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Berkeley College Republicans Call Bullsh*t on Free Speech Celebrations | We Are Change
On the 50th anniversary of the Free Speech Movement, its hypocrisy is exposed
November 2013 : Berkeley student government unanimously passes a bill to ban the term “illegal alien” from campus discourse.
September 2013 : After several Mexican-American members of the campus fraternity Delta Chi suggest hosting a quinceanera-themed party, the student government condemns the frat for “appropriating the culture” of Mexican-Americans.
December 2012 : Citing their “disapproval” of the viewpoints espoused by the second largest charity in the Unites States, the Berkeley student government passes a bill to boot Salvation Army donation boxes from campus, arguing the charity’s presence on campus creates a hostile and uncomfortable environment.
September 2011 : Berkeley’s student government unanimously passes a bill condemning disrespectful speech.
And on Friday, as UC Berkeley students and faculty wrapped up a week-long celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of its Free Speech Movement, the UC Berkeley College Republicans illustrated to our peers how the university has actually turned its back on the First Amendment.
To that end, club members stood in front of Sproul Hall holding a large banner that read “Free Speech [does not equal] Comfortable Speech” – and it got students’ attention, as the positive platitudes they’d heard all week about the movement were vehemently challenged.
According to the Berkeley College Republicans, the true essence of the Free Speech Movement has been lost in recent decades. The ideals of the movement have been discarded, replaced with notions such as tolerance and civility.
In the 1960s, students broke out from within the constraints of the status quo. They said the things parents and professors and peers were telling them not to. Today, and especially on the Berkeley campus, conservative students are the ones taking a stand, and yet we’re maligned and ostracized for it.
In the aftermath of the Berkeley College Republicans’ 2011 “Diversity Bake Sale,” the student government attempted to have the club de-funded due to the argument that the speech the club engaged in was disrespectful and uncomfortable.
Free speech, huh?
Our display on Friday intended to bring to light the many breaches of free speech that have taken place on campus, sponsored by organizations such as the student-body government at UC Berkeley.
Alongside the banner, club members passed out fliers containing a list of incidents in which campus leaders limited various students’ right to exercise their personal liberties.
The flier also attacked the campus for its recent movement to discontinue the exchange of academe between the UC system and Israeli universities, another example of UC Berkeley silencing any communication and discourse that may offend or upset some individuals.
There is a strange perversion of free speech taking place on this campus. It’s perfectly acceptable to occupy campus buildings and create pinatas out of the UC president’s image, but that’s only because the individuals in question fall under one school of thought. As soon as someone different comes along, and stirs the pot, they’re pointedly silenced.
Throughout the day, our club passed out hundreds of fliers and displayed our sign from the morning until late into the afternoon. Students came up and asked questions, and many seemed interested in the cause. Others were shocked to learn about the many times their campus – the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement – had overtly suppressed open dialogue.
“The people I talked to seemed to agree with the point our message was trying to get across,” said Edward Saenz, a member of the Berkeley College Republicans. “No one I talked to believed that free speech should have stipulations tied to it.”
College Fix contributor Claire Chiara is a student at UC Berkeley and president of the Berkeley College Republicans.
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IMAGES: Courtesy of Berkeley College Republicans
RELATED:
Student protesters at the University of California-Berkeley gathered in front of a bridge on campus and forcibly prevented white people from crossing it. Students of color were allowed to pass.
The massive human wall was conceived as a pro-safe space demonstration. Activists wanted the university administration to designate additional safe spaces for trans students, gay students, and students of color. They were apparently incensed that one of their official safe spaces had been moved from the fifth floor of a building to the basement.
According to video footage of the protest, demonstrators blocked off the bridge completely. Students who needed to get to class had no choice but to cross the stream by jumping from rock to rock. Dozens of people can be seen doing so.
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Guy Fawkes, The Gun Powder Plot & How False Flags Have Shaped History | We Are Change
Remember, remember, the 5th of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
-Old English folk rhyme (anonymous)
By Barrie Zwicker (Special thanks to Truth and Shadows )
Today, November 5 th , is Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Gunpowder Day. In 2016 it’s the 411 th anniversary of The Gunpowder Plot or Gunpowder Treason, as it was first called.
It also happens to be my 78 th birthday. So I’ve been more aware of Guy Fawkes Day than most. I’m especially happy about how ubiquitous the Guy Fawkes mask has become.
The mask was hugely popularized in the movie V for Vendetta . As stalwart 9/11Truther Kevin Barrett wrote, a year ago, in a piece entitled “ Unmasking Media Lies: Why BBC’s V-for-Vendetta Mask Piece is Fawked Up ”:
“V for Vendetta may be the most revolutionary film ever made. Its obvious message is: Let’s get out there and visit some rough justice on the treasonous bastards who created the 9/11 and 7/7 media spectaculars, and destroyed the freedoms for which we’ve been fighting for centuries.
Watch (on YouTube) V for 9/11 Vendetta: Past, Present and Future
It is also possible to read the film from an interior, psychological perspective: Rather than just a call to action, it’s about the psychological process of coming to terms with the 9/11 and 7/7 inside jobs, by allowing oneself to feel the overwhelming anger that is the natural response. Once one has faced the facts, overcome fear, and come to terms with one’s own righteous anger, THEN it’s time for revolution.
The real message of the V mask is simple: We know you bastards blew up the Trade Center. We know you’re blowing up the economy. We know you’re lying to us 24/7/365. We know you’re trying to keep us poor and weak and fearful and impotent. Well, guess what? We’re not afraid of you. We’re not afraid to die. And we’re coming to get you.
No wonder the BBC is afraid to admit what the V mask really means.”
Yet for the first 71 years of my life I had entirely the wrong idea about the gunpowder plot: what happened, who was really behind it, and its impact on history. An impact that continues to this day. It was in 2005 that I read I read Webster Tarpley’s superb book 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA right after it came off the press. He introduced me to the historical element.
True, the brazen events of 9/11 and the mind-boggling cover-up that followed opened my eyes to state-executed terror frauds and the power they deliver to the dark forces that order them. But I didn’t know from nuthin’ about the Gunpowder Plot.
Nor at that time did I appreciate that it and 9/11 are but two examples from thousands of false flag operations that have changed history.
False flag ops are the least-recognized, highest-impact category of human deceit. In terms of emotional wallop, even the most brilliant lies perpetrated by the most talented demagogues pale, in comparison to a big false flag op, for the power to manipulate the public. On this anniversary let’s look more closely at this particular false flag op for some lessons. As William Faulkner put it in his Requiem for a Nun : “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” Then we will touch briefly on one of the most recent false flag ops – a leading edge digital one that perversely misappropriates the Fawkes name.
…
On the Throne of England in 1605 sits James the First, a Protestant, the King who ordered the translation of the Christian Bible that bears his name.
As midnight approaches on November the 4th – the eve of the traditional opening of Parliament – armed agents of the King raid a basement room of the Houses of Parliament. They discover and apprehend one Guy Fawkes. His age, 36, coincides with the number of barrels of gunpowder they find with him. They find a tunnel leading to the room. Fawkes is a known agitator for the rights of English Roman Catholics. In his possession are a pocket watch (a rarity in those days).
Had he succeeded in detonating the gunpowder, the next morning King James and his queen would be mangled bodies, as would all the members of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Smoking rubble would be all that would remain of the Palace of Westminster complex, including historic Westminster Abbey.
So goes the palace version of the events of the late evening of November the 4 th , 1605. The English public is stunned. It’s the equivalent of 9/11. “A cataclysm,” Adam Nicolson describes it in his book God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible . Upon his arrest, according to the official account, Fawkes admits his purpose was to destroy king and Parliament.
That there was some kind of plot is not in doubt. By November the 8 th , on the rack, Fawkes names 12 co-conspirators. Those not killed where they are tracked down are found guilty of treason later in a trial lasting less than a day. They and Fawkes are hanged, drawn and quartered.
The following Sunday, November the 10 th, the King James Version of the plot is broadcast from the leading pulpit of the Church of England, that of William Barlow, Bishop of Rochester. Barlow thunders that the enemy, meaning papists, is satanic in its wickedness. The King, their hoped-for victim, on the other hand is, Mr. Nicolson writes, characterized as an unqualifiedly good man . . . virtually a Christ-figure.
Soon all the pulpits of England echo the official account. Between 1606 and 1859 the Fifth is remembered in an annual service of thanksgiving in every Anglican church, writes James Sharpe in Remember, Remember: A Cultural History of Guy Fawkes Day. Until 1959 , it was against the law in Britain not to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day. Celebrate, because from the beginning the public was giving thanks that the realm was saved and the treasonous conspirators dispatched. For centuries effigies of Fawkes were burned.
The palace version becomes historical truth for humankind including me – duped again! – for most of our lives.
Mr. Nicolson and others now cast serious doubt on that version. Many anomalies concerning the events have surfaced.
Fawkes was not apprehended in a basement room but rather a ground floor room, one remarkably easily rented by the plotters. There was, accordingly, no tunnel. The authorship of the letter by which the King learned of the plot is murky. It was turned over to the King by the Royal Chancellor, Sir Robert Cecil, the Earl of Salisbury.
Sir Cecil I would characterize as the Dick Cheney of his day. Because plots were common at that time Cecil had an efficient network of spies seeded among Roman Catholic dissidents. He kept tabs on all plots the spies discovered. This one featured a large cast of characters from several cities.
Cecil kept the King in the dark about the plot except for the obscure letter. The gunpowder, it turned out, was of an inferior nature, unlikely to have achieved much result. This was odd, as Fawkes definitely knew a thing or two about gunpowder. He had developed expertise with it while serving with distinction in Spain’s army against Protestant rebels in the Netherlands. It’s conceivable the gunpowder could have been switched by someone; loads of it existed because of all the hostilities. Some handwriting on Fawkes’s confession differed from the rest.
Ignored until recently is a book by Jesuit historian John Gerard, What Was the Gunpowder Plot: The Traditional Story Tested by Original Evidence . Gerard died in 1606 but his book was not published for almost three centuries, in1897, an interesting temporal fact in itself. While it’s true, as Sharpe writes, that accounts of the plot differ as per the biases of the authors, I find Gerard’s account pretty compelling. He writes:
“When we examine into the details supplied to us as to the progress of the affair, we find that much of what the conspirators are said to have done is well-nigh incredible, while it is utterly impossible that if they really acted in the manner described, the public authorities should not have had full knowledge…”
Exactly. The evidence points to a particular kind of false-flag operation. There are many variations. In some (9/11 being the leading example) an outrageous event is carried out by the perpetrators and blamed on the chosen enemy. In others (example, Gulf of Tonkin) nothing happens but a fiction blames the chosen enemy. The Gunpowder Plot is midway: a plot was underway but the precise intentions of the plotters can never be known. The main feature is that, with or without taking a hand in the plot, the Cecil elements manipulated events brilliantly.
Cecil was heavily involved in an influential London group known as “the war party.” It wanted to push James into a confrontation with the Spanish Empire, from which the group’s members hoped, among other things, to extract great personal profit.
The war party considered it politically vital to keep persecuting Roman Catholics. Sir Cecil set out, writes Tarpley, to sway James to adopt his policy by means of terrorism.
It amounts to this: Either Cecil and the war party made the Gunpowder Plot happen or they let it happen –and made sure of a brilliantly timed “exposé.” And if they let it happen they made it happen.
James himself had negotiated peace with Spain the previous year. His other advisors told him there was no chance of a general Catholic uprising and that no foreign Catholic powers were involved in the plot.
The King knew, Sharpe writes, that “the reality of Catholicism in England around 1600 was very different from the image conjured up in government propaganda and contemporary Protestant myth.” Sharpe again: “…even in the face of … persecution it seems that most of England’s Catholics remained loyal to their monarch and wanted nothing more than to be allowed to practice their faith unmolested.” (The parallel with most Muslims living in the UK and Canada today springs to mind.)
For his part, James downplayed the plot. “James and his ministers,” Sharpe writes, “showed more restraint than many modern regimes faced with similar problems.”
Nevertheless, the power of the imagery of what might have happened burned itself into the public’s psyche, and was repeatedly fanned by the Protestant and war promoting establishments.
The outcomes of this ongoing propaganda campaign are incontestable. Tolerance for English Roman Catholics is replaced by a period of terrible bloodletting for them. Numbers are killed. Catholics’ homes are burned. A string of laws is passed restricting their rights and liberties.
The English become “fixated on homeland security,“ Nicolson writes. An inclusive, irenic idea of mutual benefit between Spain and England – trade between the two countries, because of the peace treaty, had been growing –“is replaced in England by a defensive/aggressive complex.” All Catholics, of all shades, never mind their enthusiasm or not for the planned attack, are identified as the enemy.
Most significantly, war with Spain ensues. England’s course is set for a century of wars against the Spanish and Portuguese empires. England for various reasons comes out victorious and on these war victories the British Empire is founded in blood, deception and conquest.
…
There’s no way of knowing whether the British Empire – and all the consequences of its rule from Capetown to Canada to Iraq to its American colonies — would have emerged anyway or in what form or at what pace, but we can see in retrospect that the Gunpowder Plot was pivotal in what did transpire.
It would be a failure of imagination not to see the parallels with 9/11 and society in our day of blanket war propaganda, teeming with covert agents, ever-encroaching surveillance, ever decreasing civil rights and liberties, and either helpless or conniving leaders.
Let’s look at false flag ops generically. It’s difficult in my opinion to over-estimate their terrible place in history, and their place in making history terrible. Think of the wars and millions of deaths that followed the Gunpowder Plot, the sinking of the Maine in Havana Harbour in 1898 that kick-started the US Empire’s expansion to the Philippines and beyond, the sinking of the Lusitania that brought the USA into World War I, the torching of the German Reichstag that boosted Hitler to power and enabled his bloody grab for world domination, the assassination of John F. Kennedy that yanked U.S. foreign policy onto a warpath, the alleged attacks during LBJ’s presidency the next year by North Vietnamese torpedo boats on U.S. warships in the Gulf of Tonkin — attacks that simply did not take place but that provided the basis for the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, passed 88-2 in the US Senate. That resolution constituted the “legal” basis for escalating the Vietnam War with an eventual death toll of more than 3-million. And 9/11. To name a few.
Without false flag ops most wars would be harder to launch. Some would barely be possible. Think of the unprecedented millions of peace marchers who took to the streets prior to the invasion of Iraq. If the deceptions are used to justify such wars were exposed earlier by a skeptical, independent, ferociously investigative media, we all would be living in a different world. Millions of horrible deaths and all the accompanying grief could have been avoided. And the military would have to put on bake sales to raise funds.
There always has been a yearning for peace among the normal everyday citizenry: finding meaningful work, marrying and raising a family, tilling the soil, writing poetry, inventing things, or — as Pierre Berton said was his favourite thing – “getting smashed with your friends.”
There are exceptions, but the horrible norm is that for wars to be launched, maintained or expanded the people have to be fooled. And history proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the most surefire way to accomplish that is to lumber them with an iconic outrage allegedly perpetrated by the designated “enemy” of the day. And we go on sinking ever further into the mire of deaths – the deaths of innocents, the death of promise for a better future, the death of honest history, the death of coming to grips with reality – because each new false flag op draws power from the fictions planted about all the previous ones.
And so the elites continue to hide their four aces in a rigged game. Their most closely guarded secret retains the potency of the first one. Remember, remember, the 5 th of November, the 11 th of September, Faulkner, and George Santayana’s comment that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
But today we also have to remember the future. Added to the false flag ops, false flag agents and false flag organizations of old are false flag digital organisms, sent to infect particular publics. One of the most recent of which I’ve become aware is a rogue individual or group identified as ” This tricky entity “FawkesSecurity” on Monday, October 22, released via YouTube and Pastebin a bomb threat against an unidentified U.S. Government building.
I for one smell digital gunpowder.
“FawkesSecurity” claims to be associated with the Anonymous collective. The threat of violence, however, goes against everything Anonymous says it stands for. Sources at Anonymous are denouncing “FawkesSecurity” and its bomb threat.
A report on this , from which I am quoting, can be found at Examiner.com
Following is an excerpt from the message of “FawkesSecurity:”
Dear citizens of the world, ? We are anonymous. As of today 200 kilograms of composite Nitroglycerin and commercial explosives have effectively been concealed in a government building, situated in the united states of America. on the 5th of November 2012 … ? we are anonymous ? we are legion ? we do not forget ? we do not forgive ? on the 5th of November, you will expect us.
As the Examiner report says, “the video displays many of the standard trappings of associated with Anonymous [and yet] the threat of violence is completely out of step with the ethos that guides Anonymous.” The Examiner report adds:
“Multiple social media accounts have denounced FawkesSecurity and their bomb threat. Many speculate FawkesSecurity is a false flag operation conducted by government agents in an attempt to discredit Anonymous. Others speculate that FawkesSecurity is simply misguided, and unfamiliar with the bullet proof idea that is Anonymous.”
Whatever the case, those who wrote the text above can’t punctuate or capitalize worth a damn.
The digital and physical worlds are not separate. Agents of the state infest both. Although unlikely, if the threat by “FawkesSecurity” were to be carried out today, one outcome could be to seriously besmirch Anonymous. (The question of whether Anonymous itself might be a false flag op, or is, or could be infiltrated or otherwise manipulated, is one to be asked and answered further down the rabbit hole. Such is the ultra-elusive nature of “reality” today.)
We’ve come a long way from 1605 technically, but the general scheme is the same: deception rides high, wide and ugly.
Segments of this post were originally published in an op ed page piece the author had published on November 5 th , 2005 in The Globe and Mail; others come from notes for a talk given by the author in London, Ontario November 5 th , 2011.
The post Guy Fawkes, The Gun Powder Plot & How False Flags Have Shaped History appeared first on We Are Change .
| 1real |
More Than Coffee: New York’s Vanishing Diner Culture - The New York Times | For the past 25 years — since the divorce — I’ve lived a good part of my life in diners. Without them I might be slimmer, but also crazier and more unhappy. Judging by the crowds at the Metro Diner, on 100th Street and Broadway, my current haunt, I suspect that other New Yorkers feel the same way. To say that the Metro has become my second home would be too vague and sentimental. Better to use the sociological term “the third place” (home and work being the first two) or to quote Robert Frost, the place “where, when you have to go They have to take you in. ” American coffee shops, like English pubs, Viennese coffee houses and Greek kaffenions, tend to engender klatches, informal clubs. At the old Key West Diner on 94th Street and Broadway, now known as the Manhattan Diner, the laughter of the comedian Anne Meara and her friends used to fill the room. And where would the sitcom classic “Seinfeld,” the idea of which was conceived in a coffee shop, have been without the regular scenes at Monk’s Café? The best days of the New York City diner, however, appear to be over. Among the 2016 casualties were the Lyric Diner in Gramercy and the Del Rio in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, while La Parisienne near Columbus Circle and the Market Diner in Hell’s Kitchen closed in 2015. Then there was Cafe Edison, a coffee shop that shut in 2014 to much sadness in the Broadway community. Manhattan has certainly seen more diner closings than other boroughs. That said, with rising costs in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, classic diners like the Neptune and Bel Aire, both in Astoria, Queens, could soon be under threat. In Downtown Brooklyn, the building that has housed the original Junior’s Restaurant since 1950 was almost sold. But after considering several offers, the owner Alan Rosen decided that the community still needed cheesecake more than luxury . Urban renewal, astronomical rents, changing eating habits and the preponderance of coffee places like Starbucks have all contributed to the demise of the New York diner. There are roughly half as many as there were 20 years ago, according to records from the health department. Losing New York diner culture would probably be a watershed in the city’s history. How will New Yorkers get along without these antidotes to urban loneliness? “The coffee shop orients us here, in this city and not another,” Jeremiah Moss, of the blog Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York, said. “If we are regulars, we become known, connected, to a network of people who remain over the span of years, even decades. In the anonymous city, these ties can be lifesavers, especially for the elderly, the poor, the marginal, but also for all of us. Without them, the city becomes evermore fragmented, disorienting and unrecognizable. ” The Metro is a treasure trove of local history. It is in one of the few buildings left in Manhattan. Built by the grocer Henry Grimm in 1871, it was bought in 1894 by the brewer Peter Doelger. He turned the ground floor into a restaurant and saloon, with families entering through the back while gentlemen drank beer in the front. (Around the same time, Mr. Doelger’s cousin Matilda married a prizefighter, John West, whose daughter Mae — yes, the Mae West — may have picked up some of her unconventional performance style from hanging around the Doelger bar.) Over the course of its existence, the Grimm building also housed a milliner’s shop, a tearoom and, in the 1950s, the rehearsal studio and offices of the Living Theater. The sociologist Ray Oldenburg, in “The Great Good Place,” a book about diners and taverns, suggests that the past is an essential element of all third places, which are usually in older sections of cities, and in those areas “exists the fading image of the city itself and the kind of human interaction, the easy and interesting mixing of strangers that made the city what it was. ” But not only what it was. One of the charms of the Metro, and of many other diners in the city, is that the employees’ backgrounds are as varied as the languages spoken by the tourists who have found their way here. Costa Rica, Ecuador, Greece, Mexico, Poland, Romania — these are just a few of the countries where staff members come from. Together they constitute a microcosm of the immigrant groups that continue to arrive in New York — who not only made the city what it was, but the best of what it is and could be. My first diner nesting place was Harvey’s Coffee Shop on 78th and Broadway, in Manhattan, where I would order matzo ball soup and a Coke after seeing my therapist across the street. Harvey was known for his Puerto Rican countermen and for serving deliciously seasoned chopped meat on white bread. After Harvey’s closed, I moved to the Utopia on 73rd and Amsterdam, a venerable place with a low ceiling, murals and waiters who seemed to never age. As my thighs outgrew the narrow booths, I moved to the Central Park at 97th and Columbus. In the 1990s, the Cafe replaced Mikell’s, a beloved jazz and club. This was the liveliest of my hangouts. Every morning a group of retired men in baseball caps, along with a spirited Jayne Mansfield heckled one another and batted sports statistics back and forth for hours. The music of their banter was pure Bach counterpoint. After the Cafe succumbed in 2005, I spent months looking for my next “third place. ” Diner regulars can be particular. The ambience has to be friendly but not intrusive, the sound level low but not funereal, the smell a little greasy but not cloying, and the décor more utilitarian than fussy. I eventually settled in at the Metro. Among diners, the Metro is quietly sophisticated. The décor is Art Deco, the booths spacious. There is a generous, though tasteful, use of diner decorator staples like vinyl, Formica and chrome. Politicians, including former Gov. David A. Paterson of New York and the city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, have been spotted in the booths. The hostess, Jenny Bello, wears outfits that could rival the wardrobe collection from studios in the 1950s. Fanis Tsiamtsiouris, known as Frank, and Fotios Hilas own the Metro along with three other diners. They calculated that the Metro poured about 700 cups of coffee, made 150 hamburgers and used over 1, 200 eggs every day. The place opened in 1989, when Mr. Tsiamtsiouris consolidated five stores, among them a kosher butcher, a copy store and a restaurant. Though diners are sometimes bought by other enterprising immigrants, many of the surviving ones are still owned by . Historians differ on how and when Greek immigrants got into the business, but they agree that a growth spurt occurred right after World War II. Their story is a classic American one that combines entrepreneurs putting in long hours, families helping one another and informal associations creating a safety net of connections. “When my family came over in 1967, we had an $8, 000 debt to pay, so we all went to work,” Mr. Tsiamtsiouris said. “So first I was a cleanup guy, then busboy, then a waiter, then a manager. ” He had one uncle in the business when he started out, he recalled, and he met many other owners through Pan Gregorian, a food industry cooperative. In the back of the Metro’s long room, the area is set up with small tables for regulars like me who linger over breakfast. Rosa and Dumitra, Diana and John, and Enid and Fabiano know what we’re going to order, but pretend to let us decide. For years the unofficial queen of the Metro was Batyah Hyman, also known as Betty, a beautiful, Swedish and South African woman who sat at the head of the room. I don’t remember how we drifted into conversation — probably a political issue that we disagreed about. Somehow we sensed that we could be friends, or at least “affiliated,” the way Mr. Oldenburg, the sociologist, described friendship among regulars at a place like the Metro. She lives around the corner, but Ms. Hyman no longer eats breakfast at the Metro. She drops by from time to time, and the waitress Rosa Soto babysits her grandchildren. Nobody has dared to claim her table. A few years ago, one of my oldest friends, the political scientist and philosopher Marshall Berman, died in the Metro. An eloquent writer about New York neighborhoods, I think he would have appreciated his heart’s choice of where to expire. | 0fake |
Man whose firm was behind Trump dossier won't testify to Senate: lawyer | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The co-founder of the firm that commissioned a dossier on Donald Trump during the presidential campaign last year is on vacation and will not testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Russia probe next week, his lawyers said in a letter released on Friday. Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS is on vacation through July 31 and will be traveling abroad through Aug. 3, his attorneys said in the letter, adding that they were “profoundly disturbed” that the hearing had been expanded due to “partisan agendas” to include allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election and possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Donald Trump Jr. and President Donald Trump’s one-time campaign manager Paul Manafort were due to testify on the same day as Simpson. His attorneys asked that Simpson be excused from appearing, adding that allegations he had failed to register as a foreign agent were “nothing more than an effort to smear him.” | 0fake |
Chinese may become Russia’s second largest ethnic population by 2050 | Russia & India Report | Chinese may become Russia’s second largest ethnic population by 2050 26 October 2016 TASS The number of unemployed people in China is more than the entire Russian population. Facebook russia , china , migration
Experts predict a possible growth in the migration flow from China into Russia, by 2050 the Chinese may become the second largest population group in Russia, Scientific Director of the Center for Migration Research of the Institute of National Economic Prediction of Russia’s Academy of Science Zhanna Zayonchkovskaya said.
"The number of unemployed people in China is more than the entire Russian population," she noted at an international conference at the North Caucasus Federal University in the Russian city of Stavropol, dubbed as "Migration processes.""If we maintain solid relations with China then I think by 2050 the Chinese may become the second largest population group in Russia and surpass the Central Asian populace as far as migration goes," the expert said.
Zayonchkovskaya said the reason for this process was that after 2030 the migrant inflow from Central Asian countries would decline as a large part of young people had already left these countries to work or study in the neighboring states.
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are the main countries whose citizens come to Russia, Ukrainians migrate in large numbers, too. "If we think of other countries from where migrant labor can be obtained, I can think of none other than China," Zayonchkovskaya noted, emphasizing that "Russia will need foreign workers to ensure its economic development."
According to the expert, the changes in the pension legislation would not balance the situation given the decrease in the working-age population. "Raising the retirement age will neither level out the demographic waves, nor will it solve the labor shortage problem, as it only solves the problem of the Pension Fund, though the demographic situation still remains problematic," Zayonchkovskaya added noting that according to the Federal Migration Service, the international migration flow into Russia in 2015 had amounted in 9.8 mln people.
First published by TASS . | 1real |
Ted Cruz Gets OWNED By Fox Host For Whining About Tough Questions (VIDEO) | Ted Cruz just got his ass handed to him by a Fox News host on national television for whining about hard questions.During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace grilled the Texas Senator over the dirty tricks his campaign has perpetrated since the Iowa Primary in apparently desperate attempts to smear candidates and steak votes from them. Your campaign has been involved in a series of incidents that people are calling dirty tricks. In Iowa, the Cruz campaign sent out tweets saying Ben Carson was suspending his campaign. That was false. The campaign put out fliers accusing people of voting violations, that was false. In South Carolina, a Cruz super PAC attacked Trump over the Confederate flag. And your then-communications director posted a link this week accusing Rubio of disrespecting the Bible. That was false. Do you take personal responsibility this was your campaign except for the super PAC do you take personal responsibility for this series of incidents? And what does it say about the culture of the campaign you are running? Cruz not only failed to take personal responsibility for his campaign s actions, he called Wallace a liar and accused him of being a Donald Trump pawn. Every accusation you raised there is incorrect, Cruz replied. I appreciate your reading the Donald Trump attack file on that. And that did NOT sit well with Wallace at all, and he proceeded to take Cruz to the woodshed for it.WALLACE: Oh, come on, sir. Wait a minute, sir. You personally apologized to Ben Carson on a debate stage. CRUZ: Chris, don t interrupt me. WALLACE: You fired your communications director. CRUZ: Chris, don t interrupt me. WALLACE: Don t say this in an oppo file on our part, sir. CRUZ: Chris, please don t interrupt me. WALLACE: Please don t accuse me of something I didn t do. CRUZ: Let me know when I m allowed to answer. WALLACE: Well, don t accuse me of doing something I didn t do. Two of those things, you apologized for one and you fired your communications director. Don t say this is the oppo file. After his ass-whooping by Wallace, Cruz went on to unbelievably claim that his campaign is running at the highest level of integrity, completely unfazed by the facts presented by Wallace to his face.Here s the video via YouTube.This is the perfect example of Ted Cruz saying and doing anything to be president. Rather than explain himself and accept personal responsibility, Cruz flat out lied to Wallace and pretended his campaign has never done anything wrong. And then he complained about the line of questioning and claimed they were part of a Donald Trump-approved attack line.Ted Cruz definitely could have handled this better, but now all he has is egg on his face.Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
WATCH: CNN Host Calls Out Trump Supporter For Urging People To Grab Their Guns If Trump Loses | This election is already the nastiest one on record in American political history. The aftermath could end up being the bloodiest if Trump supporters follow through on their threats. If she s in office, I hope we can start a coup, Trump supporter Dan Bowman declared at a rally earlier this month. She should be in prison or shot. That s how I feel about it. We re going to have a revolution and take them out of office if that s what it takes. There s going to be a lot of bloodshed. But that s what it s going to take I would do whatever I can for my country. Bowman is not alone either. Many Trump supporters are simply waiting for Trump to give the word on Election Day, like this person who aimed a gun at Hillary while she was on television during the debate.This all stems from Trump s assertion that the election is rigged for Hillary Clinton and that Second Amendment people should do something to stop her.And right-wing radio hosts like Joe Walsh are only throwing gas on the fire. November 8th, I m voting for Trump, the disgraced former Tea Party lawmaker wrote on Twitter before adding, On November 9th, if Trump loses, I m grabbing my musket. You in? On November 8th, I m voting for Trump.On November 9th, if Trump loses, I m grabbing my musket.You in? Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) October 26, 2016During an interview with CNN on Friday, Walsh claimed that he was merely calling for civil disobedience. If I wanted people to take up arms, why would I recommend people take up an antique like a musket? Walsh told Chris Cuomo. I mean, seriously, in 2016 I want people to go out and find a musket, grab their musket? That s just silly. But that doesn t explain why he said everyone should grab their guns if Trump loses. A musket is, in fact, a gun and definitely implies that people should grab their guns.In fact, Walsh doesn t even care if Trump loses fair and square, he still wants people to revolt against the government with their guns. If she wins fair and square, then the anger that a lot of Americans have toward our political system and she s part of that we ve got to double down and triple down and do whatever we can to defend our freedom. That phrase, grab your musket, is a phrase I ve used probably a hundred times in the last two or three years. Cuomo didn t let Walsh get away with trying to spin his own words, however. The CNN host reminded Walsh of another tweet he posted in the wake of the killing of police officers in Dallas. Words matter, context matters, Cuomo pointed out. You say, This is now war, watch out Obama, watch out Black Lives Matter punks, real America s coming after you. You only take this one way you take it provocatively. Trump is the master of this, and you have to now argue whether that s a good thing or a bad thing. You tell me why it s good. Walsh then dropped his civil disobedience spin and went straight to talking about grabbing guns and going to war against the federal government, which would be treason. Look, when I say, grab your musket, man, and let s go to war if Hillary wins, the Republican Party s going to be in our sights. Because all these people are pissed off again at what we believe, Chris, is a corrupt political system. Here s the video via Twitter.Former Rep. Joe Walsh: When I said grab your musket if Trump loses, I meant we need to defend our freedom https://t.co/lgJho3xleM CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) October 28, 2016Trump supporters are dangerous threats to public safety and our democracy. This nation s government needs to be prepared for the strong possibility that right-wing nuts will attempt a bloody coup or commit acts of violence wherever they are in the country in retaliation of a Hillary victory. That means President Obama should put the military and National Guard on standby. If these idiots want a war, let s see how they do against professionals who have actually been in one.Featured Image: Screenshot | 1real |
WATCH OBAMA Admit To Rigged Elections In 2008: “Whenever people are in power, they have this tendency to try to tilt things in their direction.” [Video] | Obama is a scoundrel he ll say anything to stay in power. He s counting on the American people to believe his total bs story about election fraud when in 2008 he spoke of fraud. It s pretty funny that now he s claiming Trump s remarks are dangerous when he said the same thing in 2008! When you suggest rigging or fraud without a shred of evidence Barack ObamaPlease be a poll challenger this year! We ve done it several times and we feel it s the only way we can combat voter fraud head on. Just contact your local Republican party office. Please consider this!At a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton on Thursday in Miami Gardens, Fla., President Obama condemned Donald Trump s rigged election claims, describing these remarks as dangerous. When you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people s minds about the legitimacy of our election, that undermines our democracy, he said. When you suggest rigging or fraud without a shred of evidence, when last night at the debate, Trump becomes the first major party nominee in American history to suggest that he will not concede despite losing that is not a joking matter, Obama added.Trump said at the third presidential debate that he would keep the United States in suspense as to whether he would accept the election results. Later, at a campaign rally, he promised in a jesting manner that he would accept the results if I win as the crowd roared.But despite condemning Trump for suggesting an election can be rigged, here is a clip of then-candidate Barack Obama in 2008 warning about voter fraud and suggesting Republicans could try to sway the election in their favor. Well, I tell you what it helps in Ohio, that we got Democrats in charge of the machines, Obama said regarding the threat of election-rigging.He continued, Whenever people are in power, they have this tendency to try to tilt things in their direction. That s why we ve got to have, I believe, a voting rights division in the Justice Department that is nonpartisan, and that is serious about investigating cases of voter fraud. That s why we need paper trails on these new electronic machines so that you actually have something that you can hang on to after you ve punched that letter make sure it hasn t been hacked into, he added, admitting that even Democrats have monkeyed around with election results: I want to be honest, it s not as if it s just Republicans who have monkeyed around with elections in the past. Sometimes, Democrats have, too. | 1real |
South Africa, a Nation With Sharp Inequality, Considers a Minimum Wage - The New York Times | KHAYELITSHA, South Africa — He works in AIDS prevention and his wife gets the occasional gig at a local supermarket. But neither job is regular enough for a “proper home,” Zwai Lugogo says, so his family lives in a shack here in Cape Town’s largest black township, making do with thin walls of painted metal. Many of his neighbors — housekeepers, factory workers, nurse’s aides — are in the same predicament, working hard at jobs available to black South Africans, but barely scraping by. “That money that we’re getting from work is just not enough to be able to take care of our families,” said Mr. Lugogo, 34, as neighborhood children, including his son, ran around their narrow street recently. “We need an intervention. ” South Africa is now considering one. Faced with rising discontent over the economy among black voters, the government is weighing something more common in developed economies: a national minimum wage. Late last year, a government panel recommended about $260 a month, or about $1. 50 an hour — a small amount even in South Africa, but close to the median income in a country where the official unemployment rate is 27 percent and nearly half the population lives in poverty. Last week, the nation’s deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, endorsed the panel’s recommendation, vowing that the minimum wage would be in effect by May 2018. But in such a sluggish economy, opponents contend that the effort would destroy jobs, especially for the least skilled. Supporters counter that a minimum wage is the only way to reduce poverty in one of the world’s most unequal societies, helping to dismantle an system designed to provide cheap black labor for an economy dominated by the white minority. In few places do divisions run as deep as in South Africa. Wealthy communities with living standards equal to those in the West and inhabited disproportionately by whites rub shoulders uneasily with desperately poor townships. A government survey released in January found that black South Africans, who make up 80 percent of the population, earned only of what whites did in 2015. Some smaller African economies, like those of Cameroon, Ghana and Ivory Coast, already have a national minimum wage. But only a small percentage of their workers are in the formal economy and therefore eligible for the minimum, experts say. And even for them, the rules tend not to be enforced. A national minimum wage would be more meaningful in a big economy like South Africa’s, experts say, because the formal work force is much larger, around 80 percent of all workers. Millions of people would be eligible. Still, South Africa, Africa’s most advanced economy, is enduring the same forces as the rest of the continent. It is not growing fast enough to absorb its rapidly growing population, which is leaving rural areas to look for work in places like Khayelitsha, one of the country’s biggest townships with about 400, 000 people. There is added urgency for the government to act: The African National Congress, which helped liberate black South Africans from rule and has governed the country since 1994, is still stinging from losing most of the nation’s biggest cities in elections last July. The party could once bank on loyal support from the nation’s black majority. But corruption and economic stagnation for millions of people have steadily eroded that support over the years, resulting in the party’s worst showing in elections since the end of apartheid in 1994. The frustrations are evident in Khayelitsha. It is roughly situated between two of South Africa’s richest areas: the city of Cape Town and the famed wine country of Stellenbosch. Established in 1983 by the apartheid government, Khayelitsha, which means new home in Xhosa, still provides many of the workers for both communities. On weekday mornings, soon after daybreak, the men and women of Khayelitsha leave their neighborhoods and walk to the nearest train or bus station. For many, the commute — a legacy of urban planning to separate white and black areas — takes up to a couple of hours each way. Many on Mr. Lugogo’s street, known as Twecu Crescent, said their commute cost them a quarter or a third of their monthly wages. For black South Africans nationwide, the cost of taxis, buses and other passenger road transportation accounts for 5. 4 percent of their expenses, compared with 0. 2 percent for whites, who tend to own cars. A bus called the Golden Arrow stopped not far from Twecu Crescent with a few passengers already on board. It made several stops in Khayelitsha and, after passing a densely packed stretch of shanties, some precariously stacked two high, it pulled out of the township on its way toward Cape Town. Headed to residential areas, the bus transported mostly women who worked in malls or in homes as housekeepers. Along the way, in a scene repeated in many buses that morning, a woman, in this instance Julia Xakata, began preaching and leading the others in song. Some sang softly while checking their cellphones. Sitting near the front of the bus next to a window, Makatiso Sekhamane moved her lips while knitting a black cap. “I knit whenever I have some free time,” Ms. Sekhamane, 47, said, explaining that she usually completed a cap in two days and sold it for about $4. “It’s something. ” The caps supplemented the $400 a month she made working six days a week cleaning white people’s homes. Her husband earned maybe $150 repairing refrigerators. Their combined income supports five children and two grandchildren at home. Much of the discussion surrounding a national minimum wage — led by government, business, labor and academics — is expected to focus on the amount. According to the panel’s report, a monthly minimum wage of about $260 “would maximize benefits to the poor and minimize any possible” disincentives to work. The amount proposed by the panel is below the working poverty line of $325 a month, but because the median income of South African workers is only $280 a month, the minimum would help reduce inequality, the panel said. On Twecu Crescent, many of the employed already earn the proposed minimum, or more. But their wages are far below the salaries earned by the few residents in the nicest homes — $600 a month for a government worker, $900 a month for a young police officer. The proposed minimum “is not enough,” said Nombeko Mndangaso, who earns about $165 a month working five hours a day as a cleaner in a nursing home. “It won’t make a difference. ” With her husband, who makes $245 a month as a security guard, they earn more than $400 a month. But with rent, transportation, electricity and two daughters, there is little left at the end of the month. A minimum wage of “at least” $340 a month per person, she said, would improve her family’s situation. Sparsely populated a generation ago, Twecu Crescent now has little or no space between homes. Many homeowners earn extra income by renting out shacks on their property to the endless stream of new arrivals to Khayelitsha. On Twecu Crescent, a short street divided into two blocks, the handful of sturdily built homes belonging to the upwardly mobile stand out. There is, in a house, the woman who works at a bank down the street, the man employed by the government power utility and, on the corner, the police officer whose still unfinished house has a new red Peugeot in the driveway and a low wall with spikes to discourage people from sitting on it. The street is otherwise lined with more modest homes under corrugated roof sheets, inhabited by those making a third or half of what those in the nicer homes do, and shacks of varying quality occupied by those worse off. Discolored concrete blocks are neatly piled in many front yards, a sign of the slow and unsteady pace of progress for most on Twecu Crescent. Sinovuyo Gada’s family moved here in 1998. “There was no road here, just gravel,” she said. “There were no houses, just shacks. ” Her father, a welder, and her mother, who sells homemade food from a shack in their front yard, built the house in which she and her brother grew up. After finishing high school in 2012, she sent out her résumé to countless companies for three years before finally securing a job through a friend. She now works four days a week at a supermarket at a mall in Cape Town, earning $60 a week. About 30 percent of that, or $18, goes to transportation. Ms. Gada, 22, is part of the “ ” generation of black South Africans who came of age after apartheid’s fall. But like many in her cohort, she was deeply dissatisfied with the pace of change in her family’s circumstances. “The apartheid, it’s still there,” she said. The wages she earned from the job that took so long in finding would do little to improve her situation, she said. She did not believe that a monthly minimum of $260 would help. Employers control the balance of power over people like her, she said. “They think sometimes we are desperate,” she said. “Yes, we are desperate, because we have families and children to take care of. ” It was early evening, and, all over Khayelitsha, men and women started coming home, most of them walking from bus stops to their streets, their gait slower than in the morning. On Twecu Crescent, girls sat on a corner playing a game of rocks. A boy pushing an old tire with a stick cast a long shadow up the street. The woman who was knitting on the bus, Ms. Sekhamane — better known on Twecu Crescent as Mama Kakiso, or the mother of Kakiso, her son — arrived home. She had had a busy day and, arriving late at the bus stop, had found no available seats on the Golden Arrow. She took a taxi instead, paying an amount equivalent to half the price of one of her black caps. “I’m going to wash my body and sleep now,” Mama Kakiso said as she slipped into her home. “I can’t do anything. ” | 0fake |
