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Man, 20, in Custody After Fatal Shooting of 5 People at Mall Outside Seattle - The New York Times | A man was taken into custody on Saturday night in connection with a shooting that killed five people on Friday at a mall north of Seattle, the authorities said. The authorities, speaking at a news conference on Saturday night, identified the suspect as Arcan Cetin of Oak Harbor, Wash. He was taken into custody without incident around 6:30 p. m. Officials said that they had received numerous tips about the gunman and that surveillance footage had helped locate him. Lt. Michael Hawley of the Island County Sheriff’s Office said he had received a report that Mr. Cetin’s car was less than a mile from his office and when he headed that way, he found Mr. Cetin walking on the sidewalk. Mr. Cetin was carrying a satchel with a computer inside and was in a “zombielike” state when he was taken into custody, the lieutenant said. Charges were pending, said the authorities, who said it was too early to say what led to the shootings. On his Facebook page, Mr. Cetin listed his hometown as Adana, Turkey. Officials said he was a legal permanent resident of the United States. He graduated last year from Oak Harbor High School and listed himself on Facebook as a bagger at the Whidbey Island Commissary. Little of his personality could be gleaned from his sparse social media presence, which included only 56 posts on Twitter. His Facebook page offered a glimpse of his life. A posting by a friend in 2011 described him as “really annoying,” “funny” and “sometimes really nasty. ” Mr. Cetin referred to lifting weights in high school and posted videos of the video game Call of Duty. Another Facebook posting, by a friend in 2012, said of Mr. Cetin: “Truth is: You are a very odd character. You were always going on about being Russian and stuff like that, but under that you really supported America (or so it seemed to me) and I always thought that was really cool. ” Mr. Cetin was active in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, said a former classmate, Uhlaine Finnigan, 19, of Port Angeles, Wash. She called Mr. Cetin “sexist” and said he would touch girls on their buttocks, “either slapping or grabbing them. ” “He did that to girls of all grades at the high school including my best friend and I, regardless of the blatant disgust from the girls and being told to stop,” she said in an interview by Facebook Messenger. She said he appeared to have few friends. The attacker at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Wash. killed four women in the cosmetics section of a Macy’s department store, the authorities said. A man was critically wounded in the shooting and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died. The youngest female victim was a teenager, law enforcement officials said at a news conference on Saturday morning. The gunman, who was armed with a rifle, left the scene before the police arrived. Officials said they recovered the weapon at the scene. They declined to give details about the weapon or to say how many rounds were fired. Photographs of Mr. Cetin on a Myspace account showed him holding a handgun and a rifle. A spokesman for the F. B. I. ’s Seattle field office said on Saturday that there was no evidence to suggest that the shooting was an act of terrorism. At the news conference on Saturday night, Mayor Steve Sexton of Burlington said the shootings happened at a time and in a setting that were ordinary: a Friday night at a mall. Referring to the shootings, he said: “They changed those families forever. It changed our city, I’m afraid to some extent, forever. ” The names of the victims had not yet been released by officials. Security camera footage showed the man entering the mall without a weapon. Footage taken 10 minutes later showed him entering Macy’s with a rifle. At the news conference earlier on Saturday, the authorities described the tense moments after the shooting, as officers searched the roughly mall for the attacker, finding only store employees and shoppers. Police officers entered the mall in teams, unaware during the search, which lasted for hours, that the gunman had fled before their arrival. They searched “every room and every nook and cranny,” said Lt. Chris Cammock, the commander of the multiagency response team conducting the investigation. The F. B. I. said early Saturday that it had “no information to suggest that additional attacks” were planned in Washington State, and that it was coordinating intelligence efforts with the local authorities. More than 200 officers from at least 26 agencies responded to the shooting, the authorities said. One woman, Tari Caswell, told The Skagit Valley Herald that she had been in the Macy’s women’s dressing room when she heard four loud pops, followed by seven or eight more. “I just stayed quiet in the dressing room because it just didn’t feel right,” she said. “And it got very quiet. And then I heard a lady yelling for help, and a man came and got me and another lady, and we ran out of the store. ” Saturday’s shooting was at least the fifth in Washington this year in which three or more people died, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive. | 0fake |
BUSTED? IT’S “HIGHLY LIKELY” THERE’S A BACK-UP TO HILLARY’S SERVER AND E-MAILS STILL EXIST | Why didn t the IT firm come forward before now with the backup of Hillary s server? She s even more busted if the e-mails still exist. It s believed that she won t take the fall for this but that Abedin or Mills will. This entire mess is yet another example of why Clinton is NOT and never will be a good choice to lead America. Platte River Networks, the Denver-based cybersecurity firm Hillary Clinton hired in 2013 to maintain her old email server, says it is highly likely a full backup of the device was made and that the thousands of emails Clinton deleted may still exist, ABC News is reporting.On Wednesday, Platte River gave the FBI the server Clinton used as secretary of state. The Democratic presidential candidate had stated numerous times prior to that that she would not relinquish control of the server to a third party.But the FBI became interested in the hardware after the revelation that the Intelligent Community inspector general had determined that two emails that traversed the server contained top secret information. While Clinton is not believed to have sent the emails in question, the finding undermines her claims at the onset of the email scandal in March that no classified information ever landed on her server. Via: Daily Caller | 1real |
U.S. opens door to a change in blood donation policy for gay men | (Reuters) - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration opened the door on Tuesday to a change in its blood donor deferral recommendations, which currently prohibit donations from gay men for a year following their last sexual encounter in order to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In December the FDA overturned a 30-year ban on all blood donations from men who have sex with men, saying the change was based on science showing an indefinite ban was not necessary to prevent transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus. The FDA is now signaling it may go further. Gay rights advocates say the latest update did not go far enough and that the agency’s recommendations should move closer to individual risk assessments, which could, for example, look at whether an individual has been in a monogamous relationship. Their criticism intensified in the wake of a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in June, which saw many gay men unable to donate blood even as blood banks put out calls for donors. In a notice posted to the Federal Register, the FDA said it was establishing a public docket for comment about its current recommendations and that interested people should submit comments, backed by scientific evidence, supporting alternative potential policies to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. Such suggestions “could include the feasibility of moving from the existing time-based deferrals related to risk behaviors to alternate deferral options, such as the use of individual risk assessments.” The agency said it would take the comments into account “as it continues to reevaluate and update blood donor deferral policies as new scientific information becomes available.” The FDA’s action comes after 115 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Democrat Mike Quigley, vice chair of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus, wrote to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf calling on him to end the current policy, saying it discriminated against men who have sex with men. A similar letter was signed by 22 senators. In a statement on Tuesday, Quigley said he was “encouraged” by the FDA’s announcement. “The tragedy at Pulse nightclub in Orlando highlighted the discrimination gay and bisexual men face when attempting to donate blood to those in need,” he said. “Moving towards an individual risk assessment would provide for a fair, equitable, nondiscriminatory blood donation policy, one based in science that allows all healthy Americans to safely donate blood.” | 0fake |
Iraq says captures positions south of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces have captured several positions south of Kirkuk from Kurdish forces including the North Gas Company station, a nearby processing plant and the industrial district south of the city, an Iraqi military statement said on Monday. Forces are continuing to advance, it said. | 0fake |
Thai authorities close in on Yingluck's escape accomplices | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai authorities are closing in on the people who helped former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra flee the country last month, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said on Friday. Shinawatra, 50, whose government was ousted by the military in 2014, disappeared from Thailand shortly before a Supreme Court verdict in a negligence case against her. The deputy prime minister told the media that Yingluck left Thailand by crossing to neighboring Cambodia by land via the Aranyaprathet border district in Sa Kaeo province, almost 300 km (186 miles) east of the capital Bangkok. He said authorities had seized a vehicle believed to have been used to take Yingluck to the Cambodian border. The vehicle was found near a house in Nakhon Pathom province, north of Bangkok. Police said the owner, based on the car registration, did not match the person who had the car at the time. Three police officers were questioned on Thursday night. Prawit said the three men admitted to helping drive Yingluck to the border, but no charges have yet been filed. All three of them gave us useful information. We are working on the investigation and consolidation of the evidence, deputy national police chief General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said. A police source who does not wish to be named told Reuters that the ongoing investigation has revealed that a former police chief who has closed relationship with the Shinawatra family masterminded Yingluck s escape. Yingluck s whereabouts remain unknown. The Supreme Court has issued an arrest warrant against Yingluck and rescheduled the verdict for her negligence case to Sept. 27. Yingluck faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of negligence over a costly rice subsidy scheme that helped to bring her to power in a 2011 general election. Yingluck has accused the military government of political persecution. She pleaded innocent to the negligence charge. | 0fake |
FACEBOOK’S CEO Threatens Employees To Not Express Views That Oppose His: Stop Replacing “Black” With “All” Lives Matter | This serves as a reminder to anyone who thought Facebook was a place to have honest and open discussions about political or social issues. Tow the liberal line or prepare to be punished So does White Lives Matter imply All Lives Matter? The Black Lives Matter movement has shed light on the racial profiling, police brutality, and racial inequality experienced by the African-American community across America. But apparently some of the employees at Facebook s notoriously white, bro-centric Menlo Park, California office don t agree.In a private memo posted on a company announcement page for employees only, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that employees have been scratching out black lives matter (sic) and writing all lives matter on the company s famous signature wall. The company, whose staff is only 2 percent black, is facing the issue head on. We ve never had rules around what people can write on our walls, said Zuckerberg in the post. We expect everybody to treat each other with respect. The entire message, obtained by Gizmodo, is posted in full below:Via: Gizmodo | 1real |
New Poll Just Confirmed Nobody Cares About Hillary’s Emails Except Trump Fans | Comments
After the reignition of the Hillary Clinton ’email scandal,” the polls indicate that 63% of Americans still don’t give a damn about Hillary Clinton’s emails.
The House Republicans’ final gambit is the worst example of grasping at straws, and only days later yet the American people are signaling that yet another attempt to revive the Clinton email non-scandal has failed, miserably.
Recent reports say 21 million early votes have already been cast in this year’s election, which represents roughly 1/6th of the total cast in the 2012 general election and none of those votes will be impacted by the FBI Director’s memo.
Today, The Guardian reports that voters’ minds are already mostly made up about Clinton’s emails, and recent disclosures are having more impact among Republicans and other groups already not pre-disposed to vote for the Democratic nominee.
“About a third of likely voters say they are less likely to support Clinton given FBI director James Comey’s disclosure,” said pollster Gary Langer . “Given other considerations, 63% say it makes no difference.”
Many loyalists are convinced the latest trove of emails, discovered on equipment shared by Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband Anthony Weiner, are an irrelevance. Even if some show more classified information passed its way through the private server, it should not change the FBI’s earlier decision that a criminal charge would be unfair without evidence of intent or coverup. But so long as this is not categorically established, there may be a nagging doubt in some minds that the FBI suspects otherwise.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders destroyed the issue of Hillary Clinton’s emails early in the Democratic primary campaign, noting that they’re a giant pile of minutiae and that the American people are more concerned about economic fairness, trade policies and the corrosive effect of Citizens United on our politics. Famously, he said:
Let me say something that may not be good politics, but the Secretary is right. People and America are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.
The American people aren’t buying Trump’s lies about the FBI Director’s vague memo – written entirely without actual facts – signifies anything other than a DC game being played by House Republicans. Even CNN’s New Day plainly says at the start of this video plainly that, “Trump is Lying.”
Republicans are in familiar territory after having run a divisive and needlessly incendiary political campaign this year, and stuck focusing on literally any little thing they can find about the Democratic nominee to distract voters from the real issues.
It didn’t work during primary season and it’s not likely to work now.
Watch Bernie Sanders debunk the Republican email spin machine in one minute here: | 1real |
YOU’LL LOVE MIKE ROWE’S Awesome Response To Angry Liberal Claiming American Flag Is A ‘Mere Symbol’ | 1real | |
Mexican Boxer Fighting for Both a Title and His Green Card - Breitbart | Boxer Ray Beltran, a Mexican national, is fighting for more than just an International Boxing Federation World title, he is also battling the U. S. Immigration Service to have his immigration status approved, and his green card issued. [Beltran, who grew up in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, will face Jonathan Maicelo in an IBF world title eliminator at Madison Square Garden in New York City this weekend. “This fight is the key. It is the key to everything,” lightweight boxer Beltran said according to USA Today. The boxer is being literal in several ways. Not only will it give him a shot at gaining a title for his professional boxing career, but a win could also prove to U. S. Immigration Services officials that he is worthy of permanent residency. “(In boxing) the green card process is unique,” Beltran’s manager, Steve Feder, told the media. “You have to prove yourself unique to anyone else, not just in the world but within the sport itself, you have to be a great fighter among great fighters. It is twice as hard. It is not about how long you have been here if you pay your taxes, it is nothing to do with that. ” For Beltran, a winning career would prove him to be of “exceptional ability” and would mean he would be afforded an green card. But, this upcoming fight in New York is an important milestone in both his career and his immigration application process. “It is like a championship belt,” Beltran said in a recent interview. “It is like winning the lottery ticket because I know that being (permanent) here I will have a lot more opportunities. (If) I can be deported at any time, who will provide for my family and take care of them? I want to grow and do something and contribute to this country. ” The boxer entered the U. S. illegally with his mother when he was and now, as he climbs the ranks in the world of boxing, he is also trying to rectify the problem of his legal status. The boxer has had an equally rocky road to boxing stardom as to legal status. After an early career that floundered a bit, he recently began to pick up speed by winning a few bouts he wasn’t expected to win. But, even that didn’t goad some of the higher ranked boxers to take his fights. Now, with his with 20 knockouts record, he is advancing to a spot where other, boxers will be forced to meet him in the ring. So, this weekend’s match with Jonathan Maicelo has deep personal significance for Beltran. It will prove a lot of things. If he wins it will show that he is a sportsman to be reckoned with, it will prove that sticking with his career choice was the right one, and it just might mean he can finally be a legal citizen of the United States of America. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0fake |
PressTV- US air strikes in Afghanistan increase in 2016 | US air strikes in Afghanistan increase in 2016 Sun Oct 30, 2016 6:12PM A US drone aircraft lands at Afghanistan's Jalalabad Airport. © AFP
Amin AlemiPress TV, Kabul
A number of US military officials have declared that America has conducted 700 air raids in Afghanistan in 2016. The figure shows a 4 percent increase in such strikes compared to last year. Afghan officials, however, believe that the country can fight terror groups without support from US forces. Loading ... | 1real |
A Worrisome Pileup of $100 Million Homes - The New York Times | One of the latest symbols of the overinflated luxury housing market is a pink mansion perched above the Mediterranean on the French Riviera. The property, built and owned by the fashion magnate Pierre Cardin, is composed of giant terra cotta orbs arranged in a sprawling hive. The home’s name befits its price. “Le Palais Bulles,” or “the Bubble Palace,” is being offered for sale at approximately $450 million. The listing is part of a global pileup of homes listed for $100 million or more. A record 27 properties with prices are officially for sale, according to Christie’s International Real Estate. That is up from 19 last year and about a dozen in 2014. If you add in “whisper listings” that are offered privately, brokers say the actual number of listings worldwide could easily top 40 or 50. “It’s a bumper crop,” said Dan Conn, chief executive of Christie’s International Real Estate. “It’s just a new world in terms of what people are building and offering for sale. ” The rise in real estate listings comes just as sales of luxury real estate have cooled. Many say the sudden surge in hyperprice homes — often built and sold by speculative investors — is the ultimate bubble signal. “When you have a record number of homes for sale at a price point of $100 million or more, that tells you these homes aren’t selling,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Inc. a real estate appraisal and research firm. “It’s not as deep a market as some might hope. ” Last year, only two homes in the world sold for over $100 million, according to Christie’s. One was a house in Hong Kong purchased for $193 million by Jack Ma, the chief of Alibaba. The other was a townhouse in London that sold for $132 million. This year, a ranch in Texas went on the market for $700 million and a home in Dallas listed for $100 million. Both sold, but the actual sale prices have not been disclosed. The last time a sudden pop in $100 listings occurred was in 2007 and 2008, just before the housing crash. In 2008, at least four homes in the world listed for nine figures. Only one ended up selling for close to that. A mansion in Palm Beach owned by Donald Trump and listed for $100 million sold for $95 million. (Mr. Trump says it sold for $100 million.) A mansion in Surrey, England, called Updown Court, was listed for $138 million, but sold in 2011 for about $50 million. A log mansion planned for the Yellowstone Club in Montana, with a promised price of $155 million, was never built, and the land sold for $10 million. Of course, anyone can slap a $100 million price tag on a home to get attention. Yet actual sales of homes are rare, even in good times. Between 2011 and 2016, only 15 homes in the world have sold for $100 million or more, according to Christies, and five of those were in 2014. “The era of aspirational pricing is over, and I’m not sure it ever really worked,” Mr. Miller said. “These prices get headlines, but the properties just don’t sell. ” Brokers promoting the listings say their properties are masterpieces — like Picassos or Modiglianis — that rarely come on the market. They add that the more than 1, 800 billionaires in the world see property as a safer store of wealth than stocks or art. Mr. Conn estimates that of the 27 listings, a third will sell for under $100 million, a third will sell for around $100 million and a third for far more. “I don’t think it’s a sign of a bubble,” Mr. Conn said. “It’s a sign of growing wealth in the world and the quality of some of the new construction. ” Yet the market for megamansions and penthouses has cooled significantly in the last year. Prices for homes in the top 5 percent of the real estate market fell 1. 1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to Redfin. Prices for the rest of the housing market increased 4. 7 percent. Brokers say the very top of the market — consisting of and homes — is faring the worst as slowing economies overseas and volatile stock markets have spooked buyers. The supply of homes for the rich exploded as builders aimed at the high end after the financial crisis. Of the 10 most expensive listings in the world, seven are in the United States and four of these are in Los Angeles. The most expensive listing in the world is the $500 million compound being built in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles by Nile Niami, a film producer and speculative builder. The property will have a main house, a garage and a “ casino. ” In nearby Holmby Hills, a more modest mansion, built by the investor and developer Gala Asher, came on the market in April for $150 million. The ultramodern house, on the prestigious Carolwood Drive, has a master suite and a club level with bar, dance floor, wine room, lap pool, theater complex, beauty parlor and massage rooms. The property also includes several guesthouses and staff housing. The broker, Ginger Glass, said the price of the property was justified. “Buyers today want new construction,” she said. “And there isn’t anything that’s new like this in such a great location. ” Still more homes are on the way. Real estate agents and developers say a home under construction in Bel Air is likely to have more than 50, 000 square feet of living space, with finishes rivaling a superyacht’s. The price will be too, at around $300 million. Among the home’s amenities: the world’s largest safe. | 0fake |
A Reunion 21 Years in the Making - The New York Times | He survived conscription in Eritrea, conspired to confront his country’s injustices and faked an emergency to elude the authorities when they discovered his plan. He fled across the African country’s border to Ethiopia and made his way to a refugee camp, braving horrific conditions and rationed food and water for a chance to eventually get to the United States. Yet it was in a terminal at Kennedy International Airport in March that Melake Gebreselase was overcome with anxiety. Now living in New York, he arrived there three hours before his wife of 21 years, Sebentu Aynu Kidane, was supposed to exit customs. Then her plane landed but she was nowhere to be found. “You can worry: ‘What happened? Did she not come? ’” Mr. Gebreselase, 38, said. After a delay passing through immigration, however, Ms. Kidane, 41, emerged and they embraced, both free and together at last after years of forced separation, including a period during which they did not speak to each other. Mr. Gebreselase, who is still learning English, said in a recent interview that he could not articulate in his new language the emotions he felt that March day. Ms. Kidane, however, remembered what was on her mind. “When I came here, I told him that I liked very, very much to have baby,” she said. “Now that I’m pregnant, I’m happy. ” In April, the couple will welcome their first child. Various forces prevented them from starting a family for nearly two decades. The couple married in 1995 in Eritrea, where military conscription is mandatory and indefinite. Mr. Gebreselase was pulled into military service a couple of years after he married Ms. Kidane. He hoped he would have to serve for only a year and a half. After eight years, he felt certain he would be stuck there until retirement. The only time he saw his wife, friends and other relatives was during periods of leave that lasted roughly 10 days. “It was not enough to meet with her to have a baby,” Mr. Gebreselase said. On a visit home in 2005, Mr. Gebreselase, indignant about his conscription and about injustices in his country, held a meeting with villagers about a plan to criticize the government. His actions attracted the attention of the authorities, and he was arrested. Fearing the horrors that awaited him in jail, Mr. Gebreselase feigned a bathroom emergency — and made a run for it, reaching the refugee camp in Ethiopia. According to Amnesty International, the mass of young Eritrean people fleeing the country’s national service has contributed to the global refugee crisis. Mr. Gebreselase, separated from his wife, would not speak to her again until 2013 Ms. Kidane said that all she knew about her husband’s fate was that he was alive. In the camp, eight people were assigned to share one small hut. Refugees were given paltry food rations and had to wait hours in line to get water, Mr. Gebreselase said. In 2013, Mr. Gebreselase received legal refugee status and arrived in New York, where he called his wife. He urged Ms. Kidane to go to Ethiopia and then to try to join him in the United States. Mr. Gebreselase moved into an apartment in the Bronx with three roommates and found work at a restaurant. He also enrolled in classes to learn English. “From Monday up through Friday, I was working,” Mr. Gebreselase said. “Saturday, I was at school. ” Mr. Gebreselase sent money to Ms. Kidane, who by then had reached Ethiopia, where she stayed first in a refugee camp and later in an apartment in Addis Ababa, the capital. Mr. Gebreselase said that the more time passed, the more nervous he became about being able to have a child with his wife before she grew too old. Eventually, Ms. Kidane was granted refugee status, and she arrived at Kennedy on March 13. The couple rented a single room for $600 a month in an apartment in the Bronx. They will have to find a new place to live, because the friend they are renting from will soon be having family members move in with him. For now, Mr. Gebreselase works six days a week at a restaurant, where he earns $9. 25 an hour. Ms. Kidane works part time at a hardware store, earning $10 an hour. The couple also receives $39 a month in food stamps. Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times’s Neediest Cases Fund, used $500 from the fund to enable the couple to buy a crib, a stroller and baby clothes. They hope their child will be the first of at least two. Ms. Kidane expects to enroll in nursing school soon. Mr. Gebreselase is considering becoming a cabdriver. He is committed to remaining in New York. “If you don’t work hard, you will not have,” Mr. Gebreselase said. “We’re going to work hard. We need a good life. ” | 0fake |
2 KILLED, 15 WOUNDED IN CHICAGO SHOOTINGS New Years Day, While #BlackLivesMatter Terrorists Take Fight To Evil Cops | Killing each other is okay, it s when a cop kills in the line of duty. That s where the Black Lives Matter protesters draw the line Two men were killed and at least 15 others were wounded in Chicago shootings on New Year s Day.The first shooting of 2016 left one person injured early New Year s Day in the South Chicago neighborhood.The 34-year-old woman was inside a residence at 12:05 a.m. Friday in the 8000 block of South Paxton when a bullet came through the window and grazed her hand, police said. She was taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital in good condition police said. They shot this thing around. It came through my house, it injured my sister. And this is ridiculous, says Bianca Fisher. It doesn t make any sense. Neighbors say it s frightening. I understand it was a minor incident, so I m grateful for that, but we don t want any shootings at all. It s a New Year s custom that should be done away with, a neighbor said.A little over two hours after the first shooting came the first murder. Police say the victim is 24-year-old Deandre Holiday, gang member who had been arguing with another man inside a bar when it spilled out into the street. The other man pulled a gun and shot him in the chest, then fled, police said.The most recent nonfatal shooting left a man critically wounded at 6:40 a.m. in the South Side Back of the Yards neighborhood.A man, thought to be in his 30s, was shot in the chest in the 1900 block of West Garfield, police said. He traveled to 55th Street and Artesian before he was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition. 20 minutes earlier, another man was shot in the same neighborhood, according to police.The 29-year-old man was shot in the shoulder at 6:20 a.m. in the 5400 block of South Winchester, police said. He was also taken to Stroger, but his condition was not immediately known.About two hours earlier, a man was shot in the West Garfield Park neighborhood.The 26-year-old man was shot in the leg at 4:30 a.m. in the 600 block of South Kostner Avenue, police said. He took himself to Rush University Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition. About two hours earlier, three men were shot in the Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood on the South Side.The men ages 26, 20, and 22, were standing near a gas station just before 3 a.m. in the 7500 block of South State when someone approached them and opened fire, police said.The 26-year-old was shot in the leg; the 20-year-old was shot in the back, and the 22-year-old was shot in the arm, police said. They took themselves to St. Bernard Hospital, where their conditions were stabilized.Less than an hour earlier, two men were shot in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the Far South Side.The two 24-year-old men were shot about 2 a.m. in the 9800 block of South Beverly, police said. One man was shot in the right hand and the other was shot in the back, police said. Both were taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.At 12:49 a.m., man was critically wounded in a shooting in the South Side Burnside neighborhood.A 38-year-old man was having an argument with someone he knew at a party at 12:49 a.m. in the 9200 block of South Drexel Avenue when that person pulled out a gun and shot him in the chest and back, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition.Two hours before, a man was wounded in a shooting in the West Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.At 10:15 p.m., the 18-year-old man was shot in the right hand while standing on the corner in the 7000 block of South Laflin Street, police said. He took himself to Holy Cross Hospital in good condition, police said.A 30-year-old man was shot Thursday night in the Washington Park neighborhood on the South Side.He was shot in the left leg in the 6200 block of South Martin Luther King Drive at 8:15 p.m., police said. He took himself to University of Chicago Medical Center, but his condition was not immediately available.A man was shot Thursday evening in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.At 4:48 p.m., the 28-year-old man pulled into a drive way in the 7200 block of South Aberdeen Street when he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn with a gunshot wound to the leg, where his condition was stabilized.The first shooting of the holiday weekend happened just after 3 p.m. Thursday in the Austin Neighborhood on the West Side.A 24-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman were arguing with a third person in the 1000 block of North Lorel when the person pulled out a gun and fired shots, police said.The two victims took themselves to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, police said. The man was shot in the leg and his condition was stabilized at West Suburban. The woman was shot in the abdomen and transferred to Stroger Hospital in serious condition.Police said the shooting may have happened during an attempted robbery. The man is a documented gang member.2015 CRIME STATS RELEASEDHours before the city s first reported murder, the Chicago Police Department released new crime numbers for 2015. The statistics show there were more than 50 more homicides last year than in 2014. Via: ABC7 | 1real |
Trump Needs Two Of These Three States To Win And He Has A Commanding Lead: “Polls Show Your Neighbor Is Voting For Trump” |
According to Reuters , Hillary Clinton has a 90% chance of winning the election unless Donald Trump can win two of the key swing states of Michigan, Florida or Pennsylvania. This, of course, explains why Clinton held a star studded concert in Philadelphia last night in an attempt to attract audience members who would have otherwise stayed home had Bruce Springsteen not been the real headliner.
Trump, on the other hand, continued to fill venues to capacity across the country with miles-long lines and standing room only.
And though many national and electoral polls have Hillary ahead, the odd mainstream polling data showing a Clinton win despite a massive response from Trump supporters appears to be easily explained by what senior strategist Robert Cahaly of the Trafalgar Group calls the “neighbor ballot test.”
It’s a sign Trump’s share of the vote is being underestimated, Robert Cahaly, senior strategist for the Trafalgar Group of Atlanta that conducted the unorthodox survey, told LifeZette.
…
Cahaly says the “neighbors” numbers back up the “shy Tory” theory — that respondents are shy about saying they will vote for a candidate or cause that has been tagged as racist or distasteful by the media and popular culture. The most recent case was the British exit from the European Union, or “Brexit,” as it is called.
Source: LifeZette
According to that ‘neighbor’ ballot test, Trump is destroying Clinton.
Provided that the vote counting in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida is legitimate and not plagued with illegal or dead voters , it appears that Trump is set to take not just two of these states, but all three of them:
Pennsylvania
Clinton: 46.51%
Trump: 48.43%
Johnson: 2.30%
Stein: 1.08%
Other/Undecided: 1.69%
(1300+ Respondents, MOE +/- 2.68)
Florida
Clinton: 46.13%
Trump: 49.72%
Johnson: 2.43%
Stein: 0.62%
Other/Undecided: 1.09%
(1100+ Respondents, MOE +/- 2.89)
Michigan
Clinton: 46.82%
Trump: 48.52%
Johnson: 2.89%
Stein: 0.90%
Other/Undecided: 0.87%
(1200+ Respondents, MOE +/- 2.77)
Commenting on the survey, TFG Senior Strategist Robert Cahaly said, “Though the results vary from state to state, these four surveys have one thing in common: question 2 points to where we think ‘hidden Trump voters’ are.”
Cahaly continued, “We have believed for weeks that the actual Clinton/Trump final numbers will fall between the ballot test and the neighbors ballot test.”
Cahaly concluded, “We expect Trump to have an overwhelming victory in Georgia, an outside the margin of error win in Florida, as well as close wins in Pennsylvania and Michigan.”
Source: Trafalgar Group Press Release, Nov 7
In short, one of the reasons that this years polls have been widely skewed from one candidate to the other is that there are a lot of voters out there who have not honestly answered the question of who they will vote for if they are a Trump supporter. This is due in part to the fact that a large swath of Hillary Supporters, and even Clinton herself, have referred to Trump leaning voters as racists, bigots and misogynists.
Those “shy” voters will have no such problems inside a private voting booth, which suggests, based on Trafalgar’s survey results, that they will overwhelmingly lean towards Trump in key swing states.
If the vote counting is on the up-and-up, these surveys show a hands-down Trump win.
Watch: The 5 States Hillary Must Steal To Win The Election
Related: “Trump Will Be ALLOWED To Win,” Only to Be Blamed For The Coming Financial Crash | 1real |
Students protest U.S. Attorney General speech at Georgetown | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Students and faculty at Georgetown Law School gathered on Tuesday to protest that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was delivering an address about the right of free speech on college campuses to an invitation-only audience without giving critics of the Trump administration an opportunity to ask questions. Several dozen protesters stood on the front steps of the school, some with duct tape over their mouths to symbolize that they felt their views were censored from the event. Some held signs denouncing racism, censorship and U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind “DACA,” the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy that shields immigrants who were brought to the United State as children. Taking turns with a bullhorn, students and some faculty members accused the school of shutting them out from attending the speech and asking questions. In his address, Sessions focused on concerns about whether the rights of speakers on college campuses were being trampled by student protesters who find their views offensive. Sessions complained that protesters were silencing speakers. He also said the department plans to file a brief in a college free speech case this week. Protesters “are now routinely shutting down speeches and debates across the country in an effort to silence voices that insufficiently conform with their views,” he said. One protester, third-year law student Charlotte Berschback, complained on the sidelines of the protest that invitations to the Sessions speech had been withdrawn from students who had RSVPed and had initially been told they would have a seat. “We pay a ton of tuition,” she said. “We should have a role in deciding who comes to our school.” She added that liberal students had been excluded from attending the Sessions event and that the school should have used a lottery process to let students attend. Sessions cited concerns about multiple incidents at college campuses around the country, including the University of California at Berkeley and Middlebury College in Vermont. Sessions mentioned recent violent protests at Berkeley. He said the school “was reportedly forced to spend more than $600,000 and have an overwhelming police presence simply to prove that the mob was not in control of the campus.” The Justice Department later said it was also filing a brief on behalf of students at Georgia Gwinnett College who are challenging a school policy that requires them to use “free speech zones” to express their views. | 0fake |
Trump calls Green Party vote recount request a 'scam' | WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday called a request for a recount of votes in Wisconsin a “scam” by the Green Party and said even his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton had said the election results should be accepted. “This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what (Green Party leader) Jill Stein is doing,” Trump said in a statement about the recount. “This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn’t even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount,” Trump said. | 0fake |
Is the US a banana republic? - Putin [Valdai, Part 1 of 1] |
October 29th, 2016 - Fort Russ News -
RT- Translated by Inessa Sinchougova
Vladimir Putin's annual address at the Valdai Discussion Club, held in Sochi, Russian Federation. This year hosted by the Professor of Russian Studies, Timothy Colton, at Harvard University. Most leading journalists as well as scholars, both Russian and international, are invited to attend - whether they do is another matter.
