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A Casualty of ‘The Birth of a Nation’ Controversy Speaks Out - The New York Times | At Fox Searchlight’s holiday party in New York last week, the Bagger bumped into a couple of stars from two of the studio’s splashiest 2016 productions: one of the films soared to great heights, while the other crashed to an unimagined low. The first actor was Natalie Portman, who is raking in rave reviews for her performance in the title role in “Jackie” and is expecting her second child in a few months. The Bagger asked how she was faring on the awards circuit. “While pregnant and sober?” Ms. Portman dryly replied. The other actor was Colman Domingo, who played Hark in the slave revolt film “The Birth of a Nation,” which, for the first half of this year, before controversy engulfed it, was considered one of the brightest prospects for the awards season. He said now that the uproar had subsided, he wanted to share his frustrations and disappointments about how everything played out. “You walk into these rooms, and it’s almost like a bittersweet look people give you in their eyes,” Mr. Domingo said. “I look at the work of my peers on the film, and I wish it was being celebrated. The cinematography, the music. Aja Naomi King’s is one of the best performances of this year. But we’re under the veil of the whole controversy, and people almost don’t want to touch it. ” It is hard to overstate the ebullience that met “The Birth of a Nation” at its premiere at Sundance in January. “Birth,” which tells of the slave rebellion led by Nat Turner in 1831, was the passion project of its director, writer and star, Nate Parker, who spent eight years pulling the financing together. The film arrived in Park City, Utah, just as Hollywood was fielding intense scrutiny for its roster of Oscar acting nominees, and after a bidding war “Birth” sold to Fox Searchlight for $17. 5 million, a festival record. There were projections of awards, and while other films featuring black protagonists — “Moonlight,” “Fences,” “Hidden Figures” and “Loving” — have come to dominate Oscar chatter, “Birth” was initially at the fore. “It felt like the film had an urgency,” Mr. Domingo said. Then, in the summer, after Oprah Winfrey and Spike Lee heartily endorsed the film, news articles emerged detailing harrowing rape accusations made in 1999 against Mr. Parker at Penn State, where he was a student and wrestler, and his roommate at the time, Jean McGianni Celestin (who would go on to share a story credit on the film). Mr. Parker was acquitted, and the case against the roommate, who was initially convicted, was reversed. After news broke that Mr. Parker’s accuser had killed herself in 2012, the scandal went nuclear. It all came to a head at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, when audiences responded to “Birth” with standing ovations. At a jammed news conference attended by every lead in the cast, including Mr. Domingo, Mr. Parker deflected a pointed question (asked by the Bagger). Few would doubt the importance of the film, the Bagger said, but people were having trouble separating the artist from the art. And since the film’s message was one of moral accountability, people felt Mr. Parker should offer his accuser’s family an apology. Would he now? Mr. Parker demurred, saying he was there to promote the film and celebrate the hundreds of people who made it. At that moment, Mr. Domingo, who had been sitting near Mr. Parker on the panel, said he felt the wind leave his sails. “That’s when I knew that the 45 minutes of the cast speaking in detail about the film would be eviscerated,” said Mr. Domingo, who is also a playwright and stars in television’s “Fear the Walking Dead. ” “I was disappointed,” he continued. “I would’ve handled it differently. Could he have handled it better? I don’t know what it’s like to walk in his shoes. I try to deal with things in a different way. I think I’m always trying to see the other’s point of view, dealing in a very way. It’s instead of . But it’s possible he felt embattled by the time he got to Toronto. This was something he created with the spirit of love and community, and suddenly he’s battling other forces of something he dealt with 17 years ago. ” (Mr. Parker’s acquittal came in 2001.) Over all, Mr. Domingo believed that Mr. Parker, whom he described as “deeply passionate, generous and kind,” had handled the matter “the best way he can. ” Mr. Domingo also found fault with the Bagger’s question, a criticism others have echoed. “Looking back in hindsight, I can see Nate’s point of view. Why apologize when he was vindicated?” he asked. “But I believe with the media, you must answer every question in some way. And in very, very, touchy situations, we must answer every question again and again. Even if we’ve said it before, we have to say it again. ” His shared his discomfort. Aunjanue Ellis, who played Nat Turner’s mother, wrote in Ebony that she “agonized” over how Mr. Parker handled the fallout from the accusations and that she grieved for the accuser and her family. Still, she urged people to see the film, as did the groundbreaking director Julie Dash, telling the Bagger, at the Toronto film festival: “No will always mean no. It will always be attached to that film. However, do not miss this experience of seeing that film. ” But people did miss seeing that film, in droves: according to Box Office Mojo, it has earned just $15. 8 million domestically. Its case was not helped by some middling reviews. But there is no question that the controversy dealt a death blow. (Mr. Parker’s representatives did not respond to questions for this article.) Looking back, Mr. Domingo said he felt there was “a huge takedown by any means necessary,” not just toward the film but also toward black resistance in America. After a summer, he said, of “dealing with black men on the streets and retaliation and Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, it’s almost as if this film was too powerful,” he said. “It was like a big slap on the hand: Never try this again. Who do you think you are? If this were ‘Madea’s Halloween,’ would they try to take it down? Absolutely not. ” While opinionators, including Damon Young of the digital magazine Very Smart Brothas, have dismissed the notion of a concerted takedown, it’s hard not to compare Mr. Parker’s scandal with that of Casey Affleck, the star of the current release “Manchester by the Sea. ” Mr. Affleck, who is white, faced sexual harassment complaints from two women — neither of whom would comment — and reached a settlement with them in 2010. Different circumstances, to be sure — “Birth” also prominently featured rapes, while “Manchester” is about a family — but, still, the matter has not seemed to hurt Mr. Affleck’s Oscar chances this season. In the end, Mr. Domingo said, the controversy could be seen as a reflection of how he often sees his position in American culture. “I feel in many ways as a black man in this country, you should apologize, or feel gratitude,” he said. In recent days, Mr. Domingo said, he has discerned a shift around “Birth,” with more people being able to see it on its own merit. “This is one of the seminal moments in my career,” he said. “One of the moments I’m so proud of in every way. But you can’t feel proud of your work without the other feelings on top of it. ” | 0fake |
Popular St. Louis Bar Closed For Having A Clientele Too Black For The Neighborhood (SCREENSHOTS) | Tropical Liqueurs, otherwise known as Trops , a popular night spot that originated in Columbia, Missouri, thought they had struck gold when a beautiful building became available in the Soulard neighborhood of St. Louis. Specializing in frozen drinks and younger clientele, the new bar was immediate success unless you poll the neighbors. Trops doesn t just attract younger people, it tends to attract a diverse younger crowd that includes a hearty percentage of African-Americans.The neighbors, used to the noise and traffic of bars in this party-rich neighborhood, were happy to have the white college crowd for years, but for some reason just couldn t handle Trops. The bar came under immediate attack from local code officials who complained about everything from loud music to trash on the streets to parking all things associated with a bar.Trops immediately complied with every single one of the city s demands and, in fact, went far beyond what was expected of them. They hired extra help and off-duty police officers to pick up trash outside and direct traffic. They shut down their patio music at 11PM when other bars nearby raged on. They closed their doors voluntarily at midnight even though their license allowed them to stay open until 1:30AM. They even stopped serving to-go drinks in vacuum sealed, perfectly legal cups.To owner Billy Thompson, there was nothing left to do. Not only had he complied with the city s demands, he even instituted a dress code that disallowed baggy pants and hoodies. After all was said and done, the ruling came down: Trops will lose its liquor license on April 9th; bigotry wins. The bar s Facebook page announced the closure, which came as no surprise to some fans: Those are just a couple of the comments from patrons of the bar. Some have tried to take race out of the equation, blaming the closure on the bar breaking open-carry laws and serving drinks out of a drive-through window, but those claims are hyperbole considering the cups the bar used before they stopped serving to-go drinks were legal by the standards of the City Commissioner and the drive-through was an urban legend from the original location in Columbia. Local news has also pointed out that there seems to be little other than race keeping Trops from prospering in the vast community of bars in the area.This is just another case of a business that caters to everyone trying to succeed in a neighborhood where everyone means all shapes and sizes of white people. Featured image from stlmag.com | 1real |
LEBRON JAMES Brags About Being “Well-Spoken”…Proceeds To Use Vocabulary Of A 4-Yr-Old To Trash President Trump | Is anyone else sick and tired of overpaid athletes who can t even formulate a proper sentence, criticizing President Donald J. Trump, one of the most successful businessmen of our time?After taking a stand for harmony and togetherness by wearing black sneaker and white sneakers with the word Equality written on them, to a game in Washington, DC, on Sunday night, NBA star LeBron James took a decidedly less conciliatory tone, in his post-game comments about President Trump.James said, Obviously I ve been very outspoken and well-spoken about the situation that s going on at the helm here, and we re not going to let one person dictate us, us as Americans, how beautiful and how powerful we are as a people. It certainly was nice of James to add that he s been well-spoken, in addition to being outspoken.The three-time NBA champ and future Hall of Famer continued, No matter the skin color, no matter the race, no matter who you are, I think we all have to understand that having equal rights and being able to stand for something and speak for something and keeping the conversation going. James did not elaborate on what rights he felt were in danger, nor did he explain exactly what the conversation was, or where it was going.However, James did speak from a place of unrivaled authority on the subject of being outspoken. In many ways, James has been the anti-Jordan, whereas MJ avoided political entanglements whenever possible, at least since 2012, James has embraced them whenever and wherever possible.James appeared in a photo with his teammates wearing hoodies in honor of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager shot to death by George Zimmerman in 2012. James wore an I Can t Breathe t-shirt to warm-ups at Madison Square Garden to show support for Eric Garner, a New York man who died after an altercation with police in 2014.The 13-time All-Star has also held nothing back when it comes to President Trump. In September, James called President Trump a bum, after the president rescinded a White House invite to Golden State guard Steph Curry. | 1real |
FIRST GRADE TEACHER READS TRANSGENDER BOOK TO STUDENTS ABOUT How A Boy Came To The Realization He Was Really A Girl | Seriously? FIRST GRADE? When are parents going to stand up and say they ve had enough?!!Officials at Mitchell Primary School are apologizing after a book about a transgender child was read to most of the school s K-3 students. We have a practice of if a topic is considered sensitive, parents should be informed, superintendent Allyn Hutton told SeaCoastOnline.com. In this situation, that didn t happen. The whole culture at Mitchell School is about teaching tolerance and respect. The people presenting the lesson thought (the book) was one more piece of teaching that lesson. In retrospect, we understand that toleration is tolerating people of all opinions, Hutton said.Criticism flooded the district after Fox News host Sean Hannity posted about the lesson on his website, prompted by a Mitchell school mother who was angry she wasn t given advanced warning that teachers were reading students the book I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings, the news site reports.The book details the struggles of a child with a boy s body and a girl s brain, who eventually finds a doctor that tells the family the boy is a transgender.From the book s description on Amazon.com: From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl s brain in a boy s body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn t feel like herself in boys clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way. Jazz s story is based on her real-life experience and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will be appreciated by picture book readers, their parents, and teachers. The mother wrote in to Hannity.com to express her frustration that she wasn t given a heads up about the lesson, which was read out loud to students in 20 of Mitchell s 22 classes. I feel like my thoughts, feelings and beliefs were completely ignored .My right as a parent to allow or not allow this discussion with my child was taken from me, the mother wrote. It is very upsetting to me that I didn t have an option at all. The mother said she tried to approach school officials about her concerns but was given the cold shoulder. When I spoke with the principal he was very cold about it, she said. It s amazing how thoughtless the school has been with this whole thing. Hannity contacted Hutton with specific questions about the lesson and received an anemic response. I have spoken with the principal at Mitchell School who has been working with their guidance counselor to appropriately manage this situation and provide the appropriate information for the children at this age level, Hutton said. All information has been posted on the school s guidance blog for parent review. That blog, written by guidance counselor Dana Richerich, contends some people may think primary school students are too young to worry about addressing issues surrounding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) students. Not so, experts say. It s never too early to begin teaching children about respecting differences. When our students and their parents have questions related to LGBTQ issues, our goal is to foster healthy dialog (sic), critical thinking and inclusiveness. With that in mind, our conversations include all students and perspectives to create a safe and supportive school climate, the blog reads.The critical LGBTQ thinking, however, seems to have confused at least one student. The mother who wrote in to Hannity said her son s now confused about whether he s transgender.The boy asked his mother if he s transgender, or if he could be a girl in love with a girl. The mother says that up until time the topic was brought up in school, her son had never said anything like that before, according to Hannity.com. I was taken aback by it, the mother said. Being seven, once you put something in their mind they don t forget so easily. Via: EAG News | 1real |
NFL ON LIFE SUPPORT? Pictures Of Empty Stadiums Paint Scary Picture For Future Of Cop-Protesting NFL | Since the Colin Kaepernick and his fellow players started their Black Lives Matter kneeling campaign, social media has been lit up with photos of empty stadiums, proving that fans are not interested in supporting players who disrespect our flag and our law enforcement officers. The photos seem to suggest that every week more and more seats remain empty in NFL stadiums across America. Here s a look at a number of NFL stadiums today:Check out this photo of the Cleveland Browns stadium:Cleveland #NFL #Browns RT @middlebunns: @EmptySeatsPics #JAXvsCLE Opening kickoff pic.twitter.com/WjDTdfamD0 Empty Seats Galore (@EmptySeatsPics) November 19, 2017The Lions games in neighboring Chicago are always very popular not so much today.Got a feeling there will be a lot of #Lions blue in the stands at Soldier Field the other color is the empty seats. #Bears are 3-6 pic.twitter.com/Et7LeQwG3n Cheryl Raye Stout (@Crayestout) November 19, 2017Empty seats in the smallest modern stadium in the NFL , Chicago s Soldier Field are a rare sight indeed, especially when the visiting team is right next door in Michigan.Bears v Lions. Opening kick off against a divisional opponent at the smallest modern stadium in the #NFLIt's empty (great shot of Trump Tower in the background though) #MAGA pic.twitter.com/4xRoKknjMv Buda (@labuda_robert) November 19, 2017The Minnesota Viking stadium looks like their hosting a local high school game instead of a professional football team.@Vikings sec345 row 6 seat 19. pic.twitter.com/DzThB1r26i Peter Klages (@pakman75) November 19, 2017@Vikings section 101 row 22, seats 6-8 we d like to meet some legends pls thank you pic.twitter.com/FAGvyr9rYq Emily (@OhDagEmily) November 19, 2017You could ve shot a cannot through the NY Giants stadium today.The Unknown #Giants Fans. pic.twitter.com/sAyITREEwm James Kratch (@JamesKratch) November 19, 2017Kickoff is just minutes away! WATCH #NYGiants Pregame Warmups presented by @Visa pic.twitter.com/dwsw5viPtI New York Giants (@Giants) November 19, 2017Wow. I have never seen this many empty seats here before. John Mara must be thrilled. #GiantsPride. pic.twitter.com/G7Nw7g9Hlq Kevin McCleerey (@KevinMcCleerey) November 19, 2017It almost looks like it s a practice day in Cleveland.I think you ll see this a lot. Squalls every 20 minutes or so. #JAXvsCLE #Jaguars pic.twitter.com/nLHxTxgHur Brent Martineau (@BrentASJax) November 19, 2017Texans fans must have started their Christmas shopping early and decided to skip the game today.View from my seat for today's #Texans game. More empty seats than normal for the start of a game. pic.twitter.com/3PpxhtPJue Ryan Kahrhoff (@xman30) November 19, 2017Lots of empty seats at NRG as they are about to toss the coin pic.twitter.com/PJvF07byVl Kent Somers (@kentsomers) November 19, 2017you can really tell the orange is indeed oranger with all these empty seats pic.twitter.com/hgcDG2bUwJ Jordan Zirm (@clevezirm) November 19, 2017The Miami stadium seats are mostly empty.NFL football with @bellavate! #TBvsMIA #HardRockStadium pic.twitter.com/iTzYbBnnFD Kevin #Destiny2 PC (@ORIGINPCCEO) November 19, 2017 | 1real |
Iraqi prime minister declares victory over IS in Tal Afar | ERBIL, Iraq/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi declared victory over Islamic State militants in Tal Afar and the entire province of Nineveh on Thursday, despite continued fighting in the small town of al- Ayadiya. Tal Afar had become the next target of the U.S.-backed war on the jihadist group following the capture of Mosul, where it had declared its caliphate over parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014. Tal Afar has been liberated, Abadi said in a statement. We say to the Islamic State fighters: wherever you are, we are coming for you, and you have no choice but to surrender or die. The defeat in Mosul, Nineveh s provincial capital, marked the latest in a string of territorial losses for the group. However, the militants still control areas on both sides of the Syrian-Iraqi border. This includes Hawija, a city between Mosul and Baghdad that Iraqi officials have said will be the coalition s next target. The Iraqi army dropped millions of leaflets over Hawija on Thursday, warning residents it was preparing an offensive to recapture the city from Islamic State, the military said in a statement. The leaflets urged residents to stay away from militants headquarters, to drop weapons and turn themselves in to avoid being killed. Iraqi forces had been waiting to clear al- Ayadiya, 11 km (7 miles) northwest of Tal Afar, before declaring complete victory in the offensive. Islamic State militants had retreated to the town. Divisions from the Iraqi army and federal police, backed by units from Shi ite paramilitaries, retook al- Ayadiya on Thursday, military officers told Reuters, after several days of unexpectedly fierce fighting. However, pockets of resistance remained and Iraqi forces were still working to clear the remaining militants from the town. We have to make sure that no more terrorists remain hiding inside the town s houses, Army Lieutenant Colonel Salah Kareem told Reuters. Two military officers whose units are leading the fight in al- Ayadiya on Thursday said scattered groups of militants were still hiding in houses and using tunnel networks to move through the town. Four soldiers were killed and 10 more wounded as clashes continued in parts of al- Ayadiya on Thursday night, despite the announcement hours earlier by the prime minister. Three soldiers were killed on Thursday evening and seven more wounded when a woman detonated a suicide vest, Kareem said. Soldiers thought the woman was a civilian trying to escape the fighting, but as soon as she came close to the soldiers, she blew herself up and killed three, an army officer said. In a separate incident, an Islamic State sniper killed a soldier and wounded three others during a search. We are still being shot at by snipers and coming under heavy gunfire from Daesh fighters, Kareem said. Iraqi forces will intensify their operations on Friday, to dislodge the militants still entrenched inside scattered houses, army officers said. Hundreds of additional troops had been sent into al- Ayadiya on Wednesday, as Iraqi forces came under increasing pressure to clear Islamic State fighters before the start of the Muslim holiday of Eid on Thursday evening. The battle was unexpectedly tough, with house-to-house fighting in the center of town. If reclaiming the town was harder than expected, the larger battle for Tal Afar was easier. The city s rapid collapse on Sunday after just eight days of fighting lent support to Iraqi military reports that the militants lack sturdy command and control structures west of Mosul. Up to 2,000 battle-hardened militants were believed to be defending Tal Afar against around 50,000 government troops last week. It was unclear how many had retreated to al- Ayadiya. U.S. Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend congratulated the Iraqi forces on achieving a stunningly swift and decisive victory in Tal Afar. This is Iraq liberating Iraqis, he told a Pentagon teleconference from Baghdad. Townsend added however, that a quick victory in Tal Afar did not necessarily mean the fight to retake Islamic State s remaining territory would be easy. While I would like to say that we would see this elsewhere in Iraq and Syria, we are not really planning for that, Townsend said. We pledge to you, our people, that we will continue to liberate every inch of Iraq, Abadi said in his statement. Tens of thousands of people had fled Tal Afar, a city with a pre-war population of about 200,000, in recent months. The United Nations estimated that 20,000 people had fled the city and its surrounding areas between Aug. 14 and 22 alone. Civilians who fled Tal Afar in recent weeks told Reuters they had faced months of starvation and brutal treatment by the militants, who threatened them with death if they tried to escape. | 0fake |
CHECK OUT THE NAME! FOOD STAMP FRAUD OF OVER $5.7 MILLION From ONE Store! | WATERBURY A federal agent, with help from an informant, went undercover for nearly two years to document food stamp fraud occurring at an inner-city market whose employees were busted in recent weeks.Though W.B. Trade Fair Supermarket, a small corner market on Willow Street, had dusty cans and only one regularly used register, federal authorities estimated they have redeemed almost $5.7 million in food stamps since 2011.But those benefits weren t used to provide nutritional food to city residents, rather they were swapped for cash, glass smoking pipes and even power tools, federal authorities allege.A recently unsealed federal search warrant for the store shows an undercover agent with the Office of the Inspector General suspected the store of trafficking, or exchanging large amounts of benefits for cash.Tallat Mahmood, 63, Raul Carlos Monarca, 40, and Tahir Shahzad, 32, of Harrison, N.Y. were charged with federal food stamp fraud and illegally trafficking in food stamp benefits.The food stamp program is aimed at giving low-income residents the ability to purchase nutritious foods using a type of debit card called an EBT. But people enrolled in the program are barred from buying booze, cigarettes, paper goods and soap, among other items. The market is well stocked with everything from rice and sugar, to doorknobs and scented candles.But authorities say the trio allowed customers to illegally swap their federal food stamps, known as Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program or SNAP benefits, for cigarettes, bongs, hookahs and glass smoking pipes, which are in display cases at the front of the store.When the EBT card is run through a special terminal, the total amount of items is inputted by the store, which is then deducted from the person s SNAP account. When that occurs, that inputted amount is then transferred to the store s bank account.Federal authorities allege the men exploited those transfers, giving customers a meager portion of their SNAP benefits in cash, while the rest went into the store s bank account. Store employees are supposed to ensure the items being purchased are eligible for the benefits when they run the person s EBT card.THE STORE OPENED IN early 2011 and by March of that year the owners applied to accept SNAP benefits, federal authorities allege. The store redeemed $6,532 in SNAP benefits in April 2011, but by March of this year, that one-month tally had grown to more than $179,000, according to federal documents.The agent, along with an informant, visited the store 19 times starting in 2014 and paid about $7,381 in SNAP benefits in exchange for about $2,905 in cash and a number of eligible and ineligible items such as soda, chips, glass pipes, bongs, hookahs, and hardware. For instance, in April, the agent was given $200 cash, two glass smoking pipes, an electric circular saw and cigarettes in exchange for $583 in SNAP benefits.Only weeks later, a federal SNAP employee visited the store under the guise of inspecting it to talk about SNAP rules and regulations.Shahzad indicated he knew that exchanging cash for SNAP benefits was prohibited, while Mahmood stated the benefits were to buy food, that s it and no lottery. Only weeks later during another visit by the undercover agent, an employee at the store gave him $200 cash for $540 in benefits.THOUGH AUTHORITIES SUSPECT the store redeemed more than $5 million in federal benefits, the store employees were charged with fraud based on a roughly 18-month span starting in 2014 where the store took in $3.2 million in benefits. This practice results in illegal profits to traffickers, misuse of government funds intended to provide food for needy families, and the creation of a market for stolen or fraudulently obtained SNAP benefits, the agent wrote of alleged traffickers, according to a federal search warrant for the store.The store now only accepts cash for payment, according to a sign on its door.Mahmood and Shahzad are free after they posted bond, but they were ordered to surrender their passports. Monarca has not been released from jail. If convicted, they face a maximum of five years in prison.The principal member of the store is listed as Aijaz Ahmed, according to state business records, but he has not been charged with any crime.Via: REP-AM | 1real |
U.S. House passes Puerto Rico debt relief bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Following months of internal wrangling, the U.S. House of Representatives, on Thursday passed legislation creating a federal control board to help Puerto Rico cope with crippling debt that is wreaking havoc throughout the island’s economy. By a vote of 297-127, the House approved the bill, sending it to the Senate for consideration. Some leading Democratic senators have voiced concerns about provisions, including one that potentially could reduce the minimum wage for young Puerto Ricans. But given the overwhelming support in the House and a looming July 1 deadline for Puerto Rico to make a $1.9 billion debt payment, senators may be hesitant to delay or tinker very much with the bill. Following the House vote, the White House in a statement urged the Senate to act promptly “so the president can sign the bill into law ahead of the critical July 1st debt payment deadline.” The legislation was bolstered by rare bipartisan cooperation between the White House and the House’s Republicans and Democrats over the past six months. House Speaker Paul Ryan urged Congress to act quickly on the “Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act” (PROMESA), warning lawmakers of a “deepening crisis” on the island. “Now the island is shutting down,” Ryan said, with “closed schools; hospitals are beginning to close, that’s today. Tomorrow there could be policemen without cars, there could be blackouts at hospitals.” Nevertheless, some lawmakers feared that allowing Puerto Rico to restructure its $70 billion debt in a way that changes the seniority of the creditors - for instance by making them all equal or subordinated to pensioners - would set a bad precedent for other U.S. states with debt problems. Puerto Rico does not enjoy Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, unlike the 50 U.S. states. The territory, which has a 45 percent poverty rate amid high unemployment, is also plagued by a growing migration of residents to the U.S. mainland. Puerto Rico’s debt problems come as its government and healthcare industry struggle to contain the spread of the Zika virus, which is blamed for severe birth defects and other neurological diseases. On Tuesday, Aeromed, the island’s only active air ambulance company, announced it was suspending its services, blaming the large government debt. The oversight board would be tasked with working with investors on restructuring the U.S. territory’s $70 billion debt. Before passage, the House approved an amendment giving priority to protecting federal taxpayer investments in Puerto Rico, such as mass transportation assets. Representative Raul Grijalva, like many Democrats, criticized major elements of the bill but argued it was the best possible in the Republican-controlled Congress. “The oversight board is too powerful and is yet another infringement on the sovereignty of the people of Puerto Rico and they are right to find it offensive,” Grijalva said. Despite its support for the overall bill, the White House noted that minimum wage and other labor provisions “further exacerbate the economic disparities between Puerto Rico and the mainland United States” and “do nothing to address the (debt) crisis.” Supporters praised PROMESA for not using taxpayer funds to help the island reschedule its debt. Failure to pass it, they warned, could put Congress in the difficult position of ultimately overseeing a massive bailout of Puerto Rico. But lawmakers have been buffeted by an opposition lobbying campaign by some hedge funds, which fear losing part of their investments from oversight board decisions. | 0fake |
TIMES SQUARE ILLEGAL ALIEN PANHANDLERS Have No Fear of Arrest Because of de Blasio’s Policy on Illegals | It s bad enough to have crazed costumed characters in Times Square begging and harassing tourists but the NYPD can t even arrest the mostly illegal aliens because of the policy of the de Blasio administration. Costumed and nude panhandlers are giving the finger to attempts to rein them in, refusing to stay in designated areas and continuing to curse in front of kiddies and threaten passers-by for dough.Breitbart News Reported: Mayor Bill de Blasio has stated that the NYPD won t cooperate with federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seeking to repatriate illegal immigrants: The NYPD will not participate as immigration enforcement agents because we have, for decades, built a close working relationship with immigrant communities, de Blasio said. Our police force is not going to be out there knocking on people s door and it is not going to share information about people s documentation status with the federal authorities. City officials city and the NYPD officers will cooperate with the feds only in immigration cases which involve serious and violent crimes, Foul-mouthed desnudas, grabby Hulks and tourist-terrorizing gangs of Minnie Mice are still brazenly holding the Crossroads of the World hostage even amid a heavy presence of NYPD cops, who act oblivious to their disturbing antics.At any given moment on two recent afternoons, only half of the two-dozen tip-mooching characters stayed behind the blue lines of Times Square s Designated Activity Zones, or DAZs, the city-mandated areas created last year as their boundary for posing for photos and asking for tips.Yet none of those who illegally strayed outside the zones were issued summonses by the half-dozen police patrolling the pedestrian plaza.A law-enforcement source shrugged that the officers hands were tied since most of the costumed panhandlers are illegal and under the de Blasio administration, it s a no-no to go after them.The law-enforcement source added that past proposals to license the creatures went nowhere because most of the panhandlers are illegal immigrants and they wouldn t register anyway. Besides, the administration at City Hall isn t interested in going after illegals in this capacity, the source said.The most shameless of the costumed pack repeatedly left the DAZs to grab, mob and berate tourists Take a photo lady! Mami! shouted a trio of overly-aggressive Minnie Mice in their frantic pursuit of cash. I told you, if you don t have a tip, then f off! one star-spangled desnuda, a painted nude hustler, snarled to a Post reporter, displaying just the sort of greed that detractors say is ruining Times Square s happy, family vibe.This insanity was reported by a New York Post reporter who walked Times Square and spoke with different people. If you ve ever experienced the harassment that goes on in Times Square from these beggars then you d be even more furious that these people are even walking our streets! Thanks to the ridiculous policy from the commie mayor of NYC, the tourists and legal citizens living there have to endure this pond scum of humanity. Pitiful!Read more: NYP, Read more: DM | 1real |
Whoops: VA Gun Shop Employee Accidentally Shoots Herself | An employee of Safeside Tactical in Roanoke, Virginia accidentally shot herself in the leg on Thursday, May 6 during a private event being held inside the gun store. According to local station WDBJ7, the shooting took place just before noon, while the business was closed to the public.Roanoke City Police Department and Roanoke Fire EMS were called to the scene. The shooting victim was transferred to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital, where she is being treated for non life-threatening injuries.According to a statement released by the company, the injured employee works in an administrative position.The company stated: All of our employees undergo required firearm safety training upon hiring, and this unfortunate incident shows that even experienced firearm owners must be ever-vigilant and aware of the responsibilities associated with safe handling. According to the NRA, guns make for a safer society. Following that line of reasoning, a gun shop should be the safest place in the world. This is just one of many incidents where people have been accidentally or purposely injured by a firearm while surrounded by guns.On January 9, 2015, for example, four people were shot inside a gun store in Shawnee, Kansas.A few months later, a Fayetteville, NC man shot himself in the leg while attending a gun show.In November 2015, two men were shot at a gun show in Idaho when a vendor accidentally fired a rifle. In January of this year, somewhere between one and three people were shot at a gun show in Ohio. Authorities were unable to determine the exact number of people who were shot at that event.Also in January of this year, two people were killed and two others injured during a father-son shootout at a gun store in Mississippi.All of the people involved in these shootings were surrounded by guns when they were injured or killed. Contrary to what the NRA says, being surrounded by guns does not make a person less likely to get shot. In fact, the opposite is true. The more guns that people have access to, the greater their risk of being injured or killed by one.Featured image via Ratha Grimes via Flickr cc 2.0 | 1real |
Lawsuit filed over Baltimore primary election, citing irregularities | (Reuters) - Activists have filed a federal lawsuit asking for a new primary election in Baltimore, alleging irregularities during the tight April 26 mayoral vote. The lawsuit was filed by Voters Organized for the Integrity of City Elections, or VOICE, late on Wednesday against the city and state election boards. It asks the U.S. District Court to declare the primary election results invalid, order a new election and appoint federal observers to oversee the procedure. State Senator Catherine Pugh narrowly won the Democratic mayoral primary, defeating former Mayor Sheila Dixon. Pugh had backed law enforcement reform as Baltimore recovers from unrest in April 2015 sparked by a black man’s death from an injury suffered while in police custody. An investigation by the state election board found that Pugh won the nomination by 2,400 votes. About 1,700 ballots cast in the primary were handled improperly, the probe found. Dixon said on Wednesday that she would not file a lawsuit challenging the election outcome. Spokesmen for the two election boards did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The lawsuit alleged improper handling of the ballots. It also alleged that voters were hampered by polling places that opened late and by a letter mistakenly sent by election officials to ex-offenders saying they might not be able to vote because of their convictions. | 0fake |
Trump: I Won’t Stop Tweeting Even Though The ‘FAKE MSM’ Is Trying To Stop Me | White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has previously said to take alleged president Donald Trump s tweets seriously but now, she thinks the media should stop reporting about his crazy-time messages on the social media site. Aides agree with her. Pay no attention to his mean-girl tweets. But, the former reality show star wants his tweets to be taken seriously. Trump wrote Tuesday morning, The FAKE MSM is working so hard trying to get me not to use Social Media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out. The FAKE MSM is working so hard trying to get me not to use Social Media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017That s something we can agree with Trump on. Keep tweeting, Amateur. Former FBI Director James Comey is testifying in two days and Trump s Twitter timeline is a goldmine for investigators looking into his possible collusion with Russia to interfere in the 2016 election. In addition, every time White House officials are interviewed to defend their boss, Trump inevitably tweets out messages which debunk their defense.Twitter users responded because Trump is cray, that s why."Honest" like yesterday when Trump blamed Ds for obstructing confirmation of ambassadors he hasn't even nominated https://t.co/lrsAJg2ugf Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) June 6, 2017When the Mayor of London told his city to not be alarmed by the police presence following the terror attack, Trump took his words out of context on Twitter to attack our ally.Or the other moments of "honesty" when Trump insinuated that the mayor had said not to be alarmed about a terrorist attack pic.twitter.com/vLxVrDxhfz Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) June 6, 2017Trump claims to use Twitter so his honest message can be relayed to the public. You know, like his inaugural crowd size and covfefe.Unfiltered like Covfefe. Honest like 3-5 million illegal voters. Ram Prasad (@ramprasad_c) June 6, 2017Keep it up, Sport.Mate, no one wants you to stop, this is more entertaining than a pug in a squirrel suit Chris York (@ChrisDYork) June 6, 2017In the following tweet, Trump wrote, Sorry folks, but if I would have relied on the Fake News of CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, washpost or nytimes, I would have had ZERO chance winning WH. Sorry folks, but if I would have relied on the Fake News of CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, washpost or nytimes, I would have had ZERO chance winning WH Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 6, 2017But Trump had a little help winning the election.All you needed was Russia Mike Denison (@mikd33) June 6, 2017This is all a distraction.Keep in mind that any tweet Trump does this week is intended for one purpose only: Distraction. Richard Blair (@allspinzone) June 6, 2017In all seriousness, though, we do appreciate the apology. If you had just ended it at "Sorry folks" it would have been your best tweet ever! Ben Hooper (@BenHooperWrites) June 6, 2017Do you still believe Mexico will pay for the wall? Morten verbye (@morten) June 6, 2017Whoops!In other things that were more helpful to your campaign than the media and Twitter: pic.twitter.com/17JO9VkPNK Ben Hooper (@BenHooperWrites) June 6, 2017It s D-Day Remembrance Day and our idiotic fake president is tweeting about his election win.It s D-Day Remembrance Day and all you re whining on about is winning the election. You re pathetic. Emma Kennedy (@EmmaKennedy) June 6, 2017Honestly just shut the fuck up please Brittany Van Horne (@_brittanyv) June 6, 2017He thinks D-Day stands for Donald. Buddy Winston (@BuddyWinston) June 6, 2017More gaslighting.more gas lighting, Donald, which seems to be the only thing you re good at. Joel L. Watts (@eJoelWatts) June 6, 2017The world is laughing at us.The WH also has ZERO chance of winning for America as long as you are in the Oval Office. pic.twitter.com/sh3KqmG6wm Adam Best (@adamcbest) June 6, 2017Because you placate to a base that has the collective intelligence of a gravel driveway. #Trumprussia #trump #RESISTANCE pic.twitter.com/9K46ekIPKN T. Rafael Cimino (@TRafaelCimino) June 6, 2017On Monday, Trump held a signing event which was totally fake because he had no bills to sign.Don't forget yesterday's fake signing of air-traffic "legislation." Reality show realtor = terrible president. Mike Mestas (@EmmJayyMest) June 6, 2017Trump s tweets are quoted verbatim by the media and that angers him. If you want to see what fake news looks like, take a peek at his Twitter timeline every day. He s a petulant 70-year-old baby with no impulse control. Trump is plagued with scandals and he s only been on the job for 137 days.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1real |
Comment on Death of the 2-party system: GOP bigwigs formally endorse Hillary Clinton by aroamingcatholicny | Posted on August 4, 2016 by Dr. Eowyn | 51 Comments
Whatever happens on November 8, Donald Trump can claim this achievement: His candidacy exposed the fact that the two-party system of Democrats and Republicans is an illusion.