Clinton Campaign Has Been Collecting Dirt, Ready To Take On Donald Trump | Even though not all the states in the Democratic Primary have been accounted for, the Clinton campaign is feeling pretty confident as a surrogate reveals they are ready to take on Donald Trump in the general election.Their method? Release hell on the Donald Trump campaign with their copious amount of opposition research. David Brock, who spoke to Politico reporters, said:We [Democrats] can knock Trump Tower down to the sub-basement. American Bridge is building a database of all the regular people, from unpaid vendors to harassed tenants to defrauded students at Trump University, who got screwed over for one reason only: they took Trump at his word.American Bridge, as Brock refers to, is a group of private progressive donors who funnel money to Clinton s campaign through their PAC, and have apparently been collecting data and research on Trump since the summer of 2015. According to Brock, they have discovered a multitude of issues that Republicans missed when vetting the frontrunner. They also claim they have discovered harmful information that the media too has missed.What could be worse than what the media already knows? How much worse can he get after being exposed as a sexist, racist, xenophobic, bombastic, sensationalist fraud? Apparently that isn t enough to turn off voters, Brock warns. Instead, Democrats need to be cautious, saying beating Trump will not be a cakewalk, but is possible if they paint him as a danger to the Constitution, a menace to democracy, and a threat to the nation as a whole. Considering he s all three, this might be a cakewalk for Democrats. And what s even better is that American Bridge is as meticulous as Clinton herself, and has collected equally damaging evidence on rival Ted Cruz, should he squeak out a win at the Republican National Convention.As Brock puts it, should it come to it, this campaign will be a bare-knuckles campaign for the White House. And who better to come out swinging than Clinton? Featured image by Eric Thayer/Getty Images | 1real |
WATCH: FORMER DNC CHAIR Suggests President Trump Will Be Taken Out Before 2020 Election | Former Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean hinted that President Donald Trump would not make it through his first term Friday on MSNBC s Morning Joe. Discussing Sen. Jeff Flake s (R., Ariz.) remarks that Trump could be inviting a 2020 Republican primary challenger with his conduct in office, Dean suggested Trump could no longer be president by then anyway.Watch: Who knows if Trump is going to be around in 2020? Of his own volition, I think it s unlikely he ll be impeached, even if the Democrats take over [the House], although [Robert] Mueller could unearth some stuff that could lead to that, Dean said. I think this is unpredictable. WFB | 1real |
China needs tougher clean fuel targets to meet Paris climate pact: report | BEIJING (Reuters) - China will have to launch more ambitious renewable energy and non-fossil fuel targets and ramp up efforts to enforce them to avoid missing global climate accord requirements, two government think tanks said on Monday. China s capacity for renewable energy, including hydro, wind and solar, will significantly exceed Beijing s own target set in the five-year plan to 2020, according to the report jointly issued by China National Renewable Energy Centre (CNREC) and the Energy Research Institute of Academy of Macroeconomic Research. The world s top energy consumer pledged to install 340 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower capacity, 210 GW of wind and 110 GW solar by 2020 in the five-year plan. But to meet commitments agreed to in 2015 in the Paris global pact to fight climate change, China should raise its target for non-fossil fuel to 26 percent of its total energy mix from a current target of 15 percent by 2020, the report said. The Paris agreement of reducing the global temperature by two degrees puts pressure on the short-term energy transition from coal and oil to non-fossil fuels, said Wang Zhongying, deputy director general at CNREC. China, the world s second-largest economy, overtook the United States as the world s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2007. China pledged to bring its carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 or earlier as part of a joint pledge made with the United States ahead of the 2015 Paris talks. If current government policy is enforced properly, non-fossil fuels should account for 60 percent of energy supply by 2050, higher than an official government target of reducing coal alone to just half, the report said. Still, getting stranded clean power in the west to urban users has been a major headache for the government as Beijing seeks wean the nation off coal, the nation s favorite fuel. An official at the National Energy Administration said at the conference on Monday he reckons the country will solve the problem of wasted energy by 2020. Chinese authorities have been striving to improve energy efficiency and upgrade energy infrastructure by introducing measures including national carbon trade, green certificates and promoting energy storage systems. (But) to ensure compliance with the Paris agreement, strong support to renewable energy deployment is needed on both the national and local levels, said Wang. | 0fake |
In N.F.L. Betting, Patriots Are Closest to Being a Sure Thing - The New York Times | A lot of different things could happen in the N. F. L. conference championship games on Sunday. But oddsmakers are pretty sure what is likely to happen. The New England Patriots will beat the Pittsburgh Steelers by about 6, and the Atlanta Falcons will defeat the Green Bay Packers by 4 or 5 in a affair. One of the truisms of gambling is that it is difficult for a team to be a great bet week in and week out. That’s because the more a team wins and covers the spread, the higher its spread will be the next week and the week after that. Eventually, most teams congregate close to . 500 against the spread for the season. That makes this season for the Patriots all the more remarkable. Despite being favored in 15 of 16 games by as many as 17 points, the Patriots finished against the spread, earning a tidy profit for those who bet them blindly. That was the best record in the league. It seems hard to remember, but in Week 1, the Patriots were underdogs to an Arizona Cardinals team that had impressed last season. Part of that gap was no doubt attributable to the status of quarterback Tom Brady, who was sitting out the first game of his suspension for his role in the scandal involving the deflation of footballs. The unheralded backup Jimmy Garoppolo was up to the task, though, and the Patriots won in an “upset” that later events proved wasn’t so much of one. The Cardinals finished . Favored in every game for the rest of the season, the Patriots won 14 of 16 games and covered the spread in 13 of them. The only time they did not was in Week 12, at the Jets, when the spread was 9½ and they won by 5. The Patriots more than made up for that four weeks later when they faced the Jets at home and were stuck with their biggest spread of the season, 17 points. Bettors reluctant to lay so many points were burned when the Patriots romped to a win. By the time of the playoffs, the bookmakers were well aware of the Patriots’ tremendous record and posted a huge number, 16 ½, for their game against the Houston Texans. The line seemed somewhat insulting to Houston, which, after all, had won its division and beat the Oakland Raiders in the round. But the Patriots covered again, winning by 18. Before you mortgage your house to bet on every Patriots game next season, be aware that trends like these seldom last more than a year. Last season’s best team against the spread, the Minnesota Vikings, at did post a winning record again this season, at . But the Cincinnati Bengals, who were in 2015, staggered to a record against the lines this season. N. F. L. games this season averaged a total of 45. 6 points scored. So the bookmakers’ of 51 on the Patriots game indicates they expect it to be somewhat high scoring. But it should be nothing compared with the game, which has a whopping of 61 points. That’s the highest ever for a playoff game, Bookmaker. eu reports. The previous high was 59. 5, for the round between the New Orleans Saints and the Detroit Lions. (They scored 73 and went over.) The highest total came in 2000 between the Rams and the San Francisco 49ers. That total closed at 61. 5, and the teams combined for 58 points, just going under. “Bettors perceive these teams as two of the most potent, teams in the league, and they witnessed them score 65 points in a Week 8 shootout,” Scott Cooley of Bookmaker. eu said. He also noted that “football rules have changed to enable more scoring. ” He added: “The quarterbacks and pass catchers are protected in a way they weren’t in the past. We are also seeing more pass interference calls with the new rules that cater to the offense. ” Big totals are often not big enough. OddsShark reports that of the 10 highest totals in history, eight ended up going over. In general, totals for college and N. F. L. games have been creeping up every year as offenses increasingly dominate. The Falcons led the league in scoring at 33. 8 points per game, and the Packers were fourth at 27. 0. The two teams have gone over in all three of their playoff games this season. If the game ends regardless of who wins, we’ll have the biggest surprise of the season. | 0fake |
WATCH: Republican Senator Lashes Out At CNN Hosts After Being Called Out For Supreme Court Hypocrisy | Republicans are desperately trying to convince everyone that what they did to Merrick Garland was totally normal.On Sunday, Mitch McConnell pathetically defended his party s refusal to hold a confirmation hearing for President Obama s Supreme Court nominee by repeating the claim that it s Senate tradition to not confirm nominees during an election year. He also made the childish claim that Republicans did it because Democrats would have done it, even though Democrats have never done such a thing.What Republicans did to Merrick Garland was unprecedented and a total disgrace of the Constitution.But Orrin Hatch picked up where McConnell left off by using the same pathetic defense during an interview on CNN Monday.After being asked about what Republicans will do if Democrats block Trump s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, Hatch whined and accused Democrats of politicizing the confirmation process while pretending that his own party didn t politicize it throughout 2016 when they refused to even grant Garland a hearing. They re politicizing this whole process, Hatch said. This is a guy who is a mainstream conservative, which they hate, they don t like that. And of course, they are still upset about my other friend, Merrick Garland. But the Republicans had every right to delay that within a presidential year. CNN host John Berman called out Hatch s hypocrisy. But they look at you and say that s a double standard, Berman responded. You call Judge Gorsuch one of the most qualified judges ever to be nominated. Almost everyone said the same thing about Merrick Garland, including you. Indeed, in 2010, Hatch referred to Garland as a consensus nominee and said there is no question that he would be easily confirmed to the high court if nominated. Garland even complained in support of Garland in 2016 by whining about President Obama s choice before Garland was chosen. The president told me several times he s going to name a moderate [to fill the court vacancy], but I don t believe him. [Obama] could easily name Merrick Garland, who is a fine man. He probably won t do that because this appointment is about the election. So I m pretty sure he ll name someone the [liberal Democratic base] wants. President Obama made Hatch choke on those words by picking Garland. So there seems to be a double standard where you re saying, it was alright last year when we for political reasons halted the nomination of Merrick Garland, Berman continued. But it s not okay this year when Democrats try to halt the nomination of Judge Gorsuch. Hatch responded to Berman by lashing out with a desperate defense of how Republicans behaved in 2016 towards Garland. I ll just tell you straight up, that s total B.S., Hatch said. I can t go back in time and show you any case where in a presidential election year they allowed a Supreme Court justice to be nominated unless both sides agreed. And both sides didn t agree. It was every right of [Majority Leader Mitch McConnell] and Senate Republicans to say we re not going to do this in a presidential year. And at that time, keep in mind, it looked as though Hillary was a sure winner and we would have gotten an even more liberal judge than that one. But that was a stand on principle. Not some new barbaric thing that some have tried to make it. Here s the video via YouTube:Let s make something clear. What Hatch and his fellow Republicans in the Senate did to Merrick Garland was totally unprecedented. They not only rejected Garland after previously praising him, they even refused to grant him a confirmation hearing. That has never happened. Republicans were so unbelievably partisan that Antonin Scalia s body was not even cold yet when they declared that they would refuse to confirm any nominee picked by President Obama. And that brings us yet again to the Republican claim that it s tradition for the Senate to not confirm Supreme Court nominees during an election year.That s complete bullshit. As it turns out, the last one occurred only 29 years ago when the Senate confirmed Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1988 during Ronald Reagan s last year in office.It also happened in 1956 when Dwight Eisenhower nominated William Brennan. The Senate confirmed him despite it being an election year.In 1940, also an election year, Franklin Roosevelt nominated Frank Murphy to the Supreme Court and the Senate confirmed him.So contrary to Republican claims, the tradition is that nominees can be and are confirmed despite whether it s an election year or not.That means Hatch is lying to cover his ass because he knows he and his fellow Republicans are complete hypocrites and now that their hypocrisy is coming back to bite them on the ass they want to play the victim.Featured image via screenshot | 1real |
Have You Thought of Where Your Soul is Going When You Die? | HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF WHERE YOUR SOUL IS GOING WHEN YOU DIE? Heaven and hell is real but Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the LIFEThe true life is in Jesus Christ John 5:26 Jesus said For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;John 5:24 Jesus said Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.John 3:18 KJVJesus said He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. jesus christ is lord of lords and king of kings. Anonymous Coward | 1real |
President-Elect Trump Invites An Excited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu To Come Visit | President-Elect Trump Invites An Excited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu To Come Visit “The bond between the U.S. and Israel is based on shared values, shared interests and a shared future. I am sure that President-elect Trump and I will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between Israel and the U.S. and we will bring them to ever greater heights,” he added. 16, 2016 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is looking forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump on “the twin interests of peace and security.”
“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:3 (KJV)
EDITOR’S NOTE: After enduring 8 years of a pro-Muslim, anti-Israel president , you can well imagine Benjamin Netanyahu’s excitement at a Donald Trump presidency. At the same time, it will be Trump’s very support that God will use to usher in some dramatic fulfillment of end times events. As we have been telling you – warning you – for over a year now, when Trump moves the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Israel, get ready to fly. We here at NTEB believe that the move will trigger the Psalm 83 war, or worse, and that the Rapture of the Church will then be right around the corner. If you have something you want to get done for the Lord, do it now.
In a satellite address to the Jewish Federations of North America ’s annual General Assembly in Washington on Tuesday, Netanyahu urged President Barack Obama to continue America’s “longstanding policy” of supporting direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and not pursue other avenues. Israel is concerned that Obama will use his final days in office to push for a UN Security Council resolution that will impose a two-state solution to the conflict.
“I, for one, find great encouragement in the fact that there’s this continuity of friendship,” Netanyahu said . “I very much hope that President Obama will continue the policy that he enunciated,” Netanyahu said, referring to comments made by the outgoing president at the beginning of his first term. “The only way you get a workable and enduring peace is to have the parties agree to it. This is what has happened with our peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. PM Netanyahu Congratulates US President-Elect Donald Trump:
“We’ve had convulsions in the Middle East, and yet these peace treaties hold because they were directly agreed to by the parties,” he added. “The reason we’ll object to any such effort is because it will harden the Palestinian position, and because it will harden the Palestinian position, it will push peace back.” Netanyahu added that he is hoping to nurture the recent “quiet diplomacy” Israel has had with Arab nations with the future Trump administration.
The day after the Republican candidate rocked the world by winning the election, he invited Netanyahu to visit Washington at the “first opportunity.” The prime minister and president-elect “who have known each other for many years, had a warm, heartfelt conversation” over the phone, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said .
Netanyahu responded by saying that he and his wife Sara were excited to visit the incoming commander-in-chief and his wife Melania. Netanyahu congratulated Trump earlier in the day, calling the president-elect “a true friend of the State of Israel.” Donald Trump vows to protect Israel: “We will work together to advance security, stability and peace in our region,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
“The bond between the U.S. and Israel is based on shared values, shared interests and a shared future. I am sure that President-elect Trump and I will continue to strengthen the unique alliance between Israel and the U.S. and we will bring them to ever greater heights,” he added.
The son of the late president Shimon Peres, Chemi Peres, also congratulated Trump in his speech to the Jewish Federations General Assembly.
“I would like to wish President-elect Trump the best of luck,” he said. “I am sure he will maintain the unbreakable link between Israel and the U.S., at the core of which are the unwavering support of Israel’s security and the forever-extended hand for peace.” source SHARE THIS ARTICLE | 1real |
UK training Saudi pilots amid reports of war crimes in Yemen | Email Britain has been providing military training to the Saudi Arabian Air Force, while the country is carrying out atrocities in neighboring Yemen, a report says. The UK's Liberal Democrats revealed that the British government is providing the training in both Saudi Arabia and Britain itself, The Independent revealed on Saturday. The party’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Tom Brake, obtained a parliamentary letter from UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon, in which he acknowledged that the British government provides the training to Saudi pilots bombing civilians in Yemen. Brake denounced the move as “shameful,” calling on the Ministry of Defense to end the training immediately. “The Government must end its complicity in this murderous campaign,” he said. "It is shameful that the UK government is not only arming Saudi pilots, it is training them as well.” Saudi Arabia has launched a war in Yemen on March 26, 2015, in a bid to undermine the HouthiAnsarullah movement and restore power to Saudi-backed former president AbdRabbuh Mansur Hadi. Since the beginning of the aggression, almost 10,000 people, including over 2,000 children, have been killed. The Liberal Democrats also wanted to know what the instructions and advice had been given by the British government on authorizing military operations and the “targeting of aerial operations” over the last year. "The indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians by Saudi Arabia in Yemen, in clear breach of international humanitarian law, is now well documented,” Blake added. In response, Fallon claimed the government helps the Saudi Air Force in order to “improve their targeting processes and to support International Humanitarian Law (IHL) compliance.” Fallon said the UK had delivered two training sessions in Saudi Arabia on the process for investigating alleged International Humanitarian Law violations, under a joint incident team it supported. He, however, said that the government “has not provided any specific operational advice to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for operations in Yemen and has not provided training on political authorization of military operations.” The Liberal Democrat party also insisted that the latest revelation requires an urgent action by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Jonson, who personally signs off any arms sales to countries such as Saudi Arabia. London, which has been one of the biggest suppliers of weapons to Riyadh for 40 years, has come under fire for its continued sales of weapons to the kingdom during its war on Yemen. Charity group Oxfam accused the British government of being in a state of “denial and disarray” over its arms supplies to Riyadh. Earlier this year, Amnesty International found a banned British-made cluster bomb used by the Saudis in Yemen. The un-detonated bomb which was found in a remote village in northern Yemen was BL-755 cluster bombs. | 1real |
Spain's Socialist leader says would back government on Catalonia | MADRID (Reuters) - The leader of Spain s Socialists, the main opposition to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy s conservative People s Party (PP), said on Monday the party would back government action if Catalonia makes a unilateral declaration of independence on Tuesday. We ll support the response of the rule of law in the face of any attempt to break social harmony, Pedro Sanchez said during a conference in Barcelona. | 0fake |
BREAKING: Trump’s Travel Ban Halt Upheld by 9th Circuit Court | 21st Century Wire says Today the 9th Circuit Court of appeals has ruled to uphold the halt on allowing enforcement of President Trump s Executive Order banning travel from seven countries in the Middle East. Even as the mainstream media is touting it as a win for left wing activists and the democrats who have their heels dug in against all things Trump, many readers will find that it is not much of a surprise to hear that the case will be headed to a further round of appeals. It may be difficult for the courts to continue holding up this stay against the Executive Order as their primary argument is that the order is a Muslim ban. Anyone who s read the actual Executive Order Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the US will find it fairly clear that there is no such language in the EO. RT explores this breaking news further in the report below with some embedded commentary from Lionel Media. RT We hold that the government has not shown a likelihood of success on the merits of its appeal, nor has it shown that failure to enter a stay would cause irreparable injury, and we therefore deny its emergency motion for a stay, the appeals court s decision said.Government lawyers were put to the test by the three-judge panel, arguing in favor of enforcing the travel ban while litigation over it is ongoing.The 9th Circuit Court was not ruling on whether the order was constitutional or not. The issue at hand was whether it would be enforced while legal challenges made their way through the judicial system.Large parts of the executive order had been suspended by US District Judge James L. Robart in Seattle, who incurred President Trump s fury on Twitter. Trump called him a so-called judge who opens up our country to potential terrorists and puts the country in peril. The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017Because the ban was lifted by a judge, many very bad and dangerous people may be pouring into our country. A terrible decision Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2017Trump s gripes with the judicial branch of government were echoed by DOJ lawyer August E. Flentje. When asked on Tuesday by Judge Michelle T. Friedland whether he was arguing that the president s decision in that regard is unreviewable, Flentje responded in the affirmative.Washington Solicitor General Noah Purcell, who also represented Minnesota, seemed to express similar feelings when he argued to keep the travel ban in place by telling the appeals court that if they did not abdicate their check on the executive branch, they would throw the country back into chaos. The three judges also argued amongst themselves over whether or not the travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries constituted a Muslim ban. Judge Richard Clifton argued that the countries affected by the executive order encompass only a relatively small percentage of Muslims. I have trouble understanding we re supposed to infer religious animus, he said.Washington State argued against the DOJ and claimed that the ban was based on religion after former Trump advisor, Rudy Giuliani, claimed on Fox News that Trump had asked him how to pass a legal Muslim ban.Wash.: Well, the Pres called for complete bans on Muslims entering the country. That's what adviser said on TV. #WAvTrump Brian Goldman (@briangoldman) February 7, 2017 Wash.: We can infer animus from public statements of Pres and top advisers intent to ban Muslims. #WAvTrump Brian Goldman (@briangoldman) February 7, 2017Washington also cited the many lawful permanent residents who were impacted by the executive order, some of whom were detained in airports after trying to reenter the country legally. While the executive order has since been rewritten to exclude lawful permanent residents, Washington argued that it was a sign of bad faith. Wash.: Cases say you can look behind order to find motives where there are allegations of bad faith, which we have here. #WAvTrump Brian Goldman (@briangoldman) February 7, 2017The ruling was nearly guaranteed to be appealed up to the Supreme Court from the get-go Continue this report at RTREAD MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Gas Prices Surge in South After Pipeline Leak - The New York Times | ATLANTA — Gasoline prices increased again across the Deep South on Monday, 10 days after the discovery in Alabama of a pipeline rupture that threatened fuel supplies and prompted worries about environmental contamination. The AAA motor club said that Monday’s average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in Georgia was nearly $2. 32, up from $2. 26 on Sunday and about $2. 10 the previous Monday. Prices also increased in Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, even as state officials asked drivers to conserve supplies and avoid topping off their tanks. “I urge the public to maintain regular consumption levels and travel schedules in order to reduce further interruption in fuel supply,” Gov. Nathan Deal of Georgia said in a statement. The rising prices and sporadic uncertainty here followed the rupture of a pipeline that ordinarily carries about 1. 3 million barrels of refined gasoline a day. Colonial Pipeline, which operates the system and shut down the line soon after the discovery of the leak on Sept. 9, said up to 336, 000 gallons might have been spilled in Shelby County, Ala. south of Birmingham. Colonial said that it was installing a bypass and that the line could resume normal operations this week. Industry observers said the effects of the disruption would fade once gas was again flowing freely. “Prices are likely to rise even further until the pipeline is fully restored,” said Mark Jenkins, a spokesman for AAA. “Once repaired, prices should quickly begin to decline. ” But over the weekend and into Monday, people across the South used social media to document scattered shortages. Service station operators posted notices of how they had been forced to bring in gas from distant areas, and the authorities warned against price gouging. Despite the increases, most Southern states still posted lower average gasoline prices than other parts of the country. In South Carolina on Monday, drivers typically paid $2. 04 a gallon, well below the national average of $2. 21. In Alabama, officials said they were working to restore service and measure the damage from the leak. On Friday, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a corrective action order, noting the “unknown probable cause of the failure” and barring Colonial from reopening the pipeline without the government’s approval. The agency, which used the order to outline its preliminary findings, also said high benzene and gasoline vapor levels had at one point kept emergency responders from the “assumed failure site” for about 83 hours. But officials appeared cautiously optimistic that the leak had not led to an environmental calamity. Although the federal government’s order said officials found dead vegetation and wildlife after the spill was detected, the gasoline was not expected to reach the nearby Cahaba River. “There has been no indication that any material has made it to the river,” the Cahaba Riverkeeper, a nonprofit organization in Birmingham, said in a statement on Facebook. “We remain confident that there has been no impact to area drinking water. ” Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama, who repeatedly praised Colonial’s response after he visited a command center on Monday, expressed concern about the spill and its effects, but he also acknowledged the frailty of pipelines like the one that leaked in his state. “We don’t know that won’t happen again,” Mr. Bentley said. “That’s like saying is there a tornado going to happen again. ” | 0fake |
Trump recommits to U.S. allies but says they must pay 'fair share' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed support for the United States’ longstanding security alliances around the world but insisted that friends and partners from Europe to the Middle East to the Pacific must “pay their fair share of the cost.” In his first nationally televised speech to Congress since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump sought to reassure allies still uneasy over doubts he raised during the 2016 presidential campaign about his commitment to their defense and to maintaining a U.S. global leadership role. But he also made clear that he expects those countries to shoulder more of the burden of their own security needs, echoing a campaign message that some allies had taken advantage of Washington’s generosity in providing them a security umbrella. “Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world,” Trump told a joint session of Congress. “It is American leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies across the globe.” He specifically assured NATO allies of his new administration’s continued commitment to the decades-old alliance. However, he made no mention of one of the main sources of European concern: his friendly overtures during the campaign toward Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two World Wars that dethroned fascism and a Cold War that defeated communism,” Trump said. “But our partners must meet their financial obligations,” he said. “And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that.” Then, deviating from his prepared remarks, Trump added: “In fact, I can tell you the money is pouring in. Very nice.” But he offered no specifics. Some critics had accused Trump of failing to recognize the benefit that accrued to the United States of having strong democratic allies helping to stabilize volatile areas like the Middle East, Ukraine and South Asia. Trump’s remarks followed the deployment earlier this month of senior Cabinet members to Brussels, Bonn and Munich, Germany, aimed at calming European worries. The Europeans heard from Defense Secretary James Mattis that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization military alliance was not “obsolete” after all, despite Trump’s suggestions to the contrary. Vice President Mike Pence told them that Russia would be “held accountable” for its actions in Ukraine. Mattis made his first foreign trip to South Korea and Japan, where he sought to ease concerns about what Trump’s self-styled “America First” strategy means for U.S. foreign policy in Asia. While seeming to tackle some of the doubts of U.S. allies, Trump still made clear that he wanted them to do more. “We expect our partners, whether in NATO, in the Middle East, or the Pacific, to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost,” he said. | 0fake |
College Students Tell London Mayor To P*ss Off After Racist Remarks About President Obama | The Mayor of London s recent remarks about Barack Obama are causing him more problems than he likely expected. During a rant about the president s suggestion that the U.K. not leave the European Union, Boris Johnson ripped into the president for his decision to remove a bust of Winston Churchill from the Oval Office: Some said it was a symbol of the part-Kenyan president s ancestral dislike of the British empire of which Churchill had been such a fervent defender. In reality, the president removed the bust of the British icon, placed there by George W. Bush, to make way for one more relevant to the United States: Martin Luther King, Jr. President Obama says that he had Churchill removed because There s only so many busts you can have before it starts looking a little cluttered in there. This incident provided us with a macabre ability to feel relieved that other countries have their Tea Parties, as well. In the United Kingdom, such a group would be the Tories. The remark was widely condemned as racist, with Labour leaders condemning Johnson s dog whistle remark. In fact, he was directly compared to the Tea Party:Labour s shadow chancellor John McDonnnell tweeted: Mask slips again. Boris part-Kenyan Obama comment is yet another example of dog whistle racism from senior Tories. He should withdraw it. Fellow Labour frontbencher Diane Abbott said that what Mr. Johnson had written was offensive and echoed words used by the Tea Party right-wing tendency in the US.Former Lib. Dem. leader Lord Campbell added that Mr. Johnson s comments were an unacceptable smear , adding: If this is an illustration of the kind of diplomacy that we might expect from a Johnson leadership of the Tory Party then heaven help us. Now, college students are standing up and refusing to allow the racist mayor to get away with his bigoted rhetoric. Right-wing lie-factory Breitbart complains that Safe Space Stalinists and footsoldiers of orthodoxy and conformism at King s College are PC-ing up the place. In fact, they talked it over and decided that they don t want him stinking up their campus. In an email canceling the mayor s plans to speak to a group of students called King s Think Tank, informed Johnson: The level of discourse over the past few days does not meet the bar we set for these events nor do we feel does it help the British people in making the most momentous decision of our lifetime. Furthermore, they added, we believe it does not reflect the true greatness of the United Kingdom, a land of tolerance, respect and fair play towards all .Next part of #borisjohnson backlash of his Obama ancestry comments. Kings College letter withdrawing #EUref invite pic.twitter.com/OUYyQyYDw1 Ryan Heath (@PoliticoRyan) April 24, 2016 Given your inappropriate comments and inferences towards President Obama s Kenyan heritage, of which he is rightly proud, and your general tone of disrespect over the past few days in retaliation to the President of the United States of America, the students said, we are now formally withdrawing your invitation to speak at Kings College London. Johnson seems to have made the same mistake as Republicans in our country often do: he assumed that because he hates the president and his skin color, the rest of the world feels the same way. Unfortunately for Johnson, he just received a lesson in how much people all across the globe adore the truly great man who currently occupies the Oval Office.Sorry, Boris.Featured Image via Getty Images (Chris Ratcliffe)/Getty Images (Pool) | 1real |
Ken Burns Explains Donald Trump Mania In Five Perfect Little Words (VIDEO) | Filmmaker Ken Burns appeared on The Late Show this week, and explained to host Stephen Colbert why a section of America has fallen in love with Donald Trump, in just five words: America has always been racist. I think the American question of freedom is a big one, the tension between individual freedom and collective freedom is a big one, but I think the sub-theme of American history is race, Burns said. We were founded on the idea that all men were created equal, but oops the guy who wrote that owned more than 100 human beings and didn t see in his lifetime to free any one of them; didn t see the contradiction or the hypocrisy. And so it set us on a journey where we are constantly having to struggle not with race, but racism. Burns latest film focuses on the life and trials of Jackie Robinson, one of the greatest players in baseball history and the first non-white player in the professional leagues. He makes the parallels between how many of the same problems faced by Robinson, and dismissed as historical are actually still alive and well in modern America. We thought it might be possible to liberate him from the barnacles of sentimentality that attach, because what Jackie Robinson has to teach us now is exactly the same as when he was alive, he says. So, if we re curious, but are not comfortable talking today, having a courageous conversation about race, let s look at Jackie Robinson s life and see how many of the same tropes that are part of our life today Jackie addresses. [He s] not only the most important person in baseball, but the most important person in American sports. Burns certainly has a point. Whether we look at incarceration rates, unequal prison sentences handed down for equal crimes, stop and frisk, the pay gap (African American men earn just 74.5% the pay of white men), police brutality, felony disenfranchisement, or the school to prison pipeline it s abundantly clear that racism still permeates American society in a way that hurts the life chances of non-whites.Now that latent racism has a candidate willing to put a voice to it and to some such-minded people, it feels like liberation.But they should not confuse the collective release of unspoken privilege, with an honorable quest for freedom. Trump supporters have more in common with Hitler s brownshirts than the Freedom Riders.They are angry and vengeful, worshipping a leader who looks like them, blaming everything wrong with their lives on people who don t look like them. They are nothing new. Their bigotry is as old as the constitution. They ve been outnumbered and defeated in previous generations, now they ve risen again to fight for their right to be racist in this generation and the scoreboard is not in their favor. Featured image via screen capture | 1real |
U.S., Vietnam agree to allow Peace Corps into Vietnam for first time | HANOI (Reuters) - The United States and Vietnam on Tuesday signed an agreement allowing the U.S. Peace Corps to work in the country for the first time. The signing, which comes amid a historic three-day visit by President Barack Obama, follows more than a decade of negotiations between the two countries to establish a Peace Corps operation in Vietnam. The program, which is expected to begin over the next two years, allows Peace Corps volunteers to teach English in schools in the country’s two largest cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, said Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet, who signed the agreement with Vietnam’s ambassador to the United States, Pham Quang Vinh. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was present for the signing, said the agreement marked a further normalizing of relations between the United States and Vietnam. “For 20 years now we have had what we call a normal relationship,” said Kerry, who in 1968 served as a young U.S. naval officer in the Vietnam War. “This is normal, having the Peace Corps being able to move forward, having young Americans come here, not always young, to be able to teach English in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh is the next step forward to building the relationship between the United States and Vietnam,” he added. After the signing, Hessler-Radelet turned to Kerry saying: “You’ve waited for this for a long time.” | 0fake |
People From 7 Travel-Ban Nations Pose No Increased Terror Risk, Report Says - The New York Times | When President Trump signed an executive order last month temporarily barring visitors from seven mostly Muslim countries, he said he was moving to protect the United States from terrorist attacks. The Homeland Security secretary, John F. Kelly, echoed the president, saying the travel ban was necessary because vetting procedures “in those seven countries are suspect. ” But an internal report written by intelligence analysts at Mr. Kelly’s department appears to undercut the assessment that people from the seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — pose a heightened threat of terrorism. The report found that “country of citizenship is unlikely to be a reliable indicator of potential terrorist activity. ” The report adds to the difficulties the Trump administration has faced in carrying out the travel ban. Federal judges have suspended the order, and the administration has said it will redo it to withstand legal scrutiny, but has not given a timetable. The Department of Homeland Security assessment, first reported by The Associated Press, found that only a small number of people from the seven countries had been involved in activities in the United States since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. In addition, the report noted, while terrorist groups in Iraq, Syria and Yemen pose a threat to the United States, militant groups in the other four countries have a more regional focus. The report also found that in the past six years, the terrorism threat reached much more widely than the seven countries listed — individuals from 26 countries had been “inspired” to carry out attacks in the United States. Furthermore, few individuals from the seven countries affected by the ban have access to the United States, the report said, noting the small numbers of visas granted by the State Department to citizens of those nations. The White House and the Department of Homeland Security sought to play down the significance of the report. The White House said that it was politically motivated and disregarded information that would have provided support for the travel ban. The Department of Homeland Security said the report was just a draft and “not a final comprehensive review of the government’s intelligence. ” Stephen Miller, a senior aide to Mr. Trump, told Fox News on Tuesday that the redrawn executive order would “have the same basic policy outcome. ” The Trump administration on Friday also took the first steps toward following through on the president’s plan to build a wall along the border with Mexico. Customs and Border Protection, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, announced that it would begin accepting design proposals for a wall. The agency said it would need the proposals by March 10. After it chooses a list of potential vendors, full proposals would be required a few weeks later. The agency said it could make a final decision by the middle of April. | 0fake |
Disgraced Conservative Former Soldier Sees Imaginary War Against July 4th | Today is July 4th, otherwise known as America s Independence Day. Americans across the nation know this is the day our country came into being and we celebrate that by lighting fireworks and spending time with friends and family.But disgraced former Republican Rep. Allen West thinks something sinister is afoot.For years, conservatives have been trying to make everyone believe that there is an imaginary war on Christmas. Such an idea has been very profitable for guys like Mike Huckabee and the folks over at Fox News who constantly claim Christmas is being destroyed by godless liberals even though the war is only occurring in their heads.And now it sounds like West is trying to cash in on that concept by claiming that there is a war against July 4th.In his blog on Monday, West whines about how people simply refer to this day as July 4th instead of the 240th American Independence Day. I see something very disturbing happening today, he begins.We ve become so damaged by the talons of political correctness that it now threatens the very existence of our Republic. And I mean its very founding.I ve been amazed at how people greet you with Happy 4th of July , as if we are celebrating a numbered date on the calendar. If this continues, there will be generations who will no longer know what happened on this day, other than we should have cookouts and shoot off fireworks.Today is our 240th American Independence Day, a significant day not just for America, but for the world.Really? Just because people are greeting you today with Happy 4th of July that makes you convinced that Americans are forgetting what happened on this day? I see you still haven t had your head examined by a qualified neurologist, Mr. West. You might wanna get that checked.Anyway, West goes on to urge people to read the Declaration of Independence, which is a good learning exercise. However, West uses that call to then attack President Obama and liberals by comparing Obama to King George III and claiming that liberals are trying to subvert the holiday.These are the stories we must teach our children and grandchildren, lest they go off following the failed messages of the progressive socialist left. This is why we must not celebrate the 4th of July, but American Independence Day or else someone will tell you they re going to fundamentally transform your nation and you have no clue what that means.This is why today, I implore y all to take the time to carefully read the entire Declaration of Independence and notice the parallels to the grievances then to today, such as, He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their Substance think IRS and other regulatory agencies.Or how about this one, He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended legislation sound familiar? Consider Obama s rule by edict and executive order antithetical to our Constitution.And I love this one: For imposing taxes on us without our Consent need I remind you there are twenty new taxes in Obamacare.But just as West was wrong to torture a man in Iraq for information when he was a Lieutenant Colonel, he is woefully wrong now.First of all, President Obama was duly elected to his position by the American people. He is not a king and he his second term in office will be finished in January, and he will leave office. If he were a king, he would never leave.President Obama is not the only commander-in-chief to issue executive orders. Every single president except for one has issued an executive order, including George Washington. He issued 8 such orders. Thomas Jefferson, whom West brags about in his post, issued four. President Obama has issued 235 executive orders, but Reagan and George W. Bush issued over 600 combined. And if we look at the number of executive orders issued per year, we find that President Obama s average is the lowest in modern history. We have to go all the way back to Grover Cleveland to find a president with a lower average. If we go by West s logic, the only president who wasn t a tyrant was William Henry Harrison, who died one month after Inauguration Day. But even he would have likely issued some executive orders had he lived to complete a four year term.So executive orders have a precedence that goes back all the way to the first President of the United States.West also claims that the American people were taxed without their consent because of Obamacare. This is also an outright lie.By declaring our independence, Americans were able to create their own government and had the power to vote for their representatives in Congress. Americans did this very thing in 2008 when they sent a Democrat to the White House and kept Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress.The House voted in 2009 to pass Obamacare and all the taxes it contains by a vote of 219-212. The Senate voted to pass it by a vote of 60-39. And that was right after the people elected President Obama, and they would elect him again in 2012. West is likely whining because our system of checks and balances between the three branches of government, also established by the Constitution, has prevented Republicans from repealing Obamacare.It should also be pointed out that if President Obama were a tyrannical king, Allen West s head would be on a pike right now because that s what real tyrants do.It sounds like Allen West is the one who needs to brush up on his history.Featured image via Wikimedia | 1real |
British Soccer Fan Stabbed Eight Times While Fighting Three Knife-Wielding Terrorists | When hearing of an establishment called the Black and Blue Steakhouse, one could reasonably surmise that some, or at the very least one, extremely tough person could be found somewhere in there. Well, the three terrorists who attacked London Bridge over the weekend found the Black and Blue Steakhouse, and they found the toughest man in the house. [Or, maybe more to the point, he found them. Roy Larner, 47, is a huge fan of the South East London soccer team Millwall F. C. The team is known as the Lions, and when terrorists entered the Black and Blue to kill innocent people, Larner let them know who is the true king of the jungle. After the terrorists entered, with obvious bad intentions, Larner sprang into action: “Like an idiot I shouted back at them. I thought, ‘I need to take the p*** out of these b*****s.’ “I took a few steps towards them and said, ‘F*** you, I’m Millwall.’ So they started attacking me. “I stood in front of them trying to fight them off. Everyone else ran to the back. I was on my own against all three of them, that’s why I got hurt so much. It was just me, trying to grab them with my bare hands and hold on. I was swinging. “I got stabbed and sliced eight times. They got me in my head, chest and both hands. There was blood everywhere. “They were saying, ‘Islam, Islam!’ I said again, ‘F*** you, I’m Millwall!’ “It was the worst thing I could have done as they carried on attacking me. “Luckily, none of the blows were straight at me or I’d be dead. ” A petition has begun, with the aim of awarding Larner with the George Cross for bravery. The award is the second highest commendation granted by Great Britain. Looking at his scars, it’s really hard to imagine that he won’t get it. If Millwall is looking for a new slogan, they may have found it. “F*** you, I’m Millwall!” has a nice ring to it. Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn | 0fake |
Re: Rail Traffic Depression: 292 Union Pacific Engines Are Sitting In The Arizona Desert Doing Nothing | Rail Traffic Depression: 292 Union Pacific Engines Are Sitting In The Arizona Desert Doing Nothing May 4th, 2016
We continue to get more evidence that the U.S. economy has entered a major downturn. Just last week, I wrote about how U.S. GDP growth numbers have been declining for three quarters in a row , and previously I wrote about how corporate defaults have surged to their highest level since the last financial crisis . Well, now we are getting some very depressing numbers from the rail industry. As you will see below, U.S. rail traffic was down more than 11 percent from a year ago in April. That is an absolutely catastrophic number, and the U.S. rail industry is feeling an enormous amount of pain right now. This also tells us that “the real economy” is really slowing down, because less stuff is being shipped by rail all over the nation.