This is of course not the first time Mr Putin attempts to wake the sleeping - in fact, Putin has been saying similar things for many years.
Check out these historical Valdai clips to spot the similarities, and gain a sense of Putin's patience!
"Who created ISIS?" - Putin, Valdai 2014 (7 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbZDyr2LkdI
"How safe do you feel living in the world of today?" - Putin, Valdai 2014 (3 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhPlWH69jQ8
"Putin on the Global Elite" - Valdai, 2014 (5 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6aC-TDQMlc
"Putin's urgent message to the West" - Valdai 2014 (41 mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpvzKlqZoF0
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Megyn Kelly May Get NBC Morning Show, Shaking Up ‘Today’ - The New York Times | NBC is looking to place its new star Megyn Kelly in the morning hours. Ms. Kelly, who announced this month that she was leaving Fox News for NBC, will start at the network in May, and plans are beginning to take shape for her new show, two people briefed on the discussions said Friday. Ms. Kelly is being considered for a time slot at 9 or 10 a. m. for a show that is expected to begin in the fall. If she moves to 10 a. m. the popular fourth hour of “Today,” hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, will move to 9 a. m. One thing that is known for sure: The current iteration of the third hour of “Today,” hosted by Tamron Hall and Al Roker, will be a thing of the past once Ms. Kelly’s show begins. Ms. Kelly’s apparent move to the morning, which Variety reported earlier, removes her from the tricky minefield of syndicated daytime TV. Other TV news hosts, including Jane Pauley, Meredith Vieira and Katie Couric, have tried their hand at the format and failed. That was one of the reasons that NBC initially planned to make Ms. Kelly’s show a straight news show because other anchors could not make it work, the network saw no reason to try that strategy again. But in recent weeks, NBC executives have had more of an open mind over what direction her show should take: There have been discussions about whether it should be softer in focus than what was originally discussed, one person briefed on the plans said. They also have not decided whether Ms. Kelly’s show will be branded as part of the “Today” show. If Ms. Kelly locked up the 9 a. m. hour, it would also set up an intriguing battle royal that would pit her against another longtime morning host, ABC’s Kelly Ripa. The 9 a. m. hour for “Today” has long been a tricky proposition for NBC: Facing formidable competition against Ms. Ripa’s “Live With Kelly,” the network has tried a number of solutions, including bringing in Billy Bush last year. Shortly after Mr. Bush was brought in to host, he was let go after the infamous “Access Hollywood” recording of him and Donald J. Trump was released in October. Mr. Roker will continue to work on the early parts of “Today. ” And Ms. Hall, who is in contract negotiations with the network, will continue to host her MSNBC show and is also expected to make appearances on “Today. ” There are no concrete plans yet for the Sunday night newsmagazine show that NBC plans to have Ms. Kelly host, the people said. Fox News has not missed a beat since Ms. Kelly left her 9 p. m. time slot. Tucker Carlson, who replaced Ms. Kelly this month, has seen big ratings gains in the busy news weeks since his debut. | 0fake |
Attorney General Sessions steps up anti-'sanctuary' rhetoric after setbacks | (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions stepped up the Trump administration’s critique of so-called sanctuary cities on Tuesday, saying local and state policies to limit cooperation with immigration enforcement are a criminal’s “best friend.” Sessions’ remarks, at a gathering of law enforcement authorities in Portland, Oregon, came days after repudiation of his stance against the sanctuary movement in separate actions by a federal judge in Chicago and the California legislature. The judge in Chicago on Friday barred the Justice Department from withholding public safety grants to cities unless they allowed U.S. immigration authorities unlimited access to local jails and provided 48 hours’ notice before releasing individuals sought for deportation. On Saturday, California lawmakers voted to make California a sanctuary state, approving a bill barring local governments from forcing undocumented immigrants to spend extra time in jail just to allow immigration agents to take them into their custody. But under a compromise negotiated with Governor Jerry Brown, the bill allows local police to notify the federal government if they have arrested an undocumented immigrant with a felony record. It also allows immigration agents access to local jails. Sessions called on local jurisdictions that have sought to shield illegal immigrants from deportation efforts to reconsider, and he urged Brown not to sign the California bill into law. President Donald Trump and his administration have insisted that the deportation crackdown is aimed at illegal immigrants convicted of serious crimes, and that sanctuary measures contribute to rising crime. “Such policies undermine the moral authority of law and undermine the safety of the jurisdictions that adopt them,” Sessions said. “That makes a sanctuary city a trafficker, smuggler or gang member’s best friend.” He cited cases in Oregon and California in which illegal immigrants were charged with committing violent crimes after being arrested for relatively minor offenses by local police and then released, despite federal requests to keep them in custody. Sanctuary supporters counter that enlisting police cooperation in deportation actions undermines community trust in local law enforcement, particularly among Latinos, and they question whether Trump is really targeting dangerous criminals. “We’re not soldiers of Donald Trump or the federal immigration service,” Brown said in a CNN interview on Tuesday. He called the measure passed by California’s legislature “a well-balanced bill.” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a letter to Sessions that Oregon state law dating back to 1987 prohibits state and local police from enforcing federal immigration law. | 0fake |
Austria's conservatives reach coalition deal with far right: Kurz | VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s conservative People s Party (OVP) and the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) reached a coalition deal on Friday, conservative leader Sebastian Kurz said. We can inform you that there is a turquoise-blue agreement, Kurz told journalists, referring to the colors of the two parties. | 0fake |
THEY KNEW! CLOSE CLINTON FRIEND Warned Against Agreeing To Allow Sexual Predator Harvey Weinstein To Host Fundraisers…They Did It Anyway | In June of 2016, the disgraced sexual predator, and Hollywood producer, Harvey Weinstein, hosted a fundraiser for Hillary s presidential campaign in Manhattan. Some of the top celebrities in the business accepted Harvey s invitation to the event. Celebrity donors who were in attendance at the event included Leo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lopez, and Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. Weinstein raised $1.8 million for Hillary at his star-studded fundraiser. When Hillary was asked if she was planning to give any of the money back or would give it to charity, the Clinton Foundation claimed they would not give back a cent, and that the money had already been spent on other charitable purposes . We re wondering what, exactly the Clinton Foundation means by charitable purposes ? Like Chelsea s wedding that was partially funded by the Clinton Foundation?A TV writer and close Clinton family friend says she warned at least three top-level Democratic operatives against allowing Harvey Weinstein to host fundraisers. A warning that evidently (and to the glee of Fox News) fell on deaf ears, writes Designing Women creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason in a new Hollywood Reporter op-ed.Weinstein gave thousands and bundled $1.42 million in donations to Hillary Clinton s presidential run, but the former secretary of state has said she had no idea about the producer s predatory ways.Bloodworth-Thomason, who has created political promotional films for both Clintons, said she helped President Bill Clinton pen an apology amid his own sex scandal and that his actions have taxed my feminist conscience but she still loves him dearly. She says she has long been aware of Weinstein s lecherous ways and is skeptical of those now claiming ignorance. Some said this despite knowing him for decades, starring in his films and being friends with accusers who starred in his films, she writes.But although Weinstein was at the top of the sexual predator food chain she says the industry is rife with men like him. These kinds of atrocities against women routinely go unreported and unpunished in the entertainment industry. The No. 1 casting criterion in Hollywood is that, above all else, an actress must be hot and f kable, she writes. Page Six | 1real |
BREAKING: Trump Dramatically Rushed Off Stage By Secret Service, Chaos Ensues (VIDEO) | 0 39
The Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, suffered a serious scare tonight after being rushed off the campaign stage by Secret Service in Reno, Nevada.
CNN reported that a crowd member yelled someone had a gun in the crowd. The scuffle happened close to the front of the stage. Secret Service removed one individual who appeared to be a white man in his 30s or 40s.
However, Trump was quick to return to the stage after the individual was detained by local law enforcement and Secret Service. CNN reported that a SWAT unit also showed up at the front of the crowd.
NBC news correspondent Jacob Rascon tweeted pictures showing the man was being detained in a back bathroom. Man who caused disturbance at Trump rally being held in bathroom in back of venue. Officers inside with him, and outside on guard. pic.twitter.com/rh319Gj1Ox
— Jacob Rascon (@Jacobnbc) November 6, 2016
‘Man who caused disturbance at Trump rally being held in bathroom in back of venue. Officers inside with him, and outside on guard.’
He also tweeted when Trump returned to the stage he said, “Nobody said it was going to be easy for us. But we will never be stopped.” Trump back on stage after secret service scare: "Nobody said it was going to be easy for us. But we will never be stopped."
— Jacob Rascon (@Jacobnbc) November 6, 2016
Eric Trump, who was appearing on Justice With Judge Jeanine when the news broke, blamed liberals for the incident commenting:
‘Listen, it’s interesting. That’s the tolerant left. That are the same people that were being paid to incite violence’
You can watch the scuffle below.
Featured image screengrab from video . Share this Article! | 1real |
Ukraine's Poroshenko rejects Russia's 'hybrid' peackeeping offer | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko dismissed a Russian proposal to deploy U.N. peacekeepers in eastern Ukraine as an effort to legalize its proxies and freeze the conflict. Relations between Kiev and Moscow have never been worse since Russia annexed Crimea more than three years ago and Russian-backed separatist fighters subsequently took up arms against Ukrainian government forces in the east of the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin this month suggested armed U.N. peacekeepers be deployed to eastern Ukraine to help protect ceasefire monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and to help end a conflict between Ukrainian troops and Russia-backed separatists, which has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014. Poroshenko used his speech at the annual gathering of world leaders for the United Nations General Assembly to accuse Moscow of not contributing to international security, but of being its biggest threat. The latest hybrid peacekeeping proposal from Moscow is yet another example of Russia s real ambition to legalize its proxies and freeze the conflict forever, he said. We remain confident that a fully fledged peacekeeping operation is the only viable solution to de-escalate and protect the people of Ukraine. Putin originally said the peacekeepers should be deployed along the line of contact between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists, but later said they could also be deployed in other areas where OSCE inspectors work. The peacekeepers mandate should cover the entire occupied area, including the Ukrainian-Russian state border. This is the must. As long as the border is used as the main supply route for manpower and weapons to Donbass there will be no peace in my country, he said. Kiev and Western countries accuse Russia of providing military backing to the insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Russia denies any direct role in the conflict. Efforts to broker an end to fighting through the so-called Minsk agreements have so far failed. Violence continues with attempted ceasefires repeatedly broken. Western powers fear peace efforts could unravel. The key problem in Donbass is that Ukraine and Russia strive for different things, Poroshenko said. Ukraine wants peace and restoration of its sovereign territory, but Russia wants control of Ukraine and undermines every effort (to get) our sovereign control on Ukraine s border. Ukraine s alternative plan would ban any Russian nationals from taking part in a peacekeeping mission which it wants deployed along the part of its border with Russia which it does not control, an idea Moscow has so far balked at. | 0fake |
Trump says Florida massacre proves he's right on Islamist threat | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gave an aggressive response to the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, quickly claiming the attack was the work of an Islamist militant while calling on President Barack Obama to resign and for Democrat Hillary Clinton to exit the presidential race. For Trump, it was an attempt to frame the attack in Orlando in a light favorable to his campaign for the Nov. 8 presidential election. Early on Sunday, when few facts were known about the shooting, he boasted on Twitter that it proved he had been right about his warnings over “radical Islamic terrorism.” Trump canceled a planned Monday evening rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire late on Sunday, because of the shooting, but will go ahead with a major speech at St. Anselm’s College on Monday afternoon. In a tweet just hours after the incident, he wrote: “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance.” Trump has made combating the threat of groups such as Islamic State a central part of his candidacy. It was last December’s attack in San Bernardino, California that killed 14 people that led Trump to propose a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States. Trump re-visited the proposal on Sunday after at least 50 people died in the attack on a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. “What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough,” Trump wrote on Twitter. In a statement late Sunday, the businessman went further than U.S. officials investigating the shootings by asserting that the attack in Orlando was the work of a “radical Islamic terrorist.” Islamic State, which controls land in Iraq and Syria, claimed responsibility for the shooting but U.S. officials said they had seen no immediate evidence directly linking the militant group to the massacre. The shooter, U.S.-born Florida resident Omar Mateen, was killed by police. Mateen, 29, called 911 on Sunday morning and made comments saying he supported the Islamic State militant group, officials said. A Trump supporter played Trump’s speeches on a loudspeaker outside the Port St. Lucie, Florida home of Mateen’s parent’s. “I’m a Cuban citizen and I’m becoming an American citizen on July 6 and I’m going to vote for the first time in my life for Donald Trump,” said Arisley Travieso, 36, who works for a shredding company. Traveiso said he supported Trump because the Republican nominee sees “the problem is Islamic terrorism. He (Trump) has been saying it nonstop.” Trump ripped Obama for his long-standing refusal to refer to Islamic State and other extremist groups as in part representative of the religion of Islam. “In his remarks today, President Obama disgracefully refused to even say the words ‘Radical Islam’. For that reason alone, he should step down,” Trump said, adding that, “if Hillary Clinton, after this attack, still cannot say the two words ‘Radical Islam’ she should get out of this race for the presidency.” Trump’s day-long barrage of tweets and statements contrasted with more cautious approaches taken by Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, and her fellow Democrat Obama. In remarks at the White House, Obama said the investigation into the shootings was ongoing and declined to speculate on the motives of the shooter. “We’ve reached no definitive judgment on the precise motivations of the killer,” Obama said. “The FBI is appropriately investigating this as an act of terrorism. Similarly, Clinton, in a statement, called the attack an “act of terror” but did not speculate about the ideology of the gunman. “Law enforcement and intelligence agencies are hard at work, and we will learn more in the hours and days ahead,” said Clinton, who expressed her sympathy for the victims and said “weapons of war” have no place on U.S. streets. Trump’s campaign said that a speech scheduled for Monday that was to be devoted to criticizing Hillary and Bill Clinton would now be centered on national security and counter-terrorism. | 0fake |
Pope Francis TORCHES Trump: ‘A Person Who Thinks Only Of Building Walls’ Is ‘Not A Christian’ | Pope Francis was asked about Donald Trump, and the famously compassionate religious leader could only barely hold back his disgust.Currently, Francis is finishing up an historic visit to Mexico. Needless to say, the issue of Donald Trump inevitably came up. When a reporter asked the pope to weigh in on Trump s potential candidacy, he unloaded on the Republican front-runner. A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the gospel. As far as what you said about whether I would advise to vote or not to vote, I am not going to get involved in that. I say only that this man is not Christian if he said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt. Consider the benefit of the doubt put to rest. Trump has spent the last seven months campaigning heavily on the idea that he can block both Hispanics and Muslims from ever coming to the United States. His policies, such that they are, have been organized around attacking minority groups and advocating for the return of torture. At his essence, Trump s campaign is the exact opposite of Pope Francis message of tolerance and compassion.Trump holds the distinction of having both pissed off the pope and also the entire country of Mexico. He infamously criticized the Catholic leader by dismissing him as just a politician. Francis didn t seem to mind, and in fact turned the tables on the attempted dig. Thank God he said I was a politician, because Aristotle defined the human person as animal politicus. So at least I am a human person. As to whether I am a pawn well, maybe, I don t know. I ll leave that up to your judgment and that of the people. Trump is also deeply unpopular in Mexico following his repeated attacks against the Mexican people. He kicked off his presidential campaign by claiming the Mexican government was sending rapists across the border to sell drugs and attack American women. He s never walked back those ideas. He also claimed he would build a massive concrete wall across the entire southern border at a cost estimated to be in the billions and get Mexico to pay for it.The pope s criticisms of Trump come at a time when the candidate is desperately trying to prove that he is a very good Christian with humiliating results. Trump, who once told shock jock Howard Stern that having unprotected sex with as many women as he had was his personal Vietnam, hasn t fooled very many people with this false change of heart.It takes a whole lot to get the pope to spend time taking you down a peg. Trump, for all of his hate speech and vile ideas, falls into that rare category of absolutely deserving it.Featured image via Flickr/Flickr | 1real |
Trump, Nikki Haley to share U.S. spotlight at U.N. gathering | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - When President Donald Trump takes the world stage at the United Nations for the first time this week, he will share the spotlight with his envoy Nikki Haley, who has emerged as the surprising public face of U.S. foreign policy. Haley, the 45-year-old former South Carolina governor, has proven to be a high-profile member of Trump’s administration, at times overshadowing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the former chief executive of Exxon Mobil Corp, despite her lack of previous foreign policy experience, diplomats say. “For the U.S., Nikki Haley is remarkable. It’s hard to find in the Trump administration. It’s someone who is very approachable and politically very assertive,” said a senior European diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity. “I see her potentially taking over from Tillerson at some point. It’s clear her long-term objective is the presidency,” the diplomat said. Haley dismisses speculation she could replace Tillerson, the country’s top diplomat, who has at times publicly differed with Trump during the president’s eight months in the White House. On Sunday, she told CNN that Tillerson is “not going anywhere and I continue to work well with him.” Trump’s speech on Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly will be his highest profile opportunity to explain his foreign policy vision couched in his America First agenda. Haley arrived at the 193-member world body in January pledging to “take names” of allies who did not have Washington’s back. Trump administration officials say the president, happy with her performance, views her as both tough and smart. He speaks regularly with Haley, his fellow Republican, one U.S. administration official said. Twice in five weeks she persuaded the 15-member U.N. Security Council to unanimously boost sanctions on North Korea. Her blunt language has raised eyebrows among diplomats. At the same time she has been careful not to steal the limelight from Trump, a wealthy businessman and former reality television star. “I personally think he slaps the right people, he hugs the right people, and he comes out with the U.S. being very strong in the end,” Haley told White House reporters on Friday. European Council on Foreign Relations U.N. expert Richard Gowan said Haley’s success could make Trump nervous and that it would be a “bad deal for her” if she was asked to replace Tillerson as secretary of state. “She would lose the independence she enjoys in New York and (it would) tie her more closely to the president’s agenda. But it is an offer that she could not refuse. It’s an irony that the one way Trump can hurt Haley is to promote her,” he said. Haley credits Trump with any U.S. achievements at the United Nations. After the Security Council toughened sanctions on North Korea this month, she praised his “strong relationship” with his Chinese counterpart for the result. When he dismissed the Sept. 11 U.N. resolution, which had been weakened by China and Russia, as “just another very small step, not a big deal,” Haley jumped to his defense and dismissed any suggestion they were not on the same page. “If we have to go further, this is going to look small compared to what we do,” she said at the time. Haley has made her mark also by fighting what she describes as U.N. anti-Israel bias, pushing for U.N. reform amid Trump’s call to slash U.S. funding, accusing Iran of meddling in the Middle East and challenging Russia over Ukraine and its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that during a National Security Council meeting on Iran this month, Trump specifically asked Haley’s opinion about what strategy to pursue. “She gave her opinion, and he liked her point of view,” the official said. “She wasn’t afraid to speak up.” A senior Iranian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “This lady for some reason is very angry with Iran.” Before her selection as ambassador, Haley made national headlines when as governor she led a successful effort to remove the Confederate battle flag, viewed by many as a racist emblem, from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol after the killing of nine black churchgoers in her state. During the 2016 presidential campaign Haley sparred with Trump, backing one of his rivals before he became the Republican candidate. The daughter of immigrants from India, Haley took Trump to task over his harsh campaign rhetoric about illegal immigration and for not speaking forcefully enough against white supremacists. When last month Trump inflamed tensions by saying that counter-protesters were also to blame for a deadly rally by white nationalists in Virginia, Haley spoke up, telling U.S. media she had a “personal conversation” with him about it. Without naming Trump she wrote to staff at the U.S. mission to the United Nations to say that everyone must stand up and condemn hate. | 0fake |
Classless Obama Refuses Photo-Op of White House Welcome with Trump |
The Obamas refused to be photographed welcoming President-Elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania to the White House Thursday morning, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal .
“The Obamas canceled a photo-op of the current and future first couples outside the south entrance of the White House. In his first visit to the White House after the 2008 election, Mr. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama posed for the cameras alongside President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush. The decision not to participate in this tradition illustrates how bitter the campaign was, particularly for Mrs. Obama who delivered some of the most emotional arguments against electing Mr. Trump.”
Fox News reported that there was no pool video of Trump’s arrival due to an unspecified problem. There does not appear to be any photographs published yet of Trump’s arrival to the White House.
President George W. Bush and Mrs. Laura Bush and President-elect Barack Obama and Mrs. Michelle Obama pause for photographs Monday, Nov. 10, 2008, after the Obama’s arrival at the South Portico of the White House.
Source
| 1real |
Oregon Standoff Leaders Acquitted For Malheur Wildlife Refuge Takeover | Oregon Standoff Leaders Acquitted For Malheur Wildlife Refuge Takeover page: 1 link A federal court jury on Wednesday acquitted anti-government militant leader Ammon Bundy and six followers of conspiracy charges stemming from their role in the armed takeover of a U.S. wildlife center in Oregon earlier this year. Bundy and others, including his brother and co-defendant Ryan Bundy, cast the 41-day occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge as a legitimate and patriotic act of civil disobedience. Prosecutors called it a lawless scheme to seize federal property by force. This is news! I surely did not expect these guys n gal to get off. Someone lost their life during this event which is sad. Justice has spoken. Does this set a precedent going forward? The likelihood of this happening again in a similar fashion seems high given the current political climate. A more detailed article. | 1real |
CHARLESTON ‘ON EGGSHELLS’ ON EVE OF TWO RACIALLY CHARGED TRIALS | | Home › SOCIETY | US NEWS › CHARLESTON ‘ON EGGSHELLS’ ON EVE OF TWO RACIALLY CHARGED TRIALS CHARLESTON ‘ON EGGSHELLS’ ON EVE OF TWO RACIALLY CHARGED TRIALS 0 SHARES [10/20/16] Two South Carolina shootings that rocked the country last year and raised questions about race in America are now headed for trial, putting the historic city of Charleston on edge as the community awaits the testimony and juries’ decisions.
Jury selection begins on Monday in the case of Michael Slager, a white former policeman in North Charleston charged with murder in state court after he fatally shot unarmed black motorist Walter Scott in April 2015.
One week later on Nov. 7, a federal death penalty trial is slated to start for avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof, who is accused of killing nine black parishioners during Bible study at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in June 2015.
The nearly simultaneous proceedings will take place at courthouses across the street from each other in the heart of Charleston’s downtown district. Black community activists said the outcomes will test the calm that prevailed after the shootings and could trigger unrest if those angry about the killings feel justice is not served.
“The community is, for lack of better words, on eggshells,” said Justin Bamberg, a state legislator and lawyer who represents Scott’s family.
Both trials are expected to last several weeks and draw national attention to the port city of about 133,000 people that is known for its cuisine and well-preserved 18th and 19th century architecture. But Bamberg said the cases have important distinctions.
Roof’s trial is less about his guilt or innocence than whether he will be sentenced to life in prison or death, Bamberg said. Roof’s lawyers have said he would plead guilty to 33 counts of hate crimes, obstruction of religion and firearms charges if prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty.
