio went after Trump hard on illegal immigration. He said Trump may talk tough on illegal immigration now, but previously said Romney lost his race against Obama by promoting the idea that illegal immigrants should self-deport. “A lot of these positions that he’s taken now are new to him,” Rubio said. Trump said Romney lost in 2012 because he was a terrible candidate. “Excuse me, he ran one terrible campaign,” Trump said. While Trump has scored early victories and is well ahead in national opinion polls, he has some ways to go to clinch his party’s nomination, which is decided by the number of delegates sent to the July party convention following the state-by-state nominating contests. So far Trump leads the race with 81 delegates, with Cruz and Rubio well behind at 17 apiece. To secure the nomination, a candidate needs 1,237 delegates. Super Tuesday will be critical because there are nearly 600 delegates at stake in Republican races that day. (Additional reporting by Ginger Gibson and Valerie Volcovici in Washinton; Writing by Steve Holland; Editing by Peter Cooney, Leslie Adler and Jonathan Oatis) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 0fake |
Hillary Reboots ‘Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy’ Playbook | Hillary Reboots ‘Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy’ Playbook 10/31/2016
LIFEZETTE
Before even 24 hours had passed since the FBI director informed Congress on Friday that it was reopening the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails, Clinton suggested the director was in cahoots with the Republican Party.
“We’ve made it very clear that, if they are going to be sending this kind of letter that is only going originally to Republican members of the House, that they need to share whatever facts they claim to have with the American people,” Clinton said on Friday, after initially being blindsided by the FBI’s announcement.
The claim wasn’t true. All you had to do is turn the page and find Democratic members of Congress who had also received the letter from the FBI. But it shows how ready Clinton is to fight anyone in the government who dares investigate or question her. It is likely a habit Clinton picked up when she was first lady, from 1993 to 2001.
Clinton’s opening salvo, though weak, is a sign of more to come. Her coming attack on the FBI and its director, James Comey, will likely begin in earnest on Monday, with her operatives using the letter to Congress as proof Clinton is the victim of a political conspiracy.
Clinton previewed her attack in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Saturday, when she said the letter was “unprecedented and deeply troubling.”
Clinton will also turn the issue into one of “transparency” — even though FBI investigations are inherently not transparent. In Daytona, she called on Comey to “explain everything right away, put it all right on the table” — a demand she knows will go unheeded.
But many of Clinton’s allies in the media are likely to demand to see the emails found on former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s laptop.
It’s a strategy that could work, even with only a few days left until Election Day.
Such attacks on law enforcement worked fairly well for Clinton in 1998, when she and her husband, then-President Bill Clinton, vilified independent counsel Kenneth Starr. Starr had been tasked by Bill Clinton’s own attorney general to investigate corruption charges, but likely rued the day he ever took the job.
In 1994, Bill Clinton faced questions from many, including The New York Times, about an investment the Clintons made in a company called Whitewater Development Corp. Bill Clinton’s attorney general, Janet Reno, made Robert Fiske the independent counsel.
Fiske would later be replaced by Starr. Starr’s investigation would later reach into charges that President Clinton had lied in the Paula Jones sexual harassment civil trial. With explosive charges being published by the Drudge Report and Newsweek in January 1998 that Bill Clinton had seduced an intern, Monica Lewinsky, the Clintons could have been expected to admit the truth and take the punishments.
Instead, the Clinton White House and the Democrats began attacking Starr and the Republicans.
On Jan. 27, 1998, Hillary Clinton went on NBC’s “The Today Show” and goaded the press into covering the opposition rather than President Bill Clinton, who had lied about his affair with Lewinsky just one day earlier.
Matt Lauer asked if Hillary Clinton had said the fight against Starr would be the “last great battle” of the Clinton White House.
“Well, I don’t know if I’ve been that dramatic,” Hillary Clinton replied. “But I do believe that this is a battle. I mean, look at the very people who are involved in this — they have popped up in other settings. This is — the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president.”
The Starr report on the Clinton scandals was released months later. But what the Clintons are really proud of that is that the Democrats actually gained seats in the 1998 midterm elections, helping to cause a backfire against the GOP.
The GOP didn’t have anywhere near the two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove Bill Clinton. In early 1999, the U.S. Senate acquitted Bill Clinton on two charges: obstruction of justice, and perjury.
It taught the Clintons the wrong lesson: to fight authorities if authorities questioned them — even authorities within the Democratic Party. Clinton will be targeting and attacking President Obama’s own FBI director as Obama leaves office. | 1real |
Trump Said ‘Ask The Family’ Of A Benghazi Victim About Clinton’s Judgment, So Someone Did | Be careful what you wish for is an age-old adage. Earlier this month, Donald Trump tweeted that if you want to know about Hillary Clinton s honesty and judgement, all you need to do is ask the family of Ambassador Chris Stevens, who died in the horrific terrorist attacks in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.via FreakOutNationOn Tuesday, after the House Benghazi Committee released its report on the attacks a report that once again exonerated Clinton and confirmed that the numerous hearings are simply a waste of taxpayer dollars aimed at smearing the 2016 Democratic nominee Ambassador Stevens sister spoke to the New Yorker about the hearings, and Trump has likely dissolved into a steaming pile of seething rage over her remarks.Dr. Anne Stevens, who serves as her family s spokesperson, made it very clear that no matter what Republicans say, Hillary Clinton is not to blame for Benghazi. In fact, she says the blame lies with Republicans in Congress. It is clear, in hindsight, that the facility was not sufficiently protected by the State Department and the Defense Department. But what was the underlying cause? she said. Perhaps if Congress had provided a budget to increase security for all missions around the world, then some of the requests for more security in Libya would have been granted. Certainly the State Department is underbudgeted. Prior to the attacks, the GOP cut embassy security a move Clinton warned would be detrimental to America s national security back in 2011:For fiscal 2013, the GOP-controlled House proposed spending $1.934 billion for the State Department s Worldwide Security Protection program well below the $2.15 billion requested by the Obama administration. House Republicans cut the administration s request for embassy security funding by $128 million in fiscal 2011 and $331 million in fiscal 2012. (Negotiations with the Democrat-controlled Senate restored about $88 million of the administration s request.) Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned that Republicans proposed cuts to her department would be detrimental to America s national security a charge Republicans rejected.[GOP vice presidential nominee Paul] Ryan, [Rep. Darrell] Issa and other House Republicans voted for an amendment in 2009 to cut $1.2 billion from State operations, including funds for 300 more diplomatic security positions. Under Ryan s budget, non-defense discretionary spending, which includes State Department funding, would be slashed nearly 20 percent in 2014, which would translate to more than $400 million in additional cuts to embassy security.Stevens goes on to drop the hammer on any words Republicans want to put in the mouths of her or her family:I do not blame Hillary Clinton or Leon Panetta. They were balancing security efforts at embassies and missions around the world. And their staffs were doing their best to provide what they could with the resources they had. The Benghazi Mission was understaffed. We know that now. But, again, Chris knew that. It wasn t a secret to him. He decided to take the risk to go there. It is not something they did to him. It is something he took on himself.Stevens says that the recently-released report concluded absolutely nothing new, and that Clinton did her best to keep people safe even in spite of fierce opposition from Republicans:She has taken full responsibility, being head of the State Department, for what occurred. She took measures to respond to the review board s recommendations. She established programs for a better security system. But it is never going to be perfect. Part of being a diplomat is being out in the community. We all recognize that there s a risk in serving in a dangerous environment. Chris thought that was very important, and he probably would have done it again. I don t see any usefulness in continuing to criticize her. It is very unjust.Stevens says that the GOP s investigations are nothing but a witch hunt conducted purely for political reasons. With the many issues in the current election, to use that incident and to use Chris s death as a political point is not appropriate, she adds, explaining that everyone did their very best in response to this event. In fact, her brother had a lot of respect for Clinton and her ability to intensely read the issues and understand the whole picture. Could this be the final nail in the coffin of the GOP s ridiculous, money-wasting witch hunts? Probably not, unfortunately.Featured image via Getty Images/Justin Sullivan | 1real |
The Daily 202: Ted Cruz’s war with Matt Drudge could become a huge problem for his campaign | The Drudge Report has aggressively portrayed Ted Cruz’s sweep of all the delegates from Colorado’s Republican convention as a corrupt power grab.
The site named for Matt Drudge, who broke the story of Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky and still runs it, links to nine stories this morning with salacious headlines about the convention. Among them: “Savage: Cruz should disavow rigged Colorado election … Buchanan: Apparatchiks thieve delegates for Ted … 1 MILLION REPUBLICANS SIDELINED … Border Patrol Agents: Colorado Voters Disenfranchised.” Keep in mind that this is three days after the Colorado convention.
Our analytics partners at Zignal Labs say the Drudge attacks are breaking through on social media in a significant way. This word cloud, which tracks all Cruz mentions since Saturday, shows the extent to which Drudge has shaped the conversation about Cruz’s win in Colorado. Note the prominence of the words “cheating” and “drudge”:
This kind of squabbling will only get louder as the delegate wrestling and wrangling intensifies. And it has clearly gotten under Cruz’s skin.
In a radio interview yesterday, the Texas senator ripped into Drudge as an arm of Donald Trump’s campaign. “In about the past month, the Drudge Report has basically become the attack site for the Trump campaign,” he told conservative host Mike Slater. “So every day they have the latest Trump attack. They’re directed at me. … Most days they have a six-month-old article that is some attack on me, and it’s whatever the Trump campaign is pushing that day will be the banner headline on Drudge.”
“By the way, they no longer cover news,” Cruz added of Drudge. “When we win a state, suddenly the state doesn’t matter. You know Colorado — there was no red siren on Drudge when we won all 34 delegates in Colorado.”
Drudge responded by posting a link to a January Fox News interview in which Cruz praised the conservative site for breaking the mainstream media’s “stranglehold."
It’s never good to pick a fight with a guy who buys ink by the barrel, as they say. Or whatever the 2016 version of that line is.
If it was just Trump complaining about the “crooked” system, it would seem like sour grapes from a guy who got out-hustled. But The Donald’s allies in the right-wing media, including Drudge and Breitbart, are trying to make Cruz’s wins seem illegitimate in the eyes of the conservative base. If Cruz wins the nomination at a contested convention in Cleveland, he will need these grass-roots activists to rally around him. If regular Drudge readers believe he did not win fair and square, they will be less inclined to do so.
Interestingly, the increasing scrutiny from Drudge comes as the Democratic National Committee begins to train more of its fire at Cruz. After focusing almost single-mindedly on Trump for months, the DNC held a press call yesterday to blast the Texan ahead of campaign stops in California. Ironically, they pushed a similar message as Drudge: “Cruz’s campaign is proving to be just as divisive for the Republican Party as his tenure in the Senate has been for our country,” said the DNC communications director. “That’s why there just isn’t a whole lot of excitement for Cruz being the Republican nominee.”
– Donald Trump says he identifies with Howard Roark from Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead.” He praised the novel and its protagonist in a broader interview with USA Today that posted yesterday. “It relates to business, beauty, life and inner emotions. That book relates to ... everything,” the GOP front-runner told the paper. Columnist Kirsten Powers writes that she pointed out that “The Fountainhead” is “in a way about the tyranny of groupthink.” Trump reportedly sat up and told her, “That’s what is happening here.”
For those who haven't read the book since high school, Roark is an architect who dynamites a housing project he designed because he is angry about changes that others made to his blueprints. He’s then put on trial for arson, but a jury acquits him after he delivers an eloquent speech about the need to always stay true to one’s self. Gary Cooper delivered the courtroom monologue in the 1949 film adaptation:
Bottom line, Roark is a self-centered individualist who steadfastly refuses to submit to the will of others. “He is presented as the author's version of an ideal man — one who embodies the virtues of Rand's objectivist philosophy,” the CliffNotes character analysis explains. “Roark is an example of free will — the theory that an individual has the power, by virtue of the choices he makes, to control the outcome of his own life. A man's thinking and values are not controlled by God or the fates or society or any external factor — but solely by his own choice.”
Is The Donald threatening to blow up the Republican Party if he’s spurned in Cleveland? He almost certainly has not thought through the implications of publicly identifying with Roark and embracing objectivism. But it’s nonetheless another revealing window into his psyche.
It’s also a reflection of how Trump does not play by the same rules that normal politicians must. In 2012, Paul Ryan tried hard to distance himself from Rand, whose work he had often praised. “I adored her novels when I was young, and in many ways they gave me an interest in economics,” he told the New York Times Magazine in 2014. “But as a devout, practicing Catholic, I completely reject the philosophy of objectivism.”
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING:
-- Forty percent of former NFL players show signs of traumatic brain injuries, according to a groundbreaking study that will be presented at next week’s American Academy of Neurology. This is one of the largest studies performed on living NFL players, and it offers “the most conclusive evidence yet” of a definitive link between brain injury and playing football. Travis M. Andrews explains that the study is based on sensitive MRI scans called diffusion tensor imaging.
MORE ON THE REPUBLICAN RACE:
-- Phyllis Schlafly is facing backlash after endorsing Trump last month, including an attempt to oust her as the head of the Eagle Forum, the conservative group she founded 44 years ago to stop the Equal Rights Amendment. From David Weigel: "Ed Martin, who Schlafly elevated to president of Eagle Forum in 2015, told [the Post] that Schlafly had not been ousted yet, but that it was clearly the plan of Eagle's board. In an interview with WorldNetDaily, which publishes her work, the 91-year-old Schafly speculated that her Trump endorsement and opposition to the idea of a National Convention of States had roiled her opponents."
-- John Kasich, speaking today in Manhattan, will call his candidacy the GOP's only way out of a “path to darkness.” “Without naming Cruz or Trump, Kasich plans to indict them both,” writes Weigel, who reviewed the planned remarks.
-- Ben Carson continues to be the worst surrogate of the cycle. He admitted yesterday that his support for Trump is “purely pragmatic" and said he'd probably oppose him “if the stakes weren’t so high.” (BuzzFeed)
-- Trump told USA Today he could envision putting Marco Rubio in his cabinet. “Yes. I like Marco Rubio. Yeah. I could,” he said. “There are people I have in mind in terms of vice president. I just haven’t told anybody names. ... I do like Marco. I do like Kasich. … I like [Scott] Walker actually in a lot of ways. I hit him very hard. ... But I’ve always liked him. There are people I like, but I don’t think they like me because I have hit them hard.”
-- MORE DELEGATE SETBACKS FOR TRUMP, in addition to the ones outlined in yesterday's 202. Per Ed O'Keefe, Trump also got outgunned last weekend in:
MORE ON THE DEMOCRATIC RACE:
-- THREE NEW YORK POLLS: With one week until the primary, Trump and Clinton are dominating:
So much for home-field advantage: That Monmouth survey finds only 29 percent of voters consider Clinton -- who has lived in the state for 16 years and served as senator for eight years -- to be a “real New Yorker,” while 28 said the same for Sanders, who left the state after high school.
-- Tensions continued to escalate in the battle for New York:
Clinton devoted a Long Island campaign event entirely to gun control, all but blaming Sanders for crime in New York City. From Philip Rucker and Abby Phillip: “Clinton convened a round table-style discussion … where she, along with the local congressman, Rep. Steve Israel (D), and gun-safety advocates hammered Sanders.... 'Here’s what I want you to know: Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. The state that has the highest per-capita number of those guns that end up committing crime in New York come from Vermont,’ Clinton said, eliciting gasps.… ‘So this is not, ‘Oh, no, I live in a rural state. We don’t have any of these problems.'"
The Post's Fact Checker gives Clinton Three Pinocchios for this line of attack: "Clinton has carefully crafted the talking point to find the particular government data that support her point, which gives a wildly different view than how trafficking flows are tracked," Michelle Ye Hee Lee writes. "We do not find the per capita measure as a fair assessment of gun flows from Vermont into New York. The difference between this point using per capita calculation and the raw number (1 percent of crime guns with source states identified in 2014 came from Vermont) is so stark that it creates a significantly misleading impression to the public."
Sanders called for a national ban on fracking. The Vermont senator released a new ad to highlight his opposition, narrated by actress Susan Sarandon. "Do Washington politicians side with polluters over families?" asks Sarandon. "They sure do, because Big Oil pumps millions into their campaigns. Bernie Sanders is the only candidate for president who opposes fracking everywhere."
-- Joe Biden said Sanders calling Clinton "unqualified" was not sexist but something said in the heat of a campaign. During an interview with Mic.com, the vice president was asked about Sanders’ comment and if he thought Hillary is held to a higher standard because she is a woman. “No, I don’t think she’s held to a higher standard,” he replied.
“This country’s ready for a woman,” Biden elaborated. “There’s no problem. We’re going to be able to elect a woman in this country.”
When the female interviewer asked Biden if he’d like to see a woman elected, a male aide to the VP interrupted from off camera and tried to end the interview. “That’s it,” he said. “I would like to see a woman elected,” Biden said. “I don’t mind,” he told the staffers standing off camera. “The president and I are not going to endorse because we both when we ran said, ‘let the party decide.’ But gosh almighty, they’re both qualified,” he added. “Hillary is overwhelmingly qualified to be president.”
-- “Past cases suggest Hillary won’t be indicted," by Politico's Josh Gerstein: A review of dozens of recent federal investigations "suggests that it’s highly unlikely, but not impossible. The examination … found some parallels to Clinton’s use of a private server for her emails, but, in nearly all instances that were prosecuted, aggravating circumstances [existed] that don’t appear to be present in Clinton’s case. The relatively few cases that drew prosecution almost always involved a deliberate intent to violate classification rules as well as some add-on element … a Boeing engineer who brought home 2000 classified documents and whose travel to Israel raised suspicions; a [NSA] official who removed boxes of classified documents and also lied on a job application form. And former prosecutors, investigators and defense attorneys generally agree that prosecution for classified information breaches is the exception rather than the rule.… 'They always involve some ‘plus’ factor,’ one former federal prosecutor said.”
-- Bill de Blasio intimated in an interview with Katie Couric that his kids are supporting Sanders, even though he’s backing Clinton. “My kids will speak for themselves,” he told the Yahoo anchor, “but I’ll say this much, they’re the kind of young person that is going to fight for change, no matter what. And absolutely will support the Democratic nominee, whoever it is.” (Watch the full interview here.)
-- “Denmark, a social welfare utopia, takes a nasty turn on refugees,” by Griff Witte: "Lise Ramslog was out for a stroll in Denmark when she stumbled upon hundreds of exhausted asylum seekers. 70-year-old Ramslog instantly decided to help, transporting several refugees to Sweden. Many would consider Ramslog a good Samaritan. But the Danish government has a different term for her: convicted human smuggler. Denmark is celebrated as a social-welfare utopia. Ranking high in its pantheon of heroes are those who protected Jews during the Holocaust, or who helped oppressed during the Cold War. But when it comes to those fleeing 21st-century conflicts, Denmark has gone into overdrive to broadcast hostility … While Germany continues to welcome asylum seekers, and others held doors open for as long as they could, Denmark has taken a hard line almost from the beginning. Now ordinary Danes are getting caught up in the crackdown, punished for quintessentially good deeds. 'I’m proud of what I did and will never regret ... it,' said Ramslog, her eyes welling with tears. 'But I don’t want to be known as a criminal.'"
-- Meet Trump’s “Beltway establishment guy” -- campaign lawyer and former FEC chairman Donald F. McGahn II. By Ben Terris: "The night Trump notched his first presidential win, he took the stage and lit into special interests that he declared corrupted Washington. Over his shoulder, a ruddy-faced man licked his teeth. He appeared out of place and seemed to know it. McGahn is one of [the country’s] top election lawyers, a job so highly specialized that its practitioners are almost unavoidably ‘Washington insiders’ by definition.... For a while, McGahn's colleagues either didn't know the firm was representing Trump or didn't mind. That changed late last month when McGahn organized a meeting between the candidate and more than a dozen lawmakers at the firm [Jones Day].… Many current employees just about lost their minds.”
Lesson learned: if you tweet to Ernest Moniz about his hair, he might tweet back:
There was a cash bar at Cruz's event in Orange County:
Looks like Shailene Woodley is for Sanders:
The scaffolding keeps coming down around the Capitol dome:
More than 400 arrests were made yesterday at the Capitol in connection with Democracy Spring demonstrations. (Martin Weil)
Former senator Carl Levin now has a ship named after him:
Cindy McCain hung out with Heidi Heitkamp and Cory Booker over the weekend:
The old Washington Post building is almost gone:
-- CBS, “Meet the ‘Trump Bros,’” by Jacqueline Alemany: "Eighteen-year-old Jack Rowe sat in the front row of a Trump rally sandwiched between friends. Rowe had some thoughts on Trump's rhetorical treatment of women, which had been dominating headlines. 'Misogyny was an issue about maybe 60, 80 years ago,' said Rowe. 'You know, ISIS is chopping off heads … We’ve got bigger fish to fry.' Young men like Rowe are a common sight at Trump rallies: Mostly white, they travel in packs. They are dudes, jocks, preps … On the campaign trail, they’re known simply as 'Trump Bros.' David Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, said Trump's appeal to young men speaks to anxiety over creeping 'political correctness.' 'It's an F-U to society, who is telling us we are a bad guy because we like hooking up with girls on spring break,' he added. And they see Trump sticking up for that. Manas, a young entrepreneur … whose Twitter bio reads 'Bros do Bro Things' and who made a point of checking himself out in his iPhone camera in selfie mode before speaking with a reporter, piped in enthusiastically. 'I love women!' he said. Trump took the stage, and they screamed."
-- New York Times, “Trump and New York Tabloids Resume Their Elaborate Dance,” by Michael M. Grynbaum: “As newspaper assignments go, this was a delicate one. Fly to Florida. Walk into Trump’s hospital room. Witness the birth of his second daughter. Linda Stasi, a gossip columnist for The Daily News, did as she was told. ‘I called Donald, and he said, ‘You can’t come to the hospital!’’ she recalled 22 years later. ‘I said, I know, but I’m coming anyway.’ ‘O.K.,’ Trump replied. ‘Then come.’ As the presidential spotlight swings to New York … Trump is reuniting with the press corps he knows best, a boisterous tabloid culture that spawned and nurtured [his] outsize Trump personality. It is also the ink-stained caldron in which Trump, over decades, honed the method of media management, cajoling, combating, at times dissembling, that he has unleashed … in this year’s national campaign. Some Americans have been caught off guard by [Trump’s style] but New York’s media veterans detect the old playbook at work. ‘We’ve had that advantage throughout the whole campaign,’ said Daily News editor Jim Rich.”
On the campaign trail: Everyone but Clinton is in New York. Here's the rundown:
At the White House: President Obama speaks at the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument. In the evening, Vice President Biden speaks at the World FoodProgram USA McGovern-Dole Leadership Award at the Organization of American States.
On Capitol Hill: The Senate meets at 10 a.m. to resume work on the FAA bill. The House meets at 2 p.m. for legislative business. Four suspension votes are expected at 6:30 p.m.
NEWS YOU CAN USE IF YOU LIVE IN D.C.:
-- A damp and cloudy morning followed by sunshine through the rest of the week. “Scattered showers with a few heavier downpours are possible this morning, bringing our early starting temperatures in the 60s back down into the 50s," the Capital Weather Gang forecasts. "Rainfall should be from a tenth to a quarter inch with locally heavier totals. Clouds are slow to depart and hence temperatures slower to warm back up vs. yesterday. We’ll aim for partly sunny skies by mid to late afternoon with afternoon highs in the low-middle 60s.”
-- Police are seeking the killer of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death yesterday at the Deanwood Metro stop in Northeast. No word yet on motive. (Clarence Williams and Peter Hermann)
-- Maryland lawmakers eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, marking a major shift to dependency-based treatment and education as alternatives to incarceration. (Ovetta Wiggins, Josh Hicks and Fenit Nirappil)
-- In the final hour of Maryland’s session, legislators passed a “Noah’s law.” The safe-driving bill was named after a slain Montgomery County police officer and expands the use of ignition locks for convicted drunk drivers. (Ovetta Wiggins and Josh Hicks)
-- Terry McAuliffe has now vetoed more legislation than any Virginia governor since 1998, nixing bills from the Republican legislature on hot button issues like gay rights and women's access to health care. (Jenna Portnoy)
-- The latest of those vetoes: McAuliffe blocked a bill that would require the use of the electric chair if Virginia could not obtain lethal injection drugs. The governor instead offered a “secrecy measure” that shields the identity of pharmacies who supplied the drugs. (Laura Vozzella and Mark Berman)
-- A 35-year old Woodbridge woman was accused of stabbing a three-month-old baby with a kitchen knife. (Martin Weil)
-- Police arrested a Metrobus rider in Silver Spring after he began assaulting other passengers and attempted to kick open the bus door. (Faiz Siddiqui)
Excited about baseball season? Watch this kid bust a move on first base:
A rare black rhino was euthanized in Zimbabwe after a poacher attack:
Watch a baby wallaby peek out from his mom's pouch for the first time:
Finally, check out SNL's Clinton impersonators through the years: | 0fake |
Junge (9) in Brunnen gefallen: Suchtrupps leider in falsche Richtung unterwegs [mit Video] | Freitag, 18. November 2016 Junge (9) in Brunnen gefallen: Suchtrupps leider in falsche Richtung unterwegs [mit Video] Ein kleiner Junge ist heute Morgen beim Spielen auf einer entlegenen Wiese in einen alten Brunnenschacht gestürzt. Leider sind die Suchtrupps in die völlig falsche Richtung unterwegs. Unsere Reporterin Silvia Incardona berichtet live vor Ort von der vergeblichen Suche. | 1real |
„The Duelist“: Martins Wuttkes neuer Tatort | film , deutschland und russland Der neue Film des Regisseurs Alexei Misgirew zeigt Russland im 19. Jahrhundert. Sankt Petersburg sprach damals schon Deutsch. Quelle:Kinopoisk.ru
Alexei Misgirews Film „Duellant“ (The Duelist) stieß schon während der Produktion auf große Resonanz in der internationalen Filmindustrie. Seine Weltpremiere feierte der Streifen schließlich auf dem Toronto Film Festival. Eine Kooperation mit IMAX ermöglicht nun seinen Verleih in den USA und einigen anderen Ländern. Bis zu diesem Erfolg hatte Misgirew in Russland den Ruf eines „Regisseurs der zweiten Reihe“. Seine Filme kamen alle nur in den begrenzten Verleih, wo sie ein Publikum von wenigen Tausend Zuschauern erreichten. Jetzt realisierte Misgirew zusammen mit dem Produzenten Alexander Rodnianski („Jayne Mansfield’s Car“, „Cloud Atlas“, „Leviathan“) eines der größten Projekte der Geschichte des neueren russischen Kinos.
„The Duelist“ ist ein in den 1860er-Jahren spielendes Kostümdrama über einen Auftragsmörder. Der Held des Films, der Offizier Jakowlew, duelliert sich stellvertretend für andere. Aus unerklärlichen Gründen kann ihn keine Kugel töten, und so gewinnt er jeden seiner Zweikämpfe. Vor dem Start des internationalen Verleihs sprach Misgirew mit RBTH über seinen neuen Film. RBTH: Bisher waren Sie im Autorenfilm mit kleinem Budget zuhause. Wie geht es Ihnen jetzt als Regisseur eines Films, der für die Verhältnisse der russischen Filmindustrie richtig teuer ist?
Alexei Misgirew: Das werde ich oft gefragt. Anfangs hat mich diese Frage aus dem Konzept gebracht. Ich wusste keine Antwort, weil ich selbst keinen großen Unterschied gemerkt habe. Natürlich hatten wir bei den Dreharbeiten für „The Duelist“ keine finanziellen Probleme, zum Beispiel mit den Requisiten und Kostümen. Wir haben dort gedreht, wo wir es wollten, ohne an irgendeiner Ausstattung sparen zu müssen. Was aber den Prozess selbst betrifft, gab es keinen Unterschied zu meinen anderen Projekten. Ich habe meine Arbeitsweise nicht geändert und mich niemandem untergeordnet. Das ist überhaupt das oberste Prinzip von Alexander Rodnianski in seiner Zusammenarbeit mit Regisseuren – sich nicht in den kreativen Prozess einzumischen und Kompromisse zu finden. Wir standen dauernd im engen Austausch über bestimmte Fragen, es gab aber keinerlei Vorgaben. Uns war beiden klar, dass es im Film Serienproduktionen und Einzelproduktionen gibt. Und „The Duelist“ ist eine Einzelproduktion, für die Individualität und filmischer Autorenstil besonders wichtig sind; neben einer spannenden Geschichte und einem zeitgemäßen visuellen Konzept.
Der Regisseur Alexei Misgirew. Foto: Ekaterina Chesnokova/RIA Novosti Ihre früheren Arbeiten hatten alle einen sehr sozialkritischen Charakter und erzählten aus dem Leben im heutigen Russland. Und hier tauchen wir in eine Welt der Bälle, Kostüme, Duelle und Adeligen in Camisolen ein. Woher das Interesse an dieser Epoche?
Das Budget für „The Duelist“ betrug 16,5 Millionen US-Dollar, rund 15,1 Millionen Euro. Jeder Regisseur des Autorenfilms wünscht sich ein Millionenpublikum. Wenn er aber nur ein bis zwei Millionen US-Dollar ausgeben kann, wird er kaum einen bildgewaltigen und spektakulären Film drehen können. Natürlich will er es, es ist aber aus objektiven Gründen nicht möglich. So ist das Interesse an der Gegenwart zu erklären. Teilweise ist es erzwungen, weil es keinen großen Aufwand für teure Kulissen und Computereffekte erfordert.
Die Idee für „The Duelist“ kam mir vor einigen Jahren. Sie lag als schriftliche Notiz von nicht mehr als zwei Absätzen einfach in einer Schublade. Und plötzlich machte es „Klick“– und ich wusste, dass ich mein Vorhaben jetzt realisieren musste. Und obwohl es bis zu seiner Umsetzung noch ein langer Weg war, wusste ich irgendwie, dass meine größten Probleme in diesem Fall nicht finanzieller Art sein würden.
Eine Szene aus dem Film "The Duelist". Bild: kinopoisk.ru Welche Probleme meinen Sie?
Sie betreffen das 19. Jahrhundert, und um genau zu sein: das Bild, das die audiovisuelle Kunst dieser Epoche geprägt hat. Während meiner Vorarbeiten für „The Duelist“ habe ich unzählige Quellen über diese Zeit durchforstet. Ich stellte fest, dass wir überhaupt nichts darüber wissen. Tatsächlich redeten, aßen, tranken und kleideten sich die Leute ganz und gar nicht so, wie wir landläufig denken. Der Zuschauer von heute assoziiert mit dem 19. Jahrhundert Geschichten aus der Mottenkiste und ehrwürdige Dramen aus dem Provinztheater. Ich wollte diese Stereotype aufbrechen und die Zeit so zeigen, wie es noch niemand vor mir getan hat – schrill, brutal und mit Verweisen auf die Gegenwart. Das war natürlich unglaublich viel Arbeit, aber die hat mich nicht abgeschreckt. Vielmehr haben mich die möglichen Reaktionen der Zuschauer auf diesen neuen Stil im Rückblick auf alte Zeiten beunruhigt. Hier werden tradierte Muster radikal in Frage gestellt.
Im Film von Misgirew erscheint Sankt Petersburg als grau, schwarz und schmutzig. Bild: kinopoisk.ru Bezogen auf sein visuelles Konzept wurde „The Duelist“ schon mehrfach mit Guy Ritchies „Sherlock Holmes“ und Pitofs „Vidocq“ verglichen. Gefallen Ihnen diese Parallelen?
Solche Vergleiche sind zulässig. Hier werden allerdings sehr artifizielle Filme herangezogen, echte Genre-Werke. „The Duelist“ hat aber doch einen etwas anderen Zuschnitt, unter anderem wenn wir über sein visuelles Konzept sprechen.
Die schöne Fürstin Marfa Tutschkowa (l.) wird zur Geliebten des Duellants. Bild: kinopoisk.ru Im Zusammenhang mit „The Duelist“ werden Sie immer wieder nach dem Motiv der Ehre befragt, das sich wie ein roter Faden durch den Film zieht. Sie antworten erwartungsgemäß, Ehre sei eine zeitlose Idee. Die Geschichte verweise daher zwangsläufig auf die Gegenwart. Man hat aber den Eindruck, dass der Fatalismus, der alle Helden auszeichnet, in Ihrem Film nicht weniger bedeutend ist. Die Betonung der unausweichlichen Verbindungen der Figuren mit ihrem Schicksal ist wohl kein Zufall?
Ja, das ist ein weiteres wichtiges Motiv dieses Films. Während meiner intensiven Beschäftigung mit Geschichten über Duelle bin ich auf ein sehr beeindruckendes Detail gestoßen: Im Heimatland der Duelle, in Frankreich, hatten diese im 19. Jahrhundert praktisch keine Bedeutung mehr. Gleiches lässt sich auch von viele anderen Ländern sagen. Der Grund war die Verbreitung der Schusswaffe, die den tödlichen Ausgang des Kampfes weitaus wahrscheinlicher machte als der Degen, und die Chancen der Gegner einander anglich. In Russland ließ gerade das die Kultur der Duelle aufblühen. Ich denke, das hängt mit dem Fatalismus zusammen, der bis heute eines der markantesten Merkmale der russischen Mentalität ist. „Held oder Verderben“– das ist eine sehr russische Entgegensetzung, selbst wenn es um Leben und Tod geht. Und genau darum geht es in „The Duelist“. RBTH-Check:
In „The Duelist“ wird viel deutsch gesprochen. In zwei wichtigen Rollen – denen des deutschen Barons und Duellanten-Vermittlers sowie der Großfürstin Alexandra Iosifowna – sind mit Martin Wuttke und Franziska Petri deutsche Filmstars zu sehen. Alle Rechte vorbehalten | 1real |
Union cheers as trucks kept out of U.S. self-driving legislation | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Teamsters union on Friday praised House lawmakers for keeping self-driving commercial trucks out of a proposed bill aimed at speeding deployment of the advanced technology for cars. The U.S. House Energy and Committee on Thursday unanimously approved a bill that would hasten the use of self-driving cars without human controls and bar states from blocking autonomous vehicles. The measure only applies to vehicles under 10,000 pounds and not large commercial trucks. The 1.4-million-member union, hoping to protect the jobs of truck drivers, has been lobbying at the federal and state levels to slow legislation to make it easier for companies to roll out self-driving trucks. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has said she is “very concerned” about the impact of self-driving cars on U.S. jobs, a big part of President Donald Trump’s campaign message. “It is vital that Congress ensure that any new technology is used to make transportation safer and more effective, not used to put workers at risk on the job or destroy livelihoods,” Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said in a statement, adding the union wants more changes in the House measure. Teamsters officials have been involved in talks with Senate aides, seeking to exclude commercial trucks from a similar bill setting federal regulations for autonomous vehicles, lobbyists said. The Senate proposal has not been made public yet. The House bill would allow automakers to obtain exemptions to deploy up to 25,000 vehicles without meeting existing auto safety standards in the first year, a cap that would rise to 100,000 vehicles annually over three years. Auto industry leaders have said 3 million commercial truck jobs could eventually be at risk if self-driving vehicles replaced human drivers. Alphabet Inc’s self-driving car unit Waymo is working on developing self-driving trucks, the company said last month. Other companies have also been working on self-driving trucks. Ride services company Uber Technologies [UBER.UL] is working on autonomous trucking through its Otto unit, which it acquired last year. Tesla Inc, which is working on self-driving technologies, plans to unveil a commercial truck called the Tesla Semi in September. The Teamsters have opposed efforts by states to approve plans by logistics companies to use platooning technology that could reduce driver jobs by allowing a pack of trucks to be digitally connected and driven in formation. Missouri Governor Eric Greitens approved a revised platooning measure this year that requires a driver in the cab of each truck. His predecessor Jay Nixon vetoed platoon testing last year. | 0fake |
Bombshell: Fox News Reports FBI To Move To “Likely Indictment” Of Clinton | Bombshell: Fox News Reports FBI To Move To “Likely Indictment” Of Clinton
Fox News’ Bret Baier has a bombshell of a report: Two key sources within the agency say the FBI is moving towards “likely an indictment” for Hillary Clinton.
