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Trump to choose U.S. Supreme Court justice nominee on February 2 | WASHINGTON/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he will make his choice to fill the vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 2 as he seeks to restore the conservative majority on the high court, prompting Republicans in Congress to warn Democrats against blocking the nominee. Three U.S. appeals court judges are among those under close consideration by Trump to fill the vacancy left by the death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia nearly a year ago. Appointment as a Supreme Court justice requires Senate confirmation for the lifetime post. Trump’s fellow Republicans control the Senate with a 52-48 majority, but Democrats could try to block the nomination using procedural hurdles. John Thune, the third-ranking Senate Republican, warned that his party would not allow Trump’s nominee to languish. “We will fill that seat,” the South Dakota senator said in response to a reporter’s question on whether Republicans might scrap the procedural hurdle known as the “filibuster” if Democrats use it to block the nomination. Speaking on the opening day of a three-day retreat for Senate and House of Representatives Republicans in Philadelphia, Thune said that Republicans will have opportunities to consult with Democrats. He did not say how long that consultation process would be allowed to go on before potentially taking steps to end a standoff if Democrats erect barriers to the nomination. More than three years ago, when Democrats controlled the Senate, they used their majority to change Senate rules in order to ban filibusters against presidential nominees other than for the Supreme Court. The move came after Republicans blocked several key appointees by then-President Barack Obama. On Tuesday, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he told Trump in the meeting that Democrats would fight any nominee they consider to be outside the mainstream. Trump is in position to name Scalia’s replacement because the Republican-led U.S. Senate last year refused to consider Obama’s nominee, appeals court judge Merrick Garland. The current front-runners include three conservative jurists who were appointed to the bench by Republican former President George W. Bush: Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; Thomas Hardiman, who serves on the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals; and William Pryor, a judge on the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters at a daily briefing on Wednesday that he would not get ahead of Trump’s decision, noting that the president had listed about 20 candidates for the Supreme Court during his campaign. If not selected for the nation’s top court, some nominees could be contenders for the more than 100 vacancies on lower federal courts, he added. | 0fake |
5.0 Quake Near Oklahoma Oil Hub Causes Substantial Damage | 5.0 Quake Near Oklahoma Oil Hub Causes Substantial Damage 11/07/2016
CBS
A magnitude 5.0 earthquake centered near one of the world’s key oil hubs brought down building facades and shattered windows in a central Oklahoma city, rendering century-old buildings unsafe and raising concerns about key infrastructure.
As the sun rose Monday, television news footage showed widespread, substantial damage to buildings, with piles of bricks and other debris littering the ground following the earthquake the previous evening. Cushing Assistant City Manager Jeremy Frazier told a news conference late Sunday that a few minor injuries had been reported. He said the damage appeared to be contained downtown.
Oklahoma has had thousands of earthquakes in recent years, with nearly all traced to the underground injection of wastewater left over from oil and gas production. Sunday’s quake was centered 1 mile west of Cushing and about 25 miles south of where a magnitude 4.3 quake forced a shutdown of several wells last week.
Fearing aftershocks, police cordoned off older parts of the city to keep gawkers away late Sunday, and geologists confirmed that several small quakes have rumbled the area. Frazier said an assisted living community had been evacuated after damage was reported. The Cushing Public School District canceled Monday classes.
“Stay out of the area,” said City Manager Steve Spears, who noted that while some damage was superficial, compromised foundations and other potential problems would be difficult to assess until daylight in the city of 7,900 about 50 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma Department of Transportation reported Sunday night that no highway or bridge damage was found within a 15-mile radius of the earthquake’s epicenter.
The quake struck at 7:44 p.m. Sunday and was felt as far away as Iowa, Illinois and Texas. The U.S. Geological Survey initially said Sunday’s quake was of magnitude 5.3 but later lowered the reading to 5.0.
“I thought my whole trailer was going to tip over, it was shaking it so bad,” said Cushing resident Cindy Roe, 50. “It was loud and all the lights went out and you could hear things falling on the ground.
“It was awful and I don’t want to have another one.”
Cushing’s oil storage terminal is one of the world’s largest. As of Oct. 28, tank farms in the countryside around Cushing held 58.5 million barrels of crude oil, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The community bills itself as the “Pipeline Crossroads of the World.”
Frazier said two pipeline companies had reported no trouble as of late Sunday but that the community hadn’t heard from all companies. Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted that no damage was reported at the storage tanks at Cushing’s oil storage terminal
Megan Gustafson and Jonathan Gillespie were working at a Cushing McDonald’s when the quake hit.
“It felt like a train was going right through the building, actually,” Gustafson, 17, said Sunday night as she and her co-workers stood behind a police barricade downtown, looking for damage. “I kind of freaked out and was hyperventilating a bit.”
Gillespie said the building shook for about 10 seconds, but that he wasn’t as alarmed as Gustafson because he lives in an area that has experienced multiple earthquakes, especially in recent years.
“I didn’t think it was anything new,” he said.
According to USGS data, there have been about two dozen earthquakes in Oklahoma in the past week. When particularly strong quakes hit, the Oklahoma Corporation Commission directs well operators to cease wastewater injections or reduce volume.
A 5.8 earthquake — a record for Oklahoma — hit Pawnee on Sept. 3. Shortly afterward, geologists speculated on whether the temblor occurred on a previously unknown fault.
“I was at home doing some work in my office and, basically, you could feel the whole house sway some,” Spears, the Cushing city manager, said Sunday night. “It’s beginning to become normal.” | 1real |
Home Runs Are Way, Way Up. So Are the Theories Why. - The New York Times | SAN DIEGO — The dressed in yellow and brown on Monday, making the field at Petco Park look, from above, like a grill full of cheeseburgers. The homage to the host San Diego Padres, who once wore similar uniforms, helped distinguish Home Run Derby day from every other day of this curious baseball season. Home runs are up. Way, way up. Baseball arrived at the break with hitters on pace for more than 5, 600 home runs, a level exceeded only once in history: in 2000, at the height of the steroid era. “I’d like to say that guys aren’t cheating,” said Stephen Vogt, the Oakland Athletics’ catcher. “Everybody’s going to speculate — right? — when the home run numbers go up. But we are cleaning up the game, and I hope that’s not the reason behind it. ” Before 2003, when baseball began testing for drugs, we searched for reasons to explain the surge in home runs. Expansion, smaller ballparks and better nutrition all played a part — but history, rightly, gave steroids most of the blame. So what now? Besides Dee Gordon — last year’s National League leader in batting average and steals — the players caught in this season’s drug net have mostly been marginal. Perhaps some sluggers are beating the system, but a widespread cheating epidemic seems unlikely. But something is happening. Two years ago, there were 4, 186 home runs, or 0. 86 per team per game. That was the lowest figure in any of the last 20 full seasons, dating to 1996. This season, there are 1. 16 homers per team per game, up from 1. 01 in 2015. Put another way, at the current pace, home runs will rise by more than 700 over the previous season for the second year in a row. That’s a lot more balls soaring over fences, and one pitcher is keeping his theories private. “I’m not going to be the one who throws that stone,” said Washington Nationals starter Max Scherzer, who leads the National League in homers allowed. “I’m not going to sit here and say anything and make accusations. That’s not the way you do things. But if they are up significantly, it would be interesting to see what M. L. B. actually thinks about it. ” Mike Teevan, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said the league does “extensive reviews of the performance of the baseball, and there have been no differences” to explain the increase in homers. Strikeouts, said starter Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs, are also rising, and hitters are taking a different approach. “I know our hitting coach wants you to hit the ball in the air,” Lester said. “There’s no slug on the ground. Guys are willing to take their to hit the ball in the air, and swing hard in case they hit it. ” That theory would seem to make sense, especially as hitters react to the increasing use of extreme infield shifts. Yet the overall percentage of fly balls has not risen. According to Fangraphs, it is 34. 2 percent now only two of the past 15 seasons have been lower. What has changed is that a greater percentage of fly balls are turning into home runs. At 12. 9 percent, that figure is the highest it has been since Fangraphs started tracking the statistic in 2002. At least in one sense, perhaps, throwing harder may be working against pitchers. “Secondary stuff isn’t as big of a thing as it used to be, I feel like,” Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters said. “It’s now, ‘Can you throw 98, 99?’ And a lot of breaking balls that are hanging end up getting hit out. “That’s my theory: The types of arms that are getting moved through the system are guys that can really throw hard, and command sometimes comes later for them. But they get to the big league level while they’re throwing hard, and then they learn command. Home runs, more times than not, are mistakes — they’re not the wrong pitch, they’re just mistakes in the middle of the plate. ” Vogt, the Oakland catcher, said he had been calling more fastballs up in the zone lately, because umpires seem more willing to call them strikes. Missing with a high fastball can lead to home runs, of course, and so can a poorly placed cutter. If a cutter does not dart sharply at the last moment, it is just a slower fastball that stays in a hitter’s bat path. “The cutter has become such a big pitch, and more guys are trying to throw it,” Vogt said. “But a cutter that doesn’t cut is a really good pitch to hit out. ” Vogt and other catchers, like San Francisco’s Buster Posey and Milwaukee’s Jonathan Lucroy, said they had noticed nothing different about the actual baseballs — which, of course, they handle just as often as pitchers, though not with the same intent. “We throw those things so much, we’d be able to tell if there’s something different about them,” Lucroy said. Lucroy pointed to recent changes at ballparks — like Petco Park, Citi Field and Marlins Park, where fences have all come in — as having an impact. But some pitchers, like Texas’ Cole Hamels, have thrived at smaller venues because they have multiple weapons to keep hitters guessing. Younger pitchers are rarely as skilled. “It’s not only having that second pitch, but having that third pitch,” Hamels said. “It’s easier for hitters to have success when it’s — a lot better than a 25 percent chance. So when guys don’t have four pitches they can essentially throw for strikes, that makes it a lot tougher. Guys are just homing in on certain counts and what guys have done statistically in the past, and they’re getting it. ” Daniel Murphy of the Nationals best embodies the trend around him. Murphy made the team with the Mets in 2014, when he played a full season and hit nine homers. Now he has 17 to go with a . 348 average. Murphy emphasizes damage over contact, with startling results — and fastballs do not bother him. “Guys throw so hard now, you either become accustomed to it or you have to find another line of work,” Murphy said. “The more velocity you see, you’re able to slow it down a little more. ” That last sentence might only make sense in the peculiar orbit of baseball, where fast can mean slow and a trend can quickly reverse itself. | 0fake |
Actor, Trump Supporter Antonio Sabato Jr. Running For Congress in California | Soap opera star and Donald Trump supporter Antonio Sabato Jr. is set to make his own foray into politics with a run for Congress in California. [According to the Los Angeles Times, the General Hospital and Melrose Place star will challenge Democratic Rep. Julia Brownley in California’s 26th Congressional district, which encompasses a large portion of Ventura County and part of the central coast. The actor — who has competed on Dancing with the Stars and worked as a model — spoke at the Republican National Convention in support of Trump in July. Sabato strategist and fundraiser Charles Moran told the Times that the actor’s experience at the convention sparked his own desire to affect change in Washington. “Being a Republican and with proximity to the White House and Republican leadership, he’s going to be able to get more done — being in the majority, with his notoriety, for the residents of the 26th [Congressional] District,” Moran told the paper. Sabato was a vocal supporter of Trump throughout the 2016 presidential campaign. At the Republican convention in July, the actor — who immigrated from Italy to the United States in 1985 — said he had never considered himself to be a political person before, but expressed concern about the direction of the United States, and said those wishing to enter the country should follow the same procedures he did nearly thirty years ago. “Having secure borders, protecting our citizens, none of this is hateful,” Sabato said at the time. “This is the responsibility of the government. And it’s the right thing to do. ” The candidate will reportedly campaign with a focus on veterans and substance abuse issues. In August, Sabato said in an interview that he had been blacklisted from Hollywood due to his political beliefs. “t’s not just me. I know a lot of people in the industry who are in the same boat,” he told Variety. “The reality is if you’re associated with the Republican Party, the casting directors and producers already blacklist you based on that. ” Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum | 0fake |
Evidence That Robots Are Winning the Race for American Jobs - The New York Times | Who is winning the race for jobs between robots and humans? Last year, two leading economists described a future in which humans come out ahead. But now they’ve declared a different winner: the robots. The industry most affected by automation is manufacturing. For every robot per thousand workers, up to six workers lost their jobs and wages fell by as much as of a percent, according to a new paper by the economists, Daron Acemoglu of M. I. T. and Pascual Restrepo of Boston University. It appears to be the first study to quantify large, direct, negative effects of robots. The paper is all the more significant because the researchers, whose work is highly regarded in their field, had been more sanguine about the effect of technology on jobs. In a paper last year, they said it was likely that increased automation would create new, better jobs, so employment and wages would eventually return to their previous levels. Just as cranes replaced dockworkers but created related jobs for engineers and financiers, the theory goes, new technology has created new jobs for software developers and data analysts. But that paper was a conceptual exercise. The new one uses data — and suggests a more pessimistic future. The researchers said they were surprised to see very little employment increase in other occupations to offset the job losses in manufacturing. That increase could still happen, they said, but for now there are large numbers of people out of work, with no clear path forward — especially men without college degrees. “The conclusion is that even if overall employment and wages recover, there will be losers in the process, and it’s going to take a very long time for these communities to recover,” Mr. Acemoglu said. “If you’ve worked in Detroit for 10 years, you don’t have the skills to go into health care,” he said. “The market economy is not going to create the jobs by itself for these workers who are bearing the brunt of the change. ” The paper’s evidence of job displacement from technology contrasts with a comment from the Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, who said at an Axios event last week that artificial intelligence’s displacement of human jobs was “not even on our radar screen,” and “50 to 100 more years” away. (Not all robots use artificial intelligence, but a panel of experts — polled by the M. I. T. Initiative on the Digital Economy in reaction to Mr. Mnuchin’s comments — expressed the same broad concern of major job displacement.) The paper also helps explain a mystery that has been puzzling economists: why, if machines are replacing human workers, productivity hasn’t been increasing. In manufacturing, productivity has been increasing more than elsewhere — and now we see evidence of it in the employment data, too. The study analyzed the effect of industrial robots in local labor markets in the United States. Robots are to blame for up to 670, 000 lost manufacturing jobs between 1990 and 2007, it concluded, and that number will rise because industrial robots are expected to quadruple. The paper adds to the evidence that automation, more than other factors like trade and offshoring that President Trump campaigned on, has been the bigger threat to jobs. The researchers said the findings — “large and robust negative effects of robots on employment and wages” — remained strong even after controlling for imports, offshoring, software that displaces jobs, worker demographics and the type of industry. Robots affected both men’s and women’s jobs, the researchers found, but the effect on male employment was up to twice as big. The data doesn’t explain why, but Mr. Acemoglu had a guess: Women are more willing than men to take a pay cut to work in a field. The economists looked at the effect of robots on local economies and also more broadly. In an isolated area, each robot per thousand workers decreased employment by 6. 2 workers and wages by 0. 7 percent. But nationally, the effects were smaller, because jobs were created in other places. Take Detroit, home to automakers, the biggest users of industrial robots. Employment was greatly affected. If automakers can charge less for cars because they employ fewer people, employment might increase elsewhere in the country, like at steel makers or taxi operators. Meanwhile, the people in Detroit will probably spend less at stores. Including these factors, each robot per thousand workers decreased employment by three workers and wages by 0. 25 percent. The findings fuel the debate about whether technology will help people do their jobs more efficiently and create new ones, as it has in the past, or eventually displace humans. David Autor, a collaborator of Mr. Acemoglu’s at M. I. T. has argued that machines will complement instead of replace humans, and cannot replicate human traits like common sense and empathy. “I don’t think that this paper is the last word on its subject, but it’s an exceedingly carefully constructed and first word,” he said. Mr. Restrepo said the problem might be that the new jobs created by technology are not in the places that are losing jobs, like the Rust Belt. “I still believe there will be jobs in the years to come, though probably not as many as we have today,” he said. “But the data have made me worried about the communities directly exposed to robots. ” In addition to cars, industrial robots are used most in the manufacturing of electronics, metal products, plastics and chemicals. They do not require humans to operate, and do various tasks like welding, painting and packaging. From 1993 to 2007, the United States added one new industrial robot for every thousand workers — mostly in the Midwest, South and East — and Western Europe added 1. 6. The study, a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper published Monday, used data on the number of robots from the International Federation of Robotics (there is no consistent data on the monetary value of the robots in use.) It analyzed the effect of robots on employment and wages in commuting zones, a way to measure local economies. The next question is whether the coming wave of technologies — like machine learning, drones and driverless cars — will have similar effects, but on many more people. | 0fake |
Who’s Got a Carrier to Rival the U.S. Navy’s? (Hint: Not Russia.) - The New York Times | An aircraft carrier can be a very handy tool, especially when trouble flares up far from a friendly military base. Just ask the Pentagon, which has 10 big supercarriers that it uses around the world to protect air and sea lanes and to mount airstrikes. There’s generally at least one of them stationed near the Middle East at all times. So, as other countries join in military action against extremists in the world’s hot spots, can’t they send their own carriers into action? Well, they could if they had any. But, aside from the 10 American giants, there’s currently only one big carrier in the whole world that can handle such a job — and it doesn’t belong to Britain, Russia or even China. It’s the Charles de Gaulle, the flagship and pride of the French Navy, and it’s been sent several times to join the fight against the Islamic State in Syria and in Libya. The carrier’s strike group performed so well in pounding the militants in the region that the United States Navy awarded it a Meritorious Unit Commendation in June. And President François Hollande of France announced on July 13 that the Charles de Gaulle would be redeployed to the Middle East this fall. Though it is the Charles de Gaulle isn’t quite a supercarrier — it’s shorter and much lighter, and doesn’t pack the same punch. But neither does it rate down among the small escort carriers and helicopter carriers that a number of navies employ. It is considered a fleet carrier, and these days, it has that category practically to itself. Russia has the Admiral Kuznetsov, but that ship has been plagued with mechanical problems and doesn’t leave port often, though there are reports that it will operate in the eastern Mediterranean in the autumn. A partially completed sister carrier was sold to China, but it has yet to complete trials. India has an older Russian castoff that rarely sails, and Brazil’s fleet carrier, the São Paulo, is being refitted. Britain, which got out of the fleet carrier game years ago for cost reasons, is getting back in: A newly built carrier, which is larger than the Charles de Gaulle, is expected to be commissioned next year. Another will follow several years after that. | 0fake |
LOCK HER UP? IS THE CLINTON FOUNDATION Investigation Moving Forward? | The bitter battle for the presidency is over. Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton lost. But the Republican Party is far from done with the former secretary of state, according to Utah GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.Asked Thursday on NBC if President-elect Donald Trump should make good on the lock her up chants that became commonplace at the GOP candidate s rowdy events, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is leading Trump s transition team, said, Politics are over now. People have spoken. Time to unite the country. But the investigations into Clinton s email practices at the State Department are on track to continue regardless. According to the Washington Post, Chaffetz said it would be totally remiss of us to dismiss probes of Clinton s practices just because she fell short of winning the White House. I still have a duty and obligation to get to the truth about one of the largest breaches of security at the State Department, he said. Tens of thousands of documents still have not been turned over to Congress. Chaffetz continued, A Trump administration would be cooperative in getting these floodgates to open as they should. The Utah lawmaker indicated he doesn t anticipate calling on Clinton to testify, though the committee he leads could pull other former and current State Department staffers in for more questioning.Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said it is extremely disappointing to learn that Chaffetz plans to continue investigating Clinton for years to come. After everything our country has just been through and particularly given that Donald Trump and [House Speaker] Paul Ryan have both called for healing our nation s divisions I think the American people deserve more from Congress than to continue squandering taxpayer dollars on these baseless Republican accusations and partisan attacks, Cummings said.Read more: Blaze | 1real |
CRAZED LEFTIST Tweets Video Stabbing Trump Piñata 56 Times…Is a Visit from the Secret Service in Her Future? [Video] | A Mexican columnist just repeatedly stabbed a President Trump pi ata She got it on film thinking it would be funny but Trump supporter Marco Gutierrez shared the video with the Secret Service in hopes that they would visit this nut job to let her know how serious this is.Please make sure you visit @gloaeza & let her know how #USA feels of this acts of hers @FBI @ALT_DOJ @SecretService @infowars @seanhannity pic.twitter.com/zRKuXfutAl Marco Gutierrez (@MarcoGutierrez) August 17, 2017Others in the video laughed as Loaeza furiously stabbed and stabbed.She stabbed the Trump pi ata at least 56 times before stopping to catch her breath and the video ended.Marco Gutierrez notified the Secret Service of Loaeza s stunt let s hope she gets lots of blowback from Trump supporters! This is ridiculous and disrespectful!TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME! | 1real |
SMOKING GUN REVEALED: 2013 Video Of Clinton Emailing Classified Info In Negotiations [Video] | Here s another revelation with video from 2013 of a State Department employee speaking about Clinton s handling of classified information. | 1real |
Realism About the Jihad Threat in Oklahoma | Realism About the Jihad Threat in Oklahoma Oklahoma State Rep. John Bennett ventures where few dare to tread. October 27, 2016 Robert Spencer
In an age of near-universal denial and willful ignorance at the highest levels about the ideological roots, nature and magnitude of the jihad threat, it is as unusual as it is refreshing to find lawmakers at any level who are willing to approach the problem honestly. State Representative John Bennett of Oklahoma, a Marine and combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan , is one of an all-too-rare breed.
On Tuesday, Bennett held an “Interim Study” on “the current threat posed by radical Islam and the effect that Shariah Law, the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadist indoctrination have in the radicalization process in Oklahoma and America.” In his request to hold this study, he explained: “This will be a study of the current threat posed by radical Islam and the effect that Shariah Law, the Muslim Brotherhood and jihadist indoctrination have in the radicalization process in Oklahoma and America.”
This kind of study should have been held not just in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, but in the U.S. House, and Senate as well. That such an idea is inconceivable is an indication of the fix we’re in. And the situation is only marginally better in Oklahoma: nowadays the misinformation and disinformation about what we’re up against is so universal that anywhere the truth is told about this threat, there is significant pushback from the allies and enablers of jihad and Islamic supremacism.
And so it was in Tulsa on Tuesday. The interim study featured testimony by former FBI agent John Guandolo and Chris Gaubatz, whose exploits as an undercover agent infiltrating the Hamas-linked Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) are chronicled in the eye-opening book Muslim Mafia .
Gaubatz and Guandolo presented evidence, including land records, showing that the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City (ISGOC) is owned by the Muslim Brotherhood group the North American Islamic Trust (NAIT), that both CAIR, which has an active chapter in Oklahoma City, and ISGOC are Muslim Brotherhood organizations, and that CAIR has extensive ties to the jihad terror group Hamas, which styles itself the Muslim Brotherhood for Palestine. They pointed out that since Imad Enchassi, the imam of ISGOC, is a Palestinian and has all these ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, he likely also has links to Hamas.
Guandolo and Gaubatz did not base their case on innuendo and hearsay. They laid out FBI evidence, Muslim Brotherhood documents, and more, demonstrating that the claims they were making were based on solid evidence.
Predictably, however, the mainstream media, which we now know beyond any shadow of a doubt is simply and solely a propaganda arm for the Left and the Democratic Party , focused entirely on the presence of Adam Soltani of CAIR-OK and Enchassi. The Tulsa World ran a piece with the hysterical headline “State representative brands CAIR-OK, its director and a local imam as terrorists.” It quoted Soltani raging against Bennett: “Rep. Bennett is shamefully wasting taxpayer money to promote his own biased agenda. This hearing was a new low for Rep. Bennett, as his guests presented a biased narrative that achieves nothing more than demonizing and marginalizing the Oklahoma Muslim community.”
The World magisterially told its readers that “CAIR is a Muslim civil liberties and advocacy group working to enhance the understanding of Islam.” It didn’t see fit to mention that CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a Hamas terror funding case — so named by the Justice Department. There was not a word in the World report about how CAIR officials have repeatedly refused to denounce Hamas and Hizballah as terrorist groups. Several former CAIR officials have been convicted of various crimes related to jihad terror . CAIR’s cofounder and longtime Board chairman (Omar Ahmad), as well as its chief spokesman (Ibrahim Hooper), have made Islamic supremacist statements . (Ahmad denies this, but the original reporter stands by her story .) A California chapter distributed a poster telling Muslims not to talk to the FBI, and a Florida chapter distributed pamphlets with the same message . CAIR has opposed virtually every anti-terror measure that has been proposed or implemented and has been declared a terror organization by the United Arab Emirates.
But the Tulsa World and other mainstream media outlets that covered Bennett’s study did not see fit to inform their readers of any of that; instead, predictably enough, they portrayed the hearing as a baseless exercise in race-baiting and fearmongering conducted by a politician up for reelection.
John Bennett, and the people of Oklahoma, deserve better. There are legitimate questions about CAIR and ISGOC; Bennett dared to raise them Tuesday; for that, he is being subjected to a media lynching that is cynically designed to obscure the genuine concerns he raised – yet ever since a member of ISGOC beheaded a coworker in 2014, these concerns are more urgent than ever.
The media enablers of jihad must be decisively repudiated. Please email the Speaker of the Oklahoma House, Jeff W. Hickman, politely and courteously expressing your support for John Bennett and requesting that his hearing be just the first of a series. His email is [email protected] and his phone number is (405) 557-7339.
John Bennett has yet again stuck his neck out for freedom. In these hard times, those who are willing to do that have to hang together. | 1real |
Trump Just ADMITTED He Mindlessly Parrots Russian Propaganda And Twitter Kicked His Teeth In (TWEETS) | Donald Trump once said that he loves the poorly educated, and he skips his intelligence briefings regularly, so it is reasonable to assume that he is not a fan of intelligence in any form. But on Thursday, the Donald took to Twitter to assure everyone that this isn t true and to backtrack on his agreements with Julian Assange so fast that one is forced to wonder what information he learned about Russia s hack of the election in the past 24 hours. The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people, Trump tweeted, apparently forgetting that his vapid, meth-addled Nazi followers prefer him to use the word L genpresse, to make up their own minds as to the truth. The media lies to make it look like I am against Intelligence when in fact I am a big fan!The dishonest media likes saying that I am in Agreement with Julian Assange wrong. I simply state what he states, it is for the people . Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017to make up their own minds as to the truth. The media lies to make it look like I am against "Intelligence" when in fact I am a big fan! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017The hacked emails were not just distributed by Assange, who is currently hiding out from rape charges in an embassy, but by Guccifer 2.0 and DC Leaks as well two web sites run by actual, bona fide, Russian agents. Nevertheless, though he admits he doesn t look into who gives him information, Assange claims that he didn t receive the emails from Russia. On Wednesday, Trump mindlessly parroted the claim because it supports his nonsensical decision to spend every waking moment doing the Twitter equivalent of dropping to his knees in front of Putin and, well, you get the idea.In his nonsensical morning tweet, Wednesday Edition, Trump informed the world that his intelligence (yes, he put the word in quotes again) had been delayed by a few days and attacked intelligence agencies (he could have meant any of the more than a bakers dozen who say that Russia absolutely hacked us, and Putin led the operation, but he seems to mean the CIA). This was a lie.He followed that up by spreading Assange s nonsensical claim that their friend Vladdy Poot didn t give him the information and by attacking the DNC for getting hacked.But even though The Donald regularly tweets out agreements with Assange including the false claim that Russia had nothing to do with the hack (something he would know if he actually attended intelligence briefings) he says his tweets should not be construed as agreement with the sexual predator behind the release of some of the hacked documents Russian hackers stole. Naturally, Twitter stepped in and did the online equivalent of beating Trump with a broom handle:@realDonaldTrump Only you would use "Intelligence" in quotes as if it's always theoretical. pic.twitter.com/bhav5ZqAAb Kristina Wong (@mskristinawong) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump bullshit, name three of Intelligence's albums maura quint (@behindyourback) January 5, 2017https://twitter.com/treypearson/status/817007161859567616@realDonaldTrump Next you're going to tell us Putin isn't smart, it's just the media taking your comments out of context pic.twitter.com/FuBJJVBovS Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) January 5, 2017.@realDonaldTrump you "state what he states" but you disagree w/ our intelligence officers who sacrifice their lives to defend us? MMMMk. Isaac Saul (@Ike_Saul) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump Same thing when you retweeted Nazis throughout your campaign? That was "for the people"? Jon Bershad (@JonBershad) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump So you quote Julian Assange but not FBI and CIA ??? CoryBooker2020 (@CBooker2020) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump "Retweets and politically beneficial relationships with dictators and hackers are not endorsements!" our president Jon Bershad (@JonBershad) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump Why would you "simply state what he (Assange) states?" You are PEOTUS now. YOUR WORDS MATTER! Stop tweeting nonsense! RJ Palacio (@RJPalacio) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump This is literally the definition of agreeing with him. https://t.co/QhWEYH9ITu Chris Jackson (@ChrisCJackson) January 5, 2017@realdonaldtrump If you state the same thing, you're in agreement. Accepting Russian propaganda as truth makes you a traitor & a puppet. karen munro (@BaileyPittipat) January 5, 2017.@realDonaldTrump so you are saying you simply parrot what he wants you to parrot? So you admit to being a puppet? Roland Scahill (@rolandscahill) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump So you state what Assange states, but you completely ignore what the U.S. Intelligence Agencies say? Doesn't add up buddy! Impeach Donald Trump (@Impeach_D_Trump) January 5, 2017#MRGA @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/xlvYH2uJdD Cheeto Jesus ? (@Blob_Fish) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrumpSo you are in agreement with what he says, but the media is wrong for saying you agree with him. Got it. Doody Giuliani (@DoodyGiuliani1) January 5, 2017.@realDonaldTrump No, you literally agreed with him Get some more sleep buddy. pic.twitter.com/ZvxFqK9IG1 David Snodgrass (@webdevgeek) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump Listen, buddy, piece of advice, never defend #Assange while your head is resting on Putin's shoulder. You lose credibility. Lida Piompino (@lidapiompino) January 5, 2017You're so right. The media is dishonest, they quoted you verbatim. Shame on the media. (rolling eyes) @realDonaldTrump Chico Delainky (@ChicoDelainky) January 5, 2017Is there anyone anyone at all who doesn't believe @realDonaldTrump is a wholly-owned pawn of Vladimir #Putin and #Russia? Anyone? #Trump pic.twitter.com/iRT7GLyjaK {[(Mad John)]} (@John_de_Vashon) January 5, 2017@realDonaldTrump um, so you state what he states but you are not in agreement? I don't think you know what you want to say. for the people Billy Spillwater (@BillySpillwater) January 5, 2017Interestingly, in 2010, Trump didn t agree with Assange so much as he wanted to have him murdered. You see, before Russia and Wikileaks teamed up to hack and release information about his opponent in what the intelligence community agrees was an effort to install him in office, The Donald said that Assange is disgraceful and that there should be like death penalty or something for his new rapist friend.Putin, on the other hand, Trump has just always loved. A few years back, The Donald tweeted that he hopes the brutal Russian dictator becomes his new best friend. It s nice that we re all friends now, and that Assange and Trump are bonding over the dishonest press, but if Trump is getting his intelligence from Russia and some rapist, it s time we talk about peacefully removing him from the White House and what was that thing he wanted to do to his opponent, who had legitimately not committed a crime? Oh, yes, locking him up. Featured image via Getty Images (Christopher Furlong)/screengrab | 1real |
After Trump pulls out, Fox News cancels Republican debate | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Republican presidential debate scheduled for next week in Utah has been canceled, host Fox News said on Wednesday, after party front-runner Donald Trump told the network he would not participate. Trump, who has clashed with Fox News throughout his campaign, told the network in an interview on Wednesday he would not appear at the event, scheduled for Monday, because he thought the Republicans had “had enough debates.” Ohio Governor John Kasich said afterward he would also skip the debate unless Trump changed his mind and decided to come. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, the third remaining Republican candidate seeking the party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, criticized Trump on Twitter, calling him #DuckingDonald and urging his supporters to tell Trump to attend. “He’s scared to debate,” Cruz said in an interview on Fox News. “He’s afraid of being challenged.” Fox News, part of the Twenty-First Century Fox Inc (FOXA.O) broadcast media and entertainment company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, earlier this week announced the debate, to be held in Salt Lake City, its latest in the primary season. Utah holds its presidential primary next Tuesday. “Ted Cruz has expressed a willingness to debate Trump or Kasich - or both. But obviously, there needs to be more than one participant,” Fox News Channel’s executive vice president of news, Michael Clemente, said in a statement. “So the Salt Lake City debate is canceled.” After the cancellation, Trump posted on Twitter that he would make a “big speech” the night of the debate, “but I wish everyone well.” The brash New York billionaire skipped a Fox News debate in Iowa in January after complaining he had been mistreated by the network. He has long clashed with anchor Megyn Kelly and revived criticism of her on Tuesday, saying on Twitter she was “crazy” and “unwatchable.” The Iowa debate went on as scheduled, despite Trump’s decision to host a rally at the same time. But back in January, the Republican field was much larger, with Trump among eight contenders who qualified to participate in the Iowa debate, and four others qualifying for an earlier “undercard” debate. Wednesday marked the first time either party has canceled a debate. Trump’s participation in the debates has helped networks draw record audiences. Two previous debates this election cycle hosted by Fox News attracted the two largest U.S. audiences for non-sports cable TV programs in history. Some 24 million Americans tuned in for the first Republican presidential debate last August, while another in Detroit earlier this month attracted 16.9 million viewers. In February, CBS (CBS.N) Chief Executive Les Moonves spoke candidly about the advertising money the Republican front-runner was bringing to the network. “The money’s rolling in and this is fun,” Moonves said at a telecommunications conference in San Francisco, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “I’ve never seen anything like this, and this is going to be a very good year for us,” Moonves said. “Sorry. It’s a terrible thing to say. But bring it on, Donald. Keep going.” | 0fake |
Lunatic Right-Winger Uses Girl Scout Cookies As Reason To End Laws Against Child Labor | Right-wingers never have been very smart, but this one really takes the cake. There is an idea that the fact Girl Scout cookies are sold means America needs to end child labor laws. No, this isn t a joke and it isn t an exaggeration.A piece from The Federalist is suggesting that children engaging in an annual fundraising drive by selling cookies are somehow no more offensive than 10-year-olds working in steel mills, or coal mines, for 10 or more hours per day, 7 days a week.To quote the article:The Girl Scout cookie program, in other words, teaches young girls how to be entrepreneurs; it teaches them how to work. It is, after a fashion, child labor. The great scandal is not that the Girl Scouts are promoting child labor, it s that there isn t more child labor in the United States today.Source: The FederalistThe author then complains about the fact the government has outlawed every meaningful kind of occupation for children younger than 14, Citing any manufacturing occupation, most processing occupations, all work requiring the use of ladders, scaffolds or their substitutes, outside window washing. Children younger than 14 should not have any meaningful kind of occupation other than school student! The sheer insanity of this is beyond words.He goes on to say that there is even a strong case for abolishing what he calls compulsory education, by letting them not go to school in exchange for being able to work full-time instead. I m sure a 10-year-old will land a good-paying full-time job where they can support themselves over the next 70 years with no schooling.The American right-wing has totally gone off the deep end. You might say But this is only one writer s opinion. The problem is, it isn t. Elected federal-level Republicans have resurrected the idea of removing safeguards against child labor just a few years ago. Even wannabe presidential candidates have advocated for it. It s a real thing that Republicans want to do, and that scares the hell out of me.If those freeloading Girl Scouts can safely sell harmless boxes of cookies for one month a year, why aren t they working the other 11 months in a steel mill instead of wasting time being forced to go to school. Right? God help us if these people take control.Featured image via wikicommons | 1real |
MICHIGAN MAN Charged with Threatening to Assassinate President Trump | Can you imagine being POTUS and having this threat every day while you re in the WhiteHouse? The threats are there but this type of threat is frightening because this man is apparently mentally ill. We were unable to find any pictures of this man. He made vile and graphic threats to President Trump and was charged:A truck driver has been charged in federal court with threatening to assassinate President Donald Trump in several phone calls to Secret Service field offices.Special Agent Matthew Lariviere wrote in a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday that James Anthony Jackson repeatedly called the Secret Service field office in Chicago on Oct. 12-13 and made more phone calls to the field office in Detroit on Oct. 18 threatening to blow Trump s brains out. Better watch Donald Trump ass, ya bitch, Jackson said, according to court records. Ya ll think someone playing with yo dumbasses, I am going to blow white brains out his (expletive) head. It appeared Jackson was masking his real number, according to the agent.Jackson called from a phone with a 616 area code number.The number was registered to James Jackson Profit Group LLC in Grand Rapids, according to the agent. The company, which does not appear in state business records, is linked to an outreach center in Grand Rapids.Phone records also showed Jackson frequently called a woman in the 517 area code. The woman told investigators she had met a man online named Jamie who had harassed and threatened her from the same Grand Rapids-area phone number used by Jackson.Jamie threatened to cut off her head and parade it in front of the White House for Trump, according to the court filing.On Friday, investigators interviewed Jackson s uncle.Jackson had cursed and threatened relatives, the uncle said.Agents played a recording of one of the Trump threats for Jackson s sister and she confirmed the voice belonged to Jackson, according to the complaint.The News reports Jackson was born in 1984 but a hometown wasn t available and the U.S. Attorney s Office refused to discuss the case.Via Detroit NewsVia: WNEM | 1real |
The Tweet Trump Sent THE DAY His Son Had Russian Collusion Meeting Is Disturbing As Hell | It s kind of poetic: Russian help and Trump s tweets are largely what propelled him to the White House, and those two things may also bring about his downfall.On news that Trump s son, Donald Jr., scheduled a meeting during the campaign with a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, the microscope on Trump s shady campaign only intensified. He s tried everything to get it to stop, including firing the FBI director investigating him, but it s all starting to come out.Making matters worse for the White House, Donald Jr. keeps digging himself a deeper hole. First, he tried to cover up the meeting. Then when he got caught, he lied about the contents of the meeting. Then when he got caught again, he admitted, with no apparent awareness, that, yes, he had tried to collude with the Russians, but since he failed it wasn t wrong. (Note: hiring a hitman to kill your wife is a crime whether the hitman goes through with it or not.)On Monday, following a weekend of collusion evidence against him, Donald Jr. again brought out his gold-plated shovel and started digging.Obviously I'm the first person on a campaign to ever take a meeting to hear info about an opponent went nowhere but had to listen. https://t.co/ccUjL1KDEa Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) July 10, 2017For what it s worth, staffers from other campaigns, both Republican and Democratic, have gone on record to say that there is a flat policy in election teams of handing over any information about an opponent seemingly obtained illegally or from a foreign adversary to law enforcement. Famously, Al Gore immediately summoned authorities when a shady person obtained Bush s debate prep notes.When Gore campaign was sent Bush debate brief book, they called FBI. If foreign interests offer you info on former SOS, you call the FBI. stuart stevens (@stuartpstevens) July 10, 2017Most politicians hold themselves to that higher standard Trump s team didn t.It gets worse.Liberal pundit and longtime thorn in Trump s side, Keith Olbermann, went ahead and checked out what Trump was up to the day his son was meeting with the Russians. It turns out, it was the very first day he decided to mention Hillary s emails.Guess what @realDonaldTrump did the same day Jr, Manafort, Kushner met that Russian? He sent his 1ST tweet about Hillary's "33,000 emails" pic.twitter.com/BAP9aEDcLE Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) July 10, 2017And three days later, Wikileaks dumped the Hillary campaign s emails, boosting Trump and ultimately helping him win the election.Coincidence?Featured image via Olivier Douliery Pool/Getty Images | 1real |
WOW! SARCASTIC MIKE BARNICLE Gets An Earful From Kellyanne Conway For Saying Republicans Weren’t “Fair” To Obama [Video] | BARNICLE: So you re asking the Democrats to be as fair as the Republicans were CONWAY: they were very fair. Excuse me, President Obama had seven of his cabinet members confirmed on January 20, 2009, his inauguration day. Are you going to guarantee me the same courtesy? It doesn t sound that way if you read The Hill and the Washington Post, yesterday. And then he had five more that week. President Bush had nine his first week. He had State and Defense and Ag and Commerce and Education and Energy and Treasury. Are we going to have that? It doesn t seem that way. | 1real |
VA Secretary Robert McDonald admits lying about Special Forces service, apologizes | Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald on Tuesday apologized for lying about serving in the special operations forces in a conversation with a homeless veteran that was caught on camera earlier this year.