Slager’s case, on the other hand, could produce a rare result: a guilty verdict against a U.S. police officer charged with murder or manslaughter. Post navigation | 1real |
BALTIMORE’S OVERZEALOUS PROSECUTOR BUSTED “FAVORITING” RACIST TWEETS [Video] | B b..but she s a victim (Mosby claims her account was hacked).Earlier this month, two controversial tweets were favorited by a personal Twitter account belonging to Baltimore City State s Attorney Marilyn Mosby. The first tweet referred to the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray as those 6 THUG cops and the other praised Mosby and claimed she INFURIATES a certain kind of white person. But Mosby s office is now claiming that the two favorited tweets were the work of a hacker. Both Mosby s official Twitter account and her personal account were hacked, the Baltimore City State s Attorney s Office reportedly told The Kelly File on Wednesday. We do not know how long it s been going on, we are working with Twitter. Mosby revealed on May 23 that her official government Twitter account had been hacked, but did not mention her personal account being compromised. Further, the tweets in question were favorited by her personal account weeks before her government account was reportedly hacked.Fox News host Megyn Kelly expressed cynicism that a hacker would take over her account and only randomly favorite two tweets.Watch the segment via The Kelly File below: The Five co-host Kimberly Guilfoyle said Mosby is behaving like an activist when she is supposed to be an impartial evaluator of the facts of the case. The officers charged in the Gray case have asked for a change of venue because it doesn t appear they can get a fair and impartial trial in Baltimore.Via: The Blaze | 1real |
THIS IS GREAT! ANTI-HILLARY STREET ART POPS UP EVERYWHERE IN BROOKLYNHillary Clinton’s supporters were calling certain words used to describe her as sexist. Words like entitled, ambitious, and secretive… The area around Hillary’s campaign headquarters was plastered with this: | Hillary Clinton s supporters were calling certain words used to describe her as sexist. Words like entitled, ambitious, and secretive The area around Hillary s campaign headquarters was plastered with this: | 1real |
CNN’S ANDERSON “POOPER” Responds After Outcry Over ‘Crude’ Swipe At Trump Supporter [Video] | CNN host Anderson Cooper apologized for a crude remark directed at President Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord during his show on Friday, calling his comment unprofessional. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT, THE VIDEO IS BELOW THIS VIDEO OF THE APOLOGY.BTW, here's @anderscooper's on air apology for what he said were "crude" comments@realJeffreyLord still having a laugh about it pic.twitter.com/1gWuHqLPjY Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) May 20, 2017 During a segment on AC360, Cooper verbally sparred with Lord, a CNN political commentator, over revelations that Trump reportedly told Russian officials that former FBI Director James Comey is a nut job who was adding pressure to the ongoing investigation of possible interference in the 2016 election. Clearly frustrated with Lord s response to the matter, Cooper interrupted the conservative pundit and interjected with a not-so-subtle jab. If he took a dump on his desk, you would defend it, Cooper told Lord. I don t know what he would do that you would not defend. IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS HORRIBLE TV MOMENT:"If he took a dump on his desk you would defend it." @andersoncooper what? pic.twitter.com/nD8ZfZKtVN Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) May 20, 2017 First it was the childish eye roll to Kellyanne Conway and now it s potty humor How professional! | 1real |
The N.B.A. Fashion Runway: The Stars, the Styles ... the Trash? - The New York Times | OAKLAND, Calif. — The beautiful millionaires arrive in couture. Cameras are there to greet them as their fans stand by on social media, craving glimpses of their ensembles. Suddenly, however briefly, the bowels of basketball arenas are turned into the shabbiest fashion runways in the world. For all their dazzling feats on the court, N. B. A. stars have somehow made an event out of simply showing up at games. The sports world and the fashion world cannot look away, even if the setting is an underground tunnel in, say, Oracle Arena — approximately nine million miles from Milan. “Oh, it’s beautiful,” Sarah Oliphant, an artist who designs backdrops for fashion shows out of her studio in New York, said. She would not stage these N. B. A. arrivals any other way. “These are people with megamoney behind them in every possible way,” Oliphant said. “But the runway is a linoleum floor and a tunnel,” and you can see Teamsters setting up in the background. She added: “I couldn’t have even thought that up. It’s brilliant. Whoever came up with this is brilliant. ” The N. B. A. finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers are shaping up as one of the season’s biggest stages — for fashion, of course. The basketball has been decent, too, although not overly competitive. The Warriors will look to build on their lead when the series resumes in Cleveland on Wednesday night. “You stress over outfits for days,” the Warriors’ Stephen Curry said in an interview, “and you wind up wearing it for 30 seconds when you walk from the parking lot to the locker room. ” But those 30 seconds are important. Important to broadcast partners like ESPN and Turner Sports, who have filmed these entrances throughout the postseason to help fill pregame airtime. Important to viewers at home, who want to see their favorite players behind the scenes. Important to fashion designers, who benefit from mainstream exposure. And important to the players, who have come to delight in the strange pageantry of it all. “I’ve got to make sure everything looks good coming out of the car,” Curry, the league’s most valuable player, said. “You don’t want to have a missed button or a wrinkled shirt. ” It is an oddly environment for high fashion. Nobody made a bigger splash in recent weeks than Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, whose team fell to the Warriors in the Western Conference finals. Westbrook’s bursts of sartorial pyrotechnics — denim overalls one game, blazer the next — were offset by an obstacle course of trash cans, ladders and heating ducts. “It’s become an event unto itself, which is kind of amazing,” Brett J. Banakis, a stage and film production designer, said. “So you’ll have Russell Westbrook wearing a lime green jumpsuit and walking past the most banal objects possible. ” Banakis has been a fan of Westbrook’s since they were students together at U. C. L. A. where Westbrook played basketball and Banakis played trombone in the marching band. (They were once on the same charter flight to the Final Four, Banakis said.) Banakis said it made sense for players to embrace their opportunities to flash some individual style, even if their milieu is a loading dock. “Most of the time, you see them wearing uniforms,” he said. “So this is really their only moment to say, ‘This is me. ’” Oliphant, the backdrop designer, is not a huge basketball fan — “I usually choose the team that has the nicest colors and costumes,” she said — but she has been transfixed by the clips of players arriving for games. Oliphant cited the authenticity of the whole setup. Consider the Cavaliers’ LeBron James, who, seconds after arriving at Oracle for Game 1 on Thursday night, deposited some personal items in a small plastic tub before he went through a metal detector. He even had to wait in line behind a couple of team officials. (LeBron: Just like us!) “It wouldn’t have the same effect if you took all these guys and you put them up at Lincoln Center in one of the big venues,” Oliphant said. “I could even paint them a giant backdrop, but it wouldn’t be the same. It would no longer be accessible to my nephew who would never watch something on fashion. ” Curry said he did not realize that he needed to care about his pregame walk to the locker room until he made his first playoffs appearance with the Warriors in 2013. All of a sudden, camera crews were waiting for him. He knew then that he had to put more effort into his attire. It has become an important part of his game day ritual. “I would wear most of this stuff anyway, especially for the playoffs,” he said. “You want to feel good for each game. ” While television has used player arrivals as pregame fodder for years, social media has given these small moments greater currency. They have also become much more involved productions. Nian Fish, a creative director and producer of fashion shows and events, said she was struck by the work of the film crews. “You can see a guy holding up a big floodlight because they’re obviously going through this dark tunnel,” Fish said. “So I’m like, wow, that’s really amazing that they’re doing a lighting production to create a video of this, their own version of the red carpet. They’re really producing this shot. ” All for a few seconds of video. There are other logistical hurdles, said Tim Corrigan, a senior coordinating producer for ESPN. Because home and visiting teams often arrive at different entrances, Corrigan assigns crews to camp out at each location. Players also show up at various times. When the Warriors are on the road, for example, they have three buses that leave for the arena in increments. By now, ESPN’s crew knows that Curry tends to take the last bus, which usually pulls in about two hours before the game. Once he arrives, Curry takes measured steps past the assembled masses, his strides slow but purposeful. “It’s a normal walk,” the assistant coach Bruce Fraser said, “for someone who knows someone else is staring at him. ” Other players are more elusive. Corrigan recalled how Ray Allen, the former N. B. A. player, liked to show up so early for games that he often took a taxi from the team hotel. Marreese Speights, a reserve forward with the Warriors, tries to avoid the cameras altogether. His strategy? Take the last bus to road games and be the last player to disembark, his hope being that everyone will have vacated the premises then. Besides, Speights has no illusions that the cameras are there for him. “People want to see their favorite players all dressed up,” he said. The spotlight that follows Curry does not affect everyone. Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ coach, often shows up for home games in a and sweatpants. (He carries his suit in a garment bag.) Others take greater pains to be more fashion forward. James Michael McAdoo, a forward, has friends who send him news clippings and video snippets of Curry that just happen to feature McAdoo standing in the background. McAdoo does not want to look like a slob. “My wife makes sure I dress up for the finals,” he said. “I let her iron my shirts. I pick out my outfit a little bit earlier. It’s not like I just wake up from my nap and throw on whatever. Let’s make sure I have something that’s a little choreographed for each game. ” Curry has become an active participant in the whole process. He goes so far as to watch clips of other players making their arena entrances. “All the time,” Curry, whose competitive drive extends beyond the court, said. “You want to see what the other guys are doing. ” | 0fake |
'Glimmer of hope' seen for compromise U.S. gun control bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators pushed for a compromise gun control bill on Tuesday, a day after the Senate failed to advance four gun measures following last week’s mass shooting in Orlando, the deadliest in modern U.S. history. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would schedule a vote on a bill by fellow Republican Senator Susan Collins that would prevent about 109,000 people on “no-fly” and other surveillance lists from purchasing guns. Collins said she expected a vote on the bill this week or next. On Monday, the Senate defeated a Democratic prohibition on gun sales to people on a broader range of government watch lists, while also blocking a narrower Republican measure. Some senior Republicans would not commit to supporting the Collins bill, citing worries about people being denied the ability to buy weapons without adequate safeguards. But the No. 3 Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, told reporters: “There may be a glimmer of hope now,” adding that Collins’ proposal seemed to be “a step in the right direction.” The measure is being debated in the Senate before the Nov. 8 election when Democrats hope to win control of the Senate and gain seats in the House of Representatives. Democrats believe Republican congressional opposition to wider control bills gives them a powerful campaign issue. It was too soon to tell if President Barack Obama would support the Collins bill. Spokesman Josh Earnest said senior officials including lawyers at the Department of Justice were taking a look at it. “If the assessment is that this would enhance the ability of our law enforcement professionals to keep us safe and prevent suspected terrorists from purchasing a gun, then that’s likely something that we’ll be able to support,” Earnest told reporters in a daily briefing. In the Senate on Monday, four measures to expand background checks on gun buyers and curb gun sales to those on terrorism watch lists - two put forth by Democrats and two by Republicans - fell short of the 60 votes needed for passage in the 100-member chamber. The votes were a bitter setback to advocates who have failed to get even modest gun curbs through Congress despite repeated mass shootings. The bills lost in largely party-line votes that showed the political power in Congress of gun rights defenders and the National Rifle Association. The White House accused U.S. senators of a “shameful display of cowardice” and said they failed the American people by not advancing any gun control measures after the Florida shooting. The gunman, Omar Mateen, pledged allegiance to Islamic State during the June 12 rampage in which he killed 49 people and wounded 53 at an Orlando gay nightclub before being fatally shot by police. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, the No. 2 Senate Republican, said he had concerns about the Collins measure. “It’s a slippery slope when an American citizen is denied a constitutional right, without forcing the government to come forward with some evidence on the front end” that a person should be prohibited from buying guns, he said. After Monday’s votes, the Senate also debated a different tactic for battling domestic attacks that could be inspired by Islamic State and other foreign militant groups. Senators were aiming to vote by Wednesday on legislation by Republican John McCain of Arizona expanding the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ability to conduct secret surveillance in counter terrorism investigations. “This week we’ll have the opportunity to strengthen our ability to combat lone wolf terrorists and connect the dots so we are better able to prevent terrorist attacks in the United States” such as the Orlando massacre, McConnell said. Collins, who held a news conference with eight other senators including Democrat Bill Nelson of Florida, said her bill would stop about 2,700 Americans and 106,300 foreign national on surveillance lists from buying guns. “We believe that if you are too dangerous to fly on an airplane you are too dangerous to buy a gun,” the Maine lawmaker said. She said Americans and immigrants with work permits could appeal a denial and recover lawyers’ fees if they prevailed. Nelson said he owed it to the families of the victims in the Orlando shooting as well as police and other first responders to the carnage. It was not clear whether Collins’ plan would draw significant bipartisan support. The NRA said her proposal was “unconstitutional” and would not have prevented the Orlando attack. Gun control groups promised to intensify their push for legislative action, and not just in Washington. Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, said her group, besides supporting pro-gun control candidates for Congress, would work to strengthen gun-sale background check laws “state by state until Congress acts.” “If the NRA and their lapdogs in the Senate thought moms would feel dispirited and back down, they are sorely mistaken,” Watts told reporters in a teleconference. | 0fake |
UNPRECEDENTED: New York Times To Run 30 Sec Ad During Oscars…Bashing Trump…Defending FAKE News [VIDEO] | The New York Times is set to launch a television ad during the Academy Awards that seems to heavily target statements made by President Donald Trump.The 30-second ad, entitled, The Truth, features black text flashing on a white screen with the words The truth is, followed by a variety of statements.According to a report in The Hill, at least three of the statements were in reference to Trump. The truth is the media is dishonest, reads one statement, a likely reference to Trump s frequent comments slamming the media s honesty.Here s another statement from the ad: The truth is alternative facts are lies. That one s an obvious reference to a comment made by Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway.The ad runs through a series of other phrases, some targeting conservative talking points such as we have to protect our borders, the emails are dangerous, and climate change is a hoax. The ad finishes up with the phrase The truth is hard to find, which then switches to The truth is hard to know, and finally concludes with The truth is more important now than never. MRCTVThat final phrase is pretty clearly seen as a parting shot at the Trump administration s relationship with the press:Recently the Times featured an article touting the renewed sense of mission for journalists in the Trump era looking to take down the Republican president by uncovering a Watergate-style scandal.The New York paper is not alone in its pretentious claims of being the guardian of truth, on Tuesday, The Washington Post added this slogan to its website: Democracy dies in darkness. Apparently only the light of the Post s reporting can save the nation from the darkness of a Trump presidency.Just on Sunday, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus was forced to shoot down yet another misleading report from the Times about supposed contact between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence officials. On NBC s Meet the Press, he told moderator Chuck Todd:I mean we ve spent days talking about a story that says that our campaign had constant contacts with Russian spies. And I can tell you, I ve talked to the top levels of the intelligence community. And they ve assured me that that New York Times story was grossly overstated, and inaccurate and totally wrong .It is this sort of fake news stuff that is enormously important that, when you get a front page story of The New York Times without a single source on the record saying that your campaign had constant contacts they didn t say one contact. They didn t say two contacts. It doesn t matter. We have not been informed of even that. But to say, Constant contact? On Friday, NBC s Today was thrilled by the upcoming Times television spot, with reporter Joe Fryer declaring: No matter who wins, politics will likely take the stage Sunday .The New York Times will even debut its first-ever Oscars ad, with the message, The truth is more important than ever. A sign that with millions watching, Hollywood s biggest night could become its most political. | 1real |
WATCH: TUCKER CARLSON DESTROYS Leftist Professor Who Claims “It’s a privilege to teach future DEAD COPS” and Defends Antifa’s Right To Beat Their Opponents | This is just one of literally thousands of liberal activists who are being paid to teach our youth. Let that sink in The head of the city s largest police union is calling for the firing of a John Jay College professor after he tweeted it s a privilege to teach future dead cops. Professor Michael Isaacson, a self-proclaimed member of the Antifa movement who works in the economics department at the CUNY Manhattan college, tweeted from the account @VulgarEconomics: Some of ya ll might think it sucks being an anti-fascist teaching at John Jay College but I think it s a privilege to teach future dead cops on Aug. 23.Patrolmen s Benevolent Association boss Pat Lynch wrote a letter saying Isaacson harbors total disdain for the active and future police officers that he teaches at John Jay College. In a Friday letter to Karol Mason, president of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Lynch demanded the immediate dismissal of Isaacson on behalf of nearly 50,000 active and retired New York City police officers who are members of the Patrolmen s Benevolent Association of the City of New York. Recent media reports have revealed Mr. Isaacson s disgusting anti-police attitudes and his gleeful embrace of political violence, including violence against police officers, as expressed in his own social media postings, Lynch wrote.Lynch continued: It is absolutely outrageous that an individual who holds and expresses these views could be employed by any academic institution, much less one that counts an overwhelming number of New York City police officers as among its students, alumni and faculty members. He wrote that Isaacson s continued presence will make it next to impossible for John Jay College to maintain any respect or credibility among the women and men who have dedicated their lives protecting this city, or among prospective students considering a law enforcement career. New York PostTucker Carlson took him to task on his support for the violent terror group Antifa, and it was awesome: | 1real |
Netanyahu: hope Trump visit will be 'milestone' for peace | TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he hoped a visit to Israel by U.S. President Donald Trump would be a “historic milestone” in achieving regional peace. “May your first trip to our region prove to be a historic milestone on the path towards reconciliation and peace,” Netanyahu said in a welcome speech to Trump. He said Israel shared the United States’ commitment to peace and that, “Israel’s hand is extended in peace to all our neighbors, including the Palestinians.” | 0fake |
A 7-Year-Old Walks Into a Stand-Up Club ... - The New York Times | When it comes to culture, I’m probably more permissive than most parents. I read H. P. Lovecraft to my Penny, and also showed her “Jaws” and “Alien,” but it wasn’t until I took her to a comedy club that I felt truly irresponsible. Parental guilt started sinking in after I persuaded a skeptical ticket taker at Carolines on Broadway to let a child see a headliner one Friday this month. As we waited for the opening acts to finish before we entered, I considered the many kinds of jokes I would not want Penny to hear and the years of therapy required to repair the damage. Noticing my mounting anxiety, she asked, “Daddy, are you about to make a mistake?” I answered honestly: “Maybe. ” At a time when heroes dominate Hollywood, cartoon characters regularly invade Broadway and kids’ karaoke entertains crowds of thousands, live remains stubbornly . Few clubs are for all ages, and there is no version of the singer Dan Zanes, a star for young audiences. Why do comics cede this market to clowns and magicians? Would kids even like performers holding microphones telling jokes onstage? Seeking some answers, I took my daughter to shows looking for comedians she would find funny and I wouldn’t find inappropriate. The comic most likely to bridge the gap between adults and children is Jim Gaffigan, who along with Brian Regan is the greatest clean comic working today. He’s so that he has performed for the pope, which also may be why he is not considered as cool as some of his peers. My daughter thought he was hilarious, although she took some time to warm up to him. Mr. Gaffigan tells jokes that kids can relate to with many references they understand. At a recent show at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. he did a bit about the horribleness of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and another about the laziness of the grandfather in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. ” And in line with the trend, he did material from the perspective of a cranky parent. When he joked about his own children, what I considered funny Penny saw as punching down. “He’s funny, but that’s mean,” she said in a debrief after the show, her hands balling up into fists. What put him back in her favor was a story he told in which he “wet himself. ” Peeing, pooping and farting are comedy classics, at least a little funny to anyone honest with themselves. But what made this delightful for Penny was that it was an adult who had the accident. “Kids sometimes pee on themselves and don’t like that,” she explained. “So when a pees on himself, it’s funny. ” Mr. Gaffigan’s intricately delivered jokes about his gluttony and sloth have the crisply simple incongruities and that any child can appreciate. When he said that his New Year’s resolution was to eat pasta every day, Penny raised her hand to her mouth to muffle her laughter. When he talked about men being gross, she whispered to me, “But he is a man. ” After saying he’s a character actor, Mr. Gaffigan paused, adding that is “secret code for ugly. ” Penny doubled over laughing, even though she had no idea what “character actor” meant. Jokes, of course, can be funny if you don’t understand every word, a truth kids grasp better than adults do. “Secret codes are just fun,” she said, matter of fact. Mr. Gaffigan’s show had gone so well that I decided to be more ambitious by taking Penny to Carolines the next night to see the charming rising comic Ron Funches. He is not as clean but has a twee, giggly delivery that I thought might appeal. It was a bad miscalculation. When I didn’t have my hands over her ears, in response to jokes with more cursing or sexual innuendo than I could handle, she was usually just confused. Staring blankly at a bit by Mr. Funches about spending more money than he has, Penny said, “I don’t get any of this. ” We left early. In retrospect, taking a child to a New York comedy club on a weekend was overly optimistic if not downright foolish. To make sure that a show is appropriate, it’s best to check with the theater in advance. I did that before seeing a set at the Peoples Improv Theater in Manhattan by the sharp New York comic Aparna Nancherla, in a new monthly show called “She Makes Me Laugh,” hosted by Laura Zabolotsky, Ashley Lara and Maria Bobila. Ms. Nancherla, whose new album is “Just Putting It Out There,” did a series of jokes commenting on slides projected on the wall. offers less visual stimulation than movies or musicals, and this set proved that a few images go a long way. Sitting in the front row, Penny was rapt during a bit poking fun at different kinds of author photos, laughing merrily at a shot of a jovial guy wearing a book like a hat. Ms. Nancherla called the look Bookhead. Midway through her set, however, the slides froze and the comic was left onstage with nothing to play off. Struggling to save her set, she made up a few jokes on the spot about the slide frozen onscreen (which as it happened just said “dad”) before prematurely ending the show. Penny was disappointed, but liked the improvisation. “It was fun to watch her make stuff up,” she said, which may help explain why it’s easier to find improv for children than . “I wanted the whole thing like that. ” By the end of my weeklong experiment, I hadn’t convinced my daughter that comedy is better than a Harry Potter movie, but she had a good time at two of the three shows. Kids are individuals, with their own taste, but the greatest comedy taps into some of the same things that the most popular children’s books do: delight in language, the purely silly and a grand sense of mischief. There’s a reasonable concern that reaching for a brand of comedy would water down the form if not compromise its essence. But aesthetic diversity is a hallmark of comedy today and a Jerry Seinfeld for children does not threaten Jerry Seinfeld. Children have always devoured — I fell in love with comedy when I was around my daughter’s age, spending hours trying to understand the jokes on my older brother’s Steve Martin album — but the accessibility of the internet has expanded the audience. It’s only a matter of time before some savvy person makes a fortune catering to this demographic. On the taxi ride home from the Peoples Improv Theater, Penny offered this potential producer some advice. “Do shows earlier,” she said, smiling hours past her bedtime. “And there should also be more making fun of . ” | 0fake |
Iranian Minister Trolls Trump, Praises Pope Francis | In a series of tweets, Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed U. S. President Donald Trump while praising Pope Francis for his alleged “denunciation of #MuslimBan” and of the Rohingya genocide going on in Myanmar. [Zarif appears to have attempted to drive a wedge between Trump and the Pope, tweeting that the world “needs leaders who urge dialogue compassion, not walls exclusion. ” Welcome @Pontifex denunciation of #MuslimBan #RohingyaGenocide. World needs leaders who urge dialogue compassion, not walls exclusion. — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) February 10, 2017, The Iranian minister was referring to a recent general audience in which Pope Francis made some extemporaneous remarks urging prayer for the persecuted Rohingya people, who are Muslims. The Pope actually never mentioned President Trump’s temporary travel ban on 7 nations that are hotbeds of Islamic terrorism, including Iran. In his remarks Wednesday, Francis asked his hearers to pray in a special way for “our Rohingya brothers and sisters. ” “Driven out of Myanmar, they go from one place to another because they are unwanted,” he said. “They are good people, peaceful people. They are not Christians, but they are good, they are our brothers and sisters. And they have been suffering for years,” Francis said. “They have been tortured, killed, simply because they follow their traditions and their Muslim faith. Let us pray for them. I invite you to pray for them to our Father in Heaven, all together, for our Rohingya brothers and sisters. ” Earlier in his address, the Pope repeated a favorite of his regarding the need to “create bridges rather than walls,” though the Vatican has insisted that this figurative expression refers to an attitude of openness to dialogue with others, and does not refer to specific walls or persons. Charles Maung Bo, the first Catholic cardinal from Myanmar (the former Burma) has called the persecution of the Rohingyas “an appalling scar on the conscience of my country. ” According to Cardinal Bo, the Rohingyas are “among the most marginalized, dehumanized and persecuted people in the world. They are treated worse than animals. Stripped of their citizenship, rejected by neighboring countries, they are rendered stateless. ” Among his recent tweets, Zarif also confirmed his support for U. S. protesters against President Trump, saying that many Iranians had also demonstrated in defiance of “threats insults” from the U. S. government. On Revolution Day, Iranians turn out in huge numbers to defy threats insults by US govt praise American people for rejecting #MuslimBan. pic. twitter. — Javad Zarif (@JZarif) February 10, 2017, Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome | 0fake |
N.C. EVENT TO CHANGE ITS NAME BECAUSE THE WORD ‘DIXIE’ IS RACIST AND ‘OFFENSIVE’? | This is political correctness run amuck with the effort of a City Councilman to change the name of a fair that s been in existence since the 50 s! The Dixie Classic Fair is suddenly an offensive name just like the Confederate flag was all of a sudden offensive. What about Dixie Crystals Sugar or Dixie Cups? Is it that any word that brings a negative emotion out in someone is banned for fear they may be offended? If everyone tried to ban a word that offended them then we d have no more words left or is it just the black community that can be offended by a word? Which is it?I LOVE THIS BILLBOARD FROM THE FAIR:WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. Every year, thousands of people flock to the Dixie Classic Fair. Whether it is the rides, the food or the history, it continues to be an annual favorite.However, Winston-Salem Councilman James Taylor told FOX8 that some of the people he represents find the Dixie Classic Fair name to be offensive. Taylor said that some people are angry with the name and believes the city should consider changing it. He added that as a city that is progressive and is continuing to move forward, they need a name that everyone can appreciate. He says his goal is to find a name that doesn t divide the people, but instead one that unites them.Taylor wanted to stress that he wants to talk to the people first, and if they don t want to change it they won t change it, saying that he will do what s best for all the people. So, we went out to the people ourselves to see how they feel. It s just a political thing. I don t think they named it that because of anything to do with race, said Michael Banner, a Winston-Salem resident who said he frequents the fair. Leave it alone. It [isn t] bothering me going over there, so I m all right with it. It doesn t make me any different because I m going whether they change the name or not, said Marion Speis, also of Winston-Salem. Different things for different strokes, [nobody is going to] go along with everything. Some said that the idea of removing Confederate symbols has gone too far and made its way to the name of the fair. OK, take the flag, that s OK; put it in a museum or something, said Marjorie Claycomb, of Winston-Salem. But they re making too much of it. I just think it s just overkill from what s going on right now, said Scott Osborne, who said he regularly attends the fair. Dixie doesn t have anything to do with being offensive towards what anyone s belief is. We continued to look for people who may be offended by the name but regardless of their gender, age or race nobody had anything negative to say about the fair or its name. It s just a name. I don t find it offensive, said Kevin Carter, who routinely brings his family to the fair. If they didn t let certain people go in, but, everybody goes. I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, there s no reason to change the name of the Dixie Classic Fair, said Dina Nelson, of Winston-Salem. I mean, it s a Southern name, but there is nothing racist about it. I don t see anything wrong with that name. Not at all. Not one bit, said Reginald Cunningham, of Winston-Salem. It s not one of my main problems that I see needs to be solved right now. The Dixie Classic Fair name has been in existence since the 1950s. Last year, the city changed the name of the venue to the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds. Via: myfox8 | 1real |
Clinton says Trump may have violated U.S. law on Cuba | CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said on Thursday that Republican opponent Donald Trump may have violated U.S. law, following a news report that one of his companies attempted to do business in Cuba. Newsweek said on Thursday that a hotel and casino company controlled by Trump secretly conducted business with Cuba that was illegal under U.S. sanctions in force during Fidel Castro’s presidency of the Communist-ruled island. (See the Newsweek article: bit.ly/2dmKH3e) “Today we learned about his efforts to do business in Cuba which appear to violate U.S. law, certainly flout American foreign policy, and he has consistently misled people in responding to questions about whether he was attempting to do business in Cuba,” Clinton told reporters on her campaign plane. Clinton and Trump are in a close race ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Newsweek, citing interviews with former Trump executives, internal company records and court filings, said the Trump company spent at least $68,000 for a 1998 trip to Cuba at a time when any corporate expenditure in the Caribbean country was prohibited without U.S. government approval. The Trump company did not spend the money directly, but funneled the cash for the Cuba trip through an American consulting firm, Newsweek said. Newsweek cited a former Trump executive as saying the goal of the Cuba trip was to give Trump’s company a foothold should Washington loosen or lift the restrictions under the U.S. trade embargo. The former executive said Trump had participated in discussions about the Cuba trip and knew it had taken place, according to Newsweek. “The efforts that Trump is making to get into the Cuba market, putting his business interests ahead of the laws of the United States ... shows that he puts his personal and business interests ahead of the laws and the values and the policies of the United States of America,” Clinton said. | 0fake |
FLASHBACK: Hillary And Raunchy Actress Discuss Desire To See Rock Star’s Penis: “I’ll look for that” [Video] | Dunham interviewed Clinton in 2015 and the topic of Kravitz s wardrobe malfunction during a Stockholm concert, viewable here, came up. Did you see the footage when his pants split? Dunham asked Clinton. No, I missed that, she replied. I mean, his stuff fell out of his pants, Dunham said. Yeah, you think I could get that, Clinton said, with Dunham adding, You can get that on YouTube. It s on YouTube? Good, I ll look for that, Clinton said.If Donald Trump had said something similar on camera, wouldn t it be considered locker room talk, if not more? | 1real |
Paul Ryan Snapped This Photo, Can You Tell What Is Wrong With It? (IMAGE) | On Saturday, Paul Ryan posted a photo to his Instagram. The photo was a mass selfie of a large group of Capitol Hill interns. It wasn t long before social media commentators noticed something very wrong with the photo.In his post, Ryan wrote: I think this sets a record for the most number of #CapitolHill interns in a single selfie. #SpeakerSelfie. So here s the photo:Photo via InstagramThat s a huge sea of white people. Now, I am sure that the interns shown in the photo have worked very hard to get to where they are; however, it is very problematic to see that the people who aid lawmakers don t even come close to representing the United States. Screenshot from InstagramScreenshot from InstagramThis isn t just a matter of one photo inaccurately describing the racial makeup of Congressional aides. According to a report released in 2015 by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, minorities are severely underrepresented on the Capital Hill. One of the key findings of the report is that: Although people of color make up over 36 percent of the U.S. population and over 28 percent of the citizen voting-age population, they represent only 7.1 percent of top Senate staffers. They report also says that, Senate offices representing states with large Hispanic and AfricanAmerican populations hire few senior staffers of color. Commentators quickly made the connection between the lack of diversity in the photo and the GOP autopsy report that concluded that the Republican Party is going to go extinct if they do not reach out to minorities and try to get them to join their ranks.Republicans hate hiring mandates but they sure know how to make a case for them, as we can clearly see from the photo.Featured image from screenshot via Instagram | 1real |
What to Cook This Weekend - The New York Times | Sam Sifton emails readers of Cooking five days a week to talk about food and suggest recipes. That email also appears here. To receive it in your inbox, register here. Good morning. Here they come, the freckled and pale, the dark and brooding alike. St. Patrick’s Day is upon us in Manhattan, a SantaCon in green. If you didn’t corn your own beef for dinner tonight, you can still buy a bag of the processed variety and simmer it off, or stop at the best deli in town to buy a couple of pounds. Crisp what you have under the broiler: Irish tacos are on the menu as promised, and they’re as fine as the air in Gweedore. What I’d like to cook this weekend: red flannel hash, off instruction Mark Bittman got a few years ago from the chef Jessica Koslow, of Sqirl in Los Angeles, to use up my leftover corned beef. Put some eggs on that and you’ll be in heaven. Also: these giant sourdough pancakes studded with fruit that Tejal Rao just wrote about this week in her sweet column for The New York Times Magazine. (You do have a sourdough starter, right? We talked about this a year ago!) Wouldn’t it be nice this weekend to learn to bake a soufflé? And to roast a chicken on top of all the bread that’s gone stale since you bought it fresh before the storm on Tuesday? You could roast tofu and squash. You could make lobster mac and cheese! And you could set yourself up nicely for a week’s worth of desk lunches by making the best roast beef for sandwiches, a vat of black bean soup and (more Jessica Koslow action!) some brown rice for a midweek rice bowl with Swiss chard and chorizo. Those are all fine weekend projects. Thousands and thousands more recipes to cook this weekend are on Cooking. (Do you dare make Florence Fabricant’s new recipe for an oyster and blue cheese pie, which uses a cool technique for cooking the oysters that she learned from the chef Fredrik Berselius of the Nordic restaurant Aska, in Brooklyn?) See what you find. Save the ones you’re interested in making to your recipe box. And then rate them when you’re finished cooking and eating. You can — and should! — leave notes on the recipes for yourself or for the public, at least if you have an interesting point to make about the process of cooking them, or successful ingredient substitutions to trumpet. And, of course, if you run into trouble with the technology or the recipes themselves, do ask for help. We’re at cookingcare@nytimes. com. Now, in case you were wondering what Irish politicians think of Beyoncé, here’s some good work from The Daily Edge. I was going to suggest that if you’re looking for a ribald thriller in the tradition of Bond, that you check out Gérard de Villiers’s “Surface to Air. ” But I can’t. It’s too racy! It’s like “007 Shades of Gray”! But do you think you could add rainbow sprinkles to this recipe, to complete the trifecta of ingredients and techniques? Maybe! Have a great weekend. I’ll be back on Sunday. | 0fake |
Even Democratic Voters Don’t Trust Hillary |
Even the Democrats don’t trust Hillary. The stats are amazing and it goes to show that this election is not even close. The details are in the following video.
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WHY DID 14 Massive Teen Mall Brawls, Including Gunfire Break Out Across America On The Day After Christmas? [VIDEO] | MASSIVE PLANNED MALL FIGHTS Broke out across the US on Monday forcing many of the malls to evacuate shoppers and close their doors.December 26 is one of the busiest shopping days of the years with after Christmas specials.Beachwood Place Mall outside of Cleveland, Ohio Officers used pepper spray to disperse a large crowd after a fight that prompted a lockdown of Beachwood Place on Monday evening, police said.At least one juvenile is in custody in connection with the fight that broke out just after 6:30 p.m. near the mall s food court, police said. The juvenile is accused of assaulting a police officer who arrived to break up the disturbance.Officers were initially called to the scene for a report of shots fired, but have since confirmed there were no gunshots, police at the scene said. Cleveland.comThey shooting in Beachwood Mall tho pic.twitter.com/MNBEes9GIp DOE BEEZY/FREEBANDZ (@DoeBoyOfficial) December 27, 2016Gunshot-like noise during fight leads to chaos at Jersey Gardens mall https://t.co/cZlblGdH7x Steven P. Miller (@sparkermiller) December 27, 2016A total of seven arrests were made during a huge fight that broke out at the Shoppes at Buckland Hills in Manchester, causing the mall to shut down early Monday night.Manchester Police said hundred of teens were involved, and that several fights broke out. The mall was shut down shortly before 6 p.m. and cleared out in response. It was supposed to remain open until 9 p.m.According to Manchester Police Capt. Chris Davis, it s typical to see more teens in the mall during the holidays. Kids are out of school. A lot of them aren t hanging out in the streets so they come here, typically, and hang out at the mall. The mall released the following statement Tuesday morning:Buckland Hills has closed for the evening. The well-being of our shoppers and retailers is our number one priority, and we take matters very seriously that disrupt the peaceful, safe environment we strive to create for our community. We are working closely with law enforcement and direct all inquiries to the Manchester Police Department. The shopping center will be open Tuesday.According to police, about 8-10 teens started fighting at around 5:30 p.m., and officers who were already at the mall broke up the fight. Then, several hundred teens at various other locations throughout the mall started fighting at the same time.Davis said some veteran Manchester officers who were at Buckland Hills on Monday night noticed more teens than usual. They just kind of sensed that something was amiss, previous to the fights actually starting. So it was just kind of a sixth-sense by some of our officers. Fox61 Fox Valley Mall wildin pic.twitter.com/UU7p0Qq7Gs Velma (@BFitman) December 27, 201614 malls nationwide shut down due to large fights, reports of shots fired, etc. Ashley Michels (@ReporterAshley) December 27, 2016Social media update on Aurora TC Mall fight. Waiting for more info from police now pic.twitter.com/gWF8mXcyFg Ashley Michels (@ReporterAshley) December 27, 2016 Gateway Pundit | 1real |
Knifeman yelling 'Allahu Akbar' shot dead after killing two in France | MARSEILLE, France/PARIS (Reuters) - Two women were stabbed to death and their assailant shot dead by a soldier in the southern French port city of Marseille on Sunday in what officials described as a likely terrorist act . Police sources said the suspect had shouted Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) in Arabic as he attacked the women, aged 17 and 20, at Marseille s main railway station. Two police sources said one had her throat slit while the other was stabbed in the chest and stomach. An Islamic State militant was responsible for the attack, the group s Amaq news agency said. The assailant was shot dead by a soldier from a military Sentinelle patrol, a force deployed across the country as part of a state of emergency declared after Islamist attacks that began almost two years ago. We have until now managed to avoid such dramatic incidents (in Marseille). I think it was a terrorist attack and the individual who was killed seems to have had several identities, Marseille mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin told reporters. Paris was rocked in 2015 by multiple attacks that killed 130 people. In 2016 a gunman drove a truck into a crowd celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 86 people. Both of these attacks were claimed by Islamic State. Other countries, including Britain, Germany and Belgium, have also suffered attacks by militants using knives, guns, explosives and driving vehicles at crowds. Some 200 police officers cordoned off the area and all roads were closed to traffic. A witness told Reuters she saw a man take out a knife from his sleeve and then stab a young girl and then a second woman, shouting what could have been Allahu Akbar . Speaking in Marseille, Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said the man had initially killed one woman and looked to be running away before returning to attack a second woman and then rush toward soldiers from the Sentinelle force who arrived on the scene quickly and shot him dead. Two police sources said the attacker had been carrying a butcher s knife, was around 30 years old and of North African appearance. One source said he was known to police for common law crimes, while another said digital analysis of fingerprints had come up with several aliases. This could be an act of terrorism, but we cannot confirm it fully at this stage, Collomb told reporters. French troops are part of a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and has thousands of soldiers in West Africa fighting al Qaeda-linked militants, operations that have made these groups urge their followers to target France. Security forces have increasingly been targeted by militants in knife attacks. A man wielding a knife attacked a soldier in a Paris metro station on Sept. 15. President Emmanuel Macron said on Twitter he was disgusted by this barbaric act and praised the calmness and efficiency of security forces. French lawmakers are due to vote on a much-criticized anti-terrorism law on Tuesday, which would see France come out of its state-of-emergency in November, although some of the powers would be enshrined into law. The number of military personnel on the ground is also due to be reduced slightly, although the force is being adapted to make it more mobile and its movements less predictable. The presence of Sentinelle soldiers, their speed and efficiency ensured that the death count was not bigger, police union official Stephane Battaglia told Reuters. | 0fake |
Pointing Fingers Over Trump’s Victory | Pointing Fingers Over Trump’s Victory November 17, 2016
After Donald Trump’s victory, Democrats and progressives have traded accusations as to what was at fault, the Establishment’s insistence on Hillary Clinton or the insurgent challenges from Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein, reports Nat Parry.
By Nat Parry
As the reality of Donald J. Trump’s victory in the Nov. 8 presidential election sets in, Democrats and progressives have been trading accusations over who – or what – may have led to this historic electoral defeat.
For progressives who backed Vermont’s independent Sen. Bernie Sanders in the primaries, the culprit is clearly the Democratic Party establishment, led by the likes of former Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and current interim DNC chair Donna Brazile, who they blame for stacking the deck against their candidate and ensuring Hillary Clinton’s nomination – despite her considerable baggage heading into the election. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. (Photos by Gage Skidmore and derivative by Krassotkin, Wikipedia)
These progressives point to Clinton’s historically low favorability ratings in national polls, and the fact that in a hypothetical one-one-one match-up between Trump and Sanders, polling data showed early on that Sanders would have likely defeated Trump easily. Trump himself seemed to understand the advantage Sanders had over him in a possible general election contest, tweeting in May 2016 that he “would rather run against Crooked Hillary Clinton than Bernie Sanders and that will happen because the books are cooked against Bernie!”
Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, Sanders was clearly more liked, even as Clinton wrapped up the nomination last summer. Gallup polling found in June 2016 that Sanders held 70 percent favorable and 18 percent unfavorable ratings among Democratic voters, while Clinton was seen favorably by 67 percent and unfavorably by 28 percent. In the aftermath of Trump’s victory – assisted by the lowest voter turnout in 20 years – some have argued that enthusiasm for Sanders could have pushed the Democrats to victory in key swing states that ultimately went to Trump.
To back up these claims, the progressive website USUncut pointed out on Nov. 10 that in five states that Sanders won in the primaries – Indiana, Michigan, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Wisconsin – the exit polling data indicated that the demographic groups that helped Trump reach 270 electoral college votes were also Sanders’s key demographics.
“Assuming that Sanders won white, rural rust belt voters in the traditionally blue states that Hillary Clinton lost,” Sanders would have won the Electoral College with a 303-235 advantage , according to this analysis.
Yet, while progressives blame the Democratic establishment for pushing an unpopular nominee – who was saddled by a federal investigation into her use of a private email server while Secretary of State, questions related to the ethics of her collecting sizable speaking fees from Wall Street firms, and suspicions over the Clinton Foundation’s dealings with foreign governments – establishment Democrats have been largely placing the blame on progressives for failing to unite behind Clinton.
Some commentators have pointed fingers at voters who decided to buck the two-party system and cast a ballot for the Green Party’s Jill Stein or the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson while others have assigned blame to Sanders for daring to mount a primary challenge against Clinton in the first place.
This was the argument of Prof. Gil Troy, who wrote at Time Magazine on Nov. 14 that “Senator Bernie Sanders earned the 2016 ‘Ralph Nader Award’ for the Leftist Most Responsible for Helping Republicans Win the Presidency.”
While acknowledging that Trump “cleverly exploited voters’ frustrations” and that “Clinton’s campaign in 2016 was as rigid and empty as it was when she lost in 2008,” Troy nevertheless argues that Sanders’ insurgent primary campaign “pushed her too far left to prevent an effective re-centering in the fall.”
Troy offers few facts or polling data to back up these claims, instead making broad-based assertions such as “just as Ralph Nader siphoned tens of thousands of votes on Election Day 2000 in Florida from Al Gore, causing the deadlock and George W. Bush’s victory, Bernie Sanders’ similar vampire effect enfeebled Hillary Clinton.”
According to this view, even running a progressive primary election challenge – much less a third-party campaign – is dangerously unacceptable, creating a so-called “vampire effect” that “siphons votes” that rightfully belong to someone else.
The Spoiler Effect
While Sanders remains the target of some criticism for costing the Democrats the election, the real vitriol is leveled at third parties and their supporters. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida.
Typical was the reaction of Newsweek senior writer Kurt Eichenwald, who published an account of an encounter he had with a fan in the Philadelphia International Airport following the election. The individual had approached Eichenwald to praise his work but nearly ended up the victim of a physical assault.
According to Eichenwald, the man, who had recognized the pundit from his television appearances, thanked him for his reporting on Trump and expressed disgust that Trump had won. Eichenwald then asked the fan who he had voted for. The man stated that he voted for Green Party nominee Jill Stein, to which Eichenwald replied: “You’re lucky it’s illegal for me to punch you in the face.” According to his account of the interaction, Eichenwald then told his fan to go “have sex with himself.”
As anyone who has ever voted for a party other than the Democrats or Republicans can attest, this is a pretty familiar reaction. In the United States’ winner-take-all electoral system, a vote for anyone outside of the two main parties is seen as a “wasted vote” that could “spoil” the election, and those who make this decision risk professional and social ostracism.
In this system, third-party voters are vilified to an extent not seen for any other voting demographic – including nonvoters who in fact account for a far greater share of the electorate, and therefore have a much bigger effect in swinging the election.
Yet, this has not stopped many pundits and social media users from piling blame onto supporters of Stein or Johnson, who are deemed reckless and irresponsible for so frivolously casting a ballot for candidates who had no chance of winning – or worse yet, as personally culpable for Trump’s victory and all the disastrous policies that might follow.
“If you vote for somebody who can’t win for president, it means that you don’t care who wins for president,” opined MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow on Election Night. She later elaborated on this wasted-vote theory, tweeting about a fanciful scenario in which every Stein vote and half of Johnson’s votes would have gone to Clinton, who might have then claimed enough states from Trump to eke out an Electoral College win, a story repeated by CNN .
In a similar vein, columnist Paul Krugman weighed in by tweeting in the early morning hours of Nov. 9 that “Jill Stein has managed to play Ralph Nader,” referring to the “spoiler effect” that the 2000 Green Party nominee allegedly had on the election 16 years ago. “Without her Florida might have been saved.”
Flawed Analysis
Setting aside rehashed arguments from 2000, when it comes to Election 2016 independent evaluations of third-party voting have concluded that the effect of this voting bloc was statistically negligible, and cannot seriously be attributed to Clinton’s defeat. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
A Wall Street Journal analysis, for example, found that Clinton would have needed to win 70 percent of the vote share that went to both the Libertarian and Green parties across eight swing states to claim victory – a highly unlikely scenario considering that the Libertarian Party champions a brand of fiscal conservatism and limited government that traditionally appeals to right-leaning, Republican voters. (Indeed, the 2016 Libertarian Party ticket was headed by two former Republican governors: Gary Johnson of New Mexico and Bill Weld of Massachusetts.)
In another analysis, the Washington Post concluded that in the five states Trump won by a margin smaller than the combined Johnson/Stein vote, some of them could have been flipped if the entire Stein vote was added to Clinton’s total. In this scenario, the Post notes, the outcome might have changed in Michigan and Wisconsin, still however leaving her short of an Electoral College victory.
The paper pointed out however that “this projection rests on the unrealistic assumption that all Stein voters would have voted for Clinton,” conceding that it is impossible to “know how Johnson and Stein backers would have voted if forced to choose between Clinton, Trump and staying home.” More realistically, many would have “skipped the presidential race or voted for another candidate .”
Besides the lack of hard statistical data to back up the wasted vote/spoiler effect claims, they also rest on a flawed assumption that anyone’s votes – whether Clinton’s, Trump’s, Johnson’s or Stein’s – actually belong to anyone else. In fact, many third-party voters are simply fed up with the system itself, and hope that by voting for other options, it might be possible to someday build up viable alternatives to the two-party system.
This was especially the case this year, in which the numbers of disaffected voters reached historic proportions. By the time the primaries had been decided last summer, in fact, the two front-runners were the most unpopular candidates seen in a generation, which should have been seen as a warning sign to Democrats who traditionally rely on high voter turnout for electoral success.
According to a Quinnipiac poll released in June, Clinton had a 57 percent unfavorability rating, while Trump received a 59 percent unfavorability rating. Moreover, according to a survey by Data Targeting, 55 percent of Americans favored having an independent or third-party presidential candidate to consider. Among millennials – a key demographic for Barack Obama’s victories in 2008 and 2012 – 91 percent expressed support for additional choices this year.
Another poll, released in September just before the Trump-Clinton debates began, found that 76 percent of Americans favored Johnson and Stein sharing the stage with the two main party candidates in the debates. This, of course, did not happen, with the Commission on Presidential Debates sticking to its strict criteria that independents and third parties need to reach 15 percent in national polling before they are allowed into the debates.
This is perhaps one reason why Americans remained largely ignorant of Stein’s and Johnson’s campaigns, with Gallup finding that 63 percent were unfamiliar with Johnson heading into the general election, and 68 percent were unfamiliar with Stein.
Voter Boycotts and Voter Suppression
Regardless of the impacts of third-party alternatives – which only ended up receiving a total of 4 percent of the popular vote – the deep disaffection among American voters that was seen in earlier polling seemed to manifest itself in other voting trends on Election Day. This disaffection can be seen in the high number of down-ballot voters who opted not to cast a ballot for president this year. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.
One telling analysis found that in 14 states, down-ballot candidates received more votes than presidential candidates.
In North Carolina, for instance, about 30,000 more people cast ballots for incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory and Roy Cooper than for any of the presidential nominees. In Vermont, about 314,000 voters cast ballots in the governor’s race, and 313,000 for the Senate, while just 291,000 voted for president – a difference of almost 8 percent.
In Oregon, where Democrats Sen. Ron Wyden and Gov. Kate Brown easily won re-election, their races drew about 75,000 more votes than the presidential contest. Other states in which down-ballot voters essentially boycotted the presidential election included Indiana, Missouri, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Besides nonvoters, another factor that should be receiving at least as much attention as third-party “spoilers” are the would-be voters who could not cast a ballot due to systematic disenfranchisement, possible voter suppression or other all-too-familiar problems at polling places. As the Brennan Center for Justice noted on Nov. 14, “too many voters had to contend with long lines, malfunctioning voting machines, confusion over voting restrictions, voter intimidation, [and] voter registration problems.”
The nonpartisan law and policy institute, which has been documenting flaws in U.S. election administration for years, notes that “2016 was not the first election in which these problems have occurred – and that itself is a problem.”
Describing numerous instances of voting problems across the country, the group concluded that “the ways in which elections are administered, including how well they are resourced, can have a negative impact on citizens’ ability to cast a ballot and the confidence the public has in the system.”
Investigative reporter Greg Palast went further than that, contending that “before a single vote was cast, the election was fixed by GOP and Trump operatives.”
He noted in a Nov. 11 blog post that in 2013, just as the Supreme Court overturned key sections of the Voting Rights Act, Republican operatives created a system called Crosscheck to purge 1.1 million Americans from the voter rolls of Republican-controlled states.
According to his count, in Michigan, the Crosscheck purge list eliminated 449,922 voters from the rolls, while Trump claimed victory in that state by just 13,107 votes. In Arizona, the Trump victory margin was 85,257 votes, while a total of 270,824 voters were eliminated by Crosscheck. The Trump victory margin in North Carolina was 177,008, while the Crosscheck purge list accounted for 589,393 voters knocked off the rolls.
Palast notes that “the electoral putsch was aided by nine other methods of attacking the right to vote of Black, Latino and Asian-American voters … including ‘caging,’ ‘purging,’ blocking legitimate registrations, and wrongly shunting millions to ‘provisional’ ballots that will never be counted.”
He also points to the discrepancies between the exit polling data and the final results in several battleground states, noting that exit polling is historically “deadly accurate.” Despite this, Palast notes that in 2016, the exit polling was off the mark in at least four key swing states.
According to the exit polls, Clinton should have won Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, but at the end of the day all of these states went to Trump. Accounting for a total of 74 Electoral College votes, these four states would have been more than enough for Clinton to have flipped the election.
And of course, this all assumes that the Electoral College is legitimate in the first place. The fact remains that Hillary Clinton received more than one million more votes nationwide than Donald Trump, and the only reason he is assuming the White House is due to the arcane and controversial system of allocating votes through the Electoral College.
This has led to increasing calls to abolish the Electoral College altogether based on the idea that elections should be determined on the principle of one person, one vote.
Needed Reforms Libertarian Party presidential nominee Gary Johnson.
Needless to say, to many around the world – not to mention many within the United States – these elections are looking less like free expressions of the people’s will than they do down-and-dirty slug fests in which either side is willing to claim a victory at any cost.
This election was observed by two international organizations in fact, and while their final reports vary to considerable degrees, both the Organization of American States and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe both criticized the tone of the election and highlighted numerous structural deficiencies in the way the United States chooses its leaders.
The OAS final report identified the following issues as representing key areas for improvement in the U.S. electoral system: taking measures to avoid long lines at polling places, broadening cooperation between states to compare information and avoid possible duplications in voter registries, expanding the practice of redistricting through nonpartisan commissions, addressing the impacts of the Supreme Court’s decision to eliminate parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, establishing better campaign finance rules, and jettisoning the divisive campaign rhetoric that has turned off so many voters from the process.
The OAS also noted the unusual practice in the United States of simultaneously mandating voter identification while not providing this required identification to eligible voters.
“Practically all countries in the region provide at least one free form of national identification to their citizens, which is used for electoral purposes,” said the OAS . “In the U.S., 32 states currently have laws in force that require voters to show some form of prescribed identification to verify their identity before casting a vote.” However, these states do not make this identification readily available to citizens, contrary to good electoral practice.
This is also a weakness that the OSCE pointed out in its report , noting: “Voter identification rules are politically divisive and vary across the states, with 32 states requiring photo identification. A high volume of litigation regarding voter identification continued up to Election Day, generating confusion among voters and election officials regarding the application of rules. Efforts to ensure the integrity of the vote are important, but should not lead to the disenfranchisement of eligible voters.”
The 57-country organization also noted the undue obstacles faced by minor parties and independents trying to compete in U.S. elections.
“The number of signatures required and the signature submission deadlines vary from state to state, which made it cumbersome for third party or independent candidates to register across all states for presidential elections,” the OSCE pointed out. “Both the Green Party and Libertarian Party challenged ballot access requirements in several states, with success in a few instances.”
The organization, which has been monitoring elections in the United States since 2004, regretted that since previous election observation missions, a number of its “priority recommendations remain unaddressed.” It pointed out that “deficiencies in the legal framework persist, such as the disenfranchisement of citizens living in various territories, restrictions on the voting rights of convicted criminals and infringements on secrecy of the ballot.”
Rather than focusing on who is to blame for Trump’s victory in Election 2016, Democrats, Republicans, progressives, independent conservatives, third-party supporters, minorities, and good-government groups might be better served coming together and finally taking seriously the task of electoral reform, beginning with addressing some of the key recommendations of impartial international observers.
Perhaps then, this perennial debate and the endless exchange of recriminations might finally come to an end.
Nat Parry is the co-author of Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. [This story originally appeared at Essential Opinion, https://essentialopinion.wordpress.com/2016/11/17/election-2016s-blame-game/ | 1real |
CLINTON FAMILY REFUSES TO RETURN ‘Dirty’ Harvey Weinstein’s Money…You Won’t Believe Why | After Bill and Chelsea Clinton both dodged reporters asking if their foundation would return donations from Harvey Weinstein, an announcement came that is pretty amazing.The Clinton Foundation WILL NOT return as much as $250,000 in donations from Harvey Weinstein, saying on Sunday the money had already been spent on the organization s programs and used for charitable purposes.WHAT? THE MONEY HAD ALREADY BEEN SPENT???The foundation s decision comes as politicians and philanthropic groups grapple with whether to return donations they have received from Weinstein, after numerous women stepped forward this month to accuse the movie mogul of sexual assault, harassment and rape.HILLARY LIES AGAIN:The Clinton Foundation faced questions about Weinstein s funding after Hillary Clinton said last week she would re-gift his campaign donations to charity. Weinstein was a major bundler for Clinton, hosting fundraising events with deep-pocketed Hollywood donors.Hillary Clinton tells @FareedZakaria she'll donate Weinstein contribs to charity as part of her usual 10% income donation to charities pic.twitter.com/I0o8M3iMCy Salvador Hernandez (@SalHernandez) October 11, 2017ALREADY SPENT???A spokesperson for the Clinton Foundation told DailyMail.com that the group will not return Weinstein s donations, which totaled between $100,000 and $250,000.WOULDN T YOU LOOOVE TO SEE THEIR BOOKS?The spokesman said the foundation already spent the money on its programs, such as lowering the cost of HIV medication and supporting women and girls in developing countries.The foundation said it supports commitments to combat human trafficking, and runs the No Ceilings Project which aims to advance the full participation of girls and women around the world through data-driven analysis on gender inequality, an in-depth conversation series, innovative partnerships, and CGI commitments. The explanation comes after foundation board member Chelsea Clinton ducked questions about Weinstein s money from a DailyMail.com reporter while attending a Clinton Global Initiative University event at Northeastern University in Boston on Saturday.The former first daughter hustled out a side door after the event, evading a reporter as she rushed to her car surrounded by aides and security.The Clinton Foundation and a spokesperson for Hillary Clinton had previously declined to comment on the Weinstein matter.Organizations have been divided on whether to return money to Weinstein, who gave to numerous political and philanthropic causes over the years.Read more: Daily Mail | 1real |
HERE’S A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY People Don’t Trust Muslims Living In Their Communities | The massive shroud of secrecy in Muslim communities around the world is what causes people to question the motives of every Muslim. Aren t non-violent Muslims who say they wouldn t report a terror plot as culpable as the radical Muslims who commit acts of terror? A new ICM poll has discovered two out of three Muslims in Britain would not give the government any information if they knew details about a terror plot.These disturbing poll results seem to indicate the government s counter-terrorism program, named Prevent, is unlikely to provide much usable information on active threats, if it passes along any information at all, The Express reports.The results also suggest the existence of a society deep inside Britain that is fundamentally opposed to its values and will actively subvert the government to protect its own members. Further questions in the survey revealed even more evidence that Muslims diverge entirely from British norms.For example, over 50 percent of Muslims think homosexuality should be illegal. A total of 23 percent of Muslims want Sharia law to become the dominant legal system in the country. Exactly 31 percent are completely comfortable with one man having multiple wives. Via: Daily CallerOn the bright side, 1/3 of British Muslims said they would report a terror plot. | 1real |
Factbox: Divided, rebellious UK parliament takes on May's Brexit plan | LONDON (Reuters) - British lawmakers will debate legislation underpinning the government s plan to leave the European Union this week, the latest stage in an arduous journey through parliament. The first two days of debate in the current stage of the process will be held in parliament on Nov. 14 and 15. A total of eight days of debate are planned during this Committee Stage , used to make changes to the government s proposed wording of the bill. Formally known as the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, the legislation will then face several more stages of approval in the lower house of parliament, and must also make its way through a multi-stage process in the upper house. Both chambers must agree on the wording before it can become law. What is the bill and what does it do? The legislation serves two main functions: 1. Repealing the 1972 European Communities Act which made Britain a member of the European Communities, forerunner to the European Union. This effectively ends Britain s EU membership. 2. Transferring the existing body of EU law into British law. This is designed to provide legal certainty about the complex process of leaving. Why is it controversial? The bill has faced criticism from opposition lawmakers, campaign groups and members of May s Conservative Party. Brexit is still divisive in Britain after a referendum in June last year, and many people, including some lawmakers, want to retain as much of the country s current EU membership as possible. Others would like to reverse the vote. May runs a minority government, which has a slim 13-seat working majority in the 650-seat parliament thanks to a deal with a small Northern Irish party. A rebellion of seven or more Conservative lawmakers could see her lose a vote in parliament and forced into making concessions. The objections are mainly based on two themes: 1. The power for the government to amend EU laws as they are brought onto the British statute book. These are often referred to as Henry VIII powers after the 16th century English monarch who ruled by proclamation. The government says it needs to be able to fix the wording of laws to ensure they work correctly after Brexit. For example, where a law refers to an EU institution which will no longer have jurisdiction in Britain, the law must be changed to point to the correct British equivalent. Critics say the bill gives ministers too much power to make changes, and creates the potential for policy shifts to be implemented without full parliamentary scrutiny. The process through which the government would make the changes already exists and is known as secondary legislation . It does allow for some degree of scrutiny by lawmakers, but would not submit changes to the full legislative process. 2. The bill does not contain a provision for parliament to vote on the final Brexit deal. The government has promised lawmakers they will get a meaningful vote on the outcome of negotiations in Brussels to decide the terms of Britain s exit and its future relationship with the bloc. As it currently stands, this vote will be on whether to accept the terms of the deal, or reject it and walk away without a deal. But critics says the promise of a vote should be written into the bill. Some also say that it should give lawmakers more options than the current take it or leave it vote. This could mean an option to send Britain back to the negotiating table. What has happened so far? The bill cleared its first parliamentary hurdle in September when, after two days of debate, lawmakers voted 326 to 290 in favor of the principles of the bill. Although the government won the vote, several Conservatives indicated they were unhappy with the details of it, and said they wanted to see concessions during the next stage. What happens next? The first two days of the Committee Stage have been scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday but the remaining six days have not yet been scheduled. Any lawmaker can submit changes for consideration. So far, 186 pages of so-called amendments have been submitted. The list will be scrutinized by parliament s deputy speaker, whittled down and grouped according to subject. The amendments to be considered will be announced at the start of each day s debate. The first two days will focus on the part of the bill that repeals the 1972 European Communities Act, the retention, conversion and interpretation of existing EU laws, and EU rights. At the end of the debate over each group of amendments, some will be put to a vote. If supported by a majority of lawmakers, the changes will be made to the bill. They can still be reversed. Once all the groups of amendments have been debated, the bill is reprinted to include any amendments passed and it moves on to the next stage in the process. Which is ...? The bill will be subject to several more stages of votes in the lower chamber and the upper chamber of parliament. The entire process will take months to complete, and there is no target end date. Report stage: Any amendments voted by the house at committee stage will pass to report stage. This is a new opportunity to add amendments. The speaker of the house oversees this process. Third reading: This takes place immediately after report stage. It usually lasts an hour and is a general discussion of the bill followed by a vote. No amendments can be made. House of Lords: The bill passes to the unelected upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords. Lords can put forward their own amendments, each of which will be discussed and decided on in turn. If the lords agree to any amendments, the bill passes back to the House of Commons for its approval. Ping Pong: If the bill passes back to the commons, they debate and vote on the lords amendments. No new amendments can be introduced. In theory the bill can continue passing back and forth between the lords and commons until the final bill is agreed upon. Royal assent: Once the bill has been agreed by both houses of parliament, it is given royal assent, when the queen formally agrees to make the bill into an Act of Parliament. | 0fake |
WORLD’S MOST POPULAR Search Engine Places FICTIONAL Story At Top Of News Feed:”Melania Trump is Lonely, Racist and Obsessed With Michelle Obama” | Google is the search engine the majority of people in the world go if they need to look up something. In fact, it is estimated that over 30 BILLION searches are performed on Google every month. Google now has a special feature for mobile users. When you go to search for a topic on Google, a news feed appears under the search bar, with what users expect to be the most popular current stories. But are they the most popular stories, or are they simply Google s contribution to the leftist propaganda machine? With all of the news breaking about Hillary s Uranium One deal with Russia, surely readers wouldn t expect to find some fictional story about Melania being a racist , as the top story on Google s mobile newsfeed or would they? Here s the story that appeared at the top of Google s news feed today:Newsweek: Melania Trump is lonely and obsessed with Michelle Obama. At least in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie s version of events anyway.The Nigerian author has penned a short story for the The New York Times style magazine, T, which paints the first lady referred to throughout only as Mrs T as the reluctant wife of the president who displays an unease with her political fame. And she s a little bit racist, too.Adichie s micronovel, Janelle Asked to the Bedroom, envisions a conversation between a forlorn Trump and her pilates instructor Janelle. The story was published on the Times website and on the T magazine Instagram page.In the short story, Janelle is unusually called to join Mrs T in her bedroom, rather than her home gym, and is surprised to find the first lady looking disheveled, her manner distracted. Adichie s fictional account also portrays Trump as envious of her predecessor s natural ease in the role of first lady. Mrs T shows Janelle a video she s been watching on YouTube of Michelle Obama visiting a classroom. She also reveals a folder full of pictures of Obama on her laptop. Look at this. I always look at them for the inspiration, she says.In this fictional world, Mrs T s only source of joy comes from her 11-year-old son, Barron. The first lady perks up speaking to her son, who is described as sweetly shy and polite, dependent on his mother for his sense of self. But Adichie s imagined Trump also exhibits a casual racism that her husband, President Donald Trump, is often accused of sharing.Mrs T makes a prejudicial remark when Janelle informs her that her son has been accepted to Harvard University. He got scholarship to go? she asks. How automatic, this assumption of a scholarship, and Janelle knew she meant a scholarship not of smarts but of skin, writes Adichie.Janelle Asked to the Bedroom follows an earlier, pre-election short story by Adichie, The Arrangements, also written for the Times.In that story, published in June 2016, Trump quietly doubts her husband s chances of winning the presidency. It also depicts a strained relationship between her and Donald Trump s children from previous marriages, particularly Ivanka Trump, whose close relationship with her husband she envies.Why would Google choose to put that ridiculous story of pure fiction about Melania, that claims she s a racist at the top of their newsfeed? Who, at Google is in charge of deciding which news stories will appear at the top of the feed? Let s take a look at the next two stories, following the fictional Melania smear story:The next most popular story on Google s news feed was about Hillary. The story wasn t about what is likely the biggest political scandal in American history, as a massive coverup that involves former Sec of State Hillary Clinton, Rober Mueller, Jim Comey, Barack Obama, Rod Rosenstein, Andrew McCabe and Bill Clinton, it was instead, about how the spies that Hillary helped to send back to Russia after the FBI caught them, were coming ever closer to her, while they were here in the U.S. spying. The next most popular story on Google s newsfeed was about the media s obsession with Rex Tillerson abandoning his post as Trump s Sec of State. Even though Tillerson has denied those claims, Google s third story in their line up was about who Tillerson s replacement will be:So, where s a reader to go when they re just looking for a list of top stories without the propaganda? | 1real |
Oregon Militant’s Family Doesn’t Believe He Had A Gun (VIDEO) | On January 29, the family of LaVoy Finicum released a three page statement questioning the FBI s narrative of his death. While there s no doubt Finicum s family would like to remember him as a hero and a martyr, the difference between what actually happened and the fantasy-filled version of events outlined in the statement is both sad and scary.LaVoy Finicum was a member of an armed group of militants who seized control of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon earlier this month.On January 26, more than three weeks after the group first seized control of the federal property, authorities apprehended seven of the militiamen. Finicum was shot by FBI agents after he reached for a weapon, while attempting to escape arrest.Video of the shooting, taken from a helicopter which hoovered above the scene, was released by the FBI a short time after Finicum was shot.The video evidence destroys the narrative being pressed by right-wing extremists, who claimed Finicum was gunned down in cold blood, while on his knees, with his hands in the air. Thanks to The Oregonian, we can see exactly what happened in the moments leading up to LaVoy Finicum s death.The video below shows the crucial moments from the FBI s footage slowed down and magnified. There is no doubt that Finicum went for a gun.Finicum s single moment in the sun came earlier this month, when he was interviewed by MSNBC s Tony Dokoupil at the Malheur refuge.During the interview, an armed Finicum told Dokoupil that he had no intention of allowing authorities to arrest him. Watch the interview here.In spite of an overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary, the three page statement released by the family of LaVoy Finicum attempts to portray Finicum as an innocent victim of the evil government. They blame everyone except the criminals from the FBI to Oregon governor Kate Brown for Finicum s death.The family claims that authorities were not patient enough with the militants. That s in spite of the fact that the armed group was allowed to remain at the refuge, unimpeded, for nearly a month. Over that time period, they were given warning after warning, and provided with every opportunity to leave. They continued to break the law and threaten the community.The statement also claims that a peaceful solution was in the works. The first observation is that from what we understand, the occupation was on track toward a peaceful resolution. LaVoy and those he was with were en route to a public meeting in an adjoining county when they were stopped in something far different than a routine traffic stop, as has been portrayed by the media. Unfortunately, the powers that be were not interested in being patient enough for the occupation to come to a peaceful end. Again, the truth contradicts this statement.In this video, posted to his own YouTube account on January 22, Finicum assured his followers that the group was not getting ready to capitulate. He went on to say Rest assured, we are not getting ready to leave, and for those of you who are worried that we are about ready to negotiate with the FBI, that is not the case. That is not going to happen. The militants were also not on their way to any ordinary public meeting when they were apprehended by the FBI. They were on their way to hold a secretive mock trial of public officials, known within the sovereign citizens movement as a Citizen s Grand Jury. In other words, the threat the group presented to the residents of Harney County was escalating, not being resolved as the statement claims.But of all the fantasy-based ideas presented in the letter, the one that stands out the most is this: The FBI claims that LaVoy had a loaded firearm in an inside pocket of his coat. After re-reviewing the extended video, at this point we are not accepting at face value the FBI s statement that LaVoy was actually armed. At no point during the group s occupation of the Federal Wildlife Refuge was LaVoy Finicum not armed.He holstered a .45 caliber pistol to his side and slept with a shotgun on his lap.We know from his own public statements that he had no intention of being arrested alive.While Finicum s family is undoubtedly grieving his loss, the facts remain unchanged. The man was neither a martyr, a hero nor an innocent victim. He was not killed in cold blood by the FBI.Here s the family s statement, via Fox 13.Finicum Family Statement 1.29.2016G*Featured image credit: video screen capture LaVoy Finicum on youtube | 1real |
Russell Brand’s Back on ‘The Trews’ and He’s Got Quite a Bit to Say About the U.S. Elections (Video) | $23 Russell Brand’s Back on ‘The Trews’ and He’s Got Quite a Bit to Say About the U.S. Elections (Video) Posted on Nov 2, 2016
The comedian and political activist reveals his views on both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, neither of which he thinks should be president, and posits that both of their campaigns, with their ultimately meaningless slogans, are nothing but reality TV. | 1real |
ESPN’s Sage Steele Under Attack for Criticizing Airport Protests After She Missed a Flight - Breitbart | The disruptions caused by protesters at Los Angeles International airport caused ESPN host Sage Steele to miss a flight. Now Steele is under attack for jumping to Instagram to rail about the protests that caused her such inconvenience. [On Friday, President Trump issued his temporary moratorium on immigration from a list of seven countries the Obama administration had flagged as “countries of concern” back in 2015. Almost immediately liberal activists flooded into several big city airports across the country to protest the order. One of those groups of disruptors descended upon LAX just as NBA Countdown host Steele was attempting to catch a flight, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. Steele complained that the protesters caused her to walk nearly two miles in order to catch a flight to Houston and delayed her long enough for her to miss the flight. Steele felt exasperated enough to jump on her Instagram account and decry the protesters for causing “elderly and parents with small children” to have to walk long distances to reach flights. “I love witnessing people exercise their right to protest! But it saddened me to see the joy on their faces knowing that they were successful in disrupting so many people’s travel plans,” she added. But not long after posting her complaint, some of her sports reporter colleagues began to slam her for attacking the protesters. On Twitter, Sports Illustrated writer Michael Silver slapped Steele, saying the protesters were “right” for doing what they did. Sometimes standing up for what’s right provokes inconvenience and all … https: . — Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 30, 2017, Steele replied that Silver didn’t actually read what she wrote. @MikeSilver better, more effective ways to do it, Silver! my post. Don’t worry — we can arm wrestle over it this week in Houston, — Sage Steele (@sagesteele) January 30, 2017, Julie another wealthy, white reporter for ESPN, also chided Steele for her Instagram post. I understand the inconvenience of missing a flight etc, but why people are protesting inhumane is much bigger than that. https: . — Julie (@JSB_TV) January 30, 2017, Steele again replied that must have missed the part where she said she supports people protesting for their political ideals and told to her Instagam post. Steele has engaged in political debate in the past. Last year she slammed the players protesting the national anthem, warning people to “look up the word democracy. ” Hey @MikeEvans13_ look up definition of the word DEMOCRACY remember this pic while your right to protest #perspective pic. twitter. — Sage Steele (@sagesteele) November 14, 2016, The ESPNer also slammed African Americans for attacking other African Americans for having opinions that run contrary to the wisdom. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0fake |
The Revolutionary Reforms Of Peter The Great | Peter the Great (1672-1725) was one of the pivotal figures of Russian history. His reforms were a product of his personality and his vision for what he wanted Russia to become; and sometimes in history, personality matters more than those vague “historical forces” that professional historians like to imagine as controlling the destinies of men.
Russia in his day was still half-barbarous. To rule her he had to be an absolute monarch, and never for a moment doubted his right to be so. His personal habits say much about him: he had little need for sleep, regularly working for fourteen hours (or more) per day. Alcohol was considered, then as now, an acceptable escape from the drudgery of rule; but he knew when to limit his intake, and forbade his ministers from excessive consumption. His sexual appetites were as normal as any man’s, but he showed little interest in the kind of conspicuous indulgence that characterized most of his contemporaries in western Europe.
