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Two leading Republicans shy away from being Trump's VP pick | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump’s list of potential vice presidential running mates got a little shorter on Wednesday when one prominent U.S. senator withdrew from consideration and a second said she wanted to focus on her home state. The moves by Bob Corker of Tennessee and Joni Ernst of Iowa could complicate Trump’s efforts to rally establishment Republicans behind his presidential bid. With Trump looking at a self-imposed deadline of July 15 to announce his pick, there was no indication that the wealthy businessman was anywhere close to reaching what is perhaps the most important decision he will make as the presumptive Republican nominee. Trump is looking to announce his running mate just ahead of the Republican National Convention, to be held July 18-21 in Cleveland, where he is expected to become the party’s official nominee. In Cincinnati, Ohio, on Wednesday, Trump campaigned with potential vice presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives who is popular in conservative circles. Introducing Trump, Gingrich tried out the role of the No. 2 with a robust attack on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton for her email practices, on the same day the Justice Department decided not to levy criminal charges over what the Federal Bureau of Investigation called her “extremely careless” handling of classified information when she was secretary of state. “There are two Americas. There’s the corrupt Washington of the old order. And there’s all the rest of us. I say to you, Enough!” Gingrich said. Trump liked what he heard. “I’m not saying it’s Newt, but if it’s Newt, nobody is going to be beating him in those debates,” Trump said. Trump told Fox News he has 10 candidates on his vice presidential list, including two generals. One source said Indiana Governor Mike Pence is being pushed internally by some members of Trump’s inner circle. A former congressman, Pence met with Trump on Saturday. Corker, from Tennessee, who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, had wrestled privately over whether to be a contender for the No. 2 position, telling friends he had never been a surrogate for another politician. Corker spent eight hours at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday, then campaigned with Trump in Raleigh, North Carolina. He told reporters he withdrew because “I just felt like I was far more suited for other types of service.” “You know, it’s a highly political role for the next four months,” he said. “I view myself as deep in substance and policy, and I just think there are better ways for me to serve in the public arena.” His withdrawal eliminates an important party establishment figure as Trump tries to broaden his appeal with plans to visit Republicans in the Senate and House on Capitol Hill on Thursday. “Corker’s withdrawal could be considered a canary in the coal mine with establishment Republicans who are convinced that Trump cannot stay on message and can’t stay focused on attacking Hillary Clinton without doing some type of damage to his campaign,” said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. Some Republicans felt Trump erred by not taking full political advantage of FBI Director James Comey’s statement on Tuesday that Clinton mishandled classified emails. In Raleigh, Trump sharply attacked Clinton but strayed from the message by saying the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had done a good job cracking down on militants. Ernst, a rising figure in the Republican Party, spent part of the Fourth of July holiday on Monday meeting with Trump. She seemed to be leaning against the vice presidential position, and told Politico, “I made that very clear to him that I’m focused on Iowa. I feel that I have a lot more to do in the United States Senate. And Iowa is where my heart is.” | 0fake |
Merkel to meet German president, who will then make statement | BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Monday to update him on events after her efforts to form a three-way coalition government failed, her spokesman said. The acting chancellor will meet the president at noon today to inform him about how things stand, spokesman Steffen Seibert told a regular government news conference. Steinmeier would make a statement to media at 2.30 p.m. (1330 GMT), his office said. | 0fake |
Incredible smoke haze seen outside NDTV office after Arnab quits; bursting of firecrackers suspected | Incredible smoke haze seen outside NDTV office after Arnab quits; bursting of firecrackers suspected Posted on Tweet (Image via shutterstock.com)
An incredible smoke haze was spotted seen outside the NDTV office on Tuesday. Onlookers claimed that the reason was and uninhibited bursting of firecrackers by people in the building.
One onlooker claimed he also heard loud firecrackers-like noise near the NDTV office area followed by fumes curling up to form a V-sign.
Experts say it will be difficult to ascertain the source of the emission. A leading pollution expert opined, “These days such peculiar fumes can be due to firecrackers during the Diwali season or because of pure human emotions giving rise to intense celebrations, revelry, etc.”
This incident, according to the onlooker, happened on Tuesday evening, minutes after the news of journalist Arnab Goswami quitting Times Now surfaced.
The UnReal Times could not verify whether the two events were correlated as the onlooker tried to imply.
A few onlookers however insisted the fumes could be a smokescreen to hide some kind of celebrations inside the office. The UnReal Times could not even verify whether there was pun intended in this claim.
Similar incidents of smoke over other media houses were reported too.
Outside the CNN IBN office, one could see similar fumes rising, triggering alarm bells among onlookers. Again, firecrackers could have been behind the smoke, according to the observers.
Outside the India Today office, not only was smoke seen rising in the air but a grey-haired man was seen enthusiastically distributing sweets among strangers.
When asked, what was he celebrating the man replied, “Should we celebrate Diwali only during Diwali? Why not a day later? Does that mean we have become anti-national?”
When asked if the celebration had anything to do with the Arnab Goswami resignation, the man replied with a grin, “Shubhratri. Good night!”
Strangely, outside the Times Now office, no smoke was detected. Tweet About Amrut Thobbi
Amrut Thobbi is an editor by profession, satirist by heart and useless as a person. You can follow him at @amrutti on Twitter or Amrut Thobbi on Facebook. He blogs here | 1real |
400 Mexican Soldiers Headed to Border in Hunt for Gulf Cartel Boss ’Comandante Toro’ | REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — More than 400 Mexican soldiers have been deployed to this border city as part of an ongoing security strategy aimed at targeting various Gulf Cartel cells in the region. [Approximately 417 soldiers departed from the Mexican state of Chiapas on three military airplanes, Reynosa’s El Mañana reported. The soldiers are from the 15th Motorized Cavalry Regiment their deployment comes just weeks after 500 soldiers were sent to Ciudad Mier, Tamaulipas. The new deployment of soldiers occured days after Tamaulipas’s Governor Francisco Cabeza de Vaca announced a new security strategy for Reynosa. The mounting pressure forced Gulf Cartel’s regional boss, Julian “Comandante Toro” Loiza Salinas aka Juan Manuel Loiza Salinas, into hiding. While his commanders continue to operate in Reynosa, Loiza Salinas allegedly sought temporary refuge in Texas. During the raids, cartel gunmen have been setting up roadblocks and throwing hundreds of makeshift road spikes designed to rapidly deflate tires. The tactic is also done to flatten the tires of regular motorists, causing traffic jams. Ildefonso Ortiz is an journalist with Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. Brandon Darby is managing director and of Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. | 0fake |
Turkey to allow muftis to conduct weddings, sparking uproar on left | ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey s parliament approved a law to allow some state-employed religious officials to administer civil marriages, a move opposition parties view as another blow to secularism and women s rights under President Tayyip Erdogan. The law, passed late on Thursday, will allow muftis - officials employed by the state s Religious Affairs Directorate - to perform civil marriages that were previously administered only by municipal officials. The secularist main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) has vowed to take the law to the Constitutional Court as soon as possible , while the leftist pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) has also opposed it. Critics fear the new law could lead to an increase in underage marriages, citing the religious ceremonies practiced in rural areas where brides are sometimes under 18. This paves the way for child brides because according to Islam, there is no age limit, a girl who has reached puberty can get married, CHP Deputy Chairman Ozgur Ozel told Reuters. Ozel said the law included constitutional breaches and disregarded the founding values of the constitutionally secular Turkish republic. Civil marriage under the age of 18 is illegal in Turkey, although in rural parts of the Sunni Muslim nation of 80 million religious ceremonies are common. HDP lawmaker Huda Kaya said the law was a slightly formalized version of a previous controversial proposal that critics said could allow men accused of sexually abusing girls to avoid punishment if they marry their victims. The proposal was retracted from parliament last year after a public uproar. They say this is against secularism. The church does this in the West, Erdogan said last week. Erdogan, whose roots are in political Islam, and his ruling AK Party say the law is designed to speed up the officiating of weddings, normally carried out by mayors at municipal offices. But one CHP lawmaker, Ali Seker, said each state official had on average fewer than one wedding to conduct per day last year, citing official statistics during a debate in parliament. The law states that the offices of muftis will be given the right to carry out weddings, meaning the religious officials could also appoint Muslim clerics or imams to officiate civil weddings - an authority that has never been granted to non-state employees in modern Turkey. This is the act of legalising a social event that is part of Turkey s traditions. The spirit of the laws must be in harmony with the spirit of social life, Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said. Erdogan has spent his political career fighting to bring religion back into public life in Turkey and has cast himself as the liberator of millions of pious Turks whose rights and welfare were neglected under the secular elite. Liberal Turks see Erdogan as attempting to roll back the work of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Western-facing founder of modern Turkey. This is a clear alternative to secularism. Even bringing this bill on the agenda is igniting a spark against secularism, said Canan Gullu, chairwoman of the Turkish Women s Associations Federation, told Reuters. No matter what they do, women s fight will continue, and democracy and secularism will survive. | 0fake |
Nancy Pelosi Reacts To London Attack, Shows Trump How It’s Supposed To Be Done (DETAILS) | Donald Trump has been in office for several months now, and he still hasn t figured out the proper way to respond to a terrorist attack. Trump demonstrated his idiocy to the world earlier this week when he responded to the terrorist attack in London by using the tragedy as an opportunity to promote his Muslim travel ban.Trump got blasted on social media for his disgusting, insensitive response but top Democrat Nancy Pelosi found the perfect way to slam Trump by actually showing him how he SHOULD HAVE responded. Unlike Trump, Pelosi didn t blame London s Mayor or use it to promote any agenda. Her response was completely presidential and serves as a perfect example of how Trump should behave while completely humiliating him at the same time.In a beautiful statement of solidarity, Pelosi said: Today, the American people stand in solidarity with the people of the United Kingdom, and share in the shock and outrage of this brutal attack. We send our thoughts and prayers to the fallen, the injured and those still waiting for news of their loved ones. Terrorists will not succeed in dimming the strength and spirit of the people of the United Kingdom. Last night s vile attack the third act of terror to target the United Kingdom in three months was met with courage and resilience from first responders and from civilian heroes who refused to be intimidated by violence and hatred. And unlike Trump, Pelosi reached out to our allies to send a message of unity instead of divisiveness: The United States will continue to proudly work side-by-side with the U.K. to defeat terrorist threats and defend the security of all peace-loving people. May the people of the United Kingdom find solace in knowing that the American people stand with them during this difficult time. Hopefully, Trump will see Pelosi s response and a light bulb will go off in his head, but we all know he s incapable of learning from his mistakes so that s not going to happen.Pelosi s response is the kind of reaction that we d come to expect from our leaders, especially after having eight amazing years under former President Barack Obama. Unfortunately, we ve gone in quite the opposite direction under Trump. Every time there is an incident, Trump further humiliates America and insults the world with his response.Featured image via Alex Wong and Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1real |
Whoopi SHREDS Betsy DeVos’ Ignorance Of Public Schools And It’s GLORIOUS (VIDEO) | It can be said that having Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary isn t only a dumb idea, it s an absolute nightmare for public schools.In addition, DeVos, much like Donald Trump, should probably stay off Twitter if she s going to try to at all be taken seriously.Not only did the Education Department tweet out W.E.B. Du Bois name incorrectly and leave it up, as seen here:Education must not simply teach work it must teach life. W.E.B. DeBois pic.twitter.com/Re4cWkPSFA US Dept of Education (@usedgov) February 12, 2017But then DeVos herself asks this idiotic question:Day 1 on the job is done, but we re only getting started. Now where do I find the pencils? :) pic.twitter.com/0vRKF1opE9 Betsy DeVos (@BetsyDeVos) February 9, 2017Which for most people, including Whoopi Goldberg of The View, was enough to put them over the edge.Like most people aware of public school teachers, Whoopi laid into DeVos about that idiotic pencil question. Because if DeVos knew anything about public schools, she would know that public school teachers go into their own pockets and pay for school supplies for their students on their own.Whoopi also sent a message to DeVos saying that if she really cared about aiding the education of this nation and had an actual interest in making it better, she would use some of her own money (you know, the money she used to buy her the Secretary position) and get schools and teachers the funding they deserve.Watch here:Education Sec. Betsy DeVos tweet asking where the pencils are got backlash online the co-hosts give their take on it. pic.twitter.com/kkrtEbR4qS The View (@TheView) February 13, 2017Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
The full Ackbar: Right warns Obama war plan is a trap | Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up .
Buzz Cut:
• The Full Ackbar: Right warns Obama war plan is a trap
• More votes set on amnesty plan
• GOP confidence grows while Dems get jitters
• Biden: ‘Run on what we have done’
• When you care enough to steal $10,000 worth of underpants
THE FULL ACKBAR: RIGHT WARNS OBAMA WAR PLAN IS A TRAP
In a blistering column, influential conservative columnist Matthew Continetti calls President Obama’s request for congressional authorization for the ongoing war in Iraq and Syria a “trap” and says he would “happily” vote it down. “If the threat of ISIS is as dire as the president says it is in the preamble of his resolution,” Continetti writes, “then not only does the president already have the authority to strike granted to him by Article II of the Constitution and the 2001 and 2002 war resolutions, he also should not cavil or hesitate in unleashing every means at his disposal to confront and defeat the enemy.” Continetti goes on to say, “I also cannot help thinking that the presidential request is little more than a trap, a bone thrown in the direction of the cloakroom to distract from the collapse of America’s position in the Middle East and the approaching deadline for nuclear talks with Iran. How better to provoke infighting among both Republicans and Democrats, to switch the debate from sanctions against Iran to ‘Rand Paul versus Marco Rubio for the soul of the GOP,’ than to start a debate over presidential war powers as the war is going on.”
ISIS grabs ground - Fox News: “Islamic State fighters reportedly seized most of a western Iraqi town on Thursday, in fighting taking place mere miles from an air base where hundreds of U.S. Marines are training Iraqis. Reuters, quoting local officials, reported Thursday that ISIS militants had overrun much of the town of al-Baghdadi. One local Iraqi official told Reuters that, "Ninety percent of al-Baghdadi district has fallen under the control of the insurgents."
Not even a little ‘hasty’? - “Well first it wasn't hasty. Just because I didn't know what the plans were, didn't mean the plans weren't in place for weeks. We have been planning for weeks a range of contingency options…We always have a range of options we can take when we're talking about a high threat post.".”– State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki on “The Kelly File” discussing the weapons and equipment abandoned in Yemen by U.S. forces. Watch here.
A question of selfie control - Buzzfeed released a video Thursday showing the commander in chief using a selfie stick and smiling at himself in the mirror to help promote ObamaCare. It delighted many in the media. The Washington Post called it, “cute” and “catchy,” while People Magazine gets in on the action suggesting, “judging by the president's expert selfie stick form, it seems like his meeting with Kim Kardashian last year really paid off.” Not mentioned in the stories: the video was reportedly shot on the same day the world learned ISIS hostage Kayla Mueller was dead.
“Evil is real. There is no light grey. Murdering innocent people to move a political point of view has been, is and always will be evil.” – Former President George W. Bush in a lecture at University of Mary Hardin-Baylor on Wednesday.
ELIE WIESEL WILL ATTEND NETANYAHU SPEECH
“[W]riter, political activist and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, will attend Prime Minister [Benjamin Netanyahu’s] congressional speech regarding Iran on March 3,” reports the Observer. “A full-page advertisement declaring Mr. Wiesel’s intention to attend the controversial speech will appear in The New York Times on February 14th to be followed by The Washington Post.”
[WSJ: “Senate Republicans on Thursday moved to officially welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S. ahead of his planned speech to Congress next month, the latest development in a saga that has roiled politics in both countries.”]
MORE VOTES TO COME ON AMNESTY PLAN
The Hill: “The Senate is going to vote again on a procedural motion to consider a bill reversing President Obama’s executive actions on immigration and fund the Department of Homeland Security. Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] filed a motion to hold additional votes to end a Democratic filibuster of the bill, setting up as many as three more attempts. The votes are expected to take place the last week of February, as Congress will be out of town next week for a recess…Funding will lapse after Feb. 27.”
Cost, logistics of Obama immigration plan raise concerns - Fox News: “Though forecasting turn-out of applicants is largely a guessing game, DHS predicts as many as 1.3 million people may apply in the first six months alone…There's also the cost of the plan, officially known as Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, estimated at $324 million to $484 million over the next few years, according to DHS documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times.”
Power Play: Fight over funding - Democratic strategist Penny Lee and former Republican Senate staffer John Hart join Power Play host Chris Stirewalt to discuss the $40 billion Homeland Security bill that would stop the president’s executive action on immigration. Are Republicans picking the right bill for a fight? And can Congress come to an agreement? Watch here.
DeMint seeks peace with old rival McConnell - Politico: “Jim DeMint paid a personal visit Thursday to an old rival: Mitch McConnell. DeMint, a former South Carolina senator and now president of The Heritage Foundation, met one-on-one with McConnell in the GOP leader’s Capitol suite as DeMint pitched Heritage’s ‘opportunity’ agenda. Things appeared to go over more smoothly with McConnell than they did last month with the House, where DeMint was confronted over his sister organization’s strict ratings of lawmakers’ conservatism…”
WITH YOUR SECOND CUP OF COFFEE...
Relatively little is known about the history of the peoples of the British Isles prior to the arrival of Roman legions in the 1st Century, A.D. But one durable belief is that the more placid peoples of the south who would live under Roman rule were a breed apart from the wild, savage tribes to the north, known to the Romans as Picts. But a new book from Benjamin Hudson, a professor of history and medieval studies at Penn State, is turning that discussion around. While Roman history focuses on the Picts as uncivilized enemies as the Romans began to try to expand the empire’s boundaries into northern England, Hudson’s book argues that “they weren't different, they were merely Britons that the Romans didn't conquer.” While Hudson’s research shows a glimpse of life and culture without the Roman influence, it also makes the case that the bias of Roman historians created a false delineation between residents of the south and residents of the north prior to their arrival.
Got a TIP from the RIGHT or LEFT? Email FoxNewsFirst@FOXNEWS.COM
GOP CONFIDENCE GROWS WHILE DEMS GET JITTERS
Fox News polling guru Dana Blanton writes: “…by a 10-point margin, more Republicans are looking forward to the 2016 campaign than dreading it. That’s the opposite of how they felt about the start of the 2012 campaign in 2011. At that time, they were more likely to say they were dreading the race by 10 points. The poll finds the same reversal of sentiment among Democrats. They were looking forward to the 2012 campaign by 8 points, while now they say they are dreading the start of the 2016 campaign by 5 points. Republicans might be looking forward to 2016 because they are more confident about their party’s chances. Fully 78 percent of Republicans think the GOP candidate is going to win the next presidential election, while just 63 percent of Democrats feel that way about their party’s candidate. The results are almost the same when the hypothetical race is between a generic Republican and Democrat Hillary Clinton: 76 percent of Republicans say their candidate will win, while 67 percent of Democrats think Clinton will prevail.”
Walker and Carson at the head of the class - In the latest Fox News poll, voters got to rank the 2016 contenders with letter grades. Among Republican voters, Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., gets the highest marks of the bunch with a B, followed by Dr. Ben Carson and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who both earned B-, all remaining contenders earn C+ or below. Among all voters, Dr. Ben Carson, Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., and Hillary Clinton all earn C+, which is still better than President Obama who earns a C.]
“Listen I’m a big Scott Walker supporter, and he hasn’t announced anything, but you know I’ll be supporting Scott Walker.” -- Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to CQ Roll Call
Rand looks to move up Kentucky presidential pick - Lexington Herald-Leader: “Requesting help to avoid a ‘costly and time-consuming legal challenge,’ U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is asking members of the Republican Party of Kentucky to create a presidential caucus in 2016 that would happen well ahead of the May primary election. In a letter dated Feb. 9, Paul told GOP leaders that an earlier presidential preference vote would give Kentuckians ‘more leverage to be relevant’ in the wide-open competition for the Republican presidential nomination…The letter went out to hundreds of Kentucky Republicans ahead of the party's 54-member executive committee meeting March 7 in Bowling Green, where Paul will pitch the caucus idea to members for a vote…‘If I choose to also seek the presidency, I will do so to serve the people of Kentucky and the ideas that I ran on and have worked for,’ he wrote. ‘I believe I can keep helping the people of Kentucky as senator, but I think there is no doubt I could help them even more as president.’”
[Paul will be spending the weekend in Florida giving speeches at the Orange County Lincoln Day Dinner today and the Republican Party of Sarasota rally Saturday.]
Club for Growth to host Florida cattle call - WaPo: “Six potential 2016 candidates have accepted invitations to speak at the private gathering Feb. 26-28 at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, according to a knowledgeable official who shared the information with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. They are Former Florida governor Jeb Bush; Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker; Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas; Indiana Gov. Mike Pence; and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.”
Rubio nabs Perry’s top money man - US News: “When former Texas Gov. Rick Perry released a list of 80 donors last week who would serve on the advisory board of his political action committee, there was one glaring omission: The Republican moneyman who helped steer his finance effort in his last run for president. George Seay, the Dallas-based investor and well-connected grandson of former Texas Gov. William Clements, felt he had a duty to support Perry’s late entry into the 2012 White House campaign and without hesitation signed on as his Texas finance chairman. Not this round. Seay has already pledged to help Florida Sen. Marco Rubio if the freshman GOP lawmaker decides to turn the ignition on a 2016 presidential bid, a prospect that looks increasingly likely.”
[Rubio kicks off his national book tour today with an appearance in West Des Moines Iowa. Other stops include South Carolina, Nevada and New Hampshire.]
Perry wraps up New Hampshire trip - Dallas Morning News: “Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Thursday that voters have had enough of a ‘young, attractive’ and inexperienced president and will be looking for a proven leader in 2016. Perry, who is considering a second run for president, wrapped up a two-day trip to New Hampshire with a speech at the Strafford County Republican Committee’s Lincoln Day Dinner.
Kasich calling out GOP’s old guard - Cleveland Plain Dealer : “Gov. John Kasich's presidential deliberations are accelerating, as evidenced not only by an upcoming trip to South Carolina announced this week but also by the prominent Republican advisers entering his political orbit. Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman, met recently with Team Kasich, according to GOP sources in Columbus plugged into Kasich's network. One Republican said a separate dinner meeting included former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu of New Hampshire, the first primary state. Richard Allen, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution who served as national security adviser under President Ronald Reagan, also attended the dinner….”
[Gillespie remaining neutral - In a Facebook post, former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie offered a clarification: “Just saw a news report about John Kasich seeking my thoughts on the presidency. I was happy to share some with him (we've known one another more than two decades!), as i've done with others, but I'm going to remain neutral in the nominating process. The article didn't really make that clear.”]
[Watch Fox: Rick Santorum sits down for the latest 2016 contender interview on “Special Report with Bret Baier” tonight at 6 p.m. ET.]
Shalom, y’all - Former Gov. Mike Huckabee departs this weekend for a trip to Israel.
Carson grabs leader of Gingrich’s winning S.C. team - Dr. Ben Carson has named Ruth Sherlock, a former Newt Gingrich operative, as his South Carolina state director.
POWER PLAY: TROUBLE AT CAMP HILLARY
Keeping tabs on Team Hillary, news of a disagreement within the campaign provide fodder for strategists. Democratic strategist Penny Lee and former Republican Senate staffer John Hart join Power Play host Chris Stirewalt to discuss the struggle among Clinton’s courtiers. WATCH HERE.
[In the latest Fox News poll, among Democratic voters Hillary gets a B+ and Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren tie at B-.]
BIDEN: ‘RUN ON WHAT WE HAVE DONE’
The Hill: “The 2016 Democratic presidential nominee should embrace the notion of a third term of the Obama presidency, Vice President [Joe Biden] said Thursday, during a speech at Drake University in Iowa. ‘I call it sticking with what works,’ Biden declared. The address was billed as a chance for Biden to explain some of the ideas introduced in President Obama's recent State of the Union address, but the vice president repeatedly returned to a discussion of how he saw the contours of the presidential race…The vice president said the election would be ‘all about’ either continuing the Obama economic policies or shifting to Republicans' ‘top-down’ vision. ‘Run on what we have done. Own what we have done. Stand for what we have done. Acknowledge what we have done,’ Biden said.”
[Would you like to watch the video again of when Biden used the archaic term for an inseparable friend, “butt buddy,” to refer to a former congressman? Of course you would.]
Come out come out, wherever you are - Des Moines Register: “National GOP operatives [posted] a mobile billboard at the vice president's events Thursday that tries to push the idea that Hillary Clinton's absence from the 2016 presidential campaign trail means she's ‘hiding from voters.’ ‘As her poll numbers show, when Hillary is campaigning, she's much less popular. What's the only way not to seem like she's campaigning? Go into hiding,’ Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer wrote in a news release Tuesday.”
[#HillaryCandyHearts - The inveterate Hillary hazers of America Rising is getting into the holiday spirit with not-so-sweet virtual conversation hearts about Hillary on Twitter.]
‘90s Nostalgia - In a NYT op-ed with former Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Clinton calls for the Children’s Health Insurance Program to be extended.
#MEDIABUZZ: MEDIA MAYHAM
This week Howard Kurtz welcomes former CNN anchor Piers Morgan and former ABC News President David Westin to discuss Jon Stewart stepping down, Brian Williams being suspended, the death of Bob Simon, and President Obama saying the media overhype the threat of terrorism. Watch “#mediabuzz” Sunday at 11 a.m. ET, with a second airing at 5 p.m.
WHEN YOU CARE ENOUGH TO STEAL $10,000 WORTH OF UNDERPANTS
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Atlanta police are searching for a shoplifter who appears to have Valentine’s Day sales in mind. A woman pilfered 785 pairs of panties at the Victoria’s Secret at Lenox Square Mall on Saturday, Officer Ralph Woolfolk said Thursday. The suspected thief put the panties in three shopping bags in a raid on the store lasting two hours and absconded, Woolfolk said. Retail for the panties was estimated at more than $10,000.”
AND NOW, A WORD FROM CHARLES…
“The government doesn't make money, it takes it, and it takes it from enterprises that are successful. [President Obama] simply will not recognize, although I'm sure he's been told since he's never been in the private sector, that when you write a law with specific details, people are going to work within those details to try to minimize expenses. It's rather elementary, but he still doesn't get it.” —Charles Krauthammer on “Special Report with Bret Baier” Watch here.
Chris Stirewalt is digital politics editor for Fox News. Want FOX News First in your inbox every day? Sign up here.
