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Congresswoman Brings The Bullet That Almost Killed Her During Historic Sit-In | Here s something a lot of people may not know: a current member of Congress was a victim of a mass shooting.California Rep. Jackie Speier, a progressive Democrat, brought a unique perspective to the historic House sit-in initiated by civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis. As members of the House read the stories and names of countless victims of gun violence, Congresswoman Speier told her own story, a story that would shake anyone to their core.But with her speech, she also brought something special with her on the House floor: the bullet the almost killed her.In 1978, Speier, at that time a Congressional aide to Rep. Leo Ryan, accompanied the Congressman and several others to Jonestown to investigate human rights abuses at the hands of cult leader Jim Jones. Upon leaving the encampment, Speier and the others were ambushed in a guerilla attack from members of the cult. Congressman Ryan was killed, along with five others, and Speier was shot five times. She waited 22 hours for help to arrive.This issue was so personal to the Congresswoman that she flew back to D.C. from California just to be in solidarity with her colleagues and the thousands of victims all across the country. Holding up the bullet, still in its FBI evidence bag, Congresswoman Speier laid out just how personal and important this fight is not just for her, but for everyone who has ever been a victim of gun violence:This was taken from my body. Five bullets ripped through my body. I can t begin to tell you what that is like. I can tell you what it s like to live with a disfigured body the rest of your life. I can tell you that this dumdum and my disfigured body are things that remind me each and everyday why what do here now is so important. We cannot continue as business as usual.The Congresswoman, who keeps the bullet in her drawer, has never showed the public before. The act drew gasps from her colleagues, but praise for her act of courage.While Republicans went and smoked cigars, Democrats stood up, and some relived tragedy, like Speier and Rep. Debbie Dingell, a victim of domestic abuse with a gun. The House sit in sums up perfectly the old saying: a liberal says This should never happen to anyone, and that s why I care. A conservative says, This hasn t happened to me, so I don t care. Speier lived through the most horrific tragedy, and that s why she cares. Thank you, Congresswoman.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
Dear Mr. President- How Many Jobs Will Building a Wall Create? Part 1 | Dear Mr. President- How Many Jobs Will Building a Wall Create? Part 1 By Lee Adler. If you have ever wondered what’s the best business to be in for wages and growth, there’s no contest. It’s doctors’ offices. This includes not just the doctors, but the office staff, including nurses, medical secretaries, medical assistants, and receptionists. That little tidbit came out of a deep look I took at BLS data on job growth, current wages, and the growth of real wages during the economic “recovery” since 2009 until last month. | 1real |
PRESIDENT TRUMP Retweets 3 Videos Of Muslims Committing Disgusting Hate Crimes…The Left EXPLODES | The left woke up in a fury after they discovered President Trump retweeted 3 videos showing disgusting hate crimes committed against Europeans by Muslims. Was the President trying to prove his case about how the mass Muslim migration into Europe is destroying their cultures and making the citizens unsafe? President Trump didn t include any commentary with his retweets, he simply retweeted the videos. Should President Trump have retweeted these videos? We d love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below.On Wednesday morning, President Trump retweeted videos posted by a British nationalist, which showed Muslims committing crimes.Trump retweeted content posted by Jayda Fransen, the deputy leader of Britain First, a far-right group that stands against theIslamisation of the United Kingdom.The first video purportedly shows a Muslim migrant beating up a Dutch boy on crutches.VIDEO: Muslim migrant beats up Dutch boy on crutches! pic.twitter.com/11LgbfFJDq Jayda Fransen (@JaydaBF) November 28, 2017Twitter responded to the video with the boy on crutches by saying that the Muslim migrant who beat up the boy on crutches was arrested the next day and was actually a Dutch citizen. We have checked both Dutch (link and link) websites who claim that the boy was neither a Muslim or a migrant. We couldn t verify if either one of the sites we checked are legitimate sources of news.The fact that the president retweeted this bigot is disgusting. Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) November 29, 2017According to Dutch media, the culprit wasn't a Muslim. Also not a migrant. But a 16-year old Dutch boy from town of Edam-Volendam.He was arrested on May 13th 2017, one day after the incident happened. Edna Sullivan (@SumTomGoingOn) November 29, 2017 The second video shows a Muslim man speaking to the camera and then bashing a statue of Virgin Mary on the ground, shattering herVIDEO: Muslim Destroys a Statue of Virgin Mary! pic.twitter.com/qhkrfQrtjV Jayda Fransen (@JaydaBF) November 29, 2017thats such a good point pic.twitter.com/vfF8eKPPy6 blablaa (@CeeTheHit) November 29, 2017The third video President Trump retweeted shows an Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death! VIDEO: Islamist mob pushes teenage boy off roof and beats him to death! pic.twitter.com/XxtlxNNSiP Jayda Fransen (@JaydaBF) November 29, 2017Not everyone disagreed with President Trump s retweets. Many applauded him for bringing these videos to the attention of the world:Europe is lost. THIS is the new setting of Europe. It's so sad. You can thank Angela Merkel. Joey Mannarino (@Realjmannarino) November 29, 2017It's already too late for the UK and much of Europe, but hopefully it can be at least managed. So much danger. Joey Mannarino (@Realjmannarino) November 29, 2017Last year, Fransen was found guilty of religiously aggravated harassment after accosting a Muslim woman.The charge stemmed from a January 2016 incident in which Fransen, wearing a political uniform and during a so-called Christian patrol, accosted a Muslim woman named Sumayyah Sharpe in Luton, England. Daily Mail | 1real |
Dem Rep Lieu: Trump Might Have Launched Syria Strike to Distract from ’Possible Collusion with Putin’ - Breitbart | On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” Representative Ted Lieu ( ) offered President Trump wanting to “distract” people from “possible collusion with Putin” as a possible suggestion for the missile strike against Syria. Host Bill Maher asked Lieu how Trump going against Russia to launch the strike on Syria “fit into the Republican — the liberal idea that he was installed by Putin as a stooge to do whatever Putin wanted? This is not what Putin wanted. ” Lieu responded, “If you’re facing possible collusion with Putin, you might just want to distract people. ” He added, “It might be, we don’t know. I’ve learned to not predict Donald Trump. But, in this case, what he did was not only unconstitutional, there’s no strategy. We don’t know what were doing in Syria, how long we’re going to be there. He’s got US ground forces there now that are more at risk of being attacked because he just attacked Assad. He has to tell the American people what we’re doing in Syria, he has not done that. ” Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett | 0fake |
Trump Calls On White Supporters To Intimidate Voters At The Polls | Earlier this month, the Trump campaign posted on its website an advertisement seeking election observers to monitor locations. The move, which is unusual for private campaigns, comes from the irrational fear that should Hillary Clinton win, the election would be rigged. So Trump s solution? Have his rabid, conspiracy theory believing supporters intimidate voters in poll lines.In Pennsylvania, where polls have Clinton ahead by as much as nine points, Trump claims the only way Clinton could win is if she cheats or those in the Democratic Party rig the election in her favor. So his initial call was to have his supporters monitor the stations in the predominantly black and minority -voting urban areas of the state.It was very reminiscent of the 1960s Jim Crow intimidation of the South.After facing some backlash for the dangerous and archaic call to suppress and intimidate voters, Trump doubled down on his claim that the election will be rigged and that supporters should watch the polling locations very closely on election day:You ve got to get every one of your friends. You ve got to get every one of your family. You ve got to get everybody to go out and watch. And go out and vote. And when I say watch, you know what I m talking about, right? You know what I m taking about. I think you got to go out and you got to watch.The question is just what should his people be watching for? Should they be watching and observing people of color? Should they be monitoring young, college-aged millenials? Should they be asking voters their personal information so they can play Sherlock Holmes?Once again, Trump sounds his dog whistle. When he tells his predominantly white audience, you know what I m talking about, the innuendo could not be more clear: watch, intimidate and disenfranchise minority voters.Of course, Republicans, who have been pushing the now widely debunked myth of rampant voter fraud, will be mum on this. In justification, they will point to the said myth that is rampant voter fraud as why they support this dangerous, racist and damaging call to action.Trump s call to intimidate voters should be a warning to all Americans: don t get complacent. Get out, vote, and take this monstrosity down.Featured image via Angelo Meredino/Getty Images | 1real |
On Trump’s victory | Gilad Atzmon
It occurred to me in recent years that the act of being progressive is not a political position but rather a mental state.
The incapacity of the entire American progressive and left establishment to foresee Trump’s landslide victory suggests that we are dealing with people who are institutionally detached
Just three days ahead of the presidential elections, the Huffington Post pathetically criticised star pollster Nate Silver of “Unskewing Polls in Trump’s direction,” for suggesting that a Trump victory was realistic. Ryan Grim wrote: “HuffPost Pollster is giving Clinton a 98 percent chance of winning, and The New York Times’ model at The Upshot puts her chances at 85 percent.”
“There is one outlier, however, that is causing waves of panic among Democrats around the country and injecting Trump backers with the hope that their guy might pull this thing off after all. Nate Silver’s 538 model gives Donald Trump a heart-stopping 35% chance of winning as of this weekend.”
The Huffington Post went as far as accusing Silver of “making a mockery of the very forecasting industry that he popularized.”
In perspectives, Nate Silver and his 538 were obviously spot on. The Huffington Post and The New York Times were totally off the mark. Is it a coincidence?
How is it possible that the Democratic Party, the mainstream media and Wall Street have managed to totally miss the level of anger that unites the American masses. These questions go far beyond polling strategy or the science of statistics. We are dealing with a state of being aloof on the verge of total detachment.
Left and progressive thinking is shaped like a dream. It tells us what the world ought to be. Progressives often seem to forget what the world really is and what its people are really like. Hillary Clinton and her campaign, just like the New York Times and The Huffington Post, were in a state of denial. Boasting in righteous hubris, they failed to read the map.
But this shouldn’t take us by a complete surprise. Detachment wasn’t invented by Clinton and her team. Detachment and alienation are ingrained in progressive thought. To be a progressive is to believe that some of the ‘other’ people are simply a bunch of unaware ‘reactionaries.’ Progressive thought is the secular manifestation of ‘chosenness.’ It is inherently Jewish, a fact that explains why Hillary Clinton’s top five donors were Jewish billionaires .
Since being progressive is a form of supremacy. I would go as far as suggesting that progressives’ antagonism towards ‘white supremacy,’ is at large, a form of projection. The progressive attributes to ‘whiteness’ his own exceptionalist inclinations.
Americans vs. Identitarians
On election day, we learned that the Democratic Party was hanging on a thread, hoping to be saved by Florida’s ‘Hispanic vote.’ Clinton’s political future depended upon the hope that Trump had managed to upset enough Latinos. This peculiar development in which a national party is dependent on group politics shouldn’t take us by surprise anymore.
The 2016 American presidential election divided America into two camps: The Americans on one side and the Identitarians on the other. The Americans are those who see themselves primarily as American patriots. They are driven by rootedness and heritage. For them, the promise to make ‘America great again’ confirms that Utopia is nostalgia and that the progressive reality is nothing short of dystopia. The Identitarians, on the other hand, are those who subscribe to progressive sectarian politics. They see themselves primarily as LGBTQ, Latino, Black, Jews, Women, and so on. Their bond with the American national or patriotic ethos is secondary and often non-existent. The future of the Democratic Party, in its current form, depends upon the hope that American subscriptions to sectarian ideologies will gradually increase and, as a result, will eventually strengthen the context of identity or group politics. The progressive agenda banks on the divestiture of the national and patriotic ethos. Needless to mention that half of America voted for Clinton. Hence, this political agenda is far from being farfetched or delusional.
But the Identitarian agenda backfired. It was only a question of time before the so-called ‘whites’ or ‘rednecks’ grasped that their backs have been pressed to the wall. They also started to act and think as an identitarian political sector. Hillary Clinton calling Trump’s voters a “basket of deplorables” was a clear sign for white poor Americans that Hillary wasn’t exactly their ally. However, Hillary was far from being alone. Almost every Jewish writer within the American press didn’t miss the opportunity to attribute the “White Supremacist” label to Trump’s voters. For Cheryl Greenberg, Trump’s popularity was “the final gasping of white supremacy.” For T alking Points Memo’s Josh Marshall , Trump’s closing ad was packed with “anti-Semitic dog whistles, anti-Semitic tropes, and anti-Semitic vocabulary.” For Marshall and Goldberg, half of the American people were dogs obeying their master’s whistle.
It shouldn’t take us by surprise that half of the American people would eventually react. They became weary of Jewish progressives like Marshall and Goldberg seeing them as dogs and white supremacists. The time was ripe for a revolution.
So is the revolution here? I’m not holding my breath. The people who crowned Trump are certainly exhausted. They are ready for a change. Can Trump introduce such a change? No one knows. He is certainly going to keep us entertained.
Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli jazz musician, author and political activist. His new book, “The Wandering Who,” may be ordered from amazon.com or amazon.co.uk . | 1real |
Time for EU to decide on Turkey's membership bid, Erdogan says | ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey s president said on Wednesday it was time for the EU to make up its mind whether it wants his country to join the bloc, a day after Germany s Angela Merkel vowed to push her EU partners to consider suspending or ending its accession talks. Merkel had sharpened her rhetoric in the build-up to this month s German national vote and said on Sunday Turkey should not become a member. Ankara has accused her of indulging in populism. The EU needs to take a step now. Either they will keep their promises and open the road for full membership... or come out and say they do not want to continue with Turkey, President Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party in Ankara. Erdogan said Turkey had not abandoned its strategic goal of EU membership. But he has long signaled that his country has run out of patience with the EU over its languishing accession bid, launched in 2005, and the impasse has been brought into focus by a sharp deterioration in Turkey s ties with Germany. I am telling them: Come out and say this bravely and do what is necessary. Bravely, Erdogan said. Instead of this courage, there is a two-faced approach to halt the Turkey-EU full membership talks. This is politically unethical. Germany s frustrations are focused on the detention of 11 German citizens, four of them with dual citizenship, in Turkey on political charges. Turkey accuses Germany of harboring plotters behind the 2016 coup attempt. Erdogan on Wednesday reiterated a call on Germany s voters of Turkish descent not to back enemies of Turkey, among whom he has previously named Merkel s Christian Democrats, the SDP and Greens. He also repeated an accusation, which has infuriated Berlin, that German politics were reverting to the country s Nazi past. They get offended by my Nazi comparisons, but you are doing that. I am not calling you Nazis, I am depicting the situation. This situation is Nazism, fascism and you are doing it, he said. Ahead of the April referendum on boosting his powers, Erdogan repeatedly lashed out at Germany and other European countries, accusing them of Nazi-like tactics for banning his ministers from speaking to rallies of Turkish voters abroad. | 0fake |
Former Secretary Of Defense Has Some SCATHING Words For “Unqualified And Unfit” Trump (TWEET) | Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates has judged both Republican and Democratic residential candidates for their ideas on foreign policy, but it s clear that he only believes that there s one nominee that is beyond repair Donald Trump.Gates, who has served under George W. Bush as well as Barack Obama, recently published a brutal op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that examines both Trump and Hillary Clinton for their plans on handling America s challenging relations with nations like Russia, China and the Middle East.Although Clinton was nowhere near exempt from criticism, Gates saved his harshest words for her GOP rival. Gates noted that the former Secretary of State has much-discussed credibility issues apart from national security, but these also influence foreign perceptions of reliability and trust. However, Trump is in a league of his own when it comes to credibility.Gates reminded Americans that Trump openly supports and shines praise on leaders like Vladimir Putin and Saddam Hussein, and is all for unethical torture practices and the killing of terrorist s families. Gates also mentioned the fact that Trump likes the idea of Japan and South Korea developing nuclear weapons. Gates said: At least on national security, I believe Mr. Trump is beyond repair. He is stubbornly uninformed about the world and how to lead our country and government, and temperamentally unsuited to lead our men and women in uniform. He is unqualified and unfit to be commander-in-chief. As soon as Gates op-ed was discovered by Trump, the business mogul predictably went on Twitter to throw one of his infamous man-baby temper tantrums:TwitterTo challenge Trump s tweet, NPR Morning Edition reporter Steve Inskeep invited Trump to an interview about foreign policy on his show, which the Trump campaign had said they d do about 250 days ago.TwitterAs expected, the Trump campaign has now fallen silent on the subject.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla and Spencer Platt / Getty Images | 1real |
Trump Plays Budget Hardball in Congress to Build Border Wall - Breitbart | President Donald Trump’s budget director is threatening to withhold funding for Obamacare subsidies unless Democrats agree to help fund the border wall in the 2017 budget supplemental. [The offer follows weeks of determined Democratic opposition — amid determined waffling by top GOP leaders — to any funding for Trump’s wall during this year. “We have our list of priorities,” budget director Mick Mulvaney said at a business conference on Thursday. He continued: Won’t surprise anyone what some of them are. We want more money for defense. We want to build a border wall. We want more money for immigration, law enforcement. The Democrats may have some of their own priorities. I [already] indicated making some of these payments for the Obamacare subsidies is one of their priorities. Okay, that’s fine. We’re willing to be at that discussion if they want to have it and that’s what we’re telegraphing … we understand they have a certain amount of leverage in the Senate because we do need 60 votes [to get funding]. So we need some sort of bipartisan support in the Senate. They are entitled under that set of circumstances to get some of their priorities funded. It is ripe for some type of negotiated agreement that gives the president some of his priorities and Democrats some of their priorities. We think we’ve opened the door [to a compromise]. I know that we have. Democrats may be open to that compromise. On Wednesday, the Democrats’ Senate leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer told reporters that Democrats are trying to preserve funding for Obamacare. “We’re working hard to get it in the bill. We’re very hopeful, negotiations seem to be going quite well … We want to make a good budget that meets our principles … so far, so good,” he said, according to a report from BNA. com. Democrats will pay a price for obstructing Trump’s priorities, Mulvaney warned. If [Democrats] tell us to pound sand, I think that’s probably a disappointing indicator of where the next four years is going to go. If they tell us, however, that they recognize that President Trump won an election, and he should get some of his priorities funded for that reason, elections have consequences, as folks who win always like to say. ” For months, GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have declined to champion funding Trump’s wall in the 2017 budget supplemental, which is due April 28. Trump has asked for roughly $1 billion to install or upgrade roughly 60 miles of border walls and fences this year. GOP leaders are reluctant to fund the wall, in part, because they don’t want to trade some of their budget priorities to persuade the Democrats to compromise on their opposition to Trump’s wall. Many Democrats fervently oppose the wall, which would literally and symbolically cement his 2016 victory and also block the migration of consumers, cheap workers, and future voters into cities. Also, GOP leaders know their business donors oppose the wall, which would reduce the inflow of consumers and workers to the corporate members of the many Chambers of Commerce throughout the United States. Democrats know the GOP leaders are not willing to champion’s Trump’s wall, so they are escalating their opposition to Trump’s wall and his border reforms, such as greater enforcement of current laws. For example, Democrats are threatening to block all budget funding — and so shut down many government agencies — unless they get their way. On Wednesday, Schumer said all extra immigration funding should be held up until the next round of budget debates in the fall of 2017. “We think that the immigration issue should be discussed in the 2018 budget where there’s votes and discussion and nothing should be shoved down people’s throats and that would apply to the many immigration issues that are before us, not just the wall,” Schumer said in a press call. BNA reported: Billions of dollars for the wall and other funds that Trump wants to boost enforcement have emerged among the “poison pill” riders that Schumer said could threaten passage of the omnibus by the time federal money runs out at midnight April 28. The government is operating under a stopgap continuing resolution because only one of the 12 fiscal 2017 bills was enacted last fall. Schumer suggested that Democrats have considerable leverage in the talks over the details of the omnibus, which have continued during lawmakers’ recess. “Our Republican colleagues know they control the House, the Senate, the White House [and] a shutdown would fall on their shoulders and they don’t want it,” Schumer said. On multiple occasions, GOP leader Ryan has said the Trump wall will be funded in the 2018 budget starting in October, while hinting it will get little funding for construction in 2017. This month, Officials at the Department of Homeland Security However, officials at the Department of Homeland Security have been told by GOP budget leaders that they can reprogram some of their existing funds to pay for construction of prototype wall designs in June. In his Wednesday call with reporters, Schumer gloated that the GOP leaders are not supporting Trump’s budget request. “I think there’s agreement, quiet agreement in the [GOP and Democratic budget leaders] that if the president doesn’t interfere and insist on poison pill amendments [funding for the wall] to be shoved down the throats of the Congress, we can come up with an agreement. ” Follow Neil Munro on Twitter @NeilMunroDC or email the author at NMunro@Breitbart. com | 0fake |
NBC Moving Ahead with Megyn Kelly-Alex Jones Interview Despite Backlash | NEW YORK (AP) — NBC News is moving ahead with plans to air Megyn Kelly’s interview with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones this weekend despite a backlash that has cost the show advertisers and led to Kelly being dropped as host for an event by an organization founded by parents of children killed at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. [The network has been taken aback by the response to booking Jones, the “Infowars” host who has questioned whether the killing of 26 people in 2012 at the school in Newton, Connecticut, was a hoax. NBC News Chairman Andy Lack said the story will be edited with the sensitivity of its critics in mind. “It’s important to get it right,” Lack said. Reporters have interviewed controversial characters like Syrian President Bashar Assad and child molesters in the past without getting this kind of a reaction, Kelly said in an interview Tuesday. “What I think we’re doing is journalism,” she said. “The bottom line is that while it’s not always popular, it’s important. I would submit to you that neither I nor NBC News has elevated Alex Jones in any way. He’s been elevated by 5 or 6 million viewers or listeners, and by the president of the United States. As you know, journalists don’t get the choice over who has power or influence in our country. ” Sandy Hook Promise, an violence group, said it had asked Kelly to step down as host of its gala in Washington. The group cannot support Kelly or NBC’s decision to give a platform to Jones and hopes NBC reconsiders its plan to broadcast the interview, said Nicole Hockley, and managing director. Hockley, whose son Dylan was killed at Sandy Hook, founded the organization with Mark Barden, who lost his son Daniel. Kelly said she understood and respected the decision, but was disappointed. NBC’s plans have cost it some advertisers for this week’s edition of “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly. ” It was not immediately clear how many only the financial firm JPMorgan Chase has been publicly identified. “That comes with the territory,” Lack said. “It’s not unusual. We kind of know when we’re doing controversial stories, that’s going to happen. It doesn’t stop us from doing controversial stories. ” To some critics, NBC’s timing makes the decision worse — airing on Father’s Day an interview that has been publicly denounced by parents who lost young children at Sandy Hook. NBC said it was scheduled for competitive reasons, because Jones had been booked to appear on ABC’s daytime show “The View” next week. A representative of “The View” said Jones had canceled his appearance there and he will not be rescheduled. Lack noted that he had suggested approaching Jones for an interview to David Corvo, the NBC News executive who supervises the network’s newsmagazines. He said there’s nothing new about putting people on the air even if they’re unpopular or have views that are deplorable to many. “I’ve got tremendous understanding of why they’re so upset, as they have every right to be,” he said. “Of course we’re looking at it. We’re looking at the editorial process. ” The interview has put Kelly, who jumped to NBC from Fox News Channel earlier this year, squarely back in the headlines the New York Daily News called it “Nutwork News” on its front page Tuesday. She was one of Trump’s favorite targets during the presidential campaign because he was annoyed at tough questions she asked him at a debate. Jones, for his part, has already denounced the interview as “fake news” and said it was purposeful hit job on him. “I knew in my gut this was going to blow up in their face,” he said on his show. | 0fake |
NOT GRASSROOTS: #Ferguson Protestors PAID Over $5K To Attack Police, Instigate Violence And Disrupt | The Ferguson #BlackLivesMatter protesters are spilling the beans on the so-called grassroots movement.Earlier this week black protesters staged a protest at at the office of MORE (Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment) on Thursday to press their claim that groups led by whites have collected tens of thousands of dollars in donations off of the Black Lives Matter movement without paying the Black participants their fair share.Much more on that sit-in protest at MORE here.The black protesters threatened to f*ck up the white protest organizers.Now this It s widely known thatFerguson activists were flown to New York City, Wisconsin, and even the West Bank to spread racial hatred.Now we know why they re so committed to the cause.They are being paid quite a bit to disrupt and initiate violence across the country.The protesters are talking online about how much they were getting paid to protest against the police and stir up racial hate in Ferguson and other communities since August.** Protesters were making MORE THAN $5,000 a month to disrupt cities and attack police!Listening to @search4swag live now on @JoePrich they pointing out that @deray is getting paid by Soros Independent CaT (@RealOrangeCat) May 16, 2015The far left billionaire George Soros pumped at least $33 million into the violent Ferguson protest movement, according The Washington Times.Many of the grassroots leaders were paid handsomely.And the protesters are wising up to Deray who has been out every night tweeting and stirring up the race hate n numerous cities for several months. Black Lives Matter and Get Paid Another group Resource Generation, a racist Socialist group, paid a million to the protesters.Via: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
Hans Von Spakovsky: Democrats Oppose Jeff Sessions Because He’ll Enforce Our Immigration Laws | Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation, formerly an attorney with the Department of Justice, said he expected “fireworks” at the confirmation hearings for attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions on Tuesday’s Breitbart News Daily. [“What’s going on here is that, look, professionally, Jeff Sessions has the perfect background to be the U. S. Attorney General — from being a line prosecutor working for the Justice Department, to being a U. S. attorney, to being the state Attorney General in Alabama. Professionally, he’s got the perfect background for this,” von Spakovsky said. “But Democrats really don’t like him because of his views on issues,” he continued. “For example, they really don’t want someone who’s actually going to enforce our immigration laws. They’ve been giving him a hard time in the civil rights area too, even though many of their criticisms really have been false. So they’re going to give him a very hard time, even if they eventually, perhaps, on the Democratic side will vote for him, because they have to make their liberal advocacy groups that support them happy that they gave him a hard time. ” SiriusXM host Raheem Kassam suggested that Democrats would be “uncouth” to Sessions to gin up donations and political support from their base. “Yes, because I think that’s going to anger the same people all around the country that voted for Donald Trump,” von Spakovsky agreed. “And you can tell how this is going because after Sessions testifies, they’re actually pulling up a panel of other witnesses. And who have the Democrats called? They have called the director of the ACLU, the president of the NAACP, and a woman from an LGBT group. All of them are simply going to be critical of him on issues, not his professional background — and that’s not a reason to not vote for him for confirmation. ” Kassam asked von Spakovsky to discuss his recent article about how Democrats have tried to portray strong action against voter fraud by Sessions as a nefarious attempt to suppress the minority vote. “When he was a U. S. attorney in Alabama, he prosecuted three local civil rights activists who were accused of voter fraud,” von Spakovsky recalled. “They were stealing absentee ballots from voters — black voters — and changing the votes. Unfortunately, the jury found them innocent, and so ever since then, he’s been accused of having pushed this for racist reasons he was trying to suppress the black vote. ” “What all those stories leave out is that the reason this case was prosecuted was because local black voters and local black candidates called the FBI and called Sessions, saying, ‘Look, we think our vote is being stolen by these other black candidates,’” he noted. There was a power struggle going on inside the Democratic party. This was an county, in these races. The federal grand jury was presented with overwhelming evidence that these three defendants were stealing ballots. ” “Yeah, a jury found them innocent, but I actually found and interviewed the career Justice Department lawyer who worked on this case, and he said it was clearly a case of jury nullification,” von Spakovsky said. “These folks were local activists, and the jury wasn’t going to find them guilty no matter what they did. One quick example: a family of six people, testified in court that one of the defendants had changed their votes without their permission, and yet the jury didn’t believe them. They, instead, believed the defendant when he said, ‘Well, yeah, I did change their votes, but I had their permission to do it. ’” As Kassam put it, Sessions was “opposing the exploitation of minority groups, and this is now being used as a cudgel against him. ” “The NAACP came down to this case, and instead of wanting to get these convicted, they actually provided lawyers to defend these folks in the lawsuit,” von Spakovsky marveled. He said the Democrats’ position was a combination of instinctively viewing “old white guy” Sessions as a racist in a story of conflict with black activists and crass political opportunism by senior Democrats who know perfectly well what really happened in the vote fraud case. “Their attitude towards any voter fraud prosecutions has always been: if the defendants are black, well, you must be doing it for racist reasons,” he noted. “Remember, we saw that in the New Black Panther story out of Philly in 2008, when Eric Holder came in and immediately dismissed the voter intimidation case against them, despite the overwhelming evidence that the Black Panthers had been intimidating voters and poll watchers. It was dismissed by the Obama Justice Department because they didn’t believe that black defendants should be prosecuted. They don’t believe in the enforcement of the voting and election law. ” As to Sessions’ prospects of making it through the confirmation process, von Spakovsky pointed out that “there’s not a single Republican that has said he’s going to vote against Sessions. ” “I really think the worst that can happen is the Democrats put up a histrionic, almost hysterical, raising of all these issues, make all these false claims against Sessions — but in the end, like I said, the Republicans have the majority, and I think they’re going to be able to vote him in,” he predicted. Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a. m. to 9:00 a. m. Eastern. LISTEN: | 0fake |
German conservatives push Finance Minister Schaeuble to swap job | BERLIN (Reuters) - Senior conservatives raised pressure on Wolfgang Schaeuble on Tuesday to give up the finance ministry and instead impose his authority as head of Germany s next parliament, which will include a large bloc of far-right members. Schaeuble has held the ministry since 2009 but Sunday s election, in which Chancellor Angela Merkel s conservatives bled support to the far right and found themselves needing to build an untried coalition, has raised doubts over whether he can keep the job. The post is coveted in particular by the pro-business, low-tax FDP, whose support Merkel is likely to need, together with the Greens, to assemble a working majority. The tone in the new assembly is also likely to be made more abrasive by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which stunned the establishment on Sunday by becoming the first far-right party to enter parliament in more than half a century. A member of the executive committee of Merkel s Christian Democrats (CDU) said that, if Schaeuble were to become parliamentary speaker, it would be very important - because of the AfD and the climate in parliament . Guenther Oettinger, the European Union s budget commissioner and a conservative from the same region as Schaeuble, told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper that Schaeuble would make an ideal candidate for the post. Schaeuble has refused to discuss his future after the election, beyond signaling his desire to stay in politics. The new lower house, the Bundestag, has until Oct. 24 to convene, and a new president of parliament must be chosen by then. The current president, CDU lawmaker Norbert Lammert, is not up for re-election. The Bundestag president cannot simultaneously hold a ministerial post. After Sunday s election, Merkel s conservative bloc remains the largest group in the lower house, but looks unable to renew its current alliance with the center-left Social Democrats, leaving a coalition with FDP and Greens as the only practical option. Securing the finance ministry would give the FDP the chance to cut taxes and also oppose the kind of closer euro zone integration proposed by French President Emmanuel Macron. Speaking at Schaeuble s 75th birthday celebration last week, Merkel paid tribute to his 45 years as a member of parliament, but gave no clear signal that she wanted to retain him in the post after the election. Confined to a wheelchair since being shot at an election rally in 1990, Schaeuble is widely respected in Germany as a steward of the nation s finances, and enjoyed Merkel s strong support during the euro zone debt crisis, which almost tore the currency bloc apart. But he is a hate figure in Greece and other parts of southern Europe for his insistence on austerity at a time of deep recession in return for euro zone bailout loans. | 0fake |
FED UP FAN Confronts College Basketball Player For Shooting Baskets During National Anthem Because Of His Islamic Faith…Gets Standing Ovation From Crowd | Has America reached a tipping point? Will more and more fed up Americans begin to object to athletes who choose to blatantly disrespect our flag during the national anthem? Should athletes be allowed to disrespect our flag during school-sponsored events? We d love to hear what you think in the comment section below.Todd Starnes of FOX News broke the story about 74-year old Jim Howard, of Garden City, Kansas is a red-blooded, American patriot and a faithful supporter of the athletic program at the local community college.For 32 years he s volunteered with the booster club keeping scorebooks, holding fundraisers, running the chain gang for football and even providing a place for players to have a Thanksgiving meal.He was in the stands on Nov. 1 for the season-opener of the Garden City Broncbusters basketball team. And when the announcer asked everyone to stand for the national anthem, he dutifully joined the crowd and stood at attention.That s when he noticed a lone player seated on a bench at courtside Rasool Samir, a 19-year-old Muslim red-shirt.It was unusual because there s a team rule that the entire basketball team was supposed to stay inside the locker room until after the national anthem had concluded.But as the crowd began singing about the bombs bursting in air and the rocket s red glare, the Muslim basketball player grabbed a ball, walked onto the court and began shooting baskets. It was an in your face slam, he said.Mr. Howard decided enough was enough. He was tired of people disrespecting the national anthem. So at the conclusion of the song, he walked onto the court and confronted Samir. I walked onto the floor and I told the guy he should respect the flag and if he s not going to respect the flag, he should get off the court and get out of the gym, Mr. Howard told the Todd Starnes Show. You should respect the flag. If you don t respect the flag, just stay seated. Don t make a big scene, he said. At least respect the people that paid for your scholarship to get you on this campus like myself and everyone else in that gym. The Garden City Telegram reported that a police officer broke up the confrontation telling Mr. Howard to return to his seat and escorting the player off the court.When that happened, a number of people in the stands gave Mr. Howard a standing ovation and some fans even came over to shake the man s hand.It seems, they too had had enough. Everyone around town was patting me on my back and saying thank you, he said.The following day Samir was dismissed from the team.However, there are two versions as to what happened. The local newspaper says it was Samir s decision to leave. But the American Civil Liberties Union claims the young man was kicked off the team.The Kansas chapter of the ACLU fired off a letter to the community college demanding answers and claiming that Samir s constitutional rights were violated. He refrained from participating in the national anthem because he is a Muslim and his faith prohibits acts of reverence to anything but God, the ACLU wrote in a letter to the school.Well, if that s the case, why didn t Samir stay inside the locker room with the rest of the team during the national anthem? | 1real |
Is Trump Purging The Government? Team Asking For List Of Names | Fears of purges of personnel based on ideology have now reached the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security after a new, unusual request from the Donald Trump transition team has surfaced. The incoming Trump team is demanding a list of names for some reason.U.S. President-elect Donald Trump s transition team has asked two Cabinet departments for the names of government officials working on programs to counter violent extremism, according to a document seen by Reuters and U.S. officials.The requests to the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security involve a set of programs that seek to prevent violence by extremists of any stripe, including recruitment by militant Islamist groups within the United States and abroad.Reuters could not determine why the Trump team asked for these names. The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Trump has often attacked President Obama and his team, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, for not being tougher on extremists. Often this critique has included the complaint that Obama and his subordinates do not explicitly blame the Islamic faith, rather than point out how extremists deviate from mainstream Islam.It is certainly plausible that the Trump team is considering some way in which to remove those who differ from their ideology from the permanent bureaucracy once they assume power. Such a purge of those seen to be disloyal would be in line with the authoritarian mindset that Trump has so often embraced during the campaign.Trump has also issued a similar demand to the Department of Energy, asking for the names of those who worked on the Obama administration s climate change policy. The Department refused the request, and the Obama White House expressed concerns that the Trump team was trying to target civil servants like scientists and lawyers. Eventually facing bad headlines, the Trump team disavowed the purge request.Featured image via FlickrThese clowns have nothing on Obama | 1real |