What we have in the U.S. instead is a corrupt polity where Democrat and Republican élites form a single ruling party, as Professor Emeritus Angelo M. Codevilla stunningly asserted in 2010. (See “ America’s Bipartisan Ruling Class vs. the People “)
The evidence?
The following list of Republican bigwigs who, by publicly declaring their support for Hillary Clinton — the pathological liar who had accomplished nothing as secretary of state, but violated U.S. laws and jeopardized national security with her unsecured private email server; lied about and left four Americans to die in Benghazi; and supports the absolute “right” of women to kill their unborn — instead of Republican Party presidential nominee Donald Trump, have peeled away their masks, revealing their true faces.
Here’s a list of the Republican élites who have declared they’ll vote for Hillary: Dan Akerson , former chairman and chief executive of General Motors: ‘‘Serving as the leader of the free world requires effective leadership, sound judgment, a steady hand and, most importantly, the temperament to deal with crises large and small. Donald Trump lacks each of these characteristics.’’ Marc Andreessen , venture capitalist: ‘‘[Silicon] Valley wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be doing any of this if we didn’t have the amazing flow of immigrants that we’ve had in the last 80 years. And the idea of choking that off just makes me sick to my stomach.’’ Richard Armitage , deputy secretary of state and adviser to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush: Trump ‘‘doesn’t appear to be a Republican, he doesn’t appear to want to learn about issues. So I’m going to vote for Mrs. Clinton.’’ Max Boot , senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and adviser to GOP presidential candidates: ‘‘I’m literally losing sleep over Donald Trump. She would be vastly preferable to Trump.’’ Sally Bradshaw , former top Jeb Bush adviser, who told CNN that she left the GOP and became an independent because of Trump: “As much as I don’t want another four years of Obama’s policies, I can’t look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trump.’’ Arne Carlson , a former two-term Republican governor of Minnesota who supported Obama. Jim Cicconi , former Reagan and George H.W. Bush aide: ‘‘Hillary Clinton is experienced, qualified and will make a fine president. The alternative, I fear, would set our nation on a very dark path.’’ Eliot Cohen , former Bush administration official who has been called “the most influential neocon in academe,” declared Clinton “the lesser evil, by a large margin.” Maria Comella , former spokeswoman for governors Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani: ‘‘Instead of speaking out against instances of bigotry, racism and inflammatory rhetoric whether it’s been against women, immigrants, or Muslims, we made a calculus that it was better to say nothing at all in the interest of politics and winning elections.’’ Doug Elmets , former Reagan spokesman: ‘‘I could live with four years of Hillary Clinton before I could ever live with one day of Donald Trump as president.’’ Elmets spoke at the Democratic National Convention, along with other Republicans now backing Clinton. Mike Fernandez , $4 million to GOP candidates in recent years: ‘‘If I have a choice — and you can put it in bold — if I have a choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton, I’m choosing Hillary. She’s the lesser of two evils.’’ Charles Fried , US solicitor general under Reagan and current Harvard Law School professor: ‘‘Though long a registered Republican, this will be the third consecutive presidential election in which my party forces the choice between party and, in John McCain’s words, putting America first. . . . It is to [Mitt] Romney’s credit that this year, like John Paulson and George Will, he is standing up against the brutal, substantively incoherent, and authoritarian tendencies of Donald Trump.” Richard Hanna , a “moderate” Republican Congressman (NY) who is retiring this year, told The Syracuse Post Standard he will support Hillary because Trump is unfit to lead: “I think Trump is a national embarrassment. Is he really the guy you want to have the nuclear codes?” Ben Howe , contributing editor at RedState.com. Robert Kagan , senior fellow at the Brookings Institution; former Reagan State Department aide and adviser to the campaigns of John McCain and Mitt Romney; will vote for Hillary. Peter Mansoor , retired Army colonel and former aide to disgraced general David Petraeus: ‘‘It will be the first Democratic presidential candidate I’ve voted for in my adult life.’’ Hamid Moghadam , chairman and chief executive of Prologis: ‘‘Our country is about tolerance and inclusion and that’s why, as a lifelong Republican supporter, I endorse Hillary Clinton for president in this election.’’ William Oberndorf , $3 million to GOP candidates since 2012: ‘‘If it is Trump vs. Clinton, and there is no viable third-party candidate, I will be voting for Hillary Clinton.’’ Henry Paulson , treasury secretary to George W. Bush. Paulson wrote: “When it comes to the presidency, I will not vote for Donald Trump. ‘I will not cast a write-in vote. I’ll be voting for Hillary Clinton, with the hope that she can bring Americans together to do the things necessary to strengthen our economy, our environment and our place in the world. To my Republican friends: I know I’m not alone.’’ Larry Pressler , former three-term Republican senator from South Dakota: ‘‘I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am. If someone had told me 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn’t have believed them.’’ Chuck Robbins , chief executive of Cisco. Mark Salter , former top adviser to John McCain: ‘‘Whatever Hillary Clinton’s faults, she’s not ignorant or hateful or a nut. She acts like an adult and understands the responsibilities of an American president. That might not be a ringing endorsement. But in 2016, the year of Trump’s s campaign, it’s more than enough.’’ Kori Schake , National Security Council and State Department aide. Robert Smith , former judge on New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals: ‘‘This year, I’m going to vote for a Democrat for president — the first time I’ve done it in 36 years — and I think the decision is easy. Hillary Clinton is the only responsible choice, and I don’t understand why so few of my fellow conservatives see it that way.’’ Brent Scowcroft , chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and adviser to three previous GOP presidents: ‘‘The presidency requires the judgment and knowledge to make tough calls under pressure . . . [Clinton] has the wisdom and experience to lead our country at this critical time.’’ Craig Snyder , former chief of staff to then-Republican former senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and also an ex-colleague of former top Trump adviser Roger Stone and current top Trump adviser Paul Manafort. Alan Steinberg , regional EPA administrator. Mike Treiser , former Mitt Romney aide: ‘‘In the face of bigotry, hatred, violence, and small-mindedness, this time, I’m with her.’’ Meg Whitman , Hewlett Packard executive; former California gubernatorial contender.
Add to the above list Glenn Beck , the billionaire Koch brothers , Bill Kristol ( National Review ), Mitt Romney , Karl Rove , and Ben Shapiro ( National Review ), who, although not declaring they’ll vote for Hillary, are reported to be adamantly opposed to Trump.
Here are the Republicans who will vote for the Libertarian Party’s Johnson-Weld ticket and so effectively assure a Hillary win : Martin Avila , CEO of Terra Eclipse, former Digital Campaign Director to former Rep. Ron Paul, member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld’s steering committee. Julie Germany , Interim Executive Director of the White Coat Waste Project, former COO of Generation Opportunity, member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Mason Harrison , head of communications for Crowdpac, former strategist for the campaigns of Gov. Mitt Romney and ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Jon Henke , former adviser to US Sen. Fred Thompson, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and former Sen. George Allen; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Dawson Hodgson , former member, RI State Senate; former Rhode Island State Prosecutor; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Cyrus Krohn , former Republican National Committee e-Campaign Director; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Ed Lopez , former national vice chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus; former member of the national campaign at Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry; co-chair of Republicans for Johnson-Weld initiative. Liz Mair , longtime GOP operative whose group is behind the Facebook ad buy in Utah featuring a racy photo of Melania Trump; the RNC’s first and only online communications director, and has advised US Senator Rand Paul, Governors Scott Walker and Rick Perry, and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina on communications; co-chair of Republicans for Johnson-Weld initiative. Kevin Martin , former chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Massachusetts; small business owner; co-chair of Republicans for Johnson-Weld initiative. Michael Melendez , former leader of Young Americans for Liberty in Utah and Utah State Central Committee member; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Marco Nunez, Jr. , Republican strategist who served on the George W. Bush and John McCain presidential campaigns, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign, and at the Republican National Committee; co-chair of Republicans for Johnson-Weld initiative. Moira Bagley Smith , former communications director to Sen. Rand Paul and multiple members of House GOP leadership; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Lyle Stamps , attorney; former White House staffer; leader of Latter-day Saints for Bush during the 2004 election cycle; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Michael Turk , President of Opinion Mover Strategies; former Republican National Committee e-campaign director; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Luke Williams , New York Times and USA Today best-selling author; Vice President at AECOM; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Dan Winslow , former Chief Legal Counsel to MA Gov. Mitt Romney; former member, MA House of Representatives; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee. Keith Velia , finance industry leader; Republican Liberty Caucus of Connecticut Treasurer; Ridgefield Republican Town Committee Associate; member of Republicans for Johnson-Weld steering committee.
As The Daily Bell observes:
There is only one party: pro-war and pro-technocratic (corporatist).
The fundamental mythology of US politics is that the Democrats are socialist-oriented and Republicans believe in freedom and individual human rights.
But Hillary is corporatist, not socialist….
Important Republicans call Trump’s stances “brutal, substantively incoherent, and authoritarian.”
Strangely, Hillary’s actions and statements provide evidence of the very authoritarianism and brutality that Trump is being accused of.
When she and her husband entered the White House, one of the very first things Hillary did was fire the staff of the travel office in order to put her own people in place.
She didn’t just fire the staff however, she also tried to get the head of the office, Director Billy Dale, put in jail for embezzlement. He was subsequently found not guilty and Hillary herself was investigated for initiating the firings and making false accusations.
Her intimidation and blackmailing of her husband’s lovers is well known by this point- and thus her campaign’s emphasis on “women’s rights” is ironic to say the least.
Her voting record and statements reveal an individual who is most comfortable with US serial wars abroad, no matter the reason (or lack of reasons).
Additional accusations against Hillary and her husband include violence and even murder of individuals whose interests diverged from theirs.
Most notably, Hillary has been accused of orchestrating the death of Deputy White House Counsel Vince Foster.
None of this seems to register with Republicans who are “crossing over”….
Conclusion: Whatever else takes place during this federal election, the disintegration of the credibility of the two-party system is perhaps the most important development of all.
See also: | 1real |
‘Pizzagate’ Conspiracy Rally Melts Down When Crowd Can’t Agree On Whether To Blame Jews | A DC rally meant to prove the existence of the long-debunked conspiracy theory known as Pizzagate reached a painfully stupid peak when the crowd couldn t agree on whether or not a secret Jewish cabal was to blame.For those that can t recall this particularly bit of idiocy coming from the right, Pizzagate was a conspiracy floated by right-wing fringe sites that claimed Hillary Clinton and other high-ranking politicians were involved in a child-sex ring in the basement of a pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. The conspiracy had been repeatedly disproven, but the requirement of having at least two brain cells and the ability to use them meant that a vocal group of nutjobs believed a cover-up was at play. It would have been mostly harmless if not for the fact that a believer of the conspiracy brought a rifle into the actual pizza place demanding to see the sex dungeon in the basement. He was arrested, but not before discovering the pizza place has no basement.His arrest did not stop the conspiracy. The remaining fanatics decided to host the DC rally to keep the conspiracy alive. Unfortunately, a gathering of this size of people dumb enough to believe the conspiracy in the first place was bound to have problems. It didn t take long for cracks to emerge. Naturally, xenophobia played a part.Members of the crowd some of whom carpooled in a giant trailer decorated with Trump decals grew tense when one speaker defended his personal theory that a Zionist plot was at the heart of Pizzagate. Others said they supported Israel. A fight ensued. Will Sommer of The Hill was there to witness the meltdown in all its glory:Pizzagate rally has switched into high context mode. References to international conspiracies, lines from the Book of Ephesians Will Sommer (@willsommer) March 25, 2017Pizzagate rally divided over Zionism! I don t have a problem with the state of Israel speaker sez. Man in crowd: Well I do! Will Sommer (@willsommer) March 25, 2017Speaker has wisely moved on from claim that pedo-sadism is inherent to Zionism. Organizer defends his right to make claim. Will Sommer (@willsommer) March 25, 2017Before that debate had been settled, the crowd had moved on. Other unrelated points of contention were brought up.Pizzagate rally going off the rails. Discussions of apocryphal Christian lesser gods angels as God s scientists. Crowd restless. Will Sommer (@willsommer) March 25, 2017Pizzagate rally is getting off course. Now talking about father's rights, family court, pro se litigants, American Bar Association. pic.twitter.com/7RJi1AbjWg Will Sommer (@willsommer) March 25, 2017Meanwhile, this happened This family of 5 wore matching Pizzagate outfits. pic.twitter.com/ADyZhN8MLV Will Sommer (@willsommer) March 25, 2017But while Pizzagate believers rallied, the perpetrator of the myth, InfoWars, publicly apologized for helping start it. They did this not out of the kindness of their own hearts, but because the owner of Comet Pizza threatened to sue them if they didn t stop lying. Donald Trump recently gave InfoWars a press pass to attend White House press briefings.Featured image via Will Sommer/Twitter | 1real |
Ten bodies found in mass grave in Myanmar: army newspaper | YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar authorities have found 10 bodies buried in a mass grave on the edge of a village in Rakhine State, the military-run newspaper Myawady reported on Tuesday, a day after the army said it had launched an investigation at the site. About 650,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled from Rakhine state and sought refuge in neighboring Bangladesh in recent months after a violent crackdown there by Myanmar security forces in response to attacks by militants. Rights monitors have accused troops of atrocities, including killings, mass rape and arson during the crackdown. The United States has said it amounted to ethnic cleansing . The Myanmar military has said its own internal investigation had exonerated security forces of all accusations of atrocities. A team including police, a local administrator, judge and doctor had examined the grave site, at the village of Inn Din, about 50 km (30 miles) north of the state capital Sittwe, on Tuesday and discovered 10 unidentified bodies, Myawady said. This group is continuing the process of investigation to uncover the truth, the report said. Military officials were not immediately available for further comment. The discovery of a mass grave near a cemetery in the village was announced in a statement on the army commander-in-chief s official Facebook page on Monday. The village is in Maungdaw township, one of the areas worst affected by the violence that has prompted the United Nations top human rights official to allege that Myanmar s security forces may have committed genocide against the Rohingya. Myanmar s armed forces launched what they termed clearance operations in northern Rakhine, where many of the stateless Muslim minority lived, after Rohingya militants attacked 30 police posts and an army base on Aug. 25. Myanmar s civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has faced fierce international criticism for failing to do more to protect the Rohingya. The civilian government, which has no control over the military, has said the army was engaged in legitimate counter-insurgency operations. It has promised to investigate allegations of abuses in Rakhine if it is given evidence. | 0fake |
Ukraine congratulates Trump - "God bless America!" [Video] | November 10th, 2016 - Fort Russ News -
Anatoly Sharij - Translated by Inessa Sinchougova
Donald Trump's win gives puppet states such as the Ukraine hope, that soon they may escape America's imperialist shackles. All Trump would have to do is cease funding Ukraine's hand-picked, corrupt elite. Without US taxpayer dollars going to Ukraine's politicians, the scoundrels would ditch the country faster than anyone would care to know... So now we wait! The presenter is Anatoly Sharij, a popular Ukrainian video blogger.
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Scalia lies in repose at Supreme Court | Washington (CNN) The body of late Justice Antonin Scalia is lying in repose Friday inside the Supreme Court building where he built a legacy as a conservative legal icon.
More than 6,000 mourners -- including members of Congress -- began streaming by to view Scalia's casket as the court opened its doors to the public at 10:30 a.m.
Earlier Friday, all the current Supreme Court justices attended a private ceremony led by Scalia's son, Father Paul Scalia, in the Great Hall.
In the afternoon, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama visited the court to honor Scalia. They were greeted by Chief Justice John Roberts and then met with members of Scalia's family, including Army Lt. Col. Matthew Scalia, the late justice's son, and his wife, Michelle, in the Solicitor General's office.
The President and first lady stayed for roughly 25 minutes.
Sri Srinivasan and Patricia Millett, two members of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and potential nominees for Obama to pick to replace Scalia, were seen in the line of those paying their respects along with other judges on the DC circuit.
The casket was placed on the Lincoln Catafalque, which was loaned to the court by Congress for the ceremony, and a 2007 portrait of Scalia by Nelson Shanks is on display. Supreme Court police officers served as pallbearers while Scalia's law clerks served as honorary pallbearers.
"As is the tradition, Justice Scalia's law clerks will stand vigil by his side at the Court all day tomorrow and through the night," tweeted Kannon Shanmugam, who clerked for Scalia.
Outside the court, mourners left flowers and jars of applesauce -- a nod to Scalia's dissent in the Supreme Court's 2015 decision to uphold Obamacare, in which he wrote that the majority's opinion was "pure applesauce."
Scalia's funeral service is Saturday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The justice's son will also deliver Mass for his father. Vice President Joe Biden is scheduled to attend.
Other justices who have laid in repose in the Supreme Court include former Chief Justice William Rehnquist, former Justice Harry Blackmun, former Justice William J Brennan Jr., former Justice Thurgood Marshall and former Chief Justice Earl Warren.
One close family friend -- Brian Donato, 75, of Earlysville, Virginia, and the godfather of Paul Scalia -- was shaken up as he left the morning's private ceremony.
He said he studied law under Scalia at the University of Virginia, and called the justice a tough professor who'd harshly critique his logic.
Donato recalled leaving the U.S. Navy in 1967 to attend law school, and said his moving truck crashed, spilling his goods and possessions across the road. When neither the Navy, which had hired the movers, nor the moving company itself offered any financial help after the crash, he looked at the university for a lawyer to help him after that crash and found Scalia -- who won the case but wouldn't accept any legal fees.
"When I asked him what the fee was after the case, he said, 'Dinner at your house and I'm bringing my wife,'" Donato said.
He attended Thursday's wake for Scalia, saying he saw his friend "lying in his casket, and he looked like a guy who was just the warm loving guy he always was."
Students on a field trip from St. Mary's High School, an Episcopal school in Raleigh, North Carolina, were among the crowd of about 200 on hand as Scalia's casket arrived.
"It's definitely a big loss for our country he was definitely a very influential figures and I don't necessarily agree with him on everything but I have a lot of respect for him as a justice," said Emily Weatherspoon, 17.
Larry Cirignano, an anti-abortion rights activist, said that Scalia's loss will be felt on the court. His group, 40 Days for Life, has been outside of the Supreme Court every day since Ash Wednesday.
"I'm from New Jersey originally, so he's great -- and Italian-American -- so all the way around," he said of Scalia. "I was here for his swearing in. And we're sorry to see him go."