Baier’s 7 HUGE Take-aways: “ One : The Clinton Foundation investigation is far more expansive than anybody has reported so far… Several offices separately have been doing their own investigations.” “ Two : The immunity deal that Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson, two top aides to Hillary Clinton, got from the Justice Department in which it was believed that the laptops they had, after a narrow review for classified materials, were going to be destroyed. We have been told that those have not been destroyed — they are at the FBI field office here on Washington and are being exploited. ” “ Three : The Clinton Foundation investigation is so expansive, they have interviewed and re-interviewed many people. They described the evidence they have as ‘a lot of it’ and said there is an ‘avalanche coming in every day.’ WikiLeaks and the new emails. ” [ Four ] “They are ‘actively and aggressively pursuing this case.’ Remember the Foundation case is about accusations of pay-for-play… They are taking the new information and some of them are going back to interview people for the third time. As opposed to what has been written about the Clinton Foundation investigation, it is expansive.” [ Five ] “The classified e-mail investigation is being run by the National Security division of the FBI. They are currently combing through Anthony Weiner’s laptop. They are having some success — finding what they believe to be new emaisls, not duplicates, that have been transported through Hillary Clinton’s server. [ Six ] “Finally, we learned there is a confidence from these sources that her server had been hacked. And that it was a 99% accuracy that it had been hacked by at least five foreign intelligence agencies , and that things had been taken from that…” [ Seven ] “There has been some angst about Attorney General Loretta Lynch — what she has done or not done. She obviously did not impanel, or go to a grand jury at the beginning. They also have a problem, these sources do, with what President Obama said today and back in October of 2015…”
[The full, forty-minute segment can be viewed here .]
BRET BAIER: Breaking news tonight — two separate sources with intimate knowledge of the FBI investigations into the Clinton emails and the Clinton Foundation tell Fox the following:
The investigation looking into possible pay-for-play interaction between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Foundation has been going on for more than a year . Led by the white collar crime division, public corruption branch of the criminal investigative division of the FBI.
The Clinton Foundation investigation is a, quote, “very high priority.” Agents have interviewed and reinterviewed multiple people about the Foundation case, and even before the WikiLeaks dumps, agents say they have collected a great deal of evidence. Pressed on that, one sources said, quote, “a lot of it,” and “there is an avalanche of new information coming every day.”
WikiLeaks played a key role:
Some of it from WikiLeaks, some of it from new emails. The agents are actively and aggressively pursuing this case. They will be going back to interview the same people again, some for the third time.
As a result of the limited immunity deals to top aides, including Cheryl Mills and Heather Samuelson, the Justice Department had tentatively agreed that the FBI would destroy those laptops after a narrow review. We are told definitively that has not happened. Those devices are currently in the FBI field office here in Washington, D.C. and are being exploited.
The source points out that any immunity deal is null and void if any subject lied at any point in the investigation.
Meantime, the classified e-mail investigation is being run by the National Security division of the FBI. They are currently combing through former Democratic Congressman Anthony Wiener’s laptop and have found e-mails that they believe came from Hillary Clinton’s server that appear to be new , as in not duplicates.
Whether they contain classified material or not is not yet known. It will likely be known soon. All of this just as we move inside one week until election day. | 1real |
Burundi takes steps to extend president's rule as crisis deepens | NAIROBI (Reuters) - Burundi s cabinet backed a constitutional change that would allow its president to stay in office until 2034, widening a political rift that has driven the country progressively deeper into crisis. Under existing laws, Burundian presidents are limited to two five-year terms. Unrest that has gripped Burundi since April 2015, when Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would stand for a third, has killed hundreds, left the economy moribund and forced about 400,000 people to seek safety in neighboring countries. UN rights investigators and independent activists have accused government forces of widespread violations including forced disappearances, and of orchestrating a campaign of terror. A senior government official told Reuters on Friday that the cabinet adopted the draft legislation seeking to amend the constitution on Tuesday. Nkurunziza, who has been in office since 2005, won re-election in July 2015 in a ballot that critics said violated the constitution and the terms of an agreement that ended a previous rebellion. Nkurunziza s backers said the country s constitutional court had cleared him to run again, but some opponents took up arms against his rule and insecurity has plagued the country since. Other African leaders have in the recent past also tinkered with or defied their constitutions to extend their rule, including Uganda s President Yoweri Museveni, Rwanda s Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo s Joseph Kabila. Proposed amendments under the Burundian bill seek to abolish the two-term limit and lengthen presidential terms to seven years. Incumbents would be able to serve two consecutive terms of seven years each and also be eligible to seek re-election after an interregnum. If the amendment was passed by parliament, the current head of state can rule until 2034, the source said. A second official told Reuters the government would hold a referendum on the draft legislation next year, but did not say which month. Opposition officials have criticized the legislation which they say was initiated in secrecy and designed to entrench Nkurunziza in power. No one knew what was being done. It was done in total secrecy...we will always oppose it, deputy president of the opposition FRODEBU party, Leonce Ngendakumana, told Reuters. The constitution should not be revised in a tense social climate. | 0fake |
Fox News Poll Shows Who Their Viewers Think Won The Debate, And It’s Pretty Damn Hilarious (IMAGE) | If there s one news organization that Donald Trump can usually always rely upon to be in his corner, it s Fox News. The media branch of the Republican party will pretty much always show bias towards any Republican candidate or conservative ideal. Most of the time even without trying to find any facts of any kind.However, it looks as though Trump is going to hate the new poll that Fox News revealed showing who, according to them and their viewers, won the first presidential debate.Winning with 61% of viewers polled was none other than Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.In fact, Trump was only able to garner 21% of those polled to say that he won, with 12% saying it was a tie.New Fox Poll: Who won first debate? #SpecialReport https://t.co/lmsmO06yfj pic.twitter.com/coMvS84lCj Fox News (@FoxNews) September 30, 2016If you re any good at math, that s not even close. Not even remotely close. Hillary got well more than half of those polled saying that she definitively won, while Trump probably held onto the few who were going to say that he won no matter what.The bar is set so incredibly low for Trump, too. If he kept his pants on, those 21% pulling for Trump were still going to say that he won. So, for Hillary to sweep up this debate as a win in her column with even Fox News viewers, well, that s bad news for Trump and his floundering campaign.It will be interesting to see how he behaves in the next debate to try to sway viewers.Featured Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images, Twitter | 1real |
Man Who Threatened To Shoot Muslims Uses The ‘Fox News Made Me Do It’ Defense | A California man who by his own account spent much of 2015 binge watching Fox News and getting progressively more angry about Muslims says that the only reason he repeatedly threatened to kill Muslims was because he had a toxic mix of alcohol abuse and Fox abuse problems.In 2015, after months of watching Fox News air thinly veiled hate speech regarding Muslims, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations activist group in particular, California resident John David Weissinger began leaving voicemail messages for the employees of CAIR in which he threatened to shoot them. Even more disturbing, Weissinger had already been known to linger around the front of the CAIR office.Apparently, Weissinger could have made good on his threats as well. After police went to arrest him for his threats, they found he possessed an illegal assault rifle. (In at least one of his voicemails, Weissinger insisted that he had enough guns and ammo to come and kill all of you. He wasn t kidding.)In many ways, Weissinger s story bears a striking resemblance to that of the right-wing terrorist who went on a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood that same year. Like Weissinger, the man charged with the crime gave verbatim right-wing talking points as justification for his murder spree. Also like Weissinger, he had plenty of guns and ammo to make his threats turn into a massacre.Weissinger pled guilty to hate crime allegations, making a criminal threat, and possession of a illegal assault rifle. At his sentencing hearing, his lawyer tried to diminish his culpibility by suggesting Fox News had whipped him up into a hate-fueled fury and alcohol had lowered his judgment. He barks when he s drunk, Malowney told a judge during the Tuesday sentencing hearing, as quoted by KFMB. He was reeling from depression and anxiety. Between Fox News, Donald Trump, and other conservative politicians, the most fanatical right-wing extremists have plenty of material to stoke their paranoid racial and social anxieties. In at least one analysis, Fox News was found to lie to its audience on a consistent basis over 50 percent of statements made by Fox News pundits were found to be blatantly false and many of those lies center around stereotypes of groups conservatives hate. Fox has always been a network built by and for conservatives, but increasingly, it has become a gross manufacturer of smears against minorities meant to confirm pre-conceived biases of its old, white audience.The results of all this hate-mongering is as disturbing as it is clear: Instances of hate crimes, particularly against Muslims, have skyrocketed. Mosques and other Muslim owned buildings are being vandalized. Many are being burned to the ground in a national outbreak of arson cases.And if there is any question as to who is stoking these acts, just listen to the right-wing terrorists themselves. They ll tell you. Weissinger has told you. Fox News made me do it. Feature image via Fox News screengrab | 1real |
Bid to revoke Obama methane rule fails in surprise U.S. Senate vote | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution to revoke an Obama-era rule to limit methane emissions from oil and gas production on federal lands, dealing a blow to President Donald Trump’s efforts to free the drilling industry from what he sees as excessive environmental regulation. The Congressional Review Act resolution received just 49 votes after Republican leaders scrambled for weeks to secure the 51 needed to pass it. The resolution would have revoked the rule and prevented similar regulations from being introduced. Getting the Trump administration to repeal the BLM rule had been a top priority of the oil and gas industry. Companies said it was unnecessary, would could cost them tens of thousands of dollars per well and hinder production. But not all Republicans supported the measure, in part because it would have made regulating methane waste more difficult in the future. Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona made a surprise vote against the resolution, joining fellow Republicans Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine in opposition to torpedo it. “While I am concerned that the BLM rule may be onerous, passage of the resolution would have prevented the federal government, under any administration, from issuing a rule that is ‘similar’,” McCain said in a statement. He said the Interior Department should issue a new rule on to replace the existing one on methane leaks, which he called a public health and air quality issue. The rule, finalized by President Barack Obama in his last weeks in office, updated 30-year-old regulations that govern flaring, venting and natural gas leaks from oil and gas production. Obama’s administration said it would preserve up to 41 billion cubic feet (BCF) of natural gas per year that is currently lost to leaks and flaring. The American Petroleum Institute and other industry groups have said the methane rule is unnecessary because companies have made strides in reducing leaks on their own. “The rule could impede U.S. energy production while reducing local and federal revenues,” said Erik Milito, API’s Upstream and Industry Operations Group Director. Members of the Western Energy Alliance, which include Devon Energy , Whiting Petroleum and EOG Resources had also been strongly opposed to the rule. Environmental groups hailed what they depicted as a rare victory for the environment after several regulatory rollbacks by the Trump administration. “In recent months, thousands of Americans asked the Senate to stand up for clean air and against the oil lobby, and their efforts were successful today,” said Jamie Williams, president of the Wilderness Society. The Western Values Project estimated that if the rule had been rescinded, the U.S. Treasury would have lost out on $800 million in lost potential royalties from leaked or vented natural gas over the next decade. Republican Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works who supported the resolution to kill the rule, called on Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to act unilaterally to revoke it. | 0fake |
Saudi foreign minister welcomes release of pages from 9-11 report | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Friday he welcomed the release of a long-classified section of the official report on the Sept. 11 attacks that discussed potential links between some of the hijackers and Saudi Arabia. “The matter is now finished,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told a news conference in Washington. Asked whether the report exonerated the kingdom, he said: “Absolutely.” The 28 pages of the report on the 2002 investigation focus on potential Saudi links to the 2001 aircraft attacks on the United States, in which nearly 3,000 people died. They were issued by the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Friday after years of wrangling in Washington between Congress and different administrations, Republicans and Democrats, and urging by families of those killed. | 0fake |
As Second Avenue Subway Opens, a Train Delay Ends in (Happy) Tears - The New York Times | Finally. The Second Avenue subway opened in New York City on Sunday, with thousands of riders flooding into its polished stations to witness a piece of history nearly a century in the making. They descended beneath the streets of the Upper East Side of Manhattan to board Q trains bound for Coney Island in Brooklyn. They cheered. Their eyes filled with tears. They snapped selfies in front of colorful mosaics lining the walls of the stations. It was the first day of 2017, and it felt like a new day for a city that for so long struggled to build this sorely needed subway line. In a rare display of unbridled optimism from hardened New Yorkers, they arrived with huge grins and wide eyes, taking in the bells and whistles at three new stations. “I was very choked up,” Betsy Morris, 70, said as she rode the first train to leave the 96th Street station, at noon. “How do you explain something that you never thought would happen? It’s going to change the way everybody lives as far as commuting goes. ” It was a major moment for New York’s sprawling transit system after decades of failed efforts to bring the line to one of the few corners of Manhattan the subway did not reach. The opening of the first segment of the line — an extension of the Q train to 96th Street — promises to lighten the crush of passengers on the Nos. 4, 5 and 6 trains along Lexington Avenue, the nation’s most overcrowded subway line, which had been the only line on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. When the stations opened shortly before noon, they were quickly filled with giddy riders both young and old, and strollers, suitcases and dogs — all familiar sights across the system. But for all the excitement, the line, with just three new stops, is much more modest than the ambitious route running the length of Manhattan that was once envisioned. It serves a relatively affluent and not very diverse part of the city, which has more than eight and a half million people and many and minority residents who live far from a subway line. With the subway reaching its highest ridership levels since 1948, much of the aging system is plagued by crowding and delays, even as subway and bus fares are expected to rise again in March. Still, there was reason to cheer. The opening of a new subway line is a rare occasion in the United States and comes at a time of mounting concern about the deteriorating state of the nation’s infrastructure, from its roadways and bridges to its public transit systems. Few new subway stations have opened in recent years, even as expansive subway networks have sprouted in Asia, and most American cities never built any in the first place. The major subways in the Northeast — in New York, Washington and Boston — are grappling with old equipment and funding shortfalls, with Washington experiencing a near meltdown over safety problems. With mounting bills for basic maintenance, these subways have largely failed to grow. So the arrival of the Second Avenue subway, which was first proposed in the 1920s, was a notable achievement for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s vast network of subways, buses and commuter railroads. The first phase of the project took nearly a decade to build and cost about $4. 4 billion. With the opening, the map of the city’s loved and loathed subway adds three new stations, bringing the total to 472 — the most of any subway in the world. A station that opened at Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s Far West Side in 2015 was the city’s first new station in a . On Sunday, New Yorkers were mesmerized by the artwork adorning the walls. At the 72nd Street stop, Sumana Harihareswara stopped to gaze at a mosaic of a woman of South Asian descent dressed in a burgundy sari, looking at her cellphone. Ms. Harihareswara was overcome with emotion. “I don’t think I’ve ever come across subway art before that makes me feel so seen,” she said through tears. “This woman could be my aunt she could be my cousin. ” She and a stranger exchanged a knowing glance. “Representation matters,” they agreed. Ms. Harihareswara, a longtime transit enthusiast from Astoria, Queens, said she was struck by the diversity portrayed in the mosaics, including a mural of a gay couple holding hands. “There is no feeling quite like seeing yourself cemented into the infrastructure of New York,” Ms. Harihareswara said. After decades of aborted efforts to build the Second Avenue line, and at least three groundbreakings in the 1970s, construction on the current segment began in 2007. The line was originally projected to open in 2013, but subway officials pushed the deadline to the end of 2016 many years ago. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who effectively controls the authority, pressed officials to meet the December 2016 deadline even as concerns grew that the subway would not be ready in time. Still, the agency made the deadline — just barely — with a lavish inaugural ride on New Year’s Eve for a collection of dignitaries that culminated in a midnight toast. Although many New Yorkers believe the city runs the subways, it is actually the governor who appoints the authority’s chairman and holds considerable sway over the agency. Mr. Cuomo has capitalized on the Second Avenue opening to raise his national profile, overshadowing his frequent nemesis Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat who attended the inaugural ride on Saturday but was not given a speaking slot. Despite general good will over the opening, some transit advocates expressed concerns over the high cost of the project and questioned whether officials would move aggressively to extend the line to 125th Street in East Harlem as planned. On Sunday morning, Mr. Cuomo arrived at the 96th Street station with the authority’s chairman, Thomas F. Prendergast, to join the first trip for regular riders, who cheered as the train pulled out of the station. Then Mr. Cuomo’s voice came over the loudspeaker. “Rest assured: I’m not driving the train,” he joked. The first day of service was smooth, although there were a few hiccups. Around 3 p. m. there were delays on the Q line because of a train with mechanical problems at the City Hall station. About an hour earlier, the elevator at the new 86th Street stop had begun to malfunction, stranding passengers above and below ground. Strollers were wheeled onto steep escalators. Parents became upset. Jill Tallmer, 62, and her mother, Margot Tallmer, 91, contemplated visiting another day. “We’ve been waiting for 10 years, or more, to ride,” the younger Ms. Tallmer said while standing with her mother, a lifelong New Yorker who is in a wheelchair. “Hopefully, it’s almost ready for us. ” It was not, and they left after a few minutes. At the 72nd Street station, George Braith, a jazz saxophonist, was being mobbed by an eager pack of veritable paparazzi. The reason for his newfound celebrity: His likeness is featured in a mosaic there. “Would you look at that guy?” Mr. Braith, 77, said. “Pretty handsome fellow if you ask me. ” He is one of several local celebrities portrayed in the artwork, including chef Daniel Boulud. In Mr. Braith’s mosaic, he is clad in a slick red blazer and carrying his signature Braithophone, alto and soprano saxophones melded into one. Taking the instrument from his suitcase, he obliged the crowd with a brief tune. “Are you famous?” a asked, seeing the hubbub. “In the jazz world,” Mr. Braith replied. The man shook his head and said, “Well, you’re immortalized as far as I’m concerned. ” Another celebrant, Ian Ma, 15, lives in Sheepshead Bay, a waterfront neighborhood in southern Brooklyn that is nowhere near the new subway line. But he has been enchanted by trains since he started rolling toy models on the floor as a child, he said, and he cajoled his parents into giving him a ride. “I feel like I’ve been waiting for this train my whole life,” he said, seemingly speaking for many others. | 0fake |
Fair Play in a Fact-Challenged Political Landscape - The New York Times | The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I am from Philadelphia. And I write a column about media. What better way, then, to celebrate the Fourth in this space than to quote that great Philadelphian Benjamin Franklin, an editor and signer of the Declaration of Independence and a founding father of the independent American press? There’s one Franklin statement in particular that has a special resonance right now, something he wrote in his Pennsylvania Gazette: “It is a principle among printers that when truth has fair play, it will always prevail over falsehood. ” The operative phrase is “when truth has fair play. ” Now, think about the last year in global and American politics. Then ask yourself, “Does it?” I can make a pretty strong argument for “does not. ” Exhibit A comes by way of CNN, which waded into new territory a few days ago by hiring Corey Lewandowski, Donald J. Trump’s recently fired campaign manager, as an commentator. Reporters and media critics have devoted a lot of ink and pixels to Mr. Lewandowski’s hiring. How could the network enlist someone who had been arrested for roughly pulling Michelle Fields, the former Breitbart News reporter, away from Mr. Trump as she tried to interview him at a public event? (Prosecutors in Florida dropped the charges, but they did not dispute the incident.) What kind of message was CNN sending by hiring a political operative associated with some of the most aggressive behavior in modern political history, an enforcer of the Trump campaign’s media blacklist? But the true journalistic heart stopper was contained in the news that Mr. Lewandowski was bound by what even Mr. Lewandowski described as a “strict confidentiality agreement. ” Neither CNN nor Mr. Lewandowski has provided details about its stipulations (though they should). But The Associated Press unearthed a standard Trump nondisclosure form that prohibits staff from disclosing anything “of a private, proprietary or confidential nature. ” And who gets to decide what should be private and confidential? Mr. Trump, of course. The agreement also includes a clause. And it applies during employment with Mr. Trump’s campaign and “at all times thereafter,” which is another way of saying “forever. ” It won’t smash the republic. Still, in a small but significant way, Mr. Lewandowski’s hiring represents a signal moment in political journalism’s evolving embrace of political operatives: A major mainstream news organization is using a commentator who is legally prohibited from sharing the unvarnished truth on the subject — Mr. Trump — he was hired to talk about. Some of the media criticism that followed Mr. Lewandowski’s hiring questioned the ruckus around it, given that television news already has its share of conflicted pundits tied to “super PACs” or clients with business at stake in the political debate. CNN’s thinking apparently holds that Mr. Lewandowski provides balance for the network at a time when many of its regular Republican analysts are Trump detractors. In that case, they could ask, how does a nondisclosure agreement get in the way of Mr. Lewandowski’s role as a Trump booster? After all, as Paul Farhi of The Washington Post captured so comprehensively last month, all of the television news networks — hardly just CNN — hire commentators who play specific roles on their panels: “” “” Democrat, Republican centrist, rightist, leftist. In presidential election cycles, such rates well in the Nielsen numbers. But, going back to my fellow Philadelphian, wise old Ben: What happens to the balance between truth and falsehood when an important portion of the national news media hands the political debate over to partisan operatives who, as a rule, skew the facts — or abandon them — in the service of their own political ends or business interests? There’s a glaring cautionary answer to be found across the pond, in Britain, where the media is avowedly more partisan, especially in the tabloid newspapers that continue to hold great sway. In the to the startling vote there to leave the European Union, and for many years before, the larger and more conservative newspapers ran aggressive campaigns pushing for what became known as Brexit. One of the biggest proponents of the exit was former Mayor Boris Johnson of London, who was, after all, a onetime reporter for The Times of London and The Daily Telegraph, where he still writes a column. (He was fired from The Times for fabricating a quote.) As Martin Fletcher, a former associate editor of The Times of London, wrote last week in The New York Times, Mr. Johnson made his name as a journalist writing about the plans of bureaucrats in the European Union to “ban Britain’s favorite potato chips” and “standardize condom sizes. ” The articles, Mr. Fletcher wrote, “bore scant relation to the truth,” but they helped spawn an Union movement in British journalism just the same. As the vote approached, newspapers — including The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Express and The Telegraph — wrote stories that exaggerated how many immigrants were coming to Britain because of its E. U. membership and their effects on social services, reported that Queen Elizabeth II was secretly and quoted claims from politicians that Britain was sending 350 million pounds ($464 million) a week to the European Union that could be used instead to shore up the National Health Service. The Independent Press Standards Organization in Britain issued several rulings for inaccuracy — including one for the headline “Queen Backs Brexit,” which ran in The Sun. But the partisan press climate meant all facts were up for debate. Nothing could stand out as Platonic truth. After the vote passed, Nigel Farage, a leading Brexit campaigner, said the Vote Leave campaign had been mistaken in saying the savings from the £350 million that supposedly went to the E. U. — itself misleading — could be used for the health service. That was followed by various expressions of regret by some voters who now believe they were misled. “The context for the referendum vote was a public which had been poorly” informed, “if not misinformed about the issue,” the former Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger told me. The media in the United States is not quite where Britain’s is in terms of partisanship, though it seems to inch closer every year. And cable news is not the sole driver of political knowledge. But it can be the center ring for political discourse, especially in prime time. What happens there can drive a major campaign theme for the following day or longer. In the case of Mr. Trump’s surrogates, they regularly go on television to push the point of the day from a candidate who, according to the organization PolitiFact, has asserted more outright falsehoods than all the other candidates who ran for president this year combined. PolitiFact rated 60 percent of Mr. Trump’s statements as false, compared with 13 percent of Hillary Clinton’s. Jeffrey Lord, a Trump supporter and a commentator on CNN, told the CNN host Brian Stelter that such analyses were an “elitist, thing. ” But the amount of falsity on cable news nonetheless requires a lot of declarations of “that’s nonsense” in a medium that doesn’t provide a lot of room for it. Mr. Lewandowski has frequently wandered past the bounds of truth, including when he said he never touched Ms. Fields. Videotape showed the opposite. To its credit, CNN does have a crew of aggressive anchors like Jake Tapper, Alisyn Camerota and Erin Burnett, all of whom have pushed Mr. Lewandowski for as unvarnished a view of Mr. Trump as he could offer. Mr. Lewandowski told Ms. Burnett he’d call “balls and strikes” in spite of his agreement with Mr. Trump. But when he weighed in on Mr. Trump’s big economic speech last Tuesday, all he saw was a home run (“Mr. Trump’s best speech of the presidential cycle,” he gushed). Mr. Franklin was all for providing a multitude of voices through his press. “When men differ in opinion, both sides ought to equally have the advantage of being heard by the publick,” he wrote in his “Apology for Printers. ” In a twist on the quote I used above, he added, “When truth and error have fair play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter. ” Let’s give it a try. | 0fake |
Ranking the 2016 Republican field | A prominent Republican consultant — who isn’t working for any of the 2016 presidential candidates and has been right more times than I can count — said something that shocked me when we had lunch recently. He said that Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) had about the same odds of becoming the Republican presidential nominee as former Florida governor Jeb Bush.
Jaw-dropper, right? After all, the conventional wisdom is that Bush, the son and brother of presidents, is the Republican standard-bearer, while Cruz, a conservative’s conservative, is a factor, sure, but not someone who could actually win the nomination.
How, I asked the consultant, could he say such a thing? He explained it this way.
Think of the Republican field as a series of lanes. In this race, there are four of them: establishment, tea party, social conservative and libertarian. The four lanes are not of equal size: Establishment is the biggest, followed by tea party, social conservative and then libertarian.
Obviously, the fight for the top spot in the establishment lane is crowded, with Bush and possibly Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker leading at the moment. Ditto the social-conservative lane, with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and Rick Santorum pushing hard there. The libertarian lane is all Sen. Rand Paul’s, but, as I noted above, it’s still not that big.
This leaves the tea party lane, which is both relatively large and entirely Cruz’s. While Paul looked as though he might try to fight Cruz for supremacy in that lane at one time, it’s clear from his recent moves that the senator from Kentucky is trying to become a player in a bunch of lanes, including social conservative and establishment. So, Cruz is, without question, the dominant figure in the tea party lane.
What that means — particularly in the early stages of the primary process in places such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina — is that he will probably be able to win, place or show repeatedly, racking up enough strong-ish performances to keep going even as the establishment and social-conservative lanes thin out. (Cruz’s ability to raise money, which remains a question, is less important for him than it is for other candidates — especially those in the establishment lane. His people are going to be for him no matter how much — or little — communicating he does with them.)
The trick for Cruz, the consultant said, is to hang around long enough to be the preeminent figure not only in the tea party lane but also in the social-conservative lane. (Cruz is decidedly conservative on social issues and talks regularly on the campaign trail about his faith. ) The complicating figure in that consolidation effort is Huckabee, who is (a) likely to run, (b) an ordained Southern Baptist minister and (c) likely to be able to stay in the race for an extended period because of the number of early Southern primaries.
But let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that Cruz is able to outlast Huckabee (as well as Carson and Santorum). If you combine the tea party and social-conservative lanes, that’s a pretty wide berth for any candidate hoping to be the GOP nominee. Is it as wide as a consolidated establishment lane behind Bush or Walker or Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.)? No one knows just yet, but it’s probably pretty close.
So watch Cruz. The combination of his running room as the race’s one true tea party candidate, his debating and oratorical skills, and his willingness to always, on every issue, stake out the most conservative position make him a real threat.
The 10 candidates with the best chance of being the Republican candidate in 2016 are ranked below. The No. 1 candidate has the best shot as of today.
10. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. Pence hasn’t ruled out a run, though he’s probably got to choose between running for president and reelection in 2016. One recent development: Pence expanded Medicaid in Indiana after negotiating some concessions from the Obama administration — though we’re not sure whether this would help or hurt him in 2016.
9. Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor is giving every indication he is running. If he does, he will be a factor because of his strong following among social conservatives. An NBC-Marist poll released Sunday showed him on top of the field in Iowa.
8. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Jindal is the résumé candidate in the GOP field. He’s shown us little besides that, though, apart from occasionally tossing some red meat to the conservative base. The latest example: not backing down from his comments on “no-go zones” for non-Muslims in Europe.
6. (tie) Cruz. See above. Remember that although he is roundly derided by his colleagues — Democrats and Republicans — in the Senate, he may be closer to how the GOP base feels on most issues than anyone else running.
6. (tie) Ohio Gov. John Kasich. After lying dormant for a few months after his convincing 2014 reelection victory, Kasich will spend two days this week in South Carolina. That trip will spark some buzz about whether he will run, but Kasich may have waited too long — Walker, another Midwestern governor from a swing state, is on the rise.
5. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Increasingly, it’s looking as if Christie missed his window for running for president in 2012. A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll shows that his favorable rating in New Jersey has dropped to 37 percent — after topping out at nearly 70 percent. And it’s not just his home state. Polls of likely GOP voters in Iowa and New Hampshire show that he is the most unliked Republican not named Donald Trump.
4. Paul. Speaking of people whose stock is dropping, the senator’s vaccine comments continue to baffle us — especially because he continues to play the victim card. Yes, there is a segment of the GOP that probably likes the idea that Paul is taking on the “liberal media.” But there’s also a much bigger portion of the party that will look at his vaccine flap and see Ron Paul 2.0.
3. Rubio. Yes, his path to the nomination is complicated by Bush’s all-but-announced candidacy. But if Republican voters are looking for a fresh face who could, theoretically, expand the party’s appeal, then Rubio could be the dark horse in the race.
2. Walker. The Wisconsin governor is clearly ascendant right now, thanks in large part to his strong speech at an Iowa confab a few weekends ago. His ham-handed handling of an evolution question, however, and his decision not to answer questions in London during a trade mission are not good signs.
