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Clinton Team Takes Aim At Trump For His Full-Blown Hysterics Over Recount (TWEETS) | When Donald Trump heard the news that Hillary Clinton was going to back Jill Stein s recount efforts in three separate states, he didn t take it too well. Trump proceeded to flaunt his rage by having a full-blown meltdown on Twitter, because of course he did. What remains of Clinton s campaign team is finally responding to Trump s hysterics.Christina Reynolds, who was the Clinton campaign s deputy communications director, addressed Trump s Twitter rant in a few tweets of her own. She specifically took on Trump s claim that he had lost the popular vote only because of millions of people who voted illegally. Winning the electoral college won him the presidency, so Trump s excuses on why he lost the popular vote by millions are just small and sad. Christina Reynolds (@creynoldsnc) November 28, 2016To my knowledge, the very very rare cases of people voting illegally found so far were Trump voters. https://t.co/Bc7AEFEFbU Christina Reynolds (@creynoldsnc) November 28, 2016Marc Elias, Clinton s campaign lawyer,was responsible for writing the post on Medium which announced Clinton s support for Stein s recount efforts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. He also took to Twitter regarding Trump s attacks.We are getting attacked for participating in a recount that we didn t ask for by the man who won election but thinks there was massive fraud Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) November 28, 2016So far, Clinton herself has not addressed the recounts at all. Stein, who was the candidate of the Green Party, has lead the efforts and has raised over $6 million to cover the cost of the recounts. Clinton s team has been cautious, making sure it is understood that they are merely responding to the requests of voters and are just trying to be helpful to Stein. Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides, Elias wrote.Neera Tanden is the head of the Center for American Progress. She was not part of the campaign but was a top Clinton ally, she pointed out that Trump s claims of voter fraud only strengthened the argument for recounts and questioned what is making Trump so nervous.Let s do recounts across the country to check this. Then we can see how sure you are of EC. https://t.co/L2zbhQ7Ntt Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) November 27, 2016I think this is Trump s way of asking to #AuditTheVote https://t.co/L2zbhQ7Ntt Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) November 27, 2016Given what Trump has said, shouldn t we audit the vote in all close states? Just to be sure. Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) November 27, 2016Standing back:Between his statement attacking Stein & then his numerous twitter meltdowns, isn t Trump acting like something is wrong in WI? Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) November 28, 2016I m pretty sure that the Electors were created to stop a madman from becoming president. #alwaystrustHamilton Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) November 28, 2016It is important to note that so far, no one associated with the Clinton campaign has claimed that election was rigged.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 1real |
SCAMPAIGN: Here’s How GOP Donors Are Making Trump Rich (But They Don’t Know That) | Donald Trump is making a lot of money thanks to the donors giving money to his presidential campaign, and it s all legal. Even though Trump s actual wealth is still a secret thanks to his refusal to release his tax returns, he is required by law to submit annual spending reports on the behalf of his campaign to the Federal Elections Commission.The latest filing from the Trump campaign shows a new way that Trump has found to make money, and it comes directly from those who believe he should be president and are giving them his money.Trump nearly quintupled the monthly rent his presidential campaign pays for its headquarters at Trump Tower to $169,758 in July, when he was raising funds from donors, compared with March, when he was self-funding his campaign, according to a Huffington Post review of Federal Election Commission filings. The rent jumped even though he was paying fewer staff in July than he did in March.The Trump campaign paid Trump Tower Commercial LLC $35,458 in March the same amount it had been paying since last summer and had 197 paid employees and consultants. In July, it paid 172 employees and consultants.The filing is the latest piece in the ongoing mystery that has bedeviled campaign observers. Trump is bringing in millions of dollars, but so far has barely spent any money on advertising or basic campaign infrastructure like field offices in key swing states. Instead, as this filing shows, Trump has funneled a lot of the campaign dollars right into his own pockets by using Trump businesses as vendors to the campaign.What ends up happening is that the array of Trump businesses ends up sucking up all the money that donors think is going to a political campaign.Like his other businesses that went belly-up Trump Steaks, Trump Water, Trump University, the Trump Taj Mahal and various other real estate projects Trump profits while the investors (and now donors) are hung out to dry.Featured image via Flickr | 1real |
U.S. Urges Kansas State to Heed Reports of Off-Campus Rape - The New York Times | Kansas State University’s policy not to investigate accusations of rape in fraternity houses is “incorrect,” according to federal government statements filed in court in support of two female students at the university. The two women, Sara Weckhorst and Tessa Farmer, both told the university that they had been raped in two separate episodes at fraternity houses in 2014 and 2015. In both cases, they say, the university would not investigate because the fraternity houses were off campus, even though they were sanctioned fraternities. Their federal lawsuits, filed in Kansas in April, say the university violated Title IX, a civil rights statute prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex, by failing to respond to their complaints of rape. Title IX generally governs gender equity in education. Responding to the lawsuits, the university argued in court that the cases should be dismissed because it is not legally responsible for reports of rape at “ ” fraternity houses or events. But the government, in documents filed Friday, disagreed, saying that Title IX covers all education programs of a federally funded school, including the house and events of a fraternity. “The continuing effects of a rape, including the constant fear of exposure to one’s assailant, can render a student’s educational environment hostile,” the government filings said. “Thus, a school must respond to allegations of sexual assault in fraternity activities to determine if a hostile environment exists there or in any other education program or activity. ” The government told universities, in a “Dear Colleague” letter in 2011, that Title IX requires them to investigate accusations of rapes of students. It specifically cited fraternity houses. The court statements, by the Departments of Justice and Education, have been filed in about a dozen other lawsuits since 2010 where the law is in dispute. Title IX is an increasingly contentious issue at colleges and high schools across the country. Calling the legal lay of the land a “hot mess” when it comes to Title IX, Wendy Murphy, a professor who specializes in sexual violence law at New England School of Law, said she hoped the government would file statements in other pending Title IX cases to help clarify the law. Ms. Weckhorst, of Doylestown, Pa. said in her complaint that she had become incapacitated from drinking alcohol at a fraternity party in April 2014, while a freshman at Kansas State, and was subsequently raped by two men. Ms. Farmer, of Overland Park, Kan. told a similar story. After drinking too much at a fraternity party, she said in her complaint, she blacked out on a bed in the fraternity house. She awoke as an unknown man was raping her, her complaint said. The women are seeking both monetary damages and orders that the university investigate their accusations. | 0fake |
Trump vows to end prohibition on church political activity | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to free churches and other tax-exempt institutions of a 1954 U.S. law banning political activity, drawing fire from critics who accused him of rewarding his evangelical Christian supporters and turning houses of worship into political machines. As Trump used a prayer breakfast to take aim at a long-standing statutory barrier between politics and religion called the Johnson Amendment, civil liberties and gay rights groups expressed concern that he might consider an executive order to allow government agencies and businesses to deny services to gay people in the name of religious freedom. Trump did not reference such an order in his remarks. But he lambasted the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits tax-exempt organizations such as churches and other places of worship, charities and educational institutions from directly or indirectly participating in any political campaign in favor or against a political candidate. “I will get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. I will do that, remember,” Trump told U.S. politicians, religious leaders and guests including Jordan’s King Abdullah at the annual National Prayer Breakfast. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters Trump wanted to find ways to make sure people were not penalized for following through on their religious beliefs. A draft executive order on “religious freedom” circulating among advocacy groups would allow government officials to deny marriage licenses to gay couples and let businesses withhold services from gay people, activists said. The White House said it was not working on such an order. Trump previously spoke out against the Johnson amendment during the campaign and won the support of evangelical Christian leaders including Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. A change in the law would require action in the Republican-led U.S. Congress, and Republican lawmakers introduced legislation that would reverse the policy. After Trump’s remarks, Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters he has “always supported” eliminating the Johnson Amendment. Critics including the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State expressed alarm. “President Donald Trump and his allies in the religious right seek to turn America’s houses of worship into miniature political action committees,” said the group’s executive director, Barry Lynn. “It would also lead some houses of worship to focus on supporting candidates in exchange for financial and other aid. That would be a disaster for both churches and politics in America,” Lynn said. Peter Montgomery of the liberal advocacy group People For the American Way said Trump wants to pay back religious conservatives who helped get him elected “by letting them turn their churches into political machines with tax-exempt charitable dollars.” Scrapping the Johnson Amendment has been a goal of Christian conservatives, who contend it violates free speech and religious freedom rights. The U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion and bars the government from establishing an official religion. “We are encouraged to see that President Trump understands the very real constitutional violation posed by the Johnson Amendment and that he is committed to restoring a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing government retribution,” said Erik Stanley, senior counsel for the conservative Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom. Trump used the opening moments of the usually solemn prayer breakfast to deride actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, his successor on a reality TV show, for his viewership ratings. Trump said Schwarzenegger, the Republican former governor of California, had disastrous ratings on the NBC reality TV program “Celebrity Apprentice,” which Trump previously starred in. “They hired a big, big movie star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to take my place. And we know how that turned out,” Trump said. “It’s been a total disaster. ... And I want to just pray for Arnold if we can, for those ratings, OK?” Schwarzenegger, who endorsed Ohio Governor John Kasich over Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, shot back, alluding to the controversies of Trump’s first two weeks in office. “Hey Donald, I have a great idea,” Schwarzenegger said in a video. “Why don’t we switch jobs? You take over TV, because you’re such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job. And then people can finally sleep comfortably again.” Spicer later called Trump’s remarks “light-hearted” and part of an “absolutely beautiful” speech. Trump a week ago put a 120-day halt on the U.S. refugee program, barred Syrian refugees indefinitely and imposed a 90-day suspension on people from seven predominantly Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. Trump defended his directive on Thursday as crucial to ensuring religious freedom and tolerance in America, and said he wanted to prevent a “beachhead of intolerance” from spreading in the United States. He also called terrorism a fundamental threat to religious freedom. “The world is in trouble, but we’re going to straighten it out. OK? That’s what I do. I fix things,” Trump said. “When you hear about the tough phone calls I’m having, don’t worry about it,” Trump added, apparently referring to telephone conversations including one with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. “It’s time we’re going to be a little tough folks. We’re taken advantage of by every nation in the world virtually. It’s not going to happen anymore,” Trump said. | 0fake |
In Israel, Trump says there is 'rare opportunity' for peace | TEL AVIV (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking shortly after arriving in Israel on Monday, urged regional leaders to work together for peace and said his trip to Saudi Arabia had brought him new hope for that prospect. “We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and to its people,” Trump said during a welcoming ceremony after Air Force One touched down. “But we can only get there working together. There is no other way.” | 0fake |
Exclusive: Trump's Afghan decision may increase U.S. air power, training | ON BOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force may intensify its strikes in Afghanistan and expand training of the Afghan air force following President Donald Trump s decision to forge ahead with the 16-year-old war, its top general told Reuters on Tuesday. Air Force Chief of Staff General David Goldfein said, however, he was still examining the matter, as the U.S. military s top brass had only begun the process of translating Trump s war strategy into action. Asked whether the Air Force would dedicate more assets to Afghanistan, where the United States has been engaged in its longest military conflict, Goldfein said only: Possibly. It s actually too early to tell what this will mean in terms of plus-ups and reductions, he said in a joint interview with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. Still, he acknowledged that the Air Force was absolutely examining the possibility of increasing air power, including to support U.S. ground forces, following Trump s promise of a stepped-up campaign against Taliban insurgents, who have gained ground against U.S.-backed Afghan government forces. Goldfein said the same about providing training to Afghan pilots. Wilson, who assumed the Air Force s top civilian job three months ago, noted the Afghan military had made strides thanks to U.S. training and equipment, but added: I think there is a long way to go there, very honestly. In a speech on Monday night, Trump appeared to answer a call from the top U.S. commander on the ground for thousands of more troops to break a stalemate with Taliban insurgents, on top of the roughly 8,400 now deployed in Afghanistan. Trump said the United States would not disclose troop numbers, but one U.S. official told Reuters they could start moving quickly. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday he would set troop levels following the review by military chiefs. During the administration of Trump s predecessor, Barack Obama, U.S. military officials privately expressed frustration about their inability to strike at many Taliban targets - including training camps - unless they could show a direct threat to U.S. forces or major impact on the Afghan state. Wilson said Trump appeared to be giving greater flexibility to strike insurgents. Obviously the Joint Chiefs will work through their plans and make proposals, but I think the guidance was pretty clear from the president last night, and we re going to go on the offensive and destroy these terrorist networks, Wilson said. Goldfein said: I thought that came out very loud and clear in the speech that that s his priority. Wilson and Goldfein spoke to Reuters while flying back to the United States after a nine-day trip that included a visit to Afghanistan, where the U.S. military has ramped up its firepower against Islamic State in recent months even as it helps Afghan forces battle the Taliban. Particularly for the U.S. Air Force, the size of the American commitment to Afghanistan far outweighs the number of airmen deployed there. A network of U.S. installations throughout the Middle East supports the Afghan campaign, including in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Still, any substantial increase in U.S. targeting of the Taliban and Islamic State militants would likely require dedicating more U.S. military assets to build intelligence, strike insurgent targets and provide support to U.S. forces in the field. Although the U.S. military is stretched, a string of U.S. coalition-backed victories by Iraqi forces against Islamic State might free up some firepower and intelligence assets for Afghanistan, experts say. Air Force spokesman Brigadier General Edward Thomas declined to speculate on operational planning. But he noted that U.S. air power from the region could be deployed, if needed, including fighter aircraft, bombers and spy planes. With the detailed planning that will follow the president s announcement, the Air Force will be ready to swing any additional airmen and aircraft to the fight as required, Thomas said. Trump ran for the presidency calling for a swift U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, which the United States invaded in October 2001, and he acknowledged on Monday that he was going against his instincts in approving the new campaign plan sought by his military advisers. Wilson said Trump s remarks represented a strategic correction in the war effort along with a significant shift in policy on Pakistan. In his speech, Trump delivered a sharp rebuke to Islamabad for allowing Taliban insurgents a safe haven from which launch attacks in Afghanistan, and said it had much to lose unless it changed course. Pakistan denies that it harbors militants fighting U.S. and Afghan government forces in Afghanistan. Reuters has reported that the United States has been considering a range of actions, including withholding aid to Pakistan and, perhaps, ramping up drone strikes. Successive U.S. administrations have struggled with how to deal with nuclear-armed Pakistan, and the U.S. military has been dependent in the past on overflight or land routes through Pakistan to resupply its forces in landlocked Afghanistan. Wilson did not rule out a future U.S. military role against militants in Pakistan should Islamabad fail to act, but she said Trump s focus appeared to be on diplomatic efforts for now. My assumption is that there will be some intense diplomatic pressure, she said. Goldfein said he was not aware of any changes to U.S.-Pakistani military ties, but acknowledged the military would take its cues from the State Department. I can tell you that I have a fairly robust dialogue with the Pakistani air chief. I ve hosted him. He s hosted me, Goldfein said. But that dialogue is always supportive of the diplomatic dialogue. | 0fake |
Kremlin dismisses Trump's 'imperialist' security strategy | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump s new national security strategy as imperialist on Tuesday, but welcomed Washington s willingness to cooperate in some areas. A day earlier, Trump s administration had unveiled a security paper - based on the president s America First push - that accused Russia of interfering in other countries internal affairs. A quick read of the parts of the strategy that mention our country one way or another... (shows) an imperialist character, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The paper, he added also showed an unwillingness to give up the idea of a unipolar world, moreover, an insistent unwillingness, disregard for a multipolar world. Trump s strategy paper did not include specific accusations from U.S. security agencies that Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S. election. But it reflected a broader view long held by U.S. diplomats that Russia actively undermines American interests at home and abroad. We can not agree with an attitude that sees our country as a threat to the United States, Peskov said. At the same time, there are some modestly positive aspects, in particular, the readiness to cooperate in areas that correspond to American interests. Trump has frequently spoken of wanting to improve relations with President Vladimir Putin, even though Russia has frustrated U.S. policy in Syria and Ukraine and done little to help Washington in its standoff with North Korea. In a speech laying out his strategy on Monday, Trump said he had received a call from Putin a day earlier to thank him for providing U.S. intelligence that helped thwart a bomb attack in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. A U.S. Justice Department investigation is looking into whether Trump campaign aides colluded with Russia, something that Moscow and Trump both deny. | 0fake |
Russian PM says U.S.-Russia ties at low ebb but Trump 'friendly' | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that U.S.-Russia ties were the worst he could recall, but that U.S. President Donald Trump struck him as a friendly person keen to establish positive working contacts with Russia. Trump took office in January, saying he wanted warmer ties with Russia which had fallen to a post-Cold War low. But since then, ties have frayed further after U.S. intelligence officials said Russia had meddled in the presidential election, something Moscow denies. Medvedev, who met Trump in Manila this month, suggested he and President Vladimir Putin both found Trump constructive and friendly in person, but accused other U.S. politicians of playing what he called the Russian card to achieve their own aims and influence Trump s attitude towards Russia. The impression he (Trump) makes is that of a friendly political figure ready to establish full-scale contacts and who reacts reasonably towards everything, Medvedev said in an interview with Russia s main TV channels. Medvedev said he had chatted to Trump briefly over dinner at a regional summit in Manila. He (Trump) recalled our cooperation during World War Two, saying that it was important both for Russia and America, said Medvedev. It was a pretty normal exchange I am sure and President (Vladimir) Putin has spoken about just that - that everything is fine when it comes to our relations when we meet in person. But Medvedev said that was of secondary importance because overall U.S.-Russia relations were appalling. They are very bad, I would say appalling. They are the worst I can remember. Medvedev said the political climate towards Russia in the United States reminded him of the 1950s when U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy helped launch a campaign against anyone he regarded as pro-communist in the United States. But still, even then there was no talk of settling accounts with your own president, said Medvedev. | 0fake |
Austrian far right says 'very good start' in Kurz coalition talks | VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s far-right Freedom Party said coalition talks with conservative leader Sebastian Kurz made a very, very good start on Wednesday, mapping out a process that could end its decade in opposition. Foreign Minister Kurz, who is just 31, and his People s Party won last week s parliamentary election with 31.5 percent of the vote but they need a partner to form a stable government. Kurz s hard line on immigration and his decision to force the collapse of the current coalition with the Social Democrats, who came second, made the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO) - founded by ex-Nazis in the 1950s - a more willing partner. It was today a very, very good start to negotiations ... a positive mutual gauging by the negotiating teams, FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache told a joint news conference with Kurz after the first round of talks at an ornate palace in Vienna. Coalition talks in Austria last roughly two months on average, and Kurz has said he wants a deal by Christmas. Both men had negotiating teams of four party officials and agreed on five headings for their talks, ranging from future , for issues such as science and the environment, to a more self-explanatory security, order and protecting the homeland . The two sides have much common ground on immigration, an issue that dominated the election after Europe s migration crisis left many voters feeling Austria was overrun. But after Wednesday s talks they said they would start with another issue both have focused on: reducing inefficiencies in state spending. Kurz and Strache said they would examine finance ministry data with a view to deciding where savings could be achieved. Our aim is to find the losses through friction in the system and then of course to deal with where there is the potential to increase efficiency, Kurz said. That as a first round should build the foundation for the subsequent negotiations on content. The rise of far-right parties like France s National Front and the Alternative for Germany since the migration crisis started in 2015 makes it less likely the FPO s accession to power would provoke the same outcry as in 2000, when the European Union imposed short-lived sanctions on Austria. But some European leaders have expressed concern at its strong showing and President Alexander Van der Bellen, who has the power to appoint and dismiss governments, has said any coalition must be guided by fundamental European values . What that means for the FPO and the talks is unclear. As part of a push to make itself more acceptable to the mainstream, it has stopped calling for Austria to leave the bloc and says it is now pro-European while saying Brussels should hand back more powers to member states. That overlaps with Kurz s view that the EU should be slimmed down and focus on tasks like trade and securing external borders. Europe is of course an issue, Kurz said when asked why it wasn t in one of the five broad headings for talks, adding that it would come under the heading state and society . From my point of view the atmosphere was a very, very positive one, he added. | 0fake |
Cambodia suspends cooperation with U.S. in finding war remains | PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Thursday he was suspending cooperation with the United States to find the remains of Americans killed in the Vietnam War in the latest ratcheting up of tensions between the two countries. Hun Sen has accused the United States of plotting treason with opposition leader Kem Sokha, an accusation rejected by the U.S. embassy, which has called for the release of the prime minister s main rival. The search cooperation is postponed until a number of issues are resolved between Cambodia and the United States, Hun Sen said according to pro-government website Fresh News. Hun Sen said that a total of 80 American soldiers had gone missing in Cambodia during the war in neighboring Vietnam and that half of them had been found. Hun Sen said the suspension will be lifted after Cambodia-U.S. ties are restored. Washington announced on Wednesday that it would stop issuing some visas after Cambodia refused to accept Cambodian citizens deported from the United States after being convicted of crimes there. Hun Sen said the policy of deporting them back to Cambodia break them up as families, as parents and children, and it s an inhumane (situation) in which some have committed suicide . The Vietnam War that ended in 1975 remains an emotive issue in Cambodia. Hun Sen says the United States has never apologized for its role in bombing his country to try to kill Vietnamese communist guerrillas and should forgive debts built up by a pro-U.S. junta that ruled until it was ousted by the genocidal Khmer Rouge. On a separate issue, Cambodia s Foreign Affairs Ministry said it would accept deportees from the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Phnom Penh declined to comment. | 0fake |
Highlights of Hillary Clinton’s Concession Speech and President Obama’s Remarks - The New York Times | Hillary Clinton publicly conceded the election to Donald J. Trump on Wednesday, acknowledging the pain of the defeat in remarks in New York while calling on her supporters to accept that he would be president and give him a chance to lead with an open mind. President Obama, speaking in Washington, also said that he would work to ensure a smooth transition to a Trump administration and that, despite their differences, we are “all rooting for his success. ” Speaker Paul D. Ryan proclaimed that Mr. Trump had achieved a political feat and earned a mandate by reaching new voters. Mr. Ryan said that he was certain that they would work well together on a conservative policy agenda. Global markets swooned overnight but stabilized as investors considered the possibility that Mr. Trump’s mix of policies might bolster the economy.. News of Mr. Trump’s election was met with a mix of shock, uncertainty and some congratulations around the world. • Mrs. Clinton thanked her supporters in her concession speech, and said that she felt pride in the campaign she ran. • Of Mr. Trump, Mrs. Clinton said she hoped that he would be “a successful president for all Americans,” and that she respected and cherished the peaceful transition of power. She told her supporters that they must accept that Mr. Trump would be president. “We owe him an open mind and a chance to lead,” she said. But she also acknowledged that the country was more divided than she had realized. • After a long campaign, Mrs. Clinton acknowledged that the loss cuts deep. “This is painful, and it will be for a long time,” she said. She also expressed regret that she did not shatter the glass ceiling, but said, “Someday, someone will, and hopefully sooner than we might think right now. ” • Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, the Democratic nominee, who spoke before Mrs. Clinton, said, “I’m proud of Hillary Clinton because she has been and is a great history maker,” pointing to her long career of public service. He saluted her for winning the popular vote in the election, drawing cheers. • Mr. Obama said that he and former President George W. Bush had major differences eight years ago, but they managed a successful transition. He said he expected to do the same with Mr. Trump, while acknowledging that they have their differences, and he invited the to come to the White House on Thursday. • Mr. Obama reminded the country that we “are all on the same team” and characterized politics as an “intramural scrimmage. ” He said that he was heartened by the conversation that he had with Mr. Trump at 3:30 a. m. and that he hoped Mr. Trump maintains that spirit. • Mr. Obama said that he was proud of Mrs. Clinton, who gave her concession speech on Wednesday just before Mr. Obama spoke, and called her a historic figure. • Mr. Obama called on Americans to move forward with the presumption of good faith in fellow citizens. He said that those who were disappointed should not give up on their dreams. “Sometimes you lose an argument, sometimes you lose an election,” he said, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. by his side. “But the path this country has taken has never been a straight line. We zig and zag. ” The Vermont senator, who ran against Mrs. Clinton in the Democratic primary campaign, was silent on the election for most of Wednesday, but in the early evening he offered something of an olive branch to Mr. Trump and acknowledged the middle class anger that he tapped into. “To the degree that Mr. Trump is serious about pursuing policies that improve the lives of working families in this country, I and other progressives are prepared to work with him,” Mr. Sanders said in a statement. But Mr. Sanders maintained that he is opposed to much of what Mr. Trump has stood for and that he will fight any intolerance that he might try to promote as president. “To the degree that he pursues racist, sexist, xenophobic and policies, we will vigorously oppose him,” Mr. Sanders said. Mr. Ryan congratulated Mr. Trump for accomplishing an “enormous political feat” on Wednesday and said that he was looking forward to working with him to carry forward a Republican policy agenda and prioritize the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. “This health care law is not a popular law,” Mr. Ryan said, adding that Congress had already shown it can get a repeal bill to the president’s desk. “This health care law is collapsing of its own weight. ” That clearly indicated that Republican leaders would use budget rules, called reconciliation, to gut the Affordable Care Act with only a majority of Congress, as they did in January. Senate Democrats would be powerless to filibuster the legislation under the parliamentary rules. Mr. Ryan, who has had differences with Mr. Trump, said that they had spoken twice in the last 18 hours and that he was “very excited” about their ability to work together. “He just earned a mandate,” Mr. Ryan said. The last two Republican presidents gave the next Republican president congratulatory telephone calls on Wednesday. “Laura and I wish the Melania and the entire Trump family all our very best as they take on an awesome responsibility and begin an exciting new chapter in their lives,” former President George W. Bush said in a statement. Mr. Bush had been critical of Mr. Trump when he was campaigning on behalf of his brother Jeb this year but said that he was rooting for Mr. Trump now. “We pray for the success of our country and the success of our new president,” Mr. Bush said. Mr. Bush’s father, George Bush, the 41st president, also spoke to Mr. Trump on Wednesday. A spokesman said that they talked for about five minutes and that the call was friendly and gracious. “Good luck on your new challenge,” Mr. Bush said. Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor vanquished by Mr. Trump during the Republican primary process, sent Mr. Trump a congratulatory message on Twitter. Dozens of Republican elected officials resisted Mr. Trump’s rise to power, including some who revoked their endorsements in the heat of the general election. Senators like Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John McCain of Arizona declared Mr. Trump unfit to lead, while ideological conservatives like Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Mike Lee of Utah warned of Mr. Trump’s indifference to the limits of government power. These Trump critics on the right now face a wrenching political choice: to defer to him as the country’s new leader, or to take up a role against a Republican as he assembles his administration. Since Republicans kept control of the House and Senate, dissenters within Mr. Trump’s party may hold outsize influence over exactly how he can govern as president. Mr. Graham took a reserved approach in his statement on the election on Tuesday, saying that he would aim to help Mr. Trump govern — within the bounds of a fairly conventional Republican agenda. | 0fake |
Should We Worry About McMaster as Trump’s National Security Advisor? | 21st Century Wire says Is McMaster going to reignite tensions with Russia?In the follow video Stuart J. Hooper asks if we should be worried about General McMaster replacing General Flynn as Trump s National Security Advisor.While Flynn understood that Russia has a sphere of influence in the world that the US should be wary of encroaching upon, McMaster is the author of a report entitled The Russia New Generation Warfare Study , which is, is intended to ignite a wholesale rethinking and possibly even a redesign of the Army in the event it has to confront the Russians in Eastern Europe .Watch the report video here: READ MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Sisi: Israeli-Palestinian Deal A Top Priority for Egypt | The Times of Israel reports: Egyptian President told a delegation from an umbrella group of US Jewish groups that reaching an end to the conflict is one of his top priorities. [Meeting in Cairo, Sissi told representatives from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that reaching a peace deal would remove a main impetus behind terror attacks. Sunday’s meeting came as an Israeli media report detailed a secret summit between Sissi, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan’s King Abdullah and US secretary of state John Kerry last year aimed at cobbling together a regional peace initiative. Read more here. | 0fake |
Exclusive: Trump son-in-law had undisclosed contacts with Russian envoy - sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser, Jared Kushner, had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States during and after the 2016 presidential campaign, seven current and former U.S. officials told Reuters. Those contacts included two phone calls between April and November last year, two of the sources said. By early this year, Kushner had become a focus of the FBI investigation into whether there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, said two other sources - one current and one former law enforcement official. Kushner initially had come to the attention of FBI investigators last year as they began scrutinizing former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s connections with Russian officials, the two sources said. While the FBI is investigating Kushner’s contacts with Russia, he is not currently a target of that investigation, the current law enforcement official said. The new information about the two calls as well as other details uncovered by Reuters shed light on when and why Kushner first attracted FBI attention and show that his contacts with Russian envoy Sergei Kislyak were more extensive than the White House has acknowledged. NBC News reported on Thursday that Kushner was under scrutiny by the FBI, in the first sign that the investigation, which began last July, has reached the president’s inner circle. The FBI declined to comment, while the Russian embassy said it was policy not to comment on individual diplomatic contacts. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Kushner’s attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said Kushner did not remember any calls with Kislyak between April and November. “Mr Kushner participated in thousands of calls in this time period. He has no recollection of the calls as described. We have asked (Reuters) for the dates of such alleged calls so we may look into it and respond, but we have not received such information,” she said. In March, the White House said that Kushner and Flynn had met Kislyak at Trump Tower in December to establish “a line of communication.” Kislyak also attended a Trump campaign speech in Washington in April 2016 that Kushner attended. The White House did not acknowledge any other contacts between Kushner and Russian officials. Before the election, Kislyak’s undisclosed discussions with Kushner and Flynn focused on fighting terrorism and improving U.S.-Russian economic relations, six of the sources said. Former President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia after it seized Crimea and started supporting separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014. After the Nov. 8 election, Kushner and Flynn also discussed with Kislyak the idea of creating a back channel between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin that could have bypassed diplomats and intelligence agencies, two of the sources said. Reuters was unable to determine how those discussions were conducted or exactly when they took place. Reuters was first to report last week that a proposal for a back channel was discussed between Flynn and Kislyak as Trump prepared to take office. The Washington Post was first to report on Friday that Kushner participated in that conversation. Separately, there were at least 18 undisclosed calls and emails between Trump associates and Kremlin-linked people in the seven months before the Nov. 8 presidential election, including six calls with Kislyak, sources told Reuters earlier this month. . Two people familiar with those 18 contacts said Flynn and Kushner were among the Trump associates who spoke to the ambassador by telephone. Reuters previously reported only Flynn’s involvement in those discussions. Six of the sources said there were multiple contacts between Kushner and Kislyak but declined to give details beyond the two phone calls between April and November and the post-election conversation about setting up a back channel. It is also not clear whether Kushner engaged with Kislyak on his own or with other Trump aides. FBI scrutiny of Kushner began when intelligence reports of Flynn’s contacts with Russians included mentions of U.S. citizens, whose names were redacted because of U.S. privacy laws. This prompted investigators to ask U.S. intelligence agencies to reveal the names of the Americans, the current U.S. law enforcement official said. Kushner’s was one of the names that was revealed, the official said, prompting a closer look at the president’s son-in-law’s dealings with Kislyak and other Russians. FBI investigators are examining whether Russians suggested to Kushner or other Trump aides that relaxing economic sanctions would allow Russian banks to offer financing to people with ties to Trump, said the current U.S. law enforcement official. The head of Russian state-owned Vnesheconombank, Sergei Nikolaevich Gorkov, a trained intelligence officer whom Putin appointed, met Kushner at Trump Tower in December. The bank is under U.S. sanctions and was implicated in a 2015 espionage case in which one of its New York executives pleaded guilty to spying and was jailed. The bank said in a statement in March that it had met with Kushner along with other representatives of U.S. banks and business as part of preparing a new corporate strategy. Officials familiar with intelligence on contacts between the Russians and Trump advisers said that so far they have not seen evidence of any wrongdoing or collusion between the Trump camp and the Kremlin. Moreover, they said, nothing found so far indicates that Trump authorized, or was even aware of, the contacts. There may not have been anything improper about the contacts, the current law enforcement official stressed. Kushner offered in March to be interviewed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is also investigating Russia’s attempts to interfere in last year’s election. The contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russian officials during the presidential campaign coincided with what U.S. intelligence agencies concluded was a Kremlin effort through computer hacking, fake news and propaganda to boost Trump’s chances of winning the White House and damage his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. | 0fake |
California, eyeing Cosby, ends statute of limitations for rape | SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a bill to end the statute of limitations for rape, a measure inspired by accusations against comedian Bill Cosby, some of which surfaced decades after alleged crimes occurred. Cosby, who built a long career on family friendly comedy, including his long-running NBC sitcom “The Cosby Show,” has steadfastly denied ever assaulting anyone and has insisted that all his sexual encounters were consensual. He is charged in Pennsylvania with drugging and sexually assaulting a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, at his home in 2004. In California, he faces a civil suit by a woman now in her 50s who alleges that Cosby plied her with alcohol and molested her in 1974 at the Playboy Mansion when she was aged 15. Existing California law generally limits prosecution of a felony sexual offense to 10 years after the offense is committed. Only two in 100 rapists will be convicted of a felony and spend any time in prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. “Governor Jerry Brown’s signature of SB 813 tells every rape and sexual assault victim in California that they matter and that, regardless of when they are ready to come forward, they will always have an opportunity to seek justice in a court of law,” said bill author Senator Connie Leyva. “Rapists should never be able to evade legal consequences simply because an arbitrary time limit has expired,” she said. The bill will not work retroactively and will not help some of Cosby’s accusers, according to Gloria Allred, an attorney who represents several of the comedian’s alleged victims. The governors of Nevada and Colorado have signed similar bills extending the statute of limitations to 20 years for rape cases into law. The California law takes effect on Jan. 1, 2017. | 0fake |
House Republicans Unveil Bullet Points for Obamacare Repeal - Breitbart | House Republican leaders previewed parts of an Obamacare repeal bill at a Thursday press conference. [House Speaker Ryan announced: Here is what is important for us all to understand: Obamacare is not simply stuck in some kind of status quo. It is getting worse by the day, and it will keep getting worse unless we act. We need to rescue people from this collapsing law, and we need to replace it with a true system. One that gives every American access to quality, affordable coverage. That means more choices and lower costs. It means real protections and peace of mind. And it means returning your care to your control. Patients and doctors should be making the big decisions — not government bureaucrats. Step by step, this is what our plan to repeal and replace Obamacare will do. We look forward to making progress in the coming weeks and keeping our promise to the American people. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady ( ) and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden ( ) joined the speaker in reaffirming their commitment to repealing and replacing Obamacare. House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady ( ) said, “We’re going to continue to work through this through the district work period next week. And as we come back in the weeks ahead we’re going to be moving forward with legislation. ” Republicans leaders hope to soon provide a credible alternative to Obamacare. House congressional committees including Ways and Means, as well as Energy and Commerce, will start the markup of the bill after the president’s day recess next week. The Republican proposal would include health savings accounts, pools for sick people, and states receiving greater control over health care. The plan also includes tax credits for individuals to buy health insurance dependent on age and family size rather than Obamacare’s income basis. The Republican plan lowers Medicaid back to each states’ traditional match rate. The proposal says, “This ensures continuity of care and coverage for adults, but does not reward states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare and allows individuals to cycle off the program into other coverage sources naturally. ” States that did not elect to expand Medicaid would receive additional resources to make states more equal. The plan would limit per capita spending on Medicaid however, states can elect to choose a block grant. The block grant does not include Obamacare’s expanded Medicaid funding and presumes that individuals find coverage outside of the Medicaid program. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price told lawmakers that the president backs repeal and replace occurring at the same time, and that “the president is all in on this. ” | 0fake |
WIKILEAKS EMAIL: CLINTON FAN BOY Says He “Knows” Trump-Hater Megyn Kelly…Offers To Arrange Softball Interview For Hillary | For all the hate Democrats openly express for FOX News, it s good to know that Hillary surrogates like Lanny Davis can rely on good Trump-hater Megyn Kelly to prop up Crooked Hillary The latest Wikileaks dump includes an email from Lanny Davis tries to convince Catholic hater Jennifer Palmeiri that it would be a good idea for Megyn Kelly to interview Hillary, giving her a chance to explain the mistake she made withe her private email server. He even offers to arrange a friendly interview for Hillary with Megyn. Here is the text from the email:Dear Jen,I know what I m about to propose is very risky and will be instinctively viewed negatively on the first reaction. But because of the high advantages that I see, perfectly aware of the risks, I think this proposal should be considered.I propose that the Secretary be on the Megyn Kelly File show for at least 30 minutes. I believe I can reduce the risks, since I know Megyn and Roger Ailes very well, by ensuring that the Secretary will have an opportunity to answer tough questions on emails and other issues without interruption. In fact, I believe it is in the interest of Secretary Clinton as well as Fox for the questions to be tough, something we should not fear as long as she has an opportunity to answer. I know she will do well with adequate preparation, and especially after yesterday s excellent statement taking full responsibility for mixing personal an official business on a single email device.I still believe the issue of the wiping out of the private server still needs to be dealt with e.g., simply stating that was done primarily to protect personal privacy on personal emails but she made the mistake of mixing personal with official on the server because she was using a single device, and she should have been more transparent shortly after she left office. This interview has the potential to be a ratings and media bonanza. I have confidence she would hit a political home run and have a massive audience to deliver her message without a filter. Of course there is a risk that Megan will try to show how tough she can be, even tougher than on Trump. I am assuming the worst case on that risk. But if we have a guarantee, which I believe We will get, that she will have an uninterrupted chance to respond to every question, and we have time to prepare, I think this could be a major plus and even a game changer in the various negative narratives about the Secretary being largely inaccessible and sometimes testy with the media.Here is a screen shot of the original email: | 1real |
null | Obamacare might work if you're getting a subsidy but it is killing the folks who have no subsidies or no employer who helps pay for costs but even they are getting hit hard. Part of the reason wages are stagnant is because wage increases have to go into health care increases.