As Scalia is remembered Friday, talk is likely to also focus across the street, to the Capitol, where the question hovers over whether Senate Republicans will successfully block Obama from winning a third appointment to the High Court. | 0fake |
UNREAL! FORMER GITMO DETAINEES PROTEST AT U.S. EMBASSY FOR FREEBIES FROM THE U.S. | We should do NOTHING for these terrorists! They got money and a house from the government of Uruguay but want even more from the U.S. and Uruguay. Unreal!Four former Guantanamo Bay prisoners protested for a second day Saturday demanding more help from both the Uruguayan and the U.S. governments for adapting to life in their new home in this South American country.The men began their protest in front of the U.S. Embassy in Montevideo on Friday and said they slept there through the night. They insisted would stay until they met with the U.S. ambassador. We ll be here until Monday. We are not leaving until with speak with the ambassador, former detainee Adel bin Muhammad El Ouerghi said.The men began their protest after the embassy closed for the weekend, and U.S. officials had not responded to messages requesting comment.As a humanitarian gesture, Uruguay s government took in the four and two other men in December after U.S. authorities freed them from Guantanamo. They had spent 12 years at the U.S. military prison for suspected al-Qaida ties, but U.S. officials decided they were no longer a threat and let them go.The four Syrians, one Tunisian and one Palestinian have repeatedly said the United States should help them financially so they can afford to bring their families to Uruguay.The men get $600 (15,000 pesos) a month from Uruguay s government, which they must use to pay for food, clothes, cellphones and other personal items. Officials have also provided a house for the six men to share. Via: Stars and Stripes | 1real |
Gorka on Russian Power Grid Hacking Fake News: Mainstream Media ’Not About Truth It’s About Maintaining a Narrative’ | Breitbart News National Security editor Dr. Sebastian Gorka, author of the book Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War, joined SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam to discuss the Fake News panic over Russians allegedly hacking the U. S. electric grid. [On the former subject, Gorka said the Washington Post’s ultimately discredited story about the hacking of a Vermont utility by Russian operatives was the epitome of Fake News. “This is a beautifully juicy example of just what the media represents today,” he said. “It’s not about truth. It’s not about being the Fourth Estate. It is about maintaining a narrative. And there’s a narrative out there, that has yet to be proven, that Russia somehow hacked our election. Not proven, sorry, fact. And now, a laptop had some malware on it. It wasn’t connected to the system, but it’s got to be the Russians, and it’s got to be a hack on the whole U. S. energy grid. It’s quite incredible. ” “Even the backtracking is so embarrassing because the statement that they issued — I don’t think you got to the end of it — ends with, ‘Authorities say there is no indication of the hack so far. ” They falsely wrote a story, but it could turn out to be true!” Gorka said. He agreed with Kassam that even though the Washington Post story fell apart, it will become “a new meme in the ‘Russia is hacking America’ story,” and will “stick in the back of the mind of the uninformed reader, and will be raised again and again and again on NPR, and MSNBC, and CNN. ” “You can put money on that, Raheem,” Gorka said. When Kassam said he would expect serious consequences from his editors and publisher if he manufactured a story like the phony electric grid hacking piece, Gorka countered that “in today’s world, at the other outlets, you’d probably be promoted. ” Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. LISTEN: | 0fake |
BOMBSHELL: U.S.DEFENSE SECRETARY ADMITS Obama Regime Led Iran To U.S. Navy Boats [VIDEO] | No wonder Obama didn t offer up a prayer, or utter a single word about the arrest of our US Sailors before, during or after his embarrassing SOTU speech It doesn t matter if the 3 a.m. phone call comes in the middle of the day. Not only will the Obama administration not answer it, but they ll aid our enemies instead.First came the fact that President Barack Obama refused to address the arrest of 10 of our sailors by the Iranian military after their boats had mechanical trouble at sea. Then came news that the Obama administration had offered the Iranians an apology for the release of the sailors.Now comes the disturbing revelation, apparently delivered by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, that the Obama administration tipped off the Iranians that our soldiers were lost at sea and requested their aid.The news came from Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, during an interview on TheBlaze s Dana Loesch shortly after Iran s arrest of the sailors had come to light. I understand that (Secretary of State) John Kerry has indicated, look, when he got word, he and Ash Carter called the Iranians to help take care of our Navy guys, because they had some mechanical problems, Gohmert said. When our Navy ships have problems, we don t call Iran. We call the rest of the Navy. We can call the Air Force, the Army, the Marines, Coast Guard. We don t call Iran, Gohmert said.Via: Conservative TribuneEither Col. Ralph Peters was right about Obama, or we have a bonafide traitor in the White House | 1real |
ANDREA MITCHELL STAMMERS Recalling Bill Clinton’s ‘Faulty’ Testimony In Paula Jones Deposition [Video] | The Clintons are afraid of the truth so be it! If a special prosecutor is brought in to investigate them then that would be fine, right? They have nothing to hide, right? Just like Bill had nothing to hide with the Paula Jones case Let s face it, faulty testimony is their mojo. They can t tell the truth because so much of their political career has been a lie! | 1real |
LOL! WHEN YOUR CLIENT, Hillary Clinton Is Under Investigation By The Law Again [VIDEO] | 1real | |
Italy ready to discuss calls for greater autonomy: Gentiloni | VENICE (Reuters) - The Italian government is ready to open negotiations with Lombardy and Veneto after the two wealthy regions voted overwhelmingly for greater autonomy, Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said on Tuesday. Unlike a recent referendum on independence in Catalonia, which sparked a political crisis in Spain, the Italian votes this weekend were legal, but not binding on Rome. Making clear he had no intention of making a drama out of the twin ballots, Gentiloni said he was ready to discuss how Lombardy and Veneto wanted to proceed. Here we are talking about how to make Italy work better. We are not calling into question Italy and its unity, Gentiloni said during a visit to an oil refinery close to Venice, the capital of the northeastern Veneto region. The government is ready to look into the merits of this ... it will be a complex discussion that can t be done in five minutes, he added. Regional governments have the right to ask for greater oversight in 23 policy areas, including the environment, infrastructure, health and education. The most delicate negotiations are likely to be over tax returns, with Veneto demanding that it be allowed to spend 90 percent of all the taxes raised on its own territory. Among Italy s 20 regions, Lombardy and Veneto account for just under a third of its economic output and are home to around 25 percent of its population. Italy s poorer, less developed southern regions are worried that they will receive less funding in future if Lombardy and Veneto get to keep more of their own tax take. Five regions in Italy the islands of Sicily and Sardinia and three relatively small border areas with linguistic minorities already have special autonomous status under the constitution. Veneto wants to join them. However, this would need a change to the constitution, which the government seems unwilling to accept. We are ready (to grant greater powers) within the limits fixed by our laws and by our constitution, Gentiloni said. Negotiations are likely to take many months and look certain to be interrupted by national elections due by next May. Any deal between the government and the regions will have to be approved by parliament. The latest opinion polls suggest a hung parliament will emerge from the forthcoming election, making it impossible to predict the government formation that will carry on the negotiations. (Refiles, changing headline) | 0fake |
‘Stop Arming Terrorists Bill’ Fails in US Congress After Getting Only 13 Supporters | 21st Century Wire says What this latest result proves is that the level of institutional criminality in Washington DC is so deeply entrenched that American Congressmen are not fit to govern not even in a progressive democracy, much less a constitutional republic.How can they claim to be the world s moral leader and global police when history demonstrates that over the last 40 years the United States has been the world s number one state sponsor of terrorism ?Once again this week, the US was caught helping ISIS by providing air cover for terrorist operations on the ground in Syria.Despite all of this, Donald Trump still remains clueless as to how it all works By Matt AgoristFor the last several decades, the US government has openly funded, supported, and armed various terrorist networks throughout the world to forward an agenda of destabilization and proxy war. It is not a secret, nor a conspiracy theory, America arms bad guys.Given the insidious history of the American empire and its creation and fostering of terrorist regimes across the globe, it should come as no surprise that the overwhelming majority of politicians would refuse to sign on to a law that requires them to Stop Arming Terrorists. And, that is exactly what s happened.H.R.608 Stop Arming Terrorists Act was introduced by Rep. Gabbard, Tulsi [D-HI] on January 23 of this year. The bill doesn t have any crazy strings attached and its original cosponsors are a mix of Republicans and Democrats highlighting that it transcends party lines. For years, our government has been providing both direct and indirect support to these armed militant groups, who are working directly with or under the command of terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda and ISIS, all in their effort and fight to overthrow the Syrian government, Gabbard said in an interview earlier this year.The text of the bill is simple. It merely states that it prohibits the use of federal agency funds to provide covered assistance to: (1) Al Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or any individual or group that is affiliated with, associated with, cooperating with, or adherents to such groups; or (2) the government of any country that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) determines has, within the most recent 12 months, provided covered assistance to such a group or individual.The only thing this bill does is prohibit the US government from giving money and weapons to people who want to murder Americans and who do murder innocent men, women, and children across the globe. It is quite possibly the simplest and most rational bill ever proposed by Congress. Given its rational and humanitarian nature, one would think that representatives would be lining up to show their support. However, one would be wrong.After nearly 5 months since its introduction, only 13 of the 535 members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors. What this lack of support for the bill shows is that the federal government is addicted to funding terror and has no intention of ever stopping it.To add insult to treason and murder, Senator Rand Paul [R-KY] introduced this same legislation in the Senate. He currently has zero cosponsors.Given the overwhelming lack of support for a bill that simply asks the government to stop giving money to people who behead children and video it, it should come as no surprise that Donald Trump signed hundreds of billions of dollars in weapons deals with other countries who also fund these people.As Americans bicker over Trump s bogus and non-existent Russian scandal, he s signing a deal worth hundreds of billions of dollars with the largest state sponsor of terror in the world ensuring decades of future wars and the continuation of the cycle of terrorism.What s more is the fact that less than one week after publicly reprimanding Qatar for terrorism, President Trump signed off on the sale of $12 billion in weapons to the country he referred to as a funder of terrorism. This move, in Trump s own stance, makes him a de facto funder of terrorism now READ MORE ISIS NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire ISIS FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Comedy Icon Dick Van Dyke’s First Endorsement Of A Presidential Candidate In 50 Years Is In (VIDEO) | Dick Van Dyke is 90 years old. The man was born into the Great Depression. He s seen countless wars, invasions and police actions. He s seen the rise and fall of empires and regime changes so unprecedented they changed the course of history. Van Dyke was the age many of us were on 9/11 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.Too thin to serve as a pilot at a time when pilots weren t coming home often enough, Van Dyke still managed to serve as an entertainer for the armed services on active duty during wartime. To say That Dick Van Dyke has forgotten more than most of us have learned would have to be an understatement.He s the kind of man who has influence on America s older generation, as many now retired grew up with Van Dyke as an older sibling and even parental figure to many. He is a well-known Democrat and champion of liberal causes, so while it came as a little bit of a surprise since he hasn t openly endorsed a candidate in half a century, his choice was clear: Bernie Sanders.Van Dyke uploaded this video to YouTube, warning of things to come:It s a startling 30 seconds. Sanders has obviously resonated with Dick Van Dyke. For him to offer such staunch support is a wonderful asset for the Sanders campaign and should make things on the Democratic ticket all the more interesting. After Hillary Clinton s impressive win in South Carolina, Sanders may need an infusion of non-typical supporters. Retirees would definitely qualify.As for Van Dyke s warnings, he is right. Fortunately we have two qualified candidates, either of whom will be able to take down the freight train of lies that is the Donald Trump campaign, which is looking more and more like a frightening reality all the time. It was a joke. It wasn t supposed to be like this.Oh well. At least our race is interesting. Our candidates have a lot to talk about. It s nothing like the fear-mongering shout fest over who will kill terrorists better and take away the most from poor people the GOP race is.Featured image from Twitter | 1real |
Anthony Weiner’s Alleged Teenaged Victim Is P*ssed – At Comey | For the first time, in recent memory at least, the FBI has decided to put its thumb on the scale of the presidential election by releasing maybes, leaks and innuendo against Hillary Clinton. While a parade of people both on the left and right have railed against the head of the FBI, James Comey, the most powerful voice has been from one of the key figures involved in the so-called investigation: Anthony Weiner s alleged teenage victim of sexting.According to Comey, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. Comey didn t say Clinton is being indicted. He didn t say she was even involved. He hasn t even seen the emails that may or may not implicate Clinton. It s guilt by possible association with something that might exist, and all of this bunch of nothin came out just days before the election.The alleged victim of the sexting that is at the center of the controversy wrote an open letter (printed in Buzzfeed) that raked Comey over the coals. She s upset that she s being re-victimized to become a political tool. Here are some excerpts:In your letter, you chose to use a vague approach, meaning the media had to keep searching to try and find out what evidence you had uncovered and how. Every media outlet from local to national has contacted me and my family to get my story. Why couldn t your letter have waited until after the election, so I would not have to be the center of attention the last week of the election cycle?In his cooperation with you and with his love of the spotlight, Anthony Weiner has given information that led to the media finding me. You have assisted him in further victimizing me on every news outlet. I can only assume that you saw an opportunity for political propaganda.I thought your job as FBI Director was to protect me. I thought if I cooperated with your investigation, my identity as a minor would be kept secret. That is no longer the case. My family and I are barraged by reporters phone calls and emails. I have been even been blamed in a newspaper for causing Donald Trump to now be leading in some polls and costing Hillary the election. ..The election is important, yes, but what happened to me and how it makes me feel and how others see me, is much more important. It s time that the FBI Director puts his victims rights above political views.The girl, who appears to be exceptionally articulate and more informed than the majority of voters on both sides of the aisle, signed the letter, Girl that lost her faith in America. She s not alone. This election has been one of the most bitter and contentious and fact free (on the Republican side) in our nation s history. We hadn t yet hit rock bottom when Comey made his statement, but we re coming closer every single day.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images. | 1real |
Al Aqsa Mufti: U.S. Embassy Jerusalem Move An ’Assault’ on Muslims | Jerusalem’s Grand Mufti (pictured) Muhammad Ahmad Hussein on Friday claimed that Donald Trump’s reported plans to relocated the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem represented an “assault” on Muslims worldwide. [Hussein, who preaches at the Al Aqsa Mosque, was appointed to his position by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. mosques routinely utilize Friday afternoon prayers to incite against Israel. “The pledge to move the embassy is not just an assault against Palestinians but against Arabs and Muslims, who will not remain silent,” Hussein said in his sermon. “The transfer of the embassy violates international charters and norms which recognize Jerusalem as an occupied city,” Hussein claimed, without mentioning Trump by name. Hussein seems to be fulfilling a pledge by Palestinian leaders who called earlier this week for Friday prayers to be used to protest reports that Trump may move the embassy to Jerusalem. Earlier todayit was reported that Abbas this month met with American businessmen who allegedly told him Trump was serious about moving the embassy to Jerusalem. The Palestinians claim eastern Jerusalem as their future capital. Last month, a U. S. abstention allowed the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution calling the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem “occupied Palestinian territories,” and demanding a halt to Israeli construction in those areas. Some of the holiest sites in Judaism are located in eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank, including the Western Wall and Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron, which was home to the oldest continuous Jewish community in the world until the Jews of Hebron were massacred and expelled the Tomb of Rachel in Bethlehem and Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus — biblical Shechem. Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio. ” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook. | 0fake |
Fender Benders on Water? (See: Expanded Panama Canal) - The New York Times | It is a section of Panama’s newly expanded canal that has troubled veteran canal workers. To safely guide the new generation of massive ships through the two sets of locks, tugboat captains and ship pilots rely on an approach wall to properly align the vessels before escorting them into the first narrow chamber. The wall is an antidote to the currents and winds that push and pull ships into awkward angles, making tugboats wrestle the elements before achieving the proper position. Each entrance has this structure — except one. And it was at this opening on the afternoon of July 21 that the Chinese container ship Xin Fei Zhou struck a lock wall, tearing small holes in its hull — canal officials call it a dent — and forcing it out of service. The new canal was not even a month old. Another container ship had experienced tense moments three weeks earlier as crew members responded to “countless” instructions from a canal employee who was attempting to guide it into the same set of locks. Ultimately, that transit was successful. But the Xin Fei Zhou’s mishap was not the canal’s only setback. Other vessels have sheared or badly damaged up to 100 buffering fenders that are supposed to protect the lock walls and ship hulls should they come into contact, according to interviews with canal workers. Several days before the expanded sea lane opened — nearly two years late and with more than $3. 4 billion in disputed costs — an examination by The New York Times raised questions about its viability, citing concerns over safety, design, changes in the world’s shipping patterns and demand. Canal workers had expressed concern about whether the plastic fenders on the lock walls would be adequate and whether tugboat captains had received the proper training in how to guide the giant ships through the chambers — a procedure that differed from the one used in the original canal. On July 22, in response to complaints, the canal’s administrator, Jorge Quijano, said the expanded canal was safe and was providing service. To back that up, he pointed to the 224 ships that had reserved future transit slots, in addition to the dozens that had already gone through. Canal officials called the Xin Fei Zhou’s incident “minor,” saying it did not significantly damage the vessel, disrupt canal traffic or injure anyone. No official investigation occurred, Mr. Quijano said, “because the informed that they would not attend the investigation meeting. ” Mr. Quijano also defended the utility of the canal’s buffering system, insisting that the fenders are sturdy and effective. “To imply that fenders are falling off as a sign of something wrong or that something is not functioning appropriately is inaccurate,” he said by email. “Because of its intended use, fenders will get damaged and sometimes do fall off the walls and subsequently are replaced. ” If the fenders prove inadequate, he added, changes will be made. “We believe in continuous improvements. ” The expanded canal operates differently from the original one. The new canal uses tugs to move ships through, while the original, which still operates, pulls ships through with locomotives that run alongside the lock walls. According to the Panama Canal Authority, tugs not only are cheaper, but are the only practical way to move the newer giant ships that carry much of the world’s cargo. In a 2014 report, written well before the expanded canal opened, the global insurance company Allianz wrote that the change was risky because it replaced “an elegant, simple system” — one that had lasted for 100 years — with “a more complicated system. ” It added: “Yes, they will be more up to date, but there will also be a greater potential for damage. ” Allianz believes that the tugs will be sufficient, but identified training as the key to mitigating the risks. “This will be a challenge,” the report stated. It is a challenge, tugboat captains say, made more difficult because so many of them have not been fully trained in the new system, said Iván de la Guardia, who heads the tugboat captains’ union. After three weeks of operation, Mr. de la Guardia said, 60 percent of his members had yet to be trained. Mr. Quijano said that “while we have an adequate amount of trained captains to cover our needs, the training is still being provided in order to satisfy the increased demand in the future. ” Given that the expanded canal is new, shippers are closely monitoring its operations, especially since the Xin Fei Zhou accident. “This is not an accident that should be happening,” said Basil Karatzas, a New maritime adviser to shipping companies. He estimated that repairs to the Chinese ship could cost “a few hundred thousand dollars. ” The ship waited several days before resuming its journey. “The delays and costs entailed with repairing the damage easily negate any benefits from passing through the canal,” Mr. Karatzas said. The Times obtained accounts of the two ships experiencing difficulty as they attempted to enter the set of locks without the approach wall. Canal workers also provided pictures of the damaged ship and the damaged fenders. Computer images, apparently recorded in real time, show tugboats struggling to position the Xin Fei Zhou as it approached the chamber before striking the left corner of the lock wall. Five days after the canal opened, the operators of another container ship, the MOL Benefactor, recorded details of its roughly transit through the expanded locks. It was uneventful until the ship reached the lock with no approach wall. The ship’s ranking officer became concerned, records show, because of what he described as “numerous” or “countless” bow thruster orders in addition to helm and engine orders — all indicating a level of uncertainty on the pilot’s part. Unlike the Chinese container ship, the MOL Benefactor eventually passed through the final set of locks without incident. Londor A. Rankin leads the union of canal pilots, who board transiting ships and direct them, along with the tugboats. Two days before the Xin Fei Zhou accident, in response to email questions, Mr. Rankin said pilots were indeed experiencing problems at the entrance without an approach wall. He also said that canal officials had said they were interested in designing and building some sort of structure to help pilots and that they had considered his union’s proposal to buy floating fenders as a better way to ease ships into the chamber. But, he added, “they have mentioned the inconvenience of doing so while the warranty of the new set of locks is still in effect. ” Asked why no approach wall had been built at the one entrance, Mr. Quijano said the walls had been built where the topography allowed it. He also said locks elsewhere do not use approach walls. Panama, in fact, copied the concept of the Berendrecht lock in Antwerp, Belgium, but that chamber is significantly wider than those in Panama’s new locks. Andrew Kinsey, a senior marine risk engineer for Allianz, said he eagerly awaited the results of the canal authority’s investigation, which he said should be shared with all interested parties. The authority has said it is conducting only an internal review that will not be released publicly, rather than a formal investigation. Historical weather data for the area, provided by CustomWeather, reported that when the accident occurred, the wind was around nine miles an hour, with light rain and scattered clouds. Mr. Quijano said that “just at the moment the vessel was entering the lock, it was suddenly hit by heavy crosswinds and very dense rain. ” Cosco Container Lines, which owns the ship, said in a statement: “This is a serious matter. ” “Is it a serious marine incident?” Mr. Kinsey asked. “That will depend on the findings and the extent of repairs. Is it a concern? Yes, there’s a hole in the ship. ” Another Chinese container ship, also owned by Cosco, was the first commercial vessel to pass through Panama’s enlarged canal, in late June. At the time, the authority proclaimed a “new era of global trade” that would provide “greater economies of scale to global commerce. ” Witnessing this historic transit, the officials said, were “25, 000 jubilant Panamanians,” heads of state, shipping executives and nearly 1, 000 journalists. Canal publicists asserted that the ship carried thousands of shipping containers, a load that would not have fit in the smaller, original canal. But the new canal’s sparkling narrative omitted one important fact: Most, if not all, of the shipping containers were empty. And even with the lighter load, the ship awkwardly brushed against a canal wall, according to photos posted online by canal workers. Mr. Quijano said some containers had contained cargo. Besides, he said, cargo containers constitute cargo even when empty. On Tuesday, Mr. Quijano announced that the canal authority was contemplating a ban on cellphones during transits because they were a distraction. | 0fake |
Jewish Elders Warn Their Grandchildren: Vote For Hillary, ‘We’ve Seen This Before’ (VIDEO) | This election will ask us to choose one of the following: an overqualified, dignified woman, or a fascist, xenophobic billionaire. The woman, Hillary Clinton, has dedicated her life to fighting for the rights and dignities of all, while the man, Donald Trump, has fought only for himself and his pockets.One group that tends to vote Democrat but has been leaning a little more towards the right recently are Jewish people. In 2008, 78 percent of Jewish Americans voted for President Obama, as did 74 percent in 2012.This year is different. Instead of facing off against John McCain or Mitt Romney, the Democrats are facing off against the definition of fascism and xenophobia. And they have a message to their grandchildren: vote for Hillary Clinton.Why? Because they ve seen this before.In a video titled A Message From Grandma & Grandpa: We ve Seen This Before, a group of elderly Jewish Americans plead with their younger generations to get out and vote, and warns against the type of man Donald Trump is. They enlisted some powerful allies in the effort to defeat Donald Trump: grandparents. And they aren t holding back: This is probably one of the most important elections, because there is so much is at stake. Of course, their experiences with Germany take front and center: We have seen this before. We saw it in Germany, and don t want to see it again. Their hatred for Trump is not hidden, and for good reason: Trump is more than a tyrant. He s an obnoxious lying individual and I haven t any respect for him. I have tremendous fears for the country and and for you, my grandchildren. Adding some lighthearted (but important) humor, one grandparent tells their grandkids: If you vote the future is yours. If you don t vote for Hillary, and that crazy man Trump is elected, I ll haunt you when I die. Another promises to be a major spoiler: I ll spoil every episode of Game of Thrones. When you re having a dinner party, I ll come down and say something racist, but if you re voting for Trump, you probably don t care. The powerful video, sponsored by Bend the Arc Jewish Action, was released to warn future generations not to forget their history, and to listen to the wisdom of their elders, especially ones that know oppression when they see it: We, as Jews, recognize that [Trump s] candidacy has echoed times when the Jewish community experienced the dangers of fascism, anti-immigration and persecution against religious minorities. We ve seen this before and we wanted to make sure that as Jews we were speaking out boldly and loudly and making sure it was known the Jewish community rejects Trump for the platform of hatred and bigotry that he has unleashed. Watch the powerful ad here:Featured image from the video | 1real |
Saakashvili plans to unite Ukraine opposition against president | LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) - A day after forcing his way past border guards back into Ukraine, former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said he would unite the opposition against his former ally President Petro Poroshenko and planned to campaign for support. Saakashvili wants to unseat Poroshenko at the next election, accusing the president of reneging on promises to root out corruption and carry out reforms made during the 2014 Maidan protests, which ousted a pro-Kremlin leader. At present it seems unlikely that Saakashvili, who studied in Ukraine and speaks fluent Ukrainian, will come to power. His Ukrainian citizenship, bestowed by Poroshenko when he made him governor of Odessa in 2015, has been withdrawn, and polls show little support for his party, the Movement of New Forces. I am fighting against rampant corruption, against the fact that oligarchs are in full control of Ukraine again, against the fact that Maidan has been betrayed, Saakashvili said at a press conference in the city of Lviv. Saakashvili divides opinion. Supporters see him as a fearless crusader against corruption but critics say there is little substance behind his blustery rhetoric. Back home in Georgia, his time in office was tarnished by what critics said was his monopolizing power and exerting pressure on the judiciary. He was president at the time of a disastrous five-day war with Russia in 2008, a conflict that his critics argued was the result of his own miscalculations. Saakashvili says he does not covet the presidency himself and wants to promote a new, younger politician to the post. But while perhaps not a threat as a direct rival, Saakashvili could prove to be an effective weapon against Poroshenko for powerful opposition figures like Yulia Tymoshenko, who was with him at the border on Sunday. Poroshenko trails in the polls behind Tymoshenko, a former prime minister and leader of one of Ukraine s largest opposition parties. This is a marriage of convenience between Tymoshenko and Saakashvili, but the parties have different interests, said political analyst Volodymyr Fesenko. She tries to use this situation with the hope that this will provoke a political crisis in Ukraine and lead to early elections. Saakashvili s relationship with Poroshenko dates back nearly three decades to when they were students at the same university in Kiev and their shared opposition to the Kremlin later brought them together as politicians. But a bitter spat erupted in November 2016, a year after Poroshenko invited Saakashvili to be the governor of the region of Odessa to help drive reforms. The latter quit, accusing Poroshenko of abetting corruption and turned into one of his loudest critics. Meanwhile Poroshenko s office said Saakashvili had failed to deliver change as governor and said his Ukrainian citizenship was withdrawn because he allegedly put false information on his registration form. Saakashvili says the decision was politically motivated. It left him effectively stateless as Georgia has also withdrawn his citizenship. On Sunday evening Saakashvili and his supporters forced their way past a cordon of border guards to return to Ukraine from Poland. It does not matter who violates the state border - invaders in the East or politicians in the West. There always must be legal responsibility, Poroshenko said in televised remarks on Monday. The president said Saakashvili should have used Ukrainian courts to challenge the revocation. Now this is a matter of law enforcement agencies and they have begun to act, Poroshenko said. Saakashvili said he would travel to all regions of Ukraine to unite different political forces around a common theme that we must have a democracy and we should not let oligarchs hold sway. Ukraine s record of implementing reforms has been patchy since Poroshenko took office in 2014. Reformist lawmaker Mustafa Nayyem, one of the faces of the Maidan protests and a member of Poroshenko s faction in parliament, traveled with Saakashvili on Sunday and accused the Kiev authorities of trying to silence opponents. We didn t want this country when we stayed on Maidan, he told reporters. We wanted a country in which opponents, political opponents, have a right to say what they want. Saakashvili may yet face arrest. Police have launched a criminal investigation into Sunday s incident, while General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko said those who crossed the border illegally would be prosecuted. Kiev could leave Saakashvili alone, arrest him and possibly extradite him to Georgia. Saakashvili took power in Georgia after a peaceful uprising, known as the Rose Revolution, in 2003. The 49-year-old is now wanted on criminal charges in Georgia, which he says were trumped up for political reasons. | 0fake |
Turkey to take stronger steps in response to Iraqi Kurdish referendum: Erdogan | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey will take stronger steps in retaliation for the Iraqi Kurdish referendum last week, having already taken some measures in coordination with the Iraqi central government and Iran, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday. At a joint news conference in Tehran with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, broadcast live on Turkish television, Erdogan said the referendum had no legitimacy and had only been recognized by Israel. He also said the goal of raising Turkish-Iranian trade volume to $30 billion from $10 billion remained on the agenda and the two countries would conduct trade in their own currencies to limit foreign exchange pressures. | 0fake |
WATCH: CBS “This Morning” HACK HOSTS BEG BERNIE SANDERS To Say President Trump Is Visiting Flood Victims “Too Early” | Gayle King was the first to ask Sanders if it was a good idea for Trump to visit. Sanders said I don t know as he fumbled over his words. Well, there s one school of thought they re still in the middle of it, King interjected.Sanders said the focus now was on doing everything that could be done to protect the people of Houston. Sanders did not mention Trump s visit, which will not include Houston due to the ongoing conditions there, but will include Corpus Christi, where Hurricane Harvey made landfall. Is it too soon for a presidential visit? co-host Maurice DuBois again asked. Too soon for the president to be there? Probably it is, but let s not get into that, Sanders said. The focus right now has got to be on doing everything that we can do address the terrible, terrible pain that is taking place in that city. WFB | 1real |