One of the economic commentators that I have really come to respect is Wolf Richter of WolfStreet.com . He has a really sharp eye for in the economy and in the financial world, and I find myself quoting him more and more as time goes by. If you have not checked out his site yet, I very much encourage you to do so.
On Wednesday, he posted a very alarming article about what is happening to our rail industry. The kinds of numbers that we have been seeing recently are the kinds of numbers that we would expect if an economic depression was starting. The following is an excerpt from that article …
Total US rail traffic in April plunged 11.8% from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads reported today. Carloads of bulk commodities such as coal, oil, grains, and chemicals plummeted 16.1% to 944,339 units.
The coal industry is in a horrible condition and cannot compete with US natural gas at current prices. Coal-fired power plants are being retired. Demand for steam coal is plunging. Major US coal miners – even the largest one – are now bankrupt. So in April, carloads of coal plummeted 40% from the already beaten-down levels a year ago.
Because rail traffic is down so dramatically, many operators have large numbers of engines that are just sitting around collecting dust. In his article, Wolf Richter shared photographs from Google Earth that show some of the 292 Union Pacific engines that are sitting in the middle of the Arizona desert doing absolutely nothing. The following is one of those photographs…
As Wolf Richter pointed out, it costs a lot of money for these engines to just sit there doing nothing…
These engines are expensive pieces of equipment. When they just sit there, not pulling trains, they become “overcapacity,” and they get very expensive. Then there are engineers and other personnel who suddenly become unproductive. Some of them have already been laid off or are getting laid off.
All over the world, similar numbers are coming in. For example, the Baltic Dry Index fell 30 more points on Wednesday after falling 21 on Tuesday. Global trade is really, really slowing down during the early portion of 2016. What this means on a practical level is that a lot less stuff is being bought, sold and shipped around the planet.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for authorities to deny that a new global recession has begun, and at this moment we are only in the very early chapters of this new crisis.
Another thing that I watch very closely is the velocity of money. When an economy is healthy, people feel pretty good about things and money tends to circulate fairly rapidly. For example, I may buy something from you, then you may buy something from someone else, etc.
But when times get tough, people tend to hold on to their money more tightly, and that is why the velocity of money goes down when recessions hit. In the chart below, the shaded areas represent recessions, and you can see that the velocity of money has declined during every single recession in the post-World War II era…
During the last recession, the velocity of money declined precipitously, and that makes perfect sense. But then a funny thing happened. There was a slight bump up once the recession was over, but then it turned down again and it has kept going down ever since.
In fact, the velocity of money has now dropped to an all-time low. The velocity of M2 just recently dipped below 1.5 for the first time ever.
This is not a sign of an “economic recovery”. What this tells us is that our economy is very, very sick.
And we can see evidence of this sickness all around us. For instance, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that homelessness in Los Angeles increased by 11 percent last year, and this marked the fourth year in a row that homelessness in the city has increased…
Homelessness rose 11% in the city of Los Angeles and 5.7% in the county last year despite an intensive federal push that slashed the county ranks of homeless veterans by nearly a third, according to a report released Wednesday .
The increase marks the fourth consecutive year of rising homelessness in L.A., as local officials struggle to identify funding for billion-dollar plans they approved to solve the nation’s most intractable homeless problem.
Let us also not forget that about half the country is basically flat broke at this point.
Just recently, the Federal Reserve found that 47 percent of all Americans could not pay an unexpected $400 emergency room bill without selling something or borrowing the money from somewhere.
With numbers such as these being reported, how in the world can anyone possibly claim that the U.S. economy is in good shape?
It boggles the mind, and yet there are people out there that would actually have you believe that everything is just fine.
The current occupant of the White House is one of them.
With each passing month, the real economy is getting even worse. We may not have slipped into a full-blown economic depression just yet, but it is coming.
For now, let us be thankful for whatever remains of our debt-fueled prosperity, because we don’t deserve the massively inflated standard of living that we have been enjoying.
We have been consuming far more than we produce for decades, but it won’t last for much longer. And when those days are gone for good, we will mourn them bitterly. A New Digital Cash System Was Just Unveiled At A Secret Meeting For Bankers In New York » alan
Somebody will go out there and strip the copper out of them. The railroad then can write them off on insurance, problem solved. Jim Speaker
I bet A lot of those engines get graffitied soon. Randy
The spot price of copper is too low right now to make it worthwhile. Have you ever seen how difficult it is to take wire out of a motor or generator? It’s not like peeling a grape. The health of the economy of any nation can be gauged by the price of its copper. Scarcity of copper due to it being used for motors, generators and conductors in conduits makes the price go high, lack of expansion means the price will be low. Outside of industrial use and as a medium of exchange, there’s not much use for copper. Except in the brass used for bullet casings. On our last scrap metal run down to the recycling place, we got $20.71 for 550 pounds of scrap iron. Pitiful. greyprepper
Don’t go giving me ideas now! I’m reformed by golly. Fiona
Nobody tells us, but we’re in a deep recession. And with either Trump or Clinton as next president, there is no hope for a change. (I really wonder if Sanders could do a better job). Bring the popcorn and the camping seats, the economic collapse is about to begin. K2
Sad that you find this entertaining. Scott Comin
the shadow government controls it all!!! they give us entertainment every four years so we can hope for the change that never happens!!! Steeve Girard
We are in this mess because of Abrahamic beliefs. Steeve Girard
That is true, rotating politicians will not solve the problem, nor will they be willing to enforce an un-democratic change to the social order. The system will have to be abolish to repair society and adapt it to the new reality of a low energy world. It is unlikely to happen until we are totally immobilized. DareToCreateYourBestLife
I see many people dying in this world before harmony is restored in a “low energy world”. Nature of humankind… ALWAYSTOMORROW
Your article looks very similar to this one.
investmentwatchblog dot com /freight-rail-traffic-plunges-haunting-pictures-of-transportation-recession/
Interesting SunnyFlaSnotress
off topic: I know one of our “buddies” was planning a vacation, but Rorschach has been interestingly absent. hmm.. I wish a few others would have gone on vacation with them too. Robert
There is no telling when the locomotive photo was taken. That is a mainline track. Unused engines are stored in large train yards where they are kept maintained until used or sold off. I doubt they are stored in AZ as aircraft. Google photos can be years out of date.
I am not doubting the numbers for freight traffic decline but the photo is not evidence. Jim Speaker
I know where those locomotives are stored at. They are stored on the old Southern Pacific out of service Pheonix line east of Wellington,AZ. I took A picture of A few trains their back in 1996. Amtrak used to use that line. When the SP/UP merger came in 1996 it was abandond. Stephen
There is 50 to 70 maybe more BNSF train engines that have been sitting near downtown Oklahoma City for the last two months or more. While I agree that it is sad about the economic state of the country I have no sympathy for that criminal fraudster Mr. billionaire himself Warren Buffet that got a bailout from the tax payers back in 2008. Yup he Berkshire Hathaway owns BNSF and Union Pacific too I believe. He makes money as those goods move down the railway. Why do you think he fights that trans atlantic pipeline because competition is a sin. Steeve Girard
That means the QE money keep falling into vaults, and never comes out. Especially the Treasury vault. Once in there it can only do one thing, pay the Treasury Bonds that are coming back from the BRICS countries, which makes it disappear. The black holes they tried to fill (with QE programs) and never was able to blow it away from existence are still there, and are still doing damages to the economy. . And with the energy crisis increasing, new black hole vaults have started to appear around the world, because they are trying to decouple the US dollar from the energy sector. Richard
“Global trade is really, really slowing down”
Really really? I haven’t seen this double repetition for months (a couple of years, maybe). Please don’t let it creep back again. Barry Goldwater
Am I wrong or shouldn’t the content be the focus in the comment section ? Having said that I can say I read this article and as usual applaud Michael for getting news out that goes unmentioned by the lame stream media. Personally I’ve been on the net for years and found the “Grammar Police ” a bit obnoxious to say the least. Michael is doing a superb job and my hat’s off to him. Jomine Jose
They went the way of the MarcoBird. rentslave
On the other hand,Powerball sales almost doubled since the last drawing.It seems that many TV stations show the drawing before the 11 PM news once it passes a certain point,proving that many affluent people still exist.It’s still taking an inordinate amount of time to reach that level as the regular street players are just about tapped out. K2
Coal is slowing down because of natural gas. tom
Let’s not forget that the EPA under the president’s direction is going after the coal industry too. I remember Hillary Clinton saying earlier this year that she would basically kill the US coal industry. SmallerGovNow2
and then she just recently said, “that’s not what I meant”. what a lying POS she is… tom
Now I know that you have a highly developed sense of humor. Have you begun searching for a puppy? SunnyFlaSnotress
I can think of something better to worship than one’s self or a government. SunnyFlaSnotress
Does this ring a bell, Snotty?
A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of irrefutable evidence, complex, or intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks, or may regard their personal opinions as unquestionably correct. The individual may disregard the rules of society and require special consideration or privileges.
And just whom is this paragraph describing?
Here’s a hint: Hillary is NOT God!
…She is GODESS!….(compliments of rarefied snotress) arresun
There is no Hillary 😀 Richard O. Mann
Obama said pretty much the same thing. He has been after coal for some time. It’s responsible for climate change and has to go. Steeve Girard
All fossil fuels are slowing down due to quality and EROEI. We have now reached the commercially non-viable level 8:1… In 2030, we will reach the industrial non-viable level 5:1… that is when you will realize that industrial society just died. Priszilla
No money nothing to buy. Current “economy” lives from ammo and derivatives. billtheguy
As the movie “The Big Short” says “the music hasn’t stopped, its just slowing down.” This time around, it will slow down to almost stopping. Get prepared spiritually and economically. Steeve Girard
The Limits to Growth scenario (Business as Usual) scenario is still on course. It all points to an energy crisis in 2030, that is when everything will go hectic. dauden
How do you “get prepared spiritually”? When times are good ignore your soul but when times are about to get ugly, get spiritual? Explain please. SunnyFlaSnotress
“U.S. rail traffic was down more than 11 percent from a year ago in April.” Oil dropped in Nov 2014. A few months gave people time to believe the drop wasn’t a blip and trucking went into higher gear with new lower gas prices, passing the savings onto the clients. Hence, trucking likely gained more popularity for shipping some items. “This also tells us that “the real economy” is really slowing down” It’s inordinately skewed to make that statement without showing a traffic comparison chart of trucking vs railing during that timeframe. p.s. waves and kisses to my adoring fans 😀 Ricardo
Stop blowing your snot everywhere you gross person SunnyFlaSnotress
Ricardo the Beaner starts the day on a good note Bill
Thanks for sharing your intelligence, now leave it at that and ignore the insults. SunnyFlaSnotress
BillTheController took several moments to think of the right compliment for me. Bill
At the end of the day, it’s all just a game. Willard Ferch
The surge was already there. Diesel is still relatively cheap. If there were buyers, there would be tons of shipping. Sales are needed to create the shipping. The Lord loves you and all Christians love you. They may disapprove of your life-style and your ideology, but they still love you. Fiddlin SunnyFlaSnotress
The surge was building momentum Richard O. Mann
That should be “may no god bless you”. Just keeping you constant there Sunny. SunnyFlaSnotress
No, no no.. it’s “G0ddess Bless You” Richard O. Mann
Another cut & paste for you to display. Nothing from that pea brain of yours SunnyFlaSnotress
The majority was in my words or otherwise quoted unlike BarkingBill NCA who just copies others’ work w/o acknowledgement Mark
Remember everyone we need push the flag button on Sunny the Honey. Bill and I are doing so please join the party. SunnyFlaSnotress All_has_An _END_.
attention attention you must be fat and ugly and lonely and confused , and that is a good thing K2
I have seen her in real life and she is slim and beautiful. cuchulain
But with big ol’ stained fangs. Ouwy wowy ow ow !! arresun
Trains use diesel as well cuchulain
Yo Snotty !!!! Very good. I like that someone did some fact checking. Now, be a good girl and find out the trucking volume stats the last 2 years. Go ahead. We’ll be here when ya get back :–).
Seriously… good job. Not sure it changes the big picture, though. Zaphod Braden
Eerily close – Who is John Galt? 😉 watchmannonthewall
Maybe if Trump is elected TPTB will close up shop and just disappear and leave the good old US of A to fend for itself since voters didn’t want to go along with their program. History repeats. Oh, sorry! That first was the book! sistersoldier
I think the bomb shell that Trump dropped after winning the GOP nomination left a bad taste in the mouths of his supporters. He reported that he is not self funding the general election but rather will put together a finance committee with ties to George Soros to help raise the money to defeat Hillary. I’m not sure but I think that some are suffering a hangover this morning as it is now apparent you cannot be a DC insider with out enlisting DC aid. Only the future will tell the whole story. But you are correct about the book. 😀 watchmannonthewall
Don’t know if you ever heard of Larry Burkett, was a mentor of Dave Ramsey. He wrote one novel, “The Illuminati” about 1990 before his death. Seems a lot of what was in the book are actually being played out in events of today in the US.
It will be very interesting, and seems most likely, if Trump were to chose a running mate with strong ties to inside the Beltway and spcifically (though not actually known) with the elite. In the book, the president the people wanted but the elite didn’t, was forced to chose a female VP the elite wanted and then they orchestrated events such that the Pres had to step down and, wow, they still got what they wanted! Interesting times!! sistersoldier
Wow! That is compelling! No I am not familiar with Larry Burkett but I most certainly will search to see if one of my local libraries has the novel you mentioned. If I am able to find it I will work it in with my fishing trip this weekend – if the fish are not biting I will be gearing up for the next leg of this race. We must enjoy the simple things while they last. Thanks for the heads up! watchmannonthewall
If I remember correctly Larry said, in the Forward, the only reason he wrote the book was because so many Christians were asking him to write a novel where he would lay out the events he thought would be most likely to occur to bring the anti-christ to power. When I read the book I sensed the content may have been prompted by the Holy Spirit, and Larry may have been more acccurate on events than he could have hoped for or dreamed. Funny thing is, I came across the book as a throwaway, cleaning out lockers, at an assembly plant I worked at 15 years ago. I need to get it out again and reread it. The book started with a major earthquake in Japan. sistersoldier
I must find it! You appear to be a fellow truth seeker and the similarities to what is going on today appear to be striking to say the least. There is just too much going on in the world today and so much has been hidden from the masses that the truth is often buried in our past or by those who were not afraid to print what the Holy Spirit was leading them to do for a time such as this! Good information and good post! Bill
It is great to read good economic discourse and understand the true picture. Now let’s get to some solutions. Chris
Work hard. Stay out of debt. Save . greyprepper
And don’t forget to PREP! 😉 All_has_An _END_.
Great advise. I have done the last 2 for years.
The first one, not so much. Guest
For some, staying out of debt and saving is hard work (as in self-discipline). If you fit in either one of those two categories, then you can say the first one applies to you, too. grumpyhillbilly
Between the decades of lousy education and mass drug use, there is no simple fix. Steming the inflow of poverty might be a good start. End the war on men, especially white ones, would be another. And killing the Fed. Chris
Forget the trains!! What about the super volcano in the Yellowstone? The Zika virus? Jade Helm? The Illuminati? The housing bubble? The Fed? Low interest rates? Oil bubble? AAAAGGG Evan Elliott
My thoughts exactly. Such a confluence of events all at once…. Richard O. Mann
Information overload. Oh yeah, that is problem too. Yes, it is an exciting time to be alive. Something about the tech market bubble deflating on one of the morning report programs. May have been Fox. Think I’ll take a nap. Gay Veteran
not to mention outrage overload CASTIEL
one problem at a time friend K
In my area it was defiantly the war on coal, that killed the trains. Coal trains was about all that ran on the line. In my case it was CSX that was involved. Quite a few people were laid off. Because it ended up closing a repair shop for the railroad. People do not understand why Trump has the support, he has. Simple, people are sick and tired of D.C. making decisions, that cost them their jobs. It is really just that simple. When D.C. boasts they shut down the coal industry. You will have to excuse coal men, and railroad personnel for not cheering. SmallerGovNow2
great post k, thanks… Steeve Girard
Even if the coal men did decide, it would not last long, because the coal they would produce would not be in acceptable standards for the buyers, for very long. K
Would have to disagree, because I lived it. I live in the smoky mountains in Tn. Every winter, I could tell you how cold it was in Virginia, by how much smoke was in my area. This was from the coal fired electrical plants. Then around 2010 it all changed. The latest filters were installed on the stacks, and you know what. They worked. I seldom saw smoke during the winter. When it was cold enough. The ice went from opaque to being perfectly clear. But they had already decided to kill coal. So no amount of improvement mattered. The simple fact is. Once D.C. makes a decision, no amount of facts will make a difference. Their arrogance knows no bounds. sistersoldier
Yes indeed ‘K’ I agree. States such as Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia(s) are all under the same mandate by the “EPA” (supposedly) to reduce carbon emissions 32% by the year 2030. Converting the coal plants to natural gas which is reported to be cheaper and cleaner energy is underway where I live and near completion. There are trains collecting rust in my town as well. There is also a spike in my area of solar powered energy. Solar panels and equipment sales are soaring. Currently under construction are solar powered businesses, hotels, homes, new police station and state of the art hospital. I am not surprised to see the trains parked as they say “the only thing that is constant is change.” jsmith
Coal is an asset that this country has relied on for ages. And as you pointed out, much cleaner, and through the process of hydrogenation a cleaner gasoline than fracking can be made. I just can’t understand if the Germans were relying on hydrogenation during WW2, why haven’t we done it? Steeve Girard
It does not matter where the mercury ends, in the environment or the filters as you say. It’s the quality of coal that is the problem: it’s EROEI, Coal is getting more and more costly to produce and contains more impurities with passing time. It is only a matter of time before, it’s grade is not acceptable. Mark
Good observation and agree. mtntrek3
Coal will always have a part in the energy sector, but I’m not seeing it returning to levels in the days of yesteryear. I’ve suffered job losses because of the downturn in coal as well. The thing is all of the shale gas production has brought natural gas cost down considerably in the country, and of course gas burns cleaner. It has an unfair advantage in that respect over coal easily. We need some suitable substitutes for the coal industry jobs lost in the country for sure. If corporate greed would stand aside to allow our jobs to come back to the country……. it would be a big help. We manufacture little of what we use/consume in the country. Globalism is another factor in all of this. God help. Mike_Travis
Coal would be much less expensive were it not for the insane regulations that no one else in the world follows. Besides, it is NOT a function of the government to choose winners and losers in the market, nor is it within their power to CREATE losers which they frequently do.
Globalism is the driving force behind all this mess which is why we are in this mess as governments everywhere WANT a collapse so they can force their criminal NWO on us all, then rule over us as subjects, NOT citizens. mtntrek3
Yes…. globalism being pushed by the powers that be in this world the main problem. We don’t need all the reg’s on coal , but some are needed to keep pollution down. Nat. gas very cheap now and burns cleaner that coal that’s been scrubbed…….. so that’s why coal is hurting so much now. Coal may make somewhat of a comeback in the future depending on what happens to gas production and geopolitical events here/worldwide. XSANDIEGOCA
“How did you go bankrupt?”
Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.” – Hemingway
We have been through the Gradual part. We may be on the cusp of the Sudden Part. Guest
Excellent post. Many “suddenlies” yet to happen. sistersoldier
“It is easier, more delightful, and more profitable to build with other peoples’ money than our own.”
So now we are beginning to see what happens when the powers that be run out of OTHER peoples’ money. The economy derails and stalls. David
There is an old saying about putting lipstick on a Pig and it’s still a pig. I think Obama & our economists that are so optimistic about our economy are running out of lipstick. Deny what you can & downplay what you can’t seems to be DC Policy these days. as much as I love my country & miss the days of prosperity I would rather be told the Ugly truth about what is happening with our economy than to be lied to on a daily basis. Randy
that truth since 1996, the year I found out just how the world wide fiat paper currency/electronic bookkeeping entry financial system scam is actually set up and runs! And who wanted to listen to me and take real steps to get out of the way of that runaway train that is going to fly off the rails when it hits the curve? NOBODY!! Everyone I talked to said that I was a nut job, didn’t know what I was talking about, et cetera, except for one guy. He did some preps, but then let life get in the way and undid most of it. Now he and his family are left standing nearly naked out in the cold night air. 1996 was also the year I wrote my first treatise on the subject, called What is Money? and it was ignored by most whom I shared it with. Steeve Girard
You can’t make blind people read or deaf people hear. Randy
Yes, I have seen that over and over again. But I still do my best to give them sight and make them hear. Mark Sivad
Where I live in South Texas, I see many fairly new tank cars and bottom-dropping bulk carriers similarly stockpiled in places they never have been before (causing some local cities to complain). Must have been a tremendous over-building in all aspects of rail in recent years. LIZ THE SHIZ
my future son in law just got back from Barcelona which is one of the busiest ports in the world and the commercial side was completely shut down , something’s going on??? jox
They keep changing the way GDP is calculated, so perhaps we will never see another recession, no matter what the true economic output is. Joltin Joe
All the government numbers are HIGHLY manipulated at best, and flat out lies most of the time. DareToCreateYourBestLife
All statistics coming from DC are manipulated now. John
Living in Arizona I have seen these train engines, what a sight. Scott Pease
But, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Bu,bu,baby,you ain’t seen nothing yet. TellTheTruth-2
I made the same observation when I saw over 100 engines sitting idle in the Roseville, California Union Pacific freight yard. BIGOTIST
Rail workers? another “special” group of overpaid, over benefitted extortionists- Hopefully the thieves will all lose their job?~ JustBill
If the train derailment risk calculation uses these metrics: number of active locomotives, and miles logged by locomotives with no change to maintenance of both locomotives and rail equipment then we may see fewer train derailments. I’ve found a bit of sunshine in the storm. All_has_An _END_.
Make no mistake about it ,after the election it is all down hill. I also think the elites will do anything to stop Trump. We could see a major revolt if Hitlary wins JustBill
The largest overcapacity of any productive item on the planet is the human. JustBill
If the American household is the center of the American economy, then the products and services it purchases, the wages earned by and the taxes/rent from collected from would drive the economy.
If the economy and financial systems were not artificial then I think Production and Consumption would be shackled together.
We’ve been provided data that displays the retail slowdown, slowdown of both CONUS and OCONUS shipping, decreasing velocity of money, and many traditional concrete indicators of activity and economic health and all are trending down.
Collapse or not nothing financial or economically appear to be healthy.
Is this the new normal? Are we treading Water? Ex Tempus
….these idle trains should be transporting all of the hot selling Government Motors cars, throughout North America! toktomi
I would offer that you probably should verify your source information before generating conclusions based on that information.
As best as I can deduce from investigating the images of the engines, these pictures are two or three years old. I am not offering that as fact but merely as the best information that I can find in short order.
~toktomi~ jamesgwolfe
Come on you guys. They have put out there for some R&R and to soak up some rays. mister_roboto
The same would be true if a caucasian member of the other major party were sitting in the Oval Office right now. Obama is as bought and paid for as nearly any other politician, so he says exactly what he is payed and commanded to say. The Kool-Aid drinkers of both of the major parties who are in the economic top 20%, as well as those who identify with them, have been increasingly adopted what I would call a “prison guard” sort of mentality towards the rest of society! House of Cards
The most alarming stat here is the crashing velocity of money, how fast money changes hands. If money isn’t changing hands often, then the economy is slowing, period. These zero interest rates are creating more distortions. And the fact that the velocity of money is crashing along with zero rates is quite alarming. A major divergence. This cannot continue indefinitely. Orange Jean
I wouldn’t put too much stock in a photo from Goggle Earth showing a bunch of trains in the desert… unless there was other data proving they are idle.
Years ago I took Amtrack cross country (from New Orleans to Chicago and then from Chicago to Orange County, CA). Going through the desert they had to stop and creep … no more than 30 mph they said because it was too hot and if it gets too hot the train could derail. We were 11 hrs late getting into CA from the last leg of my journey where I stopped in SLC for a week. WTP1776
Obama promised that he would destroy the coal industry. sharonsj
Well, if the stupid politicians had not taken bribes from the auto and gas industry, we might still have a functioning rail system instead so that ordinary people could still travel by train.
I live in a rural area with no public transportation. All the small towns still have a rail line (and railroad stations) that are hardly used. If I could take a trail to the big city for shopping and entertainment, I would do it a minute.
Meanwhile, as the rich get richer and the rest of us are impoverished, there is no extra money for us to buy anything other than the necessities. angie hoekstra
Helpful writing . For my two cents , if someone has been looking for a YMCA Trading Post & Warm Fuzzies , my assistant encountered a sample form here https://goo.gl/tM1Tbq DIONNA CRIMMINS
Good article, Thanks! | 1real |
Republicans Land a Punch on Health Care, to Their Own Face - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — At the end of the long day, the alliance of conservative ideologues who once shut down the government over President Barack Obama’s health care law could not find the will to repeal it. Since the Tea Party wave of 2010 that swept House Republicans into power, a raucous, intransigent and loosely aligned group of lawmakers known as the Freedom Caucus — most from heavily Republican districts — has often landed a punch to its own party’s face. Friday’s defeat of the Republican leadership’s bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act was a return to form, handing an immense defeat to President Trump and embarrassing Speaker Paul D. Ryan in his own House. It also challenged the veracity of their claims that a Republican president was all they needed to get big things accomplished. The most important question for Republicans now is whether the members of the Freedom Caucus will find themselves newly emboldened in ways that may bring the new president more defeats — or whether Mr. Ryan will do what former Speaker John A. Boehner could not, and find a way to shred their influence for good. “If you are defined by your opposition to leadership, it’s hard to be part of a governing coalition,” said Alex Conant, a onetime aide to Senator Marco Rubio, the Florida Republican who was once a Tea Party star. “Their opposition to Trump’s health care bill should surprise nobody who’s paid attention for the last six years. Even the world’s best negotiator can’t make a deal with someone who never compromises. ” But the Freedom Caucus has never been about compromise. In 2011, it picked a huge, costly fight over Planned Parenthood. In 2013, it orchestrated a government shutdown over funding for the health care law. Then, in its most striking move, it deposed Mr. Boehner in 2015. The common thread: It has continuously been an adversary of legislation itself. But after years of opposing power — both in the White House, which was occupied by a Democrat, and in the leadership of their own party — the conservatives were offered a chance to negotiate directly with the president and his budget director, a former Freedom Caucus member, over the bill to replace the Affordable Care Act. The members pushed and pushed Mr. Trump to the far right edges of policy, just as they have done for years on other bills. But they still could not get to “yes,” and therefore became part owners of the expansive health law they were trying to undo. “They made the perfect the enemy of the good,” said Representative Roger Marshall, Republican of Kansas. “I don’t know how they can go back home and tell people they voted to keep Obamacare, voted to keep funding Planned Parenthood. ” Indeed, members of the Freedom Caucus — which is supported by outside conservative groups — have often claimed the mantle of pure conservatism, but their tactics have been seen by many in their party as uniformly counterproductive. Time after time, they undermined Republican leaders’ efforts to secure wins for the conservative cause by overreaching and demanding the impossible. They have anointed Representative Mark Meadows of North Carolina as their leader and principal spokesman. But they occasionally get help from three senators sympathetic to their cause: Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah. At critical times, House conservatives have forced their party to make deals with Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader — an idea anathema to most Republicans, who would seethe. This time, by negotiating with Mr. Trump on the complex issue of health care, a measure whose complexity he did not seem to fully grasp, they moved an already contentious bill further and further to the right, eliminating too many benefits to keep moderate and other conservative members on board. Even Mr. Trump was said to be taken aback by their attempts to remove things Republicans have long promised to keep, like health insurance benefits for children up to 26 years old. Given that the House and Senate majorities were built on a promise to repeal and replace Mr. Obama’s signature health care law, many lawmakers fear electoral repercussions. “It is painfully ironic that members from safe, conservative congressional districts who can’t ever quite seem to get to ‘yes’ make it harder to enact good, conservative public policy like repealing Obamacare,” said Michael Steel, a Republican strategist and former aide to Mr. Boehner. This seemed lost on many Freedom Caucus members on Friday. “Part of the legislative process is working with people who have different ideas,” said Representative Justin Amash, Republican of Michigan. “This process from the beginning wasn’t designed to do that. ” Now, health care has become such a partisan issue that voters seem to have little expectation that their elected officials will do much to solve the problem. “I believe we should have more attention paid to the centrists in both parties,” said Representative Ileana Republican of Florida, one of the early moderate defectors of the bill. “Instead of showing all this attention to three or four people who never vote for anything, let’s do an American health plan, not a Republican or Democrat one. ” Mr. Ryan and Mr. Trump offered up a cheerful patina on what many in Washington viewed as an unmitigated failure, one brought on by a group that had brought down the speaker, shuttered the government and needlessly delayed previous legislation with no significant accomplishments to call its own. And a new test will come soon as Republicans contemplate an overhaul of the tax code, as the fate of the health care bill throws into doubt whether any major legislation can pass in this climate. To mitigate this issue, Mr. Ryan will be charged with building the sort of outside coalitions that did not exist for the failed health care bill, which was opposed by doctors, nurses, hospitals, disease groups and conservative political action committees. “There are lessons from this debate that will be applied to upcoming issues like tax reform, infrastructure and financial reform,” said Ken Spain, who served as the National Republican Congressional Committee’s spokesman in 2010. “Debates are won and lost in the districts and states, not in the cloakrooms of Congress. ” “Winning legislative battles today,” he said, “requires more of an approach. ” | 0fake |
Turkey warns U.S. that Jerusalem embassy move is 'grave mistake' | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday that it would be a grave mistake for the United States to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and that he had warned U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Before a bilateral meeting with Tillerson at NATO headquarters, Cavusoglu said: It would be a grave mistake (to move the U.S. embassy). It will not bring any stability ... but rather chaos and instability. The whole world is against this, he said, adding that he had already told Tillerson how he felt and would reiterate it at the meeting at NATO during the alliance s foreign ministers meeting. | 0fake |
CAR TORCHED AND SPRAYED WITH “F*CK TRUMP” Because Of Pro-Trump Sticker | THE VICTIM SPEAKS OUT THIS IS SHAMEFUL! KPTV FOX 12A car was spray-painted with anti-Donald Trump graffiti and then set on fire in southeast Portland.A reward up to $1,000 is being offered to catch whoever did it.Police and firefighters responded to Southeast 9th Avenue and Ash Street at 12:28 a.m. Friday.They arrived to find a Ford Mustang on fire. After the fire was put out, investigators found FK Trump spray-painted on the side of the car.The car had a small sticker on it in support of the the president-elect, according to police.A Volvo parked in front of the burned Mustang had also been tagged with similar graffiti.A witness told police that he heard a possible explosion and saw a person jumping in place several times next to the Mustang. The person near the car then ran away southbound on 9th Avenue. | 1real |
These DAMNING Tweets Are EXACTLY Why Trump Should Lose His Twitter Account NOW | Earlier today, Trump appeared to tank the stock of yet another company with a single, ill-considered tweet:The F-35 program and cost is out of control. Billions of dollars can and will be saved on military (and other) purchases after January 20th. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 12, 2016While we can all agree that the man-child known as Donald King Cheeto Trump is absolutely clueless about his responsibilities and clout as president, it seems it might not have been that tweet that actually tanked Lockheed Martin s stock. What may have happened is considerably worse and considerably more terrifying. Newsweek s Kurt Eichenwald tweeted the following, which, if true, demonstrates just how dangerous it is that Trump has any access at all to social media:God. Wall Street guy tells me he & buddies watching TV news 2 see if they can figure out what company might make Trump angry, then short it. Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) December 12, 2016First Boeing, now Lockheed Martin. But it s not just that. Many of the replies are showing that Lockheed s stock actually began to tank a few minutes before Trump let the world know he was pissed at them. In other words, the possibility exists that Wall Street traders are manipulating the market to their advantage, and basing that manipulation on our ignorant, petty man-child of a president-elect:@kurteichenwald Did they get the word 5 minutes before Trump tweeted about F-35s (Lockheed Martin)? https://t.co/1LcN2lT8Jo Sean Smith (@protanope) December 12, 2016@kurteichenwald Clearly someone had the head s up on the F-35 program and shorted Lockheed minutes before. Wonder if S.A.C. still gets leaks Carolyn Lanzetta (@CarolynLanzetta) December 12, 2016@kurteichenwald @mybookishways kind of like whomever it was who dumped Lockheed shares 5 min before he tweeted? J.N. Duncan (@jimnduncan) December 12, 2016How s that swamp-draining going, Trumpkins? Bet they won t be so thrilled when Wall Street goes after their employers because of him.This is Trump s economy. One of two things is most likely to happen here: Either Wall Street will get tired of Cheetolini s antics and stop paying attention, or they ll go all out at some point and bankrupt someone. Regardless, this is something that should never have even gotten started. Trump is going to ruin us.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump The President: What Does That Mean For The World? - CounterCurrents.org | in World — by Mirza Yawar Baig — November 10, 2016
Whew! Finally, the charade is over. Donald Trump is now the President of the United States of America. What does that mean? It means that Simpsons prediction came true: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2146815/the-simpsons-correctly-predicted-a-donald-trump-presidency-16-years-ago-in-episode-set-in-the-near-future/
So now you know who to refer to for accurate predictions about the future. Goodbye Tarot cards, et al. In 1995 I recall reading a survey which concluded that America was not likely to be ready for a woman president for the next twenty years. Twenty-one years later, it looks like that prediction was true. Given that women in America to this day are paid 80% of what men are paid, it is not surprising that Americans find it tough to visualize a woman in the White House in any place other than the President’s bed.
So, what does Trump mean for America, for American Muslims, for Muslims worldwide, for non-whites in America and globally? I am asking this rhetorical question as I see all kinds of doomsday predictions flying around. I apologize for taking a different view. I see the Trump presidency as an opportunity for those who believe in the opposite of everything that Donald Trump promoted in his campaign to put their actions where their mouths are and show that they are as willing to stand up for what they believe in as he was.
What does Trump mean for America? I hope he will be the best thing that happened to America ever. I hope that he can truly make ‘America Great Again’. I say that because though I am not American (should I say, ‘Thank God?’), I am one who believes that a truly ‘Great America’, can make this world great. The world truly needs to change. We need someone to lead the way to make the world compassionate, caring, fighting against injustice, corruption and poverty; disease and ignorance. Which nation is better suited to lead that fight? America has the resources, the intelligence, the education and the leadership ability which I hope it chooses to exercise. Trump won on the anti-establishment platform. I support that fully. The establishment has shown that what it can do is to fail spectacularly. The economy crashed and Obama rewarded those who crashed it. People were and are homeless when there are empty homes on foreclosed loans enough for every American to have two homes, not only one. Yet they are on the streets. I hope Trump can put Americans back in their own homes.
Bush father and son, started never ending wars. Obama continued them adding his own flavor to it of drone strikes – using technology to create bug splats (the arrogance is incredible) – thereby escalating the global threat level that comes from driving people to desperation. Obama’s dabbling (what else to call it?) in Middle Eastern politics resulted in continuing the misery for people of Afghanistan and Iraq and new misery for people of Syria and by inference for the rest of the world. And to top it all ISIS came into being because of all of the above. The credit can be shared by all of them. So, Trump standing against the establishment means that he is against all of this. I sincerely hope so.
All the jingoism that he rode on will get tempered when it comes to facing reality. It is easy to talk about kicking out the Mexicans and so on. But the day he does that, reality will dawn on him and his cohorts like it did on those who voted Pro-Brexit; that the rich need the poor to survive while the poor don’t need the rich. When nice white Americans get to pay $3 per potato, they will realize the value of cheap labor. Meanwhile some contractor will get the contract to build the Wall, which he will do from the Mexican side, no doubt as otherwise his margin will not make it worthwhile. So also, the wonderful idea to outlaw the H-1 visa. I don’t think it will take very long for Trump and his gang to realize that there is a reason there are blond jokes. And that Indians are not blond. Go figure that.
The good news is that Trump made public what was private – racism, misogyny in a country that never stops ‘trumpeting’ about women’s equality, support for genocide, wars and weapons sales, the evils of unbridled capitalism, locker-room conversations which indicate attitudes – have all come out of the closet and locker-room. Now it is up to those who like to say that they believe in the opposite of all these things, to get off their backsides and bring about change. They can no longer live the lives of pretense and lies that they had become used to, saying, ‘It is not happening here.’ Trump proved that it is happening and has trumpeted it from the top of Trump tower. Sorry for so much bad punning in one breath. But there you go.
As for Muslims and Trump, believe me Trump is far better than what Muslims have seen in the past. He is far better than what we have today. Take Sisi, the Oily royals who are personal friends of every weapons dealer, the Paki leadership and I can think of several more and Trump begins to look like a choir boy. What will he do that is not already happening? Frankly I don’t know and don’t care to speculate because the prime movers behind Muslim affairs and how they are, are Muslims themselves. Our leadership or more correctly its spectacular failure. Ordinary citizens pay the price, but what’s new about that? The fact remains that until we sort that out and do something about taking charge of our destiny, we must remain satisfied with others writing the script we are compelled to live by. Play endings depend on the script, not on the players.
India is a classic example where a so-called minority of 200 million is kicked around like a football and used at will by every mercenary politician for his own ends. But Indian Muslims seem to be satisfied with that, so who is anyone else to complain. If you disagree and tell me that they are not satisfied, then I must ask you what it is that prevents them from doing what is glaringly obvious; get their act together, change their leaders and write their own script. 200 million is not a minority. It is a nation. But only if it chooses to be. Same story for Muslims globally. No point in blaming Trump or looking up to him to find solutions. It is our problem and we must solve it, so let us start doing that.
Two other points: what about wars, global warming and such issues? Well, when you have a nation that lives on perpetual warfare and is supported in that by all the other major industrial nations who either manufacture and sell weapons or buy them, how can you pin it all on Trump? If weapons are made and sold, there will be wars. Wars will happen if they continue to make profits for those who run them. That people die is incidental. Those at the top who laugh all the way to the bank, don’t. Those that do, don’t count. They are ‘collateral’, who are necessary to prove the efficacy of the weapons that were used to vaporize them. If it wasn’t for the bugs who splatted, how would you assess the drones or their operators? The fact that the bugs were innocent or that they had families and so on; well, bugs are bugs. And that’s all that there is to it.