McDonald made the claim in January while he was in Los Angeles as part of the VA's effort to locate and house homeless veterans. During the tour, a homeless man told McDonald that he had served in the special operations forces.
"Special forces? What years?" McDonald responded. "I was in special forces." The exchange was broadcast on "The CBS Evening News" Jan. 30. McDonald's misstatement was first reported by The Huffington Post.
McDonald graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1975 and completed Army Ranger training before being assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division until his retirement in 1980. According to the Huffington Post, while McDonald was formally recognized as a graduate of Ranger School, he never actually served in a Ranger battalion or other special operations unit.
"I have no excuse," the website quoted McDonald as saying in its report. "I was not in special forces."
In a statement released Monday by the VA, McDonald said: "While I was in Los Angeles, engaging a homeless individual to determine his veteran status, I asked the man where he had served in the military. He responded that he had served in special forces. I incorrectly stated that I had been in special forces. That was inaccurate and I apologize to anyone that was offended by my misstatement."
At a news conference outside VA offices on Tuesday, McDonald also told reporters he made the misstatement in a conversation with a homeless veteran he was trying "to connect with."
McDonald added: "I apologize for that. I have no excuse for it."
The VA secretary has drawn expressions of disappointment, but no demands for his resignation. "A lie is a lie," said Michael Helm, national commander of the American Legion, the largest veterans service organization. "I can't believe people do this."
McDonald told the Huffington Post that he had "reacted spontaneously and ... wrongly" in response to the homeless man's claim.
"As I thought about it later, I knew that this was wrong," McDonald said of his false statement.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday were critical of McDonald over the false claim, but indicated they want to keep the focus on reforming the department itself.
House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said he was "disappointed" in his comments.
"After a rough couple of weeks that also included inflated claims of accountability at the Department of Veterans Affairs, I hope Sec. McDonald will redouble his efforts to ensure his statements -- and those of all VA officials -- are completely accurate. This is the only way the department can regain the trust of the veterans and taxpayers it is charged with serving," he said in a statement.
Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colo., called the misstatement an error but said "it doesn't dim the fact that he served honorably."
He said: "We should all take him at his word and Washington shouldn't spend the next two weeks arguing about it. The Secretary has a job to do -- clean up the scandal-plagued VA. This latest controversy shouldn't shift one iota of focus away from that long overdue task."
The White House released a statement Monday evening saying that it had accepted McDonald's explanation.
"Secretary McDonald has apologized for the misstatement and noted that he never intended to misrepresent his military service," the statement said. "We take him at his word and expect that this will not impact the important work he’s doing to promote the health and well-being of our nation’s veterans."
After leaving the Army, McDonald went on to a successful corporate career, eventually becoming Chairman, President, and CEO of Proctor & Gamble. He became VA secretary this past July, as the agency was dealing with the fallout from the scandal of long patient wait times at VA hospitals.
Click for more from The Huffington Post.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 0fake |
null | may her business grow 10 times multiplication of these evil hillary’s supporters perpetuated on her and her business. | 1real |
Don't scrap war crimes court, U.S. warns Kosovo | PRISTINA (Reuters) - Any move by Kosovo to scrap a war crimes court linked to its independence struggle would seriously undermine relations with friendly western nations, its main backer the United States said on Friday. Lawmakers from the governing coalition, who hold a majority, are pressing for a vote to abolish the court. The vote was scheduled for later in the day but it failed twice due to opposition from other parties. Parliament speaker Kadri Veseli said parliament would continue to attempt to vote on the issue in the coming days. Isa Mustafa, Kosovo s former prime minister and an opposition leader, said the proposal was devastating for our state and very damaging for justice . The Specialist Chamber was established in The Hague in 2015 to bring to justice Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrillas alleged to have committed atrocities during the 1998-99 war that led to the country s secession from Serbia. It has yet to hear any cases. Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, President Hashim Thaci and parliamentary speaker Veseli are former KLA commanders. The court s judges and prosecutors are foreign but it has been set up under Kosovan law, giving Pristina jurisdiction over it. Calling for the parliamentary vote to be halted, U.S. ambassador Greg Delawie said it would have extraordinarily negative implications for Kosovo. It is just a disgrace, he told reporters in Pristina. This will be considered by the U.S. as stab in the back. Kosovo will be choosing isolation instead of cooperation. There was no immediate response from Kosovo officials to Delawie s comments. Washington has been Kosovo s leading political and financial backer since it declared independence in 2008. Nataliya Apostolova, the EU representative in Pristina, called the attempt to scrap the court appalling and extremely damaging . The court was set up following U.S. and European pressure on the government to confront alleged KLA crimes against ethnic Serbs. According to Kosovo media, the court could indict or call as witnesses some of current government officials. It was set up in the Netherlands to minimize the risk of witness intimidation and judicial corruption. Kosovo s war veterans association last week launched an initiative to hold a parliamentary debate to abolish the law that established the court. They gathered 15,000 signatures, Kosovo media reported. NATO air strikes on Serbia forced Belgrade to withdraw its troops from Kosovo in 1999, having killed around 10,000 Albanian civilians. NATO has around 5,000 troops stationed in Kosovo to keep a still fragile peace. Kosovo, which is 90 percent ethnic Albanian and 5 percent Serbian, is recognized by more than 110 mainly by western countries but not by Serbia s key ally Russia or China. | 0fake |
BUSTED! ABC/WASHINGTON POST POLL Showing Hillary Clinton Leading Trump By +12 Is FAKE | Those who were shocked by the latest ABC / Washington Post goal seeking report (aka poll ) that shows Hillary opening up a 12-point lead with likely voters after the latest debate last Wednesday need to look a little further. Ironically, this poll farce was embargoed for release after 9 a.m. EST on Saturday, which made it a dominant topic of conversation on all the morning talk shows.Of course, like many of the recent polls from the likes of Reuters, ABC and The Washington Post, something curious emerges when you look just beneath the surface of the headline 12-point lead.Meanwhile, with huge variances in preference across demographics one can easily see how simple it is to rig a poll by over indexing to one group vs. another. While the pollsters release the the split of the sample pool by political affiliation, they do not share the split by any of the following demographics which are just as important to determining the outcome of the poll. Zero Hedge METHODOLOGY This ABC News poll was conducted by landline and cellular telephone Oct. 20-22, 2016, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 874 likely voters. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points, including the design effect. Partisan divisions are 36-27-31 percent, Democrats Republicans Independents. As we ve pointed out numerous times in the past, in response to Reuters efforts to tweak their polls, per the The Pew Research Center, at least since 1992, democrats have never enjoyed a 9-point registration gap despite the folks at ABC and The Washington Post somehow convincing themselves it was a reasonable margin.Rush Limbaugh weighed in on the suspicious outlier poll that came out on Saturday night: I don t care what network you watch, maybe with Fox exempted, although certain places at Fox you ll find the same sentiment. It s over. And they all cite these polls. They all cite the polls that show Hillary up 10 to 12 points. And even take the low point at 10, I just saw somebody on CNN, a conservative Republican say, At 10 points with two weeks it s over, there s no way you can reverse that, it s history. So they all believe the polls. In fact, their belief in the polls is biblical. I think these people have a greater confidence and faith in the polls than they do in the Bible. So it s over. And, furthermore, to show you just how over it is, the Democrats are actually now in red states where Trump may win those states, but they re in there and they re working down the ballot and they re gonna win back the House, they re gonna win back the Senate, and Chuck-U Schumer is gonna end up a majority leader in the Senate.And you Republicans, you are toast, do you understand? You Republicans, it s toast, and you Republicans had better start doing your postmortems right now, and you had better starting figuring out why this happened. You lost this because you saw to it that Trump was nominated, and if you weren t for Trump, you better find out who made it possible for Trump to be nominated, and you better do something about those people. Americans who are sick and tired of a corrupt media and the corrupt politicians they prop up, need to ignore these manufactured polls. Instead of wasting time reading this drivel, Americans need to be out knocking on doors and contacting friends, to explain to them why we need a President like Trump to DRAIN THE SWAMP!There has never been a better time to ignore Hillary s media and stay focused on the prize | 1real |
Republican Rep. Brooks: 30-40 Republican 'no' votes on health bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Representative Mo Brooks said he believed up to 40 Republicans still opposed their party’s healthcare legislation on Thursday, while the chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means committee said he was not sure when a vote would be taken. “In my judgment right now there are probably about 30 or 40 ‘no’ votes on the Republican side,” Brooks, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, said on MSNBC. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady said he believed Republicans were getting closer to a measure they could agree on. “I don’t know the timing on this, but I know we are getting very close,” Brady said on Fox News. “I know we still have work to do to make sure members’ concerns are heard.” | 0fake |
Trump’s Moronic Supporters in the Militias Armed and Ready if Clinton Wins | FBI “Insurrection” to Scuttle Director, Rig Election: part 2 ‹ › Ian Greenhalgh is a photographer and historian with a particular interest in military history and the real causes of conflicts. His studies in history and background in the media industry have given him a keen insight into the use of mass media as a creator of conflict in the modern world. His favored areas of study include state sponsored terrorism, media manufactured reality and the role of intelligence services in manipulation of populations and the perception of events. Trump’s Moronic Supporters in the Militias Armed and Ready if Clinton Wins By Ian Greenhalgh on November 3, 2016 Some armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Clinton. [Editor’s note: The 2016 election has been utterly crazy, all kinds of dangerous morons have slithered out of the woodwork to support Trump because they are desperate for real change and not smart enough to realise that Trump does not offer a true alternative to the usual Washington insiders and any change he did bring would be for the worse. One change that is very sorely needed in the USA is a disarmament of the populace, it is simply crazy that there are hundreds of millions of guns in circulation. The 2nd amendment and the right to bear arms dates from a time when the most dangerous weapon you could buy was a flintlock musket; today when you can buy all kinds of military grade firearms that can hold dozens, even hundreds of rounds, can shoot hundreds of metres with accuracy and have no purpose other than to kill people it is a dangerous anachronism that must be changed if the US is to advance and become a truly civilised society. Try telling that to these gun-toting morons in the militia movement though and all you’ll get is a torrent of abuse, insults I have sadly become all too familiar with due to the emails and comments I have had to endure simply for honest reporting on this election where I have rightfully pointed out that Trump is a complete fraud, a creation of Judeo-Zionist organised crime that should be in a jail cell rather than the oval office. There is an even more disturbing and far darker aspect to this however, and that is the close relationship between these right wing militia groups and the FBI. They are both tentacles of a hidden organised crime cabal that is threatening not only to derail this election, but is a clear and present danger to the rule of law and the US constitution. As Gordon and I wrote earlier this week, large parts of the FBI are attempting an insurrection and it is no coincidence that these militia nutjobs are also preparing for some kind of armed uprising should their boy Trump not win the election. Trump has virtually committed treason in recent weeks with his ludicrous statements to his supporters to not accept the election result should Hillary win, thus further provoking the low-IQ snake handling racist bigoted scum that supports him into preparing to commit some kind of attempt at insurrection. This election and all the utter madness it has stirred up would drive a normal person insane, thank god it is nearly over. However, let us all hope that in the coming struggles, be they political or worse, armed conflicts between the state and organised crime supported militia morons, that some semblance of democracy and freedom can be maintained. We will be lucky to come out of this mess without a second civil war erupting and like the first civil war, everybody but the bankers and the crime cabal would be losers. Ian] Worst Case Scenario? Militias Armed and Ready if Clinton Wins
Down a Georgia country road, camouflaged members of the Three Percent Security Force have mobilized for rifle practice, hand-to-hand combat training — and an impromptu campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
“We’re here to revive the spirit of 1776 and let everybody know that it’s your right, it’s your duty as a citizen in the United States of America willing to defend your person and your property, but also to work with other like-minded people to protect your country, you know, for the security of a free state, you know, a well-armed militia is necessary,” said Chris Hill, a paralegal who goes by the code name “Bloodagent.”
As the most divisive presidential election in recent memory nears its conclusion, some armed militia groups are preparing for the possibility of a stolen election on Nov. 8 and civil unrest in the days following a victory by Democrat Hillary Clinton.
They say they won’t fire the first shot, but they’re not planning to leave their guns at home, either.
Trump’s populist campaign has energized militia members like Hill, who admire the Republican mogul’s promise to deport illegal immigrants, stop Muslims from entering the country and build a wall along the Mexico border. Trump has repeatedly warned that the election may be “rigged,” and has said he may not respect the results if he does not win. At least one paramilitary group, the Oath Keepers, has called on members to monitor voting sites for signs of fraud.
Armed paramilitary groups first gained prominence in the early 1990s, fueled by confrontations in Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas, culminating in a militia sympathizer’s 1995 bombing of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that killed 168 people.
Their numbers dwindled following that attack but have spiked in recent years, driven by fears that President Barack Obama will threaten gun ownership and erode the power of local government. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups, estimates there were 276 active militias last year, up from 42 in 2008.
In recent years, armed groups have confronted federal authorities in a series of land-use disputes in the western United States. Federal officials fear more clashes could come after seven militants were acquitted on conspiracy charges for occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon.
Many fear Clinton would push the county further to the left.
The Oath Keepers, a prominent anti-government force that sent gun-toting members to the 2014 race riots in Ferguson, Missouri, called on members last week to monitor voting sites on election day for any signs of fraud.
An hour south of Atlanta, the Three Percent Security Force started the day around the campfire, taking turns shooting automatic pistols and rifles at a makeshift target range. They whooped with approval when blasts from one member’s high-powered rifle knocked down a tree.
The group operates independently, but is affiliated with a national armed movement that calls for members to defend individual rights in the face of what they see as an overreaching federal government. The movement draws its name from the notion that no more than 3 percent of the American population fought in the Revolutionary War against Britain.
Amid the war games, Hill weighed plans for a possible armed march on Washington if Clinton wins.
He said he doesn’t want his members leading the way, but they will defend the protesters if need be. His group will not hesitate to act if a President Clinton tries to disarm gun owners, he said.
“With Hillary on one hand we have to worry about our rights — everything, you know, guns — because I got a feeling first thing she’s going to do is start putting more and more restrictions on our firearms. And it’s going to be damn-near impossible for us to be able to bear arms anymore. And Trump, I’m just worried he’s going to stir up the population and cause riots and mayhem,” said Hill, who founded the militia several years ago.
Trump’s candidacy has emboldened extremist groups to speak more openly about challenging the rule of law, analysts say.
Over the past week, some prominent Trump supporters have hinted at violence.
Back in Georgia, the Three Percent Security Force wrapped up rifle practice in the midday sun. They then headed further into the trees to tackle an obstacle course with loaded pistols at their sides, ready for whatever may come.
“Worst case scenario? You know, depending on who gets the office, I’m saying, there’s going to be people upset everywhere. But there’s going to be rioting, I don’t know. Once again, you never know until it actually happens,” member Phillip King said. Related Posts: No Related Posts The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VT, VT authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors, partners, technicians, or the Veterans Today Network and its assigns. LEGAL NOTICE - COMMENT POLICY Posted by Ian Greenhalgh on November 3, 2016, With 373 Reads Filed under Politics . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 . Both comments and pings are currently closed. | 1real |
NASA's gateway to deep space | NASA’s gateway to deep space page: 1 www.abovetopsecret.com... Now, it sems that NASA is making good on his promise and is moving forward with the plan by establishing a Deep-Space Habitat near the Moon to test out systems for people who would live in orbit or travel long distances in Space; a gateway to deep space NASA plans to address its problem by parking a “deep space” habitat in a location near the Moon, which astronauts could visit and use to become acclimated to life beyond low-Earth orbit. President Obama mentioned deep space habitats earlier this month, when he reiterated his call for NASA to send humans to Mars. “I'm excited to announce that we are working with our commercial partners to build new habitats that can sustain and transport astronauts on long-duration missions in deep space,” Obama said. This wasn’t really a new announcement, as NASA has been working on the habitat program for a couple of years. Nevertheless, before the president's mention, this NextSTEP program had received surprisingly little attention given its significance—it might be the most important contract NASA awards for next decade. As Obama said, NASA has embarked upon a "Journey to Mars." While the plan may change to include lunar landings as a stepping stone to Mars, the space agency does intend to try and venture back into deep space for the first time since the Apollo program. Whatever destination it chooses, NASA's ambitions will begin with the deep space habitat, because it is an affordable first step, costing hundreds of millions or a few billion dollars initially, instead of multiple billions needed for a full-blown expedition to the Moon's surface, Mars or elsewhere in deep space. "This is the right next step," Simon said. "We need to understand how to live in deep space, how to live off of our planet." The first habitat launched in the 2020s won’t be exactly the same as the vehicle NASA eventually sends to Mars. Rather, it will serve as a prototype to help the space agency understand the capabilities, technologies, and systems needed for astronauts to survive for long periods in deep space. Some of those systems can be tested on the ground or the existing space station, but others can only be tested further from Earth. This venture is part of the Next step program initiated by NASA: www.nasa.gov... NextSTEP is a public-private partnership model that seeks commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support more extensive human space flight missions in the Proving Ground around and beyond cislunar space—the space near Earth that extends just beyond the moon. So far, NASA has partnered with 6 companies in this effort: Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and NanoRacks. This is great, ATS! I am very excited at this news, even with all of the morbidity we have in the world today; I'm still excited for the future..! This is an ambitious plan..can US aerospace companies pull this off alone, or should this be more of a global effort? What does ATS think? | 1real |
THE PURGE: NYC Mayor De Blasio to Review ‘All Symbols of Hate” on City Property | THE PURGE CONTINUES THE NYC MAYOR has just opened a can of worms so big that it ll be hard to control it. He wants to review all symbols of hate on city property then leave it to his panel of experts to decide what stays and what goes. This should be interesting. Isn t this subjective? Someone might think one thing is a symbol of hate but not another. Where does this purging end?Mayor de Blasio said late Wednesday that the city will conduct a 90-day review of all symbols of hate on city property in the wake of violence sparked by white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.A 32-year-old woman was killed and more than a dozen people were injured when a vehicle slammed into a group of counter-protesters on Saturday, and two state troopers died when the helicopter from which they were monitoring events suddenly crashed.Opposition to the removal of a statue of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee was at the heart of rallies by white nationalists and KKK members in Charlottesville this year.New York City officials said they re putting together a panel of relevant experts and community leaders who will define the criteria and make recommendations for which items to remove.EXPERTS? WHO SAYS?MEANWHILE IN THE EAST VILLAGEThe South is rising in the East Village.Residents are seeing red over a pair of Confederate flags hanging in the window of an East 8th Street apartment building, following the deadly white power rally in Virginia this week.The flags have been hanging in the fifth-floor window of the building near the corner of Avenue D for months, but anger is boiling over in the aftermath of the weekend s carnage with neighbors pelting rocks and bricks at the window Wednesday morning. They re scary, we don t know who we are dealing with in the neighborhood. I feel uncomfortable because that represents evil. I see the protests in the news and I come home and see this, said local Louise Abddhal, 56, as a chorus of others yelled at the window.Residents had turned a blind eye to the offensive banners in the past, but started getting mad after Saturday s rally in Charlottesville, where a neo-Nazi fatally mowed down counter-protester Heather Hayer. It s been there forever and no one said anything. Now it s going crazy. Virginia is bringing more light and attention too, said longtime resident Janet Brown. .The Dixie-head has changed the flags around several times there was a neo-Nazi one for awhile, according to Brown and he now has two Israeli flags and an American flag between the Confederate ones.But the baffling collection is just making residents angrier. He is a Jew with a Confederate flag! Are you kidding me? said one neighbor, who wouldn t give his name. Confederate flags in the window, bro! That is a bunch of racists. Right here in the avenue, bro! In the hood! This sh-t is real. He is looking to start a f ing riot. The building s property manager said he s aware of the flags and is trying to get the resident to take them down.Footage of a man throwing rocks and screaming expletives at the windows on Wednesday morning shows police arriving and telling him to stop but witnesses say cops didn t make any arrests.Via: NYP | 1real |
Greek PM Tsipras, Trump talk about cooperation, security | ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras spoke by telephone to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, his office said, congratulating him on his election victory and underlining the strong ties between the two countries. Trump and Tsipras discussed Greece’s role for peace and stability in the region, its efforts to tackle the economic and refugee crises and the importance of boosting strategic cooperation between the two countries. “The two leaders agreed to maintain steady communication channels,” Tsipras’ office said in a statement, without providing further details. | 0fake |
Japan's PM says North Korea still developing missiles despite launch pause | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday said an almost two-month pause in North Korean missile tests was no indication that it had halted its weapons development, insisting it was too early for any talks with the regime. I believe that it continues to develop its weapons, Abe told a news conference in Manila after a series of meetings with other Asian leaders at a gathering of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia Forum. There is no point for talks for the sake of talks, he said. Abe s insistence that tough sanctions, including restrictions on oil sales, are necessary to soften up the North Korean regime over the coming winter could put him at loggerheads with other countries such as South Korea that might agree to open talks if approached by the North. After firing missiles at a pace of about two or three a month since April, North Korean missile launches paused in September, after it fired a rocket that passed over Japan s northern Hokkaido island. Abe said he would work closely with other countries in the region including China and Russia to persuade North Korea to halt missile development and give up its nuclear weapon ambitions. Abe, in a meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vietnam on Saturday, hailed a fresh start to the relationship between Asia s two biggest economies and military powers, including cooperation on North Korea. Abe on Tuesday said that he wanted to deepen cultural and economic ties with China. The Japanese leader, who also called for an Indo-Pacific region that is open and free to all returns to Japan on Wednesday. | 0fake |
IT BEGINS: ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI FIRES Suspected Leaker, Anti-Trumper With Ties To Reince Priebus | Scaramucci promised the heads of White House leakers would roll. He clearly wasn t kidding Suspected leaker Michael Short has been terminated from the White House communications office, Breitbart News can confirm. Short, an ally of White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and now former Press Secretary Sean Spicer who resigned last week was terminated on Tuesday by new White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.Politico s Tara Palmeri was the first to report the news.Short disputes his resignations, says he was assigned to campaign from RNC and merely went back to the RNC to work for campaign from HQ https://t.co/bJ4XBtZR6a Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) July 25, 2017 Newly appointed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said on Tuesday that he plans to dismiss assistant press secretary Michael Short, Palmeri wrote on Tuesday morning. It would be Scaramucci s first step toward shaking up the communications shop, which has been dominated by former Republican National Committee staffers loyal to White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, a former RNC chairman. Short originally worked for the Trump campaign placed on it by Priebus and quit the campaign, sources tell Breitbart News, after the Access Hollywood tape came out. Politico confirmed this report, noting that Short walked out in the middle of the campaign leaving his computer behind only to show back up in January at the behest of the Republican National Committee (RNC) allies in the White House. He was scorned by many of his colleagues for quitting the Trump campaign, only to rejoin as a White House staffer because of Priebus, Palmeri wrote of Short. In a story often retold by campaign staffers, they arrived at Trump Tower one morning, months before the election, to see Short s computer left open on his otherwise empty desk. He had quit the campaign that day and never returned. The next time he was seen by former campaign staffers was in January on their first day in the White House, where some were stunned to learn that they were going to have to work alongside him or for some of the press assistants subordinate to him. Multiple White House sources tell Breitbart News that Short was a leaker, and worked closely with now former White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh another RNC wing official who was terminated earlier this year for her own suspected leaking. Breitbart NewsCould Reince Priebus be next?Heavy Could Short s and Spicer s resignations be a bad omen for the future of Priebus, the former RNC chairman turned chief of staff who once ran the Republican Party in Wisconsin?There certainly seems to be a diminishing in the ranks of his supporters inside the Trump bubble (and he was reported to have opposed the hiring of Scaramucci by The New York Times and other publications). However, Priebus and Scaramucci have publicly spoken positively about each other since Scaramucci was hired. Trump seems to be relying more than before on a tight circle of family members and political outsiders like Scaramucci. The potential shake-up has exacerbated long-simmering tensions between Scaramucci and chief of staff Reince Priebus, reported The Washington Post. Scaramucci reports to Trump, not Priebus. | 1real |
BRAVO! COL RALPH PETERS Hammers Obama On Why His Trip To Hiroshima Is So Offensive [Video] | This is a great clip from Ralph Peters, explaining why Obama taking an apology trip to Hiroshima is so offensiveIt was a great point he made about how the atomic bomb actually saved lives versus how many would have been killed if we had to invade, so that there are veterans still alive today from that fight.And he s right to point out the sheer brutality of the Japanese when they invaded China.Look, there was only one country that we nuked in WWII and we had to do it twice.It wasn t Germany. It wasn t Hitler.It was Imperial Japan.And that right there should tell you something. | 1real |
U.S. experts think North Korea could launch missile 'within days': government sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. government experts think North Korea could conduct a new missile test within days, in what would be its first launch since it fired a missile over Japan in mid-September, two authoritative U.S. government sources said on Tuesday. One of the sources, who did not want to be identified, said the United States had evidence that Japanese reports about the monitoring of signals suggesting North Korea was preparing a new missile test were accurate. Both sources said U.S. government experts believed a new test could occur within days. A Japanese government source said earlier on Tuesday that Japan had detected radio signals suggesting North Korea may be preparing another ballistic missile launch, although such signals were not unusual and satellite images did not show fresh activity. South Korea s Yonhap news agency, citing a South Korean government source, also reported that intelligence officials of the United States, South Korea and Japan had recently detected signs of a possible missile launch and have been on higher alert. The U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters declined to say what type of missile they think North Korea might test, but noted that Pyongyang had been working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States and had already tested inter-continental ballistic missiles. Other U.S. intelligence officials have noted that North Korea has previously sent deliberately misleading signs of preparations for missile and nuclear tests. These have been in part to mask real preparations, and in part to test U.S. and allied intelligence on its activities. After firing missiles at a rate of about two or three a month since April, North Korea paused its missile launches in late September, after it fired a missile that passed over Japan s northern Hokkaido island on Sept. 15. Last week, North Korea denounced U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to relist it as a state sponsor of terrorism, calling it a serious provocation and violent infringement. The designation allows the United States to impose more sanctions, though some experts said it risked inflaming tensions. Trump has traded insults and threats with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and warned in his maiden speech to the United Nations in September that the United States would have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea if forced to defend itself or its allies. Washington has said repeatedly that all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, including military ones, but that it prefers a peaceful solution by Pyongyang agreeing to give up its nuclear and missile programs. To this end, Trump has pursued a policy of encouraging countries around the world, including North Korea s main ally and neighbor, China, to step up sanctions on Pyongyang to persuade it to give up its weapons programs. North Korea has given no indication it is willing to re-enter dialogue on those terms. South Korean Unification Minister Chow Myoung-gyon told reporters on Tuesday there had been noteworthy movements from the North since its last missile launch, including engine tests, but there was no hard evidence of another nuclear or missile test. North Korea hasn t been engaging in new nuclear or missile tests but recently we ve seen them persistently testing engines and carrying out fuel tests, he said. But we need some more time to see whether these are directly related to missile and nuclear tests. Cho said North Korea may announce the completion of its nuclear program within a year, as it is moving more quickly than expected in developing its arsenal. North Korea defends its weapons programs as a necessary defense against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention. | 0fake |
Election’s Rape And Sexual Assault Accusations Need to Be Taken Seriously | Election’s Rape And Sexual Assault Accusations Need to Be Taken Seriously Posted on Oct 27, 2016
By Sonali Kolhatkar Protesters organized by the National Organization for Women gather near the Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York City on Oct. 12, as sexual assault allegations about GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump emerged on the heels of The Washington Post’s bombshell report about Trump’s 2005 “Access Hollywood” hot-mic comments regarding his treatment of women. (Frank Franklin II / AP Photo)
Less than a day after the third and final 2016 presidential debate, GOP nominee Donald Trump faced new accusations from a woman who recounted a story of her sexual assault at his hands. Karena Virginia told members of the press how Trump groped her in public at the U.S. Open in 1998 while asking, “Don’t you know who I am?”
Two days later, two more women, Kristin Anderson and Summer Zervos, made similar allegations . Earlier this year, a woman named Katie Johnson said Trump raped her in 1994 when she was 13 years old; she filed a lawsuit against him that was later thrown out on a technicality. Trump’s ex-wife, Ivana Trump, has also accused him of raping her. To date a dozen women have publicly alleged that Trump in some way assaulted them.
Jane Piper, an activist who faced her rapist in court in 2014 , told me in an interview that she believes the women who have accused Trump. “I take their word as their word, and I believe them,” she said. “We have this documented evidence of [Trump’s] attitude and behavior toward women,” added Piper, referring to his numerous public statements revealing a callous and disrespectful attitude toward women. To Piper, the idea that Trump might be a serial perpetrator of sexual assault is consistent with his language and the attitude he has publicly displayed.
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Think about Bill Cosby. While he has not been convicted on charges of sexual assault, in the court of public opinion, he is already considered guilty. He has admitted to drugging women in order to have sex with them, and the sheer volume of accusers against him leaves one wondering: “How could they possibly all be lying?” As Fox News’ Chris Wallace asked Trump during the final presidential debate, “Why would so many different women from so many different circumstances, from so many different years, why would they all ... make up these stories?”
Indeed, in cases such as those involving Cosby and Trump, there is little to be gained by publicly proclaiming oneself the victim of rape and assault. All a woman gains is to be forever known as someone who accused a famous man of a vile crime. According to Piper, “It is not comfortable to be known in this way. It makes no sense, and it is ridiculous and offensive and insulting” to imply that a woman might make it all up for fame.
Like Cosby, Trump has bragged about assaulting women. In a now infamous recording obtained by The Washington Post , Trump revealed to TV host Billy Bush that he simply has his way with women: “Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” And, as in Cosby’s case, women are emerging from the woodwork as the election looms to reveal sordid stories about Trump’s alleged assaults on them.
One major difference here is that Cosby is an actor (who will indeed face the accusations against him in court), while Trump is running for the highest office in the nation. While all men, including Cosby, need to be held to high standards on sexual assault, those who run for president deserve the utmost scrutiny.
Piper dismissed the response by Trump’s supporters that the timing of the accusations now emerging is suspect. “Of course, this timing is perfect,” she told me, “because [Trump’s accusers] just listened to him in that video describe what he did and [be] proud of it, and the next day, in the debate, lie and say that he never ever actually did that.” Piper said that if she had been one of the women who had alleged assault by Trump, she “would be doing everything in my power to make sure that the public knew what kind of person this man was so that they would know what kind of leader they were choosing to elect.” Essentially, anyone running for president of the United States should expect his or her past and present to be scrutinized under the most stringent of microscopes.
