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COMEY EDITS REVEALED: Clinton Probe Remarks Watered Down…Edited to Omit Criminality | How did the FBI handle the Clinton email case two words: WATERED DOWN! The big question on this watered down document is WHO MADE THE EDITS?JUDGE NAPOLITANO: Jim Comey owns it no matter who edited it :"The job of the @FBI is not to decide whom to prosecute, but to present the evidence to professional prosecutors in the DOJ and let them make the decision." @Judgenap on Comey's @HillaryClinton email probe statement #SpecialReport https://t.co/X5Mhju9rsU pic.twitter.com/Kmo1SjRRhS Fox News (@FoxNews) December 14, 2017NEWLY RELEASED DOCUMENTS:Newly released documents reveal that then-FBI Director James Comey s draft statement on the Hillary Clinton email probe was edited numerous times before his public announcement, in ways that seemed to considerably water down the bureau s findings.Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, released copies Thursday of the edits to Comey s highly scrutinized statement.WATERED DOWN LANGUAGE:One showed language was changed to describe the actions of Clinton and her colleagues as extremely careless as opposed to grossly negligent. This is a key legal distinction.Johnson, writing about his concerns in a letter Thursday to FBI Director Christopher Wray, said the original could be read as a finding of criminality in Secretary Clinton s handling of classified material. The edited statement deleted the reference to gross negligence a legal threshold for mishandling classified material and instead replaced it with an exculpatory sentence, he wrote.The original also said it was reasonably likely that hostile actors gained access to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton s private email account. That was later changed to say that scenario was merely possible. The final statement also removed a reference to the sheer volume of classified information discussed on email. While the precise dates of the edits and identities of the editors are not apparent from the documents, the edits appear to change the tone and substance of Director Comey s statement in at least three respects, Johnson wrote Thursday.That includes, Johnson said, repeated edits to reduce Secretary Clinton s culpability in mishandling classified information. Read more: Fox News | 1real |
Turkey asks U.S. about jailed trader: foreign ministry sources | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey has sent a note to U.S. authorities inquiring about the condition of gold trader Reza Zarrab, held in the United States awaiting trial on charges of evading U.S. sanctions on Iran, Turkish Foreign Ministry sources said on Wednesday. Following media reports about Reza Zarrab, our Washington Embassy has officially requested information from U.S. authorities, and have not yet received an answer, the ministry spokesman s office said. We will follow up the issue. There was speculation in Turkish media after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons website showed that Zarrab was released from prison on Nov. 8. However a spokesman for Acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim in Manhattan said on Monday that Zarrab remained in federal custody. The information that Zarrab was released is not factual, Zarrab s lawyer Seyda Yildirim told Hurriyet newspaper on Wednesday. He might have been moved to a different section. We haven t been informed in five days, we are unable to receive any information. Zarrab has pleaded not guilty to the charges of sanctions evasion. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said U.S. prosecutors have ulterior motives in the case, by including references to him and his wife in court papers. | 0fake |
The Trump presidency on Feb 15 at 8:29 p.m. EST | (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday: A crisis over the relationship between Trump’s aides and Russia deepens as a growing number of Trump’s fellow Republicans demand expanded congressional inquiries into the matter. The Trump administration offers the job of national security adviser to U.S. Vice Admiral Robert Harward, sources say, but it is not clear if he accepted. The Kremlin says U.S. media reports about Russian intelligence connections to Trump’s presidential campaign are groundless. Russia also says it will not return Crimea to Ukraine or discuss the matter with foreign partners after the White House says Trump expects the annexed Black Sea peninsula to be returned. Trump’s nominee for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdraws his name from consideration amid concerns that he could not garner enough Senate votes to be confirmed. Trump’s choice of Representative Mick Mulvaney to become White House budget director on Wednesday appears to pick up enough Republican votes to vault him into the job. Trump drops U.S. insistence on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a long-standing bedrock of Middle East policy, even as he urges Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to curb settlement construction. Trump says tax code revisions are a critical way to boost the nation’s economy as he kicks off a White House meeting with chief executive officers of Target Corp, Best Buy Co Inc and six other major retailers. Trump’s defense secretary seeks to reassure NATO of steadfast U.S. support at talks in Brussels as nervous European allies try to look past the president’s rhetoric and the turmoil within his administration. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is heading to Bonn to interact with counterparts from the Group of 20 top economies at a time many are wondering how strongly Trump’s “America First” message will reshape U.S. foreign policy. Vice President Mike Pence also is bound for Europe this week to meet with allies seeking clarity on the administration’s foreign policy strategy and its stance toward Russia. Staff at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have been told that Trump is preparing a handful of executive orders to reshape the agency, to be signed once a new administrator is confirmed, two sources say. The Trump administration proposes changes to the Obamacare individual insurance market that insurers welcome as a good start but that others say could raise consumers’ out-of-pocket cost. | 0fake |
News Legend Dan Rather Just RAZED Trump’s Hate-Filled Immigration Speech | Trump s first immigration speech following his humiliation in Mexico Wednesday was a bunch of sure-to-please-the-Klan hate speech mixed with a heaping spoonful of xenophobia and just enough mindblowing stupidity to make one wonder if he or she is hearing the things that were definitely coming out of The Donald s face-anus.Trump returned to his familiar message of deport all the brown people, no citizenship for any of them, and even brought back a deportation force so strong, so powerful, that it could banish Hillary Clinton from these United States faster than you can say Avada Kedavra. In the aftermath of what could possibly be Trump s most hate-filled speech yet, legendary newsman Dan Rather hopped on Facebook and set fire to all that is Trump.Rather noticed, as did we all, that Trump s supposed policy speech was light on the policy and heavy on the (hate) speech. He claimed it would be a detailed policy address, and yet from the start his tone was a seething, angry attack on what he described as a world of dangerous murderers and rapists who seem to be roaming sanctuary cities, Rather notes. Focusing on a few isolated and already well-documented tragedies, he painted the entire undocumented world with the casual brush of violence. I expected a law and order theme, but not this level of searing rhetoric. Of course, I shouldn t have been surprised, he continues. Trump feeds off his crowds and they were giving it right back. It was ultimate in the Us vs. Them mentality. Real Americans vs. others. I frankly saw echoes of the George Wallace speeches from the 1968 campaign. He goes on:The applause lines seemed like ready red meat for this crowd and I am sure for those who regularly watch Fox News. They were names and anecdotes that frankly will be unknown to most Americans. That s because Donald Trump s America does not comport with what many voters see in their own lives. It was an attack on thugs and those on welfare . I suppose there was a structure to this speech. He would say and 3 , and 4 as if it were a detailed list of proposal, but any sense of order was swamped by a tsunami of rhetoric and tone. But any details are beside the point. With a raspy roar, leaning over the podium, Trump delivered his message with glee This is our country and we are being overwhelmed by hordes not fit to be in our country, he says. He suggested that These People are well known to law enforcement and could be rounded up with ease. It was a line that seemed more in keeping with the culture of the old East Germany than the United States. We have got to have a county folks he summed it up. Under a Trump Administration it s called America first! Noting that it is a fools errand to attempt to fact check Trump s jumbled mess of a speech, he ends with a warning to all who read his words:Make no mistake, this was a toxic mix of jingoism, nativism, and chauvinism. Many of you would like to think, not in America, not in our country could this type of rhetoric gain currency. But in other countries, and in other times in history, we have seen the impossible become possible to horrific effect. Trump is betting his political future on this idea that there is a deep, tribal, and dark sea of the molten lava of hate and aggrievement. This volcano from below appeals to dangerous instincts- can it yield a path to the presidency and power?Pay attention. Don t try to pretend it can t happen again. Don t stand up, stomp your foot and say not in MY America. And don t you dare say we won t let it happen. By ignoring Trump, or by pretending that he doesn t stand a chance to win, you re letting it happen.November 8 be there.Read his entire message below:Featured image via screengrab/Getty Images(Kirk Irwin) | 1real |
Same-sex couples wed in Alabama | (CNN) Tori Sisson and Shanté Wolfe of Tuskegee, Alabama, camped outside the Montgomery County Courthouse overnight, hoping that when the sun rose Monday, they'd be the first same-sex couple to be legally married in the county.
They arrived at 2 p.m. Sunday and set up their tent. Expecting a crowd -- of mostly media and friends, or their "chosen family," as many of their kin don't approve of their relationship -- they awoke at 5 a.m. Monday to get dressed "so that when we got out of the tent we'd look like a million bucks," Sisson said.
Sisson, 24, and Wolfe, 21, have known each other for seven years. They've been dating for two. Last year, the pair got "spiritually married" in Tuskegee, but it wasn't a state-recognized union -- where all the rights and benefits of matrimony are conferred on both partners.
They previously considered going to a state that allowed same-sex marriage, but Wolfe balked at the idea.
"We work here and we pay taxes here, and we didn't feel it was right that we'd have to do that because nobody else does," she said.
Though there were some minor computer problems in issuing their license, their wish soon came true.
With one of their godmothers performing the ceremony, they exchanged vows outside the courthouse and kissed as a phalanx of media cameras captured the moment. (One of those cameras belonged to the Human Rights Campaign, a watchdog group involved in marriage equality advocacy; Sisson works for the organization.)
Sisson wept, while Wolfe did not.
"One of us has to hold it together," Wolfe quipped.
Sisson's tears weren't borne solely of the bliss that comes with being joined in union with your beloved. Sure, those sentiments were there, Sisson said, but she cried also because she had been thinking all night about the myriad couples who were denied the opportunity she and Wolfe were able to seize Monday.
"We have the honor to be the first couple in Montgomery County to do this. It's amazing," Sisson said, explaining the "overwhelming and overflowing love I have for Shanté but also for people and the hope I have in my heart that this really means progress here."
How we got here
Though the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama cleared the way for same-sex marriages to begin Monday in Alabama, the famously conservative chief justice of the state Supreme Court on Sunday mounted a last-ditch effort to stop the weddings, instructing probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
That didn't stop several couples from converging on county courthouses across the state. Probate Judge Alan King in Jefferson County, the state's most populous, said there appeared to be a larger-than-usual crowd outside the courthouse when he arrived at work Monday.
"Effective immediately, no Probate Judge of the State of Alabama nor any agent or employee of any Alabama Probate Judge shall issue or recognize a marriage license that is inconsistent" with the state code or constitution, Moore wrote in the order.
The American Civil Liberties Union called Moore's order spurious and reminded Alabama's probate judges they are sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution, which outweighs state law on this issue.
"Judge Roy Moore has no authority to trump a federal court's decision," said Susan Watson, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. "By issuing his 'order,' he has done nothing but create confusion among the different probate offices across the state. Whereas some counties are issuing licenses to same-sex couples, there are many who aren't. Unfortunately, we have received a number of complaints to that effect."
The Human Rights Campaign has already denounced the order as a "clear violation of all codes of legal ethics," and several counties -- including Jefferson, Montgomery and Madison -- have told CNN they intend to issue same-sex marriage licenses Monday.
But in Tuscaloosa County, where five same-sex couple were awaiting licenses when the court opened Monday, chief probate clerk Lisa Whitehead said the court would follow Moore's guidance.
"We will be issuing traditional marriage licenses," she told CNN.
Shelby, Marshall and Houston counties also are declining to issue the licenses, and in Lee County, where two same-sex couples attempted to tie the knot Monday, Judge Bill English said he, too, was "complying with an order from the chief justice late last night."
Other probate judges weren't sure Moore had the law behind him.
"I was shocked," King said of his reaction to Moore's order. "I'm old enough to remember the George Wallace stand in the schoolhouse door. I was a kid at the time."
King was referencing the 1963 attempt by then-Gov. Wallace to stop the federally ordered desegregation of schools by blocking black students from entering the University of Alabama's Foster Auditorium.
Contacted before his court opened for the day, King said he doesn't want to be on that side of history. After consulting with attorneys who helped him analyze Moore's order, "I'm convinced it's my duty to follow the U.S. Constitution and the federal court order. At 8 a.m., we will be issuing marriage licenses to all in Jefferson County. ... I don't think (Moore's order) is grounded in legal theory, just like Gov. Wallace in the 1960s was not grounded in law," he said.
Gov. Robert Bentley said he would not punish probate judges who issue the licenses.
He added that he had "great respect" for the legal process and said, "We will follow the rule of law in Alabama, and allow the issue of same sex marriage to be worked out through the proper legal channels."
The federal court that struck down the ban permitted a stay until Monday to allow probate courts to prepare. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block the marriages until the high court rules on a case on its docket that will decide the fate of same-sex marriages in four states.
"In this case, the Court refuses even to grant a temporary stay when it will resolve the issue at hand in several months," Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a dissent. "I would have shown the people of Alabama the respect they deserve and preserved the status quo while the Court resolves this important Constitutional question."
Strange responded in a statement: "In the absence of a stay, there will likely be more confusion in the coming months leading up to the Supreme Court's anticipated ruling on the legality of same-sex marriage." Strange further advised probate judges to consult with their attorneys "about how to respond to the ruling." | 0fake |
Shoes, Shirts, You Name It, College Basketball Players Get It. Free. - The New York Times | MEMPHIS — One of the perks of playing college basketball for a powerhouse program like North Carolina is all the gear. Every year, the Tar Heels are outfitted with more shirts, sweats and sneakers than they can possibly wear in a season. The only problem is that their friends and families know it. “Oh, people are always asking for stuff,” said Stilman White, a senior guard. “It’s a weekly thing, to be honest. ” The latest request came from White’s sister, Noel, who became enthralled with one of his as North Carolina began to prepare for the N. C. A. A. tournament. “My sister would not talk to me about anything else besides that shirt until I finally just gave it to her so she’d stop bugging me,” White said. Among the potential difficulties facing college basketball players, being the recipients of too much branded (and free) gear surely qualifies as a problem. But it is one of the most noteworthy byproducts of lucrative endorsement deals that prominent programs like North Carolina, U. C. L. A. Kansas and Michigan have with sports apparel companies like Nike, Adidas and Under Armour. The N. C. A. A. will remind anyone within earshot that these players are still amateur athletes, and the mere suggestion of compensation — beyond their scholarships — opens the door to a swirl of complications. But they do receive gear — so much gear — and the N. C. A. A. allows them to give it away. They just can’t sell it. For the companies, the arrangement has obvious benefits: team after team filled with players who serve as walking billboards on one of the sports world’s biggest stages. In the brands’ view, the more clothing and shoes they hand out, the more likely it is that a player will wear their logo. For the athletes, who are often oversize teenagers who struggle to find clothes and shoes that fit, the free gear — including coveted sneaker styles that can cost $200 or more a pair — comes in handy. But the question eventually becomes: What to do with all of it? Sweatshirts wind up going to moms and dads. Shorts get shipped off to siblings. Old sneakers are handed out to pals back home — whether they fit or not. Gabby Williams, a star forward for the women’s basketball team at Connecticut, said she had set aside a stack of UConn clothing as gifts for her family members to wear during the Huskies’ latest tournament run. “It’s always nice to give back to everyone else,” she said. “We do get a lot of stuff, and we’re very lucky, so I love to give my stuff away. ” Charlie Noebel, a senior guard at Oregon, said that he constantly hears from friends desperate to get their hands on a pair of the Ducks’ custom Nikes. “All the time,” said Noebel, who wears size 12. 5 shoes. “Most of my friends are 10s, so they can’t fit into them. But they’ll always be like, ‘Hey, I can wear two or three pairs of socks, I don’t care. ’” Oregon seem to be popular, too. In recent years, the Ducks have worn a different one for every game, and unloading those is rarely a problem. As Noebel explained, “A lot of people like the color green. ” At Michigan, where the university has an apparel deal with Nike that could be worth as much as $173. 8 million through 2031, some players said they had received as many as 13 pairs of Jordan brand sneakers this season. Sometimes, they said, the shoes just appear, tucked inside fresh boxes left on chairs before random practices. “It was pretty cool just to get free stuff,” said a junior guard who, before he joined the Wolverines, would spend his own money on the Jordan gear he now gets gratis. Bob Bland, Michigan’s longtime equipment manager, is responsible for the surprises. When a new shipment of sneakers arrived this season, Bland showed up for a team film session with a bin full of them. He called players up by name and number to receive their allotments. Moments like those are a big deal for Brent Hibbitts, a sophomore from Hudsonville, Mich. Growing up, he said, he was such a fan of Jordan sneakers that he would camp outside stores just for the chance to buy the newest release. “I think I waited outside one time for 10 hours in a blizzard,” he said. Hibbitts no longer has to subject himself to such ordeals. Nor do the players at North Carolina — Michael Jordan’s alma mater — which also has a deal with Nike. White, for example, said he had stacks of Jordan sneakers in boxes. Some live in his locker. Others take up real estate in his dorm room. He has even sent a few to his parents for safekeeping. “Stockpiles,” White said. And while he is happy to part with and also has bequeathed used pairs of sneakers to friends, White was clear that there is a line even friends and family cannot cross. “They’re not,” he said, “getting any of the new stuff. ” Alex Olesinski, a sophomore forward at U. C. L. A. said his classmates were always in the market for his freebies. “They’ll be like, ‘Give me a shirt,’” he said. Most are not particularly discriminating, he added. “They’ll take anything, honestly. ” There could be a lot for the taking soon: The Bruins are in the final year of their contract with Adidas and next season will switch to Under Armour. Despite that coming change, the Bruins’ equipment cupboard is anything but bare. This season, Olesinski said, Adidas provided each U. C. L. A. player with more than 15 pairs of sneakers. In the locker room after the team’s practice session on Thursday afternoon at FedEx Forum, Olesinski pointed to a nearby pair of colorful . “Today is the first day I’ve worn those,” he said. “Comfortable. ” Dillon Pulliam, a sophomore guard at Kentucky, has laid in about a dozen pairs of sneakers that he has never worn. He has lent a couple pairs to his younger brother, Zach, who plays at Division III Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky. far down the food chain. The occasional giveaway is no problem, Pulliam said. He still has more than enough for himself. “I’m going to be good for basketball shoes for the rest of my life,” Pulliam said. Some of his friends, though, are more discerning collectors. Pulliam said he had heard from several people this season who coveted one item in particular: Nike Kobe 11s with the Wildcats’ interlocking UK logo on the inside heel. Each Kentucky player, he said, had received three pairs, one each in three color schemes: blue, white and gray. Nike made similar versions for Duke, Michigan State and Oregon, but if you want a pair, good luck: Because they were items, you would need to find a player willing to part with his. Sneakers are seldom in short supply at programs like Kentucky, North Carolina and U. C. L. A. the three blue bloods that cohabitated in Memphis over the past few days for the South Region semifinals and final. The fourth team left in the region when the weekend began, Butler, is a program with its own rich basketball history — but one that appears to take a more judicious approach to equipment. Nate Fowler, a sophomore center, said each Butler player typically receives three sets of practice shorts and jerseys at the start of the season, along with one pair of sneakers. They get another pair about halfway through the season, and then maybe one more at the start of the postseason. Fowler said he was aware that players at other programs get more free stuff, not that he minds. He knows he can always get more — as needed. Butler, you see, has a storage closet. “If anything rips,” he said, “they’ll replace it. ” | 0fake |
Israel welcomes U.S. airstrikes in Syria, will keep to sidelines | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leaders welcomed the U.S. airstrikes in Syria, saying they sent a strong message that the Trump administration would not accept the use of chemical weapons and was a warning to other hostile states, including Iran and North Korea. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel stood fully behind the decision to fire more than 50 Cruise missiles at the airfield from where Washington said President Bashar al-Assad’s forces launched a deadly chemical attack this week. “In both word and action, President Trump sent a strong and clear message today that the use and spread of chemical weapons will not be tolerated,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “Israel ... hopes that this message of resolve in the face of the Assad regime’s horrific actions will resonate not only in Damascus, but in Tehran, Pyongyang and elsewhere.” During the six-year conflict in Syria, Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines, carrying out only occasional airstrikes when it feels threatened, including by the movement of weapons to Lebanese Hezbollah militants on its frontier with Syria. Israeli officials said the United States had informed them about the airstrikes ahead of time, but it was not clear whether Israel provided intelligence or any other form of input to the White House to support carrying out the attack. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the U.S. move an “important, necessary and moral message”. “The American notification to the Israeli military and defence establishment before the strike is additional proof of the strength of the deep ties,” he said. Yaakov Amidror, Israel’s former national security adviser, said the calibrated response by the United States had sent a message that Washington was reengaged in the region and that Russia did not have free rein in Syria. “The Americans are telling the Russians: ‘You are not alone any more, not in Syria not in the Middle East, and we are ready to take all the steps to be involved, and if you neutralise the U.N. Security Council, we will know how to act without its permission’,” he said on a conference call with reporters. “Yet again, military action is an option that will be used when the Americans decide that it should be used and (tell hostile states): ‘Watch your behaviour and your attitude towards American interests’.” Asked about the risk of retaliation, he said: “The chances for an attack initiated by either Syria or Hezbollah is even less today than before because now it is understood that if they violate the interests of the United States of America ... this administration is ready to take action.” As for Israel stepping up its actions in Syria, Amidror said it would only engage if either of its two red lines are crossed: if strategic weapons are passed to Hezbollah units or if launch sites for attacks are set up in the Golan Heights, where Israeli-occupied territory borders Syria. “We will stay on the sidelines because our strategic decision was not to take part in this war. If there is something specific that we can do militarily or from an intelligence point of view and so on, I’m sure that Israel would be more than happy to contribute to such efforts.” | 0fake |
DEMOCRATS THREATEN KIDS EDUCATION: CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION DEMANDS RAISES AS Chicago Public Schools Run Out Of Money In One Week | It s painful to watch the stupidity and irresponsibility of the Democrats who run the city of Chicago along with Chicago Teachers Union president, Karen Lewis, one of the most hard-core radical, leftist s in the business. It s T-minus one week for Chicago Public Schools.As schools let out for the summer, CPS administrators are scrambling to come up with a more than $600 million teacher pension payment due at the end of the month and the district has zero reserves, according to media reports.The problem is further compounded by a more than $1 billion school budget shortfall for the next fiscal year and an angry teachers union hell bent on securing another raise the district can t afford. With no plan, no money and no where to turn, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel seems to be focused solely on a state bailout as the solution. Springfield has to step up and help in this case, not only as it relates to just the pension payment, (but also) the educational opportunities of our children, Emanuel said, according to the Chicago Tribune. Because a payment will then begin to impact the classroom. And CTU could soon partner with its mortal enemies at City Hall to lobby state lawmakers for more money. Right now, the district needs us, CTU VP Jesse Sharkey told the news site. The politics of (Chicago Mayor) Rahm Emanuel going to Springfield are a lot different than the politics of Rahm Emanuel and (CTU President) Karen Lewis going to Springfield. The dire financial situation comes amid a federal investigation into a $20 million no-bid contract to a previous employer of former CPS superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who resigned this month. It feels like a complete mess, Better Government Association senior editor Sarah Karp told ABC 7.Karp doesn t think recently elected Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who ran on a platform of fiscal restraint and criticized union influence in Illinois, is receptive to calls for a bailout. He previously suggested that bankruptcy may be the best way out for CPS, ABC 7 reports. Now, Chicago Public Schools does not have somebody in the State House that is a Democrat or is seemingly sympathetic at all to what s going on here, Karp said.Meanwhile, school ended for the summer on Friday, and principals around the city are left scratching their heads in planning for next school year. Normally you do your planning in the summer and you can t do too much planning without the actual dollar amount, Coles Language Academy principal Jeff Dase told ABC 7.Dase said many Chicago principals are concerned that the budget turmoil, and looming possibility of layoffs and program cuts, could convince many of the city s teachers to seek jobs elsewhere.The Tribune reports the city council could authorize CPS to increase taxes on residents, or secure some sort of bailout, or negotiate concessions with CTU, but not even all three combined could put the budget back on track. And then there s another $228 million payment coming due for costs related to interest rate swaps on the district s debt. (E)ven if CPS wins concession from the City Council, state lawmakers and CTU, the district won t be able to close its annual $1 billion budget gap, according to a May 22 report by Ernst & Young, which spent four weeks meeting with school finance officials and analyzing budget documents, the Tribune reports. The report shows that even with a capital improvement tax, a separate, even-larger property tax increase, additional state aid, increased state funding of teacher pensions, concessions from the CTU and $150 million with of budget cuts, CPS would still face an annual $350 million shortfall. Next June s teacher pension payment is set to balloon to $700 million. Via: EAG News | 1real |
Vine Dries Up. Black Humor Loses a Home - The New York Times | This summer, I thumbed past an Instagram photo of a young man with silken brown skin and an enviable fade dressed up in an azure suit. I lingered for a moment, slightly verklempt. I knew him, or, at least, I felt as if I did, and I couldn’t believe he was already going to prom. The teenager was an from New Jersey known as Jay Versace, who has appeared in my life in increments for the last two years on Vine, the video app. I’ve seen him confess that he’s wet himself, channel Drake and Beyoncé and balance an impressive number of items on his head. Most of Versace’s Vines are shot in his bedroom, and watching his videos is as intimate as finding your younger brother’s notebook of secret doodles or poems — you’re stumbling into his ( ) secret world. The kinship I felt reminded me of the bond I imagine my mother has when she talks about “Tracee” (Ellis Ross) or “Chris” (Rock) as if they could walk through our door at any moment and fix themselves something to eat. Jay Versace’s work gives me the same feeling that, say, “Everybody Hates Chris” gave my mom — comfort, stability, familiarity and warmth, a sense of identity and belonging. Versace’s Vines are a particular product of black culture — on the surface, they’re funny to anyone lucky enough to bear witness, but there’s a secondary layer that’s meant for black people, predicated on our shared culture, experiences and understandings. If Facebook has become a destination for moms who are increasingly technologically literate, and Twitter has grown into a place for journalists who spread information (and snark) in missives, Vine, the mobile video app that Twitter announced late last week will be discontinued in the coming months, has become a home for young black people, who dominated the service and established its visual language early — quick cuts, referential jokes, deep allusions. (Jay Versace, for example, has three million followers.) Quickly consumed visuals have the potential to go viral online in ways that words do not, and Vines spread far and fast while also allowing its users to arbitrate their outcomes. While Facebook supplies recognition — first and last name, hometown, face — and Twitter can provide anonymity, Vine offered something in between: a place for people to see you, even people who didn’t necessarily know who you were. Visual platforms like Snapchat are similar canvases for creativity, but make it difficult to attract an audience outside of one’s social circles. Vine didn’t privilege traditional celebrities — its stars grew organically without the benefit of expensive equipment or connections — though after its official release in 2013, it seemed like everybody wanted to be there. Drake premiered the first clip of his album “Views,” on it dance crazes like “The Running Man Challenge” were born there slang like “on fleek,” “WHAT ARE THOOOSE” and “Why you always lyin’?” debuted and spread on Vine. Like much of pop culture, these bits of virality were rooted in the black community, then sucked into the mainstream where businesses benefit from them financially. Vine incubated black ingenuity and creativity, allowing makers to play with structure, form, insertion, pacing and interpolation, and letting users employ the videos as punch lines, shorthand and punctuation. The service became its own ecosystem of black culture, both by relying on familiar figures, experiences and jokes, and by creating the next batch of them. Jay Versace mirrors black experience in a Vine about a relationship breakup, set to the 3LW song “No More (Baby I’ma Do Right). ” He plays two characters: a befuddled male and his clearly angry girlfriend. It’s funny because of the large, exaggerated emotions spreading across his baby face, the way he overemphasizes the singer Kiely Williams’s lisp as he the word “promises. ” Everyone can see that. But what’s funnier is that he’s making fun of the way we — black people, the main audience who bought the 3LW records, and memorized their songs and dances — all made fun of the song when we first heard it. Versace is sharing an inside joke. As the writer Kasai Richardson posted on Twitter, “black youth did more with six seconds than Hollywood has done with six decades. ” Most popular Vines were truly entertaining, even cinematic. But they also began conversations — however small — about the dynamics of comedy and culture created by black people. Chiefly, Vine was an exercise in how many black people talk among ourselves — in code and allusion — and how we telegraph blackness to white people, who may not know any black people besides the ones who live in their phone. Blackness is inherently political, but a number of black comedic Vines weren’t, perhaps making it easier for white kids to latch onto — there weren’t murky politics to consider. Many black Vine stars relied on familiar tropes to appeal to black people but, in turn, may have reinforced stereotypes for white people, who received the content without the tacit understanding that everyone else is in on the joke. Still, that didn’t stop Vine from functioning as a de facto FUBU — for us, by us — space for black people, where we could reinsert ourselves into a mainstream that excluded us, skewer our own culture (however safely) and create something new, a phenomenon that is relatively rare. There are few spaces to provide the public with black ingenuity Vine, in its own small way, was a digital exposition of black achievement. It was fitting, then, that Twitter announced the discontinuation of Vine the same day the “ ” scandal hit the internet. In an article about the film “Moonlight,” the film critic for The Toronto Star misheard the term “” a practice of alternating language or behavior based on the environment and atmosphere, and giddily included the eggcorn in promoting the article. It was a perfect example of how the experiences of minorities are often misconstrued. Vine was a place where you were either on the joke or you weren’t, and so help you if you weren’t. Vines were six rapid seconds of fun, a flash of candy down a throat. My favorite Vine wasn’t a lifesaver or a masterwork it just cheered me up more quickly than any other emotional fix in my arsenal. It’s called “Black people only need 3 claps to turnnn up!” — the premise is uncomplicated, and it manages to be cheeky, tender, nostalgic, surprising, hilarious, painfully true and all in the span of six seconds. Vine was never that deep: it wasn’t designed to spark a national conversation on race, culture, appropriation, ownership and identity. Its effect and utility, though, as a venue for black art to be created disseminated and understood, will be its legacy. Nobody ever tried to change the world with a Vine. But it served as the best place to get away from the world for a while. | 0fake |
Hundreds of Pilot Whales Die After Beaching in New Zealand - The New York Times | HONG KONG — Hundreds of pilot whales that swam into a shallow New Zealand bay died overnight after they got stuck in the waterway and beached themselves on the coastline. More than 500 rescuers tried frantically to send the pilot whales back out to sea, but at least 250 died in what officials called one of the worst whale strandings in New Zealand’s history. Attempts to refloat the remaining whales during high tide met with partial success. About 50 whales had swum out of the bay after high tide, according to the Department of Conservation, but as many as 90 others had rebeached themselves by Friday afternoon. Volunteers said they would try to refloat the stranded whales again on Saturday. Whale strandings at Farewell Spit, at the northern tip of New Zealand’s South Island, happen most years, Kath Inwood, a ranger, told The Associated Press. But the high number of whales trapped this year has surprised conservation officials. The whale stranding was the largest in the country since 1985, when 450 were stranded near Auckland. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of whale strandings, which are believed to occur when the mammals, who are known for their social bonding, make navigational mistakes while chasing prey, escaping predators or trying to protect sick members of the group. | 0fake |
Standing Rock Indian Reservation: Thousands Of Wild Buffalo Appear Out Of Nowhere | Share on Facebook Native Americans attempting to stop a pipeline from being built on their land and water just got assistance from a large herd of wild buffalo. Indigenous culture honors American bison (known as Tatanka Oyate, or Buffalo Nation) as a symbol of sacrifice, as the bison give their lives to provide food, shelter, and clothing through the use of their meat and their hides. Native Americans maintain a spiritual tradition with bison , believing that as long as buffalo — a gift from the Great Spirit — roam free and as long as the herds are bountiful, the sovereignty of indigenous people would remain strong. And in the midst of mass arrests, mace attacks, and beatings from batons, a stampede of bison suddenly appeared near the Standing Rock protest camp. A cry of joy reportedly erupted from the Standing Rock Sioux, as they had been praying for assistance from the Tatanka Oyate during their standoff with riot police and national guardsmen. As the police response to the Sioux's ongoing nonviolent civil disobedience escalates, tribal leaders are calling on state and federal governments to respect the constitutional rights of water protectors and stop the mistreatment of the indigenous community. “We call on the state of North Dakota to oversee the actions of local law enforcement to, first and foremost, ensure everyone's safety. The Department of Justice must send overseers immediately to ensure the protection of First Amendment rights and the safety of thousands here at Standing Rock,” wrote David Archambault II , chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. “DOJ can no longer ignore our requests.” Related: | 1real |
WHITE HOUSE GOES ROGUE: Obama Approves Global Warming Treaty Without Congress!…What About The Constitution? [Video] | The Imperial Presidency continues against the Constitution: The Constitution provides that the president shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur (Article II, section 2) White House: The president has the legal authority to ratify the accord without the two-thirds Senate vote required for treaties. The pact is merely an executive agreement. What they re not telling you is this executive agreement is a HUGE redistribution of American tax dollars to other countries!This should be voted on!For many years the public at large has been spoonfed the idea that Global Warming Climate Change, is caused by man s excessive release of carbon into the atmosphere. And that the solution to the Climate crisis was to decrease the production of said gas.Over the past several years the Global Warming fanatics have changed their tune. Many of us in the new media have been warning about their true motives for year.Now, instead of the climate crisis being caused by carbon emissions, it is being caused by inequality.On Monday, during a press conference at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris, Ms. Camille Risler, a representative of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) which is an organization listed as an official consultant to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, stated that the cause of Climate Change is the unequal distribution of wealth, carbon, and power: This is the press conference of the Women and (unintelligible) constituency. It is one of the nine official constituencies of the UNFCCC, and we are composed of 15 women s rights and feminist organizations from all around the world. So I m going to begin with kind of an overview of our positions and then I will give the floor over to my colleagues that will go more into details of each section of negotiations.I m Camille Risler. I m from France but I m living in Thailand. I m working for a feminist network that is called Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development and I m working for the Climate Justice Program.So what we want to highlight here is that Climate Change is a clear symptom of an unequal and unjust world.So if we are to address the Climate crisis we need to challenge the structural causes of the crisis which lies on unequal distribution of wealth, of carbon, and of power. Whether it s political power, economic power, or even military power. Ms. Risler goes on to say that the solution to the Climate crisis is to create more just and equitable economies .Roughly translated that means an economy based along the lines of Socialism and Communism. Because now, according to the Climate preachers, nothing is more dangerous to the planet than a free market economy, individual free will, and inequality. Not even Islamic Terrorists.You can view the entire press conference HEREVia: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
(VIDEO) HYSTERICAL SLAP DOWN OF MSNBC REPORTER BY DONALD TRUMP | NO, NO. YOU RE FINISHED | 1real |
WATCH: Hypocrite Mike Pence Calls Democratic Obstruction Of Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee ‘Unprecedented’ | This is unbelievably outrageous.Republicans are literally pretending that the last eight years never happened.In February 2016, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away, leaving a vacancy on the Supreme Court that President Obama was responsible to fill. But Scalia s body was not even cold before Republicans vowed to block any nominee he selected for the position.And so, Republicans did just that and refused to even grant Merrick Garland a hearing despite the fact that he is a moderate centrist who enjoyed support from Republicans in the past.Republicans excused their unprecedented behavior by claiming that lame-duck presidents can t pick Supreme Court nominees and claimed that the American people should get a say in November about who should pick the next Supreme Court Justice.Th GOP has three problems here. First, President Obama was elected twice by the American people and therefore had the right to choose the nominee. Second, there is plenty of historical examples of presidents picking Supreme Court nominees and getting them confirmed during their final year in office. Ronald Reagan is one of them. And finally, the American people did not vote for Donald Trump, they voted for Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes.So Trump definitely does not have a mandate and Republicans do not have any excuses for their obstruction.But Democrats certainly do have a really good excuse to block Trump s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the high court. After all, Republicans created the new precedent last year by refusing to confirm Garland. Republicans literally stole a Supreme Court seat from President Obama and the Democratic Party.But Mike Pence claims that even threatening to obstruct Trump s nominee is unprecedented. During a speech to the Federalist Society, Pence promised that Gorsuch will pick up where Scalia left off. In other words, he ll be a complete dick who wants to repeal every Supreme Court ruling that protects the rights of women, minorities, gay people, the environment, etc until this nation is taken all the way back to the 1850s.And then he said this. Several announced their opposition within minutes of his nomination, and now they re even threatening to use the filibuster procedure in the Senate to stop him. Make no mistake about it, this is an unwise and an unprecedented act .This seat does not belong to any party or any ideology or any interest group, this seat on the Supreme Court belongs to the American people, and the American people deserve a vote on the floor of the United States Senate. Here s the video via YouTube.Democrats should block Trump s Supreme Court pick at all costs. Turnabout is fair play and Republicans are hypocrites for whining about obstruction when they are the ones who totally disrespected President Obama and Merrick Garland in the first place. They only have themselves to blame for what Democrats are threatening to do and they have no right to complain after the way they acted last year. If Republicans wanted Democrats to cooperate with Trump, they should have thought about that before acting like complete traitors toward President Obama.Republicans wanted the Supreme Court to just have eight justices and that has lasted for a year now. It s time for Democrats to extend that wait to another four years. And if Republicans change the rules to force Gorsuch on the Supreme Court, Democrats should impeach him and Trump when they get control of Congress and show Republicans what the word unprecedented really means.Featured image via screenshot | 1real |
What Trump and Clinton are looking for in a VP | Donald Trump is looking for a veep with the political experience Trump lacks, while Hillary Clinton is looking to diversify the ticket.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (l.) stands with Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 27. According to campaign insiders, Senator Warren is on the shortlist to be Mrs. Clinton's running mate.