Obama Teasing Stephen Curry For ‘Clowning’ Just Further Proof He’s The Coolest Ever (VIDEO) | One of the awesome things you get to do when you win a championship is visit the White House and meet the President of the United States. This is a long-standing honor that has been coveted by these outstanding athletes. And if we re going to keep things totally real, with President Obama in the White House, these visits are much more than just honorable, they re outright fun.The Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship this past year, and President Obama spoke of how talented they are and what role models they ve become. Many of the players even got to meet with students from Obama s mentorship program My Brother s Keeper as can be seen below:Students from The @WhiteHouse Mentorship Program meet the @warriors! #MyBrothersKeeper #MentorIRL pic.twitter.com/hthlcY1toZ NBA (@NBA) February 4, 2016The entire event was pretty typical of how Obama has greeted every championship team from nearly every sport who has had the privilege of meeting the president at the White House. However, things got pretty hilarious when the president decided to throw a little light-hearted shade at Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry.The president teased Curry for clowning during the Warriors game against the Washington Wizards the night before. He said: For those of you who watched the game against the Wizards last night, he was to use slang he was clowning. He then mimicked Curry s jumps, and it was hilarious, making the whole team burst with laughter. Honestly, what other president would you ever see doing this, let alone do it so flawlessly and with great affect. I don t care if I sound like an Obama fangirl here, but he s the coolest president ever and I wish he could stay forever. Damn term limits!President Obama on Steph Curry s performance against the Wizards: He was clownin https://t.co/3fWZbqp7BA pic.twitter.com/IhOIDRFwE7 NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) February 4, 2016Watch the whole event here, with his remarks about Curry beginning around the 8:15 mark: Video/Featured image from NBCWashington | 1real |
Collapsed state housing in Iranian quake shows corruption: Rouhani | BEIRUT (Reuters) - The ease with which some state-built homes collapsed in Sunday s earthquake in western Iran showed corrupt practices when they were constructed, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday in a sentiment shared by many ordinary Iranians. Some of the houses which collapsed in an earthquake that killed at least 530 people and injured thousands of others were built under an affordable housing scheme initiated in 2011 by Rouhani s predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. That a house built by (ordinary) people in the Sarpol-e Zahab region has remained standing while in front of it a government-built building has collapsed is a sign of corruption, Rouhani told a cabinet meeting, state media said. It s clear there has been corruption in construction contracts, he said. Sarpol-e Zahab is the town hardest hit by Sunday s 7.3 magnitude quake, the deadliest in Iran in more than a decade. A picture widely circulated by ordinary Iranians on social media shows a building with relatively little damage in Sarpol-e Zahab next to a heavily damaged government-constructed building. This has fueled speculation that shoddy construction in the building of government housing had led to a higher number of casualties from the earthquake. Rouhani said on Tuesday that any shortcomings in government constructed buildings in the earthquake zone will be punished. Mohammad Hossein Sadeghi, the prosecutor general in Kermanshah, the largest city in the earthquake zone, said on Wednesday that the quality of construction of new buildings that were heavily damaged would be investigated and charges may be brought against anyone deemed responsible. If there are any problems with the construction, the individuals who were negligent must answer for their deeds, Sadeghi said, according to the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA). An arrest warrant has been issued for a contractor responsible for a recently built hospital which was heavily damaged in the town of Islamabad-e Gharb, parliamentarian Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh said on Tuesday, according to the Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA). Residents in the earthquake zone have also complained about the slow and inadequate government response as they struggle to find food, water and shelter. | 0fake |
Ex-White House Press Secretary Just Dropped An AWESOME Obama Truthbomb That Will Make Trump PISSED | The differences between President Barack Obama and Donald Trump couldn t be greater and more obvious and that s why Americans all over the country are mourning the end of Obama s second term, knowing full well that Trump and the GOP are going to destroy his legacy.Earlier today, Jay Carney a former White House press secretary for Obama went on CNN s New Day and highlighted a massive difference between Obama and Trump, and it s one that will make Trump seriously pissed off. Host Alisyn Camerota brought up the fact that Obama s personal life has been scandal-free (unlike Trump s) and asked: Beyond having a scandal-free presidency in terms of personal-life scandals, what do you think President Obama s legacy is? Carney gave an answer that will have Republicans attacking Obama even more. Having worked with Obama personally, Carney said: I think that it was scandal-free beyond his personal life. The man s integrity, his decency and optimism about America that he embodied and pursued will be his legacy. Referring to the Obama administration as patriotic and pure, Carney said: It was an honest and sincere effort driven towards the idea of making America better and improving the lives of everyday Americans. Many of us would agree. You can watch Carney deliver every Republican s worst nightmare below:Obama demonstrated and lived America s values every day of his life, and every day of his presidency. Trump, on the other hand, has had several sexual assault cases filed against him, hasn t paid his taxes in well over a decade, is involved in several lawsuits over his scammy, fraudulent business dealings, and has more conflicts of interest incidents happening in his administration than is even Constitutional. Trump is shaping up to be America s most corrupt president, and even his supporters are losing faith in his campaign promises.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1real |
Britain's new concessions are not enough, EU leaders tell May | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders welcomed a proposal by British Prime Minister Theresa May aimed at unblocking Brexit talks, but said concessions to ease the fears of EU citizens living in Britain were not enough. Arriving at a two-day summit in Brussels on Thursday with other EU leaders, May sought to shift the focus away from a failure to push the talks beyond a discussion of a divorce settlement and onto trade talks just 17 months before Britain is due to leave. Instead the prime minister, weakened after losing her Conservative Party s majority in a June election, put renewed emphasis on settling citizens rights, one of three issues that must be solved to break the deadlock in talks. But EU leaders said there was more work to be done, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel describing some encouraging signs that could help pave the way for a discussion on future trade ties at the next EU summit in December. May said the leaders assess the progress that has been made so far in the Brexit talks and set out ambitious plans for the weeks ahead. I particularly, for example, want to see an urgency in reaching an agreement on citizens rights, May told reporters. But she avoided questions about increasing the amount Britain is willing to pay when it leaves, instead referring back to a speech last month in Italy when she outlined an offer of around 20 billion euros ($24 billion). May will discuss her Brexit strategy over dinner. On Friday morning, once she has left, other EU leaders are expected to say the talks have not yet made enough progress for them to open the trade negotiations. Weakened after losing her Conservative Party s majority in a June election and failing to rally support at an ill-fated party conference, May is constrained in her ability to address EU demands that she increase her pay offer for the divorce agreement. Some members of her own party would prefer to see her walk away if the EU does not agree to move the talks forward to discuss trade. Germany and its allies do not want to be left with a large bill when Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019. Merkel said EU leaders would listen to the report from their chief negotiator Michel Barnier, but that sufficient progress had not yet been made. We will continue the talks with a view to reaching the second phase in December . Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar urged May to come up with more clarity not only on guarantees on citizens rights, but also on her plans to avoid a return of a hard border with Northern Ireland. These are still difficult issues, but particularly the question of the exit bill, he told reporters. May tried to shift the focus away from how much Britain should pay. On her Facebook page, she wrote that we are in touching distance of agreement for protecting the rights of around 3 million EU citizens living in Britain and promised to make it as easy as possible for them to stay. Luxembourg s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel told reporters the Facebook post went in the right direction and that every movement in the right direction is important , noting a change in tone in the British government over the past six months. But Finland s leader, Juha Sipila, said the EU was a little bit frustrated about the progress. The lack of movement has increased the pressure on May from inside her own party. In an open letter on Thursday, pro-Brexit lawmakers and business people said that unless the deadlock was broken, Britain should signal it is ready to be subject to World Trade Organization (WTO) rules from March 30, 2019, when Brexit takes effect. Owen Paterson, a lawmaker and former minister from May s Conservative Party, said it looked inevitable that the trade relationship between Britain and the EU would end up being governed by WTO rules, meaning no special deal. So what we re saying is it would be much better to state that now, give business and all our administrative organisations certainty so they can begin to prepare, he said. | 0fake |
Trump likely to rescind Obama 'Dreamer' program: media reports | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is likely to rescind an Obama-era policy that protects nearly 600,000 immigrants who entered the country illegally as children and are known as “Dreamers,” according to media reports on Friday. Trump’s decision on whether to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, policy could be announced as early as next week, reported ABC News, citing multiple sources. Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed the program with senior White House officials on Thursday, according to an administration official. Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan denied reports that the department had made any recommendations on DACA to the White House. “There have been continuing discussions about DACA but nothing has been determined,” Lapan told Reuters. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters on Friday that the program continues to be under review. A White House spokesperson told Reuters that only Congress can legislate a permanent solution for the plight of children who are currently protected from deportation by DACA. Trump had pledged on the election campaign trail to scrap all of former President Barack Obama’s executive orders on immigration, including DACA. Immigrant advocates reacted to the news with a flurry of statements, promising to defend the program with protest and legal action. “Immigrant youth fought to create the DACA program and we will fight like hell to defend it,” said Greisa Martinez Rosas, Advocacy Director and DACA-beneficiary of United We Dream said in a statement. Civil rights groups said ending the program could increase racial divisions in the country in the wake of the recent violence in Charlottesville. Ten Republican state attorneys general in June urged the Trump administration to rescind the DACA program, while noting that the government did not have to revoke permits that had already been issued. If the federal government did not withdraw DACA by Sept. 5, the attorneys general said they would file a legal challenge to the program in a Texas federal court. The 10 who signed the letter represent Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia. A larger coalition of 26 Republican attorneys general had challenged the Obama-era policy covering illegal immigrant parents, known as DAPA, that had been blocked by the courts before it took effect. The Department of Homeland Security rescinded that policy earlier this year. | 0fake |
Three charged in Malta for murder of anti-corruption journalist | VALLETTA (Reuters) - A magistrate on Tuesday charged three men with murder over a car-bomb blast that killed anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, court officials said. Caruana Galizia died instantly when her car was blown up as she drove out of her home on Oct. 16, a killing that shocked Malta and raised concern within the European Union about the rule of law on the tiny Mediterranean island. All three pleaded not guilty at the arraignment, which was attended by her husband, Peter Caruana Galizia. The men were named as Vince Muscat and brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio. It was not immediately clear whether police thought they had acted on their own or were hit men working for others. Caruana Galizia wrote a popular blog in which she relentlessly highlighted cases of alleged graft targeting politicians of all colors, including Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Vince Muscat was not a relative. [] Police arrested 10 men on Monday in connection with their investigation into the killing. The other seven were released on bail. A close friend of Caruana Galizia told Reuters that she did not think the journalist had ever investigated the three men charged on Tuesday. She wrote about government officials, politicians and wealthy business types, the friend said, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the case. The Malta government had offered a 1 million euro reward leading to information on the murder. It also called in the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Europol to assist in investigations. Maltese media said investigators had homed in on the suspects following telephone intercepts known as triangulation data that included the call from a mobile phone which triggered the car bomb. Malta, the smallest nation in the European Union, has been engulfed by a wave of graft scandals in recent months, including accusations of money laundering and influence peddling in government - all of which have been denied. Caruana Galizia exposed many of these cases and was loved by her readers as a fearless, anti-corruption crusader. Critics saw her as a muck-raking fantasist and she had been hit with 36 libel lawsuits in the nine months preceding her death. Much of her criticism was leveled against Prime Minister Muscat and his leftist Labour party, which won power in 2013 after a nearly quarter of a century of uninterrupted rule by the conservative Nationalist Party. In the months before her death, she had also regularly targeted senior Nationalist figures. Italian newspapers have speculated that she might have fallen foul of men who were making a fortune by smuggling fuel out of lawless Libya. However, her friend said she had never looked into the illegal trade and any mention of it in her blog related to articles already published elsewhere. | 0fake |
MUST SEE RESULTS OF NEW POLL Asking Americans One Word They Associate With Hillary | Somehow we don t think this is what the Queen of the Clinton Crime Syndicate expected at this stage of her campaign The latest Q-poll numbers have dropped and there aren t really a lot of surprises in the top lines. (Well there are a couple of exceptions but we ll get to those in a minute.) What was really startling, though, was the results of the open ended questions about several of the candidates. Most specifically, the massively leading, top of the list responses for Hillary Clinton have to be giving her team nightmares. (Connecticut Post emphasis added)Clinton leads the Democratic field with 45 percent, down from 55 percent July 30, with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at 22 percent and Biden at 18 percent. No other candidate tops 1 percent with 11 percent undecided. This is Sanders highest tally and closest margin.Clinton tops the Democrats no way list with 11 percent. Liar is the first word that comes to mind more than others in an open-ended question when voters think of Clinton. Arrogant is the word for Trump and voters say Bush when they think of Bush. Here s the high end of the list.Holy cow. You get 394 responses just by combining the top three results of Liar, Dishonest and Untrustworthy. You pretty much have to add up all of the other words on the list to catch up with those three. And this isn t just a list of responses by Republicans that s everyone. What s truly amazing is that this is clearly the prevailing American perception at this point and yet, Clinton is still the Democrat frontrunner. I m not sure if that says more about her or the party. Via: HotAir | 1real |
Fox News’s Convention Moment Overshadowed by Struggle Over Ailes’s Fate - The New York Times | CLEVELAND — This was supposed to be Fox News Channel’s big week, a time to flex its muscles and flaunt its ratings dominance as the media king of the Republican National Convention. Instead, the cable news network has been buffeted by a whirlwind of speculation and the specter of a public relations debacle as serious doubts were raised about whether its and chairman, Roger Ailes, would remain at the helm of the network. It started with a report by New York magazine on Monday saying that Rupert Murdoch and his sons, Lachlan and James — the three men who sit atop Fox News’s corporate parent, 21st Century Fox — had come to the conclusion that “Ailes needs to go,” after accusations of sexual harassment by a former anchor, Gretchen Carlson. (Ms. Carlson filed her lawsuit on July 6, after her contract was not renewed in June. Mr. Ailes has vehemently denied the accusations.) The article was followed 90 minutes later by a terse statement from the company: “This matter is not yet resolved and the review is not concluded. ” That chilly comment set off alarm bells at Fox News and in the television industry at large for what it did not say. The only previous public comment by 21st Century Fox took care to note that Mr. Ailes had its “full confidence” and that he had “served the company brilliantly over the last two decades. ” And, roughly two weeks after Ms. Carlson filed her lawsuit, interviews with people inside and outside the network — none of whom would speak for attribution — indicated a struggle within Fox News and 21st Century Fox over Mr. Ailes’s fate, which now hinges on the findings of the law firm retained to investigate the accusations, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton Garrison. In initial interviews with Fox News staff members, investigators for Paul, Weiss turned up disconcerting findings about the omnipotence of Mr. Ailes. Some people felt pressured to publicly support him in a climate that could intimidate others into silence, according to a person briefed on the early stages of the investigation. In addition, a campaign inside Fox News to rally support for Mr. Ailes included an article from the Fox Business Network anchor Neil Cavuto in Business Insider, in which he vouched for Mr. Ailes’s character and said that the accusations being made against him were “sick. ” Mr. Cavuto holds senior vice president and managing editor titles at Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, and his comments could be seen as chilling to anyone who was considering stepping forward with sensitive allegations. Mr. Cavuto, who wrote the article while recuperating from surgery, said in an interview that the implication had not dawned on him. “I had no Machiavellian motive or sinister intention,” he said. “My only point was just to say this doesn’t ring with the guy I know,” he said, adding that he had worked with Mr. Ailes closely for decades. “It was so far from what I had seen — as if I would ever condone that behavior. ” Several other Fox News Channel stars have come out in support of Mr. Ailes, including the anchors Greta Van Susteren, Harris Faulkner and Martha MacCallum. On Monday, Brit Hume, the longtime Fox anchor, speaking outside the Fox News production studios here, said, “It’s inconceivable to me that any conclusions could have been reached at this stage. ” Mr. Hume has spoken publicly in support of Mr. Ailes since the suit was first filed. The idea of Fox News without Mr. Ailes is difficult to fathom. As the network his personality is ingrained in the network’s brash approach to the news, which he has described as an antidote to a biased mainstream news media. That his future is now in doubt represents a fundamental change in his unassailable status at the top of the network. Ms. Carlson, 50, filed her lawsuit on July 6, saying she was ousted from her weekday afternoon show on Fox News after rebuffing sexual advances from Mr. Ailes, 76, and complaining about harassment. Ms. Carlson accused Mr. Ailes of ogling her in his office and calling her “sexy. ” Her description of sexual harassment and retaliation was followed by accounts from other women who say Mr. Ailes acted inappropriately in professional settings between the and the late 1980s. But in voicing support for Mr. Ailes, several of his defenders questioned Ms. Carlson’s motives and wondered why she waited until her contract was not renewed to file a sexual harassment lawsuit. Mr. Ailes was unequivocal in his response on the day Ms. Carlson’s lawsuit was filed. “Gretchen Carlson’s allegations are false,” he wrote in a statement. Fox News has been the No. cable news station for 15 years, and represents about 20 percent of all profits for 21st Century Fox. Until now, it was widely assumed that Fox News’s profitability would help ensure Mr. Ailes’s position atop the network. Now the company has made it clear that what it calls the “matter” involving Mr. Ailes is bigger than corporate earnings. | 0fake |
ELECTION CHANGES POLITICAL LANDSCAPE INSIDE MARRIAGE | ELECTION CHANGES POLITICAL LANDSCAPE INSIDE MARRIAGE Nov 14, 2016
RICHMOND, VA (SatireWire.com) – Donald Trump’s shock election has dramatically shifted the political landscape in the home of Deirdre and Scott Taylor of Richmond, Va., as Scott’s vote for Trump has caused Deirdre to redraw the physical and emotional boundaries of their relationship, in lieu of just killing him.
“Due to the incomprehensible votes cast by certain members of this household electorate, I am shifting policy to address the very real threat that my husband Scott is an idiot,” said Deirdre Taylor of Richmond, Va. “As a result, I am today redistricting our house such that Scott resides only his areas, specifically the basement, the garage, the couch – every night – and the yard, although not in areas of the yard where I can see him or hear him or smell him.”
The bedroom, she added, is now the equivalent of the post-industrial Midwestern states that went for Trump.
“It’s a place of anger and sadness that was once a thriving hub of activity but now that’s gone and it’s never coming back,” she said.
The Taylors, who have been married for 12 years, are among thousands of couples in the U.S. that are struggling to adapt to the seismic shift in their once-united states, a shift brought on by a vote in which the women voted for Hillary Clinton and the men chose Trump.
Ironically, many of these white, suburban males now find themselves holding the status of the women and minorities Trump often railed against.
“I’ve talked it over with Deirdre and our friends, and my husband Kirk and his buddies will now be marginalized, under-served and, politically and in all other ways, impotent,” said Kora Ann Snelling, a neighbor of Deirdre’s. “Using terms Mr. Trump and my husband can understand, they’ll be vaginally bankrupt.”
For the Taylors, the shift became apparent late on election night as they watched the results come in.
“I asked Scott if he voted for Hillary, and he said, ‘Um…’ Deirdre recalled.
“That’s all I said! ‘Um,’ Scott explained.
“Because you couldn’t bring yourself to admit you voted for a race-baiting, misogynistic pathological liar who draws support from white nationalists and boasts of sexual assault!” Deirdre countered.
“But I just… wanted to make American great again,” Scott protested.
“Why don’t you make the doghouse great again instead?” Deirdre replied.
“We don’t have a dog,” Scott pointed out.
“Well get Mexico to build you one!” she said.
While Trump doesn’t take office until January, Deirdre has already taken steps to institute a core tenet of her new policy.
“I have completed a virtual border wall between myself and the father of our children – our two daughters ! – and if he so much as attempts to approach he will be treated as an enemy combatant,” she said.
At press time, Deirdre was reading the children a book about tolerance while Scott was trapped in a hell of his own making.
| 1real |
Iran Announces Opening of Underground Missile Factory for ’Forceful’ Development - Breitbart | Iran announced on Thursday that another underground missile production facility is up and running, as it vowed to continue developing missile technology despite warnings from the United States and United Nations. [“Iran’s third underground factory has been built by the Guards in recent years … We will continue to further develop our missile capabilities forcefully,” said Iranian air forces commander Amirali Hajizadeh, as quoted by the UK Daily Mail. “It is natural that our enemies America and the Zionist regime are angry with our missile programme because they want Iran to be in a weak position,” Hajizadeh added, referring to the United States and Israel. Reuters notes Hajizadeh stated the new facility would be Iran’s third underground missile factory. He said it was constructed over the course of “recent years,” but evidently did not specify exactly when it began producing weapons. “Along with improving our defense capabilities, we will continue our missile tests and missile production. The next missile to be produced is a missile,” the Iranian commander said. The new missile series will be named “Dezful,” after the site of the largest tank battle in the War. According to Hajizadeh, the name is meant to convey Iran’s commitment to avoiding ground wars by achieving missile superiority over its regional rivals. Iran’s Mehr news agency quotes Hajizadeh boasting of Iran’s in missile production, and also its advances in drone technology and electronic warfare. “We will never forget the United States supported Saddam’s Baath regime in its war against Iran, shot down our passenger flight, backed MKO, created ISIL and fueled war in Syria, Iraq and Yemen,” he declared. The passenger flight he referred to was Iran Air Flight 655, shot down by a U. S. Navy missile cruiser in 1988. “MKO” is the Khalq Organization, an insurgent organization opposed to the government of Iran. A 2015 broadcast on Iranian television showed a network of tunnels with “ missiles on the back of trucks,” which was supposedly one of hundreds of underground bases supplied by Iran’s missile factories. Sky News notes the announcement of this new missile factory came only days after the White House called upon newly Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to end Iran’s ballistic missile program. | 0fake |
House Speaker Ryan plans Harvey aid 'installments' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said on Friday that lawmakers will replenish a federal disaster relief fund to keep federal aid flowing to Hurricane Harvey victims but that full assistance will come from Congress in installments. “We won’t fully know what all is needed for some time. But we do know that the cash drain is fast. And so we’re going to have to do some quick responses,” Ryan said in an interview with WCLO Radio in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin. “We’re fashioning legislation right now in concert with the administration to get the resources in the FEMA fund quickly so that that fund stays full and doesn’t run out, while the larger assessment is done.” | 0fake |
HYPOCRISY: PAUL RYAN SENDS HIS KIDS TO Private School That Screens Out Muslims, But Demands We Welcome Hundreds Of Thousands Of Muslims To America | Open borders Ryan might be in for a shock when his GOP competitor, businessman Paul Nehlen gives him a run for his money in what should have been a safe seat for him in November. After the Paris terrorist attack, House Speaker Paul Ryan declared that the United States cannot turn away the hundreds of thousands of Islamist migrants now being approved for visas to enter the United States. Ryan declared that it is not appropriate to consider the religious attitudes of would-be migrants seeking admission.After the San Bernardino terrorist attack, Ryan echoed President Obama in condemning what was described as Donald Trump s religious test. However, a Breitbart News investigation now reveals that while Paul Ryan wants no religious test for who gets admitted into America, Ryan sends his children to a private school that uses a religious test in its admissions process.Ryan sends his children to a Catholic school connected to the parish where he was an altar boy as a child.Breitbart News reached out to the school as a perspective applicant and obtained a copy of the school s 2015-2016 registration papers and tuition contract. The document inquires specifically into the applicant s religious background in particular, it asks whether the applicant is a parishioner at the associated Catholic parish. The school recruits through the parish by offering a tuition discount to those who have been baptized and are members of the parish.The registration form defines what qualifies as a parishioner:A parishioner as defined for the purposes of this contract and the attached Addendums is a person who:Is officially registered at [this] Catholic Parish Has had their children baptized; Fulfills the Sunday Mass obligation and other Holy Days of Obligation; Offers consistent financial support (whether weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually) through the church offertory envelopes or direct deposit for a minimum of $800 per calendar year; Volunteers service to the parish; and Participates in parish ministries when asked, or if they feel called to share their talent of time. Instead of doing an explicit ban on Muslim students, Ryan s school applies a religious tax on non-parishioner students thereby creating a two-tiered system for students and their families depending upon whether or not they are parishioners. The registration form explains that the cost to educate a child at [this] School for the 2015-2016 school year is $4,673.00. The school charges non-parishioner families a rate that is higher than the cost of educating the child: For families who do not have at least one parent or guardian who is a parishioner, a minimum of 4,900 tuition per child will be expected. By contrast, parishioners pay less than the cost to educate one child paying only a minimum of $1900.00 tuition per child plus an additional parish contribution of $800 i.e. a total of $2,200 less per year than what is owed by non-parishioners. Parishioners even receive the recruitment incentive of free pre-kindergarten.By signing the contract, parents agree that the tuition they pay is considered an investment in the Catholic education of my child. As the registration forms explain, the school exists for the express purpose of helping to foster Catholic children:[This] school is a Catholic School established and subsidized by the members of [this] Parish, Janesville, Wisconsin for the purpose of assisting Catholic parents in fulfilling the responsibility to raise their children in the Catholic faith.Therefore, as the school s website explains, the school primarily serves children of parish families and non-parishioner families are welcome as space allows. While Muslim students could presumably get into Ryan s school, the school s reliance on the parish as a recruiting center and the above-cost tuition fees would, by definition, function as a mechanism for screening them out. When Breitbart News spoke to a school representative about the school s religious diversity, the representative said that no student currently enrolled wears a headscarf, even as Paul Ryan s migration policies increasingly introduce this new element into other families schools.Moreover, in addition to the school s religious tax in the form of higher tuition for non-parishioner students, the school also requires a certain degree of assimilation from its non-Catholic students: namely, if a non-Catholic student is admitted, she must participate in the school s religious functions, which include regular faith-based courses.If the U.S. had an immigration policy that resembled the admission policy of Speaker Ryan s school i.e. it recruited migrants from churches and synagogues overseas and offered discounted migration to people who attended churches and synagogues although a Muslim migrant could theoretically get in, the effect would be to substantially reduce Muslim migration and increase Christian and Jewish migration relative to it a policy which Ryan finds reprehensible for the country, but ideal for his kids school.While Ryan chooses to insulate his children in an academic environment that considers religion in its admissions process, he has been adamant that the American people are not entitled to be similarly selective about who comes into their country to live as their neighbors, receive their tax dollars, fill public university slots, demand affirmative action, or potentially radicalize against their own country.Days ago, Speaker Ryan even announced that he could not yet support Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton, after Trump became the presumptive GOP nominee selected by Republican voters. Several candidates Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Marco Rubio all ran on Ryan s platform and lost by immense margins. Similarly, Mitt Romney also ran on the Ryan platform and lost in a landslide, as did Eric Cantor in his own Congressional District.Reports have previously noted that one of Ryan s central disagreements with Trump stems from Trump s pledge to enact a temporary pause on Muslim migration a policy Speaker Ryan publicly denounced even though, according to exit polling data, seven in ten GOP Wisconsin voters support Trump s plan.Trump s proposal is not what this party stands for. And more importantly, it s not what this country stands for, Ryan said in December.In the next eight months, the U.S. will issue more visas to Muslim migrants than the number of GOP voters in Ryan s district.Yet, not only does Ryan oppose the temporary migration pause, he has pushed to expand Muslim migration. Ryan has a two-decade long history to pushing to expand immigration rates and has championed legislation that expanded Muslim migration. Last December, Ryan ushered his omnibus spending bill through Congress, which funded visa issuances for nearly 300,000 Muslim migrants, temporary and permanent, over a 12-month time span.In an interview with Sean Hannity in November, Ryan said that he does not support any kind of religious test for determining who is admitted entrance into the country even if the would-be migrants believe that women can t drive [and] can t be seen in public without a male relative. I don t think a religious test is appropriate. That s not who we are, Ryan said. I don t think it s the appropriate test. However, as Andrew McCarthy has previously explained, the U.S. law does, in fact, require a religious test when it comes to making considerations about visa issuances.Ryan grounded his attack of Trump s plan to pause the admission of Muslim foreign citizens on the first amendment right of U.S. citizens. Freedom of religion is a fundamental Constitutional principle. It s a founding principle of this country, Ryan said.However, as Sen. Jeff Sessions has explained contrary to a previous declaration Ryan has made the role of a U.S. lawmaker is to represent U.S. citizens, not foreign nationals living in foreign countries. As such, Sen. Sessions explains that our first amendment protections extend to U.S. citizens, and not to foreign would-be migrants all around the globe. In his remarks arguing against an amendment offered by Sen. Patrick Leahy and supported by Senate Democrats that would move towards creating a global right to migrate, Sessions said:There are 7 billion people in the world. Choosing who can immigrate into the United States is, by definition, an exclusionary process. The goal is to select immigrants for admission based on the benefits they provide to society In the United States, we have protections against discrimination by religion, age, disability, country of origin, etc. We have freedom of association. Rights of due process. Now imagine extending these as part of our immigration system. The logical extension of this concept results in a legal regime in which the United States cannot deny an alien admission to the United States based upon age, health, skill, family criminal history, country of origin, and so forth If we say it is improper to consider religion, then that means it is improper for a consular official to even ask about a candidate s religious beliefs when trying to screen an applicant for entry. It would mean that even asking questions of a fianc seeking a visa about his or her views on any religious matter say on the idea of pluralism vs. religious supremacy would be improper, because if it is improper to favor or disfavor a religion, it is improper to favor or disfavor any interpretation of a religion Are we really prepared to disallow, in the consideration of tens of millions of applications for entry to the United States, any questions about religious views and attitudes? A U.S.-born citizen who subscribes to theocratic Islam has a freedom of speech that allows him to give a sermon denouncing the U.S. constitution or demanding it be changed. But [by extending these protections to foreign nationals] a foreign religious leader living overseas could demand a tourist visa to deliver that same sermon and claim religious discrimination if it is not approved.For entire story: Breitbart News | 1real |
'We the People' is at risk: Why America needs civics education | Most are familiar with the “Jaywalking” quizzes Jay Leno regularly did on the streets of Universal Studios. They often included American civics questions. The answers were often laughably pathetic. Unfortunately, they are representative of the general citizenry’s knowledge.
According to studies byAnnenberg Public Policy Center, only about a third (38 percent) of Americans can name the three branches of America’s government (executive, legislative and judicial), much less explain what each does.
Also surprisingly, only 32 percent of Americans could correctly identify the U.S. Constitution as the supreme law of the land, according to the Xavier Center for the Study of the American Dream. According to this same study, only 32 percent of Americans knew how many U.S. Senators there were (100), and only 29 percent knew the length of a U.S. Senator’s term in office (six years).