Premiums would be rising faster without Obamacare? What I know is that friends who don't qualify for Obamacare have a $10,000 deductible and $1500 monthly premium. Some tell me their out-of-pocket costs have doubled. How does one budget for Obamacare?
And now Hillary wants to open up the exchanges to illegal aliens. Sure, we can pick up the tab for that, too. | 1real |
Green Party Senate Candidate Margaret Flowers Crashes Two-Party Debate | Videos Green Party Senate Candidate Margaret Flowers Crashes Two-Party Debate Both of Flowers’ opponents agreed to debate the Green Party candidate, but she was still excluded from the debate televised by CBS Baltimore. | October 28, 2016 Be Sociable, Share! Margaret Flowers, center, the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland, is escorted off stage after interrupting a televised Senate debate between Rep. Kathy Szeliga, R-Baltimore County, left, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in Baltimore, Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
BALTIMORE — Dr. Margaret Flowers, a Green Party candidate for Senate from Maryland, interrupted a televised debate to protest her exclusion from the forum on Wednesday.
“I’m a candidate on the ballot. I have a statewide campaign. I don’t understand why I’m not up here,” Flowers declared as she briefly occupied the debate stage. This is NOT what democracy looks like #MDSen only televised debate excludes candidate #OpenDebates #LetFlowersDebate https://t.co/vOCInhwdvN pic.twitter.com/0sdvzJgofQ
— Dr. Margaret Flowers (@flowers4senate) October 26, 2016
Flowers is running for the seat long occupied by Democratic incumbent Barbara Mikulski, who announced her retirement earlier this year.
During the direct action, Flowers took the stage amid loud applause from the audience and shook hands with her opponents, Democratic nominee Chris Van Hollen and Republican nominee Kathy Szeliga, both of whom agreed to debate Flowers.
Despite being welcomed by her opponents, the organizers of the debate, CBS Baltimore and the University of Baltimore, refused to allow Flowers to participate . Watch ‘ Green Party Nominee Margaret Flowers Interrupt Senate Debate ‘:
After briefly holding forth on the stage, police escorted her from the premises. As she was being led away, Flowers loudly declared that the way alternative candidates like her are treated is “why our Democracy is a sham.”
After Flowers was led from the room, an audience member asserted his own support for open debates. He said: “We need to have open debates at the national level, at the state level, at all levels. If we’re supposed to be a democracy, why in God’s name are we excluding people from democracy? America is supposed to be the model for democracy, and the corporate media telling us that we can’t have more people at these debates — when is it going to end?”
Other members of the audience also voiced support for Flowers’ inclusion in the debate, including Kevin Zeese, who runs Popular Resistance alongside Flowers and who filmed the incident, shouting: “Let her on the stage!” Police escorted both men out of the building.
After the debate, the Flowers campaign issued a brief statement voicing her support for health care reform, for an end to foreign wars, and for the United States to invest heavily into renewable energy and fighting climate change. In part, the statement reads: “My exclusion means the voters will not know what I stand for and how I compare to the other candidates. While I have obvious differences with Republican views, I also have significant differences with Van Hollen. I am one of only twelve congressional candidates in the nation certified as a clean money candidate while Van Hollen has raised millions of dollars from big business lobbyists on K Street including from the fracking industry, weapons makers and big banks.”
According to a press release issued on Thursday by the campaign, the Sinclair Broadcast Group has offered to host a three-way debate on one of its stations. Of the three candidates, Van Hollen is the only one who refuses to participate. In the statement, Flowers said: “Chris Van Hollen knows that if I am included in the debate his phony politics will be exposed. I will tell voters that Van Hollen has raised millions of campaign donations from wealthy lobbyists and industries such as natural gas, telecoms and weapons makers as well as how the policies he urges favor Wall Street investors and war. He is avoiding vigorous open debates because he has the funds to buy advertising and not risk being exposed.”
Flowers, who is a pediatrician, became involved in politics and activism after she realized many of her patients and their families could not afford medical care. No stranger to direct action, Flowers was arrested in 2012 for protesting the Trans-Pacific Partnership , and again in 2014 for protesting a natural gas terminal in Cove Point, Maryland . In January 2015 , police escorted her out of the Senate as she interrupted TPP negotiations.
She also serves as co-director of Popular Resistance , which organizes and reports on protests throughout the United States, and occasionally contributes reporting and analysis to MintPress News.
In May, she told MintPress that she saw her candidacy as an opportunity to work with a political party “that can work hand in hand with social movements to get the change we need.”
“We have to build up a party that is the alternative we want to see, that really is dedicated to social justice and grassroots democracy,” Flowers said. | 1real |
Zimbabwe's Mnangagwa promises zero tolerance in corruption fight | HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Wednesday promised zero tolerance in his government s push to punish corruption that stifled political freedom and economic growth under Robert Mugabe s 37-year rule. Mnangagwa, giving his first state of the nation address since he assumed power last month following a de facto coup that ousted his 93-year-old predecessor, has sought to draw a line under years of endemic corruption and impunity. Under pressure to deliver results, especially on an economy crippled by severe currency shortages, Mnangagwa said reforms of a bloated state sector would be launched in early 2018. With opposition parties calling for widespread political reforms before an election next year, he repeated a promise that his government would do everything in its power to ensure a credible, free and fair ballot. Corruption remains the major source of some of the problems we face as a country and its retarding impact on national development cannot be overemphasized, Mnangagwa told a joint sitting of the country s two houses of parliament. On individual cases of corruption, every case must be investigated and punished in accordance with the dictates of our laws. There should be no sacred cows. My government will have zero tolerance towards corruption and this has already begun. The latter was an apparent reference to comments last week he would name and shame those who failed to return stolen public funds after a three-month amnesty ends in February. His government is also pursuing corruption charges dating back over two decades against former finance minister Ignatius Chombo, a close ally of Mugabe and his wife, Grace. Chombo, whose lawyer has said he will deny the charges, faces trial early next year. In the latter half of Mugabe s rule the economy fell apart amid the violent and chaotic seizure of thousands of white-owned commercial farms. Billions of dollars of domestic debt issued to pay for a bloated civil service triggered a collapse in the value of Zimbabwe s de facto currency and hyperinflation. Mnangagwa said the government would in the first quarter of next year announce a program to reform, commercialize or shut down some state-owned firms he said had been for a long time an albatross around the government s neck . Zimbabwe s efforts to re-engage international lenders and lure investors will rest on the credibility of next year s election, and the president again pledged a commitment to a free and fair vote. To level a playing field they say is skewed in favor of Mnangagwa s ZANU-PF party, opposition parties have however challenged his army-backed government to first enact a long list of electoral reforms. They include a new voters roll, opposition access to public media, allowing an estimated three million Zimbabweans living abroad to vote and international observers including the United Nations. We would like to see genuine, credible electoral reforms that will lead to free and fair elections and they must be underwritten and guaranteed by the international community, Tendai Biti, leader of the opposition MDC Alliance, told reporters ahead of Mnangagwa s address. Biti and other members of the alliance also criticized what they called the militarization of the government following the appointment of two former senior military officials to the new cabinet. Mnangagwa gave his clearest signal yet on Tuesday that he would appoint as vice president Constantino Chiwenga, the military leader who led the coup that ousted Mugabe. Chris Mutsvangwa, adviser to the president and the influential leader of the war veterans association, has rejected the criticism of the appointments, saying they were not unique to Zimbabwe. | 0fake |
Illinois House opts for another stopgap budget amid impasse | CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Illinois House passed $817 million in spending on Thursday to provide “life-line” funding to higher education and social service and health programs that have been starved for cash due to the state’s budget impasse. The measure passed in a 64-45 vote over Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s opposition to another stopgap spending measure. A six-month temporary budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30 expired on Dec. 31. Illinois is limping towards the end of a second-straight fiscal year without a complete budget due to a stalemate between Rauner and Democrats who control the legislature. The country’s fifth-largest state has been operating on continuing appropriations and court-ordered spending, while its pile of unpaid bills reached nearly $13 billion on Wednesday. The bill would tap money from the state’s commitment to human services and education assistance funds to direct $258 million to pay for dozens of programs, including senior meals and crime prevention, and indigent burials. Another $559 million would go to state universities, community colleges, and educational grants for low-income students. The bill’s sponsor, Democratic State Representative Greg Harris, said the so-called life-line measure would allow social service organizations and state universities “to continue to exist.” He cited a United Way survey released on Wednesday that showed 69 percent of social service agencies had received no payments or partial payments from the state so far in fiscal 2017, forcing 49 percent of the agencies to reduce services. He said universities had resorted to program cuts and layoffs. Republican lawmakers contended that passage of a stopgap measure would take the pressure off the legislature to finally pass a full budget. “The reality is we don’t do things around here without pressure,” said Republican State Representative Steven Andersson. The measure will now head to the Senate, which is on break until April 25. A spokesman for Democratic Senate President John Cullerton said the bill would be reviewed. Earlier on Thursday, Rauner voiced opposition to another stopgap budget. “We’ve been doing that for decades, and it’s created the crisis and mess we’re in,” he told reporters in Decatur. “That’s a failure to do stopgaps. Let’s do a balanced budget so the problem is fixed.” After a bipartisan bill package aimed at ending the impasse stalled in the Senate last month, credit rating agencies warned that Illinois’ credit ratings, the lowest among the 50 states, could sink even lower. | 0fake |
Pence puts North Korea on notice not to test U.S. resolve, citing Syria strike | SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence put North Korea on notice on Monday that neither the United States nor South Korea would tolerate further missile or nuclear tests by the reclusive state, with the U.S. attack on Syria showing its resolve. Pence and South Korean acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn expressed disappointment over China’s retaliatory actions against South Korea in response to the deployment of U.S. missile defense system THAAD in the South, but reaffirmed their plan to go ahead with its deployment. | 0fake |
U.S. officials optimistic they will close giant trade deal | “We obviously spoke about my passion and his passion, which [is] veterans and veterans issues,” he said. | 0fake |
Donald J. Trump Will Win | Posted on October 31, 2016 by Carl Herman
Guest author Daniel “No Passport” Bruno reports from Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.* Like Donald J. Trump, Daniel has a birth certificate issued in Manhattan. Daniel is an author, inventor, specialist in 9/11 facts and an editor at www.hpub.org and www.huffingtonpostforum.com, which publish over 1000 censored news articles monthly. Follow https://twitter.com/HuffPoClub for insightful news updates 24/7.
*Constitutional and Civil Rights attorneys are urged to contact Daniel. Final del formulario
I pointed out in April, 2016 , that election probabilities favor the Republican candidate not because of his rhetoric, politics or personality, but because his party is not the incumbent this time around. We have a revolving door “bi-partisan” reality TV show where Democrats and Republicans pretend to be foes. Statistically speaking, it makes no difference what Trump allegedly said about this or that, or how corrupt the blood-soaked Clinton crime family may be. It’s the Republican turn through the turnstile this time, in both White House and House of Representatives .
All the advertising, faux debates, polls, and punditry are for entertainment purposes only. The incumbent Democrat party has at least six keys going against it. For example, the Republicans currently hold the House and the Senate, the incumbent president is not running, there is a third party candidate, and Hillary Clinton is not nearly as charismatic as Obama was. Geopolitically, my conjecture is that Russia is temporarily avoiding further bombardment of Allepo to deprive the NeoCons of an opportunity to add a key in the Democrats favor. No October surprise to make the incumbent party a war hero. Smart man, that Vladimir Vladimirovich.
American election outcomes don’t turn on real issues, party loyalty, or any of the things the mass media distract the public with because not only is the United States not a democracy, it also has a ruling elite whose loyalty is split with a foreign country.
Regardless of who wins, the NeoCons will continue to own our State Department, and with it our foreign policy, our Army, our Air Force, our Marines and our Navy. The “Federal” Reserve (a privately owned cartel with computer screen reserves) will continue to be run by a very tightly-knit group of special people who openly practice affirmative-action for their group. They are above any law and do not answer to the President or Congress. Wikileaks
The Wikileaks Podesta cache reveals how utterly clueless some of the most powerful Americans really are .
Hillary Clinton’s use of an unencrypted, private server in her bathroom, connected to her Blackberry after the NSA forbade her to do so, reveals an astonishing lack of sophistication and remarkable hubris for someone who has held top secret clearance for decades. Clearly, she is clueless about how email and wireless communication work, and values her personal convenience over “national security,” that fetish the NeoCons use to commit crimes worldwide. To deflect attention, Clinton revives Russophobia and Biden threatens Russia with cyber attacks.
But Clinton is not alone in her cluelessness. The man who allegedly presides over America’s 17 intelligence agencies, the same agencies spying on 300 million Americans 24/7 in the name of national security, sent and received emails to that server in the bathroom. He knew what he was doing because the emails were addressed to a Clinton.com domain, not a state.gov domain. When asked about this, Mr. Obama said he found out about the private server along with the general public when it was reported in the newspapers, which is obviously not true. That wily Barack Hussein probably knew Hillary was hanging herself, and let her do it anyway. Serves her right after she unleashed the “birther” controversy in 2008. Mussolini Reborn: My Message to Strongman President Trump
Congratulations.
America will not be great again when Spanish speakers are held in contempt, and no one is available to keep up your hotels.
America will not be great again when yet another black person has his life ruined by those who swore a solemn oath to protect it.
America will not be great again when more death and destruction are unleashed upon yet another Muslim nation that never raised a hand against the United States.
America will be great again when the European-American, NeoCon intellectual authors of the 9/11 attacks are tried in a court of law, found guilty, and receive the sentence of their jury of real Americans.
God bless America. ← Constitutional Law Expert: Comey Did NOT Violate Law By Announcing Email Investigation joe
“America will not be great again when Spanish speakers are held in contempt, and no one is available to keep up your hotels.”
Distorted truth.Mr Trump spoke about the illegal criminals… Not until long ago there was a handful of American patriots being imprisoned on bogus charges ,though tried by their peers and set free they are still in custody. … Totally agreed with all the other points…
Trump 2016! jhnjul
This is no typical swing. It has broken from its normally controlled path of swing. Coming back around for a flank shot. Donate | 1real |
Obama's Victory Lap? | Written by Philip Giraldi Tuesday November 1, 2016 In between nearly daily campaign stops shilling for Hillary, President Barack Obama has been promoting his record as Head of State. To Obama’s credit, he talks nice and appears to be both thoughtful and rational, qualities that were not always evident in his predecessor in office. But the hype about what was achieved in his eight years appears to be more than a bit overblown, particularly if one considers the flagship domestic project, Obamacare. It is a program in which the government forces individuals to buy a product that has been crafted together by private, for profit companies. If the people do not buy, they will be penalized by the government. The companies in turn have learned that it is tough to make money insuring people who are actually sick so they are leaving the program while those individuals who have to buy their own coverage without government subsidies are discovering that the significant annual price increases mean that they cannot afford insurance at all. Donald Trump is right that the program is in crisis, is “over,” and should be repealed. Against that, what has Obama accomplished domestically? I will not consider the constant pandering on gender and race because that is, after all, what Democrats do. But if one considers immigration a part of domestic policy, he is responsible for refusing to enforce immigration law, letting Haitians stay illegally in the US as compensation for a hurricane that occurred in 2010, while also failing to deport whole categories of Hispanics who are in the country without visas or residency permits. Domestic would also include the continuation of several types of surveillance of citizens by the NSA and FBI, the hounding and prosecution of whistleblowers, and the increased reliance on the State Secrets privilege to derail the use of the judicial system to pushback against government overreach. And in a just concluded parole hearing involving a Guantanamo detainee who had been repeatedly tortured, the Obama Administration has now determined that some individuals can be held in prison forever without ever being charged with a crime or convicted. But it is in the foreign and national security policy areas that Obama has been most visibly active as he has a relatively free hand based on what he considers to be his own “unitary executive” authority. In his famous Cairo speech delivered to the Muslim world in 2009 he promised change but basically did not deliver, though there have actually been several successes in foreign policy that date to the past year. He should get full credit for confronting the Israel Lobby and Congress (essentially the same thing) to obtain a nuclear program agreement with Iran. Likewise, he went against the Cuban Lobby and GOP in Congress (also essentially the same thing) to ease relations with Havana. He still might do the right thing by the Palestinians and allow the US to recognize their statehood at the United Nations later this month or even support the French plan for a multinational conference to create a Palestinian state but I wouldn’t want to bet on it, particularly as the incoming Administration headed by Hillary Clinton will be firmly in the Israeli pocket and Obama would presumably defer to her before doing anything dramatic. And Obama should also get credit for some things that he didn’t do. He did not exacerbate tensions with Russia by arming Ukraine with game changing offensive weapons in spite of intense pressure from Congress and the media and he did not get involved in a new land war involving tens of thousands of American soldiers in Asia even though some of his advisers were urging him to do so in Syria. But by the same measure starting yet another war by proxy, in Libya, was a complete failure, though it did not involve American boots on the ground. It was a war that might in part be attributed to the aggressive advocacy of Hillary Clinton, who was Secretary of State at the time. And while it should also be recalled to Obama’s credit that he made no effort to maintain a troop presence in Iraq, he was unable to extricate US forces from America’s longest war in Afghanistan, which continues and is likely to be on the presidential agenda for the next decade or even longer. Nor could he dissuade the Saudis from initiating their brutal and senseless war on Yemen, which has had devastating consequences with more to come for the entire region. And President Obama has also failed to closed Guantanamo prison in spite of promises made eight years ago to do so. President Obama has also changed the actual mechanics of America’s intervention in the world, using drones and aerial bombardment instead of soldiers on the ground to enforce Washington’s diktat. A Pentagon press release in September boasted how over Labor Day weekend US warplanes attacked targets in six countries. The United States was not at war with any of them. And then there is Anwar al-Awlaki and his son, American citizens who were executed in Yemen by drone without any legal process, by executive order, after they were placed on a “kill list” compiled by the White House. But Obama’s poorest grades relate to his handling of Russia, Syria and Israel, all three of which might plausibly be seen as linked issues as Secretary Clinton once commented that Syria’s government would have to be brought down to benefit Israel while Russia is Syria’s most important ally. The problem with Syria is the policy itself. The only serious direct threat emanating from the country is ISIS, which has the capability to send suicide bombers and other dedicated terrorists to strike targets in the United States and Europe. To be sure, Washington is operating against ISIS, providing intelligence, equipment and training to its proxies and the “moderate” rebels that it supports in the country, but the effort is a mish mash, involving as it does feckless allies and clashing loyalties. The Pentagon and CIA have meanwhile been training batches of dubious recruits, some of whom turn their weapons over to the crazies at first opportunity. The Defense Department deflected completely accurate charges that it was supporting terrorists by changing the names of the groups involved. Amid the chaos, President Obama has even conceded that there are no moderate rebels. Defeating ISIS would be relatively simple if everyone were on the same page, but the White House persists in seeing the removal of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as the top priority, as if creating a power vacuum in Damascus would be a solution to what ISIS has been doing. And pressuring al-Assad also creates and feeds the ongoing problems with Russia. As the beltway groupthink goes, Syria minus al-Assad and Vladimir Putin would magically become a place where all the moderate, nation-building and democratically inclined forces would be able to come together and form a new government that would immeasurably benefit the Syrian people. That formulation is, of course, complete nonsense and it is Moscow that has a clear understanding of what is at stake, not Washington. The reality is that creating a power vacuum is precisely what provides the opportunity for militant groups to settle in and expand their authority. It is how al-Qaeda and ISIS both came into prominence. It happens because, as in Iraq and Libya, the Washington interventionists have no idea what might succeed as a post-civil war political system in Syria. Nor do they have any real plan for achieving a functioning polity. US administrations have already tried decapitation of existing leadership in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya with catastrophic results but one of the delights of the American political system is that all the key policy players change every four to eight years meaning that lessons learned are lost and have to be discovered a second time around, repeating as necessary. That regime change would work any better in Syria defies belief but it is nevertheless what Washington chooses to believe and by seeing al-Assad as an enemy it is hampering the effort against ISIS’s most effective asset: the Syrian Army backed up by Russian air support. And then there is Israel. Israel is, according to many Congressmen and the media, America’s best friend and greatest ally. It is a judgment that also defies belief as Tel Aviv and more particularly its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been persistently pursuing policies that are nominally opposed by the United States government, most particularly the expansion of its settlements. It has also interfered in US internal politics during elections and did not hesitate to exploit political divisions in Congress when Netanyahu was invited by GOP leaders to speak to a joint session to provide his perception of President Obama’s “misguided” negotiations with Iran. Israel is no friend of the United States even if it does receive an annual handout currently running at in excess of $3 billion and unlimited political cover in international bodies. Obama reportedly hates Netanyahu but did not have the courage to do anything about him. So the Obama record is a mixed bag, but mostly a disappointment. His presidency will be somewhat untouchable by those who do retrospectives, as least for a while, protected by Obama’s status as America’s first black president. It would have been nice to see real health care reform, a backing off from police state norms in the war on terror, and less lethal engagement in other people’s quarrels overseas, but I suppose Obama would argue that GOP obstruction and the Establishment consensus caused him to support policies and engage in compromises that he really wanted to avoid. There may be some truth to that but ultimately Obama comes across as yet another morally deficient head of state who presumably saw the folly in the status quo but ultimately decided that loyalty to his party and dedication to its continuation in power was more important than doing what was right. Ultimately, the acquisition of money and power are everything in our system of government and the brief trajectory of Barack Hussein Obama is no exception to that rule. Reprinted with permission from the Unz Review . Related | 1real |
The Demise of Progressive Democrats: ‘Resist and Submit, Retreat and Surrender’ | 21st Century Wire says The US 2016 Presidential Election was a watershed point in 21st century western politics. With the defeat of Hillary Clinton and the near collapse of the Democratic Party, it seems that America s progressive left has lost the ability to relate to much of the working and the middle classes. During the Obama Administration, the party was taken over by the billionaire donor class ruled by Wall Street interests, Silicon Valley svengalis, and the unelected commissariate the Democratic National Committee (DNC). Their failed strategy of total reliance on identity politics at home, and backing Islamist extremism and a New Cold War with Russia abroad has spelled abject failure for the US electorate. Still, the vanguard of the progressive left is still in denial of these realities. However, a new shake-up on the left may already be underway.Last month, America s latest progressive icon, Bernie Sanders had this to say Sanders: "The Democratic Party is an absolute failure." (June 11, 2017)See also: https://t.co/cnrVTiKUnn pic.twitter.com/mJxrguyMyM WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) July 9, 2017While his candid depiction of a broken political party certainly rings true, it seems that Sanders is avoiding some of the more fundamental aspects of his party s rapid disintegration, namely the left s role in compromising America s reputation internationally by caving in to a largely Neoconservative and globalist foreign policy agenda, as author James Petras explains James Petras Information Clearing House Over the past quarter century progressive writers, activists and academics have followed a trajectory from left to right with each presidential campaign seeming to move them further to the right. Beginning in the 1990 s progressives mobilized millions in opposition to wars, voicing demands for the transformation of the US s corporate for-profit medical system into a national Medicare For All public program. They condemned the notorious Wall Street swindlers and denounced police state legislation and violence. But in the end, they always voted for Democratic Party Presidential candidates who pursued the exact opposite agenda.Over time this political contrast between program and practice led to the transformation of the Progressives. And what we see today are US progressives embracing and promoting the politics of the far right.To understand this transformation we will begin by identifying who and what the progressives are and describe their historical role. We will then proceed to identify their trajectory over the recent decades.We will outline the contours of recent Presidential campaigns where Progressives were deeply involved.We will focus on the dynamics of political regression: From resistance to submission, from retreat to surrender.We will conclude by discussing the end result: The Progressives large-scale, long-term embrace of far-right ideology and practice.Progressives by Name and PostureProgressives purport to embrace progress , the growth of the economy, the enrichment of society and freedom from arbitrary government. Central to the Progressive agenda was the end of elite corruption and good governance, based on democratic procedures.Progressives prided themselves as appealing to reason, diplomacy and conciliation , not brute force and wars. They upheld the sovereignty of other nations and eschewed militarism and armed intervention.Progressives proposed a vision of their fellow citizens pursuing incremental evolution toward the good society , free from the foreign entanglements, which had entrapped the people in unjust wars.Progressives in Historical PerspectiveIn the early part of the 20th century, progressives favored political equality while opposing extra-parliamentary social transformations. They supported gender equality and environmental preservation while failing to give prominence to the struggles of workers and African Americans.They denounced militarism in general but supported a series of wars to end all wars . Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson embodied the dual policies of promoting peace at home and bloody imperial wars overseas. By the middle of the 20th century, different strands emerged under the progressive umbrella. Progressives split between traditional good government advocates and modernists who backed socio-economic reforms, civil liberties and rights.Progressives supported legislation to regulate monopolies, encouraged collective bargaining and defended the Bill of Rights.Progressives opposed wars and militarism in theory until their government went to war.Lacking an effective third political party, progressives came to see themselves as the left wing of the Democratic Party, allies of labor and civil rights movements and defenders of civil liberties.Progressives joined civil rights leaders in marches, but mostly relied on legal and electoral means to advance African American rights.Progressives played a pivotal role in fighting McCarthyism, though ultimately it was the Secretary of the Army and the military high command that brought Senator McCarthy to his knees.Progressives provided legal defense when the social movements disrupted the House UnAmerican Activities Committee.They popularized the legislative arguments that eventually outlawed segregation, but it was courageous Afro-American leaders heading mass movements that won the struggle for integration and civil rights.In many ways the Progressives complemented the mass struggles, but their limits were defined by the constraints of their membership in the Democratic Party.The alliance between Progressives and social movements peaked in the late sixties to mid-1970 s when the Progressives followed the lead of dynamic and advancing social movements and community organizers especially in opposition to the wars in Indochina and the military draft.The Retreat of the ProgressivesBy the late 1970 s the Progressives had cut their anchor to the social movements, as the anti-war, civil rights and labor movements lost their impetus (and direction).The numbers of progressives within the left wing of the Democratic Party increased through recruitment from earlier social movements. Paradoxically, while their numbers were up, their caliber had declined, as they sought to fit in with the pro-business, pro-war agenda of their President s party.Without the pressure of the populist street the Progressives-turned-Democrats adapted to the corporate culture in the Party. The Progressives signed off on a fatal compromise: The corporate elite secured the electoral party while the Progressives were allowed to write enlightened manifestos about the candidates and their programs . . . which were quickly dismissed once the Democrats took office. Yet the ability to influence the electoral rhetoric was seen by the Progressives as a sufficient justification for remaining inside the Democratic Party.Moreover the Progressives argued that by strengthening their presence in the Democratic Party, (their self-proclaimed boring from within strategy), they would capture the party membership, neutralize the pro-corporation, militarist elements that nominated the president and peacefully transform the party into a vehicle for progressive changes .Upon their successful deep penetration the Progressives, now cut off from the increasingly disorganized mass social movements, coopted and bought out many prominent black, labor and civil liberty activists and leaders, while collaborating with what they dubbed the more malleable centrist Democrats. These mythical creatures were really pro-corporate Democrats who condescended to occasionally converse with the Progressives while working for the Wall Street and Pentagon elite.The Retreat of the Progressives: The Clinton DecadeProgressives adapted the crab strategy : Moving side-ways and then backwards but never forward.Progressives mounted candidates in the Presidential primaries, which were predictably defeated by the corporate Party apparatus, and then submitted immediately to the outcome. The election of President Bill Clinton launched a period of unrestrained financial plunder, major wars of aggression in Europe (Yugoslavia) and the Middle East (Iraq), a military intervention in Somalia and secured Israel s victory over any remnant of a secular Palestinian leadership as well as its destruction of Lebanon!Progressives followed Clinton s deep throated thrust toward the far right, as he outsourced manufacturing jobs to Mexico (NAFTA) and re-appointed Federal Reserve s free market, Ayn Rand-fanatic, Alan Greenspan.Like a huge collective Monica Lewinsky robot, the Progressives in the Democratic Party bent over and swallowed Clinton s vicious 1999 savaging of the venerable Glass Steagall Act, thereby opening the floodgates for massive speculation on Wall Street through the previously regulated banking sector. When President Clinton gutted welfare programs, forcing single mothers to take minimum-wage jobs without provision for safe childcare, millions of poor white and minority women were forced to abandon their children to dangerous makeshift arrangements in order to retain any residual public support and access to minimal health care. Progressives looked the other way.Progressives repeatedly kneeled before President Clinton marking their submission to the Democrats hard right policies.The election of Republican President G. W. Bush (2001-2009) permitted Progressive s to temporarily trot out and burnish their anti-war, anti-Wall Street credentials. Out in the street, they protested Bush s savage invasion of Iraq (but not the destruction of Afghanistan). They protested the media reports of torture in Abu Ghraib under Bush, but not the massive bombing and starvation of millions of Iraqis that had occurred under Clinton. Progressives protested the expulsion of immigrants from Mexico and Central America, but were silent over the brutal uprooting of refugees resulting from US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the systematic destruction of their nations infrastructure.Progressives embraced Israel s bombing, jailing and torture of Palestinians by voting unanimously in favor of increasing the annual $3 billion dollar military handouts to the brutal Jewish State. They supported Israel s bombing and slaughter in Lebanon.Progressives were in retreat, but retained a muffled voice and inconsequential vote in favor of peace, justice and civil liberties. They kept a certain distance from the worst of the police state decrees by the Republican Administration.Progressives and Obama: From Retreat to SurrenderWhile Progressives maintained their tepid commitment to civil liberties, and their highly leveraged hopes for peace in the Middle East, they jumped uncritically into the highly choreographed Democratic Party campaign for Barack Obama, Wall Street s First Black President .Progressives had given up their quest to realign the Democratic Party from within : they turned from serious tourism to permanent residency. Progressives provided the foot soldiers for the election and re-election of the warmongering Peace Candidate Obama. After the election, Progressives rushed to join the lower echelons of his Administration. Black and white politicos joined hands in their heroic struggle to erase the last vestiges of the Progressives historical legacy.Obama increased the number of Bush-era imperial wars to attacking seven weak nations under American s First Black President s bombardment, while the Progressives ensured that the streets were quiet and empty.When Obama provided trillions of dollars of public money to rescue Wall Street and the bankers, while sacrificing two million poor and middle class mortgage holders, the Progressives only criticized the bankers who received the bailout, but not Obama s Presidential decision to protect and reward the mega-swindlers.Under the Obama regime social inequalities within the United States grew at an unprecedented rate. The Police State Patriot Act was massively extended to give President Obama the power to order the assassination of US citizens abroad without judicial process. The Progressives did not resign when Obama s kill orders extended to the mistaken murder of his target s children and other family member, as well as unidentified bystanders. The icon carriers still paraded their banner of the first black American President when tens of thousands of black Libyans and immigrant workers were slaughtered in his regime-change war against President Gadhafi Continue this article at Information Clearing HouseREAD MORE POLICE STATE NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Police State FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
UCI picks Iran outfit as best cycling team in Asia | Sports This file photo shows members of the national Iranian men’s cycling team.