Global warming? America decided on that when it chose Bush instead of Al Gore. For a minute I thought that was because they got confused because his name is Al Gore like Al Ghurair. But then I realized that it was because he had a terminal problem; he had a brain. See his famous movie, An Inconvenient Truth, and you will see what I mean. https://www.algore.com/library/an-inconvenient-truth-dvd If you do nothing else, buy this and see it. At least you will know why you died. Since you chose that, especially Americans, I believe it is only fair that you understand what you did. With Trump, that came out in the open, so get used to summer all year long. You won’t need to go to the French Riviera for a tan. You can get it at home. That is not inconvenient.
Add to this the effect ofunending wars, refugee movement, changing cultures, security nightmares coming true, widening gap between the rich and the poor, global poverty and hunger, preventable disease which is not prevented because there’s no profit in it – when I think about all this and Trump’s election, Nero comes to mind. Renewing our link with tradition. Let us dance to the tune. What’s the use of fiddling otherwise?
Final question that everyone is asking, ‘How safe is it to have someone like Trump with his finger on the nuclear button?’
My answer is, ‘The one who actually pressed that button was as different from Trump as could be. Yet he did it.’ Let me leave you to figure out the rest.
Meanwhile it is midnight where I live, far away from Trump and America and time to go to bed. Truly it is said that there is solace in sleep. So, good night, world. Sleep well. As long as you stay asleep you can escape responsibility.
Mirza Yawar Baig is based in Hyderabad, India and is the founder and President of Yawar Baig & Associates; an international leadership consulting organization. He can be reached at yawar@yawarbaig.com Share this: | 1real |
MICHELLE OBAMA Breaks Church Rules Wearing Revealing Top Into Siena Cathedral | Michelle Obama has been wearing some interesting fashion choices during her overseas trip to Italy. To each his own but the latest outfit crossed over the line because it was disrespectful to the religious guests of Siena Cathedral. Women are supposed to cover their shoulders upon entry into the cathedral. Who does that?Rules must be for the little people and not for the Obamas Sienna, Tuscany is one of the stops for the Obamas on their trip to Italy. | 1real |
In The Name Of Party Unity, Trump Meets With Ryan, Other GOP Leaders | In The Name Of Party Unity, Trump Meets With Ryan, Other GOP Leaders
Donald Trump arrived in Washington, D.C., on Thursday to meet with his party's congressional leaders to hash out their differences and talk GOP unity ahead of what is likely to be a pitched general-election battle against Hillary Clinton.
First up was a private meeting with House Speaker Paul Ryan. The two arrived around 9 a.m. ET at the Republican National Committee in a session orchestrated by RNC Chairman Reince Priebus.
Swarms of journalists, protesters and onlookers crowded around the building just behind the U.S. Capitol. The crazy scene included a Trump impersonator in a huge piñata mask mocking Trump on a megaphone, immigration activists, signs that read "Trump is a racist" and "Islamophobia is un-American," and chants of "GOP RIP, GOP RIP."
Leaders entered through the back door, avoiding a media scrum of 50 or so reporters.
Ryan sent shock waves through the GOP when he announced last week that he was not yet ready to embrace the New York businessman as the GOP standard-bearer.
"It's going to take more than a week just to repair and unify this party," Ryan told the Wall Street Journal in a Facebook Live interview. "If we just pretend we're unified without actually unifying, then we'll be at half-strength in the fall, and that won't go well for us."
Ryan told reporters that he does not really know Trump. They met briefly in 2012 when Ryan ran on Mitt Romney's presidential ticket. The two men also spoke on the phone in March.
Ryan said the meeting is, in part, a relationship-building exercise. He told reporters Wednesday that he does not expect he will change Trump's mind on policy matters where they disagree, but he wants the Trump wing and the Ryan wing of the party to work together this fall.
"This is a big-tent party," Ryan said. "There is room for different policy disputes in this party. We come from different wings of the party. The goal here is to unify the various wings of the party around common principles so we can go forward unified."
Trump initially dissed Ryan for not endorsing his campaign, but he offered a more conciliatory tone in an interview with Fox's Bill O'Reilly.
"I have a lot of respect for Paul, and I think we are going to have a very good meeting," Trump said.
Asked if he expected Ryan to "fall in line" and endorse him, Trump responded: "I don't think 'fall into line' is the right words. I think he loves this party, he loves this country, and he wants to see something good happen."
Trump is also expected to meet with the House GOP leadership team. Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., have endorsed Trump. House Republican Conference Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., the highest-ranking GOP woman in Congress, has not. Like Ryan, she says she wants to meet with Trump before she makes that call.
Trump will then meet with Senate GOP leaders. Unlike Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., quickly announced his support for Trump after the candidate's decisive victory in the May 4 Indiana primary that made his nomination a foregone conclusion.
"I think most of our members believe that he's won the nomination the old-fashioned way: He got more votes than anybody else," McConnell told reporters Tuesday, "and we respect the voices of the Republican primary voters across the country." | 0fake |
WOW! SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR Sets Record Straight, After USA TODAY Attempts To Make Readers Believe President Trump Is Draining Secret Service Funds Dry | USA Today published an article today that was so egregiously misleading that every hotel that leaves this joke of a publication outside the doors for their guests to read, should be ashamed to be peddling such trash. (Even if it is free..and we all know what they say: If it s free It s free for a reason .) USA Today is one of the most virulently anti-Trump publications you will find anywhere. Much like the morning shows, whose morning talk hosts greet their viewers with cheerful dispositions and big white smiles, while sticking daggers into our president and his family, USA Today can be found as in almost every hotel in America as a complimentary source of news for their guests.USA Today comes across to the everyday American as a friendly publication that gives Americans a snapshot into the latest national news without any bias. Unfortunately, nothing could be further than the truth. USA Today s stories are so anti-Trump, they should almost come with a warning label for anyone who s looking for honest journalism and unbiased news.An article that appeared today, in the USA Today talked about the dire financial situation that President Trump and his family have caused with their with an unprecedented number of White House protectees. Shortly after the article was published, Secret Service Director Randolph Tex Alles released a statement refuting what USA Today claimed he said. The quotes in red in the USA Today article below are from the Secret Service Director s statement.USA Today The Secret Service can no longer pay hundreds of agents it needs to carry out an expanded protective mission in large part due to the sheer size of President Trump s family and efforts necessary to secure their multiple residences up and down the East Coast.Here s what Secret Service Director Randolph Tex Alles said about the Secret Service running out of money: The Secret Service has the funding it needs to meet all current mission requirements for the remainder of the fiscal year and compensate employees for overtime within statutory pay caps. Secret Service Director Randolph Tex Alles, in an interview with USA TODAY, said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year.OOPS! It looks like the same thing happened in 2016 while Barack Obama was President: The Secret Service estimates that roughly 1,100 employees will work overtime hours in excess of statutory pay caps during calendar year 2017. Our agency experienced a similar situation in calendar year 2016 that resulted in legislation that allowed Secret Service employees to exceed statutory caps on pay.The agency has faced a crushing workload since the height of the contentious election season, and it has not relented in the first seven months of the administration. Agents must protect Trump who has traveled almost every weekend to his properties in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia and his adult children whose business trips and vacations have taken them across the country and overseas.To remedy this ongoing and serious problem, the agency has worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security, the Administration, and the Congress over the past several months to find a legislative solution. As we work to ensure that employees are compensated for the hours they work, the Secret Service continues its rigorous hiring of special agents, Uniformed Division officers, and critical support staff to meet future mission requirements. The president has a large family, and our responsibility is required in law, Alles said. I can t change that. I have no flexibility. The law, Title 18 US Code 3056, details protection requirements for the President, Vice President and their immediate family members.Alles said the service is grappling with an unprecedented number of White House protectees. Under Trump, 42 people have protection, a number that includes 18 members of his family. That s up from 31 during the Obama administration.Does USA Today really believe the average American is so stupid that they ve already forgotten about the several separate vacations that the former first lady took while her husband golfed almost every weekend that he was in office? What about her notorious trip to Spain where she brought most of her entire friends and family list courtesy of the American taxpayers?The people you see surrounding former First Lady Michele Obama on her luxury African Safari are Michelle s family members. Yes, the American taxpayer paid for her luxury African Safari with her brother, cousins and of course, her mother, who lived in the White House for Barack s entire 8-year term, and traveled to all of their overseas destinations courtesy of, you guessed it, the American taxpayer.Surely USA Today doesn t believe we ve already forgotten about Barack Obama s obsession with golf, that more than one time, took him and his lovely wife to opposite sides of the country to satisfy their individual 5-star travel needs:Overwork and constant travel have also been driving a recent exodus from the Secret Service ranks, yet without congressional intervention to provide additional funding, Alles will not even be able to pay agents for the work they have already done.The compensation crunch is so serious that the director has begun discussions with key lawmakers to raise the combined salary and overtime cap for agents, from $160,000 per year to $187,000 for at least the duration of Trump s first term.But even if such a proposal was approved, about 130 veteran agents would not be fully compensated for hundreds of hours already amassed, according to the agency. And finally, the same Secret Service Director Randolph Tex Alles who allegedly gave USA Today the exclusive scoop about how the Trump family were draining the Secret Service funds dry, concluded his statement with this:This issue is not one that can be attributed to the current Administration s protection requirements alone, but rather has been an ongoing issue for nearly a decade due to an overall increase in operational tempo.This isn t the first time USA Today was caught fabricating a story to make President Trump look bad to their readers. In April of 2017, USA TODAY was caught fabricating a story about an innocent Dreamer being deported. Click HERE to read the story. | 1real |
Retired U.S. military officers urge Congress to fully fund diplomacy, aid | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 120 retired U.S. generals and admirals urged Congress on Monday to fully fund U.S. diplomacy and foreign aid, the same government functions expected to be targeted for cuts in President Donald Trump’s first budget proposal. A White House budget official said on Monday that Trump would seek to boost military spending by $54 billion and cut the same amount from non-defense spending, including a large reduction in foreign aid. In a letter addressed to Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the retired officers wrote that “elevating and strengthening diplomacy and development alongside defense are critical to keeping America safe.” (Click here for a copy of the letter: bit.ly/2mwif0G) “We know from our service in uniform that many of the crises our nation faces do not have military solutions alone,” they wrote. “The State Department, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Peace Corps and other development agencies are critical to preventing conflict and reducing the need to put our men and women in uniform in harm’s way.” The letter was signed by some of the most prominent U.S. military officers to serve in recent decades, including retired General George Casey, former chief of staff of the U.S. Army; retired General David Petraeus, the former CIA director and commander of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan; retired Marine General Anthony Zinni, the former commander of U.S. Central Command; retired U.S. Navy Admiral James Stavridis, the former supreme allied commander of NATO; and retired General Keith Alexander, the former director of the National Security Agency. The letter was organized by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, which advocates for robust U.S. spending in diplomacy and foreign aid and which published the letter online on Monday. U.S. military spending stands at roughly $600 billion annually. By contrast, the United States spends about $54 billion per year on its “International Affairs” budget, which includes the State Department and foreign assistance programs. | 0fake |
Repeat Deceit: How US Tries to Link Iran to Al Qaeda | When it comes to interpreting current events, no one does official conspiracy theories like the Unite States.For years, Washington has tried to promulgate a propaganda campaign which tries to somehow link al Qaeda to Iran, or ISIS to Iran. For the mentally-challenged members of the right-wing media in the US, this isn t a massive feat, as a large segment of that audience cannot even locate Iran on a global map. There is also the issue of US warhawks like Lindsey Graham and John McCain being proven pathological liars who will say anything regardless of whether it s based in actual fact. All of this contributes to a number of shallow, creative narratives which continuously circulate between FOX News, The Atlantic Magazine, Tel Aviv, Riyadh and the US Senate.And just like the US and UK mainstream media s coverage of Syria, the deep throat source in this dossier is al Qaeda.This latest chapter in the US fantasy world of Iranian intrigue attempts to further the Israeli-favoured mythology, blaming Iran for all of the region s woes. Make no mistake: the American neoconservative wing and their Israeli benefactors are determined to invent new conditions for war with Iran IMAGE: Bush s al Qaeda No.2 Guy Abu Musab al ZarqawiGareth Porter The American Conservative For many years, major U.S. institutions ranging from the Pentagon to the 9/11 Commission have been pushing the line that Iran secretly cooperated with Al Qaeda both before and after the 9/11 terror attacks. But the evidence for those claims remained either secret or sketchy, and always highly questionable.In early November, however, the mainstream media claimed to have its smoking gun a CIA document written by an unidentified Al Qaeda official and released in conjunction with 47,000 never-before-seen documents seized from Osama bin Laden s house in Abbottabad, Pakistan.The Associated Press reported that the Al Qaeda document appears to bolster U.S. claims that Iran supported the extremist network leading up to the September 11 terror attacks. The Wall Street Journal said the document provides new insights into Al Qaeda s relationship with Iran, suggesting a pragmatic alliance that emerged out of shared hatred of the United States and Saudi Arabia. NBC News wrote that the document reveals that, at various points in the relationship Iran offered Al Qaeda help in the form of money, arms and training in Hezbollah camps in Lebanon in exchange for striking American interests in the Gulf, implying that Al Qaeda had declined the offer.Former Obama National Security Council spokesman Ned Price, writing for The Atlantic, went even further, asserting that the document includes an account of a deal with Iranian authorities to host and train Saudi-Al Qaeda members as long as they have agreed to plot against their common enemy, American interests in the Gulf region. But none of those media reports were based on any careful reading of the document s contents. The 19-page Arabic-language document, which was translated in full for The American Conservative, doesn t support the media narrative of new evidence of Iran-Al Qaeda cooperation, either before or after 9/11, at all.It provides no evidence whatsoever of tangible Iranian assistance to Al Qaeda. On the contrary, it confirms previous evidence that Iranian authorities quickly rounded up those Al Qaeda operatives living in the country when they were able to track them down, and held them in isolation to prevent any further contact with Al Qaeda units outside Iran.Taken by SurpriseWhat it shows is that the Al Qaeda operatives were led to believe Iran was friendly to their cause and were quite taken by surprise when their people were arrested in two waves in late 2002. It suggests that Iran had played them, gaining the fighters trust while maximizing intelligence regarding Al Qaeda s presence in Iran.Nevertheless, this account, which appears to have been written by a mid-level Al Qaeda cadre in 2007, appears to bolster an internal Al Qaeda narrative that the terror group rejected Iranian blandishments and were wary of what they saw as untrustworthiness on the part of the Iranians. The author asserts the Iranians offered Saudi Al Qaeda members who had entered the country money and arms, anything they need, and training with Hezbollah in exchange for hitting American interests in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf. But there is no word about whether any Iranian arms or money were ever actually given to Al Qaeda fighters. And the author acknowledges that the Saudis in question were among those who had been deported during sweeping arrests, casting doubt over whether there was ever any deal in the offing.The author suggests Al Qaeda rejected Iranian assistance on principle. We don t need them, he insisted. Thanks to God, we can do without them, and nothing can come from them but evil. That theme is obviously important to maintaining organizational identity and morale. But later in the document, the author expresses deep bitterness about what they obviously felt was Iranian double-dealing in 2002 to 2003. They are ready to play-act, he writes of the Iranians. Their religion is lies and keeping quiet. And usually they show what is contrary to what is in their mind . It is hereditary with them, deep in their character. The author recalls that Al Qaeda operatives were ordered to move to Iran in March 2002, three months after they had left Afghanistan for Waziristan or elsewhere in Pakistan (the document, by the way, says nothing of any activity in Iran before 9/11). He acknowledges that most of his cadres entered Iran illegally, although some of them obtained visas from the Iranian consulate in Karachi.Among the latter was Abu Hafs al Mauritani, an Islamic scholar who was ordered by the leadership shura in Pakistan to seek Iranian permission for Al Qaeda fighters and families to pass through Iran or to stay there for an extended period. He was accompanied by middle- and lower-ranking cadres, including some who worked for Abu Musab al Zarqawi. The account clearly suggests that Zarqawi himself had remained in hiding after entering Iran illegally.Strict ConditionsAbu Hafs al Mauratani did reach an understanding with Iran, according to the Al Qaeda account, but it had nothing to do with providing arms or money. It was a deal that allowed them to remain for some period or to pass through the country, but only on the condition that they observe very strict security conditions: no meetings, no use of cell phones, no movements that would attract attention. The account attributes those restrictions to Iranian fears of U.S. retribution which was undoubtedly part of the motivation. But it is clear Iran viewed Al Qaeda as an extremist Salafist security threat to itself as well.Most of the Al Qaeda visitors, according to the Al Qaeda document, settled in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan Province where the majority of the population are Sunnis and speak Baluchi. They generally violated the security restrictions imposed by the Iranians. They established links with the Baluchis who he notes were also Salafists and began holding meetings. Some of them even made direct contact by phone with Salafist militants in Chechnya, where a conflict was rapidly spiraling out of control. Saif al-Adel, one of the leading Al Qaeda figures in Iran at the time, later revealed that the Al Qaeda fighting contingent under Abu Musab al Zarqawi s command immediately began reorganizing to return to Afghanistan.Waves of ArrestsThe first Iranian campaign to round up Al Qaeda personnel, which the author of the documents says was focused on Zahedan, came in May or June 2002 no more than three months after they have had entered Iran. Those arrested were either jailed or deported to their home countries. The Saudi Foreign Minister praised Iran in August for having transferred 16 Al Qaeda suspects to the Saudi government in June.In February 2003, Iranian security launched a new wave of arrests. This time they captured three major groups of Al Qaeda operatives in Tehran and Mashad, including Zarqawi and other top leaders in the country, according to the document. Saif al Adel later revealed in a post on a pro-Al Qaeda website in 2005 (reported in the Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat), that the Iranians had succeeded in capturing 80 percent of the group associated with Zarqawi, and that it had caused the failure of 75 percent of our plan. The anonymous author writes that the initial Iran policy was to deport those arrested and that Zarqawi was allowed to go to Iraq (where he plotted attacks on Shia and coalition forces until his death in 2006). But then, he says, the policy suddenly changed and the Iranians stopped deportations, instead opting to keep the Al Qaeda senior leadership in custody presumably as bargaining chips. Yes, Iran deported 225 Al Qaeda suspects to other countries, including Saudi Arabia, in 2003. But the Al Qaeda leaders were held in Iran, not as bargaining chips, but under tight security to prevent them from communicating with the Al Qaeda networks elsewhere in the region, which Bush administration officials eventually acknowledged.After the arrests and imprisonment of senior al Qaeda figures, the Al Qaeda leadership became increasingly angry at Iran. In November 2008, unknown gunmen abducted an Iran consular official in Peshawar, Pakistan, and in July 2013, al Qaeda operatives in Yemen kidnapped an Iranian diplomat. In March 2015, Iran reportedly released five of the senior al Qaeda in prison, including Said al-Adel, in return for the release of the diplomat in Yemen.In a document taken from the Abbottabad compound and published by West Point s Counter-Terrorism Center in 2012, a senior Al Qaeda official wrote, We believe that our efforts, which included escalating a political and media campaign, the threats we made, the kidnapping of their friend the commercial counselor in the Iranian Consulate in Peshawar, and other reasons that scared them based on what they saw (we are capable of), to be among the reasons that led them to expedite (the release of these prisoners). There was a time when Iran did view Al Qaeda as an ally. It was during and immediately after the war of the mujahedin against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. That, of course, was the period when the CIA was backing bin Laden s efforts as well. But after the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 1996 and especially after Taliban troops killed 11 Iranian diplomats in Mazar-i-Sharif in 1998 the Iranian view of Al Qaeda changed fundamentally. Since then, Iran has clearly regarded it as an extreme sectarian terrorist organization and its sworn enemy. What has not changed is the determination of the U.S. national security state and the supporters of Israel to maintain the myth of an enduring Iranian support for Al Qaeda.Gareth Porter is an independent journalist and winner of the 2012 Gellhorn Prize for journalism. This article originally appeared at The American Conservative.READ MORE IRAN NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Iran NewsSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE NOW & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Watch This FLAWLESS Depiction Of The GOP’s Off-The-Charts Madness | It s hard not to love Joss Whedon, the director of The Avengers films. Not only is he a great film director capable of seamlessly blending action, drama and comedy, but he can also be rather outspoken on politics. To that end, he created a very short film titled, If Congress Was Your Co-Worker, and it s, well, entirely too perfect for the situation in which we now find ourselves.Star Trek s Chris Pine stars in the video as Leonard, the biggest, most babyish obstructionist in the whole entire history of everything. His co-workers responsible people who actually know how to work and want to get things done have to put up with his ridiculous, puerile behavior that s stopping everything they try to do in its tracks.Leonard starts off opposing the company s new healthcare plan, and when he s asked what they should do instead, he says, Not that! and then shuts down the entire company while bragging that he still gets paid.Later on, the company appoints a consultant named Bob to untangle legal issues, and Leonard literally blocks him. He blocks everyone s views of Bob while screaming, BOOOOO! and says he doesn t like Bob. When the boss asks why, he shouts, Because you chose him! If any of that sounds familiar, it s because it s a perfect illustration of why neither Congress, nor Obama, has been able to get anything done since the Tea Party wave of 2010. Leonard is the Tea Party, and also the larger Republican Party that allowed the Tea Party to come to power and do this to us. That includes ridiculous and draconian views of the LGBTQ community, religious and racial minorities, and things like sexual harassment and assault, all of which are also touched on.The video ends with the company getting together to do something about Leonard. Watch what they do below, and remember to go vote on Tuesday, Nov. 8, if you haven t already done so.Featured image via screen capture from embedded video | 1real |
RAW VIDEO: A SHOCKING TOUR Of The Detroit Ghetto…Ruled By DEMOCRATS For Decades! [Video] | 1real | |
Anyone from the family who can understand what I speak will be appointed as UP CM: Mulayam Singh | Tweet (Image via intoday.in)
In an announcement which has shocked workers and family members of the Samajwadi party, when their senior most leader Mulayam Singh Yadav said, “Anyone from the Yadav family, who can understand clearly each and every word that I speak will be unanimously appointed as the next UP Chief Minister.”
Mulayam Singh came to this decision after he realized that 90% of the party members nod blankly to his speeches and instructions without understanding a single word that he speaks.
“It all started when Netaji realized that he always gave the same instructions to Shivpal, Akhilesh and Ram Gopal Yadav but they were understood differently by each of them each time. However all three of them would nod as if they had understood the same thing,” said a senior party member close to Mulayam Singh. “Obviously I myself don’t get half of his sentences, but I have become good at reading his lip movements,” he added.
This is not the first time Mulayam Singh has been informed of it. As many as three decades ago, school teachers of Akhilesh Yadav had told Mulayam Singh that his son doesn’t listen to his father. While Mulayam mistook it for Akhilesh being a disobedient child, what the teachers actually meant was that Akhilesh hardly understands what his father speaks.
According to sources, Mulayam Singh is currently conducting a test among family members to determine who comes closest in understanding his speech in order to accordingly finalize party positions.
“To K!$@#$ Communal $Q#$ Q# %@bey @# #$$!@$ #$@#$@ Secular G#$#$%# @# UP, B bil #$Q$ $#$@#$$ Congrss P#!!$ #$@$ #$@ ByeP d#@# #$@$ erection,” said a family member when asked to repeat what Netaji said.
More than half of the family members couldn’t come even remotely close. It was only Akhilesh and Shivpal Yadav who could clearly identify some of the key words from the sentence, which were ‘communal’, ‘secular’, ‘election’, ‘UP’ and ‘Congress’.
Later, confusion turned to consternation when an outsider by name Amar Singh heard this family conversation and clearly recited what Netaji said, which was: “To keep Communal forces away and have a secular Government in UP, we will tie up with Congress party and not with BJP during next elections.”
While Mulayam lauded Amar for the translation, Akhilesh got seriously pissed by the fact that a family conversation was heard by an outsider surreptitiously and launched into an emotional speech to his supporters.
(The writer is the author of the book, ‘The Bogus Read’ ) Tweet About D-MAN
A jack of many trades who now wants to master some. Born wisecracker who makes every effort to get the maximum out of life. He facebooks here and tweets here . | 1real |
Republicans Are Admitting They’re Fine With Treason As Long As They Win | This brings party before country to a whole new level. Republicans are admitting they are fine with treason, as long as they achieve their political goals.That was the message Ann Coulter delivered on her Twitter feed on Friday night.If @realDonaldTrump builds wall, ends O s executive amnesty, bans Muslims & deports illegals, he could make Putin VP. #BetterThanReagan Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) July 22, 2017In fact, Republicans have been demonstrating all year that they don t really care what Donald Trump does as long as they get what they want. So as Trump once said, he could literally murder someone right now in broad daylight and Republicans wouldn t lift a finger to do something about it.What s even scarier is that conservatives like Coulter are also perfectly fine with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin being put in a position of power in the United States government. Of course, we all already know that Putin has power over the government from the outside. Trump is his puppet and he s pulling the strings from Moscow.Coulter goes even further by claiming that Trump is better than Ronald Reagan. Keep in mind that Reagan would never have colluded with Russia to win an election. He certainly would not have allowed Russia to dictate what he does as president. Reagan is rolling in his grave right now because of what Trump has done and is doing.As the evidence continues to stack up against Trump, Republicans are just letting him get away with ignoring the Constitution and flouting the law. He has repeatedly lied to the American people, repeatedly obstructed justice, and is using the White House to enrich himself and his family. And they are willing to let him burn down our democracy and humiliate our nation as long as it means they get to enact their political agenda and remain in power.The fact that conservatives like Coulter actually want Putin to be vice-president should scare the hell out of every American, especially those who constantly claim to be patriots. Featured image via Steffen Kugler/BPA/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump's son says 'happy' to work with Senate intelligence panel on Russia | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. said on Monday he would be happy to share what he knows with the Senate Intelligence Committee if it decides to look into a meeting he had with a Russian lawyer during his father’s campaign. “Happy to work with the committee to pass on what I know,” he said on Twitter, after a Republican member of the committee said the panel should interview him. | 0fake |
That Story Trump Just Told The Press About Obama And Air Force One NEVER Happened | On Tuesday, Donald Trump told a story about Air Force One and former President Barack Obama. The only problem is that it never happened. Before boarding the plane to come home, Trump told the press that Air Force One was denied landing rights in the Philippines during a trip by his predecessor because U.S. relations with the nation were so bad.Trump said Air Force One never got to land in the Philippines while be bragged about having a very strong relationship with the Southeast Asian nation. And as you know, we were having a lot of problems with the Philippines. The relationship with the past administration was horrible, to use a nice word, Trump told reporters in Manila. I would say horrible is putting it mildly. You know what happened. Many of you were there, and you never got to land, he continued. The plane came close but it didn t land. The Associated Press fact-checked Trump s bizarre claim:President Barack Obama last visited the Philippines in November 2015, arriving in Manila after an overnight flight from Turkey. There were no problems with landing the plane. Obama used the visit to announce the United States was transferring two ships to the Philippine Navy.Perhaps Trump was referring erroneously to Obama s aborted meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte? In September 2016, Obama abruptly canceled a meeting with the new Philippines leader in Laos after Duterte called him an obscene name. Duterte was warning Obama not to speak with him about the brutality of his crackdown on the illegal drug trade.Obama did visit the Philippines on several trips earlier in his presidency and even signed an enhanced defense cooperation agreement with the country in 2014, but Trump claimed that our relationship with the Philipines is probably better than ever before. So it s very important that we get along with the Philippines, and we really do. We have a very good relationship. I would actually say probably better than ever before, he said.Duterte has carried out an unlawful crackdown on suspected drug dealers and users, resulting in at least 7 thousand deaths by means including execution using death squads. Hitler massacred 3 million Jews. There are 3 million drug addicts. I d be happy to slaughter them, Duterte declared in 2015.However, while Trump was there he largely ignored any discussion of human rights with the dictator. We understand that Trump is jealous of President Obama, but his lies prove why he has so much disdain for fact-checkers. It s sad that he doesn t have that same disdain for murderous dictators, though.Photo by Zach Gibson Pool/Getty Images. | 1real |
McConnell says planned vote on Obamacare repeal can be amended | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Wednesday the Senate will vote on a motion next week to move ahead with a bill to repeal and or replace Obamacare that could easily be amended. “I think we have two options here, I think we all agree it’s better to both repeal and replace, but we could have a vote on either, and if we end up voting on repeal only, it will be fully amendable on the Senate floor and if it were to pass without any amendment at all there’s a two-year delay before it kicks in... so the takeaway from what I’m telling you is no harm is done from getting on the bill,” McConnell told reporters at the White House following a lunch with President Donald Trump and almost all of the Republican senators. | 0fake |
President Obama Urges Mutual Respect From Protesters and Police - The New York Times | MADRID — President Obama on Sunday urged those protesting the recent shootings of black men by police officers to avoid inflammatory words and actions, which he said would worsen tensions and set back their cause. “Whenever those of us who are concerned about fairness in the criminal justice system attack police officers, you are doing a disservice to the cause,” said Mr. Obama, speaking in Spain after a meeting with the country’s interim prime minister, Mariano Rajoy. Mr. Obama’s plea for a reasoned debate came on the last day of a trip to Spain and Poland. His visit was overshadowed, and abbreviated, by the wave of grief and anger convulsing the United States after the police shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, and the killing of five police officers by a black gunman in Dallas. On Sunday, hours before he was to fly home a day earlier than planned, Mr. Obama found himself once again addressing this national tragedy, this time while sitting next to a European leader who was eager to talk about Spain’s close ties to the United States. One of the United States’ great virtues, Mr. Obama said, is its openness to protest and efforts to speak truth to power. While that process is often messy, he warned that harsh language would drive people on opposing sides to their corners, hardening positions and stalling a difficult but necessary debate over racial bias in the criminal justice system. Mr. Obama said the Black Lives Matter movement had grown out of a tradition that dated to the abolitionist movement, the women’s suffrage campaign and the protests against the war in Vietnam. In protest movements, he said, “there’s always going to be some folks who say things that are stupid or imprudent or or are harsh. ” While Mr. Obama said it was unfair to characterize an entire movement by a few dissonant voices, he said inflammatory words could hinder legitimate efforts to reform the justice system. “Even rhetorically,” Mr. Obama said, “if we paint police officers with a broad brush — without recognizing that the vast majority of police officers are doing a really good job and are trying to protect people, and do so fairly and without racial bias — if the rhetoric does not recognize that, then we’re going to lose allies in the reform process. ” Likewise, he urged police organizations to treat protesters respectfully and to treat their grievances seriously. He repeated an observation he made after arriving in Poland on Friday: that reliable statistics prove there is bias in the criminal justice system. A respectful debate, Mr. Obama said, is “what’s going to ultimately help make the job of being a cop a lot safer. ” Mr. Obama also pledged again to bring together political leaders, civil rights advocates and law enforcement officials to try to devise solutions to this problem. He plans to travel on Tuesday to Dallas, where he will take part in an interfaith memorial service. “I’d like all sides to listen to each other,” he said. Mr. Obama’s secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, echoed that message on Sunday as he appeared in a series of joint television interviews alongside New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton. Addressing the anxieties of Americans shaken by the shootings last week, Mr. Johnson said that it was “a time for healing,” but also a time to redouble efforts to build bridges between law enforcement and the communities they serve. “It’s a time to come together, to heal, to mourn, but to remember that the shooter is not reflective of the larger movement to bring about change that was out in Dallas to peaceably demonstrate,” Mr. Johnson said on CBS’s “Face the Nation. ” “And those who engage in excessive force in the law enforcement community are not reflective of the larger law enforcement community. ” Mr. Johnson strongly rejected the suggestion made by some critics that Mr. Obama and his administration had helped incite violence against the police by supporting Black Lives Matter activists. He reiterated in personal terms the legitimacy of the activists’ concerns while pledging continued federal support for local law enforcement. “Well, I’ve obviously got some experience with this as a parent and as somebody who’s been around,” Mr. Johnson said on CNN’s “State of the Union. ” “I’m 59 years old now,” he said, “and I’ve had my share of unpleasant encounters with law enforcement when I was much younger. ” Pressed for more details of those experiences, Mr. Johnson largely demurred, saying, “Well, you know, the type of road encounters that others have talked about. ” “But,” he added, “they do not reflect the actions of law enforcement in general. ” | 0fake |
(VIDEO) CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE: DEBT HEADED TO 103% OF GDP – LAST SEEN AT END OF WWII | CBO DIRECTOR: How long the nation could sustain such growth in federal debt is impossible to predict with any confidence. At some point, investors would begin to doubt the government s willingness or ability to meet its debt obligations, requiring it to pay much higher interest costs in order to continue borrowing money. Such a fiscal crisis would present policymakers with extremely difficult choices and would probably have a substantial negative impact on the country. | 1real |
A SPEECH TO SAVE A NATION: “We the people will reclaim our government!” [VIDEO] | Candidate Trump gave a great speech that was about reclaiming OUR government. We feel it s perfect for today Independence Day! This is not simply another 4-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not We The People reclaim control over our government. DJTTRANSCRIPT: Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People. There is nothing the political establishment will not do, and no lie they will not tell, to hold on to their prestige and power at your expense.The Washington establishment, and the financial and media corporations that fund it, exists for only one reason: to protect and enrich itself.The establishment has trillions of dollars at stake in this election. As an example, just one single trade deal they d like to pass, involves trillions of dollars controlled by many countries, corporations and lobbyists.For those who control the levers of power in Washington, and for the global special interests they partner with, our campaign represents an existential threat.This is not simply another 4-year election. This is a crossroads in the history of our civilization that will determine whether or not We The People reclaim control over our government.The political establishment that is trying everything to stop us, is the same group responsible for our disastrous trade deals, massive illegal immigration, and economic and foreign policies that have bled this country dry. The political establishment has brought about the destruction of our factories and our jobs, as they flee to Mexico, China and other countries throughout the world. Our just-announced jobs numbers are anemic, and our gross domestic product, or GDP, is barely above one percent. Workers in the United States, were making less than they were almost 20 years ago and yet they are working harder.It s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities.Just look at what this corrupt establishment has done to our cities like Detroit and Flint, Michigan and rural towns in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and across our country. They have stripped these towns bare, and raided the wealth for themselves and taken away their jobs.The Clinton Machine is at the center of this power structure. We ve seen this firsthand in the WikiLeaks documents in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers.And, likewise, the emails show that the Clinton Machine is so closely and irrevocably tied to media organizations that she is given the questions and answers in advance of her debates. Clinton is also given approval and veto power over quotes written about her in the New York Times. And the emails show the reporters collaborate and conspire directly with the Clinton Campaign on helping her win the election.With their control over our government at stake, with trillions of dollars on the line, the Clinton Machine is determined to achieve the destruction of our campaign, which has now become a movement the likes of which our country has never seen before and we won t let them do that.The most powerful weapon deployed by the Clintons is the corporate media. Let s be clear on one thing: the corporate media in our country is no longer involved in journalism. They are a political special interest, no different than any lobbyist or other financial entity with an agenda. And their agenda is to elect the Clintons at any cost, at any price, no matter how many lives they destroy.press we can actualFor them, it is a war and for them, nothing is out of bounds.This is a struggle for the survival of our nation. This election will determine whether we are a free nation, or whether we have only the illusion of Democracy but are in fact controlled by a small handful of global special interests rigging the system.This is not just conspiracy but reality, and you and I know it.The establishment and their media enablers wield control over this nation through means that are well known. Anyone who challenges their control is deemed a sexist, a racist, a xenophobe and morally deformed. They will attack you, they will slander you, they will seek to destroy your career and reputation. And they will lie, lie and lie even more.The Clintons are criminals. This is well-documented, and the establishment that protects them has engaged in a massive cover-up of widespread criminal activity at the State Department and Clinton Foundation in order to keep the Clintons in power. Never in history have we seen such a cover-up as this, one that includes the destruction of 33,000 emails, 13 phones, laptops, missing boxes of evidence, and on and on.People who are capable of such crimes against our nation are capable of anything.But I take all of these slings and arrows for you. I take them for our movement, so that we can have our country back. Our great civilization, here in America and across the civilized world, has come upon a moment of reckoning.We ve seen it in the United Kingdom, where they voted to liberate themselves from global government and global trade deals and global immigration deals that have destroyed their sovereignty.But the central base of world political power is here in America, and it is our corrupt political establishment that is the greatest power behind the efforts at radical globalization and the disenfranchisement of working people.Their financial resources are unlimited. Their political resources are unlimited. Their media resources are unlimited. And, most importantly, the depths of their immorality is unlimited.Our political establishment has no soul. I knew these false attacks would come. I knew this day would arrive. And I knew the American people would rise above it and vote for the future they deserve.The only thing that can stop the Corrupt Clinton Machine is you. The only force strong enough to save this country is you. The only people brave enough to vote out this corrupt establishment is you, the American People.They control the Department of Justice, and they even clandestinely meet with the Attorney General of the United States in the back of her airplane, while on the runway for 39 minutes to most likely discuss her reappointment in a Clinton Administration just prior to the Attorney General making a decision over whether or not to prosecute Hillary Clinton.Likewise, they have corrupted the Director of the FBI to the point at which stories are already saying the great men and women who work for the FBI are embarrassed and ashamed to what he s done to one of our great institutions. Hillary Clinton is guilty of all of the things that Director Comey stated at his press conference and Congressional hearings, and far more and yet he let her off the hook, while others lives are being destroyed for far less.This is a conspiracy against you, the American people.This is our moment of reckoning as a society and as a civilization.I didn t need to do this. I built a great company, and I had a wonderful life. I could have enjoyed the benefits of years of successful business for myself and my family, instead of going through this absolute horror show of lies, deceptions and malicious attacks. I m doing it because this country has given me so much, and I feel strongly it was my turn to give back.Some people warned me this campaign would be a journey to hell. But they are wrong, it will be a journey to heaven because we will help so many people.In my former life, I was an insider as much as anybody else and I know what s like to be an insider. Now I am being punished for leaving their special club and revealing to you their great scam. Because I used to be part of the club, I m the only one who can fix it. I m doing this for the people, and this movement is just right and we will take back this country for you and Make America Great Again.The corrupt establishment knows that we are an existential threat to their criminal enterprise. They know, that if we win, their power is gone and returned to you. The clouds hanging over our government can be lifted, and replaced with a bright future but it all depends on whether we let the New York Times decide our future, or whether we let the American people decide our future.If this Clinton Campaign of Destruction is allowed to work, then no other highly successful person which is what our country needs will ever again run for this office.I will not lie to you. These false attacks hurt. To be lied about, to be slandered, to be smeared so publicly and before your family, is painful.What the Clinton Machine is doing to me, and my family, is egregious beyond words. It is reprehensible beyond description.But I also know, it s not about me it s about all of you. It s about all of us, together, as a country.It s about the Veterans who need medical care, the mothers who ve lost children to terrorism and crime, it s about the inner cities and the border towns who desperately need our help, it s about the millions of jobless Americans. This election is about the people being crushed by Obamacare, and it s about defeating ISIS and appointing Supreme Court Justices who will defend our Constitution.This election is also about the African-American and Hispanic communities whose communities have been plunged into crime, poverty and failing schools by the policies of Hillary Clinton. They ve robbed these citizens of their future, and I will give them their hope, jobs and opportunities back. I will deliver.This election is about every man, woman and child in our country who deserves to live in safety, prosperity and peace.We will rise above the lies, the smears, and the ludicrous slanders from ludicrous reporters.We will vote for the country we want.We will vote for the future we want.We will vote for the politics we want.We will vote to put this corrupt government cartel out of business. We will remove from our politics the special interests who have betrayed our workers, our borders, our freedoms, and our sovereign rights as a nation. We will end the politics of profit, we will end the rule of special interests, we will put a stop to the raiding of our country and the disenfranchisement of our people.Our Independence Day is at hand, and it arrives, finally, on November 8th. Join me in taking back our country, and creating a bright and glorious new dawn for our people. | 1real |
The Russian Navy in the Eastern Mediterranean: Naval Briefing November 9th, 2016 by LeDahu | 4072 Views November 09, 2016 22 Comments SITREPs Scott
Source: Extract from infographic – Offiziere.ch
Source: Extract from infographic – Offiziere.ch
Latest information is that the Russian fleet off the coast of Syria is going to carry out military strikes in the Aleppo region including seaborne missiles launches. This is not surprising since the main elements of the Russian Navy force have at last converged off Cyprus & Syria. The Kuznetsov carrier has been on the receiving end of a lot of trolling, mocking all the way to the Syrian shores It has taken a while to finally get the vital naval pieces into place, much of it to howls of protest from NATO and the MSM.
