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Trump signs executive order to modernize U.S. government info tech | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump announced on Monday he has signed an executive order creating a new technology council to “transfer and modernize” the U.S. government’s information technology systems. A White House official confirmed Monday that about 20 technology chief executives will attend meetings at the White House in early June to talk about improving government information technology. “Americans deserve better digital services from their Government. To effectuate this policy, the federal government must transform and modernize its information technology and how it uses and delivers digital services,” Trump’s executive order dated April 28 said. Trump has held a number of meetings with top tech chief executives since becoming president, including Apple Inc, Facebook Inc, Alphabet Inc, IBM Corp, Microsoft Inc, and Tesla Inc. In March, Trump signed a separate order to overhaul the federal government. Trump tapped Jared Kushner in March to lead a White House Office of American Innovation to leverage business ideas and potentially privatize some government functions as the White House pushes to shrink government, cut federal employees and eliminate regulations. Officially called the American Technology Council, Chris Liddell will be its director. He is the White House director of strategic initiatives, and former Microsoft and General Motors co chief financial officer. A 2016 U.S. Government Accountability Office report publicly estimated the U.S. government spends more than $80 billion in IT annually, but said spending has fallen by $7.3 billion since 2010. In 2015, there were at least 7,000 separate IT investments by the U.S. government, the report said. The $80 billion figure does not include Defense Department classified IT systems; and 58 independent executive branch agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the report said. The GAO report said U.S. government IT investments “are becoming increasingly obsolete: many use outdated software languages and hardware parts that are unsupported.” The report found some agencies are using systems that have components that are at least 50 years old. “The Department of Defense uses 8-inch floppy disks in a legacy system that coordinates the operational functions of the nation’s nuclear forces,” the report said. The report said the Defense Department plans to update the system by the end of September. The Treasury Department’s business master file of tax data pertaining to individual business income taxpayers dates back to the 1950s and using an antiquated computer language “and operates on an IBM mainframe.” The council is chaired by Trump and includes the defense secretary, homeland security secretary, budget director and director of national intelligence. | 0fake |
U.S. urges cooperation after Kurdish leader's resignation | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday urged Iraq s federal government and Kurdish Regional Government institutions to resolve their disagreements after Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani said he would resign later this week. We call on all Kurdish parties to support the KRG as it works to resolve pending issues over the remainder of its term and prepare for elections in 2018, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement commending Barzani s decision. It urged Iraq and the KRG to work urgently to resolve pending issues under the Iraqi constitution. The statement appeared to reflect a U.S. belief that the departure of Barzani, whose Sept. 25 independence referendum is widely seen has having backfired, may make it easier for the two main Kurdish factions to work together and to negotiate with the federal government led by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. In the statement, Nauert stressed a U.S. desire to work with KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, Masoud Barzani s nephew and a fellow member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) faction, and with Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani, a member of the other faction, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). A strong KRG within a unified and federal Iraq is essential to its long-term stability and to the enduring defeat of ISIS, she said, referring to the Islamic State militant group, whose destruction is a major U.S. policy objective in the region. Disputes between the KRG and the Baghdad federal government range from the perennial tussle over how to share oil revenues to the control of territory and border crossings. Suggesting that Barzani s departure may yield greater Kurdish unity and improve the odds of a resolution with Baghdad, a U.S. official said: We can t allow this tension to continue. They have to be able to find a way to live together. Now is the time to get them to sit down and try to work things out. | 0fake |
WHY WOULD OBAMA’S SEND THEIR DAUGHTER TO NYC TO INTERN With A Self Described “Sexual Predator” Of Her Little Sister? | Malia s internship with pedophile Lena Dunham comes on the heels of her taxpayer funded European tour to London, Venice and Milan with her sister Sasha, Mooch and of course, Mooch s mom (as no taxpayer funded vacation would be complete without).Dream job?Malia Obama has landed a summer internship on the set of HBO s raunchy show Girls during which she ll be working with actress and proud feminist Lena Dunham, according to a report in US Weekly.Specifically, a source close to the television show s production team told the magazine of Malia, She s a fan, and she mentioned that to Lena [Dunham] when she came to the White House. I m not sure how long she ll be interning for. It s a bit of a trial thing for her. They ve known each other and discussed for a while. Lena and her get along great. The gig would make sense, as Malia was was photographed last week in Brooklyn drinking a soda on the set of Girls, though at the time it was uncertain whether she was working on the set or perhaps playing a guest role in an episode. Via: Red Alert PoliticsTruth Revolt: In her newly published collection of personal essays, Not That Kind of Girl, Lena Dunham describes experimenting sexually with her younger sister Grace, whom she says she attempted to persuade to kiss her using anything a sexual predator might do. In one particularly unsettling passage, Dunham experimented with her six-year younger sister s vagina. This was within the spectrum of things I did, she writes. anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl I was trying. In the collection of nonfiction personal accounts, Dunham describes using her little sister at times essentially as a sexual outlet, bribing her to kiss her for prolonged periods and even masturbating while she is in the bed beside her. But perhaps the most disturbing is an account she proudly gives of an episode that occurred when she was seven and her sister was one.Here s the full passage (p. 158-9): Do we all have uteruses? I asked my mother when I was seven. Yes, she told me. We re born with them, and with all our eggs, but they start out very small. And they aren t ready to make babies until we re older. I look at my sister, now a slim, tough one-year-old, and at her tiny belly. I imagined her eggs inside her, like the sack of spider eggs in Charlotte s Web, and her uterus, the size of a thimble. Does her vagina look like mine? I guess so, my mother said. Just smaller. One day, as I sat in our driveway in Long Island playing with blocks and buckets, my curiosity got the best of me. Grace was sitting up, babbling and smiling, and I leaned down between her legs and carefully spread open her vagina. She didn t resist and when I saw what was inside I shrieked.My mother came running. Mama, Mama! Grace has something in there! My mother didn t bother asking why I had opened Grace s vagina. This was within the spectrum of things I did. She just got on her knees and looked for herself. It quickly became apparent that Grace had stuffed six or seven pebbles in there. My mother removed them patiently while Grace cackled, thrilled that her prank had been a success.Dunham describes the book as a work of nonfiction in which some names and identifying details have been changed. She also states that she considers herself an unreliable narrator, which gives her some wiggle room on the truth of her accounts. As National Review s Kevin D. Williamson notes, this passage is especially suspicious. The one-year old Grace s prank is supposedly done with the expectation of her older sister poking around in her genitals. There is no non-horrific interpretation of this episode. UpdateAfter Lena Dunham went on a self-described rage spiral in response to this article, which she called f*cking upsetting and disgusting, her lawyer sent a cease and desist letter to TruthRevolt threatening to sue us for millions of dollars if we did not pull the piece and post a retraction stating that this story was false. TruthRevolt refused.Monday, TruthRevolt editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro posted a response to the cease and desist letter, which includes more of the passages from her book upon which our assessment was based and argues that quoting a woman s book does not constitute a false story :Lena Dunham may not like our interpretation of her book, but unfortunately for her and her attorneys, she wrote that book and the First Amendment covers a good deal of material she may not like. | 1real |
WATCH: 40,000 BOY SCOUTS BOO Barack Obama…GO CRAZY…Chant “We Love Trump” During President Trump’s Visit To National Scout Jamboree | President Trump stood in front 40,000 enthusiastic Boy Scouts in West Virginia, as the scouts proudly chanted USA USA! President Trump started out his speech to the Boy Scouts by remarking on the size of the crowd. Trump told the Boy Scouts that he estimated the crowd at about 45,000, but joked that the media will probably say there were about 200 scouts in the crowd.Standing on the stage with President Trump were former Scout and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. It only seemed appropriate that Trump would bring his Secretary of Energy Rick Perry to West Virginia, where candidate Trump won the hearts and votes of coal miner s desperate for someone in Washington fight for their jobs.Watch President Trump enter the stage at the scout jamboree as the scouts go wild:President Donald J. Trump arrives at The Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve and proceeds to main stage. #TeamTrumpBTS #MAGA #USAA post shared by President Donald J. Trump (@realdonaldtrump) on Jul 24, 2017 at 5:18pm PDTAs Trump entered the stage, the scouts went wild chanting, We love Trump! Trump paused for a moment and then asked the scouts, By the way just a question: Did President Obama ever come to a Jamboree?' The crowd responded by booing the former president. President Trump then told them, And we ll be back. We l be back. The answer is no . But we ll be back. The crowd went wild again!#BoyScouts chant "WE LOVE TRUMP" and appear to BOO Obama pic.twitter.com/uBU7aPLh3S RSBN TV (@RSBNetwork) July 24, 2017Here s the entire video of President Trump s speech to the Boy Scouts: | 1real |
Bernie Sanders: When you’re White, you don’t know what it’s like to be poor…to live in ghetto” [VIDEO] | Bernie Sanders is so focused on pandering to blacks, trashing whites and bashing police officers, he doesn t even notice when he s stuck his decrepit old foot in his mouth Hillary and Bernie are so busy pandering to the black vote, they almost forgot the majority of Americans are not black and their constant barage of disparaging remarks and insults directed at white voter just might make some white Americans NOT want to support them Being a white person in the United States of America, I know that I have never had the experience that so many people in this audience have had, Clinton said. I think it s incumbent upon me and what I have been trying to talk about is to urge white people about what it is like to have the talk with your kids, scared that yours or daughters even could get in trouble for no good reason whatsoever, like Sandra Bland and end up dead in a jail in Texas. That is what I will try to do to deal with what I know is the racism that stalking our country, she said. When you re white, you don t know what it s like to be living in a ghetto and to be poor, Sanders said. You don t know what it s like to be hassled when you walk down the street or get dragged out of a car. I believe as a nation in the year 2016, we must be firm in making it clear: We will end institutional racism and reform a broken criminal justice system. Via: National Review | 1real |
UNHINGED PELOSI: It’s “Outrageous” That Republicans Blame Dems for Shooting: “Somewhere in the 90’s the Republicans went on the politics of personal destruction” [Video] | Well, that didn t take long Nancy Pelosi went on a unhinged angry rant at Republicans for blaming yesterday s shooting on left-wing rhetoric. While she doesn t say it s appropriate to talk about she goes on to rant at Republicans for any comment blaming Democrats: Somewhere in the 90 s the Republicans went on the politics of personal destruction Here s the second part of Pelosi s ridiculous response:The gunman who shot Steve Scalise was a strong political supporter of Bernie Sanders. He had a Facebook page and twitter account full of hate for Republicans and President Trump. Anyone with half a brain would know this man committed this heinous crime for political reasons. Nancy Pelosi acts innocent in all this hate and political terrorism when she was just recorded laughing at the California DNC Chair flipping off President Trump and saying, F*ck Trump! : A reporter asked: Can you comment on the possibility that this incident could be used against Democrats or the Democratic Party politically because the assailant was apparently motivated by some kind of anti-Republican sentiment and we have heard comments from Republicans, including Congress, about vitriol rhetoric from the left being in some way to blame? Pelosi responded with the most idiotic comment: The comments made by my Republican colleagues are outrageous. Beneath of the dignity of the job they hold, beneath the dignity of the respect we would like Congress to command. How dare they say such a thing. How dare they Pelosi went on to point out the past rhetoric that came from Republicans, including President Donald Trump. Probably as we sit here, they re running caricatures of me and Georgia once again of over $100 million, of vitriolic things they say that resulted in calls to my home constantly, threats in front of my grandchildren really predicated on their comments and their paid ads, Pelosi said. So this sick individual does something despicable, and it was horrible what he did, hateful, but for them to all of a sudden be sanctimonious as if they ve never seen such a thing before and I don t even want to go into the president of the United States. But in terms of some of the language that he has used So, again, let s go there another day. This woman needs to retire PRONTO! | 1real |
Watch: Trump Wishes Former FBI Director James Comey ’Luck’ in Senate Testimony - Breitbart | Tuesday at the White House, President Donald Trump was asked if he had a message former FBI Director James Comey, who is set to testify Thursday before a U. S. Senate committee. Trump said of Comey, “I wish him luck” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0fake |
China to bring paramilitary police force under military's wing | BEIJING (Reuters) - China will bring its paramilitary police force, the People s Armed Police, under the control of the Central Military Commission which controls the country s armed forces from Jan. 1, state media said on Wednesday. Since taking power five years ago, President Xi Jinping has overseen a sweeping modernization of the People s Liberation Army, the world s largest military, laying off troops, streamlining its organization and investing in advanced weapons. In a brief report, the official Xinhua news agency said that from midnight on Jan. 1 the People s Armed Police would no longer fall under the purview of the State Council, or cabinet, and instead report to the Central Military Commission. Xi heads the Central Military Commission in his role as armed forces chief and commander in chief. Xi has steadily consolidated his power over the military, and has appointed allies to key positions of power in the armed forces. Xinhua did not provide any details on how the new reporting structure would work or why the government had made the decision. However, the party s official People s Daily, in a commentary for publication on Thursday but reported by Xinhua on Wednesday, said the move was needed to ensure security and promote the aim of having a strong military . The People s Armed Police will remain separate, carry out its existing functions and not be absorbed into the People s Liberation Army, the People s Daily said. The paramilitary police force serves as a backup for the military in times of war, and domestically has a role in putting down protests and counter-terrorism as well as border defense and fire-fighting. Xi has radically overhauled the old Soviet-era command structure of the military to make the armed forces nimbler and better able to respond to crises at home and abroad. That has included condensing the command structure and giving greater emphasis on new capabilities including cyberspace, electronic and information warfare. China s military has not fought a war in decades, but faces what the government calls a complex security environment, such as nuclear-armed North Korea and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and over self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its own. | 0fake |
Bernie's not-so-secret-weapon | But he still takes some time out for Twitter feuds. | 0fake |
Colombia peace deal cannot be modified for 12 years, court rules | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia s next three governments must comply with a 2016 peace deal signed with the Marxist FARC rebel group, the Constitutional Court said in a ruling late on Wednesday, shielding the accord from potential changes should the opposition win next year s elections. The decision blocks modifications to the peace deal for the next 12, stymieing right-wing opponents of President Juan Manuel Santos who have long rejected the accord and who may have sought to change or cancel it. The deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels ended more than 52 years of war. More than 220,000 people have died and millions have been displaced during the Andean country s conflict between the government, leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries. Institutions and authorities of the state have the obligation to comply with what is established in the final accord in good faith...until the end of three complete presidential periods following the signing, reads the constitutional reform approved by the court. The government welcomed the ruling, with peace commissioner Rodrigo Rivera saying in a statement that the ruling should ease any worries among former FARC combatants, some 7,000 of whom have demobilized and formed a political party, that the accord will not be respected. Right-wing opposition politicians, including ex-president turned senator Alvaro Uribe, said the ruling ignored the will of Colombians, who narrowly rejected the deal in a referendum held just over a year ago, before it was modified and passed through Congress. | 0fake |
Refugees reaching Zambia accuse DRC troops of killing civilians: U.N. | LUSAKA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government forces have been killing civilians in an insurgency-hit region, prompting the latest influx of refugees into northern Zambia, a senior U.N. official said, citing accounts of asylum seekers. Zambia fears a looming humanitarian crisis after more than 6,000 refugees fleeing turmoil in the DRC entered its territory in one month. [L5N1M32S5] Pierrine Aylara, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) chief representative in Zambia, told Reuters that the latest asylum seekers had said they were fleeing Congolese government forces. It is the government of the DRC that is said to be persecuting its own people by killing, maiming and torching houses, as well as committing rape and looting food stored in granaries, Aylara said. Thousands of people have been killed and more than one million forced to flee their homes in the DRC s eastern Kasai region since the start of an insurrection nearly a year ago by the Kamuina Nsapu militia. Kamuina Nsapu is demanding the withdrawal of military forces from Kasai. But U.N. monitors noted in a report that the conflict has shifted away from an insurrection of a specific community towards a wider upheaval far beyond its initial confines. A rebel group known as Elema was fighting the government mainly with machetes, bows and arrows in Congo s Haut Katanga and Tanganyika provinces, Aylara said. The group is not targeting civilians and aims to protect them, but is rather targeting government soldiers, the police as well as government establishments, she said. The insurgency poses the worst threat yet to the rule of DRC President Joseph Kabila. His refusal to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate last December prompted a wave of killings and lawlessness across the vast central African nation. In turn, government soldiers have become increasingly brutal to the civilian population as they are unable to tell who does and does not belong to this (rebel) group, Aylara said. DRC government forces were fighting alongside a tribe known as the Abatembo and targeting the Luba and Tabwa tribes who were believed to be sympathetic to the Elema rebels, she said. Southern African leaders plan to appoint a retired African president to oversee a process aimed at bringing about free and all-inclusive elections in the DRC to help heal the tensions that have caused internal strife and the refugee crisis. | 0fake |
Putin says Democrats wrongly trying to blame others for defeat | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the U.S. Democratic Party was wrongly trying to blame its electoral defeat to Donald Trump on external factors. Speaking at an annual end-of-year news conference, Putin said that the party needed to learn how to lose gracefully. | 0fake |
Hoping to change his luck in Congress, Trump turns to Democrats | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh off striking a budget deal with Democrats, Donald Trump is toning down his rhetoric and looking to cut deals on such American hot-button issues as immigration and tax reform in search of a much-needed legislative victory. Eight months in office, the Republican president is openly courting and pressuring Democrats for support on taxes and, for now at least, steering away from hardline positions on immigration that might antagonize them. The approach is still in its early stages. In the past Trump has briefly taken a more moderate direction only to quickly return to his conservative base. But White House aides say the driving force behind the change of tactics is a desire to secure some wins in Congress after months of failure. Internal squabbling among Republicans, who control both chambers of Congress, killed their efforts to overhaul healthcare. The divisions threaten to undermine the push for a tax overhaul, especially in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow 52-48 majority. “We learned this summer that keeping 50 or 52 Republicans (in the Senate) is not something that’s reliable,” Marc Short, Trump’s liaison to Congress, told reporters this week. Frustrated with Republican leaders, Trump is moving away from a strategy that relies on passing legislation on strict party lines. He hosted seven senators at the White House on Tuesday, including three Democrats, and had dinner plans on Wednesday with House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Hours before the dinner, Trump told reporters his tax plan might include a tax increase on the wealthy, a welcome gesture for Democrats, who oppose cutting taxes on the rich. Trump’s bipartisan moves followed a series of staff changes. He replaced chief of staff Reince Priebus, a longtime Republican operative, with John Kelly, a former Marine general with strong relationships on Capitol Hill, and ousted more polarizing aides, including Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorka. Last week Trump went so far as to take Democratic Senator Heidi Heitkamp along with him to her home state of North Dakota for a tax-reform rally. Her state leans strongly Republican, and Heitkamp is seen as vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections. Hurricanes that struck Texas and Florida have forced Trump to focus on governing. He has petitioned Congress for financial aid backed by both parties. But not everyone has been pleased with Trump’s outreach to Democrats. Immigration hardliners, including some in his party, were furious when the White House said it would not insist on funding for a proposed Mexican border wall as a condition of legislation that would help young undocumented immigrants known as “Dreamers” who were brought to the United States as children. Conservatives said this forfeited some leverage. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, which seeks to limit legal and illegal immigration, said he worried that Democrats would take advantage of Trump’s eagerness to strike a deal on Dreamers. “Trump is the kind of guy who goes on foot to the car dealership and can’t get a ride home without buying a car,” Krikorian said. Some Republican lawmakers said Trump’s courtship of Democrats on tax reform made them nervous, especially since details of the plan had yet to be worked out. “Now Trump is talking about doing bipartisan stuff with Chuck and Nancy on taxes,” Republican Representative Dave Brat said. “I don’t want to open the door to that until we see what does this tax plan look like.” But some conservatives said a bipartisan legislative strategy made sense. “People inside the Republican party need to understand that the president has to search wherever the votes are,” said Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union. | 0fake |
Mysterious 'pinging' at bottom of Arctic sea... Wildlife spooked... | RedFlag News |
UK TELEGRAPH
Canada's military is investigating a mysterious "pinging" that is emanating from the sea floor in the Arctic .