According to insiders, Donald Trump wants a running mate who has what he lacks – political experience –while Hillary Clinton is putting a premium on competence and diversity.
Yet the presidential rivals are running strikingly similar processes for tapping their vice presidential picks: relying on prominent Washington lawyers to comb through the background of top contenders, seeking guidance from a small circle of trusted advisers and family members, and weighing their personal chemistry with prospects.
Mr. Trump, a wealthy businessman who has never held public office, is mulling a small number of political veterans. He's seriously considering former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, according to people with direct knowledge of the vetting process.
"We're vetting a lot of good people, and we have a lot of interest in people that want to leave high positions and do this," Trump said Thursday.
The right VP candidate could help bring party leaders, Republican voters, and big donors into the Trump fold, all people the campaign desperately needs ahead of the general election.... With more than 60 percent of voters feeling unfavorable about Trump at the end of June, the right VP pick could help voters feel more positive about the Republican ticket.
But in light of their own low favorability ratings, Ms. Hinckley wrote, "Gingrich and Christie might not be the ones to do it."
The presumptive Republican nominee appears less concerned about diversity, considering only white men over age 50 for the role. His campaign chairman said that Trump is not interested in choosing a woman or minority for the sake of appealing to a particular segment of the electorate.
Former Secretary of State Clinton has said she wants a running mate who is well-prepared to become president, and Democrats say she's giving priority to diversity and has been weighing women, Hispanic candidates, and black candidates — a nod to the voting blocs Democrats need to win in presidential elections.
Top contenders for the Democratic ticket include Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, one of Washington's most prominent female lawmakers; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, a telegenic 41-year-old Hispanic politician; and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, a white man over 50 from a swing state.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, one of two black senators, was also being considered, though it's unclear whether he is still in the running.
A running mate rarely shifts the trajectory of a presidential race, but it's still among the most important decisions nominees face during the general election, and their choice is viewed as a reflection of their priorities and values.
Clinton has veteran Democratic lawyer James Hamilton overseeing her selection process, with input from longtime confidants John Podesta and Cheryl Mills. Clinton is expected to begin meeting with candidates herself next week, according to two Democrats with knowledge of the process.
Given Clinton's decades in the public eye, her advisers don't expect her selection of a running mate to change her electoral prospects significantly. But one Clinton aide said it was important that her running mate help tell the "story" of her candidacy.
Clinton has increasingly said her campaign is about Americans being "stronger together" — a phrase intended to convey the importance of a diverse country fighting for common goals.
Aides who have worked in senior White House posts under President Obama and former President Bill Clinton have also been emphasizing the need for personal chemistry, noting that a strained relationship between a president and vice president can be destructive in the West Wing.
Clinton and Trump face fast-approaching deadlines as they evaluate their choices.
Trump has said he plans to announce his running mate at the Republican National Convention, which kicks off in Cleveland in just over two weeks — but the campaign has also considered pushing up the date. A person familiar with Trump's decision-making process said the one-time reality television star is weighing how to maximize the suspense of his choice. He might do it showbiz-style at the convention.
Trump has spent weeks discussing his options with his adult children, business associates, and even friends from his country clubs. A.B. Culvahouse, a lawyer who has overseen vice presidential vetting for previous GOP nominees, sent vetting paperwork to top contenders late this week.
While the businessman has made clear he'll tap a political veteran for the post, those close to him say that's not the only element.
"He's not going to pick someone he doesn't personally like," according to one person with knowledge of the process. Like others who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, they were not authorized to discuss the vice presidential process publicly.
The businessman has a close relationship with most of the vice presidential finalists. He's less familiar with Governor Pence, though Marc Lotter, a spokesman for the Indiana governor, has said the two plan to meet this weekend.
In choosing a political veteran, Trump would not be sending a message only to voters, but to the numerous GOP leaders who are wary of his candidacy.
"That would soothe some concerns — but not all of them," said Kevin Madden, a former adviser to Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee.
Clinton is expected to wait until after the Republican convention to announce her running mate, allowing her to use her pick to distract from any boost Trump receives from the GOP gathering. She and her running mate will be nominated at the Democratic convention in Philadelphia the last week in July.
Lemire reported from Erie, Penn. Associated Press writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report. | 0fake |
German police secure nail-filled package found near Christmas market | POTSDAM, Germany (Reuters) - German police on Friday secured a device full of wires and nails found near an outdoor Christmas market in the city of Potsdam, but could not establish whether it had contained explosives. Germany is on high alert for militant attacks, nearly a year after a Tunisian Islamist rammed a hijacked truck into a Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 11 people as well as the driver. Police evacuated a large area of Potsdam s old town center on Friday, including parts of the market, and closed stores while they investigated the package, which had been delivered to a pharmacy. Karl-Heinz Schroeter, interior minister of the state of Brandenburg, which surrounds Berlin, said the area would remain shut while police searched with sniffer dogs for any other similar packages. He told reporters that several hundred grams of nails had been found in a metal cylinder inside the package, but added: We just don t know at this point if this was a device that could have actually exploded, or a fake, or a test. A robot using water jets was used to ensure the device was safe, officials said. Potsdam police said X-rays had shown wires, nails and batteries inside the package, but that no detonator had been found. Christmas markets opened across Germany on Monday at the start of the holiday season, fortified with concrete barriers and security staff to protect shoppers. Germany has around 2,600 such markets, filled with sparkling Christmas trees and wooden stalls serving candied nuts, sausages, mulled wine and handicrafts. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said this week that Germany had increased information-sharing between federal and state officials and taken other steps to increase security after a series of missteps in the Berlin case. A ministry spokesman said this week that the risk of an attack in Germany and Europe remained high. | 0fake |
Islamic State Starts 2017 with Video of Toddler Executing Prisoner | The Islamic State is back with another video that is even more depraved than the last “Cubs of the Caliphate” release. This time around, the terror state gives us a small child blowing a chained prisoner’s head off in an abandoned amusement park. [Heavy. com reports that the new video appeared on ISIS social media channels on Sunday, under the title “Sometimes With His Own Blood,” but it has also been posted under the name “He Revived Me by His Blood. ” The footage was shot in Deir Syria. The prisoners executed in the video are said to be Kurdish fighters. Most of the children, dressed in military fatigues and stalking through an abandoned amusement park, executing prisoners tied to the inert rides, look to be around 10 years old. One of them performs a gruesome knife beheading on a captive. The UK Sun has a clip from this sequence, with the shocking violence and bloody aftermath edited out. According to a report at PJ Media, it ends with the victim’s decapitated head sitting in the middle of the ride while it slowly spins. The most horrifying sequence in the new video shows a much younger boy — ARA News says he is 4 years old — approaching a prisoner chained to the wall of a dusty old ball pit. The little boy is handed a gun, and he proceeds to pump five rounds into the victim while shrieking, “Allahu akbar!” The last child killer in the video cuts his victim’s throat next to a kiddie train track and then leaves his knife planted in the victim’s back. The video includes coerced confessions from the prisoners. According to ARA News, they confess to working as spies for Kurdish forces. Warning: Graphic Video Content below, | 0fake |
Cop Caught on His Own Body Camera Stealing Money From Unconscious Crash Victim | Home / Badge Abuse / Cop Caught on His Own Body Camera Stealing Money From Unconscious Crash Victim Cop Caught on His Own Body Camera Stealing Money From Unconscious Crash Victim Matt Agorist November 1, 2016 1 Comment
Denver, CO — A Denver cop has been arrested and suspended without pay after his own body camera footage caught him stealing $1,200 in cash from a crash victim.
Instead of helping an unconscious crash victim, officer Julian Archuleta took advantage of the situation for his own personal gain by going through the man’s clothing and robbing him. Archuleta now faces charges of misdemeanor theft, 1st-degree official misconduct and tampering with physical evidence.
According to an arrest affidavit, Archuleta responded to a call of shots fired in the early morning hours of October 7. The call then led to a short pursuit which ended as the car crashed. The driver got away while the passenger of the vehicle was knocked unconscious.
Archuleta’s body camera then recorded the officer for the next 24 minutes and 40 seconds. In the footage, he took pictures of the scene and then searched the man’s clothing which had been removed by paramedics.
In the video, Archuleta finds a stack of cash in the man’s pants with a $100 bill on top, according to the arrest affidavit. He then separates the $100 bill from the stack and a $1 bill remains on top.
Throughout the footage, Archuleta shuffles money and rearranges paperwork in his patrol car, the affidavit said.
According to the Denver Post, when a detective collected the cash and logged it into the property bureau as evidence, he counted $118 and did not find any $100 bills, the affidavit said. But while reviewing Archuleta’s body camera footage as part of the investigation, the detective noticed the $100 bill.
Amazingly enough, instead of covering up the theft, the detective crossed the thin blue line and reported the inconsistency with the $100 bill to internal affairs. When confronted by investigators, Archuleta told them he would “check his war bag” to see if any of the money had slipped into a crevice in his patrol car.
According to the arrest affidavit, Archuleta called the detective back an hour later and claimed he found 12 $100 bills that “must have fallen in his bag.” After being caught red-handed, Archuleta then turned in the money.
According to the Post, the Denver district attorney’s office declined to prosecute the shooting suspect because of the missing cash and because Archuleta allegedly moved evidence inside the suspect’s vehicle before detectives had a search warrant, the affidavit said.
Earlier this year, the Denver police department was equipped with body cameras. We now know why it took so long for the department to adopt them. Archuleta will now go down in history as the first Denver cop to be criminally charged based on body camera evidence.
Like most cases of police theft, this incident is not isolated. In fact, just 2 months ago, Grants Police Department Sgt. Roshern C. McKinney, 33, was arrested after an investigation found that he’d stolen both money and marijuana from the police department. Like Archuleta, he entire theft was captured on the officer’s own body camera. McKinney has since been charged with marijuana distribution, conspiracy, and felony embezzlement.
State police also charged McKinney’s 23-year-old girlfriend Tanicka Gallegos-Gonzales, for drug distribution and conspiracy. Both were arrested in Albuquerque and booked into the Sandoval County Detention Center, according to KOB.
Public Information Officer for the New Mexico State Police, Elizabeth Armijo said Grants police chief, Craig Vandiver alerted state police after the department found video from Mckinney’s lapel camera that “exposed possible illicit activity by a Grants Police Department sergeant.”
What does it say about the criminal tendency of some police officers when they are unable to practice restraint from theft — knowing that they are being recorded? Share Google + The Kali Whrite Boi
Ok am NOT cool with corrupt criminal cops, but still this MSM puppet is infuriating. This “civilian” was fleeing a scene of “shots fired” leading the cop in a short chase before crashing.
Stupid MSM puppets. | 1real |
Trump Begins Speech with Black History Month, Slams Antisemitism | President Donald Trump opened his highly anticipated address to a special joint session of Congress on Tuesday evening with a message of tolerance, reminding the country about Black History Month and condemning recent antisemitic attacks. [He said: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, the First Lady of the United States, and Citizens of America: Tonight, as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of Black History Month, we are reminded of our Nation’s path toward civil rights and the work that still remains. Recent threats targeting Jewish Community Centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a Nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all its forms. [Applause] Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty and justice — in an unbroken chain all the way down to the present. That torch is now in our hands. And we will use it to light up the world. I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart. Both sides of the aisle rose to their feet as he condemned hate, evil, and antisemitism, though few Democrats applauded. Female Democrats wore white, an apparent reference to the suffragettes of a century ago (many of whom were Republicans). Most Democrats continued their silent protest as the president’s address continued, even through proposals and policies generally considered favorable to both sides. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 0fake |
Flashback: Clinton campaign’s press secretary once thought it was a bad look to second-guess James Comey – twitchy.com |
— My Name is Fate (@Destini41) October 29, 2016
Clinton and her supporters certainly had reason to celebrate the conclusion of the case; that is, at least, until newly discovered evidence made it clear that the case wasn’t concluded.
Not surprisingly, Fallon was among those who decided Friday it wasn’t so bad to second-guess the decision of a career prosecutor. Kellyanne Conway is on MSNBC now falsely saying Hillary Clinton is "under FBI investigation." This is what Jim Comey has wrought.
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) October 29, 2016
Are we back to that whole “routine security review” talking point, or is Clinton not under investigation? Because the letter Comey sent to FBI employees Friday gave that impression pretty strongly:
This morning I sent a letter to Congress in connection with the Secretary Clinton email investigation. Yesterday, the investigative team briefed me on their recommendation with respect to seeking access to emails that have recently been found in an unrelated case. Because those emails appear to be pertinent to our investigation, I agreed that we should take appropriate steps to obtain and review them.
Of course, we don’t ordinarily tell Congress about ongoing investigations, but here I feel an obligation to do so given that I testified repeatedly in recent months that our investigation was completed.
— #NeverTrump Rob G (@NYYFan63) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon Sounds like you didn’t get the FBI memo.
— DC Dude (@DCDude1776) October 29, 2016 . @brianefallon She's right! Hillary Clinton has been, for some time now, under FBI CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION. The case is STILL OPEN.
— American Elephant (@AmericnElephant) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon How is that false, Brian?
— John Riley (@jriley8832) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon You're Ma Barker's press secretary & you really think she's not under FBI investigation? You're not too good at this, are you?
— BasementDweller Zero (@jurassicpork59) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon @nielslesniewski but alas, she is. That's what the FBI does.
— Tone Loc (@ToneLocNV) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon You're right, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is not Investigating. What would give someone an idea they're Investigating?
— Josh Fields (@partiallypro) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon When the Director of the FBI James Comey says they found more emails and they are going to investigate…..It means just that!
— Hillary's Speeches (@abunasir61) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon Umm. He said she was under investigation. Now go update your resume.
— Jim Levy (@TexasJew) October 29, 2016 @brianefallon Um, she is under FBI investigation. They investigate people; not things.
— Victoria Balfour (@VickiBalfour) October 29, 2016 What would you consider it, @brianefallon ?The FBI IS investigating Hillary Clinton.FBI does not investigate items, e.g., emails, server. | 1real |
FURIOUS FBI Agents Speak Out On Clinton Email Case: “We didn’t search their house. We always search the house.” | FBI Agents are coming forward now to voice their frustrations and concerns about FBI Director James Comey s inept policing of the FBI. Specifically, the Clinton email investigation was held up by Comey standing in the way. One of the specifics of the investigation that hindered it was that the Clinton house was never searched. The FBI always does a search of a household in an investigation. The New York FBI agents working the case were livid at the stonewalling in the Clinton case. FBI agents are now lawyering up and speaking up to tell what they know This is a textbook case where a grand jury should have convened but was not. That is appalling, an FBI special agent who has worked public corruption and criminal cases said of the decision. We talk about it in the office and don t know how Comey can keep going. DID ANYONE ELSE THINK THIS EXACT SAME THING:The agent was also surprised that the bureau did not bother to search Clinton s house during the investigation. We didn t search their house. We always search the house. The search should not just have been for private electronics, which contained classified material, but even for printouts of such material, he said. There should have been a complete search of their residence, the agent pointed out. That the FBI did not seize devices is unbelievable. The FBI even seizes devices that have been set on fire. Another special agent for the bureau that worked counter-terrorism and criminal cases said he is offended by Comey s saying: we and I ve been an investigator. The idea that the Clinton/e-mail case didn t go to a grand jury is ridiculous. According to Washington D.C. attorney Joe DiGenova, more FBI agents will be talking about the problems at bureau and specifically the handling of the Clinton case by Comey when Congress comes back into session and decides to force them to testify by subpoena. People are starting to talk. They re calling their former friends outside the bureau asking for help. We were asked to day to provide legal representation to people inside the bureau and agreed to do so and to former agents who want to come forward and talk. Comey thought this was going to go away. The most important thing of all is that the agents have decided that they are going to talk. Read more: Daily Caller | 1real |
Gaining momentum on Super Tuesday, Clinton takes aim at Trump | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gathering speed toward winning the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton did not wait long after a streak of wins on Super Tuesday to gird for battle with Republican front-runner Donald Trump. The former first lady won 7 of 11 states up for grabs on Tuesday, sweeping the South and creating more distance between her and rival Bernie Sanders in the race to represent the Democratic Party at the Nov. 8 election for the White House. The wins, which include the heavily populated state of Texas, mean she can turn an eye toward billionaire reality TV star Trump, who also won heavily on Tuesday. In another good sign for Clinton, her fundraisers say donors are eager to fund her campaign into the general election. “Hillary will be the nominee, and now she needs to start focusing on taking on Trump,” said Dane Strother, an unaligned Washington DC-based Democratic strategist. On Tuesday night, Clinton took aim at Trump’s reputation for spewing insults at his opponents, and repeated an attack on the real estate mogul’s proposal to build a 1,000-mile wall along the border with Mexico. “The stakes in this election have never been higher and the rhetoric we’re hearing on the other side has never been lower,” she said during a rally in Miami after she won in several states. “Trying to divide America between us and them is wrong.” Clinton’s wins give her 527 delegates to the Democratic nominating convention, to Sanders’ 325, according to a New York Times delegate count early on Wednesday. A Democratic candidate needs 2,383 delegates to win. Jim Manley, a Washington-based Democratic strategist who supports Clinton, said her move to swiftly target Trump was necessary but potentially dangerous for her. “She has to start looking toward the general election, but it’s not without its risks,” he said. He said Trump would strike back: “He’ll go right in the gutter.” Trump has frequently criticized Clinton’s handling of crises like Iraq and Syria during her four years as secretary of state, and suggested he will dredge up old scandals involving former President Bill Clinton. Some Clinton fundraisers said the campaign is noticing renewed interest among donors to support her beyond primary season. Her campaign, they add, appears more open to accepting that cash, an indication they believe she will win the nomination. “I think they are taking a shift towards the general (election),” said Tom Sacks-Wilner, a member of Clinton’s national finance committee. “The finance department’s not objecting to it at this point,” he said. Campaign donors are allowed to give $2,700 to an individual candidate for the primary phase of an election, and another $2,700 for the general phase, for a grand total of $5,400. Another Clinton fundraiser, in Los Angeles, said that he has had more donors in his area ask him about giving money for the fight beyond California, and he added that the recent victories also make it easier to bring in campaign volunteers. The upbeat attitude marks a shift from three weeks ago, when Clinton’s campaign was bruised by Sanders’ resounding win in New Hampshire, and a close second place finish in Iowa, where he carried a large proportion of the youth vote. The shift became more pronounced last week after Clinton’s victory in South Carolina, where she enjoyed broad support among African-American voters - a bloc Sanders has struggled to draw with his democratic socialist platform. Nationally, support for Clinton has increased since just before the Feb. 27 South Carolina primary. Nearly 53 percent of Democrats said they’d vote for Clinton, compared with 43 percent for the U.S. Senator from Vermont, according to the Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll from Feb. 26 to March 1. They were in a dead heat earlier in the month. Sanders has also worked to position himself as a general election candidate against Trump. His campaign sent out a statement on Tuesday touting his $42.7 million fundraising haul in February. “Donald Trump is going to have plenty of money to compete in November,” said Jeff Weaver, Sanders’ campaign manager. “It’s important that our nominee be able to raise the hundreds of millions of dollars necessary to defeat the Republicans in November.” One group tied to the Democratic Party’s progressive wing said it would be wrong to write off Sanders regardless of Tuesday’s results - in part because he polls better in whiter northern states that come later in the election cycle. “Washington’s professional pundits were wrong when they claimed the fight for the Democratic nomination was over before Bernie Sanders got into the race, they’re wrong if they claim this fight is over now,” Charles Chamberlain, Democracy for America’s executive director, said in a statement. (Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Alistair Bell) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 0fake |
BUSTED! Main Political “Fact” Checker For SNOPES Is FINALLY EXPOSED As Liberal Hack | Wait until you read this woman s biography and past quotes about conservatives! Popular myth-busting website Snopes originally gained recognition for being the go-to site for disproving outlandish urban legends -such as the presence of UFOs in Haiti or the existence of human-animal hybrids in the Amazon jungle.Recently, however, the site has tried to pose as a political fact-checker. But Snopes fact-checking looks more like playing defense for prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton and it s political fact-checker describes herself as a liberal and has called Republicans regressive and afraid of female agency. Snopes main political fact-checker is a writer named Kim Lacapria. Before writing for Snopes, Lacapria wrote for Inquisitr, a blog that oddly enough is known for publishing fake quotes and even downright hoaxes as much as anything else.While at Inquisitr, the future fact-checker consistently displayed clear partisanship.She described herself as openly left-leaning and a liberal. She trashed the Tea Party as teahadists. She called Bill Clinton one of our greatest presidents. She claimed that conservatives only criticized Lena Dunham s comparison of voting to sex because they fear female agency. She once wrote: Like many GOP ideas about the poor, the panic about using food stamps for alcohol, pornography or guns seems to have been cut from whole cloth or more likely, the ideas many have about the fantasy of poverty. (A simple fact-check would show that food stamp fraud does occur and costs taxpayers tens of millions.)Lacapria even accused the Bush administration of being at least guilty of criminal negligience in the September 11 attacks. (The future fact-checker offered no evidence to support her accusation.)Her columns apparently failed to impress her readership, oftentimes failing to get more than 10-20 shares.After blogging the Inquisitr, Lacapria joined Snopes, where she regularly plays defense for her fellow liberals.She wrote a fact check article about Jimmy Carter s unilateral ban of Iranian nationals from entering the country that looks more like an opinion column arguing against Donald Trump s proposed Muslim ban.Similarly, Lacapria in another fact check article argued Hillary Clinton hadn t included Benghazi at all in her infamous we didn t lose a single person in Libya gaffe. Lacapria claimed Clinton only meant to refer to the 2011 invasion of Libya (but not the 2012 Benghazi attack) but offered little fact-based evidence to support her claim.After the Orlando terror attack, Lacapria claimed that just because Omar Mateen was a registered Democrat with an active voter registration status didn t mean he was actually a Democrat. Her fact check argued that he might have chosen a random political affiliation when he initially registered. Lacapria even tried to contradict the former Facebook workers who admitted that Facebook regularly censors conservative news, dismissing the news as rumors. In that fact check article, Lacapria argued that Facebook Trending s blacklisting of junk topics was not only not a scandalous development, but to be expected following the social network s crackdown on fake news sites. The opinion-heavy article was mockingly titled: The Algorithm Is Gonna Get You.Lacapria again played defense for Clinton in a fact check article when she claimed: Outrage over an expensive Armani jacket worn by Hillary Clinton was peppered with inaccurate details. One of the inaccurate details cited by Lacapria was that, The cost of men s suits worn by fellow politicians didn t appear in the article for contrast. She also argued the speech Clinton gave while wearing the $12,495 jacket, which discussed raising wages and reducing inequality, wasn t actually about income inequality.Read more: Daily Caller | 1real |
Somali man charged in Canada attack was ordered deported from U.S. | EDMONTON, Alberta (Reuters) - The Somali immigrant charged with attempted murder in connection with a weekend vehicle and knife attack in Edmonton, Alberta, was detained in the United States pending deportation before claiming refugee status in Canada, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, 30, is accused of running down a police officer with his car on Saturday night and then stabbing him repeatedly. Police said he fled before driving a U-Haul truck into four pedestrians during an attempt to evade capture. Sharif was in custody in the United States for about four months in the summer and autumn of 2011, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Lauren Mack said in a statement. He was ordered deported to Somalia but released on an order of supervision on Nov. 23, 2011. Sharif did not appear for a scheduled meeting in January 2012, and efforts to locate him were not successful, the statement said. Sharif had no known criminal history at the time of his encounters with ICE, the ICE statement added. Canadian Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Sharif made a refugee claim at a Canadian border crossing in 2012 and obtained refugee status later that year. In 2015, a complaint led police to probe Sharif s alleged extremist ideology, but officers found no grounds for criminal charges after what the Royal Canadian Mounted Police described as an exhaustive investigation. Goodale said on Monday it would be wrong to blame the attack on any shortcomings in Canada s immigration and refugee vetting system. Sharif, who faces 11 charges including five counts of attempted murder, appeared via video in an Edmonton court on Tuesday wearing an orange jail uniform. He had a Somali interpreter, although he did not speak. He occasionally looked down or clasped his hands in front of him and still bore facial bruises that police say he sustained while evading capture. A community leader, Mahamad Accord, who did not speak to Sharif but learned about him from the local Somali community, said Sharif was from a Somali ethnic minority and little known in the community. Edmonton police did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sharif s lawyer, Chady Moustarah, said he had stepped in on short notice to help someone without representation but that the accused would have to find another lawyer going forward. Sharif remains in custody until his next court appearance, scheduled for Nov. 14. | 0fake |
In break with decades of U.S. policy, Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump will announce on Wednesday that the United States recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will move its embassy there, breaking with longtime U.S. policy and potentially stirring unrest. Despite warnings from Western and Arab allies, Trump in a 1 p.m. (1800 GMT) White House speech will direct the State Department to begin looking for a site for an embassy in Jerusalem as part of what is expected to be a years-long process of relocating diplomatic operations from Tel Aviv. Trump is to sign a national security waiver delaying a move of the embassy, since the United States does not have an embassy structure in Jerusalem to move into. A senior administration official said it could take three to four years to build an embassy. Still, Trump s decision, a core promise of his campaign last year, will upend decades of American policy that has seen the status of Jerusalem as part of a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as their capital. Washington s Middle East allies all warned against the dangerous repercussions of his decision when Trump spoke to them on Tuesday. The president believes this is a recognition of reality, said one official, who briefed reporters on Tuesday about the announcement. We re going forward on the basis of a truth that is undeniable. It s just a fact. Senior Trump administration officials said Trump s decision was not intended to tip the scale in Israel s favor and that agreeing on the final status of Jerusalem would remain a central part of any peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. In defending the decision, the officials said Trump was basically reflecting a fundamental truth: That Jerusalem is the seat of the Israeli government and should be recognized as such. The Palestinians have said the move would mean the kiss of death to the two-state solution. The political benefits for Trump are unclear. The decision will thrill Republican conservatives and evangelical Christians who make up a large share of his political base. But it will complicate Trump s desire for a more stable Middle East and Israel-Palestinian peace and arouse tensions. Past presidents have put off such a move. The mere hint of his decision to move the embassy in the future set off alarm bells around the Middle East, raising the prospect of violence. Our Palestinian people everywhere will not allow this conspiracy to pass, and their options are open in defending their land and their sacred places, said Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh. Islamist militant groups such as al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah have in the past tried to exploit Muslim sensitivities over Jerusalem to stoke anti-Israel and anti-U.S. sentiment. The decision comes as Trump s senior adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, leads a relatively quiet effort to restart long-stalled peace efforts in the region, with little in the way of tangible progress thus far. The president will reiterate how committed he is to peace. While we understand how some parties might react, we are still working on our plan which is not yet ready. We have time to get it right and see how people feel after this news is processed over the next period of time, one senior official said. Trump spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan s King Abdullah and Saudi King Salman to inform them of his decision. The Jordanian king affirmed that the decision will have serious implications that will undermine efforts to resume the peace process and will provoke Muslims and Christians alike, said a statement from his office. Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed it. The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions. We have always regarded Jerusalem as a final-status issue that must be resolved through direct negotiations between the two parties based on relevant Security Council resolutions, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem. Trump has weighted U.S. policy toward Israel since taking office in January, considering the Jewish state a strong ally in a volatile part of the world. Still, deliberations over the status of Jerusalem were tense. Vice President Mike Pence and David Friedman, U.S. ambassador to Israel, pushed hard for both recognition and embassy relocation, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis opposed the move from Tel Aviv, according to other U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. An impatient Trump finally weighed in, telling aides last week he wanted to keep his campaign promise. Abbas warned Trump of the dangerous consequences that moving the embassy would have for peace efforts and regional stability, Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said. But Trump assured Abbas that he remained committed to facilitating an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, one U.S. official said. | 0fake |
We Republicans Lost On Gay Rights. That’s A Good Thing. | I’m not among those Republicans who have “evolved” on the issue of gay rights. I didn’t need to. I’ve always been attracted to the GOP message of more freedom and less government, but thought it hypocritical and counter to the core of our philosophy that Republicans would not apply those tenets to gay rights. But of course I was often the black sheep in campaign meetings during the 1990s and 2000s. There goes McKinnon again. Taking up for the gays. Although “gay” wasn’t the word that was used back then.
Politically, while it once helped political parties to use gay rights to divide and score political points (and the GOP didn’t have a monopoly on the issue; remember it was Bill Clinton who signed the Defense of Marriage Act), the wedge issue has now lost its edge, even, I would argue, in the 2016 Republican presidential primary. No Republican can win the nomination without the support of the business community. And Big Business is now at odds with the social conservative faction of the Republican Party over gay and transgender equality — and Big Business is winning.
Look at what’s happened in four states dominated by the GOP in the past year.
Weeks before the Super Bowl kickoff in 2014, the Arizona Legislature passed a bill allowing businesses to refuse service to gay customers. This “religious freedom” measure made it OK for business owners to kick customers out of their establishments if they opposed homosexuality on religious grounds. Scores of corporate titans in the travel and tourism industry, together with the NFL, opposed the bill. Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed it.
In Indiana this March, lawmakers tried to pass similar legislation, followed by a hell-hath-no-fury response led by Eli Lilly, Salesforce and Angie’s List, which canceled a $40 million project planned for Indianapolis. Marriott’s CEO said the legislation was “pure idiocy from a business perspective.” Gov. Mike Pence modified the bill, but the damage was done. (The state has since hired a global PR firm to resuscitate its image following the brouhaha.)
In Arkansas, same story. Seeing the firestorm that occurred in Indiana, Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson didn’t sign the original bill that hit his desk after calls for him to veto it came from his own son, and from Arkansas-based Wal-Mart, which said the bill ran counter to the company’s values. In the end, the governor signed a less toxic, less controversial bill.
And this week, Texas became the latest to join the fray.
The Lone Star State just wrapped its legislative session, which included two “religious freedom” constitutional amendments. Learning from what happened in the above states, industry groups and major businesses went out pre-emptively — let me say that again: pre-emptively — before such bills made it too far in the Legislature. The conservative state chamber of commerce, the Texas Association of Business, took the lead.
The amendments “would devastate economic development, tourism and the convention business,” said Bill Hammond, TAB’s CEO. “One has to look no further than Indiana to realize what a detriment this would be, and how hard it would be to sell Texas to the rest of the country. The Super Bowl [in Houston in 2017], the Final Four, all those things would be at risk in Texas if this were to become part of our Constitution.”
More than 250 Texas companies — American Airlines, Dell, Texas Instruments, Dow Chemical, the Dallas Mavericks — went on record with a general pledge in support of treating gay and transgender Texans fairly and equally under the law — and that welcoming and inclusive communities are essential to their bottom line.
Both amendments in the Texas Legislature died a quick death.
So: four states, same story and same result. If the “religious freedom” strategy can’t work in Texas — the bastion of conservatism and beacon for business — where can it work?
It’s not news this country has come a long way on LGBT rights. An evolution, a massive one, has taken place. Culturally, we’ve gone from taboo to tolerance, and in some cities, total embrace. Elections are always about the future, never about the past. And so my advice to GOP candidates is to recognize that since our society has largely moved on, and business has moved on, so should the party of Abraham Lincoln, who fought a civil war over civil rights.