1. Bush. The former Florida governor remains the top dog , and he got a big break when Mitt Romney opted not to run. Bush probably would have remained No. 1 even if Romney had got in, but the 2012 nominee’s exit makes Bush the obvious choice for GOP establishment types — read: big donors — to rally around. | 0fake |
WOW! BENGHAZI VICTIM’S SISTER SPEAKS OUT: Hillary Talked To Families of Benghazi Victims 2 Days After Attack…Asked Them To “Feel Sad” For Muslim Jihadi Attackers [Video] | The lack of compassion for the families of these 4 dead Americans in Hillary s rush to cover her incompetence is beyond comprehension Serial liar for president .https://youtu.be/wQV3aesMLzk | 1real |
RARE INTERVIEW WITH WHITE HOUSE SECRETARY: Bill Clinton Had Affairs With “thousands of women”…”Monica Lewinsky is alive today because of choices I made” | This is a mind-blowing interview that confirms much of what many of us suspected about the Clintons. For some, it may be even worse than what they believed to be true. Kudos to Linda Tripp for agreeing to do this interview. People who cross the Clinton s do usually fare too well In a rare interview, Linda Tripp, a pivotal figure in the Monica Lewinsky scandal, revealed on Sunday it was common knowledge while she worked in the West Wing that Bill Clinton had affairs with thousands of women. Speaking on Aaron Klein Investigative Radio, Tripp for the first time divulged that she personally knew another White House staffer aside from Lewinsky who was also having an affair with Clinton. That unnamed staffer was mentioned by Tripp in various depositions but she has not spoken about it publicly.She charged that Hillary Clinton not only knew about her husband s exploits, She made it her personal mission to disseminate information and destroy the women with whom he dallied. Tripp says she cringes at the sight of Clinton presenting herself as a champion of women s rights worldwide in a global fashion, and yet all of the women she has destroyed over the years to ensure her political viability continues is sickening to me. Tripp documented evidence of Lewinsky s phone calls about her relationship with Bill Clinton and submitted the evidence to independent counsel Kenneth Starr, leading to the public disclosure of the affair. She explained to Klein that she did so because she believed her own life and Lewinsky s were in danger, saying that Lewinsky was threatening Clinton with outing the relationship.Tripp also used the interview to criticize what she says is the news media s unwillingness to investigate the Clintons. She singled out and thanked Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report, declaring that without him things would have been very, very different. Drudge s website was the first media outlet to break the Lewinsky scandal after Newsweek sat on the story.Tripp had unique access to the Clintons because her office was directly adjacent to Hillary s second floor West Wing office for the entire time she served in the Clinton White House from 1993 to the summer of 1994 with the exception of the first three months of the Clinton administration, when she sat just outside the Oval Office.Tripp s nonpartisan position was a carryover from the George H. W. Bush administration in which she served. Monica Lewinsky is alive today because of choices I made She told Klein that her role in the Lewinsky case followed years of alarm at what I had seen in the Clinton White House, particularly Hillary and the different scandals, whether it was Filegate, Travelgate, Whitewater, Vince Foster. All of the scandals that had come before and were so completely obliterated in the mind s eye of the American people because of the way all of them were essentially discounted. So I watched a lying President and a lying First Lady present falsehoods to the American people. So my dismay predated the January 1998 period when the Monica Lewinsky scandal surfaced. To me it was very important that the American people see what I was seeing. My years with the Clintons were so disturbing on so many levels. Tripp maintains that she went public with the Lewinsky evidence to ensure the intern s safety as well as her own.She told Klein:I say today and I will continue to say that I believe Monica Lewinsky is alive today because of choices I made and action I took. That may sound melodramatic to your listeners. I can only say that from my perspective I believe that she and I at the time were in danger, because nothing stands in the way of these people achieving their political ends.I think that had it not become public when it did, particularly in light of the Paula Jones lawsuit, which was coming to a head with President Clinton s deposition, that we may well have met with an accident. It s a situation where unless you lived it as I did you would have no real framework of reference for this sort of situation.Tripp said the young Lewinsky, 21-years-old when she entered the White House as an intern, was unaware of the danger that she faced.She described Lewinsky as a young girl, smart, clever but in this one area she was blinded and she fancied herself in love. He fancied himself entitled. It was nothing more than a servicing agreement. She romanticized that there was an affair. And when it didn t pan out the way she had hoped it would he had promised her he would bring her back to the White House as soon as the 1996 election campaign had finished. When he didn t, she essentially lost her mind and started acting in erratic and frightening ways. Threatening the president.There came a point in July of 1997 when she not only threatened to expose the affair, as she referred to it. But also she at that time informed him that I knew all about it. So at that time it became dangerous for Monica and for me. This was something that absolutely could never see the light of day. And she never realized the implications of threatening a president or her behavior. And I did.Tripp told Klein that the biggest fallacy that most people believed is that this was a unique occurrence. Monica was somehow special. And regrettably that s the farthest thing from the truth. She said, Everyone knew within the West Wing, particularly those who spent years with him, of the thousands of women. Now most of your listeners might find that difficult if not impossible to believe. And I can tell you in the beginning I felt the same way. But let me be clear here. This is a pattern of behavior that has gone on for years. And the abuse of women for years. Asked whether Clinton was having affairs with others in the West Wing, Tripp replied, I know that to be true. One in particular who I will not name told me this herself. But as to the hundreds or thousands, remember I worked closely with the closest aides to the president. And it was a loosey-goosy environment so there was not a lot of holding back. So it was common knowledge, let s put it this way, within the West Wing that he had this problem. It was further common knowledge that Hillary was aware of it. Tripp described the tense West Wing atmosphere between what she characterized as two almost diametrically opposed Clinton camps.The dynamic between the two groups the Bill Clinton people and the Hillary Clinton people. It was as though they were almost opposing forces. But I can tell you that the one with the power and the one that instilled the fear in the other was the Hillary camp.And the [Bill] Clinton people would cower if she were coming into the area, just as an example, of the Oval without notice. There would be scurrying around to make sure there was no one in the wrong place at the wrong time, shall we say. It was a fascination to see the amount of energy that was expended covering up his behavior. It was horrifying.Tripp said Hillary personally targeted Bill s female conquests and accusers, with the future presidential candidate exhibiting behavior that is egregious and it s so disingenuous. In my case, for instance, right after the Lewinsky story broke, she was heard directing her staff to get anything and everything on Linda Tripp. So the defamation of character and the absolute assurance that my credibility would be destroyed began right away. And it happens with any woman who is involved in any way, either with him in a physical relationship or an assault or anything that can endanger their political viability.Tripp recalled Hillary s January 27, 1998 appearance on NBC s The Today Show in which she was seen as standing by her husband while blaming the Lewinsky scandal on a vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president. She didn t do it in an honest way, said Tripp of Clinton s NBC interview. Instead she lied, which didn t surprise me. And I will give her credit. She is enormously effective. And became a victim. A wife who was betrayed. This is someone who had no real personal problem with any of this behavior. The problem was in it becoming public. They had to continue to become electable She was the more aggressive one in ensuring that the political viability was not endangered in any way. Tripp told Klein that Hillary does not possess integrity on any level. I just wish that your listeners could know the person that I knew. Because if they did there is not a chance she would be elected president. Tripp s ringside seat afforded her rare insight into the scandals of the 1990s and perhaps alleged wrongdoings to come, with the West Wing employee personally witnessing behavior that may have foreshadowed Clinton s email scandal, in which she is accused of sending classified materials through her personal server.Tripp said she noticed major differences in the manner in which classified material was handled by both the Clinton and Bush administrations in which she served.President George H.W. Bush s administration had a completely different way of operating on every level, including on classified and secret material, she said.She continued:All the regulations were followed, right down to a cover sheet being essential if the document had had any sort of classifications. The securing of classified documentation in safes. The burn bags that were used if any sensitive material was to be disposed of. All of this was familiar to me and followed every security protocol that I had experienced in the past.When the Clintons came in this was one of the things that I found appalling right from day one. And it went hand and hand with the disdain for the military. The military was present in the White House in the form of presidential aides. The aide that carried the nuclear football, just as an example. And in the Bush White House they were respected, as they should be. In the Clinton White House, they were disdained. To see it treated this way and to see these people treated this way was disturbing.Tripp referred to Clinton s private mail woes as classic Hillary Clinton in a nutshell. She gets to decide what she does. Look, the rules don t apply to the Clintons. If you understand that basic premise you understand the Clintons. For Tripp, Clinton s use of a private server was all about control. She has a need to control every single aspect of her life. And you know anyone in government knows that any key stroke on a keyboard within a government agency belongs to the government it is not up to the employee on any level to control what happens to it for posterity. FOR ENTIRE INTERVIEW, CLICK HERE: Breitbart News | 1real |
Iowa moves to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood | (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled Iowa state senate voted on Thursday to cut Medicaid funding for family planning services to abortion providers including Planned Parenthood. State senators passed the bill 30-20, advancing it to the Republican-controlled House. The vote was along party lines, with one independent voting in favor of the measure. Republican Governor Terry Branstad has said he supports the bill. Planned Parenthood draws the ire of many Republicans because it provides abortions, and Republican President Donald Trump has pledged to defund the organization. “This change will allow Iowa to restrict government funding to family planning services away from organizations that perform abortions that are not medically necessary,” Republican Senator Amy Sinclair, one of the bill’s sponsors, said on Thursday before the vote. Planned Parenthood denounced the vote. “The Republican lawmakers who continue to advance this bill should be ashamed of themselves. They are playing political games, with the lives of low-income Iowans at stake,” Planned Parenthood of the Heartland said in a statement. “This bill does nothing to advance their extremist agenda to limit access to abortion. Instead, it blocks access to crucial family planning services for thousands of Iowans – the very services that most effectively prevent abortion. It’s a self-serving, misleading and dangerous political game.” The bill directs the Iowa Department of Human Services to discontinue the Medicaid family planning network waiver on July 1 and replace it with a state family planning services program. Eligibility requirements for the new network would remain the same, but no funding would be provided to organizations that provide abortions or maintain facilities where abortions are carried out. Planned Parenthood is Iowa’s largest abortion provider with 12 clinics in the state, but no public money is used for abortions, according to the Des Moines Register. Branstad has proposed paying for the new state-run program by shifting $2.8 million in funds from services for vulnerable adults, families and children, the newspaper reported. Planned Parenthood is also facing a funding cut in Texas, where a judge is considering the move, which the organization has challenged in court. | 0fake |
Long Before ‘Hamilton’ Brouhaha, Theater Was Anything but Polite - The New York Times | In 1832, during a performance of “Richard III” at the Bowery Theater in Manhattan, 300 boisterous audience members joined the cast onstage to participate in the final sword fight and the slaying of the tyrannical King Richard. According to a newspaper account, “the audience mingled with the soldiers and raced across the stage” and during the last duel “made a ring around the combatants to see fair play, and kept them at it for nearly a quarter of an hour. ” In today’s theater, where audience members are admonished to unwrap their candy in advance to avoid making a sound, such a scene is hard to fathom in the theater, it was of a piece (although on the rowdy side of the spectrum) with standard audience behavior. Attending the theater before 1850 or so in the United States was far more akin to attending a football game today than to attending contemporary theater. The audience was expected to make some noise, and as the scene at “Richard III” shows, it exercised the right to influence what happened on the stage as well — not just by buying tickets, but also by speaking up and acting out. People attended the theater to be seen and to be heard. They went to make themselves visible as the “people” of a democratic nation, and they went to debate, enact and imagine political issues concerning class relations, immigration, federalism, Indian policy and the future shape of the nation. [ Wherever we fall on the political spectrum, we’re going to see our desires and fears reflected in theater ] The vitality of early theater and its history as a place for spirited debate came to mind when Donald J. Trump admonished the cast of “Hamilton” on Twitter for addressing Vice Mike Pence at the theater. The cast and creators of “Hamilton” have conjured a wildly popular multiracial version of the early United States on the Broadway stage, revising a longstanding image of the white founding fathers in ways that make visible the racial diversity of the nation at its origins and today. And in their recent address, they have also brought us back to a theater in which politics extends off the stage and into the audience. But while the “Hamilton” cast spoke directly to the audience from the stage, the audience has historically spoken back as well, and in ways that few are aware of today. Far more so than the voting booth (which restricted who could vote not only on the basis of race and gender, but also on the basis of wealth, meaning only half of white men were eligible to vote in 1800) the theater itself was a place where people of many different classes, races and religions — including Native Americans, Jews, Muslims, whites and immigrant Irishmen — appeared onstage and often in the audience as well. In the early 19th century, “Bowery B’hoys” in New York City attended the theater in droves and recited Shakespeare by heart — correcting actors when they missed a line. And although it was officially illegal for (free or enslaved) to attend the theater in late Charleston, S. C. I have found newspaper evidence that significant numbers of regularly attended and were considered an important component of the audience by the performers onstage. Actors addressed the audience, and the audience spoke back: In theaters from Baltimore to Boston, attendees routinely insisted that musicians repeat the songs they loved multiple times, castigated actors who missed lines and questioned casting decisions. Newspaper accounts of theater performance in the 19th century often refer to actors as continuing a play “in dumb show”: This describes a moment when the actors continue to perform without being heard because crowd noise has drowned out the sound of any lines pronounced by the actors. The audience frequently felt free to substitute its own voice for that of the script being spoken onstage. Theatergoers understood themselves to be part of the performance rather than passive observers of actions occurring onstage. In 1801, Washington Irving wrote of attending the theater in New York City, where he was assaulted by apples, nuts and gingerbread thrown from the “gallery gods” — the people sitting in the cheap seats at the top of balcony — onto the heads of those in the audience below. Irving was “a little irritated at being saluted aside of my head with a rotten pippin” but brushed it off because the assault was not aimed at him in particular. It was, he concluded, the right of the working class to make its presence known to the elite. This was not just unruly behavior. It was democratic performance in action. As one American critic wrote in 1805, “The public, in the final resort, govern the stage. ” Actors and theater managers were held accountable to a vocal public — a public that did not vote merely with its feet but with eggs, rotten apples, peanut shells, pumpkins and even, according to one account, the occasional sheep carcass that was tossed onstage. Debate was allowed — between sections of the audience and between the audience and the actors — because the audience was understood to be a reflection of a diverse public, a public that had space to cheer, jeer, sing and debate together. The theater is no longer that space for the most part, audiences now sit in the dark and assume the role of private consumers, not that of representatives of the people. And tickets to the theater — especially in the case of a Broadway megahit like “Hamilton” — are so expensive that the sort of class contention played out upon Irving’s head would no longer be imaginable only the wealthy can pay the full price of admission. But when Brandon Victor Dixon, a “Hamilton” cast member, urged Mr. Pence to embrace an inclusive version of the American people, he brought the theater of the founding period vividly to life. Speaking on behalf of his fellow actors and the show’s creators, he crossed the line between actor and audience, not to harass Mr. Pence, but to use the public space of theater to debate the ideal nature of that public, just as audience members routinely did in the days when Hamilton himself attended the theater. This is the longstanding and perhaps too rarely used promise of live theater — a promise realized in dialogue and debate over the collective creation of a community through living presence and theatrical representation. Mr. Trump has called upon the cast to apologize, but in doing so, he is closing a democratic opening — an open stage where people have historically found a place for their voices to be heard in counterpoint and chorus, even when their voices did not count at the ballot box. Far from demanding an apology, we might want to thank the cast of “Hamilton” for reminding us of the history of public debate and live, messy democracy in the theater and for reminding us that theater and performance are powerful resources for embodying and imagining community together. | 0fake |
Macau suspends pro-democracy lawmaker as critics protest | HONG KONG (Reuters) - Macau has suspended a pro-democracy lawmaker for alleged disobedience after he took to the street instead of staying on a sidewalk during a protest, as activists warn suppression of civil rights is growing in the China-ruled gambling hub. The suspension of the lawmaker is the first since 1999, when the former Portuguese colony returned to China within a one country, two systems framework that allows a free press and an independent judiciary, liberties denied on the mainland. It s a dark day for Macau, said Jose Coutinho, one of four legislators who voted against the suspension in Monday s secret ballot, which drew 28 votes in favor. I am sad and disillusioned with this outcome. There were numerous illegalities in the ballot and the lawmaker, 26-year-old Sulu Sou, should have been given an opportunity to defend himself, Coutinho added. Sou is awaiting trial over a protest in 2016 against a perceived conflict of interest in the transfer of 100 million yuan ($15 million) from the charitable government-linked Macau Foundation to a Chinese university on whose board its chief executive, Fernando Chui, sits. No date has been set for Sou s trial, but the assembly vote strips him of his duties, and he can only return if he is found not guilty or gets a jail term shorter than 30 days. Many in Macau fear the decision signals authorities intend to follow a path similar to that of former British colony Hong Kong, which has jailed several pro-democracy activists, including a lawmaker, Nathan Law, in the past year. This may be the beginning of the death sentence to Macau s rule of law, and it will end up having an impact in the casino industry, said Jorge Menezes, a lawyer who has lived in Macau since 1997. Sou was stripped of his rights to participate in the debate and vote in a clear violation of the assembly s rules, said Menezes, adding that such violations could apply elsewhere in Macau, including the casino industry. Macau is the world s biggest gambling hub, home to U.S. companies Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts as well as Melco Resorts, Galaxy Entertainment and SJM Holdings. The casinos have all reaped billions of dollars in the only place where Chinese citizens are allowed to gamble but will be at the mercy of authorities when their licenses start to expire in 2020. Sou, who has challenged the government on several issues since becoming a lawmaker in September, vowed to fight on. We stick together for the very same goal that put us on this course to fight for justice, grassroots supporter the New Macau Association, which has stood by him, said on social media site Facebook. | 0fake |
Senate Takes Major Step Toward Repealing Health Care Law - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans took their first major step toward repealing the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, approving a budget blueprint that would allow them to gut the health care law without the threat of a Democratic filibuster. The vote was 51 to 48. During the roll call, Democrats staged a highly unusual protest on the Senate floor to express their dismay and anger at the prospect that millions of Americans could lose health insurance coverage. One by one, Democrats rose to voice their objections. Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington said that Republicans were “stealing health care from Americans. ” Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said he was voting no “because health care should not just be for the healthy and wealthy. ” The presiding officer, Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, repeatedly banged his gavel and said the Democrats were out of order because “debate is not allowed during a vote. ” The final vote, which ended just before 1:30 a. m. followed a marathon session in which senators took roll call votes on numerous amendments, an arduous exercise known as a . The approval of the budget blueprint, coming even before Donald J. Trump is inaugurated, shows the speed with which Republican leaders are moving to fulfill their promise to repeal President Obama’s signature domestic policy achievement — a goal they believe can now be accomplished after Mr. Trump’s election. The action by the Senate is essentially procedural, setting the stage for a special kind of legislation called a reconciliation bill. Such a bill can be used to repeal significant parts of the health law and, critically, is immune from being filibustered. Congress appears to be at least weeks away from voting on legislation repealing the law. Republicans say the 2016 elections gave them a mandate to roll back the health care law. “The Obamacare bridge is collapsing, and we’re sending in a rescue team,” said Senator Michael B. Enzi, Republican of Wyoming and the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. “Then we’ll build new bridges to better health care, and finally, when these new bridges are finished, we’ll close the old bridge. ” Republican leaders say they will work closely with Mr. Trump developing legislation to repeal and replace the health care law, but it is unclear exactly how his team will participate in that effort. On Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would offer his own plan to repeal and replace the law “essentially simultaneously. ” He said he would put forth the plan as soon as his nominee for secretary of health and human services, Representative Tom Price, Republican of Georgia, is confirmed. The Affordable Care Act has become ingrained in the American health care system, and unwinding it will be a formidable challenge for Republicans. More than 20 million people have gained coverage under the law, though premiums have risen sharply in many states and some insurers have fled the law’s health exchanges. The budget blueprint instructs House and Senate committees to come up with repeal legislation by Jan. 27. Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee, and four other Republicans had sought to extend that deadline by five weeks, to March 3. But late Wednesday night, Mr. Corker withdrew an amendment that would have changed the date. “We understand that everyone here understands the importance of doing it right,” he said. He described the Jan. 27 date in the budget blueprint as a placeholder. Senator Rob Portman of Ohio, another Republican who sought to delay the deadline, said: “This date is not a date that is set in stone. In fact, it is the earliest we could do it. But it could take longer, and we believe that it might. ” The House was planning to take up the budget blueprint once the Senate approved it, though some House Republicans have expressed discomfort with voting on the blueprint this week because of lingering questions over how and when the health care law would be replaced. A vote on the measure in the House could come on Friday. In its lengthy series of votes, the Senate rejected amendments proposed by Democrats that were intended to allow imports of prescription drugs from Canada, protect rural hospitals and ensure continued access to coverage for people with conditions, among other causes. In the parlance of Capitol Hill, many of the Democrats’ proposals were “messaging amendments,” intended to put Republicans on record as opposing popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The budget blueprint is for the guidance of Congress it is not presented to the president for a signature or veto and does not become law. As the Senate plowed through its work on Wednesday, Republicans explained why they were determined to dismantle the health care law, and they tried to assuage concerns about the future of coverage for millions of Americans. “This is our opportunity to keep our campaign promise,” said Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi. “This is our opportunity to help the and the vice keep their campaign promises and show to the American people that elections have consequences. ” Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, said that while working to repeal the health care law, “we must also talk about what we replace it with, because repealing it without a replacement is an unacceptable solution. ” Republicans do not have an agreement even among themselves on the content of legislation to replace the Affordable Care Act, the timetable for votes on such legislation or its effective date. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said on Wednesday that she agreed with Mr. Trump that Congress should repeal the health law and adopt a replacement plan at about the same time. “But I don’t see any possibility of our being able to come up with a comprehensive reform bill that would replace Obamacare by the end of this month,” she said. “I just don’t see that as being feasible. ” (Ms. Collins also supported pushing back the deadline to come up with repeal legislation.) As Republicans pursue repealing the law, Democrats contend that Republicans are trying to rip insurance away from millions of Americans with no idea of what to do next. The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, called the Republicans’ repeal plan “irresponsible and rushed” and urged them to halt their push to unravel the law. “Don’t put chaos in place of affordable care,” he said. | 0fake |
EU again urges dialogue to end Catalan crisis | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission repeated its call for dialogue in Spain to end the crisis in Catalonia amid concerns that the Catalan regional authorities could declare independence on Tuesday. We called on all those concerned to get of this confrontation as quickly as possible and to start dialogue, a spokesman for the EU executive said in answer to a question on how the Commission might respond to such a declaration. Violence, as we said, can never be a political tool, he told reporters, recalling a statement made last week. And we expressed our confidence in the capacity of Prime Minister (Mariano) Rajoy to manage this delicate process in full respect of the Spanish constitution and the basic fundamental rights of the citizens. | 0fake |
Here’s The Disgusting Propaganda The White House Plans To Use To Smear Sally Yates’ Russia Testimony (DETAILS) | The world is eagerly awaiting the testimony of former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates regarding the Trump/Russia connection. Of course, we all remember how she was promptly fired for refusing to defend Donald Trump and his bigoted administration s unconstitutional Muslim ban. Afterward, it also came out that Yates warned Trump and others in the White House that then-National Security Adviser Michael Flynn was possibly compromised by Russian operatives. He was only fired weeks later when it came out that he lied to Mike Pence about his conversations with the Russians. Now, it seems that the White House has two goals: Smear Sally Yates as some kind of Democratic political hack, and put as much distance as they can between the Trump Administration and Michael Flynn.Now that they cannot stop Sally Yates from telling Congress everything she knows about this Russia mess, it seems that Flynn will be the one to take the fall, and despite his previous loyalty to Trump, the White House is just fine with that. Perhaps this is why Flynn previously asked for immunity so he could tell Congress what he knows. Axios reports that the Trump White House strategy to make themselves look squeaky clean in all of this when they are clearly balls deep is as follows:Of course, the point of portraying Yates as some kind of Obama holdover is to make it seem like she s making the case for Trump s impeachment and the indictment of his officials. She isn t, though. Sally Yates is a career Department of Justice lawyer who has served under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Her only loyalty is to the law.This is all just more of the Trump Administration s lies and propaganda, in order to distract from the fact that this Russia mess is getting hotter and hotter by the day. Hopefully, there is something Sally Yates has to say that will warrant a few arrests starting in the West Wing of the White House.Featured image via Pete Marovich/Getty Images | 1real |
SHOCKING: Why Our Fed Government Will Grant “Disabled” Status With Benefits To Spanish Speaking Residents Of Puerto Rico | If we didn t know better, we d almost believe our Federal Government was attempting to give special privileges to Spanish speaking citizens. Perhaps they re establishing a precedent for taxpayer funded benefits for millions of illegal immigrants who will soon be American citizens The Social Security Administration (SSA) approved disability benefits for hundreds of Puerto Ricans because they do not speak English, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is a predominantly Spanish-speaking territory.According to a new audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency is misapplying rules that are intended to provide financial assistance to individuals who are illiterate or cannot speak English in the United States. Under the rules, Puerto Ricans are allowed to receive disability benefits for their inability to speak English as well. We found the Agency did not make exceptions regarding the English-language grid rules for claimants who reside in Puerto Rico, even though Spanish is the predominant language spoken in the local economy, the OIG said.The audit said a person applying for disability in Puerto Rico who cannot speak English may increase his/her likelihood of receiving disability benefits. The agency does not currently have a system in place to keep track of the number of beneficiaries who receive disability insurance for not being able to speak English.However, the OIG was able to identify 218 cases between 2011 and 2013 where Puerto Ricans were awarded disability due to an inability to communicate in English. Furthermore, 4 percent of disability hearings in Puerto Rico involved looking at the individual s ability to speak, read, write, and understand English.Though 95 percent of Puerto Ricans speak Spanish at home, according to the rules a Spanish-speaking nurse in Puerto Rico would be considered unskilled, the OIG said.The SSA told the OIG that the rules are applied one-size-fits-all. SSA managers at various disability decision levels stated Social Security is a national program, and the grids must be applied to the national economy, regardless of local conditions, the audit said.The SSA takes into account an individual s education level when considering awarding disability benefits if they do not qualify for medical reasons. Part of the education requirement involves looking at a person s ability to speak English, to determine whether it limits his ability to find a job.Last year Sen. Jeff Sessions (R., Ala.) raised concerns that the Obama administration was broadly applying the education rule under the Social Security Act to allow individuals to receive disability payments solely because they cannot speak English.He noted that the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) rolls swelled 230 percent between 2000 and 2010, while the U.S. population only grew 9.7 percent.Former SSA judges have also testified that individuals have been approved for disability in the United States without having to prove they cannot speak English.The hundreds of Puerto Ricans noted in the OIG s report have received disability insurance despite a 1987 U.S. District Court ruling that appears to contradict the SSA s policy. Benefits were denied on the grounds that it is the ability to communicate in Spanish, not English, that is vocationally important in Puerto Rico. It should be noted, however, that the court explicitly declined to apply this rationale outside of this one case, the OIG said.The SSA agreed with the OIG s recommendations to figure out how many individuals have been awarded disability based on their inability to communicate in English, and to evaluate the appropriateness of applying the English-speaking rules to Puerto Rico.The SSA is currently gathering information for a proposed regulation that could lead to changes to the English-speaking rule, the agency said.Via: Free Beacon | 1real |
The Death Of John KennedyThe Media helped sell the lie of the lone assassin. | Click for full size (374K) picture.
This photograph appears on pages 24 and 25. Taken by AP Photographer James Altgens, it clearly captures the moment when John Kennedy clutches his throat. Note the following.
John Connally is clearly turned to his right. Had he indeed been hit by the same bullet which has just exited Kennedy's throat, his wounds would have traversed his body from right to left. Connally's wounds were from back to front. NOTE: The claim has been made that Connally was facing forward when JFK was shot in the neck, before the photo was taken, but in order to then see the view in this photo, Connally would have had to twist to his right after being shot!
Note the turned heads of some of the policemen and Secret Service agents. Clearly, they have heard and are responding to the sound of gunshots.
Note the fourth car back, which contains Vice President Johnson's Secret Service detail. The car doors are open as the agents rush to protect Johnson from the threat. Compare this with Kennedy's Secret Service detail, who have not moved at all. Also note the man within Kennedy's Secret Service car who is grinning ear to ear (tentatively identified as Dave Powers). It is interesting to note that in the book "Mortal Error" this photograph is deliberately cropped to hide the open doors of the car carrying V.P. Johnson's Secret Service detail.
Most importantly, note the man standing in the ground level doorway of the Texas Schoolbook Depository (which is where he reportedly told the Dallas PD he was at the time). Mortal Error Version Of The Altgens Photo Click for full size (44K) picture.
This is the Altgens photo as it appears in the book "Mortal Error". Note that the photo has been cropped to hide the fact that Vice President Johnson's Secret Service detail has already opened their car doors while Kennedy's Secret Service detail remains motionless. The Man In The Doorway
Compare these two images. The man in the doorway of the school book depository, and Oswald's photo immediately after his arrest.
This is a photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald taken shortly after his arrest. Note the clear similarity in both appearance and dress to the man in the schoolbook depository doorway in the Altgen's photo.
The Warren Commission "identified" the individual as Billy Lovelady, a fellow Book Depository employee. But while Lovelady claimed the person in the Altgens' photo was himself, he also stated that he'd worn a red and white vertically striped shirt on the day of the assassination, which was confirmed by photos of Lovelady taken at the time of the assassination!
The man in the doorway's shirt in not striped and is open in front, exposing the tee shirt underneath.
In color films taken from another angle, the color of the shirt worn by the man in the doorway was revealed to be orange-brown. When Oswald was arrested, he was wearing the identical shirt- an orange-brown tweed with missing buttons and tee-shirt underneath.
Other films taken on November 22, 1963 confirmed that Lovelady was in fact wearing a red and blue plaid shirt.
Hence, the figure in the doorway is NOT Lovelady.
(Billy Lovelady died of a heart attack Jan 1979)
NEW! Higher resolution versions of the Altgens photo!
Raw image | 1real |
Comment on Former CIA Officer: “Every Single Terrorist Attack In US Was A False Flag Attack” by Police State | Home / Be The Change / Antiwar / Former CIA Officer: “Every Single Terrorist Attack In US Was A False Flag Attack” Former CIA Officer: “Every Single Terrorist Attack In US Was A False Flag Attack” Jay Syrmopoulos October 1, 2016 34 Comments
Washington, D.C. — While it is a commonly know fact that the CIA utilizes foreign terror groups to destabilize governments targeted by the United States, a much lesser known fact is that numerous whistleblowers have come forward to claim that U.S. intelligence services not only use terrorism to achieve foreign policy goals, but to actually create domestic terror incidents to “blind the masses.”
The most recent intelligence whistleblower is David Steele, a 20-year Marine Corps intelligence officer, and the second-highest-ranking civilian in the U.S. Marine Corps Intelligence.
Steele, a former CIA clandestine services case officer, had this to say:
“Most terrorists are false flag terrorists, or are created by our own security services. In the United States, every single terrorist incident we have had has been a false flag, or has been an informant pushed on by the FBI. In fact, we now have citizens taking out restraining orders against FBI informants that are trying to incite terrorism. We’ve become a lunatic asylum.”
Many people are confused as to what a false flag attack entails. A commonly held misperception is that there is no actual incident/event and it was all staged, but this definition is critically flawed, as a false flag attack actually describes a covert operation that is designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by entities, groups, or nations other than those who actually planned and executed them.
An example of a false flag attack is Operation Northwoods, which was a proposed operation against the Cuban government that originated within the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of the United States government in 1962. The proposals called for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or other U.S. government operatives to commit acts of terrorism against American civilians and military targets, blaming it on the Cuban government, and using it to justify a war against Cuba. The proposals made it all the way to the president’s desk, where they were rejected by John F. Kennedy.
Many people believe the attacks of 9/11 to be a false flag event, perhaps orchestrated by U.S. intelligence services or an entity that operates above the level of government entities (commonly referred to as the deep state/military industrial complex.)
The alleged purpose of this false flag attack was to justify the invasion of other countries, and usher in a heightened state of “national security,” precipitating the curtailing of civil liberties in the name of “safety.”
In turn, the citizens of a state falsely believe that engaging in murderous wars are wholly justified and gladly accept new and intrusive security measures to protect the society. This often results in a false sense of patriotism that people have been indoctrinated into believing due to their skewed perception of reality. Subsequently, men and women join the military machine with good hearts, believing that they are serving in the name of freedom and fighting terrorism — when what they are actually doing is the complete opposite.
“The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al-Qaeda, and any informed intelligence officer knows this. But, there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an intensified entity representing the ‘devil’ only in order to drive TV watchers to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the United States.” – Former British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook.