Chris Stirewalt joined Fox News Channel (FNC) in July of 2010 and serves as digital politics editor based in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he authors the daily "Fox News First" political news note and hosts "Power Play," a feature video series, on FoxNews.com. Stirewalt makes frequent appearances on the network, including "The Kelly File," "Special Report with Bret Baier," and "Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace." He also provides expert political analysis for Fox News coverage of state, congressional and presidential elections. | 0fake |
SYRIAN REFUGEES Spreading Catastrophic Outbreak Of FLESH EATING DISEASE To Host Nations…Disease Is Difficult To Detect In Refugees Coming To U.S. | How many times have the press and the Left admonished Trump for saying we need to do a better job of vetting the refugees coming into America? Call me racist, but the threat of polio, measles, TB and this horrific flesh eating disease all seem like pretty good reasons to re-evaluated our open borders to Muslim refugees position The Syrian refugee crisis has precipitated a catastrophic outbreak of a flesh-eating disease that is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa, according to research published on Thursday in the scientific journal PLOS. Largely missing from news media coverage is that the same news-making scientific report warned the ongoing violence in Syria has created a setting in which we have seen the re-emergence of polio and measles, as well as tuberculosis, hepatitis A, and other infections in Syria and among displaced Syrian refugees. Indeed, in 2013 the World Health Organization documented new cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, reporting that year alone the number of confirmed measles cases in Syria reached 139, as compared to no documented cases in 2010 and 2011.The WHO reported that 2013 saw Syria s first outbreak of polio since 1999. According to an April 2015 WHO report, 35 children were subsequently paralysed by polio before the start of a new vaccine campaign.In November, 2014 PLOS documented the spread of measles from among the Syrian refugee population.Regarding the flesh-eating disease, leishmaniasis, PLOP warned in its latest report, We may be witnessing an epidemic of historic and unprecedented proportions, but it has largely been hidden due to lack of specific information. The PLOP journal reported leishmaniasis is now affecting hundreds of thousands of refugees and has spread to Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Libya and Yemen. In Yemen alone, 10,000 new cases have been reported annually, the journal reported. Additionally, the number of cases of CL (cutaneous leishmaniasis) has most likely been severely underreported due in part to constraints on collecting data from violence-torn regions, PLOP warned. Few countries have mandated reporting of CL and the resultant weak reporting system promotes a lack of disease awareness and public policies for treatment and prevention, the report added. Due to the violence, Syrians have been forced to flee from their homes and seek refuge across the Middle East, North Africa, and, more recently, Europe, the journal documented.Volcano-like ulcersLeishmaniasis, meanwhile, is a disease caused by protozoan parasites. It is spread almost entirely by sandflies, including those present in the U.S.There are three main types of the disease: cutaneous, mucocutaneous, and visceral leishmaniasis.Cutaneous is the most common form among Syrians. It manifests in skin sores that typically develop within a few weeks or months from a sand fly bite. The sores can initially appear as bumps or nodules and may evolve into volcano-like ulcers.Mucocutaneous leishmaniasis causes skin ulcers like the cutaneous form, as well as mucosal ulcers that usually damage the nose and mouth.Visceral leishmaniasis, which has also been found among Syrian refugees, is the most serious form and can be fatal. It damages internal organs, usually the spleen and liver, and also affects bone marrow.Threat to U.S.?Refugees who enter the U.S. must undergo medical screening according to protocols established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Each refugee must submit to a physical examination, including a skin test and possibly a chest x-ray to check for tuberculosis,as well as a blood test for syphilis.The blood tests do not currently look for leishmaniasis. Clearly, an attending doctor could easily spot a patient with obvious skin ulcers. However, leishmaniasis cannot be detected upon physical examination if the patient is asymptomatic, as can be the case for years.In December, Dr. Heather Burke, an epidemiologist from the CDC s Immigrant, Refugee, and Migrant Health Branch, explained to Breitbart Jerusalem that there is generally a window of three to six months from the initial physical examination until a refugee departs for the U.S.She said a medical examination is valid for six months, and explained that patients undergo a second examination just prior to departure a quicker fitness to fly screening. While she conceded that this final examination is not thorough, she said it would pick up any visible skin lesions. Burke told Breitbart Jerusalem that she is not aware of a single case of leishmaniasis entering the U.S. via Syrian refugees.Dr. Jane Orient, executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, warned that most doctors in the U.S. know nothing about leishmaniasis. We d all need to refer patients to tropical diseases specialists, she told Breitbart Jerusalem in December. The treatments are toxic and expensive, and some are not widely available. For Orient, the only sensible public health policy is for all refugees to pass through a quarantined place like Ellis Island. Officials need to know where they ve been and what diseases occur there. We need sophisticated, reliable screening methods and excellent vector control in any areas where refugees stay. For entire story: Breitbart News | 1real |
The Koch Brothers And Warren Buffett Try To Take Down Elon Musk Over Solar Power | Billionaire Investor Warren Buffett has portrayed himself as a proponent for fixing income and wealth inequality, famously telling congress they should tax the wealthy more, as he claims to pay lower-income tax rates than his secretary. In reality, his actions have hurt working class and middle class people, through his lobbying efforts in favor of the Electric utility companies he owns.In Nevada, Buffett s utility company NV Energy, strongly opposed the emergence of solar power in the state brought by Elon Musk s Solar City, which made it affordable for homeowners to install solar panels. Because the solar panels often put energy back into the grid, utility companies like the ones Warren Buffett owns wind up paying those residents for energy. Nevada Senator Harry Reid in regards to Buffet s company told the Las Vegas Sun, looking at this as a lawyer, my personal feeling is that this is a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. Buffett s lobbying efforts pushed Nevada s utility regulator, the Public Utilities Commission, to remove incentives for homeowners to have solar panels, making solar power once again unaffordable for Nevada residents. The decision effectively derailed the fastest growing market for solar power in the country.A petition for Buffet to ease his opposition to solar power was signed by over 100,000 renewable energy advocates in protest. Actor Mark Ruffalo, who called the public utility commission, the anti-Robin Hood, also participated in the protests.At the end of 2015, Solar City ceased operations and installations in Nevada as a result of the Public Utilities Commission decision, resulting in the loss of 550 jobs. The decision could set a precedent across the country in opposition of solar power, which not only has been championed by billionaire Warren Buffett, but the Koch brothers as well, over the argument solar power makes the market place unfair for competitors.Koch advocacy groups didn t directly enter the fight in Nevada between Elon Musk s Solar City and Warren Buffett s utility companies, but they have lobbied in nearby states against incentives for solar power.In Florida, which has the third best solarity of any state in the country, the Koch Brothers have led efforts to keep solar power out of the state to protect electricity sales of investor owned utilities, as it remains ranks 16th in the nation in solar production. For investors, more infrastructure on the electric grid yields more profits, but solar power directly threatens those profits. In Florida, the average household pays more than 40 percent higher for electrical consumption than the national average. 61 percent of Florida s electricity generation comes from natural gas, and 23 percent from coal.The Koch s grassroots political group, Americans For Prosperity, called for Florida to fight against the choice for Solar. Many organizations who have received millions in donations from the Koch Brothers helped struck down an initiative to open up Florida to solar power on voters ballots in 2016, including 60 Plus and the National Black Chamber of Commerce, whose latest convention was sponsored by Koch Industries. Despite the lobbying efforts of the Koch Brothers, solar power has bipartisan support, as the ballot initiative to open up solar power in Florida was led by tea party founder Debbie Dooley, who now directs the group, Conservatives for Energy Freedom.As Solar power becomes more accessible and affordable for Americans, utility companies and their investors, especially the most powerful ones such as Warren Buffet and the Koch brothers, are obstructing solar s growth through lobbying state governments. Despite the obstructions, solar power is gaining bipartisan support across the nation. Let s say if the only thing we had was solar energy if that was the only power source if you just took a small section of Spain you could power all of Europe, said Elon Musk in a speech at Sorbonne University in Paris this past December. It s a very small amount of area that s actually needed to generate the electricity we need to power civilization. Or in the case of the U.S., like a little corner of Nevada or Utah would power the United States. The technology exists to harness the energy from the sun, which more of hits the Earth in one hour than humanity uses in an entire year. Sooner or later relics of old capitalism like Warren Buffett and the Koch Brothers are going to have to join the 21st century in this transition to renewable energy.Featured Image Courtesy of Occupy Democrats | 1real |
CNN REPORTER: Victims at Las Vegas Concert Were Likely Trump Supporters [VIDEO] | CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny said on Monday that country music fans who attended the Las Vegas concert Sunday night were likely Trump supporters . Zeleny does what the left has been saying not to do he politicizes this horrific massacre by using identity politics. What would the left do without identity politics? It s their go-to strategy in all situations but is particularly sickening in this tragic one.NOTE: THERE IS SOME MIC TROUBLE DURING THE VIDEO At least 50 people were killed and more than 500 were injured when gunman Stephen Paddock opened fire on country music festival attendees Sunday night from his 32nd floor room at Mandalay Bay Hotel, according to local authorities.Zeleny said Trump, in his remarks about the shooting, took on the role of being a unifier for the country. The president, he left it to his role of being a unifier. He did not talk about the investigation, he did not talk about the suspect, Zeleny said.Trump called on the bonds that unite us during remarks Monday morning. In moments of tragedy and horror, America comes together as one, and it always has, he said. We call upon the bonds that unite us, our faith, our family, and our shared values. We call upon the bonds of citizenship, the ties of community, and the comfort of our common humanity. Zeleny further commented on the personal connections that Trump has to the city of Las Vegas. By saying that he will go to Las Vegas on Wednesday, by visiting this, it is something that puts him in line with what so many presidents before him have done and paid their respects. Of course Las Vegas is a town that he is connected to, and knows well, Zeleny said. His name is emblazoned on the top of a hotel there as well. He campaigned there a lot. Zeleny said, however, that the conversation after the tragedy will soon be focused on politics. The moment here, is what comes after this. This invariably, after today and tomorrow, will become a discussion of politics, of guns. It s not appropriate for that moment today, he said.In the video, it appears CNN had audio problems, which caused the host to interrupt Zeleny several times. | 1real |
Episode #203 – SUNDAY WIRE: ‘The Dotard Effect’ with guests Mike Robinson, Basil Valentine | Episode #203 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW resumes on Sept 24th, 2017 as host Patrick Henningsen brings you this week s LIVE broadcast on the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) covering all the top news stories both at home and internationally LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOWING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES:5pm-8pm UK Time | 12pm-3pm ET (US) | 9am-12am PT (US) This week the SUNDAY WIRE is broadcasting LIVE from Southwest England with host Patrick Henningsen joined in studio by Mike Robinson editor of the UK Column, covering the biggest international stories this week. In the first hour, we ll cover the North Korea Crisis and Trump s debacle at the UN General Assembly, and B-1 bomber nuke flyer over. What are the chances for diplomacy? Also, America s increasingly loopy Russiaphobia rabbit hole, internet censorship and cultural and political speech monopoly of Google and Facebook and their mainstream media accomplices, and the deceptive academic projects designed to defame independent media outlets who dare to question the official myth of the White Helmets. We ll also unpack (excuse our use of dumbed-down American pseudo-intellectual slang) the #BREXIT deception, as the smoke and mirrors in Westminster continues, and why Britain will remain in the EU after all the theatrics have passed, and the Kurdish Referendum too and what it means, also with US and its SDF proxies in Syria caught aiding and abetting ISIS again. In the final hour, we may try and connect with SUNDAY WIRE roving correspondent for Culture & Sport, Basil Valentine live from the Labour Party Conference in Brighton, England where Corbyn Mania continues, along with week s most shocking stories in internationally, including Tony Blair s new political party (?). Enjoy the show SUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TVStrap yourselves in and lower the blast shield this is your brave new world *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES*Download Episode #203Sunday Wire Radio Show Archives | 1real |
ЕАЭС – новая сила в АТР | Новое восточное обозрение | Регион: Азиатско-Тихоокеанский регион 5 октября 2016 г. вступило в силу Соглашение о зоне свободной торговли между Социалистической Республикой Вьетнам (СРВ) и Евразийским экономическим союзом (ЕАЭС). Оно было подписано главами правительств СРВ и всех стран ЕАЭС – Армении, Белоруссии, Казахстана, Киргизии и России в мае 2015 г., однако вступить в силу смогло лишь после ратификации парламентами указанных стран. Уже много лет ЕАЭС активно торгует с Вьетнамом. Только за 2010-2014 гг. объем торговли увеличился более чем на 60%, превысив $4 млрд. Создание ЗСТ – закономерный итог этого сотрудничества. По прогнозам Евразийской комиссии, оно может привести к более чем двукратному росту товарооборота к 2020 г., причем не менее 80% объема придется на Россию. Совокупное население ЕАЭС – 183 млн человек, а общий объем ВВП превышает $2 трлн. Льготный доступ на такой обширный рынок – это, несомненно, большой успех для вьетнамской экономики. ЕАЭС также не в обиде: ведь население СРВ превышает 95 млн человек, а ВВП составляет $192 млрд. По данным за последние годы, экономика страны стремительно развивается. Таким образом, Соглашение о ЗСТ весьма выгодно обеим сторонам. В соответствии с документом, в ближайшее десятилетие большую часть товаров как СРВ, так и ЕАЭС ожидает полное или частичное освобождение от ввозных таможенных пошлин, что должно привести к снижению их стоимости и быстрому развитию торговли. Кроме того, в Соглашении уделяется внимание защите интеллектуальной собственности, сотрудничеству в сфере электронной коммерции и в области государственных закупок. Также оговариваются вопросы защиты конкуренции. Помимо импорта и экспорта, договор о ЗСТ облегчит взаимные инвестиции. Вьетнамское руководство видит большое будущее в отношении торгового партнерства как с ЕАЭС, так и непосредственно с Россией. По данным 2016 г., российско-вьетнамский товарооборот достигает $3,7 млрд. Ожидается, что к 2020 г. благодаря созданию ЗСТ он может превысить $10 млрд. Помимо положений, общих для всех участвующих стран, Соглашение о ЗСТ изначально включало разделы, касающиеся только СРВ и России. В них оговариваются дополнительные условия, облегчающие торговлю, инвестиции и перемещения физических лиц между двумя странами. После подписания Соглашения начал действовать российско-вьетнамский «Межправительственный протокол о поддержке производства моторных транспортных средств на территории Социалистической Республики Вьетнам». Этот документ был подписан в марте 2016 г. вьетнамским министром промышленности и торговли Ву Хи Хоангом во время визита в Россию. С российской стороны протокол подписал Д. Мантуров, министр промышленности и торговли РФ. В соответствии с документом, в СРВ будут созданы совместные предприятия вьетнамских фирм с российскими компаниями «Группа ГАЗ», «КамАЗ», «Соллерс», которые будут производить различные виды автомобильной техники. Заключение договора о свободной торговле с Вьетнамом – приятное событие для ЕАЭС и для России в частности. Однако его значение больше, чем просто приобретение хорошего торгового партнера. Можно сказать, что это выход российской экономики на новый уровень, ведь раньше у РФ не было подобных соглашений со странами дальнего зарубежья. Кроме того, это начало масштабного продвижения ЕАЭС и России в Азиатско-Тихоокеанском регионе. С самого своего появления в 2015 г. ЕАЭС пытается наладить торговые связи со странами АТР. Как известно, Вьетнам – важный член Ассоциации стран Юго-Восточной Азии, которая объединяет многие государства АТР. Не исключено, что ЗСТ с Вьетнамом – это шаг на пути к созданию ЗСТ со всеми странами-участницами АСЕАН. Многие члены АСЕАН благосклонно относятся к такой идее. Переговоры уже ведутся с Индонезией, Королевством Камбоджа, Малайзией и Сингапуром. Кроме того, рассматриваются возможности создания ЗСТ с государствами АТР, не входящими в АСЕАН, такими как Индия, Китай, Новая Зеландия. Так что, можно сказать, что позиции ЕАЭС в АТР постепенно укрепляются. Еще одним подтверждением этого стало заявление Монголии о желании присоединиться к ЕАЭС, сделанное в ноябре 2016 г. На первый взгляд может показаться, что приход ЕАЭС в АТР приведет к конкуренции с Китаем, который сейчас, на фоне ослабления США, является одним из главных игроков в регионе. Однако на самом деле рост влияния ЕАЭС скорее выгоден Поднебесной. Как известно, наиболее заметный процесс в АТР в наше время – противостояние между Китаем и США. Экономическое и политическое влияние США в регионе заметно ослабло в последние годы, однако оно по-прежнему велико. Америка по мере сил старается сохранить свое могущество, притянуть на свою сторону как можно больше стран. Так, в феврале 2016 г. было подписано соглашение о создании Транстихоокеанского партнерства (ТТП). В ТТП вошли Австралия, Бруней, Вьетнам, Канада, Малайзия, Мексика, Новая Зеландия, Перу, Сингапур, США, Чили и Япония. Все эти страны объединила зона свободной торговли и ряд общих правил. Несомненно, с таким союзом конкурировать сложно, ведь на долю стран-участниц Партнерства приходится около 30% мировой торговли. При этом сейчас ведутся переговоры о создании ТТИП – Трансатлантического торгового и инвестиционного партнерства, в которое США хотят вовлечь Евросоюз. Вероятность, что эти переговоры увенчаются успехом, невелика: проект слишком невыгоден для Европы. Однако если это все же случится, то по обеим сторонам Евразии могут возникнуть крупные и богатые экономические объединения, на долю которых придется около 80% мировой торговли. При этом каждое из них будет контролироваться США. В этой связи страны, вошедшие в состав ТТП и ТТИП, могут значительно снизить объемы торговли со всем остальным миром, в том числе и с КНР, которая является сейчас крупнейшим торговым партнером многих из них. Более того, ставится под удар один из главных проектов Китая, на который он возлагает огромные надежды – «Новый Шелковый путь», который должен соединить Европу и Азию и сам стать со временем зоной свободной торговли. Несомненно, такое развитие событий не может устроить ни КНР, ни множество других стран Евразии и АТР. Чтобы успешно конкурировать с ТТП и ТТИП, страны ЕАЭС и АТР должны приложить как можно больше усилий к взаимной интеграции. Объединившись Россия, Китай, Индия, АСЕАН и Центральная Азия смогут не опасаться никаких конкурентов. Однако многие государства, не желающие сотрудничать с США, опасаются мощного и экспансивного Китая. Это препятствует объединению региона. Возможно, появление третьей силы, такой, как ЕАЭС, станет для них выходом и поможет наладить успешное сотрудничество. Дмитрий Бокарев, политический обозреватель, специально для интернет-журнала «Новое Восточное Обозрение». Популярные статьи | 1real |
UNDERCOVER NYPD COP Busts 2 Women Building Bomb, Planning To Wage Jihad…Mayor DeBlasio Says “Unfair” | Thank goodness these Muslim women have a friend in socialist, radical Mayor of New York City An NYPD officer pretended to be a Brooklyn College student at the Islamic Society in New York City, and taking the Muslim oath of faith, before befriending Muslim students to infiltrate the community.The woman, who went by the name of Mel, short for Melike, spent four years earning the trust of Islamic students at the college as part of an NYPD operation to spy on Muslims, according to NY s daily weblog Gothamist.The controversial mission was part of the police departments well-documented plan that sees the blanket surveillance of innocent Muslims.The Mayor of New York, Bill deBlasio has openly criticized such surveillance and declared at a Ramadan dinner that Muslim New Yorkers were still fighting for basic human rights. Watch Mayor DeBlasio defend Muslim women with ties to Al Qaeda here: We recently shut down the Demographics Unit at NYPD, which conducted surveillance on Muslim New Yorkers. Because it s unfair to single out people on the sole basis of their religion, he added. The undercover operation led to some important arrests. Four years after Mel had infiltrated the college, two Queens residents, Noelle Velentzas and Asia Siddiqui, were arrested and charged with allegedly planning to build a bomb.The US Justice Department issued a release stating that the women were linked to members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the Islamic State.Many of the cases dealt with by the NYPD often involve a form of entrapment that see undercover detectives and FBI informants carrying out manipulative tactics in order to secure evidence that will later lead to arrests.In the case of Velentzas and Siddiqui, four propane gas tanks, as well as instructions for how to turn them into explosive devices, are said to have been found in Siddiqui s home, and according to the criminal complaint, the two women had in-depth conversations with the undercover officer about their violent aspirations.The undercover officer established a friendship with at least one of the women as early as 2013, according to the criminal complaint.The two women are not alleged to have been in the process of planning a specific attack, and according to the criminal complaint, Velentzas repeatedly stated she would not want to harm any regular people, instead targeting police or military personnel.After 9/11, both the NYPD and the FBI revamped their approach to terrorism investigations and began operating under a policy of preventive prosecution.The NYPD began to look for particular indicators of radicalization such as the wearing of traditional Islamic clothing, giving up drinking or smoking, and becoming involved in social activism. In the NYPD s model of measuring threats, which have been criticized, young people were also a key target. The government often acting through informants is actively involved in developing [terrorism plots], persuading and sometimes pressuring the target to participate, and providing the resources to carry it out, according to the 2014 Human Rights Watch report. Brooklyn College students at the Islamic Society told Gothamist they feel skeptical and paranoid. In the back of all our minds, there s always that suspicion, that either, you are a spy, or you think I m one, a female Muslim student stressed. Via: Daily Mail | 1real |
Crude Drops 10 Percent; Price Decline Just Beginning | Email
Midday last Thursday, the price of crude oil for delivery in December touched $50, and it’s been all downhill since then. At noon on Wednesday crude oil futures touched $45 a barrel on news that inventories soared last week by the most in 34 years.
The market wasn’t expecting that. It was bad enough that the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a supply increase nine times greater than analysts and observers were expecting last week. Those market seers were betting on an increase of a million barrels. Instead the API reported the increase was 9.3 million — a miss of gigantic proportions.
On Wednesday, however, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that the API’s estimate was far too low: Inventories last week jumped by 14.4 million barrels, forcing one of those observers, Bob Yawger, director of the futures division of Mizuho Securities USA, to exclaim: “You could easily make the argument that [the EIA report is] the most bearish ... of all time.” He added, “There’s nothing to support the market.”
The futures market is driven by expectations. Ever since OPEC promised in September that it would have a working plan in place by November to cut production in order to “balance” the market, crude oil futures have slowly inched up. The market managed to resist the temptation to sell off on news that the rig count in the United States was increasing, that the majors were increasing their capital expenditures for 2017, and that DUCs (wells developed but not completed) were coming into production.
What it couldn’t do was shrug off the news that Goldman Sachs, in a private memo to its customers (and revealed to Irina Slav at OilPrice.com), suggests that oil is headed for $40 a barrel: "The lack of progress on implementing production quotas and the growing discord between OPEC producers suggests a declining probability of reaching a deal on November 30."
This is the same company that “suggested” that oil could drop into the 20s late last year, which it did, touching $26 a barrel in February before rebounding.
On top of that was the distressing news — at least to those banking on higher prices and betting on that outcome — that U.S. refiners are operating at only 85 percent of capacity, especially at a time when increased demands over the holidays would usually drive prices higher.
Add to that the news that OPEC members, while meeting privately to hammer together some sort of deal to cut — or at least freeze — production, are increasing production at the same time. Iran is exempted from any participation in the proposed cuts, and is raising its production back to pre-sanction levels as quickly as it can; Iraq is demanding the same exemption as Iran, claiming that it needs increased revenues to fight ISIS; Russia is going its own way as it isn’t a member of the cartel; and Libya and Nigeria are merrily ignoring the charade, adding another 800,000 barrels to global supply last month.
The so-called “balance” of the oil markets between supply and demand is many months off, while the futures market is likely to continue its breathtaking selloff to $40 and perhaps even lower.
An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please review our Comment Policy before posting a comment
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BREAKING: The Senate Finally Voted On Gun Control | Just a week after the horrific shooting in Orlando, Florida that killed 49 people in a gay nightclub, the Senate finally took up a vote on gun violence. Actually, this happens after every major mass shooting, and like with every major mass shooting, the NRA won.Four bills have gone down in a predictable and fiery death.The first bill was proposed by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Democrats voted against it because it didn t go far enough and because it could actually put more guns into the wrong people s hands.Democrats opposed the legislation because it does not expand the types of gun sales that require background checks, and they said some provisions could make it easier for mentally ill individuals to buy guns.Source: USA TodayOnly 53 Senators voted for the bill, and while that may have been enough in another time, today, nothing passes the Senate without a filibuster proof majority of 60 votes.The second bill to go down was proposed by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California). It would have allowed the Justice Department to stop people who are on the terrorist watch list from purchasing guns. This one is also backed by President Obama.Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., called the Republican measures political stunts and said they are meaningless in doing something to stop gun violence. These are amendments to divert attention from real legislation, Reid said. Why? So Republicans (can) say Hey, look, we tried, and all the time their cheerleaders, their bosses at the NRA, are cheering. The third bill, which also went down in a blaze of glory, is an amendment by Senator Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), who wants to close the gun show loophole and require everyone who wants to buy a gun to go through a background check.The fourth bill was written by Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) and would give a three day waiting period for people who have been investigated for terrorism within the last five years. Of course, with no funding for background checks, nothing could go wrong, right?This is a dance the Senate that happens after every mass shooting, and the result is always the same gridlock. All the bills were defeated along party lines. This, despite the fact that the majority of their constituents want stricter gun control.Featured image via Getty Images. | 1real |
Watch The Harrowing Video of The Israeli Military Executing A Palestinian | Twenty-year-old Palestinian Mohammad Abu Khalaf was shot multiple times by Israeli occupation police in Occupied East Jerusalem on Friday, in what witnesses and a video from the incident show was an execution of the young man.Watch Video Here:https://www.facebook.com/aljazeerachannel/videos/10154110984474893/An Al-Jazeera crew said that Abu Khalaf had tried to stab an occupation policeman when soldiers shot him with two rounds. Abu Khalaf then fell to the ground and was incapacitated and bleeding. But, as the video shows, occupation police then pumped 50 bullets into Khalaf. The graphic video shows Abu Khlaf s body only moving as a result of the bullets sprayed into him. He was clearly dead. The soldiers then removed the journalists and declared the area a closed military zone. Al-Jazeera anchor Elias Karram said: The scene was terrifying, we barely escaped with our lives. The soldiers fired so many live rounds at this young man, they could have killed us all, every person who was there was in direct danger. What happened was the execution of the young man. The border police officers lined-up and opened fire although they could have easily arrested the man, especially since he was already injured. Karram and his crew were filming in the historic Palestinian neighborhood of Bab al- Amoud in Jerusalem when they witnessed the stabbing attempt followed by the execution. Here is a graphic picture of Abu after the 50 bullets entered his body.Israel s occupation of Palestinian East Jerusalem is illegal under international law and the majority of countries, including the United States, don t recognize Israel s sovereignty of the holy city. Yet, Israel has been ethnically cleansing the native Palestinian population for decades, annexing the city, ghettoizing its Palestinian neighborhoods, and has jailed, or as is the case with Abu Khlaf and thousands of others, killed anyone who resists its draconian policies and its professional killers.Featured image from video screen capture. | 1real |
Theresa May Prepares to Stare Down Parliament in ‘Brexit’ Standoff - The New York Times | LONDON — Against a backdrop of rising political acrimony, Theresa May, the British prime minister, warned critics on Sunday not to thwart her timetable for withdrawal from the European Union, as she prepared for a standoff with lawmakers that could prompt calls for an early general election here. Mrs. May, who wants to start the formal process of leaving the bloc by the end of March, now has a serious fight on her hands, after several months of facing relatively little challenge over her plans for British withdrawal, known as “Brexit. ” Judges on Britain’s High Court ruled last week that she could not start exit negotiations by invoking Article 50 of the European Union’s treaty without first consulting Parliament, where the government’s majority is slim. The government is appealing the case to the Supreme Court, but if it loses, and then finds itself constrained by lawmakers, the temptation to seek an early general election may become overwhelming for Mrs. May. For now, the government is playing down that prospect. Mrs. May insisted on Sunday that she had a mandate to pursue Britain’s exit without consulting Parliament. In a referendum in June, about 52 percent of voters elected to quit the bloc. “The British people, the majority of the British people, voted to leave the European Union,” Mrs. May said at Heathrow Airport as she left for a trade mission to India. “The government is now getting on with that. ” After the court ruling, however, Mrs. May now knows there is a good chance that she may not be able to do so with the free hand that she wants. So far she has specified almost no detail about her objectives, arguing that she wants to keep her negotiating position as strong as possible. At the heart of the dispute lies an ambiguity inherent in a referendum that asked voters to say whether they wanted to quit the European Union but that did not seek their views on what relationship should replace it. Supporters of Brexit contend that opponents now want to thwart the will of the people as expressed in the referendum. Critics fear that the government has no coherent Brexit strategy, and worry that the country may lurch into a damaging economic rupture with the bloc, which voters did not endorse. On Sunday, Gina Miller, the founder of an investment management firm who was the lead claimant in the legal case against the government, told the BBC that Mrs. May must take the decision to Parliament “because we do not live in a dictatorship. ” Ms. Miller said she had faced online death and rape threats over the case. Nigel Farage, the interim leader of the U. K. Independence Party, which campaigned for British withdrawal, warned of protests in the streets if the decision in favor of Brexit was ignored. “Believe you me, if the people in this country think they’re going to be cheated, they’re going to be betrayed, then we will see political anger the likes of which none of us in our lifetimes have ever witnessed in this country,” he said. The court ruling has unleashed an ugly political discourse, with one tabloid newspaper that supported Brexit describing the judges who delivered the verdict as “Enemies of the People. ” While the government has said it defends the independence of the judiciary, it has not rushed to condemn the newspaper coverage, prompting criticism from some senior legal figures. More worrisome for Mrs. May is the parliamentary math should she be forced to take her case for British withdrawal to lawmakers. Last week, David Davis, the secretary of state for exiting the European Union, conceded that if the appeal to the Supreme Court failed, the government would probably have to put forward legislation to trigger Article 50. That could give opponents the possibility to amend it, and tie down its negotiating stance. In an interview with The Sunday Mirror, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said he would push for Mrs. May to adopt his “Brexit bottom lines. ” “We are not challenging the referendum,” he said. “We are not calling for a second referendum. We’re calling for market access for British industry to Europe. ” The party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, took a more lenient position. He told the BBC that Labour was “not going to hold this up,” and that “Article 50 will be triggered when it comes to Westminster. ” Asked about the possibility of a general election, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, told the BBC on Sunday that it was “the last thing the government wants” — a formulation that does not specifically exclude it happening. | 0fake |
WW3 Nuclear War Drills World War 3 To Start In Ukraine | November 1, 2016 at 10:33 pm
You never see these debates in Parliament on the BBC news not one bit. Just shows you all the bullshit that doesn't really have anything to do with the people of this country. They have no good intentions for our people and are only concerned about the 1% | 1real |
New Survey Shows No.1 Fear of US Citizens is Government NOT Terrorism | Americans have lost the plot when it comes to evaluating the true nature of the terrorist threat (Image Source: Wikicommons)By Matt AgoristAn extensive survey of hundreds of adults across the United States has just revealed that the thing most Americans fear more than anything else is their own government. In fact, according to the survey, no other fear even comes close to the percentage of Americans who worry about their corrupt government officials.The survey was conducted by Chapman University and it serves to back up the point that while Americans claim to live in the Land of the Free, deep down, they realize they are living in a corrupt oligarchy. The Chapman University Survey of American Fears Wave 4 (2017) provides an in-depth examination into the fears of average Americans. In May of 2017, a random sample of 1,207 adults from across the United States were asked their level of fear about eighty different fears across a huge variety of topics ranging from crime, the government, the environment, disasters, personal anxieties, technology and many others. As Statista s Niall McCarthy notes, like last year, corruption of government officials came top in 2017, with 74.5 percent of U.S. adults saying it makes them afraid or very afraid. Despite the constant fear mongering from the mainstream media and government on bogeymen terrorists plotting to steal our freedom, the public, according to this survey, is not buying it.In fact, the threat of terrorism isn t even in the top 20 fears. Terrorism comes in at twenty-two below credit card fraud and identity theft.While this survey is certainly promising, in the idea that people are waking up to government corruption, it is also a telling sign of America s ability to hold two entirely contradictory ideas as self-evident.This ability, or perhaps better defined as disability, to hold two opposing ideas, such as the spreading of freedom through war, as being logically sound, is called cognitive dissonance. When one is in a state of dissonance, they may sometimes feel disequilibrium : frustration, hunger, dread, guilt, anger, embarrassment, anxiety, etc.In order for cognitive dissonance to work, society must remain just ignorant enough to support and to believe the lies fed to them from the establishment as reality; even though this reality is a complete contradiction.Once we step back and observe society with this in mind, the reason for this contradictory mental state becomes quite obvious. It is much easier to remain delusional and in a state of suspended disbelief than it is to deal with the opposing ideas held inside one s head. How can one chant USA is number #1! while at the same time fearing the rulers of that USA?( ) If this survey shows us anything, it is that Americans would do well to entertain the uncomfortable idea that this country they hold so high up on a pedestal has actually long been on a path to become the dystopian nightmare written about in books like 1984.Americans would do well to remember the words by John Basil Barnhill in 1914 when he said, Where the people fear the government you have tyranny. Where the government fears the people you have liberty. This article first appeared the Free Thought Project.READ MORE WAR ON TERROR NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire War on Terror FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Trump denies seeking nearly tenfold increase in U.S. nuclear arsenal | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday denied a report from NBC News that he told his national security advisers in July he wanted to increase the country s nuclear arsenal by nearly tenfold, saying he argued for its modernization. NBC News said the president called for the increase after he was shown a chart indicating the stockpile of U.S. nuclear weapons had slid from a high of 32,000 in the 1960s. Trump said he wanted to have that same number now, NBC reported. Speaking to reporters at the White House during a meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump said the report was not true. I never discussed increasing it. I want it in perfect shape. That was just fake news by NBC, he said. We don t need an increase. But I want modernization and I want total rehabilitation. It s got to be in tip-top shape. The president s denial was buttressed by a statement from his defense chief. Recent reports that the president called for an increase in the U.S. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. This kind of erroneous reporting is irresponsible, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said. Although U.S. presidents have modernized weapon stockpiles over the years, any meaningful addition to the nuclear arsenal would violate treaty agreements. The Federation of American Scientists says the United States currently has about 4,000 nuclear warheads earmarked for use in its military stockpile. After the meeting in July, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to Trump as a moron, according to NBC. U.S. news reports have painted the relationship between Trump and Tillerson as tense. The NBC report comes during a time of high tension between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang s nuclear weapons and missile programs, and just ahead of an expected announcement from Trump on whether to decertify the international deal on Iran s nuclear program. Trump told Reuters in February that he wanted to ensure that the U.S. nuclear arsenal was at the top of the pack. MSNBC reported in 2016 that as a candidate, Trump asked a foreign policy adviser three times in a one-hour meeting why the United States could not deploy its nuclear weapons. | 0fake |
ISIS claims responsibility for Garland, Texas, shooting | (CNN) ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack outside a Prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas -- and warned of more attacks to come.
In a broadcast on its official radio channel Tuesday, the group said two Al Khilafa soldiers opened fire outside the event in Garland, a Dallas suburb. Al Khilafa is how ISIS refers to its soldiers.
CNN cannot confirm the claim, and ISIS offered no evidence the gunmen were affiliated with the terror organization.
The gunmen, Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi , wounded a security guard before police shot and killed them.
Nadir Soofi, left, and Elton Simpson were the two gunmen in the Garland, Texas, shooting.
The ISIS radio announcer also referred to Simpson and Soofi as the terror group's "brothers." The announcement ended with this warning:
"We say to the defenders of the cross, the U.S., that future attacks are going to be harsher and worse. The Islamic State soldiers will inflict harm on you with the grace of God. The future is just around the corner."
While ISIS claimed responsibility two days after the attack, there was no immediate indication that the terror group in Iraq and Syria had contact with Simpson or Soofi, who both lived in Phoenix.
"They may not have had formal contact (with ISIS). They may have had email communication or read communications from ISIS, but I don't think they were directed by ISIS," Clemente said.
"I think it's the other way around -- they were kind of applying for membership into ISIS. And so they were doing this act, sent out the tweet in advance because if they know there's a possibility they're not going to make it out of this, then they can't give recognition to what they were trying to do after the fact."
On Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest described what happened as "an attempted terrorist act (that) was foiled." U.S. authorities, meanwhile, are still looking into what links -- if any -- Sunday's shooters had to international terrorism.