Discrimination is now simply bad for the bottom line and bad for any brand, whether a company’s or a state’s. When it comes to recruitment and retention, the millennial generation, which will be 75 percent of the workforce by 2030, doesn’t have much tolerance for anti-gay anything. In fact, it’s become somewhat of a litmus test. 73 percent of millennials support LGBT nondiscrimination, according to Public Religion Research Institute. Surely, they use it as one criterion when deciding where to work.
Most businesses now have their own internal nondiscrimination policies for LGBT employees, but they want to see their larger communities in which they operate adopt similar welcoming and inclusive policies. Top talent is looking for both a great job and a great quality of life. To most folks, I would venture, that does not mean a city or state that looks the other way when discrimination happens.
It’s clear from the reaction of many of America’s leading corporations, that Big Business wants to do the right thing for and by employees — all of them. And most CEOs of the Fortune 500 are Republicans. So, they are paving the way for more in our party to jump on board with gay rights. If it’s good for business, it’s generally good for the Republican Party.
Negative national headlines on religious freedom continue to fuel a negative image of the entire party. Both in my private conversations with and in public (and private) polling, conservatives are moving ever closer to supporting full equity for LGBT Americans. Gallup’s Values and Beliefs poll released last month showed a more than 20 percentage-point increase since 2001 in Americans (63 percent) who believe “gay and lesbian relations” are “morally acceptable”. You don’t get to a supermajority like that without Republicans. Even Texas conservatives support protecting gay and transgender folks from employment discrimination.
Republicans, like the rest of Americans, support nondiscrimination laws because most of us have gay family members, friends and co-workers and want to treat them as we would want to be treated. And having heard from moms and dads who want this great country to treat their gay child just like their straight child has been a powerful narrative. It really is all about family standing up for one another. Most people believe equality under the law can and does work well alongside protecting religious freedom — which must be and is protected, even cherished, in our Constitution.
Shockingly, it’s still legal in the United States of America, even as we may be on the brink of having marriage equality in all 50 states, to fire and evict gay and transgender folks — and kick them out of a restaurant — simply for being who they are. This is patently wrong and needs to be fixed.
Democrats and Big Business are at work fixing it, together. That would have been an odd pairing years ago. The GOP position is untenable — and out of step with one of its key constituencies. It’s time to stand up to the social conservative wing and move into the future. | 0fake |
Rush Limbaugh: Left Has 'Fear and Hatred of Christianity' | Pick Your 2016 GOP Candidate -- Let Rush Know! Vote here
| 0fake |
Fire destroys landmark hotel in Myanmar's largest city, kills one | YANGON (Reuters) - One person was killed on Thursday in a massive fire that destroyed one of Yangon s best-known hotels, sending dark smoke billowing over the center of Myanmar s largest city and triggering an hours-long battle to put out the flames. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, which broke out around 3:20 a.m. at the teak-and-stone Kandawgyi Palace Hotel overlooking a picturesque inner-city lake, authorities told Reuters. An unidentified body was found in a guest room and two people were injured, said Htay Lwin, a spokesman of hotel owner Htoo Group. Authorities were investigating the cause of the fire and the cost of the damage was not immediately clear, he added. The fire had been mostly extinguished by 7 a.m., and more than 140 guests were shifted to nearby hotels. Htoo Group is chaired by business tycoon Tay Za, who, until last year, was on the list of United States sanctions for his close links to Myanmar s former military regime. Myanmar s civilian-led government, helmed by Nobel laureate and former dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, is grappling with the aftermath of a harsh military crackdown that has driven out more than 500,000 of the country s Rohingya Muslim minority. | 0fake |
null | I didn't see anything racist in this.
Is this how you dispel the truth when you dont agree with it, you just pull a race card. You just exposed yourself MR. In two words you described what you are....Well done. | 1real |
IRAN MAY RELEASE 3 AMERICAN PRISONERS/HOSTAGES: Iran Demands 19 Prisoners To Be Released In Another Lopsided Deal | While we re so happy to hear that 3 innocent American prisoners hostages may be returned. We re just wondering who the Obama regime is willing to release from prison and how 3 American hostages for 19 Iranian prisoners is a fair deal? Iran will work to free three Americans from its prisons if the US releases jailed Iranians, the country s president, Hassan Rouhani, said on Sunday. If the Americans take the appropriate steps and set them free, certainly the right environment will be open and the right circumstances will be created for us to do everything within our power and our purview to bring about the swiftest freedom for the Americans held in Iran as well, said Rouhani, who is in New York for the United Nations general assembly.At least three Americans, all of them of Iranian heritage, are in jail in Iran including Jason Rezaian, a correspondent for the Washington Post who was arrested in July 2014 and accused of spying.The two other Americans are Amir Hekmati, a former US Marine who was charged with spying, and Saeed Abedini, a convert to Christianity who gathered a Bible study group.Much of Iran s judiciary is known for its closeness to hardliners, who are eager to scuttle the moderate Rouhani s efforts to reconcile with Western powers. Nothing would make me happier than movements to release prisoners, Rouhani said.The US has regularly demanded the unconditional release of the three prisoners.Secretary of state John Kerry, when asked by reporters about Rouhani s remarks, said he has yet to hear directly from Iran on the idea. We ve had some conversations but we ll wait and see where we are, he said.For its part, Iran has sought the freedom of 19 of its citizens who are jailed in the US in connection with Washington s sanctions against the Islamic republic s nuclear program.Under Rouhani, Iran has reached an agreement with the US and five other powers to end suspicious nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief.While tensions have eased, Iran and the US have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, a year after the Islamic revolution toppled the Western-oriented shah.Another American, former FBI agent Robert Levinson, disappeared in Iran in 2007 but his whereabouts are unclear.Via: The Guardian | 1real |
Worried About the Privacy of Your Messages? Download Signal - The New York Times | BY the time you finish reading this column, you would be foolish not to download the messaging app Signal onto your smartphone and computer. The free encrypted messaging service has won the acclaim of security researchers and privacy advocates, including Edward J. Snowden. All have said that Signal goes above and beyond other chat tools in keeping electronic communications private. And now more than ever, we may need it. That’s because hacks are on the rise — look at how the activist group WikiLeaks posted a trove of emails from Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John D. Podesta, for all to see. Many are also watching for how government surveillance may grow under Donald J. Trump, who has chosen Mike Pompeo, who advocates greater surveillance, to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. Signal is one of many encrypted messaging services, but it stands out for its uncompromising security and ease of use. The chat service retains virtually no information from users, including messages and address books, on its servers. What’s more, messages remain encrypted when passing through Signal’s servers, meaning that the app’s creators can’t read them. “The default recommendation you’ll get from most security researchers for a messaging app is Signal,” said Joseph Bonneau, a postdoctoral researcher at the Applied Crypto Group at Stanford University. “It’s still the best in the field. ” That said, Signal is not perfect. It lacks some features of other messaging apps, like the ability to send stickers. And during my tests, the service had some glitches. But adding Signal to your folder of messaging apps is a must in an era when technology companies are collecting more personal information and government surveillance may expand. Some people have already cottoned on to this. Signal experienced a 400 percent jump in daily downloads since Mr. Trump won the election, according to Moxie Marlinspike, who founded Open Whisper Systems, the nonprofit that developed Signal. To Mr. Marlinspike, the surge in downloads reflects anxiety among Americans about the implications of Mr. Trump’s presidency for personal privacy. “Trump has threatened a lot of people and he’s about to be in control of the most pervasive and least accountable surveillance infrastructure in the world,” Mr. Marlinspike said. “A lot of people are justifiably concerned about that. ” Signal offers encryption, meaning a message is scrambled so that it becomes indecipherable to anyone but its intended recipient when it is sent from your device, and it remains so when it passes through the app’s server and reaches the recipient. When you initiate a conversation with someone on Signal, you and the recipient exchange cryptographic keys. Only the person who receives your message holds the key to decrypt and read it. That means that if a government agency had a wiretapping order for your Signal messages, Open Whisper Systems would not have the key to decipher the messages and would be unable to comply. Signal’s technology sets the standard for other messaging services, with its protocol being an system that other companies can freely use. WhatsApp, Facebook’s Messenger and Google embedded Signal’s encrypted messaging system into their own apps this year. Even so, security researchers said they preferred Signal over other messaging apps because it was more thorough in protecting users’ privacy. The only information Signal stores about users in its database is the last time someone connected to its server and when a person signed up for Signal. Other messaging apps maintain pieces of personal data on their servers. By contrast, while WhatsApp enables Signal’s full encryption by default in messages, there are caveats. WhatsApp may retain some meta data on conversations, including the phone numbers used in an exchange and the times that the messages were sent, according to the company’s privacy policy. WhatsApp also regularly accesses your phone number and contacts list, so the app can provide an list of your contacts who use its service to make it easier to message them. Google Allo, Google’s new messaging app that leverages artificial intelligence, does not enable Signal’s encryption in all its messages by default. Google offers full encrypted messaging only in Incognito sessions, a private mode that must be turned on manually. When you’re not chatting in Incognito mode, Google stores your Allo messages on its server. Similarly, Facebook’s Messenger enables encryption inside a private chat mode called Secret Conversations. But by default, normal Messenger chats lack that encryption. Even though Signal doesn’t record your information, the app still works across devices, like a desktop computer and a mobile device. Messages and contacts’ data are stored directly on users’ devices and synchronized between them. Let’s say you already use Signal on your iPhone and want to use it to chat on a Mac (Signal is available as a web app for Google’s Chrome browser for desktop computers). To link the desktop app with your iPhone, you would use the iPhone’s camera to scan a bar code on the Mac web app, which links the two devices together. Then, to get your contacts list and conversations to appear on the Mac, the Mac app pulls your contacts list and messages directly from the iPhone via an encrypted channel, according to Mr. Marlinspike. “It’s a bit more work, from our perspective,” Mr. Marlinspike said. “It’s more complicated than storing all this stuff on a server. ” Signal occasionally runs into glitches, such as when it comes to synchronizing data between computers and smartphones. In my tests, there were several occasions when Signal messages that were sent or received on my smartphone did not immediately show up inside the desktop app — though the messages eventually synchronized minutes later. Mr. Marlinspike, who is also the former head of security at Twitter, says he encourages people to report bugs so the group can continue to improve the service. Another downside is that your Signal account can work on only one mobile device at a time I could not, for instance, use Signal on both my iPhone and iPad. Mr. Marlinspike said it would support multiple mobile devices eventually. One last caveat is that Signal isn’t as fun to use as apps like Facebook Messenger, which lets you send stickers and animated GIFs to add color and personality to conversations. Open Whisper Systems said it planned to add these features, noting that GIFs are already supported in the Android version of Signal. Still, this is a trivial issue. I’d choose stronger privacy over sending stickers and animations any day. There is no logical reason to skip using Signal. The app is free for Android and iOS, and for computers it is a free for the Google Chrome browser. Plus, it’s easy to install and so architecturally secure that you can have the confidence to say whatever you want without fear of being spied on. Another benefit is that Open Whisper Systems is a nonprofit that relies on donations and grants, not a business that might eventually have an incentive to share your information with third parties like advertisers. That’s not to say Signal should be your only messaging app. You could use it exclusively for sensitive matters, like conversations. Then for casual chats like making plans with friends and loved ones, you could switch to more “fun” apps like Facebook Messenger and send all the stickers you want. Probably the biggest thing missing from Signal will be many of your friends. The app isn’t as popular among consumers as other mainstream messaging apps, so hanging out on Signal can feel lonely. So if you care about your privacy, other than installing Signal today, you should nag everyone you know to join the service, too. | 0fake |
Trump praises veterans, hits media at Kennedy Center event | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump honored military veterans in Washington on Saturday at a Kennedy Center event that resembled both a political rally and an evangelical Christian religious service ahead of the July 4 Independence Day holiday. Using the podium again to lash out at the news media, Trump worked to energize evangelicals in his political base, noting that the U.S. currency was inscribed with the words: “In God We Trust.” “Since the signing of the Declaration of Independence 241 years ago, America always affirmed that liberty comes from our creator. Our rights are given to us by God, and no earthly force can ever take those rights away,” he said. Attendees at the event for veterans waved miniature American flags from their seats in the theater and raised their hands as a sign of praise while a large choir sang ahead of Trump’s remarks. The president praised veterans from each of the U.S. military branches and highlighted his administration’s work to reform veterans’ services. Trump, who is spending a long weekend at his property in Bedminster, New Jersey, flew back to Washington for the rally but did not spend the night at the White House, preferring to return to Bedminster. Later, in a rare late-night post on Twitter, which he uses prolifically and sometimes controversially, Trump wrote: “We will always take care of our GREAT VETERANS. You have shed your blood, poured your love, and bared your soul, in defense of our country.” Trump has held campaign-like rallies regularly during his first few months in the White House and kicked off his own re-election campaign far earlier than other incumbents in recent history. Part of his strategy to connect with his supporters has included criticizing the media, and he included harsh words for the press again in his remarks. “The fake media is trying to silence us, but we will not let them,” he said. “The fake media tried to stop us from going to the White House. But I’m president, and they’re not.” | 0fake |
WATCH: Trump Defends Russia, So John McCain HAMMERS Him With Bad News | Donald Trump is Vladimir Putin s puppet, so of course he would defend Russia instead of siding with American intelligence agencies. And that did not sit well with John McCain.On Friday, the CIA released an assessment concluding that Russia hacked into our election to help Trump win. Ever since then, Trump and his team have been desperately defending Russia and insisting that Democrats made the whole thing up and that Russia would never interfere in our democratic system.During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace asked Trump about the Russian hacking. Trump responded by bragging about his victory and claimed that our intelligence agencies can t possibly know that Russia hacked anything. I think it s ridiculous, Trump said. I don t believe it. I don t know why and I think it s just you know, they talked about all sorts of things. Every week it s another excuse. We had a massive landslide victory as you know in the electoral college. Hacking is very interesting, Trump continued. Once they hack, if you don t catch them in the act, you re not going to catch them. They have no idea if it s Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed someplace. Trump just demonstrated that he knows nothing about how technology works beyond how to use Twitter. Hacking leaves traces that experts can follow to identify the culprit. But instead of believing the experts, Trump tried to pin everything on the Democrats. I think the Democrats are putting it out because they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of politics in this country, Trump claimed. And frankly, I think they re putting it out. It s ridiculous. Trump went on to lecture that the CIA should blame other countries or individuals for the hack if they are going to report on what happened, but he couldn t end the interview without bragging again. We had many people are saying one of the great victories of all time. Here s the video via YouTube.First of all, Trump s victory is not even close to being one of greatest of all time. As it turns out, we keep the records of every presidential election and the records show that in the last 100 years alone, there are 18 elections in which a candidate did way better than Trump, including President Obama is 2008 and 2009. So it was NOT a landslide or a mandate like Trump imagines.Second, Trump is clearly denying the facts again, which is why Senator John McCain delivered the hard truth on Face The Nation.McCain said that he wants a bipartisan investigation by Congress to confirm the CIA assessment and he is totally bewildered by Trump s defense of Russia despite the evidence. I don t know what to make of it, McCain said of Trump s claims. Because it s clear the Russians interfered. Now whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, I think that s a subject of investigation. Facts are stubborn things. They did hack into this campaign. Here s the video via YouTube.Featured image via Screenshot | 1real |
After the latest debacle, we agree with Donald Trump: “We’ve had enough of the debates” | It was hosted by CNN, and the presentation was so bombastically stupid that it was almost condescending. The moderation wasn’t great; it took far too long to bring up the violence recently perpetrated against journalists and protesters by Trump supporters — and, shit you not, the Trump campaign itself. And absolutely nothing happened that’s likely to change an outcome which, much like death, seems more inevitable every day.
But listen: You don’t want to hear about the entire debate. You either chose to do something else — or worse still, you watched it for yourself. And as the current patriarch of the heirs of Drumpf said himself Thursday night, “we’ve had enough of the debates” already. So I’m going to spare you a play-by-play. And I’m definitely not going to tell you who “won,” because, really, why the hell do journalists try to do that?
Here’s what I’ll do instead. I’m going to focus on the one part of the debate that, in the grand scheme of things, as best I can tell — which, to be clear, is very little — matters the most. It was early, and it was ugly, and it was exactly the kind of exhibition of political cynicism and religious bigotry that President Obama calls “the source of a lot of destructive acts.” I’m talking about the “debate” over what Donald Trump said about Muslims (all 1.6 billion of ‘em) Wednesday night.
The quote, for those of you who were lucky enough to miss that, too:
I think Islam hates us. There’s something there that — there’s a tremendous hatred there. There’s a tremendous hatred. We have to get to the bottom of it. There’s an unbelievable hatred of us…. [W]e have to be very vigilant, we have to be very careful and we can’t allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States, and of people who are not Muslim.
Needless to say, when a genuflecting Anderson Cooper (CNN again!) offered Trump a chance to at least say he was only referring to those who believed in a “radical” interpretation of Islam — which is still problematic for someone who wants to be president, but whatever — the Donald declined. “It’s very hard to separate” radicals from the nearly 1.6 billion others, he answered.
Anyway, that was the topic on Thursday night. But when CNN tossed another softball in Trump’s direction and gave him another chance to walk it back (are we going to ask him every single day now?), Trump didn’t just reject the offer. He went from arguing that it was difficult to tell the difference between a violent jihadist and an 8-year-old child to arguing that “a lot of them” are full of “tremendous hatred”: I will tell you there’s something going on that maybe you don’t know about, maybe a lot of other people don’t know about, but there’s tremendous hatred … And I will stick with exactly what I said to Anderson Cooper. I like to solve problems. We have a serious, serious problem of hate … We have large portions of a group of people — Islam — large portions want to use very, very harsh means. In response, Little Marco offered a tepid critique, saying that Trump didn’t get that “presidents can’t just say anything they want.” Rubio added that he wasn’t “interested in being politically correct,” but that there were pragmatic reasons not to dehumanize 1.6 billion people. That’s better, I guess; but as the Intercept’s Murtaza Hussain tweeted: Someone should tell these guys Muslims are also watching the debate and hearing them say we should only be nice for utilitarian reasons. Why was this the most important moment of the debate? Because this wasn’t just about Trump, though he certainly was the driver. It was about the entire Republican Party, and about the millions of Americans who continue to support it. All over the country — and all over the world — people are watching. There are millions of people whose perception of the United States is not set in stone just yet. And this is the country we show them. I can’t blame them if they choose to turn away. | 0fake |
BRUTAL! This map shows Obamacare premiums going up as much as 116% in some states | BRUTAL! This map shows Obamacare premiums going up as much as 116% in some states Posted at 11:04 am on October 27, 2016 by Sam J.
Gosh, thanks Obama. And we didn’t get you anything … Brutal. This map shows how much Obamacare premiums are going up in every state. pic.twitter.com/hAy0LLJyjS
— Jason C. (@CounterMoonbat) October 27, 2016
Brutal is right. Trending WHAT bias? James O'Keefe wonders why these 'journalists' are ignoring Project Veritas videos
Look out Arizona, Obamacare is really going to kick you in the backside next year – 116%!?!?!
How can this be in any way, shape or form acceptable to ANY person in this country, regardless of political affiliation? We should all be absolutely disgusted with these numbers and yet the law stands. @CounterMoonbat But it's Okay because someone else will pay?
— Beto Ochoa (@Beto_In_Austin) October 27, 2016
Interesting how Democrats really think this is how it works. That some magical money fairy out there will flutter down from the heavens and dispense money from their money wand and make all of this go away.
They refuse to accept the middle class, the very people they pretend to care about, are the ones getting kicked in the teeth by this law. | 1real |
U.S. puts more pressure on Pakistan to help with Afghan war | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States suggested on Tuesday it could cut U.S. aid to Pakistan or downgrade Islamabad s status as a major non-NATO ally to pressure the South Asian nation to do more to help it with the war in Afghanistan. A day after President Donald Trump committed to an open-ended conflict in Afghanistan and singled out Pakistan for harboring Afghan Taliban insurgents and other militants, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Washington s relationship with Pakistan would depend on its help against terrorism. We are going to be conditioning our support for Pakistan and our relationship with them on them delivering results in this area, Tillerson told reporters. U.S. officials are frustrated by what they see as Pakistan s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe haven on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan denies it harbors militants fighting U.S. and Afghan government forces in Afghanistan. Tillerson said the United States could consider withdrawing Pakistan s status as a major non-NATO ally, which provides limited benefits such as giving Pakistan faster access to surplus U.S. military hardware, if cooperation did not improve. We have some leverage that s been discussed in terms of the amount of aid and military assistance we give them, their status as non-NATO alliance partner - all of that can be put on the table, he said. In a televised speech on Monday offering few specifics, Trump promised a stepped-up military campaign against Taliban insurgents who have gained ground against the U.S.-backed Afghan government and he singled out Pakistan for harboring militants. U.S.-backed Afghan forces overthrew the Taliban s hard-line Islamist government in late 2001 because it sheltered al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, architect of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington that year. U.S. forces have been bogged down since in a war that has vexed three American presidents. About 2,400 U.S. troops have died there in America s longest military conflict. (For a graphic on U.S. troops and contractors in Afghanistan click tmsnrt.rs/2xm6CxQ) The Afghan government welcomed Trump s speech, but the Taliban said it would make the country a graveyard for the American empire. Successive U.S. administrations have struggled with how to deal with nuclear-armed Pakistan, which has a porous border with Afghanistan. Washington fumes about inaction against the Taliban, but Pakistan has cooperated on other U.S. counterterrorism efforts, including against al Qaeda and Islamic State militants. The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said it was disappointing that the US policy statement ignores the enormous sacrifices rendered by the Pakistani nation in fighting terrorism. As a matter of policy, Pakistan does not allow use of its territory against any country, it said. A senior U.S. official said on Tuesday significant measures were under consideration, including possibly sanctioning Pakistani officials with ties to extremist organizations. Trump also called for Pakistan s great rival India to play a bigger role in Afghanistan, a prospect that will ring alarm bells for Pakistan s generals. Trump s policy of engaging India and threatening action may actually constrain Pakistan and lead to the opposite of what he wants, said Zahid Hussain, a Pakistani security analyst. The United States has little choice but to use Pakistani roads and air corridors to resupply its troops in landlocked Afghanistan, giving Islamabad considerable leverage. U.S. officials fret that if Pakistan becomes an active foe, it could further destabilize Afghanistan and endanger U.S. soldiers. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday he was awaiting a plan from the U.S. military s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, before deciding how many more troops to send to Afghanistan. When he brings that to me, I will determine how many more we need to send in, Mattis told reporters in Baghdad. It may or may not be the number that is bandied about. U.S. officials have said Trump has given Mattis authority to send about 4,000 additional troops to add to the roughly 8,400 already in Afghanistan. The U.S. Air Force may intensify its strikes in Afghanistan and expand training of the Afghan air force following Trump s decision, its top general told Reuters on Tuesday. Most U.S. troops in Afghanistan work with a NATO-led training and advising mission, with the rest part of a counterterrorism force that mostly targets pockets of al Qaeda and Islamic State fighters. | 0fake |
TERROR GROUP PLANS VIOLENCE AGAINST TRUMP SUPPORTERS: Shocking Flier Reveals Calls For VIOLENCE: “Smash White Supremacy” | This call to violence by the Left against innocent people who don t agree with their radical ideology, is eerily similar to the tactics used by terror groups in the Middle East. These are acts of terror that are being overlooked by our President and our DOJ, simply because they understand that this is the only way to stop Trump is by striking fear in the hearts of his supporters A picture of a flier that s been circulating in the Richmond, VA area is going viral. The intent of this flier is clearly to stir up hate and encourage violence against Trump supporters who plan to attend Trump s upcoming rally. This type of organization to create chaos and fear is how the Left wins elections, how the unions get what they want and how our PRESIDENT and his cronies operate behind closed doors at our White House. This flier is laced with hate, fear mongering and calls to violence, but you will never see it being shown to the general public by the mainstream media, as it crushes their narrative that the Trump supporters and conservatives of America are somehow promoting violence and fear mongering to get votes. This incendiary flier is summarized at the bottom by claiming, They [Trump supporters] have promised us violence, and we must promise them the same. Can someone please provide us with one iota of evidence that shows Trump supporters asking other supporters to violently attack innocent people who disagree with their political views?America needs to stand up to these coordinated efforts by talking to their neighbors, relatives, friends, co-workers and even to members of their churches. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. If the media won t report this, we need to speak up and let everyone know what is happening h/t Weasel Zippers | 1real |
U.S. criticizes Poland for fining U.S.-owned broadcaster TVN | WARSAW (Reuters) - The United States criticized a decision by Poland s media regulator to slap a $415,000 fine on TVN, a U.S.-owned private broadcaster, saying the ruling appeared to undermine media freedom. The broadcaster was fined by regulator KRRiT on Monday over its coverage of protests in parliament last year. This decision appears to undermine media freedom in Poland, a close ally and fellow democracy. Free and independent media are essential to a strong democracy, the U.S. Department of State said in a statement on Tuesday. It added that it remained confident in the ability of Polish authorities to ensure democratic institutions were fully functioning and respected. The regulator said it had fined the broadcaster s TVN24 channel for promoting illegal activities and encouraging behavior that threatens security, without giving details. TVN24 is the most widely watched independent channel in Poland, and critics on Monday interpreted the fine as an effort to mute its criticism of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party amid speculation the state may take the broadcaster over. Since taking office in late 2015, the PiS has been at loggerheads with the European Union over policy, including placing the country s media under increased state control. | 0fake |
At Dylann Roof’s Trial, a Question of How Many Tears Are Too Many - The New York Times | CHARLESTON, S. C. — The federal trial to determine whether Dylann S. Roof will receive the death penalty for his murderous rampage at an church has become a delicate balancing act, pitting the desire of prosecutors to convey the fullness of grief for the nine devout victims against the due process rights of an unrepentant white supremacist who largely declines to defend himself. In three days of testimony last week, prosecutors questioned 20 spouses, children, grandchildren and friends of the victims to draw painfully poignant portraits of men and women who were pillars of their church, families and community. Jurors heard not only the tributes of the bereaved but in some cases the voices of the dead — recordings of the Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney lecturing proudly about the history of Emanuel A. M. E. Church, the Rev. DePayne Middleton Doctor booming a soulful a cappella solo, the Rev. Sharonda praying in a crescendo at the funeral of a friend. The government’s lawyers called two or three witnesses to render a portrait of each victim testimony about one of the deceased — the youngest, Tywanza Sanders — remains for Monday. The prosecution plans to rest its case that day, and Mr. Roof, who is representing himself, has said he will not call any witnesses. Closing arguments are expected on Tuesday. Mr. Roof, 22, stared straight ahead or down at the defense table, avoiding eye contact with witnesses who lost composure on the stand and jurors who sometimes dabbed away tears. When a prosecutor would conclude his gentle questioning, which could draw on for more than an hour, Judge Richard M. Gergel of Federal District Court would call for . Mr. Roof, dressed in a sweater and slacks, would rise slightly from his seat and announce: “No questions. ” That dynamic has prompted a series of challenges by Mr. Roof, and pointed exchanges between Judge Gergel and David I. Bruck, the veteran, capital defender whom Mr. Roof has sidelined, about how much is too much. “It is not fair to allow that much testimony to be heard by the jury when I am not presenting any evidence — from my family or anyone else — in mitigation,” Mr. Roof argued on Wednesday in a motion that Judge Gergel denied. “If I don’t present any mitigation evidence, the evidence will take over the whole sentencing trial and guarantee that I get the death penalty. ” Found guilty in December on 33 counts, including 18 that carry a potential death sentence, Mr. Roof has rejected Mr. Bruck’s strategy of presenting evidence about his background and mental health that might mitigate against his execution. The lawyer has been relegated to the role of standby counsel, allowed to sit beside Mr. Roof and offer guidance but not to question witnesses or to object to the government’s evidence. The usually Mr. Bruck has not been able to contain his frustration. At several points last week, with the jury out of the courtroom, he pleaded with Judge Gergel to rein in the prosecution and to empower him to object to testimony. “This is sentencing it is not a memorial service,” said Mr. Bruck, who has often expressed his admiration for the victims and his sorrow for their families. “It has become a runaway freight train. ” Mr. Bruck told Judge Gergel that Mr. Roof did not have the capacity or courage to offer objections and consistently ignored the suggestions he passed along in notes. He said he had advised Mr. Roof to move for a mistrial. Judge Gergel has had none of it. He lectured Mr. Bruck that he had twice held competency hearings and determined that Mr. Roof met the legal thresholds to stand trial and represent himself, a constitutional right. “I have not noticed the bashfulness to make an objection any time he feels it appropriate,” the judge told Mr. Bruck on Friday. He asked Mr. Roof if he felt uncomfortable doing so. “No,” Mr. Roof replied, saying no more. The judge has, however, cautioned Julius N. Richardson, an assistant United States attorney, to restrict the number of victim impact witnesses and the length of their testimony. “At some point it’s too much,” Judge Gergel said. “I’m worried about the cumulative effect. ” Yet, he also acknowledged the emotion of the memories offered from the stand. “There is no antiseptic way to do this,” he said. Although they gradually acceded to Judge Gergel’s suggestion to “streamline” their case, prosecutors have argued that the scale of the massacre justified a large number of witnesses. “He is the one who chose to kill nine people,” Mr. Richardson said of Mr. Roof, who, according to testimony, wore shoes to a closed hearing last week bearing a symbol of white supremacy. “He is the one who chose to go into a church to do it, and he’s the one who chose to do it to particularly good people. ” Impact statements at capital trials — and the legal questions surrounding them — rose to prominence in the 1980s as victims’ rights advocates won public support, including the passage of a law that altered the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. But in 1987, the United States Supreme Court ruled that such evidence in capital cases was a “constitutionally unacceptable risk. ” Four years later, it reversed that position when it ruled in Payne v. Tennessee. “Victim impact evidence is simply another form or method of informing the sentencing authority about the specific harm caused by the crime in question,” Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote for the majority. Such evidence has become a staple of capital proceedings. Before Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, which killed 168 people, prosecutors called 38 victim impact witnesses, Mr. Roof noted in a motion. More than a dozen testified at the 2015 trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who received the death penalty for the Boston Marathon attack that left three people dead and more than 250 wounded. Researchers have repeatedly found that such evidence has substantial effects on jurors who are weighing capital punishment. Mr. Roof’s choice to not call witnesses means that jurors will “not hear that evidence which tends to dampen the emotional effect” of grieving relatives, said Scott E. Sundby, a law professor at the University of Miami who has studied juror behavior in capital cases. Victim impact witnesses cannot, by law, opine about the penalty they prefer. But the jurors in Charleston have heard stories of intense suffering and loss, one after another. Prosecutors began by eliciting heartfelt reminiscences of family gatherings and final conversations, then pivoted to the excruciating moments of discovery after the killings of June 17, 2015. “I dropped the phone and just started jumping and fell on the floor and stayed there for two hours,” recalled Bethane Middleton Brown, Ms. Doctor’s sister. “I couldn’t move. ” Jurors saw an affecting video of Chris Singleton, the son of Ms. rapping a tribute to his charismatic mother: “Took your life in the middle of the church, and I just pray, Mama, that you weren’t hurt. ” They heard Malcolm R. Graham, a former North Carolina state senator, describe the deep void left by the death of his sister, Cynthia Hurd, a longtime county librarian who served as his mentor and political guide. “I’m alive, I’m fit, but something is missing,” he said. “I can’t go to the store and replace it. I can’t reinvent it. ” Walter Jackson Jr. seemed to find cruel irony in his grandmother Susie Jackson’s being taken in a hate crime. “She was 87 when she passed, and that’s someone who’s gone through racism, discrimination, segregation,” he said. “Yet she was still that kind of person who still had that unconditional love for everyone. ” Daniel L. Simmons Jr. told of his initial bewilderment that his father, the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. a Vietnam veteran with a license to carry a concealed weapon, had not done more to protect the churchgoers as he always had his family. He got his answer after receiving the keys to his father’s car from the coroner and finding the gun inside. “When I opened the car, it was sitting on the front seat,” Mr. Simmons said. “He took it off before he went to church. ” Death penalty critics complain that the testimony here has traded on the inherent nobility of the victims to advance what they consider the most ignoble of punishments, one that many members of the families say they oppose. They note the paradox that a death sentence for Mr. Roof may bolster support for maintaining a penalty that has been inflicted disproportionately on . Some said the impact evidence may produce grounds for an appeal. Henderson Hill, a lawyer who founded the Center for Death Penalty Litigation and who attended the proceedings last week, said the tenor amounted to “a whistle for a life for a life. ” “This is so far past the pale of what is acceptable practice that I find it just unrecognizable as a capital sentencing proceeding,” he said. “I’ve never seen this kind of celebration of life, even in black churches where the traditions are that services go on forever. ” | 0fake |
HERE’S WHY OBAMA Could Be Blackballed From Prestigious Golf Club: “There’s this major uproar with having him part of the club” | President Barack Obama faces being blackballed by a prestigious golf club over his hard-line stance on Israel during the final days of his administration.It is understood that Mr Obama, who is a golf fanatic, had hoped to join the Woodmont Country Club in Maryland. However, members of the club, who are overwhelmingly Jewish, are split on whether to welcome the soon-to-be private citizen Obama.According to the New York Post, members at the club are angry with President Obama for failing to veto a UN vote which criticized Israel. Worse still for some members, Obama s secretary of state John Kerry then delivered a speech which was highly critical of the Israeli government. In light of the votes at the UN and the Kerry speech and everything else, there s this major uproar with having him part of the club, and a significant portion of the club has opposed offering him membership. Read more: Daily Mail | 1real |
U.S. Homeland Security seeks proposals for wall with Mexico | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has issued requests for proposals for prototypes for a wall along the Mexican border, saying ideally it should be 30 feet (9 meters) high and the wall facing the U.S. side should be “aesthetically pleasing in color.” A wall to stem illegal immigration was one of Donald Trump’s main campaign promises and has been highly controversial. The president has vowed to make Mexico reimburse the United States for its cost but Mexico has repeatedly said it will not do so. Earlier this week, the White House requested $3 billion more for Homeland Security, with some of that intended for planning and building the border wall. According to one document posted online by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Friday night, the wall should be 30 feet high, built using concrete, and “physically imposing.” However, it says designs over 18 feet (5.5 meters) high could be acceptable. “Designs with heights of less than 18 feet are not acceptable,” the document said. It said the wall should have features that do not allow people to climb over it and should prevent digging below the wall. “The wall shall prevent/deter for a minimum of 1 hour the creation of a physical breach of the wall (e.g., punching through the wall) larger than 12 inches (30 cm) in diameter or square using sledgehammer, car jack, pickaxe, chisel, battery-operated impact tools, battery-operated cutting tools, oxy/acetylene torch or other similar hand-held tools,” it said. The other document requesting proposals has many of the same requirements but it does not specify that it be solid concrete. | 0fake |
Is Your VACCINATED Child a ‘Haz Mat’? | By Catherine J Frompovich What a question to ask: Is your vaccinated child ‘hazardous material’? Wow! However, that’s not flippant at all when one considers the amount of hazardous chemicals and... | 1real |
POWERFUL LETTER To Cowardly Steelers Coach Will Make You Want To Stand Up and Cheer: “You’ve taken something that unites Americans of every color, creed, and religion and managed to divide them” | Dear Mike Tomlin, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger and any other Steeler who feels a need to criticize Bronze Star recipient Alejandro Villanueva for honoring the flag that his brothers came home under, you can all go to hell.On Sunday your team had 3 options, stand and support America, sit/kneel and disrespect America or 3 take the coward s way out and abstain, vote present, hide in the tunnel because you were too afraid to be seen as pro-American or Anti-American. What a vile low candy-ass choice you made. I was looking for 100 percent participation, we were gonna be respectful of our football team, Tomlin told reporters.Your team does not come before America.Why should anyone be forced to act in a way that is against their moral code? The poor boys millionaire club could not all agree on whether or not to disrespect America so you hid. We Americans understand. Trust me.Let the kneelers kneel, the sitters sit, the Patriots stand, own your beliefs. Own your side. Everyone with a working knowledge of contract law knows that the players disrespecting America could have been fined in accordance with their contract.Remember Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf? He was fined $30,000 after disrespecting the flag and choosing to sit on his butt during the anthem. Once he was fined he worked out a compromise and stood, he recited Islamic prayers under his breath but he did not disgrace his team by disrespecting the American flag, the anthem, America herself.The administrative branch of the NFL is tax exempt. I hope that exemption is revoked. The entire league is subsidized with billions of taxpayers dollars, for what, so you can spit in the faces of the people who support you? No more.You have backed the wrong horse. Sometimes not choosing a side is choosing through omission.You ve taken something that unites Americans of every color, creed, and religion and managed to divide them through your cowardliness and fear of offending the wrong people. Fine them or fire them this is behavior that is covered in their contracts conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the National Football League. Honoring 9/11 is detrimental, wearing pink in your hair to honor breast cancer survivors and casualties is detrimental, twerking is detrimental but dishonoring the American flag is not detrimental to the integrity of the NFL. Hypocrites. You lousy lowlife mamby-pamby, money-grubbing, cowardly, politically correct, assholes can all go to hell.Your decision to hide in the tunnel is disgusting and cowardly. Your decision to criticize Alejandro Villanueva a war veteran, a man who fought for your freedom, a man who saved lives, a man who was willing to lay his life down for you, a bronze heart recipient is beyond words.Mike Tomlin, James Harrison, Ben Roethlisberger and any Steeler who has the audacity to criticize or question Alejandro Villanueva standing for the National Anthem, choosing country over his team, you are what is wrong with America. As a team, you boys get a ball from one of a field to another side of the field and celebrate. As a man, Villanueva rescued wounded soldiers while under enemy fire and you cowardly clowns are hiding in a tunnel because you couldn t decide whether or not to stand or sit for the American flag have the misguided intrepidity to criticize Villanueva s dedication to America?I hope my fellow Americans pray with me for a holy curse on your team, that you not win a single game for the rest of the season. I hope that you lose your tax exempt status, I hope you rethink your disgusting words and actions.May the souls of the faithfully departed brothers and sisters who came home under the American flag haunt your every moment.If you enjoyed Lovely s letter and would like to see more of her blog, please visit her blog by clicking HERE. | 1real |
Dems sue GOP over Trump's 'rigged' complaints | Dems sue GOP over Trump's 'rigged' complaints Claim argument designed to suppress vote in minority communities Published: 33 mins ago
(CNN) The Democratic National Committee is suing the Republican National Committee for aiding GOP nominee Donald Trump as he argues that the presidential election is “rigged,” claiming that Trump’s argument is designed to suppress the vote in minority communities.