Voter turnout for the 2014 national election was the lowest it has been since World War II according to the United States Election Project. In a country that is supposed to be thegold standard for democracy this is simply unacceptable.
Why is this happening? One reason is the lack of emphasis put on civics education in our educational curricula. Voters don’t vote because they don’t understand the process or the power that comes from their votes.
These jarring facts are why I have been actively involved in Utah’s successful effort to pass the American Civics Education Initiative in Utah’s recently concluded legislative session.
If you don’t know it takes four balls for a walk and three strikes for a strike out in baseball, it’s not likely you’re a baseball fan. If you don't know the basics in American civics, you’re not likely to be interested in voting.
The American Civics Education Initiative is simple in concept: Students must pass a test from the 100 basic facts of U.S. history and civics taken from the same test all potential citizens must master before becoming American citizens.
This legislation, now enacted in Utah, as well as Arizona, Idaho, North Dakota and South Dakota, allows students to take the test any time during their high school career and as many times as necessary to pass. By using this well-established test and the study materials that are already easily available online for free, this legislation has nearly no implementation costs.
Some 91 percent of immigrants applying for citizenship pass the civics test on their first try. I recently attended a citizenship swearing-in ceremony at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City (an appropriately named place for this inspiring event). New citizens swore an oath of allegiance to our Republic dedicated to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I saw firsthand how excited these new citizens were to become Americans, as well as the sense of pride they had in having passed the test. They knewtheir stuff.
Utah high school students will now be able to share in that satisfaction of accomplishment. As I travel around Utah to meet with students, I see how bright, enthusiastic and capable they are. I hope that they are also inspired to participate in our democracy.
When leaving Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked, “Well, Doctor, what have we got — a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin responded, “A republic, if you can keep it.” The question is how do we keep it?
Our republic depends on an informed, engaged citizenry. When so many of our fellow citizens don’t know how our government works — and even fewer vote — power becomes concentrated in the hands of the few. We put the bedrock concept of “We the People” at risk.
If our students don’t know how our democracy works and who we are as a people, their participation ourgovernment will continue to wane. We can’t risk that. As Representative Steve Eliason, one of the sponsors of Utah’s law, aptly said during the legislative debate, “The American Civics Education Initiative is chicken soup for our ailing civic soul.”
Utah has taken an important first step in helping bolster American civics education. Legislators across the country need to follow suit and pass similar American civics education legislation in their own states. Only then will the phrase “We the People” live up to its original intent.
Jonathan Johnson is the chairman of Overstock.com, Inc. and the co-chairman of the Civics Education Initiative in Utah. | 0fake |
Details Are Emerging About The Mooch Firing And It Was Brutal | After just 10 days and a few firings under his belt, Donald Trump s brand new communications director got the ax, and as the details are emerging, he was treated almost as badly as he deserved. According to new reports, Anthony Scaramucci had to be escorted from the premises, as if he was caught with his hand in the cash register.Anthony Scaramucci was escorted from White House grounds today after ouster, per source familiar with the scene Jackie Alemany (@JaxAlemany) July 31, 2017Anthony Scaramucci s ouster from Trump Administration might have been a messy affair for the White House, based on a report from CNN s Jeff Zelany about the now-former Communications Director s was led away from the president s mansion.Zeleny was on with Brooke Baldwin to discuss the reports saying Chief of Staff John Kelly removed Scaramucci from his post over his lack of discipline. During his report, Zeleny said Scaramucci was essentially escorted off the White House property earlier this afternoon. Source: MediaiteWhile it may not be that unusual for an ex-employee to be escorted out of the White House, it s safe to say that during Scaramucci s turbulent and tiny tenure, he didn t make any friends. He was reportedly fired because the new Chief of Staff John Kelly didn t approve of the Mooch s insane profanity laced phone call with a New Yorker reporter. Even Donald Trump, who has mocked disabled people and Gold Star families, who goes on Twitter tirades against anyone who stands in his way and who is completely fascinated with women bleeding, thought Scaramucci s language was inappropriate. Here are some snippets of the call that might explain why: Reince (Priebus) is a fucking paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac, Scaramucci said. He channelled Priebus as he spoke: Oh, Bill Shine is coming in. Let me leak the fucking thing and see if I can cock-block these people the way I cock-blocked Scaramucci for six months. And about Steve Bannon. I m not Steve Bannon, I m not trying to suck my own cock, he said, speaking of Trump s chief strategist. I m not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the President. I m here to serve the country. It takes a whole new level of disgusting to make people feel sorry for Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, but that s what we have. As for Scaramucci s unceremonious firing, well, he deserved it.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
Lawmakers seek deeper shake-up at Secret Service | Two weeks after the Secret Service forced out four of its top officials, lawmakers are questioning whether the agency should have ousted one more — its influential second-in-command.
Members of Congress from both parties are concerned that by keeping in place Alvin “A.T.” Smith, the Secret Service stopped short of fully reforming upper management following a string of embarrassing security lapses, according to government officials familiar with the discussions.
Smith, as a top official for nearly a decade and the deputy director since 2012, has managed the agency’s day-to-day operations and was a key architect of its budgets and policies. He has overseen the departments responsible for the missteps and is now helping to engineer the agency’s overhaul.
Smith is the highest-ranking official to survive a series of management shake-ups that began in October with the resignation of Director Julia Pierson and continued this month with the ouster or retirement of six assistant directors.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plans to invite Smith and acting director Joseph P. Clancy to appear at a February hearing focusing on the core reasons behind security breaches involving the White House and the president, according to people knowledgeable about the panel’s plans.
Committee members have heard from agency whistleblowers who have complained that Smith approved policy changes that they say weakened the agency, according to these people. Lawmakers have also quietly expressed concern to administration officials in recent days about Smith’s continued presence in the agency’s top leadership.
“I’m worried that A.T. Smith is part of the problem, not part of the solution,” said the committee’s chairman, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). “He seems to be in the middle of most of these really bad decisions.”
Smith and Clancy declined to comment. Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan also declined to discuss Smith’s role but said the deputy director has a “proven record of accomplishment and professionalism.”
The discussions regarding Smith’s role underscore a dilemma facing the Obama administration as it attempts to turn around the beleaguered protective agency: how to clean house in the upper ranks without losing the unusual expertise required for the highly specialized work of protecting the White House and national leaders.
Smith’s allies say that ousting the 28-year Secret Service veteran would strip the agency of the little remaining continuity and institutional knowledge remaining after the shake-up in leadership.
“He’s a pivotal peg in the foundation,” said Jon Adler, president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. “If he gets pulled, I’m concerned there would be a need for a complete rebuild. We don’t have luxury for a rebuild, because the bad guys aren’t going to wait for us to do a complete overhaul.”
A reminder of the Secret Service’s continuing challenges came this week when an errant recreational drone evaded detection and crashed on the White House grounds. The device was not a threat, but the agency has studied the White House’s vulnerability to a drone attack for years and has yet to find a solution. This week’s incident came four months after a knife-wielding man was able to jump the White House fence and race into the front door and through much of the main floor — a humiliation for the Secret Service that exposed poor training and numerous breakdowns in communications and procedures.
Smith, 56, who started his law enforcement career as a Greenville, S.C., sheriff’s dispatcher and joined the Secret Service in 1986 as a special investigator in the Miami field office, knows the inner workings of the agency better than anyone, according to several current and former managers.
He also has made political connections as he has risen through the ranks, serving during the 1990s as head of the protective detail for then-first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Smith married President Bill Clinton’s cousin Catherine Cornelius in 2000, and Bill and Hillary Clinton attended the wedding at Foundry Methodist Church near the White House.
Smith has received a number of awards during his career, particularly related to his time heading the New York field office and managing major security events. New York agents applauded his steady hand in rebuilding the agency’s flagship field office after its headquarters at the World Trade Center was destroyed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and one of its officers was killed.
The George W. Bush administration honored him with a merit award in 2004 for his handling of security at the Republican National Convention at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Smith received the Secretary’s Silver Medal from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for coordinating security for the 60th anniversary of the U.N. General Assembly in 2005, at the time the largest security event the agency had ever managed.
But Smith is also directly responsible for some of the decisions cited as contributing factors in recent security lapses, including the Sept. 19 fence-jumping incident and the failure of the security system at Vice President Biden’s Delaware home when shots were fired near the house this month.
Smith signed off on canceling academy classes for new recruits and regular training for officers, which resulted in the White House being guarded by a team of Secret Service officers who were stretched thin and often unsure of their specific duties in responding to an intruder. He also approved cutting back on funds meant to replace aging technology and alarms.
His management decisions came under scrutiny after he authorized a special operation in 2011 that diverted agents from a White House surveillance post to monitor the well-being of the Secret Service director’s administrative assistant, who was in a dispute with her neighbor.
The agency’s inspector general later concluded that “Operation Moonlight” was improper and represented a “serious lapse in judgment” in removing agents from a key post. Smith defended his actions, telling investigators that he felt it was appropriate for the Secret Service to be concerned about the welfare of a staffer, particularly one who held a White House pass and worked closely with the agency director.
Smith’s critics say he is one of the central architects of an insular management structure that has lost the trust of rank-and-file employees, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former personnel.
Many inside were shocked that Smith was not forced out along with the top managers. “People were holding their breath for two months,” one veteran agent said. “Now they are wondering: Why is the core of the problem still there?”
A special panel appointed by the Department of Homeland Security recommended last month that the White House pick a new director from outside the Secret Service, describing the agency as “starved” for dynamic leaders with fresh ideas.
In recent weeks, Smith has provided close counsel to Clancy, who has said he is seeking to repair management problems and repair the battered image of a once-
revered agency.
Smith was involved in the recent departures of senior managers. And last week, he helped choose five new assistant directors to fill the new vacancies, almost all of whom served with Smith on previous assignments. | 0fake |
The Orlando Shooter’s 911 Calls Were Finally Released — and They’re Very Telling |
By Alice Salles
In June, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released a heavily redacted snippet of the transcript of Omar Mateen’s calls with the 911 dispatchers and police. Mateen, the murderer behind the brutal June killing of 49 nightclub goers in Orlando, Florida, had called 911 amid the massacre, and negotiators then called the killer several times throughout the evening.
At the time of the transcript’s release, the public denounced the FBI and the Department of Justice (DOJ) for censoring the Orlando shooter’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS). Claiming the omission was meant to ensure would-be terrorists wouldn’t have a “publicity platform,” officials added the transcripts had distracted the public from “ the hard work that the FBI and our law enforcement partners have been doing to investigate this heinous crime .”
But when the FBI released the full transcripts in September, the documents offered us a closer look into the motives behind Mateen’s actions, which had also been confirmed by one of the hostages. Unfortunately, few pundits dared to bring that information up on primetime television.
Now that the full audio recordings of the calls between the shooter and 911 dispatchers have been made public , Mateen’s comments regarding U.S. military interventions abroad are being brought up again.
The audio recordings were released following an order from Circuit Judge Margaret Schreiber. Orlando city attorney Darryl Bloodworth recently promised the city would no longer keep the tapes under wraps, which prompted the judge’s order. The city had been the number one obstacle between journalists and the tapes, claiming their release would “ be a violation of a Florida law that makes photographs, videos or audio recordings showing ‘the killing of a person’ exempt from disclosure, available only to family members .”
In one of the released calls, Mateen can be heard insisting the police negotiator tell “ the US government to stop bombing,” and when the negotiator asks Mateen to tell him where he is, he answers , “ No, because you have to tell America to stop bombing Syria and Iraq .”
The U.S. government, Mateen continues , “ [is] killing too many children, they are killing too many women, OK? … So what am I to do here, when my people are getting killed over there? You get what I’m saying? ” When asked about “what is going on tonight,” Mateen adds :
“ What’s going on is that I feel the pain of the people getting killed in Syria and Iraq and all over the Muslim [unidentified word] .”
As Mateen is pressed to give the negotiator more information, he becomes more hostile and hangs up repeatedly. Asked for his name, Mateen responds with the following:
“ You’re speaking with the person who pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. ”
At one point during the conversation, Mateen asks the negotiator to call him “ Mujahedeen, call me the Soldier of God. ”
While several calls were made, Mateen resisted giving the negotiator any further information, repeatedly referring to the U.S. bombings of Iraq and Syria and even going as far as to accuse the United States of collaborating with Russia, “ and … killing innocent women and children .”
On June 12, 5 a.m., Orlando police and Orange County deputies entered Pulse nightclub and killed Mateen in a shootout . The audio released by the city is one of over 200 other phone calls made to 911 during the shooting. These recordings remain under review by Judge Schreiber, TC Palm reported . Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
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The “Anti” in our name does not mean we are against the media, we are simply against the current mainstream paradigm. The current media, influenced by the industrial complex, is a top-down authoritarian system of distribution—the opposite of what Anti-Media aims to be. At Anti-Media, we want to offer a new paradigm—a bottom-up approach for real and diverse reporting. We seek to establish a space where the people are the journalists and a venue where independent journalism moves forward on a larger and more truthful scale. | 1real |
U.N. picks Norwegian for Myanmar role as tensions simmer over Rohingya crisis | YANGON (Reuters) - The United Nations named a new interim U.N. resident coordinator for Myanmar on Tuesday, appointing Knut Ostby of Norway to take over the humanitarian role at a time of growing strains with the Myanmar government over the handling of the Rohingya crisis. The appointment of a temporary placeholder was expected after Myanmar blocked an upgrade of the U.N. country chief position. Myanmar s de facto leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, has told diplomats in private meetings that she is frustrated with the United Nations, particularly its human rights arm. Ostby, who has served with the United Nations in a number of hotspots, including Afghanistan and East Timor, will replace Renata Lok-Dessallien, who has completed her term. Some 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh after ethnic violence erupted in Myanmar s northern Rakhine state in late August. Rights monitors and Rohingya refugees say the army and Rakhine Buddhist vigilantes have forced them to flee their homes. U.N. investigators interviewing Rohingyas living in refugee camps near Cox s Bazar said on Friday they had gathered testimony pointing to a consistent, methodical pattern of killings, torture, rape and arson. The fact-finding team, led by former Indonesian attorney general Marzuki Darusman, said the death toll from the Myanmar army s crackdown following Rohingya insurgent attacks on Aug. 25 was unknown, but may turn out to be extremely high . The U.N. team, which was established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in March, renewed its appeal for access to Rakhine state and for talks with the Myanmar government and military to establish the facts . In the early stages of the crisis, the United Nations described the military campaign as ethnic cleansing , an accusation rejected by Myanmar, which says its military was engaged in counter-insurgency operations against Rohingya militants behind a series of attacks on security posts. Suu Kyi has said the refugees can return, but thousands continue to arrive in Bangladesh. Myanmar, an overwhelmingly Buddhist country with small Christian and Muslim minorities, is struggling to emerge from decades of military rule, and Suu Kyi s democratically elected government is engaged in a peace dialogue with members of various armed ethnic groups. | 0fake |
Wingnuts have a death-grip on Congress: Why Paul Ryan can’t control the House GOP | Remember last fall, when pundits and politicians were trying to talk themselves into Paul Ryan as Speaker of the House because he would lay down the law with the hard-right wing of the Republican caucus? When he was the man who could bring some much-needed order to the ranks? Who could maybe end this habit of careening from crisis to crisis that Congress has fallen into because the two parties are unable to agree on anything, down to whether toilet paper should be rolled over or under in Capitol Hill bathrooms, let alone a budget to fund the basic functions of government?
As the kids like to say, LOL:
“The release of President Obama’s eighth and final budget on Tuesday has forced into the open the seething tensions that never really went away after a spending agreement was reached last year, in part to ease Mr. Ryan’s transition into the speaker’s suite. That deal set spending until the end of October of this year, at levels that the president adhered to and Senate Republicans hope to make stick. But a core group of House Republicans who gave Mr. Ryan a pass back then now say they want to toss those numbers out like so much flotsam and pass their own budget with far tighter spending restrictions.”
That “core group of House Republicans” is the House Freedom Caucus, the band of 40 or so feral meerkats who did much of the heavy lifting in driving John Boehner into retirement. But they aren’t the only Republicans who look like infants here. Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), the chairs of the House and Senate Budget Committees, last week announced they will not even let the director of the Office of Management and Budget present the proposed budget to the Congress. This practice is a common courtesy extended to presidential administrations for the last 40 years or so.
No one would expect any Congress to rubber-stamp a president’s budget proposal, of course. Not even if the same party controlled both chambers and the White House. But what’s notable here is this quote from one member of the Freedom Caucus:
Right, except you’re not passing a Republican budget any more than President Obama expects you to pass a Democratic budget. The president’s proposal is the opening to a negotiation, to be hashed out between two parties. Is anyone available who can explain the job of legislating to these legislators?
But like so many other legislative norms that the Republicans in Congress have tossed out the window during the Obama era, the practice of two co-equal branches of government openly and fairly debating genuine issues that will affect the American people has been given the heave-ho. Yet I’d bet cash money some of these legislators like Mulvaney and Price are also just astonished that bullying idiot Donald Trump is stomping their party’s candidates for the Republican nomination.
Paul Ryan knows how this is supposed to work. He was, after all, the ranking Republican member of the House Budget Committee for the four years the Democrats controlled the House from 2007 to 2011. Then, when the GOP regained the majority in the chamber, he chaired the committee for another four years, until 2015. If anyone in the House knows how the budget sausage gets made, knows all the little compromises over appropriations levels and priorities that go into funding the government, it’s Ryan. But as part of his deal to earn his Republican colleagues’ votes for Speaker, Ryan devolved a fair amount of power for setting legislative agendas back to the committee chairmen. This took away one of the tools that past Speakers like Boehner could use as leverage to get bills they favored taken up by individual committees. With that gone, a weak Speaker is practically a helpless bystander to this sort of spectacle. Sure, maybe he can still yank the chairmanship away from Price, but that will just raise howls of protest from the other chairs who thought they had freedom to run things as they see fit. And though Price isn’t a member of the Freedom Caucus, you can bet that group approves of what he’s doing. If Ryan punishes him, he gets an even louder revolt on his right flank, in the middle of an election year. But beyond all this inside-baseball stuff is a point that many pundits have hammered on over and over during the primary campaign. Which is that this partisan infection of the House is not going away after the 2016 election, or even after 2018 and likely not until sometime after the next census in 2020, if it happens at all. So even if Democrats still hold the White House next year, either Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton will spend much of his or her time negotiating and fighting these budget fights just to keep the government’s lights on, let alone pushing through major changes to healthcare or financial industry regulations. Plus, there’s a good chance he or she will be saddled with Paul Ryan as Speaker, and he’s about as solid as helium. By the end of 2017, we may all be longing for the halcyon days when John Boehner ran things. | 0fake |
‘Zoot Suit,’ a Pioneering Chicano Play, Comes Full Circle - The New York Times | LOS ANGELES — When “Zoot Suit” first opened at the Mark Taper Forum in 1978, little about the production screamed hit. Much of the cast had scant acting experience. The story itself was a Brechtian take on a relatively obscure unsolved murder in 1942 Los Angeles its climax involved a humiliating assault on a Latino man by racist United States servicemen. Just a decade earlier, its writer and director, Luis Valdez, was creating short skits for audiences of striking farmworkers in the fields of the Central Valley in California. But audiences kept coming, and coming, selling out show after packed show. Fans came one week and returned with their families the next Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead is said to have seen the play 22 times. After running for 11 months to audiences, first at the Taper and then at the Aquarius Theater in Hollywood, “Zoot Suit” moved to New York’s Winter Garden in 1979, where it became the first Chicano theatrical production on Broadway. Mr. Valdez then directed a version, which was released in 1982. “We had no idea any of this would happen, man,” he said. “It was like this huge explosion. ” On Tuesday, Jan. 31, a revival of “Zoot Suit” begins its run at the Taper, kicking off the theater’s season. A fantastical reimagining of the Sleepy Lagoon murder case, in which 12 Latino youths were unjustly convicted by a biased judge, “Zoot Suit” features racist prosecutors and lovelorn kids, lively swing tunes and family squabbles. The infamous Zoot Suit riots, a series of racially motivated attacks against youths in the summer of 1943, figures in as well. Looming over it all is El Pachuco, a mythical trickster figure who can stop time and materialize wherever he pleases (think Prospero, but with a lot more panache) and “The Press,” a barking headline made flesh. The show is both a homecoming and a reunion. Four decades after its world premiere, Mr. Valdez, who is 76, is back as director. Daniel Valdez (Luis’s brother) and Rose Portillo, who in 1978 portrayed Henry Reyna and Della Barrios, the young lovers at the heart of the play, this time around play Henry’s parents. “I got kind of choked up the first time I heard those words all over again,” Daniel Valdez said. “Coming back to it is a little like coming home. ” In the intervening years, Latino playwrights, from Cherrie Moraga to Luis Alfaro, have made their mark on American theater. Karen Zacarias started the Young Playwrights’ Theater in 1995 in 2003, Nilo Cruz became the first Latino to win a Pulitzer for drama. Then there’s Miranda. But no other Latino play has had the cultural impact of “Zoot Suit,” not to mention its influence on generations of subsequent Latino playwrights. On a recent morning, the cast rehearsed a scene set in a Los Angeles dance hall. Several men wore trousers, long watch chains dangling from their belts the women sported tights and sneakers. The men were strutting, the women spinning, but when a rival gang arrived, colorful curses flew, then fists, and before you knew it, the switchblades were out. El Pachuco snapped his fingers, stopping time just as Henry was about to cut his rival’s throat. “That’s exactly what the play needs right now,” he said. “Two more Mexicans killing each other. ” The relevance of this scene in the Trump era isn’t lost on the cast and crew. Much of the play focuses on how are vilified in the United States as violent criminals and perpetual outsiders — “this ain’t your country,” El Pachuco tells Henry early on. “That was part of the reason I felt that I had to be in this production,” said Demián Bichir, the actor who plays El Pachuco. “There couldn’t be a better opportunity for the arts to respond to so much nonsense and ignorance and stupidity. ” (When not acting, Mr. Bichir, who is Mexican, is an American Civil Liberties Union celebrity ambassador for immigration rights.) For Luis Valdez, mixing the political and the theatrical is nothing new. Dressed all in black, his voice a rich baritone, he recalled the years that led up to “Zoot Suit. ” In 1965, he founded El Teatro Campesino, a theater troupe and “cultural arm” of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers. The group staged skits, which he wrote and directed, in halls and on the backs of flatbed trucks. After the troupe left the farm workers’ group in 1967, Mr. Valdez continued to write plays that examined the Chicano experience, including “Bandito!” and “I Don’t Have to Show You No Stinking Badges!” “I call him the father of contemporary Chicano theater,” said Jorge Huerta, who wrote the book “Chicano Theater: Themes and Forms. ” “Not only did he found the Teatro Campesino, the teatro inspired other teatros, an entire movement from the West Coast to the Midwest all the way to the Dakotas. ” In 1977, Mr. Valdez met with Gordon Davidson, who was the director of the Taper then, about creating something for its New Theater for Now series. He arrived clutching a pamphlet about the Sleepy Lagoon murder that he had gotten years earlier from David Sanchez, the founder of the organization the Brown Berets. “He essentially gave me carte blanche,” he said. Mr. Valdez set to work on the play, combining elements of Aztec mythology (Tezcatlipoca’s colors, for example, mirror El Pachuco’s zoot suit) prison letters from the defendants culled from U. C. L. A. Library’s special collections department and court transcripts. In one courtroom sequence from the 1982 film, a police officer testifies that pachucos have an “inborn” tendency for violence inherited from “the bloodthirsty Aztecs. ” “I took that from the transcripts,” Mr. Valdez said. “I didn’t invent that stuff. That wasn’t agitprop. ” “The Second Zoot Suit Riot begins,” an ad in a local newspaper declared in 1978. “That was probably hatched right here in this office,” Mr. Valdez laughed. “But there was a rush for tickets, so in that sense, it was a riot. A good riot. An artistic riot. ” The play helped start the career of Edward James Olmos, who played El Pachuco in Los Angeles and on Broadway, as well as in the film. Mr. Valdez soon shifted his focus to movies as well — his 1987 Ritchie Valens biopic “La Bamba” was both a critical and hit — but he’s still best known for “Zoot Suit,” which broke Los Angeles theater records for ticket sales during its first run. The Taper, which also hosted the world premiere productions of “Angels in America” and “Children of a Lesser God,” hopes to create a similar buzz this time around. Univision and Hoy sponsored a party at the theater to celebrate the first day of ticket sales, complete with dancers and live swing music. The AltaMed Art Collection in Los Angeles is lending art that will be on display in the theater lobby. Strong sales have prompted the Taper to extend the show’s run another week, through March 19 even after adding the additional shows, 35 high school groups remain on a waiting list to see special student matinees. “We do shows a year, and you can feel the excitement among the staff about having this show rehearse in our building,” said Michael Ritchie, artistic director of the Center Theater Group, which includes the Taper. “You can feel the buzz in the hallways. ” Those hallways aren’t far from many places, historic and infamous, brought to life in the play. Los Angeles’s Hall of Justice, where the young men were tried and convicted, is two blocks away flash points of the riots erupted in the area. “Some of the riots actually took place very near where we’re rehearsing,” Daniel Valdez said. “Temple and Main, right down the street. ” A big difference between this production and the 1978 one is the level of the cast’s experience. “In those days, there weren’t many Latinos looking for a career in theater, so we were working with a lot of actors,” Daniel Valdez added. “We had people who had never really been onstage. Now, watching the casting calls and the dance auditions, they’re absolutely amazing. ” The nationwide call drew 800 actors for 25 parts, and most cast members have backgrounds in film and TV. Mr. Bichir (“The Hateful Eight,” “Weeds”) a star in his native Mexico before coming to Los Angeles, was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 2011 film “A Better Life” Jeanine Mason, a actor and dancer from Miami who plays Della, was the youngest competitor to win the Fox series “So You Think You Can Dance. ” Though the play was written in 1978 and set in 1942, Mr. Valdez feels its story is timeless, its themes part of an historical cycle. He traces lines from the internment camps to the Zoot Suit Riots, from Black Lives Matter to the vilification of Muslims. “And now the Mexicans are getting it again, thanks to Trump,” he said. “It’s like the closing of a complete circle. ” At a table reading between dance rehearsals, Mr. Bichir and Tom G. McMahon had questions for Mr. Valdez about how to tackle their roles as El Pachuco and the Press. In many ways, they’re more archetypes than people, jumping in and out of the action at will. The challenge, Mr. Valdez said, is finding the human in the trickster spirit. The play presents lots of similar challenges for audiences. “My play has the same relationship to a normal realistic play as a zoot suit has to a normal suit,” Mr. Valdez said. “It’s different. The lengths are longer. There’s more fabric. But it’s very cool! And I think that’s part of the appeal. ” | 0fake |
Iran Retaliates, Plans to Block Americans from Iran in Response to Trump’s Visa Ban | Iran has announced that it will prevent United States citizens from entering the country in retaliation against President Donald Trump’s visa ban against Tehran and six other countries. [In a statement issued Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry stated, “Iran will implement the principle of reciprocity until the offensive U. S. limitations against Iranian nationals are lifted. ” The statement made a distinction between “the American people and the hostile policies of the U. S. government. ” It continued to suggest that the restrictions against Muslims traveling to America “are an open affront against the Muslim world and the Iranian nation in particular and will be known as a great gift to extremists. ” Trump’s ban on travelers from seven volatile countries, including Iran, targets radical Islamic extremism but does not ban travelers simply for their Islamic faith. It is, however, a direct reaction to the rise in extremism throughout much of the Western world. Iran remains one of the foremost abusers of human rights, and sponsors of terrorism, in the world. Trump signed the executive order on Friday, temporarily banning individuals from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, and Somalia from entering the United States. The order also lowered the ceiling of refugees allowed to enter the United States to 50, 000 during FY 2017. Further, the executive order includes a temporary block on visas for 90 days for “immigrants and ” from the aforementioned nations, and specifically directs the Secretary of State to “request all foreign governments that do not supply such information [regarding refugee vetting] to start providing such information regarding their nationals within 60 days of notification. ” There are more than 1 million living in the United States, with the largest concentration of them living in Los Angeles, California. This ban imposed by the Iranian government would prevent them from traveling back to to Iran. A senior Trump administration official pushed back against the notion that Friday’s executive order was a Muslim ban. The official “listed off several predominantly Muslim countries that the order does not apply to. The official said that the United States still took in more foreigners than any other country in the history of civilization and said that the number of people impacted by Friday’s executive order was relatively small,” as reported by the New York Time‘s Michael Schmidt. Regarding Iran, the official “said that the White House is aware of reports that Iran plans reciprocal steps in response to Friday’s executive order, adding that if those measures are indeed reciprocal, it means that the Iranians will review each individual on a case by case basis. ” Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani criticized Trump’s intended wall across the U. S. border. In a speech that was broadcast on Iran’s TV network, Rouhani said, “Today is not the time to erect walls between nations. They have forgotten that the Berlin wall fell years ago. ” He echoed that statement on Twitter, writing, “Let’s help neighboring cultures, not build walls between nations. Let’s not forget what happened to the #BerlinWall. ” Let’s help neighboring cultures, not build walls between nations. Let’s not forget what happened to the #BerlinWall. — Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 28, 2017, Following former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani’s death earlier this month, Rouhani similarly wrote, “Today all people came to bid farewell to a man who made history Let us use this mood to build a bridge instead of a wall. ” امروز برای وداع با آن مرد تاریخساز همه آمده بودند؛ بیاییم از این فضا برای دوستی، #آشتی و وحدت ملی استفاده کنیم. بجای #دیوار، #پل بسازیم. pic. twitter. — حسن روحانی (@Rouhani_ir) January 10, 2017, According to Reuters, Rouhani also took aim at Trump’s withdrawal of the U. S. from the Partnership (TPP) trade deal on Monday, while speaking to a tourism conference in Tehran. “To annul world trade accords does not help their economy and does not serve the development and blooming of the world economy,” Rouhani said. “This is the day for the world to get closer through trade. ” Rouhani is facing a tough reelection fight in May. Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter and Periscope @AdelleNaz | 0fake |