The reality is that people are participating in fabricated wars based on lies and misinformation sold to the public as truth. Share ♓Ξ▲ѴƳ Ƙ∆RM∆~Ð∈ßϯ ＳᏝ▲V∈
“Surprise, surprise, surprise”! ~ Gomer Pyle Jamie Hall
Nice touch. Karel Bellic
well if the thuglivesmatter brigade actually stopped, and dropped their guns when told to do so, then they wouldnt get shot dead. Its not rocket science. (Although, to some sections of the ‘public’ it may seem like a really intelligent thing to do, so for that reason alone, they dont do it…. ) JennaTrull
You’re not even trolling the right article, you racist fuckwit! Hugh Culliton
Jenna, you just made me actually laugh milk out my nose! Thank you for making my night! LOTFL! Beasy
Naive, you’re exactly the type of person he’s talking about that’ll believe anything the government says ,even though people are protesting the unarmed killings SAVAGE MoBetta Jenkum
Bill Clinton had a 12 year affair with his Oval Office secretary Whitney Gilmore. They have a daughter together Alyssa Gilmore. Jay
You really are the quintessential example of the type of people who caused the rise of Hitler in ’33 and kept him in power when murdering millions of innocent people. You should be ashamed of yourself, that you even call yourself an “American” is absolutely resentfully disgusting. gininitaly
2016 to date 70 cops supposedly killed in the line of ‘duty’ while 863 of all races were killed by the thugs in blue. Do you know what racism is, other than the bad habit of the ignorant? The great distraction for bigots, while your government and their corporate/bankster buddies extract the wealth of America into their pockets. Anonymous
What does BLM have to do with false flag attacks??? m96
Funded by Soros? 🙂 Anonymous
Soros funds all the false flag attacks??? We aren’t a fan of Soros, but would you have any proof of that? Karel Bellic
well, my tablet is lagging again, but… who cares. ,;-) Paschn
Doubtless a covert action by that conglomerate Obama “gifted” our internet to. My desk top has been “jitter-bugging” for months. Nite_Owl
Well if Soviet Government TV says so it MUST be true! Really FTP? With all the disgusting truth out there you can print you resort to these crap dealers as sources? When did you start swallowing Putin’s ejaculate? That’s just lazy BS tabloid journalism on par with the National Enquirer. Carolyn Pearl
Had you thought to do any research, even Wikipedia, you’d find that Operation Northwoods was a genuine psy-ops plan that involved, amongst other things, creating terrorist incidents within the USA which would give us an excuse to invade Cuba. Several other Operations were aligned with it, including plans to blow up a jet, use terrorism in Florida and on our own naval bases. If you’re going to be naive that’s your choice, but I’d personally rather face the possibility of a different truth than what we’re spoon fed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Northwoods Nite_Owl
The US government and military have plans for everything. They have plans for the stupidest things you could possibly think of from repelling Martian invasion fleets to attacking and occupying every country on earth including their closest friends. See The Men Who Stare at Goats for an amusing look at one of their better plans.Staring at goats to try and kill them and yes you funded that. The truth is they’re mostly all clinically insane and shouldn’t even be allowed near matches let alone a whole fucking country’s people and resources but here we are. Would a sane country let a man like Trump ANYWHERE near the Oval Office? lcj240
Would a sane country where people actually look at the candidates records and policies ever let a warmonger like Hillary be in control? junktex | 1real |
(VIDEO) HYSTERICAL SNL TAKE ON HILLARY’S ANNOUNCEMENT: ‘BUCKLE UP AMERICA, THE CLINTONS ARE BACK!’ | 1real | |
Greens say no support for Macron's EZ budget idea in German talks | BERLIN (Reuters) - None of the German parties involved in exploratory coalition talks support French President Emmanuel Macron s idea to create a separate budget for the euro zone, a negotiator for the Greens party told Reuters on Wednesday. Reinhard Buetikofer, who participated in a late-night negotiating session on European policy on Tuesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives and the Free Democrats (FDP), said the Greens supported the idea of more investment in infrastructure but not a new budget. None of the participating parties support a euro zone budget, Buetikofer, a member of the European Parliament said. We Greens fully support the idea of finding ways, within the framework of the existing EU budget, to boost investment in infrastructure. We share Macron s aim of increasing investment. The news is a blow to Macron, who has called for the creation of a euro zone budget of several hundred billions of euros to help the single currency bloc cope with economic shocks. The Greens are seen as the biggest supporters of Macron s ideas among the German parties considering a coalition. | 0fake |
MI Gov Rick Snyder Appoints Former Oil Lobbyist To Protect MI’s Environment | Michigan s Republican governor Rick Snyder has just appointed a new head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Snyder s new corporate shill, Heidi Grether, is a former executive for BP. Grether also worked as a registered lobbyist for BP America in Michigan for seven years. After her time spent lobbying for big oil, Grether became the Deputy Director of the MDEQ.The former DEQ director, Dan Wyant, resigned from his position after the Flint water crisis. Grether has been working as the interim director for the MDEQ since Wyant s resignation. Heidi has decades of experience in environmental quality issues, and has effectively served during times of crises and recovery, Snyder said in a statement. Her expertise in delivering good customer service from a large organization will be of great value as we continue working to reinvent the department and act more proactively to address issues that arise. The Snyder administration is already facing a huge backlash to the decision from environmental groups. Lisa Wozniak, Executive Director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters sent Snyder a letter informs them of their positions on major environmental concerns in the region. Our coalition articulated that this critically important agency is in need of someone who has the background and experience to be a strong advocate for the health of our communities and our environment. Today s announcement seems to fly in the face of that vision, Wozniak said.Democrats are incredulous over Snyder s decision. Brandon Dillon, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said Snyder has again shown he is completely out of touch with the people of this state and the problems they face. Flint is still reeling from the worst man-made environmental disaster in Michigan s history, yet Rick Snyder decides to tap a former BP executive one of the worst polluters in the world to lead our state s Departmental of Environmental Quality? Dillon went on to ask.Because of Grether s almost decade long career of lobbying for the oil industry, she is already being asked to recuse herself from making judgments on one of the biggest decisions Michigan has to make in the near future. There is an oil pipeline that is located at the bottom of the Mackinac Straights, which connect Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. The pipeline is very old and if it breaks down would create one of the worst if not the worst environmental disaster in human history. It would contaminate the world s largest freshwater supply and be economically devasting to the United States and Canada.It s appalling, though not surprising that Snyder would pull a move like this. The Snyder administration has done nothing but eroded democracy in Michigan, while at the same time, becoming globally infamous for their failures to prevent the Flint water crisis.Featured image via Bill Pugliano/Getty Images | 1real |
Vocal, powerful critic of Wall Street rules leaving Congress | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Representative Jeb Hensarling, the Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, announced on Tuesday that he would retire from Congress at the end of 2018, marking the exit of Congress’s leading advocate for rolling back strict financial rules. Hensarling, 60, of Texas, said in a statement that he would not seek re-election, noting that his term as head of the banking panel expires at the same time. He has been a vocal proponent of significant deregulation in the financial sector and an author of sweeping legislation to drastically reduce the regulations imposed on banks. “Today I am announcing that I will not seek re-election to the U.S. Congress in 2018,” Hensarling said in a statement. “Although service in Congress remains the greatest privilege of my life, I never intended to make it a lifetime commitment, and I have already stayed far longer than I had originally planned.” Hensarling, first elected to Congress in 2002, had been the architect of a broad rewrite of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The overall would have eliminated several of the major powers given to regulators after the 2007-2009 financial crisis and impose strict new limitations on their authority. That bill, the Financial CHOICE Act, is not expected to become law after passing the House, due to insufficient support in the Senate. But his work was hailed by GOP colleagues as an ambitious effort to cut regulation of the banking industry. “Jeb has eloquently articulated this conservative vision, leading the charge to repeal Dodd-Frank and deliver a freer market that gives every American the opportunity to achieve the American dream,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in a statement. Banking lobby groups, including the Financial Services Roundtable and American Bankers Association, said Hensarling had been a strong leader who advanced reforms that led to economic opportunity and better banking. He has been a steadfast critic of rules imposed on the financial sector after the crash, and became an industry ally in efforts to roll them back. But those efforts also made him a top target of advocates of stricter rules, who said his efforts would put Americans at risk of a similar meltdown. “Hensarling has probably just decided to spend more time with his banks. We hope the revolving door doesn’t hit him too hard on the way out,” said Karl Frisch, executive director of Allied Progress. While some GOP lawmakers have announced plans to retire after facing uphill re-election battles, Hensarling hails from a deeply conservative district in Texas where he remains highly popular. In 2016, he faced no Republican rivals in the party’s primary and took 80.6 percent of the district’s vote in the general election. Even though the district consistently votes Republican, his resignation will provide another opportunity for Democrats to realize their hopes of taking control of the House in 2018. Lawyer Dan Wood, has already entered the race to be the party’s nominee for the seat. Unlike some exiting Republicans, Hensarling never publicly feuded with President Donald Trump. In fact, Trump had considered Hensarling for a post in his administration after the election. His exit will set off a competition to take over as head of the powerful banking committee. Representative Patrick McHenry is the vice chair of the committee, but Representatives Blaine Luetkemeyer, Bill Huizenga, and Sean Duffy are also potential contenders, according to lobbyists familiar with the committee. One lobbyist said Luetkemeyer was the leading candidate to lead the panel, as McHenry is seen as a rising star in House leadership. Luetkemeyer is “seriously considering” running for the chairmanship, according to his spokeswoman. Hensarling’s next move is unclear. Some lobbyists speculated he could take a top role at a conservative think tank like the Heritage Foundation. Alternatively, he could take a role in the administration or return to his home state. Cowen and Co analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a client note that Hensarling could be “the top contender” to take over the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The current FHFA Director, Mel Watt, is an appointee of former President Barack Obama, serving out a term that expires in January of 2019. | 0fake |
BREAKING: Did Hillary’s Unsecured CLASSIFIED EMAILS Cause Execution Of Iranian Accused Of Working With U.S.? [VIDEO] | Will the State Department ever tell the truth and prove that careless, reckless, lying Hillary was responsible for his death? A State Department spokeswoman dodged questions Monday about whether the discussion of Shahram Amiri, an Iranian scientist who was executed by the Iranian government for working with the U.S., in a pair of Hillary Clinton s private emails may have played a role in his recent fate. We re not going to comment on what may have led to this event, said Elizabeth Trudeau, a State Department spokeswoman. I couldn t speak to Iranian judicial procedures related to this specific case, Trudeau said. We ve made our concerns known writ large around Iranian due process. She noted the State Department had been very public about this case when [Amiri] chose to return to Iran, pointing to a press conference Clinton gave in July 2010.In those remarks, Clinton compared Amiri s ability to leave the U.S. on his own free will with Iran s decision to hold three young Americans against their will. She did not reference the scientist s work with the U.S. government.But emails made public in August show State Department aides referring to Amiri as our friend. An Iranian official was quoted attributing Amiri s execution to his collusion with the Great Satan, America. Washington Examiner | 1real |
26 WikiLeaks bombshells on Hillary you need to know | 26 WikiLeaks bombshells on Hillary you need to know Most explosive revelations that could keep Clinton out of White House Published: 5 mins ago Leo Hohmann About | | Archive Leo Hohmann is a news editor for WND. He has been a reporter and editor at several suburban newspapers in the Atlanta and Charlotte, North Carolina, areas and also served as managing editor of Triangle Business Journal in Raleigh, North Carolina. Print Hillary Clinton with top aide Huma Abedin.
WikiLeaks has provided a treasure trove of inside information on what Hillary Clinton really thinks about important issues such as trade and immigration, but Clinton herself has chosen not to answer questions about the revelations.
She has focused instead on criticizing the Russians as the source of the hacks, despite the fact there is no proof of Russian involvement.
The emails also shed light on how the Clinton campaign interacts with Wall Street banks, with friendly media, and how it worked to undermine the candidacy of Democratic rival Bernie Sanders with the help of the DNC.
WikiLeaks says it has about 50,000 emails from the private Gmail account of John Podesta, a senior Democratic Party official who has served as White House chief of staff under President Bill Clinton and a senior adviser to President Obama. He was the author of Obama’s climate change policy. John Podesta
In February Podesta moved seamlessly from the White House to become chairman of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Here are some of the most explosive revelations from the WikiLeaks email dumps featuring Podesta’s account and others.
Preference for Muslim Americans In 2008, when Podesta served as co-chair of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, Michael Froman, a former Citibank executive, sent Podesta a “list of African American, Latino and Asian American candidates, broken down by Cabinet/Deputy and Under/Assistant/Deputy Assistant level, plus a list of Native American, Arab/Muslim American and Disabled American candidates.” The Arab American list came with a special note to exclude Arab Christians – they had to be both Arab and Muslim.As New Republic reports, Obama’s eventual cabinet appointments ended up almost entirely as Froman recommended.Froman ultimately became the recipient of the largest bailout from the federal government during the financial crisis.
Shielding Obama In a March 4, 2015, email to Hillary Clinton’s lawyer Cheryl Mills, Clinton’s eventual campaign chairman Podesta asks if they should withhold email exchanges between Clinton and President Obama that were sent over Clinton’s private server.The day before Podesta sent his email to Mills, the House Benghazi Committee privately told Clinton to preserve and hand over all her emails.The email from Podesta to Mills says: “Think we should hold emails to and from potus? That’s the heart of his exec privilege. We could get them to ask for that. They may not care, but I(t) seems like they will.” An email exchange between Podesta, Paul Begala, and Clinton pollster GQRR shows the Clinton campaign was pushing the Muslim Obama narrative back in January 2008. Included was a survey of Obama “negative facts” such as this one: “Obama (owe-BAHM-uh)’s father was a Muslim and Obama grew up among Muslims in the world’s most populous Islamic country.” The pollster writes “we have reworked the Obama message into the survey, as requested.”
Secret speeches to Wall Street Hillary Clinton was so enraged that Bill Clinton was forced to cancel a paid speech at Wall Street bank Morgan Stanley in 2015 that she “needed a cool down period.” The email chain, on March 11, 2015, before she formally launched her campaign, includes top aides to both Hillary Clinton and former President Clinton, and reveals that Hillary’s future campaign aides were concerned about the political impact of Bill giving a speech to a Wall Street bank. “Morgan Stanley is coming down,” wrote Robby Mook in an email to top Clinton aides.Top aide Huma Abedin explained that Hillary would not be happy about it, writing: “HRC very strongly did not want him to cancel that particular speech. I will have to tell her that [Bill] chose to cancel it, not that we asked.” Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches to Goldman Sachs and other financial firms, a point of contention during this year’s primary, were the subject of an email to Podesta. Excerpts from some of the speeches had been flagged by Clinton’s research team, including the necessity of having “both a public and a private position” on issues. It was just part of “making sausage” in the political arena, she said, that certain positions on issues needed to be kept hidden from the public. Some “flags” in Hillary Clinton’s paid speeches were noted in a Jan. 25 email from campaign research director Tony Carrk to top Clinton advisers, including Clinton’s declaration that “My dream is a hemispheric common market, with open trade and open borders, some time in the future with energy that is as green and sustainable as we can get it, powering growth and opportunity for every person in the hemisphere.” Countless establishment media outlets parlaying themselves as “fact checkers” tried to downplay this email by saying it was “mostly about trade,” not immigration, as if the words “open borders” were never mentioned. But the email exchange also shows how Hillary’s about-face on the TPP trade deal was mere pandering to Bernie Sanders’ voters and had no basis in reality in terms of how she really feels about trade deals. In a speech at Goldman-Black Rock on Feb. 4, 2014, Carrk pointed out, Clinton admitted she’s “Kind Of Far Removed” from middle-class struggles due to “The Economic, You Know, Fortunes That My Husband And I Now Enjoy.” Clinton, in other speeches, boasted of her ties to Wall Street, an issue primary opponent Bernie Sanders continually raised. Clinton still has refused to release transcripts of her paid speeches while blasting Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns.
Working in tandem with ‘friendly’ media WND reported Tuesday emails showing reporters, editors and contributors not just advocating for Hillary Clinton but apparently colluding with the campaign. Univision Chairman Haim Saban urged the Clinton campaign to hit Donald Trump harder over immigration. The Boston Globe tried to time a Clinton opinion piece to do the most good in New Hampshire. CNBC’s John Harwood urged Clinton campaign chairman Podesta to watch out for then-GOP candidate Dr. Ben Carson. Democratic National Committee official and CNN contributor Donna Brazile apparently tipped off the Clinton campaign to a potentially difficult CNN town-hall question on capital punishment during the Democratic Party primary season. Brazile adamantly denies it . In a July 2015 email, New York Times reporter Mark Leibovich appeared to ask permission from Hillary Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, to use certain quotes of the presidential candidate in an article. Palmieri replied, suggesting he remove a reference Clinton made to Sarah Palin and delete Clinton’s statement, “And gay rights has moved much faster than women’s rights or civil rights, which is an interesting phenomenon.” CNBC correspondent John Harwood, who was widely criticized for posing biased questions to Donald Trump as a primary debate moderator, effectively served as an adviser to the Clinton campaign, emailing Podesta with the subject line “Watch out.” The warning was regarding GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson, who “could give you real trouble in a general (election).” Maggie Haberman, a former Politico reporter who now works for the New York Times, was described in a January 2015 memo as having “a very good relationship” with the Clinton campaign. “We have had her tee up stories for us before and have never been disappointed,” the memo said.
Demeaning Catholics Podesta discussed fomenting “revolution” in the Catholic Church with a progressive activist while Hillary’s now-communications director Jennifer Palmieri mocked Catholics who speak out against the liberal social causes of the Democratic Party. “There needs to be a Catholic Spring, in which Catholics themselves demand the end of a middle ages dictatorship and the beginning of a little democracy and respect for gender equality in the Catholic Church,” Sandy Newman, president and founder of the nonprofit Voices for Progress, wrote Podesta in February 2012 . The email, among the third batch released by WikiLeaks, was titled “opening for a Catholic Spring? just musing.” Podesta tells Newman of progressive organizations he and his colleagues created to recruit members of the church who can lead a revolution when the time is right.“We created Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good to organize for a moment like this,” the Clinton campaign chairman writes. “But I think it lacks the leadership to do so now. Likewise Catholics United. Like most Spring movements, I think this one will have to be bottom up.” Clinton, who has accused Trump of praising Putin, called the Russian leader in a 2014 speech “engaging” and “a very interesting conversationalist.” Excerpts from Clinton’s speeches were contained in a document emailed to Podesta to point out quotes that could harm the campaign.
Collusion with DOJ Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon alerted staffers that the Justice Department was proposing to publish Clinton’s work-related emails, contending it showed collusion between the Obama administration and Clinton’s campaign. Fallon wrote that “DOJ folks” told him a court hearing in the case had been planned. The day after Hillary Clinton testified in front of the House Select Committee on Benghazi last October, Podesta met for dinner with a small group of well-connected friends, including Peter Kadzik, a top official at the Justice Department. Lawyers also told the Clinton campaign in emails that Hillary’s private email scandal “ smacks of acting above the law and it smacks of the type of thing I’ve either gotten discovery sanctions for, fired people for, etc .”
Entanglements with foreign governments King Muhammad IV of Morocco made a $12 million pledge to fund the Clinton Global Initiative conference, but only if the likely presidential candidate attended the event as a speaker. Hillary’s top aide, Huma Abedin, wrote in a January 2015 email that “if HRC was not part of it, meeting was a non-starter.” Then she warned: “She created this mess and she knows it.” Hillary ended up not attending but her husband Bill did. An email from Hillary Clinton’s account to Podesta on Aug. 17, 2014, said Saudi Arabia and Qatar were “providing clandestine financial and logistic support to [ISIS] and other radical Sunni groups in the region.” Critics have pointed out that the Clinton Foundation has received considerable funding from the two Middle East nations. In a leaked 2013 paid speech to the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Hillary said Jordan and Turkey “can’t possibly vet all those refugees so they don’t know if, you know, jihadists are coming in along with legitimate refugees.” Two years later she called for a 550 percent increase in the number of Syrian refugees coming to the U.S. largely from United Nations refugee camps in Jordan.
Insider’s insider had sway over DNC A WikiLeaks email dump on July 22 revealed that Debbie Wasserman Schultz used her position as head of the DNC to work in concert with the Clinton campaign to undermine the candidacy of Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt. Schultz was forced to resign over the emails. Issues used to undermine Sanders’ campaign included his faith, or lack thereof. The Clinton campaign tried to reschedule the Illinois presidential primary to lower the chances a moderate Republican would get a boost following the Super Tuesday primaries. “The Clintons won’t forget what their friends have done for them,” wrote Robby Mook, who later became Clinton’s campaign manager, in the November 2014 email to Podesta. | 1real |
Trump’s EPA Admin GUILTY Of Lying To Congress During His Confirmation – Republicans SILENT | One would think that, after all the accusations that Hillary lied to Congress about everything in all of creation, they d be especially sensitive to anybody else lying to them. Especially when it s easily proven. Trump s pick to head the EPA, Scott Pruitt, used a private email account for some of his government business during his tenure as Oklahoma s attorney general. It s not illegal for him to use private email under Oklahoma law as long as the emails are made publicly available, but they weren t, and he lied to Congress about it anyway.Pruitt answered a written questionnaire that asked him whether he used private email. He responded with: I use only my official OAG email address and government issued phone to conduct official business. He later told the Senate Energy and Public Works Committee that he didn t know why a personal email address was listed as part of his business addresses. 7,500 pages of emails, presumably from that address, have been released after an Oklahoma judge ruled that Pruitt had been withholding them illegally.Senate Democrats say this raises serious questions about Pruitt s credibility, which is already on shaky ground because he was suing the EPA as Oklahoma s attorney general. One of the concerns about his emails is that he was working closely with fossil fuel companies to resist the government s efforts to limit carbon emissions something the fossil fuel industry and all its lackeys hate because it hurts profits.That s a serious conflict of interest, and lies about it just compound the whole situation.Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, said of Pruitt s credibility: Now that he is in charge of protecting clean air and water in every community across the country, the public must decide for themselves whether they can trust Pruitt when he can t even be honest about his email or his ties to the oil and gas industry. Sen. John Barasso, a Wyoming Republican, wouldn t comment on the matter and other Republicans appear to be silent as well. Why? Likely because they want someone at the EPA who s willing to render it toothless, if not dismantle it entirely, and also because this reflects extremely badly on them given their insistence that Hillary s use of private email was the world s worst crime ever.Pruitt will probably remain at the head of the EPA even though lying to Congress is perjury. Republicans never want to admit when they ve screwed up.Featured image by Aaron P. Bernstein via Getty Images | 1real |
Ted Cruz popularity among Republicans takes a serious nosedive: Gallup | Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s popularity among Republicans has plummeted in recent months and now more of them have negative views of him than positive ones, according to Gallup data released Monday.
The proportion of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who view Cruz favorably has dropped to 39% — down from 61% in January — and the share who view him unfavorably has skyrocketed, going from 15% in January to 45% now.
“Republicans' views of Cruz are now the worst in Gallup's history of tracking the Texas senator,” Gallup Editor Frank Newport said.
The data comes as Cruz has made several moves to try to shore up support for his campaign and stop Donald Trump from winning enough delegates to clinch the Republican presidential nomination. He and Ohio Gov. John Kasich had tried to make a deal so Cruz could take on Trump one-on-one in Tuesday’s Indiana primary. That appears to have fallen apart.
He named Carly Fiorina as his running mate last week, even though he hasn’t clinched the nomination and it is mathematically impossible for him to do so on the first ballot at the Republican National Convention.
Cruz said this week that he nevertheless intends to go the distance, "as long as we have a viable path to victory."
Here’s what’s happened to his popularity ratings in the Gallup polling:
“After a holding period of sorts in March and early April, Cruz's image began to deteriorate significantly in the last two weeks, with his positive and negative lines crossing in the middle of last week,” Newport said.
At the same time, Trump’s popularity among Republicans surged in recent weeks, with the amount who view him favorably growing from 53% to 59% and the share who view him negatively shrinking from 41% to 35%.
Of course, both still have popularity problems with the general electorate — 29% more people have a negative view of Trump than a positive one and 25% more view Cruz negatively than positively. | 0fake |
Can Anyone Beat Trump in the Primary? History Says No | If you’re looking to stop Trump, history won’t be providing you with any roadmaps.
Let’s say you’re a Republican who is looking with abject terror at the thought of a Donald Trump nomination. You look at poll numbers from upcoming states—Trump by six! Trump by eight! You read and hear about “vectors” and “glide paths”, and you start looking for reassurance that it’s still early, that the last shall be first. Examples abound in sports—didn’t the Red Sox trail the Yankees 3-0 in the 2004 League Championship Series? Weren’t the New York Giants 13 1/2 games out of first in 1951? Surely there are cases where a doomed candidate turned the campaign around, right?
Well…sort of. There are any number of primary campaigns that saw a significant shift of fortunes, but they provide cold comfort for the anti-Trumpeteers. Why? Because 1) they happened a relatively long time ago, 2) they all happened in two-candidate races and 3) none of them resulted in a victory for the come-from behind candidate.
When President Gerald Ford barely beat ex-California Governor Ronald Reagan in New Hampshire in 1976, it might have been seen as a strong showing against a sitting President. But because the Reagan campaign had touted his strength there, the close finish was portrayed as a loss. When Ford won the next four primaries, including a landslide win in Illinois, Reagan’s challenge was on life-support.
In North Carolina, however, a combination of Senator Jesse Helms’ organizational muscle and a half-hour TV speech centered on foreign policy gave Reagan a victory that kept his campaign alive. Over the next 10 weeks, Reagan won 10 primaries, turning the fight into a delegate-by-delegate battle. In the end, the power of incumbency and a last-minute flip by the Mississippi delegation on a crucial rules fight gave the nomination to Ford. We have not seen a genuinely contested nomination fight since.
Of the first ten contests, he won only his native Massachusetts. With polls showing him headed to a big loss in New York, his campaign prepared to fold its tents. But the polls were wrong. Kennedy won the state by an 18-point landslide. That gave his campaign enough energy to keep the fight going all the way through the primaries—he won California, New Jersey, and seven other states—and the convention. He was never able to close the gap, but with more than a third of the delegates, Kennedy was able to win platform concessions and a much-celebrated prime-time speech. (He was also able, intentionally or not, to subject Carter to the humiliation of pursuing him at the rostrum in an attempt to stage a hands-clasped unity photo opportunity.)
Few campaigns have seen more twists and turns than the 1984 Democratic primary. What began as a ceremonial coronation of former Vice President Walter Mondale was upended, with no advance warning, when Senator Gary Hart and his “new ideas” campaign won a landslide in New Hampshire. He followed that with five wins in the next two weeks; only Mondale victories in Georgia and Alabama, with crucial margins provided by black voters, kept him afloat.
Then a tried-and-true pattern -- rise, scrutiny, decline—kicked in. Hart (unlike Reagan and Kennedy) was a relatively unknown political commodity. When the spotlight turned on him, questions great and small arose: Why had his changed his name from Hartpence? Why was his real age a mystery? More seriously, did the core of the Democratic Party freely want to nominate a figure who regularly challenged liberal orthodoxy (“We’re not a bunch of little Hubert Humphreys,” he once said to a party that revered Humphrey’s liberal passions).
With big-city Democrats, labor, and African-Americans rallying to his side, Mondale won Illinois and then New York by a landslide. Once again, the nomination seemed to be in Mondale’s grasp. But Hart then won a string of primaries in May, and in June beat Mondale in California. Pre-primary polls also showed Hart with a big lead in New Jersey. But when he told a California audience by telephone that he was consigned to a “toxic waste dump in New Jersey,” Garden State Democrats responded by giving Mondale a 16 point win. But for that careless comment, Hart might well have turned the convention into a genuine battle.
That was more than thirty years ago. And in the decades since, there’s been nothing like a sharp turn of fortune in any nominating contest. There have been early challenges to favorites; there has been at least one case—Clinton in 1992—where it took a month or so for the ultimate nominee to win his first primary. There have been years—2008 for Democrats, 2012 for Republicans—when it took months for the nominee to claim enough delegates to end the contest. Moreover, there’s no historical parallel to today’s Republican race. Far from being an unknown commodity like Hart in 1984, Trump is better known than any of his rivals. And given that what he has handily survived, it is hard to imagine what he might say or do that could properly be described as “self-destructive.”
This doesn’t mean a Trump nomination is a done deal. With a majority of the party still opposing him, a two-person race offers a theoretical possibility. There may be enough left of “traditional Republicans” that a unified chorus proclaiming Trump a disaster could prove effective. But if you’re a Republican looking to find a clue to derailing Trump, history is not going to offer you anything like a roadmap. | 0fake |
N. KOREA’S LATEST MISSILE LAUNCH Aimed At Testing Carrying “Large Scale Heavy Nuclear Warhead” | North Korea said on Monday it had successfully conducted a newly developed mid-to-long range missile test on Sunday, supervised by leader Kim Jong Un and aimed at verifying the capability to carry a large scale heavy nuclear warhead. Kim accused the United States of browbeating countries that have no nukes and warned Washington not to misjudge the reality that its mainland is in the North s sighting range for strike, the North s official KCNA news agency reported.The North fired a ballistic missile that landed in the sea near Russia on Sunday in a launch that Washington called a message to South Korea, days after its new president took office pledging to engage Pyongyang in dialogue.The missile was launched at the highest angle so as not to affect the security of neighboring countries and flew 787 kilometers (490 miles) reaching an altitude of 2,111.5 kilometers (1,312 miles), KCNA said.Experts said the altitude reached by the missile tested on Sunday meant it was launched at a high trajectory, which would limit the lateral distance it traveled. But if it was fired at a standard trajectory, it would have a range of at least 4,000 km (2,500 miles), experts said. The test-fire aimed at verifying the tactical and technological specifications of the newly developed ballistic rocket capable of carrying a large-size heavy nuclear warhead, KCNA said. North Korea is believed to be developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the mainland United States.The U.S. military s Pacific Command said the type of missile that was fired was not consistent with an intercontinental ballistic missile .The United Nations Security Council is due to meet on Tuesday to discuss North Korea s latest missile launch, diplomats said on Sunday, which was requested by the United States and allies South Korea and Japan.U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called the launch a message by Pyongyang to South Korea after the election of President Moon Jae-in, who took office on Wednesday.The report on the missile s flight was largely consistent with South Korean and Japanese assessments on Sunday that it flew 700 km (435 miles)and reached an altitude of more than 2,000 km (1,243 miles), which is further and higher than an intermediate-range missile tested in February from the same region, northwest of Pyongyang. North Korea s latest successful missile test represents a level of performance never before seen from a North Korean missile, Washington-based monitoring project, 38 North, said in an analysis issued on Sunday. It appears to have not only demonstrated an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) that might enable them to reliably strike the U.S. base at Guam, but more importantly, may represent a substantial advance to developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), it said.For entire story REUTERS | 1real |
E.T. Williams Explains Why Millennials are in Meltdown Over Trump Win | 21st Century Wire says Donald Trump s victory has sparked flash mob protests on Wednesday, with students staging walkouts, as well as some burning and looting in Dallas and Oakland, California, and with marches in New York, Portland, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.E.T. Williams aka The Doctor of Common Sense explains why pockets of anxious college Hillary supporters across the America are asking for classes to be canceled because Trump beat Clinton in Tuesday s presidential election. Watch: SUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Senator Schumer expects 'mainstream nominee' for Supreme Court | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Charles Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate, said on Tuesday he expects President Barack Obama to pick a “mainstream nominee” for the Supreme Court. Schumer, in remarks to reporters, did not say who he thinks the nominee might be or when Obama will announce the replacement for conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 13. | 0fake |
Iraq demands U.S. backtrack on Jerusalem, militia says troops a target | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq demanded on Thursday that the U.S. government backtrack on a decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital to avoid fuelling terrorism, and a prominent Iraqi militia said the decision was a reason to attack U.S. troops. President Donald Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy on Wednesday and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, imperiling Middle East peace efforts and upsetting the Arab world and Western allies alike. We caution against the dangerous repercussions of this decision on the stability of the region and the world, an Iraqi government statement said. The U.S. administration has to backtrack on this decision to stop any dangerous escalation that would fuel extremism and create conditions favorable to terrorism, it said. The Iran-backed Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba said Trump s decision could become a legitimate reason to attack U.S. forces in Iraq. Trump s stupid decision to make Jerusalem a capital for the Zionist will be the big spark for removing this entity from the body of the Islamic nation, and a legitimate reason to target American forces, said the group s leader Akram al-Kaabi. The U.S. is leading an international coalition helping Iraq fight Islamic State and has provided key air and ground support. It has more than 5,000 troops deployed to Iraq. Nujaba, which has about 10,000 fighters, is one of the most important militias in Iraq. Though made up of Iraqis, it is loyal to Iran and is helping Tehran create a supply route through Iraq to Damascus. It fights under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a mostly Iranian-backed coalition of Shi ite militias that played a role in combating Islamic State. The PMF is government sanctioned and formally reports to Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi s office. | 0fake |