The suit, filed Wednesday in US District Court in New Jersey, argues that the RNC has not sufficiently rebuked Trump for the line of attack, which he has used as a rallying cry and is assumed to be a way to explain away a potential loss on Election Day.
What (more) we’ve learned about Clinton’s circle, Neera Tanden from email hack | 1real |
White Las Vegas Teen Caught On Camera Calling Black Student ‘F*cking N*****’ (VIDEO) | A Las Vegas high school student was caught on camera calling an African-American classmate a f*cking n*gger in a shockingly racist rant that went viral after someone on her school bus filmed the incident and posted it online.Not much is known about the incident yet, but according to someone who tweeted the video he says he s a friend of the target of the slur the black student who filmed the girl s hateful ravings was punished for filming it. The person behind the camera was scheduled for a mandatory parent meeting complete with suspension. A school in Vegas just rpcd a black kid for recording a Caucasian female calling him a n*gger on the bus, the teen, who goes by Key on Twitter, wrote. Any thoughts? @FOX5Vegas @FOX5Vegas pic.twitter.com/wayrBn7H42 Key ? ? (@Kizzy_K42) May 9, 2017Asked what rpcd means, he explained:@yoongisblanket @goldenseoulss @FOX5Vegas Required parent conference suspension until the meeting Key ? ? (@Kizzy_K42) May 10, 2017The girl can be heard saying that someone is black but he makes himself look like a f*cking n*gger before huffing and sitting back in her seat, turning away from the person filming. Key says that he does not wish to reveal the name of the school because he fears retaliation from the school for exposing what happened, adding that it started when she said she was better than him because she s white :@FOX5Vegas Btw not giving out a lot of info for my protection being that this is my Senior year Key ? ? (@Kizzy_K42) May 9, 2017One poster a friendly white Trump supporter attempting to intimidate a former student of the school who commented on the video and apparently knows the girl revealed that the students are from Shadow Ridge High School. We have redacted identifying information from her post:Welcome to Trump s America, where more and more people are deeming it acceptable to hurl racial slurs at minorities.Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
The New American Century: An Era of Fraud | Paul Craig RobertsIn the last years of the 20th century fraud entered US foreign policy in a new way. On false pretenses Washington dismantled Yugoslavia and Serbia in order to advance an undeclared agenda. In the 21st century this fraud multiplied many times. Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Libya were destroyed, and Iran and Syria would also have been destroyed if the President of Russia had not prevented it. Washington is also behind the current destruction of Yemen, and Washington has enabled and financed the Israeli destruction of Palestine. Additionally, Washington operated militarily within Pakistan without declaring war, murdering many women, children, and village elders under the guise of combating terrorism. Washington s war crimes rival those of any country in history.I have documented these crimes in my columns and books (Clarity Press). Anyone who still believes in the purity of Washington s foreign policy is a lost soul Russia and China now have a strategic alliance that is too strong for Washington. Russia and China will prevent Washington from further encroachments on their security and national interests. Those countries important to Russia and China will be protected by the alliance. As the world wakes up and sees the evil that the West represents, more countries will seek the protection of Russia and China.America is also failing on the economic front. My columns and my book, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism, which has been published in English, Chinese, Korean, Czech, and German, have shown how Washington has stood aside, indeed cheering it on, while the short-term profit interests of management, shareholders, and Wall Street eviscerated the American economy, sending manufacturing jobs, business know-how, and technology, along with professional tradeable skill jobs, to China, India, and other countries, leaving America with such a hollowed out economy that the median family income has been falling for years. Today 50% of 25 year-old Americans are living with their parents or grandparents because they cannot find employment sufficient to sustain an independent existance.This brutal fact is covered up by the presstitute US media, a source of fantasy stories of America s economic recovery.The facts of our existence are so different from what is reported that I am astonished. As a former professor of economics, Wall Street Journal editor and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy, I am astonished at the corruption that rules in the financial sector, the Treasury, the financial regulatory agencies, and the Federal Reserve. In my day, there would have been indictments and prison sentences of bankers and high government officials.In America today there are no free financial markets. All the markets are rigged by the Federal Reserve and the Treasury. The regulatory agencies, controlled by those the agencies are supposed to regulate, turn a blind eye, and even if they did not, they are helpless to enforce any law, because private interests are more powerful than the law.Even the government s statistical agencies have been corrupted. Inflation measures have been concocted in order to understate inflation. This lie not only saves Washington from paying Social Security cost-of-living adjustments and frees the money for more wars, but also by understating inflation, the government can create real GDP growth by counting inflation as real growth, just as the government creates 5% unemployment by not counting any discouraged workers who have looked for jobs until they can no longer afford the cost of looking and give up. The official unemployment rate is 5%, but no one can find a job. How can the unemployment rate be 5% when half of 25-year olds are living with relatives because they cannot afford an independent existence? As John Williams (shadowfacts) reports, the unemployment rate that includes those Americans who have given up looking for a job because there are no jobs to be found is 23%.The Federal Reserve, a tool of a small handful of banks, has succeeded in creating the illusion of an economic recovery since June, 2009, by printing trillions of dollars that found their way not into the economy but into the prices of financial assets. Artificially booming stock and bond markets are the presstitute financial media s proof of a booming economy.The handful of learned people that America has left, and it is only a small handful, understand that there has been no recovery from the previous recession and that a new downturn is upon us. John Williams has pointed out that US industrial production, when properly adjusted for inflation, has never recovered its 2008 level, much less its 2000 peak, and has again turned down.The American consumer is exhausted, overwhelmed by debt and lack of income growth. The entire economic policy of America is focused on saving a handful of NY banks, not on saving the American economy.Economists and other Wall Street shills will dismiss the decline in industrial production as America is now a service economy. Economists pretend that these are high-tech services of the New Economy, but in fact waitresses, bartenders, part time retail clerks, and ambulatory health care services have replaced manufacturing and engineering jobs at a fraction of the pay, thus collapsing effective aggregate demand in the US. On occasions when neoliberal economists recognize problems, they blame them on China.It is unclear that the US economy can be revived. To revive the US economy would require the re-regulation of the financial system and the recall of the jobs and US GDP that offshoring gave to foreign countries. It would require, as Michael Hudson demonstrates in his new book, Killing the Host, a revolution in tax policy that would prevent the financial sector from extracting economic surplus and capitalizing it in debt obligations paying interest to the financial sector.The US government, controlled as it is by corrupt economic interests, would never permit policies that impinged on executive bonuses and Wall Street profits. Today US capitalism makes its money by selling out the American economy and the people dependent upon it.In freedom and democracy America, the government and the economy serve interests totally removed from the interests of the American people. The sellout of the American people is protected by a huge canopy of propaganda provided by free market economists and financial presstitutes paid to lie for their living.When America fails, so will Washington s vassal states in Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan. Unless Washington destroys the world in nuclear war, the world will be remade, and the corrupt and dissolute West will be an insignificant part of the new world.Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts latest books are The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West, How America Was Lost, and The Neoconservative Threat to World Order. READ MORE NWO NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire NWO Files | 1real |
La oposición mexicana denuncia una posible simulación en el caso de Javier Duarte | (actualizada a las 18:57 26.10.2016) URL corto 2 70 0 0 CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (Sputnik) — Los partidos de oposición de México consideran que la expulsión de Javier Duarte del PRI, gobernador de Veracruz, prófugo por acusaciones de corrupción y millonaria malversación de fondos públicos, es una simulación para engañar a la opinión pública. © AP Photo/ Marco Ugarte Javier Duarte, de gobernador a prófugo El Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) del presidente Enrique Peña Nieto, anunció la noche del lunes la expulsión de Duarte, quien se esfumó luego de pedir permiso la semana pasada para dejar el cargo, un mes y medio antes del fin de su mandato de seis años en ese estado petrolero.
"Es una persona que no merece estar dentro del PRI, con su comportamiento violó el código de ética", dijo en su dictamen la Comisión de Honor y Justicia del longevo partido gobernante. "Todo es una simulación, pretenden lavarse la cara, el PRI quiere tomar a Duarte como chivo expiatorio, pero no quiere cambiar, seguiremos exigiendo castigo a la corrupción documentada", dijo el líder nacional del opositor Acción Nacional (PAN, centroderecha) Ricardo Anaya.
La fiscalía federal "debe ofrecer una recompensa para quien dé información que lleve a la localización y detención", no solo de Duarte, sino de otros exgobernadores del PRI, como los de Tamaulipas (fronterizo con EEUU), Tomás Yarrington, y Eugenio Hernández, dijo el PAN en un comunicado.
"Los tres exfuncionarios tienen órdenes de aprehensión pendientes y por tanto son prófugos de la justicia", dijo el portavoz del PAN al leer el comunicado en el Congreso. — Sputnik Mundo (@SputnikMundo) 25 de octubre de 2016
El principal partido de oposición no mencionó a Guillermo Padrés, exgobernador de Sonora (norte), que también está prófugo y es buscado por interpol.
Por su parte, el Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD, centroizquierda) dijo en el Congreso que "en el PRI todo es pura simulación, no solo con el proceso de expulsión de Javier Duarte, no están yendo al fondo contra la corrupción". "Para que todo esto sea creíble deben ser revisados los casos de los exgobernadores Humberto Moreira de Coahuila, César Duarte de Chihuahua (norte), y Roberto Borge de Quintana Roo (donde está el balneario de Cancún), queremos ver que instancias judiciales actúen claramente contra estos exgobernadores", dijo en nombre del partido opositor Beatriz Mojica, secretaria general del PRD.
Viejo modus operandi El Gabinete de Seguridad de México en busca del fugitivo gobernador de Veracruz Por su parte, la líder del PRD en la Cámara baja Concepción Valdés, dijo que "se trata de una burla el proceso de expulsión de Duarte".
"El PRI nunca hizo nada por amarrar las manos a un gobernador que dejó una herencia de violencia, corrupción e impunidad, aparte de sumir en la inseguridad a Veracruz, víctima de grupos delictivos", dijo a periodistas la secretaria de la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Congreso.
El Movimiento Ciudadano (MC) dijo a su turno que "es un modus operandi del PRI, una regla de lo que llamamos la peor generación de gobernadores de la historia de México".
El representante del minoritario MC, Jorge Álvarez, dijo que "Duarte representa una red de corrupción, están documentadas varias empresas fantasma que trabajaron con el exgobernador Roberto Borge, y otros como el de Nuevo León, Rodrigo Medina", que enfrentan procesos por corrupción. "El PRI se quiere lavar las manos expulsando a Javier Duarte y dejar intacta a la red de corrupción que involucra a varios exmandatarios priistas, son la punta del iceberg", puntualizó.
Enrique Ochoa, dirigente nacional del PRI, dijo este miércoles que "fue una decisión necesaria y correcta, lo que nos pide la ciudadanía es el combate a la corrupción, es una buena noticia para México". © AP Photo/ Rebecca Blackwell Peña Nieto y su partido castigados por corrupción y violencia sin control "Exhortamos a las autoridades que cumplan las ordenes de aprehensión, los corruptos deben terminar en la cárcel y debemos hacer una reflexión interna, no solo tomar medidas correctivas sino preventivas, crear un mecanismo anticorrupción interno que revise el perfil de los candidatos antes de postularlos", dijo Ochoa.
Durante la campaña electoral de 2012, Peña Nieto dijo que los gobernadores de Chihuahua, César Duarte, de Veracruz, Javier Duarte (ambos sin parentesco), y de Quintana Roo, Roberto Borge, eran el más claro ejemplo de jóvenes actores de la nueva generación de políticos priistas jóvenes actores de la nueva generación política del PRI".
Duarte acusado por el PAN de malversar 50.000 millones de pesos (unos 2.500 millones de dólares), pero solo ha sido enjuiciado por unos 500 millones de pesos (unos 25 millones de dólares), comenzó a ser señalado por corrupción cuando en enero de 2012, a seis meses de la elección presidencial que ganó Peña Nieto, dos empleados del gobierno de Veracruz fueron detenidos en un aeropuerto con 25 millones de pesos en efectivo que llevaban en dos maletas (más de 1 millón de dólares), pero fueron liberados.
Lea también: Lanzan la campaña #VamosPorMás contra la corrupción y la impunidad en México
El PAN y el PRD dijeron en aquella ocasión que podían ser recursos públicos malversados hacia la campaña presidencial de Peña Nieto, pero ningún proceso prosperó.
No obstante, el expresidente Felie Calderón, del PAN, lo acusó de sacar más de 2.900 millones de pesos (unos 145 millones de pesos) de una cuenta de 7.000 millones de pesos (350 millones de dólares) depositadas en Banco Santander, sin consecuencias. ... | 1real |
White House: Obama would veto bill allowing 9/11 families to sue Saudis | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday reiterated that President Barack Obama would veto a bill that would allow the families of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia’s government for damages. The House of Representatives was expected to vote on the bill on Friday. The Senate passed it unanimously in May. “We are in the same place we were the last time,” the White House official said on Friday. Both Obama and a White House spokesman said in April the president would veto the bill. | 0fake |
Russia Has Called the War Party's Bluff : | Russia Has Called the War Party's Bluff
A hot war is not going to break out after Nov. 8th - thanks to shrewd moves and preparation by Moscow
By Pepe Escobar
" RI " - Cold War 2.0 has reached unprecedented hysterical levels. And yet a hot war is not about to break out before or after the November 8 US presidential election.
From the Clinton (cash) machine supported by a neocon/neoliberalcon think tank/media complex to the British establishment and its corporate media mouthpieces, the Anglo-American, self-appointed leaders of the free world are racking up demonization of Russia and Putinism to pure incandescence.
And yet a hot war is not about to break out before or after the November 8 US presidential election. So many layers of fear and loathing in fact veil no more than a bluff.
Lets start with the Russian naval task force in Syria, led by the officially designated heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov, which will be stationed in the eastern Mediterranean at least until February 2017, supporting operations against all strands of Salafi-jihadism.
The Admiral Kuznetsov is fully equipped with anti-ship, air defense, artillery and anti-submarine warfare systems and can defend itself against a vast array of threats, unlike NATO vessels.
Predictably, NATO is spinning with alarm that all of the Northern Fleet, along with the Baltic Fleet, is on the way to the Mediterranean. Wrong; its only part of the Northern Fleet, and the Baltic Fleet ships are not going anywhere. The heart of the matter is that when the capabilities of this Russian naval task force are matched with the S-300/S-400 missile systems already deployed in Syria, Russia is now de facto rivaling the firepower of the US Sixth Fleet.
To top it off, as this comprehensive military analysis makes clear, Russia has basically made their own no-fly zone over Syria; and a US no-fly zone, viscerally promoted by Hillary Clinton, is now impossible to achieve.
That should be more than enough to put into perspective the impotence transmuted into outright anger exhibited by the Pentagon and its neocon/neoliberalcon vassals.
Add to it the outright war between the Pentagon and the CIA in the Syrian war theatre, where the Pentagon backs the YPG Kurds, who are not necessarily in favor of regime change in Damascus, while the CIA backs further weaponizing of moderate, as in al-Qaeda-linked and/or infiltrated, rebels.
Compounding the trademark Obama administration Three Stooges school of foreign policy, American threats have flown more liberally than Negans skull-crushing bloody baton in the new season of The Walking Dead.
Pentagon head Ash Carter, a certified neocon, has threatened consequences, as in potential strikes against Syrian Arab Army (SAA) forces to punish the regime after the Pentagon itself broke the Kerry-Lavrov ceasefire. President Obama took some time off weighing his options. And in the end, he backed off.
So it will be up for the virtually elected by the whole US establishment Hillary Clinton to make the fateful decision. She wont be able to go for a no-fly zone because Russia is already doing it. And if she decides to punish the regime, Moscow already telegraphed, via Russias Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov, there will definitely be consequences for imposing a shadow hot war.
Sun Tzu doesnt do first-strike
Washington, of course, reserves for itself a first-strike nuclear capability, which Hillary Clinton fully supports (Donald Trump does not, and for that hes also demonized). If we allow the current hysteria to literally go nuclear, then we must consider the matter of the S-500 anti-missile system which effectively seals Russia's air space; Moscow wont admit it on the record because that would unleash a relentless arms race.
A US intel source with close connections to the Masters of the Universe but at the same time opposed to Cold War 2.0 as counter-productive, adds the necessary nuance: The United States has lost the arms race, indulging in trillions of dollars of worthless and endless wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and now is no longer a global power as it cannot defend itself with its obsolete missiles, THAAD, Patriot and Aegis Land Based Ballistic Defense System, against Russian ICBMs, even as the Russians have sealed their airspace. The Russians may be as much as four generations ahead of the US.
Moreover, in the deep recesses of shadow war planning, the Pentagon knows, and the Russian Defense Ministry also knows, that in the event some
Dr. Strangelove launched a nuclear preemptive strike against Russia, the Russian population would be protected by their defensive missile systems as well as nuclear bomb shelters in major cities. Warnings on Russian television have not been idle; the population would know where to go in the terrifying event of nuclear war breaking out.
Needless to add, the ghastly possibility of US nuclear first-strike turns all these WWII-style NATO war games in Eastern Europe into a pile of meaningless propaganda stunts.
So how did Moscow plan for it all? According to the US intel source, they took out almost all the military budget from their stated federal budget, lulling the West into thinking that Russia could not afford a massive military buildup and there was nothing to fear from Russia as they were finished as a world power.
The [stated] military budget was next to nothing, so there was nothing to worry about as far as the CIA was concerned. If Putin showed publicly his gigantic military buildup, the West could have taken immediate remedial actions as they did in 2014 by crashing the oil price.
The bottom line then would reveal the Pentagon as totally unprepared for a hot war even as it threatens and bluffs Russia now on a daily basis; As Brzezinski has pointed out, if this is the case it means the US has ceased to be a global power. The US may continue to bluff, but those that ally with them will have nowhere to go if that bluff is called, as it is being now called in Syria.
The US intel source is adamant that one of the greatest military buildups in history has taken place right under the nose of the Russian Central Bank head Elvira Nabiullina and the Russian Ministry of Finance while the CIA awaits what they think will be the inevitable Russia collapse.
The CIA will be waiting forever and eternity for Russia to collapse. This MGB maneuver is sheer genius. And demonstrates that the CIA, which is so drowned by data inputs that they cannot connect the dots on anything, must be completely reorganized. In addition, the entire procurement system of the United States military must also be reorganized as it cannot ever keep up if new weapon programs as the F-35 take twenty years to develop and then are found obsolete before they even enter service. The Russians have a five-year development program for each new weapons system and they are far ahead of us in every key area.
If this analysis is correct, it goes against even the best and most precise Russian estimates, according to which military potential may be strong, asymmetrically, but still much inferior to US military might.
Well-informed Western analysts know that Moscow never brags about military buildups and has mastered to a fault the element of surprise. Much more than calling a bluff, its Moscows Sun Tzu tactics that are really rattling loudmouth Washington. | 1real |
Despite Trump, U.S. lawmakers want response to Russia | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senior Democratic and Republican U.S. lawmakers want Washington to respond to Russia’s alleged interference in the U.S. election and actions in Ukraine and Syria, despite Republican President-elect Donald Trump’s calls to improve relations. Senator Ben Cardin said on Wednesday he was working on what he described as “comprehensive” legislation to respond to Russian actions contrary to U.S. interests in Europe and Syria, as well as cyber attacks blamed on Moscow during the campaign. “Russia presents a very serious challenge for America. They’re not our partner. They’re a bully,” Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters. “Whether you attack us by MiG (fighter jet) or by mouse, it’s an attack. It requires a response. It’s clear that they were responsible for the cyber attack on our country in this past election,” Cardin said. Other lawmakers have also called for action against Russia as they returned to Washington this week for the first time since Trump won the Nov. 8 U.S. election. On Tuesday, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of his party’s senior foreign policy voices, told reporters he wanted Senate hearings on whether Russian President Vladimir Putin interfered in the election. “We can’t sit on the sidelines,” Graham said. During the campaign, Trump’s Democratic rival, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, criticized him for praising Putin as a strong leader and saying ties with Russia should be improved at a time when Moscow and Washington are at odds over Syria and Ukraine. Trump also worried U.S. allies with comments questioning NATO’s mutual self-defense pledge and suggesting he might recognize Russia’s 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region. Cardin declined to provide specifics about his legislation ahead of a planned speech on Thursday on Russia policy. When asked if it would include additional sanctions, he said, “It will be comprehensive.” He said he thought it would be difficult to pass a bill before the current Congress wraps up next month, but that he hoped to lay the groundwork for future action. Cardin also said he wanted Obama to act before he leaves office on Jan. 20. Congress has already passed legislation giving the president the authority to take actions including imposing additional sanctions or sending more arms to Ukraine. | 0fake |
“Russia Did It” is Smokescreen for Big Business Ownership of US Government and Congress | Finian Cunningham SputnikGoogle is the latest US internet company to claim it found Russia-linked advertisements on its network allegedly posted to influence the US presidential election last year.Twitter and Facebook have already made similar claims and all three are now facing more scrutiny in the coming weeks before Congressional committees.What is truly astounding about this hysteria over alleged Russian interference in US democracy is that American citizens are being distracted from what is, by far, the much more alarming issue of how their government and Congress is bought by US Big Business.Bloomberg reported this week that: Google identifies Russian election interference network . It said the internet giant found political ads worth $4,700 which it believes are tied to the Russian government . These ads, it is claimed, carried political articles which were meant to influence which way American citizens would vote in the presidential contest between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump last November.Google has reportedly said that another $53,000 worth of ads are under review for suspicion of being linked to the Russian government. This follows claims made by Facebook that it had earlier identified $100,000 spent on ads by Russian sources, while Twitter said it had located $274,000 worth of such ads.The Russian government has repeatedly rejected accusations that it tried to meddle in the US election. Moscow rightly highlights the dearth of any evidence and total lack of due legal process. The American allegations have also whipped up a toxic climate to curb the legitimate media activities of Russian news channels.It is understood that Russia s state-owned news channel RT promoted some of its content through social media like Facebook and Twitter. But as RT editor Margarita Simonyan pointed out such promotion is entirely normal for all news media companies. She estimated that US-based outlets probably spent much more than RT promoting their content through the Russian section of Twitter.Several issues about this Russian meddling trope are patently dodgy, yet are bizarrely overlooked.The first is that, as with other claims of Russian interference in the US election, no evidence is ever presented. Facebook, Twitter and Google are making vague claims of accounts believed to be tied to the Russian government . And the US news media simply repeat these nebulous claims without further question.A second anomaly is that Congressional committees that have been investigating allegations of Russian interference have also not presented any evidence after nearly nine months of intensive probing.Senators Richard Burr and Mark Warner, who are heading up a select intelligence committee, made a big presentation last week in Washington on their findings. The findings turned out to be an embarrassing anti-climax. The Congressmen admitted they found no evidence of Russia collusion in the election and baldly asserted that Moscow s influence campaign continues which they will continue to investigate no doubt at a huge cost to American taxpayers.So, Russia is being accused of interfering in the presidential elections on the basis of the allegation alone, and yet American politicians are also contradicting themselves by saying that the alleged interference did not alter the vote outcome.But here is the biggest absurdity. The sums of money claimed to have been used by Russia to destabilize US democracy are ridiculously minuscule.For argument sake, let s go along with the claims that somehow Russian agents took out ads on social media to influence the US election. Between Facebook, Twitter, and Google the expenditure amounts to about $300,000.That figure is a pittance compared with the avalanche of money that US corporations doled out to bankroll the election campaigns of the two candidates.According to Bloomberg, Hillary Clinton s election bid was leveraged with $1.2 billion from Super-PACs (Political Action Campaigns). Trump received less corporate money, raising a total of $647 million or about half of what Clinton s coffers received.Now put those figures into perspective. The alleged Russian influence ads costing around $300,000 represent some 0.01 percent of what US corporations actually spent ($1.8 billion total) in promoting either Clinton or Trump for the White House. In other words, the much speculated and highly dubious financial outlay that Russian sources allocated to allegedly upset the American democratic process is negligible compared with the actual money spent by major American companies to determine the 2016 election outcome.While American media and politicians are endeavoring to get citizens all worked up about Kremlin meddling the glaring fact is that their democratic process is subject to enormous US corporate influence. And not just the 2016 election. Every presidential cycle.Note too that this is only taking into consideration the corporate lobbying in the presidential contest. Every year, it is calculated that US companies spend about $3 billion lobbying federal government and Congress.That is, every year, year after year, Big Business in America spends 10,000-fold on influencing lawmakers and government policy compared with the alleged ad campaign that Russia supposedly engaged in.Another source of major influence on American politicians are the lobby groups funded separately by the Israeli and Saudi government interests. Each year, these foreign states spend an estimated $5-7 million on lobbying members of the US Congress and the federal government. This is real money with real impact on US democracy as opposed to alleged Russian interference.Getting back to lobbying by US companies some might call it bribery among the biggest donors are the military manufacturing firms. According to American publication, The Hill, included in the top 50 corporate lobbies plying Congress with campaign funds are Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrup Grumman.Another major lobby although not in the top 50 is the National Rifle Association (NRA) which promotes gun ownership for private citizens by donating to Congress members.Three recent events show how corporate money effectively buys American government policy.President Trump is pushing for an overhaul of tax policy which will result in the biggest ever tax benefit to corporate America.Secondly, with regard to the US military budget, the Congress is due to pass a record increase amounting to $700 billion annually. This largesse to Pentagon-connected manufacturers like Lockheed Martin and Boeing is no doubt fueled by Trump using reckless bellicose rhetoric towards North Korea, threatening war instead of a diplomatic solution.Thirdly, in the aftermath of the latest mass shooting in Las Vegas the worst ever in modern US history in which 58 people were mowed down by a 64-year-old male shooter armed with an arsenal of assault rifles in his hotel room, both the White House and Congress are adamant that now is not the time to talk about gun control laws . Congressional Republicans, in particular, are big recipients of NRA funding. Trump s election campaign also reportedly received $30 million from the NRA.In the gargantuan scale of corporate funding and influence on US democracy, it is patently absurd for US media and politicians to chase after Russia for alleged meddling.There again, maybe not so absurd, if such a travesty serves to distract American citizens from the much more pressing issue of how their democracy is bought and sold by elite American interests.***SUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Illegal Alien Flees to Avoid Trial on Food Stamp Scam | Law enforcement authorities are searching for a foreign national who they say cut off his GPS monitoring bracelet right before he was set to go to trial. The Dominican national allegedly fled to avoid charges involving a fraudulent $1. 5 million food stamp racket. [Martin B. Santiago, a from the Dominican Republic did not show up for his criminal trial in Essex Superior Court on Thursday. He faces charges of fraudulently selling food stamps and laundering money out of his three stores in Lawrence, Massachusetts, the Boston Herald reported. The local newspaper reported Santiago to be an “illegal immigrant. ” When Santiago did not come to court, state investigators found that he “forcibly removed” the GPS monitoring apparatus about 6 a. m. that morning, the Boston newspaper reported. Despite being an illegal immigrant, court officials released the Dominican national on a $75, 000 cash bond. U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigators became suspicious of Santiago, and his after his stores reported counter sales they said were unusually high for a convenience store. The USDA oversees the food stamp program. Investigators found the majority of their individual sales in amounts greater than $100, the Eagle Tribune reported following Santiago’s arrest in 2015. “These are small convenience stores with no (grocery) carriages and a small checkout area,” Assistant District Attorney Philip Mallard told the Eagle Tribune. “It’s hard to get to $100 in groceries without a carriage. ” The stores also had unusual ratios, investigators said. The USDA reported Santiago’s businesses ran $2. 19 million in food stamp sales over a period. However, their expenses for inventory costs only totaled $300, 000. “It’s an astronomical rate of return for a convenience store,” Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said in a statement reported by the Eagle Tribune. The Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section of the Massachusetts State Police Department has issued a “Wanted” notice for Santiago. The inch Hispanic male weighs about 190 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes. Santiago speaks Spanish and has used the names Mark Santiago and Martin Billone Santiago. Anyone having information about Santiago’s location can call the state police in Massachusetts at (800) . Santiago reportedly has connections to the city of Methuen, as well as Lawrence. These municipalities are both located in Essex County. Santiago faces charges of money laundering, three counts of food stamp trafficking, and three counts of larceny over $250. Food stamp fraud can be a big business for unscrupulous store owners. In late February, a federal judge sentenced George Rafidi, 62, to 33 months in prison for his $2. 8 million food stamp fraud scheme. Breitbart News reported that authorities investigated him after store audits revealed that his establishment redeemed more than ten times the amount of food stamps than larger stores in his area took in. Agents found that Rafidi would exchange food stamps for cash and allow food stamp recipients to use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits to purchase tobacco and alcohol. A federal grand jury also indicted a store clerk and approximately 30 food stamp recipients. Rafidi is also serving an additional for brandishing a firearm at federal agents who were investigating him, In early April, a Mexican citizen in Hartford, Connecticut, was found guilty of food stamp fraud and sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. He also allowed customers to redeem food stamps for cash. He collected over $3. 2 million during an period. He was ordered to pay $1. 5 million in restitution. A New Jersey man, Miguel Antonio Azcona, pleaded guilty in late January to defrauding the federal government of more than $800, 000 in a food scam. Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook. | 0fake |
Exclusive: A third of Americans think Trump's travel ban will make them safer | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Imposing a temporary travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim countries, President Donald Trump said the move would help protect the United States from terrorism. But less than one-third of Americans believe the move makes them “more safe,” according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Tuesday. The Jan. 30-31 poll found roughly one in two Americans backed the ban, which also suspends admission of all refugees for 120 days, although there were sharp divisions along party lines. Trump has pushed back against critics who say the travel ban targets Muslims. He says the “extreme vetting” is necessary to protect the country and its borders. “This is not about religion,” Trump said in a statement after announcing the travel ban on Friday. “This is about terror and keeping our country safe.” In the Reuters/Ipsos poll some 31 percent of people said the ban made them feel “more safe,” while 26 percent said it made them feel “less safe.” Another 33 percent said it would not make any difference and the rest said they don’t know. Trump’s executive order blocked citizens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen and placed an indefinite ban on Syrian refugees. Some Republican lawmakers criticized Trump’s order and said it could backfire by giving terrorist organizations a new recruitment message. “This executive order sends a signal, intended or not, that America does not want Muslims coming into our country,” senators John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a joint statement. The Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 49 percent of Americans agreed with the order and 41 percent disagreed. Some 53 percent of Democrats said they “strongly disagree” with Trump’s action while 51 percent of Republicans said they “strongly agree.” Democrats were more than three times as likely as Republicans to say that the “U.S. should continue to take in immigrants and refugees,” and Republicans were more than three times as likely as Democrats to agree that “banning people from Muslim countries is necessary to prevent terrorism.” Cheryl Hoffman, 46, of Sumerduck, Virginia said she was thrilled that Trump ordered the ban. “I understand that the country was founded on immigrants,” said Hoffman, who participated in the poll. “Please, I get that. But I’m worried that refugees are coming in and being supported by my tax dollars.” Another poll respondent, Veronica Buetel, 57, of Green, Ohio felt just the opposite: “Yes, we do live in scary times, but there are other, better ways to root out terrorism.” Westy Egmont, director of the Immigrant Integration Lab at Boston College, said Americans have grown increasingly hostile toward refugees and immigrants as the influx has shifted from Eastern Europeans to people from countries like Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. “The rise of those numbers, as relatively small as they are, have gathered just enough attention to set off a small reaction from people who are genuinely uncomfortable with the diversity around them,” Egmont said. Most Americans, however, don’t think the country should show a preference for Christian refugees, as Trump has suggested. Some 56 percent, including 72 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of Republicans, disagreed that the country should “welcome Christian refugees, but not Muslim ones.” On Tuesday, the Trump administration sought to clarify that citizens of U.S. ally Israel who were born in Arab countries would be allowed into the United States. The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online in English in all 50 states. It gathered poll responses from 1,201 people including 453 Democrats and 478 Republicans. It has a credibility interval, a measure of accuracy, of 3 percentage points for the entire sample and 5 percentage points for the Democrats and the Republicans. | 0fake |
Ex-Subway Spokesman And Pedophile Jared Fogle Attacked, Beaten In Prison | Jared Fogle, the man who lost a ton of weight eating sandwiches from Eat Fresh chain Subway and was later a celebrated spokesman for them, suffered one of the most spectacular falls from grace in recent history. Fogle went from being Subway s favorite face to being the face of a sordid scandal in 0.2 seconds when he was investigated, and later pled guity to, charges of child pornography and child molestation.Well, Fogle s troubles are far from over. You see, everyone hates people who victimize children even other criminals. One such criminal let Fogle know this, too, by giving him what some would say he had coming to him in the rec yard of the prison facility in which they are both housed. Fogle was unlucky enough to cross paths at Englewood FCI in Littleton, Colorado, with fellow inmate Steven Nigg, on January 29. Nigg reportedly has big issues with child molesters, and made sure that Fogle got good and roughed up. The former celebrity spokesman suffered a few punches to his nose that left him bloodied, as well as with a scratched up neck. Nigg s family says that Fogle is, quote, lucky to be alive. According to nephew Jimmy Nigg, Jr: My uncle was in a position to kill him. No one was there. He got him down, then walked away. (My uncle s) not a violent guy. He doesn t have a violent history. He s sending a message (to pedophiles) is what he s doing. A guy walks in with all this money and celebrity and instead of flying under the radar, he s going into the yard, walking around with big guys, saying no one can mess with me, flashing his money around. It has been reported that Fogle, instead of doing like most imprisoned pedophiles and keeping his head down and his mouth shut, has been paying other inmates off to protect him. Doesn t look like his cash is getting him much leverage, though, if this happened.Now, no one condones violence, but, let s face it, Fogle is scum. Oh and the icing on the cake here? It seems that without his steady diet of healthy Subway sandwiches, Fogle has gained 30 lbs in the three months he has spent behind bars.Good riddance, Jared. You re well and truly done.Featured image via screen capture from YouTube | 1real |
Rwanda & The Philippines rate better than UK for gender equality, study shows | Rwanda & The Philippines rate better than UK for gender equality, study... Rwanda & The Philippines rate better than UK for gender equality, study shows By 0 127
Britain is lagging behind countries including Rwanda, the Philippines and Nicaragua in a global ranking of gender parity, slipping to 20th place on the World Economic Forum (WEF) index.