“Womanizing,” or having affairs, as presidential candidate Gary Hart was accused of in 1987, is very different from being accused of sexual assault or rape. Hart was brought down by a media frenzy that began with a single, provocative photograph. Trump is heading straight into an election dogged by repeated accusations of crimes—not affairs—and all he has offered are simplistic denials and deflections. | 1real |
Senate Democrats Have Been Sneaking Around Behind GOP’s Back To Unravel Trump Administration | For the last several months, liberals have been watching the news with frustration over Congress apparent Keystone Cop incompetency in its investigation of the Trump administration ties to Russia. The Senate has been somewhat better than the House, but still, we are pinning most of our hopes on special counsel Robert Mueller, until now.In a bombshell report in the Daily Beast, it was revealed that Senate Democrats are going behind the backs of Republicans and running their own investigation.According to the report, Senate Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee have been secretly investigating the Trump/Russia connections with hope of making them public soon:Sean Bartlett, a Democratic spokesman for the committee, called the report a major effort to expose how Vladimir Putin s government has kept the Russian public supportive of wars abroad, while distracted from the regime s criminality and corruption at home, and how, over the past decade-plus, it has adapted that toolkit and taken it global. The report, he added, describes how these efforts are led by the government s security services and buttressed by state-owned enterprises, Kremlin-aligned oligarchs, and Russian criminal groups that have effectively been nationalized by the state. It traces how the operations emanate out of Russia in concentric geographic circles: they began in Russia, expanded to its periphery and former satellites, and then into the rest of Europe and eventually, the United States. It s not completely secret. According to the committee s chairman, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), they know about the investigation, but they have no idea what the Democrats have found. The Democrats would like Republicans to get on board, though.The investigation isn t just about Trump. It s broader, and it explores all of Russia s sins dating back years. They are investigating issues as varied as cheating in the Olympics and Russia s attacks on Soviet Bloc countries, including its illegal annexation of Crimea.That doesn t mean they aren t investigating Trump. As one member of a Republican think tank said: It s not about Trump, but the impact will be: Hey Mr. President, here s a list of 55 sins of the Russians, and you re kissing Putin s ass what s the deal?' Yeah, Republicans are scared, and so, I m sure, is Trump.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images. | 1real |
Waffle House Waitress Fired After Shooting Gun During Alleged Robbery - Breitbart | A waitress was fired after retrieving a gun for during an alleged robbery at a Waffle House restaurant in Coweta County, Georgia. [The incident occurred around 2:30 a. m. Thursday morning. According to WSBTV, “Deputies said the robbers gave a note to a waitress that threatened to shoot everyone unless she gave them money. ” Another waitress, Heather Stanley, went out to her car, retrieved her handgun, and “fire one shot into the air” as the robbers ran to their cars. Customer Ben McCoy said, “She made it known she was ready to defend herself. ” Stanley was fired by Waffle House after the incident. She said, “I didn’t know if they had guns. I didn’t know if they were going to their vehicle to get another one and could come back and try to get to the safe, so my instinct was to go to my car and get the gun. ” Stanley added, “For trying to protect their Waffle House and trying to protect their money and to get their money back, they let me go. ” Breitbart News previously reported that a concealed carry permit holder shot and killed an alleged robber in a Waffle House on October 10, 2015. Law enforcement praised the permit holder’s actions and restaurant employees described the armed intervention as but Waffle House released a statement which simply reaffirmed their gun free policy: We are very fortunate that no associate or customer were harmed in this tragic incident. It is Waffle House, Inc. policy not to allow firearms with the exception of law enforcement officers, including security guards. It is our understanding that the customer involved was an off duty security guard who was carrying his firearm and the incident occurred outside the restaurant. We are well aware that different people and businesses have varying opinions regarding this issue, and we respect the right of all to have different opinions. However, we continue to believe this is the best policy for the safety of our customers and associates. We are very thankful that no other customers or associates were hurt and will continue to work with local law enforcement as they investigate this matter. 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 |
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 |
Chicago City Council passes mayor's 2017 budget | CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s fiscal 2017 budget which calls for a tax on plastic bags and the first phase of hiring more than 900 police officers. The council voted 48-0 for the budget which begins on Jan. 1. Emanuel last month unveiled his $9.8 billion all-funds spending plan, which includes $3.7 billion for operations. The budget relies on $82.3 million in revenue growth, savings from efficiencies, and a few one-time measures - but no big tax hike. “To think that we’re on the verge today of passing a budget with almost unanimity is remarkable,” Alderman Ed Burke said just before the vote. Emanuel last year pushed through a $543 million phased-in property tax increase for police and firefighter retirement systems. The city enacted a new tax on water and sewer usage in September to rescue its largest pension fund for municipal workers from insolvency. The council previously increased a telephone surcharge for laborers’ pensions. Credit ratings for the nation’s third-largest city have been deteriorating due largely to an unfunded pension liability that stood at $33.8 billion at the end of fiscal 2015 for Chicago’s four retirement systems. The new budget includes a 7-cent fee on store bags and parking rate hikes. It also accommodates the initial phase of the mayor’s two-year plan to add 970 police positions to address the city’s sharp spike in violence. “This is the first year in recent memory that we’ve made investments in public safety with the addition of 1,000 police officers,” said Alderman Jason Earvin. “And we can direct investment in some of the most challenged communities ... and with our youth in some of the most troubled parts of the city.” After the vote, Emanuel noted record-high summer job creation for youth, record-high project starts in commercial and residential real estate and the city using reforms to place pensions on the path to solvency. “Chicago’s employment is at a 15-year high that we haven’t seen since 2000 since the tech bubble,” Emanuel said. “What we have done, not just today, but over the last five years is give people confidence in the city that we are going to take care of our business, get our fiscal house in order.” | 0fake |
Indiana YMCA Removes CNN from TVs Over Complaints About ’Fake News’ - Breitbart | A YMCA in Indiana has removed CNN from the TVs in its wellness and exercise areas over complaints from members upset by the constant fake news the cable network airs. [The Valparaiso, Indiana, YMCA issued a statement to members that the cable news network was removed from facility TVs because too many members complained about the programing. Debra Koeppen, the YMCA’s chief development officer, said that “Trying to please everyone” is the “No. 1 problem we have in the wellness area,” according to Chicago Tribune reporter Jerry Davich, who claims to be a member of the YMCA in question. Earlier this week, Robert Wanek, CEO of the Valparaiso YMCA, sent a message to members saying, “In order to eliminate perceived political bias associated with national news outlets, the Valparaiso Family YMCA will only be showing local news channels in the future. ” Davich asked the CEO to reveal more details about the removal of CNN from the TVs, but Wanek replied, “I cannot pinpoint the change origins, only to add that we get dozens of requests to change channels every day from numerous interest groups. ” “We just want the Y to be a haven for wellness where people come together and have a sense of belonging, gain new relationships and achieve their personal goals,” Wanek added. “We will display local news moving forward. ” Indeed, Wanek said that from this point forward only local news will be played on the TVs and all cable news networks will be banned. Reporter Davich’s article was far from a straight report on the matter, however. The reporter was an open detractor of the decision to remove CNN from the TVs, clearly stating he and some other members disagreed with the new policy. Davich insisted that CNN was a centrist network and noted that “none” of the members he talked to “agreed with the removal of CNN. ” The reporter gave readers his opinion in the very first sentence, saying, “Is the Valparaiso Family YMCA simply exercising its right to appease as many members as possible, or is the new Donald America already flexing its muscles?” Davich’s final say on the matter was just as clear. As he wrapped up his story. the reporter complained that “the Y’s decision to remove all national news outlets from its televisions says more about its leaders than its members. You’d think this story would be just another example of fake news. Sadly, it’s not. ” Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0fake |
France's Macron trades barbs for diplomacy with Trump | PARIS (Reuters) - France’s president has not given Donald Trump an easy ride: a crunching handshake at one meeting was followed by a body swerve at another and then a public rebuke over his attitude to climate change. But now there seems to be an olive branch from Paris. The U.S. leader said on Wednesday he had accepted an invitation from Emmanuel Macron to celebrate July 14 Bastille Day celebrations and 100 years since the U.S. troops entered into World War One. Trump will likely revel in a ceremony laden with pageantry and military pomp, with U.S. soldiers marching down the Champs Elysees boulevard beside French servicemen - a welcome respite from his domestic woes. For Macron, 39, it is an opportunity to use soft diplomacy to win Trump’s confidence as he tries to establish himself as a leading global statesman at a time when decision-making in the White House has become increasingly unpredictable. “We don’t want the United States to isolate themselves,” a Macron aide said recently. “That’s what diplomacy is for. It’s not to let people sulk in their corner.” In the space of six weeks, France’s youngest leader since Napoleon, will have hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Versailles and Trump on Paris’ most iconic avenue. Macron flattered Putin in May with a meeting at the sumptuous palace of France’s former monarchy, built outside Paris by Louis XIV - the ‘Sun King’ - to symbolize absolute power. Even so, Macron pulled no punches, accusing Russian state media of “lying propaganda” during his French election campaign. A French diplomat indicated there would be frank exchanges with Trump too after Macron took a dig in English at Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord when he urged U.S. citizens to help “make this planet great again”. “On climate change it’s complicated,” the diplomat said. “But the rest is sufficiently important for him to make this historic trip on July 14.” Macron appears to be broadly aligning his foreign policy with U.S. priorities of tackling terrorism while seeking better ties with Russia. The battle against Islamic State, Syria’s civil war and Iran’s nuclear accord are likely talking points. Privately, some French diplomats have lamented the lack of a clear U.S. policy on the long-term political process in Syria and say even setting up a meeting between the French and U.S. foreign ministers is tough. A White House statement said the two leaders would “further build on the strong counter-terrorism cooperation and economic partnership between the two countries”. Past words may haunt Trump. It will be his first visit since he declared that a wave of militant attacks showed France was soft on immigration and fighting jihadists. “France is no longer France. They won’t like me for saying that but... France is no longer France and this world better be very careful and they better get very tough and very smart,” the U.S. president said in a campaign speech. In bringing Trump to Paris, Macron has stolen a march on Britain’s embattled Prime Minister Theresa May. London’s offer in February of a state visit for Trump met fierce public resistance, Britons perceiving it as a desperate act by a government in need of a trade deal as it faced tough negotiations on its exit from the European Union. A date has still not been confirmed. In Paris, public opinion appeared divided. “You can see that the way Trump’s headed isn’t going to help things and I think diplomatic channels are the best way to calm things down,” said antique dealer Florence Toussaint. Psychologist Martine Aubourg was less impressed. “Trump isn’t an honorable president,” she said. “He changes his mind all the time.” | 0fake |
U.S., North Korea clash at U.N. forum over nuclear weapons | GENEVA (Reuters) - North Korea and the United States clashed at a U.N. forum on Tuesday over their military intentions towards one another, with Pyongyang s envoy declaring it would never put its nuclear deterrent on the negotiating table. Japan, well within reach of North Korea s missiles, said the world must maintain pressure on the reclusive country to rein in its nuclear and missile programs and now was not the time for a resumption of multi-party talks. North Korea has pursued its weapons programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and ignored all calls, including from major ally China, to stop, prompting a bellicose exchange of rhetoric between the North and the United States. North Korea justifies its weapons programs, including its recent threat to fire missiles towards the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, by pointing to perceived U.S. hostility, such as military exercises with South Korea this week. U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood told a U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva U.S. President Donald Trump s top priority was to protect the United States and its allies against the growing threat from North Korea and America was ready to use the full range of capabilities at its disposal. The path to dialogue still remained an option for Pyongyang and it had the choice between poverty and belligerence on the one hand and prosperity and acceptance. North Korea s envoy told the same forum the North s nuclear deterrent would never be up for negotiation, echoing Pyongyang s regular denunciation of U.S. aggression . The measures taken by the DPRK to strengthen its nuclear deterrence and develop inter-continental rockets is justifiable and a legitimate option for self-defense in the face of such apparent and real threats, diplomat Ju Yong Chol told the forum, referring to constant nuclear threats by the United States. DPRK stands for the North s official name, the Democratic People s Republic of Korea. Regarding joint U.S.-South Korean military exercises that began on Monday, he warned: The ongoing military adventure would certainly add gasoline to the fire, driving the current tense situation to further deterioration. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said pressure must be maintained until the North demonstrated it would give up its nuclear program. It s not the time to discuss (the resumption of) six-party talks, Kono said, referring to stalled negotiations involving both Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan. It s time to exert pressure, he told reporters. The head of the U.S. military s Pacific Command said diplomacy was key. Admiral Harry Harris was in South Korea to observe annual joint military drills with the South Korean military, which the North called a step towards nuclear conflict masterminded by war maniacs . So we hope and we work for diplomatic solutions to the challenge presented by Kim Jong Un, Harris told reporters at a U.S. air base in Osan, about an hour from Seoul, referring to the North Korean leader. He said diplomacy was the most important starting point in response to the North s threat, when asked what actions by North Korea might trigger a preemptive U.S. strike against it. As far as a timeline, it would be crazy for me to share with you those tripwires in advance. If we did that, it would hardly be a military strategy, he said. The United States and South Korea began the long-planned exercises on Monday, called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which the allies have said are purely defensive. The drills involve tens of thousands of troops as well as computer simulations designed to prepare for war with a nuclear-capable North Korea. The United States and South Korea are technically still at war with the North because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Delegations from about 20 countries spoke at the four-hour U.N. session, including Britain, France, Australia and South Korea, all of which criticized North Korea. I would like to repeat the appeal to the DPRK to listen to the fact that there is no alternative to stopping the different provocations and to return to dialogue, South Korean ambassador Kim Inchul said. We have never threatened the DPRK with any attacks and we have never promoted the use of force. | 0fake |
John D. Loudermilk, Who Wrote ‘Tobacco Road’ and ‘Indian Reservation,’ Dies at 82 - The New York Times | John D. Loudermilk, a country singer and prolific songwriter whose dozens of hits in the 1960s and ’70s included “Tobacco Road” by the Nashville Teens, “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” by the Casinos and “Indian Reservation” by Paul Revere and the Raiders, died on Wednesday at his home in Christiana, Tenn. He was 82. His death was announced on Facebook by the songwriter Bobby Braddock, a friend. The cause was a heart attack, said his son Mike. As Johnny Dee, Mr. Loudermilk made several records in a soft rockabilly style in the 1950s, but he found his niche after George Hamilton IV recorded his teen lament “A Rose and a Baby Ruth” in 1956 and Eddie Cochran scored his first solid hit with a cover of Mr. Loudermilk’s “Sittin’ in the Balcony” a year later. After moving to Nashville from his native North Carolina, he came under the wing of the producer and guitar virtuoso Chet Atkins. He soon joined the powerful publishing company and began turning out songs in every style: the perky pop of “Norman” (1961) for Sue Thompson the mournful ballad “Ebony Eyes” for the Everly Brothers” (1961) and the loping western style of “Abilene” (1963) written with Bob Gibson and others, which became Mr. Hamilton’s biggest hit. Mr. Loudermilk drew on his childhood in Durham, N. C. for “Tobacco Road,” which he recorded in 1960. It became a Top 20 hit for the British invasion group the Nashville Teens in 1964 and was later recorded by dozens of other artists, including the Jefferson Airplane, Eric Burdon and War, the Blues Magoos and David Lee Roth. “Indian Reservation,” first recorded by Marvin Rainwater in 1959 as “The Pale Faced Indian,” told the story, in impassioned terms, of the forced removal of Cherokee Indians from the southeastern United States to Oklahoma in the 1830s. As “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian),” it became a Top 20 hit for the British singer Don Fardon in 1968 and a No. 1 hit for Paul Revere and the Raiders in 1971. Mr. Loudermilk, who enjoyed telling a good story, convinced the D. J. Casey Kasem that he had been inspired to write the song when he was stranded by the roadside during a blizzard and a mysterious Cherokee chief, Bloody Bear Tooth, led him to safety and asked him to tell the rest of the world, in song, of the sufferings of his people. Mr. Kasem repeated the tale on his radio program “American Top 40,” giving it currency. In a wink to record buyers, Mr. Loudermilk added “P. S. My regards to Bloody Bear Tooth” on the sleeve of his 1971 album “Volume 1: Elloree. ” John D. Loudermilk, whose middle initial did not stand for anything, was born in Durham on March 31, 1934. His father, also named John D. was an illiterate carpenter. His mother, Pauline, was a homemaker and Salvation Army missionary. He was a cousin of Ira and Charlie Loudermilk, known professionally as the country music duo the Louvin Brothers. When John was 7, his father made him a ukulele from a cigar box and his mother taught him to play it. He soon learned, in addition to guitar, an assortment of instruments, which he played in a Salvation Army band. By his early teens, he had appeared on local radio and television stations. While attending the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill, Mr. Loudermilk discovered the work of Kahlil Gibran and began writing poems, one of which, “A Rose and a Baby Ruth,” he set to music. The Durham television station where he worked as a set painter and member of the house band let him play it on air. Mr. Hamilton, visiting the station, heard it and recorded it for Colonial, a label based in Chapel Hill. Mr. Loudermilk joined the label, for which he recorded “Sittin’ in the Balcony” in 1957 and, as the lead singer of Ebe Sneezer and His Epidemics, the comedy song “Asiatic Flu. ” After Mr. Cochran’s success with “Sittin’ in the Balcony,” Mr. Loudermilk dropped out of college and moved to Nashville, where he recorded just one Top 40 song, “Language of Love” (1961). But he made an immediate impact there as a songwriter. With Kitty Wells and Roy Bodkin, he wrote the 1959 country hit “Amigo’s Guitar,” performed by Ms. Wells. That year, Stonewall Jackson scored the biggest hit of his career with “Waterloo,” by Mr. Loudermilk and Marijohn Wilkin. His many hits included “Sad Movies (Make Me Cry),” written for Sue Thompson and recorded by her in 1961. It was inspired, he said, by a woman who cried at the end of the movie “Spartacus. ” He supplied Ms. Thompson with yet another hit in “Paper Tiger” (1964). Mr. Loudermilk’s “Talk Back Trembling Lips” became a country hit for Ernest Ashworth in 1963 and a pop hit the same year for Johnny Tillotson. A striking example of the adaptability of his songs was “Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye,” recorded by the Cincinnati group the Casinos and translated into an urbane Nashville idiom by Eddy Arnold a year later. Mr. Loudermilk was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1976. In the 1980s, he turned his attention to the study of ethnomusicology and indulging his passion for sailing and chasing hurricanes. His first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his son Mike, he is survived by two other children from his first marriage, Rick and John, and by his wife, the former Susan Chollette. “I’m looking for the most different thing I can find,” Mr. Loudermilk told The Tennessean of Nashville in 1961 in a discussion of his songwriting style. “Everybody’s writing ‘I love you truly.’ You’ve got to find something new. I talk to drunks at the bus station, browse through kiddie books at the public library, get phrases from college kids and our babysitter. You’ve got to be looking all the time. ” | 0fake |
Kremlin says head of Chechnya to remain despite talk of quitting | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that Ramzan Kadyrov, the outspoken leader of Russia s republic of Chechnya, would remain in his post despite comments he made about the possibility of standing down. Kadyrov, 41, said in a state interview broadcast late on Sunday that it was his dream to one day leave office and that, if asked, he could suggest several candidates capable of taking over his role. Ramzan continues to remain the current head of the republic, Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on a conference call when asked about Kadyrov s statement. | 0fake |
Ky. clerk says won’t personally authorize gay marriage licenses -- or interfere | The Kentucky county clerk at the center of a national firestorm over her refusal to issue same-sex marriage licenses vowed Monday -- just days after her release from jail -- that she would not prevent her office from issuing such licenses but would not personally authorize them either.
Kim Davis, the clerk for Rowan County, detailed what she described as a "remedy" during a brief press conference as she returned to work for the first time since her jailing.
Whether that "remedy" satisfies the courts -- or undermines the legal validity of the licenses -- remains to be seen. Asked if the licenses issued by Davis' office without her name would still be valid, a spokeswoman in Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway's office told FoxNews.com that both Conway and the county attorney have "said publicly that they believe the licenses are legal." The spokeswoman added, "We have not provided an official opinion on this issue."
Under Davis' new plan, her deputy clerks will be allowed to issue gay marriage licenses if they choose. She said she would not take action against them.
But the licenses "will not be issued or authorized by me," Davis said. "Any license will not have my name, my title or my authority on it ... instead, it will say it's issued pursuant to a federal court order."
Davis added that she has "great doubts whether a license issued under these conditions is valid."
Last Tuesday, U.S. District Judge David Bunning, ordered Davis released from jail after finding the court was "satisfied" that her office's deputy clerks were issuing marriage licenses "to all legally eligible couples."
At the same time, Bunning directed Davis not to "interfere in any way" with the marriage licenses being issued by her office. Should she interfere, the judge said, "that will be considered a violation of this Order and appropriate sanctions will be considered."
Davis on Monday appealed to the legislature to provide for an accommodation in situations like this.
"My simple request for an accommodation has gone unheard," she said. Choking up, she said she's faced with a "seemingly impossible choice" of "my conscience or my freedom."
"I do not want to have this conflict. I don't want to be in the spotlight," she said.
Afterward, one reporter tweeted a picture showing Davis' office, with its blinds closed and a sheriff's deputy standing outside.
On Friday, Davis' attorneys filed an appeal asking for another delay in issuing the licenses. They argued in their motion to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that all the same-sex couples who sued Davis for a license received one from her deputies while she was in jail. Therefore, they said, her office should not be required to issue them to any more couples once she returns to work.
The American Civil Liberties Union initially filed a suit against Davis on behalf of four couples, two straight and two gay, who were denied licenses after the Supreme Court in June effectively legalized gay marriage nationwide. When Davis refused Bunning's order to issue licenses, the judge declared the clerk in contempt of court and jailed her for five days.
In her absence, her deputy clerks issued licenses and both same-sex couples who sued her received one. But Bunning clarified his order to include all eligible couples who request a marriage license.
In the appeal filed Friday, Davis' lawyers, with the Christian law firm Liberty Counsel, argued that Bunning issued the clarification improperly and once again asked the appeals court to delay the mandate that she issue licenses.
The appeals court has already dismissed Davis' primary argument that her religious faith should exempt her from licensing a gay marriage. "It cannot be defensibly argued that the holder of the Rowan County Clerk's office, apart from who personally occupies that office, may decline to act in conformity with the United States Constitution as interpreted by a dispositive holding of the United States Supreme Court," a panel wrote two weeks ago when it rejected her last appeal.
Since Bunning first ordered Davis to issue the marriage licenses, the clerk and her attorneys have made several attempts to legally get around it. One of their strategies was to ask Bunning to stop Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and Library and Archives Commissioner Wayne Onkst from directing Davis to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Bunning denied that request on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 0fake |
FORMER INTEL CHAIR Hammers Obama On His Anti-Trump Speech [Video] | Former Republican House Intelligence Cmte. Chairman disagrees with Pres. Obama s rant on Donald Trump and his avoidance of the term radical Islam . | 1real |
WATCH: Morgan Freeman Uses His Brilliant Movie Scripting Skills To Explain Just How Dangerous The Russia Scandal Is | So many people want to call the Special Counsel investigation into the Trump campaign s potential collusion with the Russian government to fix the 2016 presidential election fake news. They listen to every word out of Donald Trump s mouth, all the while being blind to his systematically dismantling our democratic institutions and potentially our republic as we know it. However, there is a huge anti-Trump resistance movement going, and we aren t going to sit idly by while this dangerous man potentially with the aid of the Russian government destroys all we hold dear as a nation. Well, whether the government cares about this or not, plenty of ordinary and not so ordinary citizens do care. One such person is iconic actor Morgan Freeman.Freeman has joined with other concerned citizens to raise awareness about the seriousness of the Russia probe. In his trademark, unmistakable baritone, Freeman announces in a new video for the newly launched Committee to Investigate Russia: We have been attacked. We are at war. Also with this new and potentially powerful organization is actor Rob Reiner. In his most ominous and godly voice, Freeman continues in the Committee s launch video: My fellow Americans, during this past election, we came under attack by the Russian government. I ve called on Congress and our intelligence community to use every resource available to conduct a thorough investigation to determine exactly how this happened. Freeman couches the whole thing as if it were some wildly brilliant movie script but in the end reminds us all that it s not, that this is indeed very real and that Trump and Russia are very dangerous. Therefore, we must act.Also involved in the project are anti-Trump GOPers who have more patriotism in their pinkie fingernails than the cowards in Congress could ever know such as radio host Charlie Sykes and Atlantic editor David Frum.This truly is a brilliant project. Perhaps Freeman s compelling voice and brilliant way of expressing this crisis will break the Trump fever before we all perish from it. We can hope, that s for sure.Watch this incredible video below:For generations, ppl have fought to protect democracy. Now it s our turn. Watch Morgan Freeman explain Russia s plot to undermine the U.S. pic.twitter.com/t65wckbmxS Investigate Russia (@InvestigateRU) September 19, 2017Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
CONFIRMED: Trump Tried Every Corrupt Trick In The Book To Obstruct The FBI’s Russia Investigation | It appears that Trump tried everything he could think of to discredit the FBI s investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia prior to the Nov. 8 election. After James Comey testified before Congress that the FBI was, indeed, looking into possible collusion between Trump s campaign and Russia, Trump began trying to pressure other intelligence chiefs to help him push back against that investigation.This is a monumental development because it means Trump was actively working to obstruct an independent investigation, and he was trying to enlist the help of other members of the intelligence community. Daniel Coats, the director of National Intelligence at the time, and Admiral Michael Rogers, director of the NSA, were both pressured by the Trump administration to deny collusion between his campaign and Russia.They both refused because they felt the requests were inappropriate. Both were allegedly documented in memos that could be provided to Congress and the DOJ s special counsel as evidence that Trump tried to interfere in the FBI s work.Trump had asked Comey near the end of February to drop the investigation into Michael Flynn and Russia, and later grew irate with Comey after he told Congress about the FBI s investigation. He fired Comey on May 9, claiming first that he did it on the DOJ s recommendation, and then later that he did it on his own, and that Comey s firing had nothing to do with the Russia probe.However, it recently came out that he told Russian officials that Comey s dismissal took pressure off of him because he believed it would take pressure off the investigation. Much of the U.S. including in and out of Congress were flabbergasted that Trump would make such an obvious move. It was a signal that he was worried what the investigation would turn up.Bookies are starting to put odds on whether Trump will even be able to finish his term. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, Betfair has Trump s odds of failing to serve all four years of his term at 50 percent, and they ve put the odds that he ll be out of office by the end of this year at 20 to 25 percent.Now, they re not saying that will be due to impeachment. Trump could well resign under the pressure of these investigations and possible impeachment proceedings, just as Nixon did. But the shoes just keep dropping for Trump, and this revelation just adds to the growing pile of evidence that he s been actively trying to obstruct justice by interfering with investigations.What does he have to hide?Silly question.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 1real |
A Mole In The White House Just Revealed Obama’s SCOTUS Pick – Even The GOP Can’t Deny It (IMAGE) | Robert Reich, the former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, and a very reputable source at that, just came forward and announced there is a mole in the White House. And, that mole has information concerning President Obama s selection of the next Supreme Court Justice of The United States (SCOTUS).As you may know by now, Republicans are hell-bent on doing anything and everything they can to block Obama s right to nominate the next SCOTUS, no matter who he picks. Well, that s going to be a problem because this pick is absolutely perfect.Why do we say that? For one, Republicans unanimously nominated him just three years ago (97-0) to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Yes, you read that right, 97-0. How on earth could the Republicans deny him now? If you re familiar with the selection, you d know I m talking about Judge Sri Srinivasan. He s Asian-American and Indian-American, and would be the first minority from both groups to hold the honor if nominated.But, his minority status is not the only reason he s an excellent choice for Democrats. He d be almost impossible for the GOP to deny. But, don t plan on them not trying. I mean, they just don t care who Obama nominates, plain and simple. This is an election year, and they ll fight him at all costs.Still, his record is hard to deny. Obama has called him a trailblazer who personifies the best of America. He s worked in the Justice Department under George W. Bush for five years, and twelve former Solicitors General, including Republicans, have endorsed his prior nomination despite his arguing against conservative causes like the Defense of Marriage Act. He didn t think it was constitutional given the fact that it placed limits on same-sex couples.Pic via Facebook.While the pick is far from finalized, you can be sure to take this pick to the bank. Don t expect President Obama to twiddle his thumbs for too long on this one. He s ready for a fight, and will pick the best nominee, without a doubt.But, just in case you re curious, a few other unofficial names are floating around that would be great nominees as well, and are rumored to be on Obama s short-list.Patricia Ann MillettShe also hails from the influential D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Senate confirmed her back in 2013 by a vote of 56-38. Not nearly as impressive as Judge Srinivasan s unanimous selection, but still a contender given her background. She s 50 and has a background working in both the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush administrations.Here s why she would be a wise choice: There s only one other woman that has ever argued more cases before the Supreme Court (32 in all) than her. Impressive, indeed.Loretta LynchShe s the Attorney General of The United States. She s only been in the position since April 2015, not very long. While we don t believe Obama will pick her, it d be impossible not to have her name mentioned.In the short time that she s been Attorney General, she s already filed a discrimination lawsuit against the city of Ferguson and indicted nine FIFA executives for their match-fixing scandal. If Obama picks a woman, it will be the third woman in a row nominated to the court.Paul WatfordSome people are saying this is the most likely selection to replace Antonin Scalia, but then again, they don t have a mole in the White House like Robert Reich does.Watford is an African-American and confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in 2012. He used to clerk for a conservative judge Alex Kozinski, and he s considered to be a moderate. He s also in his 40 s, which would make him a long standing member of the court if selected.Again, though, we stress that none of these nominees were unanimously selected like Judge Srinivasan. Expect Obama to go forward with the selection after his administration can gather up enough information on Republican s opposition to him. Hey, that s what moles are good for.Featured image via White House | 1real |
WATCH: Obama Just EMBARRASSED The NRA By Ripping Apart Every Single Pro-Gun Myth | For the first four years of Barack Obama s presidency I chided him for being too nice to the Stupid Part of America. As they spread ridiculous conspiracy theories about him that he s really from Kenya, that he once worked as a gay prostitute to support his cocaine habit, that he s secretly a shapeshifting lizard person, and, yes, that he is coming for every single gun any day now the President opted to sit back and absorb the attacks as he focused on more important issues. Eventually, it seems, he realized that as long as he entertained such monumentally stupid notions without taking a few minutes of his time to obliterate them those who spend their lives spewing such nonsense will not give him the opportunity to focus on what is actually important.Lately, the claws have come out. The President is no longer willing to simply accept the lies spread by the NRA, Fox News, Republican politicians, and other right-wing groups without stepping in to correct the record. Gun shop owner Doug Rhude is a product of the misinformation throws around by the Right. During a Q+A session following PBS News Hour, we were treated to the perfect example of what happens when misinformation, lies, and bigotry are allowed to bounce around a bubble for the better part of a decade:Knowing that we apply common sense to other issues in our society, specifically like holding irresponsible people accountable for their actions when they drink and drive and kill somebody, and we do that without restricting control of cars and cells phones to the rest of us, the good guys, why then do you and Hillary want to control and restrict and limit gun manufacturers, gun owners and responsible use of guns and ammunition to the rest of us, the good guys, instead of holding the bad guys accountable for their actions?As is customary, Rhude used Chicago as his go-to example of something, demanding to know why thugs (the go-to conservative replacement word for n*ggers ) in the city are hell-bent on murdering each other. After taking a moment to process the almost off-the-scale stupidity contained in Rhude s statement/question, Obama politely yet brutally hit him with a massive truth bomb:First of all, the notion that I or Hillary or Democrats or whoever you want to choose are hell-bent on taking away folks guns is just not true.And I don t care how many times the NRA says it. I m about to leave office. There have been more guns sold since I have been president than just about any time in U.S. history. There are enough guns for every man, woman and child in this country.And at no point have I ever, ever proposed confiscating guns from responsible gun owners. So it s just not true. What I have said is precisely what you suggested, which is, why don t we treat this like every other thing that we use? Obama continued, pointing to another favorite right-wing go-to topic: auto fatality rates. Previously, conservatives were able to mindlessly point out that more people are killed by cars than guns. Unfortunately for them and fortunately for the rest of us, regulations and laws have decreased the automobile fatality rate to beneath the level of gun violence. The auto fatality rate has actually dropped precipitously, drastically, since I was a kid, Obama said, asking rhetorically what is the cause of that. The President informed Rhude that thanks to numerous regulations, lots of studies, and a strong and continuing effort we have been able to reduce the number of people who die in cars. No one took everyone s cars away we simply arrived at the common sense decision to actually deal with the problem. We are not allowed to do any of that when it comes to guns because if you propose anything, it is suggested that we re trying to take away gun rights and impose martial law, Obama pointed out, adding that we can t so much as study gun violence because Republicans in Congress have actually passed laws preventing this public health issue from being researched. The notion is that by studying it the same way we do with traffic accidents somehow it s going to lead to everyone s guns being confiscated, Obama pointed out. I just came from a meeting today in the Situation Room in which I got people who we know have been on ISIL Web sites, living here in the United States, U.S. citizens, and we re allowed to put them on the no-fly list when it comes to airlines, but because of the National Rifle Association, I cannot prohibit those people from buying a gun, the President told Rhude. This is somebody who is a known ISIL sympathizer. And if he wants to walk in to a gun store or a gun show right now and buy as much as many weapons and ammo as he can, nothing s prohibiting him from doing that, even though the FBI knows who that person is. Then he dropped the hammer:So, sir, I just have to say, respectfully, that there is a way for us to have commonsense gun laws. There is a way for us to make sure that lawful, responsible gun owners like yourself are able to use them for sporting, hunting, protecting yourself, but the only way we re going to do that is if we don t have a situation in which anything that is proposed is viewed as some tyrannical destruction of the Second Amendment. And that s how the issue too often gets framed.While it is unlikely that Rhude, or any other right-wingers who heard the President s words, learned a single thing, one thing is for certain: It s nice to see Barack Obama standing up for himself.Watch it yourself below: Featured image via video screen captures | 1real |
After Lawsuit, New Jersey Allows Driver to Get ‘8THEIST’ License Plate - The New York Times | Drivers in New Jersey will be able to request vanity license plates that reference their belief in atheism after the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission settled a lawsuit this month filed by a woman whose request for a license plate that said “8THEIST” was rejected almost three years ago. Shannon Morgan, a resident of Leesburg, N. J. applied for the license plate in November 2013 but was told her application had been denied because the plate “may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency,” according to court papers posted online last week. After she received that rejection, Ms. Morgan used the state’s online application form to apply for a plate that said “BAPTIST” and was quickly approved, said Richard B. Katskee, the legal director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an advocacy group in Washington that acted as her legal counsel. It sued the commission in April 2014. “She rightly realized that it was a case of religious discrimination against atheists and nonbelievers,” Mr. Katskee said. The Motor Vehicle Commission rejects that characterization. Mairin Bellack, a spokeswoman for the commission, said the rejection of Ms. Morgan’s initial application was an “oversight. ” “Yes, there was an initial denial, but as soon as it was brought to our attention it was rectified immediately,” Ms. Bellack said. “She has the right to apply for the plate, and the plate is available to anyone, including this individual. ” Under the terms of the settlement agreement, which was dated Aug. 4 but not announced until last Friday, Ms. Morgan will receive the license plate she requested in 2013 once she reapplies and sends in the usual application fee of $50. The commission will also pay $75, 000 for her legal fees. In a statement, Barry W. Lynn, the executive director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said Ms. Morgan wanted the state “to stop disparaging her nonbelief and cease treating her like a citizen. ” “The lesson of this case is simple: The government should treat believers and nonbelievers equally,” Mr. Lynn said. Ms. Morgan said she was pleased with the settlement but also alarmed by online critics who threatened to vandalize her car if they happened to see her now license plate. “I am almost hesitant to display my tag,” she said. “I cannot wrap my brain around the thought that anyone would vandalize a vehicle simply because they do not share the driver’s belief system. ” Atheist drivers will not be the only ones to benefit from the settlement. The Motor Vehicle Commission also agreed to honor license plate applications that contained language related to atheism, feminism or L. G. B. T. people, including phrases like “EQUALITY,” “LGBTQ,” “4WOMEN” and “SECULAR. ” Mr. Katskee said Ms. Morgan and her legal team “made up the list with an eye toward things she might want in the future and that were otherwise at risk of having the same sort of discrimination. ” Ms. Bellack, the spokeswoman for the commission, said it had issued license plates in the past. That offered little relief to Ms. Morgan’s lawyer, however, who said her legal team pursued a lawsuit because it was concerned the commission might reject future license plate applications its employees found distasteful. Ms. Morgan’s application was the second instance in less than two years that the commission had rejected an atheist license plate, Mr. Katskee said. The first was when David Silverman, the president of an organization called American Atheists, applied for a license plate that said “ATHE1ST” in 2013. The commission rejected his application because it was deemed “offensive,” Mr. Silverman said, but he appealed the decision in writing and the commission reversed course two days later. “The issue is not that I was able to get my plate, the problem was that the system discriminated against me and made me appeal,” Mr. Silverman said. He added: “Atheism is not a dirty word. It’s a great word, in fact. ” | 0fake |