Right-Wing Terrorist Cliven Bundy Finally Charged In Relation To 2014 Standoff With Feds In Nevada | It s about damn time.It s been two years since Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy engaged in an illegal armed standoff with federal authorities with the help of right-wing gun nuts.As you ll recall, Bundy threw a temper tantrum after the government began rounding up his cattle because he refused to pay the $1 million in grazing fees and penalties owed to the Bureau of Land Management even after a judge ordered him to do so.Anti-government gun nuts rushed to Bundy s side to prevent him from being arrested and interfered with federal agents who were doing their job.Not only did Bundy and his band of armed militants use women and children as shields, they also used a highway to aim their guns at federal officials and set up unauthorized checkpoints to question and search people.And after two years of seemingly getting away with his illegal rebellion against the government, it appears Bundy is finally going to see the inside of a prison cell for his actions.Bundy was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday at Portland International Airport as he tried to make his way to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in support of the remaining armed thugs who have refused to surrender since Bundy s sons Ammon and Ryan were arrested at the end of January.According to The Oregonian, Bundy was booked into the downtown Multnomah County jail and faces the charge of conspiracy to interfere with a federal officer in relation to his little standoff in 2014.In fact, here is Bundy s mugshot courtesy of The Oregonian.Perhaps this will serve as a lesson to other anti-government gun nuts that the long arm of the law will come for them if they pull more stunts like the one Bundy and his boys have pulled over the years. And maybe the prison time they serve will give them the opportunity to actually read the Constitution they claim to love so much and realize that their claim that the government is violating it is pure bullshit. Featured image from Multnomah County records | 1real |
JUST IN: Man-Child Boasts He’s The Best President EVER; Doesn’t Know How Long He’s Been In Office | You may not have noticed, but Donald Trump is an egomaniacal narcissist who has no concept of reality. This can be seen in almost every tweet, meltdown and decision that he makes. He has no clue what he s doing and belongs nowhere near the Oval Office.All that being said, he personally thinks he s wonderful and likely believes his sh*t smells like a spring meadow.However, he s also a bit of a dumbass, and all of these Trump qualities perfectly came out in a statement he just made aboard Air Force One overheard by NBC News reporter Peter Alexander.According to Alexander, Trump said: I think we ve had one of the most successful 13 weeks in the history of the presidency. BREAKING: Pres Trump on AF1:"I think we ve had one of the most successful 13 weeks in the history of the presidency." Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) April 6, 2017First of all, let s point out the obvious. Well, no, there s a lot obviously wrong with that statement, but let s begin by pointing out that it s only been eleven weeks since his inauguration as *president.Secondly, Rep. Maxine Water (D-CA) said it best with this tweet:#Fakenews pic.twitter.com/kma51XCWk7 Maxine Waters (@MaxineWaters) April 6, 2017It really doesn t get much faker than that.It s hard to believe that it s only been eleven weeks since Trump took office. So hard to believe, in fact, he doesn t seem to realize it himself.Trump is not only one of the most chaotic forces to ever inhabit the White House, but he s also seemingly equally as divisive and destructive. What about these eleven weeks does he deem a success? If being the best at being the worst is deemed successful, then job well done.At least we know that when no one is around to stroke his ego, he has no problem doing it himself. You know, because that s a quality you want in someone who was hired to serve others and be selfless.(*pending the ongoing FBI investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election)Featured Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
WATCH: Trump Adviser Stammers While Being Grilled By Chris Cuomo For Being A Hypocrite | With less than 24 hours before Election Day, things are going disastrously for Donald Trump s campaign team.Trump s communications director Jason Miller appeared on CNN with Chris Cuomo on Monday morning and quickly whined about FBI Director James Comey s decision to once again absolve Hillary Clinton of any wrongdoing in the long-running persecution over her emails. Comey did so because the new emails were actually duplicates of ones that had already been investigated.But Miller refused to accept Comey s explanation and demanded that the emails be released for the sake of transparency. No, don t accept it they should release all the emails, let us have a look before Election Day, Miller said. We think that would be the smart thing to do. Cuomo immediately smelled the hypocrisy and jumped all over Miller for it. You love transparency when it s not you guys, Cuomo said. You don t see any irony in that? Why don t you release your emails? Why don t you release Trump s taxes if you think transparency is such a good thing for the American people? Miller repeated the tired old claim that Trump will release his taxes when he s not being audited, even though the IRS has said that taxes can still be released even when someone is being audited. You think anybody believes the audit thing going to the polls tomorrow? Cuomo asked. You have any proof of an audit? Miller stumbled a bit while claiming that he does have proof. Yeah, you do? Cuomo replied. Have you seen an audit letter? Miller attempted to deflect again by trying to spin the conversation to the Clinton Foundation, and once he said the word fact Cuomo pounced again. That is the fact, right? Cuomo said. Transparency only works one way in this election where Trump s involved I ll show you an audit letter I got. Here s the video via Twitter.Trump adviser @JasonMillerinDC calls for Clinton email release; @ChrisCuomo asks about releasing Trump s taxes. https://t.co/bFL30OCt2h New Day (@NewDay) November 7, 2016Indeed, whenever a Trump surrogate appears on television they go to great lengths to avoid talking about how their candidate is one of the most non-transparent candidates in the history of American elections while trying to portray Hillary Clinton as a liar who has something to hide even though Hillary has released her tax returns and medical records to the public, both of which Donald Trump has refused to do himself using one excuse or another.Speaking of hypocrisy, Jason Miller was caught going to a strip club in Las Vegas the night before the last presidential debate. That wouldn t be a problem for most campaigns, but Trump s base of support is comprised of conservatives who think female nudity is evil, so that makes Miller s outing fair game.But you ve got to hand it to Cuomo. He grilled Miller to a crisp and we need the media to do more of that as Election Day approaches.Featured image via screenshot | 1real |
Hygge is byllshytte | Hygge is byllshytte 03-11-16 THE Danish art of liking pleasant things is a load of fyckinge wynk, it has been confirmed. ‘Hygge’, which translates as ‘blindingly obvious’, is a popular philosophy of enjoying nice stuff like cosy fires, eating food and warm winter socks in a smug, irritating way. Professor Henry Brubaker of the Institute for Studies said: “Having read several books on the subject, I learned that nice things are better than unpleasant things. “I’m not sure whether that’s a lesson for many of us, unless you’re one of those men who goes to a dominatrix to have you arse spanked with a cricket bat, in which case I suppose it might make you think. “I just don’t see how anyone could be into this.” Hygge fan Emma Bradford said: “It’s about enjoying the simple things in life, or just yet another excuse to pamper myself and enjoy lots of nice treats while thinking I am deep.” Professor Brubaker replied: “Fycke offe.”
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Having nuclear weapons 'matter of life and death' for North Korea: agency | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Pyongyang does not plan to hold any talks with Washington about its nuclear program, a senior North Korean diplomat said on Friday, declaring that possessing nuclear weapons was a matter of life and death for North Korea, the RIA news agency reported. Tension has soared on the peninsula following a series of weapons tests by North Korea and a string of increasingly bellicose exchanges between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump, in a speech last month at the United Nations, threatened to totally destroy North Korea if necessary to defend itself and allies and called the North s leader a rocket man on a suicide mission. Choe Son-hui, director-general of the North American department of North Korea s foreign ministry, told a non-proliferation conference in Moscow Washington would have to put up with North Korea s nuclear status, RIA reported. This is a matter of life and death for us. The current situation deepens our understanding that we need nuclear weapons to repel a potential attack. We will respond to fire with fire. Pyongyang would regard any attempts to strangle the country via U.N. Security Council sanctions as an attempt to declare war . Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, addressing the same conference earlier on Friday, urged world powers to get behind a joint Russian-Chinese roadmap for settling the crisis over North Korea s weapons program. We are convinced that its implementation will promote the lessening of military activity and tension on the Korean peninsula and the forming in Northeastern Asia of a system of equal and indivisible security, he said. The plan proposes a moratorium on North Korea s missile and nuclear weapons tests, while South Korea and the United States suspend holding military exercises. The main task at the current stage is to prevent a military conflict which will inevitably lead to a large-scale humanitarian, economic and ecological catastrophe, Lavrov said. All the sides involved should exercise restraint. | 0fake |
How Uber Deceives the Authorities Worldwide - The New York Times | SAN FRANCISCO — Uber has for years engaged in a worldwide program to deceive the authorities in markets where its service was resisted by law enforcement or, in some instances, had been banned. The program, involving a tool called Greyball, uses data collected from the Uber app and other techniques to identify and circumvent officials who were trying to clamp down on the service. Uber used these methods to evade the authorities in cities like Boston, Paris and Las Vegas, and in countries like Australia, China and South Korea. Greyball was part of a program called VTOS, short for “violation of terms of service,” which Uber created to root out people it thought were using or targeting its service improperly. The program, including Greyball, began as early as 2014 and remains in use, predominantly outside the United States. Greyball was approved by Uber’s legal team. Greyball and the VTOS program were described to The New York Times by four current and former Uber employees, who also provided documents. The four spoke on the condition of anonymity because the tools and their use are confidential and because of fear of retaliation by Uber. Uber’s use of Greyball was recorded on video in late 2014, when Erich England, a code enforcement inspector in Portland, Ore. tried to hail an Uber car downtown in a sting operation against the company. At the time, Uber had just started its service in Portland without seeking permission from the city, which later declared the service illegal. To build a case against the company, officers like Mr. England posed as riders, opening the Uber app to hail a car and watching as miniature vehicles on the screen made their way toward the potential fares. But unknown to Mr. England and other authorities, some of the digital cars they saw in the app did not represent actual vehicles. And the Uber drivers they were able to hail also quickly canceled. That was because Uber had tagged Mr. England and his colleagues — essentially Greyballing them as city officials — based on data collected from the app and in other ways. The company then served up a fake version of the app, populated with ghost cars, to evade capture. At a time when Uber is already under scrutiny for its workplace culture, its use of the Greyball tool underscores the lengths to which the company will go to dominate its market. Uber has long flouted laws and regulations to gain an edge against entrenched transportation providers, a modus operandi that has helped propel it into more than 70 countries and to a valuation close to $70 billion. Yet using its app to identify and sidestep the authorities where regulators said Uber was breaking the law goes further toward skirting ethical lines — and, potentially, legal ones. Some at Uber who knew of the VTOS program and how the Greyball tool was being used were troubled by it. In a statement, Uber said, “This program denies ride requests to users who are violating our terms of service — whether that’s people aiming to physically harm drivers, competitors looking to disrupt our operations, or opponents who collude with officials on secret ‘stings’ meant to entrap drivers. ” The mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, said in a statement, “I am very concerned that Uber may have purposefully worked to thwart the city’s job to protect the public. ” Uber, which lets people hail rides using a smartphone app, operates multiple types of services, including a luxury Black Car offering in which drivers are commercially licensed. But an Uber service that many regulators have had problems with is the version, known in the United States as UberX. UberX essentially lets people who have passed a background check and vehicle inspection become Uber drivers quickly. In the past, many cities have banned the service and declared it illegal. That is because the ability to summon a noncommercial driver — which is how UberX drivers using private vehicles are typically categorized — was often unregulated. In barreling into new markets, Uber capitalized on this lack of regulation to quickly enlist UberX drivers and put them to work before local regulators could stop them. After the authorities caught on to what was happening, Uber and local officials often clashed. Uber has encountered legal problems over UberX in cities including Austin, Tex. Philadelphia and Tampa, Fla. as well as internationally. Eventually, agreements were reached under which regulators developed a legal framework for the service. That approach has been costly. Law enforcement officials in some cities have impounded vehicles or issued tickets to UberX drivers, with Uber generally picking up those costs on the drivers’ behalf. The company has estimated thousands of dollars in lost revenue for every vehicle impounded and ticket received. This is where the VTOS program and the use of the Greyball tool came in. When Uber moved into a new city, it appointed a general manager to lead the charge. This person, using various technologies and techniques, would try to spot enforcement officers. One technique involved drawing a digital perimeter, or “geofence,” around the government offices on a digital map of a city that Uber was monitoring. The company watched which people were frequently opening and closing the app — a process known internally as eyeballing — near such locations as evidence that the users might be associated with city agencies. Other techniques included looking at a user’s credit card information and determining whether the card was tied directly to an institution like a police credit union. Enforcement officials involved in sting operations meant to catch Uber drivers would sometimes buy dozens of cellphones to create different accounts. To circumvent that tactic, Uber employees would go to local electronics stores to look up device numbers of the cheapest mobile phones for sale, which were often the ones bought by city officials working with budgets that were not large. In all, there were at least a dozen or so signifiers in the VTOS program that Uber employees could use to assess whether users were regular new riders or probably city officials. If such clues did not confirm a user’s identity, Uber employees would search social media profiles and other information available online. If users were identified as being linked to law enforcement, Uber Greyballed them by tagging them with a small piece of code that read “Greyball” followed by a string of numbers. When someone tagged this way called a car, Uber could scramble a set of ghost cars in a fake version of the app for that person to see, or show that no cars were available. Occasionally, if a driver accidentally picked up someone tagged as an officer, Uber called the driver with instructions to end the ride. Uber employees said the practices and tools were born in part out of safety measures meant to protect drivers in some countries. In France, India and Kenya, for instance, taxi companies and workers targeted and attacked new Uber drivers. “They’re beating the cars with metal bats,” the singer Courtney Love posted on Twitter from an Uber car in Paris at a time of clashes between the company and taxi drivers in 2015. Ms. Love said that protesters had ambushed her Uber ride and had held her driver hostage. “This is France? I’m safer in Baghdad. ” Uber has said it was also at risk from tactics used by taxi and limousine companies in some markets. In Tampa, for instance, Uber cited collusion between the local transportation authority and taxi companies in fighting services. In those areas, Greyballing started as a way to scramble the locations of UberX drivers to prevent competitors from finding them. Uber said that was still the tool’s primary use. But as Uber moved into new markets, its engineers saw that the same methods could be used to evade law enforcement. Once the Greyball tool was put in place and tested, Uber engineers created a playbook with a list of tactics and distributed it to general managers in more than a dozen countries on five continents. At least 50 people inside Uber knew about Greyball, and some had qualms about whether it was ethical or legal. Greyball was approved by Uber’s legal team, led by Salle Yoo, the company’s general counsel. Ryan Graves, an early hire who became senior vice president of global operations and a board member, was also aware of the program. Ms. Yoo and Mr. Graves did not respond to requests for comment. Outside legal specialists said they were uncertain about the legality of the program. Greyball could be considered a violation of the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, or possibly intentional obstruction of justice, depending on local laws and jurisdictions, said Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University who also writes for The New York Times. “With any type of systematic thwarting of the law, you’re flirting with disaster,” Professor Henning said. “We all take our foot off the gas when we see the police car at the intersection up ahead, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But this goes far beyond avoiding a speed trap. ” On Friday, Marietje Schaake, a member of the European Parliament for the Dutch Democratic Party in the Netherlands, wrote that she had written to the European Commission asking, among other things, if it planned to investigate the legality of Greyball. To date, Greyballing has been effective. In Portland on that day in late 2014, Mr. England, the enforcement officer, did not catch an Uber, according to local reports. And two weeks after Uber began dispatching drivers in Portland, the company reached an agreement with local officials that said that after a suspension, UberX would eventually be legally available in the city. | 0fake |
BREAKING: CROOKED SEC OF STATE HILLARY Knew Taking $12 MILLION From King Mohammed VI of “Corrupt” Morocco Might Hurt Campaign…Took It Anyway [VIDEO] | Why is this woman not in jail?The evidence is overwhelming that Hillary was putting our national security at risk by taking money for the Clinton Foundation Slush Fund from foreign governments while Secretary of State, in return for favors. The latest Wikileaks email shows that our nations security was second to Hillary s desire to not get caught so it wouldn t hurt her chances at winning the election for the highest office in our nation. Here is the insane story of more Hillary corruption:Hillary Clinton solicited a $12 million donation from a government that her State Department considered corrupt, then realized the mess it would cause to her presidential run, a newly leaked email reveals.King Mohammed VI of Morocco agreed to give the money to the Clinton Foundation, provided that it hold a convention in his country in May 2015 with Clinton as the keynote speaker.But Clinton realized that the conference, slated for a month after she announced her run for president, would hurt her candidacy. No matter what happens, she will be in Morocco hosting CGI [Clinton Global Initiative] on May 5-7, 2015. Her presence was a condition for the Moroccans to proceed so there is no going back on this, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin wrote to campaign manager Robby Mook in a November 2014 email revealed by Wiki Leaks.In another email, Abedin warned that if Clinton didn t attend, the $12 million would be off the table. Just to give you some context, the condition upon which the Moroccans agreed to host the meeting was her participation. If hrc was not part if it, meeting was a non-starter, Abedin wrote in a January 2015 email to Mook and campaign manager John Podesta. CGI also wasn t pushing for a meeting in Morocco and it wasn t their first choice. This was HRC s idea, our office approached the Moroccans and they 100 percent believe they are doing this at her request. The King has personally committed approx $12 million both for the [foundation s] endowment and to support the meeting, Abedin continued. It will break a lot of china to back out now when we had so many opportunities to do it in the past few months. She created this mess and she knows it. The king gave the money to the Clinton Foundation and underwrote the CGI summit with the quid-pro-quo understanding that Hillary would attend, and other dignitaries attending were led to believe that she would be there.But Hillary sent Bill and Chelsea Clinton while she campaigned in Nevada and California.The deal with Morocco was struck even though the State Department under Hillary Clinton accused the country s government of arbitrary arrests and corruption, according to Fox News.It was unclear exactly how much went directly for the summit and how much went to the Clinton Foundation but the total added up to $12 million, according to the emails.Guests at the May 2015 CGI summit which was closed to the media stayed at the five-star Selman-Marrakesh hotel, a posh lodging featuring a stable of Arabian horses and luxury amenities.The meeting was officially paid for by OCP, a Moroccan government-owned mining company that has been accused of human rights violations.Hillary Clinton supported the monarch when she was secretary of state, and the US-financed Export-Import Bank gave OCP a $92 million loan guarantee during her tenure, the Daily Caller reported.Politico reported in 2015 that Clinton was seen by [the Moroccan capital] Rabat as among its staunchest supporters in the Obama administration. The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice charged OCP with serious human-rights violations, the Daily Caller said.For entire story: NYP | 1real |
Sonoma County Voter Success Leads To Largest GMO-Free Zone In U.S. | By Amanda Froelich It’s taken some time for word to spread due to the focus on Presidential-elect Donald Trump, but on November 8th, voters in Sonoma County successfully passed Measure M to make... | 1real |
Obama toasts Nordic nations after Russia-focused summit | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama toasted Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland at a star-studded state dinner on Friday, lauding the nations for their global influence on civil rights, humanitarian issues and curbing climate change. The red carpet glamor followed a White House summit where Obama and the leaders of the five nations presented a united front against Moscow’s recent military aggression in Ukraine and the Baltic region. But the meeting was more about soft diplomacy than launching ambitious foreign policy endeavors, given that Obama’s second and final term ends in January. Americans will vote in presidential elections on Nov. 8. “I thought this was a very useful and important conversation, although there was probably too much agreement to make for as exciting a multilateral meeting as I sometimes participate in,” Obama said. More than 300 guests including rapper Common, comedian Will Farrell and actress Tracee Ellis Ross mingled with diplomats, tech and Fortune 500 CEOs, White House officials, and political donors in a glass-ceiling tent built around a tree on the South Lawn. Hand-rolled beeswax candles and strings of lights reflected off ten-foot pillars of ice, an homage to the northern lights. Pop star Demi Lovato, known for her support of liberal causes, was set to perform after a Nordic-inspired meal of ahi tuna, tomato tartare and red wine-braised beef short ribs. “It’s a great opportunity to drink wine and make progress on the most serious issues of our time,” Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters on her way into the dinner. The summit was aimed in part at sending a message to a nation not on the guest list: Russia, which annexed Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014 and has stepped up its military posture. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is planning its biggest build-up in eastern Europe since the Cold War to try to deter further Russian aggression, and Denmark and Norway said on Friday they would contribute to the “enhanced allied forward presence” with NATO. “We will be maintaining ongoing dialogue and seek cooperation with Russia, but we also want to make sure that we are prepared and strong, and we want to encourage Russia to keep its military activities in full compliance with international obligations,” Obama said after the summit. Obama has long expressed admiration for the pragmatic and liberal-leaning politics of the Nordic nations. “There have been times where I’ve said, why don’t we just put all these small countries in charge for a while? And they could clean things up,” Obama said. (This version of the story corrects the title of Samantha Power in the eighth paragraph) | 0fake |
SARA CARTER Drops Shocker On Why A Shake-Up Is Eminent At The FBI [Video] | Sara Carter has been right on everything she s reported on with the Mueller investigation. She s a gem of a reporter who does the hard work that so many other journalists just don t. She tells why she believes the FBI will have a major shake-up soon there are 27 leakers that the IG is looking at! Yes, 27 leakers!Sara Carter: We re going to see parts of that report before December (end of the month). We re going to see other parts of his report coming out after January. And they re looking at Peter Strzok. They re looking at Comey. They re looking at 27 leakers. It would not surprise me if there was a shake-up at the FBI and a housecleaning.Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch is another incredible researcher and stubborn investigator. Thank goodness for all of the FOIA requests and lawsuits he s filed to force information to come out of the FBI and DOJ. His latest discovery is an explosive email that exposes anti-Trump Mueller operatives:THANK GOODNESS FOR JUDICIAL WATCH! They pushed for emails from the DOJ and got a treasure trove of incriminating evidence of anti-Trump bias. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said it best when he said the email is an astonishing and disturbing find A top prosecutor who is now a deputy for Special Counsel Robert Mueller s Russia probe praised then-acting Attorney General Sally Yates (see more on Yates below) after she was fired in January by President Trump for refusing to defend his controversial travel ban.The email, obtained by Judicial Watch through a federal lawsuit, shows that on the night of Jan. 30, Andrew Weissmann wrote to Yates under the subject line, I am so proud. He continued, And in awe. Thank you so much. All my deepest respects. The disclosure follows confirmation that another Mueller investigator, FBI official Peter Strzok, was fired over the summer after allegedly sending anti-Trump texts to an FBI lawyer with whom he was romantically involved.His alleged actions revived concerns about the objectivity of the FBI probes of both Hillary Clinton s email setup and Russia election meddling.Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton called the new Weissmann document an astonishing and disturbing find. Andrew Weisman, a key prosecutor on Robert Mueller s team, praised Obama DOJ holdover Sally Yates after she lawlessly thwarted President Trump, he said in a statement. How much more evidence do we need that the Mueller operation has been irredeemably compromised by anti-Trump partisans? CATHERINE HERRIDGE:DOJ POLITICAL HACK SALLY YATES YOU RE FIRED! The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has betrayed the Department of Justice by refusing to enforce a legal order designed to protect the citizens of the United States. This order was approved as to form and legality by the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel.Ms. Yates is an Obama Administration appointee who is weak on borders and very weak on illegal immigration.It is time to get serious about protecting our country. Calling for tougher vetting for individuals travelling from seven dangerous places is not extreme. It is reasonable and necessary to protect our country.Tonight, President Trump relieved Ms. Yates of her duties and subsequently named Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to serve as Acting Attorney General until Senator Jeff Sessions is finally confirmed by the Senate, where he is being wrongly held up by Democrat senators for strictly political reasons. I am honored to serve President Trump in this role until Senator Sessions is confirmed. I will defend and enforce the laws of our country to ensure that our people and our nation are protected, said Dana Boente, Acting Attorney General. | 1real |
REPORT: The White House is a ‘Real Dump’…Hundreds of Problems Left by Previous Administration | Gross! As it turns out, the White House is a wreck with infestations of mice, roaches and ants. It s being reported that hundreds of work orders have been made to fix numerous problems. If anyone can fix the White House up to be the best it can be, it s President Trump. He s a builder and a perfectionist so it s no surprise that he reportedly said the White House is a dump . He s use to 5-star places so we re betting he ll have the White House in 5-star shape AND under budget in no time .MAGA!Apparently, the White House really is a dump with work orders showing reports of mice and cockroach infestations in the West Wing, broken toilet seats in the Oval Office and numerous other problems.The documents, obtained by NBC4 Washington, were made public this week just months after President Trump reportedly criticized the shape that it was left in by the previous administration. That White House is a real dump, he said, according to Golf magazine.While the president later denied the comment, it turns out, there really are loads of issues plaguing the historic structure.White House officials made hundreds of requests for repairs, equipment and pest control in 2017 with the US General Services Administration many of which were similar to those made in 2016 during Barack Obama s final year in office, NBC4 reports.The work orders were similar in number and included reports of mice, cockroaches and even ants!Some orders listed simple projects such as broken doors and chairs, while others detailed requests for TV systems and new decor. It s an enormous job. GSA is assigned to manage that job, explained former GSA Inspector General Brian Miller.Some of the work that needs to be done inside the White House listed a mid-April deadline, though it s unclear if this was actually met. It s also not known if any of the aforementioned issues were ever fixed or dealt with. They are old buildings, Miller said of the grounds at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Any of us who have old houses know old houses need a lot of work. Via: NYP | 1real |
Trump's Supreme Court pick dispirited by president's tweets | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, on Wednesday described as “demoralizing” and “disheartening” the U.S. president’s Twitter attacks on a judge who suspended Trump’s travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, a spokesman for Gorsuch said. Gorsuch’s comments came as a federal appeals court in San Francisco was expected to decide in coming days on the narrow question of whether U.S. District Judge James Robart acted properly in temporarily halting enforcement of Trump’s ban. A Republican strategist hired by the White House to help guide Gorsuch’s nomination through the U.S. Senate said that Gorsuch, himself an appeals court judge, used those words when he met with Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. Trump, who took office on Jan. 20, took to Twitter over the weekend to condemn the Friday night order by Robart that placed on hold the president’s Jan. 27 temporary travel ban on people from the seven countries and all refugees. Trump called Robart a “so-called judge” whose “ridiculous” opinion “essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country.” Trump’s administration appealed Robart’s ruling to a three-judge federal appeals panel, which heard oral arguments on Tuesday. Presidents are usually hesitant to weigh in on judicial matters out of respect for the U.S. Constitution, which ensures a separation of powers among the president’s executive branch, Congress and the judiciary. The Republican-led Senate on Wednesday confirmed immigration hardliner Republican Senator Jeff Sessions to be the next attorney general despite strong Democratic opposition. Trump says his executive order aims to head off attacks by Islamist militants. The order, the most divisive act of Trump’s young presidency, sparked protests and chaos at U.S. and overseas airports. Critics said the ban unfairly targeted people for their religion. “I don’t ever want to call a court biased,” Trump told hundreds of police chiefs and sheriffs from major cities at a meeting in a Washington hotel on Wednesday. “So I won’t call it biased. And we haven’t had a decision yet. But courts seem to be so political.” Trump nominated Gorsuch on Jan. 31 to succeed conservative Justice Antonin Scalia on the nine-member Supreme Court. Scalia died a year ago this month. Blumenthal, a member of the Judiciary Committee that will hold a confirmation hearing on Gorsuch, said the nominee had a responsibility to reassure Americans that he would be an open-minded and independent jurist by going public with his concerns about Trump. The appeals court decision on whether to reinstate the ban, will be just a first step in a fast-moving case. The courts will ultimately have to address questions about the extent of the president’s power on matters of immigration and national security. Traditionally, judges have been extremely cautious about stepping on the executive branch’s authority in such matters, legal experts say, although some note that the implementation of Trump’s order presents unique issues. Trump’s order barred travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering for 90 days and all refugees for 120 days, except those from civil war-torn Syria, who are subject to an indefinite ban. Also at issue is whether the order violates a provision of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits laws favoring one religion over another, along with relevant discrimination laws. Trump, a Republican, has made extensive use of presidential directives that bypass Congress and has appeared to be taken aback by legal challenges to his travel order. He praised a federal judge in Boston who earlier ruled in his favor on the travel ban as a “highly respected” jurist whose findings were “perfect.” Last year, Trump accused Indiana-born U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel of bias in overseeing a lawsuit against one of Trump’s businesses, Trump University, because of his Mexican heritage. Democrats and other critics have called Trump’s comments toward the judiciary an attack on a core principle of American democracy: that the courts are independent and uphold the rule of law. At the meeting with law enforcement officials, Trump read from the law he cited to justify the travel ban, quoting it in fragments and sprinkling in bits of interpretation. He said the law clearly allowed a president to suspend entry of any class of people if he determined them to be a detriment to national security. The matter is likely to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is ideologically split with four liberal justices and four conservatives pending Senate action on Trump’s nomination of Gorsuch, a conservative jurist. U.S. State Department figures showed that 480 refugees had been admitted to the United States since Robart’s order went into effect, including 168 on Wednesday. Of those admitted, 198 were from war-torn Syria. | 0fake |
Trump Turns Staid Process Into Spectacle as Aspirants Parade to His Door - The New York Times | BEDMINSTER, N. J. — Donald J. Trump has turned the vital, but normally inscrutable, process of forming a government into a spectacle, parading his finalists for top administration positions this weekend before reporters and the world. The two days unfolded like a pageant, with the many officials striding up the circular driveway at Trump National Golf Club here, meeting Mr. Trump below three glass chandeliers at the entrance and shaking hands while facing the cameras. To build suspense, Mr. Trump offered teasing hints about coming announcements. “I think so,” he said about whether he would make any appointments on Sunday. “I think so. It could very well happen. ” Among the contenders he met with was James N. Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general. He appears — according to Mr. Trump’s own words on Twitter — to be the leading candidate for defense secretary. Outside the club’s farmhouse on Saturday, the poked a finger in General Mattis’s direction and called him “a great man. ” The next morning, at 8:39, Mr. Trump gushed again, this time on Twitter, calling him “very impressive” and saying he was “a true general’s general!” Perhaps by design, the roster of figures arriving at the club was difficult to pigeonhole: There were loyalists (Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor) former adversaries (Mitt Romney, who once called Mr. Trump a “phony”) Democrats (Michelle A. Rhee, the former schools chief in Washington) and scientists (Patrick a billionaire cancer doctor). But despite that appearance of diversity, Mr. Trump’s choices so far for national security posts seem to show a preference for older white men with similar views on immigration, the military and terrorism. Most of the leading candidates for other jobs appear to be white men, as well, including Mr. Giuliani, whose own business activities have faced scrutiny. If he is nominated as secretary of state, Mr. Giuliani would face questions over his security firm’s ties to the government of Qatar and the speeches he gave to an Iranian exile opposition group that until 2012 was on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. Asked whether he was concerned about Mr. Giuliani’s business dealings, Mr. Trump said, “No, not at all. ” Mr. Trump, as he used his golf resort as the backdrop for his official activities, gave no indication that he was concerned about news reports over the weekend that he had held meetings last week with three Indian business partners even as he was starting to assemble his administration. The very public process — CNN trained a camera on the golf club’s wooden front door throughout the day on Sunday — has borne few similarities to attempts by Mr. Trump’s predecessors to project an image of careful, private vetting of hopefuls. Officials running President Obama’s transition in late 2008 took pains to keep under wraps his plans to select Hillary Clinton for secretary of state, and they orchestrated a secret meeting at the firehouse at Reagan National Airport to discuss keeping Robert M. Gates as defense secretary. But for Mr. Trump and his aides, many of whom have long rejected the capital’s customs, such traditions are best discarded. “This has been a year and election cycle where the normal conventions and past history has been challenged,” said Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist whose longtime boss, Mr. Romney, discussed the secretary of state post with Mr. Trump. “Why would the transition and the first few months of the administration be any different?” Mr. Madden said. “Trump does things Trump’s way. ” After each interview, Mr. Trump, dressed in a suit and tie, emerged from the club next to an American flag to see the candidates off to their vehicles and once again speak with reporters. “Tremendous talent — we’re seeing tremendous talent,” Mr. Trump said on Saturday. “People that, as I say, we will ‘make America great again.’ These are really great people. These are really, really talented people. ” By the evening, however, Mr. Trump had announced no appointments, leaving reporters waiting on the cold, gusty day to speculate about Mr. Trump’s brief comments. “We made a couple of deals,” he said as his weekend of interviews drew to a close. Mr. Giuliani is apparently in competition with several others for the secretary of state position, including David H. Petraeus, the retired general who served as Mr. Obama’s C. I. A. director before leaving amid revelations that he had provided classified information to a woman with whom he was having an affair. Mr. Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and one of Mr. Trump’s fiercest critics during the 2016 campaign, met with the on Saturday. If he becomes secretary of state, he could be a moderating influence on the Mr. Trump has chosen for attorney general, national security adviser and C. I. A. director. “I can say that Governor Romney is under active and serious consideration to serve as secretary of state of the United States,” Vice Mike Pence said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation” program. Mr. Trump’s consideration of General Mattis, who is widely respected throughout the military, could also signal an effort to ease concerns among members of the Washington establishment about the shape of his cabinet. General Mattis, who led the First Marine Division during the 2003 invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein, later commanded American troops during the battle to retake Falluja from Sunni insurgents in 2004. But his argument for a tougher military posture against Iran at times clashed with the views of Mr. Obama and his national security team. General Mattis, who would be the first former ranking general to become defense secretary since George Marshall in the early 1950s, would need a congressional waiver to take office because federal law stipulates that the Pentagon chief be out of uniform for seven years. General Mattis retired from the Marines in 2013. As Mr. Trump moves to complete his national security team, he may soon turn his attention to domestic affairs. Aides have said members of the transition effort’s economic and domestic policy teams will fan out to meet with agency officials starting on Monday. Mr. Obama, asked Sunday at a summit meeting in Lima, Peru, about stances Mr. Trump has taken that align with the views of his nascent national security team, said: “I can’t guarantee that the won’t pursue some of the positions that he’s taken. But what I can guarantee is that reality will force him to adjust how he approaches many of these issues. That’s just the way this office works. ” Mr. Trump also continued his practice of bursts on Twitter this weekend. Before attending church with Mr. Pence, Mr. Trump condemned the cast of “Hamilton” for its onstage appeal on Friday night to the vice — who was in the audience — to uphold the rights of a “diverse America. ” “The cast and producers of ‘Hamilton,’ which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior,” Mr. Trump wrote. In another Twitter post, the expressed his disapproval of “Saturday Night Live,” calling it a “totally biased show — nothing funny at all. ” Mr. Trump was portrayed on the show as being overwhelmed by the prospect of being president. Even as Mr. Trump bemoaned the actions of the cast of “Hamilton,” a smash hit on Broadway, Mr. Pence said on Sunday morning that he was not offended or bothered. In an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Mr. Pence said he would “leave it to others” to decide whether the theater was an appropriate place for a political message. “‘Hamilton’ is just an incredible production and just incredibly talented people,” Mr. Pence said. “It was a real joy to be there. ” | 0fake |
ObamaCare's future: 11 ways the health care law could be dismantled in 2015 | “Everything you have seen here has been an illusion.” Those are not the words of President Obama. But given what we now know about ObamaCare, they well could have been.