The sound, which has also been described as a "hum" or a "beep", has apparently spooked the local wildlife in the Fury and Hecla Strait.
Paul Quassa, a member of the legislative assembly, said the noise was "emanating from the sea floor".
"That's one of the major hunting areas in the summer and winter ... And this time around, this summer, there were hardly any. And this became a suspicious thing."
The military said it was investigating what was causing the sound.
"The Department of National Defence has been informed of the strange noises emanating in the Fury and Hecla Strait area, and the Canadian Armed Forces are taking the appropriate steps to actively investigate the situation," an armed forces spokesperson told CBC News . | 1real |
Thousands Of “Organic” Beauty Products Found Containing Banned Chemicals | Beauty products that claim to be "organic" or "natural" are far from it. Credit: Wise Geek
When it comes to the term “organic,” there’s actually not as much regulation surrounding use of the word as consumers would like. The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates organic claims in farm products, but it’s the controversial Federal Drug Administration that has control over cosmetics.
Though the USDA has strict standards for organic food products, the FDA does not even have an official definition for the term “organic.” On their website, the question “Does FDA have a definition for the term organic?” is met with this answer:
“No. FDA regulates cosmetics under the authority of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act) and the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (FPLA). The term ‘organic’ is not defined in either of these laws or the regulations that FDA enforces under their authority.”
The FDA does have some regulations that are overseen by the USDA via the National Organic Program, but the policing efforts when it comes to cosmetics are seriously lacking. By looking at EWG’s Skin Deep database, it was determined that over 5,000 products use the word “organic” in their brand name, product name, product label or list of ingredients.
Depending on the placement of the word, certain regulations can be bypassed , and that’s why most of these products are actually horrible and receive the lowest Skin Deep score possible despite claiming to be “organic.” The use of chemicals is still allowed even in these seemingly wholesome products and some of these chemicals are so poor for your skin that they are banned in many countries.
When a beauty product claims to be “made with 100% organic or natural ingredients,” it can be misleading because they are often referring to a single ingredient that is organic or naturally-derived rather than all of their ingredients. Other tactics used to confuse consumers include using the terms like “eco-friendly” or “vegan,” both of which are even less regulated than using organic on a label. Unless there is a third-party company that you trust backing these claims, they are likely a farce and have no substance.
Since there is so much confusion surrounding these loaded words, consumers should be wary when they encounter products that make bold claims like this. Instead of taking their labels at face value, simply take a look at the ingredients and research a few to see what they really are. If the majority of them are things you cannot pronounce, it’s likely that most are made with synthetic chemicals and far from being “natural” or “organic.”
What are your thoughts on this news? Please share, like, and comment on this article!
This article ( Thousands Of “Organic” Beauty Products Found Containing Banned Chemicals ) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TrueActivist.com
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Assange Claims ‘Crazed’ Clinton Campaign Tried to Hack WikiLeaks | Home / Be The Change / Government Corruption / Assange Claims ‘Crazed’ Clinton Campaign Tried to Hack WikiLeaks Assange Claims ‘Crazed’ Clinton Campaign Tried to Hack WikiLeaks The Free Thought Project October 28, 2016 Leave a comment
(RT) — Julian Assange has claimed the Hillary Clinton campaign has attacked the servers being used by WikiLeaks. Despite the Ecuadorian embassy shutting down his internet until the US election is over, the website will continue publishing, according to Assange.
“Everyday that you publish is a day that you have the initiative in the conflict,” Assange said via telephone at a conference in Argentina on Wednesday.
The whistleblowing website has been releasing emails from Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta, on a daily basis since early October.
Assange claimed the release “whipped up a crazed hornet’s nest atmosphere in the Hillary Clinton campaign” leading them to attack WikiLeaks.
“ They attacked our servers and attempted hacking attacks and there is an amazing ongoing campaign where state documents were put in the UN and British courts to accuse me of being both a Russian spy and a pedophile,” he added.
Ecuador’s decision to shut down his internet was described by Assange as a “strategic position” so that its “policy of non-intervention can’t be misinterpreted by actors in the US and even domestically in Ecuador.”
He said he was sympathetic with Ecuador, insisting they face the dilemma of having the US interfere with their elections next year if they appear to interfere with the US elections next month. MORE: #WikiLeaks has activated contingency plans after #Assange 's internet link was intentionally cut off https://t.co/octsMseme1
— RT (@RT_com) October 17, 2016
Assange, who claimed the embassy will be without internet until the election is over to avoid accusations of interference, said he did not agree with Ecuador’s decision but did understand it. WikiLeaks will not be affected by the decision as they do not publish from Ecuador, he said.
He did, however, reject the idea that WikiLeaks is interfering with the US election, claiming, “this is not the interference of electoral process, this is the definition of electoral process – for media organizations and, in fact, everyone to publish the truth and their opinion about what is occurring. It cannot be a free and informed election unless people are free to inform.”
He also attacked US TV networks, many of whom he accused of being “controlled by Clinton supporters.” We were fastest on #Podestaemails6 , faster than @wikileaks , and the US conspiracy machine can’t handle it https://t.co/njAae50qDd
— RT (@RT_com) October 13, 2016
The Podesta emails will make no difference to the election result, according to Assange. “I don’t think there’s any chance of Donald Trump winning the election, even with the amazing material we are publishing, because most of the media organizations are strongly aligned with Hillary Clinton,” he said.
Assange said journalists and people who work in the media are predominantly middle class and view Trump as representing “what in their mind is white trash.” Share Social Trending | 1real |
Here Is How FBI Director Comey BAMBOOZLED The DOJ, CONGRESS, And The CLINTONS All At Once | 1 comment James Comey just outfoxed the entire corrupt establishment with one game changing technique… Hillary Clinton’s Campaign called for the immediate release of all of the FBI’s new findings. Congress is demanding more information from James Comey and the Bureau by Monday. President Obama and The Department Of Justice say that Comey did not notify them before sending his letter to Congress. The New York Times reported that Obama’s Department Of Justice still has not granted approval for the FBI to review the emails that were allegedly found on Anthony Weiner’s laptop. “We do not have a warrant,” a senior law enforcement official said. “Discussions are under way [between the FBI and the DOJ] as to the best way to move forward.” Could this be a brilliant, somewhat sneaky, move by Comey? The question has been raised: A serious journalist, of which there are few today, would wonder if this isn’t precisely WHY Comey went public @thegarance @maggieNYT pic.twitter.com/kwFum9LNO7
— DanRiehl (@DanRiehl) October 30, 2016
The ball is now clearly in The Department of Justice’s court. With both Hillary and Congress demanding the information now, the DOJ will have to issue the required warrant. Otherwise, Comey can claim to have done his job without fear of repercussions from the American public or the court system.
It is true that Obama’s DOJ has not investigated The Clinton Foundation and they discouraged Comey from looking into Hillary’s email problems. Justice Dept. Strongly Discouraged Comey on Move in Clinton Email Case https://t.co/UjpRoz1OtC pic.twitter.com/WZXTn3DYqw
— DanRiehl (@DanRiehl) October 30, 2016
Comey just outran the angle. If Hillary and Congress are to get their answers, Obama’s Justice Department will have to issue a warrant in order for them to get them.
Other factors are in play, as well. With WikiLeaks and other groups looming, and the likelihood of more damaging information on the way, Comey may not want to go down with what he views as a massive, corrupt ship.
Will Obama and the DOJ continue to stand behind Hillary?
We will likely find out within the next WILD week. Related Items | 1real |
Henningsen: ‘US Anti-Trump Protests Similar to Soros Color Revolutions Abroad’ | 21st Century Wire says Organized efforts are underway by Democratic Party affiliated NGO s to try and somehow delegitimize the results of this week s US Presidential Election. On the eve of the US Election before voters went to the polls, 21WIRE political affairs analyst Patrick Henningsen accurately predicted this week s unrest when he said: If Trump wins, expect the likes of Soros and MoveOn.org to unleash wave after wave of flash mobs, who will protest, riot, smash and burn their way on to CNN s 24 hour news rotation. Expect Occupy 2.0, and #BlackLivesMatter to rage. On Friday, Henningsen talked to RT International about the post-elections protests that were coordinated in part by Democratic Party community organizing online platform MoveOn.org. Watch: SEE ALSO: (VIDEO) Female College Students Protesting Because Trump is a Rapist 21WIRE Associate Editor Shawn Helton recently revealed more details about how the near exact same methods used in CIA and Soros-funded color revolutions overseas are now being deployed on US domestic shores by similar NGO front organizations: has been the driving force behind nationwide protests against the election of Donald Trump. Overseas, Washington tends to use the same cast of NGO fronts to build-up pro-US political opposition groups, as well as plan and generate civil unrest. They include the Albert Einstein Institute (AEI), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), International Republican Institute (IRI), National Democratic Institute (NDI), Freedom House and later the International Center for Non-Violent Conflict (ICNC), and the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the financial and contractor arm of the Department of State. Inside the US, deep state actors in Washington generally work through Democratic Party affiliated organizations like MoveOn.org, as well as through labor union organizations like AFL-CIO, and UNITE HERE. These, along with many other similar organizations have been involved in organizing this week s protests, says Helton. Helton also raised the question as to why President Obama has stayed silent in the face of street protests, opting instead to lead from behind. He explains: Certainly, judging by President Obama and Hillary Clinton s total silence over their own party s role in fomenting this week s unrest one can only conclude that both party leaders approve of the protests and riots. The political motivation is undeniable to help delegitimize a new Trump presidency. Stay tuned for more updates here at 21WIRE.READ MORE ELECTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire 2016 FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
They’re Working: Anti-Trump Protests Send Trump Into Humiliating Twitter Rage Spiral |
Donald Trump has a Twitter problem. He has so little self-control when it comes to his chosen form of communication that in the final days of his presidential run, Trump’s team actually took control of his Twitter account away from him. Well, it seems that now that the election is over, Trump is back in control of that account, and he will be the president of out of control tweets.
As everyone knows by now, Trump’s new position as President-elect has sparked nationwide protests by people who are standing against the hate and bigotry that Trump represents. In NYC alone, a massive peaceful protest broke out, filling the streets with people who wanted to make a statement: Donald Trump’s bigotry does not represent all Americans. Wow! #NotMyPresident protest in NYC right now. pic.twitter.com/RY7ALHQFih
— Maddow Blog (@MaddowBlog) November 10, 2016
Notoriously thin-skinned, the moment Trump got his Twitter account back, he let loose in a rage for the ages, accusing the protesters of being paid to do what they are doing, and of being incited by a biased media. Here is a screenshot of that tweet, just in case someone around him decides it would be wise to delete it:
So, in other words, Trump has once again showed America how temperamentally unfit he is to be president. If people exercising their First Amendment rights in protesting him and his policies provokes this kind of reaction, what will he do with the nuclear codes and the power of the presidency at his disposal? What will he do when a foreign leader insults him, or stands up to him or disagrees with him? We should all be terrified at the thought of such a situation.
Twitter reacted with mockery as well as horror:
— Derek Faraci (@WH_Woolhat) November 11, 2016 This is at the moment of his peak validation and respect. What happens when he suffers actual setbacks? Like every leader in history? https://t.co/hUTz8zu5TV
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) November 11, 2016 If you can't handle some protesters how are you ever gonna stand up to Vladimir Pyou know what nevermind https://t.co/MxksoxCzOI
— Dan Amira (@DanAmira) November 11, 2016 Four years of this. Why is he tweeting? Why is he crying on twitter after winning? Why? pic.twitter.com/90lCM4b4IC
— Vic Berger IV (@VicBergerIV) November 11, 2016
Donald Trump is unhinged, and he keeps proving it. No matter how “presidential” or “gracious” he may have seemed during his meeting with President Obama or during his victory speech, do not be fooled. Make no mistake – this man is a hot-head and a loose cannon, and the 59 million suckers in America just made him the most powerful man in the world.
Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images Share this Article! | 1real |
“ON DAY OF #NiceAttack Hillary Announces AMNESTY For Anyone Who Stealthily Evades Our Border Patrol” | Lawless, Crooked Hillary promises to continue with Obama s arrogant, lawless push to flood America with people who have illegally entered our nation Democrat voters. Our nation and our nation s security won t survive another four years of Obama h/t to the brilliant Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies. The CIS is one of the best sources in America for keeping up with our immigration crisis in America. From Hillary s website:Hillary will:Enact comprehensive immigration reform to create a pathway to citizenship, keep families together, and enable millions of workers to come out of the shadows.Defend President Obama s executive actions to provide deportation relief for DREAMers and parents of Americans and lawful residents, and extend those actions to additional persons with sympathetic cases if Congress refuses to act.Promote naturalization and support immigrant integration. End family detention and close private immigrant detention centers.Hillary s not just advocating for making lawbreakers legal citizens of the United States, she s also planning to bring millions of Muslims from countries who hate us to America, and fast-track them to citizenship:If elected president, Hillary Clinton could permanently resettle close to one million Muslim migrants during the first term of her presidency alone, according to the latest available data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).Between 2001 and 2013, the U.S. permanently resettled 1.5 million Muslim migrants on green cards. However, under Hillary Clinton s stated proposals, Muslim immigration would grow substantially faster, adding nearly one million Muslim migrants to the U.S. during her first term alone.Based on the most recent available DHS data, the U.S. permanently resettled roughly 149,000 migrants from predominantly Muslim countries on green cards in 2014. Yet Clinton has said that, as President, she would expand Muslim migration by importing an additional 65,000 Syrian refugees into the United States during the course of a single fiscal year. Clinton has made no indication that she would limit her proposed Syrian refugee program to one year.Clinton s Syrian refugees would come on top of the tens of thousands of refugees the U.S. already admits from Muslim countries.Adding Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees to the approximately 149,000 Muslim migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in the course of one year, means that Clinton could permanently resettle roughly 214,000 Muslim migrants in her first year as President. If Clinton were to continue her Syrian refugee program throughout her Presidency, she could potentially resettle as many as 856,000 during her first term alone.Analysis from the Senate Immigration Subcommittee found that Clinton s plan to expand refugee resettlement could cost U.S. taxpayers over $400 billion.Additionally, once Clinton s Syrian refugees are in the U.S. as green card holders, they will have the ability to bring over their family members through chain migration.With regards to Middle Eastern migration, Clinton s 65,000 Syrian refugees would be added on top of the roughly 96,000 Middle Eastern migrants the U.S. resettled on green cards in a single year. Based on the minimum numbers Clinton has put forth thus far, as President, she could potentially resettle approximately 644,000 Middle Eastern migrants during her first term alone.According to a September 2015 Rasmussen survey, women voters oppose Clinton s Middle Eastern refugee plan by a remarkable 21-to-1 margin. Democrat voters oppose Clinton s refugee plan by a 17-to-1 margin. Most remarkably, 85 percent of black voters oppose Clinton s refugee agenda with less than one percent of black voters supporting her plan.Yet Clinton s expansion to Muslim migration would be in addition to her expansion for immigration overall.U.S. Census data shows that if a President Hillary Clinton were successful in passing a Gang of Eight-style immigration expansion bill, the U.S. could permanently resettle roughly 9.4 million migrants throughout the nation during her first term alone. This figure does not include the additional 11 million illegal immigrants already here to whom Clinton has promised amnesty and U.S. citizenship.Clinton s desire to expand immigration is shared by GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan, who leads the pro-Islamic migration wing of the Republican Party. Breitbart | 1real |
Fix Is In: House Committee on ’Russian Hacking’ Includes Only DNC-Hired Tech Experts | A list of witnesses scheduled to appear at a House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Open Hearing on “Russian Active Measures” contains a glaring problem: the only technical experts scheduled to testify are from CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike is a firm hired by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and has become the primary source of the narrative about “Russian hacking” of the 2016 election and has acted as a mouthpiece for the Democrats since last June. [The initial witness list released by House Intelligence includes a number of intelligence officials, all appointed during the Obama administration, such as former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, but the sole technical people on the invitation list are two representatives of CrowdStrike, President Shawn Henry, and the Dmitri Alperovitch. Breitbart News has interviewed tech experts who do not agree with the CrowdStrike assessment or Obama administration’s claims that the hacks clearly committed by Russian state actors, with much criticism aimed at the Joint Analysis Report (JAR) “Grizzly Steppe” that was released at the end of December. As ZDNet reported after the JAR report was released by the Obama administration on the same day that they announced sanctions against Russia: The JAR included “specific indicators of compromise, including IP addresses and a PHP malware sample. ” But what does this really prove? Wordfence, a WordPress security company specializing in analyzing PHP malware, examined these indicators and didn’t find any hard evidence of Russian involvement. Instead, Wordfence found the attack software was P. AS. 3. 1. 0, an hacking tool. The newest version, 4. 1. 1b, is more sophisticated. Its website claims it was written in the Ukraine. Mark Maunder, Wordfence’s CEO, concluded that since the attacks were made “several versions behind the most current version of P. A. S sic which is 4. 1. 1b. One might reasonably expect Russian intelligence operatives to develop their own tools or at least use current malicious tools from outside sources. ” True, as Errata Security CEO Rob Graham pointed out in a blog post, P. A. S is popular among hackers. But it’s “used by hundreds if not thousands of hackers, mostly associated with Russia, but also throughout the rest of the world. ” In short, just because the attackers used P. A. S. that’s not enough evidence to blame it on the Russian government. Independent cybersecurity experts, such as Jeffrey Carr, have cited numerous errors that the media and CrowdStrike have made in discussing the hacking in what Carr refers to as a “runaway train” of misinformation. For example, CrowdStrike has named a threat group that they have given the name “Fancy Bear” for the hacks and then said this threat group is Russian intelligence. In December 2016, Carr wrote in a post on Medium: A common misconception of “threat group” is that [it] refers to a group of people. It doesn’t. Here’s how ESET describes SEDNIT, one of the names for the threat group known as APT28, Fancy Bear, etc. This definition is found on p. 12 of part two “En Route with Sednit: Observing the Comings and Goings”: As security researchers, what we call “the Sednit group” is merely a set of software and the related network infrastructure, which we can hardly correlate with any specific organization. Unlike CrowdStrike, ESET doesn’t assign to a Russian Intelligence Service or anyone else for a very simple reason. Once malware is deployed, it is no longer under the control of the hacker who deployed it or the developer who created it. It can be copied, modified, shared and redeployed again and again by anyone. Despite these and other criticisms from technical experts with no political axe to grind, the House Intelligence committee has called no independent cybersecurity professionals to challenge the Democrats’ claims of “Russian hacking” that have been repeated ad naseum by the media. Instead of presenting to allow the general public to make up their own minds, the House committee has invited Shawn Henry and Dmitri Alperovitch from CrowdStrike, The danger is especially high since the subject involves technical details that the public — and, frankly, most politicians — don’t understand and can be easily fooled about. A presentation with no rebuttal at all from other technical experts will lead to even more disinformation being given to the American people. There are a number of reasons to be skeptical of the objectivity of CrowdStrike’s assessments. As Esquire reported in a long profile piece, the DNC specifically used Alperovitch and Henry as part of an publicity plan related to the hacking in early June 2016: The DNC wanted to go public. At the committee’s request, Alperovitch and Henry briefed a reporter from The Washington Post about the attack. … Alperovitch told me he was thrilled that the DNC decided to publicize Russia’s involvement. “Having a client give us the ability to tell the full story” was a “milestone in the industry,” he says. “Not just highlighting a rogue ’s actions but explaining what was taken and how and when. These stories are almost never told. ” The Esquire piece also indicates that as the election wore on, the Obama administration was also using Alperovitch and CrowdStrike’s claims to push the Democrat narrative that the Russians were behind the attack: On October 7, two days before the second presidential debate, Alperovitch got a phone call from a senior government official alerting him that a statement identifying Russia as the sponsor of the DNC attack would soon be released. (The statement, from the office of the director of national intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security, appeared later that day.) It is worth noting that CrowdStrike and Alperovitch’s story has evolved over time to match a Democrat narrative. In an article in Inc. on June 14, 2016, titled “Why the DNC Hired This Cybersecurity Firm to Fight Russian Spies,” Alperovitch claimed that the purpose of the DNC hack was to expose Donald Trump: On Tuesday, it was revealed that the Russian government is implicated in a security breach of the Democratic National Committee’s computer network, through which opposition research on the bombastic presidential candidate was lifted. “Every world leader is trying to figure out who Mr. Trump is, especially if he’s elected president, and they want to know what his foreign policies would be. Russia is no exception,” says Dmitri Alperovitch, and CTO of CrowdStrike. His firm was hired to manage the breach. “The actors are also interested in any other information the DNC might have in their opposition research to use it against Trump if he becomes president,” says Alperovitch, who leads the Intelligence, Technology and CrowdStrike Labs teams. There is no justification for a technical expert like Alperovitch ascribing motives to the hackers or making statements about what “world leaders” think. It is simply outside his area of expertise, but the point of the Democrats using Alperovitch and Henry to promote their “Russian hacking” narrative is to provide a technical veneer to their story to score political points. Shawn Henry, the other House witness from CrowdStrike scheduled to testify on March 20 before House Intelligence, said on his LinkedIn page that he also works for NBC News, where he says his role is to “advise NBC News on all aspects of national, homeland, and cyber security, to include appearances on all NBC, MSNBC, and CNBC News programs. ” He added that he is to “regularly appear on Nightly News, The Today Show, and MSNBC news programming. ” CrowdStrike also has a financial connection to one of Hillary Clinton and the Democrats’ most supporters in Silicon Valley: Google. In 2015, CrowdStrike raised $100 million in a new round of financing, according to the New York Times, which reported that “the investment was led by Google Capital, one of the technology giant’s venture capital arms, in its first cybersecurity deal. ” As Breitbart News reported, the WikiLeaks releases showed that Eric Schmidt, executive of Google Capital parent company and financier Alphabet, appeared to be working directly with the Clinton campaign. All of this makes the reliance of the House Committee and the media on CrowdStrike disturbing, but even worse, earlier this year, BuzzFeed reported that the FBI did not examine the servers of the Democratic National Committee but, instead, based their assessment on CrowdStrike’s evaluation: Six months after the FBI first said it was investigating the hack of the Democratic National Committee’s computer network, the bureau has still not requested access to the hacked servers, a DNC spokesman said. No US government entity has run an independent forensic analysis on the system, one US intelligence official told BuzzFeed News. … The FBI has instead relied on computer forensics from a tech security company, CrowdStrike, which first determined in May of last year that the DNC’s servers had been infiltrated by hackers, the U. S. intelligence official told BuzzFeed News. … “CrowdStrike is pretty good. There’s no reason to believe that anything that they have concluded is not accurate,” the intelligence official said, adding they were confident Russia was behind the widespread hacks. Despite that claim by an unnamed intelligence official, there is reason to believe that what CrowdStrike has concluded is not accurate. At this point, however, the House Committee and the American people will not see it. Breitbart News has requested an interview with Dmitri Alperovitch, but at press time there was no response. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence says that initial witness invitation lists “may be expanded or modified as warranted. ” Follow Breitbart News investigative reporter and Citizen Journalism School founder Lee Stranahan on Twitter at @Stranahan. | 0fake |
France's Macron urges China, Russia to support North Korea sanctions | PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he was counting on U.N. Security Council members China and Russia to step up sanctions on North Korea after its latest missile test. I once again condemn with the greatest force the missile launch yesterday and now we must increase sanctions, Macron told France 24 television. I am counting a lot in particular on China and Russia in order to take the most difficult and effective sanctions, he added, speaking during an interview from Abidjan in Ivory Coast. | 0fake |
Clinton Campaign In FULL PANIC After Bill’s Alleged Son Makes DEMAND That Would HUMILIATE Them | Clinton Campaign In FULL PANIC After Bill’s Alleged Son Makes DEMAND That Would HUMILIATE Them Oct 27, 2016 Previous post
The man claiming to be the son of former President Bill Clinton told Breitbart News Wednesday he wants his father to step up and be man enough to acknowledge him. “I have always wanted him to step up–for 30 years–you know? I have really been trying to figure this out–my whole life, you know? It is time for him to step up to the plate,” said Danney Williams, 30, who traveled from his Arkansas home to Las Vegas for Wednesday’s third presidential debate between GOP nominee Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The Arkansas man is not trolling the Democratic nominee’s husband. He said he is formally requesting that the former president submit to a paternity test and put the matter to rest–once and for all.
“It is up to him now, ” he said.
“I’ve proven who I am, let him step up and prove me right or prove me wrong,” he said.
Williams’ mother, Bobbie Ann Williams, is quoted in media accounts describing how, as a prostitute in Little Rock, the then-governor met her while out on a jog. The two became close and shared several intimate encounters, according to those accounts.
After Williams was born, his mother allegedly told the governor about his son and although Clinton was reluctant, she said in interviews, Arkansas state troopers would pay her child support every month with seven $100 bills.
The payments stopped however after he announced Clinton was running for president, according to her media accounts.
Williams said he has a good relationship
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 1real |
What Pentagon would gain from Bowe Bergdahl desertion charge (+video) | Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has already spent five years in Taliban captivity, but charging him with desertion would likely lead to no jail time and would send a message to soldiers.
South Korea voted to impeach its president. What happens next?
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl (r.) stands with a Taliban fighter in eastern Afghanistan. reports say Sergeant Bergdahl, who was freed in a swap in which the US freed five Taliban detainees, will be charged with desertion. (AP Photo/, File
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl will be charged with desertion after a months-long review of his disappearance from his Afghanistan outpost that led to his five year-long captivity.
That, at least, is the speculation from Fox News and reportedly confirmed by NBC. The Army denies that any decision has been made.
The reporting “is patently false,” Maj. Gen. Ronald Lewis, chief of public affairs for the US Army, said in a statement provided to the Monitor Tuesday afternoon. “To be clear, there have been no actions or decisions on the Sgt. Bergdahl investigation.”
Instead, the investigation is still with the commanding general of US Army Forces Command, Mark Milley, “who will determine appropriate action – which ranges from no further action to convening a court-martial,” Major General Lewis added. “We understand the public interest in this case, and once a decision has been made, the Army will be open and transparent in this matter.”
Judging from the Pentagon hallway chatter that has come in the wake of the reports, however, the notion that the Army would charge Sergeant Bergdahl with desertion makes a great deal of sense to many senior military officials.
So what would the US military hope to gain by charging Bergdahl with desertion? After all, wasn’t his confinement at the hands of the Taliban punishment enough?
“I guess it doesn’t surprise me that the Army would be going this route,” says a former military official who served as a top judge advocate general (JAG) and spoke on condition of anonymity because he continues to sit on a panel that hears military cases.
“I hate to say it like this, but it’s a win-win for everyone,” he adds.
It’s a “win” for the Pentagon, because it sends a strong message desertion is unacceptable.
But there is also a compassionate nod to the hardships Bergdahl endured while in captivity. “The government really isn’t interested in putting him in jail,” the former JAG says.
Indeed, if the Army does decide to charge Bergdahl with desertion, he will most likely have the option of requesting a discharge.
With a possible court-martial looming, this discharge would not be honorable, but rather a less-than-honorable discharge.
The Army could refuse Bergdahl’s request for discharge, but this would be “highly unlikely,” the former senior JAG says.
“I’d be very surprised if they did that. What they want is to have him out of the Army,” he says--not the public outcry that would likely come if Bergdahl faced jail time after five years as a Taliban captive.
“I think they just want to get rid of them, and to send a strong signal that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
This behavior includes reportedly leaving his combat outpost, Mest-Lalak, in Paktika Province in dangerous eastern Afghanistan in June, 2009.
Bergdahl was returned to the United States after a prisoner swap that was arranged earlier this year.