It is doubtful that the air strikes against the rebels will be carrier launched, largely due to the ski jump configuration that hinders the launching of fully laden aircraft, but SU-33s have already been reported in the skies above Syria, either probably on Combat Air Patrols, or more than likely having relocated to the main airbase at Khmeimim , supplementing the air assets there. If indeed true, it will nevertheless be the first combat air sortie in 25 years for the Kuznetsov’s air wing! Much less fuss has been made in the MSM & politically on the role of the Black & Caspian Sea fleets,which have already used Kalibrs in anger in 2015 & this year. Interestingly, 100 Kalibr & Onix missiles were ordered by the Russian Ministry of Defense in the 3rd quarter of 2016. (TASS 21 Oct). The destroyer, Smetlivy is also reported to have joined the fleet, after a Greek stopover, where sailors got to see the sights of Athens. Whereas Spain & Malta snubbed the Russian Navy, Greece welcomes them with open arms.
At the beginning of November, the naval auxiliary, Prof. Nikolay Muru left Sevastopol along with the missile frigate, the Admiral Grigorovich, the only surface ship carrying Kalibrs in the eastern Mediterranean. The Prof. Nikolay Muru is a Search & Rescue (SAR) ship, also capable of underwater operations & has Dynamic Positioning System (DPS); it’s one of two vessels that frequently use AIS and as such trackable. The other is the Nikolay Chiker, an ocean going tug, which accompanied the Kuznetsov fleet down from Severomorsk. The Chiker is now quite close to Turkey, at the northernmost edge of what appears to be the Russian Navy operational zone. (See diagram for the NOTAM).
Russia’s aircraft carrier group is ready to launch strike on Aleppo in the next 24 hours
Also underway and heading to Syria is the Large Buoy Tender, KIL 158, with a deck cargo of what appears to be two fast ‘Raptor’ patrol craft .
It has a heavy lift crane and also an underwater operations role. You don’t send off such ships far from their homeports for a nice training cruise, so although this might seem at first sight, dull news compared to the deployment of combat ships, it is interesting from a logistical point of view. There is the need to reconfigure the Tartus docks into a viable & safe naval base permanently and as such specialist vessels with diving support capabilities will probably come in handy.
Equally, the arrival of specialist auxiliary ships makes for an intriguing combination, specifically looking at the underwater operations capability. This is especially so when you vector in what the Yantar did last month. The Yantar, a Russian navy oceanographic ship was off Syrian & Lebanese coasts, loitered over areas where there submarine cables linking Cyprus with the Levant & Turkey. My guess is that it was also surveying and checking out the Anti Submarine Warfare sonar arrays ‘toys’ left there by NATO – (US), in preparation for the arrival of the main fleet. Back in October, several UK MSM newspapers reported the deployment of 2 Akula class & 1 Kilo class submarines in the Atlantic. They added that they were joining the Russian fleet in the Mediterranean. So maybe the Yantar was giving the elusive Russian submarine(s?) some more room to maneuver discreetly. At the same time, there was what seemed to be a cat and mouse game taking place between the Russian navy (a sub?) firing missiles and the US Navy sending out an ASW P-8 air patrol the next day in the area. A discreet but vital underwater conflict is taking place off the Syrian coast.
Caption: Map showing the location of the Yantar in relation to submarine cables in the region
Some of the Russian ships took a northerly route past Cyprus, thus completely avoiding the French aircraft-carrier group and the busy airspace used by the RAF and ISF aircraft. Just by looking at the NOTAM map for Cyprus shows this crowded airspace). There are still NATO/US ships lurking in the area, probably keeping tabs on the Russians. One, off Crete, was the USNS Mary Sears (T AGS 65), an oceanographic ship, with sonar, underwater metal detection & satellite imagery capabilities, approximately in the same mould as the Yantar. The Yantar is now going to Iran and maybe will cause some ASW mischief making there. The latest ‘watcher’ is the Spanish navy tanker, the Cantabria, (A 15), and before that it was the turn of the Danish warship HMDS Absalon off Crete. The US naval oiler Leroy Grumman is also deployed in the area and it appears to be replenishing the French carrier group.
The latest news in is that there was a ‘brief encounter’ between the Kuznetsov escorts and a Dutch NATO submarine. (SPUTNIK news 9 Nov) Supposedly for a top notch hyper silent submarine, the Dutch Walrus class diesel- electric submarine was detected by the Severomorsk & the Vice-Adm Kulakov.
In other news, the Russian naval “Syrian Express” is still providing a much needed military supply shuttle service. In what is probably the oddest naval movement was that of a tug SB 5 towing a barge, that went through the Bosphorus twice in less than 30 hours, a record breaking transit. The barge looked like a mooring pontoon for one of the big combat ships or for the Kuznetsov. The naval logistical & combat support operations is a underrated but vital aspect of the Russian military campaign in Syria.
P.S. Rumor has it that the Dutch sub detected is the Walrus, since it visited Valletta, Malta back in September.
All sources are OSINT; usually cross checked.
Thank you for your time,
LeDahu | 1real |
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SPEECH: “BELIEVE IN YOURSELF”…”BELIEVE IN AMERICA” | THE TRANSCRIPT OF PRESIDENT TRUMP S SPEECH TO CONGRESS: THE VIDEOS ARE BELOWMr. 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.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.A new chapter of American Greatness is now beginning.A new national pride is sweeping across our nation.And a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp.What we are witnessing today is the Renewal of the American Spirit. Our allies will find that America is once again ready to lead.All the nations of the world friend or foe will find that America is strong, America is proud, and America is free.In 9 years, The United States will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Founding 250 years since the day we declared our Independence.It will be one of the great milestones in the history of the world. But what will America look like as we reach our 250th year? What kind of country will we leave for our children?I will not allow the mistakes of recent decades past to define the course of our future. For too long, we ve watched our middle class shrink as we ve exported our jobs and wealth to foreign countries. We ve financed and built one global project after another, but ignored the fates of our children in the inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and so many other places throughout our land.We ve defended the borders of other nations, while leaving our own borders wide open, for anyone to cross and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate.And we ve spent trillions of dollars overseas, while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled.Then, in 2016, the earth shifted beneath our feet.The rebellion started as a quiet protest, spoken by families of all colors and creeds families who just wanted a fair shot for their children, and a fair hearing for their concerns.But then the quiet voices became a loud chorus as thousands of citizens now spoke out together, from cities small and large, all across our country.Finally, the chorus became an earthquake and the people turned out by the tens of millions, and they were all united by one very simple, but crucial demand, that America must put its own citizens first because only then, can we truly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. PART 1 OF THE SPEECH: Dying industries will come roaring back to life. Heroic Veterans will get the care they so desperately need.Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve.Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways gleaming across our beautiful land.Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately, stop. And our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety and opportunity.Above all else, we will keep our promises to the American People.It s been a little over a month since my inauguration, and I want to take this moment to update the nation on the progress I ve made in keeping those promises.Since my election, Ford, Fiat-Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Intel, Walmart and many others, have announced that they will invest billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.The stock market has gained almost $3 trillion in value since the election on November 8th, a record. We ve saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the price of the fantastic new F-35 jet fighter, and will be saving billions more dollars on contracts all across our government.We have placed a hiring freeze on non-military and non-essential federal workers.We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five-year ban on lobbying by Executive Branch officials and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government.We have undertaken a historic effort to eliminate job-crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every government agency; imposing a new rule which mandates that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated; and stopping a regulation that threatens the future and livelihoods of our great coal miners.We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs and I ve issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.We have withdrawn the United States from the job-killing Trans-Pacific Partnership.With the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we have formed a council with our neighbors in Canada to help ensure that women entrepreneurs have access to the networks, markets and capital they need to start a business and live out their financial dreams.To protect our citizens, I have directed the Department of Justice to form a Task Force on ReducingViolent Crime.I have further ordered the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, along with the Department of State and the Director of National Intelligence, to coordinate an aggressive strategy to dismantle the Criminal Cartels that have spread across our nation.We will stop the drugs from pouring into our country and poisoning our youth and we will expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted.At the same time, my Administration has answered the pleas of the American people for immigration enforcement and border security.By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone.We want all Americans to succeed but that can t happen in an environment of lawless chaos.We must restore integrity and the rule of law to our borders.For that reason, we will soon begin the construction of a Great Wall along our Southern Border. As we speak, we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our citizens.Bad ones are going out as I speak tonight and as I have promised.To any in Congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you this question: What would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income or a loved one, because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders?Our obligation is to serve, protect and defend the citizens of the United states.We are also taking strong measures to protect our nation from Radical Islamic Terrorism.According to data provided by the Department of Justice, the vast majority of individuals convicted for terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from outside of our country.We have seen the attacks at home from Boston to San Bernardino to the Pentagon and yes, even the World Trade Center.We have seen the attacks in France, in Belgium, in Germany and all over the world.It is not compassionate, but reckless, to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur.Those given the high honor of admission to the United States, should support this country and love its people and its values.We cannot allow a beachhead of terrorism to form inside America we cannot allow our nation to become a sanctuary for extremists.That is why my Administration has been working on improved vetting procedures, and we will shortly take new steps to keep our nation safe and to keep out those who would do us harm.As promised, I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women, and children of all faiths and beliefs.We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim World, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet.I have also imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran s ballistic missile program, and reaffirmed our unbreakable alliance with the State of Israel.Finally, I have kept my promise to appoint a Justice to the United States Supreme Court from my list of 20 judges who will defend our Constitution.I am honored to have Maureen Scalia with us in the gallery tonight.Her late, great husband, Antonin Scalia, will forever be a symbol of American Justice.To fill his seat, we have chosen Judge Neil Gorsuch, a man of incredible skill, and deep devotion to the law.He was confirmed unanimously to the Court of Appeals, and I am asking the Senate to swiftly approve his nomination.Tonight, as I outline the next steps we must take as country, we must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited.Ninety-four million Americans are out of the labor force.Over 43 million people are now living in poverty, and over 43 million Americans are on food stamps.More than one in five people in their prime-working years are not working.We have the worst financial recovery in 65 years.In the last 8 years, the past Administration has put on more new debt than nearly all other Presidents combined.We ve lost more than one-fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved, and we ve lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.Our trade deficit in goods with the world last year was nearly $800 billion dollars.And overseas, we have inherited a series of tragic foreign policy disasters.Solving these, and so many other pressing problems, will require us to work past the differences of Party.It will require us to tap into the American Spirit that has overcome every challenge throughout our long and storied history.president-trump-sou-3But to accomplish our goals at home and abroad, we must restart the engine of the American Economy making it easier for companies to do business in the United States, and much harder for companies to leave.Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world.My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone.At the same time, we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class.We must create a level playing field for American companies and workers.Currently, when we ship products out of America, many other countries make us pay very high tariffs and taxes but when foreign companies ship their products into America, we charge them almost nothing.I just met with officials and workers from a great American company, Harley Davidson.In fact, they proudly displayed five of their magnificent motorcycles, made in the USA, on the front lawn of the White House.At our meeting, I asked them, how are you doing, how is business?They said that it s good.I asked them further how they are doing with other countries, mainly international sales.They told me without even complaining because they have been mistreated for so long that they have become used to it that it is very hard to do business with other countries because they tax our goods at such a high rate.They said that in one case another country taxed their motorcycles at 100 percent.They weren t even asking for change.But I am.I believe strongly in free trade but it also has to be FAIR TRADE.The first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, warned that The abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people. Lincoln was right and it is time we heeded his words.I am not going to let America and its great companies and workers, be taken advantage of anymore.I am going to bring back millions of jobs.Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration.The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers, and putsgreat pressure on taxpayers.Nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others have a merit-based immigration system.It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially.Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon.According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs America s taxpayers many billions of dollars a year.Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: It will save countless dollars, raise workers wages, and help struggling families including immigrant families enter the middle class.I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: To improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation s security, and to restore respect for our laws.If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens, instead of the unusual special interests, then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.Another Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, initiated the last truly great national infrastructure program the building of the interstate highway system.The time has come for a new program of national rebuilding.America has spent approximately $6 trillion in the Middle East, all this while our infrastructure at home is crumbling.With this $6 trillion we could have rebuilt our country twice.And maybe even three times if we had people who had the ability to negotiate.To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion dollar investment in the infrastructure of the United States financed through both public and private capital creating millions of new jobs.This effort will be guided by two core principles: Buy American, and Hire American.Tonight, I am also calling on this Congress to REPEAL AND REPLACE OBAMACARE, with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better healthcare.Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for America.The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we will do.Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits as an example, Arizona went up 116% last year alone.Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky just said Obamacare is failing in his state it is unsustainable and collapsing.One third of counties have only one insurer on the exchanges leaving many Americans with no choice at all.Remember when you were told that you could keep your doctor, and keep your plan?We now know that all of those promises have been broken.Obamacare is collapsing and we must act decisively to protect all Americans.Action is not a choice it is a necessity.So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster.Here are the principles that should guide Congress as we move to create a better healthcare system for all Americans: First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the healthcare exchanges.Secondly, we should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded Health Savings Accounts but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by the government.Thirdly, we should give our state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.Fourth, we should implement legal reforms that protect patients and doctors from unnecessary costs that drive up the price of insurance and work to bring down the artificially high price of drugs, and bring them down immediately.Finally, the time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines creating a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring cost way down and provide far better care.Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed.Every problem can be solved.And every hurting family can find healing, and hope.Our citizens deserve this, and so much more so why not join forces to finally get it done?On this and so many other things, Democrats and Republicans should get together and unite for the good of our country, and for the good of the American people.My administration wants to work with members in both parties to make childcare accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents have Paid Family Leave, to invest in women s health, and to promote clean air and clear water, and to rebuild our military and our infrastructure.True love for our people requires us to find common ground, to advance the common good, and to cooperate on behalf of every American child who deserves a brighter future.An incredible young woman is with us this evening who should serve as an inspiration to us all.Today is Rare Disease day, and joining us in the gallery is a Rare Disease Survivor, Megan Crowley.Megan was diagnosed with Pompay Disease, a rare and serious illness when she was 15 months old.She was not expected to live past five.On receiving this news, Megan s dad, John, fought with everything he had to save the life of his precious child.He founded a company to look for a cure, and helped develop the drug that saved Megan s life.Today she is 20 years old and a sophomore at Notre Dame.Megan s story is about the unbounded power of a father s love for a daughter.But our slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan s life, from reaching those in need.If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA, but across our government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles like Megan.In fact, our children will grow up in a nation of miracles.But to achieve this future, we must enrich the mind and the souls of every American child.Education is the civil rights issue of our time.I am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of African-American and Latino children.These families should be free to choose the public, private, charter, magnet, religious or home school that is right for them.Joining us tonight in the gallery is a remarkable woman, Denisha Merriweather.As a young girl, Denisha struggled in school and failed third grade twice.But then she was able to enroll in a private center for learning with the help of a tax credit scholarship program.Today, she is the first in her family to graduate not just from high school, but from college.Later this year she will get her masters degree in social work.We want all children to be able to break the cycle of poverty just like Denisha.But to break the cycle of poverty, we must also break the cycle of violence.The murder rate in 2015 experienced its largest single-year increase in nearly half a century.In Chicago, more than 4,000 people were shot last year alone and the murder rate so far this year has been even higher.This is not acceptable in our society.Every American child should be able to grow up in a safe community, to attend a great school, and to have access to a high-paying job.But to create this future, we must work with not against the men and women of law enforcement.We must build bridges of cooperation and trust not drive the wedge of disunity and division.Police and sheriffs are members of our community.They are friends and neighbors, they are mothers and fathers, sons and daughters and they leave behind loved ones every day who worry whether or not they ll come home safe and sound.We must support the incredible men and women of law enforcement.And we must support the victims of crime.I have ordered the Department of Homeland Security to create an office to serve American victims.The office is called VOICE Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement.We are providing a voice to those who have been ignored by our media, and silenced by special interests.Joining us in the audience tonight are four very brave Americans whose government failed them.Their names are Jamiel Shaw, Susan Oliver, Jenna Oliver, and Jessica Davis.Jamiel s 17-year-old son was viciously murdered by an illegal immigrant gang member, who had just been released from prison.Jamiel Shaw Jr. was an incredible young man, with unlimited potential who was getting ready to go to college where he would have excelled as a great quarterback.But he never got the chance.His father, who is in the audience tonight, has become a good friend of mine.Also with us are Susan Oliver and Jessica Davis.Their husbands Deputy Sheriff Danny Oliver and Detective Michael Davis were slain in the line of duty in California.They were pillars of their community.These brave men were viciously gunned down by an illegal immigrant with a criminal record and two prior deportations.Sitting with Susan is her daughter, Jenna.Jenna: I want you to know that your father was a hero, and that tonight you have the love of an entire country supporting you and praying for you.To Jamiel, Jenna, Susan and Jessica: I want you to know we will never stop fighting for justice your loved ones will never be forgotten, we will always honor their memory.Finally, to keep America Safe we must provide the men and women of the United States Military with the tools they need to prevent war and if they must TO FIGHT AND TO WIN.I am sending Congress a budget that rebuilds the military, eliminates the Defense Sequester, and calls for one of the largest increases in national defense spending in American history.My budget will also increase funding for our Veterans.Our Veterans have delivered for this nation and now we must deliver for them.The challenges we face as a nation are great.But our people are even greater.And none are greater or braver than those who fight for America in uniform.We are blessed to be joined tonight by Carryn Owens, the widow of a U.S. Navy Special Operator, Senior Chief William Ryan Owens.Ryan died as he lived: a warrior, and a hero battling against terrorism and securing our nation.I just spoke to General Mattis who reconfirmed that, and I quote, Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies. Ryan s legacy is etched into eternity.For as the bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one s life for one s friends.Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our Freedom we will never forget him.To those allies who wonder what kind of friend America will be, look no further than the heroes who wear our uniform.Our foreign policy calls for a direct, robust and meaningful engagement with the world.It is American leadership based on vital security interests that we share with our allies across the globe.We strongly support NATO, an alliance forged through the bonds of two World Wars that dethroned fascism, and a Cold War that defeated communism.But our partners must meet their financial obligations.And now, based on our very strong and frank discussions, they are beginning to do just that.We expect our partners, whether in NATO, in the Middle East, or the Pacific to take a direct and meaningful role in both strategic and military operations, and pay their fair share of the cost.We will respect historic institutions, but we will also respect the sovereign rights of nations.Free nations are the best vehicle for expressing the will of the people and America respects the right of all nations to chart their own path.My job is not to represent the world.My job is to represent the United States of America.But we know that America is better off, when there is less conflict not more.We must learn from the mistakes of the past we have seen the war and destruction that have raged across our world.The only long-term solution for these humanitarian disasters is to create the conditions where displaced persons can safely return home and begin the long process of rebuilding.America is willing to find new friends, and to forge new partnerships, where shared interests align.We want harmony and stability, not war and conflict.We want peace, wherever peace can be found.America is friends today with former enemies.Some of our closest allies, decades ago, fought on the opposite side of these World Wars.This history should give us all faith in the possibilitiesfor a better world.Hopefully, the 250th year for America will see a world that is more peaceful, more just and more free.On our 100th anniversary, in 1876, citizens from across our nation came to Philadelphia to celebrate America s centennial.At that celebration, the country s builders and artists and inventors showed off their creations.Alexander Graham Bell displayed his telephone for the first time.Remington unveiled the first typewriter.An early attempt was made at electric light.Thomas Edison showed an automatic telegraph and an electric pen.Imagine the wonders our country could know in America s 250th year.Think of the marvels we can achieve if we simply set free the dreams of our people.Cures to illnesses that have always plagued us are not too much to hope.American footprints on distant worlds are not too big a dream.Millions lifted from welfare to work is not too much to expect.And streets where mothers are safe from fear schools where children learn in peace and jobs where Americans prosper and grow are not too much to ask.When we have all of this, we will have made America greater than ever before.For all Americans.This is our vision.This is our mission.But we can only get there together.We are one people, with one destiny.We all bleed the same blood.We all salute the same flag.And we are all made by the same God.And when we fulfill this vision; when we celebrateour 250 years of glorious freedom, we will look back on tonight as when this new chapter of American Greatness began.The time for small thinking is over.The time for trivial fights is behind us.We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts.The bravery to express the hopes that stir our souls.And the confidence to turn those hopes and dreams to action.From now on, America will be empowered by our aspirations not burdened by our fears. Inspired by the future not bound by the failures of the past. And guided by our vision not blinded by our doubts.I am asking all citizens to embrace this Renewal of the American Spirit.I am asking all members of Congress to join me in Dreaming Big, and Bold and Daring things for our country.And I am asking everyone watching tonightto seize this moment and Believe In Yourselves.Believe In Your Future.And Believe, Once More, In America.Thank you, God bless you, and God Bless these United States | 1real |
Ex-CIA chief says Trump risks blame for an attack if he skips briefings | DUBAI (Reuters) - Former CIA director Leon Panetta said on Wednesday that President-elect Donald Trump risked being blamed after any potential attack on the United States if he refused to receive more regular intelligence briefings. U.S. officials told Reuters that Trump is receiving an average of one presidential intelligence briefing a week - far fewer than most of his recent predecessors - but that his deputy Mike Pence gets briefings around six days a week. Panetta, a former Democratic Congressman who served as CIA director and defense secretary in President Barack Obama’s first term, told the Arab Strategy Forum, a conference sponsored by the government of Dubai, that Trump’s aversion “can’t last.” “I’ve seen presidents who have asked questions about whether that intelligence is verifiable, what are the sources for that intelligence, but I have never seen a president who said, ‘I don’t want that stuff,’” Panetta said. “If we endure another attack and the intelligence officials had indications or information regarding that attack and the president did not want to listen to that, for whatever reason, the responsibility for that attack would fall on the president.” In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Trump said he found the intelligence briefings repetitive and that he already understood potential threats. “You know, I’m a smart person. I don’t have to be told the same things in the same words every single day for the next eight years,” Trump said. Panetta said Trump should heed the view of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia had interfered in the presidential election through cyberattacks. “When it comes to Russian interference in our last campaign, 17 intelligence agencies agree that Russia is involved in that effort. I think the President would do well to say we ought to find out what Russia’s role was, we ought to investigate it and ensure that it never happens again.” The CIA reportedly believes Russian hacking was aimed at boosting Trump’s candidacy - an assessment not shared by the FBI, which along with other U.S. agencies has concluded that Russian cyberattacks sought generally to undermine the election. Trump called the CIA assessment “ridiculous”, and Russia has denied meddling in the election. | 0fake |
Is America On The Brink Of Civil War? | Is America On The Brink Of Civil War? 11/07/2016
PJ MEDIA
Valerie Jarrett—Barack Obama’s closest consigliere who has lived in the lap of luxury in and out of the White House—is calling for James Comey’s head because the FBI director reopened the matter of Hillary Clinton’s emails only days before the election.
As we all know, Comey did this after some 650,000 digital missives, many from Clinton’s server, were discovered on Anthony Weiner’s laptop by the NYPD.
Obama, however, is a bit uneasy about Jarrett’s hawkishness toward Comey.
“Valerie argued that Comey was interfering deliberately in the election process and had to be stopped,” a source told The New York Post . The same source said Obama, though, is “worried about the consequences of taking such an action – the tsunami of outrage that would come his way, and possibly become a major footnote, or worse, in the history of the presidency.”
Ah, those legacy problems, not that the president has much of one outside the comically named Affordable Care Act, which is about as popular as stomach cancer.
Nevertheless, he’s right about the tsunami of outrage. In fact it’s an understatement. The bad news is this: As miserable as this endless election season has been, the aftermath is likely to be far worse. You don’t have to be Nostradamus to see that putting the American Humpty Dumpty together again is going to be a herculean task. Our country could be permanently fractured in ways few of us would have anticipated even a year ago. Anything is possible now.
If Hillary Clinton is elected, the very next day millions of Americans will be watching to see what will happen with the FBI and the Justice Department. Since we can now assume this will be a close election, that would be nearly half the voters in this country, sixty to seventy million people, almost all of whom believe Clinton, the woman a few weeks from inauguration as president, should have been charged with serious crimes and belonged behind bars, not in the White House.
Moreover, many have seen the WikiLeaks that reek of collusion between the Clintonistas and officials at the FBI and Justice, not to mention with virtually all the mainstream media outlets that were distrusted to begin with and are now reviled.
If that’s not an explosive situation, what is? And we don’t know what Assange et al have in store for us after the election. Just now we learned that the Clinton Foundation accepted—while Her Ladyship was secretary of State and in honor of Bill’s birthday—an unreported one million dollar donation from that paragon of women’s and gay rights, Qatar. This is chump change in the grand Clinton scheme of things, but another reminder of their unending greed and corruption. More importantly, as Tyler Durden points out, this time there should be legal consequences for the foundation—or would be normally in a country governed by the rule of law.
Only we’re not anymore.
This and a thousand other things put Obama, quite possibly liable himself from the email disclosures, and his attorney general Lynch behind a treacherous eight ball going forward, because they are not dealing with a few thousand disgruntled people, but those many millions. If they were to go ahead with Jarrett’s suggestion, take Comey’s head (i. e. fire him) and replace him with a yet more complaisant successor, who knows what would happen?
But if they don’t, and even if they do, the investigation may reveal things so shocking the nation will never be the same. Rumors have been flying that are so extreme that even a ten percent accuracy rate could ignite a firestorm.
The problem for all of us is that there is literally nothing Clinton can do to get out of this box, even if, as many predict, Obama pardons her. The corruption is so pervasive there is no way short of an actual military putsch to stop the continuing revelations. And such an action would itself unleash … well, you know the title of this article.
Would a Trump victory save us from all this? No one knows. Dennis Prager perhaps put it best. When you have two doors and behind one is a man-eating lion and the other one may or may not have such a lion, which door do you choose? Unless you want to commit suicide, the answer is self-evident. | 1real |
Factbox: Funeral of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Crowds began gathering in Bangkok on Wednesday for the official beginning of the funeral of Thailand s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The lavish five-day event, which runs until Sunday, opened with rows of Buddhist monks in orange robes chanting prayers. A funeral procession and cremation ceremony are scheduled for Thursday. About 250,000 Thais are expected to attend the cremation ceremony, which will be led by the new King Maha Vajiralongkorn. King Bhumibol, 88, who ruled for more than seven decades, was widely regarded as the nation s moral compass during periods of intermittent political unrest. Since his death on Oct. 13 last year, the country has observed a year of official mourning, with many Thais wearing black. Here are details of the cremation: * The king s cremation will take place on Thursday, which has been declared a public holiday, when many businesses have announced they will be shut all day or close at midday. * A budget of 3 billion baht ($90 million) has been set aside for the funeral, which will be attended by dozens of heads of state, including King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan and Japan s Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko. * Many hotels near the cremation area have been booked out by mourners. * The site of the royal cremation includes nine spire-roofed Thai pavilions to honor the late king, who was also known as Rama IX. * The site took nearly a year to complete and was built from scratch. It features sculptures of mythical creatures and auspicious animals such as lions and elephants. * The cremation will make use of sandalwood flowers whose fragrance ancient Thais believed would lead the soul of the dead to heaven. * Those unable to attend the funeral will be able to visit 85 miniature replicas of the site across Thailand. * New King Maha Vajiralongkorn formally ascended the throne last year but his coronation will take place after his father s funeral. | 0fake |
WATCH: Megyn Kelly Takes A Shot At Hannity By Wondering When Trump Will Talk To A Real Journalist | Fox News host Megyn Kelly seemed to take a shot at Sean Hannity on Monday night after the much anticipated first presidential debate when she had to throw the live coverage to an interview between her colleague and Republican nominee Donald Trump.Hannity has been a prime target for just about everyone ever since Trump was formally nominated during the last night of the Republican National Convention in July. Former Daily Show host Jon Stewart got the ball rolling that night by torching Hannity for being a complete hypocrite when it comes to how he has covered President Obama in the past to how he treats Donald Trump now.Not long after that, Wall Street Journal foreign affairs columnist Bret Stephens called Hannity the dumbest anchor on Fox News, and the Washington Post followed up by calling Hannity out for lying about Trump coming to the rescue of U.S. Marines.Then CNN s Brian Stelter piled on by nailing Hannity for lying about Hillary Clinton, and Newsweek reporter Kurt Eichenwald slammed Hannity for claiming that Hillary suffers seizures.And now Hannity is getting shade from one of his own colleagues.During the post-debate analysis on Fox News, Kelly had to introduce Hannity s interview with Donald Trump. And as she introduced the interview, Kelly wondered if Trump would be talking to the actual journalists in the room afterward. We ve got Trump speaking to our own Sean Hannity. We ll see whether he speaks to the journalists in this room after that interview. Here s the video via YouTube.Trump and Hannity proceeded to trash Hillary Clinton, but it looks like the main focus will be on Kelly for basically telling a lying commentator like Hannity to go f*ck himself.And he definitely deserved the shade. After all, Hannity is not a real journalist. He ignores facts and peddles bullshit and frankly shouldn t be allowed anywhere near the airwaves. Hannity is Trump s puppet and he clearly cannot be fair and balanced as the network he works for advertises.Featured image via screen capture | 1real |
Trump budget preserves aid for Israel, other countries being evaluated: State Dept. | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday that President Donald Trump’s proposed budget for the 2018 fiscal year would not reduce U.S. aid to Israel but that assistance levels to other nations, including Egypt and Jordan, were still being evaluated. “Our assistance to Israel is ... guaranteed and that reflects obviously our strong commitment to one of our strongest partners and allies,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. “With respect to other assistance levels, foreign military assistance levels, those are still being evaluated and decisions are going to be made going forward,” Toner added, noting that treaty obligations would be a factor. The United States provides assistance to Jordan and Egypt as part of their peace treaties with Israel. (This version of the story corrects headline by adding dropped word “preserves”) | 0fake |
Justin Moore: Impossible to ’Rationalize’ with Gun Control Crowd | In an interview this week with Town Hall, country music star Justin Moore described attempting to engage with gun control advocates as a “misguided” attempt “to rationalize with irrational people. ”[“Misguided’ is the perfect word. I think ‘misinformed’ is another,” he told the outlet. According to Town Hall, Moore explained that he sees gun control as a “cop out” by weak politicians as a way for them to blame the gun instead of the criminal who uses the gun for ill. Moore said: Mental health is the real problem. If it wasn’t guns, it would be knives, etc. To blame it on the tool being used, in my opinion, is ignorant. They want to put a over a gaping wound in my opinion. You’re trying to rationalize with irrational people. It’s impossible. The problem isn’t the NRA, we’re not the ones out there doing extreme things. These comments square perfectly with Moore’s new song “Guns. ” The lyrics of the second verse and chorus provide a clear expression of his view of Second Amendment rights: If there ever was a time we need ’em, I’d say it be today. When we’re letting them terrorists watch cable TVAnd walk out of Guantanamo Bay. I just try to do the right thing and raise my family in this land. Treating me like you want to be treated and that’s what I call a man. If we don’t have ’em, what do we do. Tell me where we gonna go. Somebody breaks into my house, I’m gonna need my Colt forty four, Guns, whether Remingtons or Glocks. Come on man it, ain’t like I’m a slingin’ ’em on the block. I’m gonna tell you once and listen son. As long as I’m alive and breathing, You wont take my guns. Town Hall reported that Moore opened his February 3 Fairfax, Virginia, concert by saying, “I was at the NRA museum today. And if you don’t like that you can get the hell out — respectfully. ” AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com. | 0fake |
Brainwashed Marine Cries ‘Benghazi!’ At Bill Clinton, Gets Shut Down (VIDEO) | On Friday, former President Bill Clinton encountered a rude protester during a campaign event in Bluffton, South Carolina and proved that he was not to be messed with.The protester, who claimed to be a Marine veteran, confronted Bill about his wife s involvement in the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya and was met with deafening boos from the 500-person crowd. Still, Bill heard the army vet out, but unfortunately did not get the same respect when he tried to give him an answer. Bill said: You listen to me, as I ve heard you. I m not your commander-in-chief anymore, but if I were, I d tell you to be more polite. Bill tried to be cordial, but as the unconfirmed vet repeatedly demanded to know if Hillary had lied about the four American lives that were lost during the attack, Clinton lost his patience and said: If you shut up and listen to my answer, I ll answer it. His mind has been poisoned by lies, and he won t listen. Even as the marine was being escorted out of the audience by security, he continued to shout at Bill Clinton, which encouraged another audience member to harass Bill in his place. The second protester shouted over the crowd s boos , She lied to those families. So all of those families are liars? Then the crowd came to Bill s defense, telling the protester You re watching too many movies as she was also escorted out of the event. Throughout the entire incident, the former president maintained his composure and remained calm while these two idiots tried to call his wife out and pathetically fail.After the protesters were gone, Bill defended Hillary and revealed that she lost many personal friends in the attack. He said, You can imagine how she feels when people make these charges. It s amazing that right-wingers just can t let Benghazi go. There was nothing to be lied about or covered up, but so many conservatives will do anything to keep smearing Hillary s name because she s such a big threat to them.You can watch the event footage below: Featured image via screenshots | 1real |
Voting Suspended At French Consulate in New York After Bomb Threat | NEW YORK (AFP) — The French consulate in New York, where thousands of expatriates were registered to cast ballots in their presidential election on Saturday, was briefly evacuated following a bomb threat, officials said. [A suspicious vehicle prompted police to clear the building on Fifth Avenue across from Central Park, Consul General Legendre said. “After the Champs Elysees attack, the New York police department was told to be especially vigilant,” she said. Dozens of people who were inside the building at about 5 pm (2100 GMT) waited on the sidewalk while authorities checked the vehicle. The situation returned to normal after about 50 minutes, consulate press officer Amelie Geoffroy said. Voting activities, which were scheduled to take place until 7 pm, also resumed, she added. Some 28, 500 French citizens living in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are registered to vote at the consulate. Security measures were strengthened at French polling stations across the United States following a jihadist’s killing of a policeman on Paris’ famed Champs Elysees avenue this week. | 0fake |
Turkish police arrest suspect in killing of Syrian activist | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkish police arrested a suspect on Saturday in the killing of a Syrian opposition activist and her journalist daughter in Istanbul, a police source said. Ahmet Barakat, a distant relative of the two women, was arrested in the city of Bursa, 90 km (55 miles) south of Istanbul, the source said, adding the motive for the killings was not known. The bodies of 60-year-old Orouba Barakat and her 22-year-old daughter Halla were found just over a week ago in their apartment in Istanbul s Uskudar neighborhood in the Asian side of Istanbul. Turkish media said Orouba Barakat was investigating reports of torture in prisons run by the Syrian government. It said she had initially lived in Britain, then the United Arab Emirates before coming to Istanbul. Hurriyet newspaper said Ahmet Barakat was arrested after a three-day operation. He was identified by CCTV footage and police were searching his house, the paper said. | 0fake |
Russian presidential hopeful says she won't sling mud at Putin | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ksenia Sobchak, a Russian TV personality planning to run against Vladimir Putin in next year s presidential election, attacked his policies on Tuesday but said she would not personally insult him in the campaign because he was a family friend. Sobchak, 35, and the daughter of a former mayor of St Petersburg for whom Putin once worked, said she does not expect to beat Putin, who is a runaway favorite for re-election in March if he chooses to run again. But she said she wants to provide an alternative choice for Russian voters who are frustrated with mainstream politicians. Alexei Navalny, a fierce critic of Putin, has said he believes Sobchak is being used by the Kremlin to blunt protests by liberals alienated from the political process, though she has denied doing the Kremlin s bidding. I tell you honestly: I m running against everyone, and this refers to Vladimir Putin, she said. But she added: I personally will not insult Putin. For some, he is a tyrant and dictator ... but for me this is a person who, first of all, helped my father in a difficult situation and de facto saved his life, she told a news conference to unveil her campaign team. She did however state her opposition to Putin possibly running for a fourth term in power. I am against the corrupt system which was built in our country during these years and I am against anyone, including Putin, being in power for 18 years. The fact that the country has no fair elections is the result of those 18 years. Sobchak is the daughter of Anatoly Sobchak, a reformist Petersburg mayor who hired Putin as an official in City Hall in the 1990s. Sobchak became his mentor. Sobchak lost the mayor s job in a 1996 election. He later moved to France and became the subject of a criminal investigation in Russia for receiving bribes and abuse of office. He denied wrongdoing, saying the case was politically-motivated. The case against him was dropped in 1999, soon after Putin became prime minister. When Sobchak died in 2000, Putin attended his funeral. Opinion polls show that Putin, 65, who has dominated Russian politics for nearly two decades, will comfortably win re-election if, as most analysts expect, he decides to seek a fourth term in March. He has so far kept silent about his plans. | 0fake |
Why It’s Necessary To Relax Into A Stretch | In a previous article , I discussed stretching—namely, why stretching is important for the masculine man, and several stretches that you should use in your training to maximize your physical fitness. And while that advice is still valid, I neglected a very important concept in that first article: the techniques that detail how to stretch.
I am not referring to a specific stretch or some sort of hypothetical “stretching mindset,” but rather a set of techniques that can be utilized for any stretch to increase ones flexibility immediately. But before I can discuss those, I have to discuss the incorrect way of stretching that many people still use.
How Not To Stretch Many people believe that stretching is a literal act of forcing the muscles and connective tissue to stretch— avoid this at all costs ! First and foremost, as I have discussed previously in these pages, you should never apply any stretching pressure to the connective tissue. They evolved solely to “hold fast” and keep things in one piece, they should never be stretched at all!
The muscles are the anatomical feature that stretches, as they evolved to do. When stretching, your body should always be positioned in a way where the connective tissues are stable and the muscles are moving.
Even when you are positioned properly, no part of stretching should involve the athlete forcing his muscles to stretch, as that risks muscular tearing which is a nagging injury that never truly goes away. This is because the human body has naturally evolved what is referred to as the “ anti-stretch reflex ” to prevent muscular tearing-stretching the muscles increases in difficulty the farther and deeper the stretch is, and your body responds to this stress with pain. This is a biological sign telling you that if you go further you’ll be risking muscle tears, and should normally be a heeded warning.
However, if you want to do advanced stretching (such as that nigh-impossible benchmark of fitness the splits), you will have to find a way to overcome this reflex without hurting yourself. And as luck would have it, there is!
Relax Into Stretching Reflexes can be overcome with gradual and repeated practice—just ask your friendly neighborhood hooker about how she overcame her gag reflex! Similarly, your anti-stretch reflex that keeps your “joints” (actually your muscles) stiff and immobile can be overcome with a few techniques.
The most basic of these techniques is the one that I have had the best results with (as usual, the simple but difficult answer is usually the correct one), and that is the titular concept of “relaxing into a stretch”—with thanks to Pavel Tsatsouline for naming the concept.
To use this technique, take an easy form of the stretch you want to do: using the splits as an example, you would do a seated groin stretch. Engage the stretch just to the point where you feel tension in the target muscle, and then…sit and wait.