SHOCKING: Glenn Beck Gives PERFECT Explanation For Why ‘All Lives Matter’ Doesn’t Work | When you think of civil rights activists, it s not likely that Glenn Beck will ever enter your conscious, except perhaps as a cautionary tale. It does seem, though, that he s had a moment of clarity, even an epiphany. The man who has played a large part in demonizing Black Lives Matter finally gets it. At least he gets part of it. He gets why All Lives Matter is a really bad response.In the past, Beck has been especially critical of Black Lives Matter, who he accused of inciting terrorism. Beck s comments were sparked by discussion over Black Lives Matter protesters recent invasion of a Dartmouth College library, where the activists harassed white students, calling one girl a filthy white bitch. They are terrorizing you, Beck said of the incident. What do you think that is when when one of the girls, who supported Black Lives Matter at Dartmouth. And she was in the library, and she was studying. And they pulled her out of her seat. She started crying. Beck said filling people with fear is the first step to terrorism. I think we need to start calling it that, Beck concluded. We need to start being very, very clear. In the past, he even led a march for All Lives Matter. Things have changed somewhat, though, at least for Beck. While he s still not officially a Black Lives Matter supporter, he understands why All Lives Matter is stupid. In a news conference covered by the Washington Post, Beck relayed this analogy: All of us are sitting around a table, and we re all friends, he said. It s time for dessert, and everybody gets pie except for me and you. And you say, I didn t get any pie. Everybody at the table looks at you and says I know. All pie matters. You say, but I don t have any pie! What about my pie?' Beck still says that the leaders of Black Lives Matter are communists and anti-capitalists, but he says that most supporters are not and that we really need to learn to speak to each other.For that, some conservatives are throwing Beck under the bus. Blue Lives Matter accused Beck of pandering to Black Lives Matter.Breitbart.com, whose CEO was just named Trump s campaign CEO, didn t like Beck s analogy either: While Glenn Beck would like people to believe he s insightful, critics of Black Lives Matter don t need his hectoring, wrote Breitbart s Lee Stranahan, who is also based in Dallas. The reason many people including black critics of Black Lives Matter like [Milwaukee County] Sheriff David Clarke say All Lives Matter in response to Black Lives Matter is to reject the underlying notion of identity politics. Beck is not a supporter of Trump. Is this a sign that the #NeverTrump movement can bring out a more rational right-wing? Conservatives are certainly in the midst of an existential crisis and many of them appear to be soul searching. Whether Beck has dug deep enough to find his soul or whether he happened to get his meds right that day will be sorted out over time, but for now, it s refreshing to hear someone on the right *sort of* get it.Featured image via J. Pat Carter with Getty Images. | 1real |
Morning Joe Hilariously Trashes Sarah Palin’s Crazy Rant In Wisconsin (VIDEO) | Sarah Palin must have been on some powerful drugs when she delivered a rambling word salad to an unenthused audience on Friday.At least that s what the Morning Joe panel on MSNBC thinks.On Monday, host Joe Scarborough asked if Palin took bad acid prior to her speech in support of Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Illegal immigrants, welcoming them in, even inducing and seducing them with gift baskets. Come on over the border, and we ll here s a gift basket of teddy bears and soccer balls, Palin ranted. Our kids, and our grandkids, they ll never know then what it is to be rewarded for that entrepreneurial spirit that God creates within us, in order to work and to produce and to strive and to the thrive and to really be alive, she continued bewilderingly. Halfway through her speech did you ask if you had stumbled into some bad acid? Scarborough asked John Heilemann, who attended Palin s speech and witnessed the insanity first-hand. Well the question was, Who has taken the bad acid? he replied. She was not fully if the opposite of dissociative is associative, she was not fully associative. Let s say that it was not a fully coherent speech, let s put it that way. Mika Brzezinski cautioned that Palin s rant could be the most articulate moment of the campaign, but Scarborough introduced video of Palin s word salad. Ladies and gentlemen, Winston Churchill, 1940. Scarborough and Heeilemann went on to debate whether Palin s rant reminded them more of the rock song White Rabbit or Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds before agreeing that they all had no idea what she was trying to convey.Here s the video via Twitter..@morningmika on Sarah Palin s speech in Wisconsin: It was word salad https://t.co/v7Uw9VtNDJ Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) April 4, 2016If Palin was on drugs then this isn t the first time she has used them. She has been delivering word salad speeches since being introduced in 2008 as the GOP vice presidential candidate. And that leads to an even bigger question. What drug was John McCain on when he picked her?Featured image via screen capture | 1real |
China says U.N. sanctions on North Korea allowed buffer period for coal, seafood ban | BEIJING (Reuters) - China has comprehensively implemented United Nations sanctions on North Korea, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday. Commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told reporters in Beijing that U.N. sanctions gave a cushioning or buffer period for implementation of the ban on coal and seafood imports from North Korea. The comment was in response to a question about data from China s customs administration showing China imported 1.6 million tonnes of coal from North Korea in August, the first since February, when Beijing banned purchases of the fuel from its northeast neighbor. On Aug. 14, the commerce ministry said it would allow any cargoes that were already at port to clear customs as usual before the U.N. sanctions came into force on Sept. 5. | 0fake |
Jimmy Buffett’s ‘Margaritaville’ Is a State of Mind, and an Empire - The New York Times | His newest showstopper, a hotel near Miami, has three pools, a spa and eight restaurants, including a seriously upscale steakhouse. That electric blue sculpture in the lobby? You’d swear it was by Jeff Koons. Over near Orlando, work has started on his $800 million family resort, which will include a water park and 1, 200 homes priced at up to $1 million apiece. His company, which had $1. 5 billion in sales last year, is introducing a line of jewelry. He has one of America’s craft beers. A team — led by a former Google executive — is working to transform his digital media business. The man is Jimmy Buffett. And it’s time to toss whatever you thought you knew about his lazy, hazy Margaritaville out the window. Forget the ville. This is a Margarita World. “People are always shocked when they find out how big we’ve gotten,” Mr. Buffett said recently over lunch, grinning and splashing Tabasco on a modified Cobb salad. “We just kept quietly doing our thing. Not saying much. And now — bam! — here we are. ” Margaritaville, with its themed restaurants (erupting volcanoes, booths) started as a tropical cousin to T. G. I. Friday’s. Through trial and error, Mr. Buffett and a partner, John Cohlan, have since expanded Margaritaville Holdings to include four booming divisions: lodging, alcohol, licensing and media. Now, as they pursue growth for the first time overseas, where Mr. Buffett has a much softer fan base, they are trying to recast Margaritaville as a broad, aspirational brand — the Ralph Lauren of leisurely escape, if you will. “The stroke of genius was making Margaritaville a feeling, not a place,” said Mindy Grossman, the chief executive of the behemoths HSN and Frontgate, where Margaritaville items include a $799 hammock and $159 penny loafers. “If you don’t take the name so literally, growth could be endless. ” Endless? “O. K. not endless,” Ms. Grossman said. “I wouldn’t suggest doing fake fur coats. But almost. ” Mr. Buffett, patron saint of the untroubled, has long been known for his business acumen. In some ways, with his approach to concert merchandise and tour sponsorship in the 1980s, he created the model of that managers for artists like Madonna and Dave Matthews have pursued more recently. Other singers have parlayed their personas into business empires — Dolly Parton, for instance, with her Dollywood theme park, Dixie Stampede dinner theaters, Dolly slot machines and “Coat of Many Colors” merchandise — but none are as singularly sprawling as Mr. Buffett’s Margaritaville. “He understands his brand, which has a substantial reach,” Warren E. Buffett, a friend (but not a relative) said by phone. “One of the secrets to his success is that he never really loses any fans. ” Still, a thriving brand needs to steadily recruit new devotees, and that may be Margaritaville’s biggest challenge. While Mr. Buffett’s fan base includes young people — drunkenly singing along to “Margaritaville” in a college bar is practically an American rite of passage — his core followers are baby boomers. How does Margaritaville make itself more relevant to people in their 30s? What fuels sales of those licensed products once Mr. Buffett, 69, has warbled his last warble? It’s a subject that Mr. Cohlan, who is Margaritaville’s chief executive, was not especially keen to discuss. Asked about how the company thinks about a future without its public face, Mr. Cohlan said, “Jimmy Buffett is an American treasure,” and changed the subject. A more robust media presence beyond Mr. Buffett seems to be one answer. Last year, Mr. Cohlan expanded the company’s digital media efforts, which already included a SiriusXM satellite radio channel. He hired Laura Lee from the Google ranks, where she was a senior executive at YouTube, and charged her with building a digital content studio, improving Margaritaville’s social media presence and introducing mobile games. (One casual game coming in July will have users searching for their lost shaker of salt.) The goal is a fully formed ecosystem. Last year, an estimated 15 million people ate at one of Mr. Buffett’s 67 restaurants or stayed at one of his seven hotels and resorts. The company also wants the masses to buy Margaritaville food at their local grocery store (items like iced tea, frozen shrimp and tortilla chips are already on shelves) watch videos on their phones (“The Best Beach Bars of the Caribbean” is one idea in development) and maybe even sleep on Margaritaville bedsheets (in various designs, including “Strawberry Daiquiri” coral, starting at $19. 98). Ms. Lee’s efforts could also lead to more traditional TV programming. A model is Vice Media, which began as a video company and went on to sprout an HBO series and Viceland, a cable channel. Not by coincidence, Margaritaville in 2014 sold a minority stake to the Raine Group, a merchant bank known for its investment in Vice and ties to the William Morris Endeavor talent agency. “The international opportunity for the Margaritaville ecosystem is really exciting,” said Joe Ravitch, Raine’s . Mr. Buffett and Mr. Cohlan are of the rest of Margaritaville. In success, could Margaritaville be a candidate for a public offering? “The brand isn’t yet for everybody,” said the political polling expert Douglas E. Schoen, who has conducted extensive consumer research for Margaritaville. “It’s not for me, and it’s not for most journalists. But it’s much, much bigger than I initially thought. ” Mr. Schoen added, “It has the potential to be a major global brand. ” To understand the evolving Margaritaville, consider the Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort (that’s Hollywood, Fla.) which cost $190 million to build and held its grand opening in November. Relying almost entirely on word of mouth, the hotel has reached an occupancy rate of 93 percent, the lodging equivalent of a smash hit. Euphoric Margaritaville executives estimate that Parrot Heads, as Mr. Buffett’s fans are known, make up less than 50 percent of the bookings: The hotel is attracting people that Mr. Buffett was probably not reaching before. “I personally sweated every freaking detail of this place for eight years,” said a beaming Mr. Cohlan in March, as he held court in the hotel’s lobby, which is accented with palm trees and a lime green and turquoise carpet. “Hey! Good to see you!” he hollered to an employee as she stopped to tell him how proud she was to work at the hotel. “Thank you, doll,” he said. “That means the world. ” Located about 40 minutes north of Miami Beach, Hollywood is still Old Florida, land of grim souvenir shops, jai alai courts and cinder block motels. And some residents worried that Mr. Buffett’s arrival would make it worse. “We don’t need people being wasted away in Margaritaville,” Audrey Joynt, a past president of the Hollywood Beach Business Association, told The Miami Herald in 2010, as Mr. Cohlan was pushing city managers to approve the project. But Margaritaville surprised critics by building a quite upscale resort. Envisioning a hotel sound system that blares “Cheeseburger in Paradise” until you want to lose your mind? Think again. Mr. Buffett’s songs play very sparingly. In fact, his persona often seems a half step removed. Rooms, decorated with white shutters, aqua blue accents and hardwood floors, start at nearly $300 and go up to $1, 800 for oceanfront suites. The steakhouse, JWB Prime Steak and Seafood, could hold its own in Manhattan. “Hotel companies always make the same mistake when the budget gets tight at the end of a project,” Mr. Cohlan said. “The last coat of paint gets cut. But guess what? That’s what your guests see. ” Pat McBride, whose McBride Company designed the hotel, noted the lobby chandelier, made from dozens of margarita glasses. “It looks almost like Lalique,” he said by phone. Go ahead and roll your eyes. But see it and you realize that he was kind of right. There is a boozy, ’ ’ clientele, for sure. But there are also men and women in business suits — the hotel has 30, 000 square feet of meeting space — and guests like Lynn and Pam Wilken, visitors in their 50s from Ashkum, Ill. where they farm soybeans and run a candle business. “We don’t follow Jimmy Buffett’s music, but his name gave me comfort about booking a hotel online that we didn’t know anything about,” Mrs. Wilken said, as she lounged poolside with her husband. The couple, finishing a weeklong stay at the resort, vowed to come back, despite a caveat or two. “You don’t want to wander too far down the beach, particularly at night, but that’s fine with us. ” Mr. Wilken added: “It’s hard to put your finger on, but there is something authentic about this place. It doesn’t feel forced on you. ” That may be the biggest compliment of all. For a lifestyle brand to flourish, it cannot feel as if it was created by a corporate focus group. That genuineness is a difficult trick to pull off, as hotel giants like Marriott and Hyatt have learned with their attempts to build boutique chains like Edition and Andaz. “We somehow got it right,” Mr. Buffett said of the Hollywood property. “Thank you, Baby Jesus and John Cohlan. ” Fittingly, the Margaritaville empire started with a nap. The year was 1996, and Mr. Cohlan, then working for the corporate raider Nelson Peltz, known for targeting companies like Snapple and Arby’s, had gotten to know Mr. Buffett’s wife, Jane, on the Palm Beach, Fla. society circuit. One day, Mr. Cohlan turned up at the Buffetts’ home to talk about the potential growth of Margaritaville, which was then just a popular song — released in 1977, it peaked at No. 8 on the pop charts — and a chainlet. But the singer was asleep. “Had it not been for Jane, who went to wake Jimmy up, this extremely successful partnership might not have happened,” said Richard Plepler, the chief executive of HBO, who knows both men. Asked about this anecdote, Mr. Buffett smiled sheepishly and said: “I do like a good nap. That’s true. ” Mr. Buffett opened his first Margaritaville restaurant in 1987 in Key West, Fla. It found instant success — so much, in fact, that he opened a second location in New Orleans in 1993. But the sequel was a relative dud, and Mr. Buffett applied the brakes, rebuffing an offer from the Walt Disney Company to build a lavishly themed Margaritaville at a Walt Disney World shopping mall. Enter Mr. Cohlan. He had recently experienced the Parrot Head phenomenon for himself — their wild tropical clothing, their endless tailgating — and had an epiphany. “All I really knew before I went to that concert was that girls would put on halter tops and play his songs when the weather turned nice,” he said. “When I saw him perform, I said to myself, ‘Whoa. Holy . This is a brand. ’” Mr. Buffett took on Mr. Cohlan as a partner, and together they began to expand Margaritaville, beginning at the Universal Orlando Resort, which at that time was owned by Seagram. Mr. Buffett recalled how he told Seagram during negotiations that he had one final request: “Can you just tilt that bridge a little so that people leaving your park literally roll into the front doors of my restaurant?” Mr. Cohlan and Mr. Buffett cracked up recalling the look on the Seagram team’s face. Just before the Orlando opening, Mr. Cohlan played hardball with Seagram over a liquor matter and inadvertently started a new line of business. Seagram, which also owned Mr. Buffett’s record company then, had introduced Parrot Bay rum, which Mr. Buffett felt his band’s Parrot Head imagery. Mr. Cohlan — quite seriously, this time — told Seagram that Margaritaville would boycott its alcohol. In a matter of weeks, Margaritaville had its own tequila and beer brand. The theme park Margaritaville has been a runaway hit since opening in 1999. Last year, according to Mr. Cohlan, the restaurant generated about $22 million in sales. Something about Mr. Buffett’s mellow, unchallenging persona seems to make parents feel O. K. about tying one on with their children in tow. “Believe me,” Mr. Buffett said, “I didn’t know I was going to end up as family entertainment, either. ” Not everything has gone Margaritaville’s way. For starters, that early beer, Lone Palm Lager, named after one of Mr. Buffett’s songs, did not sell as they had hoped. “We only found out later, after we did consumer research to figure out what was going on, that the name bummed people out because it made them think about drinking alone,” Mr. Cohlan said. They renamed it LandShark Lager, a nod to Mr. Buffett’s song “Fins. ” : Sales started to take off. The company’s first resort, a planned $700 million casino and hotel in Biloxi, Miss. was delayed by the economic collapse. Margaritaville eventually opened a much smaller hotel in Biloxi, but it went belly up, perhaps because the company picked a bad location. This month Mr. Cohlan announced a third attempt, set to open later this year. This time, there will be more of a family focus, and no casino. Eight more Margaritaville hotels, including one in Grand Cayman, are in various stages of development. Margaritaville’s signature restaurant chain is expanding quickly — it will soon push into California for the first time, opening at Universal Studios Hollywood — but a spinoff series of restaurants in the Midwest called Cheeseburger in Paradise has struggled. Margaritaville sold its Cheeseburger stake in 2005 and, since then, roughly half the locations have closed as the brand was lobbed between owners. Still, Margaritaville has mostly had smooth sailing, building a unique corporate culture — employees all use the same valediction in emails: “Fins Up!” — and drawing fanatic customers like Carol and Butch Wayland, who live in St. Catharines, Ontario. The Waylands, who own a trade school, have made it their mission to visit as many Margaritaville outposts as possible in May they plan to try their first Margaritaville at Sea, a new offering by Norwegian Cruise Line. “We’re not Parrot Heads,” Mrs. Wayland said. “We’re just normal, everyday people who happen to be residents of the Margaritaville state of mind. ” Mrs. Wayland, who is in her 50s, added that she had “spent a fortune” on Margaritaville products, including hats, dress shirts, shorts, clocks, coffee mugs, barware, a blender and underwear. They also have a framed photograph of themselves popping out of a Jacuzzi, snapped at a Margaritaville location in the Caribbean. If all of this sounds like maybe Mrs. Wayland sometimes has one margarita too many, she wouldn’t entirely disagree. “That too!” she said. “I once fell off a bar stool at the Margaritaville in Turks and Caicos and landed right in the water. Kerplop. ” | 0fake |
WHOA! Brand New Poll Finds Trump Taking YUGE Lead Over Crooked Hillary | Trump landslide in 5 4 3 2 1A new poll shows that Donald Trump has vastly improved his support among voters since becoming the presumptive Republican nominee. The Washington Post/ABC poll released Saturday night shows that Trump is now favored by 46 percent among registered voters, with Clinton at 44 percent.That marks an eleven-point shift towards Trump since the same poll conducted in March. Clinton is down five points among registered voters while Trump is up six.Forty-four percent of voters said they wanted a third-party candidate to run, but 51 percent said they were satisfied with the current field.When asked to pick Clinton, Trump, or Romney, only 22 percent of voters chose the former failed Republican nominee, while 37 percent chose Clinton and 35 percent chose Trump.The poll was conducted May 16-19 of 1,005 adults (829 registered voters) with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Via: Breitbart News | 1real |
'You were my guy,' Trump told Macron, French official says | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told Emmanuel Macron on Thursday that he had been his favorite to win the French presidential election and media reports that he was backing far-right leader Marine Le Pen were wrong, a French official said. “You were my guy,” Trump told the new French president when they met for the first time in Brussels, the French presidency official said. Trump told Macron that, contrary to media reports during the race, he had not backed Le Pen and had followed Macron’s campaign with great attention, the source said, adding that the two leaders had spoken in English. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he did not know if Trump had said this to Macron but noted that the two men had good chemistry. Centrist Macron beat National Front leader Le Pen in a May 7 run-off vote after a hard-fought campaign that pitted Macron’s pro-European views against Le Pen’s anti-globalisation, anti-EU and anti-immigration stance. After a policeman was killed in Paris in April by a suspected Islamist militant, Trump told the Associated Press he thought the attack would “probably help” Le Pen because she was the candidate who is “strongest on borders”. However, he said he was not explicitly endorsing Le Pen. Le Pen said she was best placed to defend France’s interests in what she called the “new world” of Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. | 0fake |
'We're not electing a husband:' Tough-talking Trump wins over some skeptical women | CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s tough talk on law and order in a time of growing national insecurity appears to be winning over some of his fiercest skeptics - women initially put off by his swaggering tone, his clashes with female critics and past affairs. But so far those are mostly conservative women. As Trump hones his message, the challenge is to make it also resonate among independent or undecided female voters who are crucial to his hopes of winning the U.S. presidential election in November. Turmoil on the streets both abroad and at home could give Trump a new opportunity to do just that. On Monday, Trump tried to seize it with an evening program at the Republican National Convention with several women speakers, including his wife Melania, focused on security. She told the convention that her husband would offer the country new leadership and keep it “safe and secure.” Americans have been rattled by recent attacks in France and Florida, the murder of police officers in Texas and Louisiana, and widespread protests over the killings of unarmed black men, polls show. “We’re not electing a husband, we’re not electing a preacher, we’re electing a leader,” said Kay White, a Republican delegate to the nominating convention from Tennessee who originally supported U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in the early nominating contests, or primaries. For White, it’s a one-issue election. “Security,” she said. “Nothing else matters.” A year ago, Penny Nance, president of Concerned Women for America, a conservative advocacy group, was a blistering critic of the thrice-married Trump because of comments he made about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly that many felt were sexist. But Nance now supports Trump and says the candidate can fashion an effective message for women centered on national security, she told Reuters on the sidelines of the convention. “Every day we wake up and get our kids ready for school and the television is on and there is another attack,” she said. For Trump, independents will be a tougher sell. A majority of women who identify as “independent” continue to hold an unfavorable opinion of him. According to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll from June 1 to July 15, 64 percent of independent women voters expressed a “very unfavorable” or “somewhat unfavorable” view of Trump. That compares with 89 percent of Democratic women voters and 31 percent of Republican women voters who have a similarly unfavorable view of the New York businessman. Trump isn’t the first candidate whose tough talk on security has won over women voters. George W. Bush used the same message in his re-election campaign in 2004, in the midst of his “war on terror,” to appeal to so-called security moms who were concerned about terrorism. Bush garnered 48 percent of the vote of American women in that election. By comparison, Republican candidate Mitt Romney drew 44 percent in 2012, a full 10 points behind President Barack Obama. Trump has had trouble convincing women nationally to support him ever since he entered the race in the summer of 2015, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. Among women who are expected to vote on Nov. 8, a majority expressed an unfavorable opinion of him every time they were asked in the polls. This month, women appeared to have soured even more on the likely Republican nominee: 69 percent of likely women voters expressed an unfavorable opinion of Trump in the latest July 11-15 Reuters/Ipsos polling, up from 63 percent in the five-day poll that ended on July 1. Jen Lawless, director of the Women and Politics Institute at American University, said she doubted Trump could rehabilitate his image with most women voters, saying his conflict with Kelly, in particular, had lasting damage. “I think that ship has sailed,” Lawless said. Trump’s problems with women were dramatized on Monday when Women for Trump, a voter-support group, held a sparsely attended event in Cleveland. The moderator, Jennifer Hulsey, appeared to speak for a lot of women who have found a way to support Trump. “He’s not perfect, but neither am I,” Hulsey said. Some of the women delegates interviewed by Reuters at the convention on Monday were scornful of the criticism of Trump’s attitude toward women, pointing to his daughter Ivanka, who is a top executive in the Trump Organization. Ivanka and his other daughter Tiffany are due to speak at the convention this week. “He was not my first choice or even my second choice,” said Carol Del Carlo, a Trump supporter. But, “I look at him and I see how he treats his daughters. They’re engaged, they look like a real, true family, they work in their father’s business, they’re advisors.” | 0fake |
Stockholm Suspect Was Denied Asylum and Told to Leave in ’16 - The New York Times | STOCKHOLM — The Uzbek man arrested in the terrorism rampage in central Stockholm last week was an asylum seeker whose application was rejected and who in December was given four weeks to leave the country, the Swedish police said on Sunday. The suspect, 39, had shown “sympathy for extremist organizations,” the police said. He applied for permanent residency in 2014, and the Swedish Migration Agency denied his application in June 2016, officials said. The police tried to find him in February of this year to execute the exit order, but he had gone underground, becoming a wanted man, Jonas Hysing, the national strategic commander, said at a news conference on Sunday at the Stockholm police headquarters. “We know that he has shown sympathy for extremist organizations like I. S.,” Mr. Hysing said, referring to the Islamic State terrorist group. On Friday, the man was arrested on suspicion of driving a stolen beer truck that was used to mow down a crowd of people, killing four and injuring 15 others. On Sunday, the police released more information about the victims after informing their next of kin. The dead included two Swedish citizens, one Briton and one Belgian, said Jan Evensson, the strategic commander of the Stockholm police. The father of the British victim told the Swedish newspaper Expressen that his son, Chris Bevington, 41, a senior manager at the streaming music service Spotify, died in the attack. “We are devastated that our talented and thoughtful son Chris is dead,” said the father, John Bevington, according to Expressen. The founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek, who is Swedish, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that Chris Bevington had worked at Spotify for five years. “There are no words for how missed he will be or for how sad we all are to have lost him like this,” Mr. Ek wrote, adding, “I am as deeply saddened and upset as all of you that something like this could happen in Sweden. ” The police have not provided any more information about the victims. A police spokesman, Kjell Lindgren, said a second person was being held on suspicion of participating in the attack. The assault, in a city known for its tolerance and openness, came after the Swedish Security Service, or Sapo, warned in March in its annual security report that a terrorist acting alone was likely to attack somewhere in the country within a year. Hans Brun, a security expert with the Swedish Defence University, said the police had worried about the possibility of such an assault. “Unfortunately, this type of attack is something we have been discussing for years,” he said, adding that the police, Sapo and other government agencies had long been preparing, resulting in a response on Friday. “They put Stockholm under lockdown quite quickly,” Mr. Brun said in a phone interview. “They shut down the subway. They found the perpetrator quickly and, obviously, had some reliable intelligence quite early on. ” The danger is not only that this type of attack is hard to prevent, he said, but also that there are so many people who are willing to do it. “Given the information that the Swedish Security Service has been providing in recent years, there are a couple of hundred people in Sweden who have the capability and the will to carry out these type of attacks,” he said. Since 2010, when Taimour a disaffected Iraqi Swede, blew himself up on a side street just yards from where Friday’s attack took place, the threat level in Sweden has been three on a scale of five, where three indicates the possibility of an attack and five represents the most serious threat. Magnus Ranstorp, the head of terrorism research at the Swedish Defence University, said that while it was nearly impossible to deter these types of attacks, more could be done to deter potential terrorists. “You need legislation that bites and is effective,” he said. “And that may be solved by criminalizing associating with a terrorist organization. ” Sweden has tightened its laws in recent years to prevent terrorism, and more changes are planned, said Anders Ygeman, the nation’s interior minister. “We have taken the first step, criminalizing traveling to and fighting with a terrorist organization in another country or receiving terrorist training,” Mr. Ygeman said. “The next step is criminalizing participation that is not linked to killing — for example, being a chef for or supporting a terrorist organization in another way other than being a part of killing or making bombs. ” Mr. Ygeman said there was broad support in Sweden for this kind of law. As many as 300 people have gone from Sweden to Syria or Iraq to fight with the Islamic State, according to Sapo, and about half that number have returned. So far, there is nothing to indicate that the man in custody had been fighting alongside extremists, Mr. Ygeman said. But the Stockholm police said the man had been able to elude the authorities’ attempts to deport him by giving them an incorrect address. | 0fake |
Trump aides tell him to keep Sessions as U.S. attorney general: sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Aides to U.S. President Donald Trump are urging him not to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions despite rifts between the two men, sources familiar with internal White House conversations said on Wednesday. Media reports that Sessions offered to resign recently surfaced earlier this week. They added to pressure on Trump as former FBI Director James Comey, who was abruptly fired last month, prepared to testify in Congress on Thursday about his interactions with the president. Trump did not accept Sessions’ resignation offer and is now being advised to keep his attorney general in place, at least for the time being, two sources said. Political and legal advisers inside the White House have told Trump over the past month that firing Sessions would create another political fire storm and make it more difficult to fill key jobs inside his administration, the sources said on the condition of anonymity. “That’s the advice he’s been given. But he might not listen to that advice,” one of the sources said. A senior White House official confirmed aides have been urging Trump to keep Sessions but said it was because “he’s the best man for the job.” A spokeswoman at the Justice Department declined to comment. Trump has repeatedly shrugged off advice from close aides. Earlier this week, he said the Justice Department led by Sessions was wrong to submit a “watered down, politically correct” version of his proposed travel ban on people from several Muslim-majority countries to the Supreme Court.” The outburst weakened government lawyers’ defense that the travel ban, which has been blocked by federal courts, was not intended as a ban on Muslims. Sessions offered to resign because of tensions with Trump over his decision to recuse himself from a federal investigation into ties between Trump’s associates and Russian officials when Russia was allegedly meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, according to media reports. A former senator, Sessions was one of the first senior Republican lawmakers to endorse Trump as a presidential candidate and played an important role in the campaign. He recused himself from the Russia investigation in March after he failed to disclose a meeting he had with Russia’s ambassador in Washington. Trump and Sessions were together at the White House on May 17, when Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein surprised them both by appointing former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to head the Russia investigation. After learning the news, Trump lashed out at Sessions, blaming him for recusing himself from the Russia probe and leaving the ability to appoint an outside investigator in Rosenstein’s hands, the sources said. Trump also complained that Sessions had not warned him about Rosenstein’s decision. The Justice Department said Sessions played no part in the decision. | 0fake |
Italian prime minister to meet Trump in U.S. on April 20: diplomatic sources | ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in the United States on April 20, diplomatic sources said on Monday. Italy holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven industrialized nations and is due to host a summit of leaders in Sicily in May, which is expected to be Trump’s first trip to Europe as president. Trump has already met a number of major power leaders in Washington since taking office in January, including British Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. | 0fake |
Off-Duty Black Cop Profiled And Beaten By White Officer | Videos Off-Duty Black Cop Profiled And Beaten By White Officer I went to the ground I kept saying, ‘I’m the police, I’m the police.’ There were two other officers there. I felt their presence and they placed me in handcuffs, and then somebody hit me in the right side of my face.” Be Sociable, Share! Washington D.C. police officer Robert Parker.
An off duty D.C. police officer says he was brutalized by a Prince George’s County police officer who profiled him as a suspect after a shooting at Iverson Mall on Tuesday.
A few minutes after a man was shot and wounded at the mall, Prince George’s County police descended on the Temple Hills neighborhood looking for a suspect who was only described as a black male wearing a hoodie and blue jeans, according to Paul Wagner of Fox 5 .
Robert Parker, an off-duty D.C. police officer who was also dressed in a hoodie and blue jeans, was walking away from the mall down Iverson Street. That’s when he says a black Prince George’s County officer pulled up alongside him in a police cruiser.
Obeying what he was told by the officer didn’t do Parker any good. Even though he obeyed, he was still thrown to the floor and punched in the head. “And I can’t remember if I said okay or was just kind of baffled at the moment, and he walked up to me and he started patting me down and I’m just thinking, is this really happening? Because I know the protocol because I’m a police officer,” Parker said. “He reaches around and feels my sidearm, my firearm and I look at him and I see the look in his eye and I say, ‘I’m the police.’ I’m literally slammed. I went to the ground I kept saying, ‘I’m the police, I’m the police.’ There were two other officers there. I felt their presence and they placed me in handcuffs, and then somebody hit me in the right side of my face.”
Parker says he wasn’t resisting and felt the take down and punch were totally unwarranted. He says he hates to pull the race card, but believes had he been white, the take down and what he views as excessive force would not have happened.
Parker injured his wrist when he was assaulted and went for treatment at the police and fire clinic as well as a hospital emergency room.
Prince George’s County police are defending their officer that assaulted an innocent man. They say he’s a 20-year veteran with a lot of experience, and is a supervisor in that section of the county. They also issued a lengthy statement which reads: “Based on our preliminary investigation and preliminary review of an audio recording of the encounter in question, we believe our officer acted professionally and with restraint. This encounter took place within several minutes of the shooting being reported at the mall and approximately three blocks from the scene. Our officer who was responding to the shooting, which had just prompted the lock-down of two nearby schools – spotted a man walking who matched the description. Our officer, a sergeant assigned to our district 4 station, got out of his cruiser and began an investigatory stop. During a pat down, our officer discovered the man had a gun on his waistband. At that point, our officer took the man to the ground during a brief struggle. Our preliminary investigation reveals that it was only after the man was restrained by the original officer and backup officers did he identify himself as a police officer.”
Even off duty officers are not immune to police brutality. Parker had a right to carry a concealed firearm and Maryland allows concealed carry of firearms, so even if he did not identify himself as an officer, there is still no reason to believe he was breaking any laws and still no reason to treat him the way they did. Will these officers be held accountable for assaulting an innocent man?