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The WEF, a not-for-profit based in Switzerland, analyzed data from 144 countries. It found the global gender gap has widened to its largest extent since 2008. It estimates economic gender parity won’t be achieved for at least another 170 years.
The US and Australia are even further behind than Britain, however, at 45th and 46th place respectively.
The UK’s 2016 rankings – which take into account key areas such as the economy, politics, education and health – mark a slide from ninth position in 2006.
Britain sits at number 53 for economic participation. This reflects a drop in the number of women in senior and technical positions, as well as a reduction in the estimated income women earn compared to men.
The UK is ranked 24th for political empowerment, because of a fall in the number of women parliamentarians, the WEF said. The figures do not take into account Prime Minister Theresa May’s rise to Downing Street.
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Rwanda, by contrast, has the highest share of women in parliament globally at 64 percent.
Jemima Olchawski, head of policy and insight at the Fawcett Society, told the Express: “It’s unacceptable that Britain is languishing at 53rd in the world for economic participation, is only 24th for political empowerment and performs below average compared to our region.
“The moral case for gender equality should be enough alone to motivate us to speed up the pace of change, but with evidence suggesting that improving gender equality could add £150 billion [US$183 billion] to our GDP it’s also clear that we simply can’t afford to wait.”
The Philippines scored full marks on a measure of the birth ratio and life expectancy of women.
WEF says the top 10 countries for gender parity are: Iceland | 1real |
2nd Amendment Does Not Guarantee Right to Carry Concealed Guns, Court Rules - The New York Times | LOS ANGELES — A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled Thursday that the Second Amendment of the Constitution does not guarantee the right of gun owners to carry concealed weapons in public places, upholding a California law that imposes stringent conditions on who may be granted a permit. The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, overturned a decision by a panel of the same court and was a setback for gun advocates. The California law requires applicants to demonstrate “good cause” for carrying a weapon, like working in a job with a security threat — a restriction sharply attacked by gun advocates as violating the Second Amendment right to bear arms. “Based on the overwhelming consensus of historical sources, we conclude that the protection of the Second Amendment — whatever the scope of that protection may be — simply does not extend to the carrying of concealed firearms in public by members of the general public,” the court said in a ruling written by Judge William A. Fletcher. The case was brought by gun owners who were denied permits in Yolo and San Diego Counties. The plaintiffs did not immediately say whether they planned to appeal to the United States Supreme Court. “This is a huge decision,” said Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. “This is a major victory for gun control advocates. “ The Supreme Court has ruled that individuals have a right to possess a weapon in their home. Thursday’s ruling centers on the next frontier in the debate. “Probably the most important battleground of the Second Amendment has been whether there is a right to carry guns outside the home, and if there is, to what extent can states and localities regulate that right,” said Jonathan E. Lowy, the director of the Legal Action Project at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Gun advocates swiftly condemned the ruling. “This decision will leave good people defenseless, as it completely ignores the fact that Californians who reside in counties with hostile sheriffs will now have no means to carry a firearm outside the home for personal protection,” Chris W. Cox, the executive director of the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement. With Thursday’s decision, the Ninth Circuit joins several other federal appeals courts in allowing state or local governments to put restrictions on the granting of licenses. Mr. Winkler, the law professor, noted that the best indicator of whether the Supreme Court would take up a constitutional issue was there was a split among district courts. “Without a split in the circuits, the Supreme Court is less likely to take up the case,” he said. But Mr. Lowy said that given the stakes of the decision — and the long history of litigation on the issue — he would not be surprised if the court decided to step in. “There is no circuit split, but it’s certainly possible that the court could decide it wants to address this,” he said. “I’d be surprised but not shocked if Supreme Court took this for review. ” The decision by the panel of the Ninth Circuit had thrown out the requirement that a gun owner demonstrate “good cause” for getting a weapon. Within days of that decision, in 2014, counties across the state, which administer the permits, reported getting a flood of applicants seeking concealed weapons permits. Although the decision was stayed pending appeal, some county sheriffs began issuing permits the status of those permits was not immediately clear. In a dissent to Thursday’s ruling by the full court, Judge Consuelo Maria Callahan said that the Second Amendment protection to gun owners that applied in the privacy of one’s home — upheld in a 2008 Supreme Court decision involving a law in Washington, D. C. — “extends beyond one’s front door. ” “Like the rest of the Bill of Rights, this right is indisputably constitutional in stature and part of this country’s bedrock,” she wrote. Kamala Harris, the state attorney general who asked the full court to reconsider the decision by the panel, said the ruling “ensures that local law enforcement leaders have the tools they need to protect public safety by determining who can carry loaded, concealed weapons in our communities. ” | 0fake |
GUN GRABBING PROGRESSIVES AND DUE PROCESS: Watch Trey Gowdy Grill Gov’t Thug On Due Process [Video] | We love this guy! Trey Gowdy gets it and gives a lesson to a DHS thug on due process! Yes! For progressives, the problem isn t Islam; it is the Constitution. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) who was elected as a supposedly pro-gun moderate is remarkably frank:Appearing on Morning Joe to discuss the gun control measures Democratic senators filibustered for 15 hours to advance, Senator Manchin said, Due process is what s killing us right now. Due process is killing us. If only we lived in a dictatorship with no limit on government power, everything would be fine (never mind that the FBI dropped the ball on the Omar Mateen case). At least it would be fine for Joe Manchin.Manchin gibbered incoherently that Mateen was on a terrorist watch list. Not at the time of the massacre he wasn t. The FBI investigated him twice due to all the red flags he was waving, but he was effectively cleared.A gun shop warned the FBI about Mateen prior to Orlando. But the agency didn t listen (now it has no comment).But if we just sacrifice our most basic liberties, boobs like Manchin will somehow keep us safe.It isn t just the Second Amendment that our progressive rulers want to use Islamic terror attacks as a pretext to destroy. They aren t fond of the Fifth or Fourteenth either. Both have due process clauses. As even liberal Slate recognizes,If the government can revoke your right to access firearms simply because it has decided to place you on a secret, notoriously inaccurate list, it could presumably restrict your other rights in a similar manner. You could be forbidden from advocating for causes you believe in, or associating with like-minded activists; your right against intrusive, unreasonable searches could be suspended. And you would have no recourse: The government could simply declare that, as a name on a covert list, you are owed no due process at all.That is, you have no rights at all.Discarding the Constitution isn t enough for Vox editor Emmett Rensin; he wants to abolish private property in the name of disarming law-abiding citizens: This presents a catch-22 for leftists. If they need to confiscate all of our property in order to take our guns, how will they prevent us from using guns to defend our property?Let s send progressives back to 2015 so that Trey Gowdy can give them a lesson in due process. | 1real |
COPS KILLED BY GUNS UP 150%…HILLARY PANDERS To Black Voters: “We Have To Retrain Our Police Officers” | The number of law enforcement officials killed by gunfire is up 150% this year. In an effort to pander for the black vote, Hillary says she would like our police officers to be retrained. She ignores the fact that so many families of law enforcement officers have lost a father or mother, husband or wife to criminals. Hillary would like to instead, ensure the gangbangers who are likely using guns they obtained illegally are protected from our law enforcement. Hillary Clinton spent her Sunday in New York campaigning in front of black congregations during which she continued to reiterate her support for retraining police officers.Clinton has made police reform a recurring theme in her bid for the Democratic nomination. She was endorsed Sunday by Nicole Bell, wife of Sean Bell, a man who was killed by the NYPD in 2005. No officers were found guilty of any wrongdoing in the incident. Today, I was endorsed by this beautiful young woman, Nicole Bell, whose fianc was killed by the police right before she was to be married. When I was a Senator, I tried to help. I tried to stand up about what had happened, the former secretary of state said at the Brown Memorial Baptist Church in Clinton Hill, NY.Clinton added, today she wrote an editorial in The Daily News endorsing me and she said we have three common goals, she and I together, we have to end the epidemic of gun violence. Bell didn t write an op-ed Sunday, but in an interview with The New York Daily News she said, [Hillary s] against racial profiling. And she wants to make investments to improve training for police officers. Those issues hit home for me and my family. Hillary repeated these comments almost verbatim at her church visit saying, We have to end racial profiling and we have to retrain our police officers so they can do a job that doesn t require reaching for their gun when it is absolutely unnecessary. HERE S THE LIST OF Police Officers Killed By Gunfire in 2016 (so far):Police Officer Thomas W. Cottrell, Jr. Danville Police Department, OH EOW: Sunday, January 17, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireUnified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake, Utah Police Officer Douglas Scott Barney, II. Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake, UT EOW: Sunday, January 17, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireSeaside Police Department, Oregon Sergeant Jason Goodding Seaside Police Department, OR EOW: Friday, February 5, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireMesa County Sheriff s Office, Colorado Deputy Sheriff Derek Geer Mesa County Sheriff s Office, CO EOW: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireHarford County Sheriff s Office, Maryland Senior Deputy Mark Logsdon Harford County Sheriff s Office, MD EOW: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireHarford County Sheriff s Office, Maryland Senior Deputy Patrick Dailey Harford County Sheriff s Office, MD EOW: Wednesday, February 10, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireRiverdale Police Department, Georgia Major Gregory E. Barney Riverdale Police Department, GA EOW: Thursday, February 11, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireFargo Police Department, North Dakota Police Officer Jason Moszer Fargo Police Department, ND EOW: Thursday, February 11, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireMississippi Department of Public Safety Bureau of Narcotics, Mississippi Special Agent Lee Tartt Mississippi Department of Public Safety Bureau of Narcotics, MS EOW: Saturday, February 20, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfirePark County Sheriff s Office, Colorado Corporal Nate Carrigan Park County Sheriff s Office, CO EOW: Wednesday, February 24, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfirePrince William County Police Department, Virginia Officer Ashley Marie Guindon Prince William County Police Department, VA EOW: Saturday, February 27, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireEuless Police Department, Texas Police Officer David Stefan Hofer Euless Police Department, TX EOW: Tuesday, March 1, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfirePrince George s County Police Department, Maryland Police Officer I Jacai D. Colson Prince George s County Police Department, MD EOW: Sunday, March 13, 2016 Cause of Death: Gunfire (Accidental)Greenville Police Department, South Carolina Police Officer III Allen Lee Jacobs Greenville Police Department, SC EOW: Friday, March 18, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireHoward County Sheriff s Office, Indiana Deputy Sheriff Carl A. Koontz Howard County Sheriff s Office, IN EOW: Sunday, March 20, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireVirginia State Police, VirginiaTrooper Chad Phillip Dermyer Virginia State Police, VA EOW: Thursday, March 31, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireCanton Police Department, Ohio K9 Jethro Canton Police Department, OH EOW: Sunday, January 10, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireNorfolk Police Department, Virginia K9 Krijger Norfolk Police Department, VA EOW: Monday, January 11, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireSmith County Constable s Office Precinct 5, Texas K9 Ogar Smith County Constable s Office Precinct 5, TX EOW: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireOmaha Police Department, Nebraska K9 Kobus Omaha Police Department, NE EOW: Saturday, January 23, 2016 Cause of Death: GunfireLas Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, NevadaK9 Nicky Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, NV EOW: Thursday, March 31, 2016 Cause of Death: Gunfire (Accidental)Regarding racial profiling, her website says she d support legislation to end racial profiling. There are no details as to what that legislation would include. She has in the past supported former attorney general Eric Holder s police reform efforts.Via: Daily Caller | 1real |
Wall Street, Hollywood, The Media And SJWs Fail To Stop Donald Trump From Becoming America’s 45th President | Gentlemen, Donald J. Trump is the new President-elect of the United States. Though a a few results may still be unclear, Trump has captured the perennial large battleground states of Ohio, Florida, Iowa, and North Carolina, plus Georgia. And, in a change not seen in more than a generation, he has seized Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Pennsylvania and Michigan have not voted for a Republican Presidential candidate since 1988 and Wisconsin since way back in 1984. It appears also that states the Democrats thought were well and truly in the bag for them, such as Minnesota, Maine and Virginia, have stayed blue with only wafer-thin or very disappointing margins. The 2nd Congressional district of Maine, a state which divides its electoral votes along with Nebraska, has been called for the Republicans for the first time in nearly 30 years. The last time any Maine district voted for a GOP Presidential candidate was 1988, when George H. W. Bush seized all four electoral votes there.
Importantly, too, avowedly liberal states have seen significant turnouts for Trump. For example, counts so far show that some 40% of voters in Connecticut and Rhode Island, states with even more liberal media bias than the nation generally, have opted for the “racist,” “sexist,” and “homophobic” Republican candidate. Their votes ultimately did not change the electoral college map, but it is heartening to know that even in the eye of the liberal storm, plenty of people are happy to support Trump. This is despite them facing fierce rebukes and, often enough, violence if they make their views public.
The “clown” candidate has beaten 16 more “experienced” Republican challengers and now Hillary Clinton, the most elite-backed candidate in the world’s political history.
As tonight’s results have shown, plenty of Trump voters in red and blue states alike have been forced to keep their beliefs quiet. Media airtime for pro-Trump views and stories has been deliberately minimized and frequently demonized by the major networks. Mainstream “journalists” such as Glenn Thrush , Wolf Blitzer , Jake Tapper , Jessica Valenti , and Brent Budowsky have been caught collaborating with both the DNC and Clinton campaign (if you believe that these two groups are actually separate). This only increases the esteem in which the emphatic, resounding Trump victory needs to be held.
And let’s not forget the Senate and House races! After months of spineless GOP cucks rushing to differentiate themselves from Trump, The Donald has still carried them to victory in both Houses of Congress . The White House, Senate and House of Representatives are all in Republican hands until at least the 2018 House midterms. Can you taste the very salty tears of the liberals and SJWs yet?
Every powerful vested interest not only supported Hillary, but did everything they could to ruin Trump Yes, it’s happening.
Did you see the last major Hillary Clinton rallies? Celebrities-cum-political hacktivists, chief among them Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Jay Z, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, and Katy Perry, all fell into Clinton’s corner well before their final appearances for her, excoriating anyone who had the gall to support Donald Trump. Even long-term Republicans who betrayed Trump, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, were attacked by celebrity SJWs such as Robert DeNiro after they joined the “Never Trump” ranks, as if they were dangerous saboteurs. The celebrity paranoia has been palpable for months. Hollywood, that broad industry taking in not just film stars but also singers, silver screen actors, and comedians, has become little more than an overpaid trade union for Hillary Clinton.
Likewise, every major American company that has come out for a candidate has come out for Hillary. Plenty of “neutral” corporations have undoubtedly been funneling support to the Clinton campaign behind the scenes as well. Prominent billionaires like George Soros and Warren Buffett have done all they could to drag Hillary’s stumbling half-corpse, both literally and figuratively, across the line. Whilst Trump has been supported by a number of ten-figure businessmen, these men are regularly attacked in the media. They include the scapegoated but brave Peter Thiel and Carl Icahn.
And then there’s the mainstream media. Countless studies have indicated that about 85-90% of all journalists are liberal. This over-representation is more salient still in the upper echelons of newsmen and women, particularly prominent mastheads such as The New York Times , Washington Post , and Huffington Post , plus Democratic TV surrogates like CNN and NBC. The 2016 campaign has inflated this preexisting liberal bias, one that plagued the two George W. Bush Administrations but raged even more ferociously against Donald Trump over the last 18 months.
All of these media elites have lambasted Trump for over a year, at the same time they give the paltriest coverage of the disgusting Hillary, Podesta and DNC emails. Everything newsworthy on this front, from the overwhelming presence of Clinton Foundation donors in Hillary’s Secretary of State diary book to more recent revelations about John Podesta’s involvement with Satanic rituals, has been brushed off the balcony by the Wolf Blitzers and Chuck Todds of the American mainstream media. Yet Trump has triumphed nonetheless!
The new administration must crush the criminal Democratic elites and Clinton Foundation with the rule of law Will Hillary now find herself stumbling into jail?
Inasmuch as the Clinton campaign, the SJWs, and their big business and media enablers have been defeated in this year’s election, they retain very well-oiled and effective means for trying to undermine President Trump once he takes office. Trump’s first priority as Commander-in-Chief must be to remove the bureaucratic apparatchiks preventing a full and frank investigation of the Clinton Foundation. He also needs to clear the way for legal inquiries into the various criminal activities, as uncovered by Wikileaks, perpetrated from within the DNC and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
The Department of Justice in particular has engaged in all manner of skulduggery, most notably when Attorney-General Loretta Lynch had a private meeting with Bill Clinton during the most crucial time of the FBI investigation into Hillary’s emails. Additionally, elements of the State Department illegally informed Hillary about new developments in that same case. Enough is enough. It’s time to drain the swamp.
Election night produced another curve-ball: after weeks of calling Donald Trump a “sore loser” for him not saying if he would respect the final result, Hillary Clinton refused to speak to her supporters and the American people. It would seem that she only telephoned Trump privately. So who’s the sore loser now?
Last night we were witnesses to the greatest electoral sea-change in American—and perhaps global—history. We cannot lose sight of the work to be done, but for the next 24 hours we can bask in this unprecedented victory against all odds.
Hail to the Chief, Donald J. Trump.
Read More: 4 Reasons Donald Trump Will Win The Presidential Election Of 2016
| 1real |
THE U.S. IMPORTS MORE AFRICAN REFUGEES AS PLAGUE SPREADS THERE: Caused By Tradition Of Dancing With Corpses [Video] | One of the fastest growing groups of refugees coming to the U.S. are coming from Africa According to the Center for immigration studies:The sending countries with the largest percentage increases in the number of immigrants living in the United States since 2010 were Saudi Arabia (up 122 percent), Nepal (86 percent), Afghanistan (up 74 percent), Burma (up 73 percent), Syria (up 62 percent), Venezuela (up 58 percent), Bangladesh (up 53 percent), Kenya (up 46 percent), Ethiopia (up 41 percent), Nigeria (up 40 percent), Iraq (up 39 percent), Ghana (up 37 percent), India (up 37 percent), Egypt (up 32 percent), Pakistan (up 28 percent), and China (up 25 percent). The states with the largest numerical increases in the number of immigrants from 2010 to 2016 were Texas (up 587,889), Florida (up 578,468), California (up 527,234), New York (up 238,503), New Jersey (up 171,504), Massachusetts (up 140,318), Washington (up 134,132), Pennsylvania (up 131,845), Virginia (up 120,050), Maryland (up 118,175), Georgia (up 95,353), Nevada (up 78,341), Arizona (up 78,220), Michigan (up 74,532), Minnesota (up 73,953), and North Carolina (up 70,501).ACCORDING TO PEW RESEARCH: There were 2.1 million African immigrants living in the United States in 2015, up from 881,000 in 2000 and a substantial increase from 1970 when the U.S. was home to only 80,000 foreign-born Africans.The fact is that whether Africans come to the U.S. legally or illegally, they brig with them risks like the one below:DANCING WITH THE DEADIn Madagascar, ceremonies in which families exhume the remains of dead relatives, rewrap them in fresh cloth and dance with the corpses are a sacred ritual.A local name for these ceremonies is famadihana. It s one of Madagascar s most widespread rituals, historian Mahery Andrianahag told AFP. It s necessary to assure cosmic harmony it satisfies our desire to respect and honour the ancestors so that they can be blessed and one day return. The dead are believed to reciprocate the blessings. Says one participant, I am extremely proud to go to rewrap the bones of my grandmother and all of our ancestors. I will ask them for blessings and success in my school leavers exams. Famadihana is also an opportunity to party:The customary ritual, rather than a religious rite, can be shocking for some, but for those taking part, it is an intense celebration accompanied by music, dancing and singing, fuelled by alcoholic drinks.When the party is over, participants store the mats that the bodies are laid on under their own mattresses. This is said to bring good luck.But some doctors warn that they can also transmit germs and infections.And, at a time when Madagascar is enduring its most lethal outbreak of the plague in years, the practice of body turning has raised fears among health officials.Since August, the disease has infected more than 1,100 people, with 124 deaths. Health ministry epidemiologists have long observed that plague season coincides with the period when famadihana ceremonies are held from July to October.But who cares about the plague? Scoffs one participant, I will always practise the turning of the bones of my ancestors plague or no plague. The plague is a lie. Meanwhile, immigrants from every corner of the Third World pour into our country, often illegally, bringing along their exotic customs and diseases. | 1real |
Bernie Sanders’s Supporters Fume Over Hillary Clinton’s New Label - The New York Times | Passionate supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders awoke enraged on Tuesday after learning that his slim hopes for winning the Democratic presidential nomination had been effectively dashed as a batch of superdelegates revealed their support for Hillary Clinton. After months of dancing around the phrase, news organizations on Monday night finally bestowed a label on Mrs. Clinton: presumptive nominee. The Sanders campaign immediately assailed the media for rushing the process and undermining the will of voters who were set to head to the polls in six states on Tuesday. In a email, Jeff Weaver, Mr. Sanders’s campaign manager, urged voters to defy the pundits and deliver a stunning series of victories for the Vermont senator. “We should let the voters decide who they want the Democratic nominee to be rather than having the media decide for them,” Mr. Weaver wrote. “I am asking you to continue to stand with Bernie in pushing for the political revolution. ” On social media, supporters of Mr. Sanders fumed at a system that they have increasingly felt is rigged against their candidate. Irate messages poured onto the “Sanders for President” message board on Reddit, an online discussion forum, with users promising to vote for Mr. Sanders regardless of what the superdelegates said. Some said they would vote for Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, and others suggested that Mr. Sanders join the Green Party and keep running against Mrs. Clinton. But the momentum that now favors Mrs. Clinton may be too much. The term “presumptive nominee” has no formal definition in politics. Yet traditionally when it is used to describe a candidate, a wave of endorsements carries that person to the nomination. Once The Associated Press, which prodded the superdelegates to come forward, declared Mrs. Clinton the presumptive Democratic nominee, the phrase soon reverberated across news outlets around the world. “There’s a bandwagon effect,” Douglas G. Brinkley, a presidential historian and professor at Rice University, said of being billed as a presumptive nominee. “Everybody starts coalescing around that candidate. ” The A. P. said it uses the term when it becomes clear a candidate for president will be formally nominated at a party’s convention. Television networks, newspapers and online media quickly followed The A. P.’s lead once it was determined that Mrs. Clinton had reached the 2, 383 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. Mr. Sanders and his campaign were clearly fearful that Mrs. Clinton would be called the presumptive nominee while primary voting was still going on, particularly with Tuesday’s contest in California, where polls have shown the two candidates to be close. But both candidates could be now exposed by The A. P.’s early call, which could dampen turnout among voters who think the race is over. Mrs. Clinton noted the importance of crossing the delegate threshold on Monday night, but avoided marking the moment as conclusive. If her voters stay home on Tuesday, a series of defeats would be an embarrassment and could buttress Mr. Sanders’s argument for why he should continue campaigning until the Democratic convention in July. Although the media was quick to give the designation to Mrs. Clinton, the Democratic Party did not. The Democratic National Committee has no official definition for the term “presumptive nominee. ” Mark Paustenbach, a spokesman for the committee, would not say if or when the D. N. C. would begin using “presumptive” to describe Mrs. Clinton. On the Republican side, Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, declared Donald J. Trump the presumptive nominee after he won the Indiana primary last month. For the time being, Mr. Sanders is still making arguments for why superdelegates should ditch his opponent and make him the nominee. Polls that show him performing better against Mr. Trump than Mrs. Clinton, and his energized following, form the crux of his appeal. Mrs. Clinton, who eight years ago dropped her presidential bid and supported Barack Obama, can likely relate to the plight of Mr. Sanders despite her desire to focus on the general election. In 2008, Mr. Obama captured a majority of pledged delegates in May, but declined to declare victory. Mrs. Clinton insisted that the contest was not finished and argued that neither candidate would have enough delegates for the nomination. “This is nowhere near over,” Mrs. Clinton said at the time. The race went on for only two more weeks. | 0fake |
Syria’s Paradox: Why the War Only Ever Seems to Get Worse - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — There is a basic fact about Syria’s civil war that never seems to change: It frustrates any attempt at resolution. Despite many offensives, peace conferences and foreign interventions, including this week’s Turkish incursion into a border town, the only needle that ever seems to move is the one measuring the suffering of Syrians — which only worsens. Academic research on civil wars, taken together, reveals why. The average such conflict now lasts about a decade, twice as long as Syria’s so far. But there are a handful of factors that can make them longer, more violent and harder to stop. Virtually all are present in Syria. Many stem from foreign interventions that were intended to end the war but have instead entrenched it in a stalemate in which violence is and the normal avenues for peace are all closed. The fact that the underlying battle is multiparty rather than also works against resolution. When asked what other conflicts through history had similar dynamics, Barbara F. Walter, a University of California, San Diego, professor and a leading expert on civil wars, paused, considered a few possibilities, then gave up. There were none. “This is a really, really tough case,” she said. Most civil wars end when one side loses. Either it is defeated militarily, or it exhausts its weapons or loses popular support and has to give up. About a quarter of civil wars end in a peace deal, often because both sides are exhausted. That might have happened in Syria: The core combatants — the government and the insurgents who began fighting it in 2011 — are quite weak and, on their own, cannot sustain the fight for long. But they are not on their own. Each side is backed by foreign powers — including the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and now Turkey — whose interventions have suspended the usual laws of nature. Forces that would normally slow the conflict’s inertia are absent, allowing it to continue far longer than it otherwise would. Government and rebel forces are supplied from abroad, which means their arms never run out. They also both draw political support from foreign governments who do not feel the war’s costs firsthand, rather than from locals who might otherwise push for peace to end their pain. These material and human costs are easy for the far richer foreign powers to bear. This is why, according to James D. Fearon, a Stanford professor who studies civil wars, multiple studies have found that “if you have outside intervention on both sides, duration is significantly greater. ” The ground battles also include Kurdish militias, who have some foreign backing, and the Islamic State, which does not. But and opposition forces are focused on one another, making them and their sponsors the war’s central dynamic. Foreign sponsors do not just remove mechanisms for peace. They introduce mechanisms for an stalemate. Whenever one side loses ground, its foreign backers increase their involvement, sending supplies or air support to prevent their favored player’s defeat. Then that side begins winning, which tends to prompt the other’s foreign backers to up their ante as well. Each escalation is a bit stronger than what came before, accelerating the killing without ever changing the war’s fundamental balance. This has been Syria’s story almost since the beginning. In late 2012, as Syria’s military suffered defeats, Iran intervened on its behalf. By early 2013, government forces rebounded, so wealthy Gulf states flooded support to the rebels. Several rounds later, the United States and Russia have joined the fray. These foreign powers are strong enough to match virtually any escalation. None can force an outright victory because the other side can always counter, so the cycle only continues. Even natural fluctuations in the battle lines can trigger another round. Over the last year, for example, the United States has supported Syrian Kurds against the Islamic State. As the Kurds grew strong, this alarmed Turkey, which is fighting its own Kurdish insurgency. This week, Turkey intervened to seize the Syrian town of Jarabulus, backed by the United States, in part to prevent Kurds from taking it first. (The United States backed this effort, too, in case the alliances weren’t complicated enough already.) “We tend to think this is as bad as it can get,” Professor Walter said. “Well, no, it could get a lot worse. ” Syria has seen repeated indiscriminate mass killings of civilians, on all sides. This is not driven just by malice, but by something more powerful: structural incentives. In most civil wars, the fighting forces depend on popular support to succeed. This “human terrain,” as counterinsurgency experts call it, provides all sides with an incentive to protect civilians and minimize atrocities, and has often proved decisive. Wars like Syria’s, in which the government and opposition rely heavily on foreign support, encourage the precise opposite behavior, according to research by the political scientists Reed M. Wood of Arizona State University, Jacob D. Kathman of the State University of New York at Buffalo, and Stephen E. Gent of the University of North Carolina. Because Syria’s combatants rely on foreign sponsors, rather than the local population, they have little incentive to protect civilians. In fact, this dynamic turns the local population into a potential threat rather than a necessary resource. The incentives push them to “utilize collective violence and terror to shape the behaviors of the population,” the researchers found. The images we see of dead mothers and children may represent not helpless bystanders but deliberate targets, killed not out of madness or cruelty but out of coldly rational calculation. Severe, indiscriminate attacks on civilians bring little risks and substantial benefits: disrupting the enemy’s control or local support, pacifying potential threats, plundering resources and others. forces have conducted by far the most attacks against civilians, but opposition fighters have led some as well. Among the insurgents, individual groups that refuse to attack civilians end up at a disadvantage compared with the groups that will. Stalemate is also driven by uncertainty. No one is sure what a postwar Syria would look like or how to get there, but everyone can imagine a worse situation. This creates a status quo bias, in which combatants are more worried about preserving what they have than risking it to pursue their broader goals. As Professor Fearon of Stanford put it, “It’s more important to stop the other side from winning than it is to win yourself. ” Each foreign power understands it cannot win, but earnestly fears that a victory by the other side would be unbearable. Saudi Arabia and Iran, for example, see Syria as a battleground in their regional power struggle, the loss of which they believe could endanger their own regimes. Even if Syria’s war hurts everyone in the long term, guaranteeing more extremism and instability, fears of defeat pull everyone toward maintaining a perpetual, unwinnable draw. This is exacerbated by the dynamics of loose coalitions. Each side consists of several actors with wildly different agendas and priorities. Often, all they can agree on is that they wish to avoid defeat. It is strategy by least common denominator. There is reason to believe that Russia, for example, would like President Bashar of Syria to step down, or at least make some concessions for peace. But Russia can’t force him to act, nor can it simply quit Syria without abandoning its interests there. Mr. Assad, meanwhile, might want a fuller Russian intervention that brings him victory, something Moscow is unwilling to provide. The result: Mr. Assad stays in place, and Russia intervenes only enough to keep him there for now. The Syrian government and the insurgents fighting it are internally weak in ways that lead them to prefer a stalemate, no matter how terrible, over almost any viable outcome. Syria’s top leaders belong mostly to the Alawite religious minority, which makes up a small share of the country’s population but a disproportionate share of security forces. After years of war along demographic lines, Alawites fear they could face genocide if Mr. Assad does not secure a total victory. But such a victory appears extremely unlikely, in part because the Alawites’ minority status gives them too little support to restore order with anything but violence. So Syria’s leaders believe that stalemate is the best way to preserve Alawite safety today, even if that increases risks for their future. Syria’s opposition is weak in a different way. It is fractured among many groups, another factor that tends to prolong civil wars and make them less likely to end peacefully. A study of every United Nations peacemaking effort since 1945 found that it succeeded in resolving of civil wars, but only of multisided ones. Syria’s battlefield is a complex polygon, with an array of Syrian rebel groups that include moderates and Islamists affiliates of Al Qaeda and the Islamic State Syrian forces and outsiders like the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah and foreign fighters who join in the name of jihad. Each of these factions has its own aims, which narrow the terms of any possible peace deal. Each also has an incentive to compete with other groups for resources during the war, and for concessions afterward. This is why multisided oppositions tend to fail. Even if they overthrow the government, they often end up in a second war among themselves. The only certain way to break the logjam is for one side to surge beyond what the other can match. Because Syria has sucked in two of the world’s leading military powers, Russia and the United States, that bar could most likely be cleared only by a invasion. In the best case, this would require something akin to the yearslong American occupations of Iraq or Afghanistan. In the worst, invading a war zone where so many foreign adversaries are active could ignite a major regional war. Another way that such wars can end is that one foreign backer changes its foreign policy and decides to withdraw. This allows the other side to win quickly. But in Syria, because each side is backed by multiple foreign powers, every sponsor on one side would have to drop its support at the same time. Peace deals often succeed or fail on the question of who will control military and security forces. In Syria, this may be a question without an answer. It’s an issue not of greed, but of trust. After a war as brutal as Syria’s, in which more than 400, 000 people have been killed so far, the combatants reasonably fear they will be massacred if the other secures too much power. But a deal that would give the parties equal military power creates a high risk of relapse into war. So does allowing rebels to keep their arms and independence — a lesson the world learned in Libya. At the same time, there has to be some sort of armed force to restore security and clean up any remaining warlords or militias. Often, the solution has been for an outside country or organization, such as the United Nations, to send peacekeepers. These forces keep everyone in check during the country’s transition to peace and provide basic security in a way that won’t spur either side to rearm. But what country would volunteer its citizens to indefinitely occupy Syria, particularly with the cautionary tale of America’s experience in Iraq? Any foreign force would make itself a target for jihadist terrorists, and most likely face a yearslong insurgency that could cost it hundreds or thousands of lives. Professor Fearon, listing the ways that Syria’s war cannot end, said that in the best case, one side would slowly grind out a victory that would merely downgrade the war into “a somewhat insurgency, terrorist attacks and so on. ” The worst case is significantly worse. According to a 2015 paper by Professor Walter and Kenneth M. Pollack, a Middle East expert, “Outright military victory in a civil war often comes at the price of horrific (even genocidal) levels of violence against the defeated, including their civilian populations. ” This could bring entirely new conflicts to the Middle East, they found: “Victorious groups in a civil war sometimes also try to employ their newfound strength against neighboring states, resulting in interstate wars. ” This is not a drift that anyone wants, but it is the direction that Syria’s many domestic and foreign participants are pulling the country, whose darkest days may still be ahead. | 0fake |