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has named the national Iranian men’s cycling team as the greatest team in Asia, thanks to its outstanding performances at continental sports events.
According to the latest monthly rankings released by the world’s governing body for sports cycling and international competitive cycling events, the Iranian side collected 1,587 points to claim the top position among other Asian outfits.
Kazakhstan landed in the second Asian slot of the UCI rankings with 1,451 points, followed by Japan and South Korea, which claimed the third and fourth spots respectively with 884 and 718 points.
Additionally, the Iranian cycling club, Pishgaman Kavir Yazd, accumulated 915 points to stand out in the continental ranking.
It was followed by another Iranian squad, Tabriz Shahrdari Team, with 884 points in the second place. Loading ... | 1real |
BRILLIANT! President Trump Offers Congress Hard-Line Deal On Immigration…Shines Spotlight On Democrats’ Agenda To Put Votes Before American Citizens | AP President Donald Trump has told congressional leaders that his hard-line immigration priorities must be enacted in exchange for extending protection from deportation to hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, many of whom were brought to the U.S. illegally as children.Trump s list of demands included overhauling the country s green-card system, a crackdown on unaccompanied minors entering the country, and building his promised wall along the southern border.Many were policies Democrats have said explicitly are off the table and threaten to derail ongoing negotiations over legislation protecting young immigrants known as Dreamers. They had been given a reprieve from deportation and the ability to work legally in the country under President Barack Obama s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, which Trump ended last month.In a letter to House and Senate leaders released by the White House Sunday, Trump said the priorities were the product of a a bottom-up review of all immigration policies that he had ordered to determine what legislative reforms are essential for America s economic and national security. These findings outline reforms that must be included as part of any legislation addressing the status of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, he wrote, adding that: Without these reforms, illegal immigration and chain migration, which severely and unfairly burden American workers and taxpayers, will continue without end. Trump announced last month that he was ending the DACA program, but he gave Congress six months to come up with a legislative fix before recipients began to lose their status. Trump suggested at the time that he was eager for a deal, telling reporters, I have a love for these people and hopefully now Congress will be able to help them and do it properly. He d also tweeted that if Congress was unwilling to find a fix, he would revisit this issue! in six months. Congress now has 6 months to legalize DACA (something the Obama Administration was unable to do). If they can't, I will revisit this issue! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2017 | 1real |
WATCH: Fox News A-Hole Spends Tax Day Shaming The Poor For Being Poor (VIDEO) | Fox News raging pile of upper one percent garbage, Eric Bolling, decided to use his time on cable news shaming the working poor of America for having the nerve to still be poor over the course of this past tax season.Bolling raged incoherently about how unfair it is that poor people are helped by the government, they don t pay ENOUGH in taxes (yes a Republican is whining that people aren t paying enough taxes but only the poor people of course), and how the rich jackasses like him have to shoulder the burden.He makes a good point, Right? A guy paid millions of dollars a year to sit in a chair for 1 hour a day and be an ass on national tv really has it ROUGH when he has to pay a portion of that in taxes to prevent the bottom 50 percent of the population from starving. I mean, after he pays his terrible 30 percent he only has millions of dollars left to live on. How can he survive this?Bolling went on to cite some statistics that he must have written down while drunk one night because they re so utterly stupid that it defies explanation how a political expert like him would think they sounded remotely accurate. He even went on to complain about the death tax which only affects people who literally have millions of dollars being HANDED to them as an inheritance.Only the wealthiest estates pay the tax because it is levied only on the portion of an estate s value that exceeds a specified exemption level $5.43 million per person (effectively $10.86 million per married couple) in 2015.Source: CBPPThe top rate for it is 18 percent. If you are going to whine about having to pay 20% of a 5 MILLION dollar inheritance (literally free money), you re simply a greedy, terrible person who doesn t appreciate anything.The cherry on the sundae really was when Eric threw a second hissyfit over the fact that President Obama paid less in taxes than he did. He ignored the fact that President Obama doesn t make millions per year as president, unlike Bolling who makes a fortune warming a seat for 1 hour a day.Watch Fox News blame poor people for hurting the rich below:Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
November 1: Daily Contrarian Reads | November 1: Daily Contrarian Reads By David Stockman. Here It Comes----The Great Dollar Short That Will Shatter The Global Bubbles
Surging rates on dollar Libor contracts are rapidly tightening conditions across large parts of the global economy, incubating stress in the credit markets and ultimately threatening overvalued bourses....Fear that the US Federal Reserve may have to raise rates uncomfortably fast is leading to an acute dollar shortage, draining global liquidity. ETF Warning: Shift To Passive Investing Amplifies Systemic Risk----Will Make Crashes Worse
This unprecedented shift in capital away from active managers and toward passive strategies has resulted in not only a chilling effect on the hedge fund industry but also concerns about a market in which "passive", robotic, algo-driven decision makers are the marginal buyers and sellers of securities. And while it is the case that so far, the market has been spared an observation of how a largely passive investing crowd would respond during a downturn (and more importantly what happens to market liquidity), the time is drawing nearer with every passing day, and certainly as central bankers collectively try to prop up global yield curves. After Peak Monetary Stimulus----Look Out Below!
There’s deep complacency in the U.S. regarding vulnerability to reduced monetary stimulus. The Fed wound down QE and implemented a rate increase without major market instability. I believe this was only possible because of the extraordinary monetary stimulus measures in play globally. “Whatever it takes” central banking, in particular from the ECB and BOJ, unleashed Trillions of liquidity (and currency devaluation) that certainly underpinned U.S. securities and asset markets. Prices of sovereign debt, including Treasuries, have traded at levels that assume global central banker support will last indefinitely. Markets have begun reassessing this assumption. The Disaster of Inflation--For the Bottom 95%
Central banks are obsessed with boosting inflation, but the "why inflation is good" arguments make no sense for households being ravaged by inflation. The basic argument is that inflation makes it easier for debtors to service their debts. But this is only true if income rises along with costs. If income stays flat while costs rise, households lose ground--debt remains a burden as the purchasing power of income plummets. Hillary Clinton's Warped Notion Of American Exceptionalism And Indispensability
The unique moral revolution to which the Founding Fathers pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor has little connection to the bastard term (usually capitalized as “American Exceptionalism”) that describes post-Cold War U.S. global behavior, by which policymakers in Washington assert both an exclusive “leadership” privilege and unsupportable obligation to undertake open-ended international missions in the name of the “Free World” and the “international community.” This is the counterfeit “Exceptionalism” of a tiny clique of bipartisan apparatchiki —GOP “neoconservatives” and Democrat “liberal interventionists” and their mainstream media mouthpieces—who have little regard for our country’s oldest traditions or the security and welfare of the American people. The So-Called OPEC Cartel Whiffs Again- | 1real |
null | Tesla's on FIRE!
oh wait | 1real |
Spain says if Catalan leader wants talks he first needs to respect the law | MADRID (Reuters) - If Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont wants talks or mediation with the central government over the region s future, he first needs to respect the law, the Prime Minister s office said in a statement on Wednesday. If Mr Puigdemont wants to talk or negotiate, or wants to send mediators, he know perfectly what he first needs to do: go back to the law, the statement said. | 0fake |
AWESOME: PATRIOTS AND SHERIFF STAND GUARD As Feds Try To Confiscate Navy Vet’s Guns | Do you hear that sucking sound? That s the Obama regime sucking more and more of your freedoms away every day In northern Idaho, residents are standing guard against a federal government determined to disarm those they deem unworthy. About 100 locals in Bonner County are stationed outside the home of U.S. Navy Veteran John Arnold, including Sheriff Daryl Wheeler and two state lawmakers.Arnold, who lives in Priest River, received a letter from the Department of Veterans Affairs warning him he is not permitted to purchase or possess firearms, the AP is reporting.Rep. Matthew Shea of Spokane Valley, who described the event as a defiance against tyranny. I took an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution and uphold the laws of Idaho, Wheeler said. This seemed appropriate to show my support. I was going to make sure Mr. Arnold s rights weren t going to be breached. During Thursday s demonstration, the group at times broke out in song to sing God Bless America and pray while waving both the American flag and the Don t tread on me flag. With a population of just 1,700, Priest River is near the tip of northern Idaho- a region known for its strong tea party roots and gun-rights activism.Arnold had a stroke one year ago. In January, paperwork filed with the VA stated that Arnold was financially incompetent and could not handle his own affairs.Arnold claimed the box that was checked was done in error and he was always competent to handle himself. However, the VA said that due to the paperwork, Arnold was no longer allowed to buy, sell or possess firearms. If somebody else makes an error and they cause you grief they should fix it, said Arnold. That s all I want is that stuff to get fixed. The Department of Veterans Affairs can declare a vet incompetent by fiat if they so wish, in direct violation of the Second Amendment.Republican U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas proposed legislation that would require court action before barring gun purchases by veterans declared incompetent.Via: DownTrend | 1real |
Magellan Midstream probes big Texas fuel spill during Harvey floods | (Reuters) - Magellan Midstream Partners LP said on Tuesday it was investigating the cause of a nearly 11,000-barrel gasoline spill from two above-ground fuel storage tanks at its Houston-area terminal in Texas during Hurricane Harvey. The leak at the Galena Park terminal is the biggest spill reported so far relating to the storm, which unleashed record flooding in the state in late August, destroying homes and killing scores of people. The Environmental Protection Agency has said federal and state authorities responded to spills linked to Harvey at about a dozen industrial facilities. The exact cause of the tank failures is now under investigation, Magellan spokesman Bruce Heine said. He said the company believed it was related to the flooding. Magellan has cleaned up much of the spill, and recovered an undisclosed amount that escaped off the terminal s property into a nearby ditch and the Houston Ship Channel, Heine said. Clean-up activities at the facility are continuing and we are currently removing and replacing affected soil, he said. The spill occurred on Aug. 31, Heine said. Magellan had initially reported a smaller volume of gasoline spilled to state authorities, but adjusted its estimate upward after it was able to make a full assessment, he said. It s Magellan s long-term practice to conservatively report a product release to appropriate agencies and local authorities as soon as we become aware of a potential incident, he said, explaining the smaller initial estimate. In other words, we do not wait until absolute confirmation, as we want to give the earliest possible notice. Magellan has said that much of the rest of its infrastructure has returned to normal after the storm. | 0fake |
Chelsea Clinton Just Lit Trump On FIRE Over His Stupid Swedish Massacre Claim (TWEETS) | The Trump administration has brought to our attention to multiple tragedies of which we were previously unaware in their effort to justify The Donald s attempt to ban Muslims from entering the country first Kellyanne Conway s reminder of the totally real Bowling Green Massacre (her credibility was among the victims) that definitely happened, then Sean Spicer s Atlanta attack that was really real, and finally Donald Trump reminding us what s happening last night in Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden! Trump told the crowd at his first campaign rally for the 2020 election (that for some reason is happening a month into his presidency). They took in large numbers, they re having problems like they never thought possible. As it turns out, nothing actually happened in Sweden nothing that would in any way support Trump s Muslim ban, anyway. A Swedish publication compiled a list of what went on in Sweden Friday night:So basically what s going on in Sweden right now is moose lovin . Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted in response to Trump s stupidity.Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound. https://t.co/XWgw8Fz7tj Carl Bildt (@carlbildt) February 19, 2017Even Chelsea Clinton, daughter of The Donald s arch-nemesis and all-around badass, decided to have a bit of fun with the Idiot-in-Chief s Sweden flub.What happened in Sweden Friday night? Did they catch the Bowling Green Massacre perpetrators? Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) February 19, 2017 What happened in Sweden Friday night? Did they catch the Bowling Green Massacre perpetrators? Clinton tweeted. Naturally, her take on the Sweden situation is quite popular:.@ChelseaClinton we lost the Swedish Bikini team horrible tragedy Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) February 19, 2017@ChelseaClinton It's not funny. Four unicorns almost lost their lives. FOUR! Pray for Sweden. Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) February 19, 2017@ChelseaClinton I think so. I hear it was unpresidented. Jody Ahern Bundrick (@Jody_Bundrick) February 19, 2017@ChelseaClinton Je Suis Ikea. E (@esheikh_) February 19, 2017@ChelseaClinton This just in photo of Swedish Terrorist! pic.twitter.com/DPBGhsBXC8 Diane W (@BellaLuna_468) February 19, 2017@ChelseaClinton #lastnightinsweden carnage in this school pic.twitter.com/7az0gBIEjI Jenny Lee (@ironmite) February 19, 2017Donald Trump and his team of white supremacists, bigots, and swamp creatures must think we re idiots.Featured image via Getty Images (Mark Wilson/Stephanie Keith)/screengrab | 1real |
Jailers Left Paralyzed Man On Cell Floor For Five Days Before He Died (VIDEO) | Over the course of five days, Tulsa deputies watched 37-year-old Elliot Williams slowly die on the floor of his cell.According to court documents filed in Oklahoma District Court, in October 2011, Williams was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer. A U.S. military veteran, his family reports that he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder while serving in the military.On the night he was arrested, Williams family had taken him to a hotel in Owasso, OK, because he was having marital problems and experiencing symptoms of mental illness. His family states that he had not slept in days and was threatening to kill himself. While at the hotel, Williams reportedly caused a disturbance, resulting in Owasso police being called to the scene.Once police arrived, Williams failed to comply with the officers orders, threatening to kill himself. Instead of waiting for mental health professionals, deputies pepper-sprayed him and placed him under arrest.Once he was in police custody, court documents show that Williams began to slip further into his mental illness. He stripped himself of his clothing, crawled under a bench and began barking like a dog. The Frontier reports that he was transferred from the Owasso jail to the Tulsa jail, after these events.In spite of repeated threats of suicide, Williams was never placed on suicide watch. Instead, he was placed in a regular holding cell. Less than an hour later he rammed his own head into a steel door. He fell to the floor and began crying out for help, telling jail staff that he couldn t move and that he had broken his neck.Over the course of the next ten hours, Williams remained motionless on the floor of the holding cell. He received no medical attention during this time. The Frontier reports that multiple staff, including jail supervisors, were aware of Williams condition.The following morning Williams was visited by the jail nurse. Instead of providing medical attention, the nurse cussed at and berated Williams, telling him that he should be ashamed of himself, to get his nasty ass in the shower, and to quit fucking faking. A short time later, two officers placed the paralyzed man on a gurney. According to court documents, they then dumped Mr. Williams off the gurney into the shower where Williams hit his head with a smack. Williams was left in the shower for three hours, unable to move.Over the next three days, multiple members of the jail staff expressed concern about Williams condition. No one called for outside help or provided him with adequate medical treatment. During this time, a detention officer had to pour water into his mouth and feed him by holding his head up.An LPN, Raymond Stiles, reportedly checked on Williams during this time. It is not clear what kind of treatment or examination Stiles provided to the paralyzed man, but in a progress note, written after the visit, the nurse wrote Wants to be waited on. On October 24, Williams was also briefly visited by John Bell, a member of the jail s mental health staff. Williams told Bell he was paralyzed and told him I want water. Bell s notes state that he provided Williams with coping skills education. On October 25, Williams was seen for 12 minutes by Dr. Stephen Harnish, the jail psychiatrist. Again he repeated his claim that he had broken his neck and could not move. Harnish also ignored his condition. As noted in the court records: Instead of providing or ordering medical care, Harnish ordered jail staff to place Mr. Williams in Medical Cell number 1, which would be his burial crypt. The remainder of Williams life was recorded by a video camera. Watch the video below, courtesy of The Frontier.On Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge John Dowdell ruled that a lawsuit filed by Williams family could proceed.In his ruling, Dowdell stated: A reasonable jury could find that Mr. Williams needs were obvious to any layperson. They could also find that the medical unit-wide attitude of inhumanity and indifference shown to him, which resulted in the delay and denial of medical care in the face of his symptoms that were obviously indicative of a serious medical condition or medical emergency, amounted to deliberate indifference. Featured image via video screen capture via The Frontier on Vimeo | 1real |
May Day rally in Los Angeles features strong anti-Trump theme | LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hundreds of people marched through Los Angeles on Sunday in a May Day rally that took aim at Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump for his anti-illegal immigration platform that includes building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. The demonstration in America’s second most populous city, which has a large immigrant population, came just days after protesters smashed the window of a police car and blocked traffic outside a Trump campaign event in Costa Mesa, California, 40 miles (64 km) southeast of Los Angeles. On Friday, demonstrators blocked the entrance of a hotel hosting the California Republican convention in Burlingame, south of San Francisco, forcing Trump to halt his motorcade and go through a back entrance to deliver his speech. The rally in Los Angeles remained peaceful and drew smaller crowds than some past May Day demonstrations in the city, with several hundred people marching through downtown at one point but largely dispersing by midafternoon. Members of the crowd carried a large blow-up effigy of Trump holding a Ku Klux Klan hood, along with signs that read: “Dump Trump.” “He’s threatened that should he become president of the United States, in his first 18 months in office, he fully intends to deport all 11 million-plus undocumented persons in the United States. We don’t take that lightly,” said Juan Jose Gutierrez, of the Full Rights for Immigrants Coalition. Others waved Mexican or U.S. flags or signs that called for immigration reform and an end to deportations. A Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman said no arrests were made and there were no reports of violence. Protests have become common outside rallies for Trump, 69, the New York billionaire businessman. He has aroused criticism for his pledge to deport illegal immigrants, even as it helped propel him in the race for the Republican nomination for the Nov. 8 election to succeed Democratic President Barack Obama. He has accused Mexico of sending drug dealers and rapists to the United States and has promised to build a wall along the southern border and make Mexico pay for it. Trump said on Sunday he will have essentially sealed the Republican nomination if he wins Tuesday’s contest in Indiana, where he holds a big lead over chief rival Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas. California holds its presidential primary on June 7. | 0fake |
Donald Trump Just Destroyed EVERY Argument Against A Recount In Just One Tweet | Donald Trump just accused millions of Americans of voter fraud, proving once again that he should be denied the presidency.Over the course of the last 24 hours, Trump has been whining about a recount effort in Wisconsin and attempts to trigger recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania. If the recount goes against him, Hillary Clinton would become the President-Elect and Trump would be forced to go home and cry into a gold-lined pillow about how big of a loser he is.In addition to those Twitter posts about recounts, Trump just posted three more bragging that he won the popular vote even though the current vote count shows Hillary with more than a 2 million vote lead.Trump claims he won the popular vote because 3 million people voted illegally, which is a wild accusation that has zero evidence supporting it.In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016Trump then claimed that he would have won the popular vote had he focused more on a few large states rather than smaller ones.It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016But the fact remains that Trump LOST the popular vote by a wide margin and his electoral margin could be flipped if recounts go the way many hope.Regardless, Donald Trump just disqualified himself from the presidency again by attacking the democratic process. Recounts are legal and Hillary Clinton has every right to ask for one, especially since Trump margin of victory in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania are so narrow. They re part of the democratic process.Furthermore, Trump just insulted 3 million Americans by claiming that their votes don t count. He has absolutely no proof that 3 million people voted illegally, and such a wild accusation proves that he is unfit to lead this country.Enough is enough. Donald Trump is a disgrace and he should be forced to step aside. He does not deserve the the title of President-Elect and he certainly does not deserve to be called President. Period.Featured Image: Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1real |
Prince Tributes Include Purple Lighting and Broadway Performances - The New York Times | Tributes to Prince, the singer and songwriter who died at 57 on Thursday, took on many forms. Many featured buildings and bridges lit up in the color purple — a nod to his hit song and movie “Purple Rain. ” Here is a look at ways the performer was remembered: A portrait of Prince was installed at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery’s In Memoriam space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration paid its respects on Twitter: The New Yorker magazine offered a glimpse of the cover of its next edition: Buildings across the country were bathed in purple light: Bridges were similarly lit up: The search engine Google posted a “Google Doodle” to depict purple rain: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art turned its Rain Room purple on Friday: Signs for the Prince Street subway station in New York City took on an impromptu look: The Apollo Theater in Harlem honored Prince: On Broadway, the cast of “The Color Purple” led the audience in a singalong of “Purple Rain” on Thursday night: Also on Thursday night, the cast of “Hamilton” led the audience in a cheering, dancing rendition of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy”: | 0fake |
21 THINGS WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON FROM WIKILEAKS THAT THE MSM WON’T SHARE…BUT YOU CAN! | Schools All Over America Are Closing On Election Day Due To Fears Of Violence
Will this be the most chaotic election day in modern American history? All across the nation, schools are being closed on election day due to safety fears. Traditionally, schools have been very popular as voting locations because they can accommodate a lot of people, they usually have lots of parking, and everyone in the community knows where they are and can usually get to them fairly easily. But now there is a big movement to remove voting from schools or to shut schools down on election day so that children are not present when voting takes place. According to Fox News, “voting has been removed or classes have been canceled on Election Day at schools in Illinois, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and elsewhere.” Just a couple days ago, I shared with you a survey that found that 51 percent of all Americans are concerned about violence happening on election day, and all of these schools closing is just another sign of how on edge much of the population is as we approach November 8th. | 1real |
Joyous Africans Take to the Rails, With China’s Help - The New York Times | DJIBOUTI — The 10:24 a. m. train out of Djibouti’s capital drew some of the biggest names in the Horn of Africa last month. Serenaded by a chorus of tribal singers, the crush of African leaders, European diplomats and pop icons climbed the stairs of the newly built train station and merrily jostled their way into the pristine, carriages making their inaugural run. “It is indeed a historic moment, a pride for our nations and peoples,” said Hailemariam Desalegn, the prime minister of Ethiopia, shortly before the train — the first electric transnational railway in Africa — headed toward Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. “This line will change the social and economic landscape of our two countries. ” But perhaps the biggest star of the day was China, which designed the system, supplied the trains and imported hundreds of engineers for the six years it took to plan and build the line. And the $4 billion cost? Chinese banks provided nearly all the financing. Having constructed one of the world’s most extensive and modern rail networks at home, China is taking its prodigious resources and expertise global. subway cars will soon appear in Chicago and Boston, Beijing is building a $5 billion rail line in Indonesia, and the Chinese government recently christened new rail freight service between London and Beijing. Another ambitious system in the works, the Railway Network, would link China to Laos, Thailand and Singapore. But few places are being reshaped by China’s overseas juggernaut like Africa, a continent that has seen relatively little new railroad construction in a century. Despite years of steady economic growth, Africa remains hobbled by an infrastructure deficit, according to the Africa Development Bank, with only half of its roads paved and nearly 600 million people lacking access to electricity. Chinese companies, many of them and grappling with an economic slowdown at home, have stepped unto the breach, earning about $50 billion a year on new ports, highways and airports across the continent, according to the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Many of the projects are part of Beijing’s new Silk Road initiative, a $1 trillion effort intended to deepen ties between China and its trading partners in the developing world. Much of that spending has been directed at rail projects that planners hope will transform the way Africans travel and do business with one another, and the rest of the world. and projects include a system in the Ethiopian capital a $13 billion rail link between the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa that will open later this year and an ambitious rail modernization project in Nigeria that includes an urban transit system for Lagos. “For the longest time, railroads across Africa were limping along and in decline, but with the Chinese, that’s definitely changing,” said Andrew Grantham, the news editor at Railway Gazette International, a trade publication. China’s enthusiasm for constructing railroads, schools and stadiums in Africa stands in marked contrast to the role of the United States, which has largely shied away from financing infrastructure on the continent. One of the few exceptions, Power Africa, a $9. 7 billion initiative announced by President Barack Obama in 2013, has fallen far short of its goal of providing electricity to 20 million households within five years. When it comes to trade, China surpassed the United States in 2009 to become Africa’s biggest trading partner. It remains unclear how that calculus might change under the Trump administration. President Trump has questioned the benefits of free trade agreements, and a questionnaire from his transition team that was sent to the State Department last month expressed skepticism for foreign aid and development efforts in Africa. That worries some African officials and longtime experts, who fear the loss of American influence and largess — and the good will that is often produced by desperately needed infrastructure projects. Amadou Sy, director of the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, said the United States was also missing opportunities to cultivate loyal customers. “If you’re looking for new markets, Africa is the place to be,” he said. “But right now, the U. S. is not leveraging Africa’s huge potential. By contrast, the Chinese are there, and they are willing to take risks. ” China is placing more than $14 billion worth of bets here in Djibouti, a geopolitically strategic speck of a country beset by soaring poverty and unemployment. The projects include three ports, two airports and a pipeline that will bring water from Ethiopia, its landlocked neighbor and a regional economic power that depends on Djibouti’s ports for 90 percent of its foreign trade. Also on the drawing board are a series of power plants that would ease summertime electricity failures and help fuel a new manufacturing zone that officials hope will turn Djibouti into a Hong entrepôt and international shipping hub. Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority, said he hoped the new railway linking his country to the Ethiopian capital would be just the first leg of a route, from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. “The train is already a ” he said, noting that it will cut to 12 hours what until now had been a grueling or trip by truck. Mr. Hadi praised the Chinese for going all in after Western banks declined to help finance the nation’s glaring infrastructure needs. “We approached the U. S. and they didn’t have the vision,” he said. “They are not thinking ahead 30 years. They only have a vision of Africa from the past, as a continent of war and famine. The Chinese have vision. ” Not everyone is comfortable with China’s vision. Some worry about the leverage China wields and what happens when countries fall behind on loan payments. For Djibouti, the debt is especially daunting, amounting to 60 percent of its gross domestic product. But Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, the country’s finance minister, dismissed such concerns, saying Djibouti’s heady 6. 7 percent growth rate would allow it to meet its loan payments. “If we don’t take this risk now and develop our infrastructure, we will remain stuck in poverty,” he said. “Come back in a few years, and you will find that Djibouti has become the logistics hub of the continent. ” Others worry about the Djiboutian government’s lack of transparency, its authoritarian impulses and a vexing legacy of official corruption. Mohamed Daoud Chehem, a leader of Djibouti’s embattled opposition and a former presidential candidate, said the lack of information about the terms of China’s loans raised questions about potential malfeasance. “We’re talking about billions of dollars and complete opacity,” he said. “Have there been kickbacks to government officials? There is no way to know. ” Others wonder what will happen to the system after the Chinese leave. European imperialists in Africa built a skein of lines, most of which fell into disrepair in the decades after their colonies achieved independence. Jamie Monson, the author of “Africa’s Freedom Railway,” a book documenting the legacy of the train linking Tanzania and Zambia, said maintenance could be more challenging than initial construction. Built during the Cold War and hailed as a symbol of friendship, the train, the Tazara Railway, has struggled to maintain regular service, prompting talk of a Chinese takeover. “Without proper maintenance comes problems, which can have a huge impact on a regional economy and local people’s livelihoods,” she said. For now, however, much of nation is euphoric over the completion of Djibouti’s first modern railway, which follows the path of a creaky line, completed in 1917, that met its demise several years ago after generations of neglect. Although workers from China did much of the technical and engineering work, thousands of Djiboutian and Ethiopian laborers were hired to lay tracks and dig tunnels, helping to head off some of the local resentment that has dogged other Chinese projects in Africa. The system will be operated by Chinese conductors for five years and then turned over to local citizens, many of them trained in China. After a boisterous opening day ceremony in the broiling sun, only the attendees were allowed to board the train, which filled with applause and song as it glided out of the station. Daha Ahmed Osman, 34, a tech specialist who works for the Djiboutian government, displayed a wide grin as he watched the arid, harshly beautiful landscape spill across the train’s picture windows. He predicted that the new train would transform Djibouti and Ethiopia, and eventually all of Africa. “For this, we have the Chinese to thank, because they shared with us their money and their technology,” he said. “More than anything we thank them for showing confidence in us. ” | 0fake |
‘Big Baby’ Trump ‘Lied His ASS Off’: Seth Meyers Breaks Down Crooked Carrier Deal (VIDEO) | For the past week since Trump struck one of his alleged solid gold deals to keep Carrier from moving to Mexico, we ve seen what is probably the most pathetic victory lap from a president-elect in U.S. history. Between lying through his teeth about what the deal entailed, then unleashing multiple Twitter rants targeting Carrier s union president when he was called out on it, his behavior has not been what most would consider presidential, to say the least!Thursday night, during his segment A Closer Look, Seth Meyers took the opportunity to dig deep into the deceptive Carrier deal and discovered that hardly any of what Trump is bragging about adds up. So Trump first claimed he would stop Carrier from moving jobs to Mexico, then claimed he was saving over 1,100 jobs and then it turned out he was saving only 730 which The Washington Post reports is just 37 percent of the total who were due to leave the state. Meyers points out that while saving those 730 jobs is likely a big relief to the families of those workers, it isn t nearly good enough compared to what was promised and to add to that, the hypocrisy from the right regarding this so-called deal is astounding! Despite its many flaws, there s no denying the deal was politically popular. But for Republicans, what s so surprising about this new policy of strong-arming companies into making business decisions is that the GOP has spent eight years calling Obama a socialist for his economic policies. Remember how they reacted to the auto bailout, which saved as many as 1.5 million jobs They accused him of coercion and hijacking capitalism. Well, as you might have guessed, they see the Carrier deal a little differently. Watch it all unfold here:Featured image via video screenshot | 1real |
Illegitimate Stock Markets Back Hillary | Illegitimate Stock Markets Back Hillary By Daily Bell Staff - November 01, 2016
The Stock Market Has a Favorite in the Election … On the evening of Sept. 26, two interesting things happened. First, Hillary Clinton won a decisive debate victory over Donald Trump in the first presidential debate, as judged by prediction markets (and later, by polls). Second, financial markets abruptly experienced large, abnormal swings. Economists Justin Wolfers and Eric Zitzewitz have documented this extraordinary convergence in a new paper, titled “What do financial markets think of the 2016 election?” – Bloomberg
This Bloomberg article actually questions conclusions regarding stock market support for Hillary, but adds: “So Wolfers and Zitzewitz make a strong case.”
Indeed the study has attracted a lot of attention, though one of the reasons is obviously because it is a pro-Hillary study and apt to be picked up by the mainstream media.
The larger question, of course, is why equity markets would find an anti-freedom, pro-war candidate attractive.
More:
The most likely explanation is that financial markets think a Clinton victory would be good for the economy ….
We saw some of the opposite happen when stock markets plunged on Friday, immediately after an announcement by FBI Director James Comey that the agency was reviewing new evidence in a probe related to its investigation of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server while she was secretary of state.
Why would markets not like Trump? Well, it’s pretty obvious. Trump’s mercurial temperament, unconventional ideas and lack of governing experience would create large doubts about the direction of all sorts of government policy — just the sort of thing that makes investors uneasy.
This really doesn’t make much sense. On almost every front, Bill and Hillary Clinton’s actions over decades have been inimical to freedom. If investing and trade thrive in free-market environments, then markets should not reflect a pro-Clinton bias.
The reason that markets are pro-Clinton is probably because markets – especially stock markets – are not expressions of free markets. That sounds strange because stock markets, especially, are seen as expressions of capitalism.
Of course “capitalism” is not necessarily an appropriate nomenclature but that’s an article for another day.
The point is that corporations and the stocks that offer investment opportunities are not necessarily any more legitimate than central banks. Neither corporations nor central banks are “normal” expressions of a free-market system.
Central banks fix the price and value of “money” via interest rate manipulation. This price fixing has the force of law. If you don’t obey – or agree – you can end up in prison.
Corporations are artificial entities that the founders of the US greatly feared. (See here and here ). Before the Civil War corporations were almost non-existent.
Corporations are also the outcome of government force. They are in existence because of intellectual property laws, corporate personhood, monopoly central banking and regulations that prop them up.
Without significant government support, modern corporations would not exist and neither would their “stocks.”
The titanic nature of modern corporations is the outcome of government manipulation. The “investment” opportunities presented by such quasi-government monopolies would not be viable in a normal free-market environment.
People simply don’t realize how distorted modern economies are. They are entirely artificial creations, dependent on state-enforced central banking and industrial monopolies.
And this is why “stock markets” prefer the Clintons in this election cycle. It’s because large industries depend on government to sustain their artificial competitive advantages.
One can certainly speculate what a real free-market would look like within the context of stock markets. Probably such markets would be a good deal smaller and oriented toward a select clientele rather than a mass audience of “investors.”
Most people would make their living in the trades or in others ways that were directly in demand. Societies would probably be more agrarian-based – as they used to be. Savings would gradually appreciate in value as technology brought down the price of goods and services on a regular basis.
The stampeding of savers into stock markets is surely an unnatural occurrence. It has been promoted because those who control stock markets and their corporations want people to feel that their net worth is tied up in the current system.
Ironically, this system does not provide much wealth to the average individual. Most people in the West are relatively impoverished and times are growing more difficult not less so. Middle classes seem to be shrinking rather than expanding.