Watch the video below… | 1real |
THE OBAMA LEGACY: Worst Economic Growth Of All 13 Post-WWII Presidents [VIDEO] | Last week the Commerce Department released its third revision for fourth-quarter 2016 gross domestic product. The number came in at a paltry 2.1 percent, meaning that growth during President Obama s final year in office the end of an Error of Hope landed with a big thud at just 1.6 percent.That low-water mark puts the Obama presidency in last place among all the post-World War II presidents when it comes to economic growth.There have been 13 post-WWII presidents, beginning with Harry Truman, who had the disadvantage of beginning in the aftermath of war in 1946, during which the economy contracted 11.6 percent four times the contraction any other negative year since and even he bested Obama s economic record!Truman, a moderate Democrat, also posted the two best years of growth on record: 1950 at 8.7 percent and 1951 at 8 percent, and there was no zero percent interest rate to gin up the economy back then.Thirteenth of 13 presidents is no mild distinction. Obama had eight full years to enact a growth policy, while many of his predecessors never had two complete terms. George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter had just four years each, Gerald Ford had less than three years and Richard Nixon had five.I m not the least bit surprised the Obama economy was a failure. I ve chronicled it for more than seven years in this column.Here are the average growth rates for each president:Johnson (1964-68), 5.3 percent Kennedy (1961-63), 4.3 percent Clinton (1993-2000), 3.9 percent Reagan (1981-88), 3.5 percent Carter (1977-80), 3.3 percent Eisenhower (1953-60), 3 percent Nixon (1969-74), 2.8 percent Ford (1975-76), 2.6 percent G.H.W. Bush (1989-92), 2.3 percent G.W. Bush (2001-08), 2.1 percent Truman (1946-52), 1.7 percent Obama (2009-16), 1.6 percentVia: NYP | 1real |
Planning group puts $43 billion price tag on Illinois transportation fix | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Illinois needs $43 billion over 10 years to repair and improve its transportation network and boost the state economy, according to a report released on Monday by the Metropolitan Planning Council. “The $43 billion needed to rebuild and improve our transportation infrastructure is less than what we’re wasting today on vehicle repairs due to poor road conditions, time lost to traffic congestion, and population and jobs going to neighboring states,” Jim Reilly, a senior fellow at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Chicago region planning group, said in a statement. The fifth-largest U.S. state is in its 10th month without a full fiscal 2016 budget due to an impasse between its Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature. Illinois is struggling with a $6.7 billion bill backlog as pensions and debt payments gobble up a big chunk of available revenue. The report called for raising $2.7 billion a year by increasing the current 19 cents-a-gallon state gasoline tax by 30 cents and hiking vehicle registration fees, which cost $101 a year for most cars, by 50 percent. Half of the new money would be tapped for pay-as-you-go projects, with the other half backing $25 billion of 25-year bonds. The money would be spent on state and local roads, mass transit and railroads. The council recommended an amendment to the Illinois Constitution creating a transportation trust fund to ensure the new revenue is not diverted for other purposes. | 0fake |
Former U.S. national security adviser Brzezinski dies at 89 | (Reuters) - Zbigniew Brzezinski, who served as U.S. President Jimmy Carter’s national security adviser during the Iran hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and drove a normalization of relations with China, has died. He was 89. Brzezinski’s daughter Mika, a host on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show, said her father died peacefully on Friday. She did not give the cause of death. “He was known to his friends as Zbig, to his grandchildren as Chief and to his wife as the enduring love of her life. I just knew him as the most inspiring, loving and devoted father any girl could ever have,” she said on Instagram. Brzezinski, the hawkish son of a Polish diplomat, was national security adviser for all four years of the 1977-81 Carter presidency. The period saw tumultuous international events, including the Iranian revolution, the taking of 52 Americans as hostages in Tehran and a failed rescue mission, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Brzezinski was plucked by Carter from the academic world and saw many of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy moves as evidence it could not be trusted. That placed him at odds with two of Carter’s closest advisers: Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, who pushed for a Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT-2) with Moscow, and Defense Secretary Harold Brown, who urged a U.S.-Soviet accord to curb conventional forces in Europe. When Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan, Brzezinski strongly backed arming Afghan rebels. His hardline stance led Pravda, the Soviet Communist Party newspaper, to denounce him as a “foe of detente.” Carter said Brzezinski was brilliant, dedicated and loyal. “Rosalynn (Carter’s wife) and I are saddened,” he said in a statement. “He was an important part of our lives for more than four decades and was a superb public servant.” Former President Barack Obama called Brzezinski “an accomplished public servant, a powerful intellect, and a passionate advocate for American leadership. “His influence spanned several decades, and I was one of several Presidents who benefited from his wisdom and counsel. You always knew where Zbig stood, and his ideas and advocacy helped shape decades of American national security policy.” In a joint statement, former President George H. W. Bush and his national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, hailed Brzezinski as “a great American ... a good man and a good friend.” While he was skeptical of Soviet motives and objectives, Brzezinski nurtured a diplomatic friendship between the United States and China, which culminated in a trip to Beijing in June 1978 that led to re-establishment of diplomatic ties. Brzezinski’s view of the Soviet Union may have been colored by his childhood experiences. Born in Warsaw, Poland, on March 28, 1928, he was taken as a youngster to Canada where his father served as a diplomat. When the communists took over Poland at the end of World War Two, the family remained in the West. Brzezinski received a doctorate from Harvard University in 1953 and became an American citizen in 1958. He voiced support for U.S. policy in Vietnam in the mid-1960s, and served on the policy planning staff of President Lyndon Johnson’s State Department. Along with David Rockefeller, chairman of the Chase Manhattan Bank, Brzezinski helped to found the Trilateral Commission, a private group that promoted closer ties between North America, Western Europe and Japan. Carter had known Brzezinski before his election and asked him to leave Columbia University, where the effects of Soviet communism had been the focus of much of his work. Having regular access to Carter gave Brzezinski vast influence, leading to reports that he and Vance were rivals for the president’s ear. The rivalry lasted until Vance resigned after the aborted mission to rescue American hostages in Iran in April 1980. Before the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, Vance had resisted Brzezinski’s proposal that Washington back a military crackdown against Iran’s radical Islamic forces. Once the embassy was taken by followers of Islamic leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Vance sought Carter’s backing for an attempt to come to terms with Khomeini. Brzezinski characteristically favored military action to free the 52 American hostages and punish Iran. Carter eventually accepted Brzezinski’s proposal for the ill-fated mission, in which eight servicemen died. Brzezinski also took part in negotiations toward the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in 1979, which was seen by many as the major achievement of Carter’s presidency. Despite his lifelong antipathy to Soviet communism, he joined Defense Secretary Brown in spearheading an unsuccessful drive to win Senate approval for the 1979 SALT-2 arms control accord. Although it never cleared the Senate as a result of the December 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, SALT-2 remained in unofficially effect beyond its original five-year lifespan. After the Carter years, Brzezinski became a consultant on international affairs and a senior adviser at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. He also taught foreign policy at Johns Hopkins University. He wrote frequent opinion articles for newspapers and published several books. These included “Strategic Vision: America and the Crisis of Global Power” in 2012. Then Vice President George H.W. Bush, trying to build an image as a tough foreign policy realist, considered it a coup to secure Brzezinski’s support in his 1988 presidential campaign. Brzezinski was at times critical of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. He was sharply critical of Bush’s “war on terror” and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. After Donald Trump’s election in November, he observed that the world was watching U.S. political developments “with some stupefaction.” Brzezinski had endorsed Barack Obama in 2007, saying the Democratic presidential candidate recognized the challenge of bringing “a new face, a new sense of direction, a new definition of America’s role in the world.” Brzezinski had three children with his wife Emilie. | 0fake |
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LOL! RATINGS CRASHER Megyn Kelly Is DESTROYED On Social Media For Using Her NBC Show To Give Liberal Trump Sexual Assault Accusers A Platform | Last week, President Trump totally humiliated ABC News on Twitter, as he pointed out their embarrassing attempt at gotcha journalism when Brian Ross erroneously reported in a BREAKING NEWS story, that Michael Flynn was told by Donald Trump to talk to the Russian Ambassador during his campaign. Brian Ross was suspended for a month. President Trump suggested should be fired for his #fakenews reporting.Congratulations to @ABC News for suspending Brian Ross for his horrendously inaccurate and dishonest report on the Russia, Russia, Russia Witch Hunt. More Networks and papers should do the same with their Fake News! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2017This week, it was NBC s Never-Trump Megyn Kelly s chance to exact revenge on President Trump, who after attacking him during his first debate, lost her conservative Fox News fanbase and basically saw her promising career come to a screeching halt. NBC picked up Kelly in a $23 million per year contract in a gamble that liberals would warm up to the formerly conservative host. NBC has since found out that conservatives no longer want anything to do with Kelly, and liberals despise her for her past performances as a top-rated host on conservative-leaning FOX News.Twitter users were on fire after Megyn Kelly did her part to help tear down President Trump (again):Megyn Kelly,You and your employer need to smear Trump but there's nothing left to accuse him of so you're going to re-interview Trump accusers who've already been proven pos liars?How desperate you must be. Philip Schuyler (@FiveRights) December 11, 2017Today, Megyn Kelly traipsed out a trio of Donald Trump accusers on her failing show. Rest assured, there will be many more liberal accusers who come out against Donald Trump, as racism appears to have lost its glow, as a means to draw voters into the Democrat Party, as Americans have become tired of watching Democrats constantly drawing from the bottom of the deck, as a way to cloud Trump s Make America Great Again agenda of a pro-growth economy, jobs, education, lower taxes, and America first.Megyn Kelly, who is desperate for ratings, must have been incredibly disappointed when breaking news of a botched suicide bomber attack in New York City was reported at the same time her Democrat Donald Trump accuser was telling her story on her show.Daily Mail A trio of the president s accusers reemerged on Monday to hound him for sexually harassing them.Samantha Holvey, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks had previously made allegations against Trump and appeared on Megyn Kelly Today to demand justice as the White House resumed its claim that the issue had been litigated in last year s election. All of a sudden, he s all over, me, kissing and groping and groping and kissing, said Leeds, a self-proclaimed Democrat, who says she revealed her story because I wanted people to know what kind of a person that Trump really is what a pervert he is. This is the same Jessica Leeds that accused Trump of sexual harassment.Think Megyn Kelly will bring this picture up?Think she ll bring up the time that Jessica Leeds was in a two year property law suit with Trump? pic.twitter.com/AvdEyYu8Ew WhiteNitemare (@Carl_Anthony215) December 11, 2017Leeds claims that Trump assaulted on a plane in the 70s and called her a c*** when he ran into her some time later at a party in New York while he was still married to his first wife Ivana.Megyn Kelly asked former Trump accuser Jessica Leeds what she wants other women to know about sexual harassment. Leeds replied, We have a problem in that we have been enculturated all of this time for all of this time, for years and years and years, to be compliant. Leeds went on to say, For the woman who voted for Trump, they just didn t want to vote for a woman It became reasonably difficult to believe a single work Leeds had to say when she used the word enculturated when referring to her alleged meeting with Donald Trump. It became impossible to believe a word she said when Leeds followed up her comment by exposing her bitter feelings towards women for not voting for Hillary. The only thing missing from Leeds during her appearance on the Megyn Kelly show was her pussy hat and an I m a committed Democrat Feminist tattoo on her forehead. Watch:WATCH: "If there are other women out there, what do you want them to know?" Megyn asks Trump accusers Jessica Leeds, Samantha Holvey & Rachel Cooks on #MegynTODAY pic.twitter.com/YPt1CxieUA Megyn Kelly TODAY (@MegynTODAY) December 11, 2017Watch Crooks tell Megyn her alleged story here: Is it true he [Trump] asked for your phone number? @megynkelly Yeah I remember saying, What do you need that for? Trump accuser Rachel Crooks on @MegynTODAY pic.twitter.com/OCX1ZpnV2J TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 11, 2017Watch the obvious excitment of Megyn Kelly to be able to pretend as though she s relevant with a breaking news announcemnt with the official White House response to the allegations:WATCH: Statement the @WhiteHouse just provided to #MegynTODAY pic.twitter.com/0hahP6goW1 Megyn Kelly TODAY (@MegynTODAY) December 11, 2017Daily Mail The two other women said that Trump s conduct while he was a businessman left them shocked and devastated and feeling very gross and very dirty. I was so uncomfortable, and a little, yeah, threatened, like I didn t have a choice, Crooks on Monday said.Kelly s program was preempted in New York as an explosion went off in Manhattan. Her show aired in other parts of the country, however, including Washington.Holvey, a former Miss USA contestant, said that Trump came backstage in 2006 and reviewed the women while they were indecent.She recalled thinking at the time that it would be a meet and great with Trump. But it wasn t.The former Miss North Carolina says Trump was just looking me over like I was just a piece of meat. I was not a human being. I did not have a brain I did not have a personality. I was just simply there for his pleasure. It left me feeling very gross, very dirty, like this is not what I signed up for. Here s how Twitter responded to Megyn s show: You know the Russia narrative is over when Megyn Kelly is having Trump accusers on her show.It will be never ending the next 3-7 years.The media is becoming the little boy that cried wolf.If they ever did find REAL dirt on Trump, no-one will believe them. Josh (@JoshNoneYaBiz) December 11, 2017Megyn Kelly is interviewing the lying 3 blind mice Trump accusers to save her failing show. Hope it s the final blow revealing to all that it s all about Megyn, for Megyn & nothing but Megyn s self serving ass who owes Trump gratitude for her relevancy. Tiff (@LATiffani1) December 11, 2017 | 1real |
Fighting and air strikes in Yemen's Sanaa trap civilians and halt aid: U.N. | GENEVA (Reuters) - Fighting and air strikes have intensified in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa, where roads are blocked and tanks are deployed on many streets, trapping civilians and halting delivery of vital aid including fuel to supply clean water, the United Nations said on Monday. Some of the fiercest clashes are around the diplomatic area near the U.N. compound, while aid flights in and out of Sanaa airport have been suspended, the world body said in a statement following its appeal for a humanitarian pause on Tuesday. The escalating situation threatens to push the barely functioning basic services ... to a standstill. These services have already been seriously compromised with the latest shock of the impact of the blockade, it said, adding that fighting had also spread to other governorates, such as Hajjah. | 0fake |
Berlusconi eyes political resurrection, unhindered by sex scandals | ROME (Reuters) - In a post-Harvey Weinstein world, logic would dictate that Silvio Berlusconi, who hosted wild parties with young women and brags about his sexual prowess, would not have a ghost of a chance at political resurrection. But logic and Italian politics have never been synonymous. On Monday, the four-time former prime minister s right-wing bloc relished a huge political victory in regional elections in Sicily. Silvio, as his die-hard adoring acolytes simply call him, was back in the driver s seat. Berlusconi is Alive, was the headline in La Verita, a right-wing newspaper, on Tuesday. The mainstream Corriere della Sera ran a cartoon showing Berlusconi, wrapped in a burial shroud, emerging from a tomb like Lazarus in the New Testament. The regional Sicilian ballot, in which Berlusconi s candidate, Nello Musumeci, won big, was seen as a dry run for nationwide elections due before May. As the 81-year-old media tycoon campaigned tirelessly for Musumeci, betting that a victory in Sicily would be the springboard for a national return to power of the center-right, the ex-premier s sex scandals were no issue. Unfortunately, this is a country where if one violates rules on sexual ethics, he is admired, said Anna Foa, a history professor who is on a team of women who write a monthly edition on women s issues of the Vatican newspaper L Osservatore Romano. Earlier this month, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon resigned after admitting touching a radio presenter s knee repeatedly in 2002 - relatively tame behavior compared to Berlusconi s past sex scandals. This is a country - and I am sorry to have to say this - where breaking the rules brings votes, Foa said. Everyone wants to be the one who breaks the rules and gets away with it, and Berlusconi did this in a sphere that people like best - the sexual sphere. Bunga Bunga - the term of uncertain origin that the billionaire media magnate gave to his wild parties with young women at his plush residence near Milan - is now part of the modern Italian lexicon. Partly as a result of the sex scandals, Berlusconi went through a very public divorce from his second wife, Veronica Lario, in 2014. His current partner, Francesca Pascale, is 49 years his junior. Berlusconi is due to stand trial on charges he bribed witnesses to silence them over accusations he paid for sex with young women. In an earlier, related case, he was acquitted of having sex with one when she was still 17. He denies all wrongdoing. But far from being a hindrance, commentators say that in Italian politics, scandals can help, if only because voters believe there is little left to hide. Berlusconi is like a used car that comes with a guarantee. You know what you are going to get, said Giovanni Orsina, professor of modern history at Rome s Luiss University. Even a person who is 81 years old and has gone through all these issues and scandals can seem appealing..., not because of his own strength but because of the weaknesses of others. For now, Berlusconi cannot run for office due to a 2013 tax fraud conviction. But he hopes the European Court of Human Rights overturns this ban in time for him to run next year. Even if the courts deny him the chance, he would still be calling the shots as leader of the center-right in the event of a victory at the national elections. More than 50 women have accused Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein of having sexually harassed or assaulted them over the past three decades. He has denied having non-consensual sex with anyone. The allegations against Weinstein have prompted many more women as well as men to share stories in the media about improper behavior by powerful men in their countries. Not so in Italy, where women have for the most part remained silent despite confidential polls showing that many were asked for sexual favors in order to keep their jobs or advance their careers. We are still a backwards country where women who speak out about sexual abuse are accused of exaggerating, said Michela Marzano, an Italian philosopher who teaches at Paris Descartes University. There is an unconscious adoption of the concept of a patriarchal order and male superiority and there is very little solidarity among women. | 0fake |
Qatari Emir to meet Turkey's Erdogan in Ankara: Turkish presidency | ANKARA (Reuters) - Qatar s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani will hold talks in Ankara on Thursday with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, an ally of Doha in its dispute with Gulf Arab neighbors. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt and Bahrain cut diplomatic and trade links with Qatar three months ago, suspending air and shipping routes with the world s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas. They say Qatar supports regional foe Iran and Islamists. Qatar denies the charges and says the economic boycott aims at neutering an independent foreign policy it says promotes peaceful regional reform and fighting terrorism. Last month Turkey held joint military exercises with Qatari forces in the Gulf state. It has said it will deploy 3,000 troops at a military base there and has increased trade with Qatar since the start of the embargo. Turkey s presidency announced Sheikh Tamim s trip in a statement on Wednesday but gave no details of the talks, which will coincide with a visit to Ankara by the prime minister of Kuwait, which has sought to mediate in the Gulf Arab dispute. | 0fake |
Sea of black in Bangkok as thousands flock to late king's funeral | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand bade a final goodbye to its beloved late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Thursday in a ceremony steeped in ancient rituals, processions and Buddhist rites that drew hundreds of thousands of mourners. Despite heavy downpours, black-clad mourners crowded Bangkok s historic quarter where the king s cremation took place. The $90 million funeral marks the end of an era for many Thais who had only ever known King Bhumibol as their monarch. It ushers in the reign of the late king s son King Maha Vajiralongkorn, or Rama X, who ascended the throne last year but whose coronation can only take place after his father s funeral. King Vajiralongkorn has overseen sweeping changes to the royal household, including the running of palace finances. Earlier in the day members of the Thai royal family, visiting dignitaries and government officials placed sandalwood flowers at the royal funeral pyre. The cremation of King Bhumibol began with Buddhist religious rites and ceremonial candle-lighting by saffron-robed monks. Many of those lining the Thai capital s streets had slept overnight on pavements near the Grand Palace to capture vantage spots for the funeral procession that wended past buildings draped in yellow marigolds. This is the last goodbye, said one tearful visitor, Pimsupak Suthin, 42, who traveled from the northern province of Nan to attend the function. I really love and miss him. It is very difficult to describe. King Bhumibol, also known as King Rama IX, died last October aged 88 after ruling for seven decades. He played a pivotal role in maintaining stability during years of political upheaval and rapid development. At the start of the ceremony, officials dressed in blue and orange removed a symbolic golden urn from the Dusit Maha Prasart Throne Hall and carried it through the streets to a 50-metre (165-foot) -high royal crematorium in a nearby square. The king s body was moved to the cremation area on Wednesday night from the palace, where it had been lying in state since his death. New King Maha Vajiralongkorn presided over religious chanting in the afternoon prior to the cremation at the royal crematorium, which features nine spires to mark the reign of his father, the ninth member of Thailand s Chakri Dynasty. One of the late king s daughters, Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, lit candles inside the crematorium. Thailand s supreme patriarch, Somdet Phra Maha Muniwong, led the religious ceremony, urging Thais to follow Buddhist teachings and look beyond sadness . Royals from Bhutan, Britain, Japan, Lesotho, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden, among others, attended the funeral ceremony on Thursday. Performances including the Thai Khon masked dance punctuated the evening and added a festive air to an otherwise somber day. Officials in charge of the ceremony said about 110,000 people had gathered near the cremation area, with 200,000 more nearby. The realisation of the king s departure was now sinking in, said funeral ceremony volunteer Petchpailin Jaidee, 60. The cremation makes it real, she added. I feel like he is truly gone, and it feels like the sky is falling. A sum of $90 million has been set aside for the funeral, the likes of which has never been seen in Thailand, officials have said, even though King Bhumibol was portrayed as a frugal man despite being one of the world s wealthiest monarchs. Elsewhere in the Thai capital and around the country, 85 smaller replicas of the royal crematorium and more than 870 pavilions were built for mourners to lay sandalwood flowers and pay their final respects. Sites to offer sandalwood flowers were also set up in 94 countries to give overseas Thais a chance to say good-bye. Some onlookers clutched pictures of the late king and several prostrated themselves as the urn passed by. I was very fortunate to have been born under the reign of King Rama IX, said Piyamat Potsopho, 38, adding that she had waited for the funeral procession since Wednesday night. In Nonthaburi province north of Bangkok, a long queue of black-clad mourners waited to place sandalwood flowers in a mark of respect, as volunteers handed out food. Analysts say the king s death has left a large vacuum in the Thai psyche. King Bhumibol is often referred to as father by Thais and is credited with reviving the popularity of the monarchy. Days of heavy rain failed to deter mourners, many of whom pitched tents to secure the best access to the funeral. Many businesses around the Southeast Asian nation were shut, while Bangkok s old quarter was draped in garlands of flowers. Some government buildings placed potted marigolds around the portraits of the king. King Bhumibol was born on a Monday, a day that Thais associate with the color yellow. The king s ashes and bones will be collected in an early morning ceremony on Friday. (For a graphic on 'Thai King's Funeral' click tmsnrt.rs/2leWzcQ) | 0fake |
Shapiro Eviscerates Raucous Protesters At University Of Wisconsin | Daily Wire | Shapiro Eviscerates Raucous Protesters At University Of Wisconsin By: Hank Berrien November 16, 2016
Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro spoke at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Wednesday night, and amid raucous leftist protesters who consistently tried to interrupt him and even blocked him from being seen by the audience by creating a human wall in front of him, found a way to respond with hilarious repartee that left the audience howling and the protesters eventually filing meekly out of the auditorium.
After the ovation he received on entering, Shapiro quipped, “Hey look at this. A campus that doesn’t actually try to arrest me when I come.” He continued, “Before I begin, I did come bearing gifts for the social justice warriors in this room. I hear you’ve started wearing these safety pins around because you want to show your fellow college students how you’re not one of these awful, terrible Trump people, that you’re sensitive, and that you want to signal your virtue, so I’ve brought along these safety pins, (holding up safety pins) and I also brought you something to wear them with – this diaper."
Shapiro then held up a diaper, prompting huge laughs from the audience.
When a protester yelled at Shapiro that he should be “wearing a swastika,” Shapiro held out his yarmulke, then fired back, “In case you hadn’t noticed, the folks with the swastikas aren’t too nice to my type.”
Shapiro continued, “Stop being self-indulgent children; stop pretending that everybody who voted for Trump is a vicious racist; it’s your right to protest, of course, but you just make yourself look like an idiot when you cry over a duly-held election … Donald Trump doesn’t care about your protest. Donald Trump is sitting somewhere in Trump Tower eating a steak and bathing in your salty, salty tears.”
Referring to the attempt by leftists to prevent people who weren’t university students from attending Shapiro’s lecture, Shapiro opined: “I hear that a lot of folks at this publicly-funded university want this campus to become a sanctuary campus for illegal immigrants. I do have a quick question: if this campus can be a sanctuary for people in the country illegally, why are so many people trying to ban American citizens from this community from coming to this lecture? And by the way, I’m aware of this private Facebook page titled ‘F(***) White Supremacy: Interrupting Ben Shapiro.' With all due respect, ‘F’ you right back, gang.”
After the applause subsided and Shapiro joked about how both Black Lives Mater and the KKK target him, the real fun began. Protesters stood up, chanting, “Shame” over and over again.
Shapiro quipped, “Wow, it’s like Game of Thrones . Should I get undressed and walk down the aisle?”
The bulk of the crowd started booing the protesters. Shapiro addressed the protesters, saying, “I’m happy to talk with you,” but they responded by screaming “safety” over and over. Shapiro joked, “Did somebody fart?” The crowd responded to the protesters by chanting, “USA.”
Shapiro replied, “I tell you try not to be children; the first thing you do is start screaming like my two-year-old.” He added, “You see, this is how conservatives actually treat people; you stand up and you interrupt and you shout ‘Safety,” and you’re perfectly safe. Look at that. It’s amazing.” That provoked sustained applause.
When the protesters started screaming “Shame” again, Shapiro eviscerated them, pointing out, “If you’re going to pick a chant like ‘Shame,’ watch Game of Thrones first. The bad guys shout ‘Shame.’” The audience loved that line. On a roll, Shapiro continued, “You’re not changing anybody’s mind, All you’re showing everybody is that your collective IQ, if it were channeled into electricity, night be able to toast a piece of bread lightly.”
He continued, “Okay, can we talk now, or are you going to keep shouting? Now’s your chance to get it out. Let’s hear your feelings. C’mon. Just go for it. Or is it going to be like every thirty seconds; like an annoying microwave timer?”
When the protesters resumed chanting, Shapiro responded, “If you guys want to talk, we can talk, If you want to shout, get the hell out.” More applause.
Shapiro fired, “For God's sake, at least wait until I say something that offends you before getting offended."
Shapiro returned to deconstructing the term “social justice.” When the protesters started again, a woman who runs a soup kitchen stood up, and admonished the protesters that she had driven for ten hours that day, and that they should “shut freaking up and listen to the man speak.” That prompted a standing ovation from the crowd and Shapiro. too. He added, “See, that’s what a decent, hard-working person sounds like as opposed to a loser student here on the public dime, presumably.”
Shapiro returned to his speech: “Racial diversity doesn’t mean anything; decency means everything … Diversity isn’t our strength; decency is our strength.” He turned to the protesters: Remember that? Decency.”
The protesters screamed back, “Shame!” Shapiro fired back, “Decency!” The protesters chanted “Shame” but the crowd soon joined Shapiro in chanting “Decency,” shutting the protesters up.
As Shapiro spoke of the falsity of “white privilege,” the protesters formed a line in front of Shapiro, prompting him to quip, “If you guys are all going to come up here, can we all just have circle time or something?”
The protesters chanted “Safety” for a minute and a half, but then the crowd started yelling back, “Free speech matters.” Shapiro turned to the blackboard behind him and wrote in capital letters, “MORONS” That again prompted cheering.
One member of the audience yelled to the protesters, “At least tell us what you want, or otherwise, just get out!” That brought a sustained ovation.
After one protester tried to deliver a whiny monologue, the protesters started shouting “Safety” again, then filed out, yelling “F*** white supremacy” while flipping off Shapiro and the entire audience. That prompted the crowd to sing, “Na-na-na-na, na-na-na-na, hey, hey, good-bye.” It also promoted this from Shapiro:
Even after leaving the lecture hall, protestors continued to pound on the door.
After Shapiro explained why the protesters had not been arrested, as the university stated that it gave the protesters time to protest at the front of the stage, or otherwise it would have to shut down the entire event, he continued, “All I can wonder is if the administration would allow the same sort of privilege for any sort of conservative who decided to do this at a leftist event.”
Even after leaving the lecture hall, protestors continued to pound on the door, prompting Shapiro to quip, “Doesn’t this school give homework? Does anybody have a job around here? I guess when you’re majoring in gender and diversity studies you have a lot of time on your hands.”
Shapiro noted that he had engaged in a back-and-forth with one of the protesters, who accused him of being a white supremacist. When he asked her why she thought so, she replied that she got that impression from his image. He fired back, “Really? Was it the yarmulke that did it for you?”
He took another shot at the protesters during the speech, noting that people were born unequal, and adding, “Some people us are born rich; some of us are born poor; some of us are born smart; some of us are born protesters.”
The rest of the speech was vintage Shapiro, as was the Q&A afterward. Even the chalk was impressive:
Went back to the lecture hall and grabbed the EXACT piece of chalk @benshapiro used to write MORONS! #FactsNotFeelings #onlyatYAF pic.twitter.com/W0Ch06SaGR — Japheth Patterson (@japhood) November 17, 2016
Video of entire event below:
| 1real |
Chinese Immigrants Demand Protection from Paris Muggers | Chinese Immigrants Demand Protection from Paris Muggers David Chazan, Telegraph, August 21, 2016
Thousands of angry Chinese immigrants demonstrated in a Paris suburb yesterday (Sun) to demand police protection from muggers who they say prey on them because they are seen as easy targets.
The death of a 49-year-old Chinese tailor after being badly beaten in a robbery earlier this month has lent new urgency to the long running complaint that Asian immigrants are systematically attacked and robbed in the French capital.
“The Chinese community is dying in silence,” read a slogan on a T-shirt splashed with red to symbolise bloodstains worn by one demonstrator, Maike Song.
He said he joined the protest in Aubervilliers to pay homage to Chaoling Zhang, the father of two who died on August 14 after being punched to ground in the north-eastern suburb that is home to some 4,000 Chinese immigrants.
No arrests have been made over the attack.
About 100 Chinese residents of Aubervilliers have been attacked and robbed since November, according to the Franco-Chinese Friendship Association.
“It is because of prejudices that Chinese people are weak, docile and wealthy,” said Fang, a young female student. “I’ve been attacked three times in three years and my friends are suffering the same thing. Some have moved away from this area because of it. I don’t go out with a handbag any more.”
Community workers say many muggings are committed by members of other minorities living in the area, generally of Arab or African origin.
Paris officials corroborated the figures but declined to identify the robbers by ethnic origin.
Many Chinese immigrants own restaurants or shops and tend to be relatively well-off, but are often reluctant to go to the police. “Some victims have been illegal immigrants,” said Dominique Darden, a social worker.
The Chinese community of Paris has held other protests in recent years over the attacks.
“They happen almost every day because of poverty but it’s unbearable,” said a spokesman, Olivier Wang. “No one should have to put up with this.” | 1real |
null | Many of us do not share Donald Trump's past values, but we do love America. In my opinion, it is not about him. It is about: 1. Who will preserve and a protect the constitution? 2. Who will protect the second amendment? 3. Who will not send your son or daughter into harms way unless there is a good reason. 4. Who does not support partial-birth abortion? 5. Who wants to fix our inner cities and our infrastructure? 6. Who will improve our economy and bring jobs back to the USA? 7. Who is a nationalist and not a globalist? 8. Who will protect our vets from dying in the streets and on park benches and get them help when they need it? 9. Who supports our police, firemen, military men and women? 10. Who will protect our borders from criminal elements and terrorist? 11. Who will not leave Americans to die in foreign countries under the hands of terrorist? 12. Who is now a professed Christian and changed man according to many Christian leaders and pastors? These are just a few reasons to vote for Donald Trump. | 1real |
null | “Jesus” will save his soul not his body, Ignorant piece of shit. | 1real |
JUST IN: PRESIDENT TRUMP BLASTS “Retiring” FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and “’Leakin’ James Comey” After JUDICIAL WATCH Uncovers A McCabe Bombshell | After Judicial Watch exposed a serious ethics issue related to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe s involvement in his Democrat wife s VA Senate campaign, President Trump just took to Twitter to expose FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, calling him: The man in charge, along with leakin James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (33,000 illegally deleted emails) Trump seemed to be stunned that McCabe could be given $7000,000 for wife s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation? into her emails.How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017President Trump then tweeted:FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is racing the clock to retire with full benefits. 90 days to go?!!! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2017Judicial Watch today released 79 pages of Justice Department documents concerning ethics issues related to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe s involvement with his wife s political campaign. The documents include an email showing Mrs. McCabe was recruited for a Virginia state senate race in February 2015 by then-Virginia Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam s office.The news that Clinton used a private email server broke five days later, on March 2, 2015. Five days after that, former Clinton Foundation board member and Democrat party fundraiser, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, met with the McCabes. She announced her candidacy on March 12. Soon afterward, Clinton/McAuliffe-aligned political groups donated nearly $700,000 (40% of the campaign s total funds) to McCabe s wife for her campaign.Judicial Watch obtained the documents through a July 24, 2017, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit filed after the Justice Department failed to respond to an October 24, 2016, FOIA request (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-01494)). Judicial Watch seeks:All records of communication between FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and other FBI or Department of Justice officials regarding ethical issues concerning the involvement of Andrew McCabe and/or his wife, Dr. Jill McCabe, in political campaigns; All records related to ethical guidance concerning political activities provided to Deputy Director McCabe by FBI and/or DOJ officials or elements.Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton tweeted about McCabe using his FBI email account to promote his wife s campaign that was funded with Clinton crony cash . Fitton then suggested that McCabe is retiring after he was also implicated in the FBI anti-Trump texts, saying: No wonder he s retiring ..@JudicialWatch uncovered docs suggesting FBI #2 Andrew McCabe used his FBI email account to promote his wife's campaign (funded with Clinton crony cash). He was also implicated in the FBI anti-@RealDonaldTrump texts. No wonder he's "retiring." https://t.co/BCEaX1mFQ8 Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) December 23, 2017An October 23, 2016, email shows McCabe running the response effort to a Wall Street Journal article that was published that day, titled Clinton Ally Aided Campaign of FBI Official s Wife. McCabe provides Michael Kortan, the assistant director of Public Affairs, his version of a timeline of events surrounding the Clinton investigation and his wife s campaign. McCabe said he contacted then-FBI Chief of Staff Chuck Roseburg about Jill McCabe s candidacy and was told that the D [Comey] has no issue with it. (Judicial Watch earlier this month released documents showing that McCabe finally did recuse himself from the Clinton investigation only a week before last year s presidential election.)Internally, the Wall Street Journal article started a flurry of emails among Mrs. McCabe s campaign, Kortan, Director McCabe, and the FBI s General Counsel. Part of that exchange is an email from McCabe to someone in the General Counsel s Office: Sucks pretty much. Buckle in. It s going to get rough. The colleague responds, I know. It s awful. I shouldn t be shocked by now, but I really am appalled. McCabe also forwarded the article to Comey who responded, Copy. On October 24, 2016, a memo was sent to all Special Agents in Charge, Assistant Directors, Executive Directors and the General Counsel s Office regarding the Wall Street Journal article discussing campaign activities concerning Mrs. McCabe. Kortan suggested that questions could be referred to his office and he attached an Overview of Deputy Director McCabe s Recusal Related To Dr. McCabe s Campaign for Political Office. The Overview itself was previously reported by Judicial Watch.The documents also show repeated use of the official FBI email system in connection with Mrs. McCabe s political campaign. For example:On March 13, 2015, Mrs. McCabe emails to her husband s official FBI email account a draft press release announcing her run for state Senate.In August 2015, McCabe uses his official FBI email account to advise a redacted recipient to visit his wife s campaign website: Jill has been busy as hell since she decided to run for VA state senate (long story). Check her out on Facebook as Dr. Jill McCabe for Senate. On November 2, 2015, Mrs. McCabe forwards an email to her husband then the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI s Washington Office that accuses her opponent of extorting local businessmen. The email was sent to her husband s official FBI account.The documents include an October 2016 letter from House Government Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz to McCabe questioning a possible conflict of interest by noting that Clinton headlined a Virginia fundraiser on June 26, 2015, for Mrs. McCabe. A significant amount was donated after the FBI had initiated its investigation and begun meeting with Secretary Clinton s attorneys in August 2015. The documents also show that FBI leadership was sensitive to reports of FBI internal dissent with then-Director Comey s handling of the Clinton investigation. On October 24, 2016, Mrs. McCabe forwarded to Director McCabe a True Pundit article titled, FBI Director Lobbied Against Criminal Charges For Hillary After Clinton Insider Paid His Wife $700,00. The story reported that former FBI Executive Assistant Director John Giacalone resigned in the middle of the Clinton email investigation because he saw it going sideways and that Jill McCabe received money from a PAC headed by McAuliffe, who was under investigation by the FBI for campaign finance law violations. McCabe forwarded the article to Comey, noting FYI. Heavyweight source. Comey replied to McCabe, copying Chief of Staff James Rybicki, saying, This still reads to me like someone not involved in the investigation at all, maybe somebody who heard rumors These new documents show that the FBI leadership was politicized and compromised in its handling of the Clinton email investigation, said Tom Fitton, Judicial Watch President. It well past time for a do-over on the Clinton emails that requires a new, honest criminal investigation of her misconduct. The Senate Judiciary Committee and the U.S. Special Counsel have opened investigations into whether McCabe violated the Hatch Act and failed to properly disclose payments to his wife s campaign on his ethics report. The Justice Department s Inspector General is examining McCabe for failing to recuse himself from the Clinton investigation due to his meeting with McAuliffe. | 1real |
MOTHER OF 7 YR OLD CHARGED WITH “Endangerment” For Allowing Child To Play In Park Across Street From Home Unsupervised For An Hour | Because the government knows best when it comes to raising your children or something like that.A Maine mother faces child endangerment charges for allowing her daughter to play at the park across the street from her house without her constant supervision.Nicole Jensen told WMTW she often allows her three children to play at the park a few hundred feet from her house and parents in the neighborhood make a coordinated effort to watch each other s children. She watches from her front porch.But when Jensen s 7-year-old daughter was playing in the park by herself last week, someone at the park called 911 to report she was unattended and police intervened.But instead of simply walking the child home, police tried unsuccessfully to call Jensen, then hauled the girl to the police station when the mother didn t immediately answer her phone, according to the Personal Liberty blog.Jensen said she requires her children to check in every hour when they re playing outside, but police chastised the mother for not keeping closer tabs and insinuated the girl was in danger at the park. They said, Do you know where your daughter is? and I said, Yes, and they said, Well no you don t. She s at the police station, Jensen recalled. (The officer) said she was at the park unsupervised, no one know where she was, and if I hadn t gotten a hold of you, I would have taken her into (the Department of Health and Human Services). Westbrook Police Chief Janie Roberts told the news site she estimated the girl was at the park for about an hour before she was detained. That s a long time for a 7-year-old to be by herself in any location, let alone a public park, Roberts said.Police eventually charged Jensen with child endangerment. They brought her to the police station when her house is right there, Jensen said, according to Personal Liberty. She did nothing wrong, she said. She s followed all of my rules. Jensen told WMTW her daughter was terrified by the ordeal, and she plans to fight the child endangerment charge. She ll also have to deal with DHHS, as police referred her case to that department, as well.Via: EAG News | 1real |
Trump Tries To Stick It To Press With Inaugural Photo, TOTALLY Misses One YUGE Problem (IMAGES) | As of Tuesday morning, it seemed that Trump was still obsessed with the size of his inaugural audience. He s so intent on proving that his crowds were enormous big enough to serve as evidence of his total, utter and complete awesomeness that he s planning to post a panoramic photo of the inauguration in the press halls of the White House, and he tweeted it out with a thank-you to the photographer.Ordinarily, that would just be another facepalm-worthy tweet. However, given his fixation on crowd sizes (penis sizes? Maybe both), we can probably safely assume that he s putting these photos in the press halls as a giant told you so to the press that so shamefully refused to report the truth about his crowds. Based on that, one would also assume he d want the photo to be as accurate as possible, so as to avoid any potential embarrassment.It didn t work. Here s the photo:Image via TwitterAnd here s the problem: The caption reads January 21, 2017, which is the date of the Women s Marches that so enraged him over the weekend:Image via TwitterAs Ms. Kalb points out, he s posting an error in the press halls. Way to stick it to them, Cheetolini.This follows not just the poorly-thought out presser on Saturday, where Sean Spicer scolded the entire White House press corps and left them with their jaws on the floor, but it also follows yesterday s press briefing where Spicer whined that the press isn t focusing enough on Trump s successes and achievements (he s been in office for five days, what successes does he think the press should be reporting on right now?).The man is ridiculous. There are more important things to think about. Trump, however, is obsessed, and the reason it s important to keep pointing this out is because it s evidence of his instability, his willingness to turn lies into truth, and his inability to actually be a real leader.Featured image via Twitter | 1real |
SICK: Official GOP Twitter Handle Just PROMOTED Horrificly Vulgar Chant Against Hillary (VIDEO) | Just when you thought Republicans couldn t get more deplorable, they go and prove you wrong.The official Twitter handle for the Tennessee GOP just tweeted out a tweet that said: Watch thousands of deplorables chanting: lock her up at Trump rally in Colorado Springs. Even worse, with the hashtag EvangelicalTrump because you know, that s what Jesus would do. However, if I recall, Jesus was wrongfully accused, arrested and sentenced as well, but facts and the Republican party don t exactly go hand in glove.Here s the tweet with the video and the a-ok emoji of approval:Watch thousands of deplorables chanting: "lock her up" at Trump rally in Colorado Springs.?#EvangelicalTrump pic.twitter.com/yxhAHGXwVq Tennessee GOP (@TEN_GOP) October 18, 2016Gotta love the use of the emoji. That s a real class act right there.Let s stop and think for a moment that the official Twitter account of the Republican party in Tennessee is tweeting like this, so we really can t be at all surprised that they support Donald Trump or his deplorable following.This isn t professional, nor by any means, okay. However, with Trump winning the nomination, and winning in Tennessee, this tweet seems just about right.Has Hillary Clinton done anything to deserve a lock her up chant? No, not at all. Anything she s been accused of by the Republican party or others has been debunked, held absolutely no water, or she s been cleared.If Republicans want to look for someone to lock up, maybe they should look at Trump and his sexually predatory behavior, inability to pay taxes, and fraudulent business practices. Just saying.Featured Photo by Angelo Merendino/Getty Images | 1real |
Coal CEO pressing Trump to speak up for miners' benefits | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Coal mining executive Robert Murray, one of Donald Trump’s biggest campaign backers, said on Friday he wants the president-elect to support a bill that would protect the health and pension benefits of thousands of coal miners retired from companies that have gone bust. The outspoken founder of Ohio-based Murray Energy Corp said he has asked Trump, who campaigned on a promise to help the coal industry, to speak out on behalf of the spending bill provision currently tied up in Congress. “I asked him and Vice President-elect Mike Pence to be involved verbally and in writing,” Murray told Reuters in an interview. Murray said he has not yet heard back. A Trump transition official did not respond to a request for comment. Murray Energy was among the biggest contributors to Trump’s bid for the presidency. Its $100,000 donation to the Trump Victory PAC was the PAC’s largest from a company, according to Trump’s fundraising committee’s latest filing. Murray also hosted fundraisers for the Republican candidate. On the campaign trail, Trump won over coal-producing states by promising to revive the sector, put laid-off miners back to work, and scrap regulations that he said are hobbling the industry. Coal prices have sunk in recent years due to competition from cheap natural gas and rules to combat climate change ushered in by President Barack Obama. The Senate is now contemplating a spending bill that contains a provision to extend the benefits of retired coal miners whose companies have gone bankrupt until next April, but some coal state Democratic senators are agitating for a longer-term solution and threatening a government shutdown. A group of Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, are resisting, and the bill is in limbo. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that the Obama administration hopes “there should be bipartisan common ground to address the needs of these 20,000 coal miners who are slated to lose their health insurance at the end of the month.” Dozens of United Mine Worker retired miners have been on Capitol Hill this week holding rallies and visiting lawmakers to urge them to pass a longer-term solution. UMWA spokesman Phil Smith said the Trump transition team is aware of the issue but has not said anything publicly. As one of just a handful of U.S. coal companies that has not declared bankruptcy, Murray said his company is struggling to pay into its health and pension funds and “can’t compete with those companies that didn’t go through bankruptcy proceedings.” | 0fake |
Democrats are Racist for Calling Black Trump Supporters Uneducated Red Necks | Democrats are Racist for Calling Black Trump Supporters Uneducated Red Necks page: 1 link Its ok to call us white Trump supporters all that but when You mess with our black friends then that's another issue. Democrats need to realize that some black folks and white folks all grew up with different opportunities and school zones, that is SO RACIST to call them uneducated, its fine to call us whites that but not our black brothers and sisters, the Hispanics and all other non whites. How dare the Clintons offend our black and other minority members , Im sure some liberal will come along and say something totally ignorant like trump doesn't have and black supporters, well he does, over 20% of them. True, the democrats didn't single out the blacks and minorities, they referred to all of us as lots of things, all of us AMERICANS that weren't equal in our financial upbringings. You see, I see all of us Trump supporters as 3 colors, red white and blue. I see us all as Ameicans and not trying to DIVIDE people like the democrats. | 1real |
Will any of Obama's ISIS proposals succeed? | Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama's televised address on ISIS on Sunday night was meant to calm the public's escalating fears of terrorism, to chide 2016 candidates about explosive rhetoric over waging war and the place of Muslims in society and to defend his own efforts to combat the extremist group.