Eminem Calls Trump a ’Bitch,’ Raps About Sexually Assaulting Ann Coulter | Grammy rapper Eminem called President Donald Trump a “bitch” and fantasied about sexually assaulting bestselling conservative author Ann Coulter in a song featured on fellow Detroit rapper Big Sean’s new studio album “I Decided. ”[“I’m anti, can’t no government handle a commando. Your man don’t want it, Trump’s A BITCH. I’ll make his whole brand go under,” Eminem says of Trump on the song “No Favors. ” The also raps about sexually assaulting conservative author and pundit Ann Coulter. “And fuck Ann Coulter with a Klan poster. With a lamp post, door handle, shutter. A damn bolt cutter, a sandal, a can opener, a candle, rubber. Piano, a flannel, sucker, some hand soap, butter. A banjo and manhole cover,” Eminem raps. This not the first time that Eminem has used sexually explicit language to attack a conservative woman. In 2009, Eminem’s lyrics on the song “We Made You” saw the rapper imaging having sex with former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. “And I’ll invite Sarah Palin out to dinner then. Nail her, baby, say hello to my little friend!” Eminem raps. In the song’s music video, Eminem cast a Palin for a raunchy sequence in which the scantily clad woman is splayed out on an office desk wearing a skirt and bustier, and Eminem is seen rapping the aforementioned lyrics and dressed as Palin’s husband, Todd Palin. Eminem also praises Black Lives Matter on the new song. “Go ham donut or go Rambo, gotta make an example of her. That’s for Sandra Bland, ho, and Philando,” he raps, referencing two deaths of black people. Rapper Big Sean took to social media earlier this week to give thanks to Eminem for being apart of his album, which was released on Friday. . @eminem No Favors feels like back to back homeruns, you fuckin destroyed this verse! Thank you for blessing the album this! #Detroit pic. twitter. — Sean Don (@BigSean) February 3, 2017, Big Sean recently appeared on New York radio station Hot 97 and fantasized about killing Donald Trump. “I know Jay proud of me, he put this ’round my neck. And I might just kill ISIS with the same icepick. That I murder Donald Trump in the same night with,” Big Sean rapped during a freestyle performance. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson | 0fake |
Ronald Reagan’s Daughter DESTROYS Trump, Reminds Him How Her Dad Was Shot | Something that Donald Trump needs to realize is that his words are now heard not only all over the nation, but around the world. He s currently the presidential nominee for the Republican Party, and the things that come out of his mouth need to be taken very, very seriously.So, when Trump decided he would say Second Amendment people should take out Hillary Clinton, it should not be taken with a grain of salt, but rather with the utmost scrutiny. Where Trump might think he s being funny, there could be some sociopath out there who listens to Trump s words and finds inspiration. A person who could do unspeakable things for any number of reasons.One person who knows exactly how dangerous people who are inspired to do horrific acts can be is Patti Davis, the daughter of former President Ronald Reagan. Reagan was himself shot by a deranged man named John Hinckley.Taking to Facebook after Trump s outrageous remarks, Davis laid into Trump as only a person with her life experiences can do. She said: To Donald Trump: I am the daughter of a man who was shot by someone who got his inspiration from a movie, someone who believed if he killed the President the actress from that movie would notice him. Your glib and horrifying comment about Second Amendment people was heard around the world. It was heard by sane and decent people who shudder at your fondness for verbal violence. It was heard by your supporters, many of whom gleefully and angrily yell, Lock her up! at your rallies. It was heard by the person sitting alone in a room, locked in his own dark fantasies, who sees unbridled violence as a way to make his mark in the world, and is just looking for ideas. Yes, Mr. Trump, words matter. But then you know that, which makes this all even more horrifying. And she s absolutely correct. Instead of doubling down on his remarks, or claiming what he said isn t actually what he said. He should have owned the fact that he misspoke, clarified his true intent, and apologized to not only Hillary Clinton, but to all those who have been affected by gun violence. However, the chances of that happening are slim to none, so, don t hold your breath.Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images, Facebook | 1real |
Serbia's pensioners rally against government austerity measures | BELGRADE (Reuters) - Hundreds of Serbian pensioners rallied in Belgrade on Thursday to protest austerity measures introduced as part of a 1.2 billion euro ($1.41 billion) loan deal with the International Monetary Fund. Chanting thieves and carrying banners reading we are hungry , the pensioners demanded that the government and Serbia s constitutional court annul austerity cuts imposed in 2014 and refund lost pension payouts. The government of then Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic signed a three-year loan deal with the IMF in February 2015 after Belgrade committed to austerity to cut its ballooning debt and budget deficit. To secure the deal, in late 2014 it lowered public sector wages and pensions by between five and 25 percent. As many as 700,000 people lost a quarter of their monthly income ... we ve been paying to that (retirement) fund for 45 years, hoping for a stable old age, said protester Milorad Pavicic, 80. About 1.7 million of Serbia s 7 million citizens are retirees and the government spends 13 percent of GDP on pensions, World Bank data show. The average pension in Serbia, a candidate to join the European Union, is 190 euros, among the lowest in eastern Europe. Earlier this month, Serbia s current Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said the government will raise wages for doctors, teachers and army officers by 10 percent and pensions by five percent from January next year. Pensioners were also slated to receive a one-off payment of up to 6,000 Serbian dinars ($59.38) in 2017. Thursday s protesters dismissed the measures as insufficient. The government has yet to discuss the wage and pension rises with the IMF s mission, in a final review of the deal this month and next. The lender cut Serbia s 2017 growth forecast to 2.3 percent from 3.0 percent, citing a drop in electricity output in winter and lower than expected harvest due to months of drought. | 0fake |
Fox Host LOSES IT, Expertly Rips Trump’s ‘Buy American’ Policy APART (VIDEO) | While most of America can see right through to the flaws of Donald Trump s policies, it s always a special moment when someone from Fox News recognizes it.Earlier today, Fox host Shep Smith tore Trump s latest executive order apart, noting that it could actually ruin America s economy instead of help it. Smith, who has been a vocal critic on Trump before, expertly pointed out that Trump s announcement of a Buy American and Hire American order will actually cause the cost of goods in America to skyrocket.Trump s new plan will review the H-1B visa program for foreign workers; a program that many massive companies use. Pointing out that the program serves a purpose, Smith explained: Tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Google, and others all hire thousands and thousand of using it. Even automakers, including Ford and GM, use this program to find engineers. Executives for those companies argue they can t always find enough American workers with the skills needed for the specific jobs. They also claim the program encourages students to stay in the United States after school. Then, Smith went after Trump by pointing out that even the POTUS himself doesn t buy or hire American when it comes to his own businesses: But the White House says the companies take advantage of those visas, that they bring in large numbers of foreign workers pay them less, and drive down wages. President Trump himself has gone back and forth over this program. And as for the president s push to buy American, opponents point out the obvious, that some of the president s own products were made from workers from about a dozen other companies. And besides the price of everything at your Walmart and your local store and everywhere else goes way up for you. Smith is exactly right and brilliant for exposing Trump s own hypocrisy, and for explaining to conservatives that the man they elected is not going to help America like they thought he would.You can watch Smith take down Trump below:Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images | 1real |
BREAKING ATTACK AT #NotreDame Cathedral: You Won’t Believe What a Terrorist Just Used to Attack a Police Officer Near Notre Dame Cathedral | We ve moved from machetes to hammers? How low can you go? These terrorists are using ANY means necessary to harm people.It s come to this: Photo of visitors locked inside Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris following reports man attempted to attack officer with a hammer. pic.twitter.com/3GNPK2sN6k Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) June 6, 2017 Police in Paris have shot and injured a man who tried to attack an officer outside Notre Dame cathedral.BFMTV and other French media reported that the attempted attack involved a hammer. Witnesses said four plainclothes police officers, doctors and paramedics could be seen surrounding the suspected attacker, whose condition is not known.David Rahul M treaum, a witness, told BFMTV that he could see a man on the ground who is not moving . There is a group of people from the emergency services around the man on the ground. Police asked people to stay away from the area, which has been evacuated. Large numbers of police cars filled the area on the le de la Cit island in the river Seine in the centre of Paris.The French prosecutor s office said the counter-terrorism office has opened an investigation.Via: The Guardian | 1real |
Former CIA Director Slams Trump Over UN Bullying, Openly Suggests He’s Acting Like A Dictator (TWEET) | Many people have raised the alarm regarding the fact that Donald Trump is dangerously close to becoming an autocrat. The thing is, democracies become autocracies right under the people s noses, because they can often look like democracies in the beginning phases. This was explained by Republican David Frum just a couple of months into Donald Trump s presidency, in a piece in The Atlantic called How to Build an Autocracy. In fact, if you really look critically at what is happening right now the systematic discrediting of vital institutions such as the free press and the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well the direct weaponization of the Department of Justice in order to go after Trump s former political opponent, 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and you have the makings of an autocracy. We are more than well on our way. Further, one chamber of Congress, the House of Representatives, already has a rogue band of Republicans who are running a parallel investigation to the official Russian collusion investigation, with the explicit intent of undermining and discrediting the idea that Trump could have possibly done anything wrong with the Russians in order to swing the 2016 election in his favor.All of that is just for starters, too. Now, we have Trump making United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley bully and threaten other countries in the United Nations who voted against Trump s decision to change U.S. policy when it comes to recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish State. Well, one expert, who is usually quite measured, has had enough of Trump s autocratic antics: Former CIA Director John O. Brennan. The seasoned spy took to Trump s favorite platform, Twitter, and blasted the decision:Trump Admin threat to retaliate against nations that exercise sovereign right in UN to oppose US position on Jerusalem is beyond outrageous. Shows @realDonaldTrump expects blind loyalty and subservience from everyone qualities usually found in narcissistic, vengeful autocrats. John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) December 21, 2017Director Brennan is correct, of course. Trump is behaving just like an autocrat, and so many people in the nation are asleep when it comes to this dangerous age, in which the greatest threat to democracy and the very fabric of the republic itself is the American president. Fellow Americans, we know the GOP-led Congress will not be the check on Trump that they are supposed to be. It s time to get out and flip the House and possibly the Senate in 2018, and resist in the meantime, if we want to save our country from devolving into something that looks more like Russia or North Korea than the America we have always know. We re already well on our way.Featured image via BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images | 1real |
Chaos on House floor as Dems, Republicans clash over LGBT proposal | The chaotic scene -- accompanied by loud chants of "shame, shame, shame" -- included one Democrat facing off with the second-highest-ranking House Republican, accusations of foul play and a series of insults being traded openly on the House floor.
The clash began over a yearly spending bill to fund military construction projects and the Veterans Administration. Because the bill covers spending on federal contracts, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-New York, attached what he said was a one-sentence proposal to uphold President Barack Obama's executive order protecting LGBT workers from being fired. The amendment had enough votes to pass but the vote was held open, and several Republicans changed their position just before the vote was officially closed.
"They literally snatched discrimination out of the jaws of equality. We won this vote," a visibly irate Maloney told reporters.
Maloney accused House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of "twisting arms." Maloney and other Democrats told CNN that once the vote board showed the measure had 217 votes -- enough to pass with just eight seconds left in the vote -- McCarthy personally approached House GOP members to switch their "yes" votes to "no" as the presiding officer kept the vote open for several minutes past the standard five-minute period.
A senior House Republican leadership aide told CNN that it wasn't just McCarthy -- all the top GOP leaders were working to defeat Maloney's amendment because they were concerned that if passed, it would jeopardize the spending bill. When Maloney walked over to McCarthy to appeal to him to allow the measure to pass, saying plenty of Republicans backed it, he said McCarthy told him "get on my own side of the aisle." He answered back to the majority leader, "What side am I supposed to stand on to support equality?" One Republican who witnessed the exchange said Maloney walked over to the GOP side of the chamber and was "taunting Republican members" and had his arms up in the air as he was trying to talk to them about letting his proposal pass. Roughly a dozen Republicans approached Maloney as the vote was extended and told him they disagreed with their own leadership's tactics to work to defeat the measure. California Democratic Rep. Mark Takano, who was standing with Maloney, told reporters that Illinois GOP Rep. Bob Dold told the New York Democrat "this is bulls***." As the scene unfolded, reporters outside the chamber could hear jeers as the gavel came down with a new 212-213 vote tally, defeating the measure. No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer began shouting and calling out Republicans for not following the traditional practice of coming to the well of the House floor to change their votes, saying they instead remained in their seats to avoid being identified. Afterward, Democrats produced a list of seven House Republicans, including the head of the GOP's campaign arm, Oregon Republican Rep. Greg Walden, who initially backed Maloney's proposal before switching their votes. The other Republicans, according to a floor vote printout by Democratic staff, were Rep. Jeff Denham, R-California, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, Rep. Bruce Poliquin, R-Maine, Rep. David Valadao, R-California, Rep. Mimi Walters, R-California, and Rep. David Young, R-Iowa. Hoyer's staff also tweeted out the list of names, calling their votes "shameful." CNN has reached out to all seven House Republicans who changed their vote Thursday morning. So far, only Poliquin has responded about why he decided to vote no for the measure after originally registering support for it, defending his vote in a written statement to CNN. "I am outraged that political opponents or members of the press would claim or insinuate that I cast a vote due to pressure or party politics," Poliquin wrote. "No one controls my vote. I work hard only for the people of Maine's 2nd Congressional District." Poliquin added, "I abhor discrimination in any form and at any place." "They are bigots, they are haters," a seething Democratic Rep. Steve Israel said about House Republicans. He then immediately worked to tie House Republicans to Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, saying Trump "is very proud of House Republicans today." House Speaker Paul Ryan, who as the speaker doesn't typically vote, was holding his weekly news conference and missed the fracas. When asked about what happened, he told reporters he didn't have any details about who may have changed their votes, but made it clear he opposed the Democrats' proposal. "The states should do this. The federal government shouldn't stick its nose in this business," Ryan said. Maloney vowed, "These things are going to be remembered" and told reporters he planned to try to push similar measures on other legislation. "The people who stood in the schoolhouse door are going to have this hung around their necks for the rest of their careers, and I hope they can live with themselves," Maloney said. "I hope they can look their kids in the eye and sleep OK tonight because what they did is as disgusting as one of the famous episodes in American history where we've seen people stand on the wrong side of the march toward Selma, or stand in the schoolhouse door when someone was trying to get an equal education." | 0fake |
Dennis Kucinich’s Extraordinary Warning on D.C.’s Think Tank Warmongers | Thursday Oct 27, 2016
WAR is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
– From Major General Smedley Butler’s War is a Rackett
Former Congressman Dennis Kucinich has just penned an extremely powerful warning about the warmongers in Washington D.C. Who funds them, what their motives are, and why it is imperative for the American people to stop them.
The piece was published at The Nation and is titled: Why Is the Foreign Policy Establishment Spoiling for More War? Look at Their Donors .
Read it and share it with everyone you know.
W ashington, DC, may be the only place in the world where people openly flaunt their pseudo-intellectuality by banding together, declaring themselves “think tanks,” and raising money from external interests, including foreign governments, to compile reports that advance policies inimical to the real-life concerns of the American people.
As a former member of the House of Representatives, I remember 16 years of congressional hearings where pedigreed experts came to advocate wars in testimony based on circular, rococo thinking devoid of depth, reality, and truth. I remember other hearings where the Pentagon was unable to reconcile over $1 trillion in accounts, lost track of $12 billion in cash sent to Iraq, and rigged a missile-defense test so that an interceptor could easily home in on a target. War is first and foremost a profitable racket.
How else to explain that in the past 15 years this city’s so called bipartisan foreign policy elite has promoted wars in Iraq and Libya, and interventions in Syria and Yemen, which have opened Pandora’s box to a trusting world, to the tune of trillions of dollars, a windfall for military contractors. DC’s think “tanks” should rightly be included in the taxonomy of armored war vehicles and not as gathering places for refugees from academia.
According to the front page of this past Friday’s Washington Post, the bipartisan foreign-policy elite recommends the next president show less restraint than President Obama. Acting at the urging of “liberal” hawks brandishing humanitarian intervention, read war, the Obama administration attacked Libya along with allied powers working through NATO.
Indeed, I warned about this in last week’s piece: U.S. Foreign Policy ‘Elite’ Eagerly Await an Expansion of Overseas Wars Under Hillary Clinton .
The think tankers fell in line with the Iraq invasion. Not being in the tank, I did my own analysis of the call for war in October of 2002, based on readily accessible information, and easily concluded that there was no justification for war. I distributed it widely in Congress and led 125 Democrats in voting against the Iraq war resolution. There was no money to be made from a conclusion that war was uncalled for, so, against millions protesting in the United States and worldwide, our government launched into an abyss, with a lot of armchair generals waving combat pennants. The marching band and chowder society of DC think tanks learned nothing from the Iraq and Libya experience.
The only winners were arms dealers, oil companies, and jihadists. Immediately after the fall of Libya, the black flag of Al Qaeda was raised over a municipal building in Benghazi, Gadhafi’s murder was soon to follow, with Secretary Clinton quipping with a laugh, “We came, we saw, he died.” President Obama apparently learned from this misadventure, but not the Washington policy establishment, which is spoiling for more war.
The self-identified liberal Center for American Progress (CAP) is now calling for Syria to be bombed, and estimates America’s current military adventures will be tidied up by 2025, a tardy twist on “mission accomplished.” CAP, according to a report in The Nation, has received funding from war contractors Lockheed Martin and Boeing, who make the bombers that CAP wants to rain hellfire on Syria.
The Brookings Institute has taken tens of millions from foreign governments , notably Qatar, a key player in the military campaign to oust Assad. Retired four-star Marine general John Allen is now a Brookings senior fellow . Charles Lister is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute , which has received funding from Saudi Arabia , the major financial force providing billions in arms to upend Assad and install a Sunni caliphate stretching across Iraq and Syria. Foreign-government money is driving our foreign policy.
As the drumbeat for an expanded war gets louder, Allen and Lister jointly signed an op-ed in the Sunday Washington Post, calling for an attack on Syria. The Brookings Institute, in a report to Congress , admitted it received $250,000 from the US Central Command, Centcom, where General Allen shared leadership duties with General David Petraeus. Pentagon money to think tanks that endorse war? This is academic integrity, DC-style.
And why is Central Command, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of transportation, and the US Department of Health and Human Services giving money to Brookings?
Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright, who famously told Colin Powell , “What’s the point of having this superb military you’re always talking about if we can’t use it,” predictably says of this current moment , “We do think there needs to be more American action.” A former Bush administration top adviser is also calling for the United States to launch a cruise missile attack on Syria.
The American people are fed up with war, but a concerted effort is being made through fearmongering, propaganda, and lies to prepare our country for a dangerous confrontation, with Russia in Syria.
The demonization of Russia is a calculated plan to resurrect a raison d’être for stone-cold warriors trying to escape from the dustbin of history by evoking the specter of Russian world domination.
It’s infectious. Earlier this year the BBC broadcast a fictional show that contemplated WWIII, beginning with a Russian invasion of Latvia (where 26 percent of the population is ethnic Russian and 34 percent of Latvians speak Russian at home).
The imaginary WWIII scenario conjures Russia’s targeting London for a nuclear strike. No wonder that by the summer of 2016 a poll showed two-thirds of UK citizens approved the new British PM’s launching a nuclear strike in retaliation. So much for learning the lessons detailed in the Chilcot report.
As this year’s presidential election comes to a conclusion, the Washington ideologues are regurgitating the same bipartisan consensus that has kept America at war since 9/11 and made the world a decidedly more dangerous place.
The DC think tanks provide cover for the political establishment, a political safety net, with a fictive analytical framework providing a moral rationale for intervention, capitol casuistry. I’m fed up with the DC policy elite who cash in on war while presenting themselves as experts, at the cost of other people’s lives, our national fortune, and the sacred honor of our country.
Any report advocating war that comes from any alleged think tank ought to be accompanied by a list of the think tank’s sponsors and donors and a statement of the lobbying connections of the report’s authors.
It is our patriotic duty to expose why the DC foreign-policy establishment and its sponsors have not learned from their failures and instead are repeating them, with the acquiescence of the political class and sleepwalkers with press passes.
It is also time for a new peace movement in America, one that includes progressives and libertarians alike, both in and out of Congress, to organize on campuses, in cities, and towns across America, to serve as an effective counterbalance to the Demuplican war party, its think tanks, and its media cheerleaders. The work begins now, not after the Inauguration. We must not accept war as inevitable, and those leaders who would lead us in that direction, whether in Congress or the White House, must face visible opposition.
Thank you Mr. Kucinich, I couldn’t agree more.
For related articles, see: | 1real |
Libya is a Complete Western Disaster, Finds a British Parliamentary Report | New Eastern Outlook | Country: Libya Three years ago, NATO declared that the mission in Libya had been “one of the most successful in NATO history.” Today, this statement is a proven lie that was fed to the public at large in the West. A recently published report of British parliament’s foreign affairs committee has categorically acknowledged that the Western intervention in Libya in 2011 was not only based upon flawed intelligence but also directly paved the way for the resurgence of Islamist terror groups in the country. What had initially been propagated as a sort of “humanitarian intervention” to “protect” civilians from the “tyranny of Gaddafi” soon exacerbated into the notorious game of regime change and led to the subsequent disaster, proliferation of Islamist groups and Libya’s downfall from a reasonably stable state to a fragmented one. The report’s findings are, as such, highly critical in terms of the way the West, particularly the US, has been projecting the utmost necessity of NATO’s intervention. Even if we were to agree to the Western proposition that Gaddafi regime was inflicting atrocities on its people and that the real goal, as a recent article published by the corporate-funded Brookings Institute argues, was to protect people, the report finds it to be wrong. It unambiguously states: “Many Western policymakers genuinely believed that Muammar Gaddafi would have ordered his troops to massacre civilians in Benghazi, if those forces had been able to enter the city. However, while Muammar Gaddafi certainly threatened violence against those who took up arms against his rule, this did not necessarily translate into a threat to everyone in Benghazi. In short, the scale of the threat to civilians was presented with unjustified certainty. US intelligence officials reportedly described the intervention as “an intelligence-light decision.” Exposing the hollowness of the propagated “truths” that Gaddafi regime was indiscriminately killing his countrymen and that he would have continued to do so “ in large numbers if that’s what his survival required ”, the report states that nothing of this sort was happening at the time of intervention or was likely to follow. Intervention happened not because Gaddafi was inflicting atrocities but because he was winning the fight against Western and Arab funded militias: “Despite his rhetoric, the proposition that Muammar Gaddafi would have ordered the massacre of civilians in Benghazi was not supported by the available evidence. The Gaddafi regime had retaken towns from the rebels without attacking civilians in early February 2011.” The report goes on to state that: “On 17 March 2011, Muammar Gaddafi announced to the rebels in Benghazi, “Throw away your weapons, exactly like your brothers in Ajdabiya and other places did. They laid down their arms and they are safe. We never pursued them at all.” Subsequent investigation revealed that when Gaddafi regime forces retook Ajdabiya in February 2011, they did not attack civilians.” Contrary to this situation was the mantra of “protecting” people that was officially projected for public consumption, while the real goal was to send Gaddafi home and to re-design Libya’s future in which Gaddafi or his affiliates would have no role to play. The report states: “When the then Prime Minister David Cameron sought and received parliamentary approval for military intervention in Libya on 21 March 2011, he assured the House of Commons that the object of the intervention was not regime change. In April 2011, however, he signed a joint letter with United States President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy setting out their collective pursuit of “a future without Gaddafi”. That the goal was always to impose a new regime on the people of Libya is evident from another finding that no option other than that of military intervention was explored and considered: “The Government rapidly developed a new policy of intervention to protect civilians as Muammar Gaddafi’s forces approached Benghazi in mid-February 2011. It did not explore alternatives to military intervention such as sanctions, negotiations or the application of diplomatic pressure. In pursuing regime change, it abandoned a decade of foreign policy engagement…” What the West wanted to achieve by regime-change? As could be expected of the West, the real goal was to extend Western influence in the African continent. Libya was to be the gateway for that. However, as long as Gaddafi was there, this objective could never be realized. Hence, the anti-Gaddafi propaganda and the development of “pro-democracy” discourse in the West that paved the way for NATO-led intervention. The report enlists following critical objectives, which were of crucial importance for France’s Sarkozy, behind the military intervention and change of regime in Libya: 1. A desire to gain a greater share of Libya oil production. 2. Increase French influence in North Africa, 3. Improve his internal political situation in France, 4. Provide the French military with an opportunity to reassert its position in the world. 5. Address the concern of his advisors over Qaddafi’s long term plans to supplant France as the dominant power in Francophone Africa. Therefore to achieve these objectives, a dual strategy was implemented. On the one hand, NATO intervened and on the other hand weapons were allowed to be distributed to the Islamist militias. The report categorically states: “….the international community turned a blind eye to the supply of weapons to the rebels. Lord Richards highlighted “the degree to which the Emiratis and the Qataris…played a major role in the success of the ground operation.” For example, Qatar supplied French Milan antitank missiles to certain rebel groups. We were told that Qatar channelled its weapons to favoured militias rather than to the rebels as a whole.” Who were the “rebels”? While it is largely believed that that crisis in Libya were linked to a general uprising linked with the so-called “Arab Spring”, this is far from the truth. For one thing, a general popular uprising against an autocrat regime could not possibly have descended into a pure chaos but for the involvement of foreign funded extremist groups. This is precisely what happened in Libya. The critical question, therefore, is: were the Libyan rebels really “rebels”? The report disputes the Western official narrative that it was a general uprising and that extremists got involved at some alter stage . Contrary to the official narrative, the report concludes: “It is now clear that militant Islamist militias played a critical role in the rebellion from February 2011 onwards. They separated themselves from the rebel army, refused to take orders from non-Islamist commanders and assassinated the then leader of the rebel army, Abdel Fattah Younes.” That the West had “turned a blind eye” to the support certain militias were receiving from Arab countries is, in fact, an indication of the Western complicity in facilitating the rise of Islamist groups in Libya. And as the report states yet again: “We asked Lord Richards whether he knew that Abdelhakim Belhadj and other members of the al-Qaeda affiliated Libyan Islamic Fighting Group were participating in the rebellion in March 2011. He replied that that “was a grey area”. He added that “a quorum of respectable Libyans were assuring the Foreign Office” that militant Islamist militias would not benefit from the rebellion. He acknowledged that “with the benefit of hindsight, that was wishful thinking at best.” What is Libya today? A disastrous mess It is a mess, a victim of Western conspiracy and its notorious cold-war era policy of imposing regime change in countries that refuse to abide by their rules of global politics. Libya, today, is a disaster. Facts speak for themselves: In 2010, Libyan economy was generating US$75 billion in GDP, with an average per capita income of US$12,250, roughly equal to an average income in some European countries. As of 2016, however, Libya is likely to experience a budget deficit of some 60% of GDP. The United Nations ranked Libya as the world’s 94th most advanced country in its 2015 index of human development, a decline from 53rd place in 2010. Thanks to the Western intervention which was, to say the least, not only ill-informed and a result of propaganda against Gaddafi but also motivated by purely geo-political considerations. Thanks to the Western intervention that has ‘successfully’ transformed Libya from the richest African state under Gaddafi to a failed state under Western supervision. Its various experiments in Libya have failed to transform it into a pure Western vessel. And as the reports indicate, the US in now trying to install one of its long term assets, General Khalifa Hifter, who aims to set himself up as Libya’s new dictator and then help the West in transforming Africa’s political economy into a disastrous the kind of which Libya, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan today are.