Exclusive: Tillerson plans to skip NATO meeting, visit Russia in April - sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson plans to skip a meeting with NATO foreign ministers next month in order to stay home for a visit by China’s president and will go to Russia later in April, U.S. officials said on Monday, disclosing an itinerary that allies may see as giving Moscow priority over them. Tillerson intends to miss what would have been his first meeting of the 28 NATO allies on April 5-6 in Brussels so that he can attend President Donald Trump’s expected April 6-7 talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, four current and former U.S. officials said. Skipping the NATO meeting and visiting Moscow could risk feeding a perception that Trump may be putting U.S. dealings with big powers first, while leaving waiting those smaller nations that depend on Washington for security, two former U.S. officials said. Trump has often praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Tillerson worked with Russia’s government for years as a top executive at Exxon Mobil Corp, and has questioned the wisdom of sanctions against Russia that he said could harm U.S. businesses. A State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would meet on Wednesday with foreign ministers from 26 of the 27 other NATO countries — all but Croatia — at a gathering of the coalition working to defeat the Islamic State militant group. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was due to have arrived in Washington on Monday for a three-day visit that was to include talks with U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and to take part in the counter-Islamic State meetings. The State Department spokeswoman said Tillerson would not have a separate, NATO-focused meeting the 26 foreign ministers in Washington but rather that they would meet in the counter-Islamic State talks. “After these consultations and meetings, in April he will travel to a meeting of the G7 (Group of Seven) in Italy and then on to meetings in Russia,” she added, saying U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Tom Shannon would represent the United States at the NATO foreign ministers meeting. Representative Eliot Engel, the senior Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives foreign affairs committee, said that Tillerson was making a mistake by skipping the Brussels talks. “Donald Trump’s Administration is making a grave error that will shake the confidence of America’s most important alliance and feed the concern that this Administration simply too cozy with (Russian President) Vladimir Putin,” Engel said in a written statement. “I cannot fathom why the Administration would pursue this course except to signal a change in American foreign policy that draws our country away from western democracy’s most important institutions and aligns the United States more closely with the autocratic regime in the Kremlin,” he added. A former U.S. official echoed the view. “It feeds this narrative that somehow the Trump administration is playing footsie with Russia,” said the former U.S. official on condition of anonymity. “You don’t want to do your early business with the world’s great autocrats. You want to start with the great democracies, and NATO is the security instrument of the transatlantic group of great democracies,” he added. Any Russian visit by a senior Trump administration official may be carefully scrutinized after the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Monday publicly confirmed his agency was investigating any collusion between the Russian government and Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign. Trump has already worried NATO allies by referring to the Western security alliance as “obsolete” and by pressing other members to meet their commitments to spend at least 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense. Last week, he dismayed British officials by shrugging off a media report, forcefully denied by Britain, that the administration of former President Barack Obama tapped his phones during the 2016 White House race with the aid of Britain’s GCHQ spy agency. A former U.S. official and a former NATO diplomat, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the alliance offered to change the meeting dates so Tillerson could attend it and the Xi Jinping talks but the State Department had rebuffed the idea. The former diplomat said it was vital to present a united front toward Moscow. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created in 1949 to serve as a bulwark against the Soviet Union. “Given the challenge that Russia poses, not just to the United States but to Europe, it’s critical to engage on the basis of a united front if at all possible,” the diplomat said. | 0fake |
THIS COMPANY PUTS UP A BILLBOARD THAT FINALLY GETS #BlackLivesMatter RIGHT… WITHOUT THE RACIST CONNOTATION | Black lives matter but only when white cops are responsible for their deaths. When blacks kill other blacks not so much. Kudos to the Fred L. Davis Insurance Company for telling the truth about who s really doing the killing in black communities.That s the statement on a billboard in Memphis, Tennessee. However, there s more to it.The full message reads: Black lives matter. So let s quit killing each other. It s a statement directed against black-on-black crime.Normally, liberals take umbrage at the idea that somebody might evaluate problems caused within the black community by other blacks because it doesn t suit the narrative. However, the author of this message has a background that will make it difficult for people to attack him like that.Fred Davis is a civil rights activist who reportedly marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He s also the man behind the message. We re going to have to wake up, Davis said. We re going to have to say to ourselves that black lives matter, and we re going to have to refrain from killing each other out of our own frustration. I can speak, not from reading a book about the history, because I was a part of the history, he said. I think that gives me a license as an experienced observer to push and to advocate to the black community let s stop it. Fred L. Davis is no stranger to controversy. Here is one of his previous billboards:Via: DownTrend | 1real |
Merkel sees no reason to resign; focused on building stable government | BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday said she saw no reason to resign after the collapse of talks about a three-way coalition government, adding her conservative bloc would enter any new elections more unified than before. Merkel told German broadcaster ZDF she was ready to serve four more years as chancellor, and felt it was important to send a signal of stability for the country and Europe and the world. Asked about the possibility of another grand coalition with the Social Democrats, Merkel said she would wait to see the party s response after their talks with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday. But she said any demand for her to step down would not be a good way to start a new coalition. She said she was disappointed by the decision of the pro-business Free Democrats to pull out of the coalition talks, but did not expect the party to reverse course. | 0fake |
Mainstream Media Completely SILENT As Obamacare Makes Yet Another Historic Achievement | President Obama made history yet again by making the rate for Americans without health insurance reach another historic low. However, you wouldn t know about it because virtually none of the mainstream media have talked about it on any level.Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was updated on April 7th with new data for the first quarter of 2016. The statistics have now been released, and it shows that the uninsured rate for American adults dropped to 11 percent, which is the lowest ever recorded in the poll s history.This unmitigated success has followed a trend since the third quarter of 2013, which is the last one before the Affordable Care Act s mandate for health insurance took effect.The graph below shows the virtual bottoming out of the uninsured rate. Considering where we were as a nation only three years ago, coupled with the stubborn resistance of many in complying with the new requirements, the results are simply amazing.Not only are the results on the uninsured rate historic overall, but the largest benefits are among African-Americans, Hispanics, adults under 34 years of age, and adults making less than $36,000 per year. If Republicans really want to repeal every word of Obamacare as they promise to do, it would literally make their party go extinct. Young and minority voters will be lost to Republicans for a generation or more, and doom them extinction.The Republican plan during the 2016 election has been more of the same. Repeal, repeal, repeal with no plan to replace as usual. However, there has been a lot less talk of repeal as of late. Even Ted Cruz, who could have I will repeal every word of Obamacare chiseled on his tombstone, has been strangely silent on the issue. Votes to repeal have seemed to be drying up, and you hear hardly a peep coming from Senate Republicans on the matter these days.Perhaps the GOP has finally reached the last stage of grief acceptance.Featured image via Getty | 1real |
SECRET DUMPS OF TOXIC WASTE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY BY EPA: Will The Government Bullies At The EPA Finally Be Exposed? | This story gets more and more unbelievable every day The EPA has a record of releasing toxic runoff from mines in two tiny Colorado towns that dates to 2005, a local mine owner claims.The 3-million-gallon heavy-metal spill two weeks ago in Silverton polluted three states and touched off national outrage. But the EPA escaped public wrath in 2005 when it secretly dumped up to 15,000 tons of poisonous waste into another mine 124 miles away. That dump containing arsenic, lead and other materials materialized in runoff in the town of Leadville, said Todd Hennis, who owns both mines along with numerous others. If a private company had done this, they would ve been fined out of existence, Hennis said. I have been battling the EPA for 10 years and they have done nothing but create pollution. About 20 percent (of Silverton residents) think it s on purpose so they can declare the whole area a Superfund site. Like Silverton to the south, Leadville was founded in the late 1800s as a mining town and is the only municipality in its county. Today, tourism is its livelihood.It s against this backdrop that the Environmental Protection Agency began lobbying to declare part of Leadville a Superfund site in order to develop a recreational area called the Mineral Belt Trail. The project was officially completed in 2000, but apparently the agency stayed on and continued to work in town.In late 2005, the EPA collected tons of sludge from two Leadville mines and secretly dumped it down the shaft of the New Mikado mine without notifying Hennis, its owner, according to documents reviewed by Watchdog.A drainage tunnel had been installed at the bottom of the mine shaft by the U.S. government in 1942, meaning that any snow or rain would leach toxins into the surrounding land.Hennis said the EPA claims it has installed a treatment pond near the tunnel to clean runoff. The EPA rebuffed his demands to clean up the mess it created in his mine, he said. In frustration, Hennis sent the county sheriff a certified notice that any EPA officials found near his property were trespassing and should be arrested.Despite that history of bitterness, in 2010, the EPA asked Hennis to grant its agents access to Gold King Mine in Silverton because the agency was investigating hazardous runoff from other mines in the region. I said, No, I don t want you on my land out of fear that you will create additional pollution like you did in Leadville, Hennis said. The official request turned into a threat, Hennis said: They said, If you don t give us access within four days, we will fine you $35,000 a day. An EPA administrative order dated May 12, 2011 said its inspectors wanted to conduct drilling of holes and installing monitoring wells, sampling and monitoring water, soil, and mine waste material from mine water rock dumps as necessary to evaluate releases of hazardous substances When the EPA hit Hennis with $300,000 in fines, he said, he waved the white flag and allowed the agency on his property.So for the past four years, the EPA has been working at the mine and two others nearby all which border a creek that funnels into the Animas River. One mine to the north had been walled off with cement by its owner but it continued to leak water into Gold King. The EPA installed a drainage ditch on the Gold King side of the mine to alleviate the problem, but then accidentally filled the ditch with dirt and rocks last summer while building a water-retention wall.That was the wall that burst when a contractor punched a hole in the top on Aug. 5, sending a bright orange stream cascading down. The EPA looked like the Keystone Kops as anger intensified in the media and general public: 24 hours passed with no notification to the lower states or Navajo Nation; the White House ignored mentioning the incident; and it took a week for the EPA administrator to tour Durango downstream, while refusing to visit Silverton itself.The EPA says cleaning ponds have been installed to leach toxins from the water, and claims that anything released now is actually cleaner than before the spill occurred. The fallout from this disaster in the lower states is still unknown.Also unknown is the fate of Silverton itself. For months, the EPA has been pushing town leaders into allowing designation as a Superfund site out of belief that the whole town is contaminated. This is something the town has resisted, as its reputation is at stake and no current tests have shown any evidence of toxic soil levels. Whenever we hear the word EPA, we think of Superfund, said Silverton Town Board Trustee David Zanoni. They say, We want to work together. That s B.S. They want to come in and take over. The water up here is naturally filled with minerals. They don t need to be here cleaning up. If the EPA s litany of mistakes at Gold King mine is a barometer, Zanoni said, handing over the reins of Silverton would be a disaster. They had no contingency plan in case all of this went to hell, he said.The EPA could not be reached for comment.Via: Watchdog.org | 1real |
WATCH: Unhinged Trump Campaign Accuses Obama Of Being Time Traveler – NO, REALLY | Donald Trump s presidential campaign is spiraling out of control. Reeling from days and days of missteps by the nominee following the Democratic Convention, the campaign has been a steady stream of bizarre behavior and comments.And it isn t just the nominee who is making bizarre statements and accusations.Katrina Pierson, the national spokeswoman for Trump s presidential campaign, appeared on CNN s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. During the appearance, they discussed Trump s ongoing smear campaign attacking the family of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan.Watch: Katrina Pierson blames Obama and Clinton for Kahn losing his life in interview with Wolf Blizter. pic.twitter.com/XRGvm5tMsc Hardys Closet (@HardysCloset) August 2, 2016Pierson then told Blitzer that Khan s death likely came about because President Obama (along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) had changed the rules of engagement in Iraq.Captain Khan died in Iraq on June 8, 2004.When the Captain died, President Obama was a state senator from Illinois. He had not even given his famous Two Americas speech, which took place at the 2004 Democratic Convention on July 27, 2004. He had no power or influence over the rules of engagement on any battlefield the United States was involved in.The only way for any of that scenario as described by Trump s official spokesperson was for Obama to be in possession of a time machine, or through the use of magic or some kind of super power.The statement from the Trump campaign s official spokesperson comes on the same day where Trump held in a rally in which he insulted multiple American cities, said he hoped for an economic collapse to happen before he is elected so he won t be blamed, and yelled at two parents with crying babies.Later in the day, Trump gave an interview in which he promoted the primary challenger to Speaker Paul Ryan, said he was not ready to endorse Ryan, and attacked Senator Kelly Ayotte, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire.All of these events happened on a single day.Featured image via Twitter | 1real |
Review: The Chainsmokers Find That Pop Is an Awkward Fit - The New York Times | From the beginning, the Chainsmokers knew dance music was a joke. The festivals, the groupthink, the sounds — these were the hallmarks of a scene designed for ecstatic release, but also one that was easily parodied. And so rather than make serious music that others might dismiss, they embodied parody themselves. They made songs about selfies and Kanye West (in so much as they were about anything) and saw their stars rise. They seemed to understand, in a particularly disquieting way, how easy it was to game the system, turning growing American interest in and tolerance of dance music into a platform for ambition. That made the Chainsmokers both disorientingly effective and easily loathed. So maybe it’s humility, or maybe it’s strategy, but pointedly, over the last couple of years, the duo of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall have been engaged in a very public process of dismantling mainstream dance music from within. By this point, they are essentially a pop duo — Mr. Taggart sings and writes, and both men produce. Instead of club music though, they’ve come to specialize in a style that approximates a skinned and deboned version of those sounds, maintaining a handful of its key gestures and flourishes while administering a benzodiazepine to the tempo and volume. In 2015 and 2016, three Chainsmokers songs reached the Top 10 of the Billboard singles chart, as have two songs that appear on their new album, “Memories … Do Not Open,” “Paris” and the Coldplay collaboration “Something Just Like This. ” Each hit has been more denuded than the one that preceded it. This is the logical endpoint of the American explosion of the last decade, which was almost certainly never going to end in a nightclub. It was a long con in retraining pop ears to accept some of that world’s sonic ideas. By that measurement, “Memories … Do Not Open” — the first Chainsmokers album — is a savvy success that cannily toys with expectations. Most songs hover between 95 and 105 beats per minute, something more than a slog but less than a gallop. Often, when a song arrives at the drop — the place where an explosion usually lands — it instead veers into something like a sun shower, or a crowd applauding in the distance, rarely the usual gut punch. But these strategic victories don’t overshadow the Chainsmokers’ myriad weaknesses. In the ecosystem in which the Chainsmokers have thrived — dance music and the pop that derives from its distillation — the album is a meaningless concept, and the album format underscores both this duo’s weaknesses and strengths. Mr. Taggart is a capable but unexciting singer. And he has shockingly few lyrical ideas, less of a concern for performers more adept with melody. Most songs here moan about brittle young relationships over the musical equivalent of bringing an amiable golden retriever along for an unhurried jog. (The songs written with the Emily Warren, like “Don’t Say” and the excellent “My Type,” are among the best here, with an emotional texture the others grasp for futilely.) Two songs, the impressive “Honest” and “Wake Up Alone,” parse the weight that fame exacts on emotional relationships — they’re among the most credible on the album. While the Chainsmokers often appear to have decided what sort of music they’re not making, their affirmative choices are lacking. “The One” ends up somewhere near chillwave, “Break Up Every Night” is toothless and “Last Day Alive,” a collaboration with the duo Florida Georgia Line, is 100 percent pure pablum, a collection of dim anthemic sayings in search of a stadium, a twinkle with no diamond. All of this makes for songs in search of remixes, skeletons notable as much for what’s missing as what’s there. That’s a curious position for an act moving from the world of festivals, where the scene is the star more than the performer, to the world of pop, where personality counts, a shift that may well be the Chainsmokers’ undoing, even if their music remains effective. That’s because onstage, on the duo’s handful of televised performances, they’re almost brutally awkward. On “Saturday Night Live” — where they performed “Paris” and “Break Up Every Night” last weekend — they were listless and limp. Of course they were. Mr. Taggart is not an aggressively trained pop star (and for what it’s worth, not a disruptive punk either). He was uncomfortable in the same way a young indie rock or folk singer might be, unsure of how to use his body as effectively as his voice. The Chainsmokers might have gamed their way into pop, but pop is hard work — inside jokes melt under the klieg lights. | 0fake |
GARY JOHNSON: Meet The “Creepy” Pro-Amnesty, Anti-Gun, Pro-TPP, Pro-Abortion, Democrat Party Operative And His Anti-Gun Rights, Friend Of Clinton’s VP Pick [VIDEO] | For anyone who believes they re more CONSERVATIVE than the average Trump supporter because they re planning to vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and his running mate, former Governor Bill Weld you may want to re-think your conservative position. It turns out, you re really just voting for another Barack Obama without the race card to fall back on or Hillary without the criminal background Libertarians should be allergic to power grabs by the executive for the obvious reason that they lend themselves to concentrated authority and (usually) bigger government. If you want to slow the state down, a robust, sharply divided Congress that jealously guards its constitutional prerogatives from the president should be your ideal even in cases where the executive happens to be acting towards an end you deem salutary. In this year of all years, admirers of Obama s various forms of overreach should be thinking hard about how President Trump might build on his precedents. To a constitutionalist, which most mainstream libertarians claim to be, all of this is second nature.Is Gary Johnson a constitutionalist?THRUSH: How about Obama s executive order, which was decried as being a great constitutional violation by the Republicans, Obama s executive order on immigration. Did you consider that to be a violation or did you consider that a reasonable use of targeted executive power?MR. JOHNSON: I saw it as a reasonable use, challenging Congress to action. And an untold story with regard to Obama and immigration is he s broken up 3 million families. He has deported 3 million heads of households that have gone back to Mexico and their families have remained in the United States.If Obama issued an executive order to the IRS demanding that they collect 10 percent more in tax from individuals than the Internal Revenue Code provides, would Johnson deem that legal? What if the order instructed the agency to collect 10 percent less tax? Would his opinion of its legality change? Because it shouldn t. Bear in mind, Obama s 2014 DAPA amnesty has already been blocked by a preliminary injunction that was upheld on review by the Fifth Circuit so Johnson had plenty of legal cover here to say that he s troubled by Obama s procedural approach despite the fact that he happens to agree with the policy ends. Instead he seems to endorse the bizarre legal theory pushed by some leftists that if Congress isn t moving quickly enough for the president s taste in enacting a policy he supports, he can go ahead and challenge them by enacting it himself and leaving it to Congress to overrule him if they feel strongly to the contrary. How the hell does a libertarian arrive at that model of government? The president does what he wants, and then it falls to the people s representatives to try to muster a two-thirds majority to override his policy? What? HotAirHere is Gary Johnson in 2 minutes:Gary Johnson s running mate, Bill Weld wants all firearms that have five rounds or more banned.The NYT s reported on gun-grabber Governor Bill Weld here:Watch Gary Johnson s running mate former Governor Bill Weld endorsing Barack Obama. The most stunning part of the entire interview with MSNBC s Chris Matthews is when he calls radical leftist Barack Obama a Once in a lifetime talent. Here s a fun fact uncovered by Newsweek: Weld has been friends with both Hillary and Bill Clinton for quite some time. According to Newsweek, Weld and Hillary both worked together on the House impeachment committee in 1974 and almost worked for Bill during Bill s presidency in 1997. Weld has also gone on to say that he does not believe Hillary is in the wrong or should be punished for her emails. Some experts worry that his closeness to the Clintons could be a problem other Libertarians. Weld was also chosen as Bill Clinton s ambassador to Mexico before he withdrew after being denied a hearing by the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Jesse Helms. | 1real |
Ex-Christie associates lose bid for new trial in 'Bridgegate' case | NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge rejected a request for a new trial by two former associates of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who were convicted for their roles in the “Bridgegate” lane closure scandal. The decision late Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton clears the way for the two defendants to be sentenced on March 15. Bridget Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff under the Republican governor, and Bill Baroni, the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were convicted in November of orchestrating the shutdown of access lanes at the George Washington Bridge in September 2013. U.S. prosecutors said the resulting gridlock in Fort Lee, New Jersey, was intended to punish the town’s Democratic mayor for declining to back Christie’s re-election campaign. Christie has not been charged in the case and has denied any knowledge of the plan. But Kelly and another conspirator, former Port Authority official David Wildstein, both testified that Christie was aware of the lane closures before they occurred. Wildstein pleaded guilty and appeared at trial as the government’s star witness. In asking for an acquittal or a new trial, Kelly’s lawyers had argued that Wigenton erred when she instructed jurors that they could convict the defendants even if prosecutors failed to prove they had intentionally targeted the mayor for retribution. The motivation for the scheme, Kelly’s lawyers said, was at the core of the government’s case. But Wigenton said motive, while central to the prosecution, is not a required element of the crimes for which Baroni and Kelly were convicted. “The government was under no obligation to introduce evidence of motive, although motive helps present a coherent narrative of events to a jury,” she wrote. Lawyers for Baroni and Kelly did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They can still ask a U.S. appeals court to overturn the verdict after sentencing has taken place. A spokesman for New Jersey’s chief federal prosecutor, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, declined to comment on the ruling. The scandal’s fallout helped sink Christie’s once-promising political career. He was passed over for a position in President Donald Trump’s administration after his own presidential bid sputtered, and he has seen record-low approval ratings in New Jersey. | 0fake |
BREAKING: Michael Brown Friend Who Started #HandsUpDontShoot Lie Arrested | What comes around, goes around. It was only a matter of time Dorian Johnson lied repeatedly that Michael Brown had his hands up and was shot in the back by Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson.No charges listed on casenet yet.The Ferguson mob alleged it was a setup since Johnson filed charges against the Ferguson yesterday. In reality, his arrest on drug charges should surprise no one. He had pot references in his social media.The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported:Dorian Johnson, the man who was with Michael Brown Jr. when Brown was fatally shot by a Ferguson police officer last summer, has been arrested on suspicion of drug charges and resisting arrest, St. Louis police said.Johnson was arrested on Wednesday and police are pursuing charges. The specifics of where and when he was arrested have not yet been released.Johnson was walking with Michael Brown Jr. on Aug. 9 when the two were approached by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson. The encounter ended with Brown fatally shot and led to months of protests and unrest in Ferguson.Johnson recently filed a lawsuit against the city, Wilson and former police chief Thomas Jackson.Via: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE 2006 SECURE BORDER FENCE ACT? | Remember the promise of a fence on our southern border? Yes, it was the plan but the $1.2 billion dollar plan was never executed as proposed. You can thank Obama and a popular Republican for that WE RECENTLY POSTED THIS VIDEO OF AN IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL SAYING BUILDING A BORDER FENCE ISN T POSSIBLE EVEN THOUGH $1.2 BILLION WAS GIVEN IN 2006 FOR A FENCE: In his speech in El Paso on immigration reform on May 10, 2011, Obama declared that the fence along the border with Mexico is now basically complete. Like much of what comes out of the Obama administration, that was a lie. What was supposed to be built was a double layered fence with barbed-wire on top, and room for a security vehicle to patrol between the layers. Except for 36 of the seven-hundred mile fence, what was built looks like the picture above or the one below.OBAMA CLAIMED: We have gone above and beyond what was requested by the very Republicans who said they supported broader reform as long as we got serious about enforcement, Obama said. All the stuff they asked for, we ve done. But even though we ve answered these concerns, I ve got to say I suspect there are still going to be some who are trying to move the goal posts on us one more time. Maybe he s right the goal posts were moved, but to make the job easier.THE SECURE FENCE ACT The Secure Fence Act was introduced on Sept. 13, 2006 by Rep Peter King (R-NY) and passed Congress on a bi-partisan basis. In the House of Representatives, the Fence Act passed 283 -138 on September 14, 2006. On September 29, 2006, the Fence Act passed in the Senate 80 -19. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 s goal was to help secure America s borders to decrease illegal entry, drug trafficking, and security threats by building 700 miles (1,100 km) of physical barriers along the Mexico-United States border. Additionally, the law authorized more vehicle barriers, checkpoints, and lighting as well as authorizing the Department of Homeland Security to increase the use of advanced technology such as cameras, satellites, and unmanned aerial vehicles to reinforce infrastructure at the border. So far less than 40 miles of a real fence have been built most of it during the Bush Administration.Of the almost 700 miles of fencing, DHS reports there are currently 36.3 miles of double-layered fencing, as the bill required, the kind with enough gap that you can drive a vehicle between the layers. But the majority of the fencing erected has been made from vehicle barriers with single-layer pedestrian fencing, the kind of barriers that are designed to stop vehicles rather than people. The design specifications vary, depending on geography and climate characteristics, but according to the Customs and Border Patrol website, those include post on rail steel set in concrete; steel picket-style fence set in concrete; vehicle bollards similar to those found around federal buildings; Normandy; vehicle fence consisting of steel beams; and concrete jersey walls with steel mesh.PROMINENT REPUBLICAN FROM TEXAS:The first blow against the promised fence was made by Kay Bailey Hutchison, Republican Senator from Texas, at the urging of DHS she proposed an amendment to give the Department discretion to decide what type of fence was appropriate in different areas. The law was amended to read, Nothing in this paragraph shall require the Secretary of Homeland Security to install fencing, physical barriers, roads, lighting, cameras, and sensors in a particular location along an international border of the United States, if the Secretary determines that the use or placement of such resources is not the most appropriate means to achieve and maintain operational control over the international border at such location. Hutchison s amendment was included in a federal budget bill in late 2007 despite the fact that Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., had a cow he argued the amendment effectively killed the border fence promised in the 2006 bill, he was right. Hutchison s intentions may have been honorable, but she didn t foresee Barack Obama being the next president.When Janet Napolitano became Obama s first DHS she took advantage of Ms. Hutchison s 2007 amendment, instead of building a fence which look something like the below, she built a fence that was mostly a combination of the two pictures above.When She was still Governor of Arizona Janet Napolitano said, You show me a 50-foot wall, and I ll show you a 51-foot ladder at the border. And she may be right The fence will never STOP all illegal crossings. The purpose of the fence is two-fold, slowing the intruders and making them visible to members of the border patrol. The rest of the work is done by human beings.Very little of the Israeli separation barrier erected to keep out terrorists is a wall, most of the 400 miles of the barrier which has received so much international scorn is a two layered fence like section of their barrier below. The fence has served its purpose, in 2002, the year before construction started, 457 Israelis were murdered; in 2009, 8 Israelis were killed.The reason it has been effective is not simply the fence itself but how the fence is guarded and patrolled. And that s what will make our fence along the Mexican border work.Here s the bottom line. Back in 2006 the people of the U.S. were promised a border fence. Since then thanks to Kay Bailey Hutchison and Barack Obama 95% of the fence wasn t built. The arguments against the fence are bogus especially if you look at Israel s history. It s time for America to demand that its leaders build the fence they promised. No one can honestly say it wont work, after all it hasn t been tried. Via: The Lid | 1real |
13 Year Old Girl’s Rousing Speech: “If Donald Trump Had A Brick For Every Lie Hillary Has Told He Could Build TWO Walls” | Who can argue with this young lady’s speech?
Watch as she totally destroys Hillary Clinton:
I bet if Donald Trump had a brick for every lie Hillary has told he could build two walls.
…
As a thirteen year old even I know Hillary Clinton is working for her own success and ways to control my life, my family’s life and your lives… She wants to make it Hillary’s America… not The Peoples’ America.
Hattip Gateway Pundit
Courtesy post via SHTFPlan.com
| 1real |
ATTENTION BAD GUYS With Weapons: There Are NO MORE SITTING DUCKS At Colleges In This State | Just a little dose of common sense Guns save lives.A new law went into effect in Texas on Monday that allows certain students to bring guns into classrooms, with supporters saying it could prevent mass shootings and critics saying the measure will endanger safety on campuses.The so-called state campus carry law allows people 21 and older with a concealed handgun license to carry pistols in classrooms and buildings throughout public colleges, including the University of Texas system, one of the nation s largest with an enrollment of more than 214,000 students.The law took effect on the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest U.S. gun incidents on a college campus, when a student named Charles Whitman killed 16 people by firing from a perch atop the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, the state s flagship public university.Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican who supports campus carry, said a gunman could already bring a firearm on to campus, and the law could prevent mass shootings because someone with a licensed concealed weapon could be ready to confront a gunman. Via: NYP | 1real |
UNHINGED MIKA Called President Trump “Not Well, Ignorant, Stupid, Mentally Ill and a Narcissist in ONE MINUTE! [VIDEO] | Hour one of the MSNBC morning show began typically enough with Mika and Joe. The assembled gang could barely contain their glee at the prospect of damning testimony from James Comey. That all set the stage for a typical Mika Brzezinski tirade that was honestly one of the most disgusting assaults on President Trump yet. It s unhinged hate!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZoUCHs22Aw I think Trump is such a narcissist, it s possible he is mentally ill in a way and this is on the table, I said it months ago and now everyone is starting to say it like it s new, and it s ok to say. He s not well, she said. At the very least, he s not well. And he s so narcissistic he does not believe the rules apply to him, and that s where the ignorance label may apply because this is a man who says he can grab women anywhere because he s famous. Then something very curious happened.Scarborough looked off camera and can be heard saying, What s that? Wow, Then Willie Geist showed him something and the two started laughing. Then a clearly not listening Scarborough, banged the table. Stop right there, he laughed I need an eject button. He posted it? Scarborough appeared to ask someone else?Brzezinski finally realized that nobody was listening to her and demanded an explanation. Nothing I have said is crazy, she said. We ll talk about it in the break, said Scarborough barely able to get it out through his own laugher.The show soon went to break. When it returned Scarborough joked about keeping it in the guard rails. Brzezinski appeared to offer an explanation of her actions. I am keeping it in the guard rails. Everything I ve said you all have thought and you know and you ve said in your own way. You re going to talk to me about a filter? she snapped at Scarborough. Yes, he said. | 1real |
'Hi Donald, we're Muslims!' Scottish offer to teach Trump in visit | EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Scottish Muslims have invited Donald Trump to visit a mosque and learn about their faith during his visit to Scotland this month in the hope of changing his views. The presumptive Republican U.S. presidential candidate, whose mother was Scottish, last year proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States as a response to Islamist attacks in Paris and California, causing a furor in Europe. Accepting a visit to learn about the Muslim community might help show that he is not so extreme, Edinburgh Central Mosque Imam Yayha Barry told Reuters. “I would say: ‘Hi Donald, we’re Muslims, welcome to our mosque! Do you still see Muslims as a threat to Western civilizations?’” he said. Trump’s views prompted widespread opposition in Britain, where he owns two golf courses on the west and east Scottish coasts. His comments about stopping Mexican migrants entering the United States also caused offense, leading to the withdrawal of Scottish business and academic accolades. Prime Minister David Cameron said the remarks by the potential leader of Britain’s closest international ally were “divisive, stupid and wrong”. Neither Cameron nor Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon plan to meet him on his visit, which coincides with the result of Britain’s referendum on EU membership on June 24. Spiritual leaders in the Islamic community invited Trump to “learn more about the Muslims that he offends”. “We would welcome the opportunity to show him the work that we are doing in the community in Edinburgh when he comes to Scotland,” said Hafiz Ghafoor of Annandale Mosque and Munawar Hussain, secretary of Roxburgh St Mosque and Islamic Centre, in a joint statement. Trump’s relationship with Scotland has been rocky since he contested a decision to build an offshore wind farm opposite his golf course in Aberdeenshire. His trip will include a visit there as well as to his courses at Turnberry, in southwestern Scotland, and Doonbeg, in Ireland. Protests at Trump’s “misogynist, racist and xenophobic” views are planned by Aberdeen University students during his visit, the president of the Students’ Association said. A spokesperson for the Trump Organisation did not respond to a request to comment. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said Trump should witness first hand the work being done by local Muslims to reach across faiths and help those in need. “Muslims are our friends, colleagues, family and neighbors. When he insults them in such a grotesque manner he insults us all.” About 77,000 Scots are Muslims, or 1.4 percent of the population, according to the latest official census in 2011. | 0fake |
Trump Posts Fox News Story Using Anonymous Source To ‘Vindicate’ Kushner, Entire World Calls BS | Donald Trump has been on Twitter for nearly 48 straight hours, clearly making up for lost time during his international trip when his advisers took away his phone. The tweets have been all over the place, a sign of the sort of unhinged mania that has consumed Trump: angry messages directed at foreign leaders, defending Russia, lashing out at critics, and now defending his son-in-law Jared Kushner from disturbing allegations that he had gone behind the backs of America s intelligence community to set up a secret backchannel with Putin using Russian spy equipment.Numerous media organizations including the Washington Post and the New York Times have confirmed with reliable, high-ranking sources that Kushner did this. The evidence appears to be pretty damning. In fact, the White House seemed unable to defend Kushner. For the first few days after news broke, the only response from Trump supporters was that Kushner should have been allowed to do this.Trump, as he is known to do, imploded that argument with a single tweet. Posting a story from Fox News, Trump and the conservative channel are claiming that Kushner is completely innocent. Their proof is a single anonymous source that spoke only to Fox.During the meeting the Russians broached the idea of using a secure line between the Trump administration and Russia, not Kushner, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News. That follows a recent report from The Washington Post alleging that Kushner wanted to develop a secure, private line with Russia.The idea of a permanent back channel was never discussed, according to the source. Instead, only a one-off for a call about Syria was raised in the conversation.Sounds legit.This is a clear aboutface for Trump, who has lashed out at anonymous sources whenever they leak things that make him look bad. Suddenly, the mysterious anonymous source Fox found (or invented) to clear Kushner is completely trustworthy and Trump is back to loving sources again!Smarter people have reason to be skeptical. It s been said that Fox News under Trump has operated as little else than his state media to push his agenda and defend him from attacks. This latest story seems incredibly suspect. After days of reporters from numerous outlets confirming and re-confirming the original claims that Kushner had, in fact, tried to set up a back channel with the Russians, Fox News magically found a source that disproves all of it. This flies directly in the face of Trump s own national security advisor H.R. McMaster who, as part of his job to repeatedly humiliate himself in the name of Trump, claimed that Kushner was allowed to set up a back channel.Trump s attempt to save his son-in-law from a possible prison sentence actually may have made things worse. If the original defense of Kushner was that he was right to set up this secret channel with the Russians, Kushner will face a choice if he is ever subpoenaed: Lie about the backchannel to supporter his father-in-law s claim or admit he did talk to the Russians and expose Trump in yet another lie. Whether he then gets charged with perjury hangs on his answer.Kushner might need to have an uncomfortable talk with his father-in-law: Stop trying to help so I don t spend my life behind bars.Featured image via Olivier Douliery Pool/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump: O'Malley 'weak' and 'pathetic' for apologizing to Black Lives Matter protestors | Fox News aired a preview Friday of an interview with the leading GOP candidate that will air Saturday.