BEGGIN’ MEGYN KELLY’S New Book Ripped To Shreads In Amazon Reviews…Karma! | Megyn Kelly started out like a shooting star as an anchor on FOX News but is now crashing down in so many ways. Here s the latest epic failure She s been out hawking her new book all over the place but the people just aren t buyin it. What s even better is they re totally ripping her in the Amazon reviews and giving her one out of five stars (see below).We d like to say that a big dose of karma has hit Ms. Kelly and we can t think of a more deserving person.She literally used her position against Donald Trump to promote her book and career. Who knows if her accusations that Donald Trump screamed at her are true. How can he defend himself from the horrible things she s said about him?We think his supporters have done a great job of helping him out. Amazon is on fire with one star reviews for Kelly. We think she should rename her book Settle for More to Settle for One Star Real, Raw Gimme a Break! | 1real |
Mississippi lawmaker 'sorry' he urged lynching for statue removal | (Reuters) - A Mississippi state lawmaker who called for the lynching of Louisiana officials for removing pro-slavery era monuments apologized on Monday after his comments sparked a firestorm of criticism. Republican Representative Karl Oliver had taken to Facebook on Saturday to criticize the removal of monuments in New Orleans that city leaders deemed racially offensive. The last of the four statues, of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, was taken down on Friday. The Confederacy was made up of states that attempted to preserve slavery in the South and secede from the United States in the Civil War of 1861 to 1865. Oliver, a first-term lawmaker, said the monuments had been erected in the “memory of our family and fellow Southern Americans” and compared those taking them down them to Nazis. If those behind the removals want to “burn books or destroy historical monuments of OUR HISTORY, they should be LYNCHED!” Oliver wrote in a Facebook post, which has since been removed. Oliver, a funeral home director from Winona, said on Monday that he had embarrassed fellow legislators and the state and that his choice of words was inappropriate. “In an effort to express my passion for preserving all historical monuments, I acknowledge the word ‘lynched’ was wrong. I am very sorry,” he said in an emailed statement. Oliver did not respond to requests for an interview. Removal of the monuments provoked clashes between opponents and supporters, and workers wore body armor and face coverings to shield their identities. Both Republicans and Democrats in Mississippi issued statements condemning Oliver, with Republican Governor Phil Bryant saying his “language is unacceptable and has no place in civil discourse.” The state Democratic Party called it “inflammatory.” House of Representatives Speaker Philip Gunn had called on Oliver to apologize, saying his views did not reflect those of the Republican Party or the House and its leadership. Gunn has supported removal of the Confederate battle emblem from the Mississippi state flag, but has said he cannot get enough support from the Republican House lawmakers. | 0fake |
Britain First leader whom Trump re-tweeted arrested again in Belfast | BELFAST (Reuters) - A leader of a British far-right group, whose anti-Islamic posts were retweeted by U.S. President Donald Trump causing outrage in Britain, was arrested in Northern Ireland on Thursday minutes after being bailed over a separate incident. Jayda Fransen, deputy leader of the fringe anti-immigrant Britain First group, appeared at a court in Belfast to face charges of using threatening, abusive or insulting words in a speech at a rally in the city in August. She was remanded on continuing bail until January 9 on condition that she does not go within 500 meters of any rally or demonstration before the case is finished. As she left court, Fransen, 31, was then arrested and charged with breaking the same law in a separate incident on Wednesday near one of the peace walls that separate Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods, police said. Police declined to give any further details of the incident. Britain First s leader Paul Golding, 35, was also arrested as he accompanied Fransen to the courthouse and later charged in connection with the August incident. Trump s sharing of Fransen s anti-Muslim videos, posted on Twitter, provoked outrage in Britain last month, drawing a sharp rebuke from Prime Minister Theresa May and straining relations between two close allies. An attempt by police to restrict Fransen s use of social media - Twitter and Facebook - was rejected by the judge on Thursday. Fransen was fined last month after being found guilty by a court in England of religiously aggravated harassment for shouting abuse at a Muslim woman wearing a hijab. Her lawyer told Belfast Magistrates Court on Thursday she would be pleading not guilty to the charges she faces in relation to the August rally. Golding is a former senior figure in the far-right British National Party and founded Britain First in 2011. The group describes itself as a patriotic political party and street movement . Critics denounce it as a racist organization. | 0fake |
Coulter Calls on Trump to Impose Temporary Ban on All Immigration - Breitbart | Monday on Fox Business Network’s “Varney Co. ,” conservative commentator Ann Coulter, author of “In Trump We Trust: E Pluribus Awesome!” suggested rather than impose a ban on people from certain countries, President Donald Trump should enact a temporary ban on all immigration to the United States. Coulter said if everyone were banned, that would eliminate the religious aspects that are preventing Trump from enacting his policy on immigration. “I mean, what Trump, for example, suggested in his immigration policy paper, the greatest document since the Magna Carta, was a temporary ban on all immigration,” Coulter said. “You have no religious problem then. Why doesn’t he go back to that? It’s both more aggressive — be very careful. Let in a few a year. We’re letting in 2 million people a year — illegal, legal, guest workers. Probably more than 2 million. And The New York Times writes, ‘Well, it’s just impossible to vet that many people coming in.’ Well, don’t let in that many people then. It’s not that hard. ” “And as for the detention, I would say yes, there are ways to be aggressive,” she continued. “I’d think in some ways I’d be more aggressive. But I don’t think it would raise as many hackles because it looks nothing like an internment. I mean, Europe as an easier time than we do. They don’t have a First Amendment. In Germany, it’s a crime to support the Nazi Party. Are you worried about the Nazis today? No, but we are worried about ISIS. We are worried about Islamic terrorism. It ought to be a crime not merely to communicate, but to advocate that ideology and they ought to be thrown out of the country. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 0fake |
Palestinians switch off Christmas lights in Bethlehem in anti-Trump protest | RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinians switched off Christmas lights at Jesus traditional birthplace in Bethlehem on Wednesday night in protest at U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. A Christmas tree adorned with lights outside Bethlehem s Church of the Nativity, where Christians believe Jesus was born, and another in Ramallah, next to the burial site of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, were plunged into darkness. The Christmas tree was switched off on the order of the mayor today in protest at Trump s decision, said Fady Ghattas, Bethlehem s municipal media officer. He said it was unclear whether the illuminations would be turned on again before the main Christmas festivities. In a speech in Washington, Trump said he had decided to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital and move the U.S. embassy to the city. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Trump s move marked the beginning of a new approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said it was an historic landmark . Arabs and Muslims across the Middle East condemned the U.S. decision, calling it an incendiary move in a volatile region and the European Union and United Nations also voiced alarm at the possible repercussions for any chances of reviving Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. | 0fake |
U.S. justices skeptical of Puerto Rican politician's bribery appeal | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared ready to rule against a Puerto Rican politician who maintained he cannot be retried on corruption charges involving a trip to Las Vegas to watch a boxing bout after his original conviction was thrown out. The eight justices heard the first oral argument of their new term in the appeal filed by Hector Martinez Maldonado, who served in Puerto Rico’s Senate from 2005 until his 2011 conviction, and businessman Juan Bravo Fernandez, former president of a private security company. Several justices expressed skepticism about the defendants’ arguments. Bravo Fernandez sought to bribe Martinez Maldonado to win passage of bills that would benefit his business, according to prosecutors. The case focused in part on allegations that Bravo Fernandez paid for Martinez Maldonado to travel to Las Vegas in 2005 to watch boxer Felix “Tito” Trinidad, a sports hero in the Caribbean U.S. territory, lose to underdog Winky Wright. Bravo Fernandez and Martinez Maldonado were convicted for their roles in the alleged bribery scheme. The Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out their convictions in 2013. Federal prosecutors planned a new trial but the two men said it should be barred because it would violate the U.S. Constitution’s protection against “double jeopardy,” preventing people from being tried on charges for which they already have been acquitted. Their lawyers said double jeopardy applies because the jury had acquitted them on some of the criminal charges concerning conduct closely related to the actions on which the retrial would be focused. Prosecutors said the acquittals were inconsistent with the convictions, suggesting jurors did not understand the law. Based on the questions they asked, the justices appeared unlikely to throw out a 2015 appeals court decision backing prosecutors. Justice Elena Kagan asked the defendants’ attorney, Lisa Blatt, about her argument: “Is it anything more than rhetoric?” Chief Justice John Roberts told Blatt it was her burden to show the jury’s verdict was a legal and valid judgment on the same set of facts that the government wants to re-try, and not just a misunderstanding. A ruling is due by the end of June. Outside the courthouse, protesters demanded that the U.S. Senate confirm Merrick Garland, President Barack Obama’s nominee to fill the court’s vacancy left by the February death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Senate Republicans have refused to act on Garland’s nomination, saying Obama’s successor should make the appointment after taking office in January. | 0fake |
Smoke a Cigar with Dennis Prager to Support Free Speech | Dennis Prager fans with an affinity for cigars may want to head out to Los Angeles later this month. [On March 20, the radio talker will host an event at a secret location in L. A. to support his upcoming film, No Safe Spaces, a documentary about the current assault on the First Amendment happening on college campuses and at other institutions across the country. For a $5, 000 contribution to the film, Prager fans can enjoy a complimentary cigar and refreshments with the man himself, a photo at the event, a “Special Thanks” credit at the end of the film and two VIP passes to a screening once it’s completed. The film just started shooting, and is expected to be completed early next year. “I love cigars. I adore Adam Carolla. And I thrive on good intimate conversation with a small group of people. So this should be quite an evening,” Prager told Breitbart News in an email. Interested fans can learn more about the project and donate here. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 0fake |
REP STEVE SCALISE Scolds Obama Crony For “Obit” Tweet About GOP Leaders | WHAT S WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Clinton Crony Ben Rhodes tweeted out a wish for death to McConnell, Ryan and Pence:Rhodes is a former Obama administration official with the National Security Council.Republican Steve Scalise was shot last year when a crazed Democrat attacked Republicans practicing for a baseball game He was near death and had months of recovery before he could come back to D.C. It goes without saying that the Ben Rhodes tweet was very insensitive and helps no one in any way to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans. The Democrats continuously show themselves to be hateful and snarky Not a good look for anyone.Scalise responded to the Rhodes tweet with a short and sweet tweet that got the point across:You may want to reconsider your rhetoric. https://t.co/VQVWej6n00 Rep. Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) December 21, 2017But the lefty lunatics started coming after Scalise. No kidding!GOP. Whip offended by implication fellow Republicans leaders are not immortal https://t.co/LnwO2caZ1h Jonathan Chait (@jonathanchait) December 21, 2017Sicko! | 1real |
The oNe who's nAME shOuld not be Mention...!!!! | Report Copyright Violation The oNe who's nAME shOuld not be Mention...!!!! His N3ame shOuld never Be mentiOn, because it represents power and real power is scary and unnerving....To those that holD and move the strings of the puppets ....His name is fear by g O d and the de V il but bless bY3 the universal true....Although god and the devil fears him, Lucifer calls him a brother and an equal in the realms of the heavens and the earth....the primordial father but also the s O n of the future earth.... Anonymous Coward Report Copyright Violation Re: The oNe who's nAME shOuld not be Mention...!!!! His N3ame shOuld never Be mentiOn, because it represents power and real power is scary and unnerving....To those that holD and move the strings of the puppets ....His name is fear by g O d and the de V il but bless bY3 the universal true....Although god and the devil fears him, Lucifer calls him a brother and an equal in the realms of the heavens and the earth....the primordial father but also the s O n of the future earth.... Quoting: LuCy X 12702162 Sooo, you know His name? Anonymous Coward | 1real |
Clinton Lists The 9 Things Trump Accuses Her Of Doing – That He Actually Does Himself | Trump s way of handling the heat is simple: deflect, and blame everything on everyone else. He is a master of pointing the finger and saying look, they do it too! The evidence couldn t be more clear with how he accuses Hillary Clinton of everything from pay-for-play, to corruption, to even murder.And for some reason, the media lets him get away with it.But luckily for us (and bad for Trump once the debates come around), Hillary Clinton isn t letting him get away with anything.Sick of the never ending accusations and silence by the media elites, Clinton listed on her website nine difference instances in which Trump accused her of doing something he actually does himself. From real pay-for-play to ties to Russia, Clinton proves that it really is Trump, and not her, that is the shady candidate.Let s take a look:So there you have it. While Trump continues to accuse Clinton of everything under the sun, he himself is actually the real culprit in all of these scenarios. But because he s loud and entertaining and gets them good ratings, the media ignores the glaring contradictions and hypocrisy, and let s him a free pass.Bottom line: Trump literally does everything he accuses Clinton of doing.Once the debate season heats up, you ll see Donald Trump be put in his rightful place.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 1real |
BREAKING: EMERGENCY Room Doctor In Dearborn, MI Hospital Arrested, Charged With Genital Mutilation Of 6-8 Yr Old Girls [VIDEO] | B b b but that doesn t happen in America does it? A Henry Ford Hospital emergency room doctor has been arrested and charged in connection to performing female genital mutilation on young girls.Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville Michigan is accused of performing female genital mutilation on underage girls.According to a criminal complaint, Nagarwala performed the procedure on girls ages six to eight years old at a medical clinic in Livonia.Some of the children were brought from out of state for the illegal procedure. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is considered the complete removal or partial removal of the clitoris, known as a clitoridectomy. FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of women and girls.The investigation revealed that in one particular case, a 7-year-old was brought by her family from Minnesota. An investigation into phone records revealed their location. The child was interviewed on April 10. She stated that she was brought to Detroit for special girls trip. The child victim also stated that she said she had to go to the doctor to get the germs out. Upon a medical exam on April 11, a doctor determined that the child s genitals had been altered or removed. The child identified Dr. Nagarwala as the doctor who performed the procedure.Some consider FGM as a religious and cultural practice. The purpose of this illegal practice is to suppress female sexuality in order to reduce sexual pleasure.In the criminal affidavit, Nagarwala performed FGM on girls who were approximately 7 years old at the time at a clinic in Livonia. According to the complaint, despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr. Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse. Female genital mutilation constitutes a particularly brutal form of violence against women and girls. It is also a serious federal felony in the United States. The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform FGM on minors will be held accountable under federal law, stated Acting United States Attorney Daniel Lemisch. The allegations detailed in today s criminal complaint are disturbing. The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, are committed to doing whatever necessary to bring an end to this barbaric practice and to ensure no additional children fall victim to this procedure , said Special Agent in Charge David Gelios.Via WXYZ TV | 1real |
Five Times Five-Time Draft Dodger Donald Trump Insulted Those Who Actually Served | Instead of honoring Purple Heart Day, Trump began his morning by launching a vicious attack against Richard Blumenthal.Interesting to watch Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about hoax Russian collusion when he was a phony Vietnam con artist! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017Never in U.S.history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal. He told stories about his Vietnam battles and . Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017 conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child. Now he judges collusion? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017Trump later followed that up by posting an image of himself with a Purple Heart recipient.On #PurpleHeartDay?I thank all the brave men and women who have sacrificed in battle for this GREAT NATION! #USA?? pic.twitter.com/QmfdLSLp6p Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017And then he attacked Blumenthal again.I think Senator Blumenthal should take a nice long vacation in Vietnam, where he lied about his service, so he can at least say he was there Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2017This despicable attack against a man who actually wore the uniform of his country for six years as a United States Marine is just the latest example of Trump insulting members of our armed forces.Here s are five more.Early on in his campaign, Trump insulted Senator John McCain, who spent years as a prisoner of war during Vietnam suffering gruesome torture that affects him to this day. He chose to undergo that torture rather than be released before other soldiers, because he had connections they did not. He s not a war hero, Trump said. He s a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren t captured. McCain is a recipient of the Purple Heart and a Silver Star among many other decorations in recognition of his service and sacrifice.In the final months of the campaign, Trump attacked a Gold Star family for simply challenging him to read the Constitution.Khizr and Ghazala Khan spoke to the Democratic National Convention in opposition to Trump and his racism against Muslims. Trump responded by smearing the Khans, suggesting that Ghazala was forbidden from speaking.Their son, Captain Humayun Khan, was killed in Iraq while saving the lives of his fellow soldiers. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart for his sacrifice.A month prior to the election, Trump appeared to suggest that veterans with PTSD are weak. When you talk about the mental health problems, when people come back from war and combat and they see things that maybe a lot of the folks in this room have seen many times over and you re strong and you can handle it, but a lot of people can t handle it. In August 2016, Trump once again belittled the service of wounded veterans by taking a Purple Heart as a gift from a veteran, remarking that getting one this way was much easier than getting one the hard way. I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier. The worst insult to veterans is the fact that Trump repeatedly dodged the draft during Vietnam. He received five deferments during the war despite being physically fit and having gone to military school.Trump was finally declared medically unfit because of a supposed bone spur in his foot, a condition that even seasoned professional athletes play through.It should also be noted that Trump has failed to produce any evidence proving that his bone spur was real.Trump would later remark that his personal Vietnam was sleeping around and not getting a sexually transmitted disease. Trump s personal Vietnam was taking place at the same time John McCain was still working to recover from his injuries during the real Vietnam War.And those examples are just the tip of the iceberg. Since taking office, Trump insulted World War II veterans by ranting on Twitter instead of honoring the anniversary of D-Day and insulted veterans across the nation by attacking transgender service members.Donald Trump can say he loves the troops all he wants. His past words and actions make it clear that he is lying every time he makes such a declaration. Trump only cares about himself.Read more:Featured Image: Screenshot | 1real |
Poll: CNN Brand Continues to Plummet | CNN’s brand continues to go in a downward spiral, according to a poll. [A YouGov poll shows that CNN falls behind MSNBC and Fox News in brand perception, the Daily Caller reports. The poll asked respondents, “If you’ve heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?” Of the three cable networks, Fox News was the only network to score a neutral brand perception. CNN and MSNBC both scored negative on brand perception. “CNN’s negative acceleration point happened in 2016, around the time Anderson Cooper interviewed Melania Trump, notably discussing her husband’s famous ‘Access Hollywood’ tape,” YouGov’s Ted Marzilli notes. “Also at that time, a local North Carolina Republican office was firebombed, causing media to pounce on CNN for suggesting Trump’s rhetoric spurred the incident. ” Marzilli adds that particular news events and President Trump’s bashing of the network’s news coverage have taken a toll on CNN. Trump has consistently called CNN “fake news,” along with the New York Times, for its coverage of his administration and its penchant for making several mistakes when reporting on the administration: FAKE NEWS media knowingly doesn’t tell the truth. A great danger to our country. The failing @nytimes has become a joke. Likewise @CNN. Sad! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 25, 2017, On Tuesday, CNN’s Jim Acosta inaccurately claimed that Trump made no mention of the “administrative state” in his speech to a joint session of Congress. Trump alluded to the “administrative state” while talking about his lobbying ban for executive branch officials and hiring freeze for federal government workers. CNN dedicated much airtime in January to memos alleging that Trump’s presidential campaign was in communication with Russian officials. The reports turned out to be false. | 0fake |
WHOA! NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts Was “Hacked” By Obama Regime In Same Surveillance Program That Spied On Private Citizen Donald Trump | Meanwhile, in virtually every media outlet across America, Trump Trump Trump and Russia Russia Russia!Evidence shows that John Roberts, chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, was hacked by a Deep State surveillance operation overseen by Obama administration CIA director John Brennan and Obama director of national intelligence James Clapper.Roberts, the Bush appointee who made the decisive vote to uphold the constitutionality of Obamacare before the 2012 election, was allegedly the victim of the same Deep State surveillance program that spied on President Donald Trump.Tapes released by Federal Judge G. Murray Snow preserved on a Whistleblower Soundcloud page show real estate billionaire Timothy Blixseth explaining Brennan and Clapper s surveillance program to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and detective Mike Zullo. The existence of this surveillance program has been corroborated by Wikileaks Vault 7 release and by the public comments of former CIA and NSA contractor Dennis Montgomery, who says he worked on the program for Brennan and Clapper.Montgomery has gone public with his claims exposing how the program was used to spy on President Donald Trump when he was a private citizen. Montgomery has gained immunity and desperately wants House Intelligence Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes or other lawmakers to call him to testify about what he knows.On the explosive tapes, Blixseth walks Arpaio and Zullo through the details of the program on a computer screen. At one point, the three begin pulling up specific names of targeted individuals.LISTEN TO TAPES (at the 18 minute mark HERE) You know who that guy is? That s the head of the FISA court they hacked into, Reggie Walton, Blixseth tells the investigators. John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, was hacked, Blixseth tells Arpaio and Zullo.Insiders have always been skeptical of Roberts motives for siding with President Obama on the 2012 Obamacare case. While there s still no available evidence that Roberts was blackmailed, the allegation that he was hacked by Obama officials provides some more context into the justice s controversial career.As Big League Politics reported, former FBI director James Comey seized and buried volumes of information that demonstrated this wide-ranging government surveillance operation targeting Donald Trump before he became president.For entire story: Big League Politics | 1real |
California Governor Brown pushes big water project amid drought | SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown warned on Thursday of near-apocalyptic water shortages if his $15 billion plan to divert water from a Northern California river for use elsewhere gets bogged down in political and environmental disputes. The plan to remove water north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the fragile source of much of the state’s drinking water, is opposed by many environmentalists, but Brown insisted it was crucial in shoring up water supplies in the drought-plagued state. “If we don’t have the project, the delta will fail, water will not be available and California will suffer devastating economic consequences,” Brown, a Democrat, told a meeting of water regulators and utility executives in Sacramento to discuss the state’s progress in stabilizing its water system. The plan calls for digging a pair of tunnels under the delta. They would carry water from the Sacramento River to the state’s agricultural breadbasket as well as cities in the central and southern parts of America’s most populous state. The governor’s proposal, which must go through an environmental review and permitting process, has reignited California’s century-old water wars, sparked when Los Angeles siphoned water from the Owens Valley north of the city to slake the thirst of the growing Southern California metropolis. Opponents have said the plan will imperil salmon, trout and the endangered delta smelt, damage the delta’s role as a center for water recreation and sport fishing, and could ultimately reduce the availability of drinking water for Northern California cities. Brown, who has backing from labor, utilities, moderate Democrats and many Republicans, has said the project will protect the delta while ensuring an adequate water supply. But opponents said the project would harm the ecosystem. “How will the delta ever recover if freshwaters are never allowed to flow through it, even in rainy seasons,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, director of the Restore the Delta group. Backers estimate construction would take at least 10 years after the necessary approvals are received, barring lawsuits and other actions to try to slow the project. | 0fake |
LOL! NEW VIDEO Emerges Of Central Park Trump Assassination Play With CNN Logo Covering Trump’s Head [VIDEO] | Last week, President Trump sparked outrage from #VeryFakeNews CNN executives and hosts when he tweeted a doctored video of him body-slamming World Wrestling Entertainment Chairman Vince McMahon whose face was replaced by the CNN logo.The tweet, which said, #FraudNewsCNN #FNN, linked to a video of the president decking, pummeling and then shaving off McMahon s hair during a Battle of the Billionaires stunt at WrestleMania XXIII in 2007.#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017Today, a new video has emerged with the CNN logo covering the head of an actor in a Julius Caesar production in Central Park who was made to look like President Trump. CNN s parent company Time Warner was a major sponsor of the Trump assassination play in Central Park. In the play, the actor who was made to look like our President, was brutally attacked and assassinated on stage while the audience, which included children, clapped like seals.Here s a new take on the video:Hey @KFILE, you can quote me on this:#CNNBlackmail pic.twitter.com/JGhhfaPBNU Aaron (@Aaron25394187) July 5, 2017Here are a few images from the Trump assassination play: Imagine the outrage if this bloodied actor was made to look like former President Barack Obama:CNN promptly threatened to release the private identity of the Reddit user who made the video with the CNN logo covering the head of the WWE Chairman. CNN backed off their threat to expose his identity to leftist thugs after he gave them what CNN deemed to be an acceptable apology. Legal experts are saying CNN may have committed a federal crime when they threatened the video maker. Will #VeryFakeNews CNN hunt down and threaten the person who placed the CNN logo over the head of the Trump actor who was brutally assassinated in Central Park?Watch CNN s smug anchors have the audacity to announce they will not expose the meme maker because of his sufficient apology: | 1real |
Nigeria to hold presidential and parliamentary election on Feb. 16, 2019 | ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria s next presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on Feb. 16, 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission said on its official Twitter account on Thursday. The date will mark the end of ailing President Muhammadu Buhari s first term. He has not said if he will run again. Buhari came to power in 2015, promising to crack down on endemic corruption, rid the country of the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency in the northeast and kickstart a flagging economy. Critics say his presidency has been marred by inertia and little progress has been made on those key policies. Buhari has been absent for much of 2017 because of an undisclosed medical problem, which calls into question whether he will stand next year. It also creates uncertainty for his All Progressives Congress party that was created to elect him. A presidency spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Buhari s plans. | 0fake |
What Will Replace ISIS? | Search What Will Replace ISIS? This is a war to determine whether the future will belong to the West or to Islam. October 28, 2016 Daniel Greenfield
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam.
Before long the same administration that declared the fighting in Iraq over several times will claim victory over ISIS. The timetable for its push against the Islamic State appears to have less do with the victimized Christians and Yazidis who have been prevented from coming here as refugees in favor of Syrian Muslims than with the Clinton presidential campaign. Like Obama’s declarations that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were over, the announcement that ISIS has been defeated will be premature.
It is based on a profound misunderstanding and misreading of Islamic terrorism.
Long before its current string of defeats, ISIS had begun evolving into another Al Qaeda; a multinational alliance of Jihadists scattered around the world. Bombing Mosul isn’t hard, but try bombing Marseille, Brussels or London. There is no doubt that the ability of ISIS to temporarily establish a caliphate allowed it to build a network that could carry out terror attacks from New York to Miami to Nice to Munich. But it would be dangerous to assume that losing Iraq and Syria will stop ISIS.
ISIS doesn’t matter. The idea of ISIS does. And the idea of ISIS is Islamic supremacism.
The organization we think of ISIS has transformed and rebranded countless times. Even now our leaders vacillate between calling it ISIS, ISIL or, more childishly, Daesh, while it dubs itself the Islamic State. We have been fighting it in one form or another for over a decade. It would be unrealistically optimistic to assume that the war will end just as this old enemy has shown its ability to strike deep in our own cities.
The bigger error though is to think that we are fighting an organization. We are fighting an idea. That is not to contend, as Obama does, that we can debate it to death. It is not the sort of idea that argues with words, but with bullets, bombs and swords. But neither does it just go away if you seize a city.
Al Qaeda in Iraq not only survived the death of Zarqawi, but it became even more dangerous under Baghdadi. It would be risky to assume that ISIS will die with him. Instead it may very well grow into a new phase of Al Qaeda, one that ties together some of the world’s deadliest Islamic terror groups into a network that is decentralized enough that it will not suffer from Al Qaeda’s leadership fatigue.
The rise of Islamic terrorism has been an incremental process in which new groups learn from the mistakes of the old and supersede them. If ISIS does recede into a localized oblivion, reemerging only on occasion to suicide bomb something or someone in Baghdad, then a deadlier and even more effective group is likely to take its place. Each group will move one step closer to realizing the caliphate.