Conclusion: Many people in the West and certainly in the US would be glad to see real entrepreneurism flourish in the context of companies aligned with a fully competitive marketplace. Stocks and stock markets would still exist of course, but they would reflect a bias toward freedom rather than fascism. | 1real |
SEN TOM COTTON TO AG SESSIONS: “Do you like spy fiction: John LeCarre, Daniel Silva, Jason Mathews?……Do you like Jason Bourne or James Bond movies?” [Video] | Today s testimony between AG Sessions and Senators went from testy to hysterical when Senator Tom Cotton went into a really funny line of a combined statement with questions He started pointing out there s no evidence and then went through spy novel names then this: Have you ever in any of these fantastical situations Great stuff!Senator Cotton: Let s turn to the potential crimes that we know have happened leaks of certain information. Here s a short list of what I have The contents of alleged transcripts of conversations between Mr. Flynn and Mr. Kislyak.The contents of President Trump s phone calls of Australian and Mexican leaders.The contents of Mr. Trump s meetings with the Russian Foreign Minister and Ambassador. Cotton went on with his list it was a moment of clarity that was HUGE!In case you missed it here s the Sessions Opening Statement:FULL OPENING STATEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL SESSIONS STATEMENT: It was a very strong and passionate statement from a determined Sessions.FULL TRANSCRIPT:Thank you Chairman Burr and Ranking Member Warner for allowing me to publicly appear before the committee today.I appreciate the Committee s critically important efforts to investigate Russian interference with our democratic process. Such interference can never be tolerated and I encourage every effort to get to the bottom of any such allegations.As you know, the Deputy Attorney General has appointed a special counsel to investigate matters related to Russian interference in the 2016 election. I am here today to address several issues that have been specifically raised before this committee, and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to questions as fully as I am able to do so. But as I advised you, Mr. Chairman, and consistent with long-standing Department of Justice practice, I cannot and will not violate my duty to protect confidential communications with the President.Now, let me address some issues directly: I did not have any private meetings nor do I recall any conversations with any Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel. I did not attend any meetings at that event. Prior to the speech, I attended a reception with my staff that included at least two dozen people and President Trump. Though I do recall several conversations I had during that pre-speech reception, I do not have any recollection of meeting or talking to the Russian Ambassador or any other Russian officials. If any brief interaction occurred in passing with the Russian Ambassador during that reception, I do not remember it. After the speech, I was interviewed by the news media, which had gathered as I remember in a different room, and then I left the hotel.But whether I ever attended a reception where the Russian Ambassador was also present is entirely beside the point of this investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 campaigns. Let me state this clearly: I have never met with or had any conversations with any Russians or any foreign officials concerning any type of interference with any campaign or election. Further, I have no knowledge of any such conversations by anyone connected to the Trump campaign. I was your colleague in this body for 20 years, and the suggestion that I participated in any collusion or that I was aware of any collusion with the Russian government to hurt this country, which I have served with honor for over 35 years, or to undermine the integrity of our democratic process, is an appalling and detestable lie.Relatedly, there is the assertion that I did not answer Senator Franken s question honestly at my confirmation hearing. That is false. This is how it happened. He asked me a rambling question that included dramatic, new allegations that the United States intelligence community had advised President-elect Trump that there was a continuing exchange of information during the campaign between Trump s surrogates and intermediaries for the Russian government. I was taken aback by these explosive allegations, which he said were being reported in breaking news that day. I wanted to refute immediately any suggestion that I was a part of such an activity. I replied, Senator Franken, I m not aware of any of those activities. I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign and I didn t have did not have communications with the Russians, and I m unable to comment on it. That was the context in which I was asked the question, and in that context, my answer was a fair and correct response to the charge as I understood it. It simply did not occur to me to go further than the context of the question and list any conversations I may have had with Russians in routine situations, as I had with numerous other foreign officials.Please hear me now. It was only in March of this year that a reporter asked my spokesperson whether I had ever met with any Russian officials. This was the first time that question had been posed. On the same day, we provided that reporter with the information related to the meeting I and my staff had held in my Senate office with Ambassador Kislyak, as well as the brief encounter in July after a speech that I had given during the convention in Cleveland, Ohio. I also provided the reporter a list of all 25 foreign ambassador meetings I had held during 2016. In addition, I provided supplemental testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain this. I readily acknowledged these two meetings. Certainly nothing improper occurred.Let me also explain clearly the circumstances of my recusal from the investigation into the Russian interference with the 2016 election. I was sworn in as Attorney General on Thursday, February 9th. The very next day, I met with career Department officials, including a senior ethics official, to discuss some things publicly reported in the press and that might have some bearing on the issue of recusal. From that point, February 10th, until I announced my formal recusal on March 2nd, I was never briefed on any investigative details and did not access information about the investigation; I received only the limited information that the Department s career officials determined was necessary to inform my recusal decision. As such, I have no knowledge about this investigation beyond what has been publicly reported, and I have taken no action with regard to any such investigation. On the date of my formal recusal, my Chief of Staff sent an email to the heads of the relevant departments, including by name to Director Comey of the FBI, to instruct them to inform their staffs of this recusal and to advise them not to brief me or involve me in any such matters. And in fact, they have not. Importantly, I recused myself not because of any asserted wrongdoing on my part during the campaign, but because a Department of Justice regulation, 28 CFR 45.2, required it. That regulation states, in effect, that Department employees should not participate in investigations of a campaign if they have served as a campaign advisor.The scope of my recusal, however, does not and cannot interfere with my ability to oversee the Department of Justice, including the FBI, which has an $8 billion budget and 35,000 employees. I presented to the President my concerns, and those of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, about the ongoing leadership issues at the FBI as stated in my letter recommending the removal of Mr. Comey along with the Deputy Attorney General s memorandum, which have been released publicly by the White House. It is a clear statement of my views. It is absurd, frankly, to suggest that a recusal from a single specific investigation would render an Attorney General unable to manage the leadership of the various Department of Justice law enforcement components that conduct thousands of investigations.Finally, during his testimony, Mr. Comey discussed a conversation he and I had about a meeting Mr. Comey had with the President. I am happy to share with the committee my recollection of the conversation I had with Mr. Comey. Following a routine morning threat briefing, Mr. Comey spoke to me and my Chief of Staff. While he did not provide me with any of the substance of his conversation with the President, Mr. Comey expressed concern about the proper communications protocol with the White House and with the President. I responded to his comment by agreeing that the FBI and Department of Justice needed to be careful to follow Department policies regarding appropriate contacts with the White House. Mr. Comey had served in the Department of Justice for the better part of two decades, and I was confident that Mr. Comey understood and would abide by the Department s well-established rules governing any communications with the White House about ongoing investigations. My comments encouraged him to do just that and indeed, as I understand, he did. Our Department of Justice rules on proper communication between the Department and the White House have been in place for years. Mr. Comey well knew them, I thought, and assumed correctly that he complied with them.I will finish with this. I recused myself from any investigation into the campaigns for President, but I did not recuse myself from defending my honor against scurrilous and false allegations. At all times throughout the course of the campaign, the confirmation process, and since becoming Attorney General, I have dedicated myself to the highest standards.The people of this country expect an honest and transparent government and that is what we are giving them. This President wants to focus on the people of this country to ensure they are treated fairly and kept safe. The Trump agenda is to improve the lives of the American people. I know some have other agendas, but that is his agenda and it is one I share.Importantly, as Attorney General I have a responsibility to enforce the laws of this Nation, to protect this country from its enemies, and to ensure the fair administration of justice. I intend to work every day with our fine team and the superb professionals in the Department of Justice to advance the important work we have to do. These false attacks, the innuendo, and the leaks, you can be sure, will not intimidate me. In fact, these events have only strengthened my resolve to fulfill my duty to reduce crime, and to support our federal, state, and local law enforcement officers who work our streets every day. Just last week, it was reported that overdose deaths in this country are rising faster than ever recorded. The murder rate is up over 10 percent the largest increase since 1968. Together, we are telling the gangs, the cartels, the fraudsters, and the terrorists we are coming after you. Every one of our citizens, no matter who they are or where they live, has the right to be safe in their homes and communities. And I will not be deterred, and I will not allow this great Department to be deterred from its vital mission.<strong>How sad that this is happening to a very good man!</strong> | 1real |
Kris Kobach Enters Kansas Governor Race to End ‘Insane’ Policies like Charging American Students Three Times as Much as Illegals | Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach discussed his gubernatorial campaign with SiriusXM host Matt Boyle on Friday’s Breitbart News Daily. [Kobach said taxation would be a core issue in his campaign. LISTEN: “Some people may know Kansas. We did cut our income taxes quite a bit and reduced to zero the taxes on LLCs and S corporations a few years ago,” he said. “But a coalition of Democrats and liberal Republicans in the legislature just raised those taxes back up, doing so on the theory that they had to, to balance the budget. ” “I think that Kansas doesn’t have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem. We should have been cutting the budget,” he contended. On immigration, Kobach said Kansas is “a fairly conservative state, but our legislature hasn’t been conservative, and we’ve kind of become the sanctuary state of the Midwest. ” “We’re not formally a sanctuary state, but we do nothing to discourage illegal immigration,” he elaborated. “We give aliens tuition. I want to stop that. ” Kobach noted Kansas is “one of the very few states west of the Mississippi that does not have term limits,” which he saw as vital to fighting corruption. “As a result, our legislators, some of them form entire careers in the state legislature. I’d like to see us have term limits for the legislature, as well as for the entire list of statewide offices,” he said. Kobach wryly conceded, “The left is not excited that I’m running” when Boyle noted the panoply of groups denouncing his candidacy for governor. Boyle noted the left was fearful that Kobach really would put a stop to “unbelievable” policies like giving discounted tuition rates to illegal immigrants. “It’s insane,” Kobach agreed. “I mean, think about it: You’ve got someone who lives in a neighboring state, say Missouri. A kid grows up there, wants to go to Kansas University or Kansas State, pays three times as much in tuition as an illegal alien. It makes no sense whatsoever. It’s against federal law. Congress was trying to stop this way back in the nineties they passed a law saying no state could do it, but several states did anyway. ” “We’re going to try to stop that. I think you just need a governor who will come in and say, ‘Look, I’m not budging. We’re going to do it, and we’re going to do it now, or we’re going to do it later, but we’re going to do it while I’m governor,’” he said, promising to “draw some lines in the sand and not let anyone cross them. ” Kobach laid out three major points in his agenda. “One I already mentioned was term limits. Try to push term limits through. Now, that’s going to be a heavy lift since we don’t have the popular initiative. We’re going to have to push it through the legislature, and you know most politicians don’t like limiting their own terms in legislatures,” he said. “Second is pass a statute stopping the revolving door,” he continued. “Right now in Kansas, you can retire from the legislature, and then the next day, you can start lobbying your former colleagues. We’ll put time limits on how soon you can become a lobbyist in Kansas. You can become a lobbyist somewhere else if you want, but not in Kansas. ” Kobach said his third goal would be to achieve political transparency by replacing “Republicans in Name Only” who tend to side with Democrats. “We really have this problem very badly in Kansas,” he explained. “If you look at the numbers, our legislature in the Senate is 32 to 8 — 32 Republicans to 8 Democrats. Similar lopsided numbers in the House, over a majority Republican. But many of those Republicans are truly RINOs — Republicans in Name Only. They vote with the Democrats all the time. When they go home, they talk like Republicans. They might even use the word ‘conservative’ to describe themselves. But then, they come in and become a completely different person when they are in the state legislature. ” “One of the things the governor has to do is actually call people out by name and say, ‘Look, I need this person’s vote’ and try to get the public aware of who these people are who are breaching the public trust,” said Kobach. “If their district wants to elect someone who is liberal and votes with the Democrats, so be it. But there is a real deception going on. You see it in states like Kansas, where there are districts across the western part of our state which will not elect a Democrat, period. So what the Democrats do is, they just run as Republicans,” he said. Kobach agreed with Boyle that voters are tired of politicians who say one thing and do another. “I think they’re also tired of the politician who talks like everything he says is carefully polished and has gone through three focus groups,” Kobach added. “The thing that people loved about Trump is that he’s speaking from the gut. They could tell that this is what the guy really thinks. His speech wasn’t prepared and screened and reviewed by others, a bunch of baloney, but is actually a guy telling us what he thinks. I think that’s important. ” “Nobody can do it like President Trump does it, but that’s kind of the way I have spoken to my constituents as secretary of state: ‘Here, this is what I’m going to do. I’m not going to beat around the bush. If you don’t like it, don’t vote for me,’” he said. Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. Listen to the full audio of the interview above. | 0fake |
Russian Islamic State fighter sentenced to hang in Iraq | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A Russian Islamic State fighter was sentenced to death by hanging in Iraq on Tuesday, authorities said, a rare conviction of a foreign militant on terrorism charges. The unnamed man was captured after running out of ammunition in western Mosul, a spokesman for Iraq s Supreme Judicial Council said in a statement. The Russian was a member of Daesh operating in Mosul since 2015, he added, using an Arabic acronym for the Sunni Muslim militant group. Thousands of foreigners have been fighting for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Security and aid officials told Reuters over the weekend that Iraqi authorities were holding 1,400 foreign wives and children of suspected militants - most from Turkey, others from former Soviet states including Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Russia. Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led coalition allies and Kurds, retook Mosul in July following the group s occupation of the country s second largest city in 2014. The Sunni militant group still controls territory in Iraq and is expected to revert to more conventional insurgent tactics such as bombings as its self-proclaimed caliphate falls apart. | 0fake |
Ex-President Bush says hopeful despite 'pretty ugly' climate in Washington | (Reuters) - Former U.S. president George W. Bush has described the political climate in Washington as “pretty ugly” under Donald Trump’s presidency but expressed optimism the United States would pull through despite the divisive political discourse. “I don’t like the racism and I don’t like the name-calling and I don’t like the people feeling alienated,” Bush, 70, said in an interview with People magazine that will hit newsstands on Friday. “Nobody likes that.” Promoting his first art book “Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief’s Tribute to America’s Warriors”, Bush said, however, that he felt no anxiety about the direction the country was headed in. “I’m optimistic about where we’ll end up,” Bush said. “We’ve been through these periods before and we’ve always had a way to come out of it. I’m more optimistic than some.” Trump, the first Republican president since Bush left office, won the November presidential election after beating 16 other candidates to the party’s nomination, including Bush’s brother Jeb. Prominent Republicans within the establishment wing of the party, including Bush and his father, former president George H.W. Bush, shunned him or offered tepid support. Bush diverged sharply from Trump’s new administration in a separate interview with NBC’s “Today” show on Monday, saying he supported a “welcoming” immigration policy and praising the media as “indispensable to democracy,” during a wide-ranging interview with NBC’s “Today” show. [nL2N1GC0I1] Bush and his wife Laura spoke to People at their Dallas home. Proceeds from the book, a collection of portraits of wounded veterans, will help fund veterans’ health care and employment programs at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. The couple told the entertainment magazine that the center’s immigration ceremonies, reproductive-health programs for women in Africa and leadership training for Muslim women from the Middle East stand in contrast to Trump’s isolationism. “There’s a lot of ways to speak out,” he added. “But it’s really through actions defending the values important to Laura and me. We’re a blessed nation, and we ought to help others.” Bush shrugged when People magazine asked if Trump’s immigration policies could threaten the center’s programs. “Now that you mention it, it might bother me but we’ll figure out how to bring them over,” he said. | 0fake |
Steve Bannon THREATENS Trump Over Removal From National Security Council, Administration In CHAOS | Yesterday, the Trump administration delivered a bombshell that no one saw coming that former Breitbart News chief Steve Bannon, who is now serving as Trump s White House strategist, was being kicked off the National Security Council. While Bannon released a statement that seemed neutral enough, it turns out that s not how he really feels at all and Trump is in trouble.According to a new report by the New York Times, Bannon aggressively disagreed with the decision to demote him. In fact, he was apparently so pissed off over being booted off the council that he even threatened to completely leave his position in the administration. The Times wrote: Mr. Bannon resisted the move, even threatening at one point to quit if it went forward, according to a White House official who, like others, insisted on anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. Mr. Bannon s camp denied that he had threatened to resign and spent the day spreading the word that the shift was a natural evolution, not a signal of any diminution of his outsize influence. Considering the fact that Bannon did not show up at Trump s press conference with Jordan s King Abdullah II, some bitterness on Bannon s part makes absolute sense.Bannon s position on the National Security Council has been controversial to begin with it was a role he basically tricked Trump into giving him. Trump had signed off on an executive order without actually knowing what it said and later got upset that he d accidentally and unknowingly given Bannon a position that he probably wasn t meant to have. Bannon had no relevant experience for a position on the National Security Council, but we all know that s hardly a prerequisite for a job in the Trump administration. Unfortunately for Trump, the White House is crumbling due to its own erratic, inexperienced staff.Featured image via Win McNamee / Getty Images | 1real |
New York police arrest 25 at immigration protest in Trump Tower | NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York police on Thursday arrested 25 people in the lobby of Trump Tower protesting U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration and border policies. The demonstrators who sat in front of the elevators and chanted “no ban, no raids, no wall!” led security forces to close public accesses to the president’s signature property, a commercial and residential skyscraper where first lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump stay while the president is in Washington. As heavily armed police wearing ballistic vests stood guard blocking the entrances, other officers carried the protesters to police vans. The building in the heart of the Fifth Avenue shopping district was also home to Trump’s campaign and has been his primary residence for years. The lobby is open to the public, though security was tightened as the 2016 campaign progressed and he was elected president. Charges were pending, a police said in a statement. The demonstrators wore T-shirts with slogans such as “No wall,” in reference to Trump’s proposal to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, and “No raids,” referring to U.S. arrests of suspected undocumented immigrants. “No ban” refers to Trump’s executive orders seeking to restrict immigration from several Muslim-majority countries. | 0fake |
BREAKING BAD: John McCain’s Campaign Rocked by Meth Lab Scandal | 21st Century Wire asks Will this be the beginning of the end for John McCain s re-election campaign? BUSTED The police raid in Phoenix that targeted a McCain fundraiser. (Photo link scoopnest)Earlier the week, US Senator John McCain s campaign fundraiser Emily Pitha was arrested at her Phoenix residence by Maricopa County sheriff s deputies after an operational meth lab was discovered on the premises by authorities.Pitha, an independent consultant at the political organization LovasCo Consulting Group has been involved in Arizona political fundraising for nearly 3 years according to her Linkedin profile.The LovasCo Consulting Group is operated by Corinne Lovas, wife of Arizona Representative Phil Lovas. McCain s re-election campaign parted ties with Pitha after her arrest but said it will continue to work with LovasCo. FUNDRAISER TO FELON? Emily Pitha, McCain s campaign fundraiser seen here in an image from LinkedIn. (Photo link phoenixnewtimes)Dirty MoneyPitha, 34, along with her boyfriend, Christopher Hustrulid, 36, face a host of felony drug charges after authorities were tipped off by package that arrived at her residence from the Netherlands containing 250 grams of MDMA.The Phoenix New Times recently reported that the couple s Phoenix home turned up a large quantity of contraband and evidence of drug dealing. The New Times also stated in an ironic twist that The top Republican fundraising company that employed drug-bust suspect Emily Pitha also raised money for Arizonans for Responsible Drug Policy, an anti-marijuana-legalization group. Prior to Pitha serving as a constituent service representative for former Senator Jon Kyl, Senator Jeff Flake, she recently worked as a logistics manager for former Ambassador Barbara Barrett in 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile.Barrett is chairman of the Aerospace Corporation and served as the US Ambassador to Finland from 2008-2009. Aerospace has direct ties to the Senate Armed Services Committee with some of its former board members serving as counsel for the CIA, Department of Defense and Department of State. US Senator John McCain curently serves as Chairman for the Senate Armed Services Committee. BREAKING BAD Emily Pitha with boyfriend Christopher Hustrulid arrested after being implicated in multiple drug related charges. (Photo link phoenixnewtimes)Political PlagueOver the past few years, 21WIRE has outlined a virtual wrap sheet of items that have led to McCain s fall from grace on the political scene. Most notably, in May of 2013, Senator McCain illegally entered into northern Syria to meet with known members of terrorist factions while claiming that they were moderate rebels not connected to extremist fighting groups.Following this trip, the false chemical weapons allegations implicating Syria s Assad soon appeared on the scene just months after McCain s planned visit.McCain later met with NeoNazi fascist leaders in Kiev, a few short months before Maidan Square melted down and the West s regime change took shape in the Ukraine.In the face of all this, McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee continues to be hawkish on Syria and calling for more than the 250 troops recently deployed to Syria.Will authorities account for all of the funds raised by Pitha and look at how they were appropriated?McCain s political career has been plagued by a series of blunders and scandals one wonders if his campaign will be derailed by the charges against his former fundraiser or will this inconvenient truth get swept under the rug?Read more from Sputnik below SCANDAL US Senator John McCain (Photo link beforeitsnews.com)SputnikIs the beleaguered US Senator s reelection bid taking a page from the hit series Breaking Bad in a desperate attempt to appeal to young voters? On Tuesday, 34-year-old Emily Pitha was arrested for narcotics distribution and manufacturing when Maricopa County sheriff s deputies found an active meth lab and illicit drugs during a search of her north-central Phoenix home.Pitha, a former staffer for retired Arizona Republican US Senator Jon Kyl, was serving as the chief fundraiser for Arizona Republican Senator John McCain s 2016 reelection bid at the time of her arrest. The McCain campaign immediately released a statement saying Pitha was immediately terminated upon our learning of her alleged involvement in narcotics distribution The sheriff s office spokesperson said that they were alerted to criminal activity at the residence after a package was identified in transit from the Netherlands carrying over 250 grams of MDMA, street name ecstasy, a popular and illegal psychoactive drug. Pitha s boyfriend, 36-year-old Christopher Hustrulid, signed for the package when it was delivered Tuesday afternoon, right before a search warrant was served.Detective Doug Matteson said that the two children, ages 5 and 10, had easy access to all of (the) drugs and materials, even the bomb-making materials that were located in the back with the meth lab. Methamphetamine production involves volatile elements also used in manufacturing explosives.The news comes as McCain finds himself in the most competitive reelection campaign of his career. In the Republican Primary, the embattled US Senator faces an insurgent challenge from Tea Party Republican state senator Kelli Ward who has successfully tapped into the anti-establishment narrative of the 2016 election cycle.Continue this story at Sputnik READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 Files | 1real |
No, Hate Crimes Have NOT ‘Intensified’ Since Trump’s Election | No, Hate Crimes Have NOT ‘Intensified’ Since Trump’s Election No, Hate Crimes Have NOT ‘Intensified’ Since Trump’s Election November 17, 2016, 9:34 am by Guest Author Leave a Comment 0
By: Renee Nal | New Zeal Screenshot from ABC News Report (red commentary added)
One of the many lies stemming from the mainstream media in the wake of Donald Trump’s election is that hate crimes have increased. The source of this ridiculous whopper is the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), whose embarrassingly biased reports from partisan hacks are reflective of the mainstream “news” outlets that cite the group as a legitimate source.
Any reasonable journalist can take the most cursory of glances at the silly report to see at best, that it is not a valid source. The “hateful intimidation and harassment” cited by the SPLC are, of course, not listed and therefore cannot be subject to scrutiny. This information, according to SPLC , was “collected through news reports, social media, and direct submissions via SPLC’s #ReportHate page” and is “largely anecdotal.”
The phrase “largely anecdotal” should be a clue for mainstream media sources reporting about the so-called spike in hate crimes.
Watch this report, which is based on the fake report from the SPLC:
The New York Times , who recently pledged to be more honest or something, reported that “attacks against American Muslims surged last year” citing the FBI (which leads to a broken link at the time of this writing) and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which immediately makes their entire article suspect:
“Since the election, hate crime monitors like the Southern Poverty Law Center have reported a rash of verbal or physical abuse targeting minorities and others at schools, mosques and elsewhere.”
There is no evidence. There is no due process. There are no convictions. Yet the mainstream media has been parroting the lie that hate crimes have increased since Donald Trump’s election.
Mainstream journalists have resources. They have money, they have numerous researchers and they have a massive platform. Yet, these same organizations do not bother to use their vast resources to inform Americans of the truth about the SPLC’s fake report. This is why they have lost the trust of the American people.
Last year, the SPLC had an “ operating budget ” of over $35 million dollars. They have an endowment fund of over $300 million dollars.
Read More: Gulag-wide Bulletins from Sovereignty Unbound We respect your privacy, time, and inbox. Track us Down @GulagBound Like the Gulag There are many important matters that Gulag Bound itself is not treating on a daily basis. For that reason we suggest The Globe & Malevolence and the sites shown under "Key Links in our Chains," below. Your Daily Intelligence Brief MattSkosh on Secret Service Agents Pay a Visit to Anti-Obama Artist Sabo Tags activism Agenda 21 anti-American revolution authoritarianism Barack Hussein Obama II candidate eligibility collectivists & propaganda communisty organizations corruption crisis strategy Democrat finance & banking fraud George Soros globalism - NWO global Marxist-fascist movement government domination of resources history illegal immigration Islam Islamism jihad jihadism Israel kleptocracy labor unions Marxism Marxofascism Marxstream media Military Mitt Romney Obamacare health control Occupy Wall Street race-baiting/racism Republican Right of Private Property Russia Sovereignty Tea Party terrorism U.S. Congress U.S. Constitution U.S. Presidency (POTUS) United Nations (UN) video violence voting youth & education Sabotage What good will it do, to protect the United States of America, or our presumed interests against the aggressiveness of China, Russia, or Islam, if, partially in fear of these threats, we lose our free and independent nation to the stealth imperialism of transnational and global governance? As America threatens to shatter, we must see how a semi-covert, global, cartel collective and their NWO in the USA ("progressive" neo-Marxists and neo-fascists corporatists, updated with 21st Century techniques and technology) intentionally perpetrate this sabotage, while we patriots try to prevent it. Have a look around our camp, as we struggle to survive. - your tour guide Archives Militarization in America About DHS militarization, see the new, breakthrough analysis from James Simpson, " Police Militarization, Abuses of Power, and the Road to Impeachment " and our earlier, "Marxist President’s Military Exercises in These U.S. Cities; Yours One?"
About the trajectory of this, we must pray, communicate, keep calm, and do not become the first to engage. If it comes to it, do not even respond in kind, until after the after the first times that extreme, anti-American violence is done by them. It calls for an attitude of self sacrifice -- first cheek, second cheek, then no more.
And speak out about the potential and strategic "sense" of the Obama/NWO's DHS carrying out false flag missions of violence, blaming it on American patriots, perhaps upon our militia movements.
We are in a real war, right now (of which others and I have been trying to alert fellow Sovereign Citizens for years) and the prime war is for the minds, hearts, and wills of the American People. We are opposed by an anti-American insurrection using any means of power (see Gramsci, Frankfurt School) including government power, as they are granted that opportunity. | 1real |
Why Everyone on Facebook Is Checking into Standing Rock, North Dakota | Pin 1
( ANTIMEDIA ) When it comes to brute force, law enforcement and private security currently have the upper hand on the ground in Standing Rock, North Dakota. They’re employing armored vehicles, riot gear, tasers, rubber bullets, pepper spray, sound cannons, and other shows of force against peaceful opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
But unlike most of the corporate media, the Internet is taking note of the struggle at Standing Rock and is trying to do its part to contribute to the protests. Over the weekend, unconfirmed reports emerged that police were using Facebook check-ins at Standing Rock to track individuals who arrived at the location to join water protectors.
As word spread of the apparent news, the Internet stepped up to neutralize the power of the police-surveillance state.
Shortly after, Facebook users from around the country and world began checking into Standing Rock, which registers as Cannon Ball, North Dakota, in an effort to confuse police. According to a statement many posters are copying and pasting:
“ The Morton County Sheriff’s Department has been using Facebook check-ins to find out who is at Standing Rock in order to target them in attempts to disrupt the prayer camps. SO Water Protectors are calling on EVERYONE to check-in at Standing Rock, ND to overwhelm and confuse them. This is concrete action that can protect people putting their bodies and well-beings on the line that we can do without leaving our homes. “
Others merely checked in while still others added their own commentary. “ If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor ,” wrote Patrick Quinn below his check-in.
“ Messing with fascists ,” Luba Petrusha commented.
While the troll effort is exciting, it’s unclear whether the efforts are having an effect. According to Snopes, a self-described fact-checking blog whose conclusions are generally reliable , police claim they are not using Facebook to track protesters. Snopes reported “ [a Morton County] officer explained not only that they were not using Facebook check-ins as a gauge of anything, but that the metric presented no intelligence value to them. The rumor suggested that protesters cited Facebook check-ins as a manner in which police could target them, but check-ins were voluntary — and if police were using geolocation tools based on mobile devices, remote check-ins would not confuse or overwhelm them.” Sign up for the free Anti-Media newsletter the establishment doesn't want you to receive
Snopes also claimed it spoke to protesters within a large camp at Standing Rock who said they did not issue a call to Internet users to check in. Nevertheless, they reportedly said they appreciated the show of solidarity.
Regardless of whether or not the online check-ins have any effect, the Internet has played a decisive role in the developing events in North Dakota. Livestreams have documented serious violations of free speech and the right to protest, and Facebook was accused of blocking such footage on at least one occasion. Amid the ongoing lack of mainstream coverage , the independent media has successfully drawn attention to the Standing Rock protests.
Considering the establishment has come out in full force in North Dakota, from their use of surveillance to their haphazard employment of heavily armed police, the increasing number of check-ins at Standing Rock shows just how much technology empowers people.
Even if police aren’t scouring social media and the check-ins fail to produce any tangible result, the rapid mobilization of efforts highlights a growing sense of opposition to unjust and exploitative power — and thanks to the Internet, the world is watching.