Instead, they are the words of Eisenheim, a 19th century master magician in the fictional film, “The Illusionist.” And, just like Obama, he uses his abilities to fool the masses into believing that his artifices are quite real.
The president sold his health care plan on the promise that it would help Americans who had no insurance, but all others would remain unaffected. It proved to be an illusion.
Millions of Americans lost their insurance, their doctors, and their hospitals. Average premiums did not go down by $2,500, as promised. They went up appreciably, rendering the term, “ Care Act,” an oxymoron.
The tax was cleverly disguised as a penalty because, as Jonathan Gruber the so-called architect of the ACA confessed recently, Americans are stupid. And the quintessential cover-up obscured the identity of those who would pay for it:young, healthy individuals subsidizing older, sick people. It was a scheme of deception designed to fool Americans. An artifice. In a court of law, it would be called fraud.
Either the president knew his promises were untrue and deliberately set out to deceive Americans or he inexplicably believed it was true but did not bother to read or understand the bill he signed into law. Which means he was both naïve and incompetent, but slightly better than malicious. No mea culpa will ever undo the damage.
What can be undone are key parts of ObamaCare. Republicans are vowing to try. Some Democrats, fraught with buyer’s remorse, may join them.
All the impassioned rhetoric about repealing ObamaCare in its entirety is nothing more than political phantasm.The new Senate does not have a veto-proof majority of 67 votes. It's simple math.
Republicans will, of course, pursue the charade because that is one of Washington’s quaint traditions. But once the symbolic pretense is over, the new Congress may go about disassembling ObamaCare, piecemeal. How exactly? Here are some of the ways:
1. Revisit the employer mandate. Under ObamaCare, companies with at least 50 full-time employees are required to provide insurance. Under pressure from businesses and even members of his own party, Obama delayed implementation. Republicans would like to kill it completely, but this is a long shot.
2. Revisit the individual mandate.All Americans are forced to buy health insurance or face a tax penalty. Although it remains the most unpopular part of ObamaCare, the Supreme Court narrowly upheld this provision. Removing it from the health care law would undermine the premise and financial stability of ACA which means the president would surely put ink on a veto. So this is the longest of long shots.
3. Repeal the medical device tax. The tax on medical devices helps generate revenue to pay for low-income subsidies. But the 2.3 % tax also hurts manufacturers and has a negative impact on the economy. There is bipartisan support for repealing the tax and it probably has the best prospect of passage.
4. Revisit what constitutes "full time" employment. Changing the definition of “full time” employee from 30 hours to 40 hours per week would allow many businesses to hire more people without being forced to provide employer coverage. It would help stem job losses caused by the law. This idea is gaining traction.
5. Federal reimbursements. The federal government is required to reimburse insurance companies when their costs end up higher than anticipated. Derided as a blatant “bail-out,” it could be on the chopping block.
6. Medical board. Written into the ACA law is an Independent Payment Advisory Board which oversees health care pricing.The much maligned board has yet to be activated, so repeal stands a decent chance of happening.
7. Lowering subsidies. ObamaCare could be made more affordable to the government if subsidies given to low-income enrollees were reduced. Obviously, this would increase the cost to participants, but modifying the subsidies has some support.
8. New “copper” plan. Creating a new, lower cost category of ObamaCare coverage would reduce the high price of premiums, but increase out-of-pocket expenses born by participants.This would attract those who must comply with the law but desire the lowest cost available. It might also spawn creation of additional low cost plans which consumers crave. It is doable.
9. Withhold funding.Not all ObamaCare funding is mandatory.Some administrative costs, for example, are funded through discretionary appropriations. Congress could vote to stop funding for certain provisions, making full implementation difficult. However, the president could veto such a spending bill even in the face of another government shutdown.
10. Republican alternatives.With both houses of Congress now in its control, the GOP will likely intensify the push for its own alternative ideas: bills that would allow people to purchase insurance across state lines to increase competition and lower premium prices, promote health savings accounts, permit small businesses to “pool” their employees together to gain better insurance rates and coverage, tax credits for those individuals without employer provided insurance, limiting medical malpractice awards which are a driver of overall health costs, and Medicaid reform.
11. Supreme Court decision. Beyond congressional action, the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to hear a formidable challenge to ObamaCare which could seriously destabilize the law. A key provision requires that subsidies be given to eligible individuals enrolled through an “exchange established by the state.” It was purportedly designed as an incentive for states to set-up their own exchanges. However, 37 states chose not to do so, relying, instead, on federal exchanges. Supporters of ObamaCare claim it was merely a hasty mistake -- some have called it a "typo."
If the high court disagrees by ruling that some 5 million people on federal exchanges are not eligible for financial assistance under the plain meaning of the statute, this could shatter the financial underpinnings of ObamaCare.
Of course, predicting how the Supremes will rule is a fool’s errand. But one thing is certain, the president cannot now go back to Congress to try to fix the textual language of his signature achievement. Republicans will control both houses in 2015.
There have been 42 significant changes to ObamaCare so far, 24 of them ordered unilaterally by the president. Setting aside the question of his legal authority to do, all these revisions underscore what an ill-conceived and poorly crafted law this was from the outset. But it also belies another promise averred by Obama that his new law would be fair.
It is hardly fair to enforce the mandate on individual Americans, while granting a myriad of waivers, exemptions, exceptions and delays for select businesses and unions who supported the president.
Polls show that Americans were overwhelmingly against ObamaCare before it ever passed.Their antipathy has remained constant, as people continue to recoil from an unpopular law that deprives them of their freedom of choice in matters which are inherently personal -- their health. They resent such decisions being made for them by their government. A new Gallup poll finds a majority of Americans (56 %) disapprove of ObamaCare, while 37 % approve.
Obama has only himself to blame for the manifest flaws in his grand illusion. Driven by an authoritarian impulse, he forced ObamaCare through a compliant Democratically controlled Congress, never giving anyone a chance to digest the 2,700 page bill and what it might portend for America.
Obama’s promised transparency was a concomitant fraud epitomized by then-House leader Nancy Pelosi when she sputtered one of the most baffling and incomprehensible lines in American politics, “we have to pass the bill, so that you can find out what’s in it.”
Well, now we know.
The wreckage wrought by ObamaCare is strewn across the landscape of American lives. People have seen their premiums rise, deductibles escalate, benefits decline, quality of care diminish, plans cancelled and doctors vanish.
For what? When he began his first term, President Obama vowed his health care law “will cover every American.” Yet, 41 million Americans are still uninsured.Is the law worth the $2 trillion dollars in taxpayer expense and the loss of 2.5 million jobs, as estimated by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office?
Our president thinks so. He insists he is proud of the pejorative, “ObamaCare.” If so, he is a modern-day Eisenheim, America’s “illusionist,” fooling no one but himself.
Gregg Jarrett is a Fox News Anchor and former defense attorney. | 0fake |
U.N. Relief Official Calls Crisis in Aleppo the ‘Apex of Horror’ - The New York Times | The top aid official at the United Nations gave a gloomy assessment of the Syria relief effort on Monday, saying no convoy deliveries had been made to besieged areas this month and that the suffering in Aleppo, once Syria’s commercial epicenter, was the “apex of horror. ” In a briefing to the Security Council, the official, Stephen O’Brien, the under secretary general for humanitarian affairs, said that while he welcomed Russia’s support last week for a in Aleppo — as he had proposed earlier in the month — there had been no assurances from other combatants. “This cannot be a offer,” Mr. O’Brien said. “Plans are in place, but we need the agreement of all parties to let us do our job. ” United Nations officials have said that the fighting in Aleppo — pitting Syrian government forces and their Russian backers against an array of insurgents, including Islamist militants — has left 275, 000 people in eastern Aleppo completely cut off from food, water and medicine, and has severely limited aid deliveries to 1. 5 million people in western Aleppo. Humanitarian access to hundreds of thousands of Syrians in other combat zones has been blocked by fighting, security concerns and the Syrian bureaucracy, Mr. O’Brien said, despite an international agreement reached in May to permit truck convoy deliveries. As a result, Mr. O’Brien said, no convoys were dispatched in August, despite some successful, if limited, deliveries in July. “We unfortunately appear to be, once again, in reverse gear,” Mr. O’Brien said. He described the crisis in Aleppo, portrayed in images of dead and wounded children like that of a boy pulled from the rubble last week, as “the apex of horror at its most horrific extent of the suffering of people. ” While he said efforts were still underway to secure the proposed in Aleppo, Mr. O’Brien expressed little hope of avoiding “a humanitarian catastrophe unparalleled in the over five years of bloodshed and carnage in the Syrian conflict. ” | 0fake |
COLIN POWELL Picked On The Wrong Guy: GENERAL FLYNN Rips Him To Shreds Over Nasty Comments In Leaked Emails [VIDEO] | After General Powell s email server was hacked it seems that Hillary and Trump were not the only ones he attacked with insults and nasty rhetoric.Powell went after retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a top Trump military adviser. Powell called Flynn a jerk who is unchained and a right-wing nutty. Powell however had to admit once called on the insults that he has actually never even met Flynn nor did he ever serve with him.He responded by stating, Talking to people in the know, his real problem was leadership and management issues at DIA. Senior staff was in incipient revolt. He has been over the top in his comments, conduct unbecoming. But he is unchained. He continues by saying, Pattern of behavior which is why he was fired. Real question is how he got that far in the Army. Flynn did respond during an interview on the Kelly File. I ve actually been called worse things by my little sister. He went on to say, Colin Powell, he s an amazing guy, amazing service, but he s actually, you know, as a footnote in history, he s going to be always struggling for his credibility because of the statement that he made to the United Nations that brought us into the war in Iraq. After the disparaging remarks towards Hillary, Trump, Flynn and a even a few other service members were highlighted as having been said by Powell, Flynn did caution that prominent individuals need to be more careful about what they send electronically.H/T [ Fox ] | 1real |
Trump accuses U.S. spy agencies of Nazi practices over 'phony' Russia dossier | NEW YORK (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump escalated a fight with U.S. spy agencies on Wednesday, just nine days before he takes over their command as president, and accused them of practices reminiscent of Nazi Germany. The Republican said leaks from the intelligence community led to some U.S. media outlets reporting unsubstantiated claims that he was caught in a compromising position in Russia. “I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. I think it’s a disgrace, and I say that ... that’s something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do,” Trump told a news conference in New York. Trump acknowledged for the first time that Russia likely hacked the Democratic National Committee and the emails of top Democrats during the 2016 presidential election. “I think it was Russia,” he said, pointing out that other countries were also hacking the United States. Trump’s comments about spy agencies such as the CIA are likely to intensify tensions between the intelligence community and the president-elect, who initially disparaged its conclusion that a Russian hacking campaign was aimed at boosting his candidacy against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, called a dossier that makes salacious claims about him in Russia “fake news” and “phony stuff.” U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said he spoke with Trump on Wednesday evening and told the president-elect he did not believe the media leaks came from the intelligence community. “I expressed my profound dismay at the leaks that have been appearing in the press, and we both agreed that they are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security,” Clapper said in a statement. He defended including the dossier in the intelligence report Trump received on Friday, saying “part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security.” Clapper said he emphasized to Trump that the dossier was not produced by the U.S. intelligence community and intelligence officials have not judged whether the information is reliable. Two U.S. officials said the allegations about Trump, which one called “unsubstantiated,” were contained in a two-page memo appended to a report on Russian interference in the 2016 election that was presented last week to Trump and to President Barack Obama. Trump said, without offering evidence, that the news he had been briefed on the memo “was released by maybe the (U.S.) intelligence agencies. Who knows? But maybe the intelligence agencies which would be a tremendous blot on their record if they in fact did that.” CNN reported on Tuesday about the existence of the memo. BuzzFeed published a fuller 35-page document produced by Christopher Steele, a former British foreign intelligence official, that outlined the allegations of compromising behavior by Trump and alleged links between him and people in Russia. The claims were included in opposition research reports that were made available to Democrats and U.S. officials last year. One U.S. official said investigators had so far been unable to confirm material about Trump’s financial and personal entanglements with Russian businessmen and others whom U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded are Russian intelligence officers or working on behalf of Russian intelligence. Some material in Steele’s reports has proved to be erroneous, the U.S. official said. In the news conference, Trump declined to answer whether anyone connected to him or the campaign had contact with Moscow during the presidential campaign, and said he had no loans or business deals with Russia. He defended his goal of better ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability,” he said. The New York real estate developer complained about leaks from meetings he has with intelligence agencies and suggested they were to blame. “I have many meetings with intelligence. And every time I meet, people are reading about it. Somebody’s leaking it out,” he said. The long-awaited news conference was a freewheeling affair, with Trump aides cheering from the sidelines at one point and the president-elect angrily refusing to take questions from a CNN reporter. Outside, about a dozen protesters gathered behind a police barricade across the street from Trump Tower, holding signs with the slogans “Dump Trump” and “Allegiance To America Not Russia” as Fifth Avenue traffic streamed by. It was Trump’s first news conference in about six months and about 250 reporters jammed into the lobby at his Manhattan offices. Questions extended to many issues that will face him when he takes office. He vowed to soon begin negotiations with Mexico on building a border wall and said he will nominate a Supreme Court justice to fill the seat left by the death of conservative Antonin Scalia within two weeks of taking office. He also said he would offer a plan to repeal and replace Obama’s signature health care law once his choice for health and human services, Tom Price, is confirmed by the Senate. Trump gestured to large stacks of manila folders as he described how he will separate himself from his global business operations, which includes hotels and golf courses as well as assets like a winery and modeling agency, to avoid conflicts of interest once he takes office. He also talked about how he plans to bring manufacturing jobs back from overseas plants, slamming drug companies for “getting away with murder” on pricing. U.S. stocks slipped to session lows, before recovering ground, as healthcare stocks took a beating following Trump’s comments on drug pricing. | 0fake |
What Hath Trump Wrought? | Donald Trump at a town hall meeting in Derry, New Hampshire, August 19, 2015 (Michael Vadon/licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0) | 1real |
Immigration Ban Is Unlikely to Reduce Terrorist Threat, Experts Say - The New York Times | Rarely does an executive order announce a more straightforward and laudable purpose than the one President Trump signed on Friday: “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States. ” But the president’s directive is unlikely to significantly reduce the terrorist threat in the United States, which has been a minuscule part of the overall toll of violence since 2001. Many experts believe the order’s unintended consequences will make the threat worse. While the order requires the Department of Homeland Security to issue a report within 180 days providing detailed statistics on foreign nationals who commit acts of violence, terrorism researchers have already produced rich and revealing data. For instance, since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, no one has been killed in the United States in a terrorist attack by anyone who emigrated from or whose parents emigrated from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, the seven countries targeted in the order’s visa ban, according to Charles Kurzman, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina. Of Muslim Americans involved in violent extremism of any kind — for instance, charged with plotting terrorism or supporting a terrorist group — only 23 percent had family backgrounds in those countries, said Mr. Kurzman, who just published the latest of his annual studies of Muslim Americans and terrorism. The larger point of experts is that jihadist attacks garner news attention that far outstrips their prevalence in the United States, and the president’s order appears to address not a rational calculation of risks but the visceral fears that terrorists set out to inflame. There was a random quality to the list of countries: It excluded Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where the founders of Al Qaeda and many other jihadist groups have originated. Also excluded are Pakistan and Afghanistan, where persistent extremism and decades of war have produced militants who have occasionally reached the United States. Notably, perhaps, the list avoided Muslim countries where Mr. Trump has major business ventures. Nor did the list include the European countries where disenfranchised Muslim communities have become hotbeds of militancy, leading to major attacks in Paris and Brussels in the name of the Islamic State. Because no visas are required for travel by most European citizens to the United States, and because of the volume of tourism and business, restricting travel from Europe would have been far more difficult and consequential than banning it from only the seven countries named. By Mr. Kurzman’s count, 123 people have been killed in the United States by Muslim terrorists since the 2001 attacks — out of a total of more than 230, 000 killings, by gang members, drug dealers, angry spouses, white supremacists, psychopaths, drunks and people of every description. So the order addresses, at most, 870th of the problem of lethal violence in America. If the toll of Sept. 11 is included, jihadists still account for just over 1 percent of killings. “My advice to the new administration would be to declare victory,” Mr. Kurzman said. For the average American, he added, “your odds of being victimized by a terrorist attack are infinitesimal. ” But terrorists — the root of the word means “to cause to tremble” — do not operate in the realm of dry facts and statistics. Their purpose is to terrify, and they use random and spectacular violence to do it, with an invaluable assist from the saturation coverage on cable television and news websites that such outrages inevitably draw. To the rational calculations of Mr. Kurzman, one might simply reply with the list of American cities where horrific jihadist attacks have occurred in recent years: Boston San Bernardino, Calif. and Orlando, Fla. — place names that conjure up images of ghastly wounds, bodies and frightened people running for cover. In Gallup polls, the number of Americans “very worried” or “somewhat worried” about such attacks generally hovers between 30 and 50 percent, with understandable spikes after new attacks. In the political realm, where emotions and symbols hold sway, Mr. Trump’s order may reassure some Americans that they are safer from terrorism, and more generally, from concerns that Muslim immigrants may bring an alien culture. (While ostensibly addressing terrorism, it also says that the United States should be protected against those with “hostile attitudes toward it and its founding principles” or those “who do not support the Constitution. ”) The trouble with such reassurance, even if it is effective, is that it comes at a high cost, in the view of many experts on terrorism. That cost will be counted not just domestically but also abroad, where the United States relies on allies, including Muslim countries, for intelligence and other help against terrorism. “In my opinion, this is just a huge mistake in terms of counterterrorism cooperation,” said Daniel Benjamin, formerly the State Department’s top counterterrorism official and now a scholar at Dartmouth. “For the life of me, I don’t see why we would want to alienate the Iraqis when they are the ground force against ISIS. ” At home as well, Mr. Benjamin said, the president’s order is likely to prove counterproductive. The jihadist threat in the United States has turned out to be largely homegrown, he said, and the order will encourage precisely the resentments and anxieties on the part of Muslims that fuel, in rare cases, support for the ideology of the Islamic State or Al Qaeda. “It sends an unmistakable message to the American Muslim community that they are facing discrimination and isolation,” Mr. Benjamin said. That, he said, will “feed the jihadist narrative” that the United States is at war with Islam, potentially encouraging a few more Muslims to plot violence. For an action aimed at terrorism, the order appeared to garner little or no support among experts and former officials of every political stripe with experience in the field. Jonathan Schanzer, the vice president for research at the conservative Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said that if the temporary visa ban was used to review and improve immigration vetting procedures, it might be justified. But he added that he knew of no obvious problems with those procedures, and no specific plans to address such issues during the temporary restrictions on visitors and refugees. “The order appears to be based mainly on a campaign promise,” he said. Mr. Schanzer said he was frustrated that during the Obama administration, there had been inadequate attention to the ultimate driver of refugee flows and jihadist terrorism in the United States and elsewhere. “We have several bloody, complex and interlocking conflicts in the Middle East,” he said. “It’s the job of the new administration to come up with policies that address those conflicts. Admittedly, that is not easy. ” Much easier, clearly, is issuing an executive order with political appeal and a title that seems to smack of common sense. But as the Trump administration is finding out, such pronouncements from an American president have many consequences, not all of them intended, anticipated or desired. | 0fake |
Rapper Troy Ave Is Shot in Brooklyn - The New York Times | Troy Ave, the Brooklyn rapper charged with attempted murder after a May shooting at a concert at a Manhattan club, was shot twice on Sunday, the police said. The rapper, whose real name is Roland Collins, was driving a red Maserati around 4:20 p. m. in Brooklyn when an unidentified man approached the vehicle, which was stopped at an intersection at East 91st Street and Linden Boulevard. The gunman fired multiple rounds, the police said. Mr. Collins was struck twice, taking a gunshot wound to the arm and a graze wound to his head. He then crashed his vehicle into a parked car. Mr. Collins went to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, where he was hospitalized in fair condition. The police are investigating the shooting, though they said they had no description of the gunman. No arrests had been made as of Sunday night. In June, Mr. Collins pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and other counts in connection with the shooting at the Irving Plaza concert hall in Manhattan. In August, he sued the club and the concert promoter Live Nation, which oversees the club, accusing it of lax security. The shooting occurred at a May 25 show that was to feature the rapper T. I. Before he was able to perform, however, shots were fired in a green room, killing Mr. Collins’s bodyguard Ronald McPhatter, 33, and wounding Mr. Collins and two other people. Security footage showed Mr. Collins firing one shot amid the scuffle. He had been scheduled to appear as a guest of T. I. that night and had entered through a V. I. P. entrance, according to the lawsuit. | 0fake |
Samuel L. Jackson and Others on Black British Actors in American Roles - The New York Times | LONDON — The actor Samuel L. Jackson has sidled into a debate about the roles for black actors on both sides of the Atlantic. In an interview with the radio station Hot 97 posted online on Monday, Mr. Jackson questioned the casting of the black British actor Daniel Kaluuya in the film “Get Out,” about a black American’s encounter with his white girlfriend’s creepy family. Mr. Jackson suggested that “an American brother” might have brought a deeper perspective to the role, and suggested that black Britons had endured less racism than . He noted that British actors often secured American roles because they are less well known and therefore paid less, and because many of them are valued for their classical training. Jordan Peele, the writer and director of “Get Out,” has acknowledged that he was hesitant to cast a British actor, given that the film focuses on the experience. Mr. Jackson said on Wednesday that his intention had been to comment on Hollywood, not to “slam” Mr. Kaluuya. And while his comments have been criticized by many black commentators — American and British — some British performers do seem to find it easier to get roles in the United States than at home. Here is what some British minority actors who have worked in the United States have said about the issue. Mr. Boyega, who is from South London, plays Finn in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens. ” While the role is not American per se, given that the film unfolds in a distant galaxy, Finn speaks with an entirely convincing American accent. In a tweet on Tuesday, Mr. Boyega appeared to dismiss Mr. Jackson’s comments: “Black brits vs African American,” he wrote, saying that the conflict was “stupid” and one “we don’t have time for. ” It’s not just black British actors who have found success in the United States. Mr. Ahmed, a British actor of Pakistani descent, has slipped into several American roles, including the lead character, Nasir, on HBO’s series “The Night Of,” and a philandering surfing instructor on “Girls,” also on HBO. He recently addressed Parliament about a lack and misrepresentation of minority characters in the arts, suggesting that the problem might even be driving young Britons toward extremist beliefs. “We end up going to America to find work,” Mr. Ahmed said. “I meet with producers and directors here and they say, ‘We don’t have anything for you all our stories are set in Cornwall in the 1600s. ’” Ms. Harris, who plays Paula, the mother of the lead character, Chiron, in the “Moonlight,” is from London. She had to film her scenes in the movie in just three days, because of issues securing a visa to the United States. “I definitely think that for my career to have continued I definitely had to go to America, and I’m really glad that I did there is just a lot more material,” Ms. Harris told reporters at the premiere of “Moonlight” at the London Film Festival last year. Mr. Ejiofor portrayed Solomon Northup, a free who was abducted and enslaved in the century. He has made an acting career with a foot on both sides of the Atlantic. In a 2015 interview with Time Out, he seemed to shy from discussion of the role race had played in his career, but suggested that the notable success that British actors of all races have enjoyed in the United States may have to do with different career expectations. “We all wanted to be theater actors,” he said of his fellow Britons. “It’s less glamorous much more about the work. You have to get on with it. You have to know when something’s not working. And you have to hone your craft. Maybe that gives us an advantage. ” Mr. Oyelowo, who is based in the United States, toiled in smaller roles before landing the part of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 2014 drama “Selma. ” In a speech on diversity in London last year, Mr. Oyelowo pleaded with members of the British film industry to create more roles for minorities in Britain, noting that many actors felt obliged to move to the United States. “Please stop this talent drain,” he said. “You have to change the demographics of the people who are making these decisions. ” Mr. Elba grew up in London and broke into the American market with his starring role as the Baltimore drug lord Stringer Bell on HBO’s “The Wire. ” In an address to Parliament last year, Mr. Elba called on media representatives to make more room for minorities. “The Britain I come from is the most successful, diverse, multicultural country on Earth,” Mr. Elba said. “But here’s my point: You wouldn’t know it if you turned on the TV. ” Sophie Okonedo described herself as a Jewish, Nigerian Brit when accepting her 2014 Tony Award for playing the character Ruth Winger in “A Raisin in the Sun” on Broadway. She told The Guardian in 2014 that she saw far more opportunities for roles in the United States than in Britain. “I do notice that — over the last year — I’ve had maybe two scripts from England and tens and tens from America,” she said. “The balance is ridiculous. ” | 0fake |
WOW! UN AMBASSADOR Nikki Haley BLASTS UN Vote…Tweets LIST Of Nations Who VOTED To SUPPORT President Trump’s Declaration Of Jerusalem As Israel’s Capital | Yesterday, President Trump threatened to cut foreign aid to countries that vote in the UN for a resolution condemning his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.UN Ambassador Nikki Haley echoed President Trump s sentiment preceding the UN vote today:Referencing tomorrow's UN vote criticizing the US embassy move. In the words of the President, "Let them vote against us, we'll save a lot." pic.twitter.com/eUGWD4cCBR Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) December 20, 2017 I like the message that Nikki sent yesterday at the United Nations for all of these nations that take our money and then they vote against us at the Security Council, or they vote against us potentially at the [General] Assembly, he said about US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley.She had said a day earlier that the US would be taking names of countries that voted for the resolution. They take hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions of dollars, and then they vote against us. Well, we re watching those votes. Let them vote against us, we ll save a lot. We don t care, Trump said during a cabinet meeting at the White House.The president contended that American officials don t even know what foreign countries do with the money the US sends them. NYPToday, the Independent UK reported that the UN General Assembly voted 128-9 to declare US President Donald Trump s declaration of Jerusalem as Israel s capital null and void .The vote, while a victory for the Palestinians, was significantly lower than its supporters had hoped for, with many forecasting at least 150 yes votes. There were a total of 35, while 21 nations did not turn up for the vote.Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed the result, his spokesman saying: The vote is a victory for Palestine. We will continue our efforts in the United Nations and at all international forums to put an end to this occupation and to establish our Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital. UN Ambassador Nikki Haley tweeted the vote tally, saying 68 countries refused to condemn the United States and 128 voted against us. There were 35 abstentionsThe vote is in 65 countries refused to condemn the United States and 128 voted against us. Final vote tally to follow. Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) December 21, 2017Haley also tweeted a message to thank the nations who stood behind President Trump. Her message included a list of those nations who stood by President Trump and his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel:We appreciate these countries for not falling to the irresponsible ways of the @UN: pic.twitter.com/a0hUTepD8H Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) December 21, 2017Here s a close up look at the list:Ambassador Haley also made clear the decision of the U.S. to move forward with its plans to move the embassy to Jerusalem:Ms Haley said no vote in the United Nations will make any difference on the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem, which will go ahead because it is the right thing to do. She said the United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very right of exercising our right as a sovereign nation. We will remember it when we are called upon once again to make the world s largest contribution to the United Nations, she says. And we will remember when so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit. Ms Haley said the vote will make a difference on how Americans look at the UN and on how we look at countries who disrespect us in the UN, and this vote will be remembered. Israel s prime minister says he completely rejects the preposterous UN resolution declaring the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital as null and void. Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video posted to Facebook that Jerusalem always was, always will be Israel s capital. He also says he appreciates that a growing number of countries refuse to participate in this theatre of the absurd. Mr. Netanyahu also thanked President Donald Trump for his stalwart defense of Israel. | 1real |
President-Elect Trump Proved Me Wrong About This Election. Now I Ardently Pray He Proves Me Wrong About Him. | I was dead wrong about this election.