Yes, paradoxically, relaxation is the key to increasing your physical fitness in this context. You are literally going to sit there and wait for your muscles to stop fighting the stretch—in other words, you’re going to exhaust your reflex until it stops being reflexive.
This is not something that happens quickly—from my experience, it will take 5-10 minutes per stretch, so it is perfectly acceptable for you to get a book or watch TV while doing this. As a side note, this is literally the only time where it’s acceptable to have a visual distraction during exercise, in my opinion.
As you might expect, once your muscles have relaxed and the pain has melted away, you can increase the stretch a little bit more, and hold it for another 10 minutes. Repeat this process until your muscles are in pain and you judge that you can’t go any further—this is a personal call that you will have to decide for yourself, as I can’t judge when your muscles are demanding you to stop.
This technique can be utilized for any stretch, and in many cases will give you the progress that you so desire. However, there are other methods in the “Relax Into Stretch” family of exercises that can be utilized as well, such as meditation—mentally relaxing will lead to muscular relaxation.
Or you can try “forced relaxation”, where you flex the muscle simultaneously while stretching, forcing the muscle to relax.
Either way you slice it, don’t just brute force your stretching, utilize these techniques for better results.
Read More: Why Stretching Is Essential For The Body (With 6 Beginner Stretches To Get You Started)
| 1real |
Anti-War Movement Anticipates More War Under A Clinton Presidency | Videos Anti-War Movement Anticipates More War Under A Clinton Presidency ‘Clinton is one of the biggest war-mongers the country has,’ an anti-war organizer tells MintPress News as the candidate’s popularity sinks to record lows ahead of Election Day. | November 7, 2016 Be Sociable, Share! U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 5, 2012.
NEW YORK — As the bizarre 2016 presidential election nears its end, activists in the United States are considering the prospects for war and peace under the next administration.
And with Hillary Clinton leading comfortably in most polls, the Democratic nominee’s militaristic record, as well as her promises to expand the use of force, are sparking concern.
“Clinton is one of the biggest war-mongers the country has,” Joe Lombardo, co-coordinator of the United National Antiwar Coalition , told MintPress News.
“She pushed for the bombing of Libya and the regime change in that country. She has supported a no-fly zone in Syria, which can put the U.S. in direct conflict with Russia.”
On the campaign trail, Clinton has repeatedly advocated a “no-fly zone” in Syria, an aggressive move necessarily accompanied by a widespread bombing campaign, similar to those in Iraq and Libya, which were followed by expanded interventions to impose regime change.
Senior U.S. military pilots have warned that the proposal could plunge the United States into direct conflict with Russia, whose air force is currently deployed over Syria.
In September, Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate that the prospect “requires us to go to war against Syria and Russia.”
‘Kill a lot of Syrians’
“It is critical that we not be confused about what Clinton’s promise of a no-fly zone will mean,” Meredith Aby of the Minneapolis-based Anti-War Committee told MintPress.
“It is an escalation of U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war and it will mean an increase in casualties.”
In 2013, Clinton herself admitted in a paid speech to Goldman Sachs, obtained and released by WikiLeaks in September, that her proposal would “kill a lot of Syrians.”
“To have a no-fly zone you have to take out all of the air defense, many of which are located in populated areas,” she said.
Beyond Syria, Clinton has also threatened to attack and “totally obliterate” Iran , and she has repeatedly promised to take the United States’ ties with Israel “to the next level.”
In August, after accusing Russia and China of hacking U.S. computer systems, she warned : “We will be ready with serious political, economic and military responses.”
‘A voice for war since 2002’ US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in Jerusalem, Israel, Monday, July 16, 2012.
These statements, along with Clinton’s long, unbroken record of supporting military interventions, have anti-war activists eying the future warily.
“Many in the anti-war movement understand the dangers of a Clinton presidency,” Aby said.
“From her resume it is fairly obvious she will be a hawk, more so than President Obama and President Clinton. She has been a voice for war since 2002 when she voted for war in Iraq.”
Beyond Clinton’s explicit threats of wars, her administration may also seek to expand the use of “soft power,” ranging from diplomatic assistance and military aid to subversion and coups, in pursuit of its foreign policy goals.
“She has called for boosting U.S. support for Israeli missile defense systems and supports helping Israel with technology to fight in Gaza,” Aby said, adding: “On the campaign trail, she has denounced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a threat to Israel. And while she hasn’t campaigned on it, she is no friend of Latin America. Her own emails show the role she played in helping provide support for the coup in Honduras.”
Lombardo also noted that regions further removed from the headlines than flashpoints like Syria could face similar threats from a Hillary Clinton administration.
“The Philippines is heating up and Clinton has a history in Latin America, where there are many places that the U.S. would like to see regime change,” he said.
‘A very unpopular president from day one’
In the waning months of the campaign, both Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, have emerged as historically unpopular candidates , more so than others in the era of scientific polling.
Indeed, while Trump’s aggression has kept his popularity below Clinton’s, she recently surpassed the bellicose billionaire as the least-liked candidate in history.
A poll released by ABC News and the Washington Post on Tuesday showed Clinton’s unpopularity had reached a record-breaking 60 percent, while Trump’s stood at 58 percent.
Despite her jingoism and promises to expand U.S. military efforts far beyond those of Barack Obama, organizers hope this public disdain may give them room to maneuver.
“Although Clinton will win the presidency, she will be a very unpopular president from day one, which will give us the political space to organize opposition to her foreign policy,” Aby said.
Lombardo agreed. “Clinton is very unpopular, and while the election of Obama put a damper on the anti-war movement, I believe we will see that turn around under Clinton.”
He also noted the growth of domestic social movements, like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, that could herald a resurgence in mobilization.
“There is a downturn in the economy, distrust of the government and the system as a whole,” Lombardo said. “The connections with the wars abroad and the wars at home is clear to more and more people. I think a movement against increased war can be explosive and powerful during a Clinton administration.”
But he added that there was much work to be done. “Although anti-war sentiment in the U.S. is high, the anti-war movement in weak compared to where it was in the past.”
‘No optimism, only apprehension’ A woman with the words “hands off” painted on her face takes part in a protest organized by the Stop the War coalition calling for no military attack on Syria from the U.S., Britain or France, across the road from the entrance of Downing Street in London, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013.
As the clock ticks down to the election, numerous organizations have launched new efforts they hope will preempt the war drive expected to start soon after Jan. 20.
Along with other groups and individual supporters, the United National Antiwar Coalition launched a “Hands Off Syria Coalition” and accompanying statement against further U.S. intervention in the war-torn country.
The effort “is getting a tremendous response,” Lombardo said.
Other organizations, including the ANSWER Coalition and International Action Center , have called for protests against the inauguration in Washington.
“There’s no optimism, only apprehension,” International Action Center co-director Sara Flounders told MintPress. “People know in their bones that a larger war is coming. From the first day of a new administration, we need to send an angry warning.”
But with the United States fatigued from a grueling election season that has left few residents with positive impressions of either candidate, widespread distrust of the political system may deny the new president the mandate he or she would need to embark on new military adventures.
“I think people are less naive now then they were eight years ago,” Aby said. “People understand that foreign policy is not an issue that truly separates the two major party candidates.” Be Sociable, Share! | 1real |
MA COLLEGE REMOVES And BURNS American Flag To Protest Trump’s Election [VIDEO] | These disrespectful crybabies are in for a rude awakening when they graduate from college and have to face a real and sometimes very harsh world. If the American flag offends them, perhaps they should try pledging their allegiance to the Cuban flag or the N. Korean flag, I m pretty sure both countries would be more than happy to accept them as citizens The day after the election, some people at Hampshire College reacted to news of Donald Trump s victory by calling for removal of the American flag at the center of campus, saying it was a symbol of racism and hatred. That night, some lowered it. And the following night sometime before dawn on Veterans Day people burned it.The flag was quickly replaced, but the college board announced it would be flown at half-staff, both to acknowledge the grief and pain experienced by so many and to enable the full complexity of voices and experiences to be heard. That didn t work, Jonathan Lash, the president of the small liberal-arts college in western Massachusetts said Monday.Lowering the flag to half-staff offended many, and the backlash was immediate, especially from veterans and military families who saw it as disrespectful of the tradition of national mourning.On Friday, Lash told the campus community that its efforts to convey respect and sorrow had had the opposite effect, and announced that the college would remove the flag entirely.He said there is a tremendous range of views on campus, people for whom the flag is a very powerful symbol of fear they ve felt all their lives because they grew up as people of color, never feeling safe and people for whom it s a symbol of their highest aspiration for the country.At Brown University, some students tore up and stomped on flags from an event honoring veterans last week, while others hurried to replace and protect the flags.At American University the day after the election, students upset about Trump s victory burned flags and shouted F white America! In an email to the campus community Friday, Lash wrote that college leaders hoped that removing the flag will enable us to instead focus our efforts on addressing racist, misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behaviors. He also wrote, Some have perceived the action of lowering the flag as a commentary on the results of the presidential election this, unequivocally, was not our intent. The decision was met with anger, outrage and derision from many on social media.Lash said in an interview that he is hopeful the college community will find a way to listen to one another s concerns in the next month or two while the flag is down, but acknowledged that may be difficult. I don t think the country did it very well, he said. I m hoping we can as a campus. Lowell Sun | 1real |
Poles dressed in black march in defense of women's rights | WARSAW (Reuters) - Several thousand Poles dressed in black marched through city streets in Poland on Tuesday in defense of women s rights, on the first anniversary of mass protests against a planned near-total ban on abortion. We go out because the fight continues, organizers of the Black Tuesday protest said on social media. Let them see us, let them hear us, let them know that we are not afraid. The Warsaw city council said about four thousand people marched in the Polish capital. The protests took place as proponents of a ban on abortions are pushing a draft bill to exclude terminating a pregnancy if the baby is likely to be permanently handicapped. | 0fake |
Police Launch Hours-Long Attack On Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance, Injure Dozens | Police in North Dakota surrounded hundreds of water protectors fighting construction of the Dakota Access pipeline on a highway bridge and fired a water cannon, tear gas, concussion grenades, and rubber bullets. During the assault, which lasted for hours, the police also threatened the group with a long-range acoustic device to further disorient them. Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s emergency medical services deployed to treat dozens of individuals with injuries.
For months, protests, including nonviolent direct action, have taken place with indigenous people, who will suffer the worst impact, at the forefront. An encampment called Sacred Stone Camp near the Standing Rock reservation has stood as a grand example of resistance.
On November 20, according to a press statement from the Sacred Stone Camp, water protectors attempted to remove “burnt military vehicles” that police “chained to barriers weeks ago,” which were blocking traffic on Highway 1806. The effort was undertaken with a semi-truck, and water protectors hoped to “clear the road to improve access to the camp for emergency services.”
11/20/16: Burnt military truck left by police to block Hwy 1806 removed by water protectors using semi & chains. #NoDAPL pic.twitter.com/2ryIRN90VV
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) November 21, 2016
Police responded with an incredible show of force, using multiple so-called “non-lethal” tools in their arsenal to pummel water protectors. Particularly unsettling was the blasting of water at water protectors when the temperature dropped to 26 degrees Fahrenheit. There were multiple complaints of people suffering from the early onset of hypothermia.
Tara Houska, the national campaigns director for Honor the Earth, reacted, “For weeks, the main highway to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation has been cut off, with no movement by the state to address a public safety risk. Attempting to clear the road was met with police spraying people with water cannons in 26 degree weather.”
“That’s deadly force. It’s freezing outside. They want to kill people for clearing a road? When will our cries be heard? Stop the Dakota Access pipeline. Respect the rights of indigenous people, of all peoples.”
The director of the Sacred Stone Camp, LaDonna Allard, responded, “All I can say is why? We are asking for clean water, we are asking for the right to live, we are asking for our children to live. Instead they attack us, because they protect oil. Morton county and DAPL security are inhuman. What is wrong with their hearts?”
The Morton County Sheriff’s Department, which responded to the water protectors’ move to clear the highway, put out a statement on Facebook that was taken by outlets, such as NBC News and CNN, as the frame for understand the “clashes” that unfolded.
“Law enforcement is currently involved in an ongoing riot on the Backwater Bridge, north of a protest camp in Morton County. Protesters in mass amounts, estimated to be around 400, are on the bridge and attempting to breach the bridge to go north on highway 1806. Protesters have started a dozen fires near the bridge,” the Department alleged.
The Sacred Stone Camp reported flares were shot by law enforcement. Those flares ignited “grass fires.” However, the water cannon was not specifically used to extinguish the fires. The water cannon was directed at water protectors.
Drone footage captures police spraying Dakota Access Pipeline protesters with a water cannon.
Video shows the water cannon as police directed it at nonviolent water protectors. The video, shot with a drone, was at one point shot at with a water cannon presumably to knock it out of the air. The camp indicated police “shot down three media drones and targeted journalists with less lethal rounds.”
Unicorn Riot, a volunteer-operated collective of multimedia artists and journalists that has been on the ground documenting Standing Rock resistance for months, reported on the scale of the force used against water protectors as well as the impact on protectors.
The collective indicated there were serious injuries, including “one person who was badly injured after being shot in the head with a rubber bullet.” A girl, who is 13 years-old, was reportedly shot in the face and suffered lung and eye irritation from the tear gas. There were multiple reports of cardiac arrest. One of Unicorn Riot’s reporters “had their press badge shot off when shot in the abdomen by a rubber bullet.” Multiple individuals suffered seizures. At least 150 water protectors suffered injuries.
As Unicorn Riot reported, police “formed a line with armored vehicles, concrete barriers, and razor wire.” The police unleashed a plume of water on hundreds of people for hours, who chose to stand their ground but also in a sense were trapped because of how the police established a perimeter limiting where they could disperse.
For hours, Kevin Gilbertt live streamed the incredible use of force by police. His stream eventually climbed to 50,000-plus viewers as cable news networks like CNN stuck to regularly scheduled programming and refused to offer viewers a news break covering what was happening.
Dallas Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network declared, “Tribal EMS are stepping up and providing services that should be the responsibility of Morton County, this is ridiculous. Because of the police enforced roadblock, ambulances now have an extra 30 minutes to get to the hospital. Those are life and death numbers right there, and Morton County and the State of North Dakota will be responsible for the tally.”
Police maintained their barricade around the encampment throughout the night and into the morning, according to Navajo and Yankton Dakota writer Jacqueline Keeler. This obstructed EMTs from being able to get to the camp.
In an interview with Goldtooth, Angela Bibens of the Red Owl Legal Collective, indicated 20 mace canisters were fired in a period of five minutes at one point. This resulted in a number of individuals losing control of their bowel functions. “One elder went into cardiac arrest and was revived through CPR at the front line by medics.” The police also fired mace canisters at medics.
Yet, despite the assault, Bibens described the response of people nearby as “calm.” They maintained their resolve and rushed blankets to the front line. They provided forms of immediate medical aid, and some even chose to stay at the front line to help others hold their ground against the assault. Multiple water protectors donned gas masks and grabbed shields to face down the police.
There was one reported arrest, but why that person was arrested was not immediately clear.
Rob Keller, a spokesman for the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, parsed language and maintained no water cannon was used and water was only deployed to put out the fires that were set by water protectors. This is only accurate if one ignores the hours of video footage showing water shot directly at water protectors or if one calls what was turned against water protectors a hose instead of a cannon.
Apparently, the Morton County Sheriff’s Department previously expressed concern about hypothermia at the encampments, as winter approaches. But on November 20, Morton County police had no second thoughts about dousing water protectors with water for hours, even if it meant they might end up needing emergency medical attention.
Last week, Energy Transfer Partners LP Chief Executive Officer Kelcy Warren said the pipeline will not be rerouted despite concerns expressed by indigenous Americans. The Army Corps of Engineers has examined possible changes to the route so the pipeline does not violate sacred Native American land.
Energy Transfer Partners announced on November 8 it would start the “final phase” of construction around November 22 and ignore the requests of federal agencies to suspend construction until a new assessment could be completed.
In September, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, called for the construction to end and cited “serious risks to drinking water and potential destruction of the tribe’s lands.” She also acknowledged indigenous people were denied access to information and excluded from consultations during planning.
The Standing Medic and Healer Council declared in a statement: “We call on the Morton County Sheriff’s office to immediately stop the potentially lethal use of these confrontational methods against people peacefully assembled. We request media support, medical support, and observers to the area immediately.”
The post Police Launch Hours-Long Attack On Dakota Access Pipeline Resistance, Injure Dozens appeared first on Shadowproof .
| 1real |
Eating leaves to survive in Myanmar's 'ethnic cleansing' zone | MAUNGDAW, Myanmar (Reuters) - Along the main road that stretches nearly 40 kilometers north from Maungdaw town in Myanmar s violence-riven Rakhine State, all but one of the villages that were once home to tens of thousands of people have been turned into smouldering ash. Hundreds of cows roam through deserted settlements and charred paddy fields. Hungry dogs eat small goats. The remains of local mosques, markets and schools - once bustling with Rohingya Muslims - are silent. Despite strict controls on access to northern Rakhine, Reuters independently traveled to parts of the most-affected area in early September, the first detailed look by reporters inside the region where the United Nations says Myanmar s security forces have carried out ethnic cleansing. Nearly 500 people have been killed and 480,000 Rohingya have fled since Aug. 25, when attacks on 30 police posts and a military base by Muslim militants provoked a fierce army crackdown. The government has rejected allegations of arson, rape and arbitrary killings leveled against its security forces. We were scared that the army and the police would shoot us if they found us ... so we ran away from the village, said Suyaid Islam, 32, from Yae Khat Chaung Gwa Son, near the area visited by Reuters north of Maungdaw. He was speaking by phone from a refugee camp in Bangladesh after leaving his village soon after the attacks. Residents of his village told Reuters it had been burned down by security forces in an earlier operation against Rohingya insurgents late last year. Those that did not flee have been surviving since in makeshift shacks, eating food distributed by aid agencies. Satellite photos showed that tens of thousands of homes in northern Rakhine have been destroyed in 214 villages, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. The U.N. detected 20 sq km (8 sq miles) of destroyed structures. The government said more than 6,800 houses have been set on fire. It blames the Rohingya villagers and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), which staged the Aug. 25 attacks. The information we obtained on this side is that terrorists did the burnings, said Zaw Htay, spokesman for national leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Reuters reporters have made two trips to northern Rakhine, visiting the townships of Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung, and driving from Maungdaw through the most affected area along the main road north to the town of Kyein Chaung. (For a graphic of the area, click: tmsnrt.rs/2y8FgQ8) The reporters talked briefly to residents but, because many were scared of being seen speaking to outsiders, most interviews were carried out by phone from outside the army operation area. Little aid has made it to northern Rakhine since the U.N. had to suspend operations because of the fighting and after the government suggested its food was sustaining insurgents. Convoys organized by the Red Cross have twice been stopped and searched by hostile ethnic Rakhines in the state capital Sittwe. In U Shey Kya, where last October Rohingya residents accused the Myanmar army of raping several women, a teacher who spoke to Reuters from the village by phone said only about 100 families out of 800 households have stayed behind. Those who remain are playing a cat-and-mouse game with the soldiers, who come to the village in the morning prompting the residents to hide in the forest and return at night. We don t even have food to eat for this evening. What can we do? said the teacher. We are close to the forest where we have leaves we can eat and find some water to survive. He refused to give his name because he had been warned by the authorities not to talk to reporters. The man said escaping through bush in monsoon rain with his elderly parents, six children and pregnant wife was not an option. Zaw Htay said the government has prioritized humanitarian assistance to the area. If there are any locations where aid has not reached yet, people should let us know, we will try to reach them as soon as we can, he said. About 30,000 non-Muslim residents of northern Rakhine have also been displaced. Before the latest exodus there were around 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, mostly living in Rakhine, where they are denied citizenship and are regarded as interlopers from Bangladesh by the Buddhist majority. Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh and human rights organizations say ethnic Rakhine vigilantes have aided the military in driving out the Muslim population. Kamal Hussein, 22, from Alel Than Kyaw, south of Maungdaw town said his village was destroyed in early September, after which he fled to Bangladesh, where he spoke to Reuters. Hussein said Rakhine mobs poured petrol on the houses. Then, they came out and the military fired a grenade launcher at a house to set it alight . Government spokesman Zaw Htay said some empty buildings in the area had been burned by ethnic Rakhines. We told the regional government to take action on that, he said. The damage caused by the fires, Reuters interviews and satellite pictures show, is by far the largest in Maungdaw, where the bulk of insurgent attacks took place. Across the mostly coastal area, stretching more than 100 km (60 miles) through thick bush and monsoon-swollen streams, most villages have been burned. Maungdaw town itself, until recently ethnically mixed with Rakhine Buddhists, Muslims and some Hindus, is now segregated, with the remaining Rohingya shuttered in their homes. Some 450 houses in Rohingya parts of the town were burned down in the first week after the attacks, HRW said citing satellite photographs. Those who stored food, sold it and raised money to flee to Bangladesh, Mohammad Salem, 35, who used to sell cosmetics at the market, told Reuters by phone from the town. In ethnically-mixed Rathedaung township, 16 out of 21 Rohingya villages have been burned, according to residents and humanitarian workers. Of the remaining five, two villages in the south are now cut off from food and threatened by hostile Rakhine neighbors. In many places people have no access to medicines, residents said. Reuters talked to two Rakhine Buddhist officials who corroborated the scale of the damage. Tin Tun Soe, a Rakhine administrator in Chein Khar Li, where a security post had come under attack, said the army response was rapid and all the Rohingya had been driven out. Nearly 1,600 houses were burned down a day after the attacks, he said, though he blamed the fires on the insurgents. They have so many people. If they are here, we re afraid to live, said Tin Tun Soe. I am very happy that now all of them are gone. | 0fake |
This Is What Fox News Considered ‘News’ As Everyone Else Covered Indictment Of Trump Camp Manager | This morning, Trump s former campaign manager was indicted for conspiracy against the United States, a.k.a. treason (among other things you can read the full list of charges here), and ordered to turn himself in to the FBI. As he did so, every news outlet was busy covering it, reporting on the situation as it developed. Except for Fox News. They must have needed some time to decide on their spin because they were reporting on candy and hamburger emojis while the story on Paul Manafort unfolded.Seriously. They were reporting on Halloween candy and some kind of hamburger emoji crisis at Google as the first indictment in Robert Mueller s Russia investigation was unsealed and handed down.8:30AM: CNN, Bloomberg, MSNBC, Fox pic.twitter.com/zfbo4PriSo Rogue CPI (@RogueCPI) October 30, 2017As of 8:41, Fox has moved on to real issues. pic.twitter.com/DwGqgthW5R Rae Whitlock (@RaeWhitlock) October 30, 2017This is FOX News currently pic.twitter.com/4yInN7exr5 Josh S nchez (@jnsanchez) October 30, 2017CNN: Paul Manafort to turn himself in to FBI today MSNBC: Manfort Told to Surrender Fox News: Important story on hamburger emojis ??? pic.twitter.com/AQ8GxpAh8N StrictlyCovfef ? (@christoq) October 30, 2017Everybody else is talking about the Paul Manafort arrest, @foxnews is talking about cheeseburger emojis. #MuellerMonday pic.twitter.com/Y8vqPcIMYG CarrieTBow (@CarrieTBow) October 30, 2017They did start talking about Manafort, and even published an opinion piece from contributor Erick Erickson, who is trying to spin this news into nothing by saying that it looks like the charges against Manafort have nothing to do with Trump. He is, of course, calling the whole thing a conspiracy in which Mueller comes up completely empty on the collusion story.Har de har har. Manafort is a slimeball. Unless Trump has something serious on him (and what could be more serious than the charges already against him?), Manafort will probably place his own ass above Trump s.Featured image via Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images and Twitter | 1real |
In Case You Forgot, Here’s Hillary Clinton’s Resume And VERY Long List Of Accomplishments (CITED) | There s this longstanding myth that s been spread by some in the media, and most certainly by those who oppose Hillary Clinton, that she has no accomplishments to her name. The question keeps being asked, What has she done? She was only Bill s wife, right? Well, no, actually. If anything, according to the list you re about to read, Bill is Hillary s husband. She has quite the extensive list of accomplishments that she has achieved for herself.So without further ado, here they are as first compiled from the Daily Kos but now cited and further expanded upon.Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton:Senate Stats, Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored, and Voting Record:Other notable achievements:As you can see the list is long, the list is extensive, and the list is quite impressive, so the next time someone asks you What has Hillary Clinton done? now you know, and knowing is half the battle.Featured image: Wikimedia Commons | 1real |
DELUSIONAL OBAMA: I Would Have Won If I Had Run Again… | President Barack Obama asserts that he could have won a third term against Donald Trump if he had run again on his claim of hope and change. I am confident in this vision because I m confident that if I had run again and articulated it, I think I could ve mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it, he told his former campaign chief David Axelrod on a CNN podcast interview.Obama blamed Republican leader Sen. Mitch McConnell for doing everything possible to obstruct his presidency, and blaming Democrats for it.Obama blamed the media for holding Hillary Clinton to a double standard, insisting that she performed wonderfully despite her loss. But he suggested that she did make a mistake for focusing more on Trump than her own economic message.Obama also blamed the filters like Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, and the National Rifle Association for disrupting his message of hope and change.Read more: Breitbart | 1real |
WATCH: “IT’S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR”…Trump Style | With mainstream media and establishment politicians stacked against him from the moment he announced his run for the presidency, Donald J. Trump has been in an ongoing pitched battle to communicate his plans and his eventual successes to Americans. Through public rallies and social media, he has managed to bypass the traditional information gatekeepers and has spoken directly to the people.Yet, Americans are subjected to a relentless drumbeat from the Democratic Party, amplified by virtually the entire establishment press, that Trump is not only undisciplined, unfit for office and possibly racist, but that embarrassingly little has been accomplished by the Trump administration.But we Deplorables know better When Dana Kamide made this pro-Trump video last year, it was an instant hit. The hilarious video reminded Americans of why we re so blessed to have President Trump as our President. To date, the It s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year viral video has been seen over 5.6 million times. This Christmas, let s all count our blessings and remember to be thankful for the bullet we dodged in 2016. Enjoy WND And while he has befuddled and disappointed some with major promises such as Obamacare repeal and a border wall unfulfilled or put on the backburner the stunning reality is this: Donald Trump has amassed a long and remarkable list of actions and accomplishments that will surprise average Americans, even those who support the president and consider themselves well-informed politically.Below, is an accounting of the truly significant achievements of the first eight months of the Trump presidency. The accomplishments are all the more noteworthy as they have been carried out in an environment of unrelenting negativity on the part of not only the Democrats and almost the entire news media, but the Beltway establishment itself, the entire donor class, the Deep State, and even many Republicans wedded to the D.C. swamp. DECEMBERRegulatory reform: President Trump announced Dec. 14 his administration has far exceeded its promise to eliminate regulations at a 2:1 ratio and impose no lifetime net regulatory costs. In total, agencies issued 67 deregulatory actions while imposing only three new regulatory actions, a ratio of 22:1. Federal agencies also achieved $8.1 billion in lifetime net regulatory cost savings, the equivalent of $570 million per year. Jobs: Some 228,000 new jobs were created in November, highlighting the strongest U.S. labor market since the turn of the century. The government also reported Dec. 8 that unemployment was unchanged at 4.1 percent, but that s still nearly a 17-year low. Military: The Trump administration asked a federal court Dec. 7 for an emergency stay to delay a court order to begin opening the military to transgender recruits by Jan. 1. Israel: While the previous three U.S. presidents promised during their election campaigns to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital, President Trump on Dec. 6 became the first to follow through. In his official order, Trump also ordered the U.S. Embassy to be moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded: President Donald Trump, thank you for today s historic decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. The Jewish people and the Jewish state will be forever grateful. Immigration: The Department of Homeland Security released figures Dec. 4 showing Trump is delivering on his pledge to more strictly control immigration and deter would-be border-crossers. Border Patrol arrests dropped to a 45-year low in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, down 25 percent from a year earlier. ICE said the number of people apprehended away from the border jumped 25 percent this fiscal year. The increase is 37 percent after Trump s inauguration compared to the same period the year before. States rights: President Trump signed two executive orders Dec. 4 that gave back about 2 million acres of land to the state of Utah by modifying executive orders by President Obama. Arguing the Antiquities Act requires that any reservation of land as part of a monument be confined to the smallest area compatible with the proper care and management of the objects of historic or scientific interest to be protected, Trump reduced the federal government s control of the Bear s Ear National Monument to just 201,876 acres, pointing out that the important objects of scientific or historic interest described described in Obama s proclamation are protected under existing laws and agency management designations. He also reduced the Grand Staircase National Monument in Utah from nearly 1.9 million acres to about 1 million. Immigration: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson announced Dec. 3 the Trump administration is withdrawing from the Global Compact on Migration, arguing the pact would undermine the sovereign right of the United States to enforce our immigration laws and secure our borders. Tillerson made the announcement just before the opening of a global conference on migration in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Tax reform: Propelled by the engagement of President Trump, the Senate on Dec. 1 passed the biggest rewrite of the nation s tax system since 1986, reducing rates for businesses and individuals. The Republican-led House passed a similar bill in November. The two chambers of Congress will negotiate a reconciliation of the two bills that they expect to put on the president s desk before the end of the year. Health care: The Senate tax-reform bill passed Dec. 1 eliminates Obamacare s individual mandate, the linchpin of Obama s government-controlled health-care system, which penalizes taxpayers for choosing not to buy health insurance.NOVEMBERStocks: The Dow Jones industrial average surged more than 331 points Nov. 30 to close above 24,000 for the first time in history. Stocks were buoyed by the possibility of the Senate passing the Republican tax-reform bill championed by President Trump. Mining: Mining increased 28.6 percent in the second quarter and was the leading contributor to growth for the nation and in the three fastest-growing states of North Dakota, Wyoming, and Texas, according to the Commerce Department s Bureau of Economic Analysis. North Korea: In response to North Korea s buildup of nuclear weapons and missiles, the communist nation was officially designated a state sponsor of terror by the Trump administration on Nov. 20. The Treasury Department followed up with sanctions on organizations and companies doing business with North Korea. Regulation reform: Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced Nov. 17 the Department of Justice will cease the practice initiated by President Obama of issuing guidance memos to enact new regulations that sometimes have had the effect of changing federal laws. Iran: Trump issued a memorandum Nov. 16 determining that the U.S. has enough petroleum coming from countries other than Iran to permit a significant reduction in the volume of petroleum and petroleum products purchased from the mullah-led nation. China trade: During President Trump s visit to China in November, trade and investment deals worth more than $250 billion were announced that are expected to create jobs for American workers, farmers and ranchers by increasing U.S. exports to China and stimulating investment in American communities. Government transparency: The federal government on Nov. 9 made public more than 13,000 additional documents from its files on President John F. Kennedy s assassination, under orders from President Trump. It was the fourth released since October, when the president allowed the immediate release of 2,800 records by the National Archives. International liberty: President Trump proclaimed Nov. 7, the 100th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, as the National Day for the Victims of Communism Religious liberty: The Department of Agriculture issued a guidance Nov. 6 that ensures Christians who opposed same-sex marriage would not be discriminated against for their beliefs. Job growth: President Trump announced in the Oval Office Nov. 2 that the semiconductor manufacturing company Broadcom Limited is moving its headquarters from Singapore to the United States. Broadcom is a Fortune 100 company that already employs more than 7,500 workers in the United States, and that number is expected to grow exponentially, with an estimated $20 billion to be spent on employees annually. Broadcom CEO Hock E. Tan said the decision to relocate Broadcom was driven by his desire to give back to this country that has given me so much. Government reform: EPA Director Scott Pruitt placed 66 new experts on three different EPA scientific committees who espouse more conservative views than their predecessors. To prevent conflicts of interest, Pruitt signed a directive Oct. 31 banning scientists who receive EPA grants from serving on the agency s independent advisory boards.OCTOBERJob growth: The White House announced Oct. 25 a new drone Integration Pilot Program that will accelerate drone integration into the national airspace system. Under the program, the Department of Transportation will enter into agreements with state, local, and tribal governments to establish innovation zones for testing complex UAS operations and to attempt different models for integrating drones into local airspace. Calling drones a critical, fast-growing part of American aviation, increasing efficiency, productivity, and jobs, the White House said they present opportunities to enhance the safety of the American public, increase the efficiency and productivity of American industry, and create tens of thousands of new American jobs. Government reform: Melania Trump, while embracing a more active and public schedule as first lady, is running one of the leanest East Wing operations in recent history, according to a Fox News analysis of White House personnel reports that found she has significantly reduced the number of aides on the first lady s office payroll in comparison to her predecessor, Michelle Obama. During President Obama s first year in office, 16 people were listed working for Michelle Obama, earning a combined $1.24 million a year. This year, just four people were listed working for Melania Trump as of June, with salaries totaling $486,700. Obamacare: Trump signed an executive order Oct. 12 that directs three federal agencies to rewrite regulations to encourage the establishment of cheaper health plans that can be purchased across state lines and are not bound by certain Obamacare rules and regulations. The directive would allow small-business owners, trade groups and others to join together to purchase health insurance. The plans would not be required to include benefits such as prescription drugs. Trump also wants to expand the sale of stopgap policies that don t cover pre-existing conditions, mental health services and other costly benefits. Consumer optimism: U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly surged to a 13-year high as Americans perceptions of the economy and their own finances rebounded following several major hurricanes, a University of Michigan survey showed Oct. 13. Iran nuclear agreement: President Trump announced Oct. 13 he will not certify the Iran nuclear deal and vowed that the U.S. would pull out unless changes are made. He also unveiled a new strategy, the culmination of nine months of deliberation with Congress and allies, on how to best protect American security from the rogue mullah-led regime. The plan includes denying the regime funding and any paths to a nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles. The Department of the Treasury sanctioned more than 25 entities and individuals involved in Iran s ballistic missile program. The U.S. also sanctioned 16 entities and individuals that have supported Iran s military and Revolutionary Guard Corps in the development of drones, fast attack boats and other military equipment. United Nations: The United States is quitting the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Heather Nauert, a State Department spokeswoman, announced the move will be made before the end of the year This decision was not taken lightly, and reflects U.S. concerns with mounting arrears at UNESCO, the need for fundamental reform in the organization, and continuing anti-Israel bias at UNESCO. Homeland security: The Supreme Court dismissed a major challenge to President Trump s travel ban on majority-Muslim countries Oct. 10 because it has been replaced by a new version, sending the controversy back to the starting block. The ruling is a victory for the Trump administration, which had asked the court to drop the case after Trump signed a proclamation Sept. 24 that replaced the temporary travel ban on six nations with a new, indefinite ban affecting eight countries. That action made the court challenge moot, the justices ruled. EPA reform: Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt announced Oct. 9 a new set of rules that will override the Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of President Barack Obama s drive to curb global climate change. The agency is moving to undo, delay or block more than 30 environmental rules, the largest regulatory rollback in the agency s 47-year history. Immigration: The Trump administration submitted to Congress Oct. 8 a 70-point proposal that calls for increased border security, interior enforcement of immigration laws and a merit-based immigration system. It includes funding and completing construction of a southern border wall, improving expedited removal of illegal aliens, protecting innocent people in sanctuary cities, ending extended-family chain migration and establishing a point-based system for green cards to protect U.S. workers and taxpayers. Religious liberty: Attorney General Sessions on Oct. 6 issued guidance to all administrative agencies and executive departments regarding religious liberty protections in federal law in keeping with Trump s May 4 executive order. The guidance interprets existing protections for religious liberty in federal law, identifying 20 high-level principles that administrative agencies and executive departments can put to practical use to ensure the religious freedoms of Americans are lawfully protected. Attorney General Sessions also issued a second memorandum to the Department of Justice, directing implementation of the religious liberty guidance within the department. Among the principles are the freedom of religion extends to persons and organizations, Americans do not give up their freedom of religion by participating in the marketplace, partaking of the public square, or interacting with government and government may not restrict acts or abstentions because of the beliefs they display. Missile defense: The Department of Defense reprogrammed approximately $400 million for U.S. missile defense systems. Religious liberty: The Trump administration expanded religious and moral exemptions for mandated contraceptive coverage under Obamacare. Obama s signature legislation required that nearly all insurance plans cover abortion-inducing drugs and contraception, forcing citizens to violate sincerely held religious or moral beliefs, pay steep fines, or forgo offering or obtaining health insurance entirely. The interim final rules note that the United States has a long history of providing conscience protections in the regulation of health care entities and individuals with objections based on religious beliefs and moral convictions. The rule aligns with the U.S. Supreme Court s unanimous ruling protecting the Little Sisters of the Poor, which says the government cannot fine religious groups for following their faith. Immigration: Amid strong Democratic opposition, the House Homeland Security Committee gave first approval to the broad scope of President Trump s border wall Oct. 4, clearing a bill that would authorize $10 billion in new infrastructure spending, new waivers to speed up construction, and 10,000 more border agents and officers to patrol the U.S.-Mexico line. Space exploration: President Trump revived the National Space Council for the first time in 25 years to assist him in developing and implementing long-range strategic goals for the nation s space policy. The pace program will refocus on human exploration and discovery. Vice President Mike Pence, who chaired the National Space Council s Oct. 5 meeting, said the administration aims to establish a renewed American presence on the moon and from that foundation become the first nation to bring mankind to Mars. The administration also will renew America s commitment to creating the space technology needed to protect national security. And Pence pointed out the intelligence community reports that Russia and China are pursuing a full range of anti-satellite technology designed to threaten our U.S. military effectiveness. Abortion: The Office of Management and Budget on Oct. 2 issued a Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) to strongly support the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R. 36), which would generally make it unlawful for any person to perform, or attempt to perform, an abortion of an unborn child after 20 weeks post-fertilization. Protecting life: The president issued a statement Oct. 1 renewing the nation s strong commitment to promoting the health, well-being, and inherent dignity of all children and adults with Down syndrome. The president observed there remain too many people both in the United States and throughout the world that still see Down syndrome as an excuse to ignore or discard human life. He said Americans and their government must always be vigilant in defending and promoting the unique and special gifts of all citizens in need and should not tolerate any discrimination against them, as all people have inherent dignity. Protecting life: The Department of Health and Human Services has published a draft of a new strategic plan that states in its introduction that life begins at conception. The personhood of the unborn child is central to the abortion debate as even the justice who wrote the landmark Roe v. Wade opinion has acknowledged because, if established in law, it would nullify a right to abortion. The largely overlooked HHS strategic plan for 2018-22 states the agency accomplishes its mission through programs and initiatives that cover a wide spectrum of activities, serving and protecting Americans at every stage of life, beginning at conception. Tax reform: Trump is working with Congress to lower taxes by seven points for the middle class and lower business taxes to a 15 percent rate.SEPTEMBERLower courts: Trump is filling up lower courts with lifetime appointees. In the estimation of Democratic official Ron Klain, a massive transformation is underway in how our fundamental rights are defined by the federal judiciary. Klain, lamenting Trump s moves, said the president is proving wildly successful in one respect: naming youthful conservative nominees to the federal bench in record-setting numbers. On Sept. 28, Trump announced an eighth wave of judicial candidates, with nine more names. Canada trade: In September, the Commerce Department, siding with Boeing, slapped a 219 percent tariff on the import of Canadian-made Bombardier jets, arguing they are supported by subsidies from the governments of Canada and the U.K., creating an unfair market. Korea trade: Trump began the process of renegotiating the United States-South Korea Free Trade Agreement in September. Climate: In September, Trump shut down a climate-change advisory panel under the direction of NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that critics have contended was formed largely to promote President Obama s climate policies, arguing it lacked representation from those who think the empirical evidence points to human actions contributing little to global warming and that attempting to reduce it would slow the conquest of poverty around the world. The EPA also has decided not to renew the appointments of dozens of scientists on various scientific advisory panels. Economy: Household wealth reached a record high of $1.7 trillion in the second quarter due to rising property values and gains in financial assets, according to a Federal Reserve report. Homeland security: In September, Trump signed an executive order to enhance vetting capabilities and processes for detecting attempted entry into the United States by terrorists or other public-security threats. North Korea: After some 25 years of failed negotiations to contain Pyongyang s nuclear program, the communist regime s latest threatening actions were met by President Trump with a warning that military action, including a preemptive nuclear attack, would be considered. After Trump s warnings, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un backed off on his threat to attack the U.S. territory of Guam. North Korea: On Sept. 7, the U.S. fully deployed the THAAD missile defense system to South Korea despite objections from Pyongyang s chief ally, China. North Korea: In September, Trump signed an executive order significantly expanding U.S. authority to target individuals, companies and financial institutions that finance and facilitate trade with North Korea, most of which are Chinese. Meanwhile, China s central bank has ordered banks in its massive banking system to immediately stop doing business with North Korea. United Nations: In his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Trump told the global body in September, I put America first and you should do the same with your nations. In the speech, he also explicitly denounced socialism and communism, pointing to Venezuela as an example of what happens when socialism is successfully implemented. Immigration: President Trump, in September, rescinded Obama s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order, which gave de facto amnesty to some 800,000 people who came to the country as children with their illegal-alien parents. Trump delayed implementing his order for six months to give Congress time to come up with a legislative solution. Stock markets: Through the first week of September, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had 34 record highs. From Election Day to the Inauguration, the Dow rose more than 1,500 points. It climbed another 2,500 points from Inauguration Day, reaching more than 22,400 in mid-September, a gain of more than $4 trillion in wealth since Trump was elected. The Dow s spike from 19,000 to above 21,000 in just 66 days was the fastest 2,000-point rise ever. The S&P 500 and the NASDAQ also have set all-time highs. On Aug. 7, the Dow closed with an all-time high for the ninth day in a row, the first time the market has had a run of that length twice under one presidency.For the entire list, go to WND | 1real |