This article ( Here’s Why Everyone on Facebook Is Checking into Standing Rock, North Dakota ) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Carey Wedler and theAntiMedia.org . Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11 pm Eastern/8 pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, please email the error and name of the article to . | 1real |
Sarah Palin Hopes This Dead Boar Will Convince You To Vote For Trump (SCREENSHOTS) | On Sunday, Sarah Palin continued her campaign of stupidity-in-the-name-of-Trump after she did her best to Make America Great Again by using a photo of a dead hog to convince the Stupid Part of America to vote for Trump (as though they needed convincing). In a Facebook post that may go down in the annals of history as one of her most horrifically stupid of all time (and there are a lot of them), the half-term, half-wit former Governor of Alaska attempted to woo Wisconsin voters in the most intelligent manner of which she is aware: with a picture of a dead animal. Faith of America is in you to take us forward on Tuesday; to remain strong and independent of the status quo political establishment so your vote will truly represent your optimistic spirit and desire to WORK! Palin babbled in her post. Hardworking Wisconsinites deserve much better than a repeat of the establishment s agenda that led to losing this great state to Obama in 2012 by 200,000 votes! She encouraged her supporters to say ENOUGH to the continued political games of the permanent political class, otherwise she says a Hillary Clinton presidency is assured. Vote for Donald Trump on Tuesday to make America great again. This is the message shared with diverse Wisconsin voters this weekend, including those of you I m thrilled to see today at Zingers and Flingers Gun Range in Wausau today at 12:30, she concluded. See you there! For some inexplicible reason, she punctuated this bizarre rant with a photo of a hog she apparently killed in an effort to cater to those who are obsessed with that sort of thing like a cat dragging home a mouse in an effort to make someone love it more:Recently, Palin informed Wisconsinites that America is seducing immigrant children with teddy bears and soccer balls in a speech that had those who were listening struggling to refrain from laughing at her. While conservatives are stupid enough to listen to this babbling moron, the rest of the country (fortunately) learned long ago to ignore her.Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
No Obama meeting with Fidel Castro, dissident talks on track: White House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House has ruled out an encounter between President Barack Obama and revolutionary leader Fidel Castro in Cuba this month and is confident the Cuban government will not create obstacles to a meeting between Obama and dissidents in Havana, a top adviser said on Wednesday. Despite the goal of improving ties between former Cold War foes, deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes said Obama would not use his trip to meet Cuba’s demands that he shutter Radio and TV Marti, U.S. broadcasters created to transmit anti-communist programing to the island nation. Obama plans to hold talks with Cuban President Raul Castro during his historic March 20-22 visit but will not meet with Castro’s brother, a legendary figure who took power in a 1959 revolution and led Cuba for 49 years. “We’ve had no discussion about that meeting taking place, and we certainly wouldn’t seek it,” Rhodes, who was one of the negotiators in secret talks that led to a thaw in U.S.-Cuba relations, told Reuters in an interview. Asked if a meeting was ruled out, Rhodes said: “Yes.” A meeting with the elder Castro could overshadow a trip that is meant to focus on the future of the U.S.-Cuba relationship rather than its troubled past. Castro, 89, stepped down from power after a series of health problems and rarely leaves his Havana home, though he occasionally meets visiting dignitaries. The White House has said previously it did not expect a Fidel Castro meeting to occur but did not say it was ruled out. The administration made clear when it set up Obama’s trip that he would meet with anti-government dissidents in Havana despite the Cuban leadership’s objections to what it sees as meddling in the country’s internal affairs. Rhodes said the list of participants had not been finalized and the meeting would take place in a U.S. facility, which suggests the U.S. embassy or ambassador’s residence. That meeting would take place after official events with Raul Castro. Cuban dissidents in the past have reported being detained in their homes or picked up by police en route to major international events such as summits or papal visits, but Rhodes said he did not anticipate that happening for Obama’s trip. “We haven’t worked out the logistics, but ... they have not suggested that they will throw up those types of obstacles,” he said, adding the United States would be watching whether Cuba detained or harassed activists in connection with the visit. Two of Cuba’s most prominent dissidents, Berta Soler and Jose Daniel Ferrer, were detained on Tuesday, according to dissident groups. Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, on Wednesday met with Cuban-American activists and U.S. human rights advocates and told them Obama would meet Cuban “independent civil society” representatives chosen by his aides, the White House said. Obama’s Republican critics have accused him of playing down human rights concerns in order to pursue rapprochement with Cuba, which began in December 2014 and is now seen as a major piece of his foreign policy legacy. The Cuban government has done little to reciprocate for a series of U.S. measures that eased restrictions on U.S.-Cuba travel and trade. It is unclear whether it will make any large gestures during Obama’s visit, the first by a sitting U.S. president since 1928. Rhodes countered that the outreach to Cuba was aimed at helping the local population while opening up commercial opportunities for Americans. The administration plans to roll out further measures next week to chip away at decades-old restrictions to commerce. Obama also wants to lift the embargo on Cuba, which is only possible through congressional action. Republican leaders in Congress oppose such a move. Other differences remain. The Obama administration is not considering returning the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay to the Cuban government, and Rhodes said it would not make changes to the Radio and TV Marti broadcasters at this time. Both issues are irritants that the Cubans consider obstacles to full normalization with Washington. “The Cubans don’t like Radio Marti and TV Marti for sure,” Rhodes said. “There’s only so much you can get to.” The U.S. government launched Radio Marti in 1983 and later added TV Marti to transmit anti-communist news and information into Cuba, where the government has a monopoly on the media. A decision on whether to put an end to a U.S. program that encourages Cuban doctors and nurses on overseas assignments to defect was not tied to the trip either, Rhodes said. | 0fake |
The Winner Of The GOP Debate Is…Bernie Sanders (AGAIN) | If a debate is won according to who generates the most buzz, Bernie Sanders has once again kicked Republican ass on twitter. According The Hill, Sanders had two of the most retweeted tweets during the debate with a pair touting his position in polls and going after GOP front-runner Donald Trump s proposal to ban Muslims from the U.S. Both got more than 5,000 retweets. The Republicans seem to think they could beat our campaign. They haven t seen the polls. #GOPDebatepic.twitter.com/XitW9T28Vq Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 15, 2016I love the little frowning Republican faces; they so perfectly capture the frustration they must be feeling at losing in the polls, badly, to a *GASP* Socialist! Republicans are, of course, all for socialism but only as long as it s the rich that benefit and not all of the dirty lower classes that Bernie represents. Privatize the rewards, socialize the cost. It s the American way.Sanders also hit Trump over his naked appeals to racism and bigotry:I have a message for Donald Trump: No, we re not going to hate Latinos or Muslims. We are going to stand together. #GOPDebate Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 15, 2016The problem with running on hate is that it only gets you so far. Once you get past the angry white old person demographic, no one else is interested.But what makes it even more remarkable that Sanders continues to outshine Republicans on twitter during their own debate is that Sanders only has 1.14 million followers compared to Trump s 5.69 million. Although if we follow Trump s track record, there s a good chance a lot of those are paid for followers. I have a hard time believing that the average Trump supporter is smart enough to turn on a computer, much less use social media.While Trump did pick up more new followers than Sanders during the debate, that s of little comfort to the Republican Party. They may fear a Sanders presidency, but they fear a Trump presidency even more. Sanders will move the country to a place where the rich won t be AS rich and everyone else will get richer. Trump will turn America into the laughingstock of the world and cost Corporate America far more money than that dastardly Socialist Sanders ever could.Faced with that kind of choice, Republicans may not have a choice but to go all in for Bernie.Featured image via twitter | 1real |
Former Virginia Mayor Could Get 40 Years After Pleading Guilty To Trading Meth For Sex (VIDEO) | The former mayor of Fairfax City in Virginia is facing up to 40 years in prison after he pled guilty to trading crystal meth for sex. Richard Scott Silverthorne entered a guilty plea to one charge of distributing methamphetamine on Monday.This shocking story began in August of 2016 when Silverthorne was arrested. Police say they got a tip that he was using a website to set up casual sexual encounters and distribute meth. An undercover officer set up a fake profile on the site and Silverthorne took the bait. In just days he had responded to the undercover officer and arranged to meet him at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in McLean, Virginia. The police set up a sting operation and busted him when he gave the undercover cop two grams of meth. During the raid, police arrested Silverthorne and two other men.Silverthorne was released on his own recognizance last August and had remained free since then. It was expected that he would be released today to await his sentencing hearing, but instead, he was sent to jail. Reports say that there were audible gasps in the courtroom when the judge made the announcement.His sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 9. He could receive a maximum of 40 years behind bars and a hefty $500,000 fine. However, his attorney, Brian Drummond, says he is hopeful that Silverthorne will get time served and be placed on probation because of the decades he has spent as a public servant with no criminal record.Before he was caught trading drugs for sex, Silverthorne had been re-elected as Fairfax City Mayor. He was also a substitute teacher who worked in the Fairfax County Public Schools. After he was arrested, a special election was held in February of 2017 to replace him.You can watch more on this story here, via ABC7: Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
Veterans Back on Patrol, This Time to Protect Marijuana - The New York Times | DENVER — It’s nighttime at the Herbal Cure, a south Denver marijuana shop and grow house tucked into a parking lot beside the highway. Inside is a marijuana bounty: thousands of dollars’ worth of cannabis plants, boxes of chocolate, jars of $ weed with names like Frankenberry, Lemon Skunk and Purple Cheddar. Chris Bowyer, a lanky combat veteran turned cannabis security guard, is outside. He has a . pistol on his hip and a few extra magazines stored away, and he is talking about his work on the battlefield. Not the one in Iraq — the one in Colorado, where criminals seeking to breach marijuana businesses face veterans trying to stop them. “This is my therapy,” Mr. Bowyer said, heading for a place where burglars broke in recently. He checked a fence for signs of a new incursion, then headed to an office to note the night’s activities in a rigorously organized logbook. “This is what we did in the military. ” In Colorado, a curious marriage has formed between the booming retail cannabis industry — legal in the state since 2014, but not in the eyes of the federal government — and young war veterans, more than 200 of whom have taken jobs protecting marijuana businesses across the state. They spend their days and nights in urban marijuana shops and suburban warehouses and on rural farms, warding off the burglars who have become hallmarks of this business. For some, a cannabis security job is a way station toward the police department or law school. For others, though, it is a vocation with purpose, a union of two outsider groups leaning on each other in a nation uncertain about how to accept them. “It’s almost a kindred spirit kind of thing,” said Mr. Bowyer, 30, sitting in an office with a computer, a bulletproof vest and a booklet detailing marijuana products marketed under the name Jimi Hendrix. Marijuana growers and sellers “recognize that there is another group of guys who have their own talents,” he said, “and that we are here for them. ” No industry is immune to thievery. But the owners of Colorado’s 978 marijuana shop licenses and 1, 393 marijuana growing licenses are particularly vulnerable. Because the federal government considers marijuana illegal, many banks will not work with cannabis businesses, forcing them to deal in mountains of cash. Perhaps more significant, their product is also lucrative for criminals: A pound of marijuana worth $2, 000 in Colorado can be sold for $4, 000 or $6, 000 across state lines. Stores and grow houses are often soft targets in darkened parts of town. And unlike cash, marijuana is untraceable, easily sold on Craigslist or driven to dealers in Chicago and New York. “The black market is still booming,” said Cmdr. James Henning of the Denver Police Department. Contrary to the popular narrative, marijuana is a burglar’s typical prize. “They don’t get cash,” the commander said. “That’s usually in the big old safe, and they can’t get into that. Usually, it’s plants and finished product. ” The department said it believed that the city’s marijuana businesses had been targeted by organized groups, though it has no evidence that the groups are linked to foreign cartels. Surveillance videos of some burglaries show thieves sawing through the roofs of businesses, tracking law enforcement with police scanners and tying up employees. In one case, in Southern Colorado, a pair of guards spotted four men in tactical gear carrying rifles through a field. Denver, one of the few jurisdictions compiling data on crimes at marijuana businesses, has 421 houses and shops. It recorded 192 burglaries and thefts at such businesses in 2015. In Aurora, a suburb with 19 operating pot shops, 18 burglaries and robberies have occurred since 2014. But some business owners do not report because they worry that they will be seen as targets or attract inspectors who will find a violation. Criminals have netted anything from a few sodas to a dollars in plants. In June, much worse occurred: Two armed men entered a pot shop in Aurora, called Green Heart, and killed a guard, Travis Mason. The police called it a botched robbery. Mr. Mason, 24, a former Marine and father of three, was believed to be the first cannabis employee to die on the job in Colorado, and the killing alarmed the industry. Some security businesses reported a rush of requests for armed guards. “Thieves in this industry are getting much more brazen, much more aggressive,” said Ryan Tracy, 38, general manager at the Herbal Cure, which now has a guard on duty every night. Into this world stepped Mr. Bowyer, fresh out of the Marine Corps. He joined the military in 2004 at the age of 17 to see the world. He ended up in combat, most notably in Iraq in 2006 and 2007. A bookish Episcopalian, he had considered the priesthood. After experiencing war, he lost his faith. When he left the military, he wandered in search of a tribe. He took a job as a frack hand in North Dakota and at a moving company in Colorado Springs. Unsatisfied, he moved to Denver and mined Craigslist for work. Then he found an ad for a company called the Iron Protection Group. “The way it read, it was written by guys like me,” he said. It was. The Iron Protection Group was formed in 2014 by Hunter Garth, Cory Aguillard and Caleb Patton, Marines who had served in Afghanistan but were disoriented in the civilian world. They wanted to find jobs for former fighters who were now sleeping on one another’s couches, living on ramen noodles and roaming in search of a purpose and a sense of family. Two Army veterans joined them in founding the company. “It started out as brothers helping brothers,” said Mr. Patton, 31. In some ways, it was a natural marriage, formalizing a relationship forged in Vietnam, where marijuana became a balm for soldiers seeking to calm the demons of deployment. Mr. Garth said that about half of his employees smoked marijuana, though he asks them to refrain from doing so eight hours before a shift. “Eight hours jigger to trigger,” he said, is the rule. The pay starts at $12 an hour, or $25, 000 a year based on a workweek. (The average salary, Mr. Garth said, is more like $38, 000.) But that does not reflect the benefits of camaraderie. At a shooting range tucked into the Rockies, 10 employees of the Iron Protection Group are training. Most wear khakis and polos. Many have beards and tattoos. They are led by Glenn Weatherly, 34, a former weapons and intelligence sergeant in the Army who served four tours in Iraq. “Range is hot,” he tells his men. “Engage your targets. ” The guards train their eyes on mock criminals made of paper. Bullets fly, and the guards reholster. Behind them, waiting for his turn to shoot, is Curtis Simmons, 30. He spent four years in the Army, including a stint in the Korangal Valley of Afghanistan, a scene of fighting so fierce it was known as the Valley of Death. When Mr. Simmons left the military, he took a job at Whole Foods. “I was definitely an outcast,” he said. “I hate to use the words ‘liberals’ and ‘’ but that’s the world I was brought into, from completely different upbringing. ” He quit after two years. Working in the marijuana industry, he said, makes him feel “like a protector. ” There are liberals and there, too, but they understand him, he said: He smokes to keep the symptoms of stress disorder at bay, and he gets recommendations about cannabis strains from his security clients. “They want to know, ‘What’s your issues? ’” he said. Mr. Simmons would like to become a police officer. But you can’t be a policeman if you can’t pass a drug test. “This is as close as I get,” he said. The men take a break. There is cursing and laughing and ribbing, and it sounds like a party. Or, under the scorching Colorado sun — with the crackle of fire coming from a group across the valley — a bit like war. | 0fake |
HYSTERICAL! Two Trump Supporters Had THE BEST Response to Bikers For Hillary! I Can’t Stop Laughing! | Too funny! Diamond and Silk did a video warning everyone about Bikers for Hillary and that they were on their way to Philly for the convention. Then the video cuts to John Kerry on a girl s bike. And then there s Obama who rides like a girl too.There were no Bikers for Hillary, but there were Bikers for Trump and they showed up by the thousands in Cleveland to help keep the peace. Big difference there on real men versus girlie men. | 1real |
Obama May Create Monument to Gay Rights Movement - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — The White House is considering the creation of a national monument to the gay rights movement on a small piece of Greenwich Village parkland across the street from the Stonewall Inn, where a 1969 uprising helped inspire the push for equality, advocates said on Tuesday. The interior secretary, Sally Jewell, and other federal officials are scheduled to attend a listening session next week in New York, during which supporters of such a park will make their case. The advocates include Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand and Representative Jerrold Nadler, both Democrats from New York. “We are excited about this, and we do think that the president should move forward on it,” said Kristen Brengel, the vice president for government affairs at the National Parks Conservation Association. The scheduled meeting was reported by The Washington Post. Robert Atterbury, a spokesman for Mr. Nadler’s office, said the National Park Service has completed a “reconnaissance survey” on the Greenwich Village land, known as Christopher Park, a routine step before making any recommendation to the president. White House officials said no decision had been made. President Obama has the power to create national monuments, as he has done repeatedly during his two terms. The push to create a national park or monument near the Stonewall Inn is intended to recognize the protests that erupted at the Manhattan bar after the police raided it in summer 1969. Those spontaneous protests by primarily gay men who frequented the bar are viewed by many as the beginning of the modern gay rights movement (though historians have noted the movement began before Stonewall). The bar has been granted landmark status by the city, even as it continues to serve as a watering hole that caters not only to the area’s gay residents, but also to tourists from around the world, gay or straight. “Stonewall deserves to be remembered,” said Brian Sullivan, a former bartender at the tavern who returns almost daily. “When I started coming here, gay people were disowned by their families, so this is the place where we formed a new gay family of our own. ” Mr. Sullivan, 57, leaned against the bar’s edifice as he recalled some of the history he had witnessed there, from harrowing police raids to resolute speeches by the drag queen Marsha P. Johnson. “This is the mecca it’s where it all started,” he said. Chad Walter, a market researcher who plays for the Stonewall billiards team, said he hoped a monument would strengthen the continuing gay rights movement. “People are still being discriminated against all across the country,” Mr. Walter, 39, said. “This adds legitimacy it tells people that even the government agrees this movement is important and historic. ” Advocates of creating a national park near the Stonewall Inn have been working to build support for years. They are hoping that members of the public will turn out at the meeting next week to encourage Mr. Obama to act before he leaves office in January. The Parks Conservation Association has collected about 20, 000 signatures on petitions that have been sent to the White House. But even as advocates are urging the president to act, New York lawmakers — led by Ms. Gillibrand and Mr. Nadler — are trying to build support for legislation that could create the national park if the president chooses not to. Marc Brumer, a spokesman for Ms. Gillibrand, said they were making “good progress” on the legislation, which he said had recently picked up support from Senator Mark S. Kirk, Republican of Illinois. “Whether it’s the right to marry the person you love, or the repeal of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ we’ve come so far in the push for equal rights,” Ms. Gillibrand said in a statement. “It’s past due for a national monument honoring the legacy and events that took place at Stonewall and the L. G. B. T. rights movement in our country. ” | 0fake |
Guy Who Forgot 9/11 Happened Says Hillary Is ‘Too Stupid’ To Be President Because She Stayed With Bill | Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani decided to weigh in on future President Hillary Clinton s ability to perform as President in a worse way than Trump s stamina remarks at the first presidential debate. According to Giuliani, the fact that Clinton is strong enough and loves her husband enough to make things work after he was unfaithful to her is actually a sign of weakness that disqualifies her from being President just as much as That One Time She Coughed and her almost superhuman ability to work hard and power through pneumonia for days before she finally collapses from the unnatural amount of strain she put on her body. The president of the United States, her husband, disgraced this country with what he did in the Oval Office and she didn t just stand by him, she attacked Monica Lewinsky, Giuliani said following Monday s debate. And after being married to Bill Clinton for 20 years, if you didn t know the moment Monica Lewinsky said that Bill Clinton violated her that she was telling the truth, then you re too stupid to be president. Bill Clinton didn t actually violate anybody. He fooled around with a woman, who was an adult and consented to everything they did, behind his wife s back. While she certainly had the right to be angry, and Americans absolutely have the right to criticize him (he was wrong, but it didn t affect his ability to run the country), to say that she is a weak person for staying with him is absolute bullsh*t. Clinton s strength is in her ability to forgive, to think of the bigger picture, to make her marriage work in spite of a very, very public affair.Of course, this is the sort of thinking that can be expected from a guy who was Mayor when the planes hit the twin towers on September 11, 2001, yet recently completely forgot about those attacks while he was criticizing President Obama, who paraded his mistress around for all to see, and who told the media he was divorcing his wife before he informed her or their children. Under those eight years, before Obama came along, we didn t have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attack inside the United States, Giuliani said in a speech in youngstown, Ohio earlier last month. They all started when Clinton and Obama got into office. Watch it below:https://twitter.com/asvokos/status/780619672760623104/video/1Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
Germany's economy minister: U.S.-EU free trade talks have failed | BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel said on Sunday that talks on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), a free trade deal being negotiated by the United States and the European Union, had essentially failed. “The negotiations with the USA have de facto failed because we Europeans did not want to subject ourselves to American demands,” he said, according to a written transcript from German broadcaster ZDF of an interview due to be broadcast on Sunday. “Things are not moving on that front,” said Gabriel, who is also Germany’s vice chancellor. The U.S. and the EU have been negotiating the TTIP for three years and both sides had sought to conclude talks in 2016 but they have differences over various issues, including agriculture. | 0fake |
The FBI Just Announced The Results Of Their Investigation Into Hillary Clinton | At 11 AM Tuesday morning, FBI Director James Comey announced that the FBI would NOT be recommending the Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton be charged with a crime in relation to her mishandling of government emails while she was Secretary of State.Comey first spent several minutes explaining how the FBI carefully and comprehensively went through the multiple servers Clinton used during her time at the State Department. The FBI went through all of the emails she provided as well through emails received by people she was in contact with. They even reconstructed as many deleted personal emails as they could from her hard drives. Think of the super cool scenes in Hollywood movies where hackers recover deleted emails except it s a really long and tedious process.A lot of people have been praying and hoping that the FBI would find a smoking gun and for a few minutes, it seemed like they had when Comey announced that they had found 3 emails with classified information: 1 at the secret level and 2 at the confidential levels (secret is a higher classification than confidential).However, Comey also explained that there was absolutely no evidence that those emails had been deleted as an attempt to cover anything up. He even explained the process by which her lawyers would have unintentionally deleted emails they should have turned over. This may sound like he was defending Clinton but he was simply explaining the process that led the FBI to their conclusions that no criminal actions were taken.Comey also explained that while there is no direct evidence that Hillary s servers were hacked, they were definitely at risk and there is no way to know that they weren t hacked because of the way the system was set up. That might sound like splitting hairs but it s an important distinction. If the proper precautions had been taken, it would have been easier to definitively know if something had happened.Comey went on to tear the State Department a new one over their extremely careless handling of classified material but finally got to the FBI s recommendation:In our system, the prosecutors makes the decisions about whether charges are appropriate based on evident the FBI helps collect. Although we don t normally make public our recommendation to the prosecutors, we frequently make recommendations and engage in productive conversation with prosecutors about what resolution may be appropriate given the evidence. In this case, given the importance of the matter, I think unusual transparency is in order.Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, out judgement is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.Comey also said, We cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts. This doesn t necessarily end the saga of Hillary s emails as the Department of Justice could still decide to press charges anyway, although it s unclear what they would hope to accomplish given the lack of evidence. The most likely outcome is that Donald Trump just lost his best chance at defeating Hillary and after a few weeks of him bellowing that the fix was in, no one will remember what all the drama was about.Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images | 1real |
Supreme Court sympathetic to property owner in wetlands dispute | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared likely to rule that property owners can challenge the federal government in court over the need for permits under a national water protection law in a case involving a company’s plans for a Minnesota peat mine. The court heard a one-hour argument in a case balancing property rights and environmental law, in this instance the landmark 1972 U.S. Clean Water Act. A majority of the eight justices appeared sympathetic toward North Dakota-based Hawkes Co Inc, which is fighting an Obama administration finding that its property includes wetlands. The law mandates that property owners get permits in such situations. Whether a particular plot of land falls under the law’s jurisdiction is important to developers and other property owners because such a finding triggers a lengthy and expensive permitting process. Hawkes’ lawyers argued the company should be able to contest whether it even needs to go through the permit process. Liberal and conservative justices alike expressed concern about the current arrangement’s burden on property owners. Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said applicants who disregard a government finding that they need a permit do so at “great practical risk.” Liberal Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the process “very arduous and very expensive.” Liberal Stephen Breyer called the government decision that Hawkes needed a permit “perfectly suited for review in the courts.” Only liberal Elena Kagan expressed support for the government, raising concerns about the impact a ruling favoring property owners would have on actions by other government agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission. Property rights advocates said the permitting process can take two years and cost up to $270,000, with owners facing penalties of up to $37,500 a day for noncompliance. Business groups including the National Association of Home Builders and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 29 states filed court papers opposing the Obama administration in the case. The case follows the justices’ unanimous 2012 ruling that property owners facing enforcement action under the Clean Water Act can ask a court to intervene before being forced to comply or pay financial penalties. The Obama administration last year issued a new regulation defining the scope of federal jurisdiction over bodies of water. A federal appeals court put the rule on hold after it was challenged by 18 states. Only eight justices participated in the case following Justice Antonin Scalia’s February death. A ruling is due by the end of June. | 0fake |
U.S. House committee examining barriers to Puerto Rico recovery: official | (Reuters) - The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources said it will work to identify red tape and other bureaucratic hurdles to speed up Puerto Rico’s recovery and rebuilding, as the island struggles to recover from the impact of Hurricane Maria. Committee Chairman Rob Bishop said in a press call on Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal partners will also likely be engaged for years in helping Puerto Rico get back on its feet. Bishop added that an emergency response will be executed through FEMA and local officials. “An emergency funding package is taking place as we speak to support those efforts,” he said. On Tuesday a White House official told Reuters the White House was preparing a $29 billion disaster aid request to be sent to Congress after hurricanes hit Puerto Rico, Texas and Florida. The request was expected to come on Wednesday. It will combine nearly $13 billion in new relief for hurricane victims with $16 billion for the government-backed flood insurance program. Bishop said under evaluation was also the question of whether to modify or give additional power to the oversight board tasked with overseeing Puerto Rico’s debt restructuring. Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands were battered by hurricanes Irma and Maria. Hurricane Maria knocked out power to Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents last month, devastating the island’s already dilapidated electric power infrastructure. Following a closed-door meeting of the committee, Puerto Rico’s Republican delegate, Jenniffer Gonzalez, told reporters there are ongoing discussions among members of Congress, White House aides and the Treasury Department over a possible short-term loan to Puerto Rico, which she said will face a liquidity crisis in November. She said it was unclear whether Trump might be able to issue an executive order, if he so desired, to provide quick financial help or whether Congress would have to act. Representative Raul Grijalva, the senior Democrat on the panel, said of PROMESA after the meeting: “I said let’s open it up and see what is working and see what is not applicable in this situation, what we need to suspend.” PROMESA is the federal 2016 rescue law under which Puerto Rico in May filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. | 0fake |
BREAKING NEWS: NFL Reporter Says Colin Kaepernick Will STAND For National Anthem If NFL Team Will Give Him A Job | NFL reporter Jason LaCanfora updated football fans about former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick who found himself without a job after he began kneeling during the playing of our national anthem before the games. Kaepernick kneeled to try to bring attention to the plight of Black Lives Matter, a group who s placed a target on the backs of law enforcement, claiming they unfairly single out and target blacks. LaCanfora spoke on NFL Today host J.B. or James Brown about where Colin Kaepernick is today, and why he has remained silent during his quest to find a job in the NFL.LaCanfora told J.B. that Kaepernick is not planning on kneeling. He s going to donate all of his sales from his jersey s and he s planning on standing for the anthems if given the opportunity to play again, J.B.. After sitting down with Colin Kaepernick for several hours, @JasonLaCanfora says the QB is still actively trying to play in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/R9qTIZ7EQl NFLonCBS (@NFLonCBS) October 8, 2017When the news broke that Kaepernick was planning to stand for the anthem if he got a job working in the NFL again (where he could make millions of dollars), all hell broke loose on social media.LaCanfora quickly attempted to retract what he clearly said during the interview.Either CBS has removed LaCanfora s story because it was deemed to be FAKE NEWS, or they just don t want to cross the left by publishing a story that would completely discredit the Black Lives Matter movement, that has NFL players kneeling on the field and disrespecting our flag, when Colin Kaepernick, the guy who started the whole movement, is saying he s willing to give it up if he can just be paid millions to play football again.Here are screenshots from Google showing the link to the CBS story that s been removed from their website:Here s how the link to the story looks when you click on it. The link tells the reader, The page cannot be found , which 9 out of 10 times, means the story has been removed: | 1real |
Why The New Child Rape Case Filed Against Donald Trump Should Not Be Ignored
| An anonymous Jane Doe filed a federal lawsuit against GOP presumptive nominee Donald Trump last week, accusing him of raping her in 1994 when she was thirteen years old. The mainstream media ignored the filing.
If the Bill Cosby case has taught us anything, it is to not disregard rape cases against famous men. Serious journalists have publicly apologized for turning a blind eye to the Cosby accusers for over a decade, notwithstanding the large number of women who had come forward with credible claims. And now history is repeating itself.
In covering a story, a media outlet is not finding guilt. It is simply reporting the news that a lawsuit has been filed against Mr. Trump, and ideally putting the complaint in context. Unproven allegations are just that - unproven, and should be identified that way. (Mr. Trumps lawyer says the charges are categorically untrue, completely fabricated and politically motivated.) Proof comes later, at trial. But the November election will come well before any trial. And while Mr. Trump is presumed innocent, we are permitted no, we are obligated to analyze the cases viability now.
No outsider can say whether Mr. Trump is innocent or guilty of these new rape charges. But we can look at his record, analyze the court filings here, and make a determination as to credibility whether the allegations are believable enough for us to take them seriously and investigate them, keeping in mind his denial and reporting new facts as they develop.
I have done that. And the answer is a clear yes. These allegations are credible. They ought not be ignored. Mainstream media, Im looking at you.
1. Consider the context: Mr. Trumps overt, even proud misogyny.
The rape case must be viewed through the lens of Mr. Trumps current, longstanding and well documented contempt for women. Men who objectify women are more likely to become perpetrators of sexual violence, just as one with a long history of overtly racist comments is more likely to commit a hate crime.
Mr. Trump has relished calling women dogs, slobs and pigs, and cyberstalked and derided journalist Megyn Kelly for having the temerity to ask him to defend his own words. He threw out the most misogynist of attacks, attempting to undermine her professionalism by accusing her of menstruating. Hes cruelly ridiculed the appearance of a female opponent (Carly Fiorina) and an opponents wife (Heidi Cruz). His campaign even openly acknowledged that it disqualified all women for consideration as his vice-president.
Mr. Trump has a long history of debasing women hes worked with, crossing the line on a regular basis. Hes taken lifelong joy in objectifying women, including his proclamation: Women, you have to treat em like shit.
This cannot be ignored. Decades of abusive language does not make him a rapist. But it does show us who the man is: a callous, meanspirited misogynist who no sane person would leave alone with her daughter. As Dr. Maya Angelou said, When someone shows you who they really are, believe them.
2. More context: two prior sexual assault court claims have been made against Mr. Trump.
But Mr. Trump has been accused of worse than just misogynist language. Two prior women have accused Mr. Trump, in court documents, of actual or attempted sexual assault. (Mr. Trump denies all the allegations.)
Under oath, Ivana Trump accused Mr. Trump of a violent rape.
First was Ivana Trump, Donald Trumps first wife, who said under oath in a 1989 deposition that he had violently attacked her, ripped out her hair and forcibly penetrated her without her consent. According to the Daily Beast, she claims he was wildly angry that shed referred him to a cosmetic surgeon who had botched a scalp reduction job (to cover a bald spot) and caused pain in his scalp - hence the vindictive yanking on her hair. At the time Ms. Trump said she felt violated by the alleged rape.
A few years later, after their divorce was settled, Ms. Trump claimed that she did not mean the word rape in a literal or criminal sense.
Note: virtually every settlement of a case involving a high profile person paying money to a former spouse - or anyone - requires the person receiving the money to agree in writing to ironclad nondisparagement and confidentiality. In plain English: you promise to be quiet and not say anything bad about the party paying you money. This has been the case in hundreds of settlement agreements I have worked on over the years. Ms. Trump was almost certainly contractually prohibited after she signed from saying anything negative about Mr. Trump. And it is also common to attempt to cure prior negative statements with new agreed-to language - like, I didnt mean it literally. (You didnt mean forcible penetration literally?)
A business acquaintance accused Mr. Trump of sexual harassment and attempted rape.
A second woman accused Donald Trump of sexual assault, in 1997. According to The Guardian, then 34-year-old Jill Harth alleged in a federal lawsuit that Trump violated her physical and mental integrity when he touched her intimately without consent after her husband went into business with him, leaving her emotionally devastated [and] distraught. The lawsuit called the multiple acts attempted rape. Shortly thereafter she voluntarily withdrew the case when a parallel suit against Mr. Trump brought by her husband was settled. When The Guardian reached the woman in 2016 to ask whether she stood by her sexual assault allegations, she responded, yes.
In a court filing, according to a report, Ms. Harth alleged that while she and her husband were trying to do a business deal with Mr. Trump regarding a beauty pageant, he repeatedly propositioned her for sex and groped her, culminating in this frightening alleged incident:
Trump forcefully removed (Harth) from public areas of Mar-A-Lago in Florida and forced (her) into a bedroom belonging to defendants daughter Ivanka, wherein (Trump) forcibly kissed, fondled, and restrained (her) from leaving, against (her) will and despite her protests. In the court document, she said that Trump bragged that he would be the best lover you ever have.
Recently Donald Trump issued a statement that womens claims of sexual harassment, documented in a lengthy New York Times investigation which included Ms. Harths lawsuit, were made up.
Jill Harth responded angrily on Twitter last week: My part was true. I didnt talk. As usual you opened your big mouth.
In other words, she is standing by her story.
3. The new Jane Doe child rape claim against Mr. Trump is consistent with verifiable facts about Mr. Trump and his friend Jeffrey Epstein, and has a powerful witness statement attached to it.
A third woman accused Mr. Trump of rape very recently. According to the Daily Mail, a woman filed an April 2016 lawsuit claiming that when she was thirteen years old she was held as a sex slave to Mr. Trump and his friend Jeffrey Epstein. The woman claimed to have a witness, Tiffany Doe, to the incidents. She filed the case in pro per, that is, without the assistance of a lawyer.
The case was dismissed by the court for technical filing errors. She then obtained a lawyer and the case was modified and refiled in New York federal court, against Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein.
Ive carefully reviewed this federal complaint. It is now much stronger than the one she filed on her own, which makes sense because she now has an experienced litigator representing her. Jane Doe says that as a 13-year-old, she was enticed to attend parties at the home of Jeffrey Epstein with the promise of money modeling jobs. Mr. Epstein is a notorious billionaire pedophile who is now a Level 3 registered sex offender the most dangerous kind, a threat to public safety after being convicted of misconduct with another underage girl.
Jane Doe says that Mr. Trump initiated sexual contact with her on four occasions in 1994. Since she was thirteen at the time, consent is not an issue. If Mr. Trump had any type of sexual contact with her in 1994, it was a crime.
On the fourth incident, she says Mr. Trump tied her to a bed and forcibly raped her, in a savage sexual attack, while she pleaded with him to stop. She says Mr. Trump violently struck her in the face. She says that afterward, if she ever revealed what he had done, Mr. Trump threatened that she and her family would be physically harmed if not killed. She says she has been in fear of him ever since.
New Yorks five year statute of limitations on this claim the legal deadline for filing has long since run. However, Jane Does attorney, Thomas Meagher, argues in his court filing that because she was threatened by Mr. Trump, she has been under duress all this time, and therefore she should be permitted additional time to come forward. Legally, this is calling tolling stopping the clock, allowing more time to file the case. As a result, the complaint alleges, Jane Doe did not have freedom of will to institute suit earlier in time. He cites two New York cases which I have read and which do support tolling
Two unusual documents are attached to Jane Does complaints sworn declarations attesting to the facts. The first is from Jane Doe herself, telling her horrific story, including the allegation that Jeffrey Epstein also raped her and threatened her into silence, and this stunner:
Defendant Epstein then attempted to strike me about the head with his closed fists while he angrily screamed at me that he, Defendant Epstein, should have been the one who took my virginity, not Defendant Trump . . .
And this one:
Defendant Trump stated that I shouldnt ever say anything if I didnt want to disappear like Maria, a 12-year-old female that was forced to be involved in the third incident with Defendant Trump and that I had not seen since that third incident, and that he was capable of having my whole family killed.
The second declaration is even more astonishing, because it is signed by Tiffany Doe, Mr. Epsteins party planner from 1991-2000. Tiffany Doe says that her duties were to get attractive adolescent women to attend these parties. (Adolescents are, legally, children.
Tiffany Doe says that she recruited Jane Doe at the Port Authority in New York, persuaded her to attend Mr. Epsteins parties, and actually witnessed the sexual assaults on Jane Doe:
I personally witnessed the Plaintiff being forced to perform various sexual acts with Donald J. Trump and Mr. Epstein. Both Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein were advised that she was 13 years old.
It is exceedingly rare for a sexual assault victim to have a witness. But Tiffany Doe says:
I personally witnessed four sexual encounters that the Plaintiff was forced to have with Mr. Trump during this period, including the fourth of these encounters where Mr. Trump forcibly raped her despite her pleas to stop.
Tiffany Doe corroborates, based on her own personal observations, just about everything in Jane Does complaint: that 12-year-old Maria was involved in a sex act with Mr. Trump, that Mr. Trump threatened the life of Jane Doe if she ever revealed what happened, and that she would disappear like Maria if she did.
Tiffany Doe herself says that she is in mortal fear of Mr. Trump to this day:
I am coming forward to swear to the truthfulness of the physical and sexual abuse that I personally witnessed of minor females at the hands of Mr. Trump and Mr. Epstein . . . I swear to these facts under the penalty for perjury even though I fully understand that the life of myself and my family is now in grave danger.
Given all this, and based on the record thus far, Jane Does claims appear credible. Mr. Epsteins own sexual crimes and parties with underage girls are well documented, as is Mr. Trumps relationship with him two decades ago in New York City. Mr. Trump told a reporter a few years ago: Ive known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy. Hes a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it, Jeffrey enjoys his social life.
Powerfully, Jane Doe appears to have an eyewitness to all aspects of her claim, a witness who appears to have put herself in substantial danger by coming forward, because at a minimum Mr. Epstein knows her true identity.