It is remains unclear whether Bergdahl intended to return to his outpost, or not. | 0fake |
Trump's tougher stance could backfire by boosting Iran's Guards | ANKARA/LONDON (Reuters) - Iran s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a military force with political clout and an industrial empire, stands to benefit from heightened tension between Washington and Tehran, officials and analysts said. President Donald Trump broke ranks with other major powers earlier this month by disavowing Iran s compliance with a 2015 multinational nuclear deal, complicating life for foreign investors nervous of possible new U.S. sanctions. The IRGC, which reports directly to Iran s Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, began rapidly expanding its commercial interests a decade ago, before U.S. and EU sanctions were imposed on Iran s oil and finance sectors in 2012 over the country s nuclear program. It controls businesses ranging from ports management to telecommunications and has made the most of both cooling and warming ties with the West. When Western oil companies vacated energy projects in Iran after 2012, the Guards took them on; after the penalties were lifted in 2016, the IRGC, through front companies, served as a conduit for foreign business flowing into Iran. If investors are put off again, the IRGC is ready to step in, said an official from Khamenei s camp. We want foreign investors to stay, but if they leave because of (U.S.) pressure, the Guards can easily replace them. There is no better alternative, the official said, declining to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media. Under sanctions, Iran s clerical rulers rewarded the Guards by showering them with contracts for skirting the restrictions as well as for suppressing dissent at home and helping Tehran s regional allies from Iraq to Lebanon. The IRGC s lack of technical expertise and concern over the viability of its economic ventures under sanctions meant it later welcomed pragmatist President Hassan Rouhani s deal that eased sanctions in return for curbs on the nuclear program. Khamenei, a hardliner who holds ultimate authority on matters of state in Iran, guardedly endorsed the nuclear accord but has said Rouhani s economic follow-through has fallen short. To bypass existing unilateral U.S. sanctions, which bar any business with the Guards and its affiliated firms, many of the IRGC s front companies are not even formally owned by the Guards, but by individuals and firms linked to it. Rouhani has tried to encourage reluctant major European firms and banks to return to Iran by seeking to curb the Guards involvement in the economy, which led to the IRGC transferring ownership of some companies to the state. In recent months, the IRGC, which sees itself as a bulwark against Western influence, has responded by criticizing Rouhani for viewing foreign countries as the key to economic growth. The IRGC will be the main beneficiary of the tension with Washington ... In order to protect its economic dominance, the IRGC prefers only limited opening to the West, said a Western diplomat who follows Iran closely. While backing the nuclear deal, Europeans share Washington s concern over Iran s ballistic missile program and destabilizing regional behavior. The IRGC has vowed to accelerate the disputed missile program and Iran s Shi ite militia proxies have made big military gains in recent months in Syria and Iraq, part of a decades-old tussle for influence in the Middle East with Sunni powers. Tehran emphasizes its role in battling Islamic State. Many foreign firms remain hesitant to invest in Iran for reasons including lingering unilateral U.S. sanctions imposed over human rights violations and alleged Iranian links to terrorism, and the dominant role of the IRGC in the Middle East s second largest economy. Among European firms that have announced big deals in Iran since last year are planemaker Airbus AIR.PA, French energy group Total TOTF.PA, and Germany s Siemens SIEGn.DE. Planemaker Boeing is the only U.S. company that has been granted direct access to the Iranian market with a deal to sell 110 plans to two Iranian carriers. But Trump s hawkish new approach towards Tehran, coupled with banking worries and domestic political turbulence in both countries, are causing growing uncertainty over Iran s plane deals. Iranian officials have acknowledged publicly that major international companies are still wary of providing finance for Iran-related business, fearing potential fines resulting from existing U.S. sanctions, which include a ban on dollar related trade with the country. Iran needs the equivalent of billions of dollars in investment to revitalize industries including oil and gas and develop sectors held back by a lack of Western financing and the wide economic influence of the IRGC. These factors have all added to the difficulties faced by foreign investors looking to tap Iran s market. The commercial issue is the turbulence that Trump creates, Andreas Schweitzer, managing director with London-based M&A and investment advisory firm Arjan Capital Ltd, which has been investing in Iran since 2009. He said transactions were nevertheless still taking place, including in the automotive, energy and industrial sectors, in the one hundred million to two hundred million euros sphere. Merger and acquisition deals were among them, he said. We keep the same mindset as of 2009 we assume the worst case, including that the Revolutionary Guards could be sanctioned, although we don t deal with them and if sanctioned parties are involved somewhere we won t touch the transaction or the company. We are and remain very cautious and so far we never have had a problem. Following Trump s speech, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he planned to impose new sanctions on the Guards and would work with international counterparts on the issue. Charles Blackmore, chief executive of London-based due diligence specialists Audere International, which is active in Iran, said the policy shift by Washington would have an adverse effect upon the more risk adverse investor . For those who are already invested and know the country well, this will not make a blind bit of difference, he said. There are enough issues at the moment making people aware of how much of the economy is controlled by shadow shareholdings and opaque structures of the IRGC. The survival of the nuclear deal is up to the U.S. Congress, which has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose broad sanctions on Iran. The U.S. administration has said Washington will not stand in the way of European trade and business transactions with Iran. Matthew Oresman, counsel with law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, who advises companies on Iran compliance issues, said Washington had considerable power and leverage to disrupt trade with Iran if that served its national security interests. But the European governments have ways to dampen this and protect their businesses if they so desire, he said. (This story has been refiled to correct typo in acronym IRGC) | 0fake |
Egypt says bombs militants responsible for Western Desert attack | CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt s air force killed a large number of militants responsible for a deadly attack on a police convoy 10 days ago, the military said on Tuesday following an air raid on their base. The raid, the second in a week targeting militants behind the Oct. 21 attack, was coordinated with police and based on intelligence about the location of their hideout, a military statement said. Three security sources said at the time that at least 52 police officers and conscripts were killed on Oct. 21 when their patrol came under attack, but the interior ministry refuted that figure the next day and said only 16 policemen had been killed. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appointed a new military chief of staff a week after the militants struck and the Interior Ministry dismissed several high-ranking officials. Tuesday s military statement said the air strike was a continuation of the armed forces and police efforts to avenge the martyrs of national duty . A large number of terrorist elements died in the strike, and the air force and police were pursuing several militants on the run, the statement added. Three vehicles loaded with large quantities of weapons, ammunition and explosives were also destroyed in the strike, and the military later posted footage of the attack. An official source in the Giza province security directorate told Reuters more than 12 militants had been killed, though a military spokesman did not confirm any death toll. The military spokesman later said in a statement that a police officer who had been kidnapped during the Oct. 21 attack had been rescued and taken to a military hospital. Egypt has been fighting an Islamic State insurgency concentrated in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula since Sisi led the military overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. Hundreds of members of the security forces have been killed since. No group has claimed responsibility for the Oct. 21 attack in a remote desert area of Giza, about 130 km (80 miles) southwest of Cairo. The latest air strike was the second attack on militants in five days - at least 13 militants died in a raid on a farm hideout in the region on Friday. The vast Western Desert has long been a security headache, with arms flowing across the border with Libya, where militant groups have found shelter since the country fell into chaos after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. | 0fake |
Barbara Boxer DESTROYS Carly Fiorina After She’s Announced As Ted Cruz’s V.P. (Tweets) | It s a shame Barbara Boxer is leaving the Senate. A fierce defender of working families and minority communities, Boxer is the kind of firebrand progressive we need in the Senate. She s also one of the funniest, apparently.In 2010, when Republicans swept the House of Representatives and picked up six seats in the Senate, Boxer faced Carly Fiorina, who mounted a tough and controversial campaign to unseat Boxer in California.In the end, Boxer prevailed, garnering 52 percent of the vote to Fiorina s 42 percent. After that, Fiorina, a sore loser, packed up and moved to Virginia, leaving California behind.Now she s Cruz s vice presidential choice (should he win the nomination). Well, with this rather unusual and obviously pandering move Cruz admitted he needs Fiorina to win California Boxer wasn t going to hold back.Taking to Twitter, Boxer took Fiorina and Ted Cruz to task in the most brilliant way possible:.@TedCruz talks tough on Iran, but his running mate was soft on Iran when she skirted the law to sell them computer parts. Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) April 27, 2016 Slogan idea for the Cruz/Fiorina ticket : Mean & Meaner Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) April 27, 2016Cruz/Fiorina= a perfect match. He wants to ship immigrants out and she s a champion at shipping jobs out. Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) April 27, 2016 Cruz thinks Fiorina will help in California. Maybe he doesn t know Carly left after she lost by a million votes? Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) April 27, 2016And this last one is quite possibly the best commentary on the subject:I predict that the latest @CarlyFiorina merger will be as successful as her last one. Barbara Boxer (@BarbaraBoxer) April 27, 2016John Dingell is the king of Twitter, and now it appears Barbara Boxer is the queen. If Ted Cruz thinks his new Hail Carly move will secure a win in California, maybe he should have considered just how much of a loser she is in California.If Boxer s prediction is correct, Cruz s merger with Fiorina will be as successful as her last one, and Donald Trump will be the nominee, thus giving us President Hillary Clinton.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty | 1real |
Markets PANIC Over Trump Victory As FBI Reopens Hillary Email Probe | Harvey Organ | 4 EUROPEAN AFFAIRS
i)ENGLAND
The pound tumbles after a Northern Irish judge rejected a pair of challenges to the PREXIT process. This removes at least one obstacle to Prime Minister May’s plan as it begins to sever ties with the European Union by the end of March 2017:
( zero hedge)
ii)The crashing pound causes Apple and other companies to raise their electronic prices:
( zero hedge)
iii)London real estate is crashing
( zero hedge) 5. RUSSIAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AFFAIRS
Sooner or later an accident is going to happen: Russia and USA jets in a “near miss” situation over Syria:
( zero hedge) NONE TODAY 7.OIL ISSUES
i)The oil producers have engaged in heavy hedging. If the oil price drops, they will survive but not necessarily the likes of Saudi Arabia and other producing nations:
( zerohedge)
ii)WHAT A JOKE!! Iraq and Iran refuse to freeze output and thus WTI plummets into the 48 dollar handle. (courtesy zero hedge) 8.EMERGING MARKETS
The extremely clever Horseman Capital calls it quits on an emerging fund. These guys are 100% short and now they cannot make money
(courtesy zero hedge) 9.PHYSICAL STORIES
i)A huge commentary from Alasdair tonight as he explains how China is manipulating the dollar through its exchange rate and how China is selling its dollar reserves to accumulate commodities like oil and gold. Alasdair is the one who 2 yrs ago claims that China may have over 20,000 tonnes of gold to its credit.
a must read..
( Alasdair Macleod)
ii)Egon Von Greyerz explains correctly that gold denominated in any other currency than the USA dollar is at close to record levels or near their 2011 highs:
( Egon Von Greyerz)
iii)Barrick desperate to sell some of its prized assets. These clowns went to bed with the crooked banks and look at the trouble they are in
(courtesy Danielle Bochove/Bloomberg) 10.USA STORIES WHICH MAY INFLUENCE THE PRICE OF GOLD/SILVER
i)At first blush, the estimate for Q3 GDP climbs to 2.9% due to inventory and export gains. This will be adjusted southbound in the next two readings.
( zero hedge)
ii)We have pointed this out to you on several occasions: slumping used car prices will be catastrophic for the auto industry due to the heavy subprime auto securitization. Auto loan balances continue to rise. This will be a huge bubble when it burst:
( zero hedge)
iii)This kind of shows you the trouble the retail is having in the USA: American Apparel is now preparing a second bankruptcy filing in a year:
( zero hedge)
iv)The all important Michigan national consumer confidence crashes to a 2 yr low:The democrats are getting a little nervous.
( zero hedge/Michigan Consumer Confidence)
v)Another sign that there is trouble on the economic scene : Healthcare stocks tumble on terrible McKesson earnings;
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vi) Finally we get the Wall Street Journal lashing out at the Clintons for their crimes:
( Wall Street Journal/.zero hedge)
vii) a. The big news of the day: the FBI reopens probe into Hillary’s emails
(courtesy FBI/zero hedge)
vii.b To complicate matters, Ryan issues a statement on the FBI re-opening of Hillary’s email scandal: “”Yet again, Hillary Clinton has nobody but herself to blame. She was entrusted with some of our nation’s most important secrets, and she betrayed that trust by carelessly mishandling highly classified information. This decision, long overdue, is the result of her reckless use of a private email server, and her refusal to be forthcoming with federal investigators. I renew my call for the Director of National Intelligence to suspend all classified briefings for Secretary Clinton until this matter is fully resolved.”
and the election is 11 days from today:
( Paul Ryan/zero hedge)
vii c. Hillary refuses to comment on the FBI renewal of investigation on her email scandal
( zero hedge)
vii dThe new investigation by the FBI commences due to a “device” which contained new emails and these were discovered as part of an unrelated investigation
( zero hedge)
vii. e The odds for a Trump victory just shot up!
( zero hedge)
vii f) What a riot: the device is from Huma Abedin and the target is former congressman Weiner who texted sexual messages to an under aged 15 yr old. Obviously there was some good stuff on Hillary on that device
(courtesy zero hedge)
viii g Our good friend John Podesta is mighty angry with the re opening of the FBI probe:
( zero hedge)
vii h)Here is another strange one!! The White House had no prior knowledge of the new attack on Hillary by the FBI | 1real |
‘I Want to Kiss America’: A Woman Who Fled Nazis, Then Russia, Makes a Life in Brooklyn - The New York Times | Under the cover of night, the family crowded into a wagon used to carry animals to flee the Nazi troops marching toward their hometown, Nalchik, in Russia. It was 1942, and Polina Davydova’s father had returned from war wounded and requiring crutches to walk. He was now orchestrating the family’s escape farther south, to Derbent, a city on the Caspian Sea. Fifteen family members were to leave. But after the journey began, Ms. Davydova’s grandmother counted heads — someone was missing. They called each person by name. When they reached Polina, no one answered. The girl was missing. The danger of turning back was so great that her grandmother suggested continuing without her. But her father refused. Throwing aside his crutches, he jumped from the wagon, hailing Soviet soldiers in trucks and begging them for a ride back to Nalchick. Just beyond the town’s borders, he found his daughter asleep on a suitcase. “I was my father’s favorite,” Ms. Davydova recently recalled, speaking in Russian through a translator. Ms. Davydova, now 77, often retells the family story of banding together. With a happy wistfulness, she speaks as though her father, mother, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandmother and cousins, who are all now gone, are back together, shuttling everyone toward safety. Inside her sparsely decorated apartment on Ocean Avenue near Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, the few items there remind her of her home country. A mezuza hangs by the door, providing a blessing for peace to all who enter, according to family tradition. The walls are lined with a hamesh, which includes a rock from Israel pictures of Jerusalem and needlework from before her eyesight worsened. On a warm September day, sitting at a table in her living room, Ms. Davydova pored over family photographs and Jewish history books, one of which includes the only remaining photograph of her father. Pointing to the picture, she recounts the atrocities that befell her hometown following the family’s escape to Derbent. Relatives who had refused to leave were tortured by fascists in their homes, forced by soldiers to walk over broken glass with their bare feet. “If we hadn’t left, maybe this would have happened to us,” Ms. Davydova said. “My father saved our lives. ” In January 1943, the Soviet Army pushed into Nalchik and freed the city, allowing her family to return home. The family’s furniture had been stolen, belongings destroyed. “But it didn’t matter,” Ms. Davydova said. “We had returned to our own roof, our own home. ” Still, sentiment persisted. When factory workers began to cut through a cemetery in 1969, Ms. Davydova’s father gathered other members of his synagogue to raise money to build a fence. Angered by the fence, the factory workers beat her father’s chest with a large metal cross, she said, puncturing a lung, which contributed to his death two months later. “There were many years of fear,” she said. “Such fear — you can’t imagine. ” For 31 years Ms. Davydova was a preschool teacher in Russia. Afraid of the continued and that her son, Boris, would be deployed to Afghanistan, Ms. Davydova and Boris sneaked out of Russia in 1992. They took only two suitcases, leaving everything else behind to give the illusion that they were only going away for a brief vacation. She arrived in the United States with only $25 and a tourist visa. Arriving as a guest of her brother, who was already in America, she settled in Brooklyn, but Ms. Davydova was unable to legally work while she waited five years to be granted political asylum status, which she received in 1997. She was granted citizenship five years after that, in 2002. Even after she received the status, Ms. Davydova, who does not speak English fluently, struggled to obtain steady work and started making frequent trips to the hospital because of declining health. The medical bills added up, and after several years of heart problems, she underwent heart surgery in 2008 for a blocked artery. She suffers from low blood pressure and frequent fainting spells. She pays $900 a month in rent, and receives $820 in Supplemental Security Income and $194 monthly in food stamps. Her family helps her pay the bills when they are able. Help also came in the form of the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, a beneficiary agency of of New York, one of the eight organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. Marks JCH, a beneficiary agency of of New York, provided Ms. Davydova with $1, 004 to cover one month’s rent and utilities in February 2016. “I gave my life to that country,” she said of Russia. “And I didn’t do anything in this country, but I want to kiss America because everything I have in this life comes from people in this country helping me. ” | 0fake |
Syrian opposition picks chief negotiator ahead of new Geneva talks | RIYADH/AMMAN (Reuters) - Syria s main opposition group selected a new chief negotiator on Friday ahead of a new round of U.N.-backed peace negotiations with the Damascus government set to kick off next week. Nasr Hariri said the opposition was going to Geneva on Nov. 28 to hold direct talks and was ready to discuss everything on the negotiating table . The announcement came at a summit in Riyadh where, a day before, the opposition stuck by its demand that President Bashar al-Assad play no role in an interim period, despite speculation that it could soften its stance because of Assad s battlefield strength. The opposition groups met to seek a unified position ahead of Geneva after two years of Russian military intervention that has helped Assad s government reverse major territorial losses incurred since the beginning of the war. Hariri replaces hardliner Riyad Hijab, who led the Higher Negotiations Committee at previous negotiations but abruptly quit this week, hinting that the HNC under him had faced pressures to make concessions that favored Assad. U.N. peace talks mediator Staffan de Mistura, preparing for the next round of Geneva talks, met on Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said Moscow was working with Riyadh to unify the Syrian opposition. For many years, Western and Arab countries backed the opposition demand that Assad leave office. But since Russia joined the war on behalf of Assad s government it has become increasingly clear that Assad s opponents have no path to victory on the battlefield. Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a congress of the Syrian government and opposition to draw up a framework for the future structure of the Syrian state, adopt a new constitution and hold elections under U.N. supervision. But he has also said that any political settlement in Syria would be finalised within the Geneva peace talks process overseen by the United Nations. The opposition has long been suspicious of the parallel diplomatic track pushed by Russia, which before the proposed Sochi congress included talks in Kazakhstan, and has insisted that political dialogue should only take place in Geneva. Hariri said Sochi did not serve the political process and called on the international community, including Russia, to concentrate all our efforts to serve the political process according to international resolutions in Geneva under UN auspices . Alaa Arafat, who represents the Moscow Platform political grouping, though, said he would attend Sochi and urged others to go too, reflecting lingering tensions within the diverse opposition. Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir, who opened the summit on Wednesday pledging his country s support for unifying the opposition, praised the creation of one negotiating team that represents everyone . Asked if there was any change in position towards Assad s future, he told reporters that Riyadh continued to support a settlement based on the U.N.-backed process at Geneva. We support the positions of the Syrian opposition. We have from the beginning and we will continue to do so, he said. Syria s six-year-old civil war has killed hundreds of thousands of people and forced millions to flee in the worst refugee crisis since World War Two. | 0fake |