OBNOXIOUS LEFTIST REPORTER IS REMOVED FROM TRUMP PRESS CONFERENCE…Trump Asks Security To Bring Him Back [VIDEO] | The leftist mainstream media would love Americans to believe Trump had Univision propagandist removed from the press conference. As anyone can clearly see, he had nothing to do with Ramos removal and everything to do with him being invited back for a series of questions (with brilliant responses).Univision s Jorge Ramos was removed from Donald Trump s press conference this afternoon by security after standing up and delivering a sermon before Trump could even call on a reporter for a question. Even after the candidate called on another reporter in the room, Ramos continued his rapid fire question/political statement mix, talking over any chance the other reporter might have for a question, as can be seen in the video above. Excuse me. Sit down. You weren t called, said Trump to the emotional anchor and reporter. You can t just stand up and scream, said Trump. Amazing how waiting to be called on worked out.Other reporters in the room naturally asked Trump about the situation, and Trump defended what happened saying that Ramos simply stood up and started yelling, an accurate portrayal. Even so, Ramos was allowed to return to the press conference, was called on, and was able to ask several questions, as seen in this second video below. Via: Truth Revolt | 1real |
The negative health effects of fragranced products | Wed, 26 Oct 2016 21:38 UTC One of the academic professionals in my vast network includes Anne Steinemann, Professor of Civil Engineering, Chair of Sustainable Cities, Melbourne School of Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Australia, who just published the research paper, Fragranced consumer products: exposures and effects from emissions , October 7, 2016. Dr Steinemann was kind enough to email a copy of her exciting work, which I'd like to bring to consumers' attention since gas out fumes from fragranced products definitely have negative impacts upon human health. Back in the 1970s, I tried bringing attention to gas out from formaldehyde fumes that were saturating everything from carpeting to fabric stores, with fragrances in almost anything from toilet tissue to you name it—scented candles being the most offensive. How employees worked in those stores that took away one's breath, was totally incomprehensible to me. Didn't they know those fumes were not friendly to their nasal sinuses, throat, bronchi and lungs? Professor Steinemann's article needs to be studied seriously, especially by parents with young children who are more prone to developing respiratory problems and allergies. Probably two of the more offensive gas-off consumer products are cologne and perfume, which women over-use plus men's after shave. Both affect young children who are carried close to their parents' bodies and must breathe in those irritating fumes. Please consider that those scents can cause respiratory problems for baby. Comment: Hidden Chemicals in Perfume and Cologne The average fragrance product tested contained 14 secret chemicals not listed on the label. Among them are chemicals associated with hormone disruption and allergic reactions, and many substances that have not been assessed for safety in personal care products. Also in the ranks of undisclosed ingredients are chemicals with troubling hazardous properties or with a propensity to accumulate in human tissues. These include diethyl phthalate, a chemical found in 97 percent of Americans (Silva 2004) and linked to sperm damage in human epidemiological studies (Swan 2008), and musk ketone, a synthetic fragrance ingredient that concentrates in human fat tissue and breast milk (Hutter 2009; Reiner 2007). The above article Abstract states, Results from this study provide strong evidence that fragranced products can trigger adverse health effects in the general population. The study also indicates that reducing exposure to fragranced products, such as through fragrance-free policies, can provide cost-effective and relatively simple ways to reduce risks and improve air quality and health. Furthermore, I'd like to call readers' attention to the statistics cited regarding HEALTH EFFECTS. Here's what Professor Steinemann's research confirmed: Overall, 34.7 % of the population reported one or more types of adverse health effects from exposure to one or more types of fragranced products. The most common types of adverse effects were as follows: 18.6 % respiratory problems; 16.2 % mucosal symptoms; 15.7 % migraine headaches; 10.6 % skin problems; 8.0%asthma attacks; 7.2%neurological problems; 5.8 % cognitive problems; 5.5 % gastrointestinal problems; 4.4 % cardiovascular problems; 4.0 % immune system problems; 3.8 % musculoskeletal problems; and 1.7 % other. Personally, I think the above stats could meet the 'criteria' for those affected and who experience what's called "Multiple Chemical Sensitivities" (MCS), a condition exacerbated by environmental pollutants, e.g., smog, chemtrails, odors, chemical gas out fumes, and fragrances, relieved only by total avoidance and undertaking a supervised detoxification program, in my opinion. Because of the "super-saturation aggregate" of chemicals in air, food, water and environment, the human immune system is being compromised constantly, whether we know it or not. Therefore, it ought to be incumbent upon everyone, I think, to avoid any chemical gas out fumes like scented candles, dryer sheets, cleaning products, automobile and room air fresheners, scented personal beauty products, e.g., soaps, lotions, perfumes, after shave, hair sprays, etc. Let's not ignore "flame retardants." In my opinion, one of the most irritating scents is found in room air freshener products, which are caustic to mucous membranes of the nose, mouth, throat and bronchi. Many public restrooms gas out deodorizing chemicals toxic fumes, which ought to be outlawed, in my opinion, as people are forced to breathe them in order to use public restrooms. Complain to managers in stores, theaters and other public places when you encounter such chemical assaults on your lungs. Laundry products leave scents in bed linens that infants, toddlers and adults must sleep on seven or more hours a day, which is not conducive to a healthy respiratory system and weakens the immune system, in my opinion. Toxic chemical fume exposure is a stress on the body! Have pity on your poor liver, the main detoxifying organ in the body, and give it a chance to recoup as much as possible. Wearing perfumes and breathing in room air fresheners are constant chemical stresses to the body. However, one of the most egregious out gassing of toxic scents is found in all new clothing. The odor smells like perfume, but contains many chemicals to keep the fabric 'sized'. I can smell someone wearing new clothing several feet away from me. If I can smell it, I question whether it's harming the person wearing it, as most people don't realize what's going on with new clothing. I heartily suggest laundering every new piece of clothing before wearing it or putting it on a baby or toddler—especially! If there's something that can't be laundered, place it in a clothes dryer on a high heat setting for as long as it takes to 'cook off' the fumes. I discuss a lot about chemical reactions in my 2009 book, Our Chemical Lives And The Hijacking Of Our DNA, A Probe Into What's Probably Making Us Sick. Personally, I don't buy anything that cannot be laundered before wearing! Sometimes I 'cook' new clothing in my dryer for several hours before it's gassed out. Wetting two clean wash clothes that are wrung out as dry as possible and placed into the dryer with new clothing, I found, helps the gas out go faster and reduces dryer time. Would you like to know what some of those sizing chemicals are? According to our friends at Organic Consumers Association, Chemicals often used for finishing include formaldehyde , caustic soda, sulfuric acid, bromines, urea resins, sulfonamides, halogens, and bromines. Some imported clothes are now impregnated with long-lasting disinfectants which are very hard to remove, and whose smell gives them away. [1] Professor Steinemann found that Fragranced product manufacturers are not required to disclose all ingredients in their formulations. This lack of disclosure can impede efforts to understand and reduce adverse effects associated with potentially harmful compounds, such as certain volatile organic compounds and semi-volatile organic compounds. Further, we lack knowledge on which specific chemicals or mixtures of chemicals are associated with the adverse effects, and this is an important area for research. In my opinion, there ought to be a law prohibiting any non-disclosure policies of all ingredients used in business and industry manufacturing! Where are FDA, EPA and OSHA regulations regarding those loopholes in manufacturing and merchandising? I mention OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) because the workplace can be very problematic for many reasons: chemical gas out fumes from carpeting and other construction materials; perfumes, which can be compared to tobacco smoking fumes; and unrealized particulates given off from heat production by electronic equipment—often the source of eye irritation, I think. Indoor air pollution can originate from many sources. Thanks, Professor Steinemann, for your timely and exceptional study. Fragranced consumer products: exposures and effects from emissions | 1real |
How David Letterman’s Mother Endeared Him to Viewers - The New York Times | The first time David Letterman’s mom, Dorothy Mengering, appeared on “Late Night,” she was part of a Take Your Parents to episode, in which the staff, including members of the band, stood not far from their mothers. It was the kind of oddball concept that Mr. Letterman pioneered in the middle of the 1980s, when his show was required viewing for the cool, young and caffeinated. Taking cameras outside the studio and into his office, Mr. Letterman recruited his mother, a church secretary from the town of Linton, Ind. to speak into a bullhorn through an open window of Rockefeller Plaza. “Attention, New York,” she said, her gentle voice amplified, as she made a reference to the “Today” crew. “My name is Jane Pauley. I’m being held prisoner by Willard Scott. He’s not wearing pants. ” Mr. Letterman had made a similar bullhorn joke with Bryant Gumbel five months earlier, but his comedy didn’t sting as much when filtered through his mother. It even acquired a new and essential incongruity, introducing a sweetness and warmth that made him more relatable to viewers who might have been alienated by his acerbic sensibility. Ms. Mengering, who died on Tuesday at 95, was the most unlikely television star. She was reserved and, as her three children explained in a beautiful obituary, she “was the happiest when she could curl up in a quiet place with a book and a box of cherries. ” And yet she became a major figure on Mr. Letterman’s shows over decades, a comic foil with a radiant smile whose cheerful unflappability contrasted perfectly with her son’s exasperation. Inspired by Howard Stern, who used conversations with his mother on his radio show, Mr. Letterman turned phone calls with Ms. Mengering into a regular feature in the early 1990s, asking her to review TV shows like “Cop Rock” (“It’s not something I’ll watch again,” she said) or recite a Top 10 list (“Top 10 Things Found in Dave’s Mom’s Refrigerator”). During these exchanges, Mr. Letterman portrayed the teasing, needling son while she gamely played along. During one show in February 1991, he told his audience that if he called his mother, who kept a garden and once worked at her husband’s flower shop, at this time of year, she would say something about how the “crocuses were up. ” This turned a mundane conversation into an unexpectedly funny and suspenseful joke about how predictable parents can be to their children. These dozen or so phone conversations took place when the comedic heart of “Late Night” had shifted from scripted comedy to the compelling personality of its host. Mr. Letterman surrounded himself with a series of vivid personalities — like Chris Elliott’s bizarre characters — who inspired that revealed more of him than a monologue joke ever could. When Mr. Letterman moved to CBS in 1993 to begin “Late Show,” the role of his mother changed, shifting from an offstage voice to an correspondent, reporting from her home in Indiana and at three different Winter Olympics, including one in Norway, where she interviewed Hillary Clinton. Through these remote videos, she proved unerringly polite and far more game than her son. (It’s hard to imagine Mr. Letterman in a tight yellow suit and joining a luge team.) These cameos were perfectly in sync with one of the main tactics of Mr. Letterman’s TV career: turning ordinary people into funny performers while also recasting the talk show, ripping it out of its context and placing it on an airplane or in a person’s home or on the streets of New York. What was striking about Ms. Mengering’s performances is how much the spotlight didn’t change her manner or style. No matter where she was or whom she was talking to, she maintained the same poise and equanimity. She didn’t mock show business, as her son did, but she appeared immune to its notorious seduction, and completely resisted being or remotely theatrical. Mr. Letterman’s relationship with his mother was, of course, more complex than simply devoted parent and loving son. In interviews, he called her “the least demonstrative person” in the world, and he would tell a story about the first time his mother saw him perform live, when it was clear her muted response made an impact. After telling this anecdote to Mr. Stern on “Late Show” in 2013, his famously blunt listener flummoxed him with a joke: “You have mother issues, obviously, everyone knows that. ” Just as it’s impossible to understand another person’s marriage completely, the relationship between parent and child is also a mystery. The gift that Mr. Letterman gave his fans was allowing them to see things not just from his point of view, but also from his mother’s. What we saw, in the limited way that television allows, was a genuine woman whose emotional understatement couldn’t hide her unconditional love and a son who loved to poke fun, but then made sure he hadn’t gone too far. After Mr. Letterman got his mother to yell into a bullhorn in her first appearance, the kind of brazen and juvenile move that she clearly would never do on her own, he turned away from the camera and toward her and asked, “Did that just embarrass you to tears?” She flashed a toothy smile, looked down and said, “No, David. ” He chuckled and added with some relief, “O. K. good. ” | 0fake |
Here are the Democrats Who are Skipping Trump’s Inauguration - Breitbart | At last count, over 50 Democrats have announced they will be skipping Donald Trump’s inauguration on Friday, January 20. [The majority of them are from the deep blue state of California. According to Roll Call, Democrats who are planning to skip Trump’s historic ceremony include Reps. John Lewis ( ) Steve Cohen ( ) Jerrold Nadler ( ) Don Beyer ( ) Mark Takano ( ) Yvette Clarke ( ) Ted Liu ( ) Raul Grijalva ( ) John Conyers ( ) Mark Desaulnier ( ) Rep. Nydia Velazquez ( ) Kurt Schrader ( ) Pramila Jayapal ( ) William Lacy Clay ( ) Barbara Lee ( ) Jos Serrano ( ) Judy Chu ( ) Luis Gutierrez ( ) Jared Huffman ( ) Katherine Clark ( ) Earl Blumenauer ( ) Karen Bass ( ) Keith Ellison ( ) Adriano Espaillat ( ) Mark Pocan ( ) Maxine Waters ( ) Marcia Fudge ( ) Al Green ( ) Lucille ( ) Bonnie Watson Coleman ( ) Anthony Brown ( ) Chellie Pingree ( ) John Yarmouth ( ) Dwight Evans ( ) Zoe Lofgren ( ) Grace Napolitano ( ) Raul Ruiz ( ) Adam Smith ( ) Darren Sotto ( ) Ruben Gallego ( ) G. K. Butterfield ( ) Joaquin Castro ( ) Tony Cardenas ( ) Mike Doyle ( ) Carol ( ) Donald M. Payne ( ) Alma Adams ( . C.) Brendan F. Boyle ( ) Robert A. Brady ( ) Frederica Wilson ( ) Jerry McNerney ( ) and Peter A. DeFazio ( ). Although no Democratic senators have indicated they will be missing the inauguration, CNN has suggested that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( ) has left the door open for those deciding to do so. Schumer said, “I think each person has to make the choice on their own, but I don’t begrudge those who have said they’re boycotting. Each person can make his or her own decision. ” Dozens of Democratic lawmakers announced they would not attend the inauguration after legendary civil rights activist Rep. John Lewis stated that he does not believe Trump is a “legitimate president,” that he is “wrong” for the nation, and that this is the first inauguration at which he will not be present. However, soon after he made his comment, a report surfaced that Lewis had skipped George W. Bush’s inauguration because he did not believe Bush was the true elected president, thus it would be hypocritical for him to attend. Trump tweeted, “John Lewis said about my inauguration, ‘It will be the first one that I’ve missed.’ WRONG (or lie)! He boycotted Bush 43 also because he thought it would be hypocritical to attend Bush’s … . he doesn’t believe Bush is the true elected president.’ Sound familiar!” John Lewis said about my inauguration, ”It will be the first one that I’ve missed.” WRONG (or lie)! He boycotted Bush 43 also because he … — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017, ”thought it would be hypocritical to attend Bush’s … . he doesn’t believe Bush is the true elected president.” Sound familiar! WP, — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 17, 2017, New Hampshire Democrat Rep. Carol noted that instead of attending the inauguration she’ll go to religious services to “pray for all of our leaders and people. ” represents a congressional district that Trump won. In fact, Trump won more votes than did. received 162, 080 votes in her district, . Trump received 179, 259 in the same district. Jeanie Forrester, who is running for chair of the New Hampshire Republican Party, sent out a tweet pointing this out: . @realDonaldTrump won district in Nov. Received more votes than @TeamSheaPorter https: . #nhpolitics, — Jeanie Forrester (@JeanieForrester) January 17, 2017, Forrester, who is running uncontested and has received the backing of Gov. Chris Sununu ( ) will face elections on Jan. 28. In response to the Democrats skipping the inauguration, Rep. Sean Duffy ( ) said, “Put your big boy pants on. ” He added, “and let’s start working together. ” ”Put your big boy pants on” — @RepSeanDuffy believes lawmakers should be attending Trump’s inauguration https: . — New Day (@NewDay) January 17, 2017, Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz | 0fake |
Why Do Hillary And Barack Choose Islam Over Christianity Every Time? | The always brilliant Ben Shapiro answers that question in well, a brilliant way On Tuesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the American woman most responsible for the current refugee crisis in the Middle East, blasted Republicans for not wanting to accept unvetted Syrian Muslim refugees in the aftermath of last week s Paris terror attacks.She tweeted:We've seen a lot of hateful rhetoric from the GOP. But the idea that we'd turn away refugees because of religion is a new low. -H Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) November 17, 2015 This, to be sure, is odd. Hillary decrying hateful rhetoric smacks of irony she despises Republicans so much that she labeled them her enemies during the first Demoratic debate. Furthermore, Hillary is no fighter for religious freedom. In April, she told the Women in the World Summit that deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed to allow for abortion. And in the aftermath of the Supreme Court s egregious same-sex marriage decision in June, Hillary explicitly called for the government to force churches to sanction homosexuality, explaining, Our work won t be finished until every American can not only marry, but live, work, pray, learn and raise a family free from discrimination and prejudice. Pray as in attend church free from discrimination and prejudice. But she s sure hot and bothered about what she terms discrimination against Muslim refugees. This isn t particularly surprising the entire left has a peculiar soft spot for Islam.That seems weird, given Islamic countries fundamental rejection of leftist values ranging from same-sex marriage to abortion to women driving. But it isn t so weird when considered in the context of Marxist philosophy, which sees Islam not as a religious philosophy of its own, but as a sort of bizarre cultural outgrowth of poverty. Impoverished people believe weird things, say the Marxists; if we just gave ISIS jobs, they d stop all this nonsense and start behaving like members of the ACLU. Leftists see Islam not as an ideological force converting millions, but as a knee-jerk response to lack of basic living standards.In fact, leftists see all religion this way: as the refuge of the weakminded underclass. As Marx wrote, Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. Barack Obama agrees: as he said back in 2008, poor people get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy toward people who aren t like them. The view that all religious practice is essentially the domain of the exploited would cut in favor of seeing all religious practices as equally worthy of dismissal.But the left prefers Islam to Christianity. They ll fight against anyone drawing pictures of Mohammed, but they ll lose their minds if Christians complain about an artist soaking a statue of Jesus in urine.Why do leftists treat Christianity and Islam differently, if both are merely chimerical responses to the vicissitudes of life? Because leftists see Christianity as the creator of Islam s rise, and Christians as the victimizers of Muslims. The Obama State Department won t recognize Christians as victims of incipient Muslim genocide in the Middle East, but President Obama will equate ISIS violence in 2015 with the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. President Obama believes, like many on the left, that Western civilization was founded in racism, sexism, homophobia, and other bigotry and that Christianity, as its wellspring, provided that impetus.Furthermore, Obama believes that Western civilization has exploited the rest of the world, and that it therefore bears culpability for the poverty that gave rise to the Islamic wave. Muslims are benighted victims of poverty; Christianity made them victims of poverty in the first place. Christianity thus bears blood guilt for the sins of Islam, but Islam bears none of its own. As Dinesh D Souza puts it, Obama is an anti-colonialist and believes that the rich countries got rich by looting the poor countries, and that within the rich countries, plutocratic and corporate elites continue to exploit ordinary citizens. Taken one step further, those rich countries Christian countries exploited non-Christian countries, impoverishing them and opening them to the opium of Islam.How else to explain the left s romance with Islam and simultaneous dismissal of Christianity? How else to explain the left s preoccupation with allowing Muslim refugees into the Christianity-founded West while demanding nothing of Islamic countries which are murdering Christians en masse?Hillary Clinton says it s hateful for Western countries to discriminate in choosing refugees based on religious philosophy. It s far more hateful to suggest that Christianity must bow and scrape before Islam, particularly when Islamic terrorists target non-Muslims the world over. Via: Breitbart News | 1real |
Trump praises 'productive' China talks, but tough action seen ahead | BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump lauded his Beijing meetings on trade and North Korea as very productive , ending a visit which Chinese media declared set a new blueprint for handling ties, even as the White House looks set for tougher action on China. Trump pressed China to do more to rein in North Korea s nuclear ambitions and said bilateral trade had been unfair to the United States, but also praised Xi s pledge that China would be more open to foreign firms. Hours after Trump left Beijing on Friday, China said it would drop foreign ownership limits on local banks and asset management companies while loosening stake restrictions in securities firms and insurers - moves that have been long awaited by foreign financial firms. Beijing faces intensifying pressure from Western governments and business lobbies to remove investment barriers and other rules that hobble overseas firms from operating in the country, as well as intellectual property theft. Washington has refrained from pushing harder on trade because it needs China s cooperation on North Korea, although Xi, at least in public, went no further than reiterating China s determination to achieve denuclearization through talks. Trump and Xi, who call themselves friends, also oversaw the signing of about $250 billion in commercial deals, a show that some in the U.S. business community and others say detracts from addressing structural impediments that puts them at a disadvantage to Chinese rivals. China may be mistaken in thinking it had done enough to address U.S. concerns, and Trump could find people disappointed at home he didn t make more progress on items like market access and North Korea, Paul Haenle, Director of the Carnegie Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing, said. My concern is you may see a shift towards a much harder line coming from the U.S. administration. That will be a huge surprise to China and President Xi, especially given that Xi likely feels he has done a lot for Trump on this visit. Trump reiterated in a tweet just before leaving Beijing for the APEC summit of Asia Pacific leaders in Vietnam that he didn t blame China for the trade gap between the two countries, adding that he had very productive meetings on trade and North Korea with Xi. I don t blame China, I blame the incompetence of past Admins for allowing China to take advantage of the U.S. on trade leading up to a point where the U.S. is losing $100 s of billions. How can you blame China for taking advantage of people that had no clue? I would ve done same! A U.S. industry source said the implication of Trump blaming his predecessors for the trade deficit is that Trump won t make the same mistake - a warning to Xi, not a capitulation. The Trump administration did not bring hard trade policy items to the discussion with Xi because U.S. officials don t want to argue over crumbs , the source added. Barring some dramatic action on North Korea by Xi, there is going to be a hard turn in U.S. trade policy, the source said. A second source, who is close to the business delegation that traveled to Beijing this week, added that the Trump administration appeared poised to take a much harder line in the weeks ahead. There were no obvious gaffes during the two-night stopover, and Trump and Xi seemed to enjoy being in each other s company. At a banquet on Thursday night in the Great Hall of the People, Trump and Xi dined on coconut chicken soup, spicy chicken, stewed beef with tomatoes and grouper fillets. Chinese state media said the tone and outcome of Trump s visit had been largely positive, saying Trump and Xi were setting a new blueprint for handling relations and managing their differences. China has tried its utmost, even at the sacrifice of Sino-North Korean relations, influential tabloid the Global Times wrote in its editorial. Trump has gradually learned that Beijing is indeed making selfless contributions to promoting the denuclearization of the peninsula. He can t demand more. | 0fake |
SHAKEDOWN AL SHARPTON MEETS WITH GM TO PRESSURE THEM INTO DROPPING KID ROCK OVER CONFEDERATEF FLAG [Video] | I m a mom who grew up in Romeo, MI., the same town where Robert Ritchie, aka Kid Rock was born and raised. I am also a huge Kid Rock fan. I remember sitting across from his entire family in church every Sunday. His mother was my youngest sister s religious education teacher. He was raised in the country until he left to make his music way in Mt. Clemens, MI, located just outside of Detroit. It was there he met his girlfriend (who is black) and had a child with her. He gained full custody of his son and sent him to a Catholic school near my current home. He is one of the kindest, most generous and selfless musicians in the business. He is now the latest target of Al Sharpton and his shakedown organization, NAN.Kid Rock s philosophy is: Help your neighbor first. Here are a few examples of his generosity:When is the last time Al Sharpton did anything to bring jobs to Americans or to help give back to NYC? Kid Rock doesn t just talk about providing jobs for Americans, he puts his money where his mouth is:Here is Kid Rock donating a home to an injured veteran in a Detroit suburb:While Al Sharpton has made it his goal to assist Barack Obama in the division our nation with his #BlackLivesMatter campaign of racism, hate and violence, Kid Rock has been busy working to ensure we take care of our veterans when they return through a campaign called #VeteransMatter:And lastly how many times has Al Sharpton jumped on an airplane and headed overseas during Christmas to help lift the spirits of our troops while they spend their holidays away from their families in the desert? (Brief language warning.)Compare Kid Rock s service to our military, kids with disabilities and to the city of Detroit to Al Sharpton s service to his community:Americans need to stand up to this shakedown artist and let this two-bit, tax cheating extortionist know we are not going to let him define the direction of our great nation. Call GM and let them know how much you appreciate them sponsoring Kid Rock, a man who does so much for our military and for those less fortunate at:Tony Cervone Senior Vice President, Global Communications Phone 313-667-3437 Mobile 313-920-8175 tony.cervone@gm.comor: Juli Huston-Rough News Operations Director Phone 313-665-3183 Mobile 313-549-6977 julie.huston-rough@gm.comBreitbart News Detroit members of Al Sharpton s National Action Network now plan to pressure General Motors to cut ties with musician Kid Rock over his use of the Confederate flag at concerts, and the company is hearing them out.Legally named Robert James Ritchie, Kid Rock may hail from the Detroit, MI area, but his love for southern music and culture is strong, and he has used imagery of the rebel symbol at shows throughout his career.Members of the Detroit chapter of the NAN began protesting a Kid Rock exhibit at a local museum over the matter earlier this month. The rocker finally responded to the activists through a statement to Fox News host Megyn Kelly last week, simply saying: Kiss my a**. The group s members demanded Ritchie renounce the flag, but now that it has become apparent he has no plans to do so, the NAN plans to hit him where it hurts: though a sponsor.According to the Detroit Free Press, members of the group, which is helmed by Rev. Charles Williams II, plan to meet with Detroit-based General Motors, whose Chevrolet brand is sponsoring Kid Rock s summer tour. We will be furthering our call to ask GM to remove their support of funds for Kid Rock s tour, said Williams.A statement released to the paper by GM confirmed the meeting would take place later this week on Tuesday: We have been in touch with Reverend Williams, and representatives from Chevrolet will be meeting with him later this week to better understand his concerns. We need to let some open and constructive dialogue occur as a first step, and we ll go from there. Rev. Williams also told the Associated Press Tuesday that the best resolution is for GM to pull their sponsorship. He added: The entire civil rights community is ready to open up a campaign on this issue if General Motors doesn t want to take responsibility on this bad business issue. Williams was previously quoted as saying, the hometown hero who is a zero with the Confederate flag, while the group s political director Sam Riddle asked, How in the hell can Kid Rock represent Detroit and wave that flag just generating millions and millions in ticket sales a flag that represents genocide to most of Detroit? Kid Rock received the Great Expectations Award from the Detroit NAACP in 2011, and called the accolade by far the coolest award I ve received. After receiving the honor, the artist responded to similar protests from the NAACP, and told the Free Press waving the flag was not about hatred or being a racist. I like Southern rock music, and a lot of people died under that flag for beliefs they had, right or wrong, he said. But it stands for rebel, and my love of Southern rock. | 1real |
Democratic Socialists make headway in U.S. after Trump's win | DETROIT (Reuters) - For David Green, head of the Detroit chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Donald Trump’s victory in November was both distressing and cause for optimism in his quest to pull the Democratic Party to the left. “We need a party that’s open to progressive forces, and that’s why we have to elect progressive leadership within the party,” Green said, while attending the Michigan Democratic Party’s spring convention in Detroit earlier this month. Membership in the DSA, founded in 1982, has surged since Trump’s election on Nov. 8, putting the movement in a position to make inroads on the Democratic Party’s energized left. The membership gains are fueled by supporters of Bernie Sanders, the U.S. Senator from Vermont who sought the Democratic presidential nomination last year. The DSA is not a political party, but it supports many of the same short-term policy positions as the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party: a $15 minimum wage, single-payer healthcare, free college, and opposition to free-trade deals. But unlike most mainstream Democrats, the DSA also has a long-term vision of a democratic socialist society in the vein of countries like Sweden and Denmark, where workers have a more direct say in how their jobs and the economy are run, alongside a more robust public sector. Since November, national membership has almost tripled to about 17,000. Its leaders have said meetings are packed and new chapters are cropping up nationwide, including in Rust Belt states such as Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio, where Trump scored upset wins over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton to take the White House. The DSA’s membership is tiny in the grand picture. In the 31 states plus the District of Columbia where party registrations are tallied, the Democratic Party alone has about 45 million members. Hans Noel, a political scientist at Georgetown University, said while the DSA’s numbers remain small, its growth reflects a trend of the Democratic Party’s left wing gaining clout after Clinton’s loss. Many analysts said her defeat was at least partly due to her inability to win over Sanders’ supporters. Noel notes the election this coming weekend of a new chair for the Democratic National Committee, seen as a dead heat between Sanders supporter Keith Ellison, whom DSA supports, and Clinton supporter Tom Perez. Noel said it is not only a key inflection point but also a demonstration of the progressive bloc’s newfound power. “They’re doing more mobilization and organization within the party ... all of the candidates now feel this is a wing of the party they feel they have to take seriously,” Noel said in an interview. “That kind of action is probably going to play out in internal party conflict over the next two to three years.” The surge has buoyed the spirits of DSA officials including national director Maria Svart, who says the surge in new members began immediately after Trump’s victory. “The day after the election, our membership coordinator turned to me when she looked at her computer in the morning and said ‘I can see the moment when Donald Trump announced that he’d won,’” Svart said. “People started joining online in massive numbers.” Trump’s election has galvanized not only the DSA but other left-leaning political groups. Since the Jan. 20 inauguration, protests against his policies and pronouncements have drawn tens of thousands of people nearly every weekend, providing new opportunities for the DSA and other groups to attract supporters. “We’re not going to work within the Democratic Party, but we’re not going to work totally outside it either,” Svart said in an interview, adding that the DSA would eventually like to run its own candidates for office. At the Michigan Democratic Convention, Green and his DSA chapter were successful in getting several members elected to the Michigan Democratic Party’s state central committee for the first time in over two decades. In January, Sanders supporters in California managed to elect a majority of delegates to that state’s party leadership. “State politics is where a lot of policy is done so it matters who’s running for these offices,” Georgetown’s Noel said. “Control over who gets to be candidates is huge and these people have control over that in these positions.” | 0fake |
REP LUIS GUTIERREZ (D-NY) CALLS MURDER OF KATE STEINLE BY ILLEGAL ALIEN “A little thing” [Video] | Die-hard amnesty for illegal aliens cheerleader Rep. Luis Gutierrez: Every time a little thing like this happens, they use the most extreme example to say it must be eliminated. Reporting on a recently released survey by Rasmussen Reports that indicates that 62% of Americans oppose sanctuary city policies, Telemundo, the nation s second largest Spanish-language network, slanted its coverage in favor of maintaining the controversial policy. Reporting from the sanctuary city of Chicago, Telemundo correspondent Janet Rodr guez cited an unauthorized immigrant in favor of the policy, along with two quotes from Congressman Luis Guti rrez (D-IL), who had the gall to minimize Kate Steinle s murder, at the hands of a hardened criminal and five-time deportee, in the sanctuary city of San Francisco.Although Rodr guez reported the study s findings that the majority of Americans not only oppose the policy, but also support withholding federal funding to make sanctuary cities comply with immigration authorities, she included only one critical view of the policy, that of presidential candidate Donald Trump calling sanctuary cities a disgrace. To make matters worse, Rodr guez also misled viewers about the considerable trans-partisan nature of the opposition to sanctuary city policies. Rodr guez stated on air that it has to be emphasized that the poll reveals that the majority of those who agree on eliminating sanctuary cities or that in some way they lose federal funds, all are Republicans. However, the poll actually indicates that 79% of Republicans, 61% of unaffiliated voters, and 46% of Democrats believe sanctuary cities should lose federal funds. Similarly, 79% of Republicans, 65% of unaffiliated voters and 43% of Democrats support U.S. Justice Department legal action against sanctuary cities.Via: Newsbusters | 1real |
Donald Trump throws a grand old party | Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) No one ever really doubted that Donald Trump could pull off a major counter-programing feat -- even when competing with a GOP debate that was expected to draw millions of viewers.
He did it Thursday night, dazzling a crowd of hundreds of enthusiastic supporters by announcing that he had raised more than $6 million for veterans in one day -- $1 million of it from his own checkbook. "We love our vets," he said.
"You know, my whole theme is make America great again and that's what we're going to do --- and we wouldn't have even been here if it weren't for our vets," Trump said.
Even Trump seemed a bit surprised that he had pulled off his stunt: "Look at all the cameras. This is like the Academy Awards," the real estate magnate said as he took the stage in an auditorium at Drake University about 20 minutes after the debate began a few miles away. "We're actually told that we have more cameras than they do by quite a bit, and you know what that's really in honor of our vets."
The rally was a restrained performance by Trump standards. He dispensed with his usual riff about his poll numbers and mostly avoided jabs at his fellow candidates (with the exception of a "low-energy" shot at Jeb Bush).
Instead he delivered a speech mostly focused on the problems veterans have faced when returning from Iraq and Afghanistan -- inadequate healthcare and housing, drug abuse, mental health issues and homelessness.
"Our vets are being mistreated. Illegal immigrants are treated better in many cases than our vets and it's not going to happen any more. It's not going to happen any more."
Clearly enjoying his evening away from the debate, Trump also told the audience what could be another media sensation for his campaign: the fact that his daughter Ivanka is pregnant. "Ivanka, I said, it would be so great if you had your baby in Iowa. It would be so great -- I'd definitely win!"
In a somewhat extraordinary move for someone who has reveled in taunting his rivals, he invited Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum -- two candidates who had been relegated to an earlier undercard debate -- to join him on stage to speak about veterans issues. While appearing generous, it was also politically savvy maneuver given that the two men were the respective winners of the past two Iowa caucuses, but stuck in the bottom-tier this time around.
Huckabee and Santorum are still well-liked and admired by core Republican voters here in Iowa, even if their campaigns have failed to ignite this time. And their presence on stage with Trump could go a long way toward negating the criticisms from Trump's rivals like Ted Cruz, whose allies have claimed that Trump will be punished by Iowans on Monday for skipping the debate stage.
Santorum, who narrowly defeated Mitt Romney here in 2012, tried to stand to the side of Trump's podium, noting to laughter that he didn't want to be photographed in front of a Trump sign.
"I'm supporting another candidate, but that doesn't mean we can't work together" to honor America's veterans, Santorum said.
Trump has regaled in the media spectacle that he created over the past few days after withdrawing from the Fox News debate with complaints that he'd been mistreated by the network. He told the crowd that he wished that he'd been able to participate, but once he had withdrawn -- no amount of cajoling, even by the likes of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly --- could bring him back.
"When you're treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights," he said to cheers. "And that's what our country has to do.... We have to stick up for our country when we're being mistreated."
"Once this started and it was for our vets there was nothing I could do," he added, reflecting on whether the pundits were right that his maneuver might damage his campaign. "I don't know. Is it for me personally a good thing, a bad thing? Will I get more votes? Will I get less votes? Nobody knows. Who the hell knows."
He predicted that the amount of money that he had raised through a website and through personal calls to wealthy friends who contributed to the cause would impress Iowans. "I think this money is going to continue to pour in."
The organizations run the gamut from groups focused on helping veterans with disabilities and mental health problems to those aimed at helping veterans reintegrate into civilian society.
Trump supporters who waited hours in the cold to see him roundly disputed the notion that he would see any attrition in his support in Iowa, where he has led in recent polls.
In interviews, many voters here said the controversy was yet another example of Trump bucking the establishment -- a trait that has endeared him to them from the beginning -- and that they were proud of him standing up to Fox News.
Ernie Ratcliffe, an army veteran who served two tours in Vietnam, drove in from Kansas City for the rally, scoffed when asked for his thoughts on Texas Sen. Ted Cruz's contention that Trump skipped the debate because he was afraid of taunts or difficult questions from the Fox moderators or rival candidates.
"Donald Trump isn't scared of anything. He's not scared of absolutely anything," said Ratcliffe, who has signed up with his wife to call New Hampshire voters on Trump's behalf next week. "Donald J. Trump said he was going to do this and he's done it. He's a man of his word."
Ratcliffe said he was convinced that Trump was the only candidate who could clean up the Department of Veterans Affairs and that it would be "one of the first things he does when he gets into office."
"He's going to get it squared away," he said. "It's not going to take him very long to do it. He's going to put the right people in. He knows how to manage things. He's a very successful businessman. He's going to get it done very quickly and very, very well."
Randal Thom, a former Marine who was among the first admitted to Trump's event, said he loved it that Trump refused to back down.
"When it came out yesterday that he was actually doing this (rally) in less than 24 hours, it was amazing," Thom said. "It just shows he has the ability to rally and get things done."
Thom, who raises Alaskan Malamute and Pomalute puppies in Minnesota, and plans to spend Monday in Iowa volunteering for Trump, dismissed Cruz as "a Canadian-born citizen" and described the Texas senator, as well as the other GOP contenders as "weak."