"And then he apologized like a little baby, like a disgusting, little weak, pathetic baby, and that's the problem with our country," Trump said.
The real estate developer said O'Malley's attempt at being "politically correct" was actually "politically incorrect."
"So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement. Businessman Donald Trump announced June 16 at his Trump Tower in New York City that he is seeking the Republican presidential nomination. This ends more than two decades of flirting with the idea of running for the White House."So, ladies and gentlemen, I am officially running for president of the United States, and we are going to make our country great again," Trump told the crowd at his announcement.
"These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has made a name for himself in the Senate, solidifying his brand as a conservative firebrand willing to take on the GOP's establishment. He announced he was seeking the Republican presidential nomination in a speech on March 23."These are all of our stories," Cruz told the audience at Liberty University in Virginia. "These are who we are as Americans. And yet for so many Americans, the promise of America seems more and more distant." Ohio Gov. John Kasich joined the Republican field July 21 as he formally announced his White House bid.
"I am here to ask you for your prayers, for your support ... because I have decided to run for president of the United States," Kasich told his kickoff rally at the Ohio State University.
"Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid on April 12 through a video message on social media. The former first lady, senator and secretary of state is considered the front-runner among possible Democratic candidates."Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion -- so you can do more than just get by -- you can get ahead. And stay ahead," she said in her announcement video. "Because when families are strong, America is strong. So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote, because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey." , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, announced his run in an email to supporters on April 30. He has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans to take back control of the government from billionaires.
"This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. Sen. Bernie Sanders , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, announced his run in an email to supporters on April 30. He has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans to take back control of the government from billionaires."This great nation and its government belong to all of the people and not to a handful of billionaires, their super PACs and their lobbyists," Sanders said at a rally in Vermont on May 26. "How can you apologize when you say 'Black Lives Matter,' which is true, 'White Lives Matter,' which is true, 'All Lives Matter,' which is true," Trump asked. "And then they [Black Lives Matter activists] get angry because you said 'white' and 'all' - 'We don't want you to mention that.'" O'Malley's campaign responded Friday afternoon, saying Trump engages in "hate speech." "Governor O'Malley stands with those who have the guts to stand up to Donald Trump's hate speech. It speaks volumes about the Republican Party today that this is their front-runner," said Lis Smith, O'Malley deputy campaign manager. "Unlike the rest of the Republican field, we're not interested in engaging in a race to the bottom with Mr. Trump." Trump previously criticized Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders for giving up his microphone to protesters at an event in Seattle. "That will never happen with me," Trump said. "I don't know if I'll do the fighting myself or if other people will, but that was a disgrace." CNN commentator Donna Brazile wrote an opinion piece for CNN last month that said "All Lives Matter" can sound dismissive when used as a response to "Black Lives Matter." "Of course ALL lives matter. But there is no serious question about the value of the life of a young white girl or boy. Sadly, there is a serious question -- between gang violence and this police violence -- about the value of the life of a young black girl or boy," she wrote. "So those who are experiencing the pain and trauma of the black experience in this country don't want their rallying cry to be watered down with a generic feel-good catchphrase." | 0fake |
LORETTA LYNCH Gives Radical Black Lives Matter Protesters PEP TALK: “I want you to know that your voice is important” | Eric Holder in a dress Eric Holder got the ball rolling for Obama when he used taxpayer dollars to pay people to protest during the Trayvon Martin controversy. Loretta Lynch is just the person to carry his racist torch of injustice for the oppressed black man. These people are not capable of colorblind justice. Their desire to punish anyone who disagrees with their radical ideology is much stronger than their desire to see true and honest justice served in America Members of the Black Lives Matter movement should not get discouraged by those who would use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Friday.Her encouragement of the radical movement came a few hours after five officers were gunned down and six were wounded by an African-American radical attacker during a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas.Throughout her Friday statement, she zig-zagged between her calls for more political protests, her suggestions that cops should be blamed for the high number of African-Americans killed during interactions with law enforcement, and her calls for less violence during political protests. After the events this week, Americans across the country are feeling a sense of helplessness, of uncertainty, of fear. Now, these feelings are understandable and they are justified. But the answer must not be violence. The answer must never be violence, Lynch said. Rather, the answer must be action: calm, peaceful, collaborative and determined action. Calm, peaceful, collaborative and determined action. We must continue working to build trust between communities and law enforcement. We must continue working to guarantee every person in this country equal justice under the law, she said.She played up the administration s pre-election focus on gun control, instead of the political conflicts that spur violence. And we must take a hard look at the ease at which wrongdoers can get their hands on deadly weapons, and the frequency with which they use them, she said.Like many officials, Lynch also implied moral equivalence between the deliberately murdered officers in Dallas and the suspects killed by other police officers on duty. This has been a week of profound grief and heartbreaking loss. The peaceful protest that was planned in Dallas last night was organized in response to the tragic deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota. We have opened a civil rights investigation in Louisiana and we are providing assistance to local authorities in Minnesota who are leading the investigation there, said Lynch.Lynch repeatedly appeared to praise Black Lives Matter, though not by name, and encouraged black racial activists to continue demonstrating against police. To those who seek to improve our country, through peaceful protest and protected speech, I want you to know that your voice is important. Do not be discouraged by those who would use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence, she continued. We will continue to safeguard your constitutional rights and to work with you in the difficult mission of building a better nation and a brighter future. And to all Americans, I ask you, I implore you: Do not let this week precipitate a new normal in this country. I ask you to turn to each other, not against each other as we move forward. But some of those demonstrators not easily restrained. Some black activists in Dallas called for murdering whites and police officers just last summer, telling one veteran: We are going to rape and gut your pregnant wife, and your f ing piece of sh-t unborn creature will be hung from a tree. The Attorney General also included some vague calls for unity amid her controversial support for the divisive BLM movement.Via: Breitbart News | 1real |
This Traditionally Red State Is Going Blue, New Poll Shows | Remember back in May when Donald Trump said he d make California, New York and Maryland compatible (and that he d win them)? Well it s now mid-October and he can barely hang on to red states Utah, Georgia, Arizona and even Texas the latest poll out of the Lone Star state has him leading by three points. Romney won Texas by 19 points in 2012.There is one state in particular that is leaning towards Hillary Clinton Arizona.The Grand Canyon state, home to Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Jan Brewer, and the god-awful SB 1070, should be a dead set win for Trump, whose anti-immigration rhetoric has propelled him to where he is today. However, recent polling out of the state suggests that Clinton has the upper hand, and for good reason.According to a new Arizona Republic/Morrison/Cronkite News poll released just before the third presidential debate, Hillary Clinton is leading Donald Trump by five points, 39-34 percent. Gary Johnson took six percent while Jill Stein took one percent. Twenty percent remain undecided.However, when pressed on how those who lean one way or the other would solidly vote, as of right now, both Clinton and Trump expand their lead:When including leaners in the sample, the number of undecideds drops to 8.1 percent. Clinton s support rises to 43.3 percent while Trump s support increases to 37.8 percent. Johnson gets 6.5 percent while Stein gets 4.3 percent. The margin of error for the sample including the leaners is plus or minus 4 percentage points.In Nate Silver s FiveThirtyEight general election projection, Clinton has a 58 percent chance of winning Arizona s 11 electoral votes, compared to Trump s 42 percent chance. In the last 48 polls conducted in the state, Clinton holds the edge in 26, Trump in 19, and a tie in three.It is because of these shocking poll results that the Clinton campaign is pumping more than $2 million in advertising in the state and sending a slew of high profile surrogates including First Lady Michelle Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders all across the state.The last time Arizona went blue was in 1996, when voters chose Bill Clinton over Senator Bob Dole by 2 percent.Imagine if Arizona, a state most affected by illegal immigration, stuck it to Trump on election day? Arizona is proving to have a rich, culturally diverse electorate, buoyed by Latino and Hispanic voters who don t take too kindly to Trump s xenophobic, racist tones.Ana Navarro was right if Trump thought insulting Mexicans and Hispanics was the right move, he s going to have one hell of a wake up call in November.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1real |
THE REAL TRUTH ABOUT WHY OBAMA Is Planting Muslim Refugees In Small Towns Across America | This is the best explanation of why Obama and the Democrat party are fighting so hard to keep the US State Department s Refugee Resettlement program going strong. Please share this with everyone who s been wondering why the Democrats are so eager to bring Muslim immigrants from countries who hate us, to America, while leaving Christian refugees from the same countries behind. To hell with terrorism, the Democrats want to win even if it s at the expense of our national security Looks like my old stomping grounds in Montana are heating up. People there are not taking Obama s plan to force refugees on them lying down. There was a protest in Missoula, Montana recently over that very issue. It is just one of many battles brewing out there in small town America.Small towns in the sparsely populated parts of America are the perfect place to relocate these refugees. Especially, if your agenda includes politically terraforming the country. The West is historically conservative in their politics. Many are Republicans and Libertarians. Even the Democrats hearken back to an earlier time when they were more conservative in nature. Obama and the Democrats can t have that. They need to have an entire country willing to submit to Marxist diktats. They need areas seeded with those who will vote Democrat and ensure that they stay in power no matter what.And it s not just voting demographics that are pushing this move either. I personally believe that there is a warped logic to all of this. That if Islam can be made the predominant religion in America, people will be more easily controlled. That s insane of course and won t work, but there you have it. Instead, Shariah law will be implemented and you will see the same atrocities occurring in Europe happen here. The big difference being, that at least for now, Americans are armed and will use those weapons to protect their neighbors, loved ones and country.Of the 237 Syrian refugees admitted to the U.S. since the attacks in Paris just one has been a Christian. The rest have been Muslims.CNS News reports that according to data from the State Department Refugee Processing Center, since the November 13 attacks the U.S. has admitted 236 Sunni Muslim refugees from Syria and a single Christian a Greek Orthodox refugee.Bringing in the refugees also moves forward the Cloward and Piven strategy to overwhelm the system so it will collapse and cause chaos in the streets. These people want to tear the system apart, so they can replace it with something truly heinous. The Obama administration will never admit that this is the plan, but can you honestly look at what is going on today and tell me it isn t? Our borders are wide open. We are not vetting anyone to speak of and security here in the US is worse than before 9/11.Communities in states such as Idaho, Montana, North Dakota and Kansas are being infused with Muslim refugees even though they are not wanted by the residents or the local law enforcement. The feds and their leaders are not giving them a choice. Wyoming is the only state currently not participating in the program, but even the governor there wants to jump in it. Living in large cities would be too costly for the refugees and more can be accomplished with seeding them across the plains. In a small town, they can turn everything to their advantage in short order. Since many of our larger cities are already flooded with immigrants from south of the border and from Muslim nations, in many respects they have at least partially fallen to the ploy already. This is the fundamental transformation of America in play. South Carolina, Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota and Michigan are vigorously fighting against this program and Obama s change .The same entitlements, jobs, lodging and freebies will be given to these refugees in small town America. But that will mean taking more and more away from locals in these same communities. These immigrants bring crime and disease with them. As crime rises, people will leave which will hasten the take over of these towns. At least that is what Obama and his friends hope for. I pray that people dig in and decide to stay and fight if they can.We haven t learned a damned thing from watching what is going on over in Europe. How do you justify the rapefugees in Germany and Sweden, who treat rape as game for a large number of players at a given event? How can you ignore the violence, the murders, the depravity that is the Ummah? What s wrong with these people? Do money and power mean so much to them that they don t care that they are selling America out to a hellish nightmare movement? Imagine your wives, daughters, mothers, neighbors little children subjected to these beasts. What would you do?For entire story: Trevor Loudon | 1real |
Baghdad must show restraint, respect Kurdish rights, France says | PARIS (Reuters) - France on Friday called on Iraq s central government to show restraint after taking control of the last district in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk and said Baghdad should take the rights of Kurds fully into account. Iraqi forces are seeking to reestablish Baghdad s authority over territory which the Kurdish forces occupied outside the official boundaries of their autonomous region, mostly seized since 2014 in the course of the war on Islamic State militants. [L8N1MV1K2] We ask the federal government to show restraint and fully respect the rights of the Kurds, foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne told reporters. Tens of thousands of Kurds have fled Kirkuk and Tuz to the two main cities of the Kurdish autonomous region, Erbil and Sulaimaniya, according to Kurdish officials. The United Nations expressed concern on Thursday at reports of forced displacement and destruction of Kurdish homes and businesses, mainly in Tuz. Romatet-Espagne said the Kurds also needed to accept a dialogue with Baghdad within the framework of the constitution. | 0fake |
No Prison Time for White Football Player Accused of Raping Mentally Disabled Black Teen With Coat Hanger - Breitbart | A white football player from Idaho will not face jail time, after being accused of raping a mentally disabled black student with a coat hanger. [John R. K. Howard, 19, will instead serve out the punishment initially handed down by the courts in October of 2015, when he received a probation and 300 hours of community service. The courts decided against prison time, after a judge accepted a plea deal which allowed Howard to plead guilty and still maintain innocence. That plea, also known as the Alford plea, technically allows the client to continue maintaining innocence while acknowledging that the evidence against them is serious enough that the jury could find them guilty. The victim’s family have not spoken publicly, but according to the Independent, are “furious” at the court’s decision. The victim relayed the harrowing details of the rape during the trial of one of the other accused rapists, Tanner Ward. “After practice I was in the locker room, and one of my friends, he told me to come here, and I went over to him and gave him a hug,” the victim said during testimony obtained by the Guardian. “He told me to give him a hug. He had his hands out like he was going to give me a hug. And I gave him a hug, and he signaled for one of my other friends to come over. ” At that point, the rape commenced. The victim described his feelings during the rape, saying, “Pain that I have never felt took over my body. I screamed, but afterwards, I kept it to myself. ” The assailant, Howard, faced the charge of forcible sexual penetration by a foreign object, a charge which was later reduced. According to the Independent, “ … following negotiations between the defence counsel and the State Attorney General’s office — in which the state prosecutor, Deputy Attorney General Casey Hemmer, claimed the attack was not racially motivated and did not constitute a sex crime — the felony rape charge was dropped and replaced by a lesser charge of felony injury to a child. ” The victim, aged 17 at the time of the attack, qualified as a minor. The judge also referred to the attack as “bullying. ” As for the racial component of all this, the Independent reports, “Legal documents filed by the family in a separate case suing the school and district officials claim before the attack, the victim was “taunted and called racist names by other members of the team which names included ‘ ’ ‘chicken eater’ ‘watermelon’ and [the ]“. The family’s lawsuit against the school states that coaches on the football team encouraged players to toughen the victim up, presumably through fighting or hazing, and that coaches confronted the victim before the trial, convincing him to repudiate his own statement. During that episode, another coach recorded the conversation. According to the victim, “I just started telling a bunch of just lies because I wanted my friends back. ” The victim has attempted to commit suicide multiple times since the incident occurred in late 2015. Meanwhile, should John Howard violate his probation, he will face a possible prison sentence of up to ten years. However, according to the Independent, even this could get thrown out since Judge Stoker entered “a withheld judgement at the final hearing. ” Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn | 0fake |
Donald Trump may be showing us the future of right-wing politics | Pundits and politicians have been shocked by the Trump phenomenon, startled that so many Americans could be so enthusiastic about his anti-democratic style proposals.
But Trump is not that original. His actual proposals are in keeping with longstanding trends in U.S. history and society, with the rejection and nativism that have erupted after each immigration wave. His style is reminiscent of populist and fascist leaders who’ve succeeded both in Europe and Latin America during periods of economic stress, including such recent champions as Hugo Chávez and Silvio Berlusconi, authoritarians who elevated themselves and their supporters rather than building party structures or democratic institutions.
Some observers believe – or, perhaps, hope — that Trump’s followers misunderstand or don’t believe in what he represents. They’re wrong. We will explain.
The Trump movement cannot be dismissed as one of frustrated moderates
Some observers, including President Obama, suggest that his voters are misguided. Here in the Monkey Cage, Doug Ahler and David Broockman argued that Trump is a textbook example of an ideological moderate. Still others portray Trump followers as working-class outcasts of the changing economy that see his candidacy as a way to channel their frustrations. And many U.S. pundits—such as George Packer in The New Yorker—explain all this by saying that voters on left and right are “angry” with Washington, and that both Trump and Sanders represent a new wave of populism.
But Trump and Sanders must not be conflated. Sanders wants to politicize inequality. Trump, rather, is advocating for anti-politics, by which we mean that Trump’s language, and his followers’ celebration of his speeches, primarily express a rejection of politics in a democratic key. Trump’s stance represents the antithesis of Sanders’s call for political change. Trump’s narrative insists that he is above the fray of politics. This is, of course, an ideological and political claim. Returning America to national and international anti-democratic traditions it is just a different kind of politics.
And Trump’s followers explicitly agree with what he says. In December, seven out of 10 republicans believed that Trump “tells it like it is.” As Sarah Palin suggested when she endorsed Trump in Iowa, Trump stands against politics as usual as represented by “establishment candidates” who are “wearing political correctness like a suicide vest. And enough is enough.” While the establishment hears random insults, his followers hear a list of the enemies of a homogeneous America.
Many studies have revealed the link between resentment toward blacks and immigrants, on the one hand, and support for Trump on the other. In other, words, his supporters like Trump not despite his anti-democratic qualities, but precisely because of them. His campaign rallies often include incidents of physical violence against perceived outsiders. At a rally in Las Vegas, according to NBC News, one man shouted “Sieg heil.”
We believe racism and charismatic leadership bring Trump close to the fascist equation but he might be better described as post-fascist, which is to say populist.
From our research, let’s take a definition of populist post-fascism. This is a political style which has an extremely sacralizing understanding of politics. The leader understands politics as a theology in which he or she is the only who knows what is best for the nation. Populists consider people as formed by those who follow a unique vertical leadership; political antagonists are conceived as enemies who are potential or actual traitors to the nation.
Populists want leaders to be charismatic embodiments of the voice and desires of the nation as a whole. They argue for a strong executive and the discursive, and often practical, dismissal of the legislative and judicial branches of government. Toward that end, they engage in radical nationalism and emphasize popular culture, as opposed to other forms of culture that do not represent “national thought.” Finally, populism is an authoritarian form of electoral democracy that nonetheless rejects dictatorial forms of government.
Modern populism arose from the defeat of fascism, as a novel post-fascist attempt to bring back the fascist experience to the democratic path, creating in turn an authoritarian form of democracy that would stress strong leaders and caudillos such as General Juan Perón in Argentina and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
In populism, political democracy is strained but never eradicated, as it had been with fascism. Modern post-fascism pushes democracy to its limits but, generally, without breaking it. Trump’s vision of America is the latest example of this attempt to redefine democratic theory and practice.
Unlike Hitler and Mussolini, Trump does not have a real party. He wants to be the Republican candidate, but party officials and ideologues reject him. In contrast, fascist leaders were often founding members of movements and then emerged as their leaders.
As we mentioned earlier, Trump’s leadership is more akin to that of Hugo Chávez and Silvio Berlusconi. While Chávez – who started his own government reality show — invoked a vague ideological platform to gain power, in practice he centralized decision-making, attacked freedom of speech and dismantled the division of powers, always by invoking an external threat.Berlusconi denigrated institutions; used his billionaire status to prove he was a political outsider; and channeled the new European populism’s anti-migrant sentiment to hold power.
Trump uses anti-immigrant sentiment more often than Berlusconi and other leaders like Chávez’ successor Nicolas Maduro, bringing his rhetoric closer to that of other post-fascist politicians like Marine Le Pen in France.
The Republican leadership rejects Trump. Indeed, many conservatives call him a fascist. But Trump embodies many of the party’s views on immigration, Islam, climate change, women’s roles, minority voting, and so on. Trump and his followers differ not in kind but in the clarity and radical way in with which they express some of the extreme consequences of the tea party agenda.
If we consider a longer historical process in which the Republican Party in particular has been traveling steadily farther toward populism, Trump and his followers might very well be showing us the future of U.S. right-wing politics.
Federico Finchelstein is professor of history and department chair at The New School in New York and author, among other books, of The Ideological Origins of the Dirty War. Fascism, Populism, and Dictatorship in Twentieth-Century Argentina and Transatlantic Fascism: Ideology, Violence and the Sacred in Argentina and Italy, 1919-1945 .
Pablo Piccato is professor of history at Columbia University and author of The Tyranny of Opinion: Honor in the Construction of the Mexican Public Sphere and City of Suspects: Crime in Mexico City, 1900-1931. | 0fake |
Trump, conservatives try to put aside bitterness to cut tax deal | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Raw feelings and mistrust could pose an obstacle to President Donald Trump and hard-line conservative lawmakers in his Republican Party as they seek to rebound from defeat on healthcare legislation by launching into an overhaul of the U.S. tax code. Trump has accused the Freedom Caucus lawmakers of snatching a “defeat from the jaws of victory” with their rejection of the White House-backed healthcare bill to replace President Barack Obama’s 2010 healthcare reform bill. In interviews with 10 of the roughly three dozen House Freedom Caucus members, the lawmakers said they were eager to put aside tensions over the healthcare debacle and seek common ground on tax reform. But there is no consensus, even within the conservative faction, on details of a tax-reform bill, with some members open to discussing ideas such as the border tax plan supported by House leaders and others opposed to it. Representative Warren Davidson, a Freedom Caucus member from Ohio, said Republicans should leave aside the blame game and work through their policy differences before launching tax reform legislation. “Some people are still in that hurt-feelings and frustration” stage, Davidson said. “I do think it’s smart to take the time to get it right.” Republican Representative David Schweikert of Arizona, a Freedom Caucus lawmaker who sits on the tax-writing House of Representative Ways and Means Committee, could emerge as a bridge between the conservative faction and House leaders. The panel will work closely with House leadership on the tax bill. Schweikert said he planned to consult with rank-and-file members to discuss plans and listen to their priorities. He said giving companies incentives to invest in plants and equipment was one of the items on his own wish list. “My personal fixation is very simple: What maximizes economic growth?” Schweikert said. Representative Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus, said the group has “no formal position” on the structure of tax reform legislation. But Meadows listed the top priorities on his own wish list: “Lower taxes, lower taxes and lower taxes.” A 35-page blueprint developed by House Republican leaders, known as a “Better Way,” will serve as a starting point for the tax-reform discussions. The plan calls for streamlining the income tax system and cutting the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent. It would exclude export revenue from taxable income and impose a 20 percent tax on imports. The border tax proposal has divided the business community and is a top flashpoint for lawmakers. Big exporters such as General Electric Co say the tax would boost manufacturing and jobs. But retailers like Target Corp have said the border tax would hike consumer prices and hurt the economy. Trump, a businessman who had never been in public office until he took over at the White House on Jan. 20, has at times praised the border tax idea but at other times has been noncommittal. Virginia Congressman Dave Brat said he would insist that the tax bill not add to the deficit, while Meadows said he would not necessarily insist on that. Other conservatives said they needed more information about the tax bill to form an opinion - and some space from the contentious health care debate. “We just had a major battle on a Republican welfare plan and that has consumed to a large degree my time and mental effort,” said Alabama Representative Mo Brooks. “When we have a tax reform bill I can evaluate, that’s when I’ll start voting on it,” Brooks said. As a sign of tensions that have lingered after the collapse of the healthcare bill, Freedom Caucus lawmakers faced tough questioning from their colleagues during a closed-door meeting of House Republicans on Tuesday, said Representative Randy Weber of Texas. But Weber said some of the friction eased by the end of the meeting, prompting House Speaker Paul Ryan to say that more give and take might have been useful in the healthcare effort. “Ryan said: ‘This is what we should have been doing,’” Weber told Reuters. Republican Representative Ken Buck of Colorado, a member of the Freedom Caucus, said he thinks lawmakers learned lessons from the healthcare defeat that could apply to tax reform. “I think people are going to work harder to get to ‘yes’ this next piece of legislation,” Buck said. A Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll released on Wednesday showed Republicans mostly blame Congress, and not Trump or party leaders, for failing to pass the healthcare overhaul. | 0fake |
INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED: SECOND TRESPASSER May Have Been Near President Trump In U.S. Capitol [Video] | The news that a second man was able to sneak into the press gaggle inside the Capitol building earlier this week is a huge red flag. With all of the hate and leftist extremists out there, the security should be very tight. It s not Check out the news below that a second man bragged about being able to sneak into the press area:Congressional security officials Thursday were investigating a report of a second man who may have passed through security to join a press gaggle inside the U.S. Capitol building earlier this week awaiting President Trump, sources said.News of a possible second intruder came after another protester managed to infiltrate a group of reporters waiting for Trump, who had been meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill, the source told Fox News.The second person was described as a middle-aged man who stood about 6 feet, 3 inches tall and was dressed in a gray suit and bow tie. When asked by reporters who he worked for, the man replied, I m a tourist, and bragged about being able to sneak inside the Ohio Clock Corridor in the Capitol building. Via: FOX 5INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED INTO TRESPASSER WHO WAS ALREADY ON WATCH LIST:The liberal protester who earlier this week infiltrated a group of reporters in a secure area of the Capitol, tossed mini-Russian flags and shouted treason at President Trump had been on a watch list before Tuesday s incident, Fox News has learned.The protester was identified as Ryan Clayton, an activist from an anti-Trump group who was later arrested and charged with unlawful conduct.The U.S. Capitol Police Board is conducting an internal investigation into how someone without a press credential and on a watch list was able to slip into the secure area and get so close to the president. This was a monumental f up, a senior congressional security source told Fox News.Clayton has been on a watch list kept by the Capitol Police, a source said, and was denied entry to the complex earlier that day when an officer recognized him at the Russell Senate Office Building.But later on, officers in a tunnel leading to the Capitol did not check his ID to see if he had a pass or badge, the source said. He used an outdated visitor s pass to enter the Capitol through a tunnel connecting the Rayburn House Office building. After clearing the security checkpoint, he made his way outside the Senate chamber, where he blended in with credentialed congressional reporters and stood just feet away from Trump.A source also said Clayton was in possession of a four-day old pass for the location of the House Sensitive Compartmentalized Information Facility, which is home to the House Intelligence Committee. Fox News is told there is no evidence so far that Clayton attempted to access that facility.PROTESTER ON WATCH LIST MAKES HIS WAY INTO PRESS GROUP TO THROW RUSSIAN FLAGS AT POTUS:As we previously reported: A protester on Tuesday shouted Treason! at President Trump and threw mini Russian flags at him as he arrived for a meeting with Senate Republicans: The unhinged left is at it again They only make themselves look like lunatics when they pull stunts like this:A protester threw Russian flags at President Trump on Tuesday as he entered the GOP policy lunch.The protester could be heard shouting Trump is treason as the president walked by.Random guy threw Russian flags at Trump and shouted Trump is treason pic.twitter.com/stVfDOtMAB a da ch vez (@aidachavez_) October 24, 2017 Why are you talking about tax cuts when you should be talking about treason? the man could be heard shouting in videos.He was later identified as Americans Take Action s Ryan Clayton.Clayton is known for expressing his anti-Trump views by tossing Russia flags. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, he spearheaded the distrubiton of over 1,000 Russian flags with Trump s name printed across the middle.Americans Take Action is anti-Trump, with tabs on its website dedicated to his impeachment, Trump Puppets and options to Get Russian Trump Flags. Still unclear is how Clayton may have gotten into the press area, as security was extremely tight.Trump is huddling with Senate Republicans Tuesday on Capitol Hill in hopes of finding party unity.Republicans are in broad agreement about the need to pass tax reform, but are struggling to get on the same page as they begin a debate over legislation.THE IRONY IS THAT IT S THE CLINTONS AND THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION WHO ARE DEEP INTO RUSSIA:Devin Nunes just announced a probe into the Uranium One Deal that smells to high heaven of corruption and money laundering by the Clintons and the Obama administration:BREAKING: Devin Nunes announces probe into the #UraniumOneDeal. pic.twitter.com/c7p9mVdTYa Based Monitored (@BasedMonitored) October 24, 2017FBN S LOU DOBBS SPOKE WITH THE AUTHOR OF CLINTON CASH : Biggest scandal in the history of American politics While speaking with Peter Schweizer, the author of Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich, and Breitbart News senior editor-at-large on Friday, Fox Business Network host Lou Dobbs argued that the Uranium One deal could end up being the biggest scandal in the history of American politics.Dobbs said, There is no clear statement as to why we would give up, for any reason, any price, 20% of our uranium in this country. And that is a question that is left open still unanswered. and secondly, have you ever heard of anyone putting $145 million, at one moment, into the hands of the Clinton foundation? And the answer is, of course not. These questions, most basic and fundamental, were armed by the very committee made up of the very agencies, departments, and individuals responsible for national security. this, this is the biggest Obama scandal. I think it may well turn out to be the biggest scandal in American political history. | 1real |
At least 12 dead in shooting at office of satirical French magazine | BREAKING: Black-clad gunmen stormed the Paris offices of a satirical newspaper known for lampooning Islamic radicals early Wednesday, killing 12 and injuring as many as 15 before escaping, French officials said.
As many as three Kalashnikov-toting shooters were being sought after the attack at Charlie Hebdo, the newspaper known for challenging Muslim terrorists with a 2011 caricature of Prophet Mohammed on its cover and which recently tweeted a cartoon of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Two policemen and several journalists - including the cartoonist behind the newspaper's provocative images, were among the dead.
“We’ve avenged the honor of the prophet!” the killers shouted, according to witnesses who spoke to Sky News. The gunmen spoke French without any accent, according to Le Monde
The gunmen fled in a stolen car, and may have quickly ditched it and disappeared into the French capital's subway system, according to reports. A pedestrian has been injured by the terrorist’s vehicle, and there has been a second shootout, according to Le Figaro.
French President Francois Hollande branded the attack an act of terrorism and claimed that several other potential terror attacks had been thwarted "in recent weeks." Hollande added that the newspaper had been threatened in the past and was already under police protection and surveillance.
“This is a terrorist attack, there is no doubt about it,” Hollande told reporters.
Elsewhere in France, newspaper offices, shopping centers, museums and stations were placed under police protection.
Officials said the men walked into the ground floor of the newspaper's offices and began shooting before making their way up to the first floor. As they fled the scene, they shot at arriving policemen.
“It was a real butchery,” Rocco Contento, a spokesman for the Unité police union, told The Guardian.
Benoit Bringer, a journalist from the agency Premieres Lignes Tele, whose offices are next door, told the Telegraph he took refuge on the building's roof.
"Three policemen arrived by push bike, but they left naturally as the attackers were armed," he said.
The newspaper's offices are in the trendy 11th arrondissement of Paris, which includes posh restaurants and retail shops.
Charlie Hebdo's offices were firebombed in 2011 after a spoof issue featuring a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad on its cover. Nearly a year later, the magazine published crude Muhammad caricatures, drawing denunciations around the Muslim world. One of the dead in Wednesday's attack was satirical cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier, the newspaper's editorial director and the artist behind the caricatures that offended jihadists. He was the subject of a fatwah, and there is a Facebook page called "Execute Stephane Charbonnier."
British Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the attack and vowed solidarity with France.