Salman Rafi Sheikh, research-analyst of International Relations and Pakistan’s foreign and domestic affairs, exclusively for the online magazine “ New Eastern Outlook ”. Popular Articles | 1real |
Italian parliament votes to toughen laws against fascist propaganda | ROME (Reuters) - Italy s lower house of parliament approved on Tuesday a bill aimed at curbing fascist propaganda, more than 70 years after the death of wartime dictator Benito Mussolini. The draft law, proposed by the ruling Democratic Party (PD), follows a politically charged summer, with human rights groups warning of growing racism in Italy in the face of mass immigration across the Mediterranean from Africa. Under existing laws, pro-fascist propaganda is only penalized if it is seen to be part of an effort to revive the old Fascist Party. The new bill raises the stakes by outlawing the stiff-armed Roman salute as well as the distribution of fascist or Nazi party imagery and gadgets. Offenders risk up to two years in jail, with sentences raised by a further eight months if the fascist imagery is distributed over the Internet. The legislation now passes to the upper house Senate for further approval. Opposition parties, including the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the center-right Forza Italia (Go Italy) party of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said the bill posed a threat to freedom of speech. But Emanuele Fiano, a PD lawmaker who drew up the legislation, dismissed such concerns. This bill does not attack personal freedoms but will act as a brake on neo-fascist regurgitation and a return of extreme right-wing ideology, he said. Mussolini ruled over Italy from 1922 until 1943. He took Italy into World War Two on Adolf Hitler s side and passed race laws under which thousands of Jews were persecuted. Italy was routed by the allied forces and Mussolini, also known as Il Duce , was executed in 1945. ANTI-IMMIGRANT SENTIMENT Mussolini is still admired by a hard core of supporters on the far-right and posters using fascist imagery regularly appear on city billboards most recently in a stylized picture of a white woman being assaulted by a muscular black man. Defend her from the new invaders, said the poster, put up by a fringe party called Forza Nuova (New Force). The group was referring to a high-profile rape case last month when four foreigners were accused of gang-raping a Polish tourist. More than 600,000 migrants, mainly Africans, have come to Italy over the past four years, boosting anti-immigration sentiment in the country and pushing up support for rightist and far-right parties that demand rigid border controls. Given the political climate, the ruling PD was forced on Tuesday to delay its push to approve a contested law that would grant citizenship to the children of immigrants. Opposition parties said the law would encourage migrants to try to come to Italy and claimed victory when the PD announced it was dropping the bill from the Senate schedule this month. To approve this bill we need a majority, but we don t have one right now in the Senate, said Luigi Zanda, head of the PD in the upper house of parliament. | 0fake |
Clinton warns Trump's proposed budget cuts would endanger U.S. security | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hillary Clinton on Friday warned that the deep budget cuts to foreign aid and diplomacy proposed by President Donald Trump to fund increased military spending would make the United States, and the world, less safe. “We are seeing signals of a shift that should alarm us all, this administration’s proposed budget cuts to international health, development and diplomacy would be a blow to women and children and a grave mistake,” Clinton said during a speech at Georgetown University. The Trump administration has asked Congress for a 28 percent, or $10.9 billion, cut in U.S. State Department funding and other international programs to help pay for a 10 percent, $54 billion hike in military spending next year. The White House has shrugged off concerns from Democrats, some Republicans and current and former national security leaders about the impact, saying the proposed cuts are Trump making good on promises he made during his presidential race against Clinton, the Democratic nominee. Clinton, also the State Department’s top diplomat during the Obama administration, was speaking at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security, which presents an annual award in Clinton’s name to women who have advocated for peaceful solutions. “Advancing the rights and full participation of women and girls is the great unfinished business of the 21st century,” said Clinton, the first woman to be nominated for president by a major U.S. party. “It’s not only the right and moral goal for us to be pursuing ... this is strategic and necessary for matters of peace, prosperity and security.” Clinton garnered some of the most enthusiastic applause from the university students in attendance when she took a subtle jab at her former presidential rival. Shortly after Clinton praised the institute for making an “evidence-based case” for promoting women’s roles, she stopped to remark: “Here I go again, talking about research, evidence, and facts.” Clinton said during her contentious race against Trump that he was “an absolute avalanche of falsehoods.” One of Trump’s top advisers said the administration used “alternative facts” after a public disagreement over inaugural attendance. | 0fake |
U.S. 'making a lot of progress' on North Korea issue: Trump | NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States was making progress on the North Korean issue, ahead of an expected sanctions announcement by Washington over Pyongyang’s ballistic and nuclear weapons program. “I think we’re making a lot of progress in a lot of ways,” Trump said before going into a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. | 0fake |
WATCH: President Obama’s ‘Couch Commander’ Comedy Video Is The FUNNIEST Thing He’s Ever Done | For his final White House Correspondent s Dinner, the White House release a hilarious comedy video, starring President Obama, Vice President Biden, and a cast of famous faces. The plot of the video showed the President going on a quest to figure out what, exactly, he plans to do with his free time after leaving the White House.Watch @POTUS in "Couch Commander." https://t.co/p1xFpHrSmP The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 1, 2016After dropping an expletive on NBC s Chuck Todd, who calls him the Couch Commander, Obama meets with Vice President Biden, who advises him to start driving again, or to get involved in sports.That s followed up by another joke at the expense of birther conspiracy theorists.The President then plays around with Snapchat, which creates a media controversy.Seeking advice for what to do in retirement, President Obama turns to his former nemesis, former Speaker of the House John Boehner, who watches an emotional film and out come the waterworks.Boehner then dispenses some advice to Obama to just be himself, and the President expresses relief at being able to wear mom jeans again.The video showcases a lot of what has made Obama so endearing to his supporters, and what drives his detractors up the wall. He is a natural performer, at home making fun of himself and the weird institutions and traditions of Washington, D.C.The Couch Commander video is quite similar to President Bill Clinton s offering at his last Correspondent s Dinner in 2000. That showed President Clinton lounging around the White House looking for something to do as the election ran past him, even Hillary Clinton had abandoned him as she went to New York for her senatorial run. Eventually Clinton ended up with the kid from the then-ubiquitous Dell commercials showing him how to use eBay and send email (it was the turn of the century and still so very new). Sixteen years later that video is still funny:Featured image via Twitter | 1real |
CBO Releases Score of Paul Ryan’s American Health Care Act - Breitbart | The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its score Monday of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) the bill proposed by House Speaker Paul Ryan to replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) commonly known as “Obamacare”. [Read the full report here: CBO Score: American Health Care Act (AHCA) by Breitbart News on Scribd, | 0fake |
NEVER FORGET? College Students Give DISTURBING Answers About Why America Was Attacked On 9/11 [VIDEO] | Baffling the worst terrorist attack in history and you d think American college students would have a clue about why we were attacked. | 1real |
Andrea Tantaros Just Buried Fox News With Sworn Affidavit From A Professional Therapist | Fox News needs to take Andrea Tantaros sexual harassment lawsuit seriously because she refuses to back down.The conservative network has repeatedly belittled Tantaros and called her a liar ever since she slapped Fox News with a sexual harassment lawsuit naming Roger Ailes and Bill O Reilly.Tantaros has even dared her former Fox employers to take a lie detector test, even offering to take one herself because she has nothing to hide. But now Tantaros has some serious reinforcements who can back up her sexual harassment claims.As it turns out, the former host of Outnumbered was distraught enough about the demeaning working environment at Fox News that she saw a professional therapist starting in 2014 to deal with how she was constantly being treated by Fox bigwigs.Dr. Michele Berdy has now written a sworn affidavit confirming that Tantaros spoke with her about how Ailes would tell her to wear tighter dresses and how he would demand her to stand up and turn around so he could ogle her. Tantaros also told Berdy about Bill O Reilly s unwanted advances and how Fox PR chief Bill Shine ordered her to not file complaints about Ailes behavior.Berdy wrote that after reading reports about Fox denying the claims, she reached out to Tantaros and gave her support. Over the course of many months (2014 2016), Andrea relayed to me on multiple occasions instances of Mr. Ailes s demeaning and overtly predatory behavior, as well as the abusive conduct of Fox News s public relations department, Berdy wrote.Berdy confirmed that Tantaros spoke to her repeatedly about how she sought help from Bill Shine to make the harassment stop but he did nothing except basically tell Tantaros to just let it happen and allow Ailes to continue harassing her. In addition, Berdy confirmed Tantaros claim that Ailes retaliated against her for refusing to comply with his sexual demands.Berdy also backed up Tantaros story of how O Reilly approached her on multiple occasions to invite her to a private beach house, which he did because he had heard that she is wild. Here are images of parts of the affidavit via Twitter.This is a pretty damning affidavit against Fox News, which has already had to make a pretty hefty payment to former host Gretchen Carlson over her own sexual harassment lawsuit against Ailes.The fact that Tantaros had to see a therapist to deal with the constant abuse at her workplace and that her complaints were documented long before she filed the lawsuit bring even more credibility and sympathy to her story.It s time for Fox News to clean house and fire the people who are responsible for covering for Ailes and it s time to fire anyone who sexually harassed female employees at the network, including Bill O Reilly and even Steve Doocy, whom Carlson named in her lawsuit.Fox News thinks they can bully Tantaros and make her lawsuit go away. But she isn t backing down and it s only getting worse for Fox the longer this lawsuit plays out.Featured image via Dangerous Minds | 1real |
Dow higher as Boeing gains offset Apple's fall | Dow higher as Boeing gains offset Apple's fall 'The fact of the matter is the oil market is rebalancing itself' Published: 2 mins ago
(CNBC) — U.S. stock closed mostly lower on Wednesday as earnings season continued, while solid economic data helped financials and oil extended its losing streak despite bullish supply data.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 21 points after briefly dropping more than 100 points, with Boeing contributing gains to the tune of 38 points, offsetting sharp losses in Apple, which took about 20 points off the index.
The S&P 500 momentarily eked above breakeven before holding 0.22 percent lower, with real estate falling 1.32 percent to lead decliners while industrials and financials outperformed. The Nasdaq lagged, falling 0.64 percent as Apple shed about 2.7 percent. | 1real |
OBAMA’S LAST MOVE: Here’s How He’ll Force Suburbs To Become Less White And Less Wealthy | Obama and HUD want to give one last freebie to the Dem voters this Fall using YOUR tax dollars! This is a last big push to make the suburbs less white and less wealthy. Stanley Kurtz has written a book on this scheme and goes into great detail on the plan by Obama to force a fundamental change in how we live. This is evil and doesn t work. It was tried in Dallas with disastrous results! Once again, Obama s agenda comes before the American people. Although HUD s demonstration project may have improved the lives of some who moved, it s ended up harming the lives of many of their new neighbors. And now Castro wants to roll it out nationwide. Soon he will give Section 8 recipients money to afford rent wherever they choose and if they don t want to move, he ll make them an offer they can t refuse. Hillary s rumored running mate, Housing Secretary Julian Castro, is cooking up a scheme to reallocate funding for Section 8 housing to punish suburbs for being too white and too wealthy.The scheme involves super-sizing vouchers to help urban poor afford higher rents in pricey areas, such as Westchester County, while assigning them government real-estate agents called mobility counselors to secure housing in the exurbs.Castro plans to launch the Section 8 reboot this fall, even though a similar program tested a few years ago in Dallas has been blamed for shifting violent crime to affluent neighborhoods.It s all part of a grand scheme to forcibly desegregate inner cities and integrate the outer suburbs.Anticipating NIMBY resistance, Castro last month threatened to sue suburban landlords for discrimination if they refuse even Section 8 tenants with criminal records. And last year, he implemented a powerful new regulation Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing that pressures all suburban counties taking federal grant money to change local zoning laws to build more low-income housing (landlords of such properties are required to accept Section 8 vouchers).Castro is expected to finalize the new regulation, known as Small-Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMR), this October, in the last days of the Obama presidency.It will set voucher rent limits by ZIP code rather than metro area, the current formula, which makes payments relatively small. For example, the fair market rent for a one-bedroom in New York City is about $1,250, which wouldn t cover rentals in leafy areas of Westchester County, such as Mamaroneck, where Castro and his social engineers seek to aggressively resettle Section 8 tenants.[The Section 8 reboot] is all part of a grand scheme to forcibly desegregate inner cities and integrate the outer suburbs. In expensive ZIP codes, Castro s plan which requires no congressional approval would more than double the standard subsidy, while also covering utilities. At the same time, he intends to reduce subsidies for those who choose to stay in housing in poor urban areas, such as Brooklyn. So Section 8 tenants won t just be pulled to the suburbs, they ll be pushed there. We want to use our housing-choice vouchers to ensure that we don t have a concentration of poverty and the aggregation of racial minorities in one part of town, the poor part of town, the HUD chief said recently, adding that he s trying to undo the result of discriminatory policies and practices in the past, and sometimes even now. A draft of the new HUD rule anticipates more than 350,000 Section 8 voucher holders will initially be resettled under the SAFMR program. Under Obama, the total number of voucher households has grown to more than 2.2 million.The document argues that larger vouchers will allow poor urban families to move into areas that potentially have better access to jobs, transportation, services and educational opportunities. In other words, offering them more money to move to more expensive neighborhoods will improve their situation.But HUD s own studies show the theory doesn t match reality. President Bill Clinton started a similar program in 1994 called Moving to Opportunity Initiative, which moved thousands of mostly African-American families from government projects to higher quality homes in safer and less racially segregated neighborhoods in several counties across the country.The 15-year experiment bombed.A 2011 study sponsored by HUD found that adults using more generous Section 8 vouchers did not get better jobs or get off welfare. In fact, more went on food stamps. And their children did not do better in their new schools.Worse, crime simply followed them to their safer neighborhoods, ruining the quality of life for existing residents. Males were arrested more often than those in the control group, primarily for property crimes, the study found.Dubuque, Iowa, for example, received an influx of voucher holders from projects in Chicago and it s had a problem with crime ever since. A recent study linked Dubuque s crime wave directly to Section 8 housing.Of course, even when reality mugs leftists, they never scrap their social theories. They just double down.The problem, they rationalized, was that the relocation wasn t aggressive enough. They concluded they could get the desired results if they placed urban poor in even more affluent areas.HUD recently tested this new theory in Dallas with disastrous results.Read more: NYP | 1real |
In One Cowardice Move, GOP Congress Just PROVED They’re As Racist As Trump | In one of his first moves since becoming the President-Elect, Donald Trump has chosen one of the worst human beings in the country as his Chief Strategist. Steve Bannon was the Editor in Chief of Breitbart News, a site that s popular with white nationalists. Democrats in Congress have penned a letter asking Trump to fire Bannon. Every single Republican sided with the white nationalist. If that doesn t tell you everything you need to know about today s Republican party, nothing will.Why do white nationalists flock to Bannon s former site? Well, for one thing, the site defends white nationalists. If you want to be creeped out, read this. If you aren t sure what the alt-right is, this article will tell you in chilling detail about the pro-Russian isolationists who believe in studying race differences, with, of course, white Christians coming out on top.Then there are articles blaming African-Americans, really for nearly everything, but especially for crime.In normal times, Washington conservatives and the Bannon alt-right can t stand each other. The alt-right is isolationist. Washington conservatives are hawkish. More significantly, as the Washington Post put it:Constitutional conservatives can t stand the alt-right. Conservatives real conservatives believe that only a philosophy of limited government, God-given rights and personal responsibility can save the country. And that creed is not bound to race or ethnicity. Broad swaths of the alt-right, by contrast, believe in a creed-free, race-based nationalism, insisting, among other things, that birth on American soil confers superiority. The alt-right sees limited-government constitutionalism as pass ; it holds that only nationalist populism on the basis of shared tribal identity can save the country. It s a movement shot through with racism and anti-Semitism.Not this year. Donald Trump has effectively normalized the underbelly of racism. While Congress for years has been hinting at their own racism with their refusal to acknowledge the legitimacy of our first African-American President, few have admitted their racism, until now.If you still aren t convinced, those applauding the Bannon appointment include former KKK leader David Duke and the chairman of the Nazi Party. Nearly every civil rights group opposed the appointment.When Democrats wrote the letter, signed by 169 members of Congress, to fire Bannon, not a single Republican was brave enough or had enough integrity to agree that a white nationalist shouldn t be in the White House.Here s one of the key passages:Since the election there have been a number of incidents across the country in which minorities, including Muslim-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and Jewish-Americans have been the targets of violence, harassment and intimidation. Mr. Bannon s appointment sends the wrong message to people who have engaged in those types of activities, indicating that they will not only be tolerated, but endorsed by your administration. Millions of Americans have expressed fear and concern about how they will be treated by the Trump administration, and your appointment of Mr. Bannon only exacerbates and validates their concerns.Very proud to be leading 169 Members of Congress asking @realDonaldTrump to rescind his appointment of alt-right leader Steve Bannon. pic.twitter.com/JSz9IPT9Gv ((David Cicilline)) (@davidcicilline) November 16, 2016There is little political fallout from disavowing a white nationalist, at least you d think, but the Republican voters have proven that racism and white supremacy no longer belong in the closet. The mostly white Republicans in Congress might still keep pretending that they aren t as racist as their party s President Elect, but their failure to sign this letter was really all we needed to know.Featured image via Scott Olson/Getty Images. | 1real |
Source: Qatar asks Hamas to Cease Terror Planning from its Territory | Qatar has asked Hamas to stop any actions that make the Gulf state look like a nation that provides a safe haven for the group’s terrorist activities, a senior official in Hamas told Breitbart Jerusalem. [According to the official, Qatar’s request included a demand to cease all activity in the country that is meant to harm Israel’s security. The request was detailed, said the source, and added that Hamas must desist from initiating any activity that will produce attacks. The Qatari request joins a similar one from Turkey that was made several months ago as part of that country’s rapprochement deal with Israel. As a result, a Hamas official and member of the organization’s politburo, Salah Alarouri, who Israel has accused of funding and directing attacks against Israeli targets, left Turkey. Hamas released an official statement denying that Qatar gave the organization a list of officials and other Hamas members who should be expelled from the country. The source in Hamas confirmed the denial and said that the request was reduced only to stopping actions that would lead to attacks against Israel. “We understand the Qatari request,” said the source. “Qatar is asking that Hamas not become a stimulant for external pressure at an hour when Qatar’s enemies are trying to accuse her of supporting and funding terrorist actions and that she is a political patron of the Muslim Brotherhood. ” The source said the request was received during a meeting between official Qatari representatives and Hamas’ leadership in Qatar. According to the source, Hamas’ response was affirmative: “We told our brothers in Qatar that we never initiated actions against the occupation from Qatari territory and that our actions against the occupation are carried out only in the land of Palestine and accusations that members and leaders of Hamas abroad are involved in the creation and initiation of military infrastructure are lies. We respect the sovereignty of every country in the world, and of course the countries that host us. ” On Saturday, the Lebanese Almayadeen television station associated with Iran and Hezbollah reported that Qatar gave Hamas a list of its leaders and other members that should leave the country. According to the report, the main names on the Qatari list include senior figures in the organization living in Qatar and those responsible for coordination with members and officials of the organization in the West Bank. According to the report, the list was preliminary and the goal of Qatar’s request was to shore up U. S. support for Qatar in case of an escalation in the crisis between Qatar and Saudi Arabia and the Qatari fear that Saudi Arabia will support a coup in Qatar against the current leader, Sheikh Tamim Althani. | 0fake |
BREAKING #WAR: Police Drag Radical Hecklers From Trump Rally As Fights Break Out [Video] | Americans are 100% FED Up! with the radical bad actors who re protesting and in your face with liberal talking points from Soros. I honestly don t blame these Trump supporters for pushing back on these radical protestors. If you ve ever been in the middle of this type of liberal yell fest, you d know it s disturbing and it s #WAR. We really are in a war for the survival of America. We ve been invaded by millions and millions of illegal aliens who re now gaining the right to vote. They also get freebies that should be going to legal American citizens. We re in trouble and we all need to wake up and protect the sovereignty of our Nation.Black Lives Matter and pro-illegal alien Latino activists were forcibly removed by Virginia State Police officers after disrupting a rally held Wednesday evening in Richmond by leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.There were reports that small fights had broken out between the protesters and Trump supporters.A cellphone video shows an apparent Trump supporter arguing with and then spitting on a protester. One report said the disruptions lasted for around thirty minutes.Trump supporter spits & curses at protester as protesters are escorted from @realDonaldTrump event in Richmond, VA pic.twitter.com/1GunaUweNW Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) October 15, 2015 When the protesters first made their presence known in the capacity crowd of about 5,000, Trump responded by saying, That s why we have freedom of speech, folks! , according to a video excerpt of his speech posted to You Tube. Read more: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
Senate panel presses SEC nominee Clayton on conflicts | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jay Clayton, the Wall Street attorney tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, on Thursday defended himself against Democrats’ charges that multiple conflicts of interest would force him to miss too many SEC votes. Clayton, a partner at elite law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, is expected to win confirmation easily, although some Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee raised concerns about his ties to Wall Street and Goldman Sachs, a bank he represented during the financial crisis and that employs his wife, Gretchen. His wife plans to resign from the bank if Clayton is confirmed, and he said he will recuse himself from matters involving his or the firm’s clients for two years. Some clients have included Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Bill Ackman’s hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management and former Ocwen Financial Corp Executive Chairman William Erbey. Clayton told the panel his Wall Street legal experience is a “strength,” adding he did not think conflicts of interest would present problems in leading the agency that enforces securities laws and regulates U.S. stock, options and bond markets. “As far as the extent of my practice and whether the recusals that would be required for potential conflicts will impair my ability to act as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, I do not believe they will do so,” he said. Clayton, a political independent, told the committee the Dodd-Frank financial reform law should be “looked at” to determine if it has achieved its goals. When pressed on certain parts of the law, such as whether the SEC should delay implementing a rule requiring companies to disclose the ratio of CEO pay to the median pay of workers, Clayton declined to wade into the debate until he could get more information from SEC staff. In their questioning, Republicans led by panel chairman Mike Crapo of Idaho said the SEC should help make it easier for companies to raise money, a goal the Trump administration has embraced. Clayton said that SEC regulations should be clear and lean, saying complexity creates confusion. Companies are taking longer to go public and compliance costs are a deterrent, he said, but he did not offer policy solutions to the problem. Throughout the hearing, Democrats including Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, repeatedly said Clayton’s Wall Street relationships are a worry. “In today’s confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton, the matter of conflicts of interests was the skunk at the party,” said Lisa Gilbert, a vice president of legislative affairs for Public Citizen, which has criticized Clayton’s Wall Street ties. Clayton’s potential recusals could be significant because the commission currently only has two sitting members: Democrat Kara Stein and Republican Michael Piwowar. If Clayton recuses himself and the remaining two disagree, any measure before the commission would fail. He stressed he did not see this as a major concern because most enforcement votes are “unanimous.” Clayton also said he strongly believes in holding individuals accountable for wrongdoing, adding it could be a greater deterrent than coming down on corporations. The SEC only has civil jurisdiction and cannot bring criminal prosecutions. Democrats also questioned if Clayton is willing to stand up to Trump and his appointees. Warren pointed to billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is advising Trump on regulation, and asked Clayton about Icahn using his high-profile role to boost his own investments. Icahn has a controlling stake in a refinery that could benefit from a change he has proposed to the U.S. biofuels program and a 24.57 percent stake in Herbalife Ltd, which is under investigation for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Clayton acknowledged he met with Icahn after he was nominated to discuss the role of activist investors, but was careful not to judge Icahn’s roles as investor and White House adviser. Violations of insider trading laws generally entail a “facts and circumstances analysis,” he said. Current and former SEC staff have told Reuters they are confident that Clayton will make a strong SEC chairman. Former Republican SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher, who has known Clayton since the financial crisis, attended the hearing Thursday and gave him high marks. “His demeanor is perfectly fitting for an SEC chairman,” he said. | 0fake |
After Trump’s Super Tuesday romp, GOP establishment seeks unity to slow surge | Donald Trump won GOP primaries in seven states and Sen. Ted Cruz took three in a Super Tuesday rebound, sparking renewed calls from some Republicans to unify around a single Trump rival as the billionaire tightened his hold on front-runner status.
The contests in 11 states showcased Trump’s dominance over a crowded GOP field. Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) was the winner in one state: Minnesota, his first victory of the 2016 primary season.
[Live updates and results from across the U.S.]
Trump won Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia, according to Edison Media Research. In several states, his lead was in double digits, and his share of the GOP vote neared 50 percent. With those wins, Trump has more than doubled his victory total in this GOP primary season.
But even as Trump basked in his Super Tuesday romp, a well-funded super PAC was ramping up its effort to discredit the New York businessman with a new television advertisement that portrays him as a predatory huckster who scammed working- and middle-class Americans.
The 60-second ad, which will begin airing Wednesday on stations across the country at a cost of more than $1 million, centers on Trump University, the billionaire mogul’s for-profit enterprise that promised to teach students the tricks of the real estate trade and is now defunct and the subject of a fraud suit.
The attack echoes themes that Rubio, who is trying to unite the GOP’s anti-Trump forces under his own banner, has advanced as he has addressed swelling crowds in suburban areas.
Cruz won Alaska, Oklahoma and his home state of Texas just after 9 p.m. These are the second, third and fourth states Cruz has won in this race; he also won the Iowa caucuses, the first contest of all. The win in Texas, in particular, was vital: It saved Cruz from a humiliating home-state defeat and gave him part of the largest slate of delegates that was up for grabs Tuesday.
[Live updates and results from across the U.S.]
But this was not the Super Tuesday that Cruz had hoped for months ago. He had campaigned hard in Southern states, hoping to dominate among evangelicals and very conservative voters. Instead, in state after state, he saw those voters flock to Trump.
For Rubio, the Minnesota win was a boost he sorely needed. Earlier in the night, Trump had mocked him for not winning any states so far. But overall, Tuesday was a disappointment for Rubio. He had attacked Trump sharply in the past few days and shifted some late-deciding voters into his camp. But outside of Minnesota, it wasn’t enough.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich came in a close second to Trump in Vermont.
The worry among the party establishment — which has put its last hopes on Rubio — was strong and growing after Trump’s Tuesday victories.
Even Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), an outspoken critic of Cruz, said to CBS’s Charlie Rose on Tuesday night, “Well, I think we’re about ready to lose to the most dishonest politician in America, Hillary Clinton, and how could you do that?”
“I made a joke about Ted, but we may be in a position to have to rally around Ted Cruz as the only way to stop Donald Trump, and I’m not so sure that would work,” he said, adding that when it came to that prospect,“I can’t believe I would say yes, but yes.”
Cruz addressed his supporters at a venue called the Redneck Country Club in Stafford, Tex. He sought not so subtly to convince Rubio to drop out of the race, saying that a divided field was allowing Trump to succeed.
“So long as the field remains divided, Donald Trump’s path to the nomination remains more likely. And that would be a disaster . . . for conservatives, and for the nation. And after tonight, we have seen that our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten, that can beat, and that will beat Donald Trump,” Cruz said. He spoke to primary voters in future states: “We must come together.”
Rubio, the establishment candidate who had sharply attacked Trump in the past few days, ran close to Trump in Virginia, boosted by support among college-educated voters and Republicans in the Washington, D.C., suburbs. But he fell short, with Trump piling up large margins in the state’s rural South and West.
[No Republican nominee has ever won all the states Trump has]
Still, exit polls showed some good news for Rubio: In several states, he did well among voters who decided late, according to media reports. That could be taken as proof that Rubio’s late attacks on Trump worked — and it could encourage Rubio to continue them, hoping to win more primaries in the coming weeks.
“Just five days ago, we began to unmask the true nature of the front-runner so far in this race. Five days ago, we began to explain to the American people that Donald Trump is a con artist. And in just five days, we have seen the impact it is having all across the country,” Rubio told supporters in Miami. “We are seeing, in state after state, his numbers coming down. Our numbers going up.”
He looked ahead to the Republican primary in Florida on March 15, a “winner-take-all” contest that could vault Rubio back into contention — or, if he loses, doom him.
Rubio’s campaign has sought to position him as the top alternative to Trump: the one who’d be waiting and ready when voters — or delegates, at a fractious GOP convention — finally turned on the front-runner. But Tuesday’s results showed that isn’t exactly true. In six of the nine states where polls have closed, in fact, Rubio was running third.
Trump spoke to supporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., in an ornate ballroom. In his speech, he mocked Rubio, calling him “the little senator” and reminding his crowd that “[Rubio] didn’t win anything. He hasn’t won anything, period.”
[Overshadowed by Trump and Rubio, Cruz sees Texas as his last stand ]
Trump also called his campaign “a movement,” and sought to look ahead to a general election contest against Clinton, the former secretary of state.
“I am a unifier. When we get all of this finished, I’m going to go after one person, Hillary Clinton,” Trump said. He rejected suggestions that his comments — about Mexican immigrants, mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and a ban on Muslim foreigners entering the country — had divided his party.
“We are going to be a much finer party. We’re going to be a unified party,” Trump said. “I mean, to be honest with you. And we are going to be a much bigger party. Our party is expanding.”
Later, Trump responded to a question by saying he’d been watching all the big cable-TV news networks, and liked them all. “See, I’m becoming diplomatic,” he said.
In a wide-ranging news conference that followed Trump’s speech, he issued a kind of threat to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who – before Trump came on the scene – had a claim to being the most popular figure in the GOP.
“Paul Ryan, I don’t know him well,” Trump said. “I’m sure I’ll get along with him. And if I don’t? He’ll have to pay a big price.”
It seemed possible, given Tuesday’s results, that Rubio, Cruz and Kasich could find a reason to remain in the race. So even where Trump lost Tuesday night, he may have won — reaping the benefits of a crowded field of candidates and splitting the anti-Trump vote into pieces.
Former pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has failed to win a single primary or caucus so far, told supporters he was dismayed with the state of the nation’s political system and not prepared to quit the race yet.
“It is rotten; it is rotten to the core,” Carson told a crowd of supporters in Baltimore. “I’m not ready to quit untangling it quite yet.”
Carson has called on the five remaining candidates to meet privately in Detroit in advance of Thursday’s upcoming GOP Fox News Channel debate. He has asked them to take “a pledge to talk about the many serious problems facing our country, instead of personally attacking each other.”
In the Democratic race, with nearly all the votes counted,Clinton won the Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia Democratic primaries as she looks to dramatically widen her lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sanders chalked up four victories: his home state of Vermont, as well as in Oklahoma, Minnesota and Colorado.
At a polling place in Houston where Cruz cast his vote Tuesday, Francisco Valle, 74, held a sign depicting Trump with a Hitler-style mustache and his right hand raised; it read, “absolutely no Mexicans.” Valle also hung a sign with the letter T and word “Trump” in the shape of a swastika with “STOP” written beneath.
“I am here because I want to make awareness of a movement that is very dangerous to all the minorities, because Hitler started the same way,” said Valle, who is Mexican American. “He blamed the Jews for all the problems, and now Trump is blaming the Mexicans for the problems.”
Trump has suggested he is expanding the GOP’s base of support by appealing to Democrats and independents, even though some say he is alienating some traditional Republican backers.
“We have tremendous numbers of people coming in, and the Republican Party is growing larger,” he said. If it fails to do that, he added, “it’s not going to win.”
Wagner reported from Burlington, Vt.; Eilperin from Washington. Katie Zezima in Houston; Patricia Sullivan in Arlington, Va.; Laura Vozzella in Richmond, Va.; Abby Phillip in Minneapolis, Minn.; Scott Clement, Anne Gearan and Paul Kane in Washington; Robert Costa in Atlanta; Jose A. DelReal in Nashville; Fenit Nirappil in Norfolk, Va.; Ed O’Keefe in Alcoa, Tenn.; and David Weigel in Castleton, Vt., contributed to this report. | 0fake |
Japan ambassador takes veiled swipe at Trump's 'America First' stance | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japan’s ambassador to the United States weighed in on the U.S. presidential election debate on Friday by arguing against the “America first” stance of Republican candidate Donald Trump and stressing the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance. Without mentioning Trump by name, the envoy, Kenichiro Sasae, told a Washington forum Japan had come up unexpectedly in the election debate, showing that nothing could be taken for granted in terms of the long-standing alliance. “In the presidential elections, there are arguments whether the United States is going for the isolationist stance,” Sasae said. “I don’t want to see that kind of United States. “I want to see the United States to be strong and come with a strong robust position, not really thinking of the United States only,” he said. Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 presidential election, has portrayed Japan, a long-time treaty ally of the United States, as a free-rider on security. He has suggested Tokyo might need nuclear weapons to ease U.S. financial commitment to its defense, anathema to the only country ever attacked by atomic bombs. Japan’s Minister for Regional Revitalization, Shigeru Ishiba, said comments by one candidate, who he said he would not name, were causing “a lot of concern in Japan.” Ishiba told the forum that if Japan or South Korea chose to develop nuclear weapons regional stability would suffer, and added: “I don’t think it will add to the U.S. interest.” “No matter who becomes the president, understanding the essence of the alliance, accurately grasping the international environment we have been placed in would lead, I am sure, to proper policies being implemented,” he added. Sasae said he understood there was a debate about how to make America strong, but added “the question is whether you could be strong without a proper role around the world.” “It is important not to undermine ... one, the value of the U.S.-Japan alliance; two, the geopolitical implications of emerging or resurgent powers in the world; three, the capability and strength of the United States.” Trump outlined a clear “America First” policy in a speech late last month, vowing that if he were elected president, U.S. allies in Europe and Asia would have to fend for themselves if they did not pay more for the U.S. defense umbrella. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday Japan’s U.S. alliance was the foundation of Asian peace and prosperity and Tokyo hoped to be able to work with whoever becomes U.S. president. | 0fake |
Владимир Зельдин госпитализирован в тяжелом состоянии |
Как пишет Life.ru, Зельдин доставлен в одну из московских больниц.Актер является старейшим из ныне живущих народных артистов СССР и самый взрослый действующий актер планеты. В прошлом году ему исполнилось 100 лет.
Российским зрителям Владимир Зельдин хорошо известен по ролям более чем в 40 кинокартинах, среди которых «Карнавальная ночь» (1956), «Десять негритят» (1987), «Дядя Ваня» (1970), «Принцесса на горошине» (1976), «Тридцать первое июня» (1978) и многие другие.
Напомним, в прошлом году актер Зельдин при прохождении обследования в научном центре имени Бакулева сел мимо стула и упал, получив перелом шейки бедра, после чего был успешно прооперирован.
Правда.ру ранее писала, что операция, проведенная народному артисту СССР Владимиру Зельдину , была успешной, сообщил начальник Управления культуры Минобороны России Антон Губанков.
Напомним, Владимир Зельдин отметил 100-летний юбилей в феврале этого года . Поздравительную телеграмму актеру направил президент Владимир Путин . По традиции, день рождения именинник отметил бенефисом - в родном Центральном академическом театре Российской армии.