He did make a point of choosing mistresses of lowly origin, rather than from titled families; he had no desire for intellectual competition in the bedroom. When Frederick II of Denmark teased him about the type of women he chose, his response was “Brother, my women do not cost me much, but yours cost you thousands of crowns which might be better spent elsewhere.”
He chose to spend most of his time in the city that bore his name, St. Petersburg. He liked maritime affairs, and wanted to be near the sea. He disliked the atmosphere of Moscow, with its abundance of clergy and freezing winters. It was the army that first felt the effect of his modernization programs. Peter introduced conscription, a professional officer class, and defined periods of service; his naval program was less effective, and most of the vessels built during his reign were not of high quality.
He realized that he would never be able to make Russia into a great power unless he changed the mentality and outlook of the people. And like many rulers before and after him, he underestimated just how difficult this task would prove to be. After his death, many of his reforms were permitted to wither on the vine; but at least some tentative first steps had been made that future monarchs might draw inspiration from. By imperial decree he banished beards in 1698 (an exception was made for the Orthodox Patriarch); this was a shocking step in a country where whiskers had become a symbol of piety and fidelity. Those who insisted on keeping them could do so by paying an income-adjusted annual tax. We are told that some distraught peasants obsessively saved their shaved facial hair, lest they incur some disfavor from the saints.
But there was method to Peter’s apparent madness. He understood that appearance and thought are connected, and that if a man wished to change one, he had to change the other. In 1700 Peter decreed that all royal officials had to adopt Western-style clothing. Trousers and cloaks were acceptable; caftans or overly “oriental” garb was not. Like Kemal Ataturk two centuries later, he had no patience for backsliders or protesters, whom he swept aside ruthlessly. In social relations, he ended for good the traditional practice of secluding women from public intercourse with men, a habit that had probably been an inheritance from the Mongols.
These reforms gained Peter some bitter enemies among the clergy. For centuries the Russian ecclesiastic establishment had held a near monopoly on education and rural social life; Peter’s reforms threatened to erode this base, and they saw in him an implacable enemy of traditional belief. They also suspected him of having had too much contact with western Europeans, a fact that–it seemed to them–made him nearly an atheist. Peter did not help matters by openly mocking their rituals and folkways; as he saw matters, it was his responsibility to bring Russia up to par with the other advanced nations of the day, and resistance from obscurantist clerics could not be tolerated.
Peter solved this problem for a time by making himself the head of the Orthodox Church in 1700 when Patriarch Adrian died. He did not appoint a successor, and went one step further in 1721 by abolishing the title of patriarch altogether. In its place he formed a council of clerics that he himself would appoint; with this measure, the Church effectively became an arm of the state. Ecclesiastical grumbling was audible, but Peter wisely refused to venture into disputes with the priests over religious doctrine. He cared about power, not theology.
Slowly he made progress in industrialization. This frankly could only be done with dictatorial power, and to this end he reorganized the traditional Russian boyar system. In place of the old aristocracy, a new one arose that was based on military and civil function. His rule saw some success in mining and textile work: when Peter died in 1725, Russia was exporting iron, and state-sponsored factories made modest gains in cloth manufacture. Protective tariffs were used to shelter the new industries from suffocating foreign competition.To pay for all this, Peter unashamedly taxed everyone in his realm to the limits of their tolerance. State tax revenues rose from 1.4 million rubles in 1680 to 8.5 million in 1724. The majority of this revenue went to the military.
A Russian boyar
Ambitious plans existed for education, too. Peter ordered the old Slavonic alphabet used by the Church to be replaced by a new system (based on Greek letters). He imported printing presses, founded institutes, and organized professional associations to spread the ideas that were current at the time in western Europe.
What was the net result of all this effort? The picture was a mixed one. Reformers are not usually popular, as by their very nature they are required to focus attentions in different directions. Men and horses do not appreciate new stirrups. The peasantry–already used to a harsh existence–found themselves taxed to exhaustion; Moscow became filled with paupers who alternated between banditry and begging. The nobles hated him with the same ferocity as the French nobles hated Richelieu, and for the very same reason: because he forced them to serve the nation rather than each other.
As his unpopularity grew, Peter resorted more and more to the whip and the dungeon to implement his designs. Perhaps there was no other way. But at the very least, his example pointed the way for future authoritarian leaders who would drag Russia, kicking and screaming, into the modern era. Some of his achievements were lasting and significant, and some were not. In history, even great men must contend with the limitations of their era, and try to balance their own vision with the possibilities granted them by circumstance. It is on this precarious tightrope that all great men walk.
Read More : 4 More Countries To Emigrate To If The West Collapses
| 1real |
Senator McCain says he will offer Afghanistan strategy in September | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator John McCain said on Monday he would offer a plan for a U.S. strategy in the war in Afghanistan as an amendment to a defense authorization bill in September. “Eight years of a ‘don’t lose’ strategy has cost us lives and treasure in Afghanistan,” McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement. “When the Senate takes up the National Defense Authorization Act in September, I will offer an amendment based on the advice of some our best military leaders that will provide a strategy for success in achieving America’s national interests in Afghanistan.” | 0fake |
EU sticks to Libya strategy on migrants, despite human rights concerns | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is determined to go on preventing migrants setting off from the coast of Libya, interior ministers said on Thursday, despite criticism from rights advocates who say the strategy is aggravating human suffering. After more than two years struggling to stem the flow of refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa, the EU is now showing signs of optimism that it is finally in control. A 2016 deal with Turkey effectively closed one major migratory route and this year Italy has led the EU s efforts to curb sea crossings from Libya, supplying money, equipment and training for Libya s border and coast guard, and striking deals with local groups in control on the ground in a country still largely lawless after the 2011 death of Muammar Gaddafi. Mediterranean crossings have dropped from nearly 28,000 people in June to below 10,000 in August, according to U.N. data. Sources told Reuters late last month a new armed group on Libya s coast was stopping migrant boats from leaving. Human rights groups decry the EU s support for Libya s Prime Minister Fayez Seraj and allied militias who run migrant detention centers they have compared to concentration camps. The top U.N. human rights official said the EU strategy was very thin on the protection of the human rights of migrants inside Libya and on the boats, and silent on the urgent need for alternatives to the arbitrary detention of vulnerable people. To offset that, the bloc has stepped up financing for the U.N. agencies for migration (IOM) and refugees (UNHCR) to have them try to improve conditions for migrants inside Libya. We also need to redouble our efforts to provide assistance to the migrants stranded in Libya and .... exposed to unacceptable, inhumane treatment and human rights violations, EU s migration chief, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told journalists. But the EU is not changing tack on keeping them there. If we look at the flows of migrants across the Mediterranean a few months ago and now, the decrease in illegal migration has been big in numbers, Estonia s Interior Minister Andres Anvelt said ahead of talks in Brussels with his EU peers. We ll have a discussion about how to have this success story going on. Avramopoulos said the bloc s executive European Commission backed a U.N. call to resettle a further 40,000 refugees from Libya, Egypt, Niger, Ethiopia and Sudan, an effort to offer legal ways into the EU instead of smuggling or trafficking. Germany s Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters: I m happy that the number of people sent across the Mediterranean by the smugglers to Italy has really fallen in the last two months ... These developments need to be carried on. We really need to work to ensure that many people simply do not make the trip across the desert to Libya. The neighborhood policy with Africa is very important for a sustainable decline in migrants coming to Italy. Struggling to come up with a plan, the EU has increasingly let Libya s former colonial power Italy take the lead. Interior Minister Marco Minniti has sponsored those efforts, curbing the sea operations of non-governmental aid groups and striking deals with Libyan mayors to fight people-trafficking, among other moves. Rome has also played a central role in training the Libyan coast guard, which has been accused of abuses, including shooting at aid workers trying to rescue migrants. The EU has denied that any of its funding goes to the militia in the coastal city of Sabratha, which has often prevented migrants from departing for Europe by locking them up. But a senior EU diplomat said the EU s strategy was complex. It is hard to know exactly what is going on in Libya. We have increasingly entrusted Italy with doing the job there, we give them money. There would never be any proof of EU money going directly to some armed group somewhere, the person said. Some of the methods may seem controversial. But there is also preventing loss of life at the sea and political stability in Italy to consider. We shouldn t be too judgmental. | 0fake |
Youth Pastor Rapes Teen Girl And Church Demands She Apologize To Her Rapist’s Wife | This church in Ohio apparently doesn t understand who the victim is here.Columbia Road Baptist Church in North Olmsted actually banned a teenage girl and her family from attending services until she apologizes to the wife of the man who sexually abused her.Youth pastor Brian Mitchell had a wife and three kids, but that didn t stop him from targeting a 16-year-old girl who was simply seeking spiritual guidance at the church.Mitchell began by texting the girl constantly and complained about his wife. The text messages stopped temporarily after church leaders found out about the texts. But since church officials neglected to report Mitchell to the police he pretty much figured he could do whatever he wanted so he moved on to forcibly kissing the underage girl. Then he began sexually abusing her while driving her home.The sexual abuse would continue for the next month and the girl became depressed.Finally, Mitchell was arrested and sentenced to serve ten years in prison after Judge Patrick Corrigan refused to buy his excuse that he loved the girl. Your delusional excuse that there were emotions and love involved is troubling, the judge said. That s extremely delusional. What s also delusional is that the Columbia Road Baptist Church actually thinks the teenage girl their employee raped somehow owes Mitchell s wife an apology.During testimony, the girl s mother revealed that the church basically blamed her daughter for the whole situation and told them not to come back to the church until an apology has been made. Rather than comply with the ridiculous demand, the family just stopped attending church altogether.Rather than rally around the victim in her time of need, the church instead chose to rally around the rapist. You know, because Jesus.Frankly, the church should be slapped with a lawsuit for not reporting Mitchell s harassment of the teen in the first place. Church leaders knew Mitchell was obsessively texting this girl and they basically did nothing which only emboldened him to go further.Mitchell should not be the only one held responsible for how this girl was treated. Church leaders should be punished as well. And any congregant who actually believes the church was right to demand an apology from the victim is no true Christian. They are as fraudulent as the church they attend.Featured Image: Columbia Road Baptist Church Facebook Page | 1real |
Poll: Trump Reaches 50 Percent Support Nationally for the First Time | Donald Trump has reached 50 percent support from Republicans and Republican-leaners nationally for the first time since the beginning of the NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking Poll in late December. This milestone is significant as the 2016 primary heads into its final few weeks of contests, as there has been intense speculation that Trump's support has a ceiling. Though his support has hovered in the high 40s since mid-March, the front-runner had yet to secure half of Republican voters.
These results are according to the latest NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking poll conducted online from April 18 to April 24 of 10,707 adults aged 18 and over, including 9,405 registered voters.
Support for Trump among most demographic groups has remained consistent in this week's tracking poll compared to previous weeks. However, when just looking at Republicans, excluding independents who lean toward the Republican Party, he now enjoys 49 percent support compared to 43 percent last week. This 6-point gain is important, as Trump usually does well among independents, but has struggled to win over more traditional Republicans so far. Support for both John Kasich (15 percent) and Ted Cruz (28 percent) is down among Republicans compared to the past few weeks.
This traction among those who identify as belonging to the Republican Party will be significant as the Republican primary heads into closed primary races in Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Delaware Tuesday. Rhode Island utilizes a hybrid primary in which only those who are registered as unaffiliated can vote in either party's primary.
Overall, this week's 6-point swing — Trump up 4 points, Cruz and Kasich down 2 points — is the biggest weekly shift in the poll so far. Combined with his significant win in New York, Trump's rise nationally could be an early sign of consolidation within the Republican Party.
The NBC News|SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking poll was conducted online April 18 through April 24, 2016 among a national sample of 10,707 adults aged 18 and over, including 9,405 who say they are registered to vote. Respondents for this non-probability survey were selected from the nearly three million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. Results have an error estimate of plus or minus 1.4 percentage points. For full results and methodology for this weekly tracking poll, please click here. | 0fake |
Anonymous Donor Pays $2.5 Million To Release Everyone Arrested At The Dakota Access Pipeline | A Caddo Nation tribal leader has just been freed after spending two days behind bars in North Dakota. Family members say she was simply an innocent bystander in a clash between police and protesters, and was not guilty of anything the police claimed.
Via AlternativeNews
Jessi Mitchell, of local News 9 reports that “family members of Caddo Nation chairwoman Tamara Francis-Fourkiller said an anonymous donor paid $2.5 million late Saturday afternoon to release everyone arrested on Thursday at the Dakota Access Pipeline site.”
They added, however, that Francis-Fourkiller was never supposed to have been arrested in the first place. “An expert on sacred burial grounds , Francis-Fourkiller was one of the tribal leaders visiting the Sioux of Standing Rock to advise them during negotiations with the Dakota Access Pipeline construction team,” Mitchell continues. “Remains were being desecrated in this pipeline, so they had asked a bunch of people to come up there, so there’s a big conference,” Francis-Fourkiller’s sister Loretta Francis explained.
On the visit , Francis said her sister and other leaders decided to tour the protest camps. They never thought they would wind up in jail. Francis said her sister had no access to her medication while in custody in Cass County, North Dakota, and now faces charges of conspiracy and rioting. “Part of my family was removed on the Trail of Tears and they came here to Oklahoma and they suffered,” said Francis. “I always feel like each generation – our parents, our grandparents – try to make it better for the next generation and they certainly didn’t want this for my sister.”
Dozens of Native Americans from Oklahoma tribes had gathered Saturday afternoon at the state Capitol, according to Mitchell, with the purpose of voicing their “anger at the treatment of the protesters in North Dakota, pointing out this week’s acquittal of armed protesters at an Oregon wildlife refuge earlier this year.”
“We’re not holding guns. We’re not armed, and when we see the military right here in the US use that on us, it’s shameful,” Comanche Nation tribal council member Sonya Nevaquaya explained.
One of the fundamentals of all Native American tribes is the protection of the land. Chanting “Water is life!” Saturday, the Oklahoma demonstrators hope to rally people from around the country to stand with those in North Dakota and stop construction on the pipeline project. “These pipelines, you hear of a lot of bursts and leaks and it contaminating the waters. What happens when all of our waters and resources are gone?” Nevaquaya explained. Francis-Fourkiller says she will be traveling back to her home in Norman as soon as possible.
| 1real |
Saudi Arabia says farewell to King Abdullah | (CNN) Thousands gathered in Riyadh on Friday to say farewell to Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, a cautious reformer who succeeded in securing broader freedoms in the conservative kingdom, but fell short in gaining greater independence for women.
Abdullah died early Friday, several weeks after the state-run Saudi Press Agency said he was suffering from pneumonia and had been admitted to a hospital . The royal court didn't release an exact cause of death. He was 90.
To ensure a smooth transition, the kingdom quickly appointed his 79-year-old half-brother, Salman bin Abdulaziz, to the throne. His half-brother Prince Muqrin, a decade younger, is the new crown prince.
After Friday afternoon prayers at Riyadh's Imam Turki Bin Abdullah Grand Mosque, the body of Abdullah, wrapped in a pale shroud, was carried from the mosque toward a cemetery, followed by a solemn procession of Saudi men in traditional dress.
He was later laid to rest after a simple, swift ceremony. Those present at the graveside -- the royals closest to the late king -- were then to move on to a royal palace, where they were to pay their respects to the new monarch.
The ceremony of "al Bayaah," or pledging of allegiance to the new king, followed the funeral.
Condolences and remembrances poured in from all corners of the globe.
"To God we belong and indeed to him we shall return," said the homepage of the English-language Saudi newspaper Arab News.
Bahrain, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, among others, declared days of mourning. The U.N. secretary-general praised Abdullah for his Arab Peace Initiative to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said he would lead a delegation "in the coming days" to pay respects.
"King Abdullah's life spanned from before the birth of modern Saudi Arabia through its emergence as a critical force within the global economy and a leader among Arab and Islamic nations," U.S. President Barack Obama said in a statement.
Speaking to CNN's Richard Quest in Davos, Switzerland, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he expects no changes in his government's relations with Saudi Arabia.
"I don't anticipate anything based on the conversation we have had, no," he said.
In an address to the nation -- his first televised appearance since becoming king -- Salman offered his condolences to the Saudi people.
"We will, with God's will and power, adhere to the straight path this country followed since its establishment by King Abdulaziz and his sons after him, and will not deviate at all from it, since our constitution is the book of Allah (Quran) and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed," he said.
He also spoke of the "desperate need" for unity and solidarity among the followers of Islam, saying Saudi Arabia would continue to promote that.
He had already issued six royal decrees Friday, the Saudi Press Agency reported, including appointing Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdulaziz as the deputy crown prince.
Salman, who has 1.33 million followers on Twitter but follows no one, changed his Twitter handle to @KingSalman.
In the context of the kingdom's conservative circles, Abdullah was seen as a reformer and often came up against more hardline clerics.
After ascending to the throne, Abdullah took steps toward broader freedoms and invested some of the country's vast oil wealth in large-scale education and infrastructure projects.
"He was really quite (an) extraordinary figure. He was probably the most progressive and liberal-minded king of Saudi Arabia since King Faisal, which is a long time ago, in the early 1970s," CNN's Fareed Zakaria said about Abdullah, whom he described as "much loved."
"I had the opportunity to meet with him once, and what you got a sense of was somebody who really was determined to move his country forward," Zakaria said. "It's a conservative country and a conservative society -- and he kept emphasizing that to me -- but he was very clear in the direction he wanted to go."
However, resistance from conservative factions hindered some of his efforts, leaving many women, in particular, disappointed by a lack of progress toward greater independence.
Under Abdullah's leadership, the country slowly squashed al Qaeda, capturing or killing its leaders in the kingdom, forcing the remnants underground and sidelining radical preachers.
It also took a more prominent role in international affairs.
"Remember, the last time the price of oil fell like this, the Soviet Union collapsed," said Zakaria. "That said, the successor is a very competent man."
He added: "I don't expect any major shift, but it marks a big change, and we'll have to see what the new king is like." | 0fake |
Dylan, Polite? It Ain’t Him, Babe - The New York Times | STOCKHOLM — “I’m Not There” was the title of a 2007 movie about the exquisite elusiveness of the singer Bob Dylan. It is also the unofficial theme of the week in Stockholm, where Mr. Dylan, who won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, is not here to accept it. He has not been here for anything else, either. He did not attend the traditional news conference. He did not deliver the traditional lecture. He did not make the traditional visit to a local school, or take part in the traditional fancy dinner with the Swedish Academy, which awards the literature Nobel every year. (All those events were canceled.) And as he said before, he will not be at the ceremony on Saturday, when the literature prize is to be awarded along with the medicine, economics and science prizes, or at the banquet afterward. Though Mr. Dylan has sent a message of thanks to be read aloud, he has not dispatched someone to accept the award on his behalf, as other have done. “From a P. R. viewpoint, it’s been a disaster,” said Jens Liljestrand, the book editor at the Swedish newspaper Expressen. “It’s been a very unfortunate autumn for the Swedish Academy. ” Mr. Dylan’s absence seems of a piece with his legendarily perverse unpredictability. But it has also saddled the highly secretive academy, which is nearly as inscrutable as Mr. Dylan, with the difficult task of explaining to the world why it does not feel insulted. As the debate rages in Sweden — is Mr. Dylan’s behavior simple rudeness? a fear of being thrust into the Nobel spotlight? some sort of elaborate piece of performance art? — the academy has taken the position, at least publicly, that none of it matters. “I completely respect his decision, and I assume that he has very good reasons for not coming,” Sara Danius, the academy’s permanent secretary, said in an interview. “He may be completely booked, or he may have personal reasons. ” But in a Nobelcentric place where the literature prize is such big news that people gather around their television sets every October to hear the announcement, Mr. Dylan’s absence has been seen as faintly embarrassing at best. “Having a Nobel Prize without a Nobel Prize winner is not much fun,” said the writer and former publisher Per Gedin. Some Swedes have spoken wistfully about what he is missing. “It’s a really warm and welcoming program arranged to make the winner happy,” said the publisher Dorotea Bromberg, who recalled shepherding J. M. Coetzee, the South African writer, around Stockholm when he won the literature prize in 2003. Initially, Mr. Coetzee was reluctant, she said, but “day by day he warmed up” and actually ended up enjoying himself. Mr. Dylan is not the only winner in recent years who has failed to appear. Others include Alice Munro, Doris Lessing, Harold Pinter and Elfriede Jelinek, but their reasons had to do with illness, old age and, in the case of Ms. Jelinek, various prohibitive phobias (crowds, flying). In each case, the winner either delivered a lecture that was filmed and transmitted to Stockholm or had the lecture read aloud. Mr. Dylan’s absence, however, does seem consistent with his general approach. “He’s behaved so strangely for so many years that if he would show up now and be cheerful and pleased, you’d be surprised,” said Daniel Sandstrom, the literary director at the publisher Albert Bonniers. Also, he said, Mr. Dylan’s politeness (or not) should have no bearing on whether he deserves to win the prize. “It would be very bad to award it just to nice people,” he said. Worse, in the view of some, is that Mr. Dylan’s win may disqualify other Americans, like Don DeLillo and Philip Roth, from winning, at least in the near future. Mr. Dylan is the first American laureate to win since Toni Morrison did so in 1993. “It’s very unkind, to put it mildly, to give it to an American but to give it to the wrong American,” said Mr. Gedin, who believes the prize should have gone to a more traditional writer. The academy is accustomed to unconventional behavior from Nobel laureates, who do not always exhibit unalloyed joy when they get the notifying telephone call. Some are scared some seem almost irritated some instruct their spouses to say they cannot come to the phone some affect an air of insouciant indifference. With the Belarussian journalist Svetlana Alexievich, who won last year, there was a language issue. “I tried French I tried German,” Ms. Danius said. “She didn’t understand what I was saying, although she did understand ‘Nobel’ and ‘prize. ’” But Mr. Dylan’s behavior has been at the extreme end of the spectrum, starting from a failure, for nearly two weeks, to respond to Ms. Danius’s phone and email messages. “Strange things have happened before, but nothing on this level,” said Per Wastberg, the chairman of the Nobel Committee at the academy. Ms. Danius’s assertion that Mr. Dylan’s behavior is not a concern — “The important thing is that the Nobel Prize in Literature belongs to Bob Dylan,” she said — is testament to the academy’s view of itself as impervious to outside criticism and pressure. Highly secretive about its inner workings, it exists as something of a paradox: both steeped in the world literary community and strangely apart from and above it. Founded to promote Swedish language and literature by King Gustaf III in 1786, the academy took on the Nobel literature responsibilities in 1901, the first year the prize was awarded (the winner was the French author Sully Prudhomme). Its 18 members, who serve until they die (they can stop attending meetings, but they cannot resign) are an idiosyncratic collection of writers, academics and specialists in — and advocates for — particular areas of literature. Each year, the academy invites academic institutions, scholars, literary organizations, former laureates and others to put forth nominees. You are not meant to nominate yourself, though it happens all the time. “We get at least one letter a week from someone who says, ‘I’m fantastic — you should read my book,’” Ms. Danius said. (These applicants are automatically disqualified.) Winners must have previously made the shortlist at least once, and it seems that Mr. Dylan’s name had been kicking around for a while. The prize is meant to reward a life’s body of work, notwithstanding that even great writers produce material that not everyone loves. “Doris Lessing was on the shortlist for quite a while before my time, and then she wrote a series of novels that sank her in the view of the academy,” Mr. Wastberg said. However, her name was resurrected — in part because of her autobiography — and she won the prize in 2007. And what of Mr. Dylan’s Nobel lecture, which under the terms of the prize is required to be given within six months of the ceremony? Rumor has it that he’ll be in Stockholm next spring, “though the details are still unclear,” Ms. Danius said, and he has said nothing about giving a speech. “I’m not sure a regular concert will do it,” she added. “But the Swedish Academy always tries to accommodate the laureate’s wishes, so if that’s what he’d like to propose, I’m certain there is a way. ” | 0fake |
JUDGE NAPOLITANO: James Comey’s Pre-Testimony Reveals Trump Did Nothing Illegal [Video] | Judge Napolitano just took the fun out of the Democrat s party tomorrow They have nothing! It s what we ve known but it s great to hear from Napolitano who is a fair guy. It doesn t appear as though these conversations that the president had with Director Comey could constitute the level of constitutional obstruction of justice necessary to commence any further proceedings like impeachment like Democrats want to do. Judge NapoltanoEARLIER TODAY INTEL DIRECTORS SPOKE UP ON THE FACT THAT TRUMP DID NOTHING: The Senate Intel Committee is holding an open hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act today and the intel directors are saying there is nothing to the claim that Trump asked anyone to shut down an investigation: NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers says he s never been directed to do anything he deems illegal, immoral or inappropriate. NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers say he s never been directed to do anything he deems illegal, immoral or inappropriate. pic.twitter.com/hIuLdo2G6M Fox News (@FoxNews) June 7, 2017He dropped the line that should shut down the Trump witch hunt for good but you know it won t. The press is already spinning this one. Senator Marco Rubio even doubled down and asked a similar question (Video below)Rubio: Has anyone asked you to issue a statement you knew to be false?NSA Dir.: I standby my statement. Natl Intel Dir.: I do likewise.Rubio: Has anyone asked you to issue a statement you knew to be false? NSA Dir.: I standby my statement. Natl Intel Dir.: I do likewise. pic.twitter.com/6qb133nyhu Fox News (@FoxNews) June 7, 2017 We have never, not once, found an intentional violation of this program. Natl Intel Director Coats about compliance track record We have never, not once, found an intentional violation of this program. Natl Intel Director Coats about compliance track record pic.twitter.com/sT68H1yqHA Fox News (@FoxNews) June 7, 2017It s not like Mike Rogers is untrustworthy. The guy has an incredible resume on Wiki:Michael S. Rogers (born October 31, 1959) is a United States Navy admiral who serves as Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) and Chief of the Central Security Service (CSS) since April 3, 2014. Prior to that, Rogers served as the Commander of the Tenth Fleet and Commander of the U.S. Fleet Cyber Command.Rogers is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from New Trier High School in 1977. He is a graduate of Auburn University (1981) and the Naval War College.Rogers received his commission through the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) program and has served in the United States Navy since graduating from Auburn University in 1981. He started his career as a Surface Warfare Officer working in naval gunfire support operations off Grenada, Beirut, and maritime surveillance operations off El Salvador. In 1986, he was selected for transfer from Unrestricted Line Officer to Restricted Line Officer and re-designation as a cryptology officer.During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Rogers joined the military s Joint Staff, which works for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he specialized in computer network attacks. From 2007 onward he served as director of intelligence for the military s Pacific Command. In 2009, he became director of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and was subsequently named commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command and commander of the U.S. 10th Fleet, with responsibility for all of the Navy s cyberwarfare efforts. As such, Rogers was the first restricted line officer to serve as a numbered fleet commander and the first Information Warfare Community (IWC) officer to achieve the rank of vice admiral.In January 2014, the Obama Administration announced Rogers nomination as director of the National Security Agency and the commander of the US offensive cyberoperations unit in the Department of Defense. Rogers succeeded General Keith B. Alexander, who served as the NSA director for nine years, and became the first IWC officer to achieve the rank of admiral. Although the NSA directorship does not require Senate approval, Rogers had to be confirmed by the Senate to head United States Cyber Command,[11] for which the Senate unanimously confirmed him.In his first public remarks as NSA director, Rogers stated that he believed that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden was probably not working for a foreign intelligence agency, despite frequent speculation and assertion by the NSA s allies to the contrary. Rogers added: He clearly believes in what he s doing. I question that; I don t agree with it. I fundamentally disagree with what he did. I believe it was wrong; I believe it was illegal. The Washington Post reported on 19 November 2016 that Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James R. Clapper Jr. had recommended to President Obama that Rogers be terminated as director of the National Security Agency. Carter reportedly recommended he be terminated due to poor performance, whereas Clapper considered it wise that the position be held by a civilian. Both Clapper and Carter had put Rogers on notice for poor performance in internal security and for a poor leadership style. His termination was reportedly delayed due to stalled changes to the bureaucratic structure of the intelligence community. Later, Rogers reportedly met with then President-elect Donald Trump without notifying his supervisors in what is an unprecedented action for a military officer. Trump was reportedly considering replacing Clapper with Rogers as DNI, however that position went to former Senator Dan Coats, with Rogers remaining NSA director. | 1real |
New Poll Shows Democrat with 7 Point Lead in Georgia Special Congressional Election - Breitbart | Survey USA released a poll on Monday that shows Democrat Jon Ossoff leading Republican Karen Handel by seven seven percent, 51 to 44, among likely voters in the runoff election to be held on June 20 in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District. [The election is to replace former Rep. Tom Price ( ) who resigned after he was confirmed as President Trump’s pick as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Ossoff barely missed obtaining the votes needed to secure the seat in the April 18 jungle primary. He finished in first place with 48. 1 percent of the vote, followed in a distant second by Handel at 19. 8 percent. Only the top two jungle primary finishers qualified for the June 20 special election. The Survey USA Poll, commissioned by WXIA TV, was conducted over a four day period between May 16 and May 20, of 549 likely voters, and it has a margin of error of 4. 3 percent. “SurveyUSA interviewed 700 registered voters through using Sampling (aka: Voter List sample) purchased from Aristotle in Washington DC. Of the 700 registered voters, 549 were judged by SurveyUSA to have already voted in the runoff or to be certain to so before the deadline,” the poll summary stated. Two earlier polls conducted after the jungle primary showed the race in a statistical dead heat. A Landmark Communications poll conducted between May 3 and 4 with a 3. 9 percent margin of error showed Handel with a 2. 6 percent lead. A Gravis Marketing poll conducted between May 8 and May 10 with a 3. 3 percent margin of error showed Ossoff with a two percent lead. Survey USA portrayed Monday’s poll results as an indicator that media criticisms of President Trump have hurt his standing, as well as that of fellow Republicans around the country. “The runoff has national implications and will be seen as a referendum on the Republican President,” Survey USA said in its poll summary. However, the race is unusual because of the sheer magnitude of money being spent on it, most of it coming from outside the district. The Democratic candidate, Ossoff, benefited from that particularly during the election preceding the jungle primary on April 18, when liberals from Hollywood and elsewhere donated millions to his campaign. Less than ten percent of his funding actually came from the district. In contrast, Handel was one of eleven Republicans competing in the jungle primary and was far outspent by Ossoff prior to April 18. “A highly energized effort by the Democrats that has raised more than $8. 9 million from around the country for Jon Ossoff has caught the Republican leadership napping,” Breitbart News reported on April 17, the day before the jungle primary. Since the jungle primary, the financial disparity between Ossoff and Handel has diminished. “[B]oth parties continue to flood Georgia with resources and ads in the final month of the most expensive House race in U. S. history,” the Hill reported on Tuesday. “The pounding President Donald Trump is taking over loose lips may be taking a toll on Republican candidate for the U. S. House of Representatives in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, Karen Handel,” Survey USA said in its summary of the poll results, which it called “close enough in a runoff to be anyone’s call, though clearly Ossoff is in a better position than is Handel. ” The district is Republican leaning but not Republican invincible: Trump carried the district in 2016, but only by 1. 5 percentage points, compared to, say, the neighboring 9th Congressional District, which Trump carried by 58 percentage points. Ossoff does not live in the 6th Congressional District, but voters shrug. 84% of Democrats and 21% of Republicans say the residency doesn’t bother them. Karen Handel does not have a college degree, but voters shrug. 45% of Democrats and 76% of Republicans say it is not an issue for them at all. Survey USA interviewed a total of 700 registered voters for the poll. Responses from 549 voters “Survey USA ” were included in the Congressional candidate survey, while responses from the other 151 registered voters deemed likely not to vote in the June 20 special election were not. All 700 registered voters surveyed, including those 151 deemed likely not to vote in the June 20 special election, were included in poll questions about President Trump’s job approval, health care, the firing of FBI Director James Comey, and the appointment of a special investigator. Survey USA found that among those 700 registered voters in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, 34 percent approved of President Trump’s job performance, while 51 percent disapproved of it. Voters were evenly split on the Republican plan to replace ObamaCare 47 percent supported it, 47 percent opposed it. percent of registered voters opposed President Trump’s decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey, while 38 percent supported it. Sixty percent supported naming a special investigator “to look into whether the Russians tried to influence the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election,” while 32 percent opposed naming a special investigator. With four weeks to go until the June 20 election, the record pace of spending and media coverage of the 6th Congressional District special election is likely to intensify until a victor is declared on election night. | 0fake |
World War 3 Escalation : Russia Answers U.S Troops In Norway With Nuclear Warships In The Baltic | November 7, 2016 at 6:52 pm
So we are prepositioning enough equipment for a Marine Mechanized Task Force of 920 Marines 1000 Km from the Russian Boogie Man's border? Complete with 58 M1A1 MBTs? Talk about a total waste of Taxpayers money. In 2003 45,000 Marines barely made it to Baghdad, 545Kms against almost no opposition. The Marines fought mostly Fedayeen Saddam(determined fanatics yes, but with little or no military training) and prison inmates released once the invasion started ("fight the Americans or we shoot you now"). The Marines never encountered one opposing complete Iraqi Battalion, they did fight Company strength Iraqi Light Infantry 4 times and never came under coordinated Artillery fire. With timid leadership, a inept ability to maneuver off of the Hardball (Main Highway), complete abandonment of Doctrine nearly every ambush (the damn Task Force comes to a 2hr stop so 2 squads can engage 6 Hadjis for 20 minutes) and a real arrogance that precluded using Combat Multipliers (Intel, Artillery, Combat Aviation, SIGINT/ELINT, Civil Affairs or Linguists (3/4s Battalion CO dismounting & having Infantry assault dug-in Fedayeen Saddam in palm groves without preparatory fires while 5 M1s, 2 LAV25s and 8 AAV-7s are walking distance away with 120mm, 25mm, .50cal, and Mk-19s sitting at idle and the 81mm & 120mm mortars are less than 2Km away. Scary to think this Jackwagon is a MG in charge of thousands)The Marines arrived in Baghdad a week late 10 days after Fox and Ghost Troops 2/7CAV occupied the International Terminal at Baghdad Airport.3ID eliminateded 4 complete Divisions and 7 Separate Armored Brigades in active combat destroying 690 MBTs, 1150 AFVs and 1000+ wheeled vehicles. The 1st Marine Division did a excellent job of destroying the 17 Tanks that actually engaged the Marines.The Marines last 35Kms into Baghdad were actually cleared of Iraqi Armor by Fox and Ghost Troops of 2/7 CAV, on their third Thunder Run they turned South on Highway 6 and destroyed 44 Armored vehicles of the 41st Separate Brigade, 3 days before the Marines arrived late.The Marines performance in the CENTCOM operational area hasn't improved much over the last 13 years.Btw I was a 18E assigned as a Arabic IT, physically with 2nd LAR Bn, C Co, so I got to witness the entire 5 Star, 3 Ring Clusterfuck from the tip of the very dull Marine spear.Thats 800Km thru Norwegian Mountain passes and 200 across Europe's biggest swamp(in the Spring, Fall and Summer) or Ice Flat (in Winter) that can support Tanks on three narrow roads.Pretty sure the the Murmansk Military District Commander ISN'T shaking in his boots as he looks out at his 260 Thermobaric MLRS launcher vehicles and 640 T-80 & T-90 MBTs. | 1real |
IOM says 5,238 refugees have died worldwide in 2016 | EU Refugees wait to disembark from a ship on October 24, 2016, in Palermo, Italy. (Photo by AFP)
More than 5,200 refugees have died across the world since the beginning of 2016, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The organization, which is based in Geneva, said on Friday that of a total of 5,238 deaths, 3,930 people died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat, indicating a 170-person increase compared to 2015.