But there are clues that one of the gunmen was an ISIS sympathizer.
Moments before the attack, Simpson posted a tweet with the hashtag #texasattack: "May Allah accept us as mujahideen."
The tweet also said he and his fellow attacker had pledged allegiance to "Amirul Mu'mineen," which means "the leader of the faithful." CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank said that likely refers to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Earlier, Simpson had asked his followers on Twitter to follow an ISIS propagandist.
After the shooting, the propagandist tweeted: "Allahu Akbar!!!! 2 of our brothers just opened fire."
Both Twitter accounts have been deactivated.
One U.S. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the shooting was "certainly more than just inspiration" by ISIS, but that assessment does not mean the terror group gave the gunmen specific instructions.
A law enforcement official told CNN the attack does not appear to be a clear-cut case of a lone wolf, nor a pure case of someone directed by others to act. Rather, the official said, it appears to be something in between the two extremes.
The attack fits a well-known pattern of ISIS recruitment and incitement: encouraging sympathizers via a sophisticated social media campaign to join the fight in Syria, or, if they cannot, to carry out terror attacks on their own at home, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
In 2011, Simpson was convicted of making a false statement involving international and domestic terrorism. Prosecutors said he told FBI agents he had not discussed traveling to Somalia to engage in "violent jihad" -- when, in fact, he had, according to an indictment.
Simpson was sentenced to three years of probation, court records show.
Soofi, on the other hand, was relatively unknown to federal investigators, a law enforcement official told CNN.
Authorities knew of no indication the pair planned to launch Sunday's attack, another law enforcement official said.
Two law enforcement officials say that it's believed Simpson and Soofie drove from Phoenix, Arizona, to Garland, but officials did not specify the exact timeline of when the trip was made.
A separate law enforcement source said the two long guns and four handguns found in their car were bought legally.
The FBI searched the apartment Simpson and Soofie shared and found it to be relatively barren, one of the law enforcement officials said. Authorities retrieved a hard drive, which is being analyzed, the official said.
Investigators are trying to ascertain whether the two gunmen had any associates in Phoenix, or across the United States, who share their ideology. The FBI is scrubbing the deceased attackers' electronics and interviewing friends in a bid to draw possible connections.
The two assailants drove up to the center and started shooting, striking a security guard in the ankle. But Garland police returned fire, killing the gunmen before they were able to enter the building.
Police "faced death head-on and, with incredible skill and bravery, were able to save a lot of people," said Zach Horn, an attorney for the officers.
The shooting stirred memories of other attacks this year in France and Denmark.
In January, gunmen attacked the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine that has a controversial history of depicting Mohammed, and killed 12 people.
In February, a gunman attacked a free speech forum in Copenhagen, Denmark, featuring artist Lars Vilks, who infuriated al Qaeda with his depictions of Mohammed. | 0fake |
When I’m Mistakenly Put on an Email Chain, Should I Hit ‘Reply All’ Asking to Be Removed? - The New York Times | No. | 0fake |
BOOM! TREY GOWDY Hammers Ex-CIA Chief [Video] | Trey Gowdy asked a pointed question of former CIA Director Brennan: Did you have evidence of a connection between the Trump campaign and Russian state actors? Brennan replied: As I said, Mr. Gowdy, I don t do evidence. BOOM! ANOTHER EPIC FAIL FOR THE DEEP STATE AS TREY GOWDY MAKES A COMPLETE FOOL OF JOHN BRENNAN:ANOTHER EPIC FAIL For the Resistance as Trey Gowdy makes a complete fool of John BrennanAGAIN, ZERO EVIDENCE Trump Colluded w/ Russia pic.twitter.com/iCzNaEMT9C STOCK MONSTER (@StockMonsterUSA) May 23, 2017 BRENNAN WAS ASKED BY ADAM SCHIFF AND REPLIED THAT TRUMP NEVER PRESSURED TO HAVE THE FLYNN INVESTIGATION DROPPED: EX-CIA Chief John Brennan testified today before the House today and dropped a bomb of truth that President Trump didn t pressure the intelligence community to drop the Flynn investigation: Adam Schiff: With respect to the allegations made recently that the President or his aides may have sought to enlist the member of the IC or Director Comey himself to drop the Flynn investigation, uh have any members of the IC shared with you their concerns that the President was attempting to enlist the help of the people in the intelligence community to drop the Flynn investigation? Brennan: No, sir. Adam Schiff: Are you aware of any efforts the President has made who enlist the support of the intelligence community personnel to push back on a narrative involving the collusion issue that Mr. Rooney was asking about? Brennan: I am unaware of it. NOT A GOOD DAY FOR POLITICAL HACK JOHN BRENNAN! | 1real |
Obama ties his fate to Iran nuclear deal | Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama on Thursday effectively placed his diplomatic legacy largely in the hands of Iranian revolutionary clerics who've waged a proxy war against the U.S. for three decades.
With a framework deal to halt Tehran's nuclear program, Obama moved closer to the kind of staggering diplomatic breakthrough with the Islamic Republic that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.
If the political agreement reached in Switzerland turns into a genuine pact honored by both sides, Obama will be entitled to a place in history as the leader who defused an intensely bitter estrangement with Iran.
But he also took personal ownership of a fraught negotiating process full of false starts and deep divisions, one that hinges on the sides' ability to hammer out a host of devilish details by a June 30 final deadline in the face of vocal opposition from domestic and international critics.
If the deal falls apart, it will be hard to refute charges by critics that Obama's insistence on negotiating directly with U.S. enemies -- a tactic at the heart of his political philosophy -- is deeply naive and futile.
The risks of Obama's choice, and the challenge of resolving tough issues to get to a final agreement by July, were clear within minutes of news breaking that a deal was reached in Lausanne.
Obama quickly appeared in the White House Rose Garden, not for the victory lap that presidents often take in this picturesque spot, but to launch an impassioned defense of the contentious deal.
His sales pitch was concise: There is no other better way to prevent Iran from moving covertly to build a nuclear weapon.
"When you hear the inevitable critics of the deal sound off, ask them a simple question: Do you really think that this verifiable deal, if fully implemented, backed by the world's major powers, is a worse option than the risk of another war in the Middle East?" Obama said.
"Is it worse than doing what we've done for almost two decades with Iran moving forward with its nuclear program and without robust inspections?"
The question now is whether Obama's skills of persuasion -- hardly his strong suit -- will convince critics that his negotiators got a good deal. First signs were not encouraging for the White House.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner warned that Congress would continue to press for a vote on the deal, which might derail its long-term prospects given the extent of Republican opposition. Another pending bill that has the potential to scuttle the negotiations would impose additional sanctions on Tehran.
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina attacked the president's posture on Thursday as he, too, emphasized that Congress must review a final deal.
"We simply cannot take President Obama's word that it is this or war," he said.
The March 31 deadline -- twice pushed back -- was originally imposed on the process in order to help Obama's political prospects of selling the deal to Congress, which has final say on lifting U.S. sanctions on Iran. Several Democrats had indicated that they planned to join with Republicans on the controversial bills, but they pledged to hold up consideration of the measures until late March so Obama could show the talks were making progress and should be bolstered rather than tanked by legislators.
While the Republicans' response Thursday demonstrated that the framework deal had not placated them, skeptical Democrats were more noncommittal on how they would respond.
"We now need to take a close look at the details to determine if the compromises made are worth the dismantling of years of pressure built on Iran," said Rep. Eliot Engel of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
New York Rep. Steve Israel more clearly showed that Obama could well face an intraparty challenge.
"The details deserve and must get a vote by the U.S. Congress," he said in a statement. "Until the full details are provided to Congress on June 30th, you can keep me in the 'highly skeptical' column."
Obama also faces intense displeasure from many of America's closest allies in the Middle East, countries such as Israel and Saudi Arabia that are directly in the Iranian line of fire. They are concerned that the United States may be giving up leverage on Iran by lifting sanctions while leaving Tehran's nuclear infrastructure intact.
The president nodded to this challenge in the Rose Garden when he said that he would invite the leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council to Camp David this spring to discuss raging Middle East turmoil, much of it aided by Tehran.
He also spoke to Saudi Arabia's King Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has feuded over Iran.
Netanyahu has powerful allies on Capitol Hill, and will be sure to lobby for the bills seeking to constrain the administration in its deal-making with Iran as the final deadline nears.
Already Thursday, Israel called the celebrations in Switzerland "disconnected from reality" and said Iran would use a "poor framework" for a "bad and dangerous" deal to move towards nuclear war.
And the Obama administration's Iranian counterparts have their own treacherous path to getting approval of their part of the deal -- making Obama's bold endorsement of the provisional agreement particularly perilous.
Iran's top negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javed Zarif, must convince Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and hardliners in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps to accept the deal and permit its implementation.
"Javad Zarif will have to sell this deal like we will. His task is not simple, or a given," a senior administration official said.
Like Obama, Zarif wasted no time, boasting at a news conference in Switzerland that Tehran had retained its right to enrich uranium (to 3.67 percent, according to a White House fact sheet distributed at the deal's announcement) and would not lose its nuclear infrastructure.
And Iranian swagger like that -- a political necessity for Zarif -- emphasizes the very aspects of the deal that make its American critics most concerned.
Another key point of contention is how comprehensive the inspections will be. While the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency will have unprecedented access to Iran's declared nuclear facilities under the deal, many in the West wanted inspectors to have unfettered access to any site of their choosing since Tehran has hidden nuclear operations in the past.
The White House fact sheet said that the IAEA inspectors "will have regular access" to all of Iran's facilities but did not specify how that would be achieved.
"The nuclear flaw in this agreement is the fact that we will not be able to go anywhere, go anytime," said Mark Dubowitz of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
"The IAEA is going to have to work with the Iranians. What the Iranian government has shown over decades is the ability to defeat the IAEA with stonewalling, delay and deviousness."
But the senior official said that the U.S. negotiating team was confident that the talks on a final deal would produce an agreement on a "mechanism" that would resolve disputes over access to Iranian sites.
Skeptics also questioned Obama's assurance that lifted sanctions could "snap back" in place if Iran transgressed once the agreement went into force. Debates are already raging about the sequence in which sanctions will be lifted on Iran and on why the United States would bolster Iran's coffers by lifting sanctions at a time when it is blaming Tehran for destabilizing the Middle East.
The White House, however, has other concessions to point to.
The deal will cut Iran's stocks of centrifuges, require the conversion of an underground enrichment facility at Fordow to a research center and limit the output of another reactor at Arak, among other requirements.
In return the United States and other world powers will lift sanctions that have throttled Iran's economy, offering it the tantalizing prospect of a return to full membership within the international community.
Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the deal was close to "win, win" for both Iran and the United States. He added, however, "We don't want to get too ahead of ourselves."
He continued, "What was announced today is the engagement. The wedding is scheduled to take place in July, but there is going to be a vigorous debate about the prenuptial agreement, and there is no guarantee this wedding will take place on time."
Though the four-page White House fact sheet left many technical questions unanswered, the deal surprised some experts and political figures with its detail and specificity.
That's something that Jim Walsh, from the Security Studies Program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, suggested could help sway worried Democrats.
"I think they have put themselves in pretty good shape to go to that community and defend the deal. They ended up with a lot more than most of us were expecting," Walsh said.
Still, even Obama admitted that the success of the initiative was far from certain. If the framework deal snags on the unresolved technical details before the final deadline on June 30, or if Tehran tries to cheat in years to come, Obama's hopes of a foreign policy victory for the ages will founder as well.
"The President's strategy has been absolutely incoherent in the Middle East in general. He is pinning his legacy on this agreement," Republican Rep. Martha McSally of Arizona told CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
But so far, that legacy has received a boost from the week's events, even though Republicans tried to paint the twice-delayed announcement of the deal as a sign that Obama wouldn't be able to deliver. That doesn't mean, though, that his fortunes couldn't change -- and change quickly.
"You've got quite a significant accomplishment," Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator, told CNN. "Is it perfect? No."
He concluded, "He bet a lot on this. He's wrapped the last remaining 20 months of his presidency on what could be the most significant accomplishment on foreign policy -- if in fact all of this holds." | 0fake |
JUDGE JEANINE Delivers EPIC Hillary Slap Down: “I don’t consider myself ‘DEPLORABLE’…but since you started it Hillary, let’s have at it” [VIDEO] | YIKES That s gonna leave a mark! | 1real |
N.I.H. May Fund Human-Animal Stem Cell Research - The New York Times | The National Institutes of Health announced on Thursday that it was planning to lift its ban on funding some research that injects human stem cells into animal embryos. The N. I. H. announced its proposal in a blog post by Carrie Wolinetz, the associate director for science policy, and in the Federal Register. The purpose is to try to grow human tissues or organs in animals to better understand human diseases and develop therapies to treat them. Researchers have long been putting human cells into animals — like pieces of human tumors in mice to test drugs that might destroy the tumors — but stem cell research is fundamentally different. The stem cells are put into developing embryos where they can become any cells, like those in organs, blood and bone. If the funding ban is lifted, it could help patients by, for example, encouraging research in which a pig grows a human kidney for a transplant. But the very idea of a mix can be chilling, and will not meet with universal acceptance. In particular, when human cells injected into an animal embryo develop in part of that animal’s brain, difficult questions arise, said Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher at the University of California, Davis. “There’s no clear dividing line because we lack an understanding of at what point humanization of an animal brain could lead to more humanlike thought or consciousness,” he said. The N. I. H. ’s plan will most likely go into effect in the fall — perhaps with some modifications — after a comment period that is now open to the public and researchers. The N. I. H. which would be a major source of federal funds for this type of work, imposed the moratorium in September to consider concerns about the research. The studies were just beginning, and the N. I. H. did not have any projects underway involving chimeras, a term derived from mythological creatures that were part goat, lion and snake. But Renate Myles, a spokeswoman, said, “We watch the state of the science and knew that this was where the science was heading. ” For scientists, the moratorium was “a little jarring,” said Dr. George Q. Daley, a Harvard professor and the director of the stem cell transplantation program at Boston Children’s Hospital. Two months later, the N. I. H. convened a workshop to hear from researchers and experts in animal welfare. Two types of experiments that are being considered for funding would still have to undergo a review by an N. I. H. advisory committee. The first involves the addition of human stem cells to the embryos of animals before the embryos reach a stage when organs are starting to develop. Because nonhuman primates like monkeys and chimpanzees are so genetically close to people, researchers working with such primates would have to wait until an embryo was further developed before adding human stem cells, according to the proposal. The second type of study introduces stem cells into embryos of animals other than rodents where the cells could get into and modify the animals’ brains. Of particular concern is creating chimeras with human cells in the brain. The N. I. H. would continue its ban on funding any research that could result in an animal with human sperm or eggs that would then be bred. All of the N. I. H. ’s proposals, though, apply only to the work that is financed with taxpayer money. Research supported by private donors or companies would not be affected. Dr. Daley described some of the work researchers had been doing in this area. First, they wanted to know if they had isolated new types of stem cells — ones that could turn into any type of tissue or organ. Accomplishing that involves putting the new cells into an embryo and seeing if they turn into the placenta, as well as every cell type in the adult animal. In other experiments, they wanted to look at human stem cells that developed into very specific tissues. For example, one team of researchers found that if they put rat stem cells into the embryo of a mouse that was missing genes needed to make a pancreas, they ended up with a mouse that had a rat pancreas. Now, Dr. Daley said, the hope is to do the same sort of experiments with pigs missing genes for organs like a kidney or a liver and see if human stem cells can be used to grow human organs in the animals for transplants. “It’s science fiction today, but there has been enough progress in rat to mouse and even in pigs that it is at least theoretically possible,” Dr. Daley said. Another team studied the use of human stem cells in mice embryos in the hope of eventually understanding human psychiatric disorders. Dr. Wolinetz of the N. I. H. said during a teleconference that she expected “some learning” about what would happen with chimeras that had human cells in their brains. “There is a lot we don’t understand about the brain,” she said, “which is one reason the possibility of these animal models is really exciting. ” The work is disturbing to many. But does the unease reflect the novelty of the ideas, like concerns that surfaced with the advent of heart transplants, which were first met with revulsion and then embraced by the public? Or is this work of a different ilk? Jeffrey P. Kahn, the director of the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics, points to two looming ethical issues. One is to decide if there is a fundamental difference between adding DNA from one species into another — the technology used to produce genetically modified foods — and putting human cells into an animal. Many people can accept genetically modified organisms, but would a chimera eventually become acceptable? After all, Dr. Kahn said, in both cases, you could say “it’s just DNA. ” Where to draw the human boundary is another issue. If it is O. K. to put human cells into an animal, why does it seem clearly wrong to put animal cells into a human? As more and more human cells are added to an animal, at what point is the result different from adding more and more animal cells to a human embryo? “What are we doing when we are mixing the traits of two species?” Dr. Kahn asked. “What makes us human? Is it having 51 percent human cells?” Those questions, he added, “are part of what make people react to this issue. ” | 0fake |
JESSE WATTERS Takes On Young Anti-Trump Protesters: “He said that black people are ignorant” [Video] | 1real | |
Trump Tweets Lie About America’s Third Biggest Trading Partner Triggering International Scandal | Donald Trump has been tweeting all day and his latest is triggering a needless fight with one of America s largest trade partners. Naturally, it s based on complete lies.For reasons known only to Trump and his staff, the president has avoided doing any actual work today and has instead opted to rant about various things that come into his head. On Twitter, Trump has bashed Democrats, admitted he never had tapes of his conversations with James Comey, and finally turned to Mexico. The country has been suffering horrific violence due to a on-going drug war. Like his behavior towards London, Trump decided to exploit the tragedy to cynically push for his bigoted policies in America. And like London, he did so by lying.With no source, Trump announced that Mexico s homicide rate was second only to Syria. His information appears to come from a shoddy study released in May and promoted by CNN (which Trump claims not to watch) that claimed Mexico was second-deadliest country in 2016. Mexico s violent drug war had indeed been horrific, and the number of dead is staggering. But is it truly the second most violent place in the world? Almost immediately, the details of the study started to unravel.In May, the Washington Post took a hard look at the information and concluded it didn t hold up to scrutiny. For one thing, in terms of both population and raw numbers, many countries are more deadly than Mexico.The study appears to arrive at its findings by labeling Mexico a conflict area and counts the number of killed in that conflict as compared to other nations. Obviously, most nations aren t currently facing civil wars or strife so they aren t counted, even when they actually have more homicides. But Mexico isn t undergoing a civil war and in fact large sections of the country have very little contact with the drug war happening in specific hot spots. It is only when Mexico is placed in this ill-fitted category that it emerges as a particularly deadly place. Trump, who seems incapable of reading or understanding detailed information, failed to comprehend this nuance when he decided to impulsively smear the country on Twitter.It s boring at this point, but must be repeated again and again: What Trump is saying and doing towards America s allies, seemingly on a whim, is unprecedented. Mexico, for all its troubles, is one of America s closest allies and trading partners. The economies of both countries are dependent on one another and cooperation between the neighbors has been a longstanding tradition. Trump, in order to build his fantasy wall, is threatening to destroy that relationship.Mexico has already been furious with Trump for his attacks on its country and citizens. They, naturally, told Trump to shove it when he came up with his insane premise to get them to pay for his wall. His popularity in Mexico is lower than dirt. The leadership openly mocks him. But still he smears the country. It has pretty clearly reached a breaking point and Trump only has himself to blame.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images | 1real |
Democrat Spills The Beans On Why Hispanics Love Obamacare So Much [Video] | Was Obamacare engineered to buy the votes of Hispanics? A possible Vice Presidential candidate for Hillary Clinton lets the cat out of the bag.HUD Secretary Julian Castro says Hispanics have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the Affordable Care Act and the reason that Clinton has strong support in the Hispanic community is because she has a long track record of supporting the issues that Hispanics care about. Appearing on MSNBC s Andrea Mitchell Reports Thursday, Castro told guest host Peter Alexander that despite the fact Marco Rubio is running for president for the Republicans the challenge that the Republicans have is not really about personality. They have the personality, they have the folks that will go out there and say a few words in Spanish. Their problem is the policy and that s a very big problem for them in this cycle. Read more: Daily Caller | 1real |
Yemen humanitarian situation likely to worsen with Saleh death: Mattis | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that the killing of former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh would, in the short term, likely worsen an already dire humanitarian situation in the country. Saleh was killed in a roadside attack on Monday after switching sides in Yemen s civil war, abandoning his Iran-aligned Houthi allies in favor of a Saudi-led coalition. Coupled with a Saudi-led blockade and internal clashes, the stalemate has contributed to a human catastrophe. Some 7 million people are on the brink of famine, while one million are suspected to be infected with cholera. Mattis, speaking with reporters on a military aircraft en route to Washington after a brief trip to parts of the Middle East and South Asia, said it was too early to say what impact the killing would have on the war. He said it could either push the conflict towards U.N. peace negotiations or make it an even more vicious war. (But)one thing I think I can say with a lot of concern and probably likelihood is that the situation for the innocent people there, the humanitarian side, is most likely to (get) worse in the short term, Mattis said. He did not explain his reasoning. The war has already killed more than 10,000 and displaced millions. So this is where we ve all got to roll up our sleeves. Now, what are you going to do about medicine and food and clean water and cholera, Mattis said. I think there has got to be a lot more focus on the humanitarian side right now. Analysts said Saleh s death would be a huge moral boost for the Houthis and a serious blow to the Saudi-led coalition that intervened in the conflict to try to restore the internationally recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Saudi Arabia and its allies receive logistical and intelligence help from the United States. Mattis said he did not believe the U.S. military would play a role in easing the humanitarian situation. | 0fake |
Republican Backed Jerry Brown’s Gas Tax for $400 Million Pork Project - Breitbart | The Los Angeles Times reported early Sunday morning that Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic leaders in the state legislature made $1 billion in side deals to ensure the passage of a hike in the state gasoline tax last week. [The Times said: … Brown and legislative dealers promised nearly $1 billion for the pet projects of lawmakers who had been sitting on the fence before they were persuaded to vote for the bill. The funding “arrangements,” as Brown called them, helped the governor and legislators break a Sacramento stalemate on transportation funding. Some legislators said the taints the legislative process, but Brown defended the deals as justified, a moderate investment compared with the payoff of a bill that will generate $5. 2 billion annually in the first 10 years for road repairs, and billions more in future years. One of the more prominent deals was the one that secured the vote of State Sen. Anthony Canella ( ) who was the only Republican in either chamber to support the measure, which includes raised fees at the Department of Motor Vehicles. That side deal turns out to have been the costliest of all, amounting to $400 million in pork for “the extension of the Altamont Corridor Express, a commuter rail line between the Bay Area and Central Valley. ” Canella’s vote was crucial, because moderate State Sen. Steve Glazer ( ) opposed the gas tax, explaining in a statement published by the East Bay Times that it was unnecessary to raise taxes rather than spending from the costly rail project. Canella was unrepentant, telling the Los Angeles Times: “I got the things I asked for, so apparently I made the most compelling case. ” Despite the pork for his home district, Cannella seemed to realize that his vote would be unpopular, tweeting on April 6 that he was avoiding social media. I think I’m going to stay off social media today … — Anthony Cannella (@AnthonyCannella) April 6, 2017, The gas tax required a vote in each chamber to pass. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 0fake |
The Lethal Gaps in How the Supreme Court Handles the Death Penalty - The New York Times | Seven of the 12 jurors who convicted Ronald B. Smith in the murder of a convenience store clerk voted to spare his life. When the case reached the Supreme Court, four of the eight justices voted to stay his execution. The arithmetic of capital punishment can seem curious. Mr. Smith was executed Thursday night. Mr. Smith was convicted of murdering the clerk in 1994 in Huntsville, Ala. The jury recommended life without parole, but the trial judge overrode that determination, sentencing Mr. Smith to death. Alabama is the only state that allows such overrides. It is a good bet that the Supreme Court will soon weigh the constitutionality of the practice. That will be too late for Mr. Smith, who came up one vote short on Thursday night, illuminating a lethal gap in the Supreme Court’s internal practices. It takes four votes to put a case on the court’s docket, but it takes five to stop an execution. Over the years, in fits and starts, some justices have sought to address this anomaly by casting a “courtesy fifth” vote to stay an execution when four justices thought the case worthy of further consideration. In a 1985 concurrence, Justice Lewis F. Powell explained his reluctant decision to supply such a courtesy vote. The inmate’s case had “no merit whatever,” he wrote. “But in view of the unusual situation in which four justices have voted” to hear it, he wrote, “and in view of the fact that this is a capital case with petitioner’s life at stake, and further in view of the fact that the justices are scattered geographically and unable to meet for a conference, I feel obligated to join in granting the application for a stay. ” Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. was asked about the practice at his confirmation hearing in 2005. “How would you feel, if you were chief, if you had four of the justices now voting for a stay of execution?” Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, asked. “Do you feel as chief you would do the courtesy of kicking in the fifth one?” Chief Justice Roberts seemed receptive. “I don’t want to commit to pursue a particular practice,” he said. “But it obviously makes great sense. ” “You don’t want to moot the case by not staying the sentence,” he added. In the 11 years that Chief Justice Roberts has led the Supreme Court, its commitment to such courtesy votes has been inconsistent. Until Thursday, though, it seemed to be on the upswing. The recent trend started with a case on transgender rights. A Virginia school board wanted to stop a transgender boy, Gavin Grimm, from using the boys’ restroom at his high school while the Supreme Court considered an appeal from a decision in Mr. Grimm’s favor. In August, the court’s four more conservative members — Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — voted to grant a stay. Justice Stephen G. Breyer added a fifth vote “as a courtesy. ” Justice Breyer’s motives were not hard to discern. He was concerned about execution chambers, not restrooms. The only case he cited in his concurrence in the transgender case was Medellin v. Texas, a death penalty decision in which he had expressed frustration that “no member of the majority has proved willing to provide a courtesy vote for a stay. ” Last month, Justice Breyer’s gambit seemed to pay off. On Nov. 3, the court considered an application for a stay of execution from another Alabama death row inmate, Thomas D. Arthur. Chief Justice Roberts provided the fifth vote needed to halt the execution. He said he would not ordinarily have favored a stay, but noted that four justices had voted in favor of one. “To afford them the opportunity to more fully consider the suitability of this case for review,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “I vote to grant the stay as a courtesy. ” On Thursday, in Mr. Smith’s case, the court’s more liberal members — Justices Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — voted for a stay. But this time there was no courtesy fifth vote. Upon hearing that news, Mr. Smith’s lawyers immediately filed a request for reconsideration. “The court should not permit executions in the face of four dissents,” the motion said, adding that the court’s practices in this area “clash with the appearance and reality both of equal justice under law and of sound judicial decision making. ” That motion was denied, too, this time without noted dissent. The leading student of the courtesy fifth is Eric M. Freedman, a law professor at Hofstra University. The title of his 2015 law review article on the subject makes his views plain: “No Execution if Four Justices Object. ” On Thursday night, as it became clear that Mr. Smith was going to die, Professor Freedman made a more modest point. The justices, he said, should at the least explain their reasoning and standards. “The time has long ago passed for the court to address forthrightly a situation which is simply unseemly,” Professor Freedman said. “For people to live or die in the middle of the night on the basis of no visible rule is simply at odds with any defensible system of judicial decision making. ” | 0fake |
Cannes: Major Upset as Political Correctness Satire ’The Square’ Wins Palme d’Or | Swedish satire “The Square” a of political correctness and the confused identity of the modern male, won the Palme d’Or top prize at the Cannes film festival Sunday. [In a stunning upset, the jury led by Spanish director Pedro Almodovar and including Hollywood stars Jessica Chastain and Will Smith awarded the trophy to the movie’s director, Ruben Ostlund. “Oh my God, oh my God!” Ostlund shouted from the stage after besting a raft of favourites for one of global cinema’s most coveted honours. In a 70th anniversary edition marked by raging debate over sexism in the movie industry, Sofia Coppola became only the second woman in history to win best director for her thriller “The Beguiled” with Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell. Kidman, who appeared in four different projects at the festival, accepted a special 70th anniversary award from the jury. Diane Kruger clinched best actress for her first film role in her native German as a devastated mother who has lost her family in a Hamburg terror attack, in Fatih Akin’s “In the Fade”. “I cannot accept this award without thinking of everyone who has been touched by an act of terrorism … you have not been forgotten,” the clearly moved actress said. Oscar nominee Joaquin Phoenix nabbed best actor for his turn as a hitman in the ultraviolent thriller “You Were Never Really Here”. “Any work that I did was linked to the work of Lynne Ramsay,” the film’s British director, Phoenix said, before apologising for his look at the gala ceremony. “I don’t wear leather,” the committed vegetarian explained. — ‘So much courage’ — Greece’s Yorgos Lantimos shared the best screenplay award with Ramsay for “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” an icy thriller set in a wealthy American suburb and starring Kidman and Farrell. The Grand Prix went to moving French drama “120 Beats Per Minute” about the radical activists who helped shame the world into action on AIDS. “This film is an homage to those who died but also those who survived and are still alive, who had so much courage,” said the movie’s director, former ACT UP member Robin Campillo. Campillo also wrote the screenplay for “The Class” a drama about a multicultural Paris high school that scooped the Palme d’Or in 2008 as well as an Oscar nomination. “Loveless” by Andrey Zvyagintsev, a wrenching drama about moral rot eating away at Russian society under Vladimir Putin, took the third place jury prize. — Magic of big screen — “The Square” coming in at two hours and 20 minutes, is an often hilarious art world satire exploring creative liberty, free speech and the blurred lines between the sexes. Danish actor Claes Bang plays a museum director and divorced father of two young daughters who finds himself in an increasingly absurd set of predicaments. The movie features Elisabeth Moss (“Mad Men”) and Dominic West (“The Wire”) in small roles viciously lampooning the art world. One featuring a wild, man performing as an ape wreaking havoc at a posh gala dinner entered festival legend. Cannes’ 12 days of screenings and soirees — which were somewhat muted by the Manchester bombing — were marked by unprecedented measures and a raging row over how technology is shaping the future of the movie industry. Netflix had two movies in competition for the first time but faced blowback from critics who argue that online streaming is destroying cinema distribution and with it the magic of the experience. | 0fake |
Watch: Warner Bros. Unveils First Full ’Justice League’ Trailer | “We have to be ready you, me the others. There’s an attack coming from far away. ”[“Not coming, Bruce. It’s already here. The others — where are they?” Warner Bros. unveiled the first full trailer for its DC superhero blockbuster Justice League on Saturday, and the clip features the first look at the whole gang together in action: Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg (Superman is notably absent, but actor Henry Cavill will reportedly appear in the movie). The trailer kicks off with an ominous warning from Ben Affleck’s Batman, which quickly gives way to the assembly of the team. The heroes kick some butt to a cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” while Batman explains what his superpower is to The Flash: “I’m rich. ” The end of the trailer features Aquaman (Jason Momoa) riding shotgun in the Batmobile before launching himself into the air to beat up some aerial bad guys. Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Man of Steel) off of a script from Chris Terrio (Batman v Superman, Argo). Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, Amy Adams, Henry Cavill, JK Simmons, Jeremy Irons, Amber Heard, Diane Lane, Billy Crudup, Willem Dafoe and Jesse Eisenberg round out the cast. Justice League is in theaters November 17. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 0fake |
Israeli minister sees Trump 'hint' at Jerusalem partition with Palestinians | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli cabinet minister said on Friday the phrasing of U.S. President Donald Trump s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital suggested an openness to eventual Palestinian control of part of the city, though he predicted Israel would oppose this. Trump s announcement reversed decades of U.S. policy, angering the Arab world and alarming Western allies. But he also said Washington was not laying down a position on final-status issues including boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, which the two parties would have to decide in negotiations. Israel has long deemed Jerusalem its eternal, indivisible capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they seek on land Israel took in a 1967 war. Its eastern sector is laden with Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites that inject deep religious sensitivities into the dispute over sovereignty. In his speech on Wednesday, Trump did not include words echoing Israel s traditional description of Jerusalem. Asked about this, minister Zeev Elkin said: I think that his leaving this out of the speech was premeditated. He even hinted that borders in Jerusalem will also be set as a result of negotiations, which presupposes an option of partition, said Elkin, who holds the Jerusalem Affairs portfolio in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s government. Elkin was referring to Trump s caveat that the new U.S. decision on Jerusalem did not constitute taking a position of any final-status issues, including the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders . Those questions are up to the parties involved, added Trump, who said Washington still wanted Israelis and Palestinians to agree on a two-state solution for peace. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson echoed those remarks on Friday. With respect to the rest of Jerusalem the president ... did not indicate any final status for Jerusalem. He was very clear that the final status, including the borders, would be left to the two parties to negotiate and decide, Tillerson told reporters in Paris. Like other world powers, and in keeping with U.N. Security Council resolutions since the 1967 war, Washington had long held off on recognizing any sovereignty in Jerusalem, one of the most treacherous issues in the Middle East conflict. Elkin said he would have been happy had Trump described Jerusalem as Israel s united capital. But he played down any possibility of partition, saying Trump s administration would only pursue the idea if the Netanyahu government consented. This is a very, very important factor, and I currently have no doubt that Israel would not agree. Ultimately, in actuality, this is what matters, Elkin said in his remarks, carried by Tel Aviv 102 FM radio. Trump spoke of Jerusalem as the capital the Jewish people established in ancient times (and) the seat of the modern Israeli government, with freedom of worship for all faiths. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded angrily, saying Washington had abdicated its role as peace mediator and deeming Jerusalem a Palestinian, Arab, Christian and Muslim city, the eternal capital of the state of Palestine . Abbas used the Arabic term Al Quds , which he has generally qualified to refer to East Jerusalem rather than the whole city. In three public statements welcoming the U.S. move, Netanyahu has not asserted Jerusalem s indivisibility under Israel - heretofore stock rubric for him, as for previous prime ministers. A Netanyahu spokesman did not immediately respond to a Reuters query about the seeming omission. Israel s ambassador to the United States, speaking before the Trump announcement, appeared to acknowledge that - in the eyes of foreign mediators, at least - Jerusalem being the Israeli capital may not rule out Palestinian sovereignty there. Every single peace plan that s ever been put down has Jerusalem be a capital of Israel, Ron Dermer told Politico on Dec. 4. There have been other peace plans that have suggested it be capital of two states, which is a separate issue. Israel annexed East Jerusalem after capturing it. But world powers and the United Nations have not recognized Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, saying it must be negotiated by Israel and the Palestinians, whose last peace talks collapsed in 2014. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinians protested in a day of rage on Friday in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and in East Jerusalem against Trump s move on the ancient city. | 0fake |