I was wrong that Donald Trump would not win in the primaries.
I was wrong that Donald Trump would not beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. Comment on this Article Via Your Facebook Account Comment on this Article Via Your Disqus Account Follow Us on Facebook! | 1real |
Top French Right-Winger Left Unconscious After Campaign Clash | PARIS (AFP) — A top candidate for France’s Republicans, Nathalie was left unconscious Thursday after a clash with a protestor while out campaigning for this weekend’s legislative elections in Paris.[ widely known by her initials NKM, was insulted by a man while visiting a market in central Paris and then lost her balance when he tried to throw her campaign leaflets in her face, an AFP journalist at the scene said. After falling, she blacked out for several minutes possibly after hitting her head, before being revived by emergency services. Her aggressor, a man in a shirt and chinos, left the scene immediately. NKM, 44, is campaigning ahead of the second round of France’s parliamentary election this Sunday. The former minister and spokeswoman under Nicolas Sarkozy faces a battle to win a seat in her central Paris constituency against Gilles Le Gendre from the Republic on the Move party of President Emmanuel Macron. | 0fake |
Despite Cancer Diagnosis and Husband’s Death, Keeping a Positive Outlook - The New York Times | Recalling that moment four years ago, when Gertrudis Torres learned she had Stage 3 breast cancer, still causes her breathing to become heavy and tears to well up. The unthinkable diagnosis was another blow to Ms. Torres’s family. Two years before, in 2010, her husband, Pedro Ayala, was told that he had throat cancer. Her first thoughts after receiving the news were about her son and daughter. How could they be left alone if their parents died? Who would care for them? “It’s like when you’re playing and somebody grabs ahold of you and you try to move but you can’t,” Ms. Torres, 45, said. “It’s not that you don’t want to. It’s like somebody’s holding you. ” In March 2013, she began chemotherapy at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in the Bronx. In May, after years of treatment, her husband died, leaving Ms. Torres to look after their son, Divian, 16, and their daughter, Yeslly, 11. Ms. Torres said she had even more motivation to beat her disease, even as her substantial grief and her weakened physical strength made the challenge seem impossible at times. “I don’t think cancer kills the people,” she said. “It’s how they take it. ” During her treatments, she observed other cancer patients whose faces bore witness to the horrors of the disease. She told herself she would not end up like that. “I know we’re all going to die one day,” Ms. Torres said. “But when they say, ‘You have cancer,’ all people think, ‘You’re going to die now.’ And the cancer takes them. ” Every day before she went to the hospital for treatment, she dressed up with vigor and excitement, as if going to a fancy dinner or a happening nightclub, donning stylish wigs and makeup. “I would try to be strong,” Ms. Torres said. Her cancer has been in remission since 2014, but Ms. Torres stays active to fight off the remaining physical pain. On occasion, she and Divian play basketball at a park in the Bronx. Most mornings, Ms. Torres takes long walks around a running track, a form of meditative exercise. However, tight finances have become an inescapable part of the family’s life. Ms. Torres has been out of work for years. She left a job as a cashier when her husband fell ill, and it was difficult to return to work when she started her own treatment. The family receives $935 in Social Security disability payments every month. There is no room for extra expenses. In January, Yeslly came home from school with a note asking for $200 to pay her graduation dues. She attends Community School 61, a Children’s Aid Society school in the Bronx. The Children’s Aid Society is one of eight organizations supported by The New York Times’s Neediest Cases Fund. Unsure how she could afford the $200, Ms. Torres contacted the school for help. The Children’s Aid Society used $170 in Neediest funds to help. The agency previously assisted the family last December, giving them $300 in gift cards to buy clothing and other necessities. After a caseworker visited the Torreses’ home earlier this year, an additional $900 was used to buy two new beds. Ms. Torres and Yeslly had been sharing a twin bed, while Divian slept on a sofa. The agency also used Neediest funds to buy them a kitchen table. “Thank God we got a table,” Ms. Torres said. “We can go to the table and eat together. Pray first, then eat the food. ” In September, the family moved into a bigger apartment in the Bronx. Ms. Torres said she remained optimistic about her health and the family’s future. She said she hoped her children would attend college. Ms. Torres has career ambitions of her own. She plans to work on getting her high school equivalency diploma, and wants to become a medical assistant, a desire she has had for more than a year. Despite her hardships, and the loss of her husband that still weighs heavily on her and her children, Ms. Torres wakes up each morning thanking God for his blessings. She tells Divian and Yeslly to be grateful for another day of life and that fear has no place in their home. “It’s all about having a positive ” Ms. Torres said. “Whatever you think, that’s what you attract. Negative attracts negative. Positive attracts positive. ” | 0fake |
Toxic firecracker haze darkens Indian capital after festival of lights | NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Air pollution in New Delhi hit 18 times the healthy limit on Friday under a thick, toxic haze after a night of fireworks to celebrate the Hindu festival of Diwali - despite a court-ordered ban on their sales. Residents of the sprawling Indian capital, which already ranks among the world s most polluted cities, complained of eyes watering and aggravated coughs as levels of PM 2.5, tiny particulate matter that reaches deep into the lungs, rose alarmingly. Air quality usually worsens in New Delhi ahead of Diwali, the festival of lights, and the Supreme Court temporarily banned the sale of firecrackers, aiming to lessen the risk to health. But many still lit fireworks across the capital late into the night, either using old stocks or buying them from neighboring states. Some environment activists said the court order was poorly enforced and firecrackers were still available to celebrate one of north India s biggest festivals. Breathe nitrate and ammonia, home grown, hand made! said environmentalist Vimlendu Jha in a Twitter post calling for city authorities to declare a public emergency. An index of air quality had crossed the hazardous limit of 300 on Friday, the most severe level on a U.S. embassy scale of measurement which rates a reading of 50 as good and anything above that as a cause for concern. Some parts of Delhi such as Mandir Marg showed an air quality reading of 941, close enough to the maximum level of 999 beyond which no readings are available. The index measures concentrations of PM 2.5, PM 10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide among other indicators. A hazardous level is an alert in which everyone may experience ill effects and are advised to stay indoors. Apart from the firecracker ban, the Supreme Court also ordered diesel generators and a power plant to be shut down to try to reduce the pollution. The Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority also ordered some brick kilns to close and a halt to the burning of rubbish. Dipankar Saha, a scientist at the government s Central Pollution Control Board, said the still weather had also played a part in the toxic haze hanging over the city. But pollution levels were better than at last year s Diwali when crop burning in nearby states and firecrackers combined. It was going to be hard to beat last year s level in any case, he said. | 0fake |
Russia Probe’s New Leader Disqualified Himself MONTHS Ago With One IDIOTIC Statement | With Devin Nunes recusal from the House Intelligence Committee s Russia investigation, the committee needs a new leader, and that new leader is Rep. Mike Conaway of Texas. If that name sounds familiar, it s likely because Conaway made some waves earlier this year by saying something so stupid it should have automatically disqualified him from running this investigation.Conaway is the man who made the ridiculous comparison between Russia s meddling in our election, and Mexican celebrities performing for Hillary Clinton. Oh yes, to Conaway, they are one and the same: Harry Reid and the Democrats brought in Mexican soap opera stars, singers and entertainers who had immense influence in those communities into Las Vegas, to entertain, get out the vote and so forth. Those are foreign actors, foreign people, influencing the vote in Nevada. You don t hear the Democrats screaming and saying one word about that. When he was pressed on whether Mexican performers are really on par with Russian hackers, he said: Sure it is, it s foreign influence. If we re worried about foreign influence, let s have the whole story. Two things, idiot: First, foreign performers aren t working in secret. Second, foreign performers aren t working to obtain and release thousands of internal party documents specifically damaging to one campaign.Foreign performers are more like surrogates belonging to a certain demographic. Foreign hackers are more like spies working to sabotage something.And the man now leading the Russia probe tried to downplay it into nothing by claiming they re the same thing. It was the dumbest thing he could ever have said as next in line for the chairmanship because it proves he s both too partisan to run an investigation that should be as non-partisan as possible, and also that he s just plain too stupid to know what he s doing.Things just got very interesting here, and not in a good way. Can House Republicans offer up anybody capable of running this investigation the way it needs to be run? It s just gotten ridiculous now.Featured image by Lance Cheung, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr | 1real |
OOPS! TRUMP-HATING DEM SENATOR Caught In Huge LIE: Claimed She Never Met Or Spoke With Russian Ambassador…Forgot About Time She Had Dinner At His Home | Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill, in a bid to demonize Jeff Sessions as Russian agent, said back in March she had never met nor spoke on the phone with a Russian ambassador ever. A simple look at her old tweets showed almost immediately that was a lie.I've been on the Armed Services Com for 10 years.No call or meeting w/Russian ambassador. Ever. Ambassadors call members of Foreign Rel Com. Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) March 2, 2017Off to meeting w/Russian Ambassador. Upset about the arbitrary/cruel decision to end all US adoptions,even those in process. Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) January 30, 2013On Monday, CNN reported McCaskill not only met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, but she attended a private dinner at his house in 2015. Information LiberationCNN -In March, Sen. Claire McCaskill was unambiguous. The Missouri Democrat said she never once met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in her 10 years serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee.This is NOT winning. Ford Chooses China, Not Mexico, to Build Its New Focus, via @nytimes https://t.co/18SiV5abkD Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) June 21, 2017 | 1real |
U.S. Senate panel backs Huntsman to be Trump's ambassador to Russia | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously backed former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman to be President Donald Trump’s first ambassador to Russia on Tuesday, clearing the way for his likely approval by the full Senate. At his Sept 19 confirmation hearing, Huntsman had said there was “no question” Moscow meddled in the 2016 U.S. election, and pledged to bring up the matter with the Russian government. Allegations that Russia interfered in the vote to boost Trump’s chances of winning the White House, denied by both Trump and Moscow, have shadowed the first months of Trump’s presidency. Huntsman’s tough line during his hearing was welcomed by several members of the foreign relations panel. Many members of Congress, including several of Trump’s fellow Republicans, are concerned the president will not take a hard enough line in dealings with Russia to combat Russian expansionism in eastern Europe or its support for Syria’s government in that country’s civil war. A vote by the full Senate on Huntsman’s confirmation has not yet been scheduled. | 0fake |
Trump to ask China to cut financial links with North Korea: White House official | BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will ask China to cut its financial links with North Korea and to abide by U.N. sanctions when meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, a senior White House official said on Wednesday. Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon from South Korea for a two-night stop in the Chinese capital as part of his marathon Asia tour. The U.S. president was undecided on whether to declare North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism by the end of his trip, the official said, speaking to reporters on-board Air Force One. Trump believes any talks with the North would require reducing threats, ending provocations and movement toward denuclearization and that no deal can be achieved without denuclearisation, the official added. | 0fake |
Obama says urges a wait-and-see approach on Trump proposals | LIMA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday said that people should take a “wait-and-see” approach on President-elect Donald Trump as the real estate mogul works to assemble his choices for senior administration posts. Obama said he could not guarantee Trump would not pursue the policy positions he took during the campaign, but said the realities of the White House would force him to adjust how he approaches many issues. | 0fake |
BREAKING: WHY DID OBAMA JUST Break Democrat Ranks, Throw Hillary Under The Bus On FBI Investigation? | Of course, we all know that Obama is not a man of integrity or character. There has to be something in it for him. Did FBI Director James Comey cut a deal with Barack? Why is every other Democrat calling for Comey s head? It s unprecedented for Democrats to break ranks on something this important. Stay tuned President Barack Obama does not believe FBI Director James Comey is attempting to influence this year s presidential vote, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday. The President doesn t believe that he s secretly strategizing to benefit one candidate or one political party, Earnest said. He s in a tough spot, and he s the one who will be in a position to defend his actions in the face of significant criticism from a variety of legal experts, including individuals who served in senior Department of Justice positions in administrations led by presidents in both parties. The White House had no role in Comey s decision to inform Congress he was investigating new emails related to Hillary Clinton s private server, Earnest added.Earnest said he would neither defend nor criticize the decision. He s aiming to preserve the integrity of the review into whether additional emails discovered on a laptop belonging to Anthony Weiner are relevant to an investigation into Clinton s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state.Earnest said that norms about making information public should be followed.Amid outcry about Comey s decision, Earnest called the FBI director a man of integrity and good character. CNN | 1real |
Why the Iowa caucuses have such a massive impact on the presidential race | Donald Trump has dominated the GOP presidential race for seven months. Nothing — not his many offensive comments, not his mediocre debate performances, and not the once-feared GOP establishment — has been able to stop his rise.
But on February 1, all that could change when Trump faces by far his biggest challenge yet: the Iowa caucuses.
The results in Iowa — the first time a state's actual voters weigh in in the presidential nomination contest — can make the national contest turn on a dime. Barack Obama won Iowa in 2008, and he suddenly shot up to become competitive with Hillary Clinton in national polls. John Kerry came out of nowhere to win Iowa in 2004, and the presumed leader, Howard Dean, collapsed with astonishing speed.
And Trump could be vulnerable in Iowa. He has taken the lead in recent polls, but there have been anecdotal reports suggesting that Trump's ground game — crucial in the low-turnout caucuses — is laughably inferior to Ted Cruz's. So in the first contest that really counts, Trump could end up a loser. Yet if he manages to pull off a win — watch out.
But let's step back for a minute, and ask: Why do the quirky Iowa caucuses have this tremendous impact on the race, anyway?
"What is the difference between first place and third place in Iowa going to be, 4,000 votes? It's like a student body election."
The state is small. Its population is overwhelmingly white. Turnout for the caucuses is absurdly low. Democrats don't even get a secret ballot. And vanishingly few of the delegates who will actually determine each party's nominee at the national conventions will be from Iowa. So why do we care so much about who wins?
As I'll explain, Iowa became super important because we — the media, party insiders, activists, the candidates themselves, and even voters to an extent — gradually decided to make it so important. These key players think the caucus results reveal a great deal about which candidates can win elections elsewhere, and the contest for Iowa isn't really a contest for delegates — it's a contest to look good in their eyes.
But does Iowa's prominence make sense? Or could the obsession with its results from the media and insiders alike be a tremendous overreaction, bordering on a bizarre mass delusion — one that could end up distorting who gets nominated for president?
"What is the difference between first place and third place in Iowa going to be, 4,000 votes? It's like a student body election," says Stuart Stevens, who was Mitt Romney's chief strategist in 2012.
"You have to respect the absurdity of it," he continues. "Or it'll drive you crazy."
The Iowa caucuses are the first time actual voters all across any US state get up and go say who they want to be president.
And these voters do literally have to "get up and go" — to an in-person event, held at a specific time in the evening, at one of 1,681 precincts across the state. There's no absentee voting, so if you're bedridden or out of the state, you've historically been out of luck.
The caucuses are administered separately by each major party, and Republicans and Democrats have quite different rules. This year, the GOP contest is simple: After some opening rigmarole at their caucus sites, an ordinary secret ballot vote on presidential candidates will be conducted, and the totals will be tallied statewide.
"It's kind of like a carnival, where the candidates' supporters say, 'Come over to us!'"
The Democratic caucuses are far more complicated — they're rowdy, hours-long public affairs, with back-and-forth debate among attendees who have to go physically stand with other supporters of their preferred candidate. "It's kind of like a carnival, where the candidates' supporters say, 'Come over to us, to our group!'" says Drake University political scientist Dennis Goldford.
There's no secret ballot, and if a Democratic candidate doesn't get enough supporters in a precinct (15 percent of attendees), he or she is eliminated, reality show style. Here's a video showing how one precinct's caucus went down in 2008:
Like it or not, the Iowa results appear to be hugely important in determining who the major parties’ presidential nominees will be — particularly when considered alongside the impact of fellow early state New Hampshire. "It’s not remotely a national primary. These national polls mean nothing. The nation isn't voting," says Stevens. Instead, it's Iowans who get the first say.
And, importantly, even if the Iowa victor doesn’t end up winning the nomination in the end, the state’s results can dramatically shake up the presidential contest — knocking some candidates out of the race entirely, while elevating others to top-tier status in the eyes of political elites and future voters.
"You think about the number of people who participate" — usually a little over 100,000 people per party, meaning around 20 percent of eligible caucus-goers — "and Iowa has just an amazing, outsize impact on the country," says Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg.
Like you and I, the political world is obsessed with the question of who can actually win in each presidential nomination race. And a large part of that world has come to believe that the caucus outcomes help shed some important light on that question. (Remember, before Iowa, assessments of who can win are mainly based on polls — and polls, of course, can be wrong.)
"Iowa has just an amazing, outsize impact on the country"
It's pretty weird: Essentially, the Iowa caucuses are important because the media, the candidates, and the political world more broadly all treat their results as greatly important in determining who can win. And this plays out in several interacting ways:
All of these dynamics, it should be noted, also apply to New Hampshire (and, to a decreasing degree, to other states as the process continues). The media, the candidates, political elites, and to a certain extent voters elsewhere all act on the signals they believe Iowa and New Hampshire are sending them. And that's how these early state contests dramatically reshape the nomination landscape long before the vast majority of the American people get to weigh in.
The earliest case in which Iowa changed everything was little-known former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter's victory in the 1976 Democratic caucuses. This was only the second time Iowa went first, and Carter calculated that if he won there, he'd get so much media coverage that he'd be catapulted from obscurity to national fame. So he essentially camped out in Iowa for a year, and his strategy worked like a charm when he won.
Carter's subsequent media-driven poll surge helped him narrowly carry New Hampshire and then 11 of the next 12 contests, followed by the nomination and the White House. "Jimmy Carter would say he would never have become president without the Iowa caucuses," says Jerry Crawford, a longtime Iowa Democratic organizer now working for the Clinton campaign.
Iowa convinced people "that Obama was more than just a media phenomenon"
Barack Obama, too, relied on Iowa for his first victory for his campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2008. On the day of the caucuses, he trailed Hillary Clinton by more than 20 points in national polls. But days after he won there, he shot up to within 5 points of her.
"The results of Iowa were validating for us," says Larry Grisolano, who consulted for Obama's campaign that year. "People became convinced that Obama was more than just a media phenomenon — and that he was a candidate who could attract votes."
Obama's win there made him surge to within striking distance of Clinton in national polls, and far above her in another important early contest, South Carolina. "Iowa's peculiarities played to his strengths," Grisolano adds. "I don’t know how it would’ve turned out if we started in a place that was more advertising-centric."
Even when the Iowa winner doesn't end up winning the nomination (as with Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, the two most recent GOP winners), the caucus results can shake up the race by elevating them, rather than other candidates, to prominence in the contest.
"The caucuses are about who exceeds expectations and who fails to. And who sets expectations? You and I do."
But it's important to understand that not every candidate is affected equally by the caucuses. Iowa matters primarily because of how it changes the perceptions of the political world. And candidates are, in large part, judged by whether their caucus performance meets the expectations of the media and political elites.
For instance, in the 2008 GOP caucuses, Mitt Romney came in second and John McCain came in fourth. Yet Romney was portrayed as a big loser, since he had been campaigning hard in Iowa and had once seemed the favorite to win. McCain, meanwhile, hadn't really been trying to win Iowa and was focusing instead on doing well in New Hampshire, so his fourth-place finish wasn't interpreted as a stunning setback for him.
"Every candidate in Iowa has the same opponent, and that opponent’s name is 'expected,'" says Goldford. "The caucuses are about who exceeds expectations and who fails to. And who sets expectations? You and I do."
Essentially, Iowa moved its caucuses to the front of the line at the perfect moment. It happened back in 1972, just while the Democratic Party was overhauling its nomination process to give actual voters, not just party bosses, more of a say. That's how the presidential nomination system we know today — the months-long sequence of staggered primaries and caucuses in every state and territory — came about. (Republicans adopted very similar reforms soon afterward.)
But for 1972 — the first nomination contest under the reformed system — Iowa Democrats slated their usual caucuses for the unusually early date of January 24. People offer various different explanations for why they did so: a deliberate effort to help a favorite son who was considering running for president, an arcane party rules change that required that 30 days pass between various state and local events, or even that a lack of available hotel rooms in Des Moines that summer necessitated an earlier state convention date (which then necessitated an earlier caucus date).
Whatever the reason, the Iowa Democratic caucuses moved ahead of the New Hampshire primary, which had traditionally been the nation's first.
"People in the political community concluded, 'What happened out there told us something'"
At first, few people outside Iowa noticed or cared, and the 1972 caucus results got little attention nationally. But in retrospect, after George McGovern shockingly won the Democratic nomination, insiders second-guessing about why they failed to predict his rise concluded that they should have paid more attention when he finished a surprisingly strong second in Iowa.
"People in the political community concluded, 'What happened out there told us something. It told us about a weak frontrunner. It told us about the energy of the antiwar movement," says David Yepsen, a former political reporter for the Des Moines Register.
Savvy Iowans of both parties worked hard to promote this idea that Iowa was an early bellwether. Democrats arranged the event so top-line "results" could be easily reported to the national press, and Republicans moved their caucuses to the same day to create a unified event that would get lots of media buzz. As Tom Whitney, then state Democratic chair, later told Iowa Public Television:
So Carter's victories in Iowa and the general election weren't just great for him — they ended up being great for Iowa, which could now claim to be a kingmaker. Future candidates in both parties spent more time and money there, and the national press started regularly covering the results as a major event. Party insiders and voters in other early states began taking Iowa's results more and more seriously, too.
Ever since, the state parties have tenaciously and successfully fought to keep their caucuses first, helped by the new "precedent" they had set, as Brookings fellow Elaine Kamarck chronicles in her book Primary Politics.
Not at all! Many critics, including Vox's Dylan Matthews, argue that Iowa's population is unrepresentative of the country as a whole — the state is much more white and more rural, and has fewer foreign-born people.
Others criticize the caucus setup itself: The events take a long time, they're scheduled at a specific time in the evening, and there's been no absentee voting in the past, all of which depresses turnout and could make it even more unrepresentative. (Four out of five registered party members in Iowa and the vast majority of independent voters there usually don't show up.)
"I think [Iowa] distorts the process in a good way," says an operative in the state
Furthermore, Democrats don't even get a secret ballot, which means social pressure could skew their results. On the GOP side, turnout has recently been dominated by evangelical activists, many of whom have opted for candidates that lack national appeal, like Huckabee and Santorum.
And presidential candidates of both parties have long felt compelled to voice fealty to powerful interest groups in the state, like Big Corn (though Peverill Squire convincingly argues that pro-corn policies are mainly driven by Congress, not the White House).
Finally, it seems just plain unfair to a lot of people in other states that Iowa gets such power.
Caucus defenders respond by saying that Iowa does skew the results — positively. "I think it distorts the process in a good way," says Crawford, the Hillary Clinton organizer. That's because Iowa's a state where retail campaigning and one-on-one interactions with voters, rather than simply big money and ad buys, matter. Its voters have shown that they don't just follow the prevailing national winds — they're more willing to give little-known and poorly funded challengers a chance, which helps ensure a more democratic contest overall. "Iowa's a level playing ground," says Iowa GOP operative Eric Woolson. "And Iowa has an electorate that pays attention to what's going on."
In any case, every attempt to supplant Iowa has failed, because neither national party can agree on who else should be first in line, or on an alternative way to do things entirely. And states that have tried to "jump the line" — like Louisiana in 1996 — have had their contests boycotted (at Iowa pols' behest) and deemed meaningless by national elites and the press.
Eventually, the national parties accepted that Iowa and New Hampshire were hell-bent on going first and second — and that the vast majority of other states didn't care all that much. So the parties began harshly penalizing other states that tried to move their own nomination contests too early. Accordingly, nobody even bothered to try to leapfrog Iowa this time around.
Once again, it's the lessons the political world takes away from the caucuses that are really important — not how the delegates end up allotted. Everyone is anxious to see how the actual Iowa results measure up to their expectations, to help them better understand who can actually win. And they'll be looking for a few major things.
In the GOP contest, everyone is anxiously awaiting the answer to one key question: "Can Donald Trump get people to actually vote for him?" Because despite Trump's months-long lead in national polls, there's still a great deal of skepticism from elites about him: Perhaps polls overstate his support, perhaps his campaign doesn't have a good ground game, perhaps his supporters who aren't regular GOP primary or caucus voters won't bother to show up, or perhaps the electorate will flock to a more seemingly electable candidate at the last minute.
If Trump wins Iowa, prepare for a media frenzy like you've never seen before
Since caucus turnout is difficult for pollsters to model and since Ted Cruz is perceived as having a better organization than Trump, much of the political world has long expected Trump to finish second, behind Cruz. Yet Trump has taken the lead in all the most recent polls — which has had the perverse effect of raising expectations for him. Now, a second place finish would be viewed as a disappointment for him. And if he comes in third or worse, he'll be portrayed as a loser who went down to a pathetic defeat. But if he does manage to actually win the caucuses, he'll debunk much of that skepticism mentioned above, prove he won't be vanishing from the contest anytime soon — and unleash a media frenzy like you've never seen before.
The Iowa results will have big implications for other GOP candidates too. Since Ted Cruz led polls there until recently, a loss there would be perceived as a serious blow to his candidacy. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, is currently polling in third place, so that's where people expect him to end up. If Rubio manages to surprise people by placing second or even first, he'll get a huge amount of positive buzz going into New Hampshire. But if he somehow falls further behind — especially if another establishment-friendly candidate like Jeb Bush or Chris Christie passes him — whispered doubts about his campaign's competence will be vindicated, and whoever beats him will have the "momentum" of media coverage and buzz among elites in the week before the Granite State contest. And if some other candidate entirely manages to surge late in Iowa (as Rick Santorum did in 2012), expect him or her to be a major player in the next contests, too.
Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders has suddenly surged in Iowa polls after a full year of trailing Clinton. Since he's long been ahead in New Hampshire, he's now positioned to seriously compete in both early states. But with this comes raised expectations. If Clinton wins both contests outright, Sanders's movement could well fizzle out, and she could wrap up the nomination quickly. If Sanders wins either, though, or even comes very close in Iowa, expect a pitched battle between the two that will last quite some time. (And unless Martin O'Malley vastly exceeds his current low single-digit percent support in Iowa, expect him to drop out soon afterward.)
The nightmare scenario for Clinton at this point — which is not all that implausible — is that Sanders wins both Iowa and New Hampshire. If that happens, political elites and the press will mercilessly mock and second-guess the Clinton campaign for weeks. Yet insiders also understand that both states are heavily white and not representative of the more diverse Democratic electorate overall. So the big question is whether the positive coverage Sanders gets will improve his performance among nonwhite Democrats who have seemed uninterested in his candidacy so far — and that will be put to the test in the next contest, South Carolina.
"It's a goofy way to do it, I agree. But absent a clear alternative..."
If you feel like you needed a decoder ring to make sense of all that, you're not alone. No one sat down and designed our bizarre presidential nomination system — indeed, even Iowans admit that no one would ever sit down and design this exact system from scratch. "It's a goofy way to do it, I agree," says Yepsen. "But absent a clear alternative the process continues." Candidates keep investing their time and money, the media keeps giving saturation coverage to the results, and political elites keep on believing that Iowa matters — so Iowa just keeps on mattering.