On Wednesday, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) made a different account with more than 3,800 deaths in the Mediterranean since January, also noting that it was a new record compared to 2015.
Over 280 asylum seekers trying to reach the European Union died off the Libyan shores recently, according to the IOM.
The EU said on Thursday it had begun training the Libyan coast guard how to curb the influx of asylum seekers.
“Today we are starting the training of the Libyan coast guard in Operation Sophia which is a very important step,” said the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, as she arrived for a meeting with NATO defense ministers in Brussels.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance had just launched its own Operation Sea Guardian in the Mediterranean to help support Operation Sophia.
The EU launched Operation Sophia last year after hundreds of asylum seekers died when their rickety boats sank off southern Italy.
The central Mediterranean route has seen more asylum seekers risk their lives in recent months after the EU reached an accord with Turkey in March to halt an influx of refugees crossing the Aegean to reach Europe.
Stoltenberg further said within two weeks ships and aircraft would be provided by NATO allies to help back up Operation Sophia. Loading ... | 1real |
Inside The Invisible Government: War, Propaganda, Clinton & Trump | License DMCA The American journalist, Edward Bernays, is often described as the man who invented modern propaganda. The nephew of Sigmund Freud, the pioneer of psycho-analysis, it was Bernays who coined the term "public relations" as a euphemism for spin and its deceptions. In 1929, he persuaded feminists to promote cigarettes for women by smoking in the New York Easter Parade -- behavior then considered outlandish. One feminist, Ruth Booth, declared, "Women! Light another torch of freedom! Fight another sex taboo!" Bernays' influence extended far beyond advertising. His greatest success was his role in convincing the American public to join the slaughter of the First World War. The secret, he said, was "engineering the consent" of people in order to "control and regiment [them] according to our will without their knowing about it."
He described this as "the true ruling power in our society" and called it an "invisible government." Today, the invisible government has never been more powerful and less understood. In my career as a journalist and film-maker, I have never known propaganda to insinuate our lives and as it does now and to go unchallenged. Imagine two cities. Both are under siege by the forces of the government of that country. Both cities are occupied by fanatics, who commit terrible atrocities, such as beheading people. - Advertisement -
But there is a vital difference. In one siege, the government soldiers are described as liberators by Western reporters embedded with them, who enthusiastically report their battles and air strikes. There are front page pictures of these heroic soldiers giving a V-sign for victory. There is scant mention of civilian casualties. In the second city -- in another country nearby -- almost exactly the same is happening. Government forces are laying siege to a city controlled by the same breed of fanatics. The difference is that these fanatics are supported, supplied and armed by "us" -- by the United States and Britain. They even have a media center that is funded by Britain and America. Another difference is that the government soldiers laying siege to this city are the bad guys, condemned for assaulting and bombing the city -- which is exactly what the good soldiers do in the first city. Confusing? Not really. Such is the basic double standard that is the essence of propaganda. I am referring, of course, to the current siege of the city of Mosul by the government forces of Iraq, who are backed by the United States and Britain and to the siege of Aleppo by the government forces of Syria, backed by Russia. One is good; the other is bad. - Advertisement - What is seldom reported is that both cities would not be occupied by fanatics and ravaged by war if Britain and the United States had not invaded Iraq in 2003. That criminal enterprise was launched on lies strikingly similar to the propaganda that now distorts our understanding of the civil war in Syria. Without this drumbeat of propaganda dressed up as news, the monstrous ISIS and Al-Qaida and al-Nusra and the rest of the jihadist gang might not exist, and the people of Syria might not be fighting for their lives today. Some may remember in 2003 a succession of BBC reporters turning to the camera and telling us that Blair was "vindicated" for what turned out to be the crime of the century. The US television networks produced the same validation for George W. Bush. Fox News brought on Henry Kissinger to effuse over Colin Powell's fabrications. The same year, soon after the invasion, I filmed an interview in Washington with Charles Lewis, the renowned American investigative journalist. I asked him, "What would have happened if the freest media in the world had seriously challenged what turned out to be crude propaganda?" | 1real |
F.D.A. Approves Muscular Dystrophy Drug That Patients Lobbied For - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug to treat patients with the most common childhood form of muscular dystrophy, a vivid example of the growing power that patients and their advocates wield over the federal government’s evaluation of drugs. The agency’s approval went against the recommendation of its experts. The main clinical trial of the drug was small, involving only 12 boys with the disease known as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and did not have an adequate control group of boys who had the disease but did not take the drug. A group of independent experts convened by the agency this spring said there was not enough evidence that it was effective. But the vote was close. Large and impassioned groups of patients, including boys in wheelchairs, and their advocates, weighed in. The muscular dystrophy community is well organized and has lobbied for years to win approval for the drug, getting members of Congress to write letters to the agency. A decision on the drug had been delayed for months. The approval was so controversial that F. D. A. employees fought over it, a dispute that was taken to the agency’s commissioner, Dr. Robert M. Califf, who ultimately decided that it would stand. The approval delighted the drug’s advocates and sent the share price of the drug’s maker, Sarepta Therapeutics, soaring. But it was taken as a deeply troubling sign among drug policy experts who believe the F. D. A. has been far too influenced by patient advocates and drug companies, and has allowed the delicate balance in drug approvals to tilt toward speedy decisions based on preliminary data and away from more conclusive evidence of effectiveness and safety. “The agency has set a dangerous precedent,” said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Center for Health Research in Washington. “To prove something works, you have to compare it to something else — a placebo or a treatment. They didn’t do that. ” About 9, 000 to 12, 000 Americans, virtually all boys, are estimated to have Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Because of rare genetic mutations, people with the disease make little or no dystrophin, a protein that acts as a shock absorber to protect muscles from deterioration. Boys with Duchenne typically need wheelchairs by their teens and die by their late 20s. The drug, eteplirsen, uses a technology called exon skipping that seeks to partly correct the genetic defect, allowing muscle cells to produce a somewhat functional form of dystrophin. The drug is applicable to only about 13 percent of Duchenne patients. Other drugs are being developed for patients with different mutations. Sarepta said the average cost of eteplirsen for a patient would be about $300, 000 a year. That is double the cost of most new cancer drugs, according to Dr. Zuckerman. The drug received accelerated approval, which is reserved for medicines that treat serious diseases and address an “unmet medical need. ” The agency defines that as “a condition whose treatment or diagnosis is not addressed adequately by available therapy. ” But even as it approved the drug, the agency also required the company to conduct another clinical trial to confirm the drug’s effectiveness. If the drug maker fails to prove it, the agency said it may “initiate proceedings to withdraw approval. ” During a heated public meeting in April, experts voted 7 to 3, with three abstentions, that the clinical data did not meet the F. D. A. requirements for studies necessary for approval. The agency had urged Sarepta, which is based in Cambridge, Mass. to do a larger study with a placebo control to better determine whether the drug worked. But the company argued that doing so would be unethical and impractical, since early hints of effectiveness meant that parents would no longer enroll their sons in a trial where they might not get the drug. Instead, Sarepta compared the data from the 12 boys in the trial to historical data from patients in Italy and Belgium who were as closely matched as possible in disease characteristics. Now the company will have to conduct another trial. But Dr. Zuckerman argued that it is more difficult to enroll patients after a drug had been approved, because families will not want to take a chance that their son would be in a placebo group. Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the F. D. A. ’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a statement, “We eagerly await learning more about the efficacy of this drug through a confirmatory clinical trial that the company must conduct after approval. ” | 0fake |
Jay Dyer on Tragedy & Hope – Part 4: Rothschilds, Central Banks, FDR & the US Imperium | Jay Dyer 21st Century WirePicking up where we left off in Part 3, we look at Quigley s analysis of Germany prior to World War II and the rise of Nazism, the situation in France with the dominance of the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish banking houses, and how Rothschild came out on top. We also look at how all three of these colluded to establish a fake front known as the Bank of France at the behest of their agent, Napoleon. (Hour 2) Revolutions lead to consolidation and the establishment of a central bank, where the Great Leader hands the nation s assets and future capital over to the bankers. Sound familiar? You re correct FDR does the same thing, as Caroll Quigley explains. From there, we look at the sections where Quigley details the third way convergence and the coming technocratic global state and how the revolutions, from Protestantism to Darwinism, prepared the way for the Liberal U.S. Imperium. READ MORE SHADOW GOVERNMENT NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Shadow Government FilesTo hear Jay s full podcasts, see more information and learn how you can become a subscriber to JaysAnalysis.Jay Dyer is the author of the forthcoming title, Esoteric Hollywood: Sex, Cults and Symbols in Film from Trine Day. Focusing on film, philosophy, geopolitics and all things esoteric,JaysAnalysis and his podcast, Esoteric Hollywood, investigates the deeper meanings between the headlines, exploring the hidden aspects of our sinister synthetic mass media matrix. | 1real |
Pro-American, Non-PC ESPN Host Sage Steele Removed from NBA Countdown Show in Favor of Michelle Beadle - Breitbart | Remember that time an ESPN employee criticized a player for disrespecting the anthem, while leftist protesters, and got to keep her job without suffering any professional consequences whatsoever? [Yeah, me neither. Word came down on Tuesday that ESPN removed Sage Steele from the NBA Countdown show, making Michelle Beadle the host. Beadle and Steele had split duties until recently. The move is kind of a shocker, with less than two weeks away from the start of the NBA playoffs, when you would think most networks would be consumed with postseason broadcast preparations, and not making lineup changes to their broadcast teams. However, the move seems much less of a shocker when you consider who Sage Steele is, and who she works for. Steele committed the cardinal sin of daring to challenge the liberal orthodoxy that racism can only come from whites. While speaking at a conference on race in February, Steele said, “The worst racism that I have received [as a biracial woman married to white man] and I mean thousands and thousands over the years, is from black people, who in my mind thought would be the most accepting because there has been that experience. But even as recent as the last couple of weeks, the words that I have had thrown at me I can’t repeat here and it’s 99 percent from people with my skin color. But if a white person said those words to me, what would happen?” And, why had Steele become subject to such insults? Steele spoke out against leftists who delayed flights while protesting President Trump’s executive orders on immigration. She also criticized Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans for kneeling in protest during the national anthem. For those stances, Steele was excoriated on social media. Of course, no one at ESPN would actually say that Steele was taken off her show due to her political beliefs, nor could such a thing be definitively proved from the outside looking in. However, while no one can prove Steele’s political views are the reason for her removal from NBA Countdown, it’s perfectly reasonable to claim that the reaction to her firing has everything to do with her political views. After all, here we have a black woman replaced by a white woman, on a show that covers a league which is overwhelmingly black. And yet, where has the sports media outrage gone? Who is accusing ESPN of racism, for pulling one of the relatively very few black voices in sports broadcasting in exchange for just another white person? Who’s talking about Steele’s ability to understand the culture of the sport which she covers much better than Beadle, because she’s black and can identify with their story? If Steele had established herself as a hardcore lefty, like Jemele Hill and others have, would she be getting that kind of outpouring of sympathy? It’s very reasonable to believe she would. Still, Steele’s time at ESPN isn’t over. She signed a deal with the company and will likely be put on several new assignments, in addition to her SportsCenter duties. Nonetheless, like Curt Schilling and Rush Limbaugh before her, Steele has once again shown that if anyone attacks political correctness, or liberal politics, while at ESPN they will pay a very, very steep price. Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn | 0fake |
IRS EXEC LOIS LERNER DEMANDS SECRECY In Law Suit…Claims Death Threats Over Tea Party Targeting [Video] | This is rich! Lois Lerner wants her testimony in an upcoming class-action case to remain sealed. The former IRS official is accused of targeting hundreds of groups due to their conservative beliefs. This is all happening at the same time Republicans just filed charges against Lerner (see below)The Washington Times reported:Former IRS senior executive Lois G. Lerner told a federal court this week that she faces the possibility of death threats if her role in the tax agency s tea party-targeting becomes public, and asked a judge to forever seal her upcoming deposition in a class-action lawsuit brought by hundreds of groups that were targeted.Mr. Lerner and Holly Paz, another figure from the IRS tea party targeting, told the judge they ve already faced harassment and death threats before, and said they fear another media firestorm if their version of events from the tea party targeting were to become public.The two women said they are willing to testify, but said they could be putting their lives in serious jeopardy. Mss. Lerner and Paz have demonstrated that the public dissemination of their deposition testimony would expose them and their families to harassment and a credible risk of violence and physical harm, they said in documents submitted by their lawyer to Judge Michael R. Barrett.HOUSE REPUBLICANS To File Charges Against The IRS s Lois Lerner Who can forget when Lois Lerner sat smugly before the House panel and plead the 5th She sat there as cool as a cucumber and didn t answer about the IRS targeting of conservatives.Well, now it s time for her to finally be held accountable Truly accountable and NOT pleading the 5th.REMEMBER WHEN WE GOT A PEAK AT HER E-MAILS? YIKES! It s official! Lois Lerner is the bitter b*tch we all knew she was when she took the 5th before Congress. Who s not surprised that she targeted conservatives while she was at the IRS. Remember Lois Lerner? How could you forget. She s the former head of the IRS Exempted Organizations division who was caught using the agency to target Americans based on their political views.Well we now have snippets from some of her email conversations, and it becomes crystal clear that she targeted conservatives because, well, she really hates conservatives. Clearly the type of person who should be placed in a position of governmental power.From The Hill:Lois Lerner, the central figure in the IRS targeting controversy, called Abraham Lincoln the country s worst president in an email disclosed in a bipartisan Senate report, according to USA Today. Look my view is that Lincoln was our worst president not our best, Lerner wrote in an email dated March 6, 2014.Lerner, the former IRS director of Exempted Organizations, joked in one email that the 16th president should have just let the South secede, rather than fighting the Civil War. He should [have] let the south go, Lerner wrote in response to a friend who disparaged Texas as a pathetic state. We really do seem to have [two] different mind sets. And what is your mind set Ms. Lerner? That government officials should target American citizens if they hold political views you don t like?The report also highlighted emails written by Lerner calling conservatives crazies and a holes. Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is your government. Corrupt beyond belief, shady, unethical, dangerous and vengeful.So why is Lois Lerner not sitting in a jail cell for this clear abuse of power? Because oligarchy.Via: Zero Hedge | 1real |
A North Korea nuclear test over the Pacific? Logical, terrifying | SEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - Detonating a nuclear-tipped missile over the Pacific Ocean would be a logical final step by North Korea to prove the success of its weapons program but would be extremely provocative and carry huge risks, arms control experts said on Friday. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho suggested leader Kim Jong Un was considering testing “an unprecedented scale hydrogen bomb” over the Pacific in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat at the United Nations to “totally destroy” the country. “It may mean North Korea will fire a warhead-tipped (intermediate range) Hwasong-12 or Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile and blow it up a few hundred kilometers above the Pacific Ocean,” said Yang Uk, a senior researcher at the Korea Defence and Security Forum in Seoul. “They may be bluffing, but there is a need for them to test their combined missile-bomb capability. They could have already prepared the plan and are now trying to use Trump’s remarks as an excuse to make it happen,” said Yang. Such an atmospheric test would be the first globally since China detonated a device in 1980, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. Tests of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles are rarer still. The United States’ only test of an operational ballistic missile with a live warhead was fired from submarine far out in the Pacific Ocean in 1962. China was widely condemned for a similar test with a missile that exploded over its Lop Nur test site in the country’s west in 1966. North Korea’s six nuclear tests to date have all been underground, the most recent earlier this month by far its largest. “We have to assume they *could* do it, but it is exceedingly provocative,” said Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “To put a live nuclear warhead on a missile that’s only been tested a handful of times, overflying potentially populated centers. If it...doesn’t go exactly as planned....it could be a world changing event.” North Korea has fired two ballistic missiles over Japan’s north Hokkaido region in the past month as part of a series of tests that experts say have illustrated unexpectedly rapid advances. “They said Pacific Ocean, which pretty much means firing a missile over Japan,” said Melissa Hanham, a senior research associate at the U.S.-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, California. “They want to shut us all up for doubting they could build it.” While a missile would be the most ideal means of delivery, it is also possible to put a bomb on a ship and detonate on the surface of the ocean or in the sea, the experts said. Either way, the radioactive fallout could be significant, as well as the diplomatic backlash from around the world. North Korea’s recent missile launches over Japan especially drew stern rebukes from Tokyo and the international community. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called Pyongyang’s remarks and behavior “completely unacceptable”. Narang said a test high enough over the ocean would limit the radioactive fallout but risks included damage from an electro-magnetic pulse, something Pyongyang has hinted it might employ on an attack on the United States or its allies. “If it doesn’t go exactly as planned and the detonation occurs at a lower altitude we could see some EMP-like effects for anything in the area. A lot of dead fish too.” Pyongyang has launched dozens of missiles this year as it spurs a program aimed at mastering a nuclear-tipped missile that can strike the United States, in addition to its Sept 3 nuclear test. If Kim’s threat materializes, it will be a “tipping point” for China, and may prompt many other countries to demand an “end to the regime,” said David Albright, founder of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security in Washington. “No one has tested above ground for decades and the radioactive fallout could be terrifying to many,” Albright said. Other experts said such an atmospheric nuclear test is unlikely for now due to its substantial technical and diplomatic risks. Joshua Pollack, editor of the Washington-based Nonproliferation Review, said it would be an “end-to-end demo of everything.” “But I would be surprised if this were their very next move. They have yet to test an ICBM at full range into the Pacific,” said Pollack. “That will probably come first.” | 0fake |
Zimbabwe minister Moyo's Twitter account hacked: family member | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A relative of Zimbabwean minister Jonathan Moyo, purged from the ruling ZANU-PF party along with President Robert Mugabe, said on Monday that a tweet on his Twitter handle earlier saying that he was outside of the country was the work of a hacker. While he remains safe, he is not the one who posted that, the family member told Reuters, adding that Moyo remained in Zimbabwe. The tweet was subsequently deleted. | 0fake |
DUMB AS A ROCK…Gary Johnson On NYC, MN Terror Attacks: “I’m Just Grateful That Nobody Got Hurt” [VIDEO] | Saturday s bomb blast in New York City injured 29 people, and 9 more people were stabbed by the Muslim attacker in St. Cloud, MN. on the same day. Not to worry though, Aleppo Gary is on top of it and he s just glad no one got hurt. Could you just put the bong down until the campaign s over Gary? | 1real |
Spain, Malta, under U.S./UK pressure, refuse to allow Russian carrier group to refuel in their ports | Print
[Ed. – This passive-aggressive BS Obama is so fond of is nauseating. What, like Russia can’t find another way to refuel in the Med? If we’re going to oppose Russian policy, then frigging oppose Russian policy. Do something real. Don’t just skitter around like the village idiot tagging Russia and then running away.]
On Thursday, Malta withdrew permission for a Russian Navy replenishment tanker to refuel at its port. UK and American diplomats had applied pressure to the Maltese government to deny access to the tanker, as they believed the fuel would be used to replenish the Admiral Kuznetsov battlegroup. The carrier and seven accompanying vessels are believed to be headed to Syria to support the siege of Aleppo.
Earlier this week, Spain cancelled permission for the Kuznetsov’s auxiliaries to take on fuel at the North African port territory of Ceuta. The Spanish government had come under intense diplomatic pressure to deny access to the Russian vessels.
Russian officials say that the Kuznetsov battlegroup carries enough supplies to be self-sustaining for at least 45 days, and several military spokespeople denied that they had ever asked for formal permission to call at Ceuta or Malta. | 1real |
Hard Truth About Violence at Trump Rallies | You are here: Home / US / Hard Truth About Violence at Trump Rallies Hard Truth About Violence at Trump Rallies October 28, 2016 Pinterest
Regan Pifer observes that when Hillary Clinton’s supporters say they are with her , they must also mean that they lie for her .
When no trouble exists, Clinton supporters create trouble. And say anything to cast a poor light on Trump and Trump supporters.
Their foul play even extends to claims of physical violence towards women.
The bad news for them (as it has been for Hillary) is that the truth always, eventually comes out.
As reported by Breitbart :
A woman who accused a Donald Trump supporter of punching her outside a Trump rally in North Carolina is backtracking after James O’Keefe and Project Veritas released video showing Democrat operatives claiming she was a trained activist.
69-year-old Shirley Teter of Asheville now says it is possible that 73-year-old Richard L. Campbell merely touched her accidentally, as his attorney had claimed all along.
Originally, Harris told local ABC News affiliate WLOS, “He stopped in his tracks, and he turned around and just cold-cocked me.” She also added a pointed, rhetorical question — namely, whether “people find a Trump supporter punching her in the face deplorable.”
Now, however, Teter is changing her story rather dramatically. She told WLOS on Wednesday that “it’s possible that he could have struck her with his backhand.”
O’Keefe’s undercover video showed Democracy Partners consultant Scott Foval — who has since been fired — claiming that Teeter was a “trained” political activist…
…Facebook video of the altercation shows Campbell — who suffers poor vision as a result of cataracts — being led through a gauntlet of anti-Trump protesters by his wife.
In the video, Teter then follows Campbell and appears to reach for his shoulder. His attorney told Breitbart News that he turned around after being touched, and Teeter then fell down.
You want to know what is really deplorable, Teter? You serving as a lying minion for your lying queen.
And the victim? A poor, older man with cataracts who just wanted to peacefully attend a rally.
Maybe you weren’t lying. Just confused?
I understand how getting “cold cocked” by an intimidating Trump supporter is essentially the same as picking a fight with a quasi- blind man and collapsing like you took a charge in the NBA.
But how can we blame Teter? She teeters around the truth like the Hillz.