Jane Doe has not granted any interviews, and we dont know anything about her background, or Tiffany Does, or the details of their stories. Much information needs to be revealed to fully assess this case. Perhaps they will be discredited on cross-examination. Perhaps they will recant. But if were going to speculate in that direction, we should speculate in the other direction as well. Perhaps Jane Doe and her lawyer will have more evidence and witnesses to corroborate her claim. Perhaps witnesses from Mr. Epsteins notorious parties will come forward. We just cant know any of that at this point.
But based on what we do know now, Jane Does claims fall squarely into the long, ugly context of Mr. Trumps life of misogyny, are consistent with prior sexual misconduct claims, are backed up by an eyewitness, and thus should be taken seriously. Her claims merit sober consideration and investigation.
We live in a world where wealthy, powerful men often use and abuse women and girls. While these allegations may shock some, as a lawyer who represents women in sexual abuse cases every day, I can tell you that sadly, they are common, as is an accusers desire to remain anonymous, and her terror in coming forward.
What do you call a nation that refuses to even look at sexual assault claims against a man seeking to lead the free world?
Rape culture.
We ignore the voices of women at our peril. | 0fake |
DRAMA QUEEN CHRIS MATTHEWS Claims Republican ‘Fanatics’ Believe We Should Own This One Thing [Video] | MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Thursday accused Republicans of being fanatics does this surprise anyone? He said Republicans support private ownership of tanks and bazookas. The drama queens on the left just can t seem to get off the topic of gun ownership and bans on guns. The Republican platform protects magazines. It protects AR-15s. It protects everything that is even discussed, Matthews said on his show Hardball. They haven t gotten to this bump stock thing yet, this thing that changes the gun into an automatic, he said. But they clearly when they hear something s coming their way, they put it in their platform and say, Leave it alone.' They are fanatics. The Republican Party, as a party, is a fanatic party on guns, he added.Read more: WFB | 1real |
Vanity Fair Editor Kurt Eichenwald Humiliated After Accidentally Revealing Anime Porn on His Browser - Breitbart | Vanity Fair contributing editor Kurt Eichenwald posted a picture to Twitter of his computer desktop that users noticed included an open tab of cartoon porn. [Vanity Fair editor Kurt Eichenwald posted a photo to his Twitter page Wednesday night to display hate mail he recently received. Unknown to the editor, a tab open in his web browser in the background of the photo showed that he had been viewing hentai, or pornographic anime. Yah, crappy photoshop Max. Unfortunately, no, this is what I got today. pic. twitter. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 8, 2017, Eichenwald claimed that he had been viewing the explicit material because he and his children had been debating with Eichenwald’s wife over the existence of “tentacle porn”: Sigh. Ok, I’m a dumbass. Believe it or not, my kids I were trying to convince my wife that ”tentacle porn” existed. I tried to find … (1) — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 8, 2017, … some to show her it was real. But I couldn’t find any — ended up this. My family reads my twitter feed, so they know this is true. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 8, 2017, As users questioned and ridiculed Eichenwald, he doubled down: While hentai (until now, I thought it was called manga) was on screen as part of search to prove 2 my wife tentacle porn exists, what … . (1) — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 8, 2017, … diff would it make? Seriously, while I don’t see the appeal of cartoon parn, porn is a industry. Pple obviously look at it. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 8, 2017, In further attempts to prove that he had not been searching for cartoon porn for his own enjoyment but rather for research, Eichenwald posted a screenshot of texts with his wife where he wrote, “Theresa … I’m sorry, this is a stupid question. Were our (adult) sons and I trying to prove to you that tentacle porn exists?” Eichenwald’s wife allegedly responded, “Yes. Still amazes me. ” No one hacked my account. We were searching to prove to my wife tentacle porn exists. See text convo. I only removed names and drug names. pic. twitter. — Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) June 8, 2017, Many users still questioned Eichenwald’s version of events: Kurt there’s nothing illegal about getting horned up. It’s okay, — Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) June 8, 2017, pic. twitter. — Bill Buchanan (@BigActionBill) June 8, 2017, can’t wait to give my kids the tentacle talk, — . (@tcraig9) June 8, 2017, Even Eichenwald parody accounts have given up, convinced that he has become too hard to satirize: this parody account is pointless. i cant compete, — Kirk Eichenwald (@kirkeichenwald) June 8, 2017, Even FAKKU, the largest hentai publisher in the United States, contacted Eichenwald over his latest tweets, offering answers to any questions he may have about tentacle porn: Dear @kurteichenwald if you have questions about tentacle hentai, ask us! We like Urotsukidoji by @Tentacle_Master https: . — FAKKU (@FAKKU) June 8, 2017, Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart. com | 0fake |
BOOM! HARVARD BUSINESS STUDENTS Debate NY Inmates On Illegal Immigrants…Guess Who Won? | New bumper sticker idea: My inmate is smarter about immigration than your Harvard Business School student A group of New York inmates has toppled Harvard s prestigious debate team.It took place at the Eastern New York Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Napanoch. The Ivy League undergrads were invited last month to debate the inmates who take in-prison courses taught by Bard College faculty.Harvard s team won the national title this year and the world championship in 2014.But the inmates are building a reputation, too. The club has notched victories against teams from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the University of Vermont.Against Harvard, the inmates were tasked with defending the position that public schools should be allowed to turn away students whose parents came to the U.S. illegally. Harvard s team responded, but a panel of neutral judges declared the inmates victorious. Via: FOX NewsAlthough the Harvard Business School debate team got trounced by NY inmates, they were gracious enough to congratulate their formidable opponents in this Facebook post:// <![CDATA[ (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_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>This weekend, three members of the HCDU had the privilege of competing against members of the Bard Prison Initiative s Posted by Harvard College Debating Union on Sunday, 20 September 2015 | 1real |
Saudi Prince Alwaleed has invested billions in companies around globe | DUBAI (Reuters) - The detention of Saudi Arabia s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, known for his big bets on Citigroup (C.N) and other top Western companies, could have an impact on billions of dollars of investments around the world. For many foreigners, Prince Alwaleed - whose net worth has been estimated by Forbes magazine at $17 billion - is the face of Saudi business, appearing frequently on international television and in articles on his investments and lifestyle. A 2013 Forbes magazine profile described his marble-filled, 420-room Riyadh palace, a private Boeing 747 equipped with a throne, and his 120-acre resort on the edge of the Saudi capital with five homes, five artificial lakes and a mini-Grand Canyon. He is also known for his outspoken views on politics - making headlines in 2015 when he called Donald Trump a disgrace on Twitter during the U.S. election campaign. Prince Alwaleed s investments, current and future, may now be in doubt after he was detained in an investigation by a new Saudi anti-corruption body. There will be questions on what this all means, said a senior executive at a European financial institution, who visited Riyadh late last month to attend a big international conference promoting Saudi Arabia as an investment destination. People will be looking at any kind of international holdings of the people who have been arrested, to see what will be the impact. Aside from a stake in Citigroup, Prince Alwaleed, 62, owns significant stakes in Twitter (TWTR.N), ride-hailing firm Lyft and Time Warner (TWX.N). His investment firm Kingdom Holding 4280.SE - whose share price plunged 10 percent on Sunday in response to news of his detention - recently bought about half of a 31.1 percent stake in Saudi lender Banque Saudi Fransi 1050.SE from France s Credit Agricole (CAGR.PA). Prince Alwaleed s father was the kingdom s finance minister during the 1960s. Prince Alwaleed formed Kingdom Holding in 1979, initially pouring money into real estate in Riyadh; in the 1990s he ventured into Wall Street, investing heavily in Citigroup. He had a close relationship with former Citigroup Chief Executive Sanford Sandy Weill, and has nurtured close ties with other Wall Street leaders including Goldman Sachs (GS.N) CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Prince Alwaleed increased his stake in Citigroup at the height of the global financial crisis a decade ago and he has held on to the stake, saying as recently as last month that he was very happy with the investment. He s always been a colorful and unofficial public face of Saudi Arabia, though he has never been a key decision-maker in the kingdom, a Gulf-based businessman said. During the U.S. election campaign, Prince Alwaleed demanded that Trump withdraw from the election campaign after the candidate pledged to ban Muslims entry into the United States. Trump responded by tweeting that the Saudi prince wanted to control our politicians with daddy s money. Can t do it after I get elected. After Trump s election victory, Prince Alwaleed said whatever their past differences, America had spoken, and he congratulated Trump on his victory. Prince Alwaleed was an early advocate of women s employment in Saudi Arabia and a lifting of the ban on women driving. In September, King Salman ordered that the ban should be lifted next year. | 0fake |
President Obama Calls Out Fox News For Creating A “Fictional” Obama To Make People Hate Him | Fox News worked for eight years to vilify President Obama in any way they could, and now Obama is calling them out because he has zero f*cks left.During an interview with The Atlantic, President Obama talked to Ta-Nehisi Coates about how right-wing media invented a fictional version of him with the purpose of scaring and enraging white people. In 2008 I was never subjected to the kind of concentrated vilification of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the whole conservative-media ecosystem, and so as a consequence, even for my first two years as a senator I was polling at 70 percent, Obama said.They weren t seeing some image of me as trying to take away their stuff and give it to black people, and coddle criminals, and all the stereotypes of not just African American politicians but liberal politicians. You started to see that kind of prism being established towards the end of the 2008 race, particularly once Sarah Palin was the nominee. And obviously almost immediately after I was elected, it was deployed in full force. And it had an impact in terms of how a large portion of white voters would see me. And so when people criticize or respond negatively to me, usually they re responding to this character that they re seeing on TV called Barack Obama, or to the office of the presidency and the White House and what that represents. And so you don t take it personally. You understand that if people are angry that somehow the government is failing, then they are going to look to the guy who represents government. And that applies, by the way, even to some of the folks who are now Trump supporters. They re responding to a fictional character named Barack Obama who they see on Fox News or who they hear about through Rush Limbaugh.Indeed, conservatives websites and political shows constantly twisted President Obama s words and turned him into a monster who was going to take away everyone s guns any second and declare himself king. Every time more jobs were added to the economy or the stock market rose, or unemployment dropped or anything good happened in this country, conservatives ignored it or accused Obama of cooking the books or made it sound like a bad thing in order to make people hate President Obama.They were wrong, of course. But conservatives went on hating President Obama anyway because they refused to listen to anything outside the conservative echo chamber. As a result, conservatives reject facts and think the truth is whatever Fox News tells them it is.And now the same conservative echo chamber that vilified President Obama is now praising Trump like he s a gift from God who has never done anything wrong and doesn t lie. Any person with a brain knows that s bullshit, but conservatives are eating it up like the gullible fools they are.Featured Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1real |
Setting the Body’s ‘Serial Killers’ Loose on Cancer - The New York Times | BETHESDA, Md. — The young surgeon was mystified. A tumor had been removed from the stomach of his patient 12 years earlier, but his doctors had not been able to cut out many smaller growths in his liver. The cancer should have killed him, yet here he lay on the table for a routine gallbladder operation. The surgeon, Dr. Steven A. Rosenberg, examined the man’s abdominal cavity, sifting his liver in his fingers, feeling for hard, dense tumors — but he could find no trace of cancer. It was 1968. Dr. Rosenberg had a hunch he had just witnessed an extraordinary case in which a patient’s immune system had vanquished cancer. Hoping there was an elixir in the man’s blood, Dr. Rosenberg got permission to transfuse some of it into a patient dying of stomach cancer. The effort failed. But it was the beginning of a lifelong quest. “Something began to burn in me,” he would write later, “something that has never gone out. ” Half a century later, Dr. Rosenberg, who turns 76 on Tuesday and is chief of surgery at the National Cancer Institute here, is part of a small fraternity of researchers who have doggedly pursued a dream — turbocharging the body’s immune system so that more cancer patients can experience recoveries like his patient’s. Dr. Rosenberg, Dr. Carl H. June of the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Michel Sadelain of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center have been at the forefront of this research for decades, laboring in separate labs in an intense pursuit to bring to fruition a daring therapy that few colleagues believed would work. Now, versions of the therapy for a limited number of blood cancers are nearing approval by federal regulators, and could reach the market as early as next year. The technique, known as cell therapy, gives each patient an individualized and version of their own immune system, one that “works better than nature made it,” as Dr. June puts it. The patient’s the soldiers of the immune system, are extracted from the patient’s blood, then genetically engineered to recognize and destroy cancer. The redesigned cells are multiplied in the laboratory, and millions or billions of them are put back into the patient’s bloodstream, set loose like a vast army of tumor assassins. This is an unusual pharmaceutical — a drug that is alive and can multiply once inside the body. Dr. June calls these cells “serial killers. ” A single one can destroy up to 100, 000 cancer cells. The killer cells are genetically engineered to produce a complex protein, an amalgam of pieces from different parts of the immune system that is unlike anything seen before. “I call it a molecule,” said Dr. Renier J. Brentjens, the director of cellular therapeutics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This radical, therapy differs sharply from the more established type of immunotherapy, developed by other researchers. Those drugs, known as checkpoint inhibitors, release a molecular brake on the immune system, freeing it to fight the cancer much as it fights infections by bacteria or viruses. Cell therapy, in contrast, is brewed specially for each patient, one of the many challenges the field faces in broadening its use. So far, the number of patients treated with cell therapy is in the hundreds, not thousands. And for now it works only for certain types of blood cancers, not common malignancies like breast and lung cancer. Researchers are also still working out how to control potentially lethal side effects. Just recently, a clinical trial was briefly halted after three patients died of brain swelling. Still, cell therapy has produced complete remissions in some patients who were out of treatment options, stirring excitement among doctors and patients and setting off a race among companies to bring the treatments to market. Getting to this point has taken decades of painstaking work, with many false starts and setbacks. “It was conceivable we were pursuing a ghost,” Dr. Rosenberg recalled. The son of Orthodox Jews who immigrated from Poland to New York and ran luncheonettes, Steven Rosenberg was about 6 years old when his family learned that many relatives, including six of his father’s nine siblings, had been murdered in the Holocaust. “I saw so much evil in the world that early on I decided I wanted to do something that would help people, not hurt people,” he said in an interview here. He received a medical degree from Johns Hopkins and a doctorate in biophysics from Harvard. From the start, he was a workaholic. At one point he tried to call off his relationship with Alice O’Connell, whom he would later marry, because he was afraid it would distract him from research. “I loved the night,” Dr. Rosenberg wrote in his book, “The Transformed Cell,” published in 1992. “I remember the exhilaration of working through the night in the lab, drinking thick pasty coffee that had been on the burner for hours, walking out into the sunrise. ” He added: “To be alone and out on the edge like that, there was no feeling like it in the world. ” When Dr. Rosenberg arrived at the National Cancer Institute in 1974, his first attempt at immunotherapy was to give patients harvested from pigs. That failed. He then began giving patients or a protein made by the body that spurs to proliferate. In some cases he treated patients with their own white blood cells that had been incubated in . The treatments sometimes set off such a violent immune system reaction that patients had to be placed in intensive care. From 1980 to 1984, he treated 66 patients without success. Then, in late 1984, he encountered patient No. 67, Linda Taylor, a Navy officer with melanoma whose personnel file carried the stamp “death imminent. ” Ms. Taylor is still alive her case and others catapulted Dr. Rosenberg and onto the cover of Newsweek and the front pages of newspapers. Some of his colleagues at the National Cancer Institute began referring to him as Stevie Wonder, thinking he had developed a swelled head. But ’s vaunted prowess fizzled, helping only a few percent of patients with melanoma or kidney cancer. Dr. Rosenberg then tried to surgically remove tumors and extract the that had already penetrated them, lymphocytes. He multiplied those cells in the lab and infused them back in the patient, along with shots of . He limited his focus to melanoma, the skin cancer that seemed most susceptible to immune attack. The treatment eventually achieved remissions in about 10 percent to 25 percent of patients. But it was and its application to other cancers unclear. There had to be a better way. Indeed, one approach was taking shape across the street from Dr. Rosenberg, at the Naval Medical Research Institute in Bethesda. The Navy was not Carl June’s desired career choice. Accepted at Stanford in 1971, he instead chose the Naval Academy to avoid the draft and Vietnam. The Navy sent him to medical school and for training in transplantation, geared toward treating people irradiated by nuclear weapons. When the Cold War ended, the Navy lost interest. Dr. June turned to working with at the Naval Medical Research Institute in the . He and a colleague, Dr. Bruce Levine, found a way to multiply in huge numbers outside the body, a method still used today. And in the working with Cell Genesys, a gene therapy company, Dr. June began trying to genetically modify patients’ to kill H. I. V. the virus that causes AIDS. But when his wife, Cindy, the mother of the couple’s three children, developed ovarian cancer in 1996, Dr. June’s research turned personal. Dr. June had tried everything to save her, including the primitive immune therapies under development. But Ms. June died in 2001. “A lot of other scientists would have been disillusioned by the failure, in his case the personal tragedy,” said Sean Parker, the internet billionaire who is funding some of Dr. June’s work. Instead, Dr. June, who had moved to the University of Pennsylvania, stopped treating patients, and devoted himself to creating cell therapies for cancer. “Things that were back burner on cell therapy became front burner,” he said. In the 1980s, scientists began experimenting with gene therapy, putting new genes into cells of the body to treat disease. Michel Sadelain, while still a graduate student studying immunology at the University of Alberta, told colleagues that he thought the technique could be used to supercharge to fight cancer. “At the time it sounded very pipe dream,” said Douglas Green, who was one of Dr. Sadelain’s doctoral thesis advisers and is now chairman of immunology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. But Dr. Sadelain, he continued, “believed in his approach and he pursued it relentlessly. ” After earning his Ph. D. Dr. Sadelain headed for the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Mass. to learn how to do gene therapy, using disabled viruses that could not cause disease to deliver genes into cells. By 1992, he had demonstrated that he could genetically engineer mouse . He then moved to Sloan Kettering. In 2003, he and his colleagues — including his partner and now wife, Isabelle Rivière — showed that genetically engineered could eradicate certain cancers in mice. How is this done? To fight cancer, have to recognize cancerous cells. Each in the body has unique receptors, sort of like claws that jut out from its surface. patrol the body looking for protein fragments that indicate a cell might be infected by a bacterium or virus. If one of its claws latches on to such a fragment, the destroys the cell displaying it. But cancer cells are mutated versions of the body’s own cells, not outsiders. do not always recognize them as something to kill. So scientists like Dr. Sadelain decided to put a new claw on the one that could recognize cancer by latching on to a telltale protein on cancer cells. The new claws came from another part of the immune system known as antibodies. Drug companies already knew how to make antibodies with claws that bind to specific proteins in the body. But the claw was not enough. Once a claw binds to a target protein, it needs a molecule to signal the to go into killing mode. Yet another signal helps sustain the killing. The DNA instructions for all three components are inserted into the patient’s . Since this concoction is part antibody and part it is a chimera, like the monster of Greek mythology that is part lion, part goat and part serpent. The claw is called a receptor and the protein it binds to on the cancer cell, the target, is called an antigen. So the whole construct is called a chimeric antigen receptor, or CAR, and the use of it to treat cancer is called CAR therapy, or . Dr. Sadelain was not alone in this work. Zelig Eshhar, an Israeli scientist, is credited with developing one of the first crude CARs around 1989. Dr. Rosenberg, always on the lookout for new types of immunotherapy, invited Dr. Eshhar to be a visiting scientist in his laboratory at the National Cancer Institute. Another early developer was Dr. Dario Campana of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. As scientists worked to perfect the formula in the 1990s and early 2000s, there was quite a bit of sharing. Cancer cell therapy was still mostly an academic exercise it was highly uncertain whether it would ever really work. Dr. June, after hearing a presentation by Dr. Campana at a conference in 2003, requested a sample of Dr. Campana’s CAR. Dr. Sadelain shared his design with both Dr. June and Dr. Rosenberg. The most prominent CAR developed at the National Cancer Institute owes a lot to Dr. Sadelain, Dr. Rosenberg said. But the science proved difficult and the research money scarce. Pharmaceutical companies showed little interest, preferring drugs, one size fits all, rather than a treatment that would be made separately for each patient. Again, a death from cancer propelled the field forward. In 2001, a woman, Kimberly Lawrence Netter, succumbed to breast cancer. Her Edward Netter, a wealthy financial services entrepreneur, and his wife, Barbara, formed the nonprofit Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, which issued some of its first grants to Dr. June and Dr. Sadelain. Dr. June also got support from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “Without that,” Dr. June said of the charities, “we would not have had a clinical trial. ” As the first decade of this century neared its end, the three pioneers were ready for the big moment — testing their treatments in patients. They scrambled to be the first to announce results. Dr. Rosenberg and colleagues published first, in the journal Blood in 2010. They described a single patient with lymphoma whose tumors shrank after treatment. (The patient later received more therapy, and has been free of cancer since.) But the approach really attracted attention the next year when Dr. June reported that two of three patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia went into complete remission. One of them, Doug Olson, a chemist from Tinicum Township, Pa. left the hospital and immediately bought a sailboat. He also took to running . “It was like this weight that had been sitting there was gone,” said Mr. Olson, who is free of cancer nearly six years later. Bill Ludwig, a retired captain in the New Jersey Department of Corrections, had already paid for his funeral when he started treatment in August 2010. Once his genetically engineered were unleashed in his system, Mr. Ludwig’s lungs started to fail, his legs ballooned to twice their size, his blood pressure dropped and he began hallucinating. When he emerged from the ordeal, doctors searched for cancer. Detecting none, they ordered another test, certain of error. But there was no mistake. Five pounds of tumor had been destroyed. Mr. Ludwig, now 71, and his wife bought an R. V. “We’re trying to make up for lost time,” he said. He has celebrated the high school graduations of five grandchildren and welcomed his first . As for Dr. June, Mr. Ludwig said: “It’s hard to describe someone who basically saved your life. He lost the one he loved, and turned around and saved me years later. ” The 2011 publication of Dr. June’s results transformed the field. Novartis, the big Swiss pharmaceutical company, licensed the rights to the therapies created in Dr. June’s lab at the University of Pennsylvania, throwing aside concerns that treatments manufactured for individual patients would not be good business. That set off a commercial rush, flooding the field with cash after years of doubt. While various companies are in pursuit, three are in the lead. They hope to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration to bring the first CAR treatments to market as early as 2017 or 2018, although it is not yet clear how easy it will be to get regulatory approval for such a novel therapy. The companies are teamed with academic pioneers: Novartis with Penn Kite Pharma with the National Cancer Institute and Juno Therapeutics with Sloan Kettering, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and Seattle Children’s Hospital. Somewhat predictably, success provoked jostling and envy. Rather than being allies against a disbelieving world, the pioneers now had something worth fighting over — credit, and the gleam of a possible Nobel Prize. While the Sloan Kettering researchers had done some of the early genetic engineering, they did not publish strong results in five patients until 2013. By then, they had been scooped by Dr. Rosenberg with one patient and Dr. June with three. The spotlight further shifted to Dr. June because of his success with Emily Whitehead, a little girl whose miraculous recovery in 2012 made her the poster child for cell therapy. When Mr. Parker, the internet entrepreneur, announced in April that he would spend $250 million to start a new cancer immunotherapy institute, Emily, now 11, appeared on stage at the launch extravaganza with Lady Gaga. Dr. June’s 2011 publications did not cite Dr. Rosenberg’s paper from the previous year, prompting Dr. Rosenberg to write a letter to The New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. June’s publications also did not acknowledge that the genetic construct he had used was the one he had obtained from Dr. Campana of St. Jude. St. Jude sued the University of Pennsylvania. Novartis sided with Penn, and Juno Therapeutics with St. Jude. The suit was settled last year, with Novartis agreeing to pay $12. 25 million plus possible future payments and royalties. Within days, Dr. June sent a correction and letter of regret to The New England Journal of Medicine, acknowledging that the CAR used in his groundbreaking 2011 study, and in treating Emily Whitehead, was “designed, developed and provided” by St. Jude. Patrick M. Coughlin, who teaches anatomy at the Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pa. now explains the immune system to his classes by telling how one man overcame cancer. Only gradually does it become clear that he is referring to himself. Now 63, Mr. Coughlin noticed a mass the size of a softball in his abdomen in summer 2013. It was a form of ’s lymphoma. Three different types of chemotherapy and a transplant all failed to help him. Desperate, he came to the National Institutes of Health campus here last year for the cell therapy developed by Dr. Rosenberg’s team. The battle between Mr. Coughlin’s genetically engineered immune cells and the cancer was brutal. For four days he had a fever as high as 105, chills and sweats. Even his brain malfunctioned — at one point he could not count to 10 or write his wife’s name. But when the battle ended, the cancer was no longer there. “If I had gotten this thing five years ago,” he said of his disease, “I’d be dead. ” Yet for all the excitement, there are reasons for caution. The CAR therapy works now only for patients with some lymphomas and leukemias, which account for only about 80, 000 of the 1. 7 million cases of cancer diagnosed in the United States each year. It has not been successfully used to treat malignancies of the lungs, breast, prostate, colon or other organs. “The solid tumors that kill over 90 percent of people do not respond to anything we have now,” Dr. Rosenberg said. Because it is personalized, cell therapy is likely to be frightfully expensive — probably hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient, though the companies bringing these treatments to market have not yet said how much they would charge. Producing the cells is lengthy and complex. Some patients have died during the two to four weeks it took to genetically modify and multiply their cells. And the therapy itself can be arduous. First, patients get chemotherapy to wipe out many of their existing to make room for the engineered ones. Once those enter the body, they can set off a ferocious immune response as well as temporary neurological problems like memory loss, seizures and hallucinations. Recently Juno Therapeutics had to temporarily halt its clinical trial after three patients died from brain swelling. The problem arose when the company added a second chemotherapy drug to the regimen preparing the patients for the cell infusion. The authorities allowed the trial to resume without that chemotherapy drug. Still, some patients find themselves hoping they get violently ill, since that is a sign the treatment is working. “Every morning my wife would ask me how I’m feeling,” said Myles Stiefvater, a copier salesman from Newark, Del. who had the treatment in 2014. When he said he felt O. K. they were disappointed. Researchers are also finding, to their dismay, that remissions do not always last. The therapy has had its biggest success in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, producing complete remissions for 60 percent to more than 90 percent of patients. Yet up to half of those patients eventually suffer a relapse. In some cases, the tumor evolves so that it no longer displays on its surface what the claw binds to, making it invisible to the engineered cells. In other cases, the engineered cells might not last long enough in the body, giving the cancer a chance to resurge. Karen Shollenberger, a student at Drexel University with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, thought she was in the clear after being in remission for nine months after a treatment. But in September, as the school year was beginning, the cancer returned. “My high hopes for the rest of the term were crushed,” Ms. Shollenberger wrote on her blog in October. She entered a new trial testing a new CAR therapy directed at another protein on . Again the cancer went into remission, and she returned to school. But fear lurked in her: What if the new therapy also stopped working? That indeed happened recently. Her best hope now is a transplant. “Each relapse is increasingly terrifying as the options continue to shrink,” said Ms. Shollenberger, 22. But, she said, the cell therapies have given her nearly two good years. The big thrust now is to expand the use of cell therapy to additional types of cancer. The key is to find protein targets that the engineered can latch on to to kill cancer cells. Ideally, such a protein should be on all the tumor cells, so the entire cancer would be eradicated. But it should not be on healthy cells, or they would also be destroyed, causing side effects. “ are very powerful,” said Dr. Campana, formerly of St. Jude and now at the National University of Singapore. “In the same way they can eliminate cancer, they can also kill you. ” A protein called HER2, for instance, is found on many breast and other tumors, making it a seemingly good target. But it is also found in tiny amounts in the lungs. When Dr. Rosenberg’s team infused killer aimed at HER2 into a patient, she went into respiratory distress within 15 minutes and died five days later. The treatments work for the blood cancers because there is a good target. But finding these for the most common cancers has been difficult. One problem is that CARs, because of how they are made, can bind only to proteins on the surface of cancer cells. But most proteins made by these cells, or by any cell for that matter, are inside the cell, out of reach. There is an alternative approach that is gaining interest. Patients’ immune cells can be engineered to make what are called receptors, or TCRs. These can recognize proteins inside the cancer cells. Some experts say TCRs, which have a far wider array of potential targets, represent the best hope of using cell therapy to treat solid tumors. There have been hints of effectiveness already in treating one of those, a type of sarcoma. It might turn out that the best target for each patient will be unique to that person. Scientists are now experimenting with using DNA sequencing and other techniques to find the best mutated protein in each person’s tumor at which to aim the claw. “Think of how dauntingly personalized this is,” Dr. Rosenberg said. “We are using their own cells to treat a unique mutation in their own tumor. ” He said this approach might allow cell therapy to be used for most patients. Many other improvements are on the runway. Dr. Sadelain and Juno are working on “armored CARs” that not only bind to the target but produce chemicals. Cellectis, a French company, has treated two babies with an CAR treatment that does not require each patient’s cells to be processed. Bellicum Pharmaceuticals is working on genetic switches that dim or shut off the CAR if the treatment is endangering the patient. “We’re in the Model T version of the CAR now,” said Dr. Levine, now the director of the cell production facility at the University of Pennsylvania. “What’s coming along are Google CARs and Tesla CARs. ” In February, the Center for Advanced Cellular Therapeutics opened on the ninth floor of a Penn medical building, paid for mainly by $20 million from Novartis. It has gleaming new laboratory space, clean rooms with the capacity to manufacture therapy for 400 patients a year, and a great view of downtown Philadelphia. On the wall are photographs of patients with success stories, like Doug Olson running a and, of course, Emily Whitehead. Dr. June, who remarried and had two more children, now jets off regularly to attend conferences and give talks. A world map hanging outside his office is titled “Where in the World Is Carl June?” It has pins stuck in every location he has been, and a picture of him on a bicycle pinned to his location at the moment. In the last two years he has visited more than 150 cities in more than 20 countries. This year alone he has accumulated more than 200, 000 airline miles. Despite that schedule, he runs ultramarathons and participated in July in the Death Ride, a grueling bicycle race in California. Dr. Rosenberg still arrives at the National Cancer Institute nearly seven days a week. The walls outside his office are covered with signed photographs of the hundreds of fellows who have trained under him, many of them now leaders in immunotherapy. Every five years, they gather for a reunion, to reminisce and honor their mentor. Arie Belldegrun, who was a fellow in the 1980s, now runs Kite, the company commercializing the National Cancer Institute’s CAR technology. He recounted what happened when he tried to get Dr. Rosenberg to join the company. “He sits quietly, quietly, quietly, and then he asks, ‘Arie, why don’t you ask me what I want to do?’ “He said: ‘Every day that I go to work, I’m as excited as a kid coming to a new place for the first time. If you ask me what I want to do, I want to die on this desk one day. ’” But not before he conquers cancer. “I want to end this holocaust,” Dr. Rosenberg said in the interview. “I think I’m finally getting the hang of what it will take to widely apply this to cancers. ” | 0fake |
Congress votes to call on Trump to denounce hate groups | (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress passed a resolution late on Tuesday calling on President Donald Trump to condemn hate groups after Trump was criticized for his response to the violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a month ago. The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously adopted the resolution, U.S. Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia, said in a statement. The Senate approved the measure on Monday. “Tonight, the House of Representatives spoke in one unified voice to unequivocally condemn the shameful and hate-filled acts of violence carried out by the KKK (Ku Klux Klan), white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville,” Connolly said. The joint resolution, passed with the support of both Republicans and Democrats, will go to Trump for his signature. Representatives for the White House did not respond immediately to an email seeking comment. The Congressional resolution calls on Trump to condemn hate groups and what it describes as the growing prevalence of extremists who support anti-Semitism, xenophobia and white supremacy. It also urges Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate acts of violence and intimidation by white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups. Trump alienated fellow Republicans, corporate leaders and U.S. allies and rattled markets last month with comments about the violence in Charlottesville, where white nationalists and neo-Nazis clashed with anti-racism activists on Aug. 12. One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed and several people were wounded when a suspected white nationalist crashed his car into anti-racist demonstrators. The Congressional resolution calls Heyer’s death a “domestic terrorist attack.” James Alex Fields, a 20-year-old Ohio man who authorities say drove into Heyer and other protesters, has been charged with second-degree murder and other criminal counts. On Aug. 12, Trump denounced hatred and violence “on many sides,” a comment that drew sharp criticism from across the political spectrum for not condemning white nationalists. White nationalists had gathered in Charlottesville to protest against the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, who led the pro-slavery Confederacy’s army during the U.S. Civil War. Trump defended Confederate monuments last month. At a rally in Phoenix on Aug. 22, Trump accused television networks of ignoring his calls for unity in the aftermath of the violence in Charlottesville. “I didn’t say I love you because you’re black, or I love you because you’re white,” Trump said at the rally. “I love all the people of our country.” The resolution also acknowledged the deaths of two Virginia State Police officers whose helicopter crashed as they patrolled the Charlottesville protest. | 0fake |
JUST ONE DISGRACEFUL PHOTO Captures The Essence Of Hillary Clinton’s Entire Campaign | Social media went crazy last night when a photo of a wrinkled and discarded American flag was posted with this caption: With many hours to go, Clinton s staff has flags ready for their election night party. | 1real |
Prison sentences are getting shorter. But racial disparities are getting worse. | There's good news and bad news about sentences in federal prison. The good news: Prison sentences are getting shorter. The bad news: Black defendants are still getting longer sentences than white ones for the same crimes — and the racial gap is actually growing.
That's the conclusion of a new study conducted for the Bureau of Justice Statistics, based on data from 2005 — after a Supreme Court decision gave judges more flexibility in sentencing — through 2012. But it's certainly not the first study to find that even when the criminal justice system as a whole is getting more lenient, that leniency varies depending on the race of the defendant. And it's a big challenge for criminal justice reformers — who end up caught in a terrible double bind.
After someone's convicted of a crime in federal court, the judge determines a prison sentence by consulting a set of federal guidelines. The guidelines consider a bunch of factors related to the defendant's criminal history and the seriousness of the crime, plug them into some complicated calculations, and spit out a recommended range for the prison sentence to fall into.