"The murders in Paris are sickening," Cameron said. "We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | 0fake |
U.S. general Lori Robinson to become first woman to lead combatant command | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will name the first woman to head a U.S. combatant command, selecting Air Force General Lori Robinson as the next head of the military’s Northern Command, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Friday. The position, which is subject to Senate confirmation, is one of the most senior in the U.S. military and would make Robinson - who now leads U.S. air forces in the Pacific - the top general overseeing activities in North America. “General Robinson, it just so happens, would also be the first ever female combatant commander,” Carter said, disclosing Obama’s plans to nominate her. “That shows yet another thing - which is that we have, coming along now, a lot of female officers who are exceptionally strong. And Lori certainly fits into that category,” Carter said at an event hosted by Politico. Carter also announced Army General Vincent Brooks, the commanding general of U.S. Army Pacific, would be nominated to become the next commander of U.S. Forces in South Korea. | 0fake |
Trump healthcare order could run afoul of retirement plan law | (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s plan to make it easier for small businesses to band together and buy stripped-down health insurance plans could violate a federal law governing employee benefit plans and will almost certainly be challenged in court, legal experts said. Trump signed an executive order on Thursday aimed at letting small businesses join nationwide associations for the purpose of buying large-group health plans that are not subject to coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. Industry experts said Trump’s order could ultimately enable such associations to purchase insurance from states with the fewest regulations. That would undermine Obamacare, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law, which Republicans have failed to repeal. Several healthcare and employment law experts said if Trump’s plan moves forward, states could argue the federal government had overstepped its authority in violation of the U.S. Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), a law that governs large-group plans. In Thursday’s order, Trump asked the Department of Labor to propose rules that would allow more employers to participate in association health plans. Legal experts said lawsuits might not be brought until such regulations are issued. Dania Palanker, an assistant research professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms, said ERISA granted states the right to regulate association health plans. Attorneys general could argue the federal government had overreached if the Trump administration winds up allowing associations to buy health coverage across borders that only complies with a single state’s regulations. “Any attempt to allow the sale of association plans to small groups across state lines will be open to legal scrutiny as to whether it is violating ERISA and undermining state authority,” said Palanker. A White House official said that “departments will be drafting rules in a way that minimizes litigation risk.” The Department of Labor “will be reviewing ERISA in the course of following the President’s direction” in the order, the official said. A number of state attorneys general from Democratic-leaning states said on Thursday they would fight any efforts to weaken Obamacare, which extended health insurance to 20 million Americans, but which Republicans call intrusive and ineffective. “It should come as no surprise that California is prepared to fight in court to protect affordable healthcare for its people,” said Xavier Becerra, the state’s Democratic attorney general. Legal experts said states may argue the associations formed for the purpose of buying insurance are not employers under ERISA. Although ERISA allows associations to qualify as employers and manage large-group plans, federal regulators have generally required that members of such associations have a high degree of common interest beyond buying insurance, said Allison Hoffman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law. Trump’s order asks the secretary of labor, who enforces ERISA, to consider expanding the common-interest requirements to permit broader participation in association health plans. SHORT-TERM PLANS The idea of expanding association health plans across state lines has long been championed by Republican U.S. Senator Rand Paul, who made it a key plank of his own proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare. The Kentucky Republican was at Trump’s side when the president signed the executive order. Paul’s proposal said ERISA was too restrictive in its definition of associations and that the law needed to be amended. Thursday’s order also asked the Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services Departments to look into expanding participation in cheaper, bare-bones, short-term limited-duration insurance plans, which are not subject to the ACA. Timothy Jost, a professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, said such a move would face fewer legal hurdles than the expansion of association health plans. The current three-month limitation on the use of such plans was a rule adopted by the Obama administration last year, so the Trump administration could roll it back through the normal rulemaking process. Such plans are typically marketed to individuals who are between jobs or have a gap in coverage. They are much cheaper than ACA plans, but cover less and can exclude those with pre-existing conditions. | 0fake |
For some Chinese dissidents, party congress means a paid 'vacation' | BEIJING (Reuters) - Hu Jia, a well-known Chinese dissident who lives in Beijing, says he had hoped to go to the southeastern city of Xiamen for his government-sponsored holiday, but state security officials said no. They told me I had to go to a more isolated place this time, he told Reuters by phone from Yunnan province in far southwestern China, a popular destination renowned for its scenery and the culture of its ethnic minority groups. Rights groups say that Hu is one dozens of activists and dissidents detained, placed under tighter monitoring or vacationed by authorities, during the week-long congress of the ruling Communist Party which began on Wednesday in Beijing. President Xi Jinping is expected to tighten his grip on power at the gathering, which is only held once every five years. For his enforced holiday, Hu and his two government minders jointly decided on the destinations. Hu suggested the ancient town of Dali in Yunnan for the first stop, and the public security agents accompanying him chose the second and third stops in the southwest region, Guiyang the capital of the mountainous province of Guizhou, and the coastal city of Beihai in Guangxi province. Hu estimated the whole trip for the three of them will cost close to 10,000 yuan ($1,510), all paid for by the authorities. He said that his minders tried to save money by choosing basic hotels and traveling between the three cities by bus. He will fly back to Beijing on Oct 28, just after the congress ends. You can go see the sights, but state security goes with you everywhere, Hu said. Reuters was unable to independently verify the accounts of Hu and other dissidents interviewed for this story. China s public security ministry did not respond to a faxed request for comment on the detention of activists, and the use of vacations. China rarely explains its treatment of dissidents other than to say that those charged are criminals who harmed social stability and that all people in China are treated equally before the law. It is not unusual for Chinese authorities to heighten monitoring and detention of dissidents before important political events, especially people with high profiles who are known to speak out against the party and state. In addition to the enforced vacations, some activists have also been detained, placed under supervision at home, or warned about posting critical messages online in the weeks ahead of congress, according to the Hong Kong-based group Chinese Human Rights Defenders. The group also said it had documented 14 cases of detention of activists in recent weeks. In one case, Wu Kemu, a truck driver from Xuancheng city in the central province of Anhui, was called in by the police for a talk on October 11 and has not been released since, his wife Fang Liangxiang told Reuters by phone on Sunday. They will not say when he will be released. They just told me to wait at home for him, she said, adding that she expected the detention was related to critical things Wu had said about the government on the popular instant messaging platform WeChat. No one answered the phone on Saturday at the Xuancheng city detention center where Fang says Wu is being held. It is unclear if the total number of detentions, arrests or vacations this year is greater than at the time of previous major events or how many of the cases are directly related to the congress. Some activists say that the authorities prefer enforced vacations rather than detentions as they can make dissidents both inactive and inaccessible to foreign journalists over sensitive periods. Locking people up can attract more attention. Hu, a pro-democracy activist and campaigner for those with HIV/AIDS, was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for subversion in 2008, and said he has been under regular state surveillance since his release. The first thing I did was go for a run up in the mountains by Dali, because I knew the state security agents could not run with me, he said, adding that the agents were not the running type. It felt like being briefly free from prison, he said. Hu said that state security agents had shown him a list of people who would not be allowed to stay in Beijing over the 19th Party Congress, including Liu Xia, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo. Liu Xia has been under effective house arrest in Beijing since her husband won the Nobel Prize in 2010. After his death in July, even the sporadic communications she s had with friends have been nearly entirely severed, two of them told Reuters. The public security ministry did not respond to a request for comment on Liu Xia s situation. Some activists make their own travel plans to avoid the authorities. Wu Lihong, an activist from Wuxi city in Jiangsu province who for over a decade has been protesting pollution in Lake Tai in eastern China, told Reuters that Chinese state security had called him last week saying they were coming to take him for a forced vacation. Wu, though, had already gone to visit a friend in Zhejiang province, on the east coast and far away from Beijing, to avoid them. At the 16th, 17th and 18th Congresses I was vacationed, imprisoned, held at home and forbidden to speak, Wu said. This time, I chose to go on holiday without them, he said. He said that state security officials had asked him to return to Wuxi so they could take him on vacation themselves, but he declined saying he would stay with his friend till after the congress ends. He is now avoiding their calls. Reuters could not independently confirm Wu s comments. Chinese state security does not have a public phone number, fax number or website. Xi has overseen a sweeping crackdown on rights lawyers and activists since coming to power in 2012, jailing dozens, in what rights groups say is a coordinated attempt to quash dissent in China. New internet measures include rules that hold users accountable for critical posts even in private group chats and a renewed crackdown on technologies to circumvent restrictions. Kit Chan, director of the Hong Kong-based China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group, said that some recent detentions of activists represent a new direction in the crackdown as it shows the authorities are targeting smaller groups that draw attention to specific rights issues as much as their traditional focus on pro-democracy activists. Zhen Jianghua, for example, the founder of Human Rights Campaign in China, a grassroots organization based in the southern province of Guangzhou, was detained on Sept 1 in Zhuhai, a source close to Zhen who declined to be named told Reuters. The ministry of public security did not respond to a faxed request for comment about the targeting of grassroots organizations. A person who answered the phone at the Zhuhai public security bureau said she was not aware of Zhen s case. | 0fake |
Democrats take aim at big companies in economic blueprint | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Democrats unveiled an economic platform on Monday that included plans to address unfair market competition, rising pharmaceuticals costs and stagnant wages. Democrats proposed new standards that companies must meet to complete large mergers and enhanced post-merger reviews, singling out the airline, telecommunications, beer, food and eyeglass industries as areas of concern in the proposal dubbed “A Better Deal” for working Americans. Last year, Republicans proposed legislative goals with a similar title: “A Better Way.” The Democrats’ platform is a move to regroup ahead of the 2018 midterm congressional elections, after Hillary Clinton’s loss to Republican President Donald Trump in 2016. Republicans control both the House and the Senate. Senator Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the U.S. Senate, accused Trump of running a populist election campaign and then abandoning working people for special interests once in the White House. “We can’t delude anyone that this Congress will begin passing our priorities tomorrow but we have to start presenting our vision for the country’s future,” Schumer said at a kickoff event in the town of Berryville, Virginia. Accompanying Schumer was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen and Amy Klobuchar, and Representatives Hakeem Jeffries and David Cicilline, among others. Democrats want to create an independent government agency that would crack down on drug companies that raise prices excessively. They also want to allow Medicare, the government health insurance program for the elderly, to negotiate prices with manufacturers. Additionally, drug companies would need to justify big price hikes to the government. Policy proposals provided to reporters singled out a few companies by name, including Turing Pharmaceuticals and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. One document criticized United Continental Holdings Inc for the “brutal assault” of a United passenger who was already seated on an overbooked flight and refused to give up his seat for a crew member. Separately, if AT&T Inc’s purchase of Time Warner Inc succeeds, it would allow the “resulting behemoths” to “unfairly discriminate” against smaller distributors, one document stated. When Anheuser Busch InBev, the world’s largest beer maker, purchased SABMiller, the second-largest beer company, it put smaller brewers at a disadvantage, the documents said. Mergers between Dow Chemical Co and DuPont, Monsanto Co with Bayer AG and Syngenta AG with ChemChina “threaten the safety of food and agriculture in America,” one document said. Democrats will also propose doubling federal support for apprenticeship programs, a tax credit for employers that hire and train workers that make a liveable wage, and encouraging partnerships between companies and public high schools and community colleges. | 0fake |
EU regrets U.S. withdrawal from climate deal, will seek other allies | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission said it deeply regretted the decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, saying it would seek new alliances to combat climate change. “The EU deeply regrets the unilateral decision by the Trump administration to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement,” the European Commission said after U.S. President Donald Trump announced his country’s withdrawal from the deal. “The EU will strengthen its existing partnerships and seek new alliances from the world’s largest economies to the most vulnerable island states,” the Commission added. | 0fake |
GOP Hopefuls’ 2016 Theme Has a New Pitch | Several Republicans eyeing presidential bids in 2016 are tackling policy questions not typically identified as conservative priorities, including wage stagnation and aid for the poor, an early bid to address a political weakness that helped sink the party’s last White House nominee.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio devoted his new book, “American Dreams,” to revamping programs for the poor and middle class. Ohio Gov. John Kasich will use his inaugural address Monday to renew his call to help “people in the shadows.” And former... | 0fake |
U.S. tax revamp still incomplete as Republicans eye social program cuts | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Even before completing their overhaul of the U.S. tax code, Republicans in Washington have begun turning their attention to changes and possible cuts in the social safety net of government programs for the poor, children, elderly and disabled Americans. President Donald Trump, House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and other Republican officials in recent remarks have made clear that welfare or “entitlement reform,” as they often call it, will be a top priority for them in 2018. “Next year, we’re going to have to get back to entitlement reform,” Ryan said on a radio talk show on Wednesday. In Republican parlance, “entitlement” programs mean food stamps, housing assistance, Medicare and Medicaid health insurance for the elderly, poor and disabled, as well as other programs created to assist the needy. Democrats in Washington have seized on Ryan’s remarks, saying they show that Republicans will attempt to pay for their tax overhaul, still incomplete on Friday but nearing the finish line, by pivoting to seeking cuts in entitlement spending. Republican plans to slash taxes on corporations and the rich would raise the federal budget deficit and U.S. debt by about $1 trillion over 10 years. For months, most Republicans - who have long argued against running up the deficit - have downplayed that impact. But next year, Democrats are predicting that Republicans will return to a more customary message for them - that deficits and debt do matter, and that the best way to address that problem is by cutting federal spending. “The Republicans’ next chapter will be, ‘Oh, we have a deficit, we have to do something about it, let’s cut Medicare and let’s cut Medicaid,” Democratic Senator Ben Cardin told a news conference on Thursday. Negotiators from the Senate and House on Friday were still hammering out a final version of a Republican tax bill that they want to send to Trump by the end of the month to sign into law. Crafting a single tax bill acceptable to both the Senate and the House is proving difficult. Though lawmakers are working on a tight timetable and talks could still falter, Republican leaders are expressing confidence that a deal will be struck. “When they finish their work, members of both chambers will have the opportunity to pass this tax reform legislation and send it to President Trump,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Thursday, calling the tax legislation the “single most important thing” Republicans can do to help the economy grow. The rival Republican tax bills already passed by the House and Senate both would deliver roughly $1.5 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade, with businesses and wealthy Americans scoring the biggest gains. The bills would add about $1 trillion to the federal deficit over the same period, according to government estimates, even after taking into account projected economic growth. ‘PAY-AS-YOU-GO’ Enacting the tax bill would trigger automatic cuts to a variety of programs, including Medicare, due to a congressional budget rule that requires laws that increase the deficit to offset it with cuts to mandatory spending programs. The “pay-as-you-go” rule applies to the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, but cuts to that program would be capped at 4 percent, or up to $28 billion in 2018, according to government estimates. Medicaid, the Social Security retirement program, food stamps and other programs for the poor are exempt from such automatic cuts. To secure the Republican votes needed to pass the Senate’s version of tax legislation on Dec. 2, Ryan and McConnell pledged not to allow automatic cuts to Medicare. “This will not happen,” they said in a joint statement. Congress must pass separate legislation to override automatic Medicare cuts triggered by passage of the tax bill. As a presidential candidate last year, Trump said he would not cut Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security. But Ryan said on Wednesday that in private conversations with the president, he believes he has started convincing Trump that changes to Medicare may be needed. Trump last month said that “very shortly after taxes,” the White House would be “looking very strongly at welfare reform.” White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said at a Thursday event hosted by the pro-business American Council on Capital Formation group that the White House has been studying possible changes to the welfare system. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden said during debate last week on the Senate tax bill that Republican talk about entitlement or welfare reform was “code” for cutting Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. “You’re going to hear a lot of lingo about entitlement reforms and welfare reforms,” Wyden said on Thursday. | 0fake |
The Basque Country: Spain's effective but expensive antidote to secession | (This Oct. 9 story has been refiled to add a dropped word in the headline) By Sonya Dowsett BILBAO, Spain (Reuters) - As Spain and Catalonia head toward a constitutional collision over the region s claim to independence, lawmakers on both sides of the crisis are pointing to a way out: north, to Basque Country. Among the verdant mountains of Basque Country, which borders France, a once-violent campaign for independence has petered out, with generous fiscal autonomy from Madrid helping to keep popular agitation for independence in check. We don t have that economic resentment, Aitor Esteban, organizer for the Basque National Party in Spain s parliament, told Reuters in an interview at party headquarters in Bilbao. People don t feel that need to act upon a grievance about money; that makes a big difference. The Catalan government is not calling for a Basque-style deal, insisting instead on independence after declaring overwhelming support for secession in an Oct. 1 referendum banned by Madrid. But the most moderate lawmakers in the region s ruling coalition privately say they could drop independence claims if they were given the tax autonomy that Basque Country enjoys. In Madrid, some socialists have suggested it could serve as a model for a compromise that would defuse Spain s biggest political crisis since a failed coup in 1981, although the cost to the central government would be significant. Basque staged modest protests over Madrid s violent crackdown on Catalonia s referendum, but the crisis has failed to rekindle secessionist fervor on the streets of Bilbao, the Basque capital nestled on the banks of the Nervion. Catalan flags hang from balconies alongside the Basque flag in a sign of solidarity, but Bilbao is prosperous and peaceful. Where once unionist politicians needed bodyguards and car bombings were a constant fear, tourists now crowd the taverns of the old town and the world-famous Guggenheim museum. Just 17 percent of Basques want independence and less than half would like to hold a referendum on the issue, according to a poll carried out by the university of Deusto. Basque militant group ETA, which killed more than 850 people in a decades-long campaign to carve out a separate state, effectively ended its armed resistance this year when it surrendered its weapons. The region now has one of the highest economic outputs per capita and one of the lowest unemployment rates in Spain. The independence debate is on standby in Basque Country because of great fatigue after years of violence and uncertainty after the economic crisis, said Xabier Barandiaran, professor of sociology at Deusto University. Basque s fiscal autonomy is among the most generous of any region in Europe, dating back to the 19th century and enshrined in Spain s 1978 constitution. If it were to be extended to Catalonia, an economically more powerful region accounting for a fifth of national production, the Spanish state would lose about 16 billion euros, according to a 2014 study by research house CSIC. That would equal about 13 percent of next year s budget and affect Spain s deficit and borrowing costs. For that reason, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has ruled out such generous treatment for Catalonia. Under Basque s accord with Madrid, the region collects nearly all its own taxes, which are forecast to total 13 billion euros ($15 billion) this year. It is due to return 800 million euros to Madrid in what is known as an annual quota to cover the costs of national expenses such as defense or infrastructure. Rajoy has sweetened that arrangement since he regained power at the head of a minority government last year, as the price of securing Basque National Party support for his 2017 budget. It has proved unpopular with other regions who would almost certainly oppose any similar deal for Catalonia, as it would mean cutting their share of state revenue. Typically, regions pass taxes to Madrid which redistributes money back to them according to a formula that favors the poorer regions. Former Catalan leader Artur Mas tried to hold talks with Rajoy in 2012 about granting Catalonia powers to raise and spend its own taxes, but the prospect of negotiations in the current climate look bleak. Catalonia has long said it pays a disproportionate level of taxes to Madrid in relation to the central funding it receives. A study backed by the Budget Ministry says Catalonia pays to the state 9.9 billion euros more than it receives. The Catalan economy ministry says this is even higher. Economists say an overhaul of the fiscal relationship between Madrid and the regions is overdue because the current system has led to intense tax competition between regions. Some autonomous communities have become under-financed, resulting in cuts in public services. Now the situation is so critical, there might just be the political momentum needed to tackle it, said Antonio Garcia Pascual of Barclays Capital. | 0fake |
The Powerful Act Immoral as they Also Suffer from Herd Mentality | The Powerful Act Immoral as they Also Suffer from Herd Mentality Nov 7, 2016 2 0
The people at or near the top of the power pyramid are just as vulnerable to being sheep as we all are. In fact, they’re even more likely to fall to pressure from their peers because they have so much more at stake if they make the wrong choice.
That stake is money, power and other forms of capital. It’s their entire lifestyle at risk. If they rock the boat, there goes their business deals, their favors, their prioritization.
And these aspects of their life most likely define their identity, as sad as that might be.
That’s because all these consequences are of a nature which do not account for honor, integrity and morality. Connecting with the self to become an authentic man or woman is one of the real successes in life, so if they disregard this basic tenet to being human, then they’ve sold their soul for nothing less than a false path.
These sorts of people have a lot of influence that they’re failing to utilize for the benefit of humanity, as well as the environment. The core effect they could achieve is based in helping people to expand their understanding, and therefore their consciousness, to facilitate bringing about an era of truth, justice, peace and abundance for humankind.
Who exactly is being referenced here? They include celebrities, politicians, bureaucrats, military and police personnel, journalists, business moguls, so-called self-help gurus and pretty much anyone who is connected to the oligarchical families that are orchestrating the grand plan of global governance.
Now of course not all of them are alike. But let’s face it; how many of those with a massive social influence are speaking out against not just the peripheral problems, but the core ones such as the scams embedded into our system itself?
Fuck all; that how’s many.
Entering into their minds, it’s easy for them to be persuaded by the fear if they talk about some of the seriously uncomfortable truths of the world they’d be labeled as a conspiracy theorist. Yet the reality is that many conspiracy ‘facts’ are backed up with so much evidence they are simply ‘matter as fact’.
Like so many of us do, the truth needs to be shared. We all need to hear, understand and embody it into our thoughts and actions.
Simply, it stands to reason that we all need to play our part, especially those who have taken on a role with societal responsibility.
In any case, there are obviously many other reasons why these people don’t speak up. Examples include that they’re: subtly pretending to themselves that nothing is happening, ensuring they are a very unconscious person; turning a blind eye, even though they know and feel it; just simply ignorant of how the world works, like most people; psychopaths and/or sociopaths, where they’re involved in deeply disgraceful ideologies and practices; programmed and conditioned to support the status quo; dazed and confused in an overwhelming game of so-called power; a fake and weak human being; and/or in the drift of an existential crisis, which means their tide might actually turn. Final Thoughts
In the awakening community, we talk a lot about the people having the ultimate power, because we’ve got the numbers. So, if we want the sham of our system to cease, then all we have to do is organize to at least some degree to bring about the next steps of our societal evolution.
Well, what about all these people embedded in the parasitic culture that has hijacked humanity’s future? Can’t they be a beacon of light too?
Of course they can. To do so, they, like all of us, need to do their proper research and open their minds and hearts to both the madness and magic that permeates our existence of duality. If they do, they’ll deeply connect with their true role as a light shining into the darkness.
After all, no shadows exist when the light is shone from all angles.
A B OUT THE AUTHOR
Phillip J. Watt lives on the Mid North Coast of NSW Australia. His written and film work deals with topics from ideology to society, as well as self-development. Follow him on Facebook , watch his interviews with an array of inspiring guests at his YouTube Channel or visit his website . | 1real |
Путин: Не думаю, что агрессивность - мой стиль | 0 комментариев 18 поделились
"Уважаемый модератор (сессии) пожелал мне благополучно выйти на пенсию, я тоже себе этого желаю. Когда время придет, это (будет) очень правильно, нужно сделать. Пока я еще не на пенсии, действующий руководитель большой державы, я должен быть сдержанным, не проявлять в своих выражениях излишнюю агрессивность. Я, собственно говоря, и не думаю, что это мой стиль", — сказал Путин на итоговой пленарной сессии ежегодного заседания Международного дискуссионного клуба "Валдай".
Президент также отметил, что хотя все атрибуты демократии в современных ведущих государствах налицо, реально у большинства граждан нет влияния на власть.
"Выборы перестают быть инструментом перемен, а сводятся к скандалам, к обсуждению компроматов, простите меня, к обсуждению того, кто кого за что ущипнул, кто с кем спит. Но это просто переходит всякие границы. Да и, честно говоря, если посмотреть на программы кандидатов, то такое впечатление, что они скроены по одним и тем же лекалам", — отметил российский лидер.
"Граждане чувствуют, что их интересы и представление элит о единственно правильном курсе, который эти элиты выбирают, все чаще и больше расходятся между собой. Как следствие, референдумы, выборы, все чаще и больше преподносят сюрпризы для власти. Люди голосуют совсем не так, как им советовали официальные респектабельные СМИ, не так это рекомендуют так называемые "системные партии". А общественные движения, которые еще совсем недавно считались слишком левыми или слишком правыми, выходят на авансцену, оттесняя политических тяжеловесов", — цитирую Владимира Путина РИА Новости.
Он отметил, что сперва такие неудобные результаты пытались объявить некой аномалией. А когда они стали повторяться, "заговорили о том, что общество не понимает тех, кто находится на Олимпе власти, не доросло до того, чтобы оценить устремления властных структур, заботу о народном благе, а то и вовсе доходит до истерики, мол, это следствие зарубежной, как правило, российской пропаганды".
Говоря об актуальных проблемах современности, глава государства отметил, что правила в мировой политике и экономике постоянно меняются.
"Противоречия, связанные с перераспределением экономической мощи и политического влияния, только нарастают. Груз взаимного недоверия сужает наши возможности эффективно отвечать на стоящие перед мировым сообществом реальные вызовы и реальные угрозы. По сути, в кризисе оказался сам проект глобализации, а в Европе говорят уже, мы это хорошо знаем и слышим, о несостоятельности мультикультурализма", — отметил Владимир Путин.
"Считаю, что такая ситуация — во многом следствие ошибочного, поспешного, а в чем-то и самоуверенного выбора, сделанного элитами некоторых государств четверть века назад. Тогда… был шанс не просто ускорить процессы глобализации, а принять при этом качественно иной, гармоничный, устойчивый характер", — подчеркнул президент.
Владимир Путин также отметил, что санкции используются сейчас для политического давления, при этом создаются закрытые торговые альянсы в обход ВТО. Поделиться: | 1real |
What $100 Can Buy, State by State - The New York Times | Spend enough time traveling around the United States and you’re bound to notice a dramatic variation in what a dollar can buy. Everything from the price of a cup of coffee to the cost of a house can fluctuate between, and even within, states. A gallon of regular gas costs $2. 74 in Hawaii, but just $1. 82 in South Carolina. The average Connecticut resident pays twice as much for electricity as the average Tennessee resident. A $7 lager in San Francisco might cost you half as much in Chicago. A $5 hamburger in California may be a dollar cheaper in Nebraska. Tuition at public colleges varies by orders of magnitude. Fortunately for the confused consumer, the federal government now measures these variations. For a few years now, the agency that tracks gross domestic product, personal income and other economic indicators has also produced what it calls Regional Price Parities, measures of price fluctuations across states and metropolitan areas. That data, published in July by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, shows that a dollar can swing by more than 30 percent in terms of what it can buy. “Regional price differences are strikingly large real purchasing power is 36 percent greater in Mississippi than it is in the District of Columbia,” Alan Cole, an economist with the Tax Foundation, a think tank, noted last week in a blog post. To better understand, imagine a store offering a range of goods and services, each for sale at the price for that particular item. Now, imagine a shopping cart filled with $100 worth of items from that store. In Hawaii, $100 buys about 85 percent of the goods in the cart thanks to the high prices there. In other words, $100 in Hawaii feels more like $85. 60, compared to the national average. In Mississippi, the opposite is true. With $100, you would be able to buy the cart’s contents and more: the equivalent of $115. 30 of goods and services from the store. The “real value” of a dollar is highest in Mississippi, Arkansas ($114. 30) Alabama ($113. 90) South Dakota ($113. 60) and Kentucky ($112. 70). It buys the least in the District of Columbia ($84. 70) Hawaii, New York ($86. 40) New Jersey ($87. 30) California ($89) and Maryland ($90. 70). The Regional Price Parities are calculated using data already collected for another indicator, the Consumer Price Index, which serves as a measure of inflation. For that index, the government tracks prices of more than 200 goods and services, including men’s suits, college textbooks, cereal, electricity and cars and trucks. It also tallies rents, which are particularly variable among states. The “real value” of $100 in rent can range from roughly $63 in Hawaii to $160 in Arkansas. Generally, the prices of goods and services in states correlate with the nominal incomes, according to Mr. Cole. “There is a relationship between the two: in places with higher incomes, the prices of finite resources like land get bid up,” he wrote. But, he noted, when prices in a region are high, employers often raise pay to attract and retain talent. The two don’t always correlate, however. Some states are home to high incomes and low prices, a valuable combination for working residents. After adjusting for the purchasing power of a dollar, North Dakota emerges as the state where per capita incomes have the most purchasing power. The “real per capita personal income” there is roughly $56, 000. Connecticut is next at $55, 000, followed by Washington, D. C. at $54, 000, Wyoming at $52, 000, Massachusetts at $50, 000 and Nebraska at $48, 000. The states where incomes fall shortest are Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Idaho and Hawaii, all of them home to real per capita personal incomes of $36, 000, give or take a few hundred dollars. | 0fake |
Northern Ireland won't stay in EU market, customs after Brexit: UK | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Northern Ireland will not stay in the European Union s single market or the customs union after Brexit, a British government official said, adding that arrangements for the border with Ireland must not eat into the United Kingdom s integrity. Allowing Northern Ireland to retain some access has been floated by the European Parliament s Brexit pointman, Guy Verhofstadt. We will leave the European Union in 2019 as one United Kingdom, the British minister for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, said on Monday. We need to ensure that nothing is done that undermines the integrity of the UK single market. I find it difficult to image how Northern Ireland could somehow remain in while the rest of the country leaves. I find it impossible, he told a seminar in Brussels. Brokenshire reiterated Prime Minister Theresa May s insistence that the United Kingdom would be exiting both as a result of the 2016 referendum. London has proposed an invisible border without checkpoints or immigration controls between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit. But it has given no firm ideas on customs arrangements and the EU has mostly been critical, seeing these plans as unrealistic. Dublin has said it will not let Brexit negotiations move from the divorce talks to discussions about future trade relations between Britain and the EU - as London is pushing for - without more guarantees on the border. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney has demanded more guarantees that the Irish issue would be solved even if the future trade talks between Britain and the remaining 27 EU states collapse. Show us how it could be done in practice, how can you be outside of the single market and customs union and not have border infrastructure at the same time, one EU diplomat said in Brussels. It s about where and how you will carry out checks. With London reluctant to accept controls between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom, and both sides declaring determination to avoid a hard border between the two Irish communities, the person said the only remaining option would be to run checks between Ireland and the rest of the EU. That would complicate Ireland s exports to the EU as everything would be checked as if it were coming from Northern Ireland, but maybe that would still be a less bad option for them than having a border on the island, the diplomat added. Brokenshire said some agricultural laws in Northern Ireland which is trying to reach agreement on how to relaunch its regional executive that is ruled at arm s length from London were already different than elsewhere in the United Kingdom. After meeting the EU s top agriculture official in Brussels, Irish Commissioner Phil Hogan, Brokenshire signaled Belfast could keep some of its laws closer to those of the EU after Brexit to minimize trade disruptions across the future border. He also said London was keen to preserve the common travel area Ireland has with Britain, as well as the single electricity market on the island of Ireland. He hoped for close cooperation with Dublin, including on security matters, after Britain leaves, as is now due to happen in March, 2019. British and EU negotiators will meet in Brussels again this Thursday and Friday for more Brexit talks that have been grinding slowly, unnerving investors and businesses who seek clarity to plan their operations. Brussels is growing skeptical that there will be enough progress in time for another gathering of all EU leaders in mid-December on the three main issues the bloc wants to settle before opening trade talks. The question of the Irish border is one. The most politically contentious one is agreeing Britain s divorce bill. Most progress has been achieved in the third - setting mutual safeguards for Britons living in the EU after Brexit and EU citizens residing in the first country to ever decide to leave the bloc - but that is not yet settled either. | 0fake |
21 Girls Kidnapped From Chibok School Released by Boko Haram, Nigeria Says - The New York Times | LAGOS, Nigeria — Two and a half years after nearly 300 girls were kidnapped from a school in northeastern Nigeria, the government said on Thursday that 21 of them had been freed, the biggest breakthrough in an ordeal that has shocked the world and laid bare the deadly instability gripping large parts of the country. Boko Haram, the radical Islamist group that has killed thousands of civilians, overrun villages and terrorized the region, seized the girls from a school in the town of Chibok on April 14, 2014. For many around the globe, the mass abduction provided a stunning introduction to a militant group that had been waging war against Nigerians for years. Soon after the girls were kidnapped, an international campaign began urging the Nigerian government to do more to secure their release, using the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls and drawing support from Michelle Obama and others. For more than a year, the Nigerian government has negotiated with Boko Haram to get the girls back. But the talks fell apart multiple times, in one case at the last minute, after the president had agreed to free imprisoned Boko Haram fighters. Another time, the talks failed because central members of Boko Haram’s negotiating team were killed. Finally, the government said Thursday, the negotiations bore fruit. Still, most of the girls remain in captivity, their whereabouts, health and circumstances unknown. “The release of the girls, in a limited number, is the outcome of negotiations between the administration and the Boko Haram, brokered by the International Red Cross and the Swiss government,” Garba Shehu, a spokesman for President Muhammadu Buhari, said in a series of messages posted on Twitter. “The negotiations will continue. ” The girls were released around 5:30 a. m. on Thursday, the government said. In addition to the 21 girls, a boy born to one of them in captivity was released, it said. At a news conference in the capital, Abuja, the girls sat in rows in a room packed with government ministers, officials and journalists. Wearing colorful dresses, the girls listened to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo speak from behind a table, flanked by his ministers. “We can imagine what they’ve gone through,” he said. “So much needs to be done to get them back to living a normal life after so much trauma in captivity. ” Mr. Osinbajo described the girls as being in “reasonably good health considering the circumstances they’ve been held in. ” He added that they would stay in a medical facility “for some time, until we’re reasonably satisfied of their health condition. ” As for the other girls held by Boko Haram, Mr. Osinbajo suggested that “in the next few days, the next few months, we should be able to bring in more of these girls, along the same lines, using exactly the same negotiations. ” But he warned that the government, which is waging an aggressive campaign to fight Boko Haram and regain territory seized by the group, had the fate of the nation to consider as well. “We want to ensure that we bring these girls back alive,” Mr. Osinbajo said. “At the same time we, of course, balance this against the overall safety and security of the country. ” Relatives of the girls rejoiced, even before they knew whether their kin were among those freed. Lawan Zanna, the father of Aisha Zanna, one of the abducted girls, said by telephone that he hoped his daughter had been freed. All of the parents are “very happy hearing that they have released our daughters,” he said. “All are our daughters. ” Another parent, Esther Yakubu, said by telephone that she was praying that her daughter Dorcas was among those released. “They say it’s only 21,” she said. “Most of them are still out there, and we want them to come back. ’’ Manasseh Allen, a native of Chibok whose cousin was abducted, said in a phone interview that he hoped more girls could be rescued. “Once we have 21 parents now linked up with daughters, at least we have solved a good part of the problem,” he said. “So many will be hopeful that their daughters have been brought back. ” Asked if he thought a ransom was involved, he said: “Whether it’s a ransom, whether it’s a prisoner swap, the government knows how best to get these girls back. All we are after is to get the girls back. ” Earlier in the day, Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, denied preliminary reports that Boko Haram fighters might have been released in exchange for the girls. “Please note that this is not a swap,” he said. “It is a release, the product of painstaking negotiations and trust on both sides. We see this as a credible first step in the eventual release of all the Chibok girls in captivity. ” The Bring Back Our Girls campaign thanked the Nigerian security services on Facebook and added: “We trust that our government will continue to work to keep the safety, security and of the other girls a high priority. ” The abductions, during exam time at a boarding school, increased pressure on the government to fight Boko Haram, which has raged through parts of northern Nigeria for years, burning entire villages and carrying out rape, beheadings, looting and other acts of violence. Some girls managed to escape shortly after the fighters stormed their school and hauled away their classmates, and in May, the authorities announced that one girl, Amina Ali, had been found she was wandering in the forest when members of a vigilante group came across her as they prepared to ambush a Boko Haram camp. But a majority of the girls are still missing, and it is feared that many may never return. In August, Boko Haram released a video purporting to show the bodies of several kidnapped schoolgirls who fighters said were killed by Nigerian airstrikes. The girls still in captivity are thought to be held by a faction controlled by the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, rather than a newer faction that has been endorsed by the Islamic State. The latter faction split from Mr. Shekau’s group after an ideological dispute over killings that targeted Muslims. Western intelligence officials have said they believe the girls are scattered in small groups, another hurdle to rescuing them. The Nigerian military, with help from troops from neighboring nations and from the United States, Britain and France, has made big advances against Boko Haram in recent months. But it has had trouble holding towns once liberated from Boko Haram control, and Boko Haram fighters have also taken the fight to neighboring countries like Niger. | 0fake |
Wolf Richter: What the Heck’s Going on with Foreclosures? Why this Spike? | Massachusetts +11% New York +10%
When home prices rise for years, foreclosure filings become rare because defaulting homeowners can usually sell the home for more than they owe and pay off the mortgage. The problem arises when home prices fail to rise locally, and it balloons when home prices fall. We’ve seen that last time around. After bouncing along super low levels during Housing Bubble 1 through 2005, foreclosure filings skyrocketed during the housing crash starting in 2006. At first it was just an uptick that no one paid attention to. By 2008, it helped take down the financial system.
Foreclosure filings peaked in late 2009, began dropping in 2010, and then tapered down to 2006 levels as foreclosures were processed, and as the home price surge of Housing Bubble 2 made new defaults less likely. But the spike in October stands out as much as those in the early phases of the housing bust in 2006 and 2007. Note the blue bar on the right :
While some states are still trying to digest the foreclosures from the last housing crisis, according to Daren Blomquist, senior VP at ATTOM, “the foreclosure activity increases in states such as Arizona, Colorado and Georgia are more heavily tied to loans originated since 2009 ”:
“The loans used in this housing recovery that appear to be most susceptible to foreclosure are those such as FHA and VA with low down payments. Our data shows FHA and VA loans combined represent 49% of all active foreclosure inventory for loans originated in the seven years ending in 2015.”
This chart shows the soaring proportion of FHA and VA mortgages issued since 2009 among the active foreclosure inventory.
On average across the nation, the foreclosure rate was one foreclosure filing for every 1,258 housing units. But in some states, the foreclosure rate was much worse. Here are the “top” ten: Delaware: one in every 355 housing units New Jersey: one in every 564 housing units Maryland: one in every 679 housing units Illinois: one in every 704 housing units South Carolina: one in every 801 housing units Nevada: one in every 826 housing units Florida: one in every 895 housing Ohio: one in every 930 housing units Pennsylvania: one in every 1,018 housing units Georgia: one in every 1,028 housing units.
And here are the “top” ten highest foreclosure rates among the 216 metropolitan areas with a population of over 200,000: York-Hanover, PA: one in every 274 housing units Atlantic City, NJ: one in every 301 housing units Rockford, IL: one in every 481 housing units Columbia, SC: one in every 498 housing units Trenton, NJ: one in every 499 housing units. Reading, PA: one in every 542 housing units Chicago, IL: one in every 571 housing units Dayton, OH: one in every 573 housing units Philadelphia, PA: one in every 597 housing units Salisbury, MD: one in every 625 housing units.