This article was originally published on January 25, 2016. It has been updated with the latest expectations for how the candidates will perform in the caucuses. | 0fake |
Former NYPD VIP Security Detail Says Hillary’s Debate Stage Disappearance Was Due To “problems from [previous] brain injury” | Almost as scary as the idea that Hillary would lie about a major health concern, is the fact that we have no idea who Hillary will choose as her running mate Democrat frontrunner Hillary Clinton s disappearance from the debate stage last month left people speculating that the former First Lady took a long bathroom break, but now a law-enforcement source with inside connections is alleging that Clinton was missing from the stage due to health issues stemming from a previous brain injury.These long-lasting symptoms stemming from a concussion and blood clot, according to a neurologist, suggest Clinton is suffering from post-concussion syndrome, which can severely impact her cognitive abilities.All that said, however, Clinton s campaign maintained to Breitbart News that she is in good health and can serve as President of the United States. Strong source just told me something I suspected. Hillary s debate bathroom break wasn t that, but flare up of problems from brain injury, wrote John Cardillo on Twitter.Cardillo, who previously worked as an officer who provided VIP security details for the New York Police Department (NYPD), told Breitbart News that he knows of two additional sources who have commented about Clinton s health problems, which have even impacted her ability to walk to her car after delivering a speech. I got this from both a [federal agent] and I also got it from a New York [NYPD] guy who worked security at a Hillary event in New York City, Cardillo told Breitbart News, adding:These are two people that aren t just personal friends. I worked with one and then post law-enforcement worked with another on some related things. So, these aren t anonymous people. These are good friends. Both of them told me the same thing, that after her speeches, whether she did a talk or a policy speech, she had to sit behind she would come off the podium backstage and have to sit and rest before making it back to the car because she was so fatigued, dizzy and disoriented.Cardillo said these two security officials don t know each other and do not live in the same state, but their stories were almost identical. One of the men told him that Clinton was very pale, kind of disoriented. He said she looked like she was about to faint. She was very pale, almost sweaty. Cardillo said one of the incidents occurred while she was Secretary of State. The event worked by the NYPD official was roughly a year ago.Veteran Republican strategist Roger Stone, who previously worked with GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, told Breitbart News that he has also heard about Clinton s long-term health problems. A number of New York Democrats, very prominent, well-known, wealthy New York Democrats, told me last year that Hillary had very significant health issues and that they were surprised that she was running in view of her health problems and her lack of stamina, Stone told Breitbart News. So far, she s run a very controlled campaign, I don t think she has the physical stamina to be president, he stated. I have no doubt that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) won t call her on it, but Trump certainly would. We also know that in the emails, of course, Huma Abedin says that she is easily confused, Stone added, referencing Clinton s close confidant Abedin comment in an email, She s often confused, referring to Clinton.Trump, Stone s former boss, certainly hasn t been shy in questioning whether Clinton has the stamina to be president. She goes out and she sees you guys for about 10 minutes, she sees you for a little while, it s all rehearsed and staged, Trump said in a recent interview on Fox News Media Buzz. They ll pick a couple of people out of the audience that are like, you know, 100 percent. She ll sit around a little plastic table, they ll talk to the people for a while. It s ridiculous, Trump added. And then she goes away for five or six days and you don t see her. She goes to sleep. Neurologist Dr. Daniel Kassicieh, D.O., reviewed news reports of Clinton s head injury in light of the recent information revealed from the security sources that are raising questions about her current health status.Kassicieh, who has run his own Sarasota, Florida, practice for 20 years, is a board-certified neurologist and the medical director of the Florida Headache and Movement Disorder Center. He is a doctor of osteopathic medicine, which is similar to a medical doctor but can involve at a minimum of 100 more classroom hours of specific training. That additional training is focused on the osteopathic or the musculoskeletal system aspects of medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology (FAAN) and a Fellow of the American College of Neuro-psychiatrists (FACN). Kassicieh is a registered Republican in Sarasota, but his purely medical analysis is troubling for Clinton. They were trying to poo-poo this off as a minor concussion, but I would just say that reading it and trying to take all the politics out of it, and just read it purely from a medical standpoint, Kassicieh explained:Considering the point of what happened with Hillary over this time period the timeline and then what has happened here more recently the break at the debate, I saw that and even the commentators that were sitting there made a comment that, Gee, that seems awful long for a break. Just looking at it from a neurological standpoint, the risk factors for developing post-concussion syndrome, one of them is age, and she was 65 when this happened just from a physiologic standpoint that s an older individual. Being female is a risk factor for post-concussion syndrome as well. For someone who has treated many post-concussion syndrome patients and that s what I really believe she s suffering from based on reading these reports and reading what s happened, Kassicieh said. I think she has latent post-concussion syndrome, and I can understand that as a politician they would want to be covering that up. He stated:I would say as a neurologist having seen many post-concussion syndrome patients that I would not want a president who I knew had post-concussion syndrome being president because their super high-level cognitive abilities are clearly impaired and even their routine multitasking high-stress abilities are affected because post-concussion syndrome patients in general don t tolerate even moderate work, stress-related environments.Kassicieh added that if suffering from post concussion syndrome, Clinton s symptoms could appear well beyond a year after her concussion. A transverse sinus thrombosis [blood clot] is a rare condition of a clot forming in the venous sinus cavities surrounding the brain, Kassicieh told Breitbart News, referencing an ABC News report from 2012 that detailed Clinton s head injury and blood clot following a fall. He explained:These venous sinuses drain blood out of the brain. The [injury] incidence is only about 3 per 1,000,000 adults. The transverse sinus is less commonly affected than the main sagittal venous sinus. The cause of transverse sinus clots is not well understood although trauma and dehydration have been described as risk factors. Mrs. Clinton suffered from both.Dr. Nicholas C. Bambakidis also analyzed the facts for Breitbart News. He is the director of cerebrovascular and skull base surgery, and the program director of neurological surgery at University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, and a professor of neurosurgery and radiology at the CWRU School of Medicine in Cleveland, These types of clots are usually formed spontaneously without an obvious cause, Bambakidis said in an email:They can be associated with dehydration, a predisposition to blood clotting disorders, are more common in women and may be associated with oral contraceptive medication, severe head trauma, brain surgery, or infection. If untreated, they can progress and lead to bleeding in the brain or swelling, and a stroke or even death. The treatment is generally anticoagulation and treatment of any underlying cause.Bambakidis said that if treated early and quickly, there are no longstanding issues with a person s health. Typically, if caught early and treated adequately (as seems to have been done in this incident) there is a full recovery without any consequences (normal cognition, memory, etc), he said.Dr. Jane Orient, the executive director of the politically conservative Association of American Physicians and Surgeons also reviewed the 2012 ABC News report about Clinton s concussion and blood clot. She said she thought the ABC report appeared medically accurate. Factors predisposing to clots include air travel, dehydration, hormones, immobilization as during surgery, blood abnormalities, cancer, Orient said. Concussions can cause long-term damage including cognitive problems, even when standard studies including CT or MRI look normal. Not saying Mrs. Clinton has any of the above just speaking generally and hypothetically, she clarified.For entire story: Breitbart News | 1real |
SHE GREW UP BELIEVING BLACKS Could Only Support Democrats…Until She Took A Job With ACORN: WATCH The INCREDIBLE Story Of A Woman Who Took On Obama’s LEFTIST MACHINE [VIDEO] | Keep your eye on Anita Moncreif If knowledge is power she is the Democrat Party s worst nightmare. When you re on the left, and all of your friends are leftists, and your parents are leftists, you don t hang around with other people, and you only get the view of folks as what you see on TV, and how they present it to you. And you guys are seen as racist, angry people. Every time they get a chance, that s the image they push out there on TV. They try to find that one crazy Tea Party person and they try to get them to say something, and they make sure they play it on all the black stations. And you see that and you say, Okay, these people are nuts. So I didn t expect to find any kind of support from the Right. Everything Anita Moncreif believed to be true about the Left changed when she took a job with ACORN and quickly discovered the Democrat Party was not really looking out for the interests of the Black community or low income neighborhoods. When she began to understand they would do anything, including breaking the law, to grow the Democrat Party, she made the decision to expose them. She quickly found out how the mainstream media will go to any length to keep the truth about the criminal Left from the American people.Watch her amazing story here: Decades after his death, Saul Alinsky s vision has become reality. From Barack Obama to Hillary Clinton to ACORN to Black Lives Matter, Alinsky is more alive in his death now than in his four decades of community organizing.Anita is asking for the help of conservatives to make this movie a reality. She needs YOUR help to build momentum for this film.Please consider giving whatever you can today. Click HERE to donate $1, $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can afford. This is an independent fund. We have no big funders or organizations backing us yet. That s why we need you. We need to start shooting now. Reaching our goal will allow us to begin shooting footage at the two party conventions and buy us time to raise awareness to raise the production, administrative, and promotional budgets for this much-needed film.We re going to communicate with you the audience. Some of the footage we ll release before the film s debut. We ll also communicate some of our successes and our challenges along the way. Together, we can change the way films are produced and promoted.The American Left and the Right need to see this film and decide where we go from here.If the necessary funds aren t raised on Kickstarter, account funds won t be unlocked.Eight years after exposing ACORN, I have been immersed in training, speaking, and examining the effectiveness of the grassroots on both sides of the aisle. I felt that my journey was not over, and I had many more truths to tell. I am finally ready to offer a movement eye view of the legacy of Alinsky, and the rise of grassroots movements across the nation. It s a huge effort, it s expensive, and the stakes are high, so please chip in $15, $50, $500 or more to fund our efforts to film at the DNC and RNC conventions in the next few weeks.Donate now to The Children of Alinsky (Phase 1)Together, we can do great things and the possibility of a documentary filmed and funded by ordinary people determined to implement change will be a major step toward illustrating how bottom-up change is done.Your friend, Anita MonCriefHere is Part II of Anita s amazing story: | 1real |
ISIS uses an industrial dough kneader to kill 250 children, roasts adults in a bakery oven in Douma, Syria | Email
ISIS barbarians used an industrial dough kneader to kill 250 children, and roasted adults in a bakery oven, according to a shocking new report.
In an interview with the humanitarian organization Roads of Success, Syrian mom Alice Assaf went into chilling detail about the atrocities the jihadists committed about two years ago in the town of Douma, explaining that some of the youngsters were even decapitated in front of their parents, according to the Express.
“We heard that the militants grabbed six strong men working at the bakery and burned them inside the oven. We knew them,” Assaf told Dr. Yvette Isaac, who works for the advocacy group, according to the UK Mirror.
“After that, they caught some 250 kids and kneaded them like dough in the bakery dough machine,” Assaf said, according to media reports. “They were put in the dough mixer, they were kneaded. The oldest one of them was four-years-old.”
ISIS transported hundreds of girls to the city of Douma, which has been at the center of the Syrian civil war, to be slaughtered. ISIS has been systematically killing non-Muslims, and the majority of its victims at the time were Christian.
Assaf said her own son, George, was killed by the radical militants after he refused to switch to a Muslim name.
“My son said to me, ‘No, mother, I don’t want to die with an identity not my own. I prefer to die with the name George,'” Assaf said, according to the Christian Post.
Assaf added, “I asked my son then to hide, but he refused and said, ‘I don’t want to hide myself. You are the one who taught me to follow what Christ said’ — ‘whoever denies me before man, I will also deny before my father who is in Heaven.'”
Dr. Isaac reported the savage slayings to a member of the UK Parliament, Fiona Bruce, who recently recounted the horrifying testimony to her colleagues in open chambers.
“She showed us recent film footage of herself talking with mothers–more than one– who had seen their own children crucified,” Bruce said.
“She told us of a mother with a two-month-old baby. When [ISIS] knocked at the front door of her house and ordered the entire family out, she pleaded with them to let her collect her child from another room,” Bruce said.
“She told us of a mother with a two-month-old baby,” Bruce continued. When [ISIS] knocked at the front door of her house and ordered the entire family out, she pleaded with them to let her collect her child from another room. They told her, ‘No. Go. It is ours now.’” | 1real |
Philippine leader declares unilateral ceasefire for Christmas | MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a 10-day unilateral ceasefire with communist rebels to allow Filipinos to celebrate a stress-free Christmas season, two weeks after peace talks with the insurgents were formally scrapped. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Duterte had ordered the army and police to suspend offensive operations from Dec. 24 to Jan. 2 to lessen the apprehension of the public this Christmas season . He said he expected the Maoists and their political leaders to do a similar gesture of goodwill. There was no immediate comment from the communist rebel movement, whose top leaders and negotiators have been living in exile in The Netherlands since the late 1980s. Duterte restarted a stalled peace process and freed several communist leaders as a gesture of good faith when he came to office last year but he recently abandoned talks due to escalating rebel attacks. He has vented his fury on a near-daily basis at what he considers duplicity by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People s Army (NPA). He has collectively declared them a terrorist organization and has ended the three-decades peace process. The rebel forces, estimated to number around 3,000, have been waging a protracted guerrilla warfare in the countryside for nearly 50 years in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people and stifled growth in resource-rich areas of the Philippines. The guerrillas have been targeting mines, plantations, construction and telecommunication companies, demanding revolutionary taxation to finance arms purchases and recruitment activities. Duterte on Tuesday night said he only wanted Filipinos to celebrate a stress-free Christmas. I do not want to add more strain to what people are now suffering, he told reporters. | 0fake |
U.S. judge aims to quickly decide lawsuits over DACA | SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Thursday said he wanted to decide quickly lawsuits challenging the Trump administration’s decision to end a program that shielded from deportation children brought to the United States illegally by their parents. President Donald Trump this month decided to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, in March 2018. Since it was authorized in 2012 by President Barack Obama, the program has provided protection from deportation and the right to work legally to nearly 800,000 young people. Several states, organizations and individuals have filed lawsuits seeking to protect DACA recipients known as Dreamers. At a hearing in San Francisco federal court, U.S. District Judge William Alsup grouped four of those cases together, including a lawsuit filed by California’s attorney general and six individual Dreamers. Legal briefs for many of the issues could be finished by December, he said. “I don’t like the idea that we’re fiddling while Rome burns and then suddenly the program is expired,” Alsup said. The legal claims in all of the cases are similar: That the Trump administration did not follow proper administrative procedure in rescinding DACA, and that making enforcement promises to a group of people, only to revoke them, violates due process. The Trump administration has said it is ending DACA because Obama overstepped his constitutional authority when he bypassed Congress and created the DACA program unilaterally. Trump called on Congress to enact a law to protect DACA recipients and last week angered some of his fellow Republicans by negotiating with top congressional Democratic leaders on possible legislation. During the 2016 presidential election, Trump ran on a hardline immigration platform, promising to end DACA and strengthen border protections to increase jobs for U.S. workers. Dreamers with work permits that expire before March can apply to renew them for another two years if they do so before Oct. 5. The Department of Homeland Security might extend that date. In court on Thursday, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate said the government still had not made a decision on the deadline. Shumate also said the Trump administration has not changed Obama-era restrictions about when a Dreamer’s personal information can be shared with other agencies for immigration enforcement purposes. | 0fake |
Mexico journalist shot dead at Christmas celebration at son's school | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A journalist was shot dead on Tuesday in the Mexican state of Veracruz as he attended a Christmas celebration at his son s school, the latest murder in the country s deadliest year on record for media workers. Gumaro Perez, 35, who regularly wrote about security and drug trafficking, was shot at four times and killed in the Acayucan municipality, becoming the third journalist killed in the state, and Mexico s twelfth, this year. Perez worked for Golfo Sur and Voz del Sur, among other media organizations. We re in shock, waiting for them to hand over the body and see what we re going to do together with his family, said journalists group Asociacion de Periodistas Independientes de Acayucan, to which Perez belonged. A lone gunman entered Perez s 6-year-old son s classroom, where the Christmas celebration was being held, and fired at Perez, the group said, citing witnesses. Roberta Jacobson, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, condemned Perez s death in a post on Twitter, writing that she was outraged by the death of another brave journalist in Mexico. You don t kill the truth by killing journalists, she added. At least 65 media workers were killed worldwide doing their jobs this year, including 50 professional journalists the organization Reporters Without Borders said on Tuesday, adding that Mexico is one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist. [ Since 2000, at least 111 media workers have been killed in Mexico, with 38 deaths since Enrique Pena Nieto became president in December 2012, advocacy group Article 19 says. | 0fake |
WOW! MILWAUKEE SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING Professor Exposed After Student Takes Photo Of INSANE Test Question: “One Of Main Functions Of Government Is Income Redistribution” | Socialist indoctrination starts in Kindergarten and is reinforced throughout the American student s educational journey. Parents need to pay attention to the drivel their children are being taught at school. This kind of socialist teaching is not limited to public schools, many of us have discovered that private and parochial schools are equally guilty of this type of indoctrination. Conservative Hollywood actress Sam Sorbo suggests home schooling your children to avoid government indoctrination. The role of government is to redistribute wealth, according to a course at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.A test, administered on April 29 in Professor John Traxler s Healthcare Economics class, told students that [o]ne of the main functions of government is income redistribution, then asked them to explain what the statement meant. The correct answer was C: Taxing the wealthy and giving it to those in poverty. Josh Fisher, a student in the class, told Campus Reform he was flabbergasted when he saw the question, given that it is premised on an unabashedly liberal view of a politically contentious issue. When I saw it I wanted to get up and leave, he said. I thought there s no way this is a real question at all. Fundamental concepts include: demand and supply, elasticity and marginalism, inflation, unemployment, business cycles, role of government, states the course description on the school s website, adding, These concepts are then used to explain and analyze market structures, including perfect competition and monopoly. The website also defines the course learning outcomes, which include [analyzing] the role of government and the effect of regulation on the healthcare section as described by economics. I listen to talk radio a lot now: [Ben] Shapiro, [Steven] Crowder, [Andrew] Klavan, [Mark] Levin, and Milo [Yiannopoulos], Fisher said. So I knew that this type of liberal perspective being pushed on students was happening but I had no idea it was so blatant. Maybe the worst part is that so many of my classmates now believe this to be true. Several professors who spoke with Campus Reform about the matter said that while the question defines income redistribution accurately, it was unnecessary to include an endorsement of that controversial concept. This question assumes a false premise, said Antony Davies, a professor at Duquesne University. I do not accept the premise that redistribution is a main function of government (in general), he added, though he did concede that it is a main function of our government today. When asked if this is common to be taught in economics classes he claimed: No. That s not common [to be taught]. It is common to teach that that is something governments can do. One way to read the question is that it is simply a definition: C is the definition of income redistribution. The real slant is in the start, saying that income redistribution is one of the main functions of government, noted Mount Holyoke College economics professor Jim Hartley. Some people think that is true, but others disagree. So, if the question was written as Income redistribution means, the question is fine. If it started, Some people believe one of the main functions it would be fine, he explained. The assertion in the first sentence is the evidence of bias, but the question is unaffected by the bias. He also added that The first sentence is not necessary for the test question and thus is really just serving as propaganda. Fisher told Campus Reform that he was reluctant to challenge his professor on the matter, saying, I didn t want to risk to affecting my grade. He pushes his agenda pretty hard. The student who provided the tip wishes to remain anonymous, but added that Traxler is pretty set with his opinion anyways, so I don t think [fighting him] would have made a difference. Via: Campus Reform | 1real |
Schwarzenegger: Kasich Should Challenge Trump in 2020 GOP Primary - Breitbart | Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday that Ohio Gov. John Kasich should run for President again in 2020, challenging incumbent President Donald Trump in the Republican presidential primary. [Schwarzenegger made the endorsement in an interview with the Los Angeles Times: “He should run in 2020, yes,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview with The Times when asked whether Kasich, whom he supported over Trump in the 2016 presidential race, should launch another presidential campaign. “Kasich is an extraordinary guy. He’s a man of substance. He’s worked in Washington, he’s worked in local government, he’s worked in statewide government. He has the experience. He can see things. He has vision,” Schwarzenegger enthused. “He’s also a moderate. He’s a tough Republican and very fiscally conservative, but he also at the same time loves helping people. ” Schwarzenegger backed Kasich in 2016, to little effect. In the Republican primary, the Ohio governor only carried his home state. Arguably, Kasich made Trump’s primary win easier by staying in the race so long that it became impossible for any Trump challenger — specifically, Sen. Ted Cruz ( ) — to round up the necessary delegates and campaign cash. During the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Kasich refused to show up, angering his own state’s delegation. Despite Kasich’s opposition, Trump carried the crucial Buckeye State by nearly 9 percentage points, taking all 18 Electoral College votes en route to victory. Trump and Schwarzenegger have carried on a war in social media, trading barbs over political issues and particularly over the ratings of The Apprentice, where Schwarzenegger filled in for Trump but later withdrew from the show. Joel B. Pollak is Senior at Breitbart News. He was named one of the “most influential” people in news media in 2016. His new book, How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak. | 0fake |
The Dangers Of Romantic Love | Since we were children, we have been bombarded with propaganda that romantic love is the ultimate relationship ideal. Hollywood movies, Disney cartoons, and literary fiction all portray romantic love as an absolute necessity in any wedding union, but how much of that narrative has been a lie? Is it possible that our pursuit of romantic love is actually preventing us from forming a lifelong pair bond?
I began to question the notion of romantic love when thinking about its emotional root. Love is a fleeting emotion, and like all emotions, it comes and goes like the clouds in the sky. Why have I been taught to select my life partner based on an emotion? I’m surely not encouraged to use emotion when buying a house, applying for a job, or doing my personal finances, but when it comes to choosing a human being that I’m supposed to spend the rest of my life with, I’m advised by the establishment narrative to use emotion for the biggest decision of them all.
Another major clue that romantic love is a childish strategy for choosing mates is the fact that countries with arranged marriages, where partners are picked based on purely practical matters, have lower divorce rates that in countries where romantic love is used to select mates ( 1 , 2 , 3 ). While there are multiple reasons for divorce in any society, it is rather coincidental that the countries most impacted by notions of romantic love happen to have the highest divorce rates .
Romance was invented
It turns out that your desire to use love as a precondition for marriage or pair bonding is an invented construct that had roots in destroying tradition and theistic authority. Romanticism, a movement that began in the 18th century, put romantic love at the forefront, not just for individuals but nations as well, all from a central thesis of individualism. It wanted you to take the focus away from boring old rules and traditions to focusing on how you feel .
The movement came primarily from bourgeois youth, who used family money to fiddle away on idealistic writings.
…the Romantic Movement was nothing more than a protest against bourgeois conventions, bourgeois society and morality. To be extreme and flamboyant and unusual and violent even at the risk of becoming grotesque was the desire of every young Romantic. The Romantics were, in fact, bourgeois origins, who were trying hard to escape from their own shadows. ( Source )
[…] Romantics believed that men and women ought to be guided by warm emotions rather than the cold abstract rules and rituals established by Bourgeois society. ( Source
They sound a lot like modern day social justice warriors , many of whom are trust fund babies that lash out against “privilege” and “inequality” to relieve the psychological pain of being wealthy without having had to earn it. Combined with the fact that SJWs also trump feelings over logic, it’s clear to see how romanticists were proto-SJWs, whose individualistic ideas are just what the enlightenment needed to complete its destruction of tradition.
Romantics re-defined what relationships should be based on
Prior to the romantic era, companionate love was the relationship form often described in literature and other historical writings.
Passionate love is the arousal-driven emotion which often gives people extreme feelings of happiness, and can also give people feelings of anguish. Companionate love is the form which creates a steadfast bond between two people, and gives people feelings of peace. Scientists have described the stage of passionate love as “being on cocaine,” since during that stage the brain releases the same neurotransmitter, dopamine, as when cocaine is being used. ( Source )
Besides Song Of Songs in the Old Testament , writers were not encouraged to muse endlessly about passionate love, and there is zero evidence it was used as the principal factor in forming new marriages, but it’s this passionate love that we’re told to strive for, of feeling like you’ve been swept up in an exciting whirlwind, before publishing the gory details on Buzzfeed or in a bestseller like Eat Pray Love, authored by a woman who is embarking on her second divorce .
Women of the romantic era played a big part in elevating romantic love, and why wouldn’t they? It’s much more fun to get swept up in the excitement created by non-committal alpha male than it does to do arduous daily duties before you husband, king, and God. Women were given the chance to pick between excitement or responsibility, and we know what they have chosen.
The works of the Romantic Era also differed from preceding works in that they spoke to a wider audience, partly reflecting the greater distribution of books as costs came down during the period. The Romantic period saw an increase in female authors and also female readers. ( Source )
The modern era has doubled down on the notion of romantic love Jewish psychologist Robert Sternberg proposed the popular triangular theory of love , which is often used today as defining the love ideal. This theory has caused immense harm for stating that all three forms of love are needed in equal measure for a successful relationship.
Anyone who takes an introductory psychology course, or who reads a pop psychology book, will be exposed to this theory, and walk away thinking that passion is absolutely required in a relationship. If it’s not there, the presumption is that the relationship is no longer “consummate” and far short of ideal.
Believing that romantic love and passion are necessary in a marriage makes it that much easier to exit out of it, because when a woman no longer “feels passion,” she will walk away knowing that experts like Sternberg would agree that the relationship degraded and was no longer worth saving. And this is exactly what modern women are doing in droves. They have shown an appalling disregard for their wedding vows, especially upon realizing that they initiate 80% of divorces .
Romanticism and the rise of nationalism
If nationalism came out of the romantic era, and passionate love was a mistake, does that mean nationalism is also a mistake?
One of Romanticism’s key ideas and most enduring legacies is the assertion of nationalism, which became a central theme of Romantic art and political philosophy. From the earliest parts of the movement, with their focus on development of national languages and folklore, and the importance of local customs and traditions, to the movements that would redraw the map of Europe and lead to calls for self-determination of nationalities, nationalism was one of the key vehicles of Romanticism, its role, expression and meaning.
[…] Patriotism, nationalism, revolution and armed struggle for independence also became popular themes in the arts of this period. ( Source )
Upon closer inspection, it’s easy to see that the ruling agenda of today, globalism , is essentially “world nationalism.” Instead of loving your neighbor, and only those who share your unique traditions or race, you’re supposed to love everyone in the world , because it’s evil to think that there are large differences between a German businessman in a Hugo Boss suit and a Tutsi villager with a lip plate the size of a grapefruit.
The romantic ideal of nationalism is not Adolph Hitler, but George Soros , who insists on loving everyone in the world from the depths of your heartfelt human compassion. A nationalism based on genetics and local bonds will no doubt serve citizens better than a “global nationalism” where you’re supposed to care for those who are nothing like you.
How should men choose their life partners?
It’s clear that using romantic love and passion as your primary standard for long-term relationships will lead to failure and maybe even personal catastrophe. You’ll easily come to this conclusion by evaluating your past relationships and the mistakes you’ve made on women who you had intense passion for.
Instead, practicality must be the order of the day. You must logically evaluate any woman you intend to be with for more than a casual relationship by weighing her values, beliefs, and sexual history. This is easier said than done because we’ve been so brainwashed to believe passion is important, but it simply makes the most amount of sense. Find a woman the same way you would find a new job or buy a new house, and be wary of women who picked you based more on passion than practical matters.
It may sound cold to search for your wife like you would a business partner, but that is exactly what she is. The day-to-day life of a family home is far more business and economics than love, and so you should come to the easy conclusion that that’s what you must use to form a stable home.
Understand, however, that we do not live in a traditional and patriarchal society that aids us in our search for a virtuous woman. Instead, society is encouraging women to corrupt themselves, sexually and physically, in the name of empowerment and independence, making our search exceedingly difficult. This is one of the costs we have to pay for living in the modern world. Some men will be able to overcome it, but many men won’t, and will fail in their search for a woman they can create a family with.
But at least we are now armed with the knowledge of what it takes to have a more successful long-term relationship. It’s not romantic love or butterflies in the stomach, but a matter of practicality. Logically evaluate her past, her values, and her beliefs to make sound predictions of how she’ll behave in the future. From this evaluation will come a logical decision that is likely to endure, instead of relying on emotion, which changes as readily as the direction of the wind.