Kellyanne Conway Burns Hillary Clinton over Tweet Celebrating 9th Circuit Ruling - Breitbart | Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway hit back at failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Twitter Thursday, after Clinton mocked President Trump’s immigration order being blocked by the 9th Circuit Court. [As reported by Fox News, “Clinton tweeted, ‘’ after a federal appeals court ruled unanimously against reinstating Trump’s order on immigration and refugees. The panel of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco all sided against the order. ” — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 10, 2017, In response, Conway tweeted the abbreviations of three vital states that Clinton lost during the 2016 presidential election to Trump: “PA, WI, MI. ” PA, WI, MI. https: . — Kellyanne Conway (@KellyannePolls) February 10, 2017, Clinton might have been better served staying out of the spotlight after her historic failure in the 2016 election as Republicans step up their Twitter game. In January, Sen. Ted Cruz successfully trolled sports site Deadspin after he responded to their bounty for a picture of the senator playing basketball. “What do I win?” Cruz asked in his reply, which included a photo of Duke star Grayson Allen, who looks similar to Cruz. “Go eat shit,” Deadspin replied, prompting Cruz to send an Anchorman GIF with the caption, “Boy, that escalated quickly. ” Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 0fake |
Military Officials: Trump LIED, Botched Yemen Raid Yielded No Significant Intelligence At All | On Monday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer responded to the concerns of the father of the Navy SEAL who died in Trump s disastrous raid in Yemen by blaming him for his own death but he claimed it was worth it because we recovered valuable intelligence that will save American lives and prevent terrorist attacks. I can tell him on behalf of the President, his son died a hero and the information that he was able to help obtain through that raid is going to save American lives; it s going to protect our country more, Spicer said, adding that Ryan Owens was responsible for his own death: It s something that as a SEAL and as somebody who deployed 12 times, he knew that this was part of the job and he knew what he was doing. It is almost certain that Owens knew that there was risk involved in his job, but he also relies on the Commander-in-Chief to know what he11-year-old boy is doing. The raid killed 30 civilians (and half as many militants), including about 10 women and children according to witnesses, an was the first to be struck by a bullet and completely failed to kill al Qaeda leader Qassim Al-Rimi, who took to mocking The Donald in propaganda videos after the embarrassment that was the Yemen raid. Our forces ultimately recovered a few videos that have been available on YouTube for a decade. Trump s first military operation was such a massive disaster that Yemen revoked the United States permission to conduct ground-based anti-terrorism operations within the country s borders. Why at this time did there have to be this stupid mission when it wasn t even barely a week into [President Trump s] administration? Bill Owens, the father of the slain SEAL, said of the raid. For two years prior everything was missiles and drones (in Yemen) .Now all of a sudden we had to make this grand display? Why such a grand display? Because this is what success looks like in Trump s America, of course!Despite Spicer and Trump s numerous claims that the mission was hugely successful, senior military officials tell NBC that they are unaware of any actionable intelligence that was recovered during the raid: We gathered an unbelievable amount of intelligence that will prevent the potential deaths or attacks on American soil, said Spicer.A Defense Department official also pushed back Monday afternoon, saying the raid has yielded a significant amount of intelligence.But the only example the military has provided turned out to be an old bomb-making video that was of no current value.On Monday, Spicer addressed the remarks of Bill Owens, whose son died. I can tell him that on behalf of the president, his son died a hero and the information that he was able to help obtain through that raid, as I said before, is going to save American lives, he said. The mission was successful in helping prevent a future attack or attacks on this nation. Multiple senior officials told NBC News they have not seen evidence to support that claim.It s one thing to authorize a mission with insufficient intelligence or support. It s another to lie to the family of someone your negligence killed and call it a success. Ryan Owens was a hero but his country failed him. His President failed him. And someone must answer for it.Featured image via Getty Images/Drew Angerer | 1real |
Tillerson calls China cooperation on North Korea 'uneven' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signaled on Wednesday that he would like more help from China in pressing North Korea over issues including its nuclear program. “Their cooperation I would say has been notable, but it has been uneven,” Tillerson told a congressional hearing. Washington is discussing North Korea with all of its allies, and it would top the agenda at high-level talks next week between U.S. and Chinese officials. | 0fake |
George Soros ‘Has Ruined the Lives of Millions of Europeans’ Says Hungarian Prime Minister | Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán delivered a stinging speech in the European Parliament Wednesday, asserting Hungary’s right to and defending its actions regarding immigration and against American financial speculator George Soros. [“I know that the power, size and weight of Hungary is much smaller than that of the financial speculator, George Soros, who is now attacking Hungary,” Orbán said. “Despite ruining the lives of millions of European with his financial speculations, being penalized in Hungary for speculations, and who is an openly admitted enemy of the euro, he is so highly praised that he is received by the EU’s top leaders,” he said. The Prime Minister’s address built upon comments he made in an Easter interview with Magyar Idők, in which he stated the motives behind Hungary’s diffidence toward George Soros. “There can be no special privileges, and no one may stand above the law — not even George Soros’s people,” he said. Through his organisations in Hungary, and hidden from the public gaze, Orbán said, “George Soros is spending endless amounts of money to support illegal immigration. ” “To pursue his interests he pays a number of lobbying organisations operating in the guise of civil society. He maintains a regular network, with its own promoters, its own media, hundreds of people, and its own university. ” “I believe that George Soros must not be underestimated: he is a powerful billionaire of enormous determination who, when it comes to his interests, respects neither God nor man,” he said. In his address before Parliament Wednesday, Orbán said that the basic stance of the government is contrary to the intentions of the European Commission regarding immigration. “Our position is clear: we do not want, and do not think it is in accordance with the founding treaties of the Union, to settle migrants in our country in a mandatory way,” he said. “The decision on who we live with can only be made by the Hungarian citizens. ” The Prime Minister said it is important to note that “George Soros and his NGOs want to transport one million migrants to the EU per year. He has personally, publicly announced this programme and provides a financial loan for it. You could read this yourselves. ” “We reject this,” Orbán said. “We do not want to lose the right of national ratemaking for public utilities, because we fear that this would increase the burdens of the people and once again lead to drastic price increases, from which Hungarian families have suffered enough. Regarding the regulation of organisations (NGOs) Orbán said that the Hungarian proposal “follows the American example. ” The “complicated question,” he said, is “how we can make the operations of financially strong foreign external lobbies, willing to influence democratic transparent to everyone. ” “The Hungarian legislation builds on the principal of clarity and transparency. We want nothing else but to be able to know of NGOs what kind of money and what kind of interests are behind them. This does not undermine their constitutional rights to have their voices heard, represent their interests and be able to organise themselves freely,” he said. Orbán said that Hungarians are in favor of “straight talk” and reject attempts to beat around the bush or hide behind diplomatic language when discussing important issues. “We talk clearly and unambiguously, so everyone can understand, even if we know that this may not appeal to everyone,” he said. “We on the other hand are irritated by the restrained political language, unable to name things for what they are, that has become widespread in European public life nowadays. ” Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome | 0fake |
Email privacy bill unanimously passes U.S. House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously on Wednesday to require law enforcement authorities to get a search warrant before asking technology companies to hand over old emails. The bill’s prospects in the Senate remain unclear, though the 419-0 vote in the House was likely to put pressure on the upper chamber to approve it. Under the Email Privacy Act, which updates a decades-old law, authorities would have to get a warrant to access emails or other digital communications more than 180 days old. At present, agencies such as the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission only need a subpoena to seek such data from a service provider. Supporters of the legislation say it is needed to update the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Technology companies and privacy advocates say that statute was written before the rise of the Internet and so is outdated. The issue of law enforcement access to private electronic communications has been at the center of an international debate. This was reflected in the Justice Department’s high-profile pursuit of a court order earlier this year to force Apple Inc (AAPL.O) to help unlock an encrypted iPhone linked to one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters. Separately, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) earlier this month filed lawsuit in federal court against the Justice Department, alleging the government is using ECPA in a way that violates the U.S. Constitution. The company argued ECPA is too often used to prevent the company from notifying its users, sometimes indefinitely, when investigators pry into emails and other data stored on remote servers. More than a quarter of senators have endorsed similar legislation in the upper chamber to the House bill, including No. 2 Republican John Cornyn. But it was unclear if Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, who holds jurisdiction over the legislation, intends to move it forward during an election year. The Iowa Republican will review the House bill, consult with stakeholders and his committee “and decide where to go from there,” a spokeswoman told Reuters in an email. Senators Patrick Leahy and Mike Lee, the Democratic and Republican authors of the Senate bill, praised the House vote in a statement as “an historic step toward updating our privacy laws for the digital age” and urged quick consideration. | 0fake |
USAToday: Kellogg’s Could Lay Off Over 1100 - Breitbart | USA TODAY reports that downsizing at various Kellogg’s facilities across the country could put 1, 110 Americans out of work. [Kellogg’s spokesperson Kris Charles said the cereal giant will shift away from direct delivery of its foods to stores, and will instead utilize grocers’ distribution centers. The move will shutter 39 Kellogg’s distribution centers from Maryland to Ohio to New York. “While this is the right move for the company to achieve our objectives, it was a difficult decision because of its impact on employees,” company spokesperson Kris Charles said, according to CNYCentral. Charles says each site outfits roughly 30 employees, which means the company could lay off as many as 1, 170 workers. The closures “will not have a sizable impact on any one community,” Charles added. The move is part of the company’s initiative, Project K, launched in 2013. Kellogg’s reported a loss of $53 million in the fourth quarter, CNBC reports. The decision to expand its direct store delivery network shows “how serious we are at creating a more competitive and a snack business,” said President Paul Norman of Kellogg North America on the company’s investor call Thursday. “(It’s) a very difficult decision,” Norman added. “We firmly believe this is the right move for our business as we look forward to changing consumer and shopper trends. ” Kellogg’s is facing allegations of racism toward factory workers in some of it distribution centers and has been accused of profiting from the use of child labor. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson | 0fake |
Northern Ireland parties downbeat on talks as May calls for progress | LONDON (Reuters) - Northern Ireland s main political parties pointed on Tuesday to fresh obstacles to restoring a devolved power-sharing government in the British region after meeting Prime Minister Theresa May, who urged them to resume talks next week. The province has been without a regional government for almost a year, destabilizing the delicate balance between Irish nationalists and pro-British unionists that has already been shaken by Britain s vote to leave the European Union. The latest efforts at breaking the stalemate in Belfast collapsed this month, prompting Britain to begin setting a budget for the province, a major step toward imposing direct rule from London for the first time in a decade. The head of the pro-British Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Arlene Foster accused Irish nationalist rival Sinn Fein - the former political wing of the Irish Republican Army - of the glorification of terrorism in a party conference last weekend. Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams in turn accused May of acting in bad faith by including a potential statute of limitations covering crimes by British forces in a planned consultation on new laws to deal with the legacy of Northern Ireland s 30 years of sectarian violence. May struck a more positive tone, saying the issues dividing the parties were relatively few and that she believed an agreement could be reached. In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that if an administration could not be formed, he would seek a meeting in the New Year of the British Irish Intergovernmental Conference, a joint decision making body recognizing the Irish government s special interest in Northern Ireland that last met a decade ago. Analysts have said a fresh round of talks is unlikely to be even contemplated until after both parties annual conferences, culminating with the DUP s meeting on Saturday. The DUP has said it was upset by prolonged cheering at Sinn Fein s annual conference at the weekend after MP Elisha McCallion spoke of former Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness pride in his role in the IRA. The IRA killed hundreds in its campaign against British rule before a ceasefire in 1994. Around 3,600 died on all sides in the conflict, fought over whether Northern Ireland should be part of the United Kingdom or Ireland, before it ended with a 1998 peace agreement. It was quite disgraceful to look at the glorification that happened at the weekend of the IRA and terrorism and of course that makes it more difficult for us, Foster, whose father narrowly escaped alive from an IRA shooting, told reporters. Foster, who warned ahead of the talks that further steps toward direct rule looked inevitable unless there is a change of direction, said her party remained committed to devolution. | 0fake |
Obama reportedly snubs NATO chief as Russia makes new threats against allies | President Barack Obama reportedly will not meet with NATO's new secretary general when he is in Washington this week, despite requests from the alliance chief's staff for a get-together.
Bloomberg View reported Tuesday that Jens Stoltenberg's office requested a meeting with Obama in advance of his scheduled visit, but did not receive any response from the White House. Instead, Bloomberg View reported that Stoltenberg had to settle for a last-minute meeting with Defense Secretary Ashton Carter.
The White House on Wednesday dismissed the report about the snub as inaccurate.
"Those reports are entirely false," Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.
Earnest also said the White House has been in touch with Stoltenberg's office and dismissed the assertion that Carter was a late fill-in because Obama was too busy.
Stoltenberg is scheduled to be in Washington through Thursday, primarily so he can attend a strategic brainstorming session involving military officials and experts from the U.S. and NATO.
Stoltenberg, who replaced Anders Fogh Rasmussen as head of the world's largest military alliance in October, was able to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper Monday, the day before Harper announced that Canada would expand its participation in the U.S.-led military campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
The report of Obama's snub comes amid Russia's growing willingness to test NATO's military readiness. On Tuesday, NATO jets were scrambled after four Russian military planes were spotted flying over the Baltic Sea with their transponders turned off. Over the weekend, a Danish newspaper published remarks by the Russian ambassador to Denmark in which he hinted that Russian missiles could target Danish warships if Copenhagen joins NATO's missile defense system.
But the most far-reaching example of Russian belligerence came Tuesday, when Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that Moscow was preparing to lease 12 long-range bombers to Argentina in exchange for shipments of beef and wheat. The report comes after a round of rhetoric from Russian officials questioning Britain's claim to the Falkland Islands.
The Telegraph reports that Russia's ambassador to Britain, Alexander Yakovenko, compared a 2013 referendum in which 99.8 percent of Falklands inhabitants voted to remain part of the U.K. to last year's vote which formalized Crimea's annexation by Russia. Britain, along with the U.S. and NATO, denounced the Crimea referendum as a sham orchestrated by Moscow.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond repeated those claims earlier this week, prompting the Russian embassy to respond, "In its rhetoric [the] Foreign Office applies one logic to the referendum in the Malvinas/Falklands, and a different one to the case of Crimea."
Alexei Pushkov, the head of the Duma’s committee of international affairs, was even more blunt in a Twitter message that read, in part, "Crimea has immeasurably more reason to be a part of Russia than the Falkland Islands to be part of the U.K."
The Russian position echoed remarks made last year by Argentina president Cristina de Kirchner, who said, "The Malvinas [Argentina's name for the archipelago] has always belonged to Argentina, the same way that Crimea also belonged to the Soviet Union until it was given to Ukraine."
On Tuesday, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said that Britain would send two Chinook troop-carrying helicopters and a new surface-to-air missile system to the islands.
Click for more from the Daily Telegraph. | 0fake |
Strict Gun Control Impotent as Terrorist Opens Fire in Quebec | Canada’s strict gun control, including license requirements for gun ownership and complete bans on certain categories of firearms, proved impotent as a terrorist opened fire inside a Quebec mosque Sunday night. [Reuters reports that “six people were killed and eight wounded when [a gunman] opened fire … during Sunday night prayers. ” According to The University of Sydney’s GunPolicy. org, “only licensed gun owners may lawfully acquire, possess or transfer a firearm or ammunition [in Canada]. ” Those seeking a license to own a gun “must pass a background check which considers criminal, mental health, addiction and domestic violence records. ” Additionally, applicants for a gun owner’s license must give “third party character references” and demonstrate “an understanding of firearm safety and the law. ” Those who are able to acquire a license “must and for their firearm licence [sic] every five years,” which basically means the background check is ongoing. Also, the ownership of certain categories of firearms is prohibited and “records … of individual civilians licensed to acquire, possess, sell or transfer a firearm or ammunition” are maintained. As law enforcement officials continue to divulge to journalists more information on the Quebec mosque attack, there is no indication gun laws had an effect in keeping the perpetrator from acquiring the weapons needed to conduct the shooting. The attack was similar to those in other European countries with restrictive gun control laws. For example, twelve people were shot and killed on January 7, 2015, when terrorists opened fire on Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris. Just months later, on November 13, 2015, more terrorists in Paris opened fire and killed 130 innocents. These transpired despite France’s ban on entire categories of weapons, and it requires the kind of expanded background checks that the Obama administration, Senators Chris Murphy ( ) and Joe Manchin ( ) and gun controller Gabby Giffords pushed as a way to make Americans safe. More recently, on July 22, 2016, a attack in Munich, Germany, was successfully executed despite similar background checks, gun bans on entire categories of weapons, and licensing requirements for gun ownership. Nine innocents were killed in the Munich attack. Strict gun control failed to protect innocents in Paris and Munich, and it has now failed to protect them in Quebec. 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 |
OBAMA RELEASES 15 More Dangerous Terrorists To Go Commit More Terror…Bin Laden Bodyguard Included! [Video] | Osama Bin Laden s bodyguard and 14 other terrorists were released to the UAE today more insanity from Obama! | 1real |
Prime Minister of France says, “if we grant immediate asylum to illegal alien Muslim invaders, by tomorrow they will be speaking French and sharing French values” | Lincoln Applegate Hahn November 4, 2016 @ 6:30 pm
We’ve seen your “French Values”…. and they are the problem …. comme ci comme ca (like this and that) ? Etti November 4, 2016 @ 6:09 pm
What a foolish man! He believes that accepting migrants and teaching them to learn French will see them in the French Parliament. Of course you will and they will be forcing sharia law on to the French population not making the country more civilised. Lisa November 4, 2016 @ 6:03 pm
Because rightly or wrongly, people project their view of the world onto others.We live according to the golden rule and don’t do to others that which we do not want them to.do to us. Many cannot fathom or conceive just how vile the followers of the murderous paedophile can be. It’s incomprehensible. Even animals that have been traumatised and abused don’t behave like that when rescued. Europeans have mostly been peaceful for the last 70 years because they made a concerted effort to live in peace and to uphold dignity of life and human rights. That came at a price. Followers of the paedophile savage are socialised differently. They are pathetic and emotionally infantile. In the West we are taught to take personal responsibility for our actions. They are taught to blame everyone but themselves often turning victims into the guilty in the case of raped women. In the West violent displays of anger are frowned upon and we are taught to apologise for our wrong doIngs. Muslims have a warped and messed up sense of honour. An honour they will gladly kill their families to restore. In short they accept everything that is a crime in our countries as somehow permissible. Incompatible. In the West they are given human rights they don’t deserve and freedoms they can’t handle. Proven recipe for disaster. You have to be very very naive to believe that people who are fed a steady diet of intolerance, opression and hatred since birth will miraculously change just because they cross a border from hell hole to civilsed country. It should be obvious by now that Muslims born in europe cannot be integrated so what hope do we have integrating the rest. Nicolai sennels wrote a great paper on why islam is prone to creating monsters. Puts it all into perspective and is a must read in my opinion. | 1real |
Wikileaks Warns It Is Launching "Phase Three" Of Its Election Coverage | Wikileaks Warns It Is Launching "Phase Three" Of Its Election Coverage Source: Zero Hedge
On Sunday night, Wikileaks enigmatically tweeted that it would launch “ phase 3 of [its] US election coverage" in the coming week. The site put politicians on notice Sunday evening in a tweet that also included a plea for donations.