If only we could catch all of Clinton’s (and her supporters) lies on video. What a glorious day that would be. | 1real |
Rising up to the Trump Moment: We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For | By Dawn Phillips / medium.com The Trump victory is devastating. Devastating for communities of color, immigrants, women, Muslims and queer communities. Devastating for us. Trump has given new voice to deeply rooted white supremacy, gender violence, xenophobia and hatred. Hatred of everything that we are. Hatred of everything that we have struggled against. There are no illusions, we have lived a long time with terror and injustice. But there should be no illusions, that this marks a new phase. A new phase in the development of fascist demagoguery in the belly of the beast. We were not ready to jump on the Clinton bandwagon. Not ready to support her neoliberal agenda at home and promotion of American empire abroad. Not ready to forget her tone-deaf engagement with Black and immigrant organizers and lack of interest in taking action on race. She was not our grandmother and she did not speak for us. But despite her limitations there should be no illusion that we have ended up with the greater of two evils. Trump’s fascism over Clinton’s neoliberalism. We have always resisted. Resisted the lies of the two-party electoral game. Resisted police beatings and murders. Resisted environmental degradation and the evils of corporate polluters. Resisted male violence and transphobia. Resisted the rich bosses and landlords who own the airwaves and politicians. Resistance is our legacy. Resistance is our duty. We have resisted a long time. We will continue to resist. Our goal is transformation. A world where housing is a right and there is a guaranteed living wage for all. A world where neighbors come together to decide the future of their communities and development serves human need, not profit. A world where treaties are honored, where there is self-determination for Native and Black peoples. A world where women, young people and queer folks make decisions about public resources and policies. A world without borders, where we are free to move for health, for love, for work, for family. We want to transform racial divisions between and within our communities of color. We want to transform structures of hetropatriarchy in our families. We want to transform the very nature of our relationships from the individual, to the community, to the societal. This is not about an election or a policy or a political party. Our vision of transformation is deeper and will require not only a change in the system, but a change within ourselves. Our strategy is to organize and build power. We will continue to talk to our neighbors, to those facing evictions and deportations. We will come together in our living rooms and kitchens to share our struggles, articulate vision, strategy and plans. We will take collective action to fight and win locally where we have had the greatest impact in improving lives and conditions. We will build movement. We will engage our differences with respect and honesty. We will connect our humanity and unite around our shared needs and interest. We will build trust and solidarity. Local Organizing Matters A renter movement has emerged in the Bay Area that is as concerned with racial justice as it is with housing justice and this vision is reverberating nationally. Immigrant women are growing a domestic worker movement that is invigorating the labor movement and winning local and state level fights across the country. In Maricopa County, thousands of Latinos organized to oust Joe Arpaio and end 24 years of racist policing. Local organizing matters. Local power matters. Change and transformation will rise up from our neighborhoods and cities, it will not flow down from D.C., the President or the Democrats. The outcomes and impacts of this election are still unfolding. While our assessments and interventions are still in development, one thing is clear. Now more than ever, there is a need for our resistance, our vision of transformation and the hard work of organizing, building power and growing our movement. There was no illusion that things were going to get easier, only the reality that our struggle continues and must become stronger and more effective. Onward. Dawn Phillips is Co-Director of Programs at Causa Justa :: Just Cause and Executive Director at Right to the City Alliance. 0.0 · | 1real |
How Bernie changed Hillary | The election in 232 photos, 43 numbers and 131 quotes, from the two candidates at the center of it all. | 0fake |
Trump’s Former Accountant Breaks Silence To Shut Down Trump’s Tax Lies (VIDEO) | One of the most insane things about Republican nominee Donald Trump is that even when he massively f*cks up, he can t help but brag about how smart and brilliant he is! This has been especially true when it comes to his shady tax returns, which he still refuses to release to the American people despite several promises to be transparent.If you watched the first presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton last week, you saw Trump shamelessly boast about how smart he was for not paying federal income taxes. And after recent reports discovered that the business mogul hasn t paid taxes in almost two decades, Trump claimed to have brilliant , superior knowledge of America s tax codes, which allows him to manipulate the system to his advantage. Well, the truth is coming out now that an ex-accountant of Trump has come forward.Jack Mitnick, one of Trump s former accountants, has given an interview with Inside Edition that exposes another one of Trump s many lies. Mitnick was the accountant cited in the 1995 tax returns that were recently leaked, where Trump was shown to have lost a staggering one billion dollars in a year. According to Mitnick, Trump doesn t even know anything about taxes, even though he claims to. Mitnick said: I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature I m the one who did all the work. This sounds exactly like typical Trump taking full credit for the hard work of other people. The only thing Trump did that was perhaps smart was to hire a savvy accountant and yet he continues to try and convince America that his knowledge of how the tax system works makes him the better presidential candidate. It s seriously pathetic!You can watch Mitnick s interview below, in which he exposes Trump as a lying fraud:Featured image via Spencer Platt / Getty Images | 1real |
Just When Hillary Thought The News About Her Couldn’t Get Any Worse…This Bombshell From Secret Service Agents Happens [Video] | How this woman is even trending in the polls should tell you everything you need to know about the Democrat party Good morning, ma am, a member of the uniformed Secret Service once greeted Hillary Clinton. F off, she replied.That exchange is one among many that active and retired Secret Service agents shared with Ronald Kessler, author of First Family Detail, a compelling look at the intrepid personnel who shield America s presidents and their families and those whom they guard.Kessler writes flatteringly and critically about people in both parties. Regarding the Clintons, Kessler presents Chelsea as a model protectee who respected and appreciated her agents. He describes Bill as a difficult chief executive, but an easygoing ex-president. And Kessler exposes Hillary as an epically abusive Arctic monster. When in public, Hillary smiles and acts graciously, Kessler explains. As soon as the cameras are gone, her angry personality, nastiness, and imperiousness become evident. He adds: Hillary Clinton can make Richard Nixon look like Mahatma Gandhi. Kessler was an investigative reporter with the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post and has penned 19 other books. Among much more in First Family Detail, he reports: Hillary was very rude to agents, and she didn t appear to like law enforcement or the military, former Secret Service agent Lloyd Bulman recalls. She wouldn t go over and meet military people or police officers, as most protectees do. She was just really rude to almost everybody. She d act like she didn t want you around, like you were beneath her. Hillary didn t like the military aides wearing their uniforms around the White House, one former agent remembers. She asked if they would wear business suits instead. The uniform s a sign of pride, and they re proud to wear their uniform. I know that the military was actually really offended by it. Former agent Jeff Crane says, Hillary would cuss at Secret Service drivers for going over bumps. Another former member of her detail recollects, Hillary never talked to us . . . Most all members of first families would talk to us and smile. She never did that. We spent years with her, yet another Secret Service agent notes. She never said thank you. Within the White House, Hillary had a standing rule that no one spoke to her when she was going from one location to another, says former FBI agent Coy Copeland. In fact, anyone who would see her coming would just step into the first available office. One former Secret Service agent states, If Hillary was walking down a hall, you were supposed to hide behind drapes used as partitions. Hillary one day ran into a White House electrician who was changing a lightbulb in the upstairs family quarters. She screamed at him, because she had demanded that all repairs be performed while the Clintons were outside the Executive Mansion. She caught the guy on a ladder doing the lightbulb, says Franette McCulloch, who served at that time as assistant White House pastry chef. He was a basket case. White House usher Christopher B. Emery unwisely called back Barbara Bush after she phoned him for computer troubleshooting. Emery helped the former first lady twice. Consequently, Kessler reports, Hillary sacked him. The father of four stayed jobless for a year.While running for US Senate, Hillary stopped at an upstate New York 4-H Club. As one Secret Service agent says, Hillary saw farmers and cows and then erupted. She turned to a staffer and said, What the f - - - did we come here for? There s no money here. Secret Service agents consider being assigned to her detail a form of punishment, Kessler concludes. In fact, agents say being on Hillary Clinton s detail is the worst duty assignment in the Secret Service. Watch Hillary show her true colors when a reporter in Africa accidentally refers to Barack Obama as Mr. Clinton. Hillary doesn t forgive her faux pas and does her best to embarrass the reporter:After studying the Secret Service and its relationships with dozens of presidents, vice-presidents and their families, Ronald Kessler s astonishment at Hillary Clinton s inhumanity should reverberate in every American s head.As he told me: No one would hire such a person to work at a McDonald s, and yet she is being considered for president of the United States. Via: NYP | 1real |
Highlights: The Trump presidency on April 13 at 9:30 P.M. EDT/0130 GMT on Friday | (Reuters) - Highlights for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Thursday: The United States drops a massive GBU-43 bomb, the largest non-nuclear bomb it has ever used in combat, in Afghanistan against a series of caves used by Islamic State militants, the Pentagon says. Trump says Pyongyang is a problem that “will be taken care of” amid speculation that North Korea is on the verge of a sixth nuclear test. Military force cannot resolve tension over North Korea, China warns, while an influential Chinese newspaper urges Pyongyang to halt its nuclear program in exchange for Beijing’s protection. The Trump administration is focusing its North Korea strategy on tougher economic sanctions, possibly including intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang, U.S. officials say. Trump says “things will work out fine” between the United States and Russia, a day after declaring U.S.-Russian relations may be at an all-time low. Trump signals he could be moving closer to the mainstream on monetary policy, saying he has not ruled out reappointment of Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chair as he considers his choices for the U.S. central bank. [nL1N1HL14B] Trump signs a resolution that will allow U.S. states to restrict how federal funds for contraception and reproductive health are spent, a move cheered by anti-abortion campaigners. Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen presses Deutsche Bank to release information about issues including Trump’s debt and any bank meetings with Trump administration officials, saying he has “great concern” about possible conflicts of interest. EXPORT-IMPORT BANK Trump’s office says he plans to revive the hobbled Export-Import Bank of the United States, a victory for American manufacturers such as Boeing Co and General Electric Co that have overseas customers that use the agency’s government-backed loans to purchase their products. Top Wall Street bankers say they are having positive discussions about financial regulation in Washington, and downplay the idea U.S. policymakers may force their institutions to split up. The United States is pushing for trade to be a key issue in top-level economic talks with Japan, a source says, an unwelcome development for Tokyo, which is seeking to fend off U.S. pressure to reduce the bilateral trade imbalance. Trump’s administration has focused on one group of illegal immigrants more than others: women with children, according to eight Department of Homeland Security officials interviewed by Reuters about agency planning. | 0fake |
SUB-HUMANS: Surveillance VIDEO Captures 4 Black Males Brutally Beating 37-Yr Old White Male, Break His Bones, Steal His Wallet, After Offering To Help Pay For Their Meals | A group of people beat a man in a Brooklyn restaurant after he offered to help pay for their food, police said. Surveillance video captured the brutal beating inside Texas Chicken and Burgers in Prospect Park South earlier this month. Police released the video in the hopes of catching the four suspects.After the 37-year-old victim offered to help pay for two of the suspects meals, they began yelling at him and then started punching him and beating him with his own cane, police said. While the man tried to protect himself from the violent blows, two other suspects charged into the restaurant and also began beating the man, kicking him in his head and body, according to police.While the victim was lying on the ground, another man came in and appeared to steal from the man s pockets, police said. Source: Group Breaks Man s Bones After He Offers to Help Pay for Their Food. NBC New YorkIronically, after eight long years with a mixed-race president who could have done so much to bring races closer together, America is watching everything the great Martin Luther King, Jr. and those of every race who fought to integrate our society fall apart | 1real |
MOOCH CRIES VICTIM (Again) In Speech To Argentinian Girls: “men would whistle at me as I walked down the street, as if my body were their property” [VIDEO] | Ahhh Mooch The perpetual victim. Never mind that 319 million Americans have been victims of her husband s radical, self-serving policies for the past 7 1/2 years. And never mind that the Obama clan just spent their vacation palling around with communist dictator, Raul Castro, who is currently committing some of the worst human right violations against women in the history of Cuba. Never mind that there are Christian and Yazidi women being raped and sold into a lifetime of sex slavery. Our First Lady would like to use herself as an example of what a victim of sexism looks like. How very appropriate First Lady Michelle Obama said she faced harassment from men who used to whistle at her when she was a young woman. As I got older, I found that men would whistle at me as I walked down the street, as if my body were their property, as if I were an object to be commented on instead of a full human being with thoughts and feelings of my own, Obama said in a speech in Argentina on Wednesday. I began to realize that the hopes I had for myself were in conflict with the messages I was receiving from people around me, she said at the Let Girls Learn initiative.Via: Daily Mail | 1real |
France criticizes Russian stance on Syria toxic gas probe | PARIS (Reuters) - France criticized Russia on Thursday for calling into question an international inquiry into who is to blame for chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Russia has questioned the work and future of the joint inquiry by the U.N. and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and said it would decide whether to support extending the mandate after investigators submit their next report. We cannot accept that the credibility and independence of these mechanisms are challenged on the grounds that their conclusions are not suitable for Russia, French foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne told reporters. This undermines the international consensus that it is our responsibility to build to stop the use of these weapons in Syria. The inquiry, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), is due to report by Oct. 26 on who was responsible for an April 4 attack on the opposition-held town of Khan Sheikhoun that killed dozens of people. France, Britain and the United States have accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s government of being behind the attack and the probe is expected to back those claims. The United States said on Wednesday it would push the United Nations Security Council to renew within days the JIM s mandate, setting the stage for a likely showdown with Russia, which backs Assad and denies Assad has used chemical weapons. France, under President Emmanuel Macron, has been pushing for closer cooperation with Moscow, especially over Syria, and has said dialogue with Russia on enforcing a 2013 Security Council resolution to prevent the use of chemical weapons in Syria was one of its priorities. The JIM (already) concluded in its August and October 2016 reports the responsibility of the Syrian armed and security forces in three cases of chlorine use and Islamic State in one case. The methodology of the investigation is indisputable, Romatet-Espagne said. | 0fake |
Cruz announces Fiorina as choice for running mate | Ted Cruz, looking for a shake-up in the 2016 race as Donald Trump moves steadily closer to the Republican nomination, on Wednesday announced former GOP primary rival Carly Fiorina as his choice for running mate should he win the party nod.
The move was immediately dismissed as an act of “desperation” by the Trump team, but Cruz – while acknowledging it is “unusual” to announce a running mate so early – defended the decision. He claimed “nobody is getting to 1,237 delegates,” the number needed to clinch the nomination, and voters should “know what [they] will get.”
“After a great deal of time and thought, after a great deal of consideration and prayer, I have come to the conclusion that if I am nominated to be president of the United States that I will run on a ticket with my vice presidential nominee, Carly Fiorina,” Cruz said.
Cruz, together now with Fiorina, was trying to fight Trump's narrative that the race is effectively "over," after the front-runner swept five primary states on Tuesday. But Fiorina, in accepting Cruz's offer, said she's ready to "fight."
“I’ve had tough fights all my life," Fiorina said. "Tough fights don’t worry me a bit.”
Cruz made the announcement in the critical primary turf of Indiana, which votes next Tuesday. Speaking at an afternoon rally in Indianapolis, Cruz announced his decision to cheers and chants of “Carly! Carly!” while touting the former HP CEO’s credentials and life story.
The theoretical pairing represents a diverse ticket – offering the possibility of electing the first Hispanic president and first female vice president.
“This is a choice that you are telling the American people that ‘This is an individual that I trust and, more important, this is an individual that you can trust to lead this country, no matter what might happen,’” Cruz said.
But for the time being, Fiorina will hold the odd position of being a vice presidential candidate-in-waiting – as Cruz continues to lag far behind Trump in the battle for the GOP nomination.
Even Fiorina would have to be elected by delegates at the convention. As for Cruz, he’s already been mathematically eliminated from clinching the nomination before the convention, and is relying on the prospect of a Cleveland floor fight.
A highly visible Cruz surrogate, the former HP CEO recently handed over her tax returns to the Cruz campaign for vetting, CNN reported Tuesday, and her name immediately surfaced when Cruz teased a “major announcement” Wednesday morning.
Cruz said Wednesday that he and his family had grown so close to Fiorina that she often sings to his young daughters -- a skill she showed off during her speech -- and also exchanges texts with the young girls.
“And Carly may be the first vice president in American history to have an impressive fluency with hearts and smiley face emoticons," Cruz said.
Trump leads Cruz in pledged delegates, 954-562, but Cruz’s strong ground operation has elected many delegate allies to the Republican Convention in July. Cruz believes the battle will proceed to a contested convention, where he hopes to triumph once some pledged delegates become unbound and are free to switch their votes.
Trump on Wednesday morning dismissed the notion of Cruz tapping a running mate.
"First of all, he shouldn't be naming anybody because he doesn't even have a chance," Trump said. "Naming Carly's dumb, because Carly didn't do well. She had one good debate -- not against me by the way, because I had an unblemished record of victories during debates -- but she had one victory on the smaller stage and that was it."
In a statement later Wednesday, Trump criticized the move as Cruz "only trying to stay relevant."
While most presidential candidates wait until they have the nomination sewn up to announce a running mate, Cruz's selection of a vice presidential candidate in April – while he’s well behind in delegates – followed a pattern of somewhat unconventional campaigning including an early embrace of Trump and kicking off his campaign without first forming an exploratory committee.
Fiorina began her career working as a secretary and receptionist but quickly rose up the business ranks and was named in 1999 as the chief executive officer for Hewlett-Packard, becoming the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 company.
"Of all the people who didn't make it far in the race, she was one of the best about laying out her plan, talking about who she is and her accomplishments," said Doug De Groote, a fundraiser for Cruz based near Los Angeles.
On her website, Fiorina describes her tenure at HP as having “saved 80,000 jobs” during “the worst technology recession in 25 years.” But her time at the helm also drew criticism for alleged deals with Iran brokered through a subsidiary and the laying off of 30,000 employees. In 2004, Fiorina left the company after the board of directors forced her resignation.
Her career as a political candidate began when Fiorina tried to unseat California Sen. Barbara Boxer during an unsuccessful 2010 bid. Boxer on Wednesday mocked the suggestion of Fiorina as Cruz's running mate.
"The best way to describe that ticket is mean and meaner," she said. "He wants to throw people out of the country and she threw thousands of jobs out of the country. Perfect match."
In May 2015, Fiorina announced her candidacy for president and quickly became known as a feisty critic of Hillary Clinton and a strong defender of the pro-life community. Planned Parenthood immediately panned Fiorina's Wednesday pairing with Cruz as "the most loathsome pair of anti-abortion extremists in America."
Her early debate performances were lauded by many critics; however, she never gained traction and suspended her campaign after single-digit finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. She endorsed Cruz in early March and has appeared often with him on the campaign trail.
When asked about being Cruz’s vice president in early March, Fiorina replied, “Let’s win the nomination first.”
Though she eventually threw her support behind Cruz, Fiorina also attacked him when she was still a competing candidate. She termed him one of the “ultimate insiders” and called him “too divisive” in January. She also criticized Cruz for saying “one thing in the drawing rooms of Manhattan and another thing in the living rooms of Iowa.”
Fox News’ Ed Henry and Serafin Gomez and The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 0fake |
Clinton Goes After Republican Vote In Rare Fox News Interview | Hillary Clinton made the case for her presidential bid in a rare interview with Fox News Sunday, reaching out directly to the conservative show’s primary audience: older Republican voters, many of them distrustful of her liberal politics and her conduct as secretary of state, but even more terrified by Donald Trump’s unpredictable temperament and seeming coziness with Russia.
“We know that Donald Trump has shown a very troubling willingness to back up Putin, to support Putin, whether it's saying that NATO wouldn't come to the rescue of our allies if they were invaded” or “his praise for Putin—which is, I think, quite remarkable,” Clinton said, when asked by Fox host Chris Wallace about the recent hacking attack against the Democratic National Committee, which is widely believed to have been carried out by Russia in order to benefit Trump. Clinton didn’t go so far as to suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin would prefer to see Trump in the White House, but she said it “raises serious issues about Russian interference in our elections, in our democracy.” Trump’s history of praising Putin also “raises national security issues,” she argued.
The sit-down interview, Clinton’s first since becoming the first female presidential nominee of a major party, and her first with Fox News Sunday in five years, was unusual for the veteran politician, who is often criticized for her sporadic interaction with the press. (Unlike Trump, who bombards the media constantly, Clinton hasn’t given a press conference in more than 200 days.) More unusual was what Clinton was trying to do: win over conservatives like George Will, who have been driven from the Republican Party by its decision to nominate as its standard-bearer a former reality TV star with little history of conservative principles.
Clinton faces a steep uphill climb, however, in convincing Republicans that she is trustworthy and won’t overstep her bounds as president on the issue of immigration, both issues that Fox News—which re-aired the 10 A.M. Fox interview—has repeatedly hammered her on over the last year. Confronted with the fact that two-third of voters say they don’t trust her, the former secretary of state acknowledged she had to do more (“I have work to do to make sure people know what I have done and what I will do”) but argued that Americans’ impression of her is a caricature, not reality. “When I left office as Secretary of State, 66 percent of Americans approved of what I do,” she told Wallace. “I think that it's fair for Americans to have questions. I hope you'll ask Donald Trump why he is so untrusted by the American people.”
The Democratic nominee also sought to allay Republican voters’ fears that she would take away or limit access to guns as president, a major obstacle to winning over uncertain conservatives who are worried about Trump. “I'm not looking to repeal the Second Amendment. I'm not looking to take people's guns away,” Clinton insisted, repeating what she had said in her Democratic National Convention speech last week, during which she had accepted her party’s nomination for president. “But I am looking for more support for the reasonable efforts that need to be undertaken to keep guns out of the wrong hands,” she continued. “The vast majority of Americans including gun owners support the kind of common sense reforms that I'm proposing.”
Clinton’s interview with Wallace was the latest in a series of moves by the presidential nominee to expand her voting base beyond liberal and centrist Democrats to include more conservative voters. Days before, right-leaning pundits had watched with some concern as the Democratic National Convention gleefully co-opted an iconography and vocabulary traditionally belonging to Republicans: giant American flags, patriotic chants, and a parade of high-ranking military officials, police officers, former Reagan officials, and even Michael Bloomberg, once a Republican himself. The spectacle was, they fretted, more American than their own convention, a weeklong celebration of Trump.
Clinton’s interview augurs potential difficulty on the horizon as she seeks to unite believers of old-fashioned, Reagan-era conservatism, with the ideals of a socialist from Vermont and his legion of scrappy supporters. But if anyone can scare more people into the Democratic Party’s big tent, it’s Donald Trump—and Clinton is holding open the doors. Already there are suggestions that the Democratic nominee could soon receive the endorsement of high-profile dissenters within the Republican ranks, even if it risks alienating some portion of her liberal base. Fox News itself may soon be shifting toward the center, as Rupert Murdoch’s sons, James and Lachlan move to reinvent the network in the wake of Roger Ailes’ departure amid a sexual harassment scandal. If there’s anyone who can capitalize on the coming shakeup with a carefully-tuned strategy of triangulation, it’s another Clinton. | 0fake |
The Modern History of ‘Rigged’ US Election | By Robert Parry
The United States is so committed to the notion that its electoral process is the world’s “gold standard” that there has been a bipartisan determination to maintain the fiction even when evidence is overwhelming that a U.S. presidential election has been manipulated or stolen. The “wise men” of the system simply insist otherwise.
We have seen this behavior when there are serious questions of vote tampering (as in Election 1960) or when a challenger apparently exploits a foreign crisis to create an advantage over the incumbent (as in Elections 1968 and 1980) or when the citizens’ judgment is overturned by judges (as in Election 2000).
Presidents Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan photographed together in the Oval Office in 1991. (Cropped from a White House photo that also included Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.)
Strangely, in such cases, it is not only the party that benefited which refuses to accept the evidence of wrongdoing, but the losing party and the establishment news media as well. Protecting the perceived integrity of the U.S. democratic process is paramount. Americans must continue to believe in the integrity of the system even when that integrity has been violated.
The harsh truth is that pursuit of power often trumps the principle of an informed electorate choosing the nation’s leaders, but that truth simply cannot be recognized.
Of course, historically, American democracy was far from perfect, excluding millions of people, including African-American slaves and women. The compromises needed to enact the Constitution in 1787 also led to distasteful distortions, such as counting slaves as three-fifths of a person for the purpose of representation (although obviously slaves couldn’t vote).
That unsavory deal enabled Thomas Jefferson to defeat John Adams in the pivotal national election of 1800. In effect, the votes of Southern slave owners like Jefferson counted substantially more than the votes of Northern non-slave owners.
Even after the Civil War when the Constitution was amended to give black men voting rights, the reality for black voting, especially in the South, was quite different from the new constitutional mandate. Whites in former Confederate states concocted subterfuges to keep blacks away from the polls to ensure continued white supremacy for almost a century.
Women did not gain suffrage until 1920 with the passage of another constitutional amendment, and it took federal legislation in 1965 to clear away legal obstacles that Southern states had created to deny the franchise to blacks.
Indeed, the alleged voter fraud in Election 1960, concentrated largely in Texas, a former Confederate state and home to John Kennedy’s vice presidential running mate, Lyndon Johnson, could be viewed as an outgrowth of the South’s heritage of rigging elections in favor of Democrats, the post-Civil War party of white Southerners.
However, by pushing through civil rights for blacks in the 1960s, Kennedy and Johnson earned the enmity of many white Southerners who switched their allegiance to the Republican Party via Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy of coded racial messaging. Nixon also harbored resentments over what he viewed as his unjust defeat in the election of 1960.
Nixon’s ‘Treason’ So, by 1968, the Democrats’ once solid South was splintering, but Nixon, who was again the Republican presidential nominee, didn’t want to leave his chances of winning what looked to be another close election to chance. Nixon feared that — with the Vietnam War raging and the Democratic Party deeply divided — President Johnson could give the Democratic nominee, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, a decisive boost by reaching a last-minute peace deal with North Vietnam.
President Richard Nixon with his then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger in 1972.
The documentary and testimonial evidence is now clear that to avert a peace deal, Nixon’s campaign went behind Johnson’s back to persuade South Vietnamese President Nguyen van Thieu to torpedo Johnson’s Paris peace talks by refusing to attend. Nixon’s emissaries assured Thieu that a President Nixon would continue the war and guarantee a better outcome for South Vietnam.
Though Johnson had strong evidence of what he privately called Nixon’s “treason” — from FBI wiretaps in the days before the 1968 election — he and his top advisers chose to stay silent. In a Nov. 4, 1968 conference call , Secretary of State Dean Rusk, National Security Advisor Walt Rostow and Defense Secretary Clark Clifford – three pillars of the Establishment – expressed that consensus, with Clifford explaining the thinking:
“Some elements of the story are so shocking in their nature that I’m wondering whether it would be good for the country to disclose the story and then possibly have a certain individual [Nixon] elected,” Clifford said. “It could cast his whole administration under such doubt that I think it would be inimical to our country’s interests.”
Clifford’s words expressed the recurring thinking whenever evidence emerged casting the integrity of America’s electoral system in doubt, especially at the presidential level. The American people were not to know what kind of dirty deeds could affect that process.
To this day, the major U.S. news media will not directly address the issue of Nixon’s treachery in 1968, despite the wealth of evidence proving this historical reality now available from declassified records at the Johnson presidential library in Austin, Texas. In a puckish recognition of this ignored history, the library’s archivists call the file on Nixon’s sabotage of the Vietnam peace talks their “X-file.” [For details, see Consortiumnews.com’s “ LBJ’s ‘X-File’ on Nixon’s ‘Treason. ’”]
The evidence also strongly suggests that Nixon’s paranoia about a missing White House file detailing his “treason” – top secret documents that Johnson had entrusted to Rostow at the end of LBJ’s presidency – led to Nixon’s creation of the “plumbers,” a team of burglars whose first assignment was to locate those purloined papers. The existence of the “plumbers” became public in June 1972 when they were caught breaking into the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters at the Watergate in Washington.
National Security Adviser Walt Rostow shows President Lyndon Johnson a model of a battle near Khe Sanh in Vietnam. (U.S. Archive Photo)
Although the Watergate scandal remains the archetypal case of election-year dirty tricks, the major U.S. news media never acknowledge the link between Watergate and Nixon’s far more egregious dirty trick four years earlier, sinking Johnson’s Vietnam peace talks while 500,000 American soldiers were in the war zone. In part because of Nixon’s sabotage — and his promise to Thieu of a more favorable outcome — the war continued for four more bloody years before being settled along the lines that were available to Johnson in 1968. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “ The Heinous Crime Behind Watergate .”]
In effect, Watergate gets walled off as some anomaly that is explained by Nixon’s strange personality. However, even though Nixon resigned in disgrace in 1974, he and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, who also had a hand in the Paris peace talk caper, reappear as secondary players in the next well-documented case of obstructing a sitting president’s foreign policy to get an edge in the 1980 campaign.
Reagan’s ‘October Surprise’ Caper In that case, President Jimmy Carter was seeking reelection and trying to negotiate release of 52 American hostages then held in revolutionary Iran. Ronald Reagan’s campaign feared that Carter might pull off an “October Surprise” by bringing home the hostages just before the election. So, this historical mystery has been: Did Reagan’s team take action to block Carter’s October Surprise?
President Ronald Reagan, delivering his Inaugural Address on Jan. 20, 1981, as the 52 U.S. hostages in Iran are simultaneously released.
The testimonial and documentary evidence that Reagan’s team did engage in a secret operation to prevent Carter’s October Surprise is now almost as overwhelming as the proof of the 1968 affair regarding Nixon’s Paris peace talk maneuver.
That evidence indicates that Reagan’s campaign director William Casey organized a clandestine effort to prevent the hostages’ release before Election Day, after apparently consulting with Nixon and Kissinger and aided by former CIA Director George H.W. Bush, who was Reagan’s vice presidential running mate.
By early November 1980, the public’s obsession with Iran’s humiliation of the United States and Carter’s inability to free the hostages helped turn a narrow race into a Reagan landslide. When the hostages were finally let go immediately after Reagan’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 1981, his supporters cited the timing to claim that the Iranians had finally relented out of fear of Reagan.
Bolstered by his image as a tough guy, Reagan enacted much of his right-wing agenda, including passing massive tax cuts benefiting the wealthy, weakening unions and creating the circumstances for the rapid erosion of the Great American Middle Class.
Behind the scenes, the Reagan administration signed off on secret arms shipments to Iran, mostly through Israel, what a variety of witnesses described as the payoff for Iran’s cooperation in getting Reagan elected and then giving him the extra benefit of timing the hostage release to immediately follow his inauguration.
Then-Vice President George H.W. Bush with CIA Director William Casey at the White House on Feb. 11, 1981. (Photo credit: Reagan Library)
In summer 1981, when Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East Nicholas Veliotes learned about the arms shipments to Iran, he checked on their origins and said, later in a PBS interview:
“It was clear to me after my conversations with people on high that indeed we had agreed that the Israelis could transship to Iran some American-origin military equipment. … [This operation] seems to have started in earnest in the period probably prior to the election of 1980, as the Israelis had identified who would become the new players in the national security area in the Reagan administration. And I understand some contacts were made at that time.”
Those early covert arms shipments to Iran evolved into a later secret set of arms deals that surfaced in fall 1986 as the Iran-Contra Affair, with some of the profits getting recycled back to Reagan’s beloved Nicaraguan Contra rebels fighting to overthrow Nicaragua’s leftist government.
While many facts of the Iran-Contra scandal were revealed by congressional and special-prosecutor investigations in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the origins of the Reagan-Iran relationship was always kept hazy. The Republicans were determined to stop any revelations about the 1980 contacts, but the Democrats were almost as reluctant to go there.
A half-hearted congressional inquiry was launched in 1991 and depended heavily on then-President George H.W. Bush to collect the evidence and arrange interviews for the investigation. In other words, Bush, who was then seeking reelection and who was a chief suspect in the secret dealings with Iran, was entrusted with proving his own guilt.
Tired of the Story By the early 1990s, the mainstream U.S. news media was also tired of the complex Iran-Contra scandal and wanted to move on. As a correspondent at Newsweek, I had battled senior editors over their disinterest in getting to the bottom of the scandal before I left the magazine in 1990. I then received an assignment from PBS Frontline to look into the 1980 “October Surprise” question, which led to a documentary on the subject in April 1991.
PBS Frontline’s: The Election Held Hostage, co-written by Robert Parry and Robert Ross.
However, by fall 1991, just as Congress was agreeing to open an investigation, my ex-bosses at Newsweek, along with The New Republic, then an elite neoconservative publication interested in protecting Israel’s exposure on those early arms deals, went on the attack. They published matching cover stories deeming the 1980 “October Surprise” case a hoax, but their articles were both based on a misreading of documents recording Casey’s attendance at a conference in London in July 1980, which he seemed to have used as a cover for a side trip to Madrid to meet with senior Iranians regarding the hostages.
Although the bogus Newsweek/New Republic “London alibi” would eventually be debunked, it created a hostile climate for the investigation. With Bush angrily denying everything and the congressional Republicans determined to protect the President’s flanks, the Democrats mostly just went through the motions of an investigation.
Meanwhile, Bush’s State Department and White House counsel’s office saw their jobs as discrediting the investigation, deep-sixing incriminating documents, and helping a key witness dodge a congressional subpoena.
Years later, I discovered a document at the Bush presidential library in College Station, Texas, confirming that Casey had taken a mysterious trip to Madrid in 1980. The U.S. Embassy’s confirmation of Casey’s trip was passed along by State Department legal adviser Edwin D. Williamson to Associate White House Counsel Chester Paul Beach Jr. in early November 1991, just as the congressional inquiry was taking shape.
Williamson said that among the State Department “material potentially relevant to the October Surprise allegations [was]a cable from the Madrid embassy indicating that Bill Casey was in town, for purposes unknown,” Beach noted in a “ memorandum for record ” dated Nov. 4, 1991.
Two days later, on Nov. 6, Beach’s boss, White House counsel C. Boyden Gray, convened an inter-agency strategy session and explained the need to contain the congressional investigation into the October Surprise case. The explicit goal was to ensure the scandal would not hurt President Bush’s reelection hopes in 1992.
C. Boyden Gray, White House counsel under President George H.W. Bush.
At the meeting, Gray laid out how to thwart the October Surprise inquiry, which was seen as a dangerous expansion of the Iran-Contra investigation. The prospect that the two sets of allegations would merge into a single narrative represented a grave threat to George H.W. Bush’s reelection campaign. As assistant White House counsel Ronald vonLembke, put it , the White House goal in 1991 was to “kill/spike this story.”
Gray explained the stakes at the White House strategy session. “Whatever form they ultimately take, the House and Senate ‘October Surprise’ investigations, like Iran-Contra, will involve interagency concerns and be of special interest to the President,” Gray declared, according to minutes . [Emphasis in original.]
Among “touchstones” cited by Gray were “No Surprises to the White House, and Maintain Ability to Respond to Leaks in Real Time. This is Partisan.” White House “talking points” on the October Surprise investigation urged restricting the inquiry to 1979-80 and imposing strict time limits for issuing any findings.
Timid Democrats But Bush’s White House really had little to fear because whatever evidence that the congressional investigation received – and a great deal arrived in December 1992 and January 1993 – there was no stomach for actually proving that the 1980 Reagan campaign had conspired with Iranian radicals to extend the captivity of 52 Americans in order to ensure Reagan’s election victory.
Former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Indiana.
That would have undermined the faith of the American people in their democratic process – and that, as Clark Clifford said in the 1968 context, would not be “good for the country.”
In 2014 when I sent a copy of Beach’s memo regarding Casey’s trip to Madrid to former Rep. Lee Hamilton, D-Indiana, who had chaired the October Surprise inquiry in 1991-93, he told me that it had shaken his confidence in the task force’s dismissive conclusions about the October Surprise issue.
“The [Bush-41] White House did not notify us that he [Casey] did make the trip” to Madrid, Hamilton told me. “Should they have passed that on to us? They should have because they knew we were interested in that.”
Asked if knowledge that Casey had traveled to Madrid might have changed the task force’s dismissive October Surprise conclusion, Hamilton said yes, because the question of the Madrid trip was key to the task force’s investigation.
“If the White House knew that Casey was there, they certainly should have shared it with us,” Hamilton said, adding that “you have to rely on people” in authority to comply with information requests. But that trust was at the heart of the inquiry’s failure. With the money and power of the American presidency at stake, the idea that George H.W. Bush and his team would help an investigation that might implicate him in an act close to treason was naïve in the extreme.
Arguably, Hamilton’s timid investigation was worse than no investigation at all because it gave Bush’s team the opportunity to search out incriminating documents and make them disappear. Then, Hamilton’s investigative conclusion reinforced the “group think” dismissing this serious manipulation of democracy as a “conspiracy theory” when it was anything but. In the years since, Hamilton hasn’t done anything to change the public impression that the Reagan campaign was innocent.
Still, among the few people who have followed this case, the October Surprise cover-up would slowly crumble with admissions by officials involved in the investigation that its exculpatory conclusions were rushed , that crucial evidence had been hidden or ignored , and that some alibis for key Republicans didn’t make any sense .
But the dismissive “group think” remains undisturbed as far as the major U.S. media and mainstream historians are concerned. [For details, see Robert Parry’s America’s Stolen Narrative or Trick or Treason: The 1980 October Surprise Mystery or Consortiumnews.com’s “ Second Thoughts on October Surprise. ”]
Past as Prologue Lee Hamilton’s decision to “clear” Reagan and Bush of the 1980 October Surprise suspicions in 1992 was not simply a case of miswriting history. The findings had clear implications for the future as well, since the public impression about George H.W. Bush’s rectitude was an important factor in the support given to his oldest son, George W. Bush, in 2000.
President George W. Bush is introduced by his brother Florida Gov. Jeb Bush before delivering remarks at Sun City Center, Florida, on May 9, 2006. (White House photo by Eric Draper)
Indeed, if the full truth had been told about the father’s role in the October Surprise and Iran-Contra cases, it’s hard to imagine that his son would have received the Republican nomination, let alone made a serious run for the White House. And, if that history were known, there might have been a stronger determination on the part of Democrats to resist another Bush “stolen election” in 2000.
Regarding Election 2000, the evidence is now clear that Vice President Al Gore not only won the national popular vote but received more votes that were legal under Florida law than did George W. Bush. But Bush relied first on the help of officials working for his brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, and then on five Republican justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to thwart a full recount and to award him Florida’s electoral votes and thus the presidency.
The reality of Gore’s rightful victory should have finally become clear in November 2001 when a group of news organizations finished their own examination of Florida’s disputed ballots and released their tabulations showing that Gore would have won if all ballots considered legal under Florida law were counted.
However, between the disputed election and the release of those numbers, the 9/11 attacks had occurred, so The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and other leading outlets did not want the American people to know that the wrong person was in the White House. Surely, telling the American people that fact amid the 9/11 crisis would not be “good for the country.”