Read More: Unconditional Love From A Woman Is Impossible
| 1real |
Uncle Tom CNN Guest Attacks Larry Wilmore: ‘What If Someone Called Sanders The K-Word?’ (VIDEO) | There s often much debate about the use of the n-word in any of its forms. You hear in rap music, or just among black folks as a term of familiarity in some black culture circles. This debate has been brought to light once again by Larry Wilmore s comedy routine at the White House Correspondents Dinner. The comedian finished his bit by saying directly to President Obama: Yo, Barry. You did it, my n*gga. Well, there was one member of the black media who did not appreciate Wilmore s remarks, and he went on CNN with host Don Lemon to say so. SiriusXM host Joe Madison said of Wilmore: Can you imagine if the K word would have been used to describe Bernie Sanders? The thing is, though that is not an accurate comparison. Most people don t even know what the K-Word is. For the record, it is an anti-Jewish slur. The word is Kike. Jewish people have never included this word in their own culture without it being a million percent offensive in any context. The same cannot be said for the n-word. Now, do I use it in any context? No. Absolutely not. I m black, but I despise that word for my own reasons. However, I do understand that there are contexts within Black circles where it is a term of endearment and is completely appropriate. This one of them.Madison went on to say that it was a sad occasion that after 8 years of this dinner, that s the last word that this distinguished group of people will hear in relation to this president. The second guest in the debate, April Reign, said that Madison was misguided on this one. She put it perfectly when she said that black folks need to stop worrying about the white gaze in response to such things. The thing is, worrying about what white folks think will get you far in life, because we live in such a racist society. However, playing that hand is, in and of itself, racist. Reign also went on to point out the obvious, which is that President Obama appreciated what Larry Wilmore said. I am sure he did. People do not like to admit it, but almost every minority you can think of has its own culture where its people are more comfortable. I know that I am, for example, much more comfortable in a gay bar than I could ever be in a straight club. Know why? Because those are my people. They get it. They get the experience. The same goes for how I feel with a bunch of black folks versus being with a bunch white folks. I am sure President Obama appreciated the cultural significance of what Larry Wilmore said, because for the last eight years he s not be able to be with his own people.Joe Madison and everyone else taking issue with Wilmore s routine really need to see themselves for what they are: Uncle Toms who want to distance themselves from black culture, which is seriously just a damn shame.Watch the video below:https://youtu.be/BK7k5kJEmxEFeatured image via video screen capture | 1real |
As Trump riles China, Taiwan tallies defense costs | TAIPEI (Reuters) - Before getting too carried away with Taiwan’s elevated status under a Donald Trump presidency, President Tsai Ing-wen might want to check her bank balance. Trump’s suggestion that the “one China” principle – that Taiwan is a part of China – was up for negotiation has already prompted saber-rattling from Chinese state media and some in the military establishment. Taipei’s ability to mitigate any military action by China will be severely limited by its weak economy and a tiny domestic arms industry that will take years to build up. And even if the United States - Taiwan’s sole arms supplier – agrees to sell the advanced weaponry the island needs to deter a Chinese attack, Taipei will struggle to pay the bill, government advisers and experts say. “The trend in defense spending is a ‘slow rise’,” said Chieh Chung, a long-time defense expert and researcher with the National Policy Foundation in Taipei, a think tank. “There isn’t a lot of flexibility in government finances.” The ability of Taiwan to defend itself, and the willingness of the United States to help it, have been brought into sharp relief since President-elect Trump accepted an unprecedented phone call from President Tsai early this month. Tsai has never conceded the “one China” principle and Beijing has never renounced the use of force to take back what it deems a wayward province, particularly if Taiwan makes moves toward independence. Despite that threat, Taiwan has spent less than 2 percent of its half-a-trillion dollar economy on its defense needs in recent years, leaving it woefully unable to match a free-spending China militarily. U.S.-based think tank the Rand Corporation said in a research report last year the United States would find it far more challenging to come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of an attack now compared to two decades ago, due to rapid advances in Chinese capabilities. In 1996, only two U.S. air wings would have been need to achieve air superiority at the outset of a conflict, but by 2017 that rises to 30, the report said. Selling arms might be more palatable, and there is certainly a need. Two of Taiwan’s four submarines date to World War Two, while the two other Dutch-built boats have been in service for nearly 30 years. But Chieh estimates submarines would cost Taiwan more than $2 billion each, requiring a special budget fundraising via government bonds - a more expensive prospect in a rising interest rate environment. Any arms sale would also risk provoking Beijing. Retired Major-General Luo Yuan, a widely read Chinese military figure, told Hong Kong’s Phoenix Television on Monday that Taiwan buying U.S. arms could be considered a hostile act. “If you want to buy one set of anti-missile systems from the United States, then we’ll set up four in response on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, so that you will know pain, that you can’t buy security, and that what you’re actually buying is danger,” he said. Buying big-ticket items like subs would also be a tough sell at home because Tsai has made developing an indigenous defense industry a key policy plank to create jobs and pump up the sluggish economy, currently growing at less than 2 percent. Taiwan has previously developed its own missiles and also manufactured over 100 of its own fighter jets in the 1990s before the program withered. The navy has just begun programs to build a few small warships, and next on Taiwan’s list are submarines and advanced jet trainers. But critics say it will take years to build a battle-ready fleet, costs would likely be higher than buying second-hand equipment and there is almost no export market to sustain programs for Taiwanese defense goods. Taiwan’s reliance on the United States is therefore key. “Beijing knows that we have obligations to help Taiwan defend itself and resist coercion, as enshrined in the Taiwan Relations Act, and that we make decisions about our defense relationship with Taiwan based on the threat that China poses,” said Daniel Blumenthal, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, and a former U.S. defense official. Trump’s campaign rhetoric, however, indicated he may be less likely to go to war over someone else’s defense while recent comments suggest Taiwan may be a pawn in his trade negotiations with China. Madeleine Bordallo, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, says throwing China a “curve ball” will make Beijing think twice about issues such as Taiwan. Bordallo backed a defense bill supporting senior military exchanges between the United States and Taiwan that was approved by Congress this month. “I believe that different types of engagement with Taiwan offer us a way to throw that curve ball in the coming years,” she told an audience at a security conference in Taipei this week. “Further engagement with Taiwan is important to achieving the strategic goal.” ($1 = 31.9830 Taiwan dollars) | 0fake |
JOY BEHAR Still Claims Clinton Won…BUT Wore Bizarre Mourning Item When Hillary Lost [Video] | The View s Joy Behar just let everyone know that she s a sore loser who just can t let go that Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election. Even though she refuses to acknowledge Trump as president and says Hillary won, she told The View audience that she wore a black veil when Clinton lost indicating that she was in mourning. So which is it?She represents all of those on the left so well. She s STILL bitter and in denial over the loss. What a waste of time and energy to be part of the resistance to President Trump.She gets into it with co-host Meghan McCain over it: She did win and I m not going to give that up. The segment started with a Hot Topics discussion of Sen. John McCain s (R., Ariz.) interview with Esquire magazine where he trashed Clinton s post-election book. He sat down for an interview with Esquire, and he would like Hillary Clinton to hush. Because he says he felt it was a mistake for her to write a book so soon after she lost and that he learned after his loss the hardest thing to do is just shut up. Now, is he right?, co-host Whoopi Goldberg asked her fellow hosts. With all due respect to your father and whom I like very much, I think he s wrong, Behar said toward McCain. I think a woman s place is in the resistance. The woman won the election. Behar s comment was met with audience applause and cheers. What I think I could get on board with if she wrote it and got it out but maybe waited to release it so it becomes more historical. Because I think the optics of looking at someone that s lost whether you agree with them, and I voted for her, or not it looks bad when you didn t win and you re talking, co-host Sara Haines said. She did win, Behar interjected. She did win and I m not going to give that up. She didn t win, McCain retorted. She won the popular vote, co-host Sonny Hostin said.Behar continued to argue with McCain that Clinton won the election. But we don t elect presidents in America with the popular vote, McCain said. I get that. But the numbers are still there, Behar replied. Does that make you feel good at night when you re so angry about Trump, does that make you feel better? McCain quipped. No, it doesn t, Behar said.Behar then admitted she work a black veil when Trump beat Hillary.McCain recounted the night her father lost to President Barack Obama in 2008, expressing the extent to which she understands the difficulties of losing an election. Because you were up close and personal when your father didn t win the election, Hostin said. And I ve been there on election nights for other candidates who have wanted it and it s deeply sad. On election night we prayed and my father told me to buck up, we re the most blessed people in the world. And then, we didn t complain about it. We as a family recognized President Obama as the phenomenon that he was, McCain said. Whether or not you like it, President Trump is a populist phenomenon in a completely different way. And I think if I were you, and I m part of the resistance, I would look forward to new leadership. | 1real |
Guns In Schools Advocate Slammed By BBC Host (AUDIO) | During an interview with a BBC Live Host, a Texas gun advocate defended his state s new gun law policies by saying that the only way to stop gun violence is to arm more people. C.J. Grisham, president of the gun advocacy group Open Carry Texas and a candidate for the state senate believes that law-abiding citizens should be able to access guns easily in order to counter those who have them illegally. He said: You can pass all the background checks you want, but a criminal gang member in Chicago isn t going to run a background check on another gang member. The host then interrupted Grisham and asked: Sorry. How many of the mass college shootings were carried out by criminal gang members? Grisham responds, Well they were all carried out by criminals, not licensed carriers. The host then asks, So how did those people manage to access the weaponry that led to all of those deaths then? Illegally. That s what I m saying, said Grisham.The host continues to drill Grisham by asking, How do you tighten that up then? Grisham s response is ridiculous: Well, you can t stop all crime. You tighten it up by getting rid of gun-free zones and allowing people to defend themselves no matter where they walk, no matter where they go, no matter where they study. So, just to be clear, C.J. asked the host, The solution is actually having more guns in circulation in America. Therefore, when a Columbine happens, a teacher can open fire in a classroom against the assailant. So, guns in classrooms? You advocate that? Well, there s already guns in classrooms. It s just that they re in the hands of criminals and the good guys can t defend themselves, said Grisham.The guns used in the Columbine shooting were bought from an unlicensed private seller. The guns: Were all purchased for them by Dylan Klebold s girlfriend, 18-year-old Columbine student Robyn Anderson, who accompanied the two 17-year-olds to the Tanner Gun Show outside Denver, shopping with their cash. She was what is called a straw purchaser, but it would not have been necessary, since youths were allowed to buy rifles and shotguns in Colorado and no background checks are necessary when guns are sold by individuals rather than federally-licensed gun dealers. President Obama is currently proposing laws that would crack down on that type of easy access.Grisham s logic is very flawed. His idea is that if a person is in possession of a gun, then that person is likely to be safer in an unsafe situation. However, a gun is more likely to discharge accidentally in the home or be used by a family member against another family member rather than against an intruder. The reality is that the more guns are around, the more likely the gun will not be used for self-defense against a criminal.[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQKpAmC3ASk]Feature Image Via YouTube | 1real |
OUTRAGEOUS! NANCY PELOSI Claims Obamacare Honors “Vision of Our Founders” [Video] | 1real | |
[VIDEO] THEY BURNED DOWN CITIES…14 Yr Old Doused A Non-White Baltimore Business Owner With Lighter Fluid, Lit Him On Fire…Barack Obama Thanked Them Yesterday | Barack and Michelle Obama had some unusual honored guests meet with them at the White House yesterday in honor of Black History Month. First we had the first government funded (via Eric Holder)Trayvon Martin protests led by the radical Black Panthers group in Florida. Next came the violent riots against cops and non-blacks over the death of thug, Michael Brown that left the town of Ferguson in shreds. On the heels of Ferguson we saw masses of unruly protestors shutting down major bridges in NYC over the death of Eric Garner. NYC will forever be known as the city where the first violent thug, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, took the lives of two law enforcement officers. The hate and violence against police officers and non-blacks only increased in Baltimore as innocent business owners, like the one in this video, who was doused by lighter fluid and lit on fire by a 14 year old girl inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement (See video HERE).America s watched an Asian reporter attacked and bullied by protestors at Univ. of Missouri assigned to covering the ridiculous hunger strike protest against unfair treatment by a student, who it was later discovered is the son of multi-millionaire railroad tycoon. We ve watched innocent families in restaurants feel threatened by Black Lives Matter bullies during their #BlackLivesMatterBrunch disruptions. We ve watched the hypocrisy of the Black Lives Matter movement when they were caught on video, When they shut down an Asian girl after taking to the microphone to recall a story of discrimination she faced by blacks.The last straw for many was the half-time show during the 2016 Super Bowl featuring Beyonce in a cop-hating, Black Panther promoting disgraceful show. Neither the NFL or our President would respond to Americans after the outrage her performance made many in America feel. Instead, our President Barack Obama invited some of the top race agitators and Black Lives Matter organizers to our White House where he PRAISED their activity. If this were a novel written eight years ago, no one would have bought it, because it would have been too unbelievable to be true. Sadly, where this President is concerned the truth is truly stranger than fiction.Watch Obama praise their outstanding work here: | 1real |
WHY THESE TWO “TOP TIER” GOP CANDIDATES Were Axed From FOX News Presidential Debate | We can think of two candidates who have no business being on that stage. We d love to know who made this decision They ll be fewer candidates on the main stage at next week s Fox Business Network Republican debate in Milwaukee as both Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee have been told to take their seats at the kids table.That leaves just eight candidates on the main stage including frontrunners Donald Trump and Ben Carson, and also Sen. Rand Paul, who many predicted would suffer Christie s undercard debate fate.Next week s undercard debate will again feature four candidates but with the addition of Christie and Huckabee, that means Lindsey Graham and George Pataki both got pushed out.The debate line-up was announced tonight on Lou Dobbs show on Fox Business Network.Besides Trump, Carson and Paul, Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Govs. Jeb Bush and John Kasich and business executive Carly Fiorina round out the line-up.For the undercard debate, Bobby Jindal and Rick Santorum remain in their places on stage.So far only one candidate has managed to climb out of the undercard debates, Fiorina, who spent the August Fox News debate at the kids table and was hoisted onto the mainstage by CNN, after the network tinkered with its rules.One undercard candidate dropped out, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who was the first candidate to pull the plug on his 2016 ambitions having only appeared at the Fox News undercard debate.Since CNN s September debate in Simi Valley, California, the junior varsity squad has had the same roster: Graham, Santorum, Jindal and Pataki. Via: UK Daily Mail | 1real |
Spanish judge orders custody for Catalan leaders pending trial | MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge ordered nine Catalan secessionist leaders to be held in custody on Thursday pending a potential trial over the region s independence push. The lawyer for ousted Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said a warrant had also been issued for his client s arrest - though the statement was dismissed by a senior official in Spain s High Court. The reason for the differing accounts was not immediately clear. In an short address broadcast by Catalan regional television TV3, Puigdemont called for the release of the legitimate government of Catalonia , a call echoed by hundreds of people gathered outside the Catalan parliament. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy sacked Puigdemont and his government last week, hours after the Catalan parliament made a unilateral declaration of independence - a vote boycotted by the opposition and declared illegal by Spanish courts. Puigdemont later traveled to Belgium with four associates and ignored an order to appear before the High Court to answer charges of rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds relating to the region s secessionist drive. Mr. Puigdemont will stay here. He has said that he will fully cooperate with Belgian authorities during the procedure, lawyer Paul Bekaert told Belgian state broadcaster VRT. He said Puigdemont had told him a European arrest warrant has been issued, though the court source said that would most likely happen on Friday. The detention of the secessionist leaders and Puigdemont s flight to Belgium make it difficult for leading figures from the independence movement to stand in a snap election in the wealthy region called by the Spanish government for Dec. 21. Puigdemont said on Tuesday he would go back to Spain only if given unspecified guarantees by the Spanish government. His flight appears to have cost some support for his cause at home. President, enough is enough, the influential Catalan newspaper el Peridico, which has been skeptical of the case for independence, said on its front page on Wednesday. Ebelio Ramos, a pensioner from the pro-independence town of Berga said: I don t know what they re thinking about but when someone does what he did and declares independence and then flees... A president has to fulfill the law and if he doesn t, it is better that he stays calm, because if he starts doing something outside the law, he is going to lose everything. Following a tumultuous month, attention is gradually turning to the December vote. Protests taking place in central Barcelona on Thursday to support secessionist leaders as they testified in Madrid failed to attract a big crowd. Several hundred people took part in another protest called after the nine leaders were ordered held in custody, many fewer than the hundreds of thousands who staged several demonstrations for independence over the last two months. Cracks have appeared within the pro-independence coalition of center-right and far-left parties as well as inside Puigdemont s own PdeCat (Democratic Catalan Party) where some of his allies are now pushing for a negotiated solution with the central government. The struggle has divided Catalonia itself and caused deep resentment across the rest of Spain. In Madrid, 20 secessionist leaders had been summoned by two separate courts to testify over their role in holding a banned Oct. 1 referendum on secession and later proclaiming independence from Spain. With Puigdemont and four others in Belgium, only 15 turned up. All the members of the dismissed Catalan cabinet but one declined to answer questions from the state prosecutor and the High Court judge, who opened an investigation that could take several years before any potential trial. The defendants have played an active role by propelling the carefully designed secessionist process and overcoming all kinds of obstacles that could make them deviate from their final objective, the judge said in the ruling that sent the defendants to jail. She said the defendants, who could face jail sentences of up to 50 years, must be held in custody because they were a flight risk and could destroy evidence. One of them, Santi Vila, who stepped down from the Catalan cabinet before a unilateral declaration of independence last Friday and has since then been pushing for a negotiated solution with the government, was granted bail of 50,000 euros ($58,300). A lawyer for several of the jailed Catalan leaders said they would appeal against the judge s decision. The decision to hold them in custody is absolutely disproportionate as we consider the charges of rebellion and sedition lack any ground, no matter how much the prosecution insists on affirming it, lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas said. Five senior regional lawmakers and the speaker of the Catalan parliament, Carme Forcadell, were summoned by the Supreme Court, which handles the cases of people who enjoy parliamentary immunity. The Supreme Court agreed on Thursday to give one more week to Forcadell and the Catalan lawmakers to prepare their defense and a new hearing will take place on Nov. 9. The courts have already told the Catalan secessionist leaders to deposit 6.2 million euros ($7.2 million) by Friday to cover potential liabilities. | 0fake |
These Products Make Men Grow Breasts, Get Cancers Of The Prostate And Liver | Owned by Unilever, the Axe brand includes a range of men's grooming products with many of the ingredients never even tested for safety according to the C.I.R. – Cosmetic Ingredient Review. Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals Axe products are loaded with endocrine disrupting chemicals. Endocrine disruptorsare exogenous, synthetic chemicals that have hormone-like effects on both humans and wild-life and interfere with the endocrine system by either mimicking or blocking our natural hormones and disrupting their respective body functions. Member scientists of the Endocrine Society issued a report in which they claim: “We present the evidence that endocrine disruptors have effects on male and female reproduction, breast development and cancer, prostrate cancer, neuroendocrinology, thyroid, metabolism and obesity, and cardiovascular endocrinology.” New studies are also revealing that these harmful chemicals may be causing physical feminization in males. A study published by the International Journal of Andrology found that feminization of boys can now be seen through their play habits. Medical experts are now wondering whether exposure to years of these toxic chemicals is part of the reason so many older men are low on testosterone and experiencing erectile dysfunction. So they take a little blue pill and get exposed to even more chemicals and the cycle continues. Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex Gly Aluminum zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly is the active ingredient in Axe deodorant products. One or more animal studies show kidney or renal system effects at very low doses, mammalian cells show positive mutation results, animal studies show reproductive effects at moderate doses. Aluminum was first recognized as a human neurotoxin in 1886, before being used as an antiperspirant. A neurotoxin is a substance that causes damage to nerves or nerve tissue. Cocamidopropyl Betaine Cocamidopropyl betaine is a very toxic ingredient which has been linked to cancer in animal tests. The biggest danger of using a product with cocamidopropyl betaine is its potential contamination with nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are created when nitrosating agents are combined with amines. Nitrosamines have been identified as one of the most potent classes of carcinogens, having caused cancer in more than 40 different animal species as well as in humans. PPG-14 Butyl Ether PPG stands for popypropylene glycol, which is made from a completely artificial petroleum product, methyl oxirane. Another name for that is propylene oxide (which is a probable human carcinogen). Propylene oxide is also an irritant and highly flammable. Butyl ethers are in the paraben family, and they are toluene derivatives (toxic petrochemical compounds). Toluene has proven to have a harmful affect on the reproductive system while parabens have been linked to cancer. PEG-8 Distearate According to a report in the International Journal of Toxicology by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) committee, impurities found in various PEG compounds include ethylene oxide; 1,4-dioxane; polycyclic aromatic compounds; and heavy metals such as lead, iron, cobalt, nickel, cadmium, and arsenic. Many of these impurities are linked to cancer. A 1988 Swedish study by Thompson looked at both BHT and BHA. They found that both were toxic and tumour promoting. Both antioxidants were observed to be cytotoxic in a concentration-dependent manner at concentrations ranging from 100 to 750 microM. At equimolar concentrations BHT was more cytotoxic than BHA. Related: | 1real |
Colorado Cannabis Industry Contributes More to Economy Than All Other Industries: Report | By Justin Gardner The Colorado cannabis industry has quickly gone from bud to full flower, as indicated by a new in-depth data analysis by the... | 1real |
JUDGE JEANINE PIRRO Rips Into The Trump Rally Protesters In A Great Opening Statement [Video] | We love Judge Jeanine s take on everything but this Opening Statement is epic! I think you can see steam coming out of her ears! | 1real |
Ohio House passes bill to deny funds to Planned Parenthood | CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Ohio state legislators on Wednesday passed a bill blocking state and federal funds for groups that perform or promote abortions, effectively cutting $1.3 million annually used by Planned Parenthood clinics for HIV testing, pre-natal care and other programs. Governor John Kasich, a Republican presidential candidate, is expected to sign the bill, which the state Senate had already passed. House Bill 294, which passed 59 to 32, blocks women’s health providers that also provide abortions, or groups that refer patients to those providers, from receiving funds from a variety of state and federal grants. Planned Parenthood said the bill would hinder lower-income women’s access to testing for sexually transmitted diseases, HIV tests and well-baby programs. According to its website, Planned Parenthood has 20 clinics in Ohio. Two provide abortions and all provide abortion referral. With most Republicans keen to deny funds to Planned Parenthood, Kasich will have the opportunity to sign the bill ahead of the party’s presidential primary on Feb. 20 in South Carolina. Joe Andrews, spokesman for Kasich, said the bill furthers Ohio’s policies. “The Ohio Department of Health had already stopped awarding state dollars to Planned Parenthood and they were kicked to the back of the line for the federal government’s family planning grants that the department administers. This bill further reinforces Ohio’s policies,” Andrews said Wednesday. Opponents of the bill accused state Republicans of grandstanding, noting that the timing of its passage was convenient for Kasich as he campaigns in a crowded field for nomination to represent his party in the November election. “There’s no legitimate justification for defunding Planned Parenthood. Every excuse by legislators has been debunked,” Kellie Copeland executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, an abortion rights advocacy group, said on Wednesday. “Clearly the motivation behind the content and timing of this legislation is to bolster John Kasich’s campaign to anti-choice voters in South Carolina,” Copeland added. Proponents of the bill said the funding transfer will help combat infant mortality because it re-directs $250,000 for new parent education. Under Ohio law no state funds are used to provide abortions but state funds are used by Planned Parenthood to provide other healthcare. Rep. Kathleen Clyde, a Democrat, said the bill would be counterproductive. “It will likely increase the number of abortions in Ohio by cutting access to birth control and access to sex education in Ohio,” she said. | 0fake |
Head of Austrian far right to visit Washington at time of Trump inauguration | VIENNA (Reuters) - The head of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, Heinz-Christian Strache, has said he will travel to Washington for meetings “on the sidelines of” the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, though he did not specify who. In a statement on his Facebook page, the head of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPO) did not say whether he would attend the inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, but did state he would not be meeting Trump himself. Spokesmen for his party were not immediately available for comment. Strache’s visit is likely to raise fresh questions about ties between European far-right parties and people close to Trump. FPO officials met people close to Trump, including his pick for national security adviser Michael Flynn, on a recent visit to the United States, the party said last month. “There is a series of invitations to talks with interesting political representatives of the United States on the sidelines of the U.S. president’s inauguration on our packed schedule,” Strache said, adding that he would be accompanied by an FPO delegation. French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen was seen at Trump Tower last week, but a spokesman for Trump said she did not meet with him or his team. The Kleine Zeitung newspaper said Strache’s delegation would include Norbert Hofer, who narrowly failed to become president last year, which would have made him the first freely elected far-right head of state in Europe since World War Two. Strache said “good diplomatic and economic relations” between Austria and the United States were a priority for him given his party’s “possible future government responsibilities”. Austria’s centrist government’s mandate runs until next year. “In order to avoid unnecessary speculation, a meeting with the future U.S. president, Donald Trump, is not planned,” Strache said. | 0fake |
Trump to scrap protection for 'Dreamers,' give Congress six months to fix | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump has decided to scrap a program shielding from deportation immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children but will give Congress six months to craft legislation to replace it, sources familiar with the situation said. The president decided to delay enforcement of his decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the two sources said on Sunday. One source cautioned that the president could change his mind. The decision to give Congress half a year to come up with a an alternative, first reported by Politico, represents a compromise of sorts after top Republicans and business leaders asked Trump to keep the program. DACA, an Obama administration policy, protects nearly 800,000 young men and women often called “Dreamers” from deportation and allows them to work legally. Dreamers are a fraction of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of them Hispanic. Trump as a candidate promised to deport all of them, but many Americans have rallied to support the young adults who have spent large parts of their lives in the United States. The decision, to be announced on Tuesday, will seek to placate both sides in the immigration debate at a time when the president is also grappling with North Korea’s nuclear program and Houston’s recovery from Hurricane Harvey. As a candidate, Trump pledged to immediately scrap the program but he ran into stiff opposition. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan urged Trump on Friday not to rescind the program and was joined by Senator Orrin Hatch, also a Republican. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American Republican from Florida tweeted her dismay with the decision to scrap DACA: “After teasing #Dreamers for months with talk of his ‘great heart,’ @POTUS slams door on them. Some ‘heart’.” That said, Trump’s base will likely be far from happy about the president’s decision to leave open the option of a fix. Representative Steve King, a hawk on immigration and Iowa Republican, tweeted his opposition to the plan on Sunday night. Democrats, like Senator Al Franken of Minnesota, also wanted the program to continue. Franken called the reported decision a “disgrace.” Nancy Pelosi, the top House Democrat, last week asked Ryan to meet with Democratic lawmakers to discuss a “comprehensive legislative solution.” Leading business figures defended the Dreamers, including Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella and Facebook Inc (FB.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who signed a letter to the president outlining the economic contribution of Dreamers. Prior to the news of Trump’s action, Apple Inc (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook tweeted, “250 of my Apple coworkers are #Dreamers. I stand with them.” But U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin downplayed those warnings on Sunday, telling Fox News Sunday he was “less concerned about the economic impact.” Most of the Dreamers came from Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America. More than 200,000 live in California, while 100,000 are in Texas. New York, Illinois and Florida also have large numbers. Congress under presidents of both parties has been unable to pass comprehensive immigration reform. What to do about Dreamers has been actively debated within the White House and Trump administration. One senior administration official described the debate as a “tug of war” between factions. DACA supporters argue that the people it protects grew up and are U.S. educated and integrated into American society, with little connection to the countries in which they are citizens. Opponents of the program argue that illegal immigrants take jobs from U.S. citizens. | 0fake |
U.S. denies breaking into Russian diplomatic apartments in San Francisco | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department denied Russian assertions on Tuesday that U.S. officials had broken into residences at the Russian consulate in San Francisco, saying security officers had merely checked to ensure the building had been vacated by a required deadline. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the United States had given Russian families living at the consulate an extended deadline of Oct. 1 to vacate the residences. The move was part of an ongoing spat between the two countries. Nauert said State Department diplomatic security and representatives from the Foreign Missions Office then entered the area to just walk through, look around. The purpose of that is to make sure that people are no longer living there. | 0fake |
Lawmakers Want Answers About Jared Kushner’s HUGE Debt And Meeting With Russian Banker | Don t we all owe $1.3 billion in loans, then meet with a Russian banker but totally do not discuss finances even though we re up to your necks in debt? Well, that happened to Donald Trump s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, too, and Congressional investigators want answers. Investigators want to determine whether the amateur president s son-in-law was vulnerable to Russian influence during and after the campaign because of financial stress facing his family firm s signature real estate holding a Manhattan skyscraper, ABC News reports.Before the election, Trump s mounting conflicts of interest disturbed many of us, but Republicans said it was no problem to put a an alleged billionaire who won t release his taxes at the helm. So, here we are.Officials told ABC News that the investigators are particularly interested in a December meeting Kushner held with executives from a Russian bank. It s very peculiar that of all the people he could be talking to in a transition period where you ve got lots of balls in the air, that you end up talking to a Russian banker who is under sanction and who is related to Putin and has a KGB background, said Rep. Jackie Speier (CA-D), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee. I think the question has to be asked, was this about you trying to get financing for your troubled real estate that you have in New York City? Who amongst us has not held meetings with Russian bankers? Let them cast the first stone, k?ABC News reports:The timing of Kushner s December meeting with executives from VneshEconomBank, or VEB, at the suggestion of the Russian ambassador, has also raised concerns from government watchdog groups across the political spectrum.Peter Schweizer, president of the Government Accountability Institute, (which was founded by Trump adviser Stephen Bannon and funded in part by a Trump mega-donor, Rebekah Mercer), said the meeting had conflict of interest written all over it. (my bold, because damn) You worry about a quid pro quo, you worry about Kushner getting some financial arrangement from a Russian financial institution, and you worry about White House policy being shaped in a way that benefits either those banks or Russia at large, Schweizer said. That s the concern. Hey, and that comes from a group founded by President Bannon and is partly funded by the Mercers. It s almost as if Kushner is considered collateral damage at this point.ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos asked White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Friday to explain Kushner s meeting with Gorkov (by the way, Kushner also met with Sergey Kislyak, but we ll get into that in a bit), but she repeatedly refused to do so. Jared has said that he s willing to go and share whatever information he has, Conway said. He actually has made that clear for many months now, and he looks forward to doing that. Jared owes a bigly amount of money and it s due in just a couple of years:Real estate analysts told ABC News that Jared Kushner s first major acquisition, a Fifth Avenue office tower signifying his family s move from New Jersey into Manhattan real estate, is shouldering a $1.3 billion in loans coming due in two years, and it is not bringing in sufficient rental income. An attempt by Kushner to broker a deal with a Chinese company to refinance and redevelop the building fell through shortly after the election.Thomas Fink, a senior vice president at the firm Trepp, which analyzes commercial real estate, described the Kushner firm as being unable to write a $1.3 billion dollar check. I don t think they have a billion plus in the bank to just write a check to pay off the mortgage, Fink said. Potentially they could sell the building, but you know, what will someone pay for it that remains to be seen. The Russian state-owned bank and the White House have different explanations for Kushner s secret meeting during Trump s transition period.Multiple U.S. officials told NBC News that the FBI and Congress are examining a campaign event last spring during which Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions and Jared Kushner were in a small gathering with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergey Kislyak and other diplomats at Washington s Mayflower Hotel.It seems like everyone in the Trump administration has secretly met with Kislyak, a known Russian spy recruiter. Again, that s totally not suspicious. Haven t we all met Kislyak, an oversized Russian, then forgot about that covert meeting?Stuff you can t make up: The address of Kushner s building is 666 Fifth Avenue. The orb, the sinkhole, and now the 666 building. Lol.Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images. | 1real |
World war 3 Update & Death of Petrodollar | source Add To The Conversation Using Facebook Comments | 1real |
Worst Of Saudi Economic Slump Yet To Come | Worst Of Saudi Economic Slump Yet To Come 11/07/2016
PRESS TV
Experts say the outlook for Saudi economic recovery will remain murky for many months to come with some even warning that the worst of the economic slump for the kingdom is yet to come.
Reuters in a report quoted several Riyadh-based experts as saying that there would be a high degree of uncertainty over the status of the Saudi economy in 2017. That would mainly be a result of the remaining challenges from the private sector.
The Saudi economy may appear to have escaped a fiscal and currency crisis that loomed at the start of 2016. However, experts said, threats from certain basic problems still remain and will haunt the kingdom next year.
The government owes its success to temporarily escape crisis to unpaid bills rather than sustainable spending cuts.
The government has reduced or suspended payments that it owed to construction firms, medical establishments and even some of the foreign consultants who helped to design the economic reforms, Reuters added quoting the experts. The estimated unpaid dues for construction firms alone totaled 80 billion riyals.
Experts further warned that this could store up obligations for Riyadh in the future.
Reuters elsewhere emphasized that signs of the economic slump could be seen in Riyadh and other major cities, where discounts of 50 percent or more are offered by stores selling clothes and consumer electronics, and there is a surge in people offering second-hand cars for sale.
The biggest uncertainty may be how authorities can push through a key part of their reform drive, added the report. The most important issue for the Saudis may be determining how they plan to foster a vibrant private sector that does not depend on oil revenues while at the same pushing ahead austerity policies that are suppressing private demand.