Jorge Ramos SLAMS Fox Hosts O’Reilly And Hannity For Coddling Trump (VIDEO) | And he did it right to O Reilly s face.During an appearance on the O Reilly Factor on Wednesday night, Univision anchor Jorge Ramos nailed the Fox News host and fellow Fox colleague Sean Hannity for treating Donald Trump with kid gloves rather than grill him and challenge him over his extreme racist rhetoric.After O Reilly suggested that Univision is not treating Donald Trump fairly, Ramos made him admit that the channel has been tough on both Democrats and Republicans, but particularly tough on Republicans because, We cannot allow racism and discrimination to be normal. But that s a subjective thing, O Reilly claimed in defense of Trump. When you say that Mexican immigrants are criminals or rapists, that is for many people a racist remark, Ramos shot back. But he didn t say all of them were, O Reilly said before reading a Donald Trump quote about Mexico sending the worst of their citizens over the border to the United States. O Reilly even insisted to a stunned Ramos that all Mexican immigrants bring drugs with them.Ramos fired back with statistics proving that the vast majority of immigrants are law-abiding. But O Reilly shrugged off the statistics because he doesn t think it s fair to be countered with facts.Not wanting anything to do with facts, O Reilly went back to accusing Ramos and Univision of not being objective toward Trump. O Reilly accused Ramos specifically of demonizing Trump as a racist.However, considering what Trump has said about Muslims and Hispanics since his campaign began and the fact that white supremacists, the KKK, and neo-Nazis have flocked to his campaign to support him, it s fair to say that Ramos is absolutely right to label Trump a racist and it is amazing that other media outlets have failed to do the same.And that s why Ramos turned the accusations around on O Reilly himself, accusing him of not being tough on Trump. Of course, O Reilly objected even though he has repeatedly let the Republican front-runner off the hook. And the fact that O Reilly attempted on multiple occasions during this interview with Ramos to defend Trump s racism pretty much proved Ramos correct. You ve talked to him so many times, and you and Sean Hannity let him get away with everything, Ramos declared.Then Ramos annoyed O Reilly with those pesky facts again as he reported that 81 percent of Latinos have a negative opinion of Trump because of the things he has said throughout his campaign. O Reilly tried to claim that they have a negative opinion because of Univision. You know, because all Latinos get their news from Univision and can t possibly have an independent opinion about Trump based on what he has said. I don t know what s in his heart, but I know what s coming out of his mouth, Ramos responded about Trump when O Reilly complained that Univision hasn t called Hillary Clinton a racist. And then the interview ended.Here s the video via Media Matters.Donald Trump is a racist and any person looking at Trump objectively knows it. His words on multiple occasions cannot possibly make him look like anything else but a racist, especially when white supremacists endorse him and he fails to denounce them. Univision is actually performing a service for the American people by calling Trump what he is while other media outlets, especially Fox News, coddle him in order to draw ratings. It s a disgrace to journalism and Fox News and Bill O Reilly ought to be ashamed of themselves. Featured image via Dangerous Minds | 1real |
LOL! HILLARY Commends Weinstein Accusers For Coming Forward, Says Sex Claims Against Bill Are “Clearly In The Past”…Claims Trump Has “Admitted To Being A Sexual Assaulter In The Oval Office” | Hillary Clinton today falsely called Donald Trump an admitted sex assaulter and compared him to disgraced alleged sex abuser Harvey Weinstein.The failed Democratic presidential candidate, who received thousands in campaign funding from Weinstein, told the BBC s Andrew Marr we have someone admitting to being a sexual assaulter in the Oval Office. She was referring to the Access Hollywood tape leaked during the campaign where Donald Trump was heard boasting about grabbing women by the p****y in 2005.Mrs. Clinton is in the UK to promote her hand-wringing book about losing the presidential election.She told Marr: I was really shocked and appalled because I ve known him through politics as many Democrats have.Team player Hillary Clinton tries to deflect attention from the millions of dollars Harvey Weinstein raised for her recent failed presidential campaign by reminding reporters that he also donated to Obama and, for people (she forgot to mention that he ONLY funded DEMOCRAT people) who have run for office in the United States. He s been a supporter he s been a funder for all of us, for Obama, for me, for people who have run for office in the United States. So it was just disgusting and the stories that have come out are heartbreaking. But I think that it s important that we not just focus on him and whatever consequences flow from these stories about his behavior but that we recognize this kind of behavior cannot be tolerated anywhere, whether it s in entertainment, politics. After all, we have someone admitting to being a sexual assaulter in the Oval Office. There has to be a recognition that we must stand against this kind of action that is so sexist and misogynistic. And asked about allegations of sexual misconduct leveled at her husband and former president, Bill Clinton, she said: That has all been litigated. That was the subject of a huge investigation in the late 90s and there were conclusions drawn. That was clearly in the past. It is something that has to be taken seriously, for anyone not just in entertainment. The really sad part of the campaign was how this horrific tape, what he said about women in the past what he said about women during the campaign, was discounted by a lot of voters. DMLOL! Hillary. You re the only one left standing who believes a single word that comes out of your lying mouth. | 1real |
In a Blow to Prosecutor, South Korean Court Blocks Arrest of Samsung Group Leader - The New York Times | SEOUL, South Korea — A South Korean court on Thursday blocked a prosecutor’s attempt to arrest Jay Y. Lee, the leader of Samsung, saying there was not enough evidence that Mr. Lee had bribed President Park in a scandal that led to her impeachment. A justice on the Central District Court in Seoul, Cho rejected the prosecutor’s request to issue an arrest warrant, saying said it was “difficult to recognize the need” to incarcerate Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee, a scion and vice chairman of Samsung, one of the world’s biggest conglomerates, was immediately released from a detention center outside Seoul, where he had been waiting for the court to decide whether he should be formally arrested. South Koreans have paid keen attention to the fate of Mr. Lee. Some analysts said his case was a test of whether the country’s relatively youthful democracy and judicial system are ready to crack down on the crimes of conglomerates. No Samsung leader has ever been jailed, though the company has been investigated many times for corruption. The court’s decision is likely to anger many South Koreans who have held weekend rallies calling for Ms. Park’s ouster and the arrest of business tycoons on corruption charges. The special prosecutor called the court decision “very regrettable. ” But he has yet to announce whether he will offer more evidence in a renewed effort to have Mr. Lee arrested. He can also indict Mr. Lee on bribery or lesser charges without arresting him. “We will take necessary steps and persist in our investigation without wavering,” said Lee a spokesman for the special prosecutor, without elaborating. Samsung welcomed the court’s decision. For now, the ruling allows Mr. Lee to continue to lead Samsung. It dealt a blow to the special prosecutor who had tried to build a bribery case against Mr. Lee and Ms. Park. Mr. Lee’s father has twice been convicted of bribery and tax evasion but has never spent a day in prison. Each time, he received a presidential pardon and returned to management. Mr. Lee, 48, was accused of paying $36 million to Ms. Park’s secretive confidante, Choi . The special prosecutor and Mr. Lee’s lawyers have been arguing over how to characterize the money. In November, state prosecutors indicted Ms. Choi on extortion charges, saying she leveraged her connections with Ms. Park to coerce Samsung and scores of other big businesses to contribute tens of millions of dollars to two foundations Ms. Choi controlled or to companies run by her or her associates. They identified Ms. Park as an accomplice, but they brought no charges against the businesses, which they saw as victims of extortion. But the special prosecutor, Park who took over the investigation from state prosecutors last month, has called Samsung’s contributions bribes that were exchanged for political favors from Ms. Park. That includes government support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015, which helped Mr. Lee inherit corporate control from his incapacitated father, the chairman, Lee according to the prosecutor. groups accused the prosecutor of overreaching in an attempt to find a scapegoat to soothe a public infuriated over Ms. Park’s corruption scandal and fed up with decades of collusive ties between the government and the chaebol. Mr. Lee was the most prominent businessman to be ensnared in the special prosecutor’s broadening investigation into the corruption scandal that led to Ms. Park’s impeachment by Parliament last month. Ms. Park’s presidential powers remained suspended, while the Constitutional Court is expected to rule in coming weeks whether she should be reinstated or formally removed from office. “We have been too lenient toward chaebol corruption,” said Moon an opposition politician who leads in polls on contenders to replace Ms. Park if she is removed. Speaking to a group of foreign reporters hours before the court’s decision, Mr. Moon said Samsung was typical of a chaebol whose top boss wielded “imperial powers” over his sprawling business group but was ”seldom held accountable” for corruption or managerial failures. Ms. Park denies any wrongdoing. Mr. Lee and Samsung have also denied bribery they argued that the “donations” Samsung paid out to Ms. Choi were coerced, not meant as a quid pro quo for political favors from Ms. Park. | 0fake |
PRO-TRUMP POSTERS USING APPLE LOGO Pop Up All Over HOLLYWOOD: “Think Different” | This is a beautiful thing! Art Wing Conspiracy produced posters that represent the Apple logo but they have the Trump profile within the apple. See what they did there? The poster is plastered on the outside of the former Bernie Sanders headquarters in Hollywood. | 1real |
LinkedIn in Russland: Kommt die Sperre? | internet , gesetze Die Aufsichtsbehörde Roskomnadsor möchte einen Präzedenzfall schaffen. Quelle:AFP/East News
LinkedIn, das größte soziale Netzwerk für Geschäftskontakte und die Jobsuche, könnte in Russland gesperrt werden. Laut der nationalen Internet-Aufsichtsbehörde Roskomnadsor verstoße LinkedIn gegen das russische Gesetz, das Onlinedienste verpflichtet, Daten russischer Nutzer auf russischen Servern zu speichern.
Die Forderung, die seit dem 1. September 2015, also mehr als einem Jahr, besteht, wird von einigen Unternehmen bislang nicht umgesetzt. Im Sommer verklagte Roskomnadsor LinkedIn. Das Gericht sah die Behörde im Recht und fügte LinkedIn dem Index in Russland verbotener Seiten hinzu.
Das Urteil ist noch nicht rechtskräftig, und so ist das soziale Netzwerk weiterhin verfügbar. Das Unternehmen ging in Berufung, die am 10. November dieses Jahres abgeschlossen werden soll. Sollte es der LinkedIn Corporation nicht gelingen, das Verbot abzuwenden, wäre es der erste Fall, in dem ein großes Internetunternehmen in Russland gesperrt wird, weil es sich weigert, Daten russischer Nutzer in Russland zu speichern. Im August des Jahres 2016 schätzte TNS die russischen LinkedIn-Nutzer auf 2,6 Millionen. „Jedes Jahr ein Skandal!"
LinkedIn äußerte sich bislang nicht zu dem Fall. Roskomnadsor hingegen warnt alle Unternehmen, die in Russland aktiv sind, aber keinen Firmensitz im Land haben. Zu diesen gehört unter anderem auch Facebook. Datenspeicherungsgesetz: Aus für Google, Facebook und Co.? „Wir sind der tiefsten Überzeugung, dass jedes Unternehmen, auch ein ausländisches, das hier vielleicht keine Vertretung hat, aber durch unsere Bürger Geld verdient, ihre Daten verarbeitet und damit Marketing betreibt, unter dieses Gesetz fallen muss", sagt Wadim Ampelonski, Vertreter der Behörde, im Gespräch mit RBTH.
LinkedIn hatte die Aufmerksamkeit Roskomnadsors auf sich gezogen, da es laut der Behörde seit 2010 jedes Jahr zu einem Skandal bezüglich der Datensicherheit von Millionen von Nutzern komme.
Das russische Unternehmen DataLine, das Rechenzentren betreibt, lässt verlauten, dass man bislang keine gesteigerte Nachfrage nach Server-Racks in Russland beobachten könne. Es heißt, große ausländische Unternehmen informierten sich noch. Zu einer Verlagerung der Infrastruktur nach Russland sei es noch nicht gekommen. „Bis zum Präzedenzfall versuchen sie, nichts zu unternehmen“, so ein Vertreter von DataLine. Alle Rechte vorbehalten | 1real |
Japan’s $320 Million Gamble at Fukushima: An Underground Ice Wall - The New York Times | FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER STATION — The part above ground doesn’t look like much, a few silver pipes running in a straight line, dwarfed by the far more massive, scarred reactor buildings nearby. More impressive is what is taking shape unseen beneath: an underground wall of frozen dirt 100 feet deep and nearly a mile in length, intended to solve a runaway water crisis threatening the devastated Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan. Officially named the Impermeable Wall, but better known simply as the ice wall, the project sounds like a fanciful idea from science fiction or a James Bond film. But it is about to become a reality in an ambitious, and controversial, bid to halt an unrelenting flood of groundwater into the damaged reactor buildings since the disaster five years ago when an earthquake and a tsunami caused a triple meltdown. Built by the central government at a cost of 35 billion yen, or some $320 million, the ice wall is intended to seal off the reactor buildings within a vast, barrier of permafrost. If it becomes successfully operational as soon as this autumn, the frozen soil will act as a dam to block new groundwater from entering the buildings. It will also help stop leaks of radioactive water into the nearby Pacific Ocean, which have decreased significantly since the calamity but may be continuing. However, the ice wall has also been widely criticized as an expensive and overly complex solution that may not even work. Such concerns this month after the plant’s operator announced that a section that was switched on more than four months ago had yet to fully freeze. Some also warn that the wall, which is electrically powered, may prove as vulnerable to natural disasters as the plant itself, which lost the ability to cool its reactors after the tsunami caused a blackout there. The reactor buildings are vulnerable to an influx of groundwater because of how the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. or Tepco, built the plant in the 1960s, by cutting away a hillside to place it closer to the sea, so the plant could pump in water more easily. That also put the buildings in contact with a deep layer of permeable rock filled with water, mostly rain and melted snow from the nearby Abukuma Mountains, that flows to the Pacific. The buildings managed to keep the water out until the accident on March 11, 2011. Either the natural disasters themselves, or the explosive meltdowns of three of the plant’s six reactors that followed, are believed to have cracked the buildings’ basements, allowing groundwater to pour in. Nearly 40, 000 gallons of water a day keep flooding into the buildings. Once inside, the water becomes highly radioactive, impeding efforts to eventually dismantle the plant. During the accident, the uranium fuel grew so hot that some of it is believed to have melted through the reactor’s steel floors and possibly into the basement underneath, though no one knows exactly where it lies. The continual flood of radioactive water has prevented engineers from searching for the fuel. Since the accident, five robots sent into the reactor buildings have failed to return because of high radiation levels and obstruction from debris. The water has also created a nightmare because Tepco must pump it out into holding tanks as quickly as it enters the buildings, to prevent it from overflowing into the Pacific. The company says that it has built more than 1, 000 tanks that now hold more than 800, 000 tons of radioactive water, enough to fill more than 320 swimming pools. On a recent visit to the plant, workers were busily erecting more durable, welded tanks to replace the temporary ones thrown up in a hurry during the early years after the accident, some of which have leaked. Every available patch of space on the sprawling plant grounds now appears to be filled with tanks. “We have to escape from this cycle of ever more water building up inside the plant,” said Yuichi Okamura, a general manager of Tepco’s nuclear power division who guided a reporter through Fukushima Daiichi. About 7, 000 workers are employed in the cleanup. The ice wall is a bid to break that cycle by installing what might be the world’s largest freezer. Pipes almost 100 feet long have been sunk into the ground at roughly intervals, and filled with a brine solution supercooled to minus 30 degrees Celsius, or minus 22 Fahrenheit. Each pipe is supposed to freeze a column of soil about a foot and a half in radius, large enough to reach the ice column created by its neighboring pipes and form a seamless barrier. Engineers with the wall’s builder, the construction giant Kajima Corp. estimate that it will take about two months for the soil around a pipe to fully freeze. Solidifying the entire wall, which consists of 1, 568 such underground pipes, will require 30 large refrigeration units and consume enough electricity to light more than 13, 000 Japanese homes for a year. The technique of using frozen barriers to block groundwater has been used to build tunnels and mines around the world, but not on this scale. And certainly not on the site of a major nuclear disaster. Since the start, the project has attracted its share of skeptics. Some say buried obstacles at the plant, including tunnels that linked the reactor buildings to other structures, will leave holes in the ice wall, making it more like a sieve. Others question why such an exotic solution is necessary when a traditional steel or concrete wall might perform better. Some call the ice wall a flashy but desperate gambit to tame the water problem, after the government and Tepco were initially slow to address it. Adding to the urgency is the 2020 Olympics, which Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan helped win for Tokyo three years ago by assuring the International Olympic Committee that the water troubles at Fukushima Daiichi were under control. “It’s a Hail Mary play,” said Azby Brown, a researcher for Safecast, an independent group. “Tepco underestimated the groundwater problem in the beginning, and now Japan is trying to catch up with a massive technical fix that is very expensive. ” Supporters and skeptics alike will soon learn if that gambit will succeed. After two years of work, Kajima finished installing the pipes and refrigerator units to create the ice wall in February. At the end of March, it switched on part of the ice wall for the first time — roughly half a mile that runs between the reactor buildings and the Pacific. Most of the other, uphill side of the wall was activated in . Kajima is freezing the wall in stages under orders from the Nuclear Regulation Authority, Japan’s nuclear watchdog. The authority is concerned that cutting off the groundwater too suddenly might lead to a reversal of flows, causing the radioactive water accumulated inside the reactor buildings to start pouring out into the surrounding soil, possibly reaching the Pacific. It has told Kajima to leave a “gateways” in the uphill side that will not be closed until much of the contaminated water is drained from the buildings. This month, Tepco told the nuclear agency that the seaside segment of the ice wall had frozen about 99 percent solid. It says a few spots have failed to solidify because they contain buried rubble or sand left from the plant’s construction a ago, which now allow groundwater to flow through so quickly that it will not freeze. Tatsuhiro Yamagishi, a spokesman for Tepco, said the company was trying to plug these holes in the ice wall with cement. “We have started to see some progress in temperature decrease,” he said. Even if the cement helps make the ice wall watertight, skeptics question how long it can last. They point out that such frozen barriers are usually temporary against groundwater at construction sites. They say the brine solution used to chill the pipes is highly corrosive, which could make them break or leak. It is also unclear whether the system could break down under the stresses of operating in a environment where another earthquake could lead to another power loss. “Why build such an elaborate and fragile wall when there is a more permanent solution available?” said Sumio Mabuchi, a former construction minister who has called for building a slurry wall, a trench filled with liquid concrete that is commonly used to block water. Isao Abe, a Kajima engineer overseeing the ice wall, said his company had made the wall more durable by installing underground pipes that are easy to replace if they corrode. He also said the ice wall was meaning that if another earthquake caused cracks, any incoming water would freeze right away, restoring the wall. He also said it would take months for the wall to thaw, giving engineers ample time to restore power even if the plant has another outage. Mr. Abe said the wall was intended to operate until 2021, giving Tepco five more years to find and plug the holes in the reactor buildings, though skeptics say this difficult task will require more time. Mr. Abe also pointed out that the ice wall was part of a broader strategy for containing the radioactive water. Before installing the ice wall, Kajima also built a conventional steel wall underground along the plant’s border with the Pacific last year. Tepco says that wall has already stopped all measurable leaks of radioactive materials into the sea. However, some scientists say that radioactive water may still be seeping through layers of permeable rock that lie deep below the plant, emptying into the Pacific far offshore. They say the only way to eliminate all leaks would be to repair the buildings once and for all. Even if the ice wall works, Tepco will face the herculean task of dealing with the huge amounts of contaminated water that have accumulated. The company has installed filtering systems that can remove all nuclear particles but one, a radioactive form of hydrogen known as tritium. The central government and Tepco have yet to figure out what to do with the water proposals to dilute and dump it into the Pacific have met with resistance from local fishermen, and risk an international backlash. For now, the only visible sign that the freezing has begun are patches of ice that have formed on top of the aboveground, silver pipes. At one spot, the No. 4 reactor building loomed, an enormous cube six stories tall with concrete sides that showed large gashes left by the tsunami. “The water is here, just three meters beneath our feet,” said Mr. Okamura, the Tepco general manager, who stood near the pipes wearing a white protective suit, goggles and a surgical mask. “It still flows into the building, unseen, without stopping. ” | 0fake |
(VIDEO) AS RAMADI FALLS TO ISIS, YOU’LL NEVER GUESS WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE HAS TO SAY ABOUT IT | Huh? Do these people live in a bubble or what? It s almost like they re sticking their fingers in their ears singing La, La, La WTH! | 1real |
Trump’s Social Media Man Joins Boss’s Insane, Juvenile Attacks On ‘Morning Joe’ Hosts (TWEETS) | By now, the entire world is aware that Donald Trump spent his morning lashing out at Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski in a truly unhinged fashion even by normal Trumpian standards. He let loose in a crazy, misogynistic rant that accused Brzezinski of begging to be invited to his New Year s Eve party, but essentially he said she was too ugly to be there except in much worse terms. Now, it seems that Trump s social media man, Dan Scavino, is joining in the continued debasement of the White House with equally childish tweets. We will screenshot them here, in case he thinks better of these tweets and decides to delete them:Of course, this is all because Joe and Mika have the stones to do their jobs and call this abnormal, alarming presidency out for what it is: Dangerous, unhinged, and terrible for the nation. Of course, with Trump being as thin-skinned as he is, the biggest job of his staff is to make him feel good and to hit back at any and all criticism that might be thrown at the White House, and especially at Trump himself.These people have done irreversible damage to the office of the president, to America s standing in the world, and to the political climate and discourse in America. It will likely take us a generation to get back to where we were if we ever do at all.It s time to really think hard about what four years of this will do to our nation. Hell, the damage he s already done is quite literally immeasurable.Featured image via Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images | 1real |
NEW YORK GOV CUOMO Thinks He’s The Boss of You: Bans Travel To Mississippi! | NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) thinks he s the boss of you! He banned all non-essential travel to Mississippi after the state passed a religious liberty bill that he called a hateful injustice against the LGBT community. Can you believe this guy? The bill, known as House Bill 1523 or the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, was signed into law by Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) Tuesday and will go into effect July 1.The legislation guards against the discrimination of individuals, religious organizations and certain businesses who have sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions that marriage should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman. Under the law, religious leaders can decline to solemnize any marriage or provide wedding-related services based on religious or moral objections. In addition, Mississippians can decided whether or not to hire, terminate or discipline an individual whose conduct or religious beliefs are inconsistent with their own ideals.After the passage of the new law, Cuomo issued an order Tuesday that requires all New York State agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to Mississippi.Last month, Cuomo did the same thing for travel to North Carolina.Read more: The Blaze | 1real |
‘Calexit’ Is Really A Thing, Might Mean Actual Secession (DETAILS) | California has had a movement going for the last couple of years that is pushing for the large, deep blue state to leave the union. This state has long been the leader of progressive policies and movements, and with the election of Donald Trump and his supporting regressive federal government, it is looking more and more like California just might be fed up enough to leave the United States permanently.The movement is led by the Yes California Independence campaign, and they have been given the green light to begin collecting signatures to get on the ballot. Thanks to the fact that the Trump administration wants to take America back to the dark ages where people of color are more disenfranchised than ever, where LGBTQ people are subjected to abuses like conversion therapy and routinely discriminated against, where women have no reproductive rights well, let s just say the idea just got a whole hell of a lot less far-fetched. It s not a stretch to believe that the majority of Californians do not want to live under the tyranny of Trump and Pence and the GOP Congress.The green light is a sign that this could really happen. Yes California has 180 days to rack up 585,407 signatures to be on the ballot in time for the 2018 election. If they get this passed via the voters, there will be another election specifically to decide whether or not California wishes to be its own country. In that instance the state would repeal the part of the state constitution that says that the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land, as well as law codifying California as an inseparable part of the United States. On the one hand, this sounds like some kind of liberal utopia, and if it were to happen, I d personally be there in a heartbeat. On the other hand, the remaining parts of the United States would be subjected to Christofascist GOP rule for the rest of eternity, because California is a key state when it comes to delivering Democratic victories in presidential races, with its 55 electoral votes. Further, it could lead to a Brexit-like breakdown of the United States, which could spell trouble for democracy at large, with the break-up of countries like the United States and alliances like the European Union. This could be a world-destabilizing force.Either way, it could be interesting to watch, and one must wonder how a huge state like California, which has the world s sixth largest economy, would be stopped from leaving the GOP-infested hellhole that Trump and Pence are sure to turn America into in short order.Featured image via KTLA | 1real |
Mnuchin not worried by lower U.S. tax receipts, has funding plan | OTTAWA (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday said he was not worried by lower-than-expected tax revenues, saying that he has a backup plan for funding government if Congress did not raise the debt ceiling by August. Government tax receipts for early 2017 were 3 percent lower than expected, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in a May 5 report. “Receipts are coming in somewhat lower, and I think that’s in expectation of that we’re going to do tax reform,” Mnuchin told a news conference in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, where he met with Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau. “I’ve been consistent in (saying) we hope Congress deals with the debt limit as soon as possible, but in any event, we’re not concerned,” he added. The weaker tax revenues have forced the Treasury to borrow more money than expected to cover the federal budget deficit, which is putting the government on track to hit its legal debt limit sooner than it forecast, experts say. Mnuchin wants lawmakers to raise Washington’s borrowing limit before they break for a long recess in August. Asked what would happen if Congress did not act before then, he replied: “We will be fine if they (Congress) don’t do it beforehand. ... We have plans and back-up plans for funding the government.” Pressed as to what he had in mind, Mnuchin said: “They are Treasury secretary superpowers.” President Donald Trump has made tax reform one of his biggest priorities. He has proposed cutting the corporate income tax to 15 percent, down from the current top corporate rate of 35 percent, though because of loopholes few multinational companies pay that rate. “Nothing is higher on my priority list than getting tax reform done this year. ... It is critical for economic growth,” Mnuchin said. Some Canadian politicians and business leaders are concerned that if Trump cuts corporate taxes, it could make companies north of the border less competitive. “As the U.S. moves forward with their plans, we’ll make sure we understand them well to ensure our tax system stays appropriate,” said Morneau, who gave no further details. Morneau said he and Mnuchin also spoke about lumber and trade. Canada softwood lumber exports have emerged as a trade irritant ahead of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement. Washington in April imposed preliminary anti-subsidy duties averaging 20 percent on imports of Canadian softwood lumber. | 0fake |
Republicans voice growing doubts on U.S. healthcare bill's fate | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans expressed increasing pessimism on Sunday about the prospects for the healthcare bill in the U.S. Senate aimed at rolling back Obamacare as lawmakers prepared to return from a week-long recess. One prominent Republican lawmaker, Senator John McCain, said he thought the Republican bill would probably fail. “My view is that it’s probably going to be dead,” McCain, said on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” adding that Republicans, who narrowly control the chamber, would likely need to work with Democrats on a healthcare bill. President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Sunday to put pressure on Republicans to stay the course. “For years, even as a “civilian,” I listened as Republicans pushed the Repeal and Replace of ObamaCare. Now they finally have their chance!” he tweeted. The Senate bill, which faces unified Democratic opposition, has been further imperiled during the recess, when Republican senators have had to return to their states and face constituents strongly opposed to the measure. Senators return to Washington on Monday. The Senate bill keeps intact much of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature legislation, popularly known as Obamacare, but strips away most of its funding. It repeals most Obamacare taxes, overhauls the law’s tax credits and ends its Medicaid expansion. It also goes beyond repealing Obamacare by cutting funding for the Medicaid program for the poor and disabled beginning in 2025. At least 10 Republican senators have opposed the bill in its current form, but many more have criticized the legislation or said they are undecided. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said on Sunday the draft bill was undergoing a “serious rewrite.” “Clearly, the draft plan is dead,” he said on Fox News. “Is the serious rewrite plan dead? I don’t know. I’ve not seen the serious rewrite plan.” Critics have derided the bill as a giveaway to wealthy Americans who would see some tax increases rolled back. Opponents also warn that the legislation would cause millions of poor and sick Americans to lose healthcare coverage. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which assesses the impact of legislation, estimated 22 million people would lose health insurance over the next decade under the Senate bill. In a separate report, it found the proposal would cut government spending on Medicaid by 35 percent come 2036. White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said on Fox News on Sunday that Trump expected Congress to pass a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare before lawmakers leave Washington for their August recess. A spokesman for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Senate leadership was continuing to work with Republican senators and the CBO on the legislation, but did not comment on McCain’s remarks or the bill’s future. Republican Senator Ted Cruz said on Sunday that failure to pass the bill was “not an option” and that the Senate effort must focus on lowering premiums. He pointed to an amendment he offered that is being scored by the CBO. Cruz’s amendment would allow insurers to offer plans that do not comply with Obamacare’s mandate that they charge sick and healthy people the same rates and cover a set of essential health benefits, such as maternity care and prescription drugs, as long as they also offer plans that do comply with the regulations. Cruz’s amendment has drawn support from conservative senators and groups, who say the amendment will help lower premiums. But moderate Republicans and outside critics say it will erode protections for people with pre-existing conditions and make their insurance unaffordable. McConnell has said he plans to hold a vote on the legislation, which needs the support of at least 50 of the Senate’s 52 Republicans, before a six-week recess that begins on July 29. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed its version of a bill overhauling healthcare in May. Yet McConnell himself voiced doubts on the Senate bill’s prospects last week, telling a luncheon in his home state of Kentucky that if Republicans fail to pass a repeal of Obamacare, they may need to work with Democrats to shore up private health insurance markets to keep them from collapsing. | 0fake |
ACTOR WHO BLEW THROUGH $150 Million Fortune Is Worried Playing Ronald Reagan In Positive Light For Upcoming Movie Could Ruin His Career | LOL! If I was Cage s manager, I d suggest he shut his mouth and act.Think your money troubles are bad? Trying blowing through $150 million, going broke, then owing the IRS $13 million. Yes, we re talking about Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage.Forbes listed him as one of the highest-paid actors of all time. It s said he made $40 million in 2009 alone. That s a lot of money!Unfortunately, the fun was short-lived. As his income increased, so did his insane buying habits.By the time he reached his mid-forties (he s now 53), Nicolas Cage spent so much cash that he put the King of Arabia to shame. While he blamed his money manager for sending him down a path toward financial ruin, others say it was his crazy personal spending. Finance BuzzFast forward to today, where Nicholas Cage has been offered the role of Ronald Reagan in an upcoming film, but is reportedly voicing his concerns about how the former president will be portrayed in the picture.The Oscar-winning actor is said to be worried that it might damage his career if he plays Reagan in a flattering light reports Page Six.Cage s publicist, Stephen Huvane, dismissed that report however, saying: It s way too early in the development process. Little else is known about the film at this time, including the director, screenwriter or who else might star alongside Cage, should he accept the part. Daily MailTypical Hollywood liberal lunacy defined | 1real |
STUDENTS USE “Free Speech” Wall To Paint “offensive, hurtful” Message Supporting Trump… Hispanic Students Call Emergency Meeting [VIDEO] | Remember when colleges and university were one of the best places in America to have discussions about politics? To be clear, the university does in fact support free speech unless of course, you re a Trump supporter Several events for Ohio University s Greek Week, an annual, weeklong event focused on philanthropy, have been canceled after some Sorority and Fraternity Life members painted Build the Wall on an area typically designated for graffiti last week.The Greek Week events, set to take place between April 11 and 18, were amended after unnamed members of Sorority and Fraternity Life painted the graffiti wall by Bentley Hall, including the phrase Build the Wall, according to a letter sent Sunday to sororities and fraternities.The phrase has been a part of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump s campaign to construct a wall between the United States and Mexico to discourage immigration from South and Central American countries.The letter was addressed to the OU Sorority and Fraternity Life community and supporters, and was signed by the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Women s Panhellenic Association. This phrase is offensive and hurtful to many individuals as it is directly tied to the Hispanic/Latino/a community, makes them feel marginalized, and the message was interpreted that they do not belong at Ohio University, the letter stated. Via: The Post AthensNo regard was given to the potentially offensive message Hispanic students painted over Trump message: | 1real |
UPDATE: COMEY’S LEAKER Goes Into Hiding [Video] | A Columbia University professor from Brooklyn went into hiding Thursday after pal James Comey revealed during his Senate testimony that the man leaked memos detailing the former FBI chief s conversations with President Trump to the press.But Richman had vanished from his Henry Street digs by midday, and family members, friends and neighbors wouldn t answer doors or phone calls to shed any more light.A doorman eventually turned security guard to stop reporters entering the building.Richman s wife, Alexandra Bowie, is a former president of the influential neighborhood civic group the Brooklyn Heights Association. Its director, Peter Bray, declined to speak about the man who had suddenly usurped Lena Dunham as the nabe s most famous inhabitant.Comey said in his testimony that he decided to give the content of his Trump memo to his good friend to leak to the press after President Trump tweeted out about possible takes of their conversations. Comey also said of leaking the memo, I thought it might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. Via: NYPWho knew the FBI Director was a leaker! This is too much! Our intel community has become so politicized that it prohibits them from following the law or even focusing on gutting to the truth! During testimony today, Susan Collins asked if Comey ever shared memos from President Trump:COMEY S RESPONSE WAS A SHOCKER. HE SAID HE FELT HE NEEDED TO GET THAT OUT INTO THE PUBLIC SQUARE SO HE ASKED A FRIEND TO SHARE THE MEMO WITH A REPORTER:The person that Comey gave the memos to is a former classmate from Columbia Law School. He is considered to be a and adviser to Comey. Daniel Richman is in the video below and is a rather interesting guy. The video is dated but is meant to give you an idea of the character of this friend and adviser to the former FBI Director.Comey stated:James Comey leaked details of his conversation with @POTUS to friend and confidant Daniel Richman.Does this man look sane to you? pic.twitter.com/06Q7cfNRLI Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 8, 2017 Does this man look sane to you? pic.twitter.com/06Q7cfNRLI Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 8, 2017 | 1real |
Malawi ministers to testify against cabinet colleague in maize graft trial | LILONGWE (Reuters) - Three Malawian ministers will testify in court against a former cabinet colleague charged with abuse of office over a maize procurement contract, court documents showed. President Peter Mutharika launched an investigation in January into the government order for 100,000 tonnes of Zambian white maize, after an opposition leader there said he had seen documents showing Malawi had been charged $345 per ton instead of the $215 the consignment was worth. Then agriculture minister George Chaponda was arrested in July, sacked and charged with abuse of office and possession of foreign currency without lawful justification. He pleaded not guilty to both charges and was released on bail pending trial, for which no date has yet been set. Malawi was importing maize to ease food shortages triggered by a severe drought that swept the region in 2016. According to court documents seen by Reuters, Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe, Information Nicoluas Dausi and Trade and Industry Minister Henry Mussa will be called to give evidence against Chaponda. The three ministers, who declined to comment, are expected to testify late this month, local newspapers said. Malawi s Anti-Corruption Bureau also declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. | 0fake |
Democratic Panic | The renewed criminal investigation into Hillary's misdeeds -- and how it could affect the election. November 1, 2016 Matthew Vadum
Democrats are in panic mode a week out from Election Day as they try to spin away the FBI’s newly announced discovery of a hoard of two-thirds of a million potentially sensitive emails apparently related to Hillary Clinton’s catastrophic tenure as America’s top diplomat.