“We commence phase 3 of our US election coverage next week. You can contribute: https://shop.wikileaks.org/donate @WLTaskForce" the whistleblower website announced moments ago. We commence phase 3 of our US election coverage next week. You can contribute: https://t.co/MsNZhrTzTL @WLTaskForce pic.twitter.com/XferJnMGux
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) October 30, 2016
As the Hill noted , Wiki did not provide information about what the third phase entails or if there are still more revelations to come. As a reminder, Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange currently finds himself in the Ecuador embassy where his internet access has been revoked for the duration of the presidential campaign to avoid the appearance of intervention.
Wikileaks supporters, now including a number of disgruntled GOP nominee Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders supporters, promptly replied with tweets expressing hope that phase three would ultimately damage Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign. User “CorruptMedia” responded with a Photoshopped estimating what CNN coverage of Clinton being escorted to jail would look like.
A new archive of Clinton-related documents would further irk a campaign still reeling from FBI director James Comey's announcement on Friday that new emails related to the Clinton server probe had been discovered.
But there is at least some reason to believe Wikileaks could release material that is not solely Clinton related. Julian Assange, the head of Wikileaks, has stated that he would publish information from Trump if the site were sent any.
Wikileaks has already posted hacked emails from the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign chief John Podesta: the former led to the resignation of former DNC chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz after it was revealed that the DNC was actively scheming to prevent Bernie Sanders' nomination; the former has led to a series of dramatic revelations into the strategic operations of the Clinton campaign, with the most damaging emails exposing the Clinton Foundation and WJC's consulting outfit Teneo as an "influence-peddling" pay-to-play organization as noted most recently in " Doug Band To John Podesta: "If This Story Gets Out, We Are Screwed" " | 1real |
Transcript: President Obama on What Books Mean to Him - The New York Times | Michiko Kakutani, the chief book critic for The New York Times, interviewed President Obama about literature on Friday at the White House. Here are excerpts from the conversation, which have been edited and condensed. These books that you gave to your daughter Malia on the Kindle, what were they? Some of your favorites? I think some of them were sort of the usual suspects, so “The Naked and the Dead” or “One Hundred Years of Solitude,” I think she hadn’t read yet. Then there were some books I think that are not on everybody’s reading list these days, but I remembered as being interesting, like “The Golden Notebook” by Doris Lessing, for example. Or “The Woman Warrior,” by Maxine [Hong Kingston]. Part of what was interesting was me pulling back books that I thought were really powerful, but that might not surface when she goes to college. Have you had a chance to discuss them with her? I’ve had the chance to discuss some. And she’s interested in being a filmmaker, so storytelling is of great interest to her. She had just read “A Moveable Feast. ” I hadn’t included that, and she was just captivated by the idea that Hemingway described his goal of writing one true thing every day. What made you want to become a writer? I loved reading when I was a kid, partly because I was traveling so much, and there were times where I’d be displaced, I’d be the outsider. When I first moved to Indonesia, I’m this big, kid that kind of stood out. And then when I moved back from Indonesia to Hawaii, I had the manners and habits probably of an Indonesian kid. And so the idea of having these worlds that were portable, that were yours, that you could enter into, was appealing to me. And then I became a teenager and wasn’t reading that much other than what was assigned in school, and playing basketball and chasing girls, and imbibing things that weren’t very healthy. I think all of us did. Yeah. And then I think rediscovered writing and reading and thinking in my first or second year of college and used that as a way to rebuild myself, a process I write about in “Dreams From My Father. ” That period in New York, where you were intensely reading. I was hermetic — it really is true. I had one plate, one towel, and I’d buy clothes from thrift shops. And I was very intense, and sort of humorless. But it reintroduced me to the power of words as a way to figure out who you are and what you think, and what you believe, and what’s important, and to sort through and interpret this swirl of events that is happening around you every minute. And so even though by the time I graduated I knew I wanted to be involved in public policy, or I had these vague notions of organizing, the idea of continuing to write and tell stories as part of that was valuable to me. And so I would come home from work, and I would write in my journal or write a story or two. The great thing was that it was useful in my organizing work. Because when I got there, the guy who had hired me said that the thing that brings people together to have the courage to take action on behalf of their lives is not just that they care about the same issue, it’s that they have shared stories. And he told me that if you learn how to listen to people’s stories and can find what’s sacred in other people’s stories, then you’ll be able to forge a relationship that lasts. But my interest in public service and politics then merged with the idea of storytelling. What were your short stories like? It’s interesting, when I read them, a lot of them had to do with older people. I think part of the reason was because I was working in communities with people who were significantly older than me. We were going into churches, and probably the average age of these folks was 55, 60. A lot of them had scratched and clawed their way into the middle class, but just barely. They were seeing the communities in which they had invested their hopes and dreams and raised their kids starting to decay — steel mills had closed, and there had been a lot of racial turnover in these communities. And so there was also this sense of loss and disappointment. And so a bunch of the short stories I wrote had to do with that sense, that atmosphere. One story is about an old black pastor who seems to be about to lose his church, his lease is running out and he’s got this loyal woman deacon who is trying to buck him up. Another is about an elderly couple — a white couple in L. A. — and he’s like in advertising, wrote jingles. And he’s just retired and has gotten cranky. And his wife is trying to convince him that his life is not over. So when I think back on what’s interesting to me, there is not a lot of Jack Kerouac, young kid on the make discovering stuff. It’s more melancholy and reflective. Was writing partly a way to figure out your identity? Yes, I think so. For me, particularly at that time, writing was the way I sorted through a lot of crosscurrents in my life — race, class, family. And I genuinely believe that it was part of the way in which I was able to integrate all these pieces of myself into something relatively whole. People now remark on this notion of me being very cool, or composed. And what is true is that I generally have a pretty good sense of place and who I am, and what’s important to me. And I trace a lot of that back to that process of writing. Has that continued to be so in the presidency? Not as much as I would have liked. I just didn’t have time. But you keep some form of a journal? I’ve kept some, but not with the sort of discipline that I would have hoped for. The main writing that I’ve done during the presidency has been my speeches, the ones at least that were important to me. How has the speechwriting and being at the center of history and dealing with crises affected you as a writer? I’m not sure yet. I’ll have to see when I start writing the next book. Some of the craft of writing a good speech is identical to any other good writing: Is that word necessary? Is it the right word? Is there a rhythm to it that feels good? How does it sound aloud? I actually think that one of the useful things about speechwriting is reminding yourself that the original words are spoken, and that there is a sound, a feel to words that, even if you’re reading silently, transmits itself. So in that sense, I think there will be some consistency. But this is part of why it was important to pick up the occasional novel during the presidency, because most of my reading every day was briefing books and memos and proposals. And so working that very analytical side of the brain all the time sometimes meant you lost track of not just the poetry of fiction, but also the depth of fiction. Fiction was useful as a reminder of the truths under the surface of what we argue about every day and was a way of seeing and hearing the voices, the multitudes of this country. Are there examples of specific novels or writers? Well, the last novel I read was Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground Railroad. ” And the reminder of the ways in which the pain of slavery transmits itself across generations, not just in overt ways, but how it changes minds and hearts. It’s what you said in your farewell address about Atticus Finch, where you said people are so isolated in their little bubbles. Fiction can leap — It bridges them. I struck up a friendship with [the novelist] Marilynne Robinson, who has become a good friend. And we’ve become sort of pen pals. I started reading her in Iowa, where “Gilead” and some of her best novels are set. And I loved her writing in part because I saw those people every day. And the interior life she was describing that connected them — the people I was shaking hands with and making speeches to — it connected them with my grandparents, who were from Kansas and ended up journeying all the way to Hawaii, but whose foundation had been set in a very similar setting. And so I think that I found myself better able to imagine what’s going on in the lives of people throughout my presidency because of not just a specific novel but the act of reading fiction. It exercises those muscles, and I think that has been helpful. And then there’s been the occasion where I just want to get out of my own head. [Laughter] Sometimes you read fiction just because you want to be someplace else. What are some of those books? It’s interesting, the stuff I read just to escape ends up being a mix of things — some science fiction. For a while, there was a novel, the “ Problem” series — Oh, Liu Cixin, who won the Hugo Award. — which was just wildly imaginative, really interesting. It wasn’t so much sort of character studies as it was just this sweeping — It’s really about the fate of the universe. Exactly. The scope of it was immense. So that was fun to read, partly because my problems with Congress seem fairly petty — not something to worry about. Aliens are about to invade. [Laughter] There were books that would blend, I think, really good writing with thriller genres. I mean, I thought “Gone Girl” was a book. I loved that structure. Yeah, and it was really well executed. And a similar structure, that I thought was a really powerful novel: “Fates and Furies,” by Lauren Groff. I like those structures where you actually see different points of view. Which I have to do for this job, too. [Laughter] Have there been certain books that have been touchstones for you in these eight years? I would say Shakespeare continues to be a touchstone. Like most teenagers in high school, when we were assigned, I don’t know, “The Tempest” or something, I thought, ‘My God, this is boring.’ And I took this wonderful Shakespeare class in college where I just started to read the tragedies and dig into them. And that, I think, is foundational for me in understanding how certain patterns repeat themselves and play themselves out between human beings. Is that sort of comforting? It gives me a sense of perspective. I think Toni Morrison’s writings — particularly “Song of Solomon” is a book I think of when I imagine people going through hardship. That it’s not just pain, but there’s joy and glory and mystery. I think that there are writers who I don’t necessarily agree with in terms of their politics, but whose writings are sort of a baseline for how to think about certain things — V. S. Naipaul, for example. His “A Bend in the River,” which starts with the line, “The world is what it is men who are nothing, who allow themselves to become nothing, have no place in it. ” And I always think about that line, and I think about his novels when I’m thinking about the hardness of the world sometimes, particularly in foreign policy, and I resist and fight against sometimes that very cynical, more realistic view of the world. And yet, there are times where it feels as if that may be true. So in that sense, I’m using writing like that as a foil or something to debate against. I’ve read that Lincoln loved Shakespeare his whole life, but when he was dealing with the Civil War, reading the history plays helped give him solace and perspective. Lincoln’s own writings do that. He is a very fine writer. I’d put the Second Inaugural up against any piece of American writing — as good as anything. One of the great treats of being president is, in the Lincoln Bedroom, there’s a copy of the Gettysburg Address handwritten by him, one of five copies he did for charity. And there have been times in the evening when I’d just walk over, because it’s right next to my office, my home office, and I just read it. And perspective is exactly what is wanted. At a time when events move so quickly and so much information is transmitted, the ability to slow down and get perspective, along with the ability to get in somebody else’s shoes — those two things have been invaluable to me. Whether they’ve made me a better president, I can’t say. But what I can say is that they have allowed me to sort of maintain my balance during the course of eight years, because this is a place that comes at you hard and fast and doesn’t let up. Is there some poem or any writing or author that you would turn to, say, after the mass killings in Newtown, Conn. or during the financial crisis? I think that during those periods, Lincoln’s writings, King’s writings, Gandhi’s writings, Mandela’s writings — I found those particularly helpful, because what you wanted was a sense of solidarity. During very difficult moments, this job can be very isolating. So sometimes you have to hop across history to find folks who have been similarly feeling isolated. Churchill’s a good writer. And I loved reading Teddy Roosevelt’s writing. He’s this big, outsize character. Have you read a lot of presidential biographies? The biographies have been useful, because I do think that there’s a tendency, understandable, to think that whatever’s going on right now is uniquely disastrous or amazing or difficult. And it just serves you well to think about Roosevelt trying to navigate World War II or Lincoln trying to figure out whether he’s going to fire [George B.] McClellan when Rebel troops are 20, 30, 40 miles away. I watched some of the documentary “Eyes on the Prize” after the election. It was useful. You do see how far we’ve come, and in the space of my lifetime. And that’s why seeing my daughters now picking up books that I read 30 years ago or 40 years ago is gratifying, because I want them to have perspective — not for purposes of complacency, but rather to give them confidence that people with a sense of determination and courage and pluck can reshape things. It’s empowering for them. What books would you recommend at this moment in time, that captures this sense of turmoil? I should probably ask you or some people who have had time to catch up on reading. I’ll confess that since the election, I’ve been busier than I expected. So one of the things I’m really looking forward to is to dig into a whole bunch of literature. But one of the things I’m confident about is that, out of this moment, there are a whole bunch of writers, a lot of them young, who are probably writing the book I need to read. [Laughter] They’re ahead of me right now. And so in my in addition to training the next generation of leaders to work on issues like climate change or gun violence or criminal justice reform, my hope is to link them up with their peers who see fiction or nonfiction as an important part of that process. When so much of our politics is trying to manage this clash of cultures brought about by globalization and technology and migration, the role of stories to unify — as opposed to divide, to engage rather than to marginalize — is more important than ever. There’s something particular about quieting yourself and having a sustained stretch of time that is different from music or television or even the greatest movies. And part of what we’re all having to deal with right now is just a lot of information overload and a lack of time to process things. So we make quick judgments and assign stereotypes to things, block certain things out, because our brain is just trying to get through the day. We’re bombarded with information. Technology is moving so rapidly. Look, I don’t worry about the survival of the novel. We’re a storytelling species. I think that what one of the jobs of political leaders going forward is, is to tell a better story about what binds us together as a people. And America is unique in having to stitch together all these disparate elements — we’re not one race, we’re not one tribe, folks didn’t all arrive here at the same time. What holds us together is an idea, and it’s a story about who we are and what’s important to us. And I want to make sure that we continue that. I know you like Junot Díaz’s and Jhumpa Lahiri’s books, and they speak to immigration or the American Dream. I think Lahiri’s books, I think Díaz’s books, do speak to a very particular contemporary immigration experience. But also this combination of — that I think is universal — longing for this better place, but also feeling displaced and looking backwards at the same time. I think in that sense, their novels are directly connected to a lot of American literature. Some of the great books by Jewish authors like Philip Roth or Saul Bellow, they are steeped with this sense of being an outsider, longing to get in, not sure what you’re giving up — what you’re willing to give up and what you’re not willing to give up. So that particular aspect of American fiction I think is still of great relevance today. | 0fake |