Experts also warned that the status of the Saudi job market over the next few years. Between 1 million and 2 million of Saudi Arabia’s 10 million foreign workers may leave over the next couple of years as the economic slowdown causes lay-offs and the government seeks to steer Saudi citizens into jobs previously held by foreigners, Reuters added. | 1real |
null | Here is the problem . The USA constitution states only Congress can declare war yet Sanctions are a declaration of war made by non other than the bankster elite that has everrything to do with profit and nothing to do with defence . Far too much power for banksters to have and the profits they make are huge , The Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States. It is an issue no one has ever adressed anywhere . So no matter who you vote for its the banksters who go to war and no one ever elects them . | 1real |
Republicans PANICKING After Federal Judge Shuts Down Florida Voter Suppression | The Trump campaign is self destructing. If things get any worse between now and the election day, Trump could even be bringing down Congress. Republicans are in a panic and the only way out they see is voter suppression.Florida s Governor Rick Scott saw an opportunity when Hurricane Matthew hit. He refused to extend the registration deadline past 5:00 on Monday (seriously, why would the cutoff be a month before the election anyway?). A federal judge put a quick stop to that, calling it irrational. The deadline is extended till Tuesday. Quite simply, it is wholly irrational in this instance for Florida to refuse to extend the voter registration deadline when the state already allows the governor to suspend or move the election date due to an unforeseen emergency, (U.S. District Judge Mark) Walker wrote in a 16-page order. If aspiring eligible Florida voters are barred from registering to vote, then those voters are stripped of one of our most precious freedoms. Source: TampaBay.comMore than that, Walker called the state s effort to block the vote unconstitutional. The right to vote is a precious and fundamental right, Walker wrote, quoting from an earlier case.It s expected that about 100,000 additional people will be registering between now and the deadline. This is especially bad for Republicans. Clinton is leading the race in Florida by a narrow three points, but between his offensive remarks toward women and the fact that it was revealed that Trump illegally did business with Cuba, his Florida support is quickly fading. Without Florida, Trump is almost assured of losing, while Clinton could still win the election while losing Florida. Those 100,000 people might represent about one percent of the Florida electorate, which might not sound like a lot, but in a race that s that close, in a perennial swing state, that could mean the difference between winning and losing.Featured image via Joe Readle/Getty Images. | 1real |
Republicans’ 4-Step Plan to Repeal the Affordable Care Act - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — Vice Mike Pence and the top Republicans in Congress made clear on Wednesday, more powerfully and explicitly than ever, that they are dead serious about repealing the Affordable Care Act. How they can uproot a law deeply embedded in the nation’s health care system without hurting some of the 20 million people who have gained coverage through it is not clear. Nor is it yet evident that millions of Americans with medical conditions will be fully protected against disruptions in their health coverage. But a determined Republican president and Congress can gut the Affordable Care Act, and do it quickly: a health care revolution in reverse that would undo many of the changes made since the law was signed by President Obama in March 2010. The Senate intends to pass a budget resolution next week that would shield repeal legislation from a Democratic filibuster. If the Senate completes its action, House Republican leaders hope that they, too, can approve a version of the budget resolution next week. Whether they can meet that goal is unclear. The resolution contains seemingly innocuous language, instructing four committees that control health care policy — two in the Senate, two in the House — to draft legislation within their jurisdiction that would cut at least $1 billion from the deficit over 10 years. But that language has real teeth. The legislation produced to meet those instructions can pass the Senate with a simple majority — 51 votes if all senators are present — obliterating the power of the Democratic minority to block it. Those four committees would have just a few weeks, until Jan. 27, to produce legislation repealing major provisions of the Affordable Care Act. House Republicans have some practice at this, because they have voted more than 60 times since 2011 to repeal some or all of the law. The budget blueprint will guide Congress but will not be presented to the president for a signature or veto. The committees — House Energy and Commerce, House Ways and Means, Senate Finance, and Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions — will quickly assemble legislation intended to eviscerate the health care law. The repeal legislation will be in the form of a reconciliation bill, authorized by the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. Such bills can be adopted under special procedures. But Senate rules generally bar the use of those procedures for measures that have no effect on spending or revenue. So the legislation, as now conceived, would probably leave the most popular provisions of the health law intact, such as the prohibition on insurers’ denying coverage to people with conditions. Instead, the legislation would: ■ Eliminate the tax penalties imposed on people who go without insurance and on larger employers who do not offer coverage to employees. ■ Eliminate tens of billions of dollars provided each year to states that have expanded eligibility for Medicaid. ■ Repeal subsidies for private health insurance coverage obtained through the public marketplaces known as exchanges. It could also repeal some of the taxes and fees that help pay for the expansion of coverage under the Affordable Care Act. But some Republicans have indicated that they may want to use some of that revenue for their plan to replace the health care law. The 2010 law imposed taxes and fees on certain people and on health insurers and manufacturers of prescription drugs and medical devices, among others. Republicans have not said for sure which taxes they will scrap and which they may keep. Republicans say they will delay the effective date of their repeal bill to avoid disrupting coverage and to provide time for them to develop alternatives to Mr. Obama’s law. They disagree over how long the delay should last, with two to four years being mentioned as possibilities. Within days of taking office, Donald J. Trump plans to announce executive actions on health care. Some may undo Obama administration policies. Others will be meant to stabilize health insurance markets and prevent them from collapsing in a vast sea of uncertainty. “We are working on a series of executive orders that the will put into effect to ensure that there is an orderly transition, during the period after we repeal Obamacare, to a health care economy,” Mr. Pence said at the Capitol on Wednesday. He did not provide details, and Trump transition aides said they had no information about the executive orders. But some options are apparent. The federal government could continue providing financial assistance to insurance companies to protect them against financial losses and to prevent consumers’ premiums from soaring more than they have in the last few years. Even as they move full speed toward gutting the existing health law, Republicans are scrambling to find a replacement. At the moment, they have no consensus. Mr. Pence said on Wednesday that the replacement would probably encourage greater use of personal health savings accounts and make it easier for carriers to sell insurance across state lines. Also, he said, it would encourage small businesses to band together and buy insurance through “association health plans” sponsored by business and professional organizations. Some type of subsidy or tax credit for consumers, to help defray the cost of premiums, is also likely. States would have more authority to set insurance standards, and the federal government would have less. Mr. Trump has also endorsed the idea of “ pools” for people with conditions who would otherwise have difficulty finding affordable coverage. Many experts have said that repealing the health law without a clear plan to replace it could create havoc in insurance markets. Doctors, hospitals and insurance companies do not know what to expect. Without an effective requirement for people to carry insurance, and without subsidies to buy it, supporters of the law say many healthy people would go without coverage, knowing they could obtain it if they became ill and needed it. Democrats in Congress say they will do everything they can to thwart Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. They plan to dramatize their case by publicizing the experiences of people whose lives have been saved or improved by the law. In the Senate next week, Democrats will demand votes intended to put Republicans on record against proposals that could protect consumers. Defenders of the law also hope to mobilize groups like the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association to speak up for patients. The Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, and the House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi of California, are encouraging their colleagues to organize rallies around the country on Jan. 15 to oppose the Republicans’ health care agenda. And to buttress their case, Democrats are compiling statistics from the White House and from researchers at groups like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Commonwealth Fund and the Urban Institute, which warn of catastrophic consequences if the law is repealed. | 0fake |
OBAMA BLAMES “Right Wing” Talk Radio, FOX News For Angering “White People”…”Anti-Government” Attitudes [VIDEO] | Barack only needs to find the closest mirror to understand where the increase in racism and distrust in our over-reaching government originated. He is without a doubt, the most divisive President in the history of the United States of America. Dividing our nation will be his legacy President Barack Obama accused right wing talk radio and cable channels like Fox News of angering white people in America about the economy, arguing that it was actually doing really well under his administration.During his speech, Obama decried Republicans who campaigned on stopping welfare queens complaining about makers and takers and even referred to Mitt Romney s 47 percent comment. Their basic message is anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-trade, and let s face it it s anti-change, Obama said, accusing them of lying just to oppose him. What they are saying just isn t true, he said, before launching his own attempt at mythbusting narratives from conservative media.Obama complained that people failed to recognize that he was succeeding in improving the economy, cutting the deficit, and cutting spending. It s the story that is broadcast every day on some cable news stations, on right wing radio it s pumped into cars and bars and VFW halls all across America and right here in Elkhart, he said. If you re hearing that story all the time, you start believing it. It s no wonder people start thinking big government is the problem. Because of conservative radio, Obama argued, White Americans think that reverse discrimination is as big a problem as discrimination against minorities. Obama argued they were wrong, since black unemployment was still twice as high as white unemployment and Hispanic women earned 55 cents for every dollar earned by a white man. Obama warned voters against listening to Trump s political argument. The one thing I can promise you is if we turn against each other based on divisions of race and religion if we fall for a bunch of okey-doke just because it sounds funny or the tweets are provocative, then we re not going to build on the progress we started. At one point, Obama stuttered repeatedly when speaking about Trump.Our President without a teleprompter:https://vine.co/v/iVLaiJxdqV2Obama made his speech at Elkhart, Indiana, where a majority of voters in the county voted against him in the 2012 presidential election. One person in the crowd shouted one more time! suggesting that she wanted Obama to run again for office. No I can t do that, Obama said. The Constitution prohibits it but more importantly Michelle prohibits it. Via: Breitbart News | 1real |
Cruz chairs contentious U.S. Senate hearing on 'radical Islam' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday accused the Obama administration of under-emphasizing the “threat of radical Islam” as he presided over a Senate hearing for the second time since suspending his presidential campaign in early May. President Barack Obama and top Justice Department officials have come under fire from conservatives for avoiding the term “radical Islam” when denouncing attacks by violent extremists who claim inspiration from Islamic State, such as the Orlando nightclub shooter. Administration officials have countered that focusing on the use of the phrase is a political distraction and gives fuel to Islamic State propagandists who say the United States has waged war against all of Islam. Absent from Tuesday’s hearing before a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee were the two top Justice Department counter-terrorism officials whom Cruz had invited to testify. “The Obama administration of course has declined to appear and explain its policies,” Cruz said at the hearing, noting that the officials had not provided any reason for staying away. Justice Department spokesman Marc Raimondi said in an emailed statement that the department is “focused on aggressively and successfully pursuing terrorist adversaries” and on denying them “unchallenged recruiting platforms to spread their messages of hate and intolerance.” Democratic members of the subcommittee said national security policies more targeted at Muslims, such as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s call for a ban on Muslim immigrants, would be unconstitutional and counter-productive. “We cannot fight radicalization with further radicalization,” said Democratic Senator Christopher Coons of Delaware, adding at the end of the hearing that he did not think “arguing over semantics” for three hours had helped improve American national security. Experts from Muslim and Arab advocacy groups as well as former government national security officials testified at the hearing, representing both sides of the debate over whether the administration emphasizes Islam too much or too little in its counter-extremism policies. Protesters with Code Pink, an anti-war advocacy group, offered Cruz packs of gum labeled “Islamophobin” as he entered the hearing room, telling him it could cure Islamophobia. | 0fake |
Italy's former PM Renzi loses more allies as election nears | ROME (Reuters) - Former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, whose Democratic Party (PD) is shedding support in opinion polls, suffered a further setback on Wednesday when two allies said they would not contest next year s election. Renzi quit as prime minister a year ago after losing a referendum on his planned constitutional reforms. He aims to return to power at the vote due by May, but the PD has split under his leadership and his prospects seem to be dwindling. On Wednesday Giuliano Pisapia, a former mayor of Milan, announced that his small leftist party, called The Progressive Camp (CP), which had been expected to join forces with the PD at the election, was disbanding. Pisapia said it had proved impossible to continue talks with the PD , and complained in particular about Renzi s unwillingness to push through a contested law making it easier for the children of immigrants to obtain Italian citizenship. Hours later, Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, leader of the centrist Popular Alternative party (AP) which governs with the PD, said he would not be running at the election, throwing into doubt the future of the party he founded. The CP and AP have less than 3 percent of the vote each, according to opinion polls, but the latest defections weaken the center-left in which a declining PD is now virtually without any allies. The left and the PD are crumbling away, said Renato Brunetta, lower house leader of Silvio Berlusconi s Forza Italia (Go Italy!) party which is the lynchpin of a center-right alliance that is expected to win most seats at the election. On Sunday, leftist parties which had already quit the PD joined forces under the leadership of Senate Speaker Piero Grasso to form Free and Equal, a new grouping already credited with around 6 percent of the vote and expected to grow further at the expense of the PD. Posing a potential further headache for Renzi, a parliamentary commission on banking decided later on Wednesday to call a former top banker who a prominent journalist alleged had been put under pressure by a close ally in his government. In a book published earlier this year, the previous director of one of Italy s biggest newspapers said Renzi s reform minister Maria Elena Boschi had in 2015 asked Federico Ghizzoni, then chief executive of UniCredit, to look into buying a struggling bank where her father held a senior position. The cross-party commission investigating banking crises said in a statement it had voted unanimously to call Ghizzoni to speak. A source said his hearing would be held by Dec. 23. Boschi, who is now cabinet secretary, denies ever asking anyone to buy Banca Etruria, which was eventually rescued by the state. She said this week she was taking legal action. Renzi s PD critics say he has dragged the traditionally left-leaning party to the right and lament what they say is his autocratic, domineering leadership style. The party has been steadily losing support since it won over 40 percent of the vote at European elections in 2014. Surveys suggest it would now poll around 25 percent, some 3 points behind the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement. The center-right bloc is made up of Forza Italia and the anti-immigrant Northern League, each with around 15 percent, and the right-wing Brothers of Italy, on around 5 percent. While the center-right is seen winning most seats at the election, opinion polls suggest it will not win an absolute majority, making a hung parliament the most likely outcome. | 0fake |
Amy Schumer Uses Netflix Special to go After ’Gun Nuts’ | Amy Schumer uses her upcoming Netflix premiere The Leather Special to mock “gun nuts” for opposing her gun control efforts. [Schumer began to speak publicly for gun control after John Russell Houser allegedly shot and killed two persons during an airing of Schumer’s Trainwreck in a theater in Lafayette, Louisiana. According to The Daily Beast, Schumer talks about gun control in her new special, then hedges her statements by saying “What I learned was, no matter what you say, as soon as you say the word ‘gun,’ what gun nuts hear is, ‘She wants to take all our guns! ’” What Schumer misses is that she has worked with her cousin Senator Chuck Schumer ( ) to push expanded background checks because of the shooting, although the shooter passed a background check to get his gun. “Gun nuts” fail to see the sense in pushing to expand what already failed. But Schumer tries to explain her calls for more background checks by pointing to the mental condition of the Lafayette shooter. She suggests that “even someone who is mentally ill and has been convicted of domestic violence can still obtain a firearm due to various loopholes. ” To be fair, this is not true. Individuals who are involuntarily committed for mental illness treatment are barred from buying guns — involuntarily commitment is a threshold that must be crossed. But the judge who handled John Russell Houser’s mental oversight — Carroll County Probate Judge Betty Cason — said she never ordered him involuntarily committed. So, there already is a mechanism for keeping the mentally ill from obtaining guns, but they have to meet a certain threshold before being barred from gun purchases. Instead of admitting this, Schumer just mocks the system. She points to blind people and people on the terror watch list buying guns, then says, ““I’m all about equal rights for the disabled, but if Stevie Wonder calls me and he’s like, ‘Do you want to go shooting today?’ I’m going to be like, ‘Hard pass! ’” Schumer does not mention the fact that neither the terror attack in San Bernadino (December 2, 2015) nor Orlando (June 12, 2o16) would have been stopped by adding the terror watch list to background checks because none of the attackers in either case were on the list. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com. | 0fake |
Tom Brady, Dwight Freeney play ’For Honor’ in ’Conan’s’ Clueless Gamer - Breitbart | Feb. 3 (UPI) — Before the big game Sunday, Super Bowl opponents Tom Brady and Dwight Freeney battled each other in For Honor Thursday as part of Conan O’Brien’s popular late night segment, Clueless Gamer. [The upcoming video game from publisher and developer Ubisoft, which allows players to fight using knights, vikings or samurai, was first played between Brady and O’Brien with the New England Patriots quarterback vanquishing the talk show host. The pair were then joined by Freeney, a defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons who has a history of facing off against Brady on the football field. “You have sacked Tom Brady four times, don’t you think you owe him an apology,” O’Brien asked Freeney alongside a smiling Brady who responded “Absolutely not. ” Freeney eventually agreed to apologize to Brady if he did so as well at the same time however, after O’Brien counted down to three, Freeney was the only one uttering “I’m sorry. ” Later on, the competitors were joined by Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski and running back LeGarrette Blount along with former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch. After losing to Gronkowski in a round of For Honor, Lynch was happy to receive a small trophy to which he proclaimed, “I’m still receiving trophies even when I’m retired. ” The Patriots meet the Falcons at Super Bowl LI on Feb. 5 | 0fake |
WORLD WAR 3 – HILLARY V.S. TRUMP | 1real | |
The Middle East Crises Trump Inherits Could Still Suck Him in | Here's something interesting from The Unz Review... Recipient Name Recipient Email =>
‘Make America Great Again’ was the slogan of Donald Trump’s election, but the immediate impact of his victory is to make the US less of a power in the world for two reasons: American prestige and influence will be damaged by a general belief internationally that the US has just elected a dangerous buffoon as its leader. The perception is pervasive, but is not very deeply rooted and likely be temporary, stemming as it does from Trump’s demagogic rants during the election campaign. Those about relations with foreign countries were particularly vague and least likely to provide a guide to future policy.
More damaging in the long term for America’s status as superpower is the likelihood that the US is now a more deeply divided society than ever. Trump won the election by demonising and threatening individuals and communities – Mexicans, Muslims, Latinos – and his confrontational style of politics is not going to disappear. Verbal violence produces a permanently over-heated political atmosphere in which physical violence becomes an option. At the same time, the election campaign was focused almost exclusively on American domestic politics with voters showing little interest in events abroad. This is unlikely to change.
Governments around the world can see this for themselves, though this will not stop them badgering their diplomats in Washington and New York for an inkling as to how far Trump’s off-the-cuff remarks were more than outrageous attempts to dominate the news agenda for a few hours. Fortunately, his pronouncements were so woolly that they can be easily jettisoned between now and his inauguration. Real foreign policy positions will only emerge with the formation of a Trump cabinet when it becomes clear who will be in charge.
But, if future policies remain unknowable, super-charged American nationalism combined with economic populism and isolationism are likely to set the general tone. Trump has invariably portrayed Americans as the victims of the foul machinations of foreign countries who previously faced no real resistance from an incompetent self-serving American elite.
This sort of aggressive nationalism is not unique to Trump. All over the world nationalism is having a spectacular rebirth in countries from Turkey to the Philippines. It has become a successful vehicle for protest in Britain, France, Germany, Austria and Eastern Europe. Though Trump is frequently portrayed as a peculiarly American phenomenon, his populist nationalism has a striking amount in common with that of the Brexit campaigners in Britain or even the chauvinism of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey. Much of this can be discounted as patriotic bombast, but in all cases there is a menacing undercurrent of racism and demonisation, whether it is directed against illegal immigrants in the US, asylum seekers in the Britain or Kurds in south east Turkey.
In reality, Trump made very few proposals for radical change in US foreign policy during the election campaign, aside from saying that he would throw out the agreement with Iran on its nuclear programme – though his staff is now being much less categorical about this, saying only that the deal must be properly enforced. Nobody really knows if Trump will deal any differently from Obama with the swathe of countries between Pakistan and Nigeria where there are at least seven wars raging – Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia and South Sudan – as well as four serious insurgencies.
The most serious wars in which the US is already militarily involved are in Iraq and Syria and here Trump’s comments during the campaign suggest that he will focus on destroying Isis, recognise the danger of becoming militarily over-involved and look for some sort of cooperation with Russia as the next biggest player in the conflict. This is similar to what is already happening.
Hillary Clinton’s intentions in Syria, though never fully formulated, always sounded more interventionist than Trump’s. One of her senior advisers openly proposed giving less priority to the assault on Isis and more to getting rid of President Bashar al-Assad. To this end, a third force of pro-US militant moderates was to be raised that would fight and ultimately defeat both Isis and Assad. Probably this fantasy would never have come to pass, but the fact that it was ever given currency underlines the extent to which Clinton was at one with the most dead-in-the-water conventional wisdom of the foreign policy establishment in Washington.
President Obama developed a much more acute sense of what the US could and could not do in the Middle East and beyond, without provoking crises exceeding its political and military strength. Its power may be less than before the failed US interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan following 9/11, but it is still far greater than any other country’s. Currently, it is the US which is successfully coordinating the offensive against Isis’s last strongholds in Mosul and Raqqa by a multitude of fractious parties in Iraq and Syria. It was never clear how seriously one should have taken Clinton’s proposals for “safe zones” and trying to fight Isis and Assad at the same time, but her judgements on events in the Middle East since the Iraq invasion of 2003 all suggested a flawed idea of what was feasible.
Trump’s instincts generally seem less well-informed but often shrewd, and his priories have nothing to do with the Middle East. Past US leaders have felt the same way, but they usually end up by being dragged into its crises one way or other, and how they perform then becomes the test of their real quality as a leader. The region has been the political graveyard for three of the last five US presidents: Jimmy Carter was destroyed by the consequences of the Iranian revolution; Ronald Reagan was gravely weakened by the Iran-Contra scandal; and George W Bush’s years in office will be remembered chiefly for the calamities brought on by his invasion of Iraq. Barack Obama was luckier and more sensible, but he wholly underestimated the rise of Isis until it captured Mosul in 2014. (Reprinted from The Independent by permission of author or representative) | 1real |
Kristen Stewart: We Must ‘Shatter’ Idea That Playing With Toy Guns Is Cool | During the June 7 Brady Center Bear Awards — where celebrities applaud other celebrities for their gun control support — actress Kristen Stewart warned that it is time to dispel the idea that playing with toy guns is cool. [The awards ceremony honored Chelsea Handler, who refers to gun ownership as a “hobby” rather than a right, and were attended by January Jones, Tom Arnold, and The Voice champion Alisan Porter. Will Ferrell also attended and served as “auctioneer” for the evening. According to People, Stewart’s attendance was highlighted by Dan Gross, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Gross said Stewart had approached him with an idea about a new way to push gun control and that he was “impressed” by her proposal. He said, “She came to us because she has something she wants to do with this issue. She eagerly shared her idea and without hesitation and is showing up tonight. She is committed to actually doing something, not just lending her name. ” While no specifics were given about Stewart’s gun control idea, People reports that it will revolve around taking “classic American depictions of our fascination with guns” and adding a new message. Stewart spoke about using images to change the way Americans perceive what is considered to be “comforting. ” And talked about how we need to work to keep children from playing with toy guns because it convinces them that real guns can offer protection when they grow up: One of them involved the shattering of the idea that it’s cool to play with toy guns and little kids grow up thinking that’s going to protect and empower them. We kind of take that idea and go, ‘Actually this is something else that could happen,’ and that needs to be considered by people who might not think about that kind of thing. Stewart’s filmography includes American Ultra, a film about an unorthodox government agent who has to fight for his life after being targeted for death. Stewart’s character uses firearms to help the agent defend himself. AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart. com. | 0fake |
For Cubs Fans, Enemy Home Runs Come With a Duty: ‘Throw. It. Back.’ - The New York Times | CHICAGO — When the Chicago Cubs pitcher Travis Wood unexpectedly hit a home run Saturday night in Game 2 of his team’s National League division series against San Francisco, the baseball found a happy nesting spot in the bleachers at Wrigley Field. The Cubs fan who snared it even returned it to Wood after the game rather than keep it as a memento. But at Wrigley, not all home runs are received equally. A longstanding protocol there dictates that when a visiting player hits one out, any upstanding Cubs fan who catches the ball is obliged to launch it back onto the field. Even the people who position themselves beyond the outfield walls at Wrigley and attempt to snag home runs hit onto Sheffield and Waveland Avenues sometimes follow this code. It is a symbolic act, turning the baseball into a bitter pill that is better spit out than swallowed. “It’s awesome. It’s part of the history of the Cubs,” said Anthony Prerost, who had caught what, until Saturday night, was the most significant home run of Wood’s career, a grand slam against the Chicago White Sox in 2013. “We’re not going to accept opposing teams or opposing players. So why should we accept their home runs? We might as well reject them, too. ” Not everyone, however, is so enthusiastic about this practice. “It’s stupid,” said Jeff Gorski, who caught Miguel Montero’s homer last month that put an exclamation point on the Cubs’ National League Central title. “Catching a home run is a experience. Why should you have to throw it back just because it wasn’t somebody on the Cubs who hit it?” The tradition, which dates back nearly five decades, has spread over the years to other ballparks, including Yankee Stadium. Last year, a fan there threw back a home run ball hit by Toronto’s Jose Bautista and struck Yankees left fielder Brett Gardner in the back of the head, leaving him with a welt. When Bautista hit another home run last week at Texas in Game 1 of an American League division series, a Rangers fan reached the infield with his defiant throw. At places like Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium, anyone who does not throw back an opposing home run can expect to hear adamant chants of “Throw. It. Back. ” Sitting in the bleachers before the series began on Friday night, Colleen Solomon, a schoolteacher, frowned when her friend Jennifer Dompke said she would gladly chuck a Giants home run back onto the field. “It’s hard not to fall victim to the mob mentality,” said Solomon, who equated fans’ chants to throw a ball back with the bullying behavior she points out to her students. “There’s a deindividualization when you’re in a crowd. I wouldn’t walk up to a Giants player and boo, but when I’m surrounded by thousands of people, I’m more likely to do it. ” Solomon was spared any angst because the Giants, in losing the first two games of the series, did not manage to hit any balls into the bleachers. But that was not a surprise. They hit only 130 home runs this season, the third fewest in baseball. But if the Cubs enjoy as prosperous a postseason as their fans are pining for, and they move on to the National League Championship Series and then — dare we say it? — the World Series, sluggers like the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Corey Seager or the Blue Jays’ Edwin Encarnacion might end up launching a drive into the Wrigley bleachers. Which, in turn, will give some Cubs fan the chance to throw the ball back. The tradition, like so much else in the Cubs history, apparently traces its roots back to 1969, the year the Cubs collapsed in the last part of the season, blowing a lead over the Mets. That season at Wrigley, Hank Aaron hit his 521st career home run, tying him with Ted Williams. The ball was caught by Ron Grousl, a bartender who was a denizen of the bleachers. Grousl said he offered the ball to Aaron after the game as the slugger was making his way to the Braves’ bus, but Aaron refused, apparently angry that fans in right field had dumped beer on him when he ventured near the wall. The next season, when Aaron hit a home run at Wrigley Field and Grousl caught it, he said he was still so upset with Aaron’s rejection (and maybe everything else that happened in 1969) that he threw the ball back onto the field. “I just thought: ‘Get this out of here. I don’t want it,’” Grousl, 70, said in a telephone interview. “I just threw it back. ” Asked if, after all these years, he regretted throwing back a home run hit by one of baseball’s greatest players, Grousl said: “No. I went to every game. I caught a lot of home run balls. You were just mad about the whole thing in ’69. ” Slowly, Grousl’s act caught on. Some Wrigley fans needed prodding to throw the balls back, so an empty beer cup would be passed around to collect a bribe many people would put in a dollar or two. “We’d get about $25, and the guy would give up the ball then we’d throw it back,” Grousl said. On other occasions, the Cubs relievers — who were stationed in the bullpen down the line — would provide an autographed ball to trade for the one headed back to the field. “It might take an inning,” Grousl said. But it was not until the 1980s, when the bleachers became a preferred place to watch a game at Wrigley, that throwing back home runs became a staple of the park’s culture. And with Cubs games being broadcast nationally on the superstation WGN, the ritual gained broad exposure. When Shawon Dunston became the starting shortstop for the Cubs in 1985, he was baffled the first time a home run ball was thrown back on the field and rolled toward him. “I wanted to fire it back, and then somebody said, ‘No, it’s a tradition,’” said Dunston, who is now a coach with the Giants and was known for having one of the strongest arms in baseball. “I didn’t like the ball going over the fence, so when the fans threw it back, they went crazy. I kind of liked it. ” Over the years, the regulars in the bleachers have forged a personal bond with the players. Gary Matthews, nicknamed Sarge, was the left fielder when the Cubs ended a playoff drought in 1984. He bought Army caps for the fans in left field. When the Cubs clinched a playoff berth in 2003, right fielder Sammy Sosa broke off the clubhouse celebration and returned to the warning track to spray champagne on those still rejoicing in the bleachers. And after the Cubs clinched the division this season, the team’s president, Theo Epstein, put on a fake mustache and sunglasses and sat in the bleachers, too. Bob Dernier, the Cubs’ center fielder in 1984, recalled joining Matthews during pitching changes for conversations with fans in the bleachers. “This is as intimate as a ballpark can be,” he said. “It’s a unique relationship you have with the fans out there. ” Just ask David Rudstein, a law school professor who has been attending games since he was he was 7. When Alfonso Soriano played left field for the Cubs, he would toss Rudstein several balls a game. After Soriano was traded in 2013, Rudstein struck up a friendship with Soriano’s friend Hector Rondon, a reliever. Rudstein said that when he was waiting in line to enter the ballpark, a Range Rover with tinted windows came to a stop on Waveland Avenue. The window rolled down: It was Rondon, pausing to say hello. Rudstein has thrown balls back — he said he once caught two within three innings, hit by the Houston Astros’ Craig Biggio and Craig Shipley — but he, like many of the bleacher regulars, is sophisticated. They bring a dummy ball, perhaps one they caught during batting practice, and then slyly throw that one back if they catch a visitor’s home run. “I don’t like it all,” Rudstein said of the tradition before momentarily interrupting an interview to — what else? — catch a homer. “When you catch a game ball, I don’t think throwing it back says anything at all. A home run ball is a home run ball. ” After tucking away two home runs in a duffel bag for future use as dummy balls, Walter Scott, 54, an airline pilot, said: “Sometimes you see a real rotten one go back. But as long as one goes back, everybody’s happy. You’re just appeasing the crowd. ” There is a certain etiquette that comes with sitting in the bleachers at Wrigley. Attempting the wave is a grave offense. Offering a baseball to a child might be repaid with a beer by a parent. “Bleacher currency,” said Gorski, 35, who sells jewelry. “It’s good karma. ” And some elements of the social contract in the bleachers are . “Once, a random fan bought me a hot dog,” said Solomon, the schoolteacher, who was touched by the gesture. “Then I put ketchup on it, and he took it away. ” The expectations for visitors’ home runs are more straightforward. A weak throw, one that does not reach the field from the bleachers — while rare — is a sure way to generate boos at Wrigley. Timing is important, too. Ideally, the throw should be seen by the hitter — that means launching it from right field as he rounds first base and from left field as he rounds second. And do not wait until the offending player has returned to the field after the inning, as one fan did during the 2008 playoffs. He was ejected for throwing Manny Ramirez’s home run ball back at Ramirez when he returned to left field. There is one way, however, to cut through discomfort with social mores and longstanding tribal rituals. It is in the hands of the Cubs pitchers, who for many years were not as proficient as they are now at a singular task: keeping baseballs out of the bleachers. | 0fake |
Obama Imposes Sanctions On Venezuela, Invoking Emergency Powers | Citing an "erosion of human rights guarantees" and corruption in Venezuela, President Obama issued an executive order Monday imposing sanctions on members of the country's military and intelligence services.
The White House says the executive order builds on the Venezuela Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society Act of 2014, part of a response to a violent crackdown on government protests.
Obama also invoked his emergency powers to declare "a national emergency with respect to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by the situation in Venezuela."
U.S. relations with Venezuela are currently in tatters, even as it attempts to forge new ties to Cuba.
As NPR's Parallels blog reported Sunday, "President Nicolas Maduro accuses the U.S. of plotting a coup against him, and is expelling most U.S. diplomats from Venezuela. He is also demanding that Americans secure visas to enter the country."
President Obama's executive order freezes the assets of seven individuals, ranging from Gustavo Enrique González López, the director general of Venezuela's national intelligence service, to the head of Venezuela's Bolivarian National Police, Manuel Eduardo Pérez Urdaneta.
Like several others on the list, the two men are charged with being involved with "significant acts of violence or conduct that constitutes a serious abuse or violation of human rights."