This study looked at how judges responded to those recommendations. What they found was not great. For pretty much every type of crime, white offenders who get a certain recommended sentence (under the guidelines) end up getting a shorter sentence than black offenders who get the same recommendation. And the difference between white and black sentences has grown since 2005.
How big the disparity is depends on the type of crime and how severe it is. For a relatively minor drug offense that doesn't involve weapons — something where the recommended sentence might be around two and a half years — a black man and a white man would actually get around the same sentence in 2005. In 2012, the black man would be sentenced to about two months longer than the white man would.
For a relatively minor crime that doesn't involve drugs but does involve weapons — something where the recommended sentence might be a little over four years — a black man would have gotten about five months longer in prison than a white man in 2005. In 2012, the black man would get a sentence over a year and a half longer than his white counterpart.
The sentencing guidelines, like the name says, are supposed to be guidelines. But for decades, most judges followed them as rules, and rarely (if ever) gave out sentences that were higher or lower than the guidebook recommended. In 2005, the Supreme Court clarified that judges really could go above or below the recommended sentence if they thought it was appropriate for the case. (A second decision, at the end of 2007, clarified that judges were supposed to calculate the sentencing range recommended by the guidelines, but could then decide whether to follow it or not.) That's why this study's time period matters: It's looking at the era in which judges have had more power in sentencing.
It's become incredibly common for judges to hand out shorter prison sentences than the guidelines recommend. Over the summer of 2015, judges actually handed out "below-guideline" sentences in a majority of all cases (50.6 percent); they handed out "above-guideline" sentences only 2.6 percent of the time.
When judges get to decide whether someone deserves to get a shorter sentence than the guidelines recommend, they might find some kinds of defendants more deserving than others — based on factors that happen to be racially skewed (like education or employment), or based on plain old implicit racial bias. It's hard to judge this just by looking at average sentence length for a given crime, just because there's so much variation in the recommended sentences for each crime. Two people can be convicted of robbery, but if one of them has a long criminal history and the other one was coerced into the robbery by an abusive boyfriend, federal policy says the second one should get a shorter sentence for it.
To actually calculate whether judges are using their discretion to favor white defendants more than black ones requires some serious statistical analysis. But other researchers who've done that analysis, just like the authors of the new study, have found that racial disparities have persisted.
Interestingly, the researchers found that prosecutors' behavior didn't appear to change much over this time. The difference was because judges had more power to use their discretion, and they appear to have exercised that discretion to help white defendants more than black ones.
The sad irony is that criminal justice observers have known this for a long time: The more that sentences are left up to a judge to determine, the more racial bias will come into play. This was a big criticism back in the 1960s and 1970s, when sentencing was so all over the place that a judge in California could sentence someone to a single day, or to years, for the same crime.
Reformers told legislators and governments that they needed to set clearer standards for how long a sentence should be for a given crime. One result was the development of the federal sentencing guidelines to begin with; another result was the use of mandatory minimum sentences that judges couldn't go below if they wanted to.
If you're familiar with mass incarceration, you know where this is going. Both of those policies have led to people going to prison for far longer than they used to, because stiff sentences were imposed across the board. And the length of sentences is one of the major factors in the explosion of America's prison population. That's why federal judges are beginning to move away from the guidelines, and why criminal justice reformers are calling for mandatory minimum sentences to be reformed or abolished.
This study (and other evidence that racial disparities in sentencing persist) shows reformers haven't escaped the terrible double bind they're in. Give the power in setting sentences to judges, and you choose a system where people who commit the same offense aren't treated the same way for it. Take that power away, and you choose a system where everyone is treated too harshly.
Of course, even when everyone is treated harshly by judges, black Americans end up suffering the most. That's because there's more to the criminal justice system than what happens in court; police decide whom to arrest, prosecutors decide whom to charge. Those factors feed black Americans into the system disproportionately, even before a judge lays eyes on them.
As depressing as this sounds, it also means the sentencing double bind doesn't have to be as much of a problem as it is. In a world where black people weren't overpoliced (and underpoliced), setting across-the-board sentences would actually improve equality.
On the other hand, if there weren't racial disparities in housing, employment and education that made it harder for black defendants to persuade a judge they could make something of themselves, judges might be just as likely to help black defendants as white ones. There's no right answer on sentencing, but that's because sentencing isn't the answer to begin with. | 0fake |
#BoycottDisney: DISNEY PUSHES GAY AGENDA On Toddlers, Young Kids…Makes Stingray In New “FINDING DORY” Movie A TRANSGENDER | Disney has officially begun to push a gay agenda on children so young that many of them don t even know there are anatomical differences between themselves and their friends. No matter, Disney apparently has a gay agenda, and no child is too young to start pushing that agenda on our children. Just remember, no one is FORCING you to take your kids to Disney movies or buy their propaganda. A controversy has been brewing for some time now over the sequel to Frozen where MTV host, Alexis Isabel started a hashtag campaign: #GiveElsaAGirlfriend asking Disney to make the Elsa character a lesbian.Let's trend #GiveElsaAGirlfriend in hopes that @Disney will consider giving queer girls representation in princess form. Alexis Isabel (@lexi4prez) May 1, 2016Disney/Pixar s upcoming film Finding Dory features a transgender stingray who transitions to become Sting-Rhonda, the film s star Ellen DeGeneres revealed in an interview.The sequel to the 2003 smash hit Finding Nemo has already fueled speculation that it will be the first Disney film to feature a lesbian couple, but Degeneres, who voices the titular blue fang fish, told USA Today in an interview that the film will feature a trans sting. There s a stingray that s becoming sting-Rhonda, so there s a trans sting in the movie, DeGeneres said.A representative for Pixar didn t immediately return Breitbart News s request for confirmation.In May, eagle-eyed viewers of the Finding Dory trailer speculated that the film would be the first Disney project to feature a lesbian couple, after a blink-and-you ll-miss it shot of what appeared to be two women walking near a baby stroller.The creative team behind the film have not confirmed or denied whether the couple is, in fact, lesbian, and DeGeneres also remained mum on the subject in her interview with USA Today. I don t know if it s true or not or if she just has a bad short haircut, you know? DeGeneres joked. Who knows if she s a lesbian. Some fans of other Disney film properties have lobbied the studio to include LGBT characters in its films.There is some recent precedent for gay Disney characters; earlier this year, an episode of ABC s fairy-tale drama Once Upon a Time featured a lesbian true love s kiss between Ruby and the Wizard of Oz s Dorothy.Via: Breitbart News | 1real |
Chicago mayor vows fiscal fix before muni audience | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tried to reassure municipal credit analysts on Wednesday that the city and its public school district are not falling into a financial abyss. “I will not rest until we fix the fiscal position of both the city and (Chicago Public Schools),” the mayor told the National Federation of Municipal Analysts annual conference. But some attendees said his speech did little to alleviate their worries about the city’s sinking credit. “I’m very concerned. I don’t see them making any headway,” said Susan Dushock, a senior vice president at SunTrust Private Wealth Management, referring to an ongoing political impasse that is hindering Chicago’s efforts. The battle between Illinois’ Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, and Democrats who control the legislature has left the state without a fiscal 2016 budget and has stymied Chicago’s efforts to seek pension relief. Chicago continues to struggle with a structural budget deficit and a $20 billion unfunded pension liability. Rulings by the Illinois Supreme Court both this year and last year have made it much more difficult to enact pension changes to lower that liability. Emanuel likened those rulings to putting “a straightjacket around us,” but vowed to continue negotiating with unions to reach a deal that ensures pensions are paid in a manner that is responsible to taxpayers. He also touted the diverse economy of the nation’s third-largest city, its ability to snag relocating corporations, and educational improvements at schools. “(Emanuel) didn’t focus on how to solve the current fiscal crisis,” said Richard Ciccarone, who heads Merritt Research Services. CPS is also betting on state solutions for escalating pension payments that have left it with a $1 billion budget gap. The district is calling for a bigger share of state funding to cover pensions and the costs of educating poor children. The city and CPS have been hit with downgrades that pushed their credit ratings closer to or into the “junk” level and both are paying a huge penalty in the U.S. municipal bond market. Chicago general obligation bonds due in 22 years were trading at 287 basis points over Municipal Market Data’s benchmark triple-A yield scale, while the so-called credit spread for CPS bonds due in 15 years was 463 basis points, according to MMD. | 0fake |
Bill Maher and Milo Yiannopoulos Find Common Ground - The New York Times | Despite a brief of controversy that preceded it, a conversation between Milo Yiannopoulos, the incendiary author and lecturer, and Bill Maher, the comedian and host of HBO’s “Real Time,” on that program Friday night was a largely docile, chummy affair. There was little conflict or as both men chided the political left for avoiding or drowning out Mr. Yiannopoulos’s views rather than engaging with them. Introducing Mr. Yiannopoulos, 32, an openly gay editor at Breitbart News, Mr. Maher said: “I think you’re colossally wrong on a number of things. But if I banned everyone from my show who I thought was colossally wrong, I would be talking to myself. ” Mr. Yiannopoulos began the interview by cracking jokes about gay people (whom he said he did not hire because they did not show up to work on time) and women, and telling Mr. Maher’s audience that they were “very easily triggered. ” “All I care about is free speech and free expression,” Mr. Yiannopoulos explained. “I want people to be able to be, do and say anything. These days, you’re right, that’s a conservative issue. ” Mr. Yiannopoulos had been scheduled to speak at the University of California, Berkeley, earlier this month, on an invitation from the school’s College Republicans group. But his talk was canceled when protests against the speech turned violent and led to rioting that caused about $100, 000 in damages. In January, when Mr. Yiannopoulos gave a lecture in Seattle at the University of Washington, a man was shot during protests outside the site of the speech. He spoke in December at the University of where he mocked a transgender student while displaying her photograph during his talk. Other schools have withdrawn invitations to him in recent weeks. When it was announced on Wednesday that Mr. Yiannopoulos would be interviewed on “Real Time,” another scheduled guest, Jeremy Scahill, a journalist for The Intercept, said in a statement on his Twitter account that he was withdrawing from the show. “He has ample venues to spew his hateful diatribes,” Mr. Scahill said. “There is no value in ‘debating’ him. ” Mr. Maher followed with his own statement that said, “If Mr. Yiannopoulos is indeed the monster Scahill claims — and he might be — nothing could serve the liberal cause better than having him exposed on Friday night. ” In the interview on Friday night, Mr. Yiannopolous criticized female comedians like Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman, and he described the Democrats as “the party of Lena Dunham,” the creator and star of “Girls. ” (Mr. Maher replied: “Let’s not pick on fellow HBO stars. There are so many other people. ”) Describing himself as “a virtuous troll,” Mr. Yiannopolous said, “I hurt people for a reason. ” He said people “want to police humor” because “they can’t control it. ” “Because the one thing that authoritarians hate is the sound of laughter,” Mr. Yiannopolous said. Mr. Maher added, “And also, because when people laugh, they know it’s true. ” Mr. Yiannopolous replied, “Nothing annoys people, or amuses people, like the truth. ” They then discussed an incident from last summer, when Mr. Yiannopoulos was banned from Twitter after helping rally other users to direct racist and sexist remarks at Leslie Jones, a star of “Ghostbusters” and “Saturday Night Live. ” “I didn’t understand, like, the ‘Ghostbusters’ thing,” Mr. Maher said. Mr. Yiannopoulos answered: “I wrote a bad review of a movie. Am I not entitled to do that?” After repeating some of the insults he had leveled at Ms. Jones, he said, “I simply don’t accept — I do not accept — that the star of a Hollywood blockbuster, that an is crying over mean words on the internet. Get over it. ” “What actually hurts people is, like, murder, violence,” Mr. Yiannopoulos added. “That kind of stuff. ” He added that “mean words” don’t “hurt people. ” Mr. Maher said, “Which some people would say you have incited. ” Mr. Yiannopoulos reacted with surprise. “What? How?” he asked. “I’m just saying, some people would say,” Mr. Maher answered. Mr. Yiannopoulos replied, “Well, they would be idiots. ” Speaking to his audience, Mr. Maher said, “Stop taking the bait, liberals,” and asked how they could be afraid of someone he described as “little, British, impish” and a slur for gay people. The two men shook hands, and Mr. Maher moved on to his panel discussion. But in an segment that ran after the HBO broadcast, Mr. Yiannopoulos said that transgender people were “vastly disproportionately involved in sex crime,” drawing jeers, boos and a shout of “liar” from Mr. Maher’s audience. Mr. Yiannopoulos also clashed with the comedian Larry Wilmore, another guest on the show. In remarks to Mr. Yiannopoulos that were bookended by an obscene phrase, Mr. Wilmore took offense at his Twitter trolling of Ms. Jones. “She’s a very thoughtful person and very funny,” he said. Trying to defuse the tension, Mr. Maher wryly suggested to Mr. Yiannopoulos that he shouldn’t be so quick to spar with his fellow panelists. “This is the beginning of your career,” Mr. Maher said. “People are only just starting to hate you. ” | 0fake |
Factbox: Trump son-in-law Kushner details contacts with Russians | (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner on Monday gave details in a statement made public before his closed-door meeting with the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee about his contacts with Russians during the 2016 election campaign and the presidential transition period. The following are some of the main points in the statement: - Kushner said he became a “point of contact” for foreign countries once it was clear that Trump would be the Republican presidential nominee. Kushner said he had “incoming contacts” with people from roughly 15 countries. “To put these requests in context, I must have received thousands of calls, letters and emails,” he said. - Kushner said he was introduced to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, among other foreign dignitaries, in April 2016 at a Washington hotel where then-candidate Trump was making a speech. He said he shook hands with the dignitaries at the reception. “The ambassadors also expressed interest in creating a positive relationship should we win the election ... Each exchange lasted less than a minute,” he said. - Kushner said he attended a meeting, at the invitation of his brother-in-law Donald Trump Jr., on June 9, 2016, at Trump Tower in New York. Attendees included a Russian lawyer discussing a ban on Americans adopting Russian children. Kushner did not name the lawyer or others in attendance. “No part of the meeting I attended included anything about the campaign, there was no follow up to the meeting that I am aware of, I do not recall how many people were there (or their names), and I have no knowledge of any documents being offered or accepted,” he said. - After Trump won the election, ambassador Kislyak on Nov. 16 invited Kushner to a meeting, Kushner said. He said that at the time, he could not recall the ambassador’s name. When he and Kislyak met at Trump Tower on Dec. 1, Kushner said he asked Kislyak to identify the best person to be a contact for direct discussions and a line to Russian President Vladimir Putin. - Kushner said he met on Dec. 13 with Sergey Gorkov, a Russian banker, for 20-25 minutes and received gifts of a piece of art and a bag of dirt, both from a village in Belarus where Kushner’s grandparents were from. He said he gave the gifts to his assistant to have them registered with the transition office. He said there was no discussion about Russian sanctions. “At no time was there any discussion about my companies, business transactions, real estate projects, loans, banking arrangements or any private business of any kind,” he said. - Kushner said his first security clearance form, which omitted foreign government contacts, was submitted in error by his assistant. He said he sent in a supplemental form the next day, disclosing he had numerous contacts with foreign officials, and provided a list of those contacts “in the normal course.” | 0fake |
Our Picks: Great Stories From Around the Web and in The Times - The New York Times | Welcome to Our Picks, a guide to the best stuff to read, watch and listen to from around the internet. Check this space for the article, the next great podcast for your commute, the tweetstorm. And yes, we’re also tooting our own horn here. We’ll share can’ Times stories from the week and surface some gems you might have overlooked. We want to hear from you! Send us feedback about our selections to ourpicks@nytimes. com. • If you have 10 minutes, read this story about a Wikipedia editor who turned abuse from online trolls into something a lot more productive. [Backchannel] _______ • In Denver in the 1920s, a secret society of black intellectuals managed to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan and thwart many of its plans. A short, local history that will make you feel good about the impact ordinary people can have on their communities. [Denverite] _______ • Some travel guides are more useful than others. We’re not sure you’ll need this comprehensive guide to imbibing at Disney World every time you visit the theme park, but it surely can’t hurt to brush up on some of the hot spots. [Roads Kingdoms] _______ • These were four Super Bowl heroes this year: Tom Brady and Lady Gaga, Adam and J. B. If you haven’t heard of the latter pair, that’s O. K. They’re just now telling the story of how they sneaked into the biggest sporting event of the year. [Vocativ] _______ • “It was light killed the beasts, they say. ” It’s haunting lines like these that make one reporter’s journey to the darkest town in America — Gerlach, Nev. — a . [Five Thirty Eight] _______ • Sometimes you need a little distance to fully appreciate the impact of a cultural figure. That is perhaps why, 10 years after Anna Nicole Smith’s death, this substantial and insightful chronicle of the icon’s rise and fall is so satisfying to read. [BuzzFeed] _______ • Now that football season is over, it’s time we shifted our focus to baseball. If you’re a fan of the sport, you’ll want to acquaint yourself with Shohei Otani of Japan. He’s the country’s best hitter, best pitcher and, according to those who make these types of comparisons, the world’s next Babe Ruth. [SportsNet] _______ • You’ve probably heard of the “lone wolf” terrorist. Someone who, with no direct ties to a terrorist group, and carries out violent acts alone. But as this piece by Rukmini Callimachi shows, some of the plots we thought were the work of lone wolves were in fact “remote control attacks” by the Islamic State. The terrorist group used messaging apps to provide virtual coaching and guidance in attacks across the globe. _______ • A crack in an Antarctic ice shelf grew 17 miles in the last two months. Scientists are concerned that it is getting close to a full break. Here’s a visual explainer. _______ • This week, the White House issued a list of 78 terrorist attacks, saying most were underreported. Here is that list, along with our references to news coverage of the attacks. _______ • If you’re itching to listen to something today, may we humbly recommend our new podcast, “The Daily,” covering the day’s most important news in a quick 15 minutes. _______ • We asked readers to tell us if they or someone they knew was affected by President Trump’s executive order on immigration. Our social media editor Sona Patel noticed a number of stories about relationships and marriages thrown into turmoil. Here are a few of them. (If you have a story about the immigration order, you can email us at immigration@nytimes. com.) _______ • In today’s Hollywood, the best way for actresses who have reached the “unfortunate” age of 40 to land interesting roles, or to ensure that complicated stories about adult women get to the screen, is to take creative and business control. So that’s what Nicole Kidman did. _______ • Now for something controversial: Our new baking columnist, the British chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi, makes his debut with a piece called “Eat Your Sugar. ” “I rarely go a day without a slice or bite or square of something sweet. ” (Don’t tell our Opinion columnist David Leonhardt.) _______ • “Ever wanted to feel nervous for 16 minutes straight? If so, watch this. ” Readers had lots of feelings about “Ten Meter Tower,” a short film from . _______ • The New York Times Magazine was awarded three National Magazine Awards this week: Jennifer Percy for feature writing (“‘I Have No Choice but to Keep Looking’”) Nikole for public interest (“Choosing a School for My Daughter in a Segregated City”) and Sam Anderson for (“David’s Ankles: How Imperfections Could Bring Down the World’s Most Perfect Statue”). Enjoy them for the first time (or revisit them) when you have some time to tune out the rest of the internet. _______ • If you can’t catch Jake Gyllenhaal in his coming performance of “Sunday in the Park With George,” you can at least enjoy his vocal talents online. Filmed in a single take, this video of Gyllenhaal singing Sondheim during rehearsals for the play is a great excuse to take a break from your day. [Facebook, via Vulture] _______ • On Feb. 15, 2014, the fitness legend and motivational figure Richard Simmons disappeared. On Feb. 15, 2017, a podcast looking to find out what happened to this character will launch. Listen to this preview and gear up for the next cult audio obsession. [Missing Richard Simmons] _______ • The best magazine cover of the year is one you’ve probably seen. The readers’ choice selection is one you probably haven’t. [ASME] _______ • Admit it: You don’t read terms and conditions agreements before you sign them. One cartoonist is looking to change that bad habit with this delightful graphic novel that illustrates the iTunes legal jargon we all skip. [iTunestandc Tumblr, via A. V. Club] _______ • If you have an you’d like to needle next week for Valentine’s Day, may we recommend sending one of these Victorian “Vinegar Valentine” cards? With titles like “You Waste Labor on Your Waist” and “A Fright,” there’s no chance your message will be misunderstood. [Abe Books, via Paris Review | 0fake |
White House says vote on healthcare plan may not come for weeks | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A congressional vote on a Republican healthcare plan may not come for weeks as leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate continue negotiations over possible proposals, the White House said on Monday. Any vote on healthcare legislation would be determined by Republican congressional leaders and when they have enough votes to pass a plan, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters at a daily news briefing after U.S. President Donald Trump last week said he was in no rush for a vote. | 0fake |
Suicide bomber attacks NATO convoy in Afghanistan, some wounded | KABUL (Reuters) - A suicide bomber in an explosives-packed vehicle attacked a NATO convoy in Afghanistan on Monday, wounding a small number of foreign troops and at least three civilians, officials said. The soldiers were taken to the nearby Bagram Air Field and none of their injuries appeared life-threatening, NATO s headquarters in Kabul said. At least three civilians were hurt, District Governor Abdul Shukor Qodossi said, without giving details on the extent of their injuries. A statement from the Taliban militants said 13 Americans had been killed and 11 wounded and three armored vehicles destroyed. The attack came on the 16th anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001, which triggered the U.S.-led military operation that toppled the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. | 0fake |
Today is the day! | Opinion - Conservative | (Before It's News)
I never thought I would see the day when I reposted something from Michael Moore. Today is the day.
h/t Gerard | 1real |
Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Poet Who Stirred a Generation of Soviets, Dies at 83 - The New York Times | Yevgeny Yevtushenko, an internationally acclaimed poet with the charisma of an actor and the instincts of a politician whose defiant verse inspired a generation of young Russians in their fight against Stalinism during the Cold War, died on Saturday in Tulsa, Okla. where he had been teaching for many years. He was 83. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by a close friend, Mikhail Morgulis, with the TASS news agency. It said he had been admitted late Friday in “serious condition,” but the cause of death was not specified. His wife, Maria Novikova, and their two sons, Dmitry and Yevgeny, were reportedly with him when he died. Mr. Yevtushenko’s poems of protest, often declaimed with sweeping gestures to thousands of excited admirers in public squares, sports stadiums and lecture halls, captured the tangled emotions of Russia’s young — hope, fear, anger and euphoric anticipation — as the country struggled to free itself from repression during the tense, confused years after Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. In 1961 alone Mr. Yevtushenko gave 250 poetry readings. He became, as one writer described him, “a graying lion of Russian letters” in his later years, teaching and lecturing at American universities, including the University of Tulsa, and basking in the admiration of succeeding generations before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. But it was as a tall, athletic young Siberian with a spirit both hauntingly poetic and fiercely political that he established his name in literature. He was the best known of a small group of rebel poets and writers who brought hope to a young generation with poetry that took on totalitarian leaders, ideological zealots and timid bureaucrats. Among the others were Andrei Voznesensky, Robert Rozhdestvensky and Bella Akhmadulina, Mr. Yevtushenko’s first wife. Mr. Yevtushenko did so working mostly within the system, however, taking care not to join the ranks of outright literary dissidents. By stopping short of the line between defiance and resistance, he enjoyed a measure of official approval that more daring dissidents came to resent. While they were subjected to exile or labor camps, Mr. Yevtushenko was given state awards, his books were regularly published, and he was allowed to travel abroad, becoming an international literary superstar. Some critics had doubts about his sincerity as a foe of tyranny. Some called him a sellout. A few enemies even suggested that he was merely posing as a protester to serve the security police or the Communist authorities. The exiled poet Joseph Brodsky once said of Mr. Yevtushenko, “He throws stones only in directions that are officially sanctioned and approved. ” Mr. Yevtushenko’s defenders bristled at such attacks, pointing out how much he did to oppose the Stalin legacy, his animus fueled by the knowledge that both of his grandfathers had perished in Stalin’s purges of the 1930s. He was expelled from his university in 1956 for joining the defense of a banned novel, Vladimir Dudintsev’s “Not by Bread Alone. ” He refused to join in the official campaign against Boris Pasternak, the author of “Doctor Zhivago” and the recipient of the 1958 Nobel Prize in Literature. Mr. Yevtushenko denounced the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 interceded with the K. G. B. chief, Yuri V. Andropov, on behalf of another Nobel laureate, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and opposed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Mr. Yevtushenko wrote thousands of poems, including some shallow ones that he dashed off, he admitted, just to mark an occasion. Some critics questioned the literary quality of his work. Some writers resented his flamboyance, sartorial and otherwise, and his success. But his foes as well as his friends agreed that a select few of his poems have entered the annals of Russian literature as masterpieces of insight and conscience. Written and read to crowds at critical moments, Yevtushenko poems like “Stalin’s Heirs” caught the spirit of a nation at a crossroads. In Russia, writers could be more influential at times than politicians. But they could also be severely rebuffed if they offended, as Pasternak did with his novel “Doctor Zhivago,” and as Solzhenitsyn did with “The Gulag Archipelago” and other works. lingered in the Kremlin after Stalin’s death. In one instance, nervous officials thwarted efforts to raise a monument at Babi Yar, a ravine near Kiev, Ukraine, where thousands of Jews were and buried in a mass grave in 1941 by the invading Germans. The reason the Kremlin said it resisted a memorial was that the Germans had shot other people there, too, not only Jews. Mr. Yevtushenko tackled the issue in 1961 in blunt verse that stunned many Russians and earned him acclaim around the world. The poem “Babi Yar,” composed after a haunting visit to the ravine, included these lines: There are no monuments over Babi Yar. But the sheer cliff is like a rough tombstone. It horrifies me. Today, I am as oldAs the Jewish people. It seems to me now, That I, too, am a Jew. Alluding to the pogroms that erupted at intervals over the centuries, Mr. Yevtushenko went on: It seems to me, I am a boy in Byelostok. Blood is flowing, Spreading across the floors. The leaders of the tavern mob are ragingAnd they stink of vodka and onions. Kicked aside by a boot, I lie helpless. In vain I plead with the brutesAs voices roar:“Kill the Jews! Save Russia!” In a country ruled by Marxist myth, ostensibly free of bigotry, “Babi Yar” touched nerves in the leadership, and it was amended to meet official objections. Even so, it moved audiences. Whenever Mr. Yevtushenko recited the poem at public rallies, it was met with stunned silence and then thunderous ovations. He wrote once that he had received 20, 000 letters hailing “Babi Yar. ” Dmitri Shostakovich composed his Thirteenth Symphony on lines from that and other Yevtushenko poems. But Mr. Yevtushenko was not allowed to give a public reading of the poem in Ukraine until the 1980s. “Stalin’s Heirs,” published in 1962, also stirred Russians, appearing at a time when they feared that repression might return to the country. It was published only after Nikita S. Khrushchev, the party leader who was then involved in a power struggle with conservatives, intervened as he pushed his cultural “thaw. ” Stalin had been condemned anew the year before as having been a mad tyrant. The poem appeared in Pravda, the Communist Party’s official newspaper, and caused a sensation. “Stalin’s Heirs” opens with a description of Stalin’s body being borne in his coffin out of the Red Square mausoleum to a grave near the Kremlin wall. Sullenly clenchingHis embalmed fists, He peered through a crack, Just pretending to be dead. He wanted to remember all thoseWho carried him out. Mr. Yevtushenko went on: I turn to our government with a plea:To double, And triple the guard at the grave siteSo Stalin does not rise again, And with Stalin, the past. And later, the main point of the poem: We removedHimFrom the mausoleum. But how do we remove StalinFrom Stalin’s heirs? By the time democratic changes brought down Soviet Communist rule early in the 1990s, Mr. Yevtushenko had risen in the reform system to become a member of Parliament and secretary of the official Union of Soviet Writers. Along the way he received high honors, was published in the best periodicals and was sent abroad as an envoy of good will. He also endured abuse, jealousy, frustration and censorship. He once joked that Moscow censors were his best readers, the most expert at catching his meanings and nuances. Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Gangnus was born on July 18, 1933, in Zima Junction, a remote lumber station on the Railway in the Irkutsk region of Siberia, near Lake Baikal. His father, Aleksandr Rudolfovich Gangnus, was a geologist, as was his mother, Zinaida Ermolaevna Evtushenko, who became a singer. His parents divorced, and the boy took his mother’s surname. Yevgeny spent his early childhood with his mother in Moscow. When German troops approached the city in late 1941, the family was evacuated to Zima and stayed there until 1944. Yevgeny’s father would sometimes take the boy on geology expeditions to wild regions of Kazakhstan and the Altai Mountains and, along the way, recite poetry to him. Yevgeny learned to love nature and literature. He was also drawn to sports. At 16 he was selected to join a professional soccer team. But sudden literary success compelled him to abandon that ambition. Soon his poems began appearing in newspapers, popular magazines and literary monthlies. The authorities praised his early poems, which he later called “hack work,” and he was admitted to the elite Gorky Literary Institute and to the Soviet Writers’ Union. But after Stalin’s death — Mr. Yevtushenko was almost crushed to death in a funeral stampede in Moscow — his work began to run counter to Soviet Realism, the officially sanctioned artistic style it reflected instead new thinking about individual responsibility and the state. Themes of state repression and fear had recurred in his poetry over the years, but he also began introducing personal matters into it, as he did in his long poem “Zima Junction,” about a return to his hometown in 1953. Published in 1956, it was followed by more volumes of poetry that refused to conform to the approved modes of expression. After he praised “Not by Bread Alone,” Dudintsev’s caustic 1956 novel about Soviet life, Mr. Yevtushenko was expelled from the Literary Institute. But as the 1950s grew to a close, he had published seven volumes of poetry and was allowed to read his work abroad. In the next few years he became familiar to literary circles in Eastern and Western Europe, the United States, Cuba, East Africa and Australia. Indeed, a virtual cult began to develop around him after Time magazine put his portrait, as an “angry young man,” on its cover in April 1962 and printed a laudatory article about him as a leading spirit in a changing, liberalizing Russia. For his part, Mr. Yevtushenko stressed that American writers had been important in his literary development. Later that year, he exchanged words with Khrushchev at a Moscow exhibit of contemporary art. Khrushchev, who had simple tastes and was facing serious political challenges, flew into a rage against abstractionism and made threats of coercion. A crackdown on modern art, literature and music was felt soon after the confrontation. Mr. Yevtushenko kept a loyal following, writing about nearly everything of importance at home and abroad. He paid tribute to Senator Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. after they were assassinated. He honored Allison Krause, one of the students shot to death at Kent State University during a Vietnam War protest. He chided John Steinbeck for not protesting the war in Vietnam. In the poem “Russian Tanks in Prague,” he criticized the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. (It was circulated only hand to hand, going unpublished until 1990.) In the Mr. Yevtushenko championed the glasnost campaign of “openness” waged by the Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev. In a speech to the Writers’ Union, Mr. Yevtushenko assailed privilege, censorship and the distortion of history. He was a member of the first freely elected Supreme Soviet, the country’s standing Parliament. He went on to publicly defy the conservative plotters of an attempt to seize power in 1991. The coup attempt, which temporarily deposed Mr. Gorbachev, sent a shock wave across Russia and around the world. Mr. Yevtushenko was later given a medal as a “Defender of Free Russia. ” The upheaval became the backdrop for “Don’t Die Before You’re Dead,” one of two novels he wrote. Mr. Yevtushenko did not write only about political and social issues. He composed verses on love, nature, art, travel and the various pains and joys of life. In 1956, for example, while married to Bella Akhmadulina, he wrote “My Beloved Will Come”: My beloved will comeAnd wrap me in her arms. She will notice the changesAnd understand my fears. Through the black downpour, from night’s gloom, Forgetting in haste to shut the taxi door, She will run up the decrepit stairwayFlushed with joy and longing. She will enter soaking wetWithout knocking. She will take my head in her hands, And her blue fur coat will slipHappily from the chair onto the floor. Mr. Yevtushenko had four marriages. He married Galina Semenova after he and Ms. Akhmadulina divorced. (Ms. Akhmadulina died in 2010.) His third wife, Jan Butler, was an English translator of his poetry. His widow, Ms. Novikova, whom he married in 1986, has taught Russian at a preparatory school near the University of Tulsa. Besides Alexander and Dmitry, he had three other sons, Yevgeny, Pyotr and Anton. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available. Mr. Yevtushenko kept homes in Russia and in the United States and, besides the University of Tulsa, taught at the the City University of New York and New York University (where one student remembered him dressed in silver suits “stalking back and forth across the front of the lecture hall” as he read his poems in “booming Russian”). He traveled widely, reading his poetry, lecturing, teaching and giving speeches to overflow crowds at universities. Through it all, Mr. Yevtushenko regarded himself as a patriot. In “Don’t Die Before You’re Dead,” he summed up his ambivalent feelings of triumph, nostalgia and remorse as a survivor of the defunct Soviet system. In a poem on the final page, “Goodbye, Our Red Flag,” he wrote: I didn’t take the czars’ Winter Palace. I didn’t storm Hitler’s Reichstag. I am not what you call a “Commie. ”But I caress the Red Flagand cry. Poetry made him famous, but Mr. Yevtushenko preferred in his later years to describe himself as a “poet, writer and filmmaker. ” Besides the two novels, he published dozens of volumes of poetry, which have been translated into dozens of languages. He acted or appeared as himself in several films, directed two others, wrote essays and compiled three volumes of his photographs. He preferred Oklahoma to New York. “In some provincial cities you can find the real soul of a country,” he told The New York Times in 2003. “I like the craziness of New York, but New York is really not America. It’s all humanity in one drop. Tulsa is very American. ” He called Tulsa “the bellybutton of world culture. ” There he enjoyed watching younger generations coming into their own. “Someone is near,” he said to one class in dramatic tones. “I feel it. Someone always has to be the leader of a generation. Someone has to be born. Why not one of you?” He had shown the same fervor a decade earlier, in July 1993, when the Concert Hall of the Rossiya Hotel in Moscow was the setting for a celebration of his 60th birthday and, by extension, a testimonial to the defiant poets and writers of the 1960s who had broken through the iron grip of Stalinism. “Today you, one of the initiators of the Sixties movement, turn 60,” President Boris N. Yeltsin wrote in a congratulatory letter to Mr. Yevtushenko. “Your innate, multifaceted talent arose brightly in the years of the ‘thaw.’ The civic consciousness of young poets then played a huge role in the spiritual liberation and awakening of the people of Russia. ” A woman agreed, telling a reporter: “He was a symbol for us then. Later he was attacked for not being exiled or sent to the camps, for making a career of protest. But not many of us had the courage to stand up to the regime, and he did. You can’t blame him that he survived. ” Mr. Yevtushenko, still the in a brown silk suit, closed the evening by reading a poem called “Sixties Generation”: “We were a fad for some, some we offended with our fame. But we set you free, you envious insulters. Let them hiss, that we are without talent, Sold out and hypocrites, It makes no difference. We are legendary, Spat upon, but immortal!” | 0fake |
Life: 10 Steps To Rolling The Perfect Joint | 10 Steps To Rolling The Perfect Joint Posted today Looking to enjoy a little bit of “relaxation”? You’ll probably want to practice the lost art of joint rolling. With just 10 easy steps, anyone can roll the perfect joint… but enjoy responsibly! Step 1: Fill the tub. Step 2: Get the weed—the dark fruit, the bush that grows in the shadow of the valley of the shadow of weed, the jester’s hiccup, the liquid daydream fresh from the ice-cube tray, the wisdom tooth of the vegetables ogre, Israeli nightshade, the Arizona iced tea of drugs, the dad baffler, the sweet teen poison, the sickly crop of the wind farm, the flower the devil dares not pick—out of your fridge. Set it aside. Step 3: A filter keeps fire from squirming into your throat and laying its eggs in your brainstem. Build the filter by pouring a mixture of egg whites and ground hen bones into a filter mold, and leave it at your parents’ house over a long weekend to set. Step 4: Get your rolling paper by stripping a few inches of skin off the Paper Wretch with a hot carrot peeler. It may take a few tries to get a good swath! Step 5: To break up the weed, place it on an active fault line in a bowl full of gravel. Step 6: Once a major tectonic event has ground your weed, pound it into a paste using a book about a curious incident. Step 7: Wrap your index finger in paper and feed the weed paste into your port. A chilly sensation means your body has accepted the paste and will pass it on. A prickling sensation means your body has rejected the paste and will hopefully pee it out someday. Step 8: Seal the joint by licking your papered-up finger like a naughty little thing. You’re filthy, aren’t you? Step 9: Remove finger, twist paper, and voilà! The perfect joint for any mouth. Step 10: Dunk the joint in the tub so you aren’t tempted to smoke it and become insane. Start over at step one!
Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get it right on the first try. Like all things in life, practice makes perfect! | 1real |
Trump Kicks Off Hispanic Heritage Month By Saying ‘Puerto Rico’ In Fake Accent (VIDEO) | Donald Trump kicked off Hispanic Heritage Month on Friday during an event at the White House. He did this after his thoroughly embarrassing tour of hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico in which he lobbed rolls of paper towels at victims of the hurricane and that was after he blamed the island for the natural disaster. Puerto Ricans are very proud people, but Trump tried to diminish them.Trump spoke on different topics during his speech, from the economy to the Las Vegas massacre, then he addressed Puerto Rico which is now in crisis after Hurricanes Maria and Irma devasted the U.S. territory. We are also praying for the people of Puerto Rico, Trump said while using an exaggerated Spanish accent. We love Puerrrrtoooo Ricooo, he continued, again with the accent. Puerto Rico, he said again.At that point, a woman yelled out, We love you! and Trump then said and we also love Puerto Rico, but this time, the fake president dropped his fake accent.Watch:Trump says Puerto Rico in an affected Spanish accent three times in a row. (via CBS) pic.twitter.com/FopaVNLqAY Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 6, 2017Sure, the audience laughed because haha, we re used to this president offending every single group of Americans across the board. Perhaps a better way of honoring Puerto Ricans would be to not try to cover up his own misdeeds in handling the humanitarian crisis. On Oct. 4th, half of the residents in Puerto Rico had access to clean water and 5 percent of the island had electricity, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency website. However, by Oct. 5th, FEMA had removed statistics on Puerto Rico s water and power supply from its website, so now we have no idea of what the island is dealing with and what they need to survive. The only thing FEMA left on its site was good news; not the real news which is very bleak.Information on water access and electricity on the island is available only on a website maintained by the office of Gov. Rossell , StatusPR. According to the website, 9.2 percent of the island has power and 54.2 percent of people have some form of drinking water.But Trump says he loves Puerto Ricans as he mocks their accent.Image via screen capture. | 1real |
GREAT! TRUMP ADVISOR Hits Back At Sen. Liz Warren On Trump Order: Entitled to her own opinion but not her own Constitution [Video] | 1real | |
How Intellectual Property Rules Help the Rich and Hurt the Poor | License DMCA
There is a recurring concern in discussions about the economy that technology threatens the livelihood of large segments of the workforce. The exact mechanism varies. In one version, the robots will take all the jobs, leading to a massive surge in unemployment. A somewhat different version has the development of technology benefiting people with college and advanced degrees to the detriment of those with less education. In this story, the highly educated do well, while the less educated see stagnant or declining wages.
While the future may actually be one of continually rising inequality, it is important to realize that technology is not the culprit. It is not the technology that determines who gets the benefits of major innovations; it is laws that govern technology, which in turn are made by politicians. Specifically, the laws on patents and intellectual property more generally will determine whether advances in technology are associated with increasing inequality or broadly shared prosperity.
Starting with the robot story, we are supposed to be concerned that robots will replace workers in factories and warehouses. Robots can do the job better and cheaper. We will also have self-driving cars, trucks and buses. This will displace millions of additional workers and radically reduce the demand for cars. (We can summon a car to take us from point A to point B when we need it. There is no reason to have a car rusting in front of our house.)
That's the displacement story, but suppose that robots are extremely cheap. There is no obvious reason they shouldn't be cheap. After all, we probably won't need any rare materials to make robots. And presumably robots could be mostly manufactured by other robots, so the labor involved wouldn't be expensive. In this case, we should be able to buy a robot at our local hardware store or from our favorite internet retailer for a few hundred dollars. - Advertisement -
Once we buy the robot, we can have it clean our house, cook our food, mow our lawn and do all sorts of other tasks that we may not want to do ourselves. We can probably even save on our food budget by having the robot plant and tend a vegetable garden. If robots are doing all this work for us and we no longer need to buy and maintain a car to meet our transportation needs, we should all have a high standard of living.
But suppose that patents and related protections keep the price of robots high. And instead of technology driving down the cost of transportation with self-driving cars to almost nothing, patent monopolies allow the top executives and shareholders of Uber or its equivalent to get very rich at the expense of the rest of the population. In that scenario, most people may not benefit to any great extent from technology. In that case, robots may take our jobs, but instead of the benefits from productivity growth being passed along in higher wages and lower prices, as was true in past decades, the benefits go to minority of well-situated individuals.
To some extent we have already seen this story as Congress has repeatedly acted to make patent and related protections stronger and longer. In the longer category, copyright protection has been extended from 55 years to 95 years. Patent protection has been extended from 14 years from the date of issuance to 20 years from the date of application, with a wide variety of conditions allowing for further extensions. Patent protection was also extended to new areas so that it now applies to life forms, software and business methods.
The impact of these stronger protections is most visible in the area of prescription drugs. We will spend over $430 billion in 2016 (2.3 percent of GDP) on drugs that would likely sell for 10 to 20 percent of this amount in a free market. In addition to patent protection, drug manufacturers can also now enjoy data exclusivity for test data and a wide variety of other protections that act to prevent generic competition.
The problem associated with excessive protection of intellectual property is vividly illustrated with the Hepatitis C drug Sovaldi. This drug has a list price in the United States of $84,000 for a three-month course of treatment. A high-quality generic version is available in India for $200. Insurers and governments have struggled to come up with the money to pay for Sovaldi and, in many cases, have sought to deny treatment to patients. If Sovaldi could be purchased at its generic price, the cost of treatment would be a non-issue for those with Hepatitis C. - Advertisement -
Those who developed and marketed Sovaldi are now getting very rich as a result of its high price. But this is not a story of technology making them rich; it is a story of government-granted patent monopolies making them rich.
If we are bothered by the upward redistribution of income of the last four decades, we should be looking at how we support the process of innovation, not blaming robots.
Of course we do need a mechanism to support research, innovation and creative work. But there is little evidence that the lengthening and strengthening of intellectual property protection in the last four decades has led to a faster pace of innovation. Furthermore, there are other mechanisms for financing research. We spend over $30 billion a year supporting biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health. This mostly supports basic research, but there is no reason that the funding could not be expanded with additional funds devoted explicitly to the developing and testing of new drugs.
Most importantly, we have to understand that the incomes that people earn as a result of intellectual property protections are due to government policy. They are not the result of technology. If we are bothered by the upward redistribution of income of the last four decades, we should be looking at how we support the process of innovation, not blaming robots. | 1real |
Turkish Government Arrests Opposition Parliament Members in Further Descent Into Dictatorship | Turkish Government Arrests Opposition Parliament Members in Further Descent Into Dictatorship Posted on Nov 4, 2016
By Juan Cole / Informed Comment
The Turkish government has detained 11 members of parliament from the leftist, feminist and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including the party’s co-chairs. This step is intended to give Erdogan the majority in parliament he needs to make himself president for life, and to give Turkey (currently a parliamentary government) an imperial presidency on the Egyptian model. The pretext was that these MPs declined to testify in a witch-hunt inquiry. I.e., this is precisely McCarthyism.
Since the failed July 15 coup, the Turkish government of President Tayyip Erdogan has fired 110,000 people–10,000 of them just last weekend– from the police, judiciary and other government offices. He has had 12,000 professors fired. Some 15 private universities have been summarily shut down on the grounds that they have some Gulen link. If all of them were involved in the coup, that action might be understandable. But manifestly, all were not. It is true that the rightwing religious Gulen cult has seeded covert agents throughout the Turkish government and business sector. But surely there are hundreds of them, not 110,000. Among the authoritarian steps he has taken is the lifting of parliamentary immunity, setting the stage or his current coup d’etat.
Erdogan has also closed down 45 newspapers , 16 television channels and all told, 130 media organizations. Some were accused of having Gulen tendencies. Others are pro-Kurdish. Still others are secular. Many are just sometimes critical of Erdogan, which apparently is no longer going to be allowed.
In modern democratic law, you can’t fire or arrest someone for thought crimes. The arrestees need to have actually done something wrong. Erdogan is trying to criminalize entire groups, and suspiciously enough the only group left that is not taboo is followers of Erdogan–i.e. right of center, at least somewhat religious Sunni Muslim Turks, who make up about 40 percent of the population. Secularists are likely at least 25%, Kurds are 20% and Alevi Shiites are 20 percent (many Alevis are also secularists, and some religious Kurds vote for Erdogan, so you can’t just add these groups up–they overlap). So Erdogan is engineering a dictatorship on behalf of a minority.
Erdogan moreover isn’t understanding when the rest of the world won’t arrest people for thought crimes. He had demanded that PKK members and Gulenists be extradited from Germany, but the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel declined. Erdogan then went on a rant accusing Germany of giving material aid to terrorism. I mean, this behavior is unhinged.
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Erdogan now has three big domestic political struggles going on: 1) against the old secular Kemalist movement, now a shadow of its former self with only a quarter of the seats in parliament; 2) against all the major Kurdish political groupings; and 3) against the rival “Gulen” Muslim fundamentalist movement.
Saturday’s arrests targeted the moderate pro-Kurdish HDP, which has stood for feminism, gay rights, and a multi-cultural Turkey with a place for both Kurds and Turks (hence it is the Democratic Peoples’ Party, with peoples in the plural).
In June of 2015, the HDP won 13% of seats in parliament and left the ruling AKP or Justice and Development Party, Erdogan’s party, with only about 40 percent. This development threw a spanner in the works as far as Erdogan’s aspirations to become a powerful president for life went. He needed an absolute majority for his party in parliament. Whether he deliberately engineered a renewal of the war with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group that in the past has been radical and separatist but that had said it was moderating, is a matter of dispute. What is clear is that the polarization resulting from new hostilities hurt the HDP. Erdogan’s party refused to make a coalition with any of the other three major parties, causing snap elections. On Nov. 1, 2015, the AKP got a little over 50% of seats in parliament and the HDP shrank to only 10%. That outcome allowed Erdogan’s AKP to form a government without a coalition partner, but did not allow it to amend the constitution by fiat.
If the HDP members of parliament are permanently removed, perhaps even jailed, then Erdogan may argue that he has a majority of the remaining MPs and can move forward with his coronation as dictator in chief.
Unfortunately for Turkey, Erdogan’s erratic behavior is likely to tank the economy. The tourism sector has collapsed. Foreign Direct Investment depends on confidence, which is slipping away.
Every new assault that Erdogan launches on democracy in Turkey has brought queries as to whether Turkish democracy is now definitively dead. The answer each time is yes. TAGS: | 1real |
Jones certified U.S. Senate winner despite Moore challenge | (Reuters) - Alabama officials on Thursday certified Democrat Doug Jones the winner of the state’s U.S. Senate race, after a state judge denied a challenge by Republican Roy Moore, whose campaign was derailed by accusations of sexual misconduct with teenage girls. Jones won the vacant seat by about 22,000 votes, or 1.6 percentage points, election officials said. That made him the first Democrat in a quarter of a century to win a Senate seat in Alabama. The seat was previously held by Republican Jeff Sessions, who was tapped by U.S. President Donald Trump as attorney general. A state canvassing board composed of Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, Governor Kay Ivey and Attorney General Steve Marshall certified the election results. Seating Jones will narrow the Republican majority in the Senate to 51 of 100 seats. In a statement, Jones called his victory “a new chapter” and pledged to work with both parties. Moore declined to concede defeat even after Trump urged him to do so. He stood by claims of a fraudulent election in a statement released after the certification and said he had no regrets, media outlets reported. An Alabama judge denied Moore’s request to block certification of the results of the Dec. 12 election in a decision shortly before the canvassing board met. Moore’s challenge alleged there had been potential voter fraud that denied him a chance of victory. His filing on Wednesday in the Montgomery Circuit Court sought to halt the meeting scheduled to ratify Jones’ win on Thursday. Moore could ask for a recount, in addition to possible other court challenges, Merrill said in an interview with Fox News Channel. He would have to complete paperwork “within a timed period” and show he has the money for a challenge, Merrill said. “We’ve not been notified yet of their intention to do that,” Merrill said. Regarding the claim of voter fraud, Merrill told CNN that more than 100 cases had been reported. “We’ve adjudicated more than 60 of those. We will continue to do that,” he said. Republican lawmakers in Washington had distanced themselves from Moore and called for him to drop out of the race after several women accused him of sexual assault or misconduct dating back to when they were teenagers and he was in his early 30s. Moore has denied wrongdoing and Reuters has not been able to independently verify the allegations. | 0fake |
Factbox: Trump meetings include rapper Kanye West, Microsoft founder Bill Gates | (Reuters) - Donald Trump is holding a new round of meetings on Tuesday as he continues to form his administration before taking over from Democratic President Barack Obama on Jan. 20. The Republican president-elect has held more than 90 meetings so far, according to his transition team. Below is a list of scheduled meetings through Wednesday, as announced by his team. * Rapper and entertainer married to reality star Kim Kardashian * Co-founder of Microsoft Corp * Founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest private charities in the world * Former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania, a Republican * Former Trump rival for the 2016 presidential nomination Trump will host a technology summit on Wednesday at Trump Tower in New York City with top industry leaders, his transition team said, although it did not name any invited executives. * Those invited include representatives from Alphabet Inc, Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Microsoft Corp, Intel Corp, Oracle Corp, the technology website Recode reported. * Amazon.com Inc CEO and founder Jeff Bezos was also invited and is likely to attend, Recode said, citing sources with knowledge of the situation. * Billionaire entrepreneur and Tesla Motors Inc CEO Elon Musk, the Wall Street Journal separately reported. | 0fake |
We'll lift Russia sanctions when east Ukraine is peaceful: Merkel | BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that she wanted European Union sanctions against Russia lifted, but only once peaceful conditions had been achieved in eastern Ukraine. Speaking at an election campaign rally in the eastern town of Strasburg, Merkel said Russia s grave violations of international law made sanctions necessary. I spend much of my time working to achieve reasonable, good relations with Russia, Merkel said, adding that she was trying, along with France, to achieve peaceful conditions in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow-backed separatists are fighting a war against the Kiev government. The moment we get that, we will also lift the sanctions, she said, adding that Russia s annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine and its backing for separatists were against the principles that we have had in place since World War Two . If Russia s actions were allowed to stand, there was a risk they would be repeated, Merkel said. | 0fake |
Congressional Black Caucus Formulates Battle Plan For Trump Resistance | Despite claims to the contrary, Donald Trump has made it crystal clear that he is no friend to minorities. But members of the Congressional Black Caucus intend to fight him tooth and nail to protect people of color. As such, they have formulated a battle plan to resist policies that may be harmful to these communities The stakes are incredibly high and our community is counting on us as the last line of defense between Donald Trump and the worst of what America could offer, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said.Throughout his campaign, Trump proposed policies targeting specific minority groups, such as banning all Muslims from entering the U.S. and building a wall to keep out all the rapey Mexicans. He was also the champion of the birther movement, which was nothing more than a racially motivated attack on the country s first African-American president. The campaign that we saw over the last 12 months is very frightening. And there s been no effort on his part to even temper his comments since being elected, said outgoing CBC Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.). It s going to be very contentious, I suspect, if Mr. Trump even follows through on half of his promises during the campaign. Incoming CBC Chairman Cedric Richmond (D-La.) plans to lay out the CBC s plan in more detail when he officially takes office on Tuesday. But he says that the people Trump has appointed to his cabinet are highly concerning. We speak for vulnerable people, we speak for the disenfranchised and we take that seriously, Richmond said. And those appointments seem to be tone-deaf to sensitivity and to, I think, just common sense. At the top of the worrisome list of cabinet appointments are Alabama senator and open racist Jeff Sessions, who is Trump s attorney general pick, and alt-right hero and former Breitbart bigwig, Steve Bannon, Trump s senior adviser. The appointments should concern not just minorities but all Americans, said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). When you look at Sessions, I mean he doesn t have the most stellar reputation for civil rights and voting rights. It s rough. Members of the CBC note that this is a first. Having a battle plan to resist the racist policies of an incoming president is hardly business as usual. This is not the normal incoming president, added Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.). We had no plan for George Bush. I think Charlie Rangel and John Conyers would tell you they didn t even have a plan for Richard Nixon. But this is not the norm. Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump Administration In FREE FALL After ‘Concrete Evidence’ Linking Trump To Russia Emerges (DETAILS) | Donald Trump s undeserved time in the White House may soon come to a gloriously relieving end as one of his biggest scandals threatens to blow up in his face.According to a source close to the investigation examining the ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, there is now specific concrete and corroborative evidence that Trump s inner circle colluded with Russian operatives during the presidential election. The Guardian reported that the U.K. s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), which has been watching over the Trump campaign since 2015, has noted several shady interactions going on between Trump s people and Russian agents.The GCHQ hadn t been necessarily looking for this information but picked it up during routine surveillance. It wasn t long before other intelligence agencies began to see the same pattern. The U.S. also received information from the Five Eyes alliance (U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand) and European agencies in Germany, Estonia, and Poland. The Guardian reported: It is understood that GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. The alleged conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US. With all of this gathered intelligence taken into consideration, the source close to the investigation said: They now have specific concrete and corroborative evidence of collusion. This is between people in the Trump campaign and agents of [Russian] influence relating to the use of hacked material. They [the European agencies] were saying: There are contacts going on between people close to Mr Trump and people we believe are Russian intelligence agents. You should be wary of this. The message was: Watch out. There s something not right.' As this investigation continues and collusion is confirmed, we might be looking at the end of Trump and his corrupt administration.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images | 1real |
WATCH: The Media Gives MI’s Gov. Rick Snyder The Tongue Lashing He Deserves (VIDEOS) | Michigan s governor Rick Snyder is desperately trying to retain some credibility by increasing his presence in the media. It isn t working. All he is doing is proving to the world that he is as much a scumbag as the world thinks he is.In an interview with Fox 2, Snyder said that he would let his grandchildren be bathed in Flint, Michigan. During the interview, Charlie LeDuff asks Rick Snyder: Would you have your grandchildren bathe daily in that water coming out of those pipes, now? Yeah, because again, that s the advice I ve gotten, Snyder says. I wouldn t let my child chew on a Chinese made toy, I don t think I d let my child, as just as person, a rational person that doesn t know that much, bathe in water what we know there s high levels of lead, LeDuff responds. You would let your grandchild bathe in that? Snyder then tries to squirm his way out of the gaffe he just made by giving this poor explanation for his claim: We don t know that there s necessarily high levels of lead in every bath tub. But again, there could be this risk. But we ve been told by the experts by itself You just don t leave them by themselves. you need to monitor that to make sure they don t drink the water. Here s the interview.It really sounded like Snyder was trying to make the contamination of Flint s water sound safer than it is, didn t it? That s really weird because just hours earlier, Snyder went on CBS for an interview where he said that they don t want people to assume that the water in Flint is safer than it is.During that interview, Snyder was again, completely hammered for his utter incompetence. Snyder failed to answer even basic questions about what people desperately want to know.The interviewer, Scott Pelley, asks Snyder: Governor, is the water in Flint safe today? Snyder responds, saying: We don t want to consider it safe, Scott. I think we ve seen progress in terms of improvements in the water testing. But until it s been thoroughly tested, including third-party verification, we want people to assume that they should be using filters, or bottled water as an interim measure. Pelley presses Snyder: So fair to say you don t know what the lead content is in the water? Snyder responds, saying: Well, again we don t want people to believe it s safe. Extensive testing is going on, has been going on for some time. At that point, Pelley seems to have had enough of Snyder s evasiveness. He grills Snyder, saying: I don t understand why you can t give us the latest testing data and what it shows for the water in Flint. What is the number? Snyder, still trying to down play his incompetence, says: I don t have the number at the top of my head of the very latest data. And it varies by parts of the city. To this, Pelley eviscerates Snyder, saying: I would think that the governor of Michigan would have those numbers at the top of his mind right now. You can watch the interview below.Featured Image Credit: Video Screenshot via Fox 2 | 1real |
Robert Creamer Sues James O’Keefe, Project Veritas over 2016 Sting - Breitbart | Robert Creamer and his Democracy Partners consulting group sued conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe and his Project Veritas on Thursday in the District of Columbia for $1 million. [The lawsuit concerns an O’Keefe sting that exposed Creamer’s efforts to incite violence at Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign rallies to create a sense of “anarchy” around the candidate. O’Keefe’s work revealed that Creamer and his associates, who worked with the Democratic National Committee, were involved in a tactic called “” which involved provoking Trump supporters to lash out at them, and to film those reactions, with footage to be distributed to media outlets. The Project Veritas team also showed a Creamer associate describing a complex communications system he referred to as the “Pony Express,” which Democrats used to circumvent rules against coordination between political campaigns and super PACs. O’Keefe’s work resulted in Creamer being forced to step aside from his campaign activities — and also exposed his close connections to the Obama White House. Arguably, his reporting shifted the momentum in the campaign. Creamer’s complaint alleges that O’Keefe and Project Veritas “selectively edit … videotapes so as to distort and misrepresent what was said,” and complains that their efforts unfairly interfered with Democrats’ efforts to wreak havoc on the Trump campaign. The complaint also alleges: “The [Project Veritas] video was heavily edited and contained commentary by O’Keefe that drew false conclusions from the selectively edited videos, to charge that Plaintiffs were involved in a conspiracy to incite violence at rallies for Donald Trump … ”. As a result of O’Keefe’s exposés, Creamer’s complaint alleges, Democracy Partners lost valuable business contracts from political clients. Creamer and his company are seeking damages for alleged unlawful interception of oral communications, for civil conspiracy, and for fraudulent misrepresentation, among other torts. O’Keefe responded with a statement: Robert Creamer believes that by suing us, he can intimidate us. I will not be silenced — only over my dead body! We are on the right side of the law and will not stop exposing the truth. … This lawsuit further justifies the need to drain the swamp. Our army of guerrilla journalists, which grows daily, will continue to expose the malfeasance and corruption committed by these organizations. In fact, we will be deploying a new batch of freshly trained journalists next week to shine additional light on the cockroaches of the corrupt DC establishment. We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. We will find out who is funding this lawsuit. We will never stop exposing the truth. We will not back down. Project Veritas attorney Benjamin Barr added: “The First Amendment protects the rights of undercover journalists to expose exactly the sort of corruption captured in these videos. Veritas will assert its full First Amendment rights to defend itself in these proceedings. ” Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. He is the of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 0fake |
Syrian War Report – October 31, 2016: Al-Nusra-led Forces Failed to Break Aleppo Siege | Gamechanger: Russia successfully tests its first-ever hypersonic weapon ‹ › South Front Analysis & Intelligence is a public analytical project maintained by an independent team of experts from the four corners of the Earth focusing on international relations issues and crises. They focus on analysis and intelligence of the ongoing crises and the biggest stories from around the world: Ukraine, the war in Middle East, Central Asia issues, protest movements in the Balkans, migration crises, and others. In addition, they provide military operations analysis, the military posture of major world powers, and other important data influencing the growth of tensions between countries and nations. We try to dig out the truth on issues which are barely covered by governments and mainstream media. Syrian War Report – October 31, 2016: Al-Nusra-led Forces Failed to Break Aleppo Siege By South Front on October 31, 2016 …from SouthFront
As SouthFront forecasted on October 28, the Jaish al-Fatah militant coalition, led by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra, the Syrian Al-Qaeda branch) has not been able to deliver a devastating blow to the Syrian government forces and to break the siege of eastern Aleppo.
After the initial success based on massive usage of VBIEDs and a lack of support by the Russian Aerospace Forces (President Vladimir Putin declined the general staff’s request to deliver air strikes in Aleppo area), Jaish al-Fatah stalled in the trench warfare in non-populated urban areas. Fatah al-Sham-led attempt to cut off the Ithriyah-Aleppo Highway also failed.
The Syrian military also deployed reinforcements from the Syrian Army Tiger Forces and its commander, Major General Suheil Al Hassan, arrived the city to coordinate military operations against the joint terrorist forces. Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba were set to assist to Al Hassan-led operations.
By October 31, Al Hassan–led forces, supported by the Syrian Air Force, have repelled attacks on the Minyan area and the 3000 Apartment Project, retaken the al-Assad Neighborhood and made a series of counter-attacks in the 1070 Apartment Project.
Since the start of Aleppo offensive, Jaish al-Fatah has lost about 120 fighters, 7 armored vehicles, 19 VBIEDs, 7 ‘technical’ vehicles, 2 battle tanks and 2 artillery pieces. The government forces have lost about 45 fighters, 3 battle tanks, 2 ‘technical’ vehicles, 1 Shilka vehicle.
Separately, the pro-government forces liberated Tal Qarah, Kafr Qaris, Tal Susin, Fafin, Babinnis, Tal Shair and the Infantry School from ISIS in northeastern Aleppo. The advance was synchronized with operations of the Kurdish YPG in the same area.
On October 30, the army and the NDF liberated the town of Tell Kurdi and the area of Tell Sawwan in Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital, Damascus. These areas had been controlled by the Jaish al-Islam militant group. The liberation of Tell Kurdi and Tell Sawwan decreases significantly the militant-controlled area near Damascus and sets a foothold for advance on Duma, the last major militant stronghold in the region.
On October 28, the government forces took control of the Air Defense Battalion hill between Deir Khabiyan and the 137th Regiment in Western Ghouta and splitted the militant-controlled area into two separate pockets. Next days the army and the NDF continued offensive operations in the direction of Khan Shih. On October 31, the government delegation arrived to the town to negotiate with members of the FSA, Jaish al-Islam and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham terms and conditions of their surrender.
Three Russian attack submarines armed Kalibr cruise missiles have joined a Russian naval taskforce heading towards Syria. The Royal Navy has been reportedly tracking two nuclear-powered Akula-class submarines and a diesel-powered Kilo-class submarine. The subs entered the North Atlantic from portsaround Murmansk and joined the Admiral Kuznetsov battle group as it sailed down the North Sea last week. The Kuznetsov and its battlegroup are now off the north African coast. The mainstream media speculates that the subs will deliver missile strikes on peaceful targets in Aleppo city. Related Posts: No Related Posts The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VT, VT authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians, or the Veterans Today Network and its assigns. LEGAL NOTICE - COMMENT POLICY Posted by South Front on October 31, 2016, With 245 Reads Filed under WarZone . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. FaceBook Comments
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Stevie Wonder Urges Love in Manchester: Anyone Who Claims Terror Due to Allah is a ’Liar’ | Musician Stevie Wonder branded those who attempt to associate the recent terror attacks in London with Islam “liars” during Sunday’s #OneLoveManchester charity concert. [“Ariana, this is Stevie. I just wanted you to know that I’m with all of you in Manchester,” declared Wonder in a segment that appeared on screens during the #OneLoveManchester concert on Sunday. “We all know that love is truly the key. ” “I don’t care what ethnicity you are, what religion you are. Love really is the way,” he continued, before adding “So anyone who tries to make anyone think that things of destruction has anything to do with God or Allah, they’re a liar. Yes, I stand with you Manchester. ” #OneLoveManchesterStevie Wonder love! #beInspired #BeStrong Don’t spread hate, spread LOVE! pic. twitter. — B. E. Diaz (@bes2268_diaz) June 4, 2017, Reports of Saturday night’s terror attack at the London Bridge and Borough Market claimed that the attackers shouted “This is for Allah” before indiscriminately attacking and stabbing patrons at local bars. The attack killed at least six civilians and left at least 48 more injured. Wonder’s statement was broadcasted on a screen to citizens of Manchester on Sunday following the Islamic attack at an Ariana Grande concert last week which killed 22 people, including a child as young as eight, and injured over 100 others. Ariana Grande, Little Mix, The Black Eyed Peas, Imogen Heap, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Coldplay, Miley Cyrus, Niall Horan, Pharrell Williams, Usher, Robbie Williams, and Take That also made appearances at the concert. Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 0fake |
Democrats Literally Scream ‘Shame’ At Republicans For Blocking LGBT Amendment (VIDEO) | House Democrats did something extraordinary today: they broke parliamentary procedure on the House floor and literally shamed Republicans after they blocked an important LGBT amendment from passing.Now this should come as no surprise. Republicans have always been hostile towards LGBT rights, and Democrats have been fighting them on the issue for decades. So what changed this time?Well, for starters, the amendment originally was slated to pass, with 218 members voting YEA, with more than 30 Republicans crossing the aisle to join every Democrat. The bill would have barred federal contractors from obtaining government work if they were found to discriminate against anyone in the LGBT community. This is something that has enjoyed broad bipartisan support for years.And it looked as though it was going to pass, and the issue could be a thing of the past.But then the TV voting monitor posted on C-SPAN showed that some of the votes from the Republicans were rescinded. The amendment narrowly failed 212-213. Republicans successfully convinced some of their colleagues to take the pandering cowards way out and turn their backs on those in the LGBT community, thus giving the green light for federal discrimination.Democrats, rightfully so, didn t like that. After thunderous boos from every Democratic member, they decided to publicly shame the Republican cowards by literally chanting shame while pointing their fingers at them from across the aisle.When the chair said There will be order, Democratic Rep. Gwen Moore shouted back, No there will not be. Democrats then set out a witch hunt to figure out who changed their votes. They were:Their offices haven t commented, so there is no telling as to why they changed their vote, who convinced them, and their reasoning for doing so. But if keeping to their history of being bigots, that s all the reason they need to be bigots.Watch House Democrats put Republicans in their place: Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump chief of staff's Civil War comment sparks criticism | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House Chief of Staff John Kelly’s comment that the U.S. Civil War was sparked by a lack of “compromise” drew criticism and reignited a debate over Confederate monuments and the role of slavery. In an interview on Monday night with Fox News, Kelly was asked whether a Virginia church should have removed plaques honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee and President George Washington, both Virginians. Kelly said figures of the past could not be viewed through the lens of current moral values. “I think it’s just very, very dangerous and it shows you ... how much of a lack of appreciation of history and what history is,” Kelly said. “I will tell you that Robert E. Lee was an honorable man.” “The lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War, and men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had them make their stand,” Kelly added. The comment sparked an immediate backlash, with critics noting that the United States had made a number of compromises on slavery before tensions eventually erupted into the war between the North and the South in 1861. “Notion that Civil War resulted from a lack of compromise is belied by all the compromises made on enslavement from America’s founding,” Ta-Nehisi Coates, an African-American writer, wrote on Twitter. Others accused Kelly of encouraging white supremacists by saying Lee was honorable. “It’s irresponsible & dangerous, especially when white supremacists feel emboldened, to make fighting to maintain slavery sound courageous,” Bernice King, the daughter of American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., wrote in a Twitter post. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders, asked on Tuesday about Kelly’s comment, told a news briefing: “General Kelly was simply making the point that just because history isn’t perfect, it doesn’t mean that it’s not our history.” Replying to another question about whether figures such as Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general accused of war crimes and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, deserved to be honored, Sanders said: “The president has said that those are something that should be left up to state and local governments, and that’s not who I’m here representing today.” President Donald Trump has said Confederate monuments, many of which have been removed in recent years, should remain in place to preserve the country’s heritage. He stirred tensions after a deadly rally by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, by insisting that counterprotesters were also to blame, drawing condemnation from some Republican leaders and praise from white supremacists. Kelly had a distinguished military career and led the Department of Homeland Security before Trump tapped him to be chief of staff. Kelly is viewed by some as a moderating influence in the turbulent White House, but has also stepped into controversy. Earlier this month, he attacked a Florida congresswoman who had characterized a call between Trump and a military widow who lost her husband in Niger as disrespectful. | 0fake |
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