Partisan hack James Carville is spewing wild conspiracy theories.
I think it is an outrage and I think the fact that the KGB is involved in this election is an outrage and I think the American people ought to take their democracy back regardless of what the press wants to do and the excuses they want to make for [FBI Director James] Comey. That’s what I think.
He added, “this is in effect an attempt to hijack an election. It ought to be called for what it is.”
Just this past July, Comey was praised by Democrats far and wide for his wisdom in opting not to pursue Clinton. There is evidence federal officials tried to hinder various investigations of Clinton and the endlessly corrupt Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, which functions as a bribe processing center for would-be president Hillary Clinton.
But Democrats have suddenly flipped sides, denouncing Comey as an enemy of the republic now that he has opened an investigation into the newly discovered emails.
Carville, long known as the “Ragin’ Cajun,” is apoplectic because he thinks these emails could change the dynamics of the election.
The old Clinton hand may be right.
Investigators found 650,000 emails on a laptop computer they believe was used at home by disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) and his wife, longtime senior Hillary aide Huma Abedin. The computer is reportedly the same device serial pervert Weiner used to send sexual messages to an underage girl.
“Underlying metadata suggests thousands of those messages could have been sent to or from the private server that Mrs. Clinton used while she was secretary of state, according to people familiar with the matter,” reports the Wall Street Journal . Some of the information emailed may have been classified.
Abedin, who has intergenerational ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, reportedly forwarded sensitive government information to her personal Yahoo email account and may have viewed them on her home laptop.
Over the objections of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Comey notified Congress of the information about the previously unknown emails at this late stage in the election cycle because after letting Hillary off the hook this summer he was facing a huge uprising among FBI employees, the overwhelming majority of whom are not unprincipled supplicants to power.
Lynch is doing her best to make sure the Department of Justice probe goes nowhere.
Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Peter J. Kadzik, whom Zero Hedge calls “the best friend” of John Podesta, Hillary’s campaign chairman and former White House chief of staff in Bill Clinton’s administration, is heading up the email probe.
So the fix is in.
In any event, the prospect of restoring his good name may also have prompted Comey to act.
People are upset at Comey because he took the coward’s way out in the email investigation and is viewed as helping the Clinton team and the Obama White House in their efforts to cover up wrongdoing.
It was back on July 5 Comey announced that despite the massive body of damning evidence accumulating against Clinton he would not recommend charges be brought against the former secretary of state for her use of hacker-friendly homebrew private email servers to conduct official business. Clinton and her aides were “extremely careless” in their handling of classified documents but there was no evidence of criminal intent, he said, even though the relevant national security statute does not require intent. The next day Attorney General Lynch confirmed no charges would be laid against Hillary. Lynch, as everyone now knows, had a clandestine meeting with former President Bill Clinton at a Phoenix airport a week before, at which a corrupt bargain was presumably made.
This internal rebellion in the investigative agency was serious enough that Comey felt he had to act immediately.
“I have some sources in the FBI and the former district attorney's,” commentator Larry Kudlow said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The FBI is in full revolt right now. The FBI has been in full revolt since the decisions made last summer.”
Ever the Hillary shill, host Chuck Todd corrected Kudlow.
“Not full revolt,” he said. “There's been a lot. I mean it's--there are agents--Let's not say full revolt.”
“All right, a semi-full revolt,” said Kudlow.
Because what I'm getting at is if Comey hadn't said what he said to Congress and the rest of the world, it would have leaked. It would have leaked. That whole building was ready to leak that they had discovered this new source with [Anthony] Weiner and [Huma] Abedin. So, I don't think Comey had much chance here. And I think the FBI is badly divided.”
Meanwhile, the trickle of bad news for Hillary Clinton has turned into a raging flood in the last few days.
Clinton has been directly implicated in a nasty false flag operation against the Donald Trump campaign. Top Democrat operatives Robert Creamer and Scott Foval were caught on undercover video describing their involvement in an elaborate criminal conspiracy involving the use of targeted political violence against political opponents. The euphemism employed was “conflict engagement” which means paying leftist agitators, the homeless and the mentally ill, to cause melees at Trump rallies.
Fomenting violence and physically attacking political opponents was what the fascist Third Reich did, using the Sturmabteilung or S.A., also called brown shirts and storm troopers.
Longtime Democrat pollster and campaign consultant Doug Schoen, a familiar face on Fox News Channel, announced he could no longer in good conscience support Clinton’s candidacy.
“I’m deeply concerned that we’ll have a constitutional crisis if she’s elected,” he said Sunday. “If the secretary of state wins, we will have a president under criminal investigation, with [top aide] Huma Abedin under criminal investigation.”
Republican Donald Trump is closing the gap in national polls of likely voters.
Clinton’s unfavorability rating in polls now exceeds Trump’s. She’s at 60 percent; he’s at 58 percent.
Former New York mayor and leading Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani said over the weekend that enough evidence has surfaced from WikiLeaks and the FBI to indict Clinton for racketeering. Bill Clinton “does the speeches, they put the money in the pocket, she does the favors in the government,” said Giuliani, a former federal prosecutor. “It all links up. Why did they destroy 33,000 emails? Because it shows the link.”
Influential liberal journalist Ron Fournier threw Hillary under the bus. Mrs. Clinton got “a secret server” to protect what the Washington Post called “the ‘circle of enrichment,’” he said.
If Hillary Clinton wins next week, media outlets across America will have to hire extra investigative journalists to handle all the corruption exposes that will follow. | 1real |
Gorbachev sees Russian democracy far off: biographer Taubman | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, celebrated in the West for championing democracy and helping end the Cold War, sees little chance Russia will turn from czarist-reminiscent, strongman government anytime in coming decades, the U.S. author of a new biography said on Monday. Pulitzer Prize-winning William Taubman interviewed Gorbachev, now 86, eight times for his Gorbachev: His Life and Times and said in the Reuters Global Markets Forum online chat room that Gorbachev was widely disliked in Russia. Here are edited excerpts: Question: How do Russians now see Gorbachev, who was popular in the 1980s? Answer: He is widely despised in Russia. People blame him for the collapse of the USSR, loss of its empire, the economic crash that accompanied the collapse, and also for seeming to be (to them, at any rate) a weak, indecisive leader. Q: Why does Russian President Vladimir Putin ignore Gorbachev, even as he memorializes much Russian history? A: Putin has only gained by ignoring or criticizing Gorbachev. In many ways, Putin s program is the opposite of Gorbachev s. It is as if Gorbachev has bequeathed the program, namely, the reverse of his own. As for Russia s dissatisfaction today, it is apparently growing as economic conditions worsen. But Putin has rallied support by annexing the Crimea, by depicting the West as Russia s enemy, by invoking the old czarist Trinity of principles: autocracy, nationality, and Orthodox religion. Q: Does Gorbachev have much hope of seeing a more democratic government? A: Gorbachev himself says it might take decades to democratize Russia, even the whole 21st century. This from a man who had hoped to see democracy come to the USSR in a few short years. Q: Is Gorbachev content in his late life? A: He insists he is. But I can t imagine he really is. His innate optimism may sustain him. But in addition to all the political attacks on him that continue, he now lives largely alone (except for bodyguards, chefs and chauffeurs) in a big house in the suburbs. ((This interview was conducted in the Reuters Global Markets Forum, a chat room hosted on the Eikon platform.)) | 0fake |
Boeing Cuts 10% Of Jobs After Receiving $8.7 Billion In Government Tax Breaks And Subsidies | The Commercial Airplane Corporation, Boeing, announced job cuts for 2016 are likely to reduce the company s workforce by ten percent, roughly 8,000 jobs lost, according to Seattle Times. The company cited operating and labor costs as the reason for the job cuts, but that is inexcusable given the company received $8.7 billion in government subsidies and tax breaks in 2013 for building the 777x in the state of Washington. The company has already eliminated 9,000 jobs in the region since 2012.Boeing epitomizes how the economy is rigged to favor corporations and the wealthy. Boeing is assisted by the government to increase production and built new operations, and in return the government does not receive any share of the profits. In the company s efforts to increase profits, the workers and their families carry the burden. There is no accountability or terms of conditions for companies like Boeing who receive government handouts. This is corporate socialism.Robert Reich told Rolling Stone in an interview this past October about the building blocks of capitalism, every one of these building blocks has been altered over the last 30 years by very powerful money interests who have succeeded in changing these building blocks so that they improve the finances and enhance the profits of big companies Wall Street and the very wealthy but make most other people worse off. He added in the interview a free market cannot exist without government setting the rules, but the government has been setting the rules to favor wealthy corporations who have been insulating themselves from the competitive market.What we have seen in the past few decades, and has worsened in the wake of the Citizens United SCOTUS ruling, is corporate and wealthy influences have pushed for government to set the rules in their favor so they can maximize their profits while the working and middle classes in this country. Politicians now have to worry more about who is going to fund them or their opponent in an election, leaving little to no time to focus on what is actually best for the public interest.Featured Image via Flickr | 1real |
Airlines get ready for new U.S. security rules from Thursday | (This October 25 story has been refiled to clarify that IATA CEO remarks referred to March rules) By David Shepardson and Jamie Freed WASHINGTON/TAIPEI (Reuters) - New security measures including stricter passenger screening take effect on Thursday on all U.S.-bound flights to comply with government requirements aimed at responding to threats of hidden explosives, airlines said. Airlines contacted by Reuters said the new measures could include short security interviews with passengers at check-in or the boarding gate, sparking concerns over flight delays and extended processing time. They will affect 325,000 airline passengers on about 2,100 commercial flights arriving daily in the United States, on 180 airlines from 280 airports in 105 countries. U.S. Transportation Security Administration officials are giving some airlines or airports additional time to comply with the new interviews as long the U.S. government has approved security plans by Thursday. TSA will continue to work closely with our aviation partners and verify that all security enhancements are accurately implemented, TSA spokeswoman Lucy Martinez said in a statement Wednesday. The United States announced the new rules in June to end its restrictions on carry-on electronic devices on planes coming from 10 airports in eight countries in the Middle East and North Africa in response to concerns that explosives could be hidden in electronic devices. Those restrictions were lifted in July, but the Trump administration said it could reimpose measures on a case by case basis if airlines and airports did not boost security. European and U.S. officials said at the time that airlines had 120 days to comply with the measures, including increased passenger screening. The 120-day deadline is Thursday. Airlines had until late July to expand explosive trace detection testing. We see this as a big issue for China Airlines, Steve Chang, senior vice president of the Taiwanese firm told reporters on Wednesday, adding the airline was trying to consult with the American Institute in the country over the issue. Korean Airlines, South Korea s flagship carrier, also said it had a lot of concerns with the new measures. We are asking customers to show up at the airport early ... It s just inconvenient for the passengers, President and Chief Operating Officer Walter Cho told Reuters in Taipei. Lufthansa Group said on Tuesday the measures would be in place by Thursday and travelers could face short interviews at check-in or at the gate. Economy passengers on Lufthansa s Swiss airline have been asked to check in at least 90 minutes before departure. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said it would suspend in-town check-in and self bag-drop services for passengers booked on direct flights to the United States. The airline said passengers would also have short security interviews and it has advised travelers to arrive three hours before departure. Singapore Airlines Ltd said the security checks could include inspections of personal electronic devices as well as security questioning during check-in and boarding. Airlines for America, a U.S. trade group, said the changes are complex security measures but praised U.S. officials for giving airlines flexibility in meeting the new rules. Alexandre de Juniac, CEO of the International Air Transport Association, said the industry understood security threats to aviation were made regularly but in this case the U.S. government had not shared any specific dangers before announcing the initial Middle East and North Africa electronic device restrictions in March. What we have seen is very strange, he told reporters in Taipei. Unilateral measures announced without any prior consultation... That is something that is very concerning and disturbing. Airlines were however consulted after the March changes. At their annual meeting in Taipei, Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) members passed a resolution calling for security measures to be risk-based, outcome-focused and proportionate to the probable threat. Unilateral actions taken by individual governments reacting to emerging threats may result in unnecessary disruption or lead to unintended safety consequences, said the members. AAPA includes most large Asian airlines but not mainland Chinese carriers. The risk is other countries make similar demands, AAPA Director General Andrew Herdman said. U.S. authorities in June also ordered increased security around aircraft and in passenger areas, and other places where travelers can be cleared by U.S. officials before they depart and ordered enhanced screening of personal electronic devices. Some of those new requirements take effect this week as well. The TSA said in July it was imposing new security rules requiring U.S. domestic airline travelers to remove all electronic items larger than mobile phones such as tablets, e-readers and video game consoles from carry-on baggage for screening. | 0fake |
U.S. backs Saudi 'first step' in addressing Yemen crisis | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday welcomed a first step by Saudi Arabia to allow humanitarian aid to reach Yemen and called for negotiations on the country s conflict. The coalition fighting the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in Yemen said on Wednesday it would allow aid in through the Red Sea ports of Hodeidah and Salif, as well as U.N. flights to Sanaa, more than two weeks after blockading the country. About 7 million people face famine in Yemen and their survival is dependent on international assistance. Full and immediate implementation of the announced measures is a first step in ensuring that food, medicine, and fuel reach the Yemeni people and that the aid organizations on the frontlines of mitigating this humanitarian crisis are able to do their essential work, the White House said in a statement. We look forward to additional steps that will facilitate the unfettered flow of humanitarian and commercial goods from all ports of entry to the points of need, it added. A U.N. spokesman said the Saudi-led coalition had given the United Nations permission to resume flights of aid workers to the Houthi-controlled capital on Saturday, but not to dock ships loaded with wheat and medical supplies. Reuters reported on Wednesday that U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson asked Saudi Arabia to ease the blockade. The U.S.-backed coalition closed air, land and sea access on Nov. 6, in a move it said was to stop the flow of arms to the Houthis from Iran. The action came after Saudi Arabia intercepted a missile fired toward Riyadh. Iran has denied supplying weapons. The White House said it was committed to supporting Saudi Arabia and its Gulf partners against the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aggression and blatant violations of international law . The Saudi-led coalition has been targeting the Houthis since they seized parts of Yemen in 2015, including the capital Sanaa, forcing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to flee. The Houthis, drawn mainly from Yemen s Zaidi Shi ite minority and allied with long-serving former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, control much of the country. The United Nations has been mediating in the conflict without much success. The United States continues to believe that this devastating conflict, and the suffering it causes, must be brought to an end through political negotiations, the White House said. | 0fake |
Germany's Gabriel denies report he is eyeing finance minister post | BERLIN (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Saturday denied a report that said the Social Democrat, whose party has agreed to enter talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives on forming a coalition, was eyeing the post of finance minister. News magazine Der Spiegel reported that Gabriel had recently told senior members of his SPD party that he was interested in becoming German finance minister if the SPD agreed to a re-run of the current grand coalition with Merkel s conservatives. What Spiegel is writing is sheer nonsense, Gabriel told Deutschlandfunk radio. I m in a caretaker government and no one knows what the next government will look like. More than two months after a national election, Germany has not managed to form a new government, so the conservative coalition from the last legislative period is still in power. Merkel, who lost many supporters to the far-right in September s election, is banking on the SPD to extend her 12-year tenure after attempts to cobble together an awkward three-way alliance with the liberal Free Democrats and environmentalist Greens crumbled. If the SPD were to agree to another grand coalition - an option that the SPD says is by no means a foregone conclusion - and demand the finance ministry, it would likely result in changes to Germany s European policy such as more focus on spending and investment rather than austerity. Wolfgang Schaeuble, who was Germany s conservative finance minister until he took on the role of president in October, became unpopular among struggling euro zone states during his eight years in office due to his focus on austerity. SPD leader Martin Schulz said on Thursday that Europe could not afford to undergo another four years of the kind of European policy that Schaeuble had practiced. | 0fake |
CASTRO DEMANDS THE RETURN OF “ILLEGALLY OCCUPIED” GITMO BEFORE RESTORING DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS | Obama must have added this to the deal so he can move to close GITMO. He s just itching to release more terrorists and close GITMO because it s clear his legacy is more important than the safety and security of Americans. As President Obama announced that Cuba was restoring full diplomatic relations, reopening embassies in Washington and Havana after more than five decades, Cuba was once again demanding the U.S. return Guantanamo to the country. To achieve normalization [of diplomatic relations] it will be essential also that the territory illegally occupied by the Guantanamo Naval Base is returned, read a declaration posted on Granma, the official organ of the Communist Party in the island.The Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, home to Guantanamo Bay detention camp since 2012, is located on 45 square miles of a bay the U.S. leased for use as a coaling and naval station in 1903.In the 700-word declaration, the Cuban government also demands the U.S. end the transmission of anti-Castro radio and television broadcasts on the island.The demands echo, almost word by word, those made by President Raul Castro back in January, during the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States summit on Costa Rica. Radio and television transmissions to Cuba ( ) are in violation of international law and are harmful to our sovereignty policies, the declaration reads, while demanding also that programs aimed at promoting internal subversion and destabilization be stopped. Obama announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Cuba will reopen their embassies in Havana and Washington, heralding a new chapter in relations after a half-century of hostility. We don t have to be imprisoned by the past, Obama said from White House Rose Garden. Americans and Cubans alike are ready to move forward. Read more: FOX NEWS LATINO | 1real |
KELLYANNE CONWAY: “I’m not a sore winner, I’m a winner! My guy is a winner! He’s the next president!” | AWESOME! @KellyannePolls : I m Not A Sore Winner,I m A Winner!Our Champion is @realDonaldTrump President of the United States!fair & square! pic.twitter.com/sKyfux86KI TRUMP ANOMALY (@ANOMALY1) December 11, 2016 | 1real |
WOW! Trump Ties Hillary To Pervert Anthony Weiner in New Ad (VIDEO) – American Lookout | WOW! Trump Ties Hillary To Pervert Anthony Weiner in New Ad (VIDEO) shares Facebook
In these final days of the election the gloves have truly come off. Trump has just released a new ad which ties Hillary’s email scandal and the new FBI investigation to Anthony Weiner, the husband of Hillary aide Huma Abedin.
The Washington Examiner reports:
New Trump ad targets ‘pervert’ Anthony Weiner, dubs Clinton ‘unfit to serve’
Donald Trump’s campaign has capitalized on the latest developments surrounding Hillary Clinton’s private email server, releasing a new television ad on Thursday that ties the Democratic presidential hopeful directly to disgraced ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner.
Weiner, the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, came back to haunt Democrats last week after FBI officials uncovered more than 650,000 new emails on a device of his, some of which may have originated from Clinton’s unsecured server. The discovery led FBI Director James Comey to reopen the agency’s investigation into Clinton’s handling of classified material.
“Hillary Clinton is under FBI investigation again after her emails were found on pervert Anthony Weiner’s laptop,” says the narrator of the 30-second ad, which the Trump campaign titled “Unfit.”