BANG! What The Globalists Are About To UNLEASH On Trump Will KILL America | Help us spread the ANTIDOTE to corporate propaganda. Please follow SGT Report on Twitter & help share the message. Related 1 comment to BANG! What The Globalists Are About To UNLEASH On Trump Will KILL America Ed_B November 23, 2016 at 7:09 pm · Reply
Bang? The globalists have been taking it on the chin lately and aren’t really in any position to be laying much of anything on anyone. They are still reeling from the BrExit and Trumps election. About the time they figure out how they screwed the pooch on those issues, they will be smacked up-side the head by the continuing disintegration of their EU project, as more countries leave it on the ash heap of history and move forward into the light of a much more positive, productive, and free world. Good on the ba$tard$. 😀 Leave a Reply You can use these HTML tags
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Three more cars torched in South African taxi war | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A violent feud between South African meter taxi drivers and ride-hailing services Uber and Taxify escalated with another three vehicles torched using petrol bombs, police said on Thursday. Drivers for Uber [UBER.UL] and Estonian start-up Taxify operating in Johannesburg and capital Pretoria have faced threats and protests from regular taxi operators who accuse the app-based drivers of poaching customers with cheaper fares. One Uber vehicle and two other taxis were torched last week in the upmarket Sandton district and on Wednesday three Taxify vehicles were set alight in the Pretoria suburb of Sunnyside. Police said in one incident on Wednesday a Taxify driver responding to a pick-up request was cornered by a group of eight men who threatened him with violence just as he arrived at the location. The vehicle was alight after he had alighted from it. Another Taxify vehicle was set on fire at a different location. One of the vehicles was burned out completely, while the second on had slight damages, said police Captain Daniel Mavimbela. Mavimbela said the identity of the suspects had yet to be established. More than 6,000 vehicles use the e-hailing Uber application to find customers in South Africa, where the service has grown swiftly as public transport has not kept up with the rising population in sprawling cities. | 0fake |
Harley Quinn, Just the Nice, Fun-Loving Psycho Next Door - The New York Times | The world of superhero comics is filled with tortured souls. One guy, after the vicious murder of his parents, dresses up as a bat to fight crime. Another similarly fellow dresses up as a spider. And those are the heroes. Even in that world, the psychological profile of Harley Quinn stands out. Best known as the former girlfriend of the Joker, Harley suffers from multiple personalities, homicidal tendencies, Stockholm syndrome and possibly “shared psychotic disorder. ” A survivor of domestic violence (not surprising, given her former beau) she has murdered and kids. Her weapons of choice include mallets, baseball bats and exploding cupcakes. Despite her mental issues and misdeeds (or perhaps because of them) Harley is having a moment. This year, she headlined three books, including a monthly comic and two . She’s a lead character on “DC Super Hero Girls,” an animated web series, and can be seen in the new video game Batman: Arkham Underworld (one of more than a dozen games she has appeared in since 1994). And then there’s the new Warner Bros. film “Suicide Squad. ” Based on a comic series about a team of incarcerated supervillains, the film stars Margot Robbie as Harley in the character’s first appearance. How did Harley become one of the most popular female characters in the DC Universe? In part, by cleaning up her act, or what passes for clean in her world. In several incarnations — most notably, her foray into video games — Harley has been a true supervillain, maiming and killing with unbridled glee. Now she’s more of an antihero, as in “Suicide Squad,” where she and a team of bad guys take on even worse guys in “Dirty Dozen” missions. In “DC Super Hero Girls,” which is aimed at a tween audience, she’s even tamer. Harley is actually one of the good guys, sharing a dorm room with her pal Wonder Woman at a very exclusive high school (only teen superheroes allowed). Her rise is all the more intriguing when you factor in her love life. As the Joker’s girlfriend, she was the prototypical victim, enduring beatings, murder attempts and the most sadistic sorts of mind games — and always coming back for more. Then there’s her relationship with her fellow supervillain Poison Ivy. The long hugs, the sleepovers, the soulful stares? Even Batgirl put two and two together. Last year, DC’s official Twitter account confirmed that Harley and Ivy were indeed girlfriends, albeit “without the jealousy of monogamy. ” As an abuse survivor and free agent, Harley has become something of a feminist icon — magazines like Bust have praised her complexity, smarts and subversive sexuality — even as she revels in her own bouts of sadistic fun. When the writer Paul Dini and the artist Bruce Timm first introduced the character in 1992 in an episode of “Batman: The Animated Series,” it was a small role, the lone female among the Joker’s motley crew of henchmen. The twist: Unlike the others, Harley clearly had a thing for her boss. It was strictly a . “We didn’t want to give Joker a girlfriend because it humanizes him,” Mr. Timm said, “and we were really trying to stress how bizarre and creepy he could be. ” But Harley clearly had something. Between Mr. Timm’s striking take on the classic harlequin costume — he ditched the “frills and spangles” of the commedia dell’arte original for a skintight bodysuit of alternating blacks and reds — and the voice actress Arleen Sorkin’s reads (a singsongy Brooklyn accent that could, in a jump from pure sugar to nuts) Harley became an instant hit. Two years later, her creators finally got around to revealing her origin in the comic The Batman Adventures: Mad Love. Née Harleen Frances Quinzel, Harley was working in Gotham City’s infamous Arkham Asylum as a psychiatrist when she met and fell in love with one of her patients: the Joker. The comic won an Eisner (the industry’s equivalent of an Oscar) for best single story and explored the bizarre love triangle between the Joker (obsessed with Batman, but hot and cold about Harley) Batman (thinks about the Joker a lot, but maybe not obsessively) and Harley (loves the Joker and sees Batman as a rival for his attention). “Harley’s point of view is very pragmatic,” Mr. Dini said. “She’s like, ‘Why don’t you just shoot the guy?’ But the Joker can’t just shoot him: He has to triumph over him. ” Over the next several years, Harley got her own solo comic book, starred in the 2002 TV series “Birds of Prey” and played a major role in the critically acclaimed 2009 video game Batman: Arkham Asylum, which sold 2. 5 million units within weeks of its release. Tara Strong (“Teen Titans,” “The Powerpuff Girls”) has voiced Harley in several animated series and video games and considers her one of her favorite characters. “In general, video games are the most taxing on a voice actor’s instrument, because you’re constantly screaming and doing death sounds and kicking noises,” Ms. Strong said. “It can make you cranky. But I never get cranky when it’s time for Harley. I don’t care if I have to do a thousand death noises. ” But as the video game Harley got darker and meaner and her comic book artists traded in her cat suit for corsets, short shorts and pigtails, longtime fans balked at what they saw as the hypersexualization of a character who, unlike other DC heroines, was never really about that. The fourth incarnation of the comic series Suicide Squad, which featured a more bare, more murderous Harley, was canceled. “When they first started messing with her, with the fishnets and the really extreme makeup and the nasty hairstyles, I was frankly put off by it,” Mr. Timm said. Harley’s redemption began with the 2013 start of the comic series Harley Quinn, written by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. For the team, the emphasis was on fun. Finally away from her boyfriend, Harley swaps grim Gotham for the joys of Coney Island, and her day job as a for more dignified work as a landlady, member of a team and shrink. She hasn’t stopped killing people, not completely, but there’s notably less of it (a recent match involved decapitations and poison gas). Whatever your preference in Harleys — classic 1990s jester or this year’s Margot Robbie — someone somewhere is dressing up as her, from cosplay events to comic conventions. “I just did a show in France a couple months ago,” Mr. Timm said, “and even in France, there are more Harley cosplayers than any other character. There are people who dress up as her as a psychiatrist, before she even became Harley Quinn. ” In “Suicide Squad,” Ms. Robbie sports several outfits and looks during the course of the story. “One of my complaints with these movies is that everyone always wears the exact same thing,” said David Ayer, the movie’s director. Even so, the biggest criticism he still hears from fans is: Why isn’t Harley in her original jester outfit? “You know, I tried,” he said. “There is this sort of a flashback where she appears in it. We tried different things, but it was the more aesthetic that worked for the character. ” Harley is much more than the sum of her costumes, anyway. “I’ve got daughters,” Mr. Ayer said, “and I think they connect with her freedom to be whatever and whoever she wants to be. ” For Ms. Strong, there’s something even more primal going on. “Sometimes you want to crack someone’s skull in, but you can’t, because that’s illegal,” she said. “People love Harley so much because she lets her crazy out. ” | 0fake |
Carbs During Workouts May Fend Off Colds - The New York Times | Until recently, many scientists believed that exercise reduces the body’s ability to fight off infections. Past studies had found, for example, that after workouts, especially strenuous ones, people had fewer white blood cells in their bloodstreams than before working out, suggesting that their immune response had been weakened. But a timely new review of studies about exercise and immunity indicates that the interactions between exercise and immunity are far more intricate than scientists once suspected. Some types of workouts may hinder the immune response, according to the review, while others bolster it. Encouragingly, it also seems that a few simple precautions, including consuming carbohydrates during exhausting workouts, might help to keep our immune systems robust. To learn more about the latest science concerning exercise and immunity, I contacted two of the authors of the new review, which was published last week in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Jonathan M. Peake is a lecturer in sports science at Queensland University of Technology in Australia, while his Oliver Neubauer is a senior research fellow at the same university. What follows are edited excerpts from our conversation. Q. Why would exercise affect the immune system in the first place? Jonathan Peake: Exercise is a form of stress. The immune system responds to stress. Q. What actually happens to the immune system during a workout? Dr. Peake: White blood cell numbers typically increase in the blood during exercise, much as they would during an infection. Body temperature rises, and immune cells move from the lymph nodes, spleen, the walls of blood vessels, and the bone marrow into the bloodstream. The stimulus here is obviously not infectious, but occurs because of a rise in stress hormones such as cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine and growth hormone, which all can increase during exercise. Q. And after exercise? Dr. Peake: The number of white blood cells in the bloodstream, especially a type of cell that is particularly good at fighting infections known as natural killer cells, rapidly falls. People often have fewer natural killer cells in their blood after exercise than before they started. For many years, it was thought that exercise was destroying these cells and causing immunodepression. Q. But it isn’t? Dr. Peake: We now believe that the cells are not destroyed. Instead, it’s more likely they move out of the bloodstream and to other regions of the body, such as the lungs, gut, skin and mucous membranes of the respiratory system. This occurs in part because we can breathe in or ingest microorganisms that wind up in these tissues and require an immune response, but also because the stress of exercise causes physiological and biochemical changes within these tissues. As a result, signals go out from the tissues to the immune cells in the blood telling them that there is a potential threat to the body there, and the immune cells move to those tissues. Q. So although we get more cells in our bloodstream during a workout, many of them wind up diverted afterward into other parts of the body? Can this development leave us particularly vulnerable to infections after a stressful workout? Dr. Peake: Yes. Q. What if the exercise is relatively moderate, like a brisk walk or easy jog, instead of a more intense workout? Dr. Peake: Epidemiological evidence suggests that regular moderate exercise protects against upper respiratory illnesses, whereas regular intense exercise increases the risk of upper respiratory illnesses. Q. Because moderate exercise likely results in less physiological stress throughout the body than more vigorous exercise? Dr. Peake: That’s fair to say. The stress hormones that regulate activity of the immune system respond to intensity and duration. Generally speaking, the more strenuous the exercise, the longer it takes for the immune system to return to normal afterward. Q. For people who train hard and would prefer not to repeatedly catch colds, is there any way to maintain a healthy immune response? Oliver Neubauer: Ingesting carbohydrates during vigorous exercise may help, because carbohydrates maintain blood sugar levels. Having stable blood sugar levels reduces the body’s stress response, which in turn, moderates any undesirable mobilization of immune cells. Q. How much carbohydrate? And when? Dr. Neubauer: Most people only need carbohydrates during or prolonged exercise that lasts for 90 minutes or more. For them, between 30 and 60 grams — which is 1 or 2 ounces — of carbohydrates per hour during exercise could minimize immune disturbances related to exercise. Consuming carbohydrates in the first few hours immediately after strenuous exercise also helps to restore immune function. Q. Any additional advice for those of us who work out and wish to stay well? Dr. Peake: Washing your hands often and avoiding contact with sick people will also help. | 0fake |
NATO builds up offensive capability on borders of Russia & Belarus, Moscow to respond |
The US and NATO are building up their offensive capabilities on the Western borders of Russia and its ally Belarus, prompting Moscow to take reciprocal measures, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu told the two countries’ top military brass.
“Those actions undermine strategic stability and are forcing Russia to take reciprocal defensive measures, including some in the Western theatre,” the defense minister said.
NATO “has not abandoned attempts to dictate its will to other countries through economic and political means, as well as by military force,” he said, noting that “an information war is in full swing.”
Confronted with a complex security environment, Russia and Belarus will join forces to strengthen their mutual security, Shoigu added.
“Advanced bilateral cooperation and a common stance on major global and regional security challenges allow us to successfully tackle strengthening our defense capabilities,” he stressed, adding that this approach appears to be necessary at this point, “as international crisis response mechanisms have stalled, while hotspots are already near our borders.”
In order to address the security challenges, Russia is now supplying state-of-the-art armaments and weapons systems to the army units guarding the Western borders, as well as ramping up combat training for the troops, the Defense Minister said.
Russian and Belarusian militaries are constantly working on improving their interoperability and the capacity to act in large troops formations, he added.
The remarks come amid NATO’s biggest military buildup in Eastern Europe since the Cold War. The deployment will see up to 4,000 troops deployed in the Baltic countries and Poland, in addition to the more than 1,000 soldiers already stationed there on a “rotational basis.”
A German-led battalion will deploy in Lithuania, the US will send troops to Poland, Canada is expected to station troops in Latvia, and the UK will deploy an 800-strong battle group in Estonia.
British Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon claimed in a bellicose op-ed appearing in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday that Europe “is our continent” and, as such, it will be defended by a “fully combat-capable” force.
Earlier this year, NATO staged several multinational war games, the largest of which was Anaconda 2016. Those exercises saw more than 31,000 personnel from 24 NATO and ‘partner’ countries taking part, reportedly in order to develop their capacity to “deploy, mass and sustain combat power” against a near-peer adversary.
In June, Ukraine, a non-NATO state, hosted the Rapid Trident 2016 exercise, which featured over 1,800 soldiers from 14 countries, along with dozens of combat vehicles, aircraft, and heavy weaponry. That drill was said to be the largest multinational war games ever to be held in Ukraine.
Most recently, 680 troops from 32 NATO and non-NATO states, including Georgia, Albania, Israel and Ukraine, took part in war games called Crna Gora 2016 in the Balkan country of Montenegro, where they trained for “disaster relief operations” in a series of joint exercises.
Moscow has consistently warned that the buildup does nothing to improve European security and is nothing but a “projection of force.”
NATO members “are fulfilling their confrontational schemes of military planning and military preparations in the territories along our borders,” Russia’s envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko, said on Monday.
“So, a question arises: What’s next? A new wave of NATO speculation about a ‘Russian threat’ and a new arms race?” the diplomat added. “We believe this is a road to nowhere.”