"Trump is a 100% strongman. He's bullet proof," Thom said. "People say, 'Oh look at his background. Look at the number of wives he's had.' You know what? I don't care about that. What I care about is his future." | 0fake |
“ON DAY OF #NiceAttack Hillary Announces AMNESTY For Anyone Who Stealthily Evades Our Border Patrol” | Lawless, Crooked Hillary promises to continue with Obama s arrogant, lawless push to flood America with people who have illegally entered our nation Democrat voters. Our nation and our nation s security won t survive another four years of Obama h/t to the brilliant Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies. The CIS is one of the best sources in America for keeping up with our immigration crisis in America. From Hillary s website:Hillary will:Enact comprehensive immigration reform to create a pathway to citizenship, keep families together, and enable millions of workers to come out of the shadows.Defend President Obama s executive actions to provide deportation relief for DREAMers and parents of Americans and lawful residents, and extend those actions to additional persons with sympathetic cases if Congress refuses to act.Promote naturalization and support immigrant integration. End family detention and close private immigrant detention centers.Hillary s not just advocating for making lawbreakers legal citizens of the United States, she s also planning to bring millions of Muslims from countries who hate us to America, and fast-track them to citizenship:If elected president, Hillary Clinton could permanently resettle close to one million Muslim migrants during the first term of her presidency alone, according to the latest available data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).Between 2001 and 2013, the U.S. permanently resettled 1.5 million Muslim migrants on green cards. However, under Hillary Clinton s stated proposals, Muslim immigration would grow substantially faster, adding nearly one million Muslim migrants to the U.S. during her first term alone.Based on the most recent available DHS data, the U.S. permanently resettled roughly 149,000 migrants from predominantly Muslim countries on green cards in 2014. Yet Clinton has said that, as President, she would expand Muslim migration by importing an additional 65,000 Syrian refugees into the United States during the course of a single fiscal year. Clinton has made no indication that she would limit her proposed Syrian refugee program to one year.Clinton s Syrian refugees would come on top of the tens of thousands of refugees the U.S. already admits from Muslim countries.Adding Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees to the approximately 149,000 Muslim migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in the course of one year, means that Clinton could permanently resettle roughly 214,000 Muslim migrants in her first year as President. If Clinton were to continue her Syrian refugee program throughout her Presidency, she could potentially resettle as many as 856,000 during her first term alone.Analysis from the Senate Immigration Subcommittee found that Clinton s plan to expand refugee resettlement could cost U.S. taxpayers over $400 billion.Additionally, once Clinton s Syrian refugees are in the U.S. as green card holders, they will have the ability to bring over their family members through chain migration.With regards to Middle Eastern migration, Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees would be added on top of the roughly 96,000 Middle Eastern migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in a single year. Based on the minimum numbers Clinton has put forth thus far, as President, she could potentially resettle approximately 644,000 Middle Eastern migrants during her first term alone.According to a September 2015 Rasmussen survey, women voters oppose Clinton s Middle Eastern refugee plan by a remarkable 21-to-1 margin. Democrat voters oppose Clinton s refugee plan by a 17-to-1 margin. Most remarkably, 85 percent of black voters oppose Clinton s refugee agenda with less than one percent of black voters supporting her plan.Yet Clinton s expansion to Muslim migration would be in addition to her expansion for immigration overall.U.S. Census data shows that if a President Hillary Clinton were successful in passing a Gang of Eight-style immigration expansion bill, the U.S. could permanently resettle roughly 9.4 million migrants throughout the nation during her first term alone. This figure does not include the additional 11 million illegal immigrants already here to whom Clinton has promised amnesty and U.S. citizenship.Clinton s desire to expand immigration is shared by GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan, who leads the pro-Islamic migration wing of the Republican Party. Breitbart | 1real |
FBI WARNS Of Potential Terror Attack At SUPER BOWL…White House Completely Silent | Wouldn t it be great if the Obama administration came out with something regarding the terror risk revealed by the FBI?FBI officials sent out a memo warning of terrorist attacks at Super Bowl 50 that could take out the entire fiber-optics system that feeds the arena. If the fiber-optic cables get cut, it impacts financial institutions, impacts Silicon Valley, said retired assistant Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Harp, to KPIX 5. It impacts a lot of infrastructure in that area. The FBI said it hadn t received a specific threat about the Super Bowl. But agents also said they ve identified several danger zones outside the stadium they re going to protect as well, CBS News reported. It s the lone wolf, Harp said. It s the individual who is self-radicalized that creates a problem that you can t detect. There s only so much the FBI can do with regard to surveillance within the guidelines of the Constitution. If someone were to use a drone to disperse something, he said, CBS News reported, it could be a potentially hazardous situation. Given that his beloved Chicago Bears were pretty much out of contention on the first week of the regular season, President Barack Obama hasn t really paid that much attention to the Super Bowl. That doesn t mean other people aren t, though including the savages of the Islamic State group.An FBI bulletin claimed there was a significant threat to this year s Super Bowl 50 being held on Feb. 7 at Levi s Stadium in Santa Clara, California from terrorist groups. There s going to be law enforcement secreted around the stadium that you are not going to see or know about. They are there, retired FBI Assistant Special Agent In Charge Jeffrey Harp told reporters. If the fiber optic cables get cut, it impacts financial institutions, impacts Silicon Valley, it impacts a lot of infrastructure in that area, Harp added.Several attacks have already been carried out against fiber optic systems in the Bay Area, disrupting Silicon Valley s extensive tech industry. None of those crimes have been solved.Via: WNDVia: Conservative Tribune | 1real |
Watch The Exact Moment Paul Ryan Committed Political Suicide At A Trump Rally (VIDEO) | Google Pinterest Digg Linkedin Reddit Stumbleupon Print Delicious Pocket Tumblr
There are two fundamental truths in this world: Paul Ryan desperately wants to be president. And Paul Ryan will never be president. Today proved it.
In a particularly staggering example of political cowardice, Paul Ryan re-re-re-reversed course and announced that he was back on the Trump Train after all. This was an aboutface from where he was a few weeks ago. He had previously declared he would not be supporting or defending Trump after a tape was made public in which Trump bragged about assaulting women. Suddenly, Ryan was appearing at a pro-Trump rally and boldly declaring that he already sent in his vote to make him President of the United States. It was a surreal moment. The figurehead of the Republican Party dosed himself in gasoline, got up on a stage on a chilly afternoon in Wisconsin, and lit a match. . @SpeakerRyan says he voted for @realDonaldTrump : “Republicans, it is time to come home” https://t.co/VyTT49YvoE pic.twitter.com/wCvSCg4a5I
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) November 5, 2016
The Democratic Party couldn’t have asked for a better moment of film. Ryan’s chances of ever becoming president went down to zero in an instant. In the wreckage Trump is to leave behind in his wake, those who cravenly backed his campaign will not recover. If Ryan’s career manages to limp all the way to 2020, then the DNC will have this tape locked and loaded to be used in every ad until Election Day.
The ringing endorsement of the man he clearly hates on a personal level speaks volumes about his own spinelessness. Ryan has postured himself as a “principled” conservative, and one uncomfortable with Trump’s unapologetic bigotry and sexism. However, when push came to shove, Paul Ryan – like many of his colleagues – turned into a sniveling appeaser. After all his lofty tak about conviction, his principles were a house of cards and collapsed with the slightest breeze.
What’s especially bizarre is how close Ryan came to making it through unscathed. For months the Speaker of the House refused to comment on Trump at all. His strategy seemed to be to keep his head down, pretend Trump didn’t exist, and hope that nobody remembered what happened in 2016. Now, just days away from the election, he screwed it all up.
If 2016’s very ugly election has done any good it’s by exposing the utter cowardice of the Republicans who once feigned moral courage. A reality television star spit on them, hijacked their party, insulted their wives, and got every last one of them to kneel before him. What a turn of events.
Featured image via Twitter | 1real |
Zimbabwe's Mugabe creates cyber ministry in cabinet reshuffle | HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe moved Patrick Chinamasa from the finance ministry on Monday to lead a new cyber security ministry that will focus on crimes on social media and other websites ahead of an election due next year. Chinamasa will be replaced at the treasury by Home Affairs Minister Ignatius Chombo in a cabinet reshuffle that also diminished the role of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, seen as a potential successor to Mugabe. Chombo s move, announced in a government statement, comes against the backdrop of a severe hard currency shortage that has dealt a fresh blow to confidence and investment in the southern African economy, which uses the U.S dollar. Chinamasa was appointed finance minister after Mugabe s re-election in 2013 and his move to head the new Ministry of Cyber Security, Threat Detection and Mitigation was unexpected. Its creation comes after Chinamasa said last month the government would now treat social media as a security threat after accusing users of spreading rumors about shortages of basic goods, which caused panic buying and price increases. The government has been uneasy with social media after activists such as pastor Evan Mawararire and his #ThisFlag movement last year used social media to organize a stay-at-home demonstration, the biggest anti-government protest in a decade. Government critics took to Twitter deriding Chinamasa as new minister of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp affairs . Chinamasa, a lawyer by training, will also be responsible for bringing to parliament a long awaited cyber crimes bill that criminalize false information posted on the internet, revenge porn, cyber-bullying and online activity against the government. Meanwhile Chombo, who does not have a finance background and is a staunch Mugabe supporter who comes from the 93-year-old leader s rural home district, was the surprise pick for minister of finance. He will have to contend with a serious shortage of foreign currency that has seen U.S. dollar bank balances lose value against cash dollars, fanning a thriving black market. The worthless Zimbabwe dollar was replaced by the U.S. dollar in 2009 but the economy has struggled over the past 18 months because of a massive domestic shortage of greenbacks. As a result, cash, especially crisp, new, $100 bills, has enjoyed a steady 10 percent to 20 percent premium over dollars stored electronically in bank accounts - nicknamed zollars - meaning people have to transfer more than face value to the person selling the dollars on the black market. When Mugabe said on Saturday he was going to review the performance of his ministers, speculation was rife that Mnangagwa, who said last week he had been poisoned in August, would be among the casualties. Mnangagwa has come under attack from a ruling party faction that accuses him of seeking to force Mugabe to resign in his favor. The ZANU-PF is divided into two camps, one supporting Mnangagwa to succeed him and another rallying behind First Lady Grace Mugabe. Mnangagwa, who denies the accusations, lost oversight of the Justice Ministry to the head of Zimbabwe s spy agency Happyton Bonyongwe. Bonyongwe, a retired army general who headed the national intelligence agency for 15 years, will be responsible for new legislation and will supervise the election due next year, including determining which foreign observers to invite. Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony since independence in 1980, has said he plans to run for another 5-year term next year, his last under the constitution, when he will be 94. In total, 10 cabinet ministers changed posts while two were dropped entirely. | 0fake |
Trump Visits Hurricane Irma Survivors…One Survivor Has A Hysterical Question To Ask [Video] | You have to love this! A Florida man greeted President Trump today with a question that the president told him to ask the press: Where was Obama on the last hurricane? Then he answered his own question: Obama Was Playing Golf During The Last Hurricane Remember that? Obama didn t want to interrupt his vacation to travel to see hurricane survivors Not one peep from Michelle either. What a difference a presidency makes!FLASHBACK TO MARTHA S VINEYARD: Where was President Obama when the most serious natural disaster happened during his 8 years in office? He was golfing on Martha s Vineyard, and refused to leave his golfing vacation to assess the situation.President Obama is stirring resentment over his refusal to interrupt his Martha s Vineyard vacation to survey the Louisiana flood the worst U.S. natural disaster since 2012 while drawing comparisons to President George W. Bush s hotly criticized response to Hurricane Katrina in the same state.Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson defended Mr. Obama at a press conference Thursday, insisting that the president is closely monitoring the situation but that he will not cut short his two-week breather in the tony Massachusetts resort. The president can t be everywhere, Mr. Johnson told reporters in Denham Springs, Louisiana.Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, backed him up, saying at the press conference that he is not complaining in any way about our federal partnership. Even so, Mr. Obama s lack of urgency is drawing unflattering parallels to the federal response in 2005, when Mr. Bush was branded as uncaring and even racist for not touching down during a flyover two days after Hurricane Katrina. Washington Times | 1real |
State Department presses North Korea to release detained Americans | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States holds North Korea accountable for its treatment of U.S. student Otto Warmbier and wants three other U.S. citizens detained by Pyongyang to be freed as soon as possible, the U.S. State Department said on Tuesday. “We hold North Korea accountable for Otto Warmbier’s unjust imprisonment,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told a news briefing. Warmbier died on Monday days after being returned from North Korea in a coma after being imprisoned for 17 months. “We want to see three other Americans who were unjustly detained brought home as soon as possible,” Nauert said. | 0fake |
Trump commutes fraud sentence of kosher meatpacker | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump, in a first exercise of his power to commute criminal sentences, cut short the 27-year prison term of a kosher meatpacking executive who was convicted eight years ago of bank fraud, the White House said on Wednesday. The commutation granted to Sholom Rubashkin, 57, marked only the second time that Trump has invoked his clemency authority as president, following the blanket pardon he granted earlier this year to Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona. Unlike the case of Arpaio, whom a judge had found guilty of contempt in a case involving racial profiling, Trump’s latest action leaves Rubashkin’s conviction intact, as well as terms of his supervised release from federal prison and his obligation to make restitution. Rubashkin was convicted in 2009 of 86 counts of financial fraud that came to light after a government raid on a kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, where hundreds of undocumented immigrant workers were arrested. Rubashkin, a father of 10, was the chief executive overseeing the slaughterhouse and headquarters for a family business that was then the largest kosher meat-processing company in the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 refused to hear an appeal contesting Rubashkin’s sentence, which his lawyers argued was excessive for a first-time, non-violent offender. His lawyers also contended, to no avail, that he was entitled to a new trial based on evidence of alleged judicial misconduct. The case sparked an outcry from members of the legal and Orthodox Jewish communities who rallied to Rubashkin’s defense. The White House statement cited letters of support for review of Rubashkin’s case from more than 30 members of Congress of both parties, including House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and veteran Republican Senator Orrin Hatch. Trump also pointed to bipartisan expressions of support for review of the case from over 100 former high-ranking U.S. Justice Department officials, prosecutors, judges and legal scholars. The White House further noted criticism of Rubashkin’s sentencing as unusually harsh in comparison to penalties imposed on others for similar white-collar crimes. Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling was originally sentenced to 24 years in prison, but a federal judge later shortened his term of 14 years. The former CEO of Tyco International Ltd, L. Dennis Kozlowski, was sentenced to 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison and was paroled after serving eight. | 0fake |
Cholera could resurge in Yemen due to lack of aid, fuel: WHO | GENEVA (Reuters) - Another wave of cholera could strike Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition blockade has cut off fuel for hospitals, water pumps and vital aid supplies for starving children, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday. Dr. Nevio Zagaria, WHO country representative in Yemen, told Reuters that 16 percent of Yemeni children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition, including 5.2 percent with a severe form that is life-threatening, and the problem is increasing. Yemen, where 8 million people face famine, is mired in a proxy war between the Iran-aligned Houthi armed movement and the U.S.-backed military coalition that the United Nations says has led to the world s worst humanitarian crisis. Some 960,000 suspected cases of cholera and 2,219 deaths have been reported since the epidemic began in April, WHO figures show. Children account for nearly a third of infections of the waterborne disease, spread by food or water contaminated with human feces, that causes acute diarrhoea and dehydration and can kill within hours if untreated. Although the number of new cases has dropped for 11 straight weeks, 35 districts in Yemen are still reporting cholera with high attack rates in communities, Zagaria said. A deteriorating economic situation and lack of safe drinking water, due to water sewage systems in many cities lacking fuel for the pumps, have compounded the humanitarian crisis, he said. This is a perfect mix to have a new explosion of a cholera epidemic at the beginning of the rainy season in March of next year, Zagaria said in a telephone interview from Sanaa, amid four days of clashes in the capital city. WHO is working with local authorities in both the internationally recognized government and Houthi-controlled Sana a to identify areas at highest risk of a spike in the cholera epidemic and to boost defences, he said. A campaign of oral cholera vaccination - initially planned last July during an acute phase and then abandoned by authorities - is now under reconsideration but as a preventive action next year, he said. Meanwhile, a ship carrying 35 tonnes of WHO surgical and medical supplies is being diverted to Aden after waiting weeks to offload at Hodeidah port, Zagaria said. We are waiting and hoping that the situation of the blockade will be resolved. We have an opening to the humanitarian blockade but the opening to the commercial blockade is only partial, he added. The United Nations appealed on Friday to the coalition to fully lift its blockade of Yemen, which was partially eased last week to let aid into Hodeidah and Salif, and U.N. flights into Sanaa. The U.S.-backed military coalition closed air, land and sea access on Nov. 6 in a move it said was to stop the flow of Iranian arms to the Houthis, who control much of northern Yemen. Aid shipments cover only a fraction of Yemen s needs, since almost all food, fuel and medicine are commercially imported. Yemen s health system has virtually collapsed, with most health workers unpaid for seven months. WHO supports 130 hospitals across the country, providing fuel, water, oxygen, drugs, medical supplies and essential equipment, Zagaria said. The (fuel) contractors that we are working with are finding difficulty in keeping the stock, he said, noting that some hospitals require 60,000 liters of fuel per month. WHO runs 15 stabilization centers for severely acute malnourished children with medical complications and is expanding with 10 more, Zagaria said. We see that there is a constant flow of newly admitted patients to these centers. The deterioration of the situation in terms of malnutrition in children is increasing... It is very difficult to quantify with precise numbers, said Zagaria, who went to the intensive care unit of the pediatric ward in Sadaa last week. I am a pediatrician, I worked many years in Africa. You don t need to take the weight and the height. | 0fake |
Trying to Get Past Airport Security Faster? Get in Line - The New York Times | Officials at the Transportation Security Administration thought they had the solution for long lines at airports: PreCheck, a program that allowed people to move through security without taking off their shoes or removing electronics from their luggage. It has not worked as planned. Customers who apply for the program, which requires a fee of $85 and a background check, say they continue to face long waits to obtain the PreCheck clearance. Such delays could grow worse because the number of people signing up for PreCheck has more than tripled in the last few months, climbing to 16, 000 a day on average in May, agency officials said. That surge has led to long delays in processing applications. Dozens of passengers who have recently tried to sign up for PreCheck say they have been given appointments for the interviews needed to complete the process that are weeks or even months away. Vance Hiner of St. Louis said he was put on a waiting list at . Louis International Airport to complete his enrollment. “The process of looking at my face and verifying that my passport and driver’s license match could be done by literally any airport staffer,” he said in an email. Roger Golliver of Beaverton, Ore. a suburb of Portland, said his wife signed up for the PreCheck program in March. But she had to wait months for an interview. “The earliest she could find was a July date in Seattle,” he said. Seattle is about a drive from Portland. Officials at the T. S. A. and MorphoTrust USA, the company that handles all PreCheck applications, say they are aware of the problems and are working to increase the number of enrollment centers while hiring additional people to deal with the surge in applications. “We are adding as much capacity as quickly as possible,” said John Sammon, the chief marketing officer for the T. S. A. Charles Carroll, senior vice president for identity services at MorphoTrust, said the company was hiring additional staff to bolster its efforts at the 14 biggest airports, including in New York and Chicago, where 450 passengers at Chicago O’Hare International Airport missed their flights last month because of long lines. “We’re in emergency response mode,” Mr. Carroll said. “T. S. A. was caught off guard by the size and amount of people traveling. ” The agency has made some improvements in reducing wait times at airports. It has increased overtime for screeners and moved dozens of dog teams to larger airports from smaller ones. On the busy Memorial Day weekend, few travelers reported a long wait. More help is on the way. This year, Congress allowed the agency to use $34 million to hire nearly 800 new screeners. And lawmakers recently approved an additional $28 million that will allow the agency to convert 2, 784 screeners from part time to full time, which will add 53 security lanes at the nation’s airports. Some members of Congress and many in the travel industry wonder if the efforts will be sustainable throughout the peak of summer travel. “T. S. A. cannot continue to rely on temporary by moving around limited Homeland Security dollars,” said Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi. John S. Pistole, the former T. S. A. administrator who started the PreCheck program, argued that using intelligence to screen and move passengers through security checkpoints was a better way to protect airports. Information provided by those who sign up for PreCheck is checked against the F. B. I. ’s criminal history databases as well as several terrorist screening databases and lists. The initial challenge was the reverse of today: The T. S. A. could not persuade enough people to sign up for PreCheck, and at many airports the PreCheck lanes were empty as regular security lines backed up. So the agency started a program called managed inclusion, which allowed people who had not signed up for the program to go through expedited screening when regular lines grew long. An investigation by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found that screeners allowed investigators with fake bombs and weapons to pass through checkpoints in 95 percent of the tests, a finding first reported by ABC News last year. Peter V. Neffenger, who took over the agency last July, ended the practice of managed inclusion. But fixing that problem has contributed to the long security lines that the agency is now trying to solve. On Wednesday, Kelly Hoggan, who had been the assistant administrator for the Office of Security Operations for the T. S. A. since 2013, resigned. Mr. Hoggan had been reassigned in May after a backlash over long security lines at airports and congressional scrutiny of thousands of dollars in bonuses he had received. Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, is trying to enlist help from the private sector to persuade more people to sign up for PreCheck. In a letter to the 100 largest American companies, he asked that they reimburse employees for signing up for expedited screening programs. The agency is also seeking additional vendors, in addition to MorphoTrust, to help process PreCheck enrollment. Still, it is unclear if those efforts will be enough to reduce the long lines expected at airports this summer. | 0fake |
BUZZFEED’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Attempts Lame Explanation Of Why He Published Fake News On Trump: “This was absolutely the right thing to do” [Video] | Here s @chucktodd s interview with @BuzzFeedBen about BuzzFeed s decision to publish that dossier https://t.co/Oa7Fs6IVLT Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 11, 2017 | 1real |
Comment voter « Non » aux armes nucléaires, par Manlio Dinucci | « L’art de la guerre »
Comment voter « Non » aux armes nucléaires par Manlio Dinucci Les États-Unis viennent de faire rejeter —par leurs alliés au sein du Premier comité de l’Assemblée générale de l’Onu— une proposition visant à l’élimination totale des armes nucléaires. Cependant, il est possible pour les États abritant illégalement des bombes atomiques états-uniennes d’en exiger leur retrait de leur territoire en application de l’article 2 du Traité de non-prolifération.
Réseau Voltaire | Rome (Italie) | 2 novembre 2016 italiano « Merci, président Obama. L’Italie va continuer avec une grande détermination son engagement pour la sécurité nucléaire » : c’est ce qu’écrivait le Premier ministre Matteo Renzi dans un message tweeter historique. Six mois après, aux Nations Unies, Renzi a voté « Oui » aux armes nucléaires. Se mettant à la queue des USA, le gouvernement italien s’est rangé contre la Résolution, approuvée à grande majorité dans le premier comité de l’Assemblée générale, qui demande la convocation en 2017 d’une conférence des Nations Unies pour « négocier un outil légalement contraignant pour la prohibition des armes nucléaires, qui amène à leur élimination totale ».
Le gouvernement italien a ainsi mangé son chapeau sur ce qu’il avait promis à la Conférence de Vienne, il y a deux ans, aux mouvements antinucléaires « exigeants », en les assurant de sa volonté d’opérer pour le désarmement nucléaire en jouant un « rôle de médiation avec patience et diplomatie ». Ainsi tombe dans le vide l’appel « Exigeons le désarmement nucléaire total », dans lequel on demande au gouvernement « la poursuite cohérente de l’engagement et de la lutte pour la mise au ban des armes nucléaires », dans un parcours « humanitaire et juridique vers le désarmement nucléaire », dans lequel l’Italie pourrait jouer « un rôle plus qu’actif, possiblement de pointe ».
Par conséquence tombent dans le vide aussi les motions parlementaires de la même teneur. Les appels génériques au désarmement nucléaire sont facilement instrumentalisables : il suffit de penser que le président des USA, artisan d’un ré-armement nucléaire de 1 000 milliards de dollars, a été décoré du Prix Nobel de la Paix pour « sa vision d’un monde libéré des armes nucléaires ».
Le mode concret à travers lequel en Italie nous pouvons contribuer à l’objectif du désarmement nucléaire, énoncé dans la Résolution des Nations Unies, est celui de libérer notre pays des armes nucléaires états-uniennes. À cette fin il faut non pas en appeler au gouvernement, mais exiger qu’il respecte le Traité de non-prolifération (TNP), signé et ratifié par l’Italie, qui à l’article 2 stipule : « Chacun des États militairement non nucléaires, qui soit Partie au Traité, s’engage à ne pas recevoir de quiconque des armes nucléaires ou autres engins nucléaires explosifs, ni le contrôle sur de telles armes et engins explosifs, directement ou indirectement ». On doit exiger que l’Italie cesse de violer le TNP et demande aux États-Unis de retirer immédiatement toutes leurs armes nucléaires de notre territoire et de ne pas y installer les nouvelles bombes B61-12, fer de lance de l’escalade nucléaire USA/Otan contre la Russie, ni d’autres armes nucléaires. Il faut exiger que des pilotes italiens ne soient plus entraînés à l’utilisation d’armes nucléaires sous commandement états-unien.
C’est l’objectif de la campagne lancée par le Comité No Guerra, No Nato et d’autres sujet. La campagne a obtenu un premier résultat important : le 26 octobre, au Conseil Régional de la Toscane, a été approuvée à la majorité une motion du groupe Sì Toscana a Sinistra (Oui, Toscane à gauche) qui « engage la Junte à demander au Gouvernement de respecter le Traité de non-prolifération des armes nucléaires et faire que les État-Unis retirent immédiatement toute arme nucléaire du territoire italien et renoncent à y installer les nouvelles bombes B61-12 et autres armes nucléaires ». À travers ces initiatives et d’autres on peut créer un vaste front qui, avec une forte mobilisation, impose au gouvernement le respect du Traité de non-prolifération.
Il y a six mois nous demandions sur les pages du Manifesto s’il y avait quelqu’un au Parlement disposé à exiger, sur la base du TNP, le retrait immédiat de l’Italie des armes nucléaires états-uniennes. Nous sommes encore en attente de la réponse.
Manlio Dinucci Traduction
Marie-Ange Patrizio
Source
Il Manifesto (Italie) | 1real |
Ohio system of purging inactive voters not legal: court | CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Ohio’s practice of rescinding voter registrations from people who fail to cast ballots is illegal, a court ruled on Friday, the latest legal decision affecting voting rights ahead of the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati reversed an earlier ruling by a federal judge in June and could lead to the reinstatement of thousands of voters in the politically crucial swing state of Ohio. “We don’t believe that any voters should be removed from the rolls simply because they haven’t voted in a few elections,” said Mike Brickner, senior policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought a lawsuit against the practice along with other advocates. Voting rights cases have become pivotal battlegrounds in the lead-up to the hotly contested presidential vote between Democratic party candidate Hillary Clinton and her Republican counterpart Donald Trump. The ACLU and others have challenged laws in Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina over voting rights issues. On Friday Texas asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reinstate a law requiring authorized identification to be presented before a citizen may vote. At issue in the Ohio case is a policy of purging voters who fail to cast ballots over a six-year period and do not respond to a letter from the state asking if they have moved. A Reuters analysis showed that at least 144,000 voters had been removed from Ohio’s rolls since the last presidential election. In their lawsuit, the ACLU and other plaintiffs argued that the process violates federal voting rights law, which prohibits removing voters from the rolls simply because they have been inactive. In June, a federal judge disagreed, ruling that an exception in the law protected Ohio’s practice. But the appellate court said on Friday that because the removal process was triggered solely by someone’s failure to vote, it was not legal. The appeals court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge George C. Smith to consider possible remedies, including reinstating all voters removed under the process. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Republican, said the state would appeal if Smith orders all of the purged voters to be reinstated, arguing that would open the state to potential fraud by people impersonating voters who have died or moved away. “This ruling overturns 20 years of Ohio law and practice, which has been carried out by the last four Secretaries of State, both Democrat and Republican,” Husted said. | 0fake |
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Nancy Pelosi Is Helping To Eliminate Democrat Party…”I think she’s incompetent” [VIDEO] | In a sit-down interview with Fox and Friends, Brian Kilmeade asked President Trump what he thought of Nancy Pelosi s comments yesterday on the cusp of his first major speech tonight. Kilmeade told Trump that Pelosi said, Basically he s done nothing. President Trump responded, Well I ve been watching Nancy s statements and I think she s incompetent actually, you know, if you look at what s going on with uh, the Democrats and the party, it s getting smaller and smaller. We re soon going to have a one-party system. I actually think a two-party system is healthy and good. She s done a terrible job and I don t think she s a good spokesman. "I think she's incompetent, actually, you know, if you look at what's going on with the Democrats and the party." @POTUS on Nancy Pelosi pic.twitter.com/AtLD3Enayk FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) February 28, 2017 | 1real |
Curt Schilling Doubles Down On Transgender Hate On Facebook, Adds Racism (IMAGE) | After ESPN fired washed-up MLB pitcher Curt Schilling, and rightfully so, for posting an extremely transphobic image on his Facebook page, he decided that wasn t enough hate, so now he s added some racism to the mix.Clearly pissed that he lost his job, Schilling decided to repost an image put out by conservative blogger and wannabe comedian Steven Crowder. In the image it throws noted writer and activist Shaun King under the bus in its pathetic attempt to be funny. Which, I m sure to the myopic, racist and transphobic crowd Crowder plays to, is hilarious.The image says: Liberal Logic:Shaun King: Fakes being a black man. Gets Promotion.Curt Schilling: Thinks men should use men s bathrooms. Fired by ESPN. Here s the image: via FacebookNow anyone with half a brain knows that Shaun King, who has time and time again been accused of lying about his race, and has struggled through his own past to appease those who don t understand things that aren t as simple as black and white, is indeed a man of color speaking his own unique truth.But clearly, many conservatives, especially those like Crowder and Schilling who like to make fun of and are clearly afraid of anyone different from themselves, can t wrap their head around this sort of thing.And not only is Schilling not apologizing for his transphobic hatred that got him fired, he s now doubling down on it.As a diehard Boston Red Sox fan, who was proud during the bloody sock moments, I couldn t be more disgusted at this pathetic little scrap of a man who can t bring himself to basic human decency and recognize there are people on this planet who are, indeed, transgender.Schilling, at this point, delete your account. You re an embarrassment to humankind.Featured Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images | 1real |
WIKILEAKS HITS BACK At Lying Political Hack James Clapper…Testimony On The Hill Highly Partisan! [Video] | 1real | |
As Sanders refuses to bow out, Millennials urge him to keep fighting | While Bernie Sanders has been mathematically eliminated, the ability to appeal to Millennial attitudes is only going to grow more crucial in future elections, political scientists say.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders is hugged by a supporter after addressing the crowd following the closing of the polls in the California presidential primary in Santa Monica, Calif., June 7.
Garner Jarrett never used to care much about politics.
The massage therapist and actor, who is in his late 20s, had been an indifferent voter at best and never before voted in a presidential primary.
But the promise of change that Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders brought to the national stage – and the access to information about him that the Internet made possible – moved Mr. Jarrett enough to not only cast his vote at his neighborhood polling station in Koreatown on Tuesday. It also propelled him to reevaluate his view of the American political process, he says.
“This election changed the way I participate on a deeper scale,” he says. “I started seeing stuff about a candidate I cared about. It inspired the hope that things could get better.”
Jarrett’s remarks articulate in part the attitudes that are coming to define Millennial voter concerns and behavior. Those attitudes first emerged in the 2008 presidential election: a tendency to lean toward liberal values; a drive to champion social justice issues and call for change in established processes; and a reliance on the Internet and social media for information, communication, and political mobilization.
As the generation comes into its own – already Millennials match baby boomers in their share of the US electorate – those perspectives will more heavily inform the issues and processes that determine future elections, political analysts and generational experts say.
What has grown more pronounced since 2008 and 2012 – and which Senator Sanders’s campaign underscored – is a push away from even the perception of being part of “the establishment,” whether it’s Washington or Wall Street. Such a drive, if sustained, could have lasting influence on the way Millennial voters engage in elections and the kinds of issues toward which they steer conversation, says Jan Leighley, a professor who specializes in political behavior at American University in Washington.
“The likely consequences of Millennial support of a Bernie candidacy is that a) you may have mobilized a generation more than they would have otherwise, and b) you may just have pulled Hillary to the left,” she says.
Tuesday, Hillary Clinton made history as the first woman to top a major party ticket by securing the number of delegates she needed to clinch the Democratic nomination – even before the last six states went to the polls, according to the Associated Press. Three of the states – New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota – have been called for her, while she holds a commanding lead in the night's biggest delegate prize, California.
“Tonight caps an amazing journey – a long, long journey,” Mrs. Clinton said in her victory speech. “Thanks to you, we’ve reached a milestone. The first time in our nation’s history that a woman will be a major party’s nominee.”
Sanders, who won in Montana and North Dakota, refused to bow out, vowing to fight on until Washington, D.C., goes to the polls June 14. While he has been mathematically eliminated, his success in galvanizing young people like Jarrett speaks to the value of a politician’s ability to verbalize Millennial concerns in a passionate way.
“[Sanders] struck a chord that this generation is receptive to,” says Michael Hais, a veteran market researcher and co-author of three books on Millennials. More and more, he notes, leaders will have to speak in a language and communicate using methods that this generation understands – as the senator has done.
“They’ve had these basic attitudes … and that’s going to persist,” Mr. Hais adds. “They are going to shape the policy of the future.”
Despite their numbers, only 46 percent of Millennials, 18-to-34 year olds, are likely to vote. They make up just 17 percent of likely voters in California.
That’s not unusual, as voters tend to participate more in elections as they grow older. Baby boomers today have higher rates of voter turnout than Millennials, but boomers came out to vote at about the same rate as Millennials when they were the same age, according to data from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a nonpartisan research institute at Tufts University in Boston.
“The reality is youth are very small percentage of the vote,” says Professor Leighley. “That’s true even in [presidential] election years … [and] even under the most generous assumptions.”
Still, Millennials did show up at polling stations across Los Angeles on primary day – making it more likely that they will vote again.
“The biggest predictor of participating in a future election is if you participate in a previous one,” says Jeff Gulati, a political science professor at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass.
And those Millennials who spoke with the Monitor echoed Jarrett, the Koreatown resident, when it came to their hopes for and expectations of a leader – and the reasons they came out to vote.
“This [election] makes me want to be more aware,” says Serenity Self, 26, as she walks out of Bellevue Recreation Center, which served as a polling station in L.A.’s Silver Lake neighborhood. “Bernie bringing up delegates and superdelegates made me question the whole [electoral] process. I think finally people are seeing the light.”
“This is the most active I’ve ever been in a campaign,” says David Hemphill, 33, a children’s book publisher who spent primary day canvassing for Sanders in Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles. “He gave a voice to things that I have felt for a long time and haven’t really heard someone speak to.”
“I’m looking at our power structure in this country through a different lens than I was a year ago,” he adds.
Elementary school teacher Angelo Gonzales, 28, says he wavered between Mrs. Clinton and Sanders, but ultimately chose the latter because of his bold vision.
“I guess I wanted to make a statement,” he says. “Ten years ago I would’ve scoffed at Bernie Sanders. I would have said he wanted too much change. But change is good. It’s a powerful thing. We want someone to step up.”
Some political analysts are wary of making definitive statements about the long-term impact of this election – and of Sanders’s campaign – on Millennial attitudes, and vice versa. Though the senator did manage to energize a large swath of the demographic, Professor Gulati says, not all Millennials are Sanders supporters, or Democrats for that matter.
They’re also young, and therefore still developing their views and political stances, says Professor Leighley at American University.
“You’re talking about individuals who don’t have firmly-held attitudes and don’t have much experience,” she says. “The issues that they’re raising are issues that every other age group are raising – economic security, jobs, some aspect of maybe the role of government in allowing or helping individuals to get ahead. That’s not much different from what elections usually are about.”
Another enduring effect of this election, analysts say, is the role of the Internet and social media – not just in terms of how candidates are reaching potential voters, as they did for Obama during his campaigns, but also how voters are informing themselves about the candidates and their issues.
They are, says Hais, the generation expert, “the best way of appealing to Millennials, more than anything.”
“There’s so much information out there,” video editor Andrea Otto, 27, says. “You can look into the money of campaigns, you can be better informed. You don’t have to take what mainstream media outlets are telling you.”
“I think this election is unique in that social media is coming to be huge,” adds Jarrett from Koreatown. “You can take a person nobody knows about, and through social media, he’s able to become an important candidate.”
Mr. Hemphill, the children’s book publisher, goes a step further.
“We’re the most educated, connected generation in the history of the world,” he says. “We have the Internet at our fingertips. We can look at things that any leader said five years ago, 10 years ago. We can track someone that easily.”
“People really discount what the Internet voice is. I think it’s very short sighted,” he adds. “I think that people are [now] awake and alive and I can only hope that it continues. We can’t go back.” | 0fake |
ESPN’s Mike Golic: Fans Shouting Racial Slurs at Adam Jones Should Be Publicly Outed - Breitbart | On Tuesday’s “Mike and Mike” on ESPN Radio, Mike Golic reacted to a group of Boston Red Sox fans berating Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones with racial slurs Monday night. Golic said the fans, who were removed from the stadium, should be publicly outed along with their quotes for everybody to see. “What kind of idiot are you to do something like that?” Golic scolded. “The way I look at it, you’re yelling that out publicly to somebody, I wish you would be publicly outed. I wish your face would be somewhere and with the quote of what you said right under your face publicly for everybody to see since you feel the need to yell something about someone. ” Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent | 0fake |
California National Guard Members won’t have to Pay Back Bonuses | California National Guard Members won’t have to Pay Back Bonuses Pentagon had been seeking repayment of enlistment bonuses paid to California Guardsmen USA Today - October 26, 2016 Comments
Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the Pentagon on Wednesday to stop clawing back excessive recruiting bonuses paid to California National Guardsmen.
The move came after news broke over the weekend that the Pentagon had been seeking repayment of enlistment bonuses paid to California Guardsmen. Some of the payments were made by mistake, others were taken fraudulently.
“While some soldiers knew or should have known they were ineligible for benefits they were claiming, many others did not,” Carter said in a statement. “About 2,000 have been asked, in keeping with the law, to repay erroneous payments.”
As first reported by the Los Angeles Times , the Pentagon sought repayment of the excess bonuses from almost 10,000 California Guard soldiers. The paper reported that many of the soldiers affected had served multiple combat deployments and had been ordered to repay bonuses plus interest. Some had had their wages garnished and tax liens slapped on them when they refused to pay. The bonus scandal was revealed after audits showed widespread overpayments. | 1real |
UNREAL! HILLARY CLINTON Plays Dumb On The High Cost Of Obamacare [Video] | At a campaign event Hillary Clinton talked to a small business owner who has been hit hard by Obamacare. The health insurance for her family has risen dramatically, and after babbling her final thought was I don t understand. Seriously, nothing like playing dumb about the biggest, worst piece of legislation unloaded on the American people in decades. A $400 increase, assuming you didn t have some terrible healthcare event, which it doesn t sound like you did, Clinton said at a campaign event in Virginia. I don t understand. | 1real |
German police arrest Syrian suspect, avert 'major terrorist attack' | BERLIN (Reuters) - German police arrested a 19-year-old Syrian suspected of planning an Islamist-motivated bomb attack in Germany with the aim of killing as many people as possible, the federal prosecutor s office said on Tuesday. Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said security officials had averted a major terrorist attack . The man, identified as Yamen A., had been in contact online with jihadists including one who described himself as a soldier of the caliphate , a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor s office said. Yamen A. was arrested in the early hours in the northeastern town of Schwerin. Police searched his home and also those of other people not suspected of being directly involved. According to the findings so far, Yamen A. made the decision no later than July 2017 to detonate an explosive device in Germany in order to kill and injure as many people as possible, the prosecutor s office said in a statement. As a result, he began to procure components and chemicals needed to make an explosive device. Whether the suspect had already envisaged a specific target for his bomb attack is still unclear, the office added. He had ordered chemicals over the internet that could be used to make the explosive TATP, short for triacetone triperoxide, the spokeswoman for the prosecutor s office later added. He had also acquired two radios, batteries and a cellphone battery, suggesting he planned a remote-controlled explosion by radio or mobile telephone. There were no indications that he was a member of a terrorist organisation, the office said. It did not say when he arrived in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is trying to form a new coalition government after elections last month, has come under fire for allowing more than one million people to enter Germany over the past two years - many of them refugees from Syria. Her open door refugee policy saw her conservatives bleed support in the election to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which won seats in the national parliament for the first time. De Maiziere said the raid on the suspect took place late enough to secure evidence and at the same time early enough to reliably ward off the danger. The threat situation in Germany remains high. Germany, Europe, the West are in the sights of Islamist terrorism, he added in a statement. | 0fake |
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