Watch the ad below:
Ouch! That’s gonna leave a mark! shares | 1real |
Suspect Dressed in Black Allegedly Kicks in Marine Veteran’s Door, Does Not Live to Tell | A suspect dressed in black allegedly kicked in a Marine veteran’s door just after 3 a. m. Thursday in Salt Lake City and was shot dead in the living room. [According to the Salt Lake Tribune, the deceased suspect, Puleaga Danny Tupu, was one of two men who allegedly forced their way into the apartment. Resident and Marine veteran Brian Sant was awake at the time, as he had just arrived home from working the third shift and was sitting in his living room. Sant fought with the men until his son emerged from a back room and shot both suspects. Tupu died at the scene, and the second suspect was taken to the hospital in critical condition. KSL reports that the surviving suspect “was shot multiple times. ” Sant did not know why the men targeted his apartment, but he said they made a mistake by doing it: “You got veterans living around in these apartments. You don’t know who’s got a gun. ” AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com. | 0fake |
UNREAL! CBS’S TED KOPPEL Tells Sean Hannity He’s “Bad for America” [Video] | 1real | |
Kind Samaritan Pays Off All Overdue Lunch Fees At Hometown Elementary School | It’s difficult to comprehend, but an estimated 20% of kids in the United States of America live in poverty. In 2014, 13 million lived in food insecure households, meaning they weren’t sure when food... | 1real |
Trump’s Empire: A Maze of Debts and Opaque Ties - The New York Times | On the campaign trail, Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has sold himself as a businessman who has made billions of dollars and is beholden to no one. But an investigation by The New York Times into the financial maze of Mr. Trump’s real estate holdings in the United States reveals that companies he owns have at least $650 million in debt — twice the amount than can be gleaned from public filings he has made as part of his bid for the White House. The Times’s inquiry also found that Mr. Trump’s fortunes depend deeply on a wide array of financial backers, including one he has cited in attacks during his campaign. For example, an office building on Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, of which Mr. Trump is part owner, carries a $950 million loan. Among the lenders: the Bank of China, one of the largest banks in a country that Mr. Trump has railed against as an economic foe of the United States, and Goldman Sachs, a financial institution he has said controls Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, after it paid her $675, 000 in speaking fees. Real estate projects often involve complex ownership and mortgage structures. And given Mr. Trump’s long real estate career in the United States and abroad, as well as his claim that his personal wealth exceeds $10 billion, it is safe to say that no previous major party presidential nominee has had finances nearly as complicated. As president, Mr. Trump would have substantial sway over monetary and tax policy, as well as the power to make appointments that would directly affect his own financial empire. He would also wield influence over legislative issues that could have a significant impact on his net worth, and would have official dealings with countries in which he has business interests. Yet The Times’s examination underscored how much of Mr. Trump’s business remains shrouded in mystery. He has declined to disclose his tax returns or allow an independent valuation of his assets. Earlier in the campaign, Mr. Trump submitted a federal financial disclosure form. It said his businesses owed at least $315 million to a relatively small group of lenders and listed ties to more than 500 limited liability companies. Though he answered the questions, the form appears to have been designed for candidates with simpler finances than his, and did not require disclosure of portions of his business activities. Beyond finding that companies owned by Mr. Trump had debts of at least $650 million, The Times discovered that a substantial portion of his wealth is tied up in three passive partnerships that owe an additional $2 billion to a string of lenders, including those that hold the loan on the Avenue of the Americas building. If those loans were to go into default, Mr. Trump would not be held liable, the Trump Organization said. The value of his investments, however, would certainly sink. Mr. Trump has said that if he were elected president, his children would be likely to run his company. Many presidents, to avoid any appearance of a conflict, have placed their holdings in blind trusts, which typically involves selling the original asset, and replacing it with different assets unknown to the seller. Mr. Trump’s children seem unlikely to pursue that option. Richard W. Painter, a professor of law at the University of Minnesota and, from 2005 to 2007, the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, compared Mr. Trump to Henry M. Paulson Jr. a former chief executive of Goldman Sachs whom Mr. Bush appointed as Treasury secretary. Professor Painter advised Mr. Paulson on his decision to sell his Goldman Sachs shares, saying it was clear that Mr. Paulson could not simply have placed that stock in trust and pretended it did not exist. If Mr. Trump were to use a blind trust, the professor said, it would be “like putting a gold watch in a box and pretending you don’t know it is in there. ” “I am the king of debt,” Mr. Trump once said on CNN. “I love debt. ” But in his career, debt has sometimes gotten the better of him, leading to at least four business bankruptcies. He is, however, quick to stress that these days his companies have very little debt. Mr. Trump indicated in the financial disclosure form he filed in connection with this campaign that he was worth at least $1. 5 billion, and has said publicly that the figure is actually greater than $10 billion. Recent estimates by Forbes and Fortune magazines and Bloomberg have put his worth at less than $5 billion. To gain a better understanding of Mr. Trump’s holdings and debt, The Times engaged RedVision Systems, a national property information firm, to search publicly available data on more than 30 properties in the United States. The Times identified these assets through Federal Election Commission filings, information provided by the Trump Organization and records, such as filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The search covered thousands of pages of public information, including loan documents, land leases and property deeds. It concentrated on Mr. Trump’s commercial holdings, including office towers, golf courses, a vineyard in Virginia and even an industrial building in South Carolina that he ended up with after a troubled business venture involving Donald Trump Jr. The inquiry also examined some of Mr. Trump’s residential properties, including his penthouse apartment on Fifth Avenue and a house he owns in Beverly Hills, Calif. The examination did not include Mr. Trump’s dealings outside the United States. That Mr. Trump seems to have so much less debt on his disclosure form than what The Times found is not his fault, but rather a function of what the form asks candidates to list and how. The form, released by the Federal Election Commission, asks that candidates list assets and debts not in precise numbers, but in ranges that top out at $50 million — appropriate for most candidates, but not for Mr. Trump. Through its examination, The Times was able to discern the amount of debt taken out on each property, and its ownership structure. At 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, a limited liability company, or L. L. C. controlled by Mr. Trump holds the ground lease — the lease for the land on which the building stands. In 2015, Mr. Trump borrowed $160 million from Ladder Capital, a small New York firm, using that lease as collateral. On his financial disclosure form that debt is listed as valued at more than $50 million. Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, said that Mr. Trump could have left the liability section on the form blank, because federal law requires that presidential candidates disclose personal liabilities, not corporate debt. Mr. Trump, he said, has no personal debt. “We overdisclosed,” Mr. Weisselberg said, explaining that it was decided that when a Trump company owned 100 percent of a property, all of the associated debt would be disclosed, something that he said went beyond what the law required. For properties where a Trump company owned less than 100 percent of a building, Mr. Weisselberg said, those debts were not disclosed. Mr. Trump, for example, has a 50 percent stake in the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. In 2010, the company that owns the hotel refinanced a $190 million loan, according to Real Capital Analytics, a commercial real estate data and analytics firm. Mr. Weisselberg said that a Trump entity was responsible for half the debt, and that all but $6. 4 million of the loan had been paid off. The Times found three other instances in which Mr. Trump had an ownership interest in a building but did not disclose the debt associated with it. In all three cases, Mr. Trump had passive investments in limited liability companies that had borrowed significant amounts of money. One of these investments involves an office tower at 1290 Avenue of Americas, near Rockefeller Center. In a typically complex deal, loan documents show that four lenders — German American Capital, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank UBS Real Estate Securities Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company and Bank of China — agreed in November 2012 to lend $950 million to the three companies that own the building. Those companies, obscurely named HWA 1290 III LLC, HWA 1290 IV LLC and HWA 1290 V LLC, are owned by three other companies in which Mr. Trump has stakes. Ultimately, through his investments, Mr. Trump is a 30 percent owner of the building, records show. Vornado Realty Trust owns the other 70 percent and is the controlling partner. A similar ownership structure is in place at 555 California Street in San Francisco, formerly the Bank of America Center. There, Pacific Life Insurance Company and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company lent $600 million in 2011 to a limited liability company of which Vornado owns 70 percent and Mr. Trump owns 30 percent. Green Street Advisors, a real estate research firm, estimates the combined value of the two buildings to be about $3. 7 billion. On a smaller scale, Mr. Trump also has a 4 percent partnership interest in a company that has an interest in a large Brooklyn housing complex, and owes roughly $410 million to Wells Fargo, according to Bloomberg data. The full terms of Mr. Trump’s limited partnerships are not known. The current value of the loans connected to them is roughly $1. 95 billion, according to various public documents. Mr. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, said that neither Mr. Trump nor the company were responsible for the debt associated with the limited partnerships. Still, as with all of the properties in which Mr. Trump holds an interest, the value of the buildings as well as the terms and magnitude of their debt could have a major impact on his personal fortune. Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg added, was liable for a “small percentage of the corporate debt” listed on the federal filing but would not elaborate. Other instances in which Mr. Trump could be personally responsible can be found in public filings. He guaranteed as much as $26 million for the loan taken out against his land lease at 40 Wall Street, money the lender could take if certain things went wrong. The United States Office of Government Ethics, which reviewed Mr. Trump’s financial filing before the F. E. C. released it, said it does not comment on submissions by individual candidates. The agency’s procedures for staff members reviewing presidential submissions, a copy of which was obtained by The Times through a Freedom of Information Act request, say the Office of Government Ethics does not audit reports for accuracy. “Disclosures are to be taken at ‘face value’ as correct, unless there is a patent omission or ambiguity or the official has independent knowledge of matters outside the report,” the procedures say. Tracing the ownership of many of Mr. Trump’s buildings can be a complicated task. Sometimes he owns a building and the land underneath it sometimes, he holds a partial interest or just the commercial portion of a property. And in some cases, the identities of his business partners are obscured behind limited liability companies — raising the prospect of a president with unknown business ties. At 40 Wall Street, Mr. Trump does not own even a sliver of the actual land his ground lease gives him the right to improve and manage the building. The land is owned by two limited liability companies Mr. Trump pays the two entities a total of $1. 6 million a year for the ground lease, according to documents filed with the S. E. C. The majority owner, 40 Wall Street Holdings Corporation, owns 80 percent of the land New Scandic Wall Limited Partnership owns the rest, according to public documents. New Scandic Wall Limited Partnership’s chief executive is Joachim Ferdinand von a businessman based in Europe, according to these documents. The people behind 40 Wall Street Holdings are harder to identify. For years, Germany’s Hinneberg family, which made its fortune in the shipping industry, controlled the property through a company called 40 Wall Limited Partnership. In late 2014, their interest in the land was transferred to a new company, 40 Wall Street Holdings. The Times was not able to identify the owner or owners of this company, and the Trump Organization declined to comment. Mr. Trump has ground leases on several other properties, including a golf course in New York’s Hudson Valley and retail space in Midtown Manhattan. Private owners are also behind these leases, their identities sometimes obscured by L. L. C. s. Mr. Trump’s status in these situations is indicated by the word tenant, which is listed under his signature on many of the relevant documents. Mr. Trump also holds a ground lease on the Trump International Hotel in the Old Post Office building in Washington, a few blocks from the White House. The federal government, which owns the land, gave a lease to Trump Old Post Office, a limited liability company controlled by Mr. Trump and members of his family. In return, the government receives a minimum of $3 million a year from the company. Mr. Weisselberg said that despite his holdings, Mr. Trump should not be held to the same standards that might apply to the heads of companies in highly regulated industries. “If you take away all the fancy stuff and so on and so forth, and the ratings, you are basically down to a closely held business that is fundamentally different from IBM or Exxon,” Mr. Weisselberg said, quoting from an email he had received from Donald F. McGahn, a lawyer and former chairman of the F. E. C. who advised Mr. Trump on his federal filing. Mr. McGahn did not return calls for comment. Others disagree. Mr. Trump’s opaque portfolio of business ties makes him potentially vulnerable to the demands of banks, and to business people in the United States and abroad, said Professor Painter, the former chief White House ethics lawyer. “The success of his empire depends on an ability to get credit, to get loans extended to his business entities,” he said. “And we simply don’t know a lot about his financial dealings, here or around the world. ” | 0fake |
U.N. states call for end to Myanmar military operations | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A United Nations General Assembly committee on Thursday called on Myanmar to end military operations that have led to the systematic violation and abuse of human rights of Rohingya Muslims in the country s Rakhine state. The move revived a U.N. resolution that was dropped last year due to the country s progress on human rights. The General Assembly s Third Committee, which focuses on human rights, voted 135 in favor, 10 against with 26 abstentions on the draft text that also asks U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a special envoy on Myanmar. For 15 years the Third Committee annually adopted a resolution condemning Myanmar s human rights record, but last year the European Union did not put forward a draft text, citing progress under the leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi. However, in the past three months more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after the Myanmar military began an operation against Rohingya militants, who attacked 30 security posts and an army base in Rakhine state on Aug. 25. This prompted the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to put forward a new draft U.N. resolution, which will now be formally adopted by the 193-member General Assembly next month. The resolution deepens international pressure, but has no legal consequences. Myanmar s army released a report on Monday denying all allegations of rapes and killings by security forces, days after replacing the general in charge of the military operation in Rakhine state. Top U.N. officials have denounced the violence as a classic example of ethnic cleansing. The Myanmar government has denied allegations of ethnic cleansing. Myanmar is refusing entry to a U.N. panel that was tasked with investigating allegations of abuses after a smaller military counteroffensive launched in October 2016. The draft resolution approved by the Third Committee on Thursday urges Myanmar to grant access. It also calls for full and unhindered humanitarian aid access and for Myanmar to grant full citizenship rights to Rohingya. They have been denied citizenship in Myanmar, where many Buddhists regard them as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The 15-member U.N. Security Council last week urged the Myanmar government to ensure no further excessive use of military force in Rakhine state. It asked Guterres to report back in 30 days. Human Rights Watch accused Myanmar security forces on Thursday of committing widespread rape against women and girls, echoing an allegation by Pramila Patten, the U.N. special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, earlier this week. Patten said sexual violence was being commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by the Armed Forces of Myanmar. | 0fake |
NeverTrump Radio Host Does 180, Makes BRILLIANT Case for Voting Trump | BREAKING: Obama ATF Accused of Covering Up Political Element in Firebombing of GOP HQ
“I am not of the mindset that any vote not for Trump is a vote for Hillary, but a vote for Trump is a vote against Hillary. And I need to vote against Hillary. I need to vote against the media.”
Hunter noted the extreme bias exhibited by the media who refused to fact-check Clinton at the last debate, and what he sees as the difference between what a Trump and a Clinton presidency would look like:
“A Trump administration at least will include people I trust in positions that matter. I don’t know if they will be able to hold him completely in check, but I know a Clinton administration will include people who have been her co-conspirators in corruption, and there won’t even be a media to hold her accountable.
Although Hunter didn’t want to tell NeverTrumpers how they should vote, he asked them to think about how important it is to keep Clinton out of office:
“I’m not saying you should support him, but you shouldn’t lose sight of the importance of opposing her. If, or when, Hillary Clinton takes the oath of office, she needs to have as little support as possible. Frankly, she needs to be damaged. The mainstream media won’t do it; they’re in on it.”
“A simple protest vote for a third party or a write-in of my favorite comic book character might feel good for a moment. It might even give me a sense of moral superiority that lasts until her first executive order damaging something I hold dear — or her first Supreme Court nominee. But the sting that will follow will far outlive that temporary satisfaction. “
“I oppose much of what Donald Trump has said, but I oppose everything Hillary Clinton has done and wants to do. And what someone says, no matter how objectionable, is less important than what someone does, especially when it’s so objectionable. A personal moral victory won’t suffice when the stakes are so high. As such, I am compelled to vote against Hillary by voting for the only candidate with any chance whatsoever of beating her — Donald Trump.” | 1real |
U.S. to vote against U.N. resolution calling for end to Cuba embargo | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States will vote against a U.N. General Assembly resolution on Wednesday calling for the lifting of the decades-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba, reversing an abstention by Washington last year. U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will vote against the resolution, introduced annually by Havana for 26 years, to underscore President Donald Trump s new Cuba policy, which puts greater emphasis on advancing human rights and democracy, State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on Tuesday. The United States consistently voted against such resolutions for 24 years but abstained for the first time in 2016 as Washington and Havana forged a closer relationship and reopened embassies in both countries in 2015. But tensions have flared recently between the two former Cold War foes. Trump said earlier this month he believed Havana was responsible for a series of alleged incidents that Washington says harmed 24 of its diplomats. Cuban officials investigating the U.S. complaints said last week talk of acoustic strikes was science fiction. The resolution on Wednesday is non-binding but can carry political weight. Only the U.S. Congress can lift the full embargo, put in place more than 50 years ago. The Cuban delegation to the U.N. did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last year, the resolution was adopted by the 193-member General Assembly with 191 votes in favor. Israel joined its ally the United States in abstaining. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, a Democrat, led a group of 10 senators urging Trump on Tuesday to direct the U.S. delegation to once more abstain from voting. | 0fake |
Mohammed Dahlan speaks about Palestinian unity and his back-room role | GAZA (Reuters) - Mohammad Dahlan, who played a key backroom role in a major new effort for Palestinian unity, has said a two-state peace agreement with Israel was impossible and healing wounds from a civil war that split Palestine was now a priority. Once of the fiercest foes of Hamas, the Islamist group that seized the Gaza Strip in a civil war in 2007, Dahlan, a member of the rival mainstream Fatah party, spoke to Reuters after a unity cabinet held its first meeting in the enclave in three years. The internal Palestinian situation is more sacred, is more important and is more useful now than the so-called negotiation, the veteran politician said of talks with Israel that collapsed in 2014 over issues such as Israeli settlement-building in occupied territory and Fatah-Hamas reconciliation. A former peace negotiator with Israel who speaks Hebrew and who was born in a refugee camp, Dahlan, 56, noted Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, areas captured in a 1967 war and which Palestinians seek along with Gaza for a future state. There is a complete Judaisation of the West Bank, not only of Jerusalem. It has become impossible for the two-state solution to be implemented, therefore, there is no political horizon, he said in the rare interview. Israel has built about 120 settlements in the West Bank. About 350,000 settlers live there and a further 200,000 in East Jerusalem, among about 2.6 million Palestinians. Fatah, led by the secular heirs of Yasser Arafat, runs the West Bank, heads the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority and has been responsible for negotiations with Israel. Its rival Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, drove Fatah forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza and has run the tiny coastal strip that is home to two million people. Relations eased on Monday, when Hamas handed over control of Gaza to a unity government. Although it agreed to the deal three years ago, the decision to implement it marks a striking reversal for Hamas, considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and most powerful Arab countries. Officials on both sides of the Palestinian divide and in other Arab countries say Dahlan, based since 2011 in the United Arab Emirates, was behind an influx of cash to prop up Gaza, and a detente between Hamas and Arab states including Egypt that led the group to dismantle its shadow government last month. It was an honor for us ... that we succeeded to have those understandings between Hamas and Egypt, Dahlan said by telephone from Abu Dhabi. The former Gaza security chief said he had kept silent during mediation efforts but decided to speak out now that they have borne fruit. Dahlan said Egypt, which has accused Hamas of aiding an Islamist insurgency in the Sinai peninsula across the border from Gaza, held meetings with senior officials of the group, which denies aiding the militants. Both sides agreed to shore up security along the border and prevent militants from crossing. Without reconciling with Hamas and without Hamas understanding the needs of the Egyptian national security there can be no serious (Palestinian) reconciliation, and no one but Egypt is capable of playing an effective role, Dahlan said. Cairo will host Hamas and Fatah officials next Tuesday for further talks on power-sharing and the holding of Palestinian elections long-delayed by the internal rift. A first sign of discontent surfaced with Hamas criticizing Abbas s decision to await the outcome of the talks before lifting sanctions he has imposed on Gaza. In the interview, Dahlan called on Hamas to show more patience because all the good things are on the way thanks to Egyptian mediation. He dismissed any notion that Egypt, with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, was pursuing Palestinian reconciliation as part of any wider U.S.-initiated push for a regional peace deal with Israel. The chances of the so-called deal of the century is zero because (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu does not want peace and he imposed a reality of 700,000 settlers in the West Bank and in Jerusalem that made it impossible for the two-state solution to be implemented, Dahlan said. Netanyahu on Tuesday warned Palestinians against engaging in bogus reconciliations under which Hamas kept its military arm in Gaza which bristles with hundreds of its rockets. Turning to Palestinian politics, Dahlan, who recently formed the Fatah Reformist and Democratic Party to challenge Abbas - now in the 12th year of a four-year term - accused him of committing crimes and mistakes but said he was ready to reconcile with the 82-year-old leader to reunite the Fatah movement. The ball is in his court and we are ready whenever he is, said Dahlan, in exile since 2011 after quarrelling with Abbas. Ambitious and charismatic, he has long been suspected of harboring designs to succeed Abbas. Dahlan said his strong ties with the UAE helped him to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in aid for Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the past 10 years. A recent poll by the West Bank-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey showed that those who still support Fatah in Gaza are shifting loyalty to Dahlan. His popularity among Gazans has risen over the past nine months from nine to 23 percent. Dahlan said he was not obsessed by opinion polls and a decision on whether he would run for a president would await until an election date is set. | 0fake |
EUROPEAN VACATION: MOOCH RUNS UP A HUGE TAB COMPLIMENTS OF THE TAXPAYERS | The Obama family continues to rack up huge bills on transportation alone when they take the thinly veiled humanitarian vacations at the taxpayer s expense. The bill for air transportation is HUGE! I can only imagine what the grand total will be.Michelle Obama s June trip to Italy and the United Kingdom cost taxpayers more than $200,000 on air transportation alone, according to documents released by a government watchdog group.The documents, obtained by Judicial Watch after filing a Freedom of Information Act request June 22, found that the First Lady s international trip in June ran $240,495.67 in airfare costs. Obama, who was accompanied by her mother and daughters, took the six-day trip in late June and made stops in London, Milan, and Vicenza. According to the Air Force documents, the flights to London, England and Milan, Venice, and Vicenza, Italy, for the June 15 21, 2015, trip totaled 20:35 hours at the cost of $11,684 per hour, bringing the flight expense total to $240,495.67, Judicial Watch writes.The watchdog also notes that despite the White House billing the event as a part of Michelle s Let Girls Learn and Let s Move campaign, Michelle and company did their fair share of sightseeing on the trip and even sat down for tea at Kensington Place with Prince Harry.Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said that if Obama wants to have tea with Prince Harry, she is entitled to do so but not on the taxpayers dime. The Obama family continues to bill the taxpayers for costly tourism jaunts thinly disguised as humanitarian crusades, said Fitton. If Michelle Obama wants to take tea with Prince Harry or enthuse over Da Vinci s The Last Supper, she is certainly entitled to do so, but not at taxpayer expense. Via: WFB | 1real |
Moody's downgrades UK's rating on Brexit and growth fears | LONDON (Reuters) - Ratings agency Moody s downgraded Britain s credit rating on Friday, saying the government s plans to bring down its heavy debt load had been knocked off course and Brexit would weigh on the economy. A few hours after Prime Minister Theresa May set out plans for new ties with the European Union, Moody s cut the rating by a further notch to Aa2, underscoring the economic risks that leaving the bloc poses for the world s fifth-biggest economy. Britain has worked down its budget deficit from about 10 percent of economic output in 2010, shortly after the global financial crisis hammered the country, to 2.3 percent. But Moody s - which stripped Britain of its top-notch AAA rating in 2013 - said the outlook for public finances had weakened significantly as May s government softened the austerity drive of former prime minister David Cameron and his finance minister George Osborne. The government hit back, saying Moody s assessment of the Brexit hit to the economy was outdated and that May had set out an ambitious vision for the UK s future relationship with the EU in her speech on Friday. But a Moody s official said the speech made no difference to the agency s gloomy long-term view for Britain s economy. Having looked at Theresa May s speech, I don t think there is anything in there which would in any way make us change our assessment, Alastair Wilson, managing director of global sovereign risk at Moody s, told BBC radio on Saturday. Over the next few years, we have a lot less confidence that the UK s government is going to be able to fulfil its plans to bring the debt load back down, and this is an extremely high debt load that the UK has, or to be able to achieve some form of agreement with the EU which retains a substantial share of the rights that membership of the EU grants, he said. Moody s verdict will be grim reading for May and her finance minister Philip Hammond, who is under pressure to spend more in his budget plan, due in November. After seven years of austerity, a recent relaxation of a tight public sector pay cap for police and prison workers was likely to be broadened, Moody s said. Furthermore, a deal struck by May with a small political party in Northern Ireland after she lost her parliamentary majority in June s election and the dropping of plans to review costly pension increases would also weigh on the public purse. Overall, Moody s expects spending to be significantly higher than under the government s current budgetary plans, Moody s said. On the tax side, it noted how the government abandoned a controversial plan to raise national insurance contributions for self-employed workers and was reliant on highly uncertain revenue gains from tackling tax avoidance to fund tax cuts . As a result, the budget deficit was likely to remain at around 3-3.5 percent of GDP in the coming years, higher than the government s plans to cut it below 1 percent of GDP by 2021/22. That meant Britain was one of the few big European economies where the public debt ratio was likely to rise, probably peaking at about 93 percent of GDP in 2019, two years later than under the latest government plans. At the same time, budget pressures would rise as Britain s economy slowed due to Brexit, with growth of just 1 percent likely next year, down from 1.8 percent in 2017 and not recovering to its historic trend rate over the coming years. Moody s said it was no longer confident that Britain would secure a replacement free trade agreement with the EU which substantially mitigated the Brexit hit. The sheer workload of Brexit in the coming years meant the government would struggle to fix Britain s weak productivity growth, the Achilles heel of the economy, it said. Britain s government said Moody s move brought it into line with the other major credit ratings agencies, Fitch and Standard & Poor s. Moody s revised up its outlook on the country to stable from negative, meaning a further downgrade is not imminent. | 0fake |
Minnesota Officer Was ‘Reacting to the Presence of a Gun,’ Lawyer Says - The New York Times | ST. ANTHONY, Minn. — A lawyer for the suburban police officer who fatally shot a black man during a traffic stop said on Saturday that the race of the driver, Philando Castile, played no role in how his client responded, and that the officer “was reacting to the presence of a gun” when he opened fire. The comments from the lawyer, Thomas Kelly, provided the fullest accounting yet of Officer Jeronimo Yanez’s version of the shooting Wednesday night, even as many details remain unclear. Officer Yanez, of the St. Anthony police, is on leave while state authorities investigate the shooting, which has prompted protests and raised questions about what role race might have played in the stop. “The shooting had nothing to do with race and everything to do with the presence of that gun,” Mr. Kelly said in an interview, noting that Officer Yanez is Latino. Mr. Castile “was not following the directions of the police officer,” Mr. Kelly said, but he declined to provide further detail. Much of what is known about the shooting comes from a Facebook Live video of the aftermath streamed by Mr. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds. In that video, in which Mr. Castile is seen bleeding profusely in the driver’s seat, Ms. Reynolds tells the officer that her boyfriend had been reaching for his identification when he was shot. She also suggested that he had a permit to legally carry a gun. “Please, officer, don’t tell me that you just did this to him,” Ms. Reynolds said in the video, which quickly gained international attention. “You shot four bullets into him, sir. He was just getting his license and registration, sir. ” In the video, Ms. Reynolds said her boyfriend was stopped for a broken taillight. Mr. Kelly said there was “more than the reason for the equipment violation” to pull Mr. Castile over, but would not specify what those other reasons might have been. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which is investigating the case, has released few details. The bureau has confirmed that the episode started as a traffic stop by Officer Yanez and a colleague near the state fairgrounds in Falcon Heights, a suburb patrolled by the St. Anthony Police Department. Mr. Castile died at a hospital shortly after the shooting. The bureau said a weapon was recovered at the scene. Gov. Mark Dayton, who has met with protesters and black leaders, has expressed sympathy for the Castile family and concerns about the role of race in the shooting, infuriating some in law enforcement. “Would this have happened if those passengers — the driver and the passengers — were white?” Mr. Dayton asked on Thursday. “I don’t think it would’ve. ” Protesters have gathered outside the governor’s residence in St. Paul since shortly after the shooting, and many have framed it as yet another episode of a black man being unjustly gunned down by a police officer. On Friday night, a sizable, racially diverse crowd gathered outside the governor’s mansion, where they had decorated the street with chalk messages like “This needs to end!” and “Justice 4 MN. ” The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has provided no timeline for when its investigation would be finished, though many expect it to take weeks or months. At that point, the case will go to the Ramsey County prosecutor, who can either decide on charges himself or present the evidence to a grand jury. Mr. Kelly said Officer Yanez had cooperated with investigators, providing informal information immediately after the shooting and giving a full statement within about 15 hours. “He’s very distressed about this incident, and he feels badly for the family of Philando Castile,” Mr. Kelly said. “It’s a tragic incident. ” | 0fake |
Obama Administration Smacks Down Enlistment Bonus Repayments After Republican Congress Does Nothing |
For those of us too ensnared in the Trumpster fire to pay attention to anything substantive, a majorly screwed up thing was happening to our fighting men and women. The LA Times broke the story that the Department of Defense has been ordering almost 10,000 one-time National Guardsmen from California to pay back enlistment bonuses due to an error over a decade ago. Horror stories began pouring in of soldiers being notified that they MUST pay back the money or face wage garnishments, tax liens and interest charges.
This, of course, prompted the Obama administration to take immediate action while our do-nothing Republican Congress focuses on such important issues as defunding Obamacare.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced today that the Pentagon will suspend efforts to recoup bonuses overpaid to troops more than a decade ago. “There is no more important responsibility for the Department of Defense than keeping faith with our people. That means treating them fairly and equitably, honoring their service and sacrifice, and keeping our word,” Carter added.
Of course, Republicans love to wear the biggest flag pins they can find and feign love for the troops come reelection time, but really put their words into action. This might explain why they did NOTHING to stop this.
It seems the California National Guard told the state’s members of Congress two years ago that the Pentagon was making every effort at taking back its promised re-enlistment bonuses from thousands of soldiers. In fact, the California National Guard went so far as to develop a plan to assuage the problem. However, being the greedy do-nothing leaches that they are, the Republican-led Congress didn’t lift a finger.
Once again, the Obama Administration is forced to step in and help the very people Republicans claim to love so much.
Featured image via Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images Share this Article! | 1real |
Ex-Interpol chief says ready to testify for Argentina's Fernandez | BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina s previous government never asked Interpol to drop arrest warrants against a group of Iranians accused of bombing a Jewish center, the ex-head of the police agency said on Wednesday, as the government proceeded with treason charges against the former president. Former Interpol chief Ronald Noble said in an email on Wednesday that he wants to testify that the government of former President Cristina Fernandez did not ask to have the arrest warrants lifted as part of a memorandum she had with Iran. If a judge allows Noble to testify, the treason case filed this month against Fernandez and 11 other top officials could crumble. She denies wrongdoing and calls the charge politically motivated. The arrest warrants were not affected in their validity by the approval of the memorandum, Noble said in an email to a federal appeals court that was seen by Reuters. The Fernandez administration always expressed its belief that the warrants should remain in effect, the email said. The accusation that the Fernandez government worked behind the scenes to clear the accused bombers of the AMIA Jewish community center in order to improve trade between Argentina and Iran is at the heart of a charge of treason brought against Fernandez. She served as president for eight years before being succeeded by Mauricio Macri in 2015. Others agreed that the treason charge against Fernandez appeared questionable. The indictment by Judge Claudio Bonadio of former President Fernandez, her Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, and 10 others, for treason and concealment points to no evidence that would seem to substantiate those charges, Human Rights Watch said in a statement on Tuesday. The allegations against Fernandez drew international attention in January 2015, when the prosecutor who initially made them, Alberto Nisman, was found shot dead in the bathroom of his Buenos Aires apartment. An Argentine appeals court ordered the re-opening of the investigation a year ago. Nisman s death was classified a suicide, though an official investigating the case has said the shooting appeared to be a homicide. Nisman s body was discovered hours before he was to brief Congress on the 1994 bombing of the AMIA center. Nisman said Fernandez worked behind the scenes to clear Iran of any wrongdoing and normalize relations to clinch a grains-for-oil deal with Tehran that was signed in 2013. The memorandum agreement created a joint commission to investigate the AMIA bombing that critics said was really a means to absolve Iran. | 0fake |
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion — Probably Wrote by the Rothschilds | The Protocols of the Elders of Zion — Probably Wrote by the Rothschilds Lucifer Triumphant, Mankind Enslaved Many people think " The Protocols of the Elders of Zion ... http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/the-protocols-of-elders-of-zion.html Lucifer Triumphant, Mankind Enslaved Many people think " The Protocols of the Elders of Zion " is anti Semitic "hate literature" and a fraud. Nobel Prize winner Alexander Solzhenitsyn wrote that the book exhibits "the mind of genius." This is pretty unusual for a fraud. Solzhenitsyn said it exhibits, "great strength of thought and insight...Its design...(increasing freedom and liberalism, which is terminated in social cataclysm)...is well above the abilities of an ordinary mind...It is more complicated than a nuclear bomb." I'm afraid Protocols may be genuine They are lectures addressed to Jewish Luciferians ( Illuminati , Freemasons ) detailing an incredible plan to overthrow western civilization, subjugate mankind, and concentrate, "all the wealth of the world... in our hands." The book , typical of similar Illuminati documents, was leaked to the Czarist Secret police and published in Russia in 1905. The issue of anti Semitism diverts attention from this plot which has been unfolding for over 200 years and is behind world government, September 11, Iraq, Homeland Security and the bogus "War on Terror." FAIT ACCOMPLI. The plotters control the world's wealth. Their multinational corporations have Freemason symbols for logos. Shell and Citibank have the rising sun; Exxon the double cross, CBS and Time Warner the eye of Horus; Alcan and AOL, the circle in the triangle. The mass media, education and politics all create an illusion of democracy in order to control and defraud humanity. The Great Seal of the United States reflects the unhappy truth. It is also a Freemason symbol and bears the inscription "We have achieved New World Order ." Almost all American Presidents including George W. Bush are Freemasons or Illuminati. Israel's Star of David (interlaced triangles) is the Masonic symbol for the double divinity, Adonai and Lucifer. The issue of anti Semitism is irrelevant because Jewish and non-Jewish Luciferians have intermarried. (See Milan Martin, Lucifer's Children p.74) The elite now consists of humanity-haters of all stripes. No wonder corruption is endemic. As the Greeks say, the fish rots from the head. ROTHSCHILD — Meyer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) played a key role in advancing this monstrous conspiracy. He was a follower of the occult Cabbalism (or Lucifer worship) that is the basis of Illuminism and Freemasonry. (See Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry ) Researchers have speculated that Adam Weishaupt or Asher Ginzberg penned Protocols. I think it may have been Rothschild himself. I came to this conclusion after reading Protocols 20-23 , the "financial program... the crowning and the decisive point of our plans." These lectures require considerable knowledge of banking and finance. Moreover the author states that all power ultimately will reside in the "King of the Jews," which is how Rothschild was known. THE SOURCE OF POWER The author makes clear that whoever creates money is sovereign. He ridicules the goyim kings for forfeiting this power and says he doesn't intend to repeat this mistake. "When we come into our Kingdom," the government will change from being "a payer of tribute by loan operations...into a lender at a profit." "This measure will stop the stagnation of money, parasitic profits, and idleness which were useful for us among the goyim so long as they were independent but are not desirable under our rule." The Protocols is full of Talmudic contempt for non-Jews. "How clear is the undeveloped power of thought of the purely brute brains of the goyim... What could have been simpler than to take the money they wanted from their own people? "... We "will put an end to those abuses to which we owe our mastery over the goyim, but which cannot be allowed in our Kingdom." (I am using the L. Fry edition of The Protocols, entitled Waters Flowing Eastward, available from gsgbooks@mindspring.com) COMMUNISM, SOCIALISM, LIBERALISM, FEMINISM Similarly the bankers have financed intellectuals and politicians to promote a mania for, "senseless utopian principles" like "collectivism," "freedom of conscience, equality and the like." They are designed to bring down the Old Order but will have no place in the New. "We have set them on the hobbyhorse of an idea about the absorption of individuality by ... collectivism... "They have never yet and they never will reflect that this hobbyhorse is a manifest violation of the most important law of nature, which has established from the very creation of the world one unit unlike another and precisely for the purpose of instituting individuality..." "The purely brute mind of the goyim is incapable of analysis and observation...Their eyes are open but see nothing before them..." "Everything in this world is in a state of submission... to what is stronger. And so shall we be this something stronger for the sake of good." THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION Estonian journalist Juri Lina has examined the recently opened Soviet archives and documented the connection between the Bolshevik Revolution and Jewish Illuminism in his book " Under the Sign of the Scorpion ." (1994) I will probably devote a separate column to this book. Suffice to say here that Communism was the outcome of the plan outlined in Protocols. No wonder this book was banned in the USSR on pain of death! Its informal ban in America is a measure of our condition. Karl Marx, Lenin and Trotsky, were all Jewish Freemasons, dysfunctional losers who were employed by the Illuminist bankers to hoodwink the masses. Lenin for example had been an unsuccessful lawyer who had only six cases in which he defended shoplifters. He lost all six cases. A week later he gave up the law to become a highly paid revolutionary. Lenin declared: "Peace means quite simply the domination of Communism over the entire world." His reign of terror caused nine million deaths but you never see him compared with Hitler. The secret police, the Cheka, dominated by Jews, published the names of 1.7 million people they murdered in 1918-1919, including 300,000 priests. "A river of blood flowed through Russia," Lina writes. "According to official Soviet Reports, 1,695,904 people were executed from January 1921 to April 1922. Among these victims were bishops, professors, doctors, officers, policemen, lawyers, civil servants, writers... Their crime was 'anti social thinking'" CONCLUSION Jews will never understand anti Semitism until they realize it is not always based on irrational prejudice. In 1920, Winston Churchill made a distinction between national and "International Jews." He said the latter have been behind, "a worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization and the reconstitution of society on the basis of arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality... "It played ... a part in the tragedy of the French Revolution. It has been the mainspring of every subversive movement during the Nineteenth Century; and now at last this band... have gripped the Russian people by the hair and have become practically the undisputed masters of that enormous empire." ( Ref. ) Our culture, not The Protocols , is a fraud. Communist Jews set an example for the Nazis . Luciferians like Rothschild, Lenin and Hitler still control the planet and are determined to enslave humanity. I'm afraid that this will become increasingly evident. I pray I am wrong. By Henry Makow Ph.D. Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.