The White House's list also includes prosecutor Katherine Nayarith Haringhton Padron, who is accused of charging members of Venezula's opposition with crimes such as "assassination/coup plots based on implausible — and in some cases fabricated — information." | 0fake |
Shifting sands: What is changing in Saudi Arabia? | (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has ordered a crackdown on corruption, the latest in a wave of frenetic changes in the kingdom over the past 2-1/2 years. Prince Mohammed says he is determined to remodel his conservative country into a modern state no longer dependent on oil. As his father, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, has handed the 32-year-old Prince Mohammed more and more power over the past three years, the ambitious young leader has taken on everything from economic reforms to waging war in neighboring Yemen. Here is what you need to know. Prince Mohammed capped his rapid rise to power in June this year by replacing his elder cousin Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, widely known as MbN, as crown prince. A source close to King Salman said MbN s dismissal was in the higher interests of the state because he was incapacitated by morphine and cocaine addiction, a legacy of an assassination attempt that left shrapnel in his body. Reuters could not independently confirm MbN s addiction issues. ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN Prince Mohammed tightened his grip on power with the start of the anti-corruption campaign at the weekend, purging the kingdom s political and business elite. Among those arrested were 11 princes. Many Saudis welcomed the moves as an assault on the endemic theft of public funds by the powerful. U.S. President Donald Trump said those arrested had been milking their country for years but some Western officials expressed unease about the possible reaction in Riyadh s opaque tribal and royal politics. Prince Mohammed launched a military campaign in neighboring Yemen in March 2015. A Saudi-led coalition, acting on an invitation from the internationally-recognized government, has targeted the Iran-aligned Houthi movement in a war which has killed more than 10,000 people. The war is closely identified with the prince in his role as defense minister. His image once adorned war propaganda but is rarely associated with the war now, although he has said it must continue in order to quash Iranian influence. Even before the conflict, Yemen was the poorest country on the Arabian peninsula and now millions of people there are facing famine and a cholera epidemic. The coalition denies it blocks commercial shipments of food, medicine and fuel. Prince Mohammed has helped lead a diplomatic campaign to isolate Qatar, saying Riyadh s erstwhile ally backs terrorism and cozies up to Iran. Qatar rejects the accusations and says it is being punished for straying from its neighbors backing for authoritarian rulers. The campaign has divided Gulf Arab countries, who Washington regards as essential to its influence in the region. Qatar had incensed Riyadh by cheering Arab Spring uprisings against some autocratic Arab rulers. Saudi Arabia s rivalry with Iran, its competitor for influence in the Middle East, has deepened as King Salman and Prince Mohammed worked to build a Sunni coalition against Tehran and its allies in the Arab world. In May, as deputy crown prince, Prince Mohammed used unusually provocative language to rule out dialogue with revolutionary Shi ite Muslim theocracy Iran, which he said was trying to interfere in Arab lands and dominate the Muslim world. On Tuesday, state media quoted him as describing Iran s supply of rockets to militias in Yemen as direct military aggression that could be an act of war. Prince Mohammed has also opened a new front in the proxy war with Iran by threatening Tehran s ally Hezbollah and its home country Lebanon. The resignation on Saturday of the Saudi-allied Lebanese prime minister, Saad al-Hariri, announced from Riyadh, was widely seen as the first act on this new front. The crown prince has also sought the help of Shi ite leaders in Iraq to try to reverse Iran s dominant role there and shore up security on the kingdom s northern border, and has tried to improve ties with the United States under Trump, who shares his and King Salman s antipathy to Iran s government. The planned sale of about 5 percent of national oil company Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] next year is a centerpiece of Vision 2030, Prince Mohammed s blueprint to move the economy away from what he called its addiction to oil toward the private sector. The IPO is expected to raise as much as $100 billion but investors wonder whether Aramco can be valued anywhere close to the $2 trillion figure announced by the crown prince and there has been market speculation that the IPO could be delayed beyond 2018 or shelved. He recently stated it would happen next year. Many Saudis have misgivings about the sale, with some fearing Riyadh is selling cheaply at a time of low oil prices. Vision 2030 has begun to reduce a big state budget deficit with austerity measures but has not yet created major new sources of non-oil growth or jobs. The phased removal of subsidies on fuel, water and electricity has started but some austerity moves have been unpopular. Already, some have been reversed or delayed as the economy has slowed because of low oil prices. The plan includes private investment and privatizations and building the world s largest sovereign wealth fund. The aim is to create jobs and raise the participation of women in the workforce from 22 percent now to 30 percent by 2030. Saudi Arabia adheres to an austere Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam, which bans gender mixing, concerts and cinemas. Prince Mohammed s ascent represents a social and cultural sea change, with power set to be passed to a much younger generation seemingly more in tune with young Saudis. In moves that reinforce that perception, women will be permitted to drive from next year and allowed to attend sports events. The crown prince has also said the country will move to a more open and tolerant interpretation of Islam, and reforms have begun in areas once the exclusive domain of the clergy such as education, courts and the law. Saudi authorities have promoted elements of national identity that have no religious component or pre-date Islam. Last month Prince Mohammed announced a $500-billion plan to create a business and industrial zone extending across its borders into Jordan and Egypt, part of his efforts to reduce dependence on oil. The 26,500 square-km (10,230 square-mile) zone, known as NEOM, will focus on industries including energy and water, biotechnology, food, advanced manufacturing and entertainment, and will power itself solely with wind power and solar energy. The crown prince says the government, Public Investment Fund and local and international investors are expected to sink billions into the zone in coming years. The crown prince told Reuters NEOM would be floated on financial markets alongside Aramco. | 0fake |
Democrats In Four States Are Now SUING Trump For Voter Intimidation | Democratic party leaders from four states have officially filed federal lawsuits against Donald Trump and his advisor Roger Stone, as well as the state Republican parties for conspiring to threaten, intimidate, and thereby prevent minority voters in urban neighborhoods from voting in the 2016 election. The lawsuits, which have been filed in Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, were spearheaded by Marc Elias, who is the general counsel for Hillary Clinton s campaign. The suits request a federal judge to step in and prevent the defendants from activities such as monitoring polls and verbally harassing voters.The suit against Trump, Stone, and the Nevada Republican Party, which was filed by the Nevada Democratic Party, quotes an unnamed Trump official who said, [w]e have three major voter suppression operations under way. This, says the suit, is proof of their intentions.The complaint also says: Trump s supporters have responded with pledges to descend upon polling places in certain areas where many minority voters live in order to interfere with their efforts to exercise the franchise Immediate relief is necessary. There are only 8 days left until Election Day, and early in-person voting in Nevada is well underway. Trump s calls for unlawful intimidation have grown louder and louder, and the conspiracy to harass and threaten voters on Election Day has already resulted in numerous acts that threaten to interfere with the voting rights of registered Nevada voters. Stop the Steal, a super PAC formed by Stone, is also named in the suit. According to the lawsuits, Stone has a history of engaging in voter intimidation, racist and misogynist hate speech, and incitement to violence. The complaint further states that Trump has repeatedly spread misinformation about voter fraud by claiming that the election is rigged against him. An example of this is October 20 when Trump told a crowd gathered at a rally in Delaware, Ohio that Clinton is truly capable of anything, including voter fraud. The lawsuit also states that Trump, Stone, and the local Republican parties have blatantly violated both the Voting Rights Act and the Klu Klux Klan Act.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
12 Life Lessons from a Man Who’s Seen 12000 Deaths | (By Deepak Ramola , Uplift Connect )
Rooted in the hearts of many Hindus is the belief that if you breathe your last in Kashi (Varanasi) you attain what is popularly known as ‘Kashi Labh’ or ‘the fruit of Kashi’—moksh or “release from the cycle of rebirth impelled by the law of karma”.
Kashi Labh Mukti Bhawan in Varanasi is one of the three guesthouses in the city where people check in to die. The other two are Mumukshu Bhawan and Ganga Labh Bhawan. Established in 1908, Mukti Bhawan is well-known within the city and outside.
Bhairav Nath Shukla has been the Manager of Mukti Bhawan for 44 years. He has seen the rich and the poor take refuge in the guesthouse in their final days as they await death and hope to find peace. Shukla hopes with and for them. He sits on the wooden bench in the courtyard, against the red brick wall and shares with me 12 recurring life lessons from the 12000 deaths he has witnessed in his experience as the manager of Mukti Bhawan: People check in to die. 1. Resolve all conflicts before you go
Shukla recounts the story of Shri Ram Sagar Mishr, a Sanskrit scholar of his times. Mishr was the eldest of six brothers and was closest to the youngest one. Years ago an ugly argument between the two brothers led to a wall to partition the house.
In his final days, Mishr walked to the guesthouse carrying his little paan case and asked to keep room no. 3 reserved for him. He was sure he will pass away on the 16th day from his arrival. On the 14th day he said, “ Ask my estranged brother of 40 years to come see me. This bitterness makes my heart heavy. I am anxious to resolve every conflict.”
A letter was sent out. On the 16th day when the youngest brother arrived, Mishr held his hand and asked to bring down the wall dividing the house. He asked his brother for forgiveness. Both brothers wept and mid sentence, Mishr stopped speaking. His face became calm. He was gone in a moment.
Shukla has seen this story replay in many forms over the years. “People carry so much baggage, unnecessarily, all through their life only wanting to drop it at the very end of their journey. The trick lies not in not having conflicts but in resolving them as soon as one can,” says Shukla. The trick lies not in not having conflicts but in resolving them as soon as one can. 2. Simplicity is the truth of life
“People stop eating indulgent food when they know they are going to go. The understanding that dawns on many people in their final days is that they should’ve lived a simple life. They regret that the most,” says Shukla.
A simple life, as he explains, can be attained by spending less. We spend more to accumulate more and thus create more need. To find contentment in less is the secret to having more. 3. Filter out people’s bad traits
Shukla maintains that every person has shades of good and bad. But instead of dismissing “bad” people outrightly, we must seek out their good qualities. Harbouring bitterness for certain people comes from concentrating on their negatives. If you focus on the good qualities though, you spend that time getting to know them better or, maybe even, loving them. To find contentment in less is the secret to having more. 4. Be willing to seek help from others
To know and do everything by yourself might feel empowering but it limits one from absorbing what others have learnt. Shukla believes we must help others, but more importantly, have the courage to seek help when we’re in need.
Every person in the world knows more than us in some respect. And their knowledge can help us, only if we’re open to it.
He recounts the incident of an old woman being admitted on a rainy day back in the 80s. The people who got her there left her without filling the inquiry form. A few hours later, the police came to trace the relatives of the old lady who, they said, were runaway Naxalites. Shukla pretended to know nothing. The police left. When the lady’s relatives returned next morning, Shukla asked the leader uninhibitedly, “When you can kill 5-8 people yourself why didn’t you simply shoot your Nani and cremate her yourself? Why did you make me lie and feel ashamed?” The grandson fell to his knees and pleaded for forgiveness saying no one amongst them is capable of helping his religious grandmother attain salvation. He respects that, and is the reason why he brought her to Mukti Bhawan. We must help others, but more importantly, have the courage to seek help when we’re in need. 5. Find beauty in simple things
Mukti Bhavan plays soulful bhajans and devotional songs three times a day. “Some people”, he says, “stop and admire a note or the sound of the instruments as if they have never heard it before, even if they have. They pause to appreciate it and find beauty in it.”
But that’s not true of everyone, he adds. People who are too critical or too proud, are the ones who find it hard to find joy in small things because their minds are preoccupied with “seemingly” more important things. 6. Acceptance is liberation
Most people shirk away from accepting what they are going through. This constant denial breeds in them emotions that are highly dangerous. Only once you accept your situation is when you become free to decide what to do about it. Without acceptance you are always in the grey space.
When you are not in denial of a problem you have the strength to find a solution.
Indifference, avoidance, and denial of a certain truth, Shukla believes, cause anxiety; they develop a fear of that thing in the person. Instead, accept the situation so you are free to think what you want to do about it and how. Acceptance will liberate you and empower you. Stop and admire a note or the sound of the instruments. 7. Accepting everyone as the same makes service easier
The secret to Shukla’s unfazed dedication and determination towards his demanding job can be understood via this life lesson. He admits that life would’ve been difficult if he treated people who admit themselves to Mukti Bhavan differently, based on their caste, creed, colour, and social or economic status. Categorisation leads to complication and one ends up serving no one well. “The day you treat everyone the same is the day you breathe light and worry less about who might feel offended or not. Make your job easier,” he says. 8. If/When you find your purpose, do something about it
To have awareness about one’s calling is great, but only if you do something about it.
A lot of people, Shukla says, know their purpose but don’t do anything about realising it, making it come to life. Simply sitting on it is worse than not having a calling in the first place. Having a perspective towards your purpose will help you measure the time and effort you need to dedicate to it, while you’re caught up in what you think you can’t let go or escape. Take action on what truly matters. Categorisation leads to complication and one ends up serving no one well. 9. Habits become values
Shukla recommends cultivating good habits to be able to house good values. And building good habits happens over time, with practice. “It’s like building a muscle; you have to keep at it everyday.”
Till one doesn’t consistently work towards being just or kind or truthful or honest or compassionate, every single time he is challenged, one cannot expect to have attained that quality. 10. Choose what you want to learn
In the vastness of the infinite amount of knowledge available to us it is easy to get lost and confused. “The key lesson here is to be mindful of choosing what you deeply feel will be of value to you,” he says. People might impose subjects and philosophies on you because it interests them and while you must acknowledge their suggestions, the wise thing to do is delve deeper into what rejoices your own heart and mind.
With a smile on his face Shukla says, “In the last days of their life a lot of people can’t speak, walk or communicate with others with as much ease as they could, earlier. So, they turn inwards. And start to remember the things that made their heart sing once, things that they cared to learn more about over the course of their life, which enriches their days now.” They start to remember the things that made their heart sing once. 11. You don’t break ties with people; you break ties with the thought they produce
You can seldom distance yourself from people you have truly loved or connected with in some way. However, in any relationship, along the way, certain mismatch of ideologies causes people to stop communicating. This never means you are no longer associated with that person. It simply means that you don’t associate with a dominant thought that person brings with him/her, and to avoid more conflict you move away. The divorce, Shukla affirms, is with the thought and never with the person. To understand that is to unburden yourself from being bitter and revengeful. 12. 10 percent of what you earn should be kept aside for dharma
Dharma, Shukla doesn’t define as something religious or spiritual. Instead, he says it is associated more with doing good for others and feeling responsible about that. A simple calculation according to him is to keep 10 percent of your income for goodwill.
Many people donate or do charitable acts towards the end of their life because death is hard on them. In their suffering, they begin to empathise with others’ suffering. He says those who have the companionship of loved ones, the blessings of unknown strangers, and an all-encompassing goodwill of people exit peacefully and gracefully. That is possible when you don’t cling on to everything you have, and leave some part of it for others.
Feature Image: Jorge Royan | 1real |
Some nations affected by U.S. immigration order may stay on list | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries temporarily barred from the United States by President Donald Trump’s executive order may be blocked indefinitely, and others might be added to the list, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Tuesday. Under the order released on Friday, travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen may not enter the country for at least 90 days while Kelly and others determine whether there is enough information available to screen them. “Some of those countries that are currently on the list may not be taken off the list anytime soon, if they are countries that are in various states of collapse, as an example,” Kelly told a press conference. Kelly said others may be added if it is determined they “could tighten up their procedures” to ensure more secure vetting. Several lawsuits have been filed blocking portions of the order, which drew harsh criticism from some of Trump’s fellow Republicans, Democrats, human rights organizations and some Western U.S. allies. Vice President Mike Pence was closely questioned about the order by Republican senators during their weekly caucus lunch. “Obviously what happened Friday, they have to understand, was not well done,” Republican Senator Bob Corker told reporters. “... There are a lot of issues here that I don’t think were well thought through.” Confusion mounted during the weekend as U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, rushed to brief airlines and customs agents about how to implement Trump’s order. The executive action was not explicit about how to handle a wide range of people trying to enter the United States, including permanent residents, students and even Iraqi pilots training to protect U.S. troops. Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters he had briefed appropriate parties “within two hours” of the order. Kelly said he knew the order was coming and “had people involved in the general drafting of it.” But a Department of Homeland Security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Customs and Border Protection officers had no advance notice of the order or how to respond. Some issues were addressed on Tuesday. Kelly said people from the seven targeted nations who hold dual citizenship would be allowed to enter the United States on the passport of a non-restricted nation, which had been uncertain. The executive order also stopped the resettlement of refugees for 120 days. But the administration granted waivers to 872 “in transit” who will be arriving this week. Kelly came to the U.S. Capitol later on Tuesday to brief congressional leaders and the heads of national security committees about the order. He was peppered with questions from both Republicans and Democrats concerned about the lack of planning. Senator Claire McCaskill, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said Kelly made clear the White House is happy with the order, and that the administration had not wanted to wait to address details about its implementation. “It was pretty clear that the president wanted this executive order put in place, and he wanted it implemented immediately. And it’s not going anywhere,” she told reporters. Since the order, 721 travelers with visas from the seven countries were denied boarding U.S.-bound flights, according to McAleenan. The department has also processed 1,060 waivers for legal permanent residents, such as green card holders. Kelly said immigration and customs officials were in compliance with court orders and no agent knowingly or intentionally violated them. The Trump administration also sought to clarify on Tuesday that citizens of U.S. ally Israel who were born in Arab countries would be allowed into the United States. The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv said a valid U.S. visa in an Israeli passport would still be valid even if the passport holder was born in one of the seven countries. | 0fake |
President-elect Trump to Become Honorary Scoutmaster | Monday, 14 November 2016 New addition to Boy Scout camping equipment
Special to TPN - Boy Scouts of America president Randall Stephenson announced that President-elect Donald Trump will become an honorary scoutmaster at the organization's National Jamboree to be held in July 2017. "Mr. Trump exemplifies all those characteristics we hold dear in scouting," said Stephenson. "These include being courteous and kind, among others. Without these qualities, his Republican comrades never would have flocked to him in his hour of need."
Stephenson also said that in recognition of the President-elect's expertise in two fields of endeavor that all scouts aspire to, Gambling and Misogyny will be added to the long list of merit badges scouts can earn. "Both badges need little in the way of equipment, and we urge all dads to take their sons to a Trump casino to sharpen their skills. By contrast, Misogyny can be practiced at home on their mothers and sisters. Dad can help here as well."
To accommodate Trump while at the jamboree, a huge Winnebago motorhome is being outfitted with a hair salon and mirrored paneling. It will be designated RV-1, which will be embossed on the sides in gold lettering. Trump is also being fitted for a scoutmaster uniform with five gold stars stitched onto both shoulder epaulettes. His official title will Master of the Masturbators.
In other news, Bernie Sanders was rumored to have joined an ISIS cell in New Hampshire.
- By Bill Britton Make BillBritton's day - give this story five thumbs-up (there's no need to register , the thumbs are just down there!) | 1real |
Trump Lays Plans to Reverse Obama’s Climate Change Legacy - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — President Trump is poised in the coming days to announce his plans to dismantle the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s climate change legacy, while also gutting several smaller but significant policies aimed at curbing global warming. The moves are intended to send an unmistakable signal to the nation and the world that Mr. Trump intends to follow through on his campaign vows to rip apart every element of what the president has called Mr. Obama’s “stupid” policies to address climate change. The timing and exact form of the announcement remain unsettled, however. The executive actions will follow the White House’s release last week of a proposed budget that would eliminate climate change research and prevention programs across the federal government and slash the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 31 percent, more than any other agency. Mr. Trump also announced last week that he had ordered Scott Pruitt, the E. P. A. administrator, to revise the agency’s stringent standards on tailpipe pollution from vehicles, another of Mr. Obama’s key climate change policies. While the White House is not expected to explicitly say the United States is withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, and people familiar with the White House deliberations say Mr. Trump has not decided whether to do so, the policy reversals would make it virtually impossible to meet the emissions reduction goals set by the Obama administration under the international agreement. In an announcement that could come as soon as Thursday or as late as next month, according to people familiar with the White House’s planning, Mr. Trump will order Mr. Pruitt to withdraw and rewrite a set of regulations known as the Clean Power Plan, according to a draft document obtained by The New York Times. The Obama rule was devised to shut down hundreds of heavily polluting power plants and freeze construction of new coal plants, while replacing them with vast wind and solar farms. The draft also lays out options for legally blocking or weakening about a additional executive orders and policies on climate change. At a rally on Monday in the state of Kentucky, Mr. Trump told a cheering audience that he is preparing an executive action that would “save our wonderful coal miners from continuing to be put out of work. ” Experts in environmental law say it will not be possible for Mr. Trump to quickly or simply roll back the most substantive elements of Mr. Obama’s climate change regulations, noting that the process presents a steep legal challenge that could take many years and is likely to end up before the Supreme Court. Economists are skeptical that a rollback of the rules would restore lost coal jobs because the demand for coal has been steadily shrinking for years. Scientists and climate policy advocates around the world say they are watching the administration’s global warming actions and statements with deep worry. Many reacted with deep concern to Mr. Pruitt’s remarks this month that he did not believe carbon dioxide was a primary driver of climate change, a statement at odds with the global scientific consensus. They also noted the remarks last week by Mick Mulvaney, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, in justifying Mr. Trump’s proposed cuts to climate change research programs. “As to climate change, I think the president was fairly straightforward: We’re not spending money on that anymore,” Mr. Mulvaney said at a White House briefing. “The message they are sending to the rest of the world is that they don’t believe climate change is serious. It’s shocking to see such a degree of ignorance from the United States,” said Mario J. Molina, a Nobel scientist from Mexico who advises nations on climate change policy. The policy reversals also signal that Mr. Trump has no intention of following through on Mr. Obama’s formal pledges under the Paris accord, under which nearly every country in the world submitted plans detailing actions to limit global warming over the coming decade. Under the accord as it stands, the United States has pledged to reduce its greenhouse pollution about 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. That can be achieved only if the United States not only implements the Clean Power Plan and rules, but also tightens them or adds more policies in future years. “The message clearly is, ‘We won’t do what the United States has promised to do,’” Mr. Molina said. In addition to directing Mr. Pruitt to withdraw the Clean Power Plan, the draft order instructs Attorney General Jeff Sessions to request that a federal court halt consideration of a lawsuit against the regulation. The case was argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in September, and the court is expected to release a decision in the coming months on whether to uphold or strike down the rule. According to the draft, Mr. Trump is also expected to announce that he will lift a moratorium on new coal mining leases on public lands that had been announced last year by the Obama administration. He is also expected to order White House economists to revisit an budgeting metric known as the social cost of carbon. Economists and policy makers used the metric to place a dollar cost on the economic impact of carbon dioxide pollution: about $36 per ton. That measure formed the Obama administration’s economic justification for issuing climate change regulations that would harm some industries, such as coal mining, noting that those costs would be outweighed by the economic benefits of preventing billions of tons of pollution. Eliminating or lowering the social cost of carbon could provide the Trump administration the economic justification for putting forth regulations. The draft order would also rescind an executive order by Mr. Obama that all federal agencies take climate change into account when considering any form of environmental permitting. Unlike the rollback of the power plant and vehicle regulations, which could take years and will be subject to legal challenges, Mr. Trump can make the changes to the coal mining ban and undo Mr. Obama’s executive orders with the stroke of a pen. White House staff members and energy lobbyists who work closely with them say they have been expecting Mr. Trump to make the climate change announcements for weeks, ever since Mr. Pruitt was confirmed to head the E. P. A. on Feb. 17, but the announcement has been repeatedly rescheduled. The delays of the announcement have largely been a result of disorganization and a chaotic policy and planning process, said people familiar with that process who asked to speak anonymously to avoid angering Mr. Trump. One reason for the confusion, these people said, is internal disputes about the challenging legal process required to dismantle the Clean Power Plan. While Mr. Trump may announce with great fanfare his intent to roll back the regulations, the legal steps required to fulfill that announcement are lengthy and the outcome uncertain. “Trump’s announcements have zero impact,” said Richard J. Lazarus, a professor of environmental law at Harvard. “They don’t change existing law at all. ” Much of that task will now fall to Mr. Pruitt. “To undo the rule, the E. P. A. will now have to follow the same procedure that was followed to put the regulations in place,” said Mr. Lazarus, pointing to a multiyear process of proposing draft rules, gathering public comment and forming a legal defense against an expected barrage of lawsuits almost certain to end up before the Supreme Court. | 0fake |
“Hang That B*tch!” “F*ck Those Dirty Beaners!” Uncensored Videos Of Trump Rallies Are Startling [Watch] | The political climate of the current U.S. election has changed dramatically in the past year, and the biggest evidence of this is the horrifying language that many Trump supporters use to express... | 1real |
Charlottesville Vice-Mayor Responds To Trump’s Silence On White Supremacy, This Is BRUTAL (VIDEO) | As more time passes after the violent riots related to the white nationalist rally that took place yesterday in Charlottesville, Virginia, Americans become more and more disappointed by Donald Trump and his failure to denounce white supremacy.One very noteworthy criticism of the racist Commander in Chief comes from none other than the Vice-Mayor of Charlottesville, who blasted Trump in an interview with CNN s Wolf Blitzer today. Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy stated that his community has come together in solidarity to fight against the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who were responsible for riots that resulted in the death of a counter-protester. And while Trump has continued to pretend he has no connection or responsibility for the riots, Bellamy directly called him out and held him accountable.In the interview, Bellamy stated that if white supremacists under the guidance of their president, number 45 returned to Charlottesville, the community wouldn t hesitate to drive them back out. He said: They can continue to come, but our community will not break. The people here of Charlottesville, white people, black people, yellow people, old people, young people, we re a community that rallies around together. This is a community that I saw pick me up on my darkest and deepest moments to encourage me and they ve done the same for other people. We re a resilient group. Bellamy then spoke directly to Trump, pointing out that he has the responsibility to condemn white supremacists, which he still has not yet done. Bellamy said: So 45, we re looking for your leadership. Condemn that white supremacist attacks. Condemn these domestic terrorists. Tell them to leave. You re their leader. Stand up. It was the perfect message to send Trump, and he will look even worse if he ignores Bellamy and fails to respond. Hopefully, Trump will start acting like a leader and speak out against these attacks.You can watch Bellamy shred Trump below:Featured image via screenshots | 1real |
US Not Ruling Out Daesh Involvement in Afghanistan Offensive | Get short URL 0 16 0 0 The United States cannot rule out the possibility that the Daesh was involved in attacks that led to the deaths of more than 30 civilians in central Afghanistan, US Department of State spokesperson John Kirby said in a briefing on Wednesday.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, local media reported that Daesh militants , previously active in eastern Afghanistan, had killed 36 noncombatants in the terrorist group’s first major offensive in the country’s central region. © REUTERS/ Alaa Al-Marjani Daesh May Bring Unpleasant Surprise to US-Led Coalition in Mosul "I can’t stand here before you and rule out that Daesh or ISIL [Daesh] had a hand in this or was responsible," Kirby told reporters.
It is no secret, Kirby continued, that the United States has long been concerned about the Daesh aspirations to establish a presence in Afghanistan.
According to TOLOnews, Daesh militants attacked the Chaghcharan district of the central Ghor province on Tuesday evening. Afghan security forces responded to the attack, killing one of the Daesh commanders.
The Daesh is outlawed in Russia and numerous other countries in the world. ... | 1real |
Maxine Waters: Let’s Talk About Impeaching Trump (VIDEO) | Rep. Maxine Waters says there s something she wants to talk about: impeachment.During a Sunday afternoon interview, CNN anchor Fredericka Whitfield asked Waters if Democrats were simply playing a game of tit for tat, going after Trump to get even for his role in the racist birther conspiracy surrounding former President Obama and the unprecedented obstructionism of Republicans.Waters said that even if you completely ignore all of that, what Trump has done since he was elected in November has been outrageous and he has not provided legitimate leadership. She said that she has no doubt that Trump was involved in the latest White House scandal with Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He has done so many things to show he doesn t understand government, Waters said. He s not willing to learn. He doesn t learn from his mistakes. Instead of learning, he gets up the next morning and tweets something all over again. Then, the Democratic congresswoman said that what she wants to talk about is this: if we can prove Trump colluded with Russia, then we can kick his orange-hued derriere out of the White House. We want to know whether or not there was collusion, Waters said. We want to know about the hacking into the DNC and the interference with our elections. And I really want to know because I know that if we can prove collusion, then he is impeachable. A lot of people don t want to talk about that, but I do, she added.Watch Waters talk impeachment here, via CNN:Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
PRESIDENT TRUMP Receives Patriots Jersey From Close Friend In White House Ceremony [VIDEO] | In an outdoor ceremony to celebrate the super Bowl champ New england patriots, president Trump received a football jersey with the number 45 on it. It s no secret that Trump is close with Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots (see below). This was a special moment!Patriots owner Robert Kraft tells Brian Kilmeade of Fox and Friends about the special friend that Trump was to him and how he went out of his way to help him after his beloved wife died, I m loyal to my friends, I remember who the people are there when the tough times are there and he did that for me. "I remember who the people are there when the tough times are there and he did that for me." -Robert Kraft on his friendship with Pres Trump pic.twitter.com/pQiBWDYCtF FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) February 3, 2017 | 1real |
Libertarian Party set to pick nominee at convention | Orlando, Florida (CNN) They get the bronze medal every four years in what is really a two-person race.
That's what it must feel like to be a third-party candidate in a two-party country.
But between Donald Trump's abrupt takeover of the GOP and Bernie Sanders' climb from long-shot Democratic candidacy to head of a national progressive movement, 2016 has been a year for party outsiders. And Libertarians hope that could give them an opening.
What gives them hope?
The likely Democratic and Republican nominees each have historically high unfavorable numbers . Media attention for the party, both the national committee chairman and the party's political director say, is at unprecedented levels.
So it is with an air of opportunity to break out of obscurity that Libertarians, members of the country's most prominent third party, have gathered for their national convention in Orlando, Florida, this weekend to officially pick a candidate to pitch to angry voters.
Many expect former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential nominee in 2012, to leave Orlando Sunday evening once again his party's standard-bearer.
Since last week, Johnson has made the rounds touting his newly minted alliance with former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, who is seeking the party's vice presidential nomination. The two former governors, who both also happen to be ex-Republicans, are fielding a ticket of sorts, although the Libertarians elect their nominees separately and no formal ticket will exist at the convention until the party selects its presidential and vice presidential nominees.
But Johnson and Weld first have to navigate an openly hostile convention, characterized by its insular proceedings and unwelcome to moderates.
Weld will have to overcome meaningful differences between his demonstrated policy preferences, particularly past support for gun control measures, and his willingness to support Republican politicians. Just this year, the colorful former governor endorsed Ohio Gov. John Kasich for president.
His supposed transgressions from Libertarian orthodoxy have earned him outright disdain from many of the party's attendees. He received loud boos at his introduction to the party's vice presidential debate, where he stuck to reciting his conservative bona fides and applauded his opponents on stage.
"We are not Republican-light," Larry Sharpe, a vice-presidential candidate said in a takedown of the Johnson-Weld ticket mere inches away from the former Massachusetts governor.
Asked after the debate, Weld said he thought such attacks "were not an issue one way or another."
Despite his bruising reception, Johnson said he would strongly prefer not to continue his bid without Weld, arguing they were "arguably the two most Libertarian governors that ever served."
Weld doubled down on this kind of rhetoric at the convention, saying that should Trump win the presidency, "We will be the rogue nation. We will be the North Korea."
Johnson, meanwhile, has several serious challengers gunning for the top spot on the third-party ticket.
Among them is Austin Petersen, a young, hardcore party advocate with strong backing in Libertarian Internet circles. He recently announced the endorsement of Mary Matalin and Erick Erickson, vocal anti-Trump conservatives.
Petersen rolled through the convention, glad-handing delegates and circling back to his open-door suite, filled with meatballs and alcohol for supporters. He belted out insults for Trump, calling him "Cheetos-faced" and "fascist" as his supporters, who he called "freedom ninjas," hollered in support.
However, in a party that generally swings liberal on social issues, Petersen is unabashedly anti-abortion. He is also 35 years old.
Also expected to post significant support is notorious entrepreneur John McAfee, a man who has forged an international identity after becoming a pioneer in the field of cybersecurity. Last fall, McAfee launched a presidential bid under the banner of his newly formed political organization, the Cyber Party. As the fall continued, McAfee declared his intention to seek the nomination of the Libertarian Party.
Building off of his name, his intense personality and his sweeping command of Libertarian sweet spots, McAfee has made a serious bid for the top of the ticket.
Although McAfee has little history with the party and no experience governing, his controversies -- including going into hiding following the shooting death of a businessman near his island compound in Belize -- and his lack of political experience may actually make up for it. In an election cycle dominated by a brash billionaire and reality TV star, McAfee's libidinous, shadowy, drug-fueled history and cavalier demeanor occasionally might not hurt much in a party built on opposing government control.
The primary has become somewhat contentious and McAfee has repeatedly said that he will not support Johnson if the former New Mexico becomes the nominee.
Petersen said he would "pull it for Gary" if the former New Mexico governor won the nomination. Weld said he wasn't sure what he'd do if Johnson was not the nominee.
"I'm in this because of Gary Johnson," Weld said.
The Libertarian nominee will appear in ballots in 50 states, but...
Of course, securing the nomination is only one step -- and an extremely easy one, relatively speaking -- on the path to a Libertarian presidency.
The eventual nominee, whoever it is, will have to compete in the general election, where the odds of victory for the Libertarian Party stand at roughly zero.
If that performance repeats itself in the 2016 general election, it will mark the 12th cycle in a row where no third party has earned a single vote in the Electoral College.
Compared to other years and other third parties, however, the Libertarians have plenty to feel good about. The Libertarian Party has navigated the multitude of onerous requirements for ballot access in all 50 states, a task unaccomplished by any other third party.
Put more simply, the Libertarian nominee will be the only name outside of the mainstream choices on the presidential ballot in all 50 states on November 8.
On the ballot, but not the debate stage
Johnson, echoing many other third-party candidates, regularly stresses the Libertarian Party's need to join the presidential debates. Inclusion in the presidential debates requires strong poll performance, which, of course, requires inclusion in the polls themselves.
From the "Never Trump" crowd to the nascent "Bernie or bust" movement, the eventual Libertarian nominee might have room to grow a base and shake up the already volatile presidential race. | 0fake |
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