Whether it succeeded on any of those counts may depend where observers sit on the polarized U.S. political spectrum. But while it was largely a stay-the-course speech rather than one that heralds swift or significant changes to the anti-terrorism approach Obama has pursued throughout his presidency, the President did make several proposals and highlight some evolution in how the United States will go after ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
He notably put the emphasis on Congress to take action on making it more difficult for terrorists to acquire guns in the United States and to enact changes to visa programs in the wake of the San Bernardino attack. Obama also wants lawmakers to finally put the war against ISIS on firm legal footing.
Here is a look at the President's proposals -- and the chances that they will actually happen.
What the President said:
"If Congress believes, as I do, that we are at war with ISIL, it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued use of military force against these terrorists."
The United States has spent more than a year pounding ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria from the air. Obama has sent Special Operations forces to Syria and several thousand soldiers are in Iraq. Now, there are plans for the Pentagon to send a specialized expeditionary force to Iraq to target ISIS. But officially, this is an undeclared war.
The administration has cited authorizations that permitted both the war in Iraq and the fight against al Qaeda to justify its actions but has repeatedly called on Congress to update its mandate to reflect the new threat from ISIS.
But it has not yet happened. Why?
Despite Obama's comments in his address, the White House is not optimistic that Congress will move soon. The administration introduced its proposal in February, hoping to get a jump on the political season. But like much else touching on the war on terror, the presidential and congressional elections in 2016 are now weighing on lawmakers.
Democrats running for re-election are wary of tough votes authorizing a new war that may upset the party's dovish grass roots.
Republicans don't like the President's proposal, but they haven't drafted their own version and punt by saying the administration already claims to have sufficient authority. And there's a dispute over language. The White House request for an AUMF lasting three years included a provision that prevents "enduring offensive ground combat operations."
Republicans, who want a more robust U.S. effort and are wary of tying the hands of a possible future GOP president, rejected such restrictions.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said Monday that the version of the authorization that the administration sent to Congress earlier this year would "limit" the military, so "it would have to be something different."
What the President said:
"Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun ... this is a matter of national security. We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino."
Just as the Newtown massacre and other mass killings did not budge the politics of gun control, the same dynamic applies after San Bernardino -- one reason why Obama is now framing gun control as a matter of "national security."
Making it more difficult for a potential terrorist to buy a gun, in essence, would entail making it more difficult for everyone to buy a gun.
That's why die-hard Second Amendment supporters in both parties are wary of the idea, with many Republicans and Democrats unenthusiastic about a tough vote on guns in an election year -- especially those from rural districts where gun rights are a potent issue for many voters.
In fact, even the day after the San Bernardino killings, the Republican-controlled Senate rejected a bill that would prevent people on a federal terrorism watch list from buying guns.
House Speaker Paul Ryan on Monday told the Wisconsin State Journal in an interview that Obama's no-fly list plan was a "distraction," saying many people ended up on such databases erroneously and risked losing their due process rights, a concern echoed by some 2016 GOP hopefuls.
McCarthy made it clear Monday that Republicans are not inclined to take up the proposal that the President pushed to deny guns to those on the terror watch list used by airlines.
Some congressional Republicans want a judge to weigh in on whether someone should be on the list before his or her constitutional right to bear arms is taken away.
Obama's other gun control efforts have repeatedly hit a brick wall in Congress, and he has frequently expressed frustration at his failure to do more despite ordering a series of executive actions. His efforts to pass an assault weapons ban, for instance, failed in 2013.
The White House is preparing an executive order to expand background checks, given its expectation that nothing will make it through legislatively.
But White House officials say the legal and administrative challenges are difficult to surmount, and that the order is going to take some time to prepare.
And the President has acknowledged that wielding his own executive power cannot be as effective as action from Congress.
What the President said:
"We should put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they've traveled to war zones."
Obama also said that he had ordered the Departments of Homeland Security and State to review the visa program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country as a fiancee of a U.S. citizen.
The visa waiver program appears to be one rare area where there is bipartisan agreement on how to act. The Paris attacks especially alarmed U.S. security experts because of the fear that thousands of Europeans have traveled to Syria to fight with ISIS. And if those people have European passports, they don't need a visa to enter the United States, potentially making it possible for ISIS to easily dispatch operatives into the United States.
One measure being considered in the House and likely to get White House support would ensure that nationals of Iraq, Syria, Iran or Sudan, or those who've visited those countries since 2011, cannot travel to the United States without a visa.
Instead, individuals from designated countries will have to be vetted through a more rigorous process. It requires countries who participate in the visa waiver program to share counterterrorism information or risk being cut out. And it also enhances screening for criminal activity.
The bill is expected to pass with a big bipartisan vote in the House on Tuesday and may be added to broad government spending bills so has a good chance of being signed into law soon.
Still, changing the visa waiver program is fraught with diplomatic complications. Visa-free travel to the United States is a prized privilege for many national governments and is strongly supported by the U.S. tourism industry. And changes to the program could also spark reprisals and complications for Americans who travel abroad.
Islam and the politics of 2016
What the President said:
"We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam."
This horse is already out of the barn. Several prominent GOP presidential candidates -- Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, for instance -- have declared that America is facing a civilizational war against radical Islam. They have bashed Democrats like Obama and Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton for not using similar terminology, arguing it shows they don't comprehend the nature of the threat or prefer to avoid offense rather than accurately delineate the enemy.
The President and his former secretary of state argue that using such terminology stigmatizes every Muslim and actually plays into ISIS's hands by making it seem like a legitimate representative of a great faith.
This is a dispute that will continue up to the 2016 election and beyond.
What the President said:
"The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us."
It is not just Congress that Obama sees as frustrating his effort to combat ISIS. The realities of the conflict-torn Middle East, a region festering with sectarian hatred, geopolitical gambits by major nations and a collapse of the political order that has been in place for a century are posing imposing obstacles to U.S. strategy.
On the upside, the President can legitimately claim to have assembled a 65-nation coalition to go after ISIS in a campaign that includes air strikes in Iraq and Syria that have killed thousands of militants, covert intelligence work and an effort to choke the extremist group's financial network.
But there is a glaring reason why Obama has struggled to effectively sell his strategy: It does not seem sufficiently broad, kinetic or aggressive to accomplish the goal around which he built his speech -- the ultimate destruction of ISIS.
Another factor weighing against a big change in strategy is the self imposed limit that Obama has placed on the entire enterprise. He is staying faithful to his refusal to commit U.S. troops to another major Middle East entanglement -- citing the quagmire that developed after the Iraq War.
Then, there is the intractable nature of civil wars in Iran and Syria, which have fractured both nations and allowed ISIS to build a vast cross-border terror haven.
Even if the air campaign against ISIS in strongholds like Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq succeeds -- progress may be fleeting without a vast ground force to secure territory, consolidate gains and allow space for the return of administrative politics.
But Western leaders, with Iraq in mind, have little desire or political backing to commit a vast land army.
So they, and 2016 presidential candidates, spend a lot of time calling for regional, Arab and other powers to step into the breach.
But those governments are no more willing or able to thrust their soldiers into the cauldron either. And many have goals in Syria that contradict U.S aspirations, leading to inertia. Then there is the influence of other powers involved in Syria, like Iran and Russia -- which may have common interests in defeating ISIS, but are hardly on the same page as the U.S.
Still, the administration says it is encouraged by the increasing role of allies like France and Britain in the military air campaign over Syria since the ISIS rampage on the streets of Paris last month that killed 130 people. But due to the limited capabilities of its partners, Washington will still do most of the heavy lifting in the air campaign.
The administration has also touted recent German pledges to ramp up reconnaissance over Syria. But at the same time, Arab partners have stepped back. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are now more focused on combating Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The White House is working with Turkey to seal the remaining 98 kilometers of unsecured border with Syria, an effort that includes both Turkish and Syrian Arab forces hoping to cut the flows of foreign fighters into the Syrian civil war -- and their return to Europe.
In the absence of a continued military campaign from the Sunni Arab states -- which the U.S. would like to see resume -- the White House is hopeful those nations can capitalize on their relationships with opposition forces in Syria.
Saudi Arabia is also hosting an upcoming meeting of different opposition groups that the U.S. hopes can help pave the way for their participation in a political transition process that would see the eventual departure of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a theoretical revival of the Syrian state
But those incremental steps, though significant, are unlikely to paper over the fundamental weaknesses of the anti-ISIS fight. | 0fake |
Comment on Canadian Man Slams Americans Who Don’t Realize How Awesome Obama Is by kryptodyne | Subscribe
A dumbfounded Canadian — Richard Brunt of Victoria, British Columbia — wrote an open letter to Americans who don’t seem to realize how very good we actually have it. This image doesn’t need a lot of commentary, so I’ll let you just read it and allow it to sink in.
This has gone completely viral over the last few days and it needs to.
Transcribed: Many of us Canadians are confused by the U.S. midterm elections. Consider, right now in America, corporate profits are at record highs, the country’s adding 200,000 jobs per month, unemployment is below 6%, U.S. gross national product growth is the best of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. The dollar is at its strongest levels in years, the stock market is near record highs, gasoline prices are falling, there’s no inflation, interest rates are the lowest in 30 years, U.S. oil imports are declining, U.S. oil production is rapidly increasing, the deficit is rapidly declining, and the wealthy are still making astonishing amounts of money. America is leading the world once again and respected internationally ? in sharp contrast to the Bush years. Obama brought soldiers home from Iraq and killed Osama bin Laden. So, Americans vote for the party that got you into the mess that Obama just dug you out of? This defies reason. When you are done with Obama, could you send him our way? Richard Brunt Victoria, British Columbia About Tiffany Willis
Tiffany Willis is a fifth-generation Texan, a proponent of voluntary simplicity, a single mom, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with “the least of these" -- disadvantaged and oppressed populations, the elderly, people living in poverty, at-risk youth, and unemployed people. She is a Certified Workforce Expert with the National Workforce Institute , a NAWDP Certified Workforce Development Professional, and a certified instructor for Franklin Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens . Follow her on Twitter , Facebook , or LinkedIn . She also has a grossly neglected personal blog , a Time Travel blog , a site dedicated to encouraging people to read classic literature 15 minutes a day , and a literary quotes blog that is a labor of love . Find her somewhere and join the discussion. Click here to buy Tiff a mojito. Connect | 1real |
Trump’s Deplorables Just Got Flat-Out MONSTROUS With Sexual Assault Victims On Twitter (TWEETS) | One of Twitter s top trending hashtags is full of women who ve been harassed and assaulted, and they re explaining why women don t report such incidents with their personal stories. There are many, many moving accounts under #WhyWomenDontReport, but there are also the misogynistic jerkwads who are intentionally hurting victims all over again.Trump s deplorables are busy reinforcing their image as the bottom-feeders of deplorability. They re calling Trump s victims liars, and they re calling women who report sexual assault liars, gold-diggers, and worse. In short, they re doing every single thing they can to shame women who have been harassed and outright attacked. Some are even using #NextFakeTrumpVictim as a rebuttal to #WhyWomenDontReport.They are disgusting, and they are monsters. They ve once again shown themselves to be the basket of deplorables that Hillary said they are.We don t live in a rape culture. Shut up. #whywomendontreport Sean Spooky Derp (@Seanbeandood) October 13, 2016@cristinalaila1 #whywomendontreport REAL sexual assault victims don t report 1st time ever 26 days before election in a circus. #hookers do! Pimping Politics (@PimpingPolitics) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport Because Hillary s campaign told them to wait until 3 weeks before the election and then disappear with the money.#Trump 26Days??TrumpWins (@GordonPress) October 13, 2016Does anyone think its suspicious that suddenly after 30 yrs these women come out on same day just 3 wks before election? #WhyWomenDontReport My Place (@MyPlace4U) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport Becuase of the #Clintonbodycount Bring Me To Heel (@desi2finh) October 13, 2016Because they re afraid someone might check the report for validity. #whywomendontreport Diggs Niffeur (@Kissingers4skin) October 13, 2016While I understand #WhyWomenDontReport at times, but 3 weeks b4 a major election? Don t buy it. NoYb (@Luvthe1970s) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport cuz there waiting for #DonaldTrump to run for #POTUS Surajkumar (@suraj1972kummar) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport b/c a lot of dumb women brainwashed 2 believe OK 2 get drunk, dress+ act like a slut, pass out+groped you re a victim? [email protected] (@Stump4TrumpSF) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport if this could ever be true it d be bc of bimbos arguing like they know anything during the debates, @MarthaRaddatz DeploRAEble (@twilightblueam) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport Can I too get $50,000 from the Clinton campaign if I lie about Trump groping me? Naw, not worth selling the USA. Ryan Deardorff (@Grumbull) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport b/c they didn t own a TV and know Trump was running for President until 3 weeks before the election? Howard Notelling (@BluegrassPundit) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport because it never happened thats why. Sam DeGreen (@samdegreen) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport people usually tend to believe rape cases that are actually true. However, there s too many false cases as well Nick (@NickyBRizzle) October 13, 2016If people stopped trying to destroy the life of a human being because they don t agree with them, this wouldn t happen #WhyWomenDontReport I Support Trump ?? (@TheRealKWingate) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReportBecause 70% of them have a rape fetish. 75% Ironic ( ) (@Synthovine) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport Because false rape accusations like the ones against Trump make it harder for women to be believed. Rev. Templeton Jones (@TempletonTJones) October 13, 2016WARNING: The picture at the link in the tweet below is explicit and triggering:#WhyWomenDontReport refugees rape women at alarming rates. Liberals love refugees liberals love rape. pic.twitter.com/E7CCg35DqZ Deplorable Trumpanze (@alstegner) October 13, 2016#WhyWomenDontReport waiting for the next wiki dump #nextfaketrumpvictim EverydayAmerican (@jcvolt) October 13, 2016Because the rewards for playing the victim outweigh the risk of filing a fake police report #WhyWomenDontReport Moonman (@Uncle_Adolf1488) October 13, 2016Women don t report sexual assault or harassment for a variety of reasons. Many fear that nobody will believe them. They fear the accusation will be turned back on them and destroy their reputations and lives. They can t stomach the idea of having to answer explicit questions about their bodies and their sexuality in order to prove they were actually attacked.It s because there are police who tell women to deal with it, and sometimes don t even file the report. It s because women are asked what they were wearing, whether they were drinking and flirting, why they were wherever they were, why they let themselves be alone with their attackers, and so forth. It s because people say that sexual assault is just sex that the victim regrets later on.No, people don t believe us. Yes, people shame us to hell and back. Yes, we re accused of ruining the lives of the men who hurt us so badly. Why don t women report sexual assault and harassment? Because we can t.Featured image by Ralph Freso via Getty Images | 1real |
Democrats search for answers to stem a spreading Republican tide | MONTPELIER, Vt. (Reuters) - Still sifting through the wreckage of the Nov. 8 election, Democratic leaders nationwide are struggling to find a new message to claw back support and avoid years in the political wilderness. Not only do Republicans control the White House and both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, they now hold 33 governor’s offices. New England, long considered reliably Democratic, is a prime example of the party’s demise. Republican Phil Scott won in Vermont over Democrat Sue Minter who was criticized, like presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, for failing to develop an economic message that resonated with voters worried about good-paying jobs. Considered a liberal bastion, Vermont has a tradition of sometimes choosing a Republican governor to keep one party from having too much control. Elsewhere, Republican Chris Sununu will replace a Democratic governor in New Hampshire while Maine and Massachusetts already have Republican governors. “We lost the governorship of freaking Vermont,” lamented Washington-based Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis. “We didn’t just lose an election. This was a national rebuke. This was biblical.” Republicans also command 32 state legislatures and have full control — meaning they hold the governor’s office and both legislative chambers — in 24 states, including swing states such as Florida, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin. When President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, they controlled just nine. “There are more Republicans at the state legislative level than there have ever been,” said Tim Storey, an analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures. Republicans scored a major coup when they seized the Senate in traditionally liberal Minnesota, giving it full control of the legislature, and they gained full control of next-door Iowa. “The party’s message, structure and apparatus are broken,” said Kofinis, who was chief of staff to moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. “We haven’t acknowledged it for years because we had the White House.” Obama’s two terms masked a crumbling party infrastructure. During Obama’s tenure, Democrats lost over 800 state legislative seats, at least 13 governorships and both houses of Congress. Party insiders are reluctant to blame the popular Obama but cite plenty of reasons for the decline. These include a muddled economic message; an overemphasis on emerging demographic groups such as minorities and millennial at the expense of white voters; a perception the party is elitist and aligned with Wall Street; a reluctance to embrace the progressive populism of Senator Bernie Sanders, the former presidential hopeful; and failure to field strong candidates in key states. There is an emerging consensus, they add, that the party has been too focused on winning national races and has not invested enough in local campaigns, along with a grudging admission that Republicans have done a better job of competing on the ground. As a result, a poor performance by the Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections gave Republicans control of statehouses across the country, allowing them to redraw legislative maps to fashion districts that would help ensure their long-term electoral success. “I think the foundation was built back in 2010,” Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker told Reuters. “There was a big wave and then for many of us that were elected in ‘10, we got reelected in ’14 in battleground states - Wisconsin, Florida, Ohio, Michigan. You look at the states that were key to the presidential win, were states where Republicans did well in ‘10 and then sustained it.” “UNDER-RESOURCED” Democrats are working to recover and looking ahead to governor’s races in New Jersey and Virginia next year to make up lost ground. Governor’s offices have become crucial for another reason: Republican governors signed voter suppression measures in states such as North Carolina that Democrats believe damaged turnout. Sununu has said that as one of his first acts as governor in New Hampshire, he would like to end the state’s practice of allowing same-day voter registration. As with redistricting, it is another lever of power that Republicans can wield to make sure they remain in the majority for a long time. Obama has said he will actively support a new party initiative, the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, that seeks to restore state-level Democratic power. Mark Schauer, a former Michigan congressman who is a senior adviser to the effort, said the goal is to have a central organization direct resources into critical local races. Schauer, who lost his congressional seat after Republican legislators excised his home county from his district, said deep-pocketed Democratic donors have not always appreciated the need to support state races. “A state senate race isn’t as sexy as a presidential or big U.S. Senate race,” Schauer said. Jessica Post, executive director of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the party arm charged with overseeing state races, agreed. “We have felt under-resourced.” When Howard Dean, the former Vermont governor and presidential candidate, ran the Democratic National Committee, he adopted a “50-state strategy,” investing funds in every state, even ones perceived to be hostile to Democrats, in an effort to identify viable candidates for local office. While Dean’s plan was not the sole reason, Democrats had election successes in 2006 and 2008. When Dean left the DNC, his strategy faded and the party’s fortunes at the state level began to decline. Dean is a candidate to run the DNC again and has said he will revive the strategy if elected to the post. “What is happening is a result of decades of smart organizing by conservatives who have very simply poured resources, talent and energy into creating an infrastructure at the state, local, and now national level,” said Bill Lofy, a long-time Democratic strategist in Vermont. He said Governor-elect Scott “was very effective at making this, in a generic sense, about kitchen-table economic issues in a way that paralleled with the presidential race.” And like Trump, he said, Scott “spent very little time talking about how is going to implement the policies he was proposing. It was more about Scott telling voters: ‘Trust me. I’m on your side.’” | 0fake |
Russian foreign ministry: Moscow ready to cooperate with U.S. on Afghanistan - RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow stands ready to cooperate with the United States on Afghanistan, Russia s Foreign Ministry official said in an interview with RIA state news agency published on Saturday. Russia maintains contacts with U.S. acting Assistant Secretary of State Alice Wells, said Zamir Kabulov, special representative to the Russian president on Afghanistan and the head of Asian region department at the Foreign Ministry. | 0fake |
MAYORAL CANDIDATE In DIE-HARD DEMOCRAT City May Prove That 2016 Trump Win Was Just The Beginning of The End For Democrats | If John Persinger wins the mayoral race in Erie, Pa., next month, it just might be the greatest local political upset in America this century. A Republican candidate has not been elected mayor here since 1961, when JFK was president.Tall, witty, energetic and razor-sharp, Persinger is not the guy you d expect to settle in a town like Erie. He is the kind of person who leaves, moves on to blazing success elsewhere and never returns.Persinger s grandfather, John DeMarco, was the son of Italian immigrants who was supposed to take over the family grocery store but instead went to medical school and ended up delivering more than 12,000 Erie babies.Before he was born, Persinger s parents moved to the suburbs outside New York City, but young John spent his summers with his grandparents in this port city in northwestern Pennsylvania. He got his undergrad degree at Harvard, where he was captain of the swim team; he also competed in the 2000 US Olympic team trials.From there he served as an aide in the George W. Bush White House and then chief of staff at the US Embassy in Australia, where he met his wife, a journalist fluent in Arabic. He left government for Notre Dame Law School, but when the couple started to have children, they decided Erie held the most promise for their young family.In many ways, they are correct. The city is affordable, the housing is charming. It is both a college town (there are three: Mercyhurst, Gannon and Penn State Behrend) and a tourist town (miles and miles of beaches along the lake). It boasts some of the top medical facilities in the country, and it is also a company town (Erie Insurance is one of the top employers).But it is also a struggling city, where schools are hurting financially, the opioid epidemic is rampant and the manufacturing base is collapsing all factors that led Erie County residents to vote for a Republican president in 2016, the first since Ronald Reagan.The city of Erie, however, is a different story Hillary Clinton won all 69 of its voting districts over Donald Trump.So can 35-year-old Persinger convince his townspeople to turn red? It s not impossible. And while he is nothing like the president in terms of temperament and style, the two politicians do share a key quality tapping into voters willingness for change. The fourth-largest city in the state, Erie has a population just under 100,000 and a 5.6 percent unemployment rate.As Persinger walked the shop floor of Fralo Industries, a sheet-metal fabricating plant, he talked to each worker, asking what they were making. One young man said he was building a new invention for college dorms that puts laundry in a shoot and allows students to track its progress until it s ready for pickup in a pod. Another worker was steering a high-tech laser.Persinger gives each worker his full attention, nodding and taking notes. He seems unbothered by the fact he s a Republican in a city with a nearly 3-1 Democratic registration advantage. Here, people are born blue.It doesn t seem to ruffle him that his rival, Democrat Joe Schember, is one of the nicest guys in the world and has been active in the community for over 40 years. Plus, they re neighbors (they even live on the same street). Everyone asks me about my odds. I am confident if I run a good, honest campaign, I can win, Persinger said. I didn t take time away from my family and waste the time of voters . . . not to win. Persinger is forward-thinking and energetic; he drives around in a mobile campaign office (a 22-year-old converted RV) with his name and photo shrink-wrapped around the entire vehicle. He visits neighborhoods, churches, community centers, mosques, synagogues and knocks on doors where no Democratic or Republican mayoral candidate has been for decades, especially in the African-American and Hispanic communities.And he listens. It is a trait that has not gone unnoticed in the black communities who for years have had their votes taken for granted by the Democrats and ignored by the Republicans.Just ask Steve McLallen, who got a visit from Persinger earlier this year. Hey, I just want to let you know I appreciate your willingness to come and listen to our concerns, McLallen told Persinger as he shook hands with the GOP candidate. You have made an impression and impact on me, not just by traveling to our neighborhoods or where we work, but actually asking us what we need. A longtime Democrat, McLallen said he is voting for Persinger.Jim Baer, meanwhile, is looking for new blood in the mayor s office. A welder at Fralo, he s a Democrat who did not vote for Clinton or Trump but is tired of the same old politics. Look, we tried the old ways; we have had nothing but Democrats running this city and managing the decline. It is time to place someone young with different ideas and the willingness to listen in charge, he said.While neither candidate has invested in polling, both keep detailed data on their campaigns voter outreach and they know this race is close. For entire story: NYP | 1real |
The Vanquished to Witness the Takeover: Bushes, Clintons Will Attend Donald Trump’s Inauguration - Breitbart | Remnants of both vanquished American political empires, the Bushes and the Clintons, will attend Donald J. Trump’s official swearing in as the next president of the United States, a major symbolic victory for the outsider and billionaire businessman who crushed both of them on his way to the White House. [Bill and Hillary Clinton — the former president and first lady, the latter of whom was Trump’s general election opponent on Nov. 8 — will attend the inauguration, according to a report in New York Magazine. “Bill and Hillary Clinton have decided to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, according to two sources with knowledge of their plans,” New York Magazine’s Yashar Ali wrote, adding later in his short piece on Tuesday afternoon: NEW: Pres. George W. Bush wife will attend Donald Trump’s inauguration say they’re pleased to ”witness the peaceful transfer of power” — Hallie Jackson (@HallieJackson) January 3, 2017, Former President Jimmy Carter, the failed Democratic president from the 1970s, will also be present — as will outgoing President Barack Obama, who will officially transfer power to Trump on Jan. 20. It’s unclear whether former President George H. W. Bush, the elder Bush who succeeded the late former President Ronald Reagan, will attend. The elder Bush’s health has been an issue as of late. But the fact that both the Bushes and the Clintons will be present at Trump’s inauguration is a stunning development, as Trump’s meteoric rise to the White House went through both dynasties. Throughout the GOP primaries, Trump mocked and ridiculed George W. Bush’s younger brother former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — at the time the presumed GOP frontrunner who had millions upon millions of donor class dollars funneled into his campaign — as “low energy. ” Trump ripped Jeb Bush apart, and blew past the other GOP candidates on his way to viciously winning the nomination to face off against Hillary Clinton in the general election. There, in the general election, Trump described Clinton as “Crooked Hillary” and even called “Heartless Hillary” at one point. He threatened to throw her in jail for her email scandal and her Clinton Foundation scandal — something that still hasn’t been ruled out in the future — as well as running one of the most vicious campaigns in American political history. He proved to be successful, winning a landslide 30 and a half states and 306 electoral votes on Nov. 8 — officially closing the chapter of U. S. history where Americans had dynasties like the Bushes and the Clintons. Trump’s populist nationalist worldview once and for all defeated the globalist elitist Bushes and Clintons, and now they will witness him officially take power on Jan. 20 as Trump — the person to be elected to the highest office in the land without ever having served in government before — takes the oath of office. | 0fake |
Links 10/28/16 | ‘White smoke’ on EU-Canada trade deal breakthrough Politico
EU-Canada trade deal salvaged after Belgian regions concede Financial Times. Note the vote is today but everyone acts as if this is a done deal. The Walloons weren’t even given a real fig leaf:
A provision allowing the European Court of Justice to provide an “opinion” on the legality of the these courts was seized on as a victory by anti-Ceta campaigners, but officials briefed on the declaration said any such opinion would not be binding as there was nothing in the declaration to reopen the Ceta pact.