To break the cycle, we must confront the idea of the caliphate at the heart of Islamic terrorism.
ISIS is not un-Islamic. It is ruthlessly and uncompromisingly Islamic in that, unlike its predecessors in the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda, it makes the fewest compromises to civilizational sensibilities. Its goals are the same as those of every Islamic political organization, including those dubbed moderate. It seeks to restore and enforce an Islamic system in every part of the Muslim world before moving on to conquer and subjugate the non-Muslim world. If this were merely some fringe belief held by a tiny minority of extremists, then it could be bombed to pieces in some Syrian or Iraqi backwater.
But it’s the driving force of Islam. That’s why it won’t go away. No amount of appeasement will banish it.
Taking in more Muslim settlers, pressuring Israel and letting the Muslim Brotherhood colonize our foreign policy won’t do it. We’ve tried it and it actually makes Islamic terrorism much worse.
When the announcement is made, the usual suspects will pat themselves on the back for having defeated ISIS by mobilizing a Muslim coalition. But it wasn’t Obama who mobilized a Muslim coalition. The coalition, such as it was, mobilized them. Obama provided useful support to Islamic state sponsors of terror, such as Iran and Turkey, assorted Islamic Jihadists on the ground, some blatantly associated with Sunni and Shiite terror groups in their internal Jihadist conflict with ISIS over who will fight us.
The “allies” we are aiding today will be the ones bombing us tomorrow.
And that is why claiming credit for beating ISIS accomplishes nothing. ISIS is an expression of an Islamic impulse encoded in the Koran. Islamic groups differ in the tactical expression of that impulse. ISIS was nastier and uglier than most of the Islamic terror groups we had dealt with before this. Though even it found its Boko Haram affiliate in Nigeria occasionally a little too much to stomach.
If ISIS vanishes from the world stage, Islamic terrorism will be easier to dismiss. Or so the thinking goes. The Islamic State was better at viral videos than the media that tried to whitewash Islamic terror. It was hard to ignore. But a scattering of Islamic terror groups around the world will be forgotten by the public.
History suggests that’s wishful thinking.
Islamic terrorism has shown no signs of receding. Growing Muslim populations, both at home and in Muslim settlements in the West, and the increase in travel and communications, the infrastructure of globalism, spread it from the most backward to the most advanced parts of the world. Wealthy and unstable Muslim countries, rich in oil but poor in power, finance its spread through mosques and guns.
These are the ingredients that give us ISIS or any other combination or letters that stands for Islamic terror. To do anything meaningful about it, we would have to reverse the decline of the West.
Islam originally spread into a vacuum created by civilizational decline. Civilizational decline is why it is rising once again. An obscure local terror group eventually turned into ISIS by filling a power vacuum. Even as Obama performs another touchdown dance, some other group will be making that same journey. Its mission will be the familiar one of replacing our civilization with its own.
Until we come to terms with this civilizational struggle, we will go on fighting endless wars in the sand and coping with endless terror attacks in our own cities because we have failed to recognize the nature of the enemy. We are not fighting an acronym, whether it’s ISIS or ISIL; we are fighting an Islamic State.
This is a war to determine whether the future will belong to the West or to Islam. | 1real |
Earthquake of magnitude 5.2 strikes near Iran's capital | LONDON (Reuters) - An earthquake of magnitude 5.2 struck a town near the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday night, state media reported, but there were no initial reports of casualties or significant damage. Last month, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit villages and towns in Iran s western Kermanshah province along the mountainous border with Iraq, killing 620 people and injuring thousands of others. Authorities said they were gathering information about the latest quake, which hit in the late evening at a depth of 7 km (4 miles). They asked residents to remain calm but be prepared for possible aftershocks. The epicenter of the quake was 3 km from the city of Malard, and not far from Meshkin Dasht, which sits about 50 km west of Tehran, state news agency IRNA said. The quake was also felt in Alborz, Qazvin, Qom, Gilan and Markazi provinces, according to state media. There have been no reports of casualties or damage, Behnam Saeedi, a spokesman for Iran s National Disaster Management Organization, was quoted as saying by the semi-official ILNA news agency. In Tehran and other cities, residents flooded into streets and parks, fearing a stronger aftershock. Some set up tents to spend the night outside, and lit fires. Tasnim news agency quoted Minister of Sports Masoud Soltanifar as saying sport centers in city of Karaj in Alborz province, and Eslamshahr in southern Tehran were open to the public to spend the night. Some people also took refuge at the mausoleum of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic in southern Tehran. Minister of Energy Reza Ardakanian was quoted by ISNA news agency as saying that Amirkabir Dam, one hour west of Tehran, remained intact and supply of water and electricity was not disrupted in any way. Schools, universities and government offices will be closed in Tehran, Alborz and Qom provinces on Thursday, according to the state television. | 0fake |
Tillerson takes tough line on Russia, open to peacekeepers | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday there could be no normal relations with Russia until Moscow ended its support for separatists in Ukraine and returned Crimea, in comments likely to reassure Western allies. Speaking after a dinner where he discussed Russia with NATO foreign ministers on Tuesday, Tillerson took a tougher stance than U.S. President Donald Trump, who has sought better relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said last month after meeting Putin in Vietnam that he believed Putin s denial of accusations that Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S. election. That was despite U.S. intelligence agencies evidence of Russian interference. At NATO, Tillerson criticized Russia s continued use of hybrid warfare and its attempts to undermine Western institutions in a reference to the mix of state-sponsored computer hacks and Internet disinformation campaigns that NATO allies intelligence agencies say is targeted at the West. This stands as a significant obstacle to normalizing our relations, Tillerson told reporters. At the NATO dinner with ministers, Tillerson also blamed Russia for interfering in the U.S. election, said a diplomat who was present. Russia has denied meddling. Trump, whose former aides are being investigated after accusations that Putin influenced the election that brought him to the White House, has repeatedly emphasized that it would be better if Russia and the United States could work together. Tillerson, a former Exxon Mobil chief executive, has spent much of his time as secretary of state trying to smooth the America First foreign policy that has alarmed Trump s allies, but the president has publicly undercut the secretary of state s diplomatic initiatives. His trip to Europe this week was partly overshadowed by reports the White House had a plan to replace him, which Tillerson denied on Wednesday. [L8N1O63LC] Tillerson stressed to ministers that the Ukraine crisis, which was sparked by Moscow s 2014 annexation of Crimea, was the central issue that blocked better U.S.-Russia ties because seizing sovereign territory was unacceptable, according to a second diplomat present. The conflict between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists has claimed more than 10,000 lives since it erupted in 2014. Russia denies accusations it fomented the conflict and provided arms and fighters. People are still dying every day from that violence, Tillerson said. Tillerson, who in 2013 as head of Exxon Mobil was awarded the Order of Friendship by Putin, a Russian state honor, said he hoped to agree to deploy U.N. troops to eastern Ukraine, an idea the Russian president floated in September. With an internationally-agreed ceasefire long broken and efforts to revive a 2015 peace deal stalled, peacekeepers could end hostilities and allow trade to resume between Russia and Ukraine. But Tillerson warned there was still a significant difference between the mandate that a peacekeeping force would be given and the scope of their mandate . We hope we can close those gaps, Tillerson said. Russia is keen to see the end of Western sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis but European officials fear U.N. peacekeepers would freeze the conflict rather than solving it. Tillerson also cautioned against treating Russia as a partner, saying all meetings with Moscow should be based on issues, not agreed on the basis of a calendar, quashing any hopes of a detente in Moscow s relations with Washington. I think there is broad consensus among all the NATO members that there is no normalization of dialogue with Russia today, he said. | 0fake |
MAN MAKES VIRAL VIDEO: Demonstrates How Obama Made Himself Cry During Gun Control Speech | (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Obama Tears Share thisPosted by Dave Sayen on Thursday, January 7, 2016Don t take our word for it, watch Obama s speech on gun control in December, 2012. Pay close attention to the 1:01 mark, where he rubs his left index finger into the corner of his eye (exactly like he did last week) pauses, (like he did last week) puts his head down and pauses a bit longer (waiting for the menthol to work) and then (exactly like last week) he lifts his head and exposes the tears flowing, but only from the eye he put his finger in before tears ever began flowing:This is a character issue. Whether you disagree or agree with his gun control agenda is not the issue here. The point is, if the elected leader of the greatest nation on earth is willing to stand in front of millions and place menthol in his eye in order to make himself cry fake tears, to persuade Americans we need gun control, why should Americans believe ANYTHING he has to say? | 1real |
PUTIN’S LATEST ATTACK AGAINST HILLARY CLINTON AND THE U.S ESTABLISHMENT | We Are Change
In this video Luke Rudkowski covers more geopolitical moves and how the recent presidential election with Hillary Clinton is making the situation with Putin worse. The situation between these two super global powers is intensifying and becoming dangerous for both nations. As wikileaks keeps releasing more information the more pressure the DNC is putting against Russia instead of taking responsibility. For more invest in us on https://www.patreon.com/wearechange
Sources
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| 1real |
Obama’s Legacy: Washington is Lying About ISIS, and Lying About Syria | 21st Century Wire says ISIS inspired. Assad s barrel bombs. We are at war with ISIS. We are only arming the moderate rebels. The Russians are bombing hospitals. ISIS claims responsibility for stabbing in Minnesota. We must save 100,000 children in Aleppo from Assad and the Russians! Lies, lies, and more lies. All paid for by the US taxpayer. Watch: | 1real |
FOX NEWS’ JAMES ROSEN: “Sheer Scale” of Obama Spying Against Americans “Staggering” [Video] | As we listen 24/7 to the fake news and fake outrage about Russia spying and stealing our election, the news clip below gets to the REAL scandal that no one is reporting on:JAMES ROSEN: Pelosi confessed ignorance of this week s disclosure that the National Security Agency for at least five years under the Obama administration systematically violated Americans Fourth Amendment rights Civil liberties groups said the disclosures should factor into lawmakers decision at year s end about whether to reauthorize the NSA collection program that witnessed the abuses The sheer scale of the 4th Amendment violations is staggering, as was the sternness of the rebuke of the Obama administration by the FISA court, which ordinarily approves 99.9% of the government s request. As of a few minutes ago, this story had not been covered by the Washington Post, the New York Times or any of the three broadcast networks.Comey s FBI broke its own rules | 1real |
Cambodian PM threatens opposition party will be dissolved | PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened on Monday that the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, would be dissolved if it continues to back detained leader Kem Sokha, who has been charged with treason. Kem Sokha was arrested on Sept. 3 and accused of plotting against the government with the help of the United States. If the political party continues to blockade and defend this traitor, it means the party is also a traitor so there is no time to let this party operate in Cambodia s democratic process anymore, Hun Sen told a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh. He said that, if the act of treason involved the whole party, it would be disciplined by law, which means the dissolution of the party . | 0fake |
Actress Blasts Emma Watson’s ’Confusing’ Feminist Equality Campaign | Actress Talulah Riley has criticized feminist activist Emma Watson for leading a ‘confusing’ campaign on gender equality that seeks to eliminate differences between the sexes. [Riley, who rose to fame in the 2007 remake of St. Trinians, criticized Watson’s brand of feminism in conversation with The Daily Mail. “Men and women should have equal rights, of course, but [they] are also different and there’s nothing wrong with that,” she said. “We don’t have to start unifying gender in order to establish political equality. ” The actress, who is twice divorced from the business magnate Elon Musk, then took aim at Watson’s HeForShe campaign, claiming it promotes the idea of both genders being the same. “The HeForShe campaign creates a lot of confusion when it comes to gender equality, because people are getting stuck in a semantic argument, rather than addressing the actual issue. People are associating gender equality with being exactly the same and, of course, that’s not what it means,” she continued. The campaign, which was launched by Watson in 2014 following her speech on gender equality at the United Nations, seeks to eliminate gender equality by involving men in the feminist movement. Last week, Watson praised MTV for scrapping the channel’s yearly ‘Best Actress’ award in favor of a gender “ ” honor, describing it as “the first acting award in history that doesn’t separate nominees based on their sex. ” In March, Watson hit back at critics accusing her of promoting the objectification of women after she posed for a racy photo shoot in lifestyle magazine Vanity Fair. “Feminism is about giving women choice. Feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women with,” Watson told Reuters. “It’s about freedom. It’s about liberation. It’s about equality. I really don’t know what my t*ts have to do with it. It’s very confusing. I’m confused. Most people are confused. ” You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart. com | 0fake |
Saudi businessman in debt dispute released from detention: sources | DUBAI (Reuters) - A Saudi Arabian businessman whose family s commercial empire is involved in a multi-billion dollar debt dispute has been released from detention in the kingdom s Eastern Province, according to sources familiar with the matter. Abdulaziz al-Sanea s release comes as the government steps up efforts to find a company to run a struggling 750-bed hospital owned by his family, a search that has turned the spotlight on the kingdom s effort to bring overseas investors into the healthcare sector. Al-Sanea was freed late last week after being detained in October for unpaid debts, related at least in part to the hospital, according to the sources. An arrest warrant, issued in October for his brother Mishal for the same reason, was also lifted, according to the same sources. At the same time, the authorities approved a plan intended to restart operations at Saad Specialist Hospital in the city of Khobar in Eastern Province, which has been closed in recent weeks after being unable to pay staff and contractors, according to the sources. A special committee, formed by the government to find solutions for the hospital s future, concluded that the facility should be operated under the guidance of the Ministry of Health for seven years, the sources said. The revenue would be deposited into the account of the court handling the liquidation of Saad Group, the family s company that owns the hospital, the sources added. The Ministry of Justice did not respond to a Reuters request for comment. London-listed NMC Healthcare is among companies in talks with the government to take over the running of the hospital, one of the top cancer treatment facilities in the Gulf, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. Maan al-Sanea, the owner of Saad Group and the father of Abdulaziz and Mishal, is still in a civil detention center in Khobar, according to the sources. He was also detained by authorities in October for unpaid debts. Saad Group, which at its height employed about 12,000 staff and has interests in sectors spanning banking to healthcare, ran into difficulties in 2009 because of heavy debts, unleashing a series of long-running legal battles and a Saudi court-enforced liquidation of the company. Reemas Group, a financial consultancy hired by Saad Group, last month outlined a proposed settlement covering $4 billion in debt under a plan to repay part of the money owed to creditors. The legal action against the family is believed to be separate from a crackdown on corruption by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in which dozens of Saudi princes and businessmen are being held. The kingdom has released 23 of the 200-or-so powerful individuals detained since November on corruption charges after they reached deals with the government, Okaz newspaper reported on Tuesday. | 0fake |
Bill Maher Turns GOP’s ‘States’ Rights’ Nonsense On Its Head In EPIC Defense Of Liberal States’ Defiance Of Trump (VIDEO) | The Republican Party has long claimed that states rights mean that states can do as they like according to their own values, regardless of what the federal government wants. Of course, this is something that has just been used for southern states to do horrible things like, you know, own people. They used the states rights argument to justify segregation, to outlaw interracial marriage and abortion, and to basically strip citizens of personal liberty to satisfy the bigots in their citizenry and voting base. Well, comedian Bill Maher of HBO s Real Time has turned all of that on its head in the Trump era.During his New Rules segment on Friday night s program, Maher turned it around on the Republicans, pointing out how California s governor, Jerry Brown, is busily defending California s liberal way of life in defiance of Trump s regressive and dangerous administration. Gov. Brown has decided to sign a climate treaty with China, giving a big middle finger to Trump s foolish decision to pull out of the Paris Accord. Maher also pointed out that California will not move to enforce Trump s racist deportation force through its police departments, and nor would there be any attacks on LGBTQ Americans.The real kicker came when Maher adopted a country accent and mocked the insanity of the bigotry of Trump voters only using it to promote progressive values, such as legalized marijuana and lesbian weddings. He even mocked the tiki torches used last month in a horrifically violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, that left 32-year-old Heather Heyer dead and injured many others.In short, Bill Maher is right. If they can do this states rights stuff, so can we.Featured image via screen capture | 1real |
OBAMA’S GAL PAL Loretta Lynch WON’T RECUSE HERSELF From Crooked Hillary’s Criminal Investigation…Despite Private Meeting With Hillary’s IMPEACHED Husband | Reasonable Americans expected never expected unbiased justice to be served by Eric Holder in a skirt Friday on MSNBC s Morning Joe, Bloomberg Politics Mark Halperin cited a senior Justice Department official who said Attorney General Loretta Lynch will not recuse herself from the investigation into presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton use of a private email while secretary of state. Critics have called on Lynch to do so after holding a private meeting with her husband former President Bill Clinton earlier this week.Halperin also said the source does not anticipate Lynch will admit the meeting was a mistake.JUST IN @MarkHalperin: Sr. Justice Dept. official This was the Atty. General's intention all along https://t.co/ws9klpXEeM Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) July 1, 2016 This is a senior Justice Department official who is playing down that this is anything new, Halperin said. Says this was the attorney general s intention all along to let the career people decide. Quote, She is not recusing herself. She is not stepping aside and does not expect that the attorney general will say it was a mistake to meet with Bill Clinton privately for 20 or 30 minutes. BreitbartMeanwhile, the Washington Post reports Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch will support the recommendations from prosecutors and others leading probes into the use of a private email server by Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state, a Justice Department official said.Lynch s statement expected later Friday during a gathering in Colorado underscores the intense sensitivity surrounding the FBI and Justice investigations into the past use of an exclusive email server by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.By promising to abide by the recommendations, Lynch would directly address worries by Clinton critics and others that she as an Obama administration appointee could ultimately overrule the investigators.Her expected statement reflects an apparent desire to reinforce a by-the-book approach to the Clinton case, which has already played a dominant role in Republican attacks on the campaign trail.Lynch planned to make the comments later Friday during an appearance with Washington Post editorial writer Jonathan Capehart at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado. | 1real |
Insight: Rap and the Party: China taps youth culture to hook millennial cadres | BEIJING (Reuters) - In his baseball cap and baggy yellow t-shirt, the rap star Li Yijie - better known by his stage name Pissy - is an unlikely face of China s strait-laced ruling Communist Party. His group, Tianfu Shibian, has won fans and the support of the party s youth league with songs like Force of Red and This is China that chime with President Xi Jinping s nationalist vision of China and its place in the world. Under Xi, set to begin a second five-year term at a key party congress next month, the once-hidebound Communist Party has sought to revitalise its role in society amid challenges to its traditional authority as the country gets richer, more mobile and more digitally connected. The party's modernising push also comes as a significant number of educated Chinese millennials, faced with a tough job market and high housing costs in big cities, have grown disillusioned about their career and life prospects. The party s effort extends increasingly to co-opting swathes of Chinese popular culture, such as Tianfu Shibian. At the same time, the government is cracking down on online content and entertainment that strays beyond the narrowing definitions of what is acceptable. If the Party sticks to the old ways, it will only be more and more rejected by young people, said Li, 23, whose band s name means Tianfu Incident . Tianfu refers to the region around Chengdu, the band s home city in western Sichuan province. We need to stand up and say: Why can t younger folks be more patriotic? he said during an interview in Beijing. We need to step into this system, he said. If the post-1990 generations don t enter the system, what is our country going to do? said Li. Beijing has the same idea. It has latched onto other acts like TFBOYS, a wholesome boy band whose three members each have nearly 30 million followers on the popular microblog Weibo, to help spread the Party message. The band often appears at Youth League events. This kind of propaganda is a step forward that better suits the demands of its audience, said Qiao Mu, a media researcher and former professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University. Ordinary people are now rejecting the old preaching ways of the People s Daily newspaper and CCTV News, he said, referring to the Party s official newspaper and China s state broadcaster. On its Bilibili account - a video site popular with China s post 1990s generation - the Communist Youth League has posted hundreds of videos this year interspersing patriotic raps with more traditional fare such as defence ministry briefings. One such guichu a fast-paced clip of repeated images, sounds and catchy music calls on citizens to be on the lookout and report people they suspect are spies to the authorities. Tianfu Shibian shot to prominence in 2016 voicing patriotic values in sometimes expletive-filled songs. Force of Red attacked Tsai Ing-Wen, the president of Taiwan, an independently governed island that Beijing considers a renegade province. There s only one China, HK, Taipei, they are my fellas, ran the lyrics of the song in English, along with expletives aimed at Tsai and her government: Far away from us you forget how to act. Even dogs know to come home with a thankful bark. The music video went viral, racking up more than 7 million views on the band s Twitter-like Sina Weibo feed and catching the attention of the Communist Youth League, a training ground for elite cadres within the 90-million-strong Communist Party. The group s next outing - This is China - came with production support from a Youth League-backed music studio, though the band says there was no other financial backing. The party connection deepened in September last year when Beijing sent the band to Woody Island, in a disputed area of the South China Sea, to film a music video rebuking an international tribunal ruling that rejected China s claims in the area. Li said the group now has ties across China s propaganda related agencies, and frequently dines with officials to exchange ideas. In return they ve cleaned up their act to fit with Beijing s drive towards more wholesome content. While their songs are unabashedly pro-China, Tianfu Shibian s lyrics also touch on problems in contemporary China, including tainted food, corruption, and pollution. Critique with rationality has its place in our songs, but we despise those who keep complaining blindly, Li told Reuters. Not everyone is a fan. A song by the band praising the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong was criticised online as glossing over China s Cultural Revolution, a period of chaos and violence between 1966-1976 in which some historians estimate as many as 1.5 million people died. Others online have dismissed the band as a propaganda machine, calling it wumao - roughly 50-cents - a reference to those paid by the government to post patriotic comments online. While countercultural or subversive art has long been at the fringes in China, it has all-but been extinguished in the Xi era, with censors banning not only politically incorrect material but also clamping down on negativity. China s most internationally recognised artist, Ai Weiwei, a fierce critic of Beijing, spent time under house arrest and finally left China in 2015. He had helped design Beijing s Bird s Nest stadium for the 2008 Olympics. Erstwhile rock and roll rebels have cleaned up their acts to placate censors or been sidelined. Zuoxiao Zuzhou - a music producer who was banned by the government from 2011-2014 for his connection to Ai Weiwei - is one who has chosen to toe the government line. With great difficulty, Zuoxiao Zuzhou has now established an image that is relatively acceptable to society, his agent, Qin Baogui, told Reuters, declining an interview with the artist because of the sensitivity of the topic. Cui Jian, whose 1986 Nothing to My Name became an unofficial anthem for students demonstrating during the deadly 1989 Tiananmen protests, pulled out of a show on Chinese state television in 2014 because he was told he would not be allowed to sing the song, his manager said at the time. On the flip side, films and music that embrace the party have benefited from state support to tap China s huge fan bases. The overtly patriotic Wolf Warrior 2 became China s top grossing film after its July release, helped in part by strong state media support. Last month, U.S. organizers aiming to bring Grammy Award artists to China said they would only promote artists with a positive and healthy image. As for Li, he is currently working on a song in the run-up to next month s Communist Party Congress, called A Letter to President Xi Jinping. However, Li has not joined the party himself - though it s some distance from youthful rebellion. It s too troublesome and complicated to write an application letter, he said. | 0fake |
Ecuador judge orders arrest of vice president in Odebrecht probe | QUITO (Reuters) - An Ecuadorean judge on Monday ordered pre-trial detention for Vice President Jorge Glas as part of an investigation into Brazilian construction company Odebrecht s corruption scandal. Glas, a 48-year-old electrical engineer, has been accused by senior members of the government of former President Rafael Correa of corruption while serving as a minister and vice president during seven years of Correa s government. Judge Miguel Jurado approved a prosecutor s request for preventative detention on the grounds that Glas allegedly accepted bribes, and also agreed to freeze his assets. Glas said the accusations lack evidence and are part of a politicized campaign against him. Don t worry, you don t have to search for me, I m where I always am, Glas said via Twitter. I m not going to escape. Those who are innocent never flee. Fallout from the massive Odebrecht corruption scandal has continued to sweep Latin America. The company, which has admitted to paying bribes to win contracts in a number of countries, has already paid $3.5 billion in settlements in the United States, Brazil and Switzerland. A close ally of leftist ex-President Rafael Correa, Glas served as Correa s vice president from 2013 and retained the position under current President Lenin Moreno. In August he was suspended from his duties by Moreno, who accused him of not being a team player. | 0fake |
Maine GOP Governor’s Statement On Drug Overdoses Proves ‘Pro-Life Republicans’ Don’t Exist | If I were to tell you that Republicans simply hate regular American citizens, that wouldn t be news. To suggest that they just wish the poor, criminals, and other less advantaged segments of society would do them a favor and just die already, wouldn t come as a shock either.However, what is a bit shocking is to hear a Republican SAY IT so boldly and in such a smug and self-righteous manner.Maine s Republican governor, Paul LePage, just vetoed a bill that would allow pharmacists to provide anti-overdose drugs for use on victims without a prescription. If that isn t bad enough, wait till you read his reason why.Pro-life? Yeah right.LePage proudly announced his support of increased overdose deaths, saying that using anti-overdose drugs serves only to perpetuate the cycle of addiction. LePage said that the drug, Naxolone, doesn t save lives it only extends them until the next overdose.A governor of a U.S. state just literally said that he would rather his own citizens DIE than be able to get assistance with a drug that could prevent death long enough to get them to a hospital. HOW THE HELL IS HE STILL IN OFFICE?Why stop there? Why not just say ALL medical treatment or medicine should be made unavailable because it only extends life? Got meningitis? Tough luck, you will only grow old and die anyway some day. Cancer? Screw you. Go die in the corner.It s important to remember too, that there is currently a serious heroin use epidemic going on in northeastern states, Maine in particular. Having this drug available without a prescription, to be kept in the case of an emergency, could mean the difference between life and death for thousands of people who struggle with addiction.Paul LePage is the perfect personification of all the hate, contempt, greed, and joy in the harm of others that is at the rotten heart of modern American conservatism. Pro-life, my ass.Watch Rachel rip the hell out of a genuinely terrible Republican below:Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
Hillary Clinton accused of stealing furniture from the State Department | Email
Hillary Clinton swiped State Department furniture to decorate her Washington home, a former member of her security detail has alleged to the FBI.
“Early in Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state, she and her staff were observed removing lamps and furniture from the State Department which were transported to her residence in Washington, DC,” an agent on the detail told the FBI.
The agent “does not know whether these items were ever returned to the government,” according to FBI notes.
The agent was assigned to Clinton in 2009, at the start of her term, but was not on the detail when Clinton left in 2013.
The accusations were part of 100 newly released pages of interview notes of the FBI investigation into Clinton’s handling of classified material.