Зельдин является лауреатом множества наград, в том числе ордена Трудового Красного Знамени, ордена Красной Звезды. В мае этого года Владимир Путин лично вручил Зельдину орден "За заслуги перед Отечеством" I степени . Выпускник театрального училища при театре имени МОСПС (сейчас театр имени Моссовета), он работал несколько лет в этом театре, затем в Центральном театре транспорта и в Русском драматическом театре Алма-Аты, а с 1945 года неизменно служит в труппе Центрального театра Российской армии (ранее - Советской армии). Всенародную известность и популярность он получил за работы в фильмах «Свинарка и пастух», "Сказание о земле Сибирской", "Дядя Ваня", "Карнавальная ночь", "Десять негритят" и др. Накануне своего юбилея в декабре в Театре Российской армии состоялась премьера спектакля "Человек из Ламанчи", где Владимир Зельдин исполнил роль Дон Кихота. "Роль Дон Кихота - это моя давняя мечта. И я рассматриваю это как самый дорогой подарок своему юбилею. Но на этом я не собираюсь завершать свою карьеру и буду репетировать роль Кутузова в спектакле "Давным-давно", где когда-то в молодые годы я играл поручика Ржевского. Этот спектакль будет ставить главный режиссер нашего театра Борис Морозов", - сказал в интервью РИА "Новости" Владимир Зельдин.
| 1real |
Baseball Tragedy: Two Players Die in Crashes in the Dominican Republic - The New York Times | When Yordano Ventura won Game 6 of the 2014 World Series for the Kansas City Royals, he wore the initials of Oscar Taveras on his cap. Taveras, an outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, had just been killed in a car accident in the Dominican Republic, the homeland they shared. Early Sunday morning, Ventura was killed in a car accident there at 25. Andy Marte, 33, a former infielder who spent parts of seven seasons with Atlanta, Cleveland and Arizona, was killed in another car crash Sunday in the Dominican Republic. Major League Baseball announced the deaths on its social media accounts. The traffic authorities in the Dominican Republic said that it was not clear whether Ventura had been driving when he died on a highway about 40 miles northwest of the capital, Santo Domingo. Marte died when the he was driving hit a house about 95 miles north of Santo Domingo, the authorities said. Ventura was a who reached the majors in September 2013 and seemed destined to stay for many years. He had a record of with a 3. 89 earned run average, and he was part of the team’s core, with a $23 million contract that could have bound him to Kansas City through 2021. “I love you my brother,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer wrote on Instagram, sharing a photograph of himself with Ventura. “I’m in disbelief and don’t know what to say. I love you ACE. ” Only one qualified starting pitcher, the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard, had a harder average fastball last season than Ventura’s Syndergaard’s averaged 97. 9 miles per hour, Ventura’s 96. 1 m. p. h. Ventura made three World Series starts, two in 2014 against the San Francisco Giants, and then a loss to the Mets at Citi Field in 2015. He gained a measure of notoriety last season when he was suspended for eight games for hitting Baltimore’s Manny Machado in the back with a fastball, inciting a brawl. Ventura was with a 4. 45 E. R. A. in his final season. Marte spent the past two seasons playing professionally in South Korea. Once a promising prospect for the Braves, he was traded to Boston for Edgar Renteria in 2005, and he was then quickly sent to Cleveland in a multiplayer deal that brought Coco Crisp to the Red Sox. Marte played 278 of his 308 career games with the Indians, and batted . 218, with 21 homers and 99 runs batted in, over all. “He was a genuine person who always greeted you with a warm smile,” the Indians wrote on Twitter. Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, said in a statement: “It’s never easy to lose a member of our fraternity, and there are no words to describe the feeling of losing two young men in the prime of their lives. Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families, friends, teammates and fans throughout the United States and Latin America. ” The Dominican Republic’s president, Danilo Medina, posted on Twitter that the nation “is dressed in mourning with the deaths of Andy Marte and Yordano Ventura, great sportsmen who raised high our national banner. ” Fans began arriving at Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium shortly after Ventura’s death was announced, leaving flowers, hats and other mementos outside. Flags at the ballpark were lowered to . A 2015 study by the World Health Organization found that the Dominican Republic had the highest traffic accident death rate in the Americas, 29. 3 per 100, 000 inhabitants. The deaths of Ventura and Marte follow the death of another major leaguer, the Miami Marlins’ pitcher Jose Fernandez, in a boating accident in September. | 0fake |
CIA director says he would resign if ordered to resume waterboarding | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA Director John Brennan said on Wednesday he would resign if the next president ordered his agency to resume waterboarding suspected militants, an apparent reference to comments by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump embracing the banned interrogation method. “I can say that as long as I’m director of CIA, irrespective of what the president says, I’m not going to be the director of CIA that gives that order. They’ll have to find another director,” said Brennan, who did not mention Trump by name. Brennan, who has been director since 2013, tacked his comment to the end of his response to a question about drone strike policy after speaking at the Brookings Institution, a Washington policy institute.Brennan said previously he would refuse to resume the practice, which simulates drowning and was used by the CIA on three suspected militants detained in secret foreign prisons during President George W. Bush’s administration. But his pledge to resign if ordered to revive waterboarding was his most emphatic affirmation of his position to date. Trump, set to be formally nominated next week as the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election, has said he would reauthorize waterboarding immediately if elected, contending that “torture works.” At an April 20 rally in Indianapolis, he recalled being asked about waterboarding during a debate the previous week. “They asked me: ‘What do you think about waterboarding, Mr. Trump?’ I said I love it. I love it, I think it’s great. And I said the only thing is, we should make it much tougher than waterboarding,” he said. Democratic President Barack Obama signed an executive order after taking office in January 2009 that banned waterboarding and other “enhanced interrogation techniques,” or EITs. Such executive orders can be rescinded by a president’s successors. Obama, other top U.S. officials, many lawmakers and human rights groups have denounced waterboarding as torture. Some former Bush administration and CIA officials have defended waterboarding and other EITs, denying they are torture and saying they elicited valuable intelligence. Brennan told his confirmation hearing in 2013 he had not tried to stop harsh interrogation techniques such as waterboarding when he was at the spy agency earlier in his career, but had objected to them privately. A Senate Intelligence Committee study, issued in 2014, concluded that EITs failed to elicit any significant intelligence. Brennan said on Wednesday it was not possible to “establish cause and effect” between the use of EITs and the acquisition of reliable information. | 0fake |
U.S. Air Force asks industry for proposals to replace nuclear missiles | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force asked industry on Friday for proposals to replace the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile and the nuclear cruise missile as the military moves ahead with a costly modernization of its aging atomic weapons systems. The Air Force said in a statement it expected to award up to two contracts for a new ICBM weapons system, or ground-based strategic deterrent, sometime next summer or fall. It also expected to award up to two contracts in the same time frame for a new nuclear cruise missile, or long-range standoff weapon. Modernization of the U.S. nuclear force is expected to cost more than $350 billion over the next decade as the United States works to replace its aging systems, including bombs, nuclear bombers, missiles and submarines. Some analysts estimate the cost of modernization at $1 trillion over 30 years. The new ICBM system would be a follow-on to the Minuteman missile, whose launch systems and physical infrastructure first became operational in the mid-1960s. The system has been upgraded over the years, but much of the infrastructure is original, the Air Force said. The most recent versions of the Minuteman III date from the late 1990s and early 2000s and had an intended 20-year life span, the Air Force said. The missile will “face increased operational and sustainment challenges until it can be replaced,” it said. “This request for proposals is the next step to ensuring the nation’s ICBM leg of the nuclear triad remains safe, secure and effective,” said Major General Scott Jansson, who leads the Air Force program office for strategic systems. Opponents of replacing the nuclear cruise missile have argued that its missions could be handled by other legs of the triad. Others say it is an unnecessary expense at a time of shrinking budgets and smaller deployed nuclear arsenals. The military insists the new cruise missile is needed to enable older bombers to deliver nuclear weapons to targets whose air space is heavily defended and difficult to reach with gravity bombs. The missile is “needed to replace the aging air launched cruise missile, which has far exceeded its originally planned service life ... and is required to support our B-52 bomber fleet,” Admiral Cecil Haney, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, told lawmakers earlier this year. | 0fake |
WATCH: Trump Supporter Goes On Anti-Muslim Rant, Then Karma Happens (VIDEOS) | Anyone who uses a driving service such as Uber or Lyft takes on the risk that their driver might be completely unhinged. While on the way to a Bernie Sanders rally in Salt Lake City, Utah, one man, named Samuel Grenny, and his girlfriend experienced the horror of being passengers in a Lyft car driven by a racist Donald trump supporter.The young couple s ride quickly became a progressive s nightmare after they told the driver where they were going. I explained where we were going and what it was for, and very quickly he seemed to tense up about it, Grenny told Fox 13. He started to say that Muslims categorically are terrorists. And then he proceeded to call Muslims pieces of crap, but a much unkinder word than that. At that point my girlfriend started videotaping, she was very shaken. The verbal exchange was recorded. In the video, the conversation between the driver and the couple went like this:Grenny: You told me, in a cab that I m paying for, that Muslims are pieces of [expletive]. Driver: Muslims are pieces of [expletive]. Grenny: Oh good, please tell me some more about how you feel man. Driver: Why don t you pull your head out of your [expletive] [expletive]? Grenny: Why don t you pick up a freaking book, man. You are literally what is wrong with this country, and you re trying to blame minorities. Driver: No you are the one that s wrong with this [expletive] country. Driver: Get the [expletive] out you piece of [expletive]. Grenny: Good luck buddy. Driver: [Expletive] get out of my car. At that point, the couple is forced to leave the car before they reach their destination.Grenny contacted Lyft and complained about the driver. Lyft gave Grenny a full refund and an apology. Lyft also fired the driver. As Grenny notes, the service industry is no place for a person like that to be working in.Here is the video footage of the incident and the Fox 13 news report on the story below.Report: Recording:Featured Image from video screenshot | 1real |
„Es hat sich wie ein Virus verbreitet“: Wie Polizei bei Silvester in Köln versagte | 10 870 0 26 In den teilweise erschütternden Berichten geben die meist jungen Frauen zu Protokoll, wie sie in der Kölner Silvesternacht von Männern eingekreist, an Brüsten, zwischen den Beinen und am Gesäß angefasst wurden.
Die Tatverdächtigen – größtenteils junge Migranten aus Nordafrika – hätten sich wohl im Bereich um den Hauptbahnhof zum gemeinsamen Feiern verabredet, anders sei nicht zu erklären, warum sich über 1000 dieser jungen Männer gleichzeitig auf dem Platz befunden hätten, so der Kriminologe Prof. Dr. Rudolf Egg, der Aussagen von über 1000 Opfern analysiert hat. © REUTERS/ Benoit Tessier Nach sexuellen Übergriffen: „Wels darf nicht Köln werden“
Er gehe aber nicht davon aus, dass sie von vorn herein den Plan verfolgt hätten, Frauen sexuell zu belästigen. Nach einzelnen Vorfällen habe sich vielmehr eine Eigendynamik entwickelt. „Es hat sich wie ein Virus in der Gruppe der Männer verbreitet, sodass ganze Spaliere entstanden – dass man etwa die Brücke, die über den Rhein führt, und den Fußgängerweg blockiert hat und man dort gar nicht mehr passieren konnte“, stellte er in einem Interview für die Sputnik-Korrespondentin Ilona Pfeffer fest.
Die Einsatzkräfte der Polizei seien auf eine solche Situation nicht vorbereitet gewesen.
„Die Polizei hat die Lage unterschätzt. Man hat gemeint, mit einer geringen Stärke und mit dem Gewährenlassen von weniger schweren Straftaten die Sache im Griff zu behalten. Das hat hier nicht funktioniert. Die Situation war nur auf den ersten Blick so ähnlich, wie das, was man an Massenbewegungen am Rande eines Fußballspiels kennt oder von politischen Demonstrationen. Man hatte kein Vorbild, es gab kein vergleichbares Ereignis. Das hat dazu geführt, dass man von vornherein zu wenige Polizisten vor Ort hatte und diese auch nicht viel ausrichten konnten.“
Ähnlich sieht es Arnold Plickert, Stellvertretender Bundesvorsitzender der Gewerkschaft der Polizei (GdP): © AFP 2016/ DPA/Markus Boehm „Polizisten guckten und taten nichts“: Erkenntnisse zu Kölner Silvesternacht - Studie „Es war für keinen erkennbar, dass es zu Silvester zu solchen Erscheinungen kommt. Das geben übrigens auch die ersten Ergebnisse der SoKo in Köln wieder. Die meisten Personen, die wir als tatverdächtig ermittelt haben, waren erst seit drei bis vier Monaten in Deutschland. Es gab auch keine Absprachen, da hinzugehen, kein koordiniertes Vorgehen.“
In einigen Fällen habe man trotz Überforderung den Opfern helfen können, so Plickert gegenüber Sputnik. Eine große Zahl von Frauen hat aber laut dem Gutachten von Prof. Rudolf Egg von der Kriminologischen Zentralstelle in Wiesbaden auf ihre Notrufe hin keine adäquate Unterstützung durch die Beamten erhalten. „Bei der Anhörung im Landtag von NRW wurden auch Notrufe abgespielt, die Frauen und Männer abgegeben hatten, und es klang nicht so, als wenn man hochaufmerksam reagiert hätte. Da sagt eine Frau, sie sei begrapscht worden. Für sie ist es eine dramatische Situation und es heißt bloß„Bleiben Sie mal da, wir schicken jemanden vorbei.“ Das klingt, als wolle man die Person abwimmeln und würde sie nicht ernst nehmen.“ © AFP 2016/ Markus Boehm / dpa Auch direkt vor Ort angesprochene Polizisten hätten den Aussagen der Opfer zufolge die Frauen nicht ernst genommen und keine Hilfe geleistet.
Erklärungsversuche seitens des Polizeigewerkschafters: „Die Kollegen, die dort im Einsatz waren, haben eine äußerst schwierige Situation vorgefunden. Es waren von Anfang an viel zu wenige Kräfte da. Ich kann mir vorstellen, dass Kollegen mit anderen Aufgaben beschäftigt waren und gesagt haben: Ich kann jetzt nicht, gehen Sie zur nächsten Wache. Wenn aber eine Frau, wie es geschildert wurde, von mehreren Personen angegangen wurde, zu zwei Beamten gegangen wäre und die sich nicht gekümmert hätten, weggeguckt hätten, dann wäre das nicht akzeptabel. Man kann die Person nicht mit dem Gefühl stehen lassen: Hier kümmert sich keiner, es ist uninteressant, was ich erlitten habe.“
Statt eines aktiven Eingreifens seitens der Polizei sollen die Opfer mehrfach den Ratschlag bekommen haben, sich von den Stellen fernzuhalten, wo sie belästigt worden seien.
„Manchmal ist der Ratschlag, bestimmte Plätze zu meiden, so falsch nicht. Aber das kann nicht die Lösung des Problems sein. Man kann potentiellen Opfern nicht die Verantwortung dafür übertragen, dass nichts passiert. Die Politik und die Sicherheitsorgane müssen sich auf andere Weise darauf vorbereiten, denn die Schuld liegt nicht bei den Opfern, sondern bei den Tätern.“, kommentiert Egg.
Mindestens fraglich ist auch, warum die Polizei angesichts der aus der Kontrolle geratenen Situation keine Verstärkung angefordert hatte. Polizeigewerkschafter Plickert bestätigt, dass es für die Silvesternacht Sofortverstärkungskräfte gegeben hätte, aber die hätten erst aus anderen Behörden angefordert werden müssen und wären zu spät gekommen, um an der Lage in Köln etwas ausrichten zu können. © REUTERS/ Wolfgang Rattay Kölner Silvesternacht: Schrecken vieler Frauen wird zu Schreck für Frau Merkel „Um 22:30 hat es eine Besprechung mit dem Polizeiführer und dem Führer der Bundespolizei gegeben und man hat gemerkt, es läuft aus dem Ruder, und sich dazu entschlossen, den Platz zu räumen. Zu dem Zeitpunkt hätte es keinen Sinn mehr gemacht, eine Hundertschaft anzufordern, denn sie wäre erst gegen 1 Uhr da gewesen. Um 23:25 hat man mit der Räumung begonnen und diese ist auch relativ unproblematisch verlaufen.“
Nun gelte es, unter anderem in dem Untersuchungsausschuss im Düsseldorfer Landtag, der bereits 49 Sitzungen hinter sich hat, bei denen Zeugen und Gutachter gehört werden, das Geschehene zu analysieren und die richtigen Schlüsse daraus zu ziehen.
„Wir werden uns zukünftig einsatzmäßig anders aufstellen. Es wird ein gemeinsames Sicherheitskonzept mit der Stadt geben. An solchen Plätzen gibt es eine Videoüberwachung und ich gehe davon aus, dass in solchen Tagen auch die Räume besser ausgeleuchtet werden. Letztes Silvester waren wir mit 130 Landespolizisten in Köln eingesetzt, dieses Jahr gehe ich davon aus, dass wir mit 1000 Polizisten präsent sein werden. Ich glaube, alle Bundesländer werden sich in der kommenden Silvesternacht kräftemäßig besser aufstellen, weil alle diese Szenarien von Köln vor Augen haben“, sagt Polizeigewerkschafter Arnold Plickert.
Ilona Pfeffer | 1real |
Assange says WikiLeaks not trying to influence U.S. election | LISBON (Reuters) - Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said on Tuesday the group’s publication of material linked to Hillary Clinton was not based on any desire to influence the U.S. election. “In recent months, WikiLeaks and I personally have come under enormous pressure to stop publishing what the Clinton campaign says about itself to itself,” Assange said in a statement released by his legal adviser at the Web Summit, a tech conference in Lisbon. “This is not due to a personal desire to influence the outcome of the election.” WikiLeaks has in the past few months published thousands of emails hacked from John Podesta, Democrat candidate Clinton’s campaign manager. Assange said Wikileaks had obtained no inside information about Republican candidate Donald Trump. “We cannot publish what we do not have,” he said. “We are seen as domain experts on Clinton archives. So it is natural that Clinton sources come to us,” Assange said. “No-one disputes the public importance of these publications,” he added. “It would be unconscionable for WikiLeaks to withhold such an archive from the public during an election.” Assange said WikiLeaks would continue to publish sensitive information regardless of who wins the U.S. election. “The Democratic and Republican candidates have both expressed hostility towards whistleblowers,” he said. Assange has been living in Ecuador’s London embassy since mid-2012. A few weeks ago Ecuador’s government acknowledged it had restricted his Internet access, arousing speculation it had been pressured by the United States because of the Clinton material. | 0fake |
Kansas governor withdraws from Syrian refugee program | (Reuters) - Kansas is withdrawing from plans to resettle Syrian refugees in the state after the federal government failed to provide security information on them, Republican Governor Sam Brownback said on Tuesday. Brownback said in a statement that he repeatedly asked the administration of President Barack Obama for documentation on the screening of refugees who would be relocated from Syria to Kansas. “Because the federal government has failed to provide adequate assurances regarding refugees it is settling in Kansas, we have no option but to end our cooperation with and participation in the federal refugee resettlement program,” Brownback said. Kansas has received a trickle of Syrian refugees. A family of three and two men have been resettled there in the past 15 months, a spokeswoman for Brownback said by email. Obama pledged last year that the United States would take in 10,000 people fleeing war-torn Syria, under pressure from European leaders who have been inundated with refugees. But the promise came under fire from Republicans concerned that violent militants could come into the United States posing as refugees. Despite opposition from some states, the United States remains committed to admitting the promised number of Syrian refugees in the current fiscal year, which ends in September, said a State Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity. The official said state governments can consult on the resettlement of refugees, but the program is administered by the federal government. “Decisions regarding the admissibility of refugees to the United States are made by the Department of Homeland Security after stringent security checks,” the official said, noting that some refugee records are confidential. Kevin Griffis, a spokesman for the federal Health and Human Services Department, said that “refugee resettlement will continue in Kansas, coordinated by non-profit organizations.” More than 30 governors attempted to block refugees from their states, but courts and attorneys general have said that it is up to the federal government to screen refugees and settle them. U.S. officials told a congressional panel in February that the country has tightened vetting of immigrants and refugees after attacks in California and Paris, and put on hold hundreds of applications from Syrian refugees. More than four million Syrians have fled their war-torn country, according to the United Nations, which calls it the biggest refugee population from a single conflict in a generation. Almost 2 million Syrian refugees are in Turkey and hundreds of thousands live in camps in Jordan, while others have flooded Greece, according to the U.N. | 0fake |
Trump sends letter to Vietnam's president to promote ties | HANOI (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has written to Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang to promote more cooperation between the two countries, the government website cited Quang as saying. Vietnam and the United States had advanced ties to a new level under the Obama administration amid a dispute with China over South China Sea issues, while Trump has also expressed his hope for a stronger relationship. Trump sent a letter to Quang “affirming his wishes to promote cooperation on economics, trade, regional and international issues”, the Vietnamese government website said. Quang made the remarks during a meeting with the U.S. ambassador to Vietnam on Friday. Quang emphasized that Vietnam welcomes U.S. efforts to improve cooperation with countries in the region to maintain the freedom of navigation and aviation. U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius was reported as saying that Trump is considering attending the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam this year. Vietnam had been expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal which Trump pulled the U.S. out of in January, but Hanoi has also been building links with the United States amid a maritime dispute with China. China claims most of the South China Sea, while Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei claim parts of the sea that commands strategic sea lanes and has rich fishing grounds along with oil and gas deposits. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc said last month he was ready to visit the United States to promote ties, particularly trade. | 0fake |
Putin warns North Korea situation on verge of 'large-scale conflict' | MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday that the standoff between North Korea and the United States was close to spilling into a large-scale conflict and said it was a mistake to try to pressure Pyongyang into halting its nuclear missile program. Putin, due to attend a summit of the BRICS nations in China next week, said the only way to de-escalate tensions was via talks, and Sergei Lavrov, his foreign minister, said Washington not Pyongyang should take the initiative on that. It is essential to resolve the region s problems through direct dialogue involving all sides without advancing any preconditions (for such talks), Putin, whose country shares a border with North Korea, wrote on the Kremlin s web site. Provocations, pressure, and bellicose and offensive rhetoric is the road to nowhere. The Russian leader, whose nuclear-capable bombers recently overflew the Korean Peninsula in a show of force, said the situation had deteriorated so badly that it was now balanced on the verge of a large-scale conflict. Pyongyang has been working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States and recently threatened to land missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. On Monday, North Korea, which sees joint war games between the United States and South Korea as preparations for invasion, raised the stakes by firing an intermediate-range missile over Japan. In Russia s opinion the calculation that it is possible to halt North Korea s nuclear missile programs exclusively by putting pressure on Pyongyang is erroneous and futile, Putin wrote. A road map formulated by Moscow and Beijing, which would involve North Korea halting its missile program in exchange for the United States and South Korea stopping large-scale war games, was a way to reduce tensions, wrote Putin. Lavrov, addressing students in Moscow, said he felt events were building towards a war which he said would cause large numbers of casualties in Japan and South Korea if it happened. If we want to avoid a war the first step must be taken by the side that is the more intelligent and stronger, said Lavrov, making clear he was referring to the United States. He said Russia was working behind the scenes and that Moscow knew that Washington had a back channel to Pyongyang which he said he hoped would allow the two sides to de-escalate. | 0fake |
WIKILEAKS ASSANGE NAILS Hillary’s Psychosis In Australian Interview In One Brilliant Tweet [Video] | She s really come undone in this latest interview Hillary Clinton became visibly irritated during an interview with Australian TV when she was asked about Wikileaks Assange.The interview with local Australian TV has several delusional moments that reveal her continued bitterness and downright psychosis when it comes to the 2016 election loss to Donald Trump. I think Assange has become a nihilistic opportunist who does the bidding of a dictator, Clinton said, apparently referring to Russia s Vladimir Putin.When the interviewer noted many people view Assange as a martyr for free speech and freedom of information. Clinton wasn t having it and shot back: I mean, he s a tool of Russian intelligence. If he s such a martyr for free speech, why doesn t WikiLeaks ever publish anything coming out of Russia? The interviewer then did something our American media never does. She challenged Clinton with this question: Isn t he just doing what journalists do which is publish information when they get it? HERE S WHERE HILLARY GOES OFF THE RAILS: I don t think so, Hillary snapped. I think for number one, it s stolen information, and number two, if all you did was publish it, that would be one thing, she asserted, before claiming there was a concerted operation between WikiLeaks and Russia and most likely, people in the United States to, as I say, weaponized that information. Hillary Clinton says Julian Assange is a tool of Russian intelligence .@HillaryClinton says @JulianAssange is a "tool of Russian intelligence". Watch the interview tonight on #4Corners. pic.twitter.com/htY89d7GVe 4corners (@4corners) October 15, 2017HERE S WHERE ASSANGE NAILS HILLARY:Assange came back at Clinton with a PERFECT description of her cold creepiness . He tweeted out that people should watch closely and see that there is something much darker than the lying and menacing glares : There s something wrong with Hillary Clinton. It is not just her constant lying, he tweeted. It is not just that she throws off menacing glares and seethes thwarted entitlement. Watch closely. Something much darker rides along with it. A cold creepiness rarely seen. The interviewer goes on to ask Hillary about Fox News:.@HillaryClinton says @FoxNews no longer a journalism outfit. pic.twitter.com/DUWM5WphCG 4corners (@4corners) October 16, 2017In more from the interview, it s clear Hillary needs some therapy. She claims that Jim Comey shivved her . That is a prison term for being murdered with a knife. What the heck made her use that term? Now that s REALLY creepy!She also lied AGAIN and said our voting systems were attacked: | 1real |
The Oakland Fire: Delving Into What Happened, and Why - The New York Times | OAKLAND, Calif. — A devastating fire. lives lost. A community reeling. Less than one week after a blaze ripped through a ramshackle warehouse known as the Ghost Ship, this shocked city is grappling with an array of questions about what precisely happened, many of them deeply troubling. To try to answer them, The New York Times is deploying a team of journalists across Oakland as part of an investigative reporting effort. We would typically reveal our findings in an article published at the end of our reporting. This time, though, we are doing something different: We are going to share regular updates on what we uncover as we do our reporting. We’ll tell you about the interviews that our journalists conduct, the documents we obtain and what we learn as we learn it — as part of our effort to piece this story together. We are also asking readers for help in tracking down information, and for suggestions on what issues related to the fire we should explore. Email oaklandfire@nytimes. com. • Could the city have done more to prevent the Ghost Ship fire? What did the city know about the violations at the warehouse? Did it follow up on citations? • What was the cause of the blaze? • What more can be learned about the owner and ? Who is ultimately responsible? • Should this tragedy result in more crackdowns on illegal housing in Oakland? • Who are the people living in spaces like the Ghost Ship? • Are there other places like it in Oakland, and why do people choose to live there? • What does this story tell us about gentrification in the city? • What does the fire mean for Oakland? Yamiche Alcindor is on the team of Times reporters looking into the aftermath of the fire. On Wednesday, I set off to find out more about Oakland’s fire inspection codes, which have become a major focus since the fire. Topping the list of people to contact was Zac Unger, vice president of Local 55, the Oakland firefighters union, who had told several news outlets that the Fire Department had suffered from mismanagement. After playing phone tag for part of the morning, Mr. Unger spoke with me for about half an hour and laid out what he said were years of problems in the department. Specifically, Mr. Unger said he had complained regularly to city officials, telling them that the city does not have enough fire inspectors and that its Fire Department lacks proper resources. Mr. Unger also said he had openly criticized Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed for going several years without having a fire marshal to oversee whether the city was inspecting the proper number of buildings and potentially hazardous spaces. “I said specifically the mismanagement of the Fire Department is going to lead to a tragedy and you need to do something about it now, and I am heartbroken to have been proven right and to have all of these people dead,” Mr. Unger said. Still, it is too early to say if city officials could have done more to prevent the fire. Officials have not said how many times fire inspectors visited the Ghost Ship to check for fire hazards, or if city code inspectors ever flagged the building as being used for something other than its zoned purpose. (I am awaiting a response from the fire chief and other city officials.) Sgt. Barry Donelan, the president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, said it was “ridiculous” to expect police officers responding to emergencies to also determine if the buildings they enter have dangerous living conditions. “My guys are trying to get out there and protect our community,” he said. “They are going to do their duties. But you can’t be effective in arrests and imposing building codes. That’s ludicrous. ” He added that in their reports, officers focus on crimes like robberies or domestic violence, and don’t scour residences for code violations. He said he wasn’t sure how many times officers had visited the Ghost Ship. The warehouse was run by a married couple, Derick Ion Almena — also known as Derick Ion — and Micah Allison, whom residents described as the “master tenants” who rented the building and sublet parts of it to others. The building was owned by Chor Nar Siu Ng, who also owns several other Oakland properties. Current and former tenants have told my colleagues that when Ms. Ng or her daughter came by, Mr. Almena and Ms. Allison told tenants to pack away bedding and cooking supplies. According to a 2014 report by an Alameda County grand jury that investigated the Oakland Fire Department’s efforts to inspect commercial buildings, fire inspections were usually “conducted on a basis and initiated” by the department. California law also mandates that commercial properties be inspected annually. But that same 2014 report found that 4, 000 buildings were not inspected because of “competing” priorities. According to its records, Oakland’s Planning and Building Department has not had an inspector inside the Ghost Ship in the last 30 years, Darin Ranelletti, the department’s interim director, said Wednesday. “That means that we had no applications for permits in the last 30 years and there were no violations that were submitted for interior work within the main building attributed to that street address,” he said. WHAT’S NEXT: What are the competing priorities that leave some 4, 000 buildings uninspected each year? What does the city’s inspection process look like? What are the fire and police protocols when firefighters or officers spot potentially dangerous living conditions? — YAMICHE ALCINDOR Thomas Fuller is the San Francisco bureau chief of The Times. No one answered the door at a building known as the Deathtrap, another warehouse inhabited by artists in West Oakland. Residents at many such collectives operating in the gray areas of the law are now very concerned about a crackdown. While I was taking stock of this building, which sits in a neighborhood of vacant lots, industrial workshops and a billboard announcing plans for a “luxury” development, a man pulled up in a battered black vehicle that resembled an El Camino. As soon as I announced that I was a reporter, he told me residents were planning to issue a statement soon. It’s a sign of how badgered by the media Oakland artists have been in recent days that an art collective known as the Deathtrap is pushing out a news release. “There are definitely concerns that this will lead to evictions,” said the man, a Deathtrap resident, refusing to give me his name. “Everyone is tense. ” But what about the safety of the people who live in these structures? “The warehouse scene in Oakland is very diverse,” he said. “To judge us all by the same standard would be a mistake. ” Oakland has always attracted artists, musicians and other performers to its postindustrial grittiness and sprawling landscape of warehouses. In recent years, the city has become even more of an artistic hub as economic refugees have crossed the Bay Bridge from unaffordable San Francisco. The Ghost Ship fire, for its loss of life, is sending panic through the art community here because of fears that such spaces could be shut down. Matt Hummel, a longtime member of Oakland’s artistic scene who at one point ran for City Council, spoke about these fears among artist collectives that, before the fire, openly advertised their locations and parties. “Everyone is scrubbing their Facebook feeds, going to Google and saying, ‘This place never existed,’” he said. “They are erasing everything. ” Artists, Mr. Hummel said, are communicating by Signal, an encrypted messaging system. While I was typing up this note in the back of my car, which was parked on Fruitvale Avenue, just a few steps from site of the Ghost Ship fire, Libby Schaaf, the Oakland mayor, called. Should artists be worried? “We have gone through an immense tragedy,” Ms. Schaaf replied, “but it would be another tragedy if we did not learn lessons from this and improve every system we have to improve the safety of our residents. ” In cracking down on fire standards, is there a risk of destroying the artistic community that the city wants to preserve? “I am born and raised in Oakland,” she said. “I can’t tell you what a personal commitment I have to preserving and lifting up that unique and creative energy that makes Oakland Oakland. ” There will be no “witch hunts,” she vowed. Mr. Hummel said he feared that landlords would use the fire to justify kicking out tenants, skirting the city’s considerable tenant protections to upgrade and get renters. Mr. Hummel, who used to live in a communal warehouse space, said he has been to many other artist spaces, and though they might not be up to code, they are not nearly as dangerous as the Ghost Ship, which residents say had a makeshift electrical system and timber artwork, wooden partitions and a wooden staircase — what proved to be a treacherous mix of combustible materials. Artist warehouses had gone five decades without a catastrophic fire like this, he pointed out. “The majority of these places are not an inferno waiting to happen,” he said. WHAT’S NEXT: Now I’m hoping to talk to more artists in Oakland to see their spaces. Safety, affordability and the intangible magic that allows art to flourish — can Oakland make all that work? We’d love to hear from readers about other places like the Ghost Ship. Email us at oaklandfire@nytimes. com. — THOMAS FULLER | 0fake |
California governor signs drug pricing transparency law | (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Monday signed state legislation requiring drug companies to report certain price hikes for prescription medicines in a move that could set a model for other states to follow. The law, which aims to provide more transparency around pharmaceutical and biotech company pricing methods for their medicines, requires drug manufacturers to give a 60-day notice if prices are raised more than 16 percent over a two-year period. The law also requires health plans and insurers to file annual reports outlining how drug costs affect healthcare premiums in California. “Californians have a right to know why their medication costs are out of control, especially when pharmaceutical profits are soaring,” Brown, a Democrat, said in a statement on his website announcing the new legislation. The bill has been opposed by drugmakers, who argue that wholesale price increases do not reflect the actual prices paid for medicines after discounts and rebates. Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), the leading biotech industry trade group, issued a statement condemning the bill and arguing that it would not serve its intended purpose. “This law will neither provide meaningful information to patients nor lower prescription drug costs,” the group said, adding that the law “seriously jeopardizes the future of California’s leadership in this innovative industry.” California is home to hundreds of biotechnology companies. Pharmaceutical companies have so far dodged stricter federal oversight despite growing public and political outrage over pricing practices for both branded and some generic medicines. But states, struggling to cover rising healthcare costs, have been addressing the issue rather than wait for federal help. At least 176 bills on pharmaceutical pricing and payment have been introduced this year in 36 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A new Maryland law takes aims at egregious price hikes on generic versions of older off-patent drugs that are supposed to be far cheaper than the original branded medicines after some companies took massive increases on generic drugs not facing competition from other distributors. Amid the furor some drugmakers, including Allergan Plc and AbbVie Inc, have voluntarily pledged one annual price increase of under 10 percent on branded prescription medicines. It had been common industry practice to raise prices twice a year, often by double-digit percentages. However, even annual price hikes of 9 percent over a two-year period would put a company in the crosshairs of the new California legislation. | 0fake |
OBAMA PUTS AMERICANS IN GRAVE DANGER With New Plan To Close GITMO And Move Prisoners To U.S. | Well, we ve known this was coming even with opposition to close GITMO Obama has wanted to close GITMO since elected and has pushed for it repeatedly. Recently, he s been releasing prisoners at a fast pace not good because 30% of those released rejoin the jihadi cause of terrorism. Yes, out president is putting his desire to fulfill a campaign promise over the safety of the American people.The Pentagon is expected to submit to Congress Tuesday President Barack Obama s plan to shutter the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay.The president, who campaigned in 2009 to shut down the U.S. naval facility in Cuba, is hoping to make good on his promise, which is sure to ignite a partisan battle on Capitol Hill.Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis said the Obama administration will meet the Tuesday deadline for sending Congress a proposal for closing the facility, which still houses 91 detainees. The plan is to submit to Congress what our thoughts are on the issue and what we see is a way ahead necessary to achieve the closure of Guantanamo and to specifically point out the need for legislative relief, Davis told The Hill.According to Davis, the White House s plan is to transfer away as many detainees, and bring the remainder to the U.S., a step that is opposed by many in Congress, particularly within the Republican Party.For many years, lawmakers have banned any transfer of detainees into the United States. In addition, they have placed restrictions on transfers to other countries, insisting that Gitmo detainees pose a threat to national security.However, some in Congress, including Arizona Sen. John McCain (R), have said they are open to the possibility of bringing detainees into the U.S. as long as the president submits a plan by Feb. 23.The Pentagon began its search for U.S. sites where detainees could be held. Those locations include federal facilities in Colorado, South Carolina and Kansas.Other lawmakers, though, are opposed to the plan. Today s news reports indicate that the president is doubling down on a dangerous plan to close Guantanamo a move that I will continue to fight in the Senate, Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said Monday in a statement.Congressional approval is likely the only way in which Obama could achieve his goal of closing the Cuban facility.Read more: The Blaze | 1real |
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