So, senior editors at all the top new organizations decided to mislead the public by framing their stories in a deceptive way to obscure the most newsworthy discovery – that the so-called “over-votes” in which voters both checked and wrote in their choices’ names broke heavily for Gore and would have put him over the top regardless of which kinds of chads were considered for the “under-votes” that hadn’t registered on antiquated voting machines. “Over-votes” would be counted under Florida law which bases its standards on “clear intent of the voter.”
However, instead of leading with Gore’s rightful victory, the news organizations concocted hypotheticals around partial recounts that still would have given Florida narrowly to Bush. They either left out or buried the obvious lede that a historic injustice had occurred.
Former Vice President Al Gore. (Photo credit: algore.com)
On Nov. 12, 2001, the day that the news organizations ran those stories, I examined the actual data and quickly detected the evidence of Gore’s victory. In a story that day, I suggested that senior news executives were exercising a misguided sense of patriotism. They had hid the reality for “the good of the country,” much as Johnson’s team had done in 1968 regarding Nixon’s sabotage of the Paris peace talks and Hamilton’s inquiry had done regarding the 1980 “October Surprise” case.
Within a couple of hours of my posting the article at Consortiumnews.com, I received an irate phone call from The New York Times media writer Felicity Barringer, who accused me of impugning the journalistic integrity of then-Times executive editor Howell Raines. I got the impression that Barringer had been on the look-out for some deviant story that didn’t accept the Bush-won conventional wisdom.
However, this violation of objective and professional journalism – bending the slant of a story to achieve a preferred outcome rather than simply giving the readers the most interesting angle – was not simply about some historical event that had occurred a year earlier. It was about the future.
By misleading Americans into thinking that Bush was the rightful winner of Election 2000 – even if the media’s motivation was to maintain national unity following the 9/11 attacks – the major news outlets gave Bush greater latitude to respond to the crisis, including the diversionary invasion of Iraq under false pretenses. The Bush-won headlines of November 2001 also enhanced the chances of his reelection in 2004. [For the details of how a full Florida recount would have given Gore the White House, see Consortiumnews.com’s “ Gore’s Victory ,” “ So Bush Did Steal the White House ,” and “ Bush v. Gore’s Dark American Decade. ”]
A Phalanx of Misguided Consensus Looking back on these examples of candidates manipulating democracy, there appears to be one common element: after the “stolen” elections, the media and political establishments quickly line up, shoulder to shoulder, to assure the American people that nothing improper has happened. Graceful “losers” are patted on the back for not complaining that the voters’ will had been ignored or twisted.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
Al Gore is praised for graciously accepting the extraordinary ruling by Republican partisans on the Supreme Court, who stopped the counting of ballots in Florida on the grounds, as Justice Antonin Scalia said, that a count that showed Gore winning (when the Court’s majority was already planning to award the White House to Bush) would undermine Bush’s “legitimacy.”
Similarly, Rep. Hamilton is regarded as a modern “wise man,” in part, because he conducted investigations that never pushed very hard for the truth but rather reached conclusions that were acceptable to the powers-that-be, that didn’t ruffle too many feathers.
But the cumulative effect of all these half-truths, cover-ups and lies – uttered for “the good of the country” – is to corrode the faith of many well-informed Americans about the legitimacy of the entire process. It is the classic parable of the boy who cried wolf too many times, or in this case, assured the townspeople that there never was a wolf and that they should ignore the fact that the livestock had mysteriously disappeared leaving behind only a trail of blood into the forest.
So, when Donald Trump shows up in 2016 insisting that the electoral system is rigged against him, many Americans choose to believe his demagogy. But Trump isn’t pressing for the full truth about the elections of 1968 or 1980 or 2000. He actually praises Republicans implicated in those cases and vows to appoint Supreme Court justices in the mold of the late Antonin Scalia.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Trump’s complaints about “rigged” elections are more in line with the white Southerners during Jim Crow, suggesting that black and brown people are cheating at the polls and need to have white poll monitors to make sure they don’t succeed at “stealing” the election from white people.
There is a racist undertone to Trump’s version of a “rigged” democracy but he is not entirely wrong about the flaws in the process. He’s just not honest about what those flaws are.
The hard truth is that the U.S. political process is not democracy’s “gold standard”; it is and has been a severely flawed system that is not made better by a failure to honestly address the unpleasant realities and to impose accountability on politicians who cheat the voters.
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com ).
Source: Consortium News
Via: Global Research
| 1real |
BREAKING: FBI DIRECTOR JAMES COMEY Re-Opens Investigation Of Hillary’s Private Server, As New Details Emerge | The Federal Bureau of Investigations will reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton s use of a private email server exclusively during her time as Secretary of State.In a letter to Congress, FBI director James B. Comey revealed that the bureau had learned of more emails connected to the investigation. I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed by on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation, Comey wrote.Previously, Comey testified that the investigation was closed, but said that recent developments caused him to supplement his testimony.Comey did not give a timeline for the conclusion of the investigation.House oversight committee chairman Jason Chaffetz reacted to the news on Twitter.FBI Dir just informed me, "The FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation." Case reopened Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) October 28, 2016 Case reopened, he commented, citing Comey s letter.Via: Breitbart | 1real |
Window closing for Republican stealth assault on U.S. regulations | WASHINGTON The clock began running out this week on a strategy that has provided U.S. Republicans in Congress with their only notable legislative successes this year: aggressive use of an obscure U.S. law known as the Congressional Review Act (CRA). On his 75th day in power, President Donald Trump has yet to offer any major legislation or win passage of a bill he favors, but House of Representatives Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has notched numerous small-scale victories with his strategy. Vice President Mike Pence told business leaders at the White House on Tuesday that Trump would sign more CRA resolutions soon and roll back an “avalanche of red tape” from the administration of President Barack Obama, a Democrat. REUTERS COMMENTARYWar College: One tank to rule them allThe right way to address the Marines United Facebook GroupIn legal battles against travel ban, Trump's own statements are his worst enemy Since Trump took office on Jan. 20, McCarthy has led Congress in churning out 13 resolutions under the CRA killing Obama-era regulations, most of concern to business interests. Trump has signed 11 of these into law, not only rolling back the rules they targeted but also barring agencies from writing “substantially similar” regulations in the future. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Tuesday the number of resolutions signed over two months showed Trump is “vastly different” from past presidents in rolling back regulations. On Monday Trump signed a CRA resolution repealing broadband privacy protections. He has also signed resolutions killing rules meant to expand background checks for mentally ill gun purchasers, change public school assessments, and reduce coal waste runoff into streams. Last Friday was the deadline for introducing any new CRA resolutions on regulations enacted by Obama’s administration. Now Republicans must complete voting on resolutions already in the legislative pipeline by mid-May. Democrats assail the reversals as harming the environment, education and checks on Wall Street, with many saying the regulations were killed in order to please big-money lobbyists. Representative Louise Slaughter, the senior Democrat on the Rules Committee that sends resolutions to the House floor for votes, said in an interview “of course it benefits the lobbyists.” But she said fumbles around healthcare and tax reform also pushed CRA resolutions to the fore. “Partly I think it’s because they don’t have anything else to do,” she said about Republicans’ eagerness. “Other than that I think it’s just another ‘take that Obama.’” McCarthy, a Californian and the No. 2 House Republican, saw the CRA’s potential before the election. Written in 1996 and successfully used only once before 2017, the law was originally meant to restore the balance of power between Congress and the federal bureaucracy. But lobbyists and lawmakers recognized it could be used as a policy weapon, if the stars aligned. Under the law, resolutions only need simple majorities in each chamber to go on for the president’s signature. So one party must control both the legislative and executive branches for it to work. The law sets a short time span for introducing disapproval resolutions: 60 legislative days after a regulation is finalized, meaning it can only be used right after a president of an opposing party leaves office. The stars aligned on Nov. 8, when Republicans captured the White House, Senate and House. For weeks Republican lawmakers bombarded McCarthy with lists of regulations to repeal and lobbying groups laid plans. The first disapproval resolutions were introduced on Jan. 30. Right after the election, McCarthy told his party to “go through each regulation on our priority list,” he said. “If you look at Article One of the Constitution, this isn’t the role of these agencies. The agencies have become too big,” McCarthy said in an interview with Reuters. The first resolutions sailed through, primarily because Republicans had opposed the regulations long before they were finalized. McCarthy said so many lawmakers objected to the stream pollution rule that wiping it off the books was easy. Even though the CRA effort is winding down, McCarthy’s brief campaign showed that aggressive use of the law could succeed, and provided Republicans with some modest, but needed successes in a time when they are struggling with larger matters. “After years of talk about cutting red tape, it is now actually happening,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Tuesday. “We are reversing the Obama administration’s most recent and last regulatory onslaught.” | 0fake |
Thai rubber farmers plan protest over low prices, seek aid | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Rubber farmers in Thailand, one of the world s biggest exporters of natural rubber, threatened on Friday to protest in the capital Bangkok if the military government does not help to prop up falling prices of the commodity. Prices of Thai natural rubber have fallen from a peak of 179.25 baht ($5.41) per kg in 2011 to 47.75 baht on Friday. But Thai authorities said prices have similarly slumped in other major producers of the commodity. Protests are rare in the junta-ruled Southeast Asian country where a ban on public gatherings has been in place since a 2014 coup. The Natural Rubber Council of Thailand said farmers in the rubber-growing south were calling on the authorities for help. The price of rubber is now lower than the cost of production, Uthai Sonlucksub, president of the council, told Reuters. Some farmers from the south want to protest on Monday and accuse the Rubber Authority of Thailand, a government agency, of mismanagement, Uthai said. He did not give details on the kind of help the farmers want. Thailand, along with Indonesia and Malaysia, produce nearly 70 percent of the world s natural rubber. The three countries agreed last year to cut exports to boost market prices but their targets have not always been met. The Thai rubber authority denied the accusations of mismanagement. Rubber prices are currently low in all of the major rubber producing countries. We are doing our best, said Sunan Nuanphromsakul, the authority s deputy governor. Thailand s rubber farmers are politically powerful. In 2013, hundreds of farmers staged protests around the country, blocking roads and a regional airport in the south. Those demonstrations eventually turned into a bigger political movement that led to the ouster in 2014 of a civilian government led by then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Thai benchmark unsmoked rubber sheet was quoted at 43.60 baht per kg on Thursday, less than half of this year s peak reached in January. | 0fake |
FORMER DEMOCRAT WARNS Young Americans: “Rioters are being manipulated by big government forces who need them to regain political power” [VIDEO] | Who is silencing political speech, physically attacking those with divergent views, demanding that every American share one single ideology. But sadly, the real truth is that these violent agitators have little idea about why they march. Theirs is a movement with no cause, a temper tantrum with no purpose. They are a generation lost in space .a propaganda arm of the party of disappointment. If I were wrong, would Hillary Clinton really be their standard bearer? These rioters are being manipulated by big government forces who need them to regain political power | 1real |
Opposition leader says Brexit must not be used to turn UK into a tax haven | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the British opposition Labour Party, said on Thursday he would fight any attempt by Prime Minister Theresa May s government to use Britain s exit from the European Union as a way to turn the country into a tax haven. Corbyn, who was speaking to a meeting of the socialists and democrats in the European Parliament in Brussels, has previously warned that the country must avoid a race to the bottom by slashing tax rates to attract foreign investment. We will resist any attempt by British Conservatives to use Brexit to try and create any kind of deregulated tax haven off the shores of Europe, he said. | 0fake |
Recently Leaked Documents Reveal What The Rockefeller’s Knew About UFOs | Via UsualRoutine “There exists a shadowy government with its own Air Force, its own Navy, its own fundraising mechanism, and the ability to pursue its own ideas of the national interest, free from all checks and balances, and free from the law itself.” – Senator Daniel K. Inouye, the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in United States history SPONSORED LINKS Scroll Down For Video Below
One great way to find out is to follow the money, and in doing so, it becomes immediately apparent that corporations sit higher than the government itself.
“It’s corruption really, the might of money, the corporations that hold governments in their hands, because of lobbying power and so forth, it’s really frightening.” – Jane Goodall ( source )
The recognition that we now live in a ‘corporatocracy’ rather than a democracy has become almost a commonplace for many people. Above the corporations (who continually require access to cheap money), however, are the big banks. These groups supply cheap loans to corporation, enabling them to maintain their lobbying power and thus their influence over governmental policy. The banks in question include Chase, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs, to name a few.
Above these big banks are the national central banks, like the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve. Above them still are the international central banks — the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. And finally, above these two is the central bank of central banks, the Bank for International Settlements.
The Rockefeller and Rothschild families are and have been involved with the creation of this system. If we follow the money, that is precisely where it leads.
When it comes to the UFO phenomenon, we know that governments have been kept in the dark, that there are developments being made within the “ black budget ” world, most notably within unacknowledged and waived Special Access Programs (SAPs), that ‘world leaders’ know little about.
“It is ironic that the U.S. would begin a devastating war, allegedly in search of weapons of mass destruction, when the most worrisome developments in this field are occurring in your own backyard. It is ironic that the U.S. should be fighting monstrously expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, allegedly to bring democracy to those countries, when it itself can no longer claim to be called a democracy, when trillions, and I mean thousands of billions of dollars have been spent on projects about which both the Congress and the Commander in Chief have been kept deliberately in the dark.” – Paul Hellyer, Former Canadian Defence Minister ( source )
I think it is a fair assumption to say that information surrounding UFOs and extraterrestrials, along with this “shadow” government, lies within the hands of those who sit atop these major financial institutions — a group of private, international elites.
“A power has risen up in the government greater than the people themselves, consisting of many, and various, and powerful interests, combined into one mass, and held together by the cohesive power of the vast surplus in the banks.” ( source ) – John C. Calhoun, the 7th Vice President of the United States
Today, we have no shortage of evidence for the existence of UFOs. In fact, the reality of these objects has been officially verified in the ‘mainstream’ world, as thousands of government documents have been released showing that there are objects in our atmosphere performing impossible maneuvers at unbelievable speeds. The Rockefeller Family and UFOs
What evidence is available suggesting that the Rockefeller family had information regarding UFOs and possible extraterrestrials?
We can start with the fact that we now know that Laurence Rockefeller, the prominent third-generation member of the Rockefeller family and the fourth child of John D. Rockefeller, encouraged UFO research.
How do we know this?
He heavily supported the work of Harvard University professor, psychologist, and Pultizer prize winner Dr. John Mack, who had a great interest in UFOs and those who have had supposed contact with extraterrestrials. You can learn more about Mack in an article we published earlier this year where he dealt with 60 school children who all witnessed non-human beings and a large craft landing. According to the US National Library of Medicine, Mack’s “disparate personas—from esteemed professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School to social activist and believer in alien abductions—were as incongruent as the extraordinary assemblage of his supporters, who included venture capitalist Laurence Rockefeller. . . .” ( source ) The John E. Mack Institute website also states that Rockefeller funded Mack.
Peter Sturrock, an Emeritus Professor of Physics, gathered a group of other world-renowned scientists in 1997 to stress the fact that the UFO topic deserves serious attention and is accompanied by physical evidence. The scientists met at the Pocantico Conference Center near Trrytown, New York, and the conference was financially supported by Laurance Rockefeller. ( source )( source )
Laurence Rockefeller initiated an effort alongside Hilary Clinton and Bill Clinton encouraging the U.S. government to officially disclose the existence of extraterrestrials and UFOs. It’s what’s known today as the “Rockefeller Initiative,” and you can view all of the documents to and from Laurence Rockefeller to various people regarding this initiative here . They were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by various researchers, including the Paradigm Research group, who was responsible for the Citizens Hearing on Disclosure, an event that brought together researchers and high ranking military and political personnel to testify about the reality of UFOs and extraterrestrials in front of several former United States congresspeople. You can learn more about that here . ( source ). Laurence has also supported the work of Dr. Steve Greer, head of the disclosure project .
HERE is a picture with Hillary Clinton meeting with Laurence Rockefeller, holding a book believed to be written by Paul Davies titled, “Are We Alone?” You can see from the information above why it’s not unreasonable to assume this, and we published an article earlier this year explaining how we determined the identity of the book. What’s interesting about this point is the fact that John Podesta, Former White House Chief of Staff under the Clinton Administration, councillor to Barack Obama, and current head of Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign, has gone on the record stating that:
I’m skeptical about many things, including the notion that government always knows best, and that the people can’t be trusted with the truth. The time to pull the curtain back on this subject is long overdue. We have statements from the most credible sources – those in a position to know – about a fascinating phenomenon, the nature of which is yet to be determined. (taken from Leslie Kean’s 2010 New York Times bestseller, UFOs: Generals, Pilots, And Government Officials Go On The Record, for which Podesta wrote the forward)
Podesta also made a live appearance at the National Press Club years before this, stating that “it’s time to open the books on questions that’ve remained in the dark” regarding “government investigations of UFOs.” ( source )
So What Exactly Does The Rockefeller Family Know About UFOs?
As stated earlier, based on my research, I believe that the secrecy surrounding this subject has been dictated by a small group of elite who sit atop the global financial system. I believe this same international group has heavy influence inside the military industrial complex/ black budget , and I believe they are responsible for what President Eisenhower warned us about many years ago — “the acquisition of unwarranted influence whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.”
I also believe that information regarding this subject could lie in the hands of people above those who control our global economy/financial systems — with a group that’s completely, one hundred percent clandestine, even possibly beyond the big banks… but who really knows?
That being said, it’s only possible to find information linking Laurence Rockefeller to UFOs; we don’t have much evidence to suggest his other family members have been involved, but it’s not illogical to assume that given the fact that Anne Bartley, the stepdaughter of Winthorp Rockefeller, was also involved We know he has shown a clear interest in the subject, and, as illustrated above, financed a few prominent people who were studying the subject. It’s clear that Laurence had a heavy interest in this subject and certainly encouraged the disclosure of classified information, as the above information demonstrates. Whether he was doing this out of pure interest or because he and his family were already involved in the cover-up is unclear. Who knows what information he was privy to? Or what the other members of his family knew about the subject? Laurence was the only one to openly take interest in it, but other members of his family could have been working behind the scenes.
What are your thoughts? | 1real |
Russian analysis shows western-backed terrorists using chemical weapons against civilians | Russian analysis shows western-backed terrorists using chemical weapons against civilians In yet another blow to the credibility of the Western corporate media and the anti-Syria propaganda blitz By Brandon Tuberville 9:50 AM EST
Although the 1070 Apartment Complex was liberated by the Syrian government a few days ago, the terrorists have been repeatedly shelling the area with indiscriminate missiles in order to kill civilians attempting to flee terrorist control as well as firing missiles at Syrian military personnel. Many of these missiles have been filled with poisonous gas which the Russian Center has identified as being chlorine and white phosphorous.
Dozens of people have been injured as a result of the chemical munitions and have been hospitalized for treatment. Chlorine and white phosphorous both cause extremely painful deaths.
While the United States government has repeatedly accused the Syrian military of using chemical weapons against terrorists and even civilians, not one shred of evidence has been produced to back up these claims.
However, not only have a number of internationally recognized experts demonstrated clearly that the terrorists have used chemical weapons against both civilians and Syrian military soldiers, the terrorist forces have admitted as much by videotaping themselves testing the weapons and threatening to use them against those who oppose them.
Notably, all of these substances were banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention on January 13, 1993.
The Russian center has established a mobile analysis center in Aleppo in order to test samples quickly but the samples will soon be sent to the Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Center in Moscow. This center is accredited by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
In yet another blow to the credibility of the Western corporate media and the anti-Syria propaganda blitz it has maintained since early 2011, experts from the Russian Center For Radiological, Chemical, and Biological Defense have recently announced that analysis of the shells fired by terrorists at the 1070 Apartment Complex in Aleppo contained chemical weapons.
This new revelation brings Western propaganda crashing to ground in regards to the claims that it is Assad’s government using chemical weapons and that the terrorists have no access to them.
“Rapid sample analysis shows that the toxic substances in the militants’ artillery ammunition were chlorine and white phosphorus,” an analyst from the center said. | 1real |
LAWYER FOR FBI INFORMANT Knows of Russian Bribery and Info ‘That Involves the Clintons’ [Video] | DC lawyer Victoria Toensing is one smart cookie. She s representing a former FBI informant who has evidence on kickbacks and bribery involving the transportation of uranium in the US. She recently told Sean Hannity her client will brief Congress about Russian involvement in the U.S. uranium market. This includes widespread bribery and actions that involved the Clintons I m not going into detail, attorney Victoria Toensing said on the Oct. 24 Hannity. You know that, Sean. But the informant will give an overview and specific conversations that he had with Russians in what they were thinking about the money that they were spending. I mean, let me just be that general and it involves the Clintons. The director of the FBI at that time was Robert Mueller, and he is now the special counsel investigating alleged Russian collusion with the 2016 Trump campaign. The undercover investigation involving Toensing s client occurred between 2009 and 2014, and the senior attorney on the case was Rod Rosenstein, who is now the deputy attorney general of the United States and the official who appointed Mueller as special counsel.Further, all this information indicates that many senior Obama administration officials knew about instances of bribery and money laundering involving at least one Russian official, at a time when Russia wanted to expand its uranium market in the United States, and when the administration through a special committee had to approve or deny the sale of a company, Vancouver-based Uranium One, to Rosatom. (Rosatom is the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation.)Some of the people on that Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States included then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napalitano, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.The committee approved the sale of Uranium One to Rosatom in October 2010. That sale gave Russia, and President Vladimir Putin, control over 20% of U.S. uranium production. (At least nine investors in Uranium One prior to, during, and after that sale donated $145 million to the Clinton Foundation.) So, Mueller, [Rod] Rosenstein, maybe even [James] Comey at the time, and the president of the United States certainly Eric Holder was the head of the DOJ they all knew that they had all this evidence that the Russians had infiltrated with the purpose of a criminal enterprise to corner the market on uranium, the foundational material of nuclear weapons? asked Hannity.Toensing said, That is correct. Via: cns news | 1real |
You Can Smell Hillary’s Fear | Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam.
In the final stretch of the election, Hillary Rodham Clinton has gone to war with the FBI.
The word “unprecedented” has been thrown around so often this election that it ought to be retired. But it’s still unprecedented for the nominee of a major political party to go war with the FBI.
But that’s exactly what Hillary and her people have done. Coma patients just waking up now and watching an hour of CNN from their hospital beds would assume that FBI Director James Comey is Hillary’s opponent in this election.
The FBI is under attack by everyone from Obama to CNN. Hillary’s people have circulated a letter attacking Comey. There are currently more media hit pieces lambasting him than targeting Trump. It wouldn’t be too surprising if the Clintons or their allies were to start running attack ads against the FBI.
The FBI’s leadership is being warned that the entire left-wing establishment will form a lynch mob if they continue going after Hillary. And the FBI’s credibility is being attacked by the media and the Democrats to preemptively head off the results of the investigation of the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton.
The covert struggle between FBI agents and Obama’s DOJ people has gone explosively public.
The New York Times has compared Comey to J. Edgar Hoover. Its bizarre headline, “James Comey Role Recalls Hoover’s FBI, Fairly or Not” practically admits up front that it’s spouting nonsense. The Boston Globe has published a column calling for Comey’s resignation. Not to be outdone, Time has an editorial claiming that the scandal is really an attack on all women.
James Carville appeared on MSNBC to remind everyone that he was still alive and insane. He accused Comey of coordinating with House Republicans and the KGB. And you thought the “vast right wing conspiracy” was a stretch.
Countless media stories charge Comey with violating procedure. Do you know what’s a procedural violation? Emailing classified information stored on your bathroom server.
Senator Harry Reid has sent Comey a letter accusing him of violating the Hatch Act. The Hatch Act is a nice idea that has as much relevance in the age of Obama as the Tenth Amendment. But the cable news spectrum quickly filled with media hacks glancing at the Wikipedia article on the Hatch Act under the table while accusing the FBI director of one of the most awkward conspiracies against Hillary ever.
If James Comey is really out to hurt Hillary, he picked one hell of a strange way to do it.
Not too long ago Democrats were breathing a sigh of relief when he gave Hillary Clinton a pass in a prominent public statement. If he really were out to elect Trump by keeping the email scandal going, why did he trash the investigation? Was he on the payroll of House Republicans and the KGB back then and playing it coy or was it a sudden development where Vladimir Putin and Paul Ryan talked him into taking a look at Anthony Weiner’s computer?
Either Comey is the most cunning FBI director that ever lived or he’s just awkwardly trying to navigate a political mess that has trapped him between a DOJ leadership whose political futures are tied to Hillary’s victory and his own bureau whose apolitical agents just want to be allowed to do their jobs.
The only truly mysterious thing is why Hillary and her associates decided to go to war with a respected Federal agency. Most Americans like the FBI while Hillary Clinton enjoys a 60% unfavorable rating.
And it’s an interesting question.
Hillary’s old strategy was to lie and deny that the FBI even had a criminal investigation underway. Instead her associates insisted that it was a security review. The FBI corrected her and she shrugged it off. But the old breezy denial approach has given way to a savage assault on the FBI.
Pretending that nothing was wrong was a bad strategy, but it was a better one that picking a fight with the FBI while lunatic Clinton associates try to claim that the FBI is really the KGB.
There are two possible explanations.
Hillary Clinton might be arrogant enough to lash out at the FBI now that she believes that victory is near. The same kind of hubris that led her to plan her victory fireworks display could lead her to declare a war on the FBI for irritating her during the final miles of her campaign.
But the other explanation is that her people panicked.
Going to war with the FBI is not the behavior of a smart and focused presidential campaign. It’s an act of desperation. When a presidential candidate decides that her only option is to try and destroy the credibility of the FBI, that’s not hubris, it’s fear of what the FBI might be about to reveal about her.
During the original FBI investigation, Hillary Clinton was confident that she could ride it out. And she had good reason for believing that. But that Hillary Clinton is gone. In her place is a paranoid wreck. Within a short space of time the “positive” Clinton campaign promising to unite the country has been replaced by a desperate and flailing operation that has focused all its energy on fighting the FBI.
There’s only one reason for such bizarre behavior.
The Clinton campaign has decided that an FBI investigation of the latest batch of emails poses a threat to its survival. And so it’s gone all in on fighting the FBI. It’s an unprecedented step born of fear. It’s hard to know whether that fear is justified. But the existence of that fear already tells us a whole lot.
Clinton loyalists rigged the old investigation. They knew the outcome ahead of time as well as they knew the debate questions. Now suddenly they are no longer in control. And they are afraid.
You can smell the fear.
The FBI has wiretaps from the investigation of the Clinton Foundation. It’s finding new emails all the time. And Clintonworld panicked. The spinmeisters of Clintonworld have claimed that the email scandal is just so much smoke without fire. All that’s here is the appearance of impropriety without any of the substance. But this isn’t how you react to smoke. It’s how you respond to a fire.
The misguided assault on the FBI tells us that Hillary Clinton and her allies are afraid of a revelation bigger than the fundamental illegality of her email setup. The email setup was a preemptive cover up. The Clinton campaign has panicked badly out of the belief, right or wrong, that whatever crime the illegal setup was meant to cover up is at risk of being exposed.
The Clintons have weathered countless scandals over the years. Whatever they are protecting this time around is bigger than the usual corruption, bribery, sexual assaults and abuses of power that have followed them around throughout the years. This is bigger and more damaging than any of the allegations that have already come out. And they don’t want FBI investigators anywhere near it.
The campaign against Comey is pure intimidation. It’s also a warning. Any senior FBI people who value their careers are being warned to stay away. The Democrats are closing ranks around their nominee against the FBI. It’s an ugly and unprecedented scene. It may also be their last stand.
Hillary Clinton has awkwardly wound her way through numerous scandals in just this election cycle. But she’s never shown fear or desperation before. Now that has changed. Whatever she is afraid of, it lies buried in her emails with Huma Abedin. And it can bring her down like nothing else has. | 1real |
Stalled Russia sanctions bill hits North Korean snag in U.S. Congress | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bill that many lawmakers hoped would send a message to President Donald Trump to keep a strong line against Russia hit a new snag in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday, as Republicans proposed combining it with sanctions on North Korea. The Russia sanctions bill passed the Senate on June 15 by 98-2, but it has not come up for a vote in the House. The chamber’s Republican leaders initially said there was a technical problem with how the bill was written, but after the Senate altered the bill to fix it, the measure still did not move. On Friday, Republicans suggested reworking the legislation to add new sanctions on North Korea. The Russia sanctions measure passed by the Senate is part of a broader bill that also includes new sanctions on Iran. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he wanted the North Korea sanctions added to the bill. “It would be a very strong statement for all of America to get that sanction bill completed and done, and to the president’s desk,” the Republican lawmaker said in the House as it wrapped up its activity for the week. Democrats rejected the suggestion as another tactic by Republicans supporting White House objections to the bill. “This isn’t a serious proposal. It’s the latest delay tactic,” said Representative Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The House passed a new package of sanctions on North Korea in May by 419-1, and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker, a Republican, said on Thursday his committee would be taking it up soon. On Friday, Corker said he would be “more than glad” to consider adding North Korea to the legislation if the House chose to do so. Engel said there was no point in passing North Korea legislation again. The Trump administration objects to a provision in the Russia bill that sets up a process for Congress to approve any effort by the president to ease sanctions on Moscow. Seeking a greater influence in foreign policy, Congress has included provisions in a few recent major bills, starting with Corker’s 2015 legislation forcing congressional review of President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Lawmakers and aides have been negotiating for weeks to try to craft a compromise that would allow the Russia-Iran bill to move forward. On Thursday, they said they thought it could advance soon but on Friday said the North Korea issue made that less likely. [L1N1K42BV] | 0fake |
WOW! AMERICANS ARE STUNNED When Mom Is Caught On VIDEO Encouraging Young Child To Help Gang of Thugs Destroy Police Car In St. Louis | ST. LOUIS Former St. Louis police Officer Jason Stockley was found not guilty Friday of murdering a man while on duty.St. Louis Circuit Judge Timothy Wilson s highly anticipated verdict found the white former St. Louis police officer not guilty of first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the December 2011 shooting death of a black drug suspect after a high-speed pursuit and crash.Immediately after the verdict was issued, protesters gathered downtown near Tucker Boulevard and Market Street. They blocked a ramp to Interstate 64 off Clark Street, but were blocked by police from entering the highway. Protesters then headed to police headquarters.Christina Wilson, the fiance of the victim Anthony Lamar Smith, bravely stood in front of a microphone prior to the court s announcement and asked for protesters to not resort to violence.Inspired by your courage, Christina. Honored to stand with you and call for peace in #STL. https://t.co/ucUlKuWorO pic.twitter.com/4HjKvPtIwJ Eric Greitens (@EricGreitens) September 15, 2017Christina Wilson s plea for peace is reminiscent of Martin Luther King Jr. Her words obviously fell on deaf ears for the thugs seen in this video who appear to be caught up in the party atmosphere and only appear to be looking for an opportunity to destroy someone else s property. The video below is disturbing on so many levels. While the people in the video appear to be only interested in the party atmosphere that surrounds them, one person, in particular, has caught the attention of viewers on social media and shined a light on what it looks like when children raise children in America. Watching this mother pushing her child to commit a felony, while teaching her to hate the very people who risk their lives every day to protect them, is disturbing, and possibly one of the saddest videos we have ever posted on our website.Watch:Police are sharing video of people damaging a police car during a demonstration after the Stockley ruling. https://t.co/LsNkTZJ7wI pic.twitter.com/OHy4kArcle FOX2now (@FOX2now) September 16, 2017 | 1real |
Turkey says 80 militants killed in air strike in north Iraq | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey s military said on Wednesday that more than 80 militants were killed in an air strike on Monday in northern Iraq, where Turkish jets have frequently targeted PKK fighters. It said in a statement that a weapons depot and two vehicles were also destroyed in the air strike. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been waging an insurgency in southeast Turkey since the 1980s, also has bases across the border in Iraq. | 0fake |
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