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At least one killed by Hurricane Irma on Dutch side of Saint Martin | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - At least one person was killed and several others injured by Hurricane Irma on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, the Dutch government said on Thursday. French officials earlier said there had been eight fatalities on the French side. | 0fake |
Shopping Becomes a Political Act in the Trump Era - The New York Times | A couple of weeks ago, people boycotted Nordstrom for one reason: The department store sold Ivanka Trump products. Now people are boycotting Nordstrom for another reason: The store said it would not sell her products. These days, a shirt is not always just a shirt, and a store is not always just a store. Handbags, dresses and other ordinary items — and where they are bought — have become politicized, turning shopping decisions into acts of protest for the millions of people in and Trump camps. Under Armour, L. L. Bean, T. J. Maxx and many other companies have already been pulled into a sort of ideological tug of war. But perhaps no retailer has been in the hot seat like Nordstrom. The “boycott Nordstrom” movement instantly changed political direction after the department store scrubbed Ms. Trump’s name from its site last week. Thousands of people lashed out at the retailer online. Even President Trump himself posted on Twitter that his daughter had been treated “unfairly. ” The sharp reaction before and after Nordstrom’s decision — made quietly, with no announcement — highlights the tightrope companies must walk in this environment. “Companies are nervous,” said Andrew Gilman, chief executive of the crisis communications firm CommCore Consulting Group. “I know several companies that have war rooms set up. ” “They have playbooks on what to do if there is a product recall or if the C. E. O. has a heart attack,” he added. “Now they have a different chapter on how to deal with a tweet from the president. ” Many retailers and brands would clearly prefer to fly below the political radar and stay away from the outrage on Twitter and Facebook. Calls or emails sent to a of the country’s largest department stores about how they are handling Ms. Trump’s products, for example, resulted in either no comment or carefully neutral statements. None of the stores agreed to discuss how they made decisions around Ms. Trump’s merchandise or details about sales of the products. But many of these companies — like L. L. Bean and Macy’s — still find themselves in the eye of a social media storm. So, too, does the Ivanka Trump brand. “In recent days, we’ve seen our brand swept into the political fray, becoming collateral damage in others’ efforts to advance agendas unrelated to what we do, which is produce accessible, products for our loyal customers,” the brand said in a statement. The maker Under Armour also encountered the perils this week, when its chief executive, Kevin Plank, called Mr. Trump a “real asset” for the country. Within hours, the hashtag #boycottunderarmour emerged on social media. Under Armour moved quickly to contain the damage, clarifying Mr. Plank’s remarks by saying he supported Mr. Trump’s business policies, not his social viewpoints. It is unclear how much the boycotts and activism are shaping businesses’ financial results, especially at big department stores, which are battling weak sales across the board. The Ivanka Trump brand said it had experienced “ growth” in revenue last year, and planned to continue expanding its offerings and distribution in 2017. Consumer companies, more broadly, have long faced campaigns against their products for political, social or environmental reasons. There have been boycotts over the use of sweatshop labor, dangerous chemicals and even microbeads. But now, companies are dealing with even more intense pressure, as they have become targets in a politically charged environment fueled by social media. After Nordstrom pulled Ms. Trump’s products, many people opposed to Mr. Trump cheered the decision. But Josh Cornett, a Trump supporter in Cleveland, was quick to tell his 25, 000 followers not to shop at the department store. “All you have to do is write out a sentence, and you’re done,” he said. “Anything that helps him, I try to promote,” he said, referring to Mr. Trump. “And anyone who attacks him, I try to defend. ” Nordstrom said that Ms. Trump’s products were simply not selling well, and that remaining inventory would still be available in some physical stores. But that has not stopped people like Mr. Cornett from viewing the decision through a political lens, and asserting that the company took a stand. “Companies are now being swept up into this political consumer activism in a way that they have not been in the past,” said Maurice Schweitzer, a professor of operations, information and decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Nordstrom is one of more than a dozen other retailers that have found themselves in the cross hairs of Grab Your Wallet, an online campaign to boycott companies associated with the Trump brand. The movement has also protested brands that donated to Mr. Trump’s campaign or advertised on “The New Celebrity Apprentice,” on which he is credited as an executive producer. Some major companies, including Macy’s, the country’s largest department store, still sell Ms. Trump’s shoes, handbags and clothes. Those companies remain on Grab Your Wallet’s list. Macy’s did not respond to multiple requests for comment. But many companies that are on the list argue they have not picked a side and should not be there. For instance, in the days before his inauguration, Mr. Trump tweeted his thanks for the support of an L. L. Bean heir and encouraged consumers to buy products from the merchandiser. Soon, the company, based in Maine, was the focus of the Grab Your Wallet campaign. In a statement also posted on social media and elsewhere, L. L. Bean urged the campaign to reverse its position, explaining that the Trump supporter, Linda Bean, was one of more than 50 family members involved in the business. It added that L. L. Bean did not endorse political candidates or take positions on political matters. “Simply put,” the statement read, “we stay out of politics. ” Still, other business leaders appear eager to dash into the political fray. After Mr. Trump signed an executive order in late January that suspended the country’s refugee program and barred individuals from certain countries from entering the United States, Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, announced plans to hire 10, 000 refugees over the next five years. Like with Nordstrom, the response was largely split down the political divide. “There’s a real difference in styles emerging here. L. L. Bean wants to stay low, saying, ‘We’re not political. We don’t want to pick sides,’” said Professor Schweitzer, of the Wharton School. “But Howard Schultz is positioning Starbucks as a more place,” Professor Schweitzer continued. “He’s aligning the company with the employees and most of the customers in taking that stance. ” | 0fake |
Voting Machine Caught Swapping Republican Ballot For Democrat | Posted on October 27, 2016 by Baxter Dmitry in News , US // 0 Comments
A voting machine has been caught on camera casting a ballot for a Democrat after the voter selected a Republican.
Donald Trump thinks Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are going to steal the next election. “ I’m afraid the election is going to be rigged, I have to be honest ,” he told a campaign rally last week.
The mainstream media are trying to portray him as mad, but take a look at this evidence:
This is attempted election theft through manipulation of the computerized voting machines – and it must be stopped. The party in power in a given state controls the programming of the voting machines.
When the establishment asked Trump if he would accept the outcome of the election a whole three weeks before the event, it was like asking a sports coach if he thinks the game was refereed fairly before the game is played.
And the Democrats are now attempting to cover all bases. They are sueing the RNC over Trump’s election rigging claims, and also suggesting if any evidence of voter fraud does emerge, then it is probably Russia’s fault .
Do not believe that voter fraud does not exist. It’s real, the numbers are huge, and it’s undermining true democracy in the United States. We must fight to eradicate it.
If you notice any sign if possible voter fraud or election rigging, call the Trump Ballot Security Project toll free on 1-855-245-4634 or email StopTheSteal@gmail.com. | 1real |
DETROIT SCHOOLS CHIEF Wants To Shut Down Charter Schools Ranked “Best In The State” To Focus On Public Schools Ranked “Worst Urban School District In Country” | Liberal logic 101 The new superintendent for Detroit s public schools said he will recommend the school district no longer authorize charter schools and focus instead on improving its conventional schools, according to the Detroit Free Press. We have to get it right with traditional public schools and our focus, our energy, our resources need to be on that, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti told the Free Press.Hechinger Report Since 1994, there has been an extreme decline in Detroit Public Schools enrollment: 73 percent. This has had a huge impact on the financial stability of the district and the performance of its remaining schools. However, the expansion of charter schools is just one reason for the decline in enrollment. During that same time, the overall population in the city declined by 33 percent. In addition, the district lost a considerable number of students to inter-district choice programs with neighboring school districts, which enroll more students statewide than charter schools.ForTheRecord says: Two charter schools authorized by Detroit s public schools were rated as the best in the state, according to a report card published by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. The report card examined Michigan s middle and elementary schools and adjusted their rankings to reflect the impact of students economic background.Detroit s Martin Luther King Jr. Education Center Academy was the top rated elementary and middle school in the state. Ross/Hill Academy was the second-best.Ironically, Detroit s public schools have been rated as the worst large urban school district in the country. In 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015, the National Assessment of Education Progress did assessments and Detroit was rated as the worst in each time.Washington Examiner According to a highly regarded study, in just one year Michigan charter school students earn an additional two months of learning gains over their traditional public school counterparts. For Detroit, charter students get an additional three months of learning in math and reading when compared to their traditional school peers.Most Michigan charter schools are authorized by state universities, and most conventional public school districts do not authorize any charters. Detroit is an exception, having authorized 14 charters. Michigan Capitol Confidential | 1real |
Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. to meet with House panel Dec. 6: CNN | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., will meet with the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee next week, CNN reported on Wednesday, citing multiple sources with knowledge of the agreement. Representatives for Representative Mike Conaway, the Republican leading the panel’s investigation of alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election and possible collusion by Trump’s campaign, and Representative Adam Schiff, the panel’s top Democrat, said they could not comment on whether Trump’s eldest son was going to appear before the committee. Schiff told reporters that he could not comment on when or if Donald Trump Jr. might appear, but described him as a key witness. The younger Trump played a central role in his father’s campaign. “Obviously, when Donald Trump Jr. comes before the committee there are innumerable areas that we’re going to be interested in. It’s hard to find a more central figure in this,” Schiff told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. Schiff also said he thought it would “very likely” be necessary to bring the president’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, to testify again before the intelligence panel. The panel questioned Kushner behind closed doors in July. A lawyer for Donald Trump Jr., Alan Futerfas, did not respond to a request for comment. CNN said the meeting with lawmakers would be held next Wednesday. The House intelligence panel is one of the three main congressional committees, as well as Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller, investigating the issue. In September, the younger Trump spoke privately with Senate Judiciary Committee staff. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Senator Richard Burr, has said his panel planned to interview Donald Trump Jr. in December. Trump’s son, who has denied any wrongdoing, met with a Russian lawyer at Trump Tower in New York in June 2016. Earlier this month, he released exchanges he had with the Twitter account of WikiLeaks, which released emails stolen from Democrats, during the campaign. The House Intelligence Committee will hear on Thursday from Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose contacts with Russians during the campaign have also come under scrutiny, as well as from Erik Prince, who founded the private military contractor Blackwater and was a supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign. | 0fake |
ANONYMOUS VIDEO Of Bill Clinton Raping 13 Yr Old Could End It All For Crooked Hillary | Anonymous is a loosely associated international network of activists and hacktivists. They have made a video threatening they are are about to plunge the election into chaos for sexual abuse enabler Crooked Hillary, as they claim to have a sex tape showing Bill Clinton raping a 13 year old girl and will be releasing it. The alleged rape was filmed on billionaire buddy and convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein s Pedophile Island. Anonymous claims Hillary knew about this and has been hiding it. | 1real |
FLASHBACK 2015: ANTI-GUN OBSESSED White House Gives Tips On How To Talk About “Gun Control” At Thanksgiving [VIDEO] | Nothing says Thanksgiving or family like a room full of brain washed liberals sitting around the dinner table talking about ways to strip Americans of their Constitutional rights This Thanksgiving, the Obama administration wants Americans to talk about why Congress won t pass more gun control but not about Obama s foreign policy failures.During the White House press briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest continued to press a narrative set up by gun control activists in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris. As people sitting around the Thanksgiving table talking about these issues as they should and I m sure they will all across the country, I hope that s a question that will be raised and asked by members around the table, Earnest said, referring to a bill supported by Democrat to ban people on the no-fly list from purchasing a gun.Earnest attributed opposition to the bill from Republicans and some Democrats to fear of the National Rifle Association.But as Breitbart News gun reporter AWR Hawkins has noted, the campaign is misguided as the no-fly list is imprecise. A law based on that list could would block innocent individuals from exercising their Second Amendment right to purchase firearms.Via: Breitbart NewsAnd for those who choose to take the pro-American side of the Second Amendment argument, here s a little video you might want to share with your guests: | 1real |
Uncorked: senior Republican senator's ire at Trump bubbles over | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bob Corker eviscerated President Donald Trump repeatedly on national television on Tuesday, calling him a liar who has debased the country in an extraordinary diatribe against a sitting president by a fellow Republican. Corker, the only Senate Republican not seeking re-election next year, accused the president of telling falsehoods that could easily be proven wrong and of willfully damaging the country’s standing in the world, exposing deepening divisions in the Republican Party under Trump’s White House. “The president has great difficulty with the truth on many issues,” Corker told CNN in the first of a series of interviews at the Capitol hours before Trump was due to meet with senators to seek consensus on proposed tax cuts. “Unfortunately world leaders are very aware that much of what he says is untrue,” said Corker, in the sharpest of his bitter public exchanges with the president in recent weeks. “Certainly people here are, because these things are provably untrue. They’re just factually incorrect and people know the difference.” Speaking later to reporters, Corker called Trump a bully. Trump hit back on Twitter after Corker’s television interviews, calling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman “incompetent” and reprising one of his trademark derisive nicknames. “He doesn’t have a clue as the entire World WAS laughing and taking advantage of us. People like liddle’ Bob Corker have set the U.S. way back,” Trump tweeted. Although he is a foreign policy specialist, Corker is also a key player in the tax debate. His support could be crucial as Republicans seek passage of the White House-backed tax plan in the closely divided Senate. [nL2N1MZ0SH] The senator from Tennessee, whose recent announcement he would not seek re-election in November 2018 has freed him from the need to stick to a voter-friendly script, pulled no punches in his onslaught against Trump. He acknowledged that tensions between the two men, once allies, have been building for months. The Trump-Corker clash is the latest to erupt in what has been a sometimes fraught relationship between the president and the politicians who should be his partners in Congress. Trump pilloried Senate Republicans - as a group and by name - after their failure this summer to repeal and replace the 2010 healthcare law known as Obamacare, one of his top presidential campaign promises. While Corker’s comments were the strongest yet from a fellow Republican, Trump has also provoked the ire of another respected senior Republican, John McCain, whose war record he mocked. McCain’s barbs prompted Trump last week to tell the 80-year-old senator, who has brain cancer, to be careful because “I fight back.” The latest exchange began early Tuesday morning when Corker advised the White House not to interfere in lawmakers’ tax deliberations and called Trump’s lunch a “photo op.” Later, Trump took to Twitter to belittle Corker, a national security adviser on his presidential campaign, with an early morning tweet in which he anticipated opposition for his administration’s tax plan. “Bob Corker, who ... couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts,” Trump wrote. That prompted a retort on Twitter from Corker, “Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president.” With the tax plan, Trump is hoping to notch up his first major legislative win - something that has so far eluded him even though Republicans both chambers of Congress. Tensions with Corker erupted this month when Trump said Corker “begged” for his endorsement as he weighed running for re-election and Corker responded by calling Trump’s White House an “adult day care center.” Trump has also blamed Corker for the Iran nuclear deal forged under Democratic President Barack Obama. Every Republican, including Corker, voted against the 2015 accord. In his CNN interview, Corker assailed Trump for telling falsehoods that are easily disproven and questioned why he persisted in doing so. “I don’t know why he lowers himself to such a low, low standard and debases our country in that way but he does but he does.” “He is purposely breaking down relationships we have around the world that had been useful to our nation. ... I think the debasement of our nation is what he’ll be remembered most for.” Corker, who was an early backer of Trump’s White House campaign at a time when many senior Republicans were expressing doubts, said he would not support him again. “I was one of those - that hoped he would rise to the occasion as president and aspire to lead our nation instead of divide it,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “He has not risen to the occasion.” | 0fake |
McCain Responds With Zero F*cks To Give Over Trump’s Threat | Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) went full-Maverick during an emotional speech Monday night after receiving the National Constitution Center s Liberty Medal. McCain appeared to target Donald Trump and his nationalist base. To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain the last best hope of earth for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history, McCain said in the speech.The Arizona senator continued to say that we live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil. That was just too much for the former reality show star to take.Trump warned the Arizona Republican, who has brain cancer, and served in the Navy for more than two decades and spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, that at some point he would fight back and added that it won t be pretty. Trump, asked about McCain on @ChrisPlanteShow: "I'm being very, very nice. But at some point I fight back, and it won't be pretty." Steven Portnoy (@stevenportnoy) October 17, 2017President Bone Spurs has been the recipient of multiple deferments and never served in the military, by the way.McCain responded to Trump s warning, saying, I ve faced far greater challenges than this, according to a CNN reporter.In response to Trump's threat, McCain had this blunt response: "I ve faced far greater challenges than this" https://t.co/nFo24e0dDe Dan Merica (@danmericaCNN) October 17, 2017In 2015, Trump attacked McCain for being a prisoner of war. He s not a war hero, Trump said at the time. He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren t captured. McCain was repeatedly tortured while being held in a notorious North Vietnamese prison for about five and a half years. Two of those years were spent in solitary confinement. We re pretty sure Sen. McCain isn t breaking a sweat over the 71-year-old baby s threats.We don t have to always agree with McCain s politics to admire him.Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images. | 1real |
Trump’s GOP Mega Donors Are Demanding A Full Refund | Now that Donald Trump has shot himself in the foot by picking a fight with the entire Republican Party (after leaked revelations showed him gleefully admitting to sexually assaulting women), the party s mega-donors are demanding Trump give them their money back.According to NBC News, two big-moneyed donors want a refund, and one who raised tens-of-thousands for the candidate wrote the campaign an angry email titled Trump support withdrawal and blasted the candidate:I cannot express my disappointment enough regarding the recent events surrounding Mr. Trump. I regret coming to the Trump support event, and in particular allowing my son to be a part of it. I respectfully request that my money be refunded.The donor, who was not identified by NBC, said he was repulsed by Trump s comments and that as a father to two daughters preparing to marry, just couldn t support him any longer.The second donor who emailed the campaign (also anonymous) cited the leaked tapes as reasoning behind their buyers remorse, and also demanded they be reimbursed:I can not (sic) support a sexist man. I have three young children and will not support a crude sexist man. I expect a refund of my donation. Please process immediately and I thank you for your help.A third donor, a mega-bundler who s raised also $1 million for Trump, said that he will cease raising money for Trump cold turkey, but has not (as of yet) asked for the money back.While already struggling to attract the support of the Republican donors, the latest example of buyer s remorse from a slew of mega-fundraisers could spell trouble for the Trump campaign with 3 weeks left in the campaign.Who can blame them? After 16 months of convincing weary Republican donors that he was their guy, his ugly fa ade was peeled back to expose an even more nefarious side that liberals tried to warn them about. The donors were duped, humiliated, and have now had their reputations sullied. No wonder they want their money back.I would feel bad for them except they knew, all along, he was a snake.Featured image via Ethan Miller/Getty Images | 1real |
THE VIDEO LIBERALS Don’t Want You To See: LIL WAYNE Tells How A White Cop Saved His Life…”I Don’t Know What Racism Is” | Lil Wayne, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, was being interviewed on Fox Sports 1 s show Undisputed in September when he said he had never dealt with racism .Here is the FOX Sports interview. Watch Lil Wayne say the media doesn t want to ask him about racism that he s faced, because he s blessed and that never faced racism in his life :Carter cited as evidence the fact that his concerts were attended by a lot of white fans. I thought that was clearly a message that were was no such thing as racism, he told host Skip Bayless.The New Orleans-born rapper came under fire on social media for his comments, but explained they had to do with the man who saved his life.Carter was just 12 years old when he accidentally shot himself in the chest.He was lying on the floor when police broke down his door, stepping over his body as they searched for guns and drugs.The cops who ran into the home were blacker than me , Carter said, but the one cop who stopped to check on him was white as snow .Carter said the man, who was known as Uncle Bob , chastised his fellow officers for leaving him. He then personally took Carter to the hospital. (He) stood there and waited until the doctor said He s gonna make it , Carter said.Watch Lil Wayne tell the story of how a cop as white as snow saved his life: Yeah, he was a cop, and my life was saved by a white man. I don t know what racism is, he added.Still Carter acknowledged that despite what he told Bayless on Undisputed, there is such thing as racism.However, he reiterated that when he looks out from the stage, he sees all colors. It s the world out there. It s not a certain part or a certain kind or a certain culture or whatever of people, it s people those people out there in that crowd, Carter said. I m blessed to have that opportunity, so with that said I can only be honest with such a thing, I have never witnessed racism. Daily MailLil Wayne allowed Nightline to interview him last year. Nightline hosts were clearly disappointed when they didn t get the answers they had hoped for from him. When Nightline host Lindsey Davis attempted to label him as a misogynist, and a sexist, he made it clear her labels were of no consequence to him. When she asked him about his relationship with weed, Lil Wayne surprised her by saying that in his life, God came first, then family, his kids, then music and last of all weed. The interview ended when Lil Wayne got angry as Davis seemed offended that he was unwilling to buy into the Black Lives Matter movement being pushed by Barack Obama: | 1real |
OPEN BORDERS BERNIE Threatens Sheriff Arpaio For Arresting Illegal Aliens: “Watch out Joe” | Just what America needs another President who makes up laws to fit his radical agenda, with no regard for the actual laws the rest of America must abide by Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ripped into Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio at a rally in northern Arizona on Thursday, after facing criticism from the Clinton campaign for an encounter Sanders wife had with the immigration-hardliner sheriff.The U.S. senator from Vermont said Arpaio s arrests of undocumented immigrants, often separating families, were outrageous and unconscionable. It s easy for bullies like Sheriff Arpaio to pick on people who have no power, Sanders said. If I am elected president the president of the United States does have power. So watch out, Joe. Via: USA Today | 1real |
LOL! $45 MILLION DOLLAR WHOOPI Complains Conservatives Prevented Her From Making A Living [VIDEO] | She s pulling down a cool $2 Million a year as the race-baiting host of ABC s flailing The View talk show.Watch Goldberg take a line from Hillary s dead broke book during this segment: | 1real |
Malaysia in talks with U.S. firm Ocean Infinity to resume MH370 search | KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia is negotiating with U.S.-based seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity to resume the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. MH370 vanished three years ago somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people aboard. Its disappearance has become one of the world s greatest aviation mysteries. Malaysia, Australia and China ended a A$200 million ($157 million) deep-sea search for the plane in January without any trace being found. But Malaysia said this week it had received proposals from Ocean Infinity, Dutch firm Fugro and an unidentified Malaysian company offering to continue the search. Yes, we are negotiating with Ocean Infinity but the agreement has not been finalised, Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi told Reuters. Ocean Infinity are not yet able to confirm the award of a contract to help in the search for MH370, but good progress has been made, a spokesman for Ocean Infinity said in a statement. | 0fake |
Vice President Biden to go to Mexico City Feb. 24-25 for talks: White House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will travel to Mexico City on February 24-25 to lead a delegation for the U.S.-Mexico High Level Economic Dialogue, the White House said on Friday. | 0fake |
Conservative CNN Guest Commentator Mocks Liberal on Twitter…CNN Twists What He Said to Make it Look Like He’s Pro-Nazi…Severs Ties With Him | Mocking a liberal snowflake is never a good idea..CNN severed ties with Jeffrey Lord on Thursday, hours after he ignited controversy by tweeting the words Sieg Heil! at a prominent liberal activist.A CNN spokesman said: Nazi salutes are indefensible. Jeffrey Lord is no longer with the network. The problem is that Lord was responding to the Stazi tactics of the speech police known as Media Matters. Lord said his tweet was misunderstood. He said he was mocking fascists, not acting like one. I love CNN, but I feel they are caving to bullies here, he said in a telephone interview shortly after the network s decision was announced.Lord said his contract was set to expire at the end of the year. He said he greatly respected CNN management despite disagreeing with the decision.We re guessing the liberal is unable to tell the difference between a mocking gesture and a serious one | 1real |
John Mayer Knows He Messed Up. He Wants Another Chance. - The New York Times | LOS ANGELES — John Mayer can explain where he’s been. In fact, once he gets going, he probably won’t stop, given the amount of time he has spent in private processing his recent irrelevance — the “lean years,” as he calls them. A generational guitar talent and reliable hitmaker with seven Grammys, Mr. Mayer is also a master conversationalist prone to verbal solos, noodling in impressionistic bursts about his nature and career, weaving in potential bits and a barrage of mixed metaphors as if he’s writing this story himself. That’s what got him into trouble in the first place. “The elephant in the room is that we’re sort of talking about the dragon of the Rolling Stone interview and the Playboy interview,” Mr. Mayer said a into a monologue about why he left pop music’s and how ready he is, emotionally and musically, to return. Across four hectic days this month, as Mr. Mayer, lucid and optimistic, finished his new album, “The Search for Everything,” and filmed a music video for what he hopes will be his next hit single, he seemed to especially relish reflecting on his 2010 undoing. Recalling the consequences of those infamous magazine articles — in which he used the phrase “sexual napalm,” chronicled his onanism in horrific detail, referred to his male anatomy as David Duke and somehow separately used a racial epithet — Mr. Mayer was vivid and virtuosic in his . “What has to happen for a guy to believe that he’s totally and be that far out of touch?” he said. “My GPS was shattered, just shattered. ” At 32 and obsessed with outsmarting the idea of a “clichéd rock star,” he explained, “I started to invent my own grenade. ” (His big mouth.) He was “a Mack Truck without brakes. ” Tabloid fame was “a hormone” and “extracurricular stuff” anyway, Mr. Mayer said. “I basically realized I’m no good at that, so I’m going to drop that major. ” Also: “What I did was probably semiconsciously just reboot it — control, alt, delete. ” “It was an induced coma. ” His career had “flatlined. ” “It was cat and mouse,” he said, “and the mouse lost. ” Now approaching 40, “I’m old enough to look back on my life and go: ‘That’s probably the photonegative shot in ‘Behind the Music,’” Mr. Mayer said. “Coming up after the break — boom — the downfall. ” In reality, after those turbulent moments he moved to Montana, grew out his hair and made two more albums — “Born and Raised” and “Paradise Valley” — that were less “Your Body Is a Wonderland” and more Laurel Canyon. “It’s rivers and cows,” he said. “There’s no sexuality there. ” The relatively modest sales reflected that. But the exile couldn’t last, not for this restless with the baby face and a penchant for dating some of the most famous women in the world (Jennifer Aniston, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry). In late 2014, as he began writing what would become “The Search for Everything,” out April 14, Mr. Mayer realized: “I’m a young guy. I like girls. I want girls to like me. I want to make music and be thought of as attractive. I was finally ready to that world and grow back into it. ” He thought a lot about George Clooney. “There’s a guy who can make art house films and then just decide that he’s going to be in a blockbuster,” Mr. Mayer said. “I remember thinking to myself, O. K. I’m going to basically come out of retirement from blockbusters. It’s a choice to write pop songs, just like it’s a choice to write blues songs or folk songs. Let’s write the big ones that we are capable of writing. ” And that’s how John Mayer ended up dancing with pandas. In sweats at a Hollywood soundstage, Mr. Mayer was quick to pick up the choreography for the ensemble number that would be the centerpiece for his new video. The song, “Still Feel Like Your Man,” is throwback for him: a wistful but upbeat breakup ditty that, like much of his new music, “moves and throbs and has women in it again,” Mr. Mayer said. It’s also pretty plainly about missing his most recent ex, Ms. Perry, a fact that he acknowledged might get the tabloids chirping again. “Who else would I be thinking about?” he said. “And by the way, it’s a testament to the fact that I have not dated a lot of people in the last five, six years. That was my only relationship. So it’s like, give me this, people. ” For the video, Mr. Mayer wanted to think big, giving the track the best chance to succeed as a single. The syncopation of the guitar riff, he said, reminded him of “ancient Japanese RB” — which he acknowledged “isn’t a thing” — so the video concept followed suit. “I’m not gonna ever roll around in bedsheets again,” Mr. Mayer added. On set the next day, there was a makeshift bamboo forest, a woman in full geisha garb and two people in giant panda suits, making up a bizarre tableau that Mr. Mayer called a “disco dojo. ” Yet for someone so attuned to the risk of offending people again — “I have nightmares about a second occurrence of” the Playboy era, he said — Mr. Mayer seemed sanguine about the possibility of a controversy over cultural appropriation, an issue that has dogged other pop stars. “I think we were as sensitive as we could possibly be,” he said over burgers at the Polo Lounge the day after the video shoot. “It was discussed at every juncture. ” “Part of cultural appropriation is blindness,” he added. “I’m on the right side of the line because it’s an idea for the video that has a very multiethnic casting, and nobody who is white or is playing an Asian person. ” The video’s director, who goes by Mister Whitmore, said he and Mr. Mayer “thought long and hard about how to approach” the “fantasy element” of the concept without offending. “I hope there’s an understanding that we were sensitive to it,” he said. Still, Mr. Mayer acknowledged the current discourse. “Do I think that someone is going to tweet that this is cultural appropriation? Yes,” Mr. Mayer, an internet obsessive, said. “It’s going to be interesting to see. ” (And then there’s the dancing.) The song’s commercial prospects are a separate concern. In Mr. Mayer’s absence from the Top 40, guitars have been further silenced by electronics. Even Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes, Mr. Mayer’s direct descendants, work with pop songwriting teams and cover rap tracks. “I do a thing — I have sensibilities,” said Mr. Mayer, who has often found himself overcompensating for his pristine but often edgeless bluesy pop and coffeehouse soul. “My instincts as a musician are not exactly my instincts as a listener or a member of the world. But I believe that I am successful because I obey them. ” He added: “The only hits I’ll have left in my life — because there are great hit writers, but I will not go into a room with them — are luck songs. My record has one name in the parentheses on every song, and it’s my name. That’s important. ” Writing “The Search for Everything,” which was released in two “waves” before its final iteration to better suit the streaming era, proved spiritually purifying for Mr. Mayer, he said. “This was the only time in my life that I was making something that I could live inside of. I’ve built a home because I needed a place to stay, not because I was into selling homes. ” While it began as a breakup album, with songs like “Moving On and Getting Over” and “Never on the Day You Leave,” it quickly transcended that. “There were times when tears came out of me, and I went, O. K. John, this is not about an relationship. This is something more profound. ” In the last six months or so, completing the record coincided with the flipping of a biological switch — he called it “a chemical care package” — for Mr. Mayer, who recently became an uncle for the first time: He really does want to settle down. “That’s the final frontier, man. ” But as he approaches a milestone birthday, “I wish there was somebody to throw me the 40th,” Mr. Mayer said, leaning into his corniness. “I want the baby with the protective earphones” by the side of the stage. He’s even been living out of a hotel for fear of establishing another bachelor pad. “I want to say, ‘We’ll take it,’” he said, adding, “I’m right on time for my career, and I’m running late for my life. ” It’s a process. Though he’s been in therapy to work on his “attachment style” and recently quit drinking (“I’m actually very thoughtfully entering cannabis life”) Mr. Mayer is wary that his notoriety as a womanizer precedes him. “I’ve inherited a younger man’s reputation,” he said. “You can even break ‘bad boy’ into good bad boy and bad bad boy — I somehow managed to become a bad version of a bad boy. ” Since splitting with Ms. Perry, he’s hardly been out at all, he insisted, though he does fiddle around on an exclusive dating app. “It’s just a lot of chatter,” he said. “We all talk to the same people. There are very few people actually meeting up. ” Another hurdle is that he will be on tour most of the year, headlining arenas in support of the album — he plays Madison Square Garden on April 5 — plus a jaunt with his side gig, Dead Company, where he plays guitar alongside members of the Grateful Dead. (“The feeling of inclusion that I have with this band — they saved my life,” he said.) The itinerant lifestyle, though, is less fraught than whatever lurks in the recesses of Mr. Mayer’s soul, depths he is beyond game to probe and excavate. “In the Blood,” the most fully formed, Tom track from “The Search for Everything,” is a sort of with Mr. Mayer singing big questions with no answers: “It’s not pretty, those words,” Mr. Mayer said in the studio as he worked on final touches. “But the one thing I look forward to the most as I this level of the music world is I really want to experience saying something that I can defend no matter what. “It’s like: ‘John, they’re gonna come after you. They’re going to ask about it,’” he said with a cackle. “I say, ‘Let ‘em. ’” | 0fake |
Melania Trump Hit With SERIOUS Side-Eye After Telling Black Kids To Respect Each Other | If you haven t noticed, no one associated with the Trump administration (including The Donald s mail-order bride) has any respect for people who aren t white fake Christians.Naturally, people thought it was a bit odd when Melania Trump announced she would be visiting schools to tell kids to be nicer to each other you know, since her husband spends the majority of his time treating black people, Latino(s)s, and pretty much everyone conservatives hate en masse, like trash.Donald Trump accuses African-Americans of racism three times more than he does whites and pushes dangerous lies originating with Nazi groups about black crime rates.During her visit to Orchard Lake Middle School in the suburbs of Detroit, Melania told kids to make sure everyone feels included a strange statement considering her husband s attempts to ban Muslims from entering the country, his attacks on African-Americans, and his decision to build a wall to keep Mexicans (whom he calls rapists and drug dealers ) from coming into the United States. It is our responsibility to take the lead in teaching children the values of empathy and communication that are at the core of kindness, mindfulness, integrity, and leadership, she said in a statement regarding the visit.Melania s message would be a positive one coming from anyone else, but kids aren t stupid and they know what sort of people she and her entire family are. When she sat down with some children of color, she earned a is this idiot kidding me look from one and some serious side-eye from two others. One child s face is not visible in the photo, but it seems pretty clear from her body s seemingly involuntary attempt to lean as far from Trump as possible that she wasn t buying Melania s sh*t either..@FLOTUS tells children it's important to treat each other with respect | @MLiveDetroit pic.twitter.com/e6aWTB2d03 Dana Afana (@DanaAfana) October 23, 2017Naturally, Americans have thoughts on how this particular meeting went:They ain't buying pic.twitter.com/w5gMQkMVgo sage (@cagethesage) October 23, 2017The boy in the top right wants to badly read to her some @realDonaldTrump tweets Eric J. Alves (@Eric_Alves87) October 23, 2017"Kids, it is ok for someone like me to steal a speech from @MichelleObama and play dumb and for my husband to walk in on pageant teens." Morgan Ywain (@morganyevans) October 23, 2017Does she not understand these CHILDREN understand her husband and what he says and does They are not 2 year olds Sandra King (@NEMOamerican201) October 23, 2017It is indeed important to treat others with respect. Like Gold Star widows, @FLOTUS pic.twitter.com/GKCfxIDtvz Harry Coffill (@HCoffill) October 23, 2017 pic.twitter.com/Nwh359ncx7 This Is Rochelle (@RR416) October 24, 2017If one thing s for certain it s that these children showed more respect and restraint than any member of the Trump family (aside from Barron, who displayed shock and disgust when one of his father s fans yelled out that Obama should be murdered) is capable of.Remember when we had a FLOTUS kids could respect?can we have @MichelleObama back? pic.twitter.com/PZhxmUuz45 natalie (@nataliie_o) October 24, 2017Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
A “Veteran FBI Spy” Just Confirmed Trump’s Shocking Russian Ties | Comments
Republican Donald Trump has denied Russian business ties throughout his entire campaign for President, even after confirmed videos (below) show him bragging adamantly about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
However, Mother Jones just reported that Trump actually maintains a mutually beneficial, direct relationship with Putin, which is why the FBI has been conducting an inquiry into Trump’s campaign management since August. The entire report proves Trump’s Russian connection and was provided to the FBI in August by a “veteran spy”— and publicly revealed this afternoon . Here’s the conclusion:
“Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years. Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance.” It maintained that Trump “and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals.” It claimed that Russian intelligence had “compromised” Trump during his visits to Moscow and could “blackmail him.” It also reported that Russian intelligence had compiled a dossier on Hillary Clinton based on “bugged conversations she had on various visits to Russia and intercepted phone calls.”