These “foreclosure filings” are based on data that ATTOM gathered in 2,200 counties where over 90% of the US population lives. They include data on the three phases of foreclosure: Foreclosure starts: lender issues Notice of Default (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS) Auction notices for future public foreclosure auctions: Notice of Trustee’s Sale (NTS) and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NFS); Real Estate Owned (REO) properties that have been foreclosed on and were repurchased by a bank at auction and are now held by the bank.
Broken down based on these three phases of the foreclosure process:
Foreclosure starts jumped 25% in October from the prior month, to 43,352. While still down 11% year-over-year, it was the highest monthly increase in foreclosure starts since December 2008.
Foreclosure starts increased even year-over-year in 23 states and Washington D.C. In some states they soared. The “top” five: Colorado +71% | 1real |
The Art of Chinese Face Reading: What Your Face Says About Your Personality and Future | posted by Eddie To some extent, we all read faces all of the time. When we look at someone who is new to us, we unconsciously assess them and form opinions about them, but in addition to this instinctive form of face reading, there are far more detailed methods—for example, like Chinese face reading, which we’ll be exploring in this article—with rules and regulations that have been carefully worked out over a long period of time. The best exponents of this skill are undoubtedly the Chinese, because they specialize in this form of divination. In common with all other serious forms of divination, this is a deep and difficult subject to master, but I’ll just dip into the subject in order to introduce you to a fascinating skill. Way back in the past, school curriculums often included physiognomy, along with palmistry, until the time of Henry VIII, when puritanical religions came in and outlawed these ancient science and interests. Three Major Areas of the Face In the Chinese face reading tradition, they call the forehead area down to the eyebrows Heaven, and this is associated with the early years of one’s life. The middle section of the face, from the eyebrows down to the base of the nose is called Human, and this is associated with the middle years of life. The lower section, from the base of the nose down to the bottom of the face is termed Earth, and this is concerned with old age. Any part of the face that is scarred, malformed, dented or discolored suggests a problem with the aspect of the subject’s life associated with that segment of his face. Grey or black marks, whether they are a permanent feature or just a temporary situation, denote problems that are themselves either temporary or permanent depending upon the type of dark mark. Even if the discoloration is caused by a trick of the light, it will mean something to a Chinese face reading specialist. As in every other form of divination, intuition also plays a part. In the ancient science of chinese face reading, the face is divided into three main areas. Heaven Positive: If this area is clean, clear and well defined, the person will have a good start in life with good parents and a useful education. Negative: Scarring, dents or discoloration here indicate a troubled childhood and a poor education, according to Chinese face reading philosophy. The problems will be worse for a man if the disfigurement is on the left, while for a woman if the disfigurement is on the right. A wide forehead is generally considered beneficial, but in a woman, a very wide forehead suggests poor personal relationships. The lines on the forehead offer a good deal of information, some being lucky and others unfortunate. Human Positive: The middle section of the subject’s life will be happy and productive, with stability in relationships and success in the career . Negative: This brings unhappiness, a lack of success at work and poor relationships. A human section longer than either of the other two sections suggests a determined and self-disciplined personality, according to Chinese face reading masters. Earth Positive: This indicates a happy old age with good relationships with children and grandchildren, along with prosperity and comfort. Negative: This denotes an unhappy and poor old age. The Thirteen Divisions of the Face Chinese face readers further divide the face into 13 sub-sections. Here is a very simplified form of the 13 -section reading, starting from the top of the face and working downward. The 13 divisions of chinese face reading. 1. Tien Chung If this is clean and clear, the subject will have a happy childhood and youth, a good relationship with the parents; the subject’s parents will live to a ripe old age. If it’s marked or misshapen, there will be unhappiness during youth, and poverty or discord in the childhood home. Veins, dark marks and so forth here suggest accidents and sudden losses of money or prestige. A widow’s peak suggests that the father may die before the mother does. 2. Tien Ting This also refers to the parents and background, but it relates more to the mother than the father. Negatively, a marked area suggests that people won’t believe the individual when he is telling the truth. 3. Ssu K’ung A good complexion here suggests a fortunate and successful life , whereas discolorations tell of a bad patch in the subject’s career, according to Chinese face reading philosophy. 4. Chung Cheng If dented, the intellect will be low. If scarred, bumpy or sporting a mole, the subject will be impatient and largely unable to bring his plans to fruition, due either to bad public relations skills or to bad luck. He will also find it hard to make and keep friends. 5. Yin T’ang Chinese face reading masters suggest that if this area is healthy, the subject will receive an inheritance and he will succeed in business. Eyebrows that meet or almost meet denote failure, bad luck and a lack of respect from other people. Marks, scars and black moles can indicate anything from adoption to illness and failure, or even a term of imprisonment. Wrinkles or creases between the eyebrows are all right if the subject is over forty years of age, otherwise they denote difficulties, tension and even a jealous nature. 6. Shan Gen Grayness here denotes illness, whereas a green patch at the side indicates adultery. A mole suggests stomach problems, emigration or imprisonment! 7. Men Shang Moles here suggest stomach trouble, relationship problems or possibly an ill partner. Darkness here denotes a sick child. 8. Shou Shang A high bony nose suggests failure in business. Moles and discolorations signify a sick husband and difficulties with females. 9. Chun T’ou The tip of the nose should be full in shape and clear of marks, hairs and blackheads for good fortune. 10. Jen Chung This is the grooved area between the base of the nose and the mouth, which is called the filtrum, or the falin line. If the base of the groove is wider than the upper and the indentation neither too deep nor too fl at, the subject will have healthy children and will achieve a high level of wealth and status in life. If it’s wider at the top and shallow, the subject will have trouble in having children. His nature will be sour and he will have bad manners. Relationships will be difficult. If this area is bent, the subject will be childless, deceitful and unpopular. A straight line marked down the middle of the groove denotes children late in life according to the science of Chinese face reading. 11. Shui Hsing The mouth should be reasonably full, with a pinkish color and upturned corners to ensure prosperity, good health and a happy marriage. 12. Ch’eng Chiang If this area is dark in the morning, the subject should avoid traveling over water during the course of that day. A man who has a hairless gap beneath his lower lip or a person of either sex who has a discoloration or scar in this area must be careful of their diet, because the stomach may be weak. 13. Ti ko The chin should be rounded, slightly protuberant and strong in appearance. A sharp chin is unlucky and a chin that points to the side belongs to someone who holds grudges. Any scarring or discoloration denotes money losses and possibly the loss of an inheritance. This can also predict family sickness and accidents. This article on Chinese face reading is from the book: Body Reading, Plain & Simple by Sasha Fenton Source: | 1real |
Ammon and Ryan Bundy Found ‘Not Guilty’ in Oregon Federal Case, Gov. Kate Brown Upset by Jury Decision | 21st Century Wire Yesterday, Judge Anna Brown handed out not guilty verdicts to both Ammon and Ryan Bundy, leaders of the 41 day occupation of Malheur National Wildlife refuge near Burns, Oregon earlier this year. The Bundys along with five other defendants, were acquitted of all major charges relating to the Oregon protest event, including conspiring to impede refuge employees and possession of firearms at a federal facility. Ammon Bundy led the protest in Oregon in January 2016.Ammon and Ryan Bundy are still being held in custody however, awaiting a second trial will they will face federal charges in the state of Nevada over the high-profile Bundy Ranch Standoff with the employees of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) near Bunkerville in April 2014.The Burns standoff came to an abrupt end after one protest spokesman and Arizona resident, Robert LaVoy Finicum (photo, left), died after police fired on protester vehicles, before a special federal tactical team tracked, shot and killed the rancher at a pre-planned ambush along a remote rural road outside of Burns.Not surprisingly, the surprise acquittal has sent Democratic Party-linked media outlets into a tail spin. The New York Times still labelled the the Bundy brothers as Armed antigovernment protesters indicating a hyperbolic editorial bias against the defendants which was visible through the trajectory of this story.Similarly, both Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Harney County Sheriff David Ward are on record saying that were not happy with Friday s verdict, not surprisingly, as both these officials played a crucial role in the state s escalation of violence which colminated in Finicum s death. Brown even issued a public statement saying she was disappointed the jury s decision.Despite a campaign of highly coordinated trial by media propaganda, led by the Oregonian Newspaper and other federal-leaning media outlets like the Washington Post, and ultra-liberal websites like Salon.com the jury was still able to judge the facts, and eventually ruled on the side of the protesters. I knew that what my husband was doing was right, but I was nervous because the judge was controlling the narrative, said Angela Bundy, 39, wife of Ryan to a Times reporter.According to one juror, the verdict was a statement regarding the various failures of the prosecution to prove that there was a conspiracy indicating that the federal government s botched affair might have been down to over-zealous political atmosphere in Washington that led to proscecutors going for a completely over-the-top set of charges in order to make a political statment instead of just sticking to the facts and Constiutional law.Police Tase Bundy Lawyer in CourtroomRight after the verdict was rendered, a bizarre courtroom scene erupted which ended in one of the Bundy s defense lawyers was tased and taken into custody after he asked the court to produce paperwork showing the order to rearrest his client. Attorney Marcus Mumford was visibly shaken after the incident.Watch the video testimony of Mumford here: READ MORE OREGON STANDOFF NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Oregon Files | 1real |
Throwing Stones and Slaughtering Sheep at the Hajj - The New York Times | Usually, the post office is where you send mail or pay your bills. In Saudi Arabia during the hajj, it’s where you pay for your animal sacrifice. It costs 460 riyals, or about $120, to have a sheep slaughtered. The sacrifice, known as the hadi, is incumbent on all pilgrims, who must donate at least of the meat to the poor. Modern pilgrims usually have a slaughterhouse near Mecca do this for them, via the local post office. How do you know your animal was sacrificed? By text message, of course. Outside Saudi Post in Mina, the sprawling tent city where pilgrims live for part of the hajj, Marwan Nabil, 22, who is from Yemen, began to worry when he had not received his confirmation. “The system is down, but don’t worry, it will be done in an hour,” said Faisal a postal worker. It was all so neat and tidy. Not so in a humid, sweaty slaughterhouse on the edge of Mecca: Men in stained robes hauled flailing sheep into the building. One man dragged his prey by its leg, and another carried one of the animals on his back. Butchers in red hacked with curved blades at skinned sheep hanging on hooks. Cleaners in yellow dumped sheep guts into drains under the killing floor. Nearby, men in muddy clothes sat on a dirty red carpet, watching animals being chopped up. Outside the slaughterhouse, a Pakistani woman shook an empty plastic bag. “Meat?” she asked, hoping charitable locals would oblige. For pilgrims who are not strong enough to endure the long trek of the hajj, there are men with wheelchairs for hire who will push them from site to site, ritual to ritual. But it’s not cheap. One wheelchair pusher told me he charged older clients 200 riyals, or about $53, for a day. I asked him how he set his price, and if he charged by weight. On the third day of the hajj, pilgrims throw rocks at three stone pillars near Jamarat Bridge in a of Ibrahim (or Abraham) stoning the devil as he tries to follow God’s commandment. Jamarat has been a notorious choke point for hajj crowds. That’s where hundreds, maybe thousands, of pilgrims died last year in a crush of people. In 2004, my sister was caught in one of the hajj throngs. Security officials this year are trying to limit the number of pilgrims who can go to Jamarat at any given time. To avoid dangerous backups, officials have instituted pedestrian roads for pilgrims from the tent city of Mina to the Jamarat building. And directions flash in English and Arabic to keep people moving. I collected 49 small rocks in an empty water bottle for the ritual, and some more experienced pilgrims showed me how to carefully but purposefully throw my stones. Tip: Nobody likes a lefty. After throwing my first batch of stones with my left hand, I was politely corrected. I joked that any devil could duck my throw. I grew up in an observant Muslim family in Canberra, Australia, but stopped wearing a head scarf in college and now, at 38, lead a largely secular life. Naturally, as a reporter, I came on my first hajj — the pilgrimage, filled with rituals, that is required of every Muslim — with many questions. How would people from stunningly different places, like Inner Mongolia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and New Jersey, interact? Who gets to kiss the rock lodged inside the Kaaba, the black cube that pilgrims circle seven times? What would I pray for on the second day atop Mount Arafat, a time and place in which our tradition tells us God answers petitions? Where do two million people poop? I’m still working on my list (scroll down for video and snapshots) but I took some time to answer questions that readers submitted on nytimes. com. What is inside the Kaaba? Has it been rebuilt over the centuries? Do men and women walk around the Kaaba at the same time? — Swaroop Conjeevaram, North Royalton, Ohio Are women and men allowed to circle the Kaaba together, or are the genders segregated? — Mary Ann Hall, North Charleston, S. C. Only very delegations are allowed in the Kaaba, and not often. There are blurry videos online that seem to show it mostly empty save for two pillars, an altar, incense lamps and plaques on the wall. What we can say for sure is what is not there: images of the gods that Arabs once worshiped and kept inside the Kaaba. I love the idea that the place Muslims must pray to is empty. Muslims are internalizing in every prayer that the one god they worship cannot be represented in an image and cannot be imagined, to the point where the house sanctified to God is empty. The Kaaba is renovated from time to time, but sparingly so, out of respect for the structure’s importance to Islam. Men and women do walk around the Kaaba at the same time. In that way, it’s a unique holy site in Islam where the sexes mix and undertake their rites together. What is the connection between the Kaaba and Allah? — Daan Bijdevaate, the Netherlands Muslims believe that the prophet Ibrahim — the biblical Abraham — built the Kaaba to worship the one true God. Some think it sits on the site where Adam, the first human, had his own prayer space. In all cases, Muslims see it as the oldest house of worship for the one God it is also called Beit Allah, House of God. The pilgrim, in turn, is a “guest of the House of God. ” Are allowed to watch the hajj, such as tourists or visitors? — Sarah C. Santiago, Chile Why are not allowed in Mecca? — Fabian Babich, Sydney, Australia Are Christians welcome to observe the rituals? — Erin Bunting, Aliquippa, Pa. Only on the live television broadcasts. are not allowed to enter the holy sites, based on the Quran’s Chapter 9, Verse 28, which says, “O believers, verily the polytheists are impure, so let them not approach the Masjid after this, their final year. ” This is so rigidly enforced that there is a special highway bypassing the area. In any case, there’s no room. The Saudi government already limits the number of people allowed into Mecca during hajj to about two million many countries have a lottery system to select pilgrims. I met a Palestinian man who had applied for seven years and, at 72, had worried that he might die before seeing the holy sites. How is it going with the bathroom situation? — Lynn Bender, Davis, Calif. I think the Saudis have gone to some effort to try to make bathrooms as available as possible. Nobody has peed in front of me, as happened to members of my family when they came here. But we are on the move so much that sometimes I have to hold it in for hours. Luckily, we’re not eating much heavy food. Also, since my journalist visa makes me a V. I. P. guest of the Saudi government, I’m staying in a compound where there are clean toilets and showers. How accessible are relief stations for, say, heatstroke? — Ahad Chowdhury, Chino, Calif. That was something I worried about a lot before I came. I have not seen many medic stations, but I have seen ambulances and hospitals. Also, pilgrims are constantly spraying one another with water to avoid overheating, and many places have structures that emit a fine mist to cool you down. Do people stay with the people they came with (or stay alone) or do they also connect with strangers and make new friends? — Ani Grosser, Lenox, Mass. Well, my mum was hoping I’d find a husband here! Usually pilgrims come in delegations and stay with them in the same hotels, travel on the same buses and share the same meals. Except for interviews, it’s been hard to meet people because they tend to move in big units. In my news media delegation, there is a Yemeni woman who looks like a sweet granny until she flips on her niqab. She’s always smiling and she’s my favorite. Do young men and women try to make friends? — Mo Kareem, Houston I don’t see much mixing, and it’s hard to see where it could happen, except perhaps while circulating the Kaaba. Men and women mostly pray separately, and they sleep in separate quarters. It’s also forbidden for even married people to have sex during hajj, so I’m guessing that any premarital mixing, which Islam already sees as sinful, would be considered doubly bad! I saw an ad for the hajj at a tour company and one package had animal sacrifice as an option. What is the deal with this? — Beth Harrison, Millburn, N. J. I wish I had that option! One requirement of the hajj is for each pilgrim to ritually slaughter an animal — sheep, cow, camel or goat — at the end. If your hajj package does not have a sacrifice option, which means the tour company does it on your behalf, you can also buy a coupon here in Mecca for a slaughterhouse to take care of it. Pilgrims who do it soon enough receive a confirmation by text message that their chosen animal has been slaughtered, and the government undertakes to distribute the meat to the poor around the world. I am interested to know your (inner) feelings about bikini and burkini before and after the hajj. — Mohammed Basith, New York I think both bikinis and burkinis — the swimsuits designed to adhere to Islamic modesty codes and banned recently by some French beach towns — are fine. I find it offensive when any faith (including, yes, Islam) dictates what a woman should wear. I also find the contemporary secular obsession with women needing to be thin and to look young to be depressing. Is there an where one can do the full hajj but with fewer teeming multitudes? — Steven Adkins, Aucamville, France Nice idea, but the full hajj can begin only on the 8th of the last month of the Islamic calendar. The good news is that it’s a lunar calendar, so sometimes hajj is in the winter, a lovely time to visit this desert plain. If you really can’t handle crowds, there is always umrah, a kind of Muslims can do anytime. You mainly circle the Kaaba and walk between the hills of Safa and Marwa, which are now enclosed within the sprawling (and ) Grand Mosque. I get nervous and tetchy in crowds, but so far I’ve done O. K. The fear melts away, and at some point you stop caring about the sweat and viruses everybody is sharing. The pilgrims’ chants of “Here I am, O Lord” were barely audible over the of plastic water bottles squashed underfoot as we jostled toward Mount Arafat on Sunday, the greatest day of the annual hajj. Muslims believe it is when God will answer all sincere prayers offered there. As the sun blazed, men and boys splashed the crowds gleefully with the last ounces from their bottles. Some ducked their heads under gushes from a supply tower, and a few kind souls offered to turn their spray bottles onto strangers’ faces. At first I was disappointed to see the mess of bottles and mud, a cleaning man in bright yellow and green looking on helplessly: I had thought Arafat would be austere and clean. But the pilgrims’ cheery mood brightened my own. Of course it was dirty. Two million people were walking together on a hot day to a rocky hill and sucking down bottles of water. Of course the cleaner couldn’t sweep it up — yet he could cause a deadly crush if he got in the way of that river of pilgrims. So I, too, crunched the bottles, tried not to slip, let people spray me with water. I even prayed. At the end of the hajj, men are required to shave their heads, and women to cut a lock of hair. At the busy barber complex near the Grand Mosque, they’ll buzz you with a razor (disposable) or scissors for $4 a machine cut is $2. 70. Signs around the mosque warn pilgrims not to cut hair inside the complex — it turns out some people like to D. I. Y. at Islam’s holiest site. I mean no disrespect when I say Mecca is, well, a mecca for shopping. People have come here to pray, but even five times daily leaves time for the glittering gold shops that line Ajyad Street. This year’s big sellers: lightweight rings and white, rose and yellow bracelets so finely spun that they feel like cotton candy on the wrist. Traders, as they do, lament that last year was better — instability throughout the Middle East has left fewer buyers for the bling. For those with lighter wallets, children hawk velvet prayer rugs decorated with images of the Kaaba for $2. 60. People sell for the inevitable pilgrim who has lost her shoes somewhere around the Grand Mosque, calling out the prices in Urdu: “Panj! Panj! Panj!” Five! Five! Five! The pharmacy on Ajyad Street is constantly packed, doing a roaring trade in antibiotics — hajj flu again — and pills. Sitting next to a group of Saudi women who resembled large black crows in their billowing robes, double face veils and gloves, I noticed they all wore little rings that looked like miniature pedometers. When I asked how many miles one woman had walked that day, she laughed. It turned out the rings were electronic prayer counters. Muslims often keep track of individual prayers like “I seek God’s forgiveness,” believing that they earn credit for a good deed, or hasana, with each supplication. Prayers uttered at the Grand Mosque are said to be worth 100, 000 times those said elsewhere. One of the women, Hanan, showed me her counter: 266, and it was only noon. Then she thrust the device into my hands and told me to “keep it, so you can always count your prayers. ” I politely declined. The big and the small. For Syria. For refugees to find homes and acceptance. That children would go to sleep with full stomachs and mothers able to love and care for them. I prayed for my friend’s mother who has cancer, and tried to remember all the other friends, most of them secular, who shyly asked me to sneak in a word for them. Right before we had to leave Arafat, I remembered Mum making me promise to pray for a husband, and so I did. My mum, of course, has instructed me to pray for a husband as I make my first hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of every Muslim. Also: the health of her best friend and the release, from jail in Egypt, of the son of my aunt’s maid. On the second day of the hajj — this year, Sunday, Sept. 11 — pilgrims will clamber onto Mount Arafat to ask for God’s forgiveness and make specific requests by prayer. Muslims believe that a supplication at that place at that time will be answered. Along with Mum’s list, I’ll be praying for the health of a friend’s mother who is fighting cancer, and the continued happiness and health of my family and friends. A few friends who are secular Muslims like me asked that I throw in a word for them, and I will. God, if you are listening, peace would be really nice. I’m not so sure about the husband. I have been asking all the people I meet in Mecca what they’ll be praying for on Mount Arafat: ■ Mervat, a cardiologist from Yemen, said she would ask “to go to paradise with my parents” and that her country might find peace. ■ Hassan Abbas, a doctor from Nigeria, hopes that his country might find peace. ■ Sayida Bakri, 68, seeks for terrorism to be defeated and “for Egypt to stand on its feet” after years of instability. ■ Abd Aziz Hj Johari — who is 18 and from Brunei, and who wore a proclaiming, “I Love the Prophet” — shrugged at my question. His mother, Siti Hayun Hj Abdul Qadi, patted him affectionately and said she would ask that her son “become a good boy in the future, a good husband, especially, a good son. ” There are no pockets on the ihram that men wear during the hajj — the traditional dress consists of just two white sheets draped around their bodies. And it’s difficult for men and women to carry bulky bags in tight quarters. So the air rights above their heads become valuable personal real estate. I’ve seen people carrying canteens of Zamzam water on their heads others balancing their prayer mats like hats and men from Afghanistan, Sudan, Oman and Egypt top themselves with carefully arranged turbans that seem to delicately float above their heads. When I was a little girl and we traveled from Australia to Egypt to visit my mum’s family, I remember the enchanting women with large baskets perched on their heads, walking casually down crowded market streets, their empty arms swaying freely. I see some Palestinian women doing the same thing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, where I work as a correspondent in The Times’s Jerusalem bureau. A good idea knows no borders. The hajj is hot and grueling, and pilgrims flock to the Aesra ice cream shop near the Grand Mosque, where there are separate lines for men and women. “After worship, there’s a treat,” said Arar Hafsi, 51, an Algerian pilgrim, giggling. I met one young woman in a niqab, her face and body covered in heavy black cloth, clutching a plastic cup filled with swirls of mango and strawberry. She said, laughing, that maybe she had one after every prayer — that’s five times a day. “Is it good?” I asked. “Well,” she said, “it’s all there is. ” I know you want to know, so: A woman wearing a niqab eats ice cream by filling the spoon, then raising her veil just a bit and sticking the spoon in her mouth. Qasim, 16, a worker I interviewed at the shop, gave free cups to me and the Saudi minder who follows me everywhere under the government’s rules for journalists covering the hajj. The ice cream tasted good. Also: It’s all there is. So as I made my first hajj, joining millions of Muslims from around the world on the annual pilgrimage to our holiest places, I did not have the antibiotics or disinfectant gel my family had insisted I carry to ward off what we call “the hajj flu. ” I did not have a proper head scarf or even a prayer mat. As the call to prayer sounded, I stood in a line of women on the street leading to the Grand Mosque and realized I would have no clean place to put my head during the full prostrations we make in a symbolic act of submission to God. I figured, never mind, this is the hajj, once in a lifetime. Then the woman standing next to me said, “I’ve made space for you. ” We had to pray very close together, our heads were touching on that tiny mat. Afterward, I thanked her. Her name is Samira, and she is a professor in Algeria. She kissed me on the cheek and said that was the way a Muslim should behave, and that I was her sister. One of the main hajj rituals is to walk seven times around the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site. My brother and sister, who did the hajj years ago, had told me about the pigeons that circle, seemingly in sync with the pilgrims, overhead. A sign from God? Perhaps, but helped along by the women selling bird feed to people who flung it joyously into the air around the Grand Mosque. A group of Nigerian teenagers stood in a corner, calling out “Zamzam, Zamzam, Zamzam!” and passing out plastic cups of water. Zamzam is a well located within the Haram, the mosque that surrounds the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site. Muslims believe God made it bubble up as the second wife of Ibrahim (Abraham in the bible) tried to soothe her thirsting child. A bottle sells for $4. 95 on the internet. I was spooked after reading an article saying Zamzam water had high levels of arsenic. But in the heat and exhaustion of the hajj, it tasted refreshing. I even stopped in front of an Egyptian man spraying people’s faces with the water as a small good deed — he said he did the same during the 2011 uprisings in Cairo. But I was worried when I saw pilgrims returning their empty cups to the Nigerians — this is how hajj flu spreads! My favorite passage of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” was when he described the pilgrims being of all races and colors. It’s still like that. A Chinese woman showed me her Mandarin Quran. I saw women from Uzbekistan who had their national flag sewn onto their head scarves, and men with “Kurdistan” emblazoned on their jackets. There were Pakistanis with beards dyed a cartoonish red, and one guy, who knows from where, in a gold sequined hat. He looked fabulous. It reminded me of the little mosque of my childhood in multicultural Canberra, Australia. I grew up thinking it was normal to worship next to Muslims from Bosnia and Vietnam, Afghanistan and Jordan. Walking around the Kaaba was like Canberra, writ large. There was something very incredible and lovely about being a tiny little human among tens of thousands of other humans, saying the same prayers and doing the same rituals. | 0fake |
Iran hardliners, pragmatists show unity in response to Trump | LONDON (Reuters) - A tough line from President Donald Trump has been met by a show of unity from both sides of Iran s political divide, uniting hardliners who cast the United States as an implacable enemy with pragmatists who seek rapprochement with the West. Iran, which has kept up a steady drumbeat of angry statements for days, lashed out again on Tuesday, threatening to teach the Americans new lessons and keep all options on the table if Washington blacklists its Revolutionary Guards. Trump, who has accused his predecessor Barack Obama of being too soft on Iran, is expected to announce a hardening of policy this week, likely to include decertifying a landmark 2015 deal that lifted international sanctions in return for curbs on Tehran s nuclear programme. Such a step would stop short of pulling out of the agreement, leaving that decision to Congress. Trump is also expected to designate Iran s most powerful security force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), as a terrorist organisation. The IRGC has a vast economic empire in Iran, and blacklisting it could make it more difficult for Iranian businesses to access the global financial system. It seems the Trump administration understands only swear words, and needs some shocks to understand the new meaning of power in the world, said Iranian armed forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri, who is also a Revolutionary Guards commander. The Americans have driven the world crazy by their behaviour. It is time to teach them a new lesson. Several Iranian newspapers ran the same photo on the front page on Tuesday: the urbane, U.S.-educated Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif laughing and hugging the commander of the IRGC, Major-General Mohammad Ali Jafari, in a striking display of unity between the two main factions of Iran s leadership. We have a similar stance but different ways of saying it, the papers quoted Jafari as saying. Iran s moderate president Hassan Rouhani won re-election less than five months ago after a campaign in which he called for better ties with the outside world and reform at home, openly criticising the influence of the IRGC which he accused of backing his hardline opponent. But the moderates and hardliners tend to rally together in public when threatened from abroad. The Americans are too small to be able to harm the Revolutionary Guards, Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying by ISNA. We have all options on the table. Whatever they do, we will take reciprocal measures. U.S. sanctions on the IRGC could affect conflicts in Iraq and Syria, where Tehran and Washington both support warring parties that oppose the Islamic State militant group (IS). Russia, Iran s ally that is also fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, said on Tuesday that it does not consider the Revolutionary Guards to be a terrorist organisation. The Iranian nuclear deal, backed by European countries, China and Russia, lifted broad international sanctions over Iran s nuclear programme that had been tightened during the Obama years and had caused severe damage to Iran s economy. But Washington still maintains separate unilateral sanctions over Tehran s ballistic missile programme and over allegations that it supports terrorism. The lingering U.S. sanctions have slowed Iran s re-emergence into the world economy, making global banks reluctant to take on business with Iranian firms despite the nuclear deal. The United States already blacklists some individuals and entities for supporting IRGC activities, but not the Guards themselves. Designating the Guards as terrorists could make it more difficult for Iranian businesses to take advantage of the lifting of the international sanctions, since banks are required to verify that their clients are not on terrorism blacklists. Iran s rial has dropped against the U.S. dollar in recent days in a sign of concern about Trump s policy. The rial was quoted in the free market around 40,400 to the dollar, currency exchangers in Tehran told Reuters, compared to 39,200 last week. Several exchangers said they had stopped selling dollars from Monday and were waiting to assess the trend in the market. The government told Iranians on Tuesday it would not let the decisions of the mentally unstable Trump affect the market. Trump might say some things by the end of the week, but this should not create chaos in the market. Iran is a stable country, and nothing will happen, government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht said in a weekly news conference. Iran s Central Bank governor, Valiollah Seif, was also quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency that Trump s words might have an emotional impact on the foreign exchange market, but it would not be long-term . Washington aims to put more pressure on the IRGC, especially over its missile programme. Trump said in September that recent IRGC missile tests illustrated the weakness of the nuclear deal. Iran says the nuclear deal does not require it to restrict its missile programme. Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, said Iran purposefully excluded military capabilities from the pact, as it is not intended as leverage or a bargaining chip in future negotiations . In an article published in the Atlantic magazine on Monday, Zarif added: No party or country need fear our missiles ... unless it intends to attack our territory. | 0fake |
White House willing to sign compromise Iran bill | (CNN) After months of tensions with Congress over a bill giving the legislature a say in the potential Iran nuclear deal, the White House indicated Tuesday that the president would be willing to sign the compromise version of the measure.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved the new version, which Democratic lobbying had watered down, in a vote Tuesday afternoon.
During his daily press briefing, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama would approve the measure as it stands now, though Earnest noted he can't commit to that position if the legislation changes.
The White House "certainly" blinked, Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake said Tuesday on CNN's "The Situation Room."
"Congress imposed the sanctions and only Congress can lift them permanently. So we always had a role and I'm glad the White House recognizes that now," he said.
Earlier Tuesday, the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said they had resolved key differences on the bill regarding Iran's nuclear plan, making the bill's passage more certain.
"What I'm most proud of is we've kept the pure integrity of the process in place and the President cannot lift -- while Congress is reviewing this -- cannot lift the congressionally mandated sanctions, which is what they've been trying to do and push for over the past couple of weeks," Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker told reporters Tuesday, as he headed into a classified briefing on the emerging Iran agreement with Secretary of State John Kerry and other top administration officials.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said during the committee's deliberations in the afternoon that he would not offer a controversial amendment related to Israel. Other senators also dropped their amendments to ensure this agreement stayed intact.
According to a Corker aide familiar with the details of the bill, it requires Obama to submit the final agreement to Congress, which will have up to 52 days to weigh in on the deal. That includes an initial review period of 30 days, with 12 more days added automatically if Congress passes a bill and sends it to the President, and an additional 10 days of congressional review if Obama vetoes the legislation.
If the deal is submitted late, after July 9, the review period reverts to 60 days.
During that time, the President is prohibited from waiving the congressional sanctions. And Obama is required by the legislation to certify to Congress every 90 days that Iran is complying with the terms of the deal.
The bill also requires the President to make a series of detailed reports to Congress on a range of issues, including Iran's nuclear program, its ballistic missiles work and its support for terrorism globally, particularly against the U.S. and its allies.
Sen. Ben Cardin, the committee's top Democrat, expressed optimism Monday night that negotiators could come to an agreement that would appease the White House while maintaining the ultimate goal of requiring congressional approval.
"I think we can get to a place where we can deal with most of the White House's concerns and maintain the purpose of the bill, which is an orderly congressional review and timely notice if there are material breaches," he said ahead of the compromise being reached.
Congressional negotiators worked through the weekend and into the night Monday to hammer out legislation that would draw enough support from hardline Republicans and moderate Democrats to pass.
House Speaker John Boehner on Tuesday said he expected the House to take up the Corker bill once the full Senate votes on it, saying the proposal has taken "center stage."
He reiterated his stance that Congress should "absolutely have the opportunity to review the deal," adding the administration "appears to want a deal at any cost."