The department flatly denied the latest charges, saying Clinton took home only property that she owned. | 1real |
BREAKING: US Deploys “Nuke Sniffer” Plane To Test For Threat From Russia | Tensions in the US are growing as it is feared that Vladimir Putin s Military may have carried out secret nuke tests in the Arctic. This is based on tests that show a dangerous spike in radiation levels across EuropeIn response to this possible threat, the US Air Force sent a special WC-135 Constant Phoenix to RAF Mildenhall whose main mission is to detect and identify nuclear explosions from the air.Tracking over the #UK US Air Force WC-135C Constant Phoenix Nuclear explosion 'sniffer'62-3582 COBRA55https://t.co/fvbSNtInVP pic.twitter.com/BB1WbDzAZK CivMilAir (@CivMilAir) February 17, 2017While there s been no official statement from the US Military about the reason for aircraft s deployment, sources suggest that the aircraft has been sent to investigate the elevated radiation levels.Many are pointing to this as proof positive that Russia has been doing nuclear tests at Novaya Zemlya near the Arctic.(Source: The Sun UK) | 1real |
Hezbollah leader says U.S. actions aiding Islamic State in Syria | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Sunday that the United States was serving the interests of Islamic State by preventing the Syrian army and its allies advancing in some areas of eastern Syria. American jets have this year targeted pro-government militias in eastern Syria that were advancing towards Washington s local allies. Nasrallah said the United States was delaying the Syrian military in its battle to retake territory from Islamic State. The American air force in some areas prevents the Syrian army and its allies from advancing in areas controlled by Islamic State, said the leader of Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shi ite movement designated by Washington as a terrorist group. The Americans are working to hinder the battle against Islamic State, he said in a speech, part of a commemoration for Hezbollah fighters killed in clashes against Islamic State. His comments came after a senior U.S. official said President Donald Trump was considering putting sanctions on Iran for its support of Hezbollah, and as the U.S. Congress prepares to consider tighter sanctions on Hezbollah itself. The battlefield situation in Syrian is complex, comprising both a civil war that pits Syrian President Bashar al-Assad s government against rebels, as well as two separate campaigns against Islamic State. The Syrian army, backed by Russia, Iran and Shi ite militias including Hezbollah, has advanced against Islamic State in an offensive across the central Syrian desert in recent months. The United States is meanwhile leading a rival international coalition against the Sunni jihadists that includes an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias. Russia and the United States have put in place measures to prevent outright conflict between the two offensives against Islamic State, but there have been times when they fired on each other. Security sources in Lebanon have said that Hezbollah has lost hundreds of fighters in Syria since it entered the conflict in support of Assad in 2013 against rebel groups. Last week Islamic State counter attacks against the Syrian army and its allies killed a number of Hezbollah fighters including a senior commander, Ali al-Hadi al-Asheq. | 0fake |
U.S. Senate passes bill to fund government through September | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday gave final legislative approval to a $1.2 trillion spending bill to keep the government open through September, a measure President Donald Trump is expected to sign before Friday’s deadline. Senators from both Republican and Democratic parties voted in favor of the bill, which passed 79 to 18 with only Republicans opposing the measure, citing minimal changes to spending levels. The bill, which was passed 309-118 in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, now heads to Trump. While it failed to include many of the items Trump had requested, he is expected to sign the bill before midnight Friday, when without his signature the government would shut down. As soon as this spending measure is law, lawmakers and Trump must already begin looking forward to the next deadline on Oct. 1. Lawmakers are hopeful they can pass regular spending bills but the process is likely to be complicated by Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare, a desire to rewrite the tax code and a need to find a deal to raise the debt ceiling since the limit is expected to be reached in the fall. Under the compromise measure, the Pentagon’s funding increased, a priority that had been laid out by Republicans and Trump. It also funded Democratic priorities, including health care subsidies. “This bill is far from perfect, but it’s better than how we are spending our money today, better than how we were spending our money a year ago,” Republican Senator Roy Blunt said on the Senate floor. Democrats also claimed victory in the passage of the legislation, arguing that it fails to fund Trump’s priorities including money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Additionally, the bill funds subsidies for health care coverage provided through the Affordable Care Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature domestic legislation. Republican Senator Ted Cruz gave his reasons for voting against the bill. “While I am pleased to see increased funding for our men and women in uniform and their critical missions across the globe, this bill fails in a number of ways, including by continuing to fund sanctuary cities, Planned Parenthood, and Obamacare,” Cruz said. Sanctuary cities are those that give limited cooperation to the federal government in enforcing immigration laws and Planned Parenthood is a conservative target because abortion is among the women’s health care services it provides. The spending bill does not include many of the spending cuts on domestic programs Trump had sought and adds $2 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $295 million for Puerto Rico’s underfunded Medicaid healthcare for the poor and $407 million for firefighting in Western states. The legislation adds $12.5 billion in defense spending. It makes $2.5 billion more available after Trump gives details on his plans for fighting the Islamic State militant group. The bill was approved months after the Oct. 1 2016 deadline to pass government funding for the fiscal year. For the past seven months, federal agencies have been operating mainly on simple extensions of the previous year’s funding and the priorities that came with that. | 0fake |
Factbox: International reaction to arrest of Reuters reporters in Myanmar | (Reuters) - Several countries, the United Nations and journalist groups are demanding the release of Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo from detention in Myanmar. The reporters were arrested on Dec. 12 after being invited to meet police officials on the outskirts of Yangon. They had worked on stories about a military crackdown in Rakhine state, scene of more than 600,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh since late August. Myanmar s Ministry of Information has said the reporters illegally acquired information with the intention to share it with foreign media, and released a photo of them in handcuffs. It said the reporters and two policemen faced charges under the British colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 14 years, though officials said they have not been charged. Their exact whereabouts is not known. Reuters driver Myothant Tun dropped them off at a police compound and the two reporters and two police officers headed to a nearby restaurant. The journalists did not return to the car. Reuters President and Editor-in-Chief Stephen J. Adler said the arrests were a blatant attack on press freedom and called for the immediate release of the journalists. Here are reactions to their detention from politicians and press freedom advocates around the world: - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was demanding their immediate release or information as to the circumstances around their disappearance. - British Minister for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field said, I absolutely strongly disapprove of the idea of journalists, going about their everyday business, being arrested. We will make it clear in the strongest possible terms that we feel that they need to be released at the earliest possible opportunity. - Swedish Foreign Minister Margot called the arrests a threat to a democratic and peaceful development of Myanmar and that region. She said, We do not accept that journalists are attacked or simply kidnapped or that they disappear ... To be able to send journalists to this particular area is of crucial importance. - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said countries should do everything possible to secure the journalists release and freedom of the press in Myanmar. Guterres said, It is clearly a concern in relation to the erosion of press freedom in the country. He added: And probably the reason why these journalists were arrested is because they were reporting on what they have seen in relation to this massive human tragedy. - Canada s Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, the former managing director and editor, consumer news, at Thomson Reuters, tweeted that she was deeply concerned by the reports about the arrests. Freedom of the press is essential for democracy and must be preserved, she said. - President of the European Parliament Antonio Tajani called on Myanmar to protect media freedoms and release the two reporters. - Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, information adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said, We strongly denounce arrests of Reuters journalists and feel that those reporters be free immediately so that they can depict the truth to the world by their reporting. - Japan s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe s spokesman Motosada Matano said his government was closely watching the situation, and that Japan has been conducting a dialogue with the Myanmar government on human rights in Myanmar in general. - The Committee to Protect Journalists said, We call on local authorities to immediately, unconditionally release Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo. These arrests come amid a widening crackdown which is having a grave impact on the ability of journalists to cover a story of vital global importance. - The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said there was no justification for the arrests. Daniel Bastard, the head of the group s Asia-Pacific desk, said the charges being considered were completely spurious . - The Southeast Asian Press Alliance asked for the immediate release of the journalists. These two journalists are only doing their jobs in trying to fill the void of information on the Rohingya conflict, said SEAPA executive director Edgardo Legaspi. With this arrest, the government seems to be sending the message that all military reports should be off limits to journalists. - The Protection Committee for Myanmar Journalists, a group of local reporters who have demonstrated against past prosecutions of journalists, decried the unfair arrests that affect media freedom . A reporter must have the right to get information and write news ethically, said video journalist A Hla Lay Thu Zar - a member of the group s executive committee. - The Foreign Correspondents Club of Myanmar said it was appalled by the arrests and gravely concerned about the state of press freedom in Myanmar. It called on authorities to ensure the reporters safety and allow their families to see them. - The Foreign Correspondents Club in neighboring Thailand said it was alarmed by the use of this draconian law with its heavy penalties against journalists simply doing their jobs. The club called for the journalists to be released. Wielding such a blunt legal instrument has an intimidating effect on other journalists, and poses a real threat to media freedom, it said. | 0fake |
U.S. McConnell: debate on healthcare will continue | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said the U.S. debate on healthcare would continue, but said nothing about whether he would bring an Obamacare repeal bill to a vote. Opening the Senate, McConnell praised the bill sponsored by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Bill Cassidy, saying it contrasted sharply with Democratic proposals for “single-payer” healthcare. “It’s an important debate for our country. It’s one that will certainly continue,” McConnell, a Republican, said. Three Republican senators have said they will vote against Graham-Cassidy. But Republicans can lose no more than two votes on the measure, leaving the bill with no clear path to advancing in the Senate. | 0fake |
States Vie to Shield the Wealth of the 1 Percent - The New York Times | LAS VEGAS — Steven J. Oshins, a Nevada lawyer who specializes in estate planning, has never met the wealthy software entrepreneur Dan Kloiber, but he is nonetheless intensely interested in Mr. Kloiber’s contentious divorce. “I have had a Google news alert on that for a couple years,” Mr. Oshins said as he discussed the case from his office in a squat pink complex about a drive from the Las Vegas Strip. What animates Mr. Oshins is not the juicy marital feud, but the legal arcana governing a trust in Delaware where the Kloiber family parked assets worth hundreds of million of dollars, sheltered from estate taxes. Mr. Oshins, with a gleeful grin spreading across his face, relished the thought of the Mrs. Kloiber busting through the trust and exposing a potential chink in the formidable trust protection armor promised by Delaware — which just happens to fiercely compete with Nevada for the lucrative business of shielding assets owned by the superrich. Although most visitors are drawn to the city’s roulette wheels and slot machines, Mr. Oshins and a battalion of tax lawyers, accountants, advisers, trust administrators and bankers cater to an elite clientele that insists on a much more reliable way to build a fortune. With their backing, Nevada has stoked an aggressive rivalry among a smattering of states to babysit the wealth of the nation’s top 1 percent, pressing public officials to pass laws, streamline regulations, lower fees and replace D. M. V. service with concierge treatment. Yet even as more and more states seek ways to help the richest Americans protect their wealth from creditors, divorcing spouses and children, as well as some federal and state tax collectors, critics worry that the effort to attract the lucrative trust business is turning into a competitive game of giveaway. “There is no doubt that many, many jurisdictions are committed to being at the bottom,” said Edward McCaffrey, a professor at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law. “I think the real question now is: ‘Where is the bottom? ’” The federal government leaves it to each state to draw up its own trust laws, and several have tried to go as far as they can without inciting accusations that they are abetting tax evasion or hiding assets, he said. But in pushing the envelope, they can also run into challenges from courts in other states, including the Kloibers’ home of Kentucky, that have different statutes governing trusts. The clear leaders are Nevada, Delaware, South Dakota and Alaska, but other states have also joined the frenzy. New Hampshire, Wyoming, Tennessee and Ohio all hope to dip a spoon in the pot of cream that had traditionally been preserved in offshore tax havens like the Cayman Islands. Over the last decade, for example, New Hampshire has passed nearly a dozen laws affecting trusts that expanded their life span, lowered taxes and made it easier to transfer assets. In 2013, the state created a special trust court subdivision to handle the complex litigation last year, an overhaul of state banking laws simplified regulations. Still, Nevada “is definitely the most aggressive in my experience in terms of asset protection,” Mr. McCaffrey said. Starting with the absence of any state income tax and resilient secrecy protections, Nevada has added a passel of laws and regulations intended to lure trust business. Individuals who establish irrevocable trusts have more flexibility to transfer assets to a new trust with more favorable terms. Creditors are blocked from access to money held in trusts (making the arrangement also popular among doctors, who worry a malpractice case could bankrupt them). And what are known as dynasty trusts allow the wealthy to pass their fortunes from generation to generation for hundreds of years without paying estate taxes. Defenders of the industry won what was characterized as a “do or die” battle in 2013, fending off legislation that would have opened up Nevada trusts to future claims from spouses and domestic partners for property settlements, alimony or child support. And Nevada has only a narrow window for creditors to make a claim against a trust’s assets. These sorts of loopholes have been criticized by some legal scholars as “not morally defensible,” but defenders dismissed the potential for abuse. “It’s against the law in this state to conceal assets from legitimate creditors,” said Mark A. Hutchison, Nevada’s Republican lieutenant governor, a lawyer himself. “We’ve got to be aware of phantom threats that could blow up our industry,” he added. Phantom threats, he said, include recent suspicions — after the leak of the Panama Papers — that citizens and foreigners are illegally hiding assets in the state. Private documents from the Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed that the firm had incorporated more than a thousand shell companies in Nevada and Wyoming to hide the real owners’ identities. There are sometimes legitimate reasons individuals and businesses want to conceal their identities, but the papers suggested that evading taxes was often the purpose. Other documents tied the shell companies to corruption scandals in Brazil, Argentina and officials at FIFA, the soccer’s world governing body. If the revelations were a source of embarrassment, however, they were also a source of free worldwide publicity. “It’s actually helped us, believe it or not,” said Greg Crawford, president of the Alliance Trust Company in Reno, explaining that Nevada was not as well known internationally for its policies as Delaware. “I’ve had more calls from people overseas, established families, who are interested in Nevada. ” Mr. Crawford disputed the idea that the state’s rules were abetting criminal activities. “The honest, ethical taxpaying people around the world who simply want privacy are happy to put assets in the United States,” he said. “Crooks know they can be confiscated, so it actually serves as a process. ” Monitoring development in other states and bulking up asset protection laws, said Mr. Hutchison, the lieutenant governor, has dependable bipartisan support. “The trust business is a big business,” he added. “We’ve always viewed it as a way to stimulate the economy. ” Although trusts generate little public revenue or direct investment in the state, they do provide a steady stream of work for those in the industry. Supporters also say they generate indirect investment by drawing wealthy people who spend money and might invest later on. Robert H. Sitkoff, a Harvard Law School professor, said that in states like Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota and Alaska, trust and estate lawyers “are an effective and important lobby in a way that would be much harder to replicate in a place like New York, a big state with lots going on. ” With the competition so intense, each state tries to exploit marginal advantages and highlight rivals’ weaknesses. The marketing pitch is not always about keeping up with the neighbors, however. Even as Nevada and Delaware blocked with claims for child support, for example, New Hampshire decided not to follow suit. “We have reviewed that and said that’s not our policy,’” said William F. J. Ardinger, a lawyer at Rath, Young Pignatelli who has lobbied for changes in New Hampshire’s trust laws. His state is making a different kind of appeal. “There’s a huge amount of wealth on the Eastern Seaboard, and New Hampshire fares well in the mind of those families,” Mr. Ardinger said. “They’ll say, ‘I went to prep school at Exeter,’ or, ‘I went to Camp Winaukee as a kid.’ “Reno is a beautiful place, but it’s not ‘On Golden Pond. ’” The Las Vegas lawyer Mr. Oshins, who almost makes the Kardashians look shy, is unfazed by such comparisons. “New Hampshire is a little bit of a wannabe,” he said. “They’re a state. ” | 0fake |
CNN Breaking News: Trump Tells Supporters To Vote Multiple Times |
CNN (also known as the Clinton News Network) has gone out of its way to try to rig the election for Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton this year. It hasn’t even tried to hide its bias in an attempt to destroy Republican nominee Donald Trump’s chances at becoming president.
Over the weekend, CNN tried desperately to find anything it could to distract the American people from the FBI’s announcement that it was reopening the investigation into Clinton’s use of an email server while she was secretary of state.
CNN ran a story on Sunday about a Trump rally in Colorado, only it blatantly lied about what Trump said at the rally in an attempt to smear him, Mediate reported .
The article in question originally ran with the headline “Trump, skeptical of mail-in balloting, encourages voting more than once if necessary.” Here’s a screen grab of the original.
“If you go to university center, they’ll give you a new ballot, they’ll void your old ballot, in some places they do that four or five times, so by tomorrow, almost everyone will have their new ballots in,” Trump said at the rally, according to CNN’s original article.
However there was more to that quote, which CNN decided not to run with.
“If you go to university center, they’ll give you a new ballot, they’ll void your old ballot. They’ll give you a new ballot, and you can go out and make sure it get’s in. Now in some places, they do that four or five times, but we don’t do that. So by tomorrow, almost everyone will have their new ballots in,” is the full quote of what Trump said.
By selectively editing the quote, CNN made it appear that Trump was encouraging voter fraud.
After publishing the original story, CNN changed the headline, and the content, to actually reflect what Trump actually said. Initially, the network did not indicate it had done so. However, a line was later added at the end of the article to indicate it had been changed.
The new headline can be seen below:
CNN also took down the tweet that had the incorrect headline.
Maybe next time CNN will think twice before publishing such blatant lies. Instead of trying to cover up Clinton’s corruption, maybe the network should just to its job and report on the news.
This is what the media is doing these days, they chop speeches, edit them, falsify them! Let this be a warning to you for any future BS that may come out from the media. No matter how much they hype it. Do NOT believe anything the media tells you!
You know what you have to do, go out and vote for Trump! Avoid electronic voting because the machines are owned by George Soros, a Clinton donor, request paper ballot because they are obligated by the law and if they refuse to give you a paper ballot, make a scene, call the cops on them.
Source
| 1real |
Guy Fawkes effigy industry collapses | November 6, 2016
Just days away from what was traditionally its busiest day of the year, the Guy Fawkes effigy industry has finally collapsed after years of steady decline. All remaining effigy production stations on street corners have closed with immediate effect, with hundreds of 10 year-old street urchins laid off.
Despite attempts at buy-outs by foreign effigy firms, it is thought the collapse was due to an unrealistic pricing structure, which completely failed to take account of inflation.
Economist James Hampton told us: “I’ve looked through the figures and I have to agree that the fault clearly lies at the pricing level. Frankly, a ‘penny for the Guy’ barely covers the raw materials of the effigy. By the time you’ve factored in the wooden trolley, you’re actually making a loss.”
“The tragic thing is that there is still a market need for life-size cloth dolls of Catholic terrorists from the 16th Century. However, taking account of production and marketing costs, a more realistic proposition would have been about £12.30 for the Guy, or in euros, €12.30.”
The collapse comes at a time when foreign effigy manufactures have been taking increasing orders for effigies of presidents, prime ministers, book authors and cartoonists, while Apple has recently launched the iGuy, and self-combusting re-usable electronic effigy which can be connected to the iCloud to mutter heresy as it is consumed by the flames.
The effigy workforce are today looking for work in industries with similar skill sets, such as working in Build-a-Bear Workshops, sewing together giant bean bags and producing dummies used for bayonet practice. Meanwhile, thousands of unbought Guy Fawkes’ now make up an ‘effigy mountain’ in the midlands, and are likely to remain there until someone can think of a way of destroying them. Share this story...
Posted: Nov 6th, 2016 by Adrian Bamforth Click for more article by Adrian Bamforth .. More Stories about: Business | 1real |
“EVERYDAY AMERICAN”? U.S. TAXPAYERS PICK UP THE HUGE TAB FOR BILL CLINTON’S LIMO RIDE TO A LUXURY RETAILER (VIDEO) | Slick Willy s back! Bill Clinton had fun on the taxpayer s dime but he s just an everyday American who shops at luxury retailers like Hermes, right?While in Paris, Clinton was dropped off at the luxury boutique Herm s by a five-car convoy. Clinton was said to be probably buying the store, after an hour-long private visit.The limousines that took Bill Clinton to Herm s in Paris cost taxpayers over $8,000.The State Department picked up the tab for the multimillionaire former president s transportation costs during his trip to Paris last month, government contracts show. The agency paid Biribin Limousines $8,852 for rental cars for Clinton during his stay. HERE S A LITTLE VIDEO OF BUBBA DOING SOME POWER SHOPPING IN PARIS: Biribin Limousines is an international chauffeur company with prestigious references. With exceptional customers historically composed of national and international institutions, corporations, personality of the World of Arts and Fashion, but also the partner of major events that make the news, the company said.While in Paris, Clinton was dropped off at the luxury boutique Herm s by a five-car convoy. Clinton was said to be probably buying the store, after an hour-long private visit.Clinton s wife, Hillary, is vying for the Democratic nomination for president as a champion of everyday Americans. Via: WFB | 1real |
Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to marry on May 19 | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Prince Harry and his American fianc e, Meghan Markle, will marry on Saturday May 19, his office Kensington Palace said on Friday. Queen Elizabeth s grandson, fifth-in-line to the throne, and Markle, who stars in the U.S. TV legal drama Suits , announced their engagement last month with the marriage to take place in St George s Chapel at Windsor Castle. His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and Ms. Meghan Markle will marry on 19th May 2018, Kensington Palace said in a statement. The couple said they had chosen to marry in Windsor, west of London, because it was a special place for them , having spent time there regularly since they met in July 2016 after being introduced through a mutual friend. Harry s 91-year-old grandmother, Elizabeth, will attend the ceremony. However, the date they have chosen clashes with English soccer s FA Cup Final which is usually attended by Harry s elder brother Prince William who, as President of the Football Association, awards the trophy to the winners. The couple of course want the day to be a special, celebratory moment for their friends and family, Harry s Communications Secretary Jason Knauf said last month. They also want the day to be shaped so as to allow members of the public to feel part of the celebrations too and are currently working through ideas for how this might be achieved. The wedding is likely to attract huge attention across the world, as did the marriage of William to his wife Kate in 2011 which was watched by an estimated two billion people. The royal family have said they will pay for the core aspects of the wedding, such as the church service and reception. Markle, 36, who attended a Catholic school as a child but identifies as a Protestant, will be baptized and confirmed into the Church of England before the wedding. She intends to become a British citizen, though she will retain her U.S. citizenship while she goes through the process. The Gothic St George s Chapel is located in the grounds of Windsor Castle, which has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years. Within the chapel are the tombs of ten sovereigns, including Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, and Charles I. On Wednesday, Kensington Palace announced Markle would join the queen and other senior Windsors for their family Christmas celebrations at her Sandringham estate in eastern England in what commentators said was a break with royal protocol under which such an invitation would normally only be extended to Markle after the wedding. | 0fake |
PATRIOT ARTIST’S LATEST TRIBUTE TO TRUMP SUPPORTERS: “You Are Not forgotten” [Video] | Patriot artist John McNaughton just revealed his latest painting A tribute to the middle class and Trump supporters who are the forgotten people of America Remember when McNaughton revealed the painting during Obamas s presidency that depicted the president burning the Constitution? ONE NATION UNDER SOCIALISM PLEASE CHECK OUT: JOHN MCNAUGHTON FINE ART THE FORGOTTEN MAN OUR PREVIOUS REPORT ON THAT INCREDIBLE PAINTING: John McNaughton is a special American painter because of his subject matter and the intensity in which he portrays our current government troubled and corrupt. The Forgotten Man painting is amazing in its symbolism.Here s how McNaughton describes the painting:Against the background of a darkening sky, all of the past Presidents of the United States gather before the White House, as if to commemorate some great event. In the left hand corner of the painting sits a man. That man, with his head bowed appears distraught and hopeless as he contemplates his future. Some of the past Presidents try to console him while looking in the direction of the modern Presidents as if to say, What have you done? Many of these modern Presidents, seemingly oblivious to anything other than themselves, appear to be congratulating each other on their great accomplishments. In front of the man, paper trash is blowing in the wind. Crumpled dollar bills, legislative documents, and, like a whisper the U.S. Constitution beneath the foot of Barack Obama.THE FORGOTTEN MAN McNaughton never sells his original paintings BUT he made an exception this time. He sold this painting to Sean Hannity so Hannity could give it to Donald Trump. Awesome, huh?November 9th McNaughton announced via facebook that he sold the original to Sean Hannity: Sean Hannity just purchased my painting The Forgotten Man to give to Donald Trump to hang in the White House Go to www.jonmcnaughton.comVia: Conservative Treehouse | 1real |
Trump Once Again Uses A Tragedy To Congratulate Himself (VIDEO) | In case you didn t know, there was an explosion in Lower Manhattan Saturday night, resulting in a reported 26 injuries. Luckily, none of those injuries are life threatening at this time. However, that does not make such an event any less frightening or tragic for New York City, or for our country. Right now, the appropriate response is to help the victims if we can, to spread only correct information, and stay informed. That isn t the response from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, though.When news of the explosion broke, Trump was speaking to a large crowd. He announced the explosion, and, just as he did after the horrific massacre at Orlando s Pulse Night Club, used the event to congratulate himself. He touts the need to get very tough, and sows fear. Trump says: Just before I got off the plane, a bomb went off in New York and nobody knows exactly what s going on, but we are living in a time when we ve got to get very tough, folks. We ve got to get very, very tough. It s a terrible thing that s going on in our world and in our country and we are going to get tough and smart and vigilant. We re gonna end it. We re gonna end it. After that, he praised his Colorado crowd and said how awesome it was to be there, and then touted his poll numbers, saying: And a new poll from Emerson just came out and we re up four points in Colorado! Watch the video below, via Dave Itzkoff s Twitter:Trump in Colorado, telling crowd that a bomb just went off in NY. Then says he's up 4 points in new poll. pic.twitter.com/3CN20XqwmL Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) September 18, 2016It appears that Trump is back to his old self. This is no time to be touting poll numbers or trafficking in fear. As Americans, we do not use tragic events to congratulate ourselves or to scare people into doing as we wish. This is what demagogues throughout history have done, and that is just what Donald Trump is a dangerous, bigoted demagogue. History tells us how that situation ends. Let s not make that mistake again.Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 1real |
Before Scalia’s Body Is Even Cold, Republicans Vow To Obstruct ANY Obama Nominee | Moments after learning that long-time Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died in his sleep, Congressional Republicans were already vowing that they would spend the next 361 days preventing Obama from appointing a new justice as is required in the Constitution.Sen. Ted Cruz, who bills himself as a constitutional scholar, boldly demanded that the country wait a year before appointing a new justice simply because he doesn t like Obama.Justice Scalia was an American hero. We owe it to him, & the Nation, for the Senate to ensure that the next President names his replacement. Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 13, 2016A staffer for Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) also swore he would never allow President Obama to fulfill his job of appointing a new justice. In a series of shameless tweets, sent almost immediately after Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed his 79-year-old colleague had passed away, Conn Carroll said there was a less than zero chance that Republicans would let Obama pick a new nominee.What is less than zero? The chances of Obama successfully appointing a Supreme Court Justice to replace Scalia? Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) February 13, 2016If anything this will put a full stop to all Obama judicial nominees going forward. Conn Carroll (@conncarroll) February 13, 2016Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also endorsed the idea of preventing Obama s nominee:McConnell goes there: "this vacancy should not be filled until we have a new President." Rick Klein (@rickklein) February 13, 2016For anyone who has followed politics in recent years, the idea that Republicans would openly express a desire to prevent President Obama from doing his job is nothing new. However, with the Supreme Court, the stakes are even higher than usual. Until today, the court was divided 5-4 in favor of Republicans. This meant that things like Citizens United and the infamous Hobby Lobby decision went in favor of conservative interest groups. With Obama s chance to appoint a new justice, the court is poised to flip. Liberals, for the first time in years, will have the majority.For a bit of perspective, the longest Congress ever took to confirm a nominee is 125 days. If Republicans succeed in preventing President Obama from his right to make an appointment, it will clearly be due to obstructionism and political underhandedness. Already we see they are vowing to not confirm his choice and they have absolutely no idea who it is yet. That s a level of partisanship that should shock and disgust you, regardless of what side of the aisle you re on.Feature image from Flickr/Flickr | 1real |
Chart Of The Day: Ratio Of Household Net Worth To Disposable Income At Pre-Crisis High | Chart Of The Day: Ratio Of Household Net Worth To Disposable Income At Pre-Crisis High By David Stockman. Posted On Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
David Stockman's Contra Corner is the only place where mainstream delusions and cant about the Warfare State, the Bailout State, Bubble Finance and Beltway Banditry are ripped, refuted and rebuked. Subscribe now to receive David Stockman’s latest posts by email each day as well as his model portfolio, Lee Adler’s Daily Data Dive and David’s personally curated insights and analysis from leading contrarian thinkers. | 1real |
Biden Blames “Lazy American Women” For The Economy: “They Sit Around Doing Nothing, Only Hillary Can Force Them To Work” | Email
Democratic Vice President Joe Biden wants American women to get back in the workforce to help boost the economy. “If we just put all the women back to work, if they were able to afford childcare, we would increase the GDP in America by close to eight tenths of one percent,” he said. “That’s trillions of dollars over the next decade.”
Biden made his remarks during a campaign event for Hillary Clinton at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. “The state of our economy could be characterized by a single word: pitiful,” he argued. “We’re still battling recession, I don’t care what the official stats are saying, America is still in recession. And we’re not doing anything about it.”
He added that it was “lazy American women” who brought about the downfall of the economy, because “they sit around on their behinds, doing nothing and squandering their days away when they could be improving the country that has given so much to them.” “I’m not sure how exactly we got to this point, but we’re here and we need to move. Like, yesterday,” he said.
“Mark my words and mark them well,” he addressed the crowd. “Hillary Clinton is the only one who can force American women to go to work. This is true because of a number of reasons. First, she’s a woman herself and not just any woman; she’s a self-made woman. So you better believe what she’s saying is true and has been tried and tested in practice plenty of times.”
“Second, Hillary Clinton understands how difficult it can be to give up the status of a free-loader when your husband is the bread-winner of the household and the wife is expected to tend to the house, the children, make sure dinner is served and always be in the mood for marital duties. She’s been all that and she’s learned how to break free from it, the hard way, I might add,” Biden continued.
“Today’s women are pampered and aren’t used to rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done on their own,” the vice president said. “They’re too dependent, too weak and too lazy to contribute to the economy. The reason for that is they’ve learned how to manipulate men by employing one of the most fundamental laws of economics: when a sought-after commodity becomes short in supply, the demand for it rises even higher.”
“Now, that’s all fine and dandy when it comes to their personal interests, but if you look at the big picture, it’s the economy that’s missing out on valuable workforce. And that’s why we need to get them off their lazy behinds and get them into their workplaces. And like I said, Hillary Clinton is the only one who can do it, which is what makes her the ideal candidate for the next President of the United States. We need to heal this country, folks, not run it into the ground even deeper,” Biden concluded. | 1real |
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