The former intelligence officer says the response from the FBI was “shock and horror.” The FBI, after receiving the first memo, did not immediately request additional material, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates. Yet in August, they say, the FBI asked him for all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources. The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos—some of which referred to members of Trump’s inner circle. After that point, he continued to share information with the FBI. “It’s quite clear there was or is a pretty substantial inquiry going on,” he says.
“This is something of huge significance, way above party politics,” the former intelligence officer comments. “I think [Trump’s] own party should be aware of this stuff as well.”
The above bombshell has been confirmed by the federal government. The western spy revealed that the Kremlin began working with Trump up to five years ago.
Ultimately, this western spy went to the FBI due to the seriousness of the information that he had uncovered.
A senior US government official not involved in this case but familiar with the former spy tells Mother Jones that he has been a credible source with a proven record of providing reliable, sensitive, and important information to the US government.
A former senior intelligence officer for a Western country who specialized in Russian counterintelligence tells Mother Jones that in recent months he provided the bureau with memos, based on his recent interactions with Russian sources, contending the Russian government has for years tried to co-opt and assist Trump—and that the FBI requested more information from him.
In June, the former Western intelligence officer—who spent almost two decades on Russian intelligence matters and who now works with a US firm that gathers information on Russia for corporate clients—was assigned the task of researching Trump’s dealings in Russia and elsewhere, according to the former spy and his associates in this American firm. This was for an opposition research project originally financed by a Republican client critical of the celebrity mogul. (Before the former spy was retained, the project’s financing switched to a client allied with Democrats.) “It started off as a fairly general inquiry,” says the former spook, who asks not to be identified. But when he dug into Trump, he notes, he came across troubling information indicating connections between Trump and the Russian government. According to his sources, he says, “there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit.”
This was, the former spy remarks, “an extraordinary situation.” He regularly consults with US government agencies on Russian matters, and near the start of July on his own initiative—without the permission of the US company that hired him—he sent a report he had written for that firm to a contact at the FBI, according to the former intelligence officer and his American associates, who asked not to be identified. (He declines to identify the FBI contact.) The former spy says he concluded that the information he had collected on Trump was “sufficiently serious” to share with the FBI.
This newest Mother Jones report is chilling news, implicating the Trump campaign in the kind of high level dirty politics that the Republican’s political hero Richard Nixon would’ve found awfully familiar –only with a bizarre Russian twist. Nixon resigned in disgrace after an investigation found evidence that he’d ordered a break-in to the Democratic National Committee’s offices at the Watergate Hotel seeking information to swing his election. Trump doesn’t look like he will get that opportunity, but might face just as much public scrutiny in the wake of election day due to his Russian ties.
Donald Trump is the first American politician in history to openly beg Russia for help in an election, let alone in a presidential campaign. The Republican certainly has benefitted from a string of stolen email releases, which has strangely only afflicted Democrats — and not a single Republican.
Watch Trump admit to MSNBC that he has a relationship with Putin – twice: | 1real |
REVEALED: The CIA Ran LSD Sex Houses in San Francisco in 1950s and 60s | Gary Kamiya SF ChronicleOn an elegant dead-end block on the north side of Telegraph Hill is 225 Chestnut St., a swanky modernist building with panoramic bay views. It s about the last place you would have expected to find a clandestine CIA program during the Cold War.Yet from 1955 to 1965, this building was the site of Operation Midnight Climax a top-secret mind-control program in which CIA agents used hookers to lure unsuspecting johns from North Beach bars to what they called the pad, then dosed the men with LSD and observed the X-rated goings-on through a two-way mirror while sitting on a portable toilet swilling martinis.As John Marks notes in his 1977 book, The Search for the Manchurian Candidate : The CIA and Mind Control, the CIA s obsession with mind control had its origins during World War II, when the agency s predecessor, the Office of Strategic Services, set up a truth drug program whose purpose was to discover a substance that would make subjects reveal their secrets.The drug of choice was a concentrated liquid form of marijuana. The first field test in 1943 was administered to a New York mobster by George White, a tough-guy OSS captain who had been an agent in the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. The results were promising White s sidekick said every (subject) but one and he didn t smoke gave us more information than we had before but ultimately inconclusive. Red enemyWhen the CIA was created in 1947, it continued to do mind-control experiments, with the enemy now being communism. Eastern bloc show trials like that of Hungarian Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, who in 1949 confessed to crimes he apparently did not commit, and reports of communist brainwashing during the Korean War led the CIA to fear there was a mind-control gap and that the U.S. was in second place.So the CIA authorized covert mind and behavior control programs. Drugs were given to people deemed expendable, including North Korean POWs, mental patients, prisoners, addicts and prostitutes. Before the programs were shot down, hundreds of scientists would work on them.In 1943, a Swiss chemist named Albert Hofmann developed an unbelievably powerful drug called LSD. When the technical branch of the CIA learned about this drug, the gung-ho head of its chemical division, a young chemist named Sidney Gottlieb, persuaded CIA official Richard Helms that the agency should investigate it as a spy tool. On April 13, 1953, CIA director Allen Dulles approved a program for covert use of biological and chemical materials with an initial budget of $300,000. Its name: MKULTRA.Dangerous gameThe CIA began to fund LSD projects at many institutions, including Columbia University and Mount Sinai Hospital. Informed consent and other moral niceties were dispensed with. One researcher kept seven subjects, junkies enticed by promises of hard drugs, on LSD for 77 straight days. No follow-up on them was ever done.The CIA was playing an extremely dangerous game. In 1953, Gottlieb dosed a CIA colleague, Frank Olson, causing Olson to undergo a mental crisis that ended with him falling to his death from a 10th-floor window. But this horrific incident only put MKULTRA temporarily on hold Continue this story at SF ChronicleREAD MORE CIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire CIA Files | 1real |
JUST IN: Obama Campaign Secretly Paid $972,000 To Fund Creation Of Fake Trump Dossier | Well, well, well As a famous reverend once said, Obama s chickens have come home too roost OR AS MIKE HUCKABEE SAID:.@GovMikeHuckabee: I think it's easier to find Bigfoot and Amelia Earhart than it is to find collusion between the Russians and Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/RA68QqD9kG Fox News (@FoxNews) October 29, 2017Obama for America (OFA), the former president s political organization, has directed nearly a million dollars to the very same law firm that funneled money to Fusion GPS, the firm behind the infamous Steele dossier.Since April of 2016, Obama For America (OFA) has paid over $972,000 to Perkins Coie, records filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show.The Washington Post reported last week that Perkins Coie, an international law firm, was directed by both the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton s campaign to retain Fusion GPS in April of 2016 to dig up dirt on then-candidate Donald Trump. Fusion GPS then hired Christopher Steele, a former British spy, to compile a dossier of allegations that Trump and his campaign actively colluded with the Russian government during the 2016 election. Though many of the claims in the dossier have been directly refuted, none of the dossier s allegations of collusion have been independently verified. Lawyers for Steele admitted in court filings last April that his work was not verified and was never meant to be made public.FEC records as well as federal court records show that Marc Elias, the Perkins Coie lawyer whom the Washington Post reported was responsible for the payments to Fusion GPS on behalf of Clinton s campaign and the DNC, also previously served as a counsel for OFA. In Shamblin v. Obama for America, a 2013 case in federal court in Florida, federal court records list Elias as simultaneously serving as lead attorney for both OFA and the DNC.OFA, which managed Obama s successful re-election campaign in 2012, retooled after that campaign to focus on enacting the president s agenda during his final term in office. The group reorganized again after the 2016 election and planned to use its staff and resources to oppose President Donald Trump. During the entire 2016 campaign cycle, the group spent only $4.5 million, according to FEC records.Federal records show that Hillary Clinton s official campaign organization, Hillary For America, paid just under $5.1 million to Perkins Coie in 2016. The DNC paid nearly $5.4 million to the law firm in 2016.The timing and nature of the payments to Perkins Coie by Obama s official campaign arm raise significant questions about whether OFA was funding Fusion GPS, how much Obama and his team knew about the contents and provenance of the dossier long before its contents were made public, and whether the president or his government lieutenants knowingly used a partisan political document to justify official government actions targeting the president s political opponents named in the dossier. According to the Washington Post, Fusion GPS was first retained by Perkins Coie on behalf of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton s presidential campaign in April of 2016.At the same time that Hillary s campaign, Obama s campaign organization, and the DNC were simultaneously paying Perkins Coie, the spouse of one of Fusion GPS s key employees was working directly for Obama in the West Wing. Shailagh Murray, a former Washington Post reporter-turned-political operative, was serving as a top communications adviser to Obama while the Obama administration was reportedly using information from the dossier to justify secret surveillance of Trump campaign staff. Murray is married to Neil King, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who was hired by Fusion GPS in December of 2016. While at the Wall Street Journal, King worked alongside Fusion GPS s core team, even sharing bylines with Glenn Simpson, the Fusion GPS executive who personally hired Steele to probe Trump s alleged Russia connections.As you might suspect, Neil King was a thick as thieves with CNN, the WSJ and the Washington Post. The lines between investigating the truth and fake news were blurred in a big way when King and Catan jumped from the WSJ to Fusion GPS. As the Daily Caller reported:CNN s reporting on the Trump-Russia dossier has left out at least one crucial fact: the close ties between the network and the opposition research firm at the center of the dossier controversy.CNN s reporting on the dossier, led by justice correspondent Evan Perez, has been favorable to the firm, Fusion GPS, and hyped the dossier s credibility. Left out of Perez s reporting, which has relied largely on unnamed sources, is his personal closeness to Fusion GPS operatives. Fusion has repeatedly been described in Senate testimonies as a smear-for-hire operation that manufactures misleading or false media narratives for its clients. Another Fusion founder, Tom Catan, worked as a reporter for the Journal at the same time as Perez and Simpson. The third Fusion co-founder, Peter Fritsch, worked above Perez and Simpson as the senior national security editor.KING (FUSION GPS) ON THE RIGHT -Photo posted on Facebook by Perez (CNN)Simpson and Fritsch left the WSJ in 2011 to launch Fusion. Perez jumped from the paper to CNN in 2013. Another longtime Journal reporter, Neil King, left the paper to join Fusion in December 2016.PEREZ ( LEFT) AND ALL OF FUSION The importance of the fake dossier and how it was shopped around to the press comes into focus when you realize that Obama, Clinton and the DNC had Fusion GPS create this smear campaign on Trump. This also opened the door for the phony Russia collusion investigation whereby the Trump campaign and family members were spied on because of something fake.Read more: The Federalist | 1real |
Meghan McCain Tweets The Most AMAZING Response To Doug Jones’ Win In Deep-Red Alabama | As a Democrat won a Senate seat in deep-red Alabama, social media offered up everyone s opinion because that s what social media does. Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated accused pedophile and serial sexual assaulter Roy Moore in a special election for the Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions when he was appointed Attorney General. And some Republicans aren t exactly heartbroken about this.Take Meghan McCain John McCain s daughter. She went right after one of Trump s biggest supporters Steve Bannon as soon as the election results were announced:Suck it, Bannon Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) December 13, 2017Three simple words. It s amazing what three simple words can say.Steve Bannon spoke at Moore s election night rally, which we assume was supposed to be a night of celebration. Bannon endorsed Moore early on, against Luther Strange, whom Donald Trump himself campaigned for earlier this year. Bannon s support for Moore remained steadfast even in the wake of multiple allegations surfaced against him of sexual assault, harassment and even pedophilia. Bannon even said, There s a special place in hell for those who refuse to support Moore.On Dec. 12, the people of Alabama rejected Roy Moore s penchant for pursuing, even assaulting, teenage girls. They rejected his hate and bigotry. They rejected an asshat who has been removed from Alabama s Supreme Court twice for violating federal court orders, thus demonstrating he has no respect for the rule of law. And they sent a message to the Republican Party that this bullshit will no longer be tolerated. If deep-red Alabama can elect a Democrat, then anyone can. And that should have Republicans scared out of their minds.Well, we re going there, along with Meghan McCain and anyone else who believed Moore shouldn t ever hold public office. Even Republicans have their limits, it seems.Featured image via Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images | 1real |
Donald Trump’s Statement After Losing Wisconsin Is Insane, Even For Him | Donald Trump s entire image is based around the idea that he is a winner, and while that idea isn t supported by the reality of Trump s legacy of failed businesses and ventures, it is still jarring to see his reaction after he loses a battle.Republican voters in Wisconsin chose Ted Cruz over Trump in the primary on Wednesday night, and as he has in the past, Trump lost ugly.His campaign issued a bizarre, unhinged press release to the media after the results had been called in favor of Cruz:Donald J. Trump withstood the onslaught of the establishment yet again. Lyin Ted Cruz had the Governor of Wisconsin, many conservative talk radio show hosts, and the entire party apparatus behind him. Not only was he propelled by the anti-Trump Super PAC s spending countless millions of dollars on false advertising against Mr. Trump, but he was coordinating with his own Super PAC s (which is illegal) who totally control him. Ted Cruz is worse than a puppet he is a Trojan horse, being used by the party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from Mr. Trump. We have total confidence that Mr. Trump will go on to win in New York, where he holds a substantial lead in all the polls, and beyond. Mr. Trump is the only candidate who can secure the delegates needed to win the Republican nomination and ultimately defeat Hillary Clinton, or whomever is the Democratic nominee, in order to Make America Great Again.Completely over the top, factually inaccurate, and failing to make sense: All hallmarks of the Trump campaign so far. It shows why Republican establishment bigwigs are arguing over strategies to take him down at the convention, as polls regularly show him losing in double digits to both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. A poll from Mason Dixon even showed Trump with only a single-digit lead over Clinton in blood red Mississippi.But as this release shows, Trump isn t going to let his campaign be snuffed out quietly. If he loses at all, it s going to be with a loud, primal scream, and the GOP s bigwigs are going to hear all about it.Featured image via Flickr | 1real |
Donald Trump is a unique threat to American democracy
| DONALD J. TRUMP, until now a Republican problem, this week became a challenge the nation must confront and overcome. The real estate tycoon is uniquely unqualified to serve as president, in experience and temperament. He is mounting a campaign of snarl and sneer, not substance. To the extent he has views, they are wrong in their diagnosis of Americas problems and dangerous in their proposed solutions. Mr. Trumps politics of denigration and division could strain the bonds that have held a diverse nation together. His contempt for constitutional norms might reveal the nations two-century-old experiment in checks and balances to be more fragile than we knew.
Any one of these characteristics would be disqualifying; together, they make Mr. Trump a peril. We recognize that this is not the usual moment to make such a statement. In an ordinary election year, we would acknowledge the Republican nominee, move on to the Democratic convention and spend the following months, like other voters, evaluating the candidates performance in debates, on the stump and in position papers. This year we will follow the campaign as always, offering honest views on all the candidates. But we cannot salute the Republican nominee or pretend that we might endorse him this fall. A Trump presidency would be dangerous for the nation and the world.
Why are we so sure? Start with experience. It has been 64 years since a major party nominated anyone for president who did not have electoral experience. That experiment turned out pretty well but Mr. Trump, to put it mildly, is no Dwight David Eisenhower. Leading the Allied campaign to liberate Europe from the Nazis required strategic and political skills of the first order, and Eisenhower though he liked to emphasize his common touch as he faced the intellectual Democrat Adlai Stevenson was shrewd, diligent, humble and thoughtful.
In contrast, there is nothing on Mr. Trumps rsum to suggest he could function successfully in Washington. He was staked in the family business by a well-to-do father and has pursued a career marked by some real estate successes, some failures and repeated episodes of saving his own hide while harming people who trusted him. Given his continuing refusal to release his tax returns, breaking with a long bipartisan tradition, it is only reasonable to assume there are aspects of his record even more discreditable than what we know.
The lack of experience might be overcome if Mr. Trump saw it as a handicap worth overcoming. But he displays no curiosity, reads no books and appears to believe he needs no advice. In fact, what makes Mr. Trump so unusual is his combination of extreme neediness and unbridled arrogance. He is desperate for affirmation but contemptuous of other views. He also is contemptuous of fact. Throughout the campaign, he has unspooled one lie after another that Muslims in New Jersey celebrated after 9/11, that his tax-cut plan would not worsen the deficit, that he opposed the Iraq War before it started and when confronted with contrary evidence, he simply repeats the lie. It is impossible to know whether he convinces himself of his own untruths or knows that he is wrong and does not care. It is also difficult to know which trait would be more frightening in a commander in chief.
Given his ignorance, it is perhaps not surprising that Mr. Trump offers no coherence when it comes to policy. In years past, he supported immigration reform, gun control and legal abortion; as candidate, he became a hard-line opponent of all three. Even in the course of the campaign, he has flip-flopped on issues such as whether Muslims should be banned from entering the United States and whether women who have abortions should be punished . Worse than the flip-flops is the absence of any substance in his agenda. Existing trade deals are stupid, but Mr. Trump does not say how they could be improved. The Islamic State must be destroyed, but the candidate offers no strategy for doing so. Eleven million undocumented immigrants must be deported, but Mr. Trump does not tell us how he would accomplish this legally or practically.
What the candidate does offer is a series of prejudices and gut feelings, most of them erroneous. Allies are taking advantage of the United States. Immigrants are committing crimes and stealing jobs. Muslims hate America. In fact, Japan and South Korea are major contributors to an alliance that has preserved a peace of enormous benefit to Americans. Immigrants commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans and take jobs that no one else will. Muslims are the primary victims of Islamist terrorism, and Muslim Americans, including thousands who have served in the military, are as patriotic as anyone else.
[Fareed Zakaria: America would be Trumps banana republic]
The Trump litany of victimization has resonated with many Americans whose economic prospects have stagnated. They deserve a serious champion, and the challenges of inequality and slow wage growth deserve a serious response. But Mr. Trump has nothing positive to offer, only scapegoats and dark conspiracy theories. He launched his campaign by accusing Mexico of sending rapists across the border, and similar hatefulness has surfaced numerous times in the year since.
In a dangerous world, Mr. Trump speaks blithely of abandoning NATO, encouraging more nations to obtain nuclear weapons and cozying up to dictators who in fact wish the United States nothing but harm. For eight years, Republicans have criticized President Obama for apologizing for America and for weakening alliances. Now they put forward a candidate who mimics the vilest propaganda of authoritarian adversaries about how terrible the United States is and how unfit it is to lecture others. He has made clear that he would drop allies without a second thought. The consequences to global security could be disastrous.
Most alarming is Mr. Trumps contempt for the Constitution and the unwritten democratic norms upon which our system depends. He doesnt know what is in the nations founding document. When asked by a member of Congress about Article I, which enumerates congressional powers, the candidate responded, I am going to abide by the Constitution whether its number 1, number 2, number 12, number 9. The charter has seven articles.
Worse, he doesnt seem to care about its limitations on executive power. He has threatened that those who criticize him will suffer when he is president. He has vowed to torture suspected terrorists and bomb their innocent relatives, no matter the illegality of either act. He has vowed to constrict the independent press. He went after a judge whose rulings angered him, exacerbating his contempt for the independence of the judiciary by insisting that the judge should be disqualified because of his Mexican heritage. Mr. Trump has encouraged and celebrated violence at his rallies. The U.S. democratic system is strong and has proved resilient when it has been tested before. We have faith in it. But to elect Mr. Trump would be to knowingly subject it to threat.
Mr. Trump campaigns by insult and denigration, insinuation and wild accusation: Ted Cruzs father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; Hillary Clinton may be guilty of murder; Mr. Obama is a traitor who wants Muslims to attack. The Republican Party has moved the lunatic fringe onto center stage, with discourse that renders impossible the kind of substantive debate upon which any civil democracy depends.
Most responsible Republican leaders know all this to be true; that is why Mr. Trump had to rely so heavily on testimonials by relatives and employees during this weeks Republican convention. With one exception (Bob Dole), the living Republican presidents and presidential nominees of the past three decades all stayed away. But most current officeholders, even those who declared Mr. Trump to be an unthinkable choice only months ago, have lost the courage to speak out.
The partys failure of judgment leaves the nations future where it belongs, in the hands of voters. Many Americans do not like either candidate this year . We have criticized the presumptive Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, in the past and will do so again when warranted. But we do not believe that she (or the Libertarian and Green party candidates, for that matter) represents a threat to the Constitution. Mr. Trump is a unique and present danger. | 0fake |
Abu Zubaydah, Tortured Guantánamo Detainee, Makes Case for Release - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — Over 14 years in American custody, Abu Zubaydah has come to symbolize, perhaps more than any other prisoner, how fear of terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks changed the United States. He was the first detainee to be waterboarded, and his brutal torture was documented in a Senate report. He is among those held without charges and with no likelihood of a trial. The government long ago admitted that he was never the top leader of Al Qaeda it claimed he was at the time of his capture in 2002, but it insists that he may still be dangerous. In all that time, Mr. Zubaydah, now 45, had never been seen by the outside world. That changed on Tuesday, as his calm face was beamed via video feed from the Guantánamo Bay military prison to a Pentagon conference room. In a hearing, he argued, through a statement read by a uniformed soldier, that he posed no threat and should be released. A profile prepared by the Defense Department, also read aloud, concluded with unsettling ambiguity that he “probably retains an extremist . ” The occasion was Mr. Zubaydah’s first appearance before a Periodic Review Board, convened under the military detention system to determine whether a prisoner would pose a danger if released. Under the convoluted rules that govern inmates at Guantánamo, Mr. Zubaydah did not speak during the open part of the hearing. But in the statement summarizing his views, Mr. Zubaydah declared that he “has no desire or intent to harm the United States or any other country. ” Musing about what appeared to be a prospect, he said he wanted to be reunited with his family and “has some seed money that could be used to start a business. ” A dozen reporters and human rights advocates watched the live video of the unclassified part of the proceeding. No member of the public other than his lawyers had seen Mr. Zubaydah since his March 2002 capture in Pakistan, after a shootout in which he was badly injured. Mr. Zubaydah may have spoken during the classified part of the hearing that followed the open session and was expected to last for several hours. A notice posted afterward said he had decided he did not want the redacted transcript made public. The review panel, comparable to a civilian parole board, is composed of representatives of six security agencies who participated in the hearing from an undisclosed location in the Washington area. It will announce, a month or longer from now, whether it recommends the continued detention of Mr. Zubaydah or his transfer to another country. Of 779 people held at Guantánamo since 2001, 61 remain. The government says about half are, like Mr. Zubaydah so far, impossible to put on trial but too dangerous to release. Dressed in a white tunic and wearing a neatly trimmed beard, Mr. Zubaydah, whose mental stability has been questioned by some American officials, listened attentively, resting his chin on his right hand. He did not react visibly as officials read various statements about him. The eye patch that in earlier photographs covered his left eye, injured at some point after his capture, hung from a strap around his neck. He wore one pair of glasses and switched to another pair to read a document. Mr. Zubaydah, born in Saudi Arabia to a family of Palestinian background, became a sort of travel agent, camp administrator and facilitator for militant fighters in Afghanistan in the early 1990s, after the ragtag force of Islamic soldiers known as the mujahedeen forced the Soviet Army out of the country. But when he was shot and taken into American custody six months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he was the first significant suspect captured in an increasingly desperate global C. I. A. manhunt. At the time, American intelligence officials wrongly concluded that he was a leader of Al Qaeda who might have knowledge of forthcoming plots. Flown to a secret jail set up in a hurry by the C. I. A. in Thailand, Mr. Zubaydah was first questioned by F. B. I. agents using traditional methods. One of the agents, Ali Soufan, who spoke Arabic and was steeped in the history of Al Qaeda, later wrote that Mr. Zubaydah willingly provided valuable information, identifying Khalid Shaikh Mohammed as the main planner of the Sept. 11 attacks and naming Jose Padilla, an American recruited by Al Qaeda. But because they believed Mr. Zubaydah was the No. 3 leader of Al Qaeda, C. I. A. leaders insisted that he must be holding back information. Over the protests of the F. B. I. agents, and advised by two military psychologists who had no experience conducting interrogations, C. I. A. officials decided that only extreme physical force would break him. As soon as approval was received from the Justice Department, Mr. Zubaydah was subjected to waterboarding — 83 times water was poured over a cloth covering his mouth and nose to give him the feeling of drowning, records later showed. Distressed by his suffering, interrogators told C. I. A. supervisors that they thought he had no more information to offer — only to be ordered to continue the rough treatment. The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on the C. I. A. interrogation program later quoted an observer at the scene who described him at one point as “completely unresponsive, with bubbles rising through his open, full mouth. ” At various times, he was subjected to the other enhanced interrogation techniques: confined in a cramped box, kept awake for many days, exposed to cold, shackled in uncomfortable positions and slammed into a wall. In their profile, posted on the web this week, military authorities gave a but still rather vague description of his history. It said he ran a “mujahedeen facilitation network” in the 1990s, “played a key role in Al Qaeda’s communications” and had close contact with the No. 2 in Al Qaeda at the time. He “possibly” had advance knowledge of the attacks on American embassies in East Africa in 1998 and the bombing of the American destroyer Cole in Yemen in 2000, the profile said. He was “generally aware” of planning for the attacks, it said, and “possibly” coordinated training at a camp called Khalden when two of the future hijackers were there. Mr. Zubaydah “most actively plotted attacks against Israel,” the profile also said, was convicted in absentia on charges in Jordan and took an active role in discussing possible further attacks against the United States after . Though he has been cooperative in prison, he might join former colleagues in planning attacks if released, the profile said. But Mr. Zubaydah told his “personal representatives” — the two members of the military assigned to speak with him — that he had no intention of committing terrorist acts. He “repeatedly said that the Islamic State is out of control and has gone too far,” the personal representatives said in their statement. (Officials said detainees have access to live television and radio in multiple languages, in addition to two Arabic newspapers, enabling them to keep up with world events.) One of his lawyers, Joseph Margulies, a professor of law and government at Cornell, who did not attend the hearing, said that in their conversations Mr. Zubaydah “has always been completely honest. He believes in defending Muslims who are under attack. ” But he “has always said innocent civilians are never a legitimate target,” Mr. Margulies said. Despite the government’s shifting accusations, Mr. Margulies said, his client was never a member of Al Qaeda and has never been charged with a crime by American authorities. “He’s the poster child for the torture program, and that’s why they never want him to be heard from again,” Mr. Margulies said. | 0fake |
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