But he brushed off the notion that he was working to derail the nuclear deal. | 0fake |
Righting Wrongs and Generating Attention for Art of the African Diaspora - The New York Times | Sheena Wagstaff, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s modern and contemporary art department, was relatively new on the job in 2013 when Pamela J. Joyner, a prolific art collector and supporter of artists of African descent, invited her on a trip to Washington to visit the studio of the Color Field painter Sam Gilliam. They looked at Mr. Gilliam’s pieces, a series of striking works with a thin stream of paint poured on board. Ms. Wagstaff knew the Met owned a Gilliam work, “Leah’s Renoir” (1979) somewhere in its collection, and the visit “prompted me to take a second look at it. ” Later, Ms. Joyner donated money to buy another Gilliam, “Whirlirama” (1970) and next year there are plans to exhibit both when the Met reinstalls its modern collection. “Pamela is such an informed champion of her artists,” Ms. Wagstaff said. That trip to Washington was one of the many ways that Ms. Joyner, 58, exerts her power as an influence behind the scenes. She has relinquished a successful business career to become what she calls a “ ” collector of a very specific niche: Abstract art by and members of the global African diaspora. Now she leverages her relationships with the Met in New York, the Tate in London, the Art Institute in Chicago and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art to help these artists gain traction in the wider world. “It’s no less ambitious than an effort to reframe art history,” said Ms. Joyner, who sees herself as righting a wrong. “First, to include more broadly those who have been overlooked — and, for those with visibility, to steward and contextualize those careers. ” When art collectors publish a book on their treasures, they often include a glamour shot of themselves surrounded by myriad works. But in “Four Generations: The Collection of Abstract Art,” edited by Courtney J. Martin and published last month by Gregory R. Miller, there is no picture of Ms. Joyner anywhere. Instead, there are academic essays by curators and writers, with only a short “question and answer” segment with Ms. Joyner and her husband, Alfred J. Giuffrida. “That’s very deliberate,” Ms. Joyner said recently over coffee in Chelsea. “The focus is on the artists. ” Ms. Joyner, who is based in San Francisco but keeps an apartment in New York, founded and ran a private equity marketing company called Avid Partners. She started the collection 20 years ago and now adds to it with Mr. Giuffrida, an investment executive whom she married in 2004. Her trove, more than 300 works, begins in the 1940s and goes up to “yesterday,” Ms. Joyner said, encompassing four generations. Her definition of “African descent” has broadened to include William Kentridge, the white South African artist whose work has been in Ms. Joyner’s sights for some time. She just acquired her first Kentridge piece the other week in London. As an woman in the corridors of establishment power — an education at Dartmouth and Harvard, and then an entrepreneurial career — she said she knew the feeling of being an outlier. “I’ve operated in environments where some people would construe me to be unusual,” she said. “And I am stitched together in a way that I find myself doing things that aren’t necessarily expected. So I relate to that journey. ” The book’s most telling photograph is from 1950, when Abstract Expressionists gathered in New York to discuss their work. Some were famous — Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell — but the black painter Norman Lewis ( ) whose work Ms. Joyner collects, was also there. “He’s literally at the table, but he gets written out of that history,” Ms. Joyner said. “His first monograph was only published last year. ” She explained some of the factors that kept black artists from gaining a foothold, especially in the 1960s and ’70s. “For a long time, the art world wanted black artists to do black subject matter,” she said. “Art was a political tool. People were viewed as not part of the struggle if they were doing abstraction. ” About 100 artists are in her collection, and Ms. Joyner referred to Lewis and the Washington Color School painter Alma Thomas ( ) as the “Adam and Eve” of the group, stylistically begetting the later generations. (Thomas is the subject of an exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem through Oct. 30.) Ms. Joyner’s largest holding, more than a dozen works, is of works by Mr. Gilliam, who is 82. She also owns pieces by successful midcareer artists like Kara Walker, Glenn Ligon and Mark Bradford, and is scouting out new talents. The artists she is tracking include the Conceptual sculptor Kevin Beasley Hugo McCloud, who uses nontraditional materials in his paintings and Samuel Levi Jones, best known for his works on canvas. The Los Angeles artist Charles Gaines, whose Abstract and Conceptual work is in her collection, said that “Four Generations” crystallized his longtime thinking about the context of his work as part of a continuum. “Pamela’s book is the first legitimate academic effort to theorize some of this material,” Mr. Gaines, 72, said. “It’s a pioneering effort. ” About 60 works from the collection will tour in a museum show, “Solidary and Solitary,” beginning next fall at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans. Ms. Joyner buys about 30 works a year and has never sold one, she said, although she has donated them to museums. “Collecting is a job for Pamela,” said James Rondeau, director and president of the Art Institute of Chicago, in Ms. Joyner’s hometown, where she is a trustee. Over the years, Ms. Joyner has watched prices rise for many artists she has championed. “One curator said that I’m my own worst enemy,” she said with a wry smile. Lorna Simpson, an artist Ms. Joyner has collected and now befriended, noted that Ms. Joyner was no longer alone in her interest in the field. “The market was already starting to move around those pictures when she began,” Ms. Simpson said. “But she was ahead of it. ” Ms. Joyner is the daughter of two teachers, and she used to visit Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” at the Art Institute after attending ballet class. She noted that her mother moved from Mississippi to Chicago, where she attended her first integrated school. “There was a keen sense in my household that you had to be prepared for whatever was going to happen,” Ms. Joyner said. “You needed these literacies, and cultural literacy was one of them. ” Ms. Simpson, who also has family roots in Chicago, said she noted a “black Chicago thing” about Ms. Joyner’s outlook, which she defined as a forthright sense of humor, “a way of seeing the world. ” Ms. Joyner does take breaks from collecting. “I have slumber parties with my girlfriends, and that has included Lorna,” she said. So far, she said she was pleased by the reception to “Four Generations,” and had only one fear: that it might be misunderstood. “The danger of these projects is if people think it’s a politically laden, exercise,” she said, in explaining that race is not the only lens through which to view art. “Those elements are there, but they are not the drivers. Good art is the driver. ” | 0fake |
Obama Vetoes 9/11 Bill, but Congressional Override Is Expected - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — President Obama vetoed legislation on Friday that would allow families of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to sue the government of Saudi Arabia for any role in the plot, setting up an extraordinary confrontation with a Congress that unanimously backed the bill and has vowed to uphold it. Mr. Obama’s veto of the measure, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, is the 12th of his presidency. But unless those who oppose the bill can persuade lawmakers to drop their support by next week, it will lead to the first congressional override of a veto during Mr. Obama’s presidency — a familiar experience for presidents in the waning months of their terms. In his veto message to Congress, Mr. Obama said the legislation “undermines core U. S. interests,” upending the normal means by which the government singles out foreign nations as state sponsors of terrorism and opening American officials and military personnel to legal jeopardy. It would put United States assets at risk of seizure by private litigants overseas and “create complications” in diplomatic relations with other countries, he added. “I have deep sympathy for the families of the victims of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, who have suffered grievously,” Mr. Obama wrote. But enacting the measure “would neither protect Americans from terrorist attacks nor improve the effectiveness of our response to such attacks. ” Mr. Obama issued the veto behind closed doors on Friday without fanfare, reluctant to call attention to a debate that has pitted him against the families of terrorism victims. Not long before he did so, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, who had previously backed the measure, confirmed that if she were in the Oval Office, she would sign it. Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee, also said he would have signed the bill, calling Mr. Obama’s veto “shameful. ” The leaders of both chambers, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Speaker Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin, have said they expect the override vote to be successful, which requires a majority. Mr. McConnell’s office said it would consider the veto message “as soon as practicable in this work period,” essentially ruling out the possibility, pressed by opponents of the measure, that the vote could be delayed until after the elections, when lawmakers might feel less political pressure to support the bill. Still, pressure is building on Congress to reconsider the measure, whose passage underlined the lasting political clout of the families that have long demanded it — and the diminishing standing of Saudi Arabia and its supporters in Washington. Mr. Obama argues that the measure would overturn longstanding principles of international law that shield governments from lawsuits, potentially opening the United States to a raft of litigation in foreign countries. But supporters note that those principles already have several exceptions, and contend they are merely seeking to add another narrow one that would allow United States courts to hold foreign governments responsible if they assisted or funded a terrorist attack that killed Americans in the United States. Saudi officials have denied that the kingdom had any role in the Sept. 11 plot, and an independent commission that investigated the attacks found “no evidence” that the government or any senior official funded it. But the commission’s narrow wording left open the possibility that less senior officials or parts of the Saudi government had played a role. The Saudi government has deployed powerful lobbyists and public relations professionals to try to kill the measure. In recent days, it has turned to national security leaders, Fortune 100 corporate executives and retired military personnel for backing. White House officials were making the case to lawmakers that they should sustain the president’s veto. “We continue to make a forceful case to members of Congress that overriding the president’s veto means that this country will start pursuing a less forceful approach in dealing with state sponsors of terrorism and potentially opens up U. S. service members, and diplomats and even companies to spurious lawsuits in kangaroo courts around the world,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, said before Mr. Obama vetoed the measure. He acknowledged that the stance was “politically inconvenient,” given the strong sympathy that exists for the families of the victims. Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, called Mr. Obama’s action “disappointing,” and said it would be “swiftly and soundly overturned in Congress. ” “If the Saudis did nothing wrong, they should not fear this legislation,” Mr. Schumer said. In a statement, the Sept. 11 families said they were “outraged and dismayed at the president’s veto” and the “unconvincing and unsupportable reasons that he offers as explanation. ” “When we left at 5 o’clock yesterday, we were feeling very confident that we would have the votes for the override, but we’ve got to maintain that support through until next week,” said Terry Strada, a leading activist on the bill who lost her husband on Sept. 11 and was one of dozens of family members who traveled to Washington this week to lobby lawmakers to continue backing it. “Nobody is going to sleep this whole weekend. ” | 0fake |
Five Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Home - The New York Times | Editor’s note: This article was first published in 2014. Its general guidance, however, is still true. One of the pleasures of being an economics writer is that friends and acquaintances routinely ask me: “Should I buy a house?” And my answer is always the same: “I have no idea. ” It is not for lack of familiarity with ratios or the benefits of the mortgage interest deduction. Anyone who wants to do a financial analysis on whether to rent or buy a home should go to our new calculator, an excellent tool for doing just that. But the result, no matter how carefully and clearheadedly you approach the exercise, is more a starting point than a conclusion about your optimal living situation. It will give you a good look at the financial dimensions of your decision. But housing is about quite a bit more. In 2008, I bought a condominium in Washington. I made the purchase after years of thought, and after building a spreadsheet that modeled the costs and benefits — an unnecessarily complex tool to do what our new calculator simplifies and automates. It was terrifying, plopping down basically the entirety of my savings and taking on a mortgage that was a multiple of my annual salary. It has worked out fine for me, but for reasons that had nothing to do with any of the stuff I was able to build into that spreadsheet. The factors underlying our calculator, where you can adjust assumptions, are important. But you also need to think deeply about these five other things that don’t easily plug into that financial model. How much is permanence worth to you? One of the nonfinancial benefits of buying a home is that you know you can live in it indefinitely. You don’t have to worry that the landlord will raise your rent 20 percent, or demolish the building to turn it into something else. You can renovate the kitchen or paint the shutters according to your preference and yours alone. (O. K. maybe a historic preservation board or homeowners association may have some say, but you are pretty much on your own). So what is that worth to you? This is a question that defies any attempt to analyze using a spreadsheet. It is purely a question of your preferences and priorities in life. How confident are you that you will want to stay? One of the biggest factors shaping the desirability of buying versus renting is how long you will stay in a place. Given the huge costs, both financial and psychic, of selling a house, it is generally a far better deal to buy if you will live in a place for a decade than if you will be moving in three years. But simply putting your best guess of how long you will stay gives you a limited view of things. We all actually have a range of possibilities. What are the odds that a year from now you will get offered a dream job in London, or meet the love of your life who already has a great place, or conversely go through a or divorce? Our best plans are still only guesses, but some people are more settled and less likely to have a sudden move than others (a person who is absolutely committed to staying in his or her current city, for example, or a happily married couple with all the children they want). Be honest with yourself about how settled, or unsettled, your future living situation really is. How confident are you about your future income? One of the advantages of renting is that if your earning power suddenly changes, it is relatively easy to adjust your living situation accordingly. Lose your job and have to take a pay cut to find a new one? That isn’t much fun, but it’s less painful if it results in moving into a smaller apartment rather than having your house foreclosed upon and your credit wrecked. That’s all a case for being conservative when thinking about your future earnings. If you earn a commission or bonus, how variable is it? Don’t assume that one good year will be repeated forever. Do you work in an industry that is healthy and growing, or one in which layoffs are happening all the time? If you lost your job, how hard would it be to find a new one, and would you probably be paid more or less than you are now? The more confident you are in your future earnings, the more comfortable you should be taking on that home mortgage. Can you force yourself to save? As my colleague Josh Barro has pointed out, one of the real, if underappreciated, benefits of buying a home is that it forces you to save. A typical mortgage pays itself off bit by bit over the 15 or 30 years you are making payments. With modest appreciation in the value of the home, at the inflation rate or a little bit above, people who buy a house in their 30s and stay there can end up with quite a valuable asset, debt free, in their 60s. But there’s no reason you can’t also save while renting a home. You have the money that would otherwise have been your down payment as a starting point, and then you can easily transfer a few hundred dollars each month into a brokerage account and put the money into stocks, which historically have higher returns than residential real estate. But will you? One risk for people who elect to rent is that they could lack the discipline to save that way, and so could find themselves at retirement age owning neither a home nor a brokerage account. If you know you’re tempted to spend every last dollar in your paycheck, buying could provide some extra advantage. Can you accept that the future is unknowable? A month after I closed on my condo, there was a global financial crisis. Property prices plummeted — if I had needed to sell in 2009, I would have lost a bundle. But the downturn also led to an era of ultralow interest rates that allowed me to refinance a couple of times to reduce my monthly payment. And while the national job market has been miserable, I never lost my job. Meanwhile, Washington, with its influx of federal dollars, rebounded faster than most of the country. My neighborhood in particular continued its upswing and is more expensive than it was in 2008. I foresaw none of that. Most of the numbers in my complicated spreadsheet were all wrong, but it worked out anyway. I was lucky. The point is that the world is messy. In deciding whether to buy a home, we can never have perfect visibility into what the years ahead will bring. All home buyers can do is make sure they are buying a place that they can afford — with a sensible price relative to the alternative of renting — and that they can see themselves living in for many years. Because you can’t know the future, concentrate on the things you can know, about the finances of a potential purchase and your own personality, and leap accordingly. | 0fake |
Ten Lessons We Should Learn From The Flint Water Crisis (VIDEO) | On January 16, President Obama declared a federal emergency in the city of Flint, Michigan. The president s declaration was issued even as evidence mounted that officials in the state s government had willfully and knowingly allowed tens of thousands of Flint residents to consume poisoned water for more than a year.As a result of decisions made by Michigan governor Rick Snyder, 200 children under the age of six have been confirmed to have irreversible lead poisoning. As testing continues, another 9,000 children are likely to be diagnosed with elevated levels of lead in their blood.Emails and leaked documents from the Snyder administration show that the governor and his appointed emergency managers were aware of the problem with the city s water for more than a year.As Addicting Info reported here, an in-depth report by the ACLU of Michigan shows that state officials falsified documents and rigged tests, to purposely mislead the EPA regarding the amount of lead in Flint s water.In addition to poisoning thousands of people with lead, Michigan officials, including the governor and his hand-picked emergency managers, not only ignored a massive spike in cases of Legionnaires disease, but blocked attempts by health officials to determine the cause or take appropriate steps to protect public health.Ten people died from exposure to the waterborne Legionella bacteria.In spite of the fact that state officials knew that the water was likely contaminated with this deadly bacteria and poisoned with lead, they repeatedly assured Flint residents that it was safe to drink.While it is tempting to believe that what happened in Flint can t happen to any of us, the reality is that unless we learn from this unprecedented disaster, it not only can happen to us, it likely will.Here are the ten most important things that Americans must learn from the Flint water crisis.Michigan s emergency manager law, passed by the state s republican/Tea Party legislature and signed by Governor Rick Snyder, provides for the establishment of a puppet government across the state. The law gives Governor Snyder the legal authority to remove elected officials (democrats) and replace them with a single, unelected manager. Every emergency manager in the state is hand-picked by the governor.The state s emergency managers are bestowed with unlimited power to make decisions on behalf of the local government. In the meantime, the people elected by the citizens are stripped of power, and their voices are silenced. In Flint, Detroit, Pontiac, Benton Harbor and elsewhere across the state of Michigan, local residents have been shut out of the decision-making process entirely.Make no mistake, the state s emergency manager law not only allowed the citizens of Flint to be poisoned, it allowed Snyder officials to cover up the contaminated water for more than a year.As republican governor Chris Christie advances a Michigan-style emergency manager law in New Jersey, it s vital that residents of Atlantic City understand how this law set the stage for the Flint water crisis.Flint is a horrifying example of what happens when right-wing extremists are allowed to make decisions that impact the lives of thousands of citizens.The decision to use the Flint river as a water source for the city was made by Snyder s appointed emergency manager in Flint, Ed Kurtz. There s also evidence that this decision came down directly from the governor s office.The story of how 100,000 people were poisoned by their own government is best understood in terms of right-wing ideology. The people who were charged with making decisions for Flint can be described as typical right-wing extremists. They are EPA-haters, regulation-opposers and Science deniers.These underlying beliefs allowed them to justify their illegal actions, both to each other and to themselves. To them, rigging tests, falsifying documents and flat-out lying to the environmental protection agency was just a way to get around the evil EPA with all its oppressive, costly and unnecessary regulations. Did they believe that their actions would cause harm to tens of thousands of people? It s possible they did. But it s more likely that their underlying anti-federal government, anti-regulation ideology allowed them to convince themselves that their actions would not really harm anyone. These are people who really believed that evil government regulations only exist to oppress the free market, not protect the public.Those beliefs are exactly why politicians who subscribe to right-wing ideology can never, ever be trusted to make decisions that could potentially impact the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.A long list of people, all appointed by Michigan governor Rick Snyder, played a role in the Flint water crisis. All of them were uneducated, inexperienced and unqualified for the positions they were appointed to. Not a single person who played a role in the switch of the city s water source to the Flint river had any knowledge or experience in this area.Nowhere is that more evident in the fact that emergency manager Ed Kurtz eliminated the use of corrosion control, to save roughly $80.00 a day.That single uneducated decision virtually destroyed the city s infrastructure, and created the lead contamination Flint residents are facing today.To understand the level of ineptitude this plummets to, bear in mind that Flint is the only city in the United States that had no plan for corrosion control whatsoever.Corrosion control for all municipal water supplies is mandatory under the Safe Drinking Water Act.In order to cover-up for the fact that corrosion control was eliminated by Snyder appointed officials, state officials lied to the EPA.As reported by Dr. Marc Edwards of the Flint Water Study program here,On February 27th, 2015, MDEQ s Stephen Busch unequivocally and falsely responded to EPA that: The City of Flint Has an Optimized Corrosion Control Program <and> Conducts quarterly Water Quality Parameter monitoring at 25 sites and has not had any unusual results. This was a flat-out lie.It wasn t until much later that the EPA learned that Michigan officials had been deceiving the agency about the use of corrosion control in Flint.As MLive reported nearly a year later, EPA officials were stunned when they discovered the truth. I was stunned when I found out they did not have corrosion control in place, Miguel A. Del Toral, regulations manager in the EPA s ground water and drinking water branch, said in an interview with The Flint Journal-MLive today, Jan. 21. In my head, I didn t believe that. I thought: That can t be true that s so basic. That s not possible. Unfortunately, it was possible.It was also the direct result of Governor Snyder appointing a list of unqualified, uneducated and inexperienced businessmen to be in charge of the city s water supply.A close examination of Michigan government shows what can happen when a single political party seizes control of all branches of government.The two-party system of government is essential to a healthy democracy. Not only is the system meant to safeguard against the kind of dictatorship being imposed in Michigan, but a second party with at least some amount of political power is necessary to keep government in check.In Michigan, the right wing has virtually succeeded in suppressing any voice that is not its own.Michigan s single party rule has eliminated from government anyone that could reasonably be expected to investigate corruption or hold state officials accountable for their actions.Michigan has a right-wing Attorney General, Secretary of State and Governor, along with a legislature that is entirely controlled by Tea Party and republican representatives. There is virtually no other party with any power in Michigan. Because of that, there is no-one to act as a watchdog for state government and there is no-one to hold state officials accountable.When Attorney General Bill Schuette finally announced an investigation into the Flint water crisis, Michigan residents laughed. No-one was surprised when Scheutte chose a private lawyer, who is not accountable to the public, to conduct the investigation. Nor was anyone surprised when it was revealed that the recently hired investigator is a republican party donor, who helped elect Rick Snyder.As Democracy Web explains it:There are ideological movements that reject the central tenets of multiparty electoral democracy but exploit the system s freedoms and processes to seek power. These include fascism, communism, and some forms of religious fundamentalism and ethnic or racial nationalism. Generally, parties with such ideologies use a utopian vision for the future to justify the imposition of a dictatorship once they reach government. While other parties are sometimes allowed to exist under their rule, real political power is exercised solely by the governing party. In these single-party systems, the ruling party is also a source of patronage, the main vehicle for personal advancement in politics and society, and a mechanism for strictly enforcing conformity to the dominant ideology. Underground parties or movements often organize against such regimes, but these are subject to severe repression.The Flint water crisis could not have happened without this total imbalance of power in the state s government.Michigan citizens apparently voted for Rick Snyder because of his business experience. That was their first mistake.Snyder s experience as a venture capitalist and corporate CEO did not make him more qualified to govern a state. If anything, it made him less qualified.Throughout his career, Snyder has been driven by the corporate doctrine of shareholder profit above all else. The only thing considered unethical in the corporate world is losing money.We got a first-hand glimpse into the corporate decision making process in 1968. That year leaked documents showed that the Ford Motor Company had compared the cost of recalling the company s Pinto to the cost of letting people die when the car s engine exploded. The company s analysis showed that it would be cheaper to let people die than to recall the car. So they did.Corporate ethics revolve around doing whatever you can get away with to protect or increase shareholder profits. This is the world that CEO s like Governor Rick Snyder live in.In relation to Flint, the media narrative has been that the source of Flint s drinking water was switched to the Flint river to save the city money. This narrative is simply not true.A feasibility study ordered by former Michigan State Treasurer Andy Dillon showed that switching the source of Flint s water would cost the city more. That report was thrown out by state officials.Emails released earlier this month, however, verify that it would have saved Flint hundreds of thousands dollars to stay with the Detroit Water and Sewer, even in the best case scenario.After the switch, Flint residents experienced a massive hike in their water rates. The increase in cost left many citizens unable to afford to keep water on in their homes. But those citizens who lost access to Flint s poisoned water may have been the lucky ones.If Snyder considered the citizens of Michigan his shareholders than none of these decisions make sense. He wasn t saving the city money as he repeatedly claimed. He wasn t doing the citizens of Flint any favors, either.But Snyder s decisions were never based on what was best for the city of Flint, nor the residents of that city.There s a whole different set of shareholders whose identities are not yet known.These are the people who Michigan s emergency manager law was set up to benefit.The law is formally known as Public Act 436. Embedded in the text of this law is the provision for state emergency managers to receive unlimited amounts of private cash.Section 141.1549 (f) reads:In addition to the salary provided to an emergency manager in a contract approved by the state treasurer under subdivision (e), this state may receive and distribute private funds to an emergency manager. As used in this subdivision, private funds means any money the state receives for the purpose of allocating additional salary to an emergency manager.Snyder set up a fund for these secret private donors, which he originally called the NERD fund. Cash was transferred through this fund directly into the pockets of Snyder s emergency managers.After a public outcry over the NERD fund, Snyder told the citizens of Michigan that it had been eliminated. That was another lie.Snyder simply changed the name of the slush fund from the NERD fund to the Moving Michigan Forward Fund.The same unnamed donors who have been lining the pockets of Michigan emergency managers for several years, are now footing the bill for Snyder s recently hired PR firms.Watch this video from WXYZ.The FBI and the Department of Justice criminal division are now investigating the Flint water crisis. Let s be clear, without the hope of an independent, outside investigation by federal authorities, Michigan citizens would be left without recourse.Michigan is one of two states in the country which exempts the governor and all state lawmakers from Freedom of Information requests.Any government that goes to these lengths to hide what it is doing from the public is a government that cannot and should not be trusted.Right wing lawmakers have no desire to make government work. They work to make government fail. Nowhere is that clearer than in the state of Michigan, where Snyder s appointed officials repeatedly broke federal laws, with devastating consequences. It s no surprise that republicans are now trying to use the Flint water crisis as proof that government doesn t work. There s nothing more dangerous to a corrupt government than an informed and involved citizenry.Being informed doesn t mean getting your news and information from the same source or sources all of the time, either.Sometimes being informed just means talking to other people, reaching across the aisles and stepping outside of your usual comfort zone.The people of Flint tried for more than a year to get the public s attention. We should ask ourselves why we didn t listen sooner.If we are to make sure that what happened in Flint never happens anywhere again, then we have to decide that we will not let factors like income or race or political affiliation determine whether or not we are willing to listen to our fellow citizens.If we can learn anything from the Flint water crisis, it s how important it is for each and every one of us to use our voting rights now. If we don t, we can (and almost surely will) lose them later.Right-wing politicians like Rick Snyder do not believe in democracy. They do not support your right to vote, nor your right to participate in government.Make no mistake, the only rights the people of Michigan have left are those which are protected by the federal government. At the state level, the right-wing legislature has removed the people s ability to participate in local government. These same lawmakers virtually eliminated the citizen s ability to recall their elected officials. They have also made it impossible for the voters to repeal legislation.This is what the far-right has accomplished in Michigan in just a few short years.Imagine what they will do if they gain complete control of the federal government These are certainly not the only lessons we should learn from the Flint water crisis. But if we all just learn these ten, and we truly take them to heart, our society will be so much better off going into the 2016 election. Image credit from Michigan Municipal League, via Flckr, cc 2.0 | 1real |
Hillary Clinton Sells 20% of US Uranium To Russia WTF ? | We Are Change
Hey — had you heard that uranium is an incredibly scarce resource and that Russia is buying it all up?
No, me neither.
But that’s what I’ve discovered on the campaign trail.
Apparently a few years back Hillary Clinton betrayed the country — yet again — by selling 20% of our precious uranium supply to Russia in return for yet more payola.
As secretary of state she “approved” a deal to sell Uranium One, a company that controlled a fifth of U.S. uranium production, to the Russian atomic agency Rosatom. In return she and Bill received vast amounts of payoffs from the Kremlin and related interests — most notably a $500,000 speaker fee for Bill from a Moscow-based investment bank, which works out at about $250,000 net of tax.
(Money also went to the Clinton Foundation charity, from which the Clintons personally steal money through a channel so clever and cynical that it remains hidden).
The deal is a perfect example of “Clinton Corruption,” says Donald Trump. “As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton signed off on a deal allowing Russians to take… control of about 20% of America’s uranium supply to the Russians.”
It shows the “long and lucrative history of financial deals with the Russians, particularly with the Russian government,” says Peter Schweizer, author of the book “Clinton Cash,” director of the film of the same name, and an editor at large for the always-reliable Breitbart website. Uranium is “a fundamental issue of national security,” Schweizer told Lou Dobbs Tonight on Fox Business. “It’s not like oil and gas that you can find all sorts of places. They are precious few places you can mine for uranium, in the United States is one of those areas.”
Even the New York Times — a wholly owned subsidiary of the Worldwide Clinton-Illuminati-Spectre Cabal — was critical. “Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal,” it reported in a big expose published earlier this year, in which it even floated the prospect of a Putin “monopoly” of uranium down the road.
It’s all very, very troubling. Apart from just one teensy weeny little problem.
Uranium isn’t a scarce resource that Vladimir Putin, or anyone else, is about to control.
Uranium is a massive drug on the international commodity markets. There is a worldwide glut. It is produced all around the world, and there is so much of it washing around that the price is in free-fall — and has been for almost 10 years. Right now the world’s uranium miners are so desperate that they are actually giving it away for less — literally — than it costs them to dig it out of the ground.
Uranium prices have collapsed by a staggering 88% since their peak in the summer of 2007. They are down about three quarters since the February 2011 Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster in Japan, which caused that country to switch off most of its reactors and caused everyone else to review their nuclear-energy production.
As it happens, the price of this allegedly precious commodity just hit a new low of $20 a ton (In 2007 it was $160). It’s now half the price it was when the Russians took control of Uranium One. According to the World Nuclear Association, the miners’ trade body, that’s about 20% below the average cost of digging it out of the ground. Two thirds of the world’s uranium costs more than $20 a pound to mine.
The problem is that while lots of mines are producing it, hardly anyone wants it. Nearly all of the commercial use for uranium is for nuclear energy. Nuclear reactors are being mothballed. Plans for massive nuclear expansion are being shelved or reconsidered. Fukushima caused a massive political backlash against nuclear energy.
Even countries that still plan on building many more reactors — such as China and India — started slow-walking their plans and rethinking. And then the price of other sources of energy, such as oil and gas, collapsed. So there is even less demand for new reactors.
Meanwhile, despite the panic, U.S. uranium output isn’t very important anyway. According to the World Nuclear Association, the U.S. ranks ninth among global producers. Our production is less than one quarter of Australia’s and less than one tenth of Canada’s. The U.S. accounts for about 2% of total uranium production worldwide — meaning that the U.S. mines now in Putin’s hands account for about 0.4% of world output.
Whoa! You can really see why Vladimir Putin wanted “control” of it — and why the Clintons were able to charge him in return a stratospheric $250,000 net (plus, of course, the secret funds stolen from the Clinton Foundation) in return.
Why hasn’t there been an investigation? Where is the FBI when you really need it?
OK, maybe “technically,” Hillary didn’t personally actually “approve” the deal. Turns out she had no actual veto power over it. But she was one of many people who could have referred it to the president, who could have blocked it. There are lots of others who also approved it, including multiple regulators and stock exchanges around the world (Uranium One is actually a Canadian company). The fact that they all waved it through just shows how wide the Clintons’ tentacles really stretch.
But I always like to end on a positive note, and I have one now. If uranium really is a scarce and precious resource and Vladimir Putin is secretly trying to corner the market, as so many of these sources allege, then obviously sooner or later the price is going to explode. And if that’s true, I know an easy way you can guarantee yourself a fortune.
Just go out and buy stock in Uranium Participation Corp. URPTF, -0.36% a publicly traded Canadian company that functions effectively as a uranium trust. It simply owns a lot of uranium on behalf of investors. Its price has, of course, absolutely collapsed along with the underlying price of the uranium in its vaults, and the stock is now at record lows.
Although it is a Canadian stock, and its primary exchange is in Toronto, the stock also trades freely over the counter in the U.S.
I assume that all those people raging against Hillary’s evil uranium “sell out” to Putin, and warning about the coming uranium apocalypse, have plunged tons of their own money into the stock. Right?
And if they haven’t — what does that tell you?
Via. Market Watch
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WASHINGTON POST PRAISES MICHELLE OBAMA For “Reclaiming her image”…For Openly Supporting Racist and Cop-Hating Black Lives Matter | Washington Post: Is this the woman that Michelle Obama sees when she looks in the mirror now, free of the White House and the media scrutiny of presidential politics? After more than a decade in public life, can she freely shed the sheath dress and pearls for a wide brim black hat and dookie braids?She just did.By allowing herself to be photographed alongside 15 other members of Beyonc s inner circle, Obama reclaimed her image from the annals of stodgy first lady portraits. And, she did it by embodying Beyonc s.The image, in case you haven t seen it, is part of a birthday tribute to the singer who posted portraits of black women some famous, others not dressed in one of her iconic looks from the Formation video.For those who aren t able to pick out Michelle without seeing her perpetual scowl or eyeballs rolling, she s the one in the middle:The Washington Post took great pains to make sure there is no room for interpretation when it comes the reason Michelle Obama chose to publicly throw her support behind Beyonce s divisive, cop-hating music.From the Washington Post:Both the former first lady and Queen Bey are two women who don t put images out into the world without carefully considering their meaning. So what s the former first lady telling us with this one?First, that she loves Beyonc . Well, duh: Their track record of public support dates back to the first inauguration, when the singer serenaded the Obamas with Etta James s At Last. Second, that she loved Formation, undeniably one of Beyonc s most overtly political tracks. The video featured stark images of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, along with graffiti supporting the movement for Black Lives Matter, a police cruiser sinking into a body of water and a young black boy dancing in front of a line of officers outfitted in riot gear. That s all before Beyonc throws up her middle fingers.In other words There can be no denying that Michelle has given up the front, and is coming out as a full-fledged supporter of the anti-law enforcement Black Lives Matter domestic terror group.The Washington Post wrapped up their piece by reminding their readers how painful it s been for Michelle to be stuck in the White House, and how she s looking forward to living a normal life again, unlike the stodgy former first ladies before her:In one of her final interviews as first lady, Obama told Oprah Winfrey that she longed for a normal life after living in the nation s fish bowl. So it seems counter intuitive for her to participate in this such a public display of adulation for one of the world s most famous women.Add to that the controversial nature of the look which hearkens to Beyonc in one of her more militant moments. Remember that satirical New Yorker cover, which cast Michelle Obama as a fist-bumping, combat boot-wearing, afro d commando? That image, Obama has said, knocked [her] back. | 1real |
UK business, unions ally to urge Brexit citizenship deal | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s leading business and union bodies jointly urged the British government and European Union on Thursday to guarantee their citizens rights after Brexit takes place in March 2019. The uncertainty facing four million expatriate European and British citizens has become intolerable, said the heads of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Trades Union Congress (TUC) - who often sit on opposite sides of the corporate negotiating table. Millions of workers and thousands of firms are today united in their call to leaders on both sides to find an urgent solution, the CBI s Carolyn Fairbairn and the TUC s Frances O Grady said in a joint statement. The issue of expatriate citizens rights has become a stumbling block in bilateral talks over Britain s divorce. Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said concessions made last week by UK Prime Minister Theresa May went in the right direction, but not far enough to move negotiations forward. Describing the current situation as human poker , Fairbairn and O Grady said a clear guarantee of the right to remain for citizens in Britain and the EU was needed within weeks. The CBI and TUC said EU citizens accounted for 10 percent of registered doctors and 4 percent of nurses in Britain. Millions more work in the public and private sectors delivering public services and making a vital contribution to our economy, they said. EU citizens giving evidence to a Scottish parliamentary committee on Europe said they had missed job opportunities in the UK due to confusion among employers on the need for a permanent residency card, which costs 160 pounds ($215) and can only be obtained by filling out an 80-page form. But it is unclear whether the card will be valid post-Brexit when they will then need to apply for settled status , under proposals currently being discussed. ($1 = 0.7441 pounds) | 0fake |
Boiler Room #99 – Almost to 100! | Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room tonight 6:00 PM PST | 8:00 PM CST | 9:00 PM EST for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for bar fly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher and Spore along with Infidel Pharaoh, Funk Soul, Andy Nowicki of Alt-Right Blogspot, Jay Dyer from Jays Analysis and Randy J for the 99th episode of BOILER ROOM. Water the kids, put the plants to bed and get your favorite mead horn ready so you can drop deep into the Boiler Room with the crew. Tonight the gang is discussing the latest a myriad of news and main stream media shenanigans that have taken place since the last meeting of the ACR brain-trust know as THE BOILER ROOM.Direct Download Episode #99Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved!Reference Links: | 1real |
Trump Is So Embarrassed His Candidate Lost He’s Deleting Tweets And Praying You’ll Forget | Donald Trump went all in for his man Luther Strange. I mean, he tweeted in between other pressing matters, of course at least a dozen times in support of the incumbent Senator in Alabama.Or at least, Strange was the incumbent, until former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and all-around douchebag Roy Moore beat him in a runoff primary last night.Trump did everything but attach himself at the hip to Strange, for a reason I ll get into in a minute. But it just wasn t enough to overcome Moore, who was backed by Trump s former right-hand man Steve Bannon, as well as a bevy of other prominent dumbass conservatives. Sarah Palin, Sebastian Gorka, Laura Ingraham and even Sean Hannity lent their support to the ultra-conservative Moore, while simultaneously being careful to tell voters that a vote against Strange wasn t a vote against Donald Trump. Bannon went so far as to say that a vote for Moore was a vote for Trump.They understand something that the president doesn t, and it s this I was alluding to as the reason Trump rolled so deep with Luther Strange. Donald Trump knows he has some kind of power over his supporters, but he doesn t know what it is. He honestly believes that he can make them do whatever he wants them to do and that they will do it happily. And above all, he believes that he is infallible in his decisions.Trump has it all backwards.In reality, it is Donald Trump who does the bidding of his fans. It s because he literally has no idea what he s doing. He has zero experience in politics. He doesn t know or even care what the people of Alabama think about or want in a Senate candidate. Let me put this plainly:If Donald Trump thought that a man like Roy Moore, who was removed from the Supreme Court of Alabama only by outside forces; who never lost the support of his constituents; who is literally the Bible-thumping, gay-hating, end-times preaching Senator that the most redneck state in America has been dreaming about since Reconstruction was going to lose this election to a career politician, well He s a whole lot dumber than any of us give him credit for.Trump s candidate lost because he was always going to lose. Trump himself lost because he had no idea. Prior to the election, Trump was so confident of his star power and Strange s ability to win by association that he hadn t bothered to learn Moore s first name.And one thing Donald J. Trump doesn t do is lose gracefully. The president went on a deleting spree of tweets he had posted in support of Strange. He was so angry that he couldn t even remember when the general election was being held in Alabama, so when he congratulated Moore after his win, he even had to delete the first draft of that:Trump has, of course, quieted down. Unfortunately for him, the slew of tweet deletions, which may actually be illegal, just makes his timeline look like literally all he can think about is big black men on their knees.As long as nobody s sitting down during the national anthem, I suppose.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
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