Source
| 1real |
As Trump Takes 6th Golf Trip As President The Vow He Made To NEVER Take A Vacation Goes Viral (VIDEO) | Trump spent his the sixth weekend golfing and the internet dug up an supremely uncomfortable reminder for him.And Trump seems oblivious to the fact that most Americans find the idea of a president taking six vacations in his first two months of being president repugnant. Donning golfing attire, Trump smiled and posed for the cameras in Mar-a-Lago.Shamelessly:The photo itself represented a Trump lie. His staff had told reporters that he was heading to his nearby golf course for the purpose of having meetings and phone calls. The president himself said he would be spending the night having an important discussion about veteran affairs. Hours later, no specific meetings were ever reported to have taken place and the veteran affairs dinner was suddenly cancelled. All that remained was Trump s time spent playing golf at the golf course that he owns next to the resort that he also owns.Which is a nice screw you to the rest of us. His trips to the links cost more money each visit than most of the life-saving programs he proposed gutting spend all year. And because he s doing so as president, the taxpayers are footing the bill to enable it.(RT!) Trump golfing at Mar-a-Lago costs $10 million/mo. The National Endowment for the Arts costs $12 million/mo. Guess which is being cut? pic.twitter.com/1ZAlRDBrPb Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) March 17, 2017It's incomprehensible that Trump wants to kill Meals on Wheels, when one trip to Mar-a-lago costs taxpayers the same as feeding 500k elderly pic.twitter.com/fg3FozZdsX Nick Bilton (@nickbilton) March 18, 2017Which may be why this video of Trump promising not to every take a vacation as president is particularly insane. He told voters he wouldn t have time for vacations and added that he would probably never leave the White House, because of all the serious work to be done.You hear that Trump didn t hoodwink voters (they knew what they were getting!) and then find clips like this. Just breathtaking hypocrisy. pic.twitter.com/LDnb3Xr7oF Matt McDermott (@mattmfm) March 18, 2017 There s no time for vacations, Trump said as a stone-faced Chris Christie sat next to him. We re not going to be big on vacations. Vacations are arguably the only thing Trump is big on as president.He s taken so many vacations that in two months he s already cost taxpayers roughly the same amount of money the Obamas did all year for vacations. The hypocrisy is so bad that it may explain why Trump is desperate to rebrand his Florida resort as the Southern White House. You can t say you re not at the White House if you simply rename your vacation house The White House. Let s see if American voters are dumb enough to buy that.Featured image via screenshot | 1real |
2009 FLASHBACK: “What If” Remixed | 11/08/2016 | 1real |
LIVE FEED: Trump “Thank You” Tour In NC With Ret. General James Mattis [Video] | 1real | |
What's in the final Republican tax bill | (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval on Wednesday to a sweeping, debt-financed tax bill in a midday vote. It now will go to President Donald Trump to sign into law, although the timing of that was unclear. The Senate approved the bill early on Wednesday. Here are the key parts of the bill, representing the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code in more than 30 years. CORPORATE TAX RATE: Cuts corporate income tax rate permanently to 21 percent from 35 percent, as of Jan. 1, 2018. PASS-THROUGHS: Creates a 20 percent deduction for the first $315,000 of qualified business income for joint filers of pass-through businesses such as partnerships and sole proprietorships. For income above that threshold, the legislation phases in limits, producing an effective marginal tax rate of no more than 29.6 percent. CORPORATE ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX: Repeals the 20 percent corporate alternative minimum tax, set up to ensure profitable corporations pay at least some tax. TERRITORIAL SYSTEM: Exempts U.S. corporations from U.S. taxes on most future foreign profits, ending the present worldwide system of taxing profits of all U.S.-based corporations, no matter where they are earned. This would align the U.S. tax code with most other industrialized nations, undercut many offshore tax-dodging strategies and deliver to multinationals a goal they have pursued for years. REPATRIATION: Sets a one-time mandatory tax of 8 percent on illiquid assets and 15.5 percent on cash and cash equivalents for about $2.6 trillion in U.S. business profits now held overseas. This foreign cash pile was created by a rule making foreign profits tax-deferred if they are not brought into the United States, or repatriated. That rule would be rendered obsolete by the territorial system. ANTI-BASE EROSION MEASURES: Prevents companies from shifting profits out of the United States to lower-tax jurisdictions abroad. Sets an alternative minimum tax on payments between U.S. corporations and foreign affiliates, and limits on shifting corporate income through transfers of intangible property, including patents. In combination, these measures with the repatriation and territorial system provisions, represent a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. tax system for multinationals. CAPITAL EXPENSING: Allows businesses to immediately write off, or expense, the full value of investments in new plant and equipment for five years, then gradually eliminates this 100 percent expensing over five years beginning in year six. Also makes changes to permit for more expensing by small businesses. INTEREST DEDUCTION LIMIT: Caps business deductions for debt interest payments at 30 percent of taxable income, regardless of deductions for depreciation, amortization or depletion. CLEAN ENERGY: Preserves tax credits for producing electricity from wind, biomass, geothermal, solar, municipal waste and hydropower. CARRIED INTEREST: Leaves in place “carried interest” loophole for private equity fund managers and some hedge fund managers, despite pledges by Republicans including President Donald Trump to close it. These financiers can now claim a lower capital gains tax rate on much of their income from investments held more than a year. A new rule would extend that holding period to three years, putting the loophole out of reach for some fund managers but preserving its availability for many. BRACKETS: Maintains current seven tax brackets, but temporarily changes most income levels and rates for each one. For married couples filing jointly, effective Jan. 1, 2018 and ending in 2026, income tax would be: 10 percent up to $19,050, versus 10 percent up to $18,650 under existing law; 12 percent on $19,051 to $77,400, versus 15 percent on$18,651 to $75,900; 22 percent on $77,401 to $165,000, versus 25 percent on $75,901 to $153,100; 24 percent on $165,001 to $315,000, versus 28 percent on $153,101 to $233,350; 32 percent on $315,001 to $400,000, versus 33 percent on $233,351 to $416,700; 35 percent on $400,001 to $600,000, versus 35 percent on $416,701 to $470,700 37 percent above $600,000, versus 39.6 percent above$470,700. For single individuals, effective Jan. 1, 2018 and ending in 2026, income tax would be: 10 percent up to $9,525, versus 10 percent up to $9,325 under existing law; 12 percent from $9,526 to $38,700, versus 15 percent on $9,326 to $37,950; 22 percent on $38,701 to $82,500, versus 25 percent on $37,951 to $91,900; 24 percent on $82,501 to $157,500, versus 28 percent on $91,901 to $191,650; 32 percent on $157,501 to $200,000, versus 33 percent on $191,651 to $416,700; 35 percent on $200,001 to $500,000, versus 35 percent on $416,701 to $418,400; 37 percent above $500,000, versus 39.6 percent above $418,400. These brackets would expire after 2025. STANDARD DEDUCTION: In a change expected to end itemizing of deductions for millions of Americans, the bill for eight years beginning on Jan. 1, 2018, would increase the standard deduction - a fixed amount that can be subtracted from adjusted gross income to lower taxable income - to $12,000 from $6,350 for individuals, and to $24,000 from $12,700 for married couples. CHILD TAX CREDIT: Doubles the child tax credit to $2,000 per dependent child under age 17, with a refundable portion of $1,400. The refundable portion allows families to lower their tax bills to zero and receive a refund for the remaining value. PERSONAL EXEMPTION: Temporarily eliminates the $4,050 individual personal exemption. Under present law, taxpayers who earn below certain income caps can subtract this fixed dollar amount from their adjusted gross incomes to lower their taxable incomes. Generally, one exemption has been allowed per individual, spouse and child or other dependent. This would take effect Jan. 1, 2018, but then the personal exemption would return in 2026. INDIVIDUAL ALTERNATIVE MINIMUM TAX: Leaves the AMT in place but temporarily changes it by raising its exemptions and phase-outs. That will mean fewer people will have to pay the tax, while those who still do will take a smaller hit from it. INHERITANCES: Raises the exemption for estate and gift taxes to $10 million from $5 million per person and indexes the new exemption level for inflation after 2011. That means even fewer Americans would pay the estate tax, but it would stay on the books. MORTGAGES: For residences bought from Jan. 1, 2018, through Dec. 31, 2025, the bill caps the deduction for mortgage interest at $750,000 in home loan value. After Dec. 31, 2025, the cap would revert to $1 million in loan value. Suspends the deduction for interest on home equity loans from Jan. 1, 2018 until 2026. MEDICAL EXPENSES: Temporarily expands the deductibility of out-of-pocket medical expenses through 2019. OBAMACARE MANDATE: Repeals federal fine imposed on Americans under Obamacare for not obtaining health insurance coverage, a change expected to undermine the 2010 healthcare law. ANWR DRILLING: Allows oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. | 0fake |
Petition to have Michael Gove cryogenically frozen reaches 9 million | Friday 18 November 2016 by Lucas Wilde Petition to have Michael Gove cryogenically frozen reaches 9 million
Britain is extremely keen for Michael Gove to be shoved into a freezer, it has emerged.
A petition to put Gove on ice reached 9 million signatures last night, the ramifications of which would see the little bastard shoved into a deep freeze whether he fancies it, or not.
“I’ve signed it twice,” beamed non-expert, Simon Williams.
“I’ve even got a spare chest freezer we could use. It’s only waist-height, but I’m sure we can fold him into it somehow, with a hammer if necessary.
“I’m pretty sure that’s how cryogenics works, having watched Batman and Robin nearly all the way through.
“I’ve not heard what Gove thinks about all of this, but frankly I’m not too bothered about that.”
A spokesperson for Mr Gove said, “Michael is delighted by all of this.
“In fact, he has instructed me to deliver him to the nearest branch of Currys as soon as possible, and to ignore any protests he might make.
“He says he might put up a bit of a fight getting into the freezer, but he would like to assure the public that this is all part of the experience.
“I can give my own personal assurance that Michael has given his full, honest consent to being frozen.
“He’s also well up for said freezer to be fired directly into the sun.” Get the best NewsThump stories in your mailbox every Friday, for FREE! There are currently | 1real |
Six Dreamers sue Trump administration over DACA decision | SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Diego attorney Dulce Garcia has regularly defended clients in immigration court. Now, she is the one seeking legal relief. Brought to the United States illegally by her parents as a child, Garcia is one of six immigrants who sued the Trump administration on Monday over its decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. Since it was authorized in 2012 by President Barack Obama, the program has provided protection from deportation and the right to work legally to nearly 800,000 young people. Garcia’s case, filed in San Francisco federal court, is the first to be brought by DACA recipients, known as Dreamers, since U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced earlier this month that the Obama-era policy would start winding down in March 2018, according to Garcia’s lawyers. It is among several lawsuits challenging the decision to end DACA, including two cases brought by state attorneys general. The legal claims in all of the cases, including Garcia’s, are similar: that the Trump administration did not follow proper administrative procedure in rescinding DACA, and that making enforcement promises to a group of people, only to revoke them, violates due process. The Trump administration has said it is ending DACA because Obama overstepped his constitutional authority when he bypassed Congress and created the DACA program unilaterally. President Donald Trump called on Congress to enact a law to protect DACA recipients and last week angered some of his fellow Republicans by negotiating with top congressional Democratic leaders on possible legislation. During the 2016 presidential election Trump ran on a hardline immigration platform, promising to end DACA and strengthen border protections in order to increase jobs for U.S. workers. The daughter of a hotel housekeeper and a welder, Garcia arrived in Southern California from Mexico at the age of 4. A few years later, she said, her family was ousted from their apartment because the property contained illegal units. “We were living out of my dad’s truck for a little bit there,” she said. Garcia decided to become an attorney after working for a criminal defense lawyer in high school. She put herself through school working for lawyers and performing other jobs such as parking cars. After Obama announced DACA in 2012, Garcia, now 34, seized the opportunity. When she filled out forms for a social security number in 2013, the government clerk congratulated her. “I cried right there,” she said. The case on behalf of Garcia and other DACA recipients could be heard with two separately filed San Francisco DACA cases, one brought by the University of California and the other by a group of state attorneys general, led by California’s Xavier Becerra. Another group of attorneys general, led by New York’s Eric Schneiderman, filed a lawsuit over DACA on September 6 in Brooklyn federal court. Legal experts have said court challenges to Trump’s decision could face an uphill battle because a president typically has wide authority in implementing immigration policy. Jirayut “New” Latthivongskorn, another plaintiff in the lawsuit on Monday, was brought to the United States from Thailand when he was nine. Latthivongskorn is now a fourth year medical student at University of California San Francisco and a master’s degree candidate in public health at Harvard. His DACA work authorization expires in January 2019. His medical residency is not set to begin until a few months after that, and could be impossible if he loses his authorization to work legally. “I have all these big ideas about how I want to change the world and change systems around health care,” he said. “The fact I might not be able to get there is troubling and frustrating.” Garcia said that having to advise some of her DACA clients that there may be no help for them while at the same time trying to address her own immigration status takes a toll. “That’s a reason why I don’t do exclusively immigration law,” she said. “It would wear me down too fast.” | 0fake |
Report: Obama Administration Makes 'No Progress' On Drone Program Transparency | The Obama administration has made "virtually no progress" to increase transparency and accountability for its lethal drone program, a new report has concluded, with only months left to spare before the White House hands control of the targeted killing apparatus to a successor.
The report by the nonpartisan Stimson Center said the administration is failing to release fundamental information about the program or to significantly overhaul it — even after a 2015 strike mistakenly left American contractor Warren Weinstein and Italian hostage Giovanni Lo Porto dead.
"We have seen relatively few successes," said Rachel Stohl, a researcher at the center. "The administration has been unwilling to provide the number of strikes, even in aggregate; the number of civilian casualties that they estimate that have occurred because of those strikes; the legal justification, unless required by court order, that allows the program to continue; so even on the most basic levels, what is the program doing, we don't know."
A bipartisan task force called on the White House nearly two years ago to reconsider its reliance on targeted killing of suspected terrorists, in part, because the strikes may be doing more harm than good by fomenting hatred overseas. But Stimson researchers said they've uncovered little evidence anything like that reorientation has happened.
A senior administration official told NPR the White House goes to "extraordinary lengths" to avoid civilian casualties.
The official added: "Unlike our enemies, which deliberately and pointedly violate the law of armed conflict, the United States takes great care to adhere to the fundamental law of armed conflict principle of distinction, which requires that attacks be directed only against military objectives and that civilians and civilian objects not be the target of attack."
At least nine nations now have weaponized drones, and four have used them, the report said. "It's important that the United States establishes good policy and sets an international precedent that demonstrates leadership and responsibility and transparency over the program because other countries are going to follow the U.S. lead," Stohl said.
U.S. government officials have walked a fine line on the drone program, which is supposed to be secret. Former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden addressed the strikes in his new book and an opinion article in the New York Times Sunday, when he wrote: "I think it fair to say that the targeted killing program has been the most precise and effective application of firepower in the history of armed conflict."
Days earlier, lawyers for the Obama administration appeared in an appeals court in Washington, D.C., to fight a demand by the American Civil Liberties Union for legal justifications and "summary strike data," including the numbers and identities of people killed by weaponized drones.
Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director of the ACLU, said the administration can't have it both ways.
"The law of the drone campaign should not be a secret, nor should the CIA be permitted to withhold basic information that would allow the public to understand the implications of the government's policies," Jaffer said. "This is particularly the case since so many senior officials have spoken so freely about drone strikes." | 0fake |
#NeverTrump GOPers Demand Emergency RNC Meeting In Last Ditch Effort To Unseat Trump | The #NeverTrump GOP delegates are a determined bunch. They tried tirelessly to change the rules of the Republican National Convention to keep Donald Trump from officially becoming their standard-bearer. When the rule change was shot down, chaos ensued on the convention floor in Cleveland s Quicken Loans Arena as they demanded a roll call vote, which was also denied. This resulted in a walkout by the Colorado delegation, and, of course, the great Orange One was officially given the banner of the party to carry that Thursday night. Most people assumed that the Free the Delegates group was done after this. Nothing could be further from the truth, though.This same group of people is now calling for an emergency meeting of the Republican National Committee as they launch yet another sure-to-fail effort to dump Trump. It bears noting that this likely is mostly an effort to continue making noise, to show the RNC and the American public that the entire GOP is not like Donald Trump. The proposed purpose for the meeting is to lay out the law about how the RNC could go about defying the will of the Republican primary voters and get rid of Trump. They will be particularly interested in Rule 9, which is a provision specifically created to facilitate the replacing of an official nominee because of death, declination, or otherwise. Since Trump isn t dead and likely won t be dropping out, otherwise is the vague word these Never Trumpers will be looking to find their loophole in.It probably won t happen, but seeing as how Trump is falling further and further behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the polls, they have reason to believe that he simply isn t a viable candidate. Further, the sea of controversy in which Trump has engaged since being formally nominated, from his ongoing feud with the family of a fallen Muslim American soldier to his initial refusal to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan and Arizona Senator John McCain, means that Trump clearly has zero capability or intention of becoming presidential. If all else fails, the #NeverTrump people could always support the new Independent bid by conservative intelligence official Evan McMullin.All of that being said, though, these folks may as well hang it up. The GOP is no longer the Party of Lincoln. It is the Party of Trump.Featured image via Spencer Platt/Getty Images | 1real |
Tory Peer Warsi: UK Should Forget About About Integration, Tackle Islamophobia Instead | There is “no point” putting Muslims in Britain under scrutiny after three terror attacks in three months, according to Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who argued the UK should include Islamophobia in its definition of “extremism”. [Asserting that Britain’s relationship with its resident Muslims should be reset from scratch, Warsi demanded an end to pressure on the Muslim community, which she declared to be united in fighting terror. Highlighting how “imams and young people have taken to the streets” and “Muslims have raised money for the victims” the former Conservative Party chairman said Muslims in Britain have played their part in opposing Islamist terror attacks and suggested anger at terror attacks is even stronger within the Muslim community than amongst the general public. “I’ve never seen as much anger. The language used to describe the terrorists has never been sharper, angrier, and, I would say, the level of anger towards the terrorists from British Muslims is even greater than it is within the mainstream,” she said. Because of this, the Baroness urged the government to show restraint in its response to terrorism, telling The Guardian: “There’s no point saying we need to go deeper into the Muslim community, because in all cases they reported them [the terrorists] it was obvious to them who was radicalised. ” According to Warsi, the government should instead be reviewing how it defines extremism, and consider Islamophobia to be a problem similar to that of Islamism. “There is still no definition of extremism,” she lamented. “The only definition of extremism that exists within government policy is Islamism. We also have no definition of what is Islamophobia. ” The Baroness also condemned calls made by policymakers for Muslims to integrate into British society. “The majority of terrorists speak good English,” she insisted, pointing out that the perpetrators of many of the recent terror attacks lived Westernised lifestyles at some stage. Describing integration as “a pastime” Warsi argued the only way the government can tackle the problem of extremist and “separatist” religious communities in Britain is by improving Muslims’ situation with regards to “economics, poverty, life chances”. | 0fake |
What a Wonderful World – US Saviour Complex | Bruno Guigue 21st Century WirePurveyor of platitudes, the West portrays itself as the epitome of universal values . A paragon of democracy, this champion of human rights always deploys its presumed virtues in support of its hegemonic ambitions. Like the Fairy Godmother, doing her best to match her morals with her interests, she veils her ambitions with the cloak of Law and Justice. Thus, the Free World goes about bombing foreign nations for the sake of democracy , preferably in oil or mineral-rich territories. By combining a simple creed with capitalist greed, it is acting as if it can convert its economic supremacy into moral privilege.The rest of the world is not fooled by these tactics, but who cares? The Free World is always right because it represents the good fight and for as long as it is the most powerful, it will not be contradicted. The inherent barbarism that it projects onto others is the counter to its self-proclaimed monopoly on civilization .Sanctified by the holy order of right to intervene , a marriage of the GI sandbags