“The treaty itself has not been touched, not a comma has been touched,” Mr Michel told parliament. | 1real |
Anti-Trump protesters block Arizona road; march in New York | (Reuters) - Demonstrators briefly shut down an Arizona highway leading to a campaign rally for Donald Trump on Saturday while protesters rallied outside of Trump Tower in Manhattan to voice their opposition to the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Television news footage of the demonstration outside Phoenix showed dozens of protesters blocking traffic while holding signs that read “Dump Trump” and “Shut Down Trump.” The demonstrators eventually started marching down the highway. Later, some were seen nearing the rally at Fountain Hills, Arizona, before Trump arrived. Three people were arrested, according to police in Maricopa County, where Joe Arpaio, a well-known critic of U.S. immigration policy and an ardent Trump supporter, serves as sheriff. Video posted on news website Arizona Central’s Facebook page showed a truck driving through a large group of protesters. Officers from the county police department worked to clear demonstrators from the motorist’s path. A woman is seen crying and shouting for officers to take responsibility to stop the vehicle, while a deputy sheriff shrugs at the suggestion. Later at a rally in Tucson, Arizona, Trump said the protests were “disgraceful,” and thanked police. “They arrested three people and everybody else left... They left!” Trump said to roaring cheers from the audience. “I love our police, but we should do a little bit more of that, you’d have a lot less protesters, you’d have a lot less agitators,” said Trump, who is favored to win his party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election. Several demonstrations also broke out during the later rally, prompting police to escort out a number of people. Footage of the Tucson rally shows an attendee punching and kicking one demonstrator who is being escorted out. The clip also shows police removing the attacker. Trump has come under fire from rivals for fueling unrest with his rhetoric. This week, he warned of riots if Republicans denied him the nomination at the party’s convention. In Trump’s home city of New York, about 1,000 demonstrators marched from Central Park to Trump Tower, the billionaire developer’s signature building on Fifth Avenue. The crowd of mostly young people chanted and carried placards denouncing Trump. Some said police used pepper spray on them as they marched from the park. Police were seen taking at least one person into custody. A spokesman for the New York Police Department could not immediately confirm whether any arrests were made or whether pepper spray was used. Arizona, where political parties will hold primary elections on Tuesday, shares a long stretch of border with Mexico, and is a flashpoint for the issue of illegal immigration into the United States. Trump has made illegal immigration the signature issue of his campaign, earning the endorsement of Arpaio, the outspoken sheriff. “Donald Trump has the right to be heard by the thousands of people who love him, support him and want him to be president of the United States,” Arpaio told CNN. Later, the sheriff, wearing civilian clothes, introduced Trump at the rally. Trump rallies have grown increasingly unruly as the months-long campaign has progressed. An event in Chicago a week ago was canceled after protesters swarmed the venue. Last weekend, a man was arrested when he attempted to rush the stage where Trump was addressing a rally in Ohio. In another incident, a man who was caught on video punching an anti-Trump protester in the face at a North Carolina rally was arrested and charged with assault. Trump leads in opinion polls ahead of Arizona’s March 22 primary, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average, leading Senator Ted Cruz of Texas by 13 percentage points. | 0fake |
Vote as if your life depended upon it, because it does. | Eric Zuesse Here’s why: Hillary has repeatedly said: “We should also work with the coalition and the neighbors to impose no-fly zones that will stop Assad from slaughtering civilians and the opposition from the air. Opposition forces on the ground, with material support from the coalition, could then help create safe areas where Syrians could remain in the country, rather than fleeing toward Europe.” This would mean that U.S. fighter-jets and missiles would be shooting down the fighter-jets and missiles of the Syrian government over Syria, and would also be shooting down those of Russia. The Syrian government invited Russia in, as its protector; the U.S. is no protector but an invader against Syria’s legitimate government, the Ba’athist government, led by Bashar al-Assad. The CIA has been trying ever since 1949 to overthrow Syria’s Ba’athist government — the only remaining non-sectarian government in the Middle East other than the current Egyptian government. The U.S. supports Jihadists who demand Sharia law, and they are trying to overthrow and replace Syria’s institutionally secular government. For the U.S. to impose a no-fly zone anywhere in Syria would mean that the U.S. would be at war against Russia over Syria’s skies. Whichever side loses that conventional air-war would then have to choose whether to surrender, or instead to use nuclear weapons against the other side’s homeland, in order for it to avoid surrendering. That’s nuclear war between Russia and the United States. Would Putin surrender? Would Hillary? Would neither? If neither does, then nuclear war will be the result. Here are the two most extensive occasions in which Hillary has stated her position on this: To the Council on Foreign Relations, on 19 November 2015: We should also work with the coalition and the neighbors to impose no-fly zones that will stop Assad from slaughtering civilians and the opposition from the air. Opposition forces on the ground, with material support from the coalition, could then help create safe areas where Syrians could remain in the country, rather than fleeing toward Europe. This combined approach would help enable the opposition to retake the remaining stretch of the Turkish border from ISIS, choking off its supply lines. It would also give us new leverage in the diplomatic process that Secretary Kerry is pursuing. … QUESTION: When you were secretary of state, you tended to agree a great deal with the then-Secretary of Defense Bob Gates. Gates was opposed to a no-fly zone in Syria; thought it was an act of war that was risky and dangerous. This seems to me the major difference right now between what the president — what Obama’s administration is doing and what you’re proposing. Do you not — why do you disagree with Bob Gates on this? CLINTON: Well, I — I believe that the no-fly zone is merited and can be implemented, again, in a coalition, not an American-only no-fly zone. I fully respect Bob and his knowledge about the difficulties of implementing a no-fly zone. But if you look at where we are right now, we have to try to clear the air of the bombing attacks that are still being carried out to a limited extent by the Syrian military, now supplemented by the Russian air force. And I think we have a chance to do that now. We have a no-fly zone over northern Iraq for years to protect the Kurds. And it proved to be successful, not easy — it never is — but I think now is the time for us to revisit those plans. I also believe, as I said in the speech, that if we begin the conversation about a no-fly zone, something that, you know, Turkey discussed with me back when I was secretary of state in 2012, it will confront a lot of our partners in the region and beyond about what they’re going to do. And it can give us leverage in the discussions that Secretary Kerry is carrying on right now. So I see it as both a strategic opportunity on the ground, and an opportunity for leverage in the peace negotiations. … QUESTION: Jim Ziren (ph), Madam Secretary. Hi. Back to the no- fly zone. are you advocating a no-fly zone over the entire country or a partial no-fly zone over an enclave where refugees might find a safe haven? And in the event of either, do you foresee see you might be potentially provoking the Russians? CLINTON: I am advocating the second, a no-fly zone principally over northern Syria close to the Turkish (ph) border, cutting off the supply lines, trying to provide some safe refuges for refugees so they don’t have to leave Syria, creating a safe space away from the barrel bombs and the other bombardments by the Syrians. And I would certainly expect to and hope to work with the Russians to be able to do that. [She expects Putin to join America’s bombing of Syria’s government and troops and shooting-down of Russia’s planes in Syria, but no question was raised about this.] … To have a swath of territory that could be a safe zone … for Syrians so they wouldn’t have to leave but also for humanitarian relief, … would give us this extra leverage that I’m looking for in the diplomatic pursuits with Russia with respect to the political outcome in Syria. During a debate against Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primaries: Hillary Clinton, in a debate with Bernie on 19 December 2015, argued for her proposal that the U.S. impose in Syria a “no-fly zone” where Russians were dropping bombs on the imported jihadists who have been trying to overthrow and replace Assad: “I am advocating the no-fly zone both because I think it would help us on the ground to protect Syrians; I’m also advocating it because I think it gives us some leverage in our conversations with Russia.” She said there that allowing the jihadists to overthrow Assad “would help us on the ground to protect Syrians,” somehow; and, also, that, somehow, shooting down Russia’s planes in Syria (the “no-fly zone”) “gives us some leverage in our conversations with Russia.” Bernie Sanders’s response to that was: “I worry too much that Secretary Clinton is too much into regime change and a little bit too aggressive without knowing what the unintended consequences might be.” He didn’t mention nuclear war as one of them. The “no-fly zone” policy is one of three policies she supports that would likely produce nuclear war; she supports all of them, not merely the “no-fly zone.” Hillary Clinton has never been asked “What would you do if Russia refuses to stop its flights in Syria?” Donald Trump has said nothing about the proposal for a no-fly zone (other than “I want to sit back and see what happens” ), because most Americans support that idea , and he’s not bright enough to take her on about it and ask her that question. Probably, if he were supportive of it, he’d have said so — in which case it wouldn’t still be an issue in this election. Trump muffed his chance — which he has had on several occasions. But clearly he, unlike her, has not committed himself on this matter. Hillary Clinton is obviously convinced that the U.S. would win a nuclear war against Russia . The question for voters is whether they’re willing to bet their lives that she is correct about that, and that even if the U.S. ‘wins’, only Russia and not also the U.S. (and the world) would be destroyed if the U.S. nuclear-attacks Russia. Every other issue in this election pales by comparison to the no-fly-zone issue, which is virtually ignored, in favor of issues that are trivial by comparison. But a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for nuclear war against Russia, regardless of whether or not the voters know this. And a vote for Trump is a vote for the unknown. Could the unknown be even worse than Hillary Clinton? If so, would it be so only in relatively trivial ways? This election should be about Hillary Clinton, not about Donald Trump. | 1real |
Federal Proposal Would Strip Funds from Sanctuary Campuses | A U. S. representative from California has introduced a bill to block Title IV funds to colleges and universities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. [Representative Duncan Hunter ( ) introduced the No Funding for Sanctuary Campuses Act in late December to define “sanctuary campus” and create financial penalties for any “institutions of higher education that violates immigration laws. ” The bill, H. R. 6530, was by Representatives Tom McClintock ( ) and Lou Barletta ( ). “It’s by no means unreasonable to expect the nation’s higher learning institutions to follow the law the same way we expect states and localities to abide by the law,” Hunter told the Washington Examiner in an interview published on Tuesday. “If a school wants federal money, an open declaration that it’s a sanctuary should disqualify it for federal support. “It’s free to do that, of course, but there should be a consequence in the form of withheld federal funding — it’s that simple,” the California congressman stated. The bill defines a Sanctuary Campus as: (A) has in effect an ordinance, policy, or practice that prohibits or restricts any institutional entity, official, or personnel from — (i) sending, receiving, maintaining, or exchanging with any Federal, State, or local government entity information regarding the citizenship or immigration status (lawful or unlawful) of any individual, (ii) complying with a request lawfully made by the Secretary of Homeland Security under section 236 or 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U. S. C. 1226 or 1357) to comply with a detainer for, or notify about the release of, an individual or, (iii) otherwise complying with section 642 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (8 U. S. C. 1373) (B) brings in, or harbors, an alien in violation of section 274( a)(1)(A) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U. S. C. 1324( a)(1)(A)) (C) renders an alien who lacks a lawful immigration status in the United States eligible for any postsecondary education benefit provided on the basis of residence within a State (or a political subdivision of a State) to the same extent as a citizen or national of the United States is eligible for such benefit or, (D) has in effect a policy or practice that either prohibits, or in effect prevents, the Secretary of Homeland Security from gaining access to campuses or access to students (who are 17 years of age or older) on campuses, for purposes of Department of Homeland Security recruiting in a manner that is at least equal in quality and scope to the access to campuses and to students that is provided to any other employer. The bill provides an exemption for any person who is a victim of or a witness to a criminal offense. The bill would also penalize the institutions for providing any public benefit including tuition. “It is the sense of the Congress that providing the public benefit of tuition to an alien who lacks lawful immigration status in the United States creates an incentive for illegal immigration and encourages and induces aliens to come to, enter,” Hunter wrote in the bill. The bill was introduced following actions by many campuses across the country to declare sanctuary status following the election of Donald Trump. Breitbart provided extensive coverage of these campus protests and the actions by university and college administrators. The made cracking down on sanctuary jurisdictions a priority during his campaign. A similar bill was also introduced late last month by Rep. Andy Harris ( ) Breitbart Texas reported this week. The Federal Immigration Law Compliance Act of 2016 takes a broader approach of addressing both sanctuary campuses and other jurisdictions with similar policies. “Congress has the responsibility to protect the rule of law in our country and provide for the safety of our citizens. We need to focus on protecting American citizens and those who are in this country legally, instead of providing shelter for those who have violated our immigration law and entered this country illegally. If any entity refuses to comply with federal immigration law, they should be denied federal money until they come into compliance,” Congressman Harris said in a written statement obtained by Breitbart Texas. Both bills were filed late in the 114th Congress. To be considered by the 115th Congress, the bills will need to be . Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX. No Funding for Sanctuary Campuses Act — H. R. 6530, | 0fake |
Taliban Claim Killing of 7 in Afghan Province, Including New Attorney General - The New York Times | KABUL, Afghanistan — The newly appointed attorney general of Logar Province, just one hour into his job, was among seven people killed on Sunday when two Taliban insurgents attacked as his inauguration ceremony was ending, Afghan government officials said. Salim Saleh, the spokesman for the governor of Logar, said the insurgents attacked the location of the ceremony in the appeals court building in the provincial capital, at 10:30 a. m. killing the new attorney general, Akram Nejat, and four other government employees as well as two civilians. others were wounded. The episode was the third attack in Afghanistan in the past two weeks. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the Logar attack. Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said the attack was revenge for the government’s execution of six Taliban prisoners last month, the first such executions in years. Ahmad Nader Naderi, a senior adviser to President Ashraf Ghani, said that Mr. Nejat was one of more than 100 new judicial officials appointed in an anticorruption drive. The appointments were reviewed personally by Mr. Ghani, who took the news of Mr. Nejat’s assassination hard, Mr. Naderi said. “Tell his family I’m very saddened,” Mr. Naderi quoted the president as saying. Mr. Naderi said that attacks on judicial workers reflected an effort by insurgents to undermine faith in the government’s anticorruption drive. The authorities in Logar said the two attackers had apparently hidden inside the courthouse the night before, and attacked from inside once the ceremony had ended, as officials were exchanging congratulations and meeting . Fighting went on for 90 minutes before the attackers were killed by Afghan police forces, Mr. Saleh said. The authorities had said earlier that three attackers were involved, but revised that number downward when only two bodies were found. Last week, Taliban insurgents, dressed in burqas, attacked a courthouse in Ghazni Province, killing six people, most of them civilians. The Taliban also attacked a minibus carrying court employees in Kabul on May 25, killing 10 officials. In a second attack on Sunday, a prominent member of the Afghan parliament, Sher Wali Wardak, was killed by a bomb planted in the electric meter box on the wall outside his home in Kabul, said Gen. Zaher Zaher, the head of the ministry of interior’s criminal investigation division. The Taliban also claimed responsibility for that killing. | 0fake |
LIVE STREAM: DONALD TRUMP -FIRST 100 DAYS SPEECH – GETTYSBURG, PA [VIDEO] | 1real | |
Is De-industrialization a “Natural Phenomenon” of Developed Economies? | Is De-industrialization a “Natural Phenomenon” of Developed Economies? Increasing real revenues affect people’s lifestyle choices Jörg Guido Hülsmann | Mises.org
Let me first state my position and then add a few arguments to back it up.
Economic growth typically entails a re-allocation of labor away from industrial production, but it does not all by itself lead to falling industrial output. The decline of industrial production in the US and France in the past thirty years is to some extent due to capital exports, but especially to government interventionism in the form of mushrooming labor, business and financial regulations, education policies, social security funding, and taxation. This decline cannot be stopped through more interventions, even if they are designed with the good intention to reindustrialize the country.
Now let me offer a few considerations in support of these contentions.
The reallocation of labor in a growing economy results most notably from capital accumulation and from changing preferences of the working-age population. Further investments and extensions of the existing structure of production make it necessary to spend more time devising new methods, preparing industrial activity, coordinating and monitoring supply chains. Low-quality blue-collar labor diminishes, whereas there is some increase in high-quality blue-collars, but especially an increase in white-collars working in and around the supply chains.
Increasing real revenues affect people’s lifestyle choices. Rather than laboring long hours that provide essentially a monetary reward, they increasingly prefer enjoyable activities that provide immediate psychological and emotional rewards. Thus the blossoming of artistic, intellectual, and scientific activities in developed countries, at the expense of traditional industrial pursuits.
As a natural consequence of economic growth, therefore, industrial production declines relative to what it could be if it attracted even more people. But this does neither imply a shrinking physical industrial output, nor does it imply shrinking industrial revenues. Capital accumulation and technological progress make it possible that industry thrives even when less people have industrial employment. Germany provides an example.
In the past thirty years, western capitalists have invested large amounts of capital in formerly communist countries of the East and Far East. This reallocation of capital, though beneficial from the overall point of view of the world economy, has been detrimental in the short-run to the industrial development of those western countries where the capital would otherwise have been used.
But capital investments in countries such as France and the US have declined even more as a result of mushrooming government interventions. Welfare checks diminish the incentive to accept low-paying and non-gratifying industrial jobs. Massive subsidies for secondary and higher education artificially prolong schooling; reduce the supply of qualified manual labor; and create an artificial bias among the working-age population for scientific, intellectual, and artistic activities. Panoply of regulations have, on the one hand, increased the costs of doing business and, on the other hand, stimulated rent-seeking and manifold forms of evasion and regulatory arbitrage. Today they are feeding entire armies of lawyers, accountants, auditors, and financial advisors, all at the expense of ordinary business.
These tendencies cannot be stopped through so-called reindustrialization policies, which boil down to even more government spending, premised on the spurious notion that irresponsible (and often also inexperienced) politicians know best how to use the available scarce resources. Such policies have utterly failed in the past (Airbus included), and will fail in the future. Genuine reindustrialization requires more oxygen for industry. It requires nothing less than a rollback of the artificial obstacles for industrial development that government interventions have created in past generations. | 1real |
BREAKING: Republicans Susan Collins And Lisa Murkowski Will Vote No On Betsy DeVos | Susan Collins, Republican Senator from Maine, has once again broke with her party after announcing she will vote no on Donald Trump s education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos.Lisa Murkowski, Senator from Alaska, will also vote no on DeVos.On the Senate floor, Collins made a passionate speech about her reservations (which are shared by fellow Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Maine), saying:I come to the floor to announce a very difficult decision that I have made, and that is to vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos to be our nation s next Secretary of Education.The move comes unexpectedly, as Collins voted in favor of DeVos in committee, which passed on a party line and sent her nomination to the floor for an up-or-down vote. But at that time, Collins made clear she was still considering her support. Murkowski had also voted to send DeVos consideration to the floor.Collins had told the Bangor Daily News that she was surprised and concerned about her apparent lack of familiarity on a wide range of education issues. One issue that particularly struck Collins was the fact DeVos seemed clueless to the fact the United States has protections for students with disabilities.Susan Collins has so far been a thorn in the side of Donald Trump and his administration, recently referring to his immigration executive action as likely unconstitutional, and blasting Steve Bannon s appointment to the National Security Council as entirely inappropriate. As of now, 50 senators have come out against DeVos, including Collins, Murkowski and every member of the Democratic caucus (which includes independents Bernie Sanders and Angus King). DeVos needs a simple majority to pass, and with 52 members in the GOP caucus, DeVos has a slim chance of being confirmed. If one more Republican defects, the 50-50 tie that would be broken by Vice President Mike Pence will be blockedOnce again, Susan Collins has put the country before her party, and has showed the GOP what it means to have a spine, as has Murkowski.Here s to hoping more Republicans follow their lead.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 1real |
Madonna Biopic ’Blonde Ambition’ Set at Universal | The early life and career hurdles of pop superstar Madonna will be the subject of an upcoming biopic currently being developed at Universal, according to a report. [Blonde Ambition, from screenwriter Elyse Hollander, will chronicle the early years of the singer — real name Madonna Louise Ciccone — as she works on her first album and forges her way into the music industry in early 1980s New York. Hollander’s script placed first on the 2016 Black List, the annual list of the best unproduced screenplays circulating around the film industry, according to the Hollywood Reporter, which first broke the news of the pickup. producer Michael De Luca (Fifty Shades of Grey, Moneyball) is set to produce under his De Luca Productions banner along with Brett Ratner’s RatPac Entertainment and Bellevue Productions’ John Zaozirny. Madonna’s early years were previously the subject of a 1994 TV movie called Madonna: Innocence Lost, that starred Terumi Matthews as the pop superstar. Madonna released her latest album, Rebel Heart, in 2015 and followed it up with a world tour of the same name. The singer has made headlines in recent months for her political activism, including her staunch opposition to President Donald Trump. In January, Madonna delivered a speech at the Women’s March in Washington in which she said she has often thought about “blowing up the White House. ” The singer was a vocal supporter of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign, at one point offering to reward Clinton voters with oral sex. No director or release date has yet been set for Blonde Ambition. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum, | 0fake |
Frustrated Trump advisers pan him for lousy debate prep (anonymously) | Donald Trump believes he won the first presidential debate. He’s proclaimed that publicly and told me so himself.
Some of his advisers disagree, and they believe his debate prep was something of a disaster.
One well-placed source told me that there were too many people in the room during these sessions, as many as a dozen at a time, and some, including two generals, had no experience with debates or even campaigns. The result was that the candidate got lots of conflicting advice on what to say and do from a team that hadn’t even agreed internally on the best strategies.
I’m also told that Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell, hardly unabashed Trump fans, provided debate advice by phone.
The result, in this source’s view, is that Trump was overprepared, which left him without a clear plan to deliver his message or respond to Hillary Clinton’s jibes.
A harsher indictment was delivered to the New York Times, one in which Trump advisers attempted to blame the boss.
It’s striking that they would criticize their candidate from behind a curtain of anonymity. In effect, they’re saying, hey, don’t blame us, we tried to tell him but he wouldn’t listen.
Or viewed another way, they are using the press to send him a message that he needs to change his approach for the second debate in St. Louis.
Now much of this is inside baseball. Hillary Clinton is widely credited, even by many conservative commentators, as having delivered a strong performance at Hofstra and kept her opponent on the defensive. She will probably get a polling bump of a couple of points. But Trump’s supporters remain in in his corner after watching him go toe-to-toe with a former secretary of State without committing a major gaffe.
When campaigns are in a tailspin, loyalty sometimes melts as its consultants and strategists scramble to salvage their own reputations at the boss’ expense. But Trump, against all the odds set by the pundits, is in an extremely competitive race against Clinton and could win the thing.
“Campaign advisers to Donald J. Trump, concerned that his focus and objectives had dissolved during the first presidential debate on Monday, plan to more rigorously prepare him for his next face-off”—but that “whether he is open to practicing meticulously is a major concern.”
Yes, that is the sound of some folks throwing the nominee under the bus.
These unnamed sources “were privately awash in second-guessing about why he stopped attacking Mrs. Clinton on trade and character issues and instead grew erratic, impatient and subdued as the night went on. In interviews, seven campaign aides and advisers, most of whom sought anonymity to speak candidly, expressed frustration and discouragement over their candidate’s performance.”
The Gang of Seven is clearly ticked off.
The last time this kind of internal carping hit the press, during the “let Trump be Trump” debate, Paul Manafort was gone and Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway were tapped to run the show.
Trump’s fans are angry at the media coverage portraying him as having lost the debate, at least according to my Twitter feed. And who knows? It’s not like the press hasn’t been repeatedly wrong about Trump.
But a story in which some of Trump’s own advisers are anonymously quoted as saying he was “erratic” in a debate watched by 84 million people doesn’t help the cause. Even if the Times reporters sought out these sources, you don’t usually see Hillary advisers anonymously griping about their candidate.
Even successful campaigns go through near-death experiences. Clinton was sliding in the polls through her pneumonia period and Democrats were starting to panic. In the end, the burden is on Trump himself, and not his inner circle, to find a way to win.
--Howard Dean standing by his ludicrous suggestion that Donald Trump might have a coke problem makes me want to ... scream. It’s outrageous for a doctor, ex-governor and former presidential candidate and party chairman to act like a smear merchant. Kudos to MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough for calling on his colleague to apologize.
--A former Chris Christie ally, David Wildstein, has testified that the governor laughed when he told him the George Washington Bridge lanes were being closed as an act of political retaliation. I don’t know if that’s true, and the former presidential candidate has denied it, but imagine if Trump had chosen Christie as his running mate.
Howard Kurtz is a Fox News analyst and the host of "MediaBuzz" (Sundays 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET). He is the author of five books and is based in Washington. Follow him at @HowardKurtz. Click here for more information on Howard Kurtz. | 0fake |
Obama, Erdogan Discuss Need for Close Cooperation to Counter Daesh | Get short URL 0 6 0 0 US President Barack Obama spoke by phone with Turksih President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and noted the need for Washington and Ankara to coordinate efforts against the Daesh group in Syria, the White House said in a press release.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Erdogan is at odds with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi over Ankara's role in US-led coalition operation in Moshul after Abadi demanded Turkish troops withdrawal from the base in the northern city of Bashiqa. "President Obama noted the need for close coordination between the United States and Turkey to build on these successes and to apply sustained pressure on ISIL [Daesh] in Syria to reduce threats to the United States, Turkey, and elsewhere," the release stated on Wednesday. ... | 1real |
Black Mirror prepara un capítulo sobre el día en que tu madre se instaló WhatsApp | Black Mirror prepara un capítulo sobre el día en que tu madre se instaló WhatsApp EL PROTAGONISTA RECIBE EL MENSAJE "OLA CARIÑO TEGNO WASAP" Y SE DESATA LA TRAGEDIA Whatsapp
El director de la serie “Black Mirror”, Charlie Brooker, está preparando un capítulo sobre un futuro distópico en el que tu madre se abre una cuenta en WhatsApp. Una vez más, Brooker vuelve a enfrentar al espectador a un escenario posible que se convierte en escalofriante por la cercanía con nuestra realidad.
¿Qué pasaría si un día recibes un WhatsApp que dice “ola cariño tegno wasap”? Este es el punto de partida de “No me he sentado en todo el día”, el capítulo que relata un drama cada vez más común: las madres y las nuevas tecnologías como nexo de unión.
A partir de aquí, llega un incesante goteo de mensajes, a cual más terrorífico. “Oye que no contetas o que? Esto no funcion ”. “Haber si vienes a verme que parece que no tengas madr ”. Y, finalmente, el texto que desencadena la histeria en el protagonista, es decir, tú: “Van a cerrar WhatsApp. Reenvía este mensaje a todos tus contactos para que tu cuenta no sea desactivada. Va en serio, lo han dicho en El País”.
“El reto es construir un universo agobiante y del que es imposible escapar. La madre mandando memes absurdos que ya habías visto hace dos meses, vídeos de bebés de familiares cuyo nombre has olvidado y que agotan tu tarifa de datos, fotos de comida…”, explica Brooker.
Por si esto fuera poco, la serie se ambientará en Navidad y la trama principal girará alrededor del grupo familiar “Cena de Nochebuena”. | 1real |
John McCain Goes Full-On Birther — Tries To Get Ted Cruz Disqualified From Race | It s no secret that Senator John McCain hates Ted Cruz. Although he has tried to hide it by repeatedly calling the Republican presidential candidate a friend, it s hard to look past the time he called him a wacko bird. He has also been very vocal about his disdain for Cruz s government shutdown tactics and in 2015 he said that he basically disagrees with the candidate s entire platform. With all of this in mind, it was really no surprise when McCain added his opinion to the Ted Cruz citizenship controversy.By now, you have probably all heard about Donald Trump questioning whether or not Ted Cruz was qualified to be president because he was born in Canada. The Constitution says that only a natural-born citizen can sit behind the desk in the Oval Office, and the GOP front-runner implied that he didn t know if Cruz was a legal candidate.During an interview on Wednesday on Phoenix radio station 550 KFYI s Chris Merill Show, John McCain said he didn t know if Ted Cruz was eligible to be president because he was born in Canada: I know that came up in my race because I was born in Panama, but I was born in the Canal Zone which is a territory. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was territory when he ran in 1964. .Asked if the Supreme Court might have to weigh in on the natural born citizen issue, McCain said, It may be, that may be the case. It is likely that John McCain doesn t really question whether or not Cruz is eligible to be president; instead it seems as though he was trolling the senator a little bit. But if he does actually question his right to run, he may be trying to get the party to disqualify the Tea Party maniac.Although McCain has made some pretty stupid political decisions in the past (cough..Sarah Palin cough), he is basically a moderate Republican and not as loony as the Teabillies who have hijacked his party. That means he knows that even though the Constitution does not specifically define natural born citizen, the consensus is that if a person is born to American parents, even in a foreign country, they are natural born. What s really funny about this whole non-scandal is that we are seeing the Republican Party target their own candidate in the same way many attacked President Obama and he was actually born in the United States.Oh the irony Featured image via Salon | 1real |
Cory Booker SCORCHES Trump Over New Muslim Ban In BLISTERING Tweetstorm | Well, the moment we have all been anticipating has come to pass. Donald Trump and the bigots in his administration have rolled out a new Muslim Ban. There are very few differences. It excludes Iraq, thanks to their vital role in helping the United States government in the fight against the Islamic State. It also will not be rolled out immediately, so that we won t have people being detained mid-travel. It also excludes Green Card holders and those with legal visas prior to January 27, 2017 the date of the original order that was struck down by the courts. there is also language striking down the first order. However, make no mistake this is still a Muslim ban. The intent is the same, and there is one person who wants to make sure that everyone knows it: New Jersey Senator Cory Booker.Just moments after the news broke that Trump had signed the new order behind closed doors, Senator Booker took to Twitter to go all in on Trump and what he and his goons are doing. This truly an extraordinary rebuke of a sitting Senator of a sitting President. Here are is the flurry of tweets sent out by a clearly furious Booker:A rebranded #MuslimBan is still a Muslim ban.Plain and simple. Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017It s clear that the Trump administration s intent with this executive order is the same as it was with the first. Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017They are trying to exclude refugees and immigrants of a certain religion from entering the United States. Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017The previous Muslim ban was rejected by millions of Americans and blocked by the federal courts. Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017This reckless and un-American executive order once again blatantly defies our nation s highest ideals and makes our country less safe. Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017I will fight every step of the way, this renewed attempt to play the worst kind of politics at the expense of our most cherished values. Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017As history has shown us, so will the American people. Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017See you in court (again), @realDonaldTrump Sen. Cory Booker (@SenBookerOffice) March 6, 2017Indeed, we will see Trump in court. Just as the first order was rejected, so should the second order. There s really no difference at all, and the claims by Trump and his administration are doing this because of national security concerns have been shown to be baseless by Trump s own Department of Homeland Security.This is the most fundamentally un-American action Trump has taken yet, and considering the things he has done, that s saying something. Senator Booker is right we ll see him in court.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 1real |
BREAKING: THE REAL REASON HILLARY CLINTON WONT BE CHARGED BY THE FBI | We Are Change
In this video Luke Rudkowski breaks down the real reason that Hillary Clinton isn’t facing charges in the FBI’s renewed investigation into her private server as secretary of state.
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The post BREAKING: THE REAL REASON HILLARY CLINTON WONT BE CHARGED BY THE FBI appeared first on We Are Change .
| 1real |
NSA – ‘Top Secret’ Arsenal Released In Protest Of ‘Trump Betrayal’ | 21st Century Wire says Out of all the intelligence agencies in the United States, we ve come across stories where not everyone is on the same page . Indeed we ve also heard about factions embroiled in competition, and rivalry. Moral compass, personal principles, and ethics being challenged which lead to inner conflict; just some of the reasons that gave us former NSA whistleblower William Binney and more recently in the last few years, Edward Snowden.You might not have heard of them, but The Shadow Brokers came on the scene last year. A previously unknown collective, the Brokers hacked and released legitimate hacking tools from the NSA s own special-ops entity, the Equation Group . The initial speculation, the Russians, of course. Everything is Russia by proxy these days. The Shadow Brokers released a certain amount of the Equation Group hacking tools asking for one million bitcoins, roughly $568 million at the time.The Shadow Brokers are back and since their initial hack it is assumed that this could be the work of a disgruntled in house employee. Furthermore they re not happy at all with President Donald J. Trump for numerous reasons, including his recent decision to launch 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria.More on this report from Zerohedge Tyler Durden ZeroHedgeLast August, the intel world was abuzz following the news that a previously unknown hacker collective, The Shadow Brokers had hacked and released legitimate hacking tools from the NSA s own special-ops entity, the Equation Group , with initial speculation emerging that the Russians may have penetrated the US spy agency as suggested by none other than Edward Snowden. The Shadow Brokers released a bunch of the organization s hacking tools, and were asking for 1 million bitcoin (around $568 million at the time) to release more files, however failed to find a buyer. Attention then shifted from Russians after some speculated that the agency itself may be housing another mole insider. At the time, a former NSA source told Motherboard, that it s plausible that the leakers are actually a disgruntled insider, claiming that it s easier to walk out of the NSA with a USB drive or a CD than hack its servers. As famed NSA whistleblower William Binney who exposed the NSA s pervasive surveillance of Americans long before Snowden confirmed it said, My colleagues and I are fairly certain that this was no hack, or group for that matter, This Shadow Brokers character is one guy, an insider employee. In a subsequent Reuters op-ed by cybersecurity expert James Bamford, author of The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA From 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America, and columnist for Foreign Policy magazine, he said that seemed as the most probable explanation, and that Russia had nothing to do with this latest and most provocative yet hack.Since then, the Shadow Broker group, whose origin and identity still remains a mystery, disappeared from the radar only to emerge today, when in an article posted on Medium, the group wrote an op-ed, much of it in broken English, in which it slammed Donald Trump s betrayal of his core base , and the recent attack on Syria, urging Trump to revert to his original promises and not be swept away by globalist and MIC interests, but far more imporantly, released the password which grants access to what Edward Snowden moments ago called the NSA s Top Secret arsenal of digital weapons. The article begins with the group explaining why it is displeased with Trump.DON T FORGET YOUR BASEDear President Trump,Respectfully, what the fuck are you doing? TheShadowBrokers voted for you. TheShadowBrokers supports you. TheShadowBrokers is losing faith in you. Mr. Trump helping theshadowbrokers, helping you. Is appearing you are abandoning your base , the movement , and the peoples who getting you elected.Good Evidence:#1 Goldman Sach (TheGlobalists) and Military Industrial Intelligence Complex (MIIC) cabinet #2 Backtracked on Obamacare #3 Attacked the Freedom Causcus (TheMovement) #4 Removed Bannon from the NSC #5 Increased U.S. involvement in a foreign war (Syria Strike)The peoples whose voted for you, voted against the Republican Party, the party that tried to destroying your character in the primaries. The peoples who voted for you, voted against the Democrat Party, the party that hates, mocks, and laughs at you. Without the support of the peoples who voted for you, what do you think will be happening to your Presidency? Without the support of the people who voted for you, do you think you ll be still making America great again? Do you be remembering when you were sitting there at the Obama Press Party and they were all laughing at you? Do you be remembering when you touring the country and all those peoples believed in you and supported you? You were those peoples hope. How do you be thinking it will be feeling when those people turn on you? Will they be laughing at you, hating you, and mocking you too?TheShadowBrokers doesn t want this to be happening to you, Mr. Trump. TheShadowBrokers is wanting to see you succeed.The hackers then ask Trump whose war is he fighting:If you made deal(s) be telling the peoples about them, peoples is appreciating transparency. But what kind of deal can be resulting in chemical weapons used in Syria, Mr. Bannon s removal from the NSC, US military strike on Syria, and successful vote for SCOTUS without change rules? Mr. Trump whose war are you fighting? Israeli Nationalists (Zionist) and Goldman Sachs war? Chinese Globalists and Goldman Sachs war? Is not looking like you fighting the domestic wars, the movement elected you to be fighting. You not being in office three months and already you looking like the MIIC s bitch with John McCain and Chuck Schumer double dutch ruddering each other in the corner over dead corpses.The post continues by exposing what the ShadowBrokers believe is the general mindset of Trump s support base;Your Supporters: Don t care what is written in the NYT, Washington Post, or any newspaper, so just ignore it. Don t care if you swapped wives with Mr Putin, double down on it, Putin is not just my firend he is my BFF . Don t care if the election was hacked or rigged, celebrate it so what if I did, what are you going to do about it . Don t care if your popular or nice, get er done, Obama s fail, thinking he could create compromise. No compromise. Don t want foreign wars, Do want domestic wars, drain the swamp , destroy the nanny state Don t care about your faith, you sound like a smuck when you try to say god things DO support the ideologies and policies of Steve Bannon, Anti-Globalism, Anti-Socialism, Nationalism, IsolationismIn the article, the ShadowBrokers also touch upon what until recently was the primary topic of the daily news cycle, namely the whether Russia is behind this (and any other black hat intel hacking operation):For peoples still being confused about TheShadowBrokers and Russia. If theshadowbrokers being Russian don t you think we d be in all those U.S. government reports on Russian hacking? TheShadowBrokers isn t not fans of Russia or Putin but The enemy of my enemy is my friend. We recognize Americans having more in common with Russians than Chinese or Globalist or Socialist. Russia and Putin are nationalist and enemies of the Globalist, examples: NATO encroachment and Ukraine conflict. Therefore Russia and Putin are being best allies until the common enemies are defeated and America is great again.The report than goes on to suggest that the hacking group is in fact comprised mostly of former US spies: President Trump, theshadowbrokers is offering our services to you and your administration. Did you know most of theshadowbrokers members have taken the oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic . Yes sir! Most of us used to be TheDeepState everyone is talking about Continue this report at ZeroHedgeREAD MORE SCI-TECH NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire SCI-TECH FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
WHO WILL SUPPORT “THE BERN”? New Numbers Show OBAMA STOLE An EXTRA 6 Months Income From Average Working American Since Bush Years | The average American makes $52,250* per year. The extra $25K Obama stole from working Americans didn t include free college or the redistribution of your income to people who would rather not work. It didn t include support for people who came here illegally and need to be taken care of either. Over the course of the 86 full months that President Barack Obama has completed serving in the White House from February 2009 through March 2016 the U.S. Treasury has collected approximately $18,764,164,000,000 in tax revenues (in non-inflation-adjusted dollars), according to the Monthly Treasury Statements issued during that period. (President Obama was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009.)That equals approximately $124,003 for each of the 151,320,000 persons who, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, had either a full- or part-time job during March 2016.During the same 86-month stretch of the Obama presidency, the total debt of the federal government increased from $10,632,005,246,736.97 to $19,264,938,619,643.07, according to the Treasury.That is an increase in the debt of $8,632,933,372,906.10 or approximately $57,051 for each of the 151,320,000 people with jobs as of March.If the Treasury succeeds in collecting the full $3,335,502,000,000 in reveneus that the White House Office of Management and Budget estimates it will collect in fiscal 2016 (which will end on Sept. 30), Obama will become the first American president whose Treasury collected more than $20,000,000,000,000 in taxes (in non-inflation adjusted dollars) during his time in office.As of the end of fiscal 2015 (on Sept. 30, 2015), the Treasury had collected a total of approximately $17,287,946,000,000 during the 80 full months Obama had at that point served as president.By the end of this September if the Treasury collects the estimated $3,335,502,000,000 in revenues for this year the Treasury will have collected $20,623,448,000,000 in taxes during the 92 full months Obama will by then have served in the White House.During the first 86 full months that George W. Bush was president (February 2001 through March 2008), according to the Monthly Treasury Statements, the Treasury collected approximately $15,099,826,000,000 in taxes. (From February 2001 through January 2009, the Treasury collected $17,251,191,000,000 in taxes. Bush was inaugurated on Jan, 20, 2001 and left office on Jan. 20, 2009, when Obama was sworn in.)The $15,099,826,000,000 in taxes that the Treasury collected during Bush s first 86 full months in office equaled approximately $103,363 for each of the 146,086,000 persons who had a full- or part-time job in March 2008.During the first 86 full months of George W. Bush s presidency, the debt increased from $5,716,070,587,057.36 to $9,437,594,138,091.39.That is a debt increase of $3,721,523,551,034.03 or approximately $25,475 for each of the 146,086,000 persons who had a job in March 2008.For entire story: CNS News*US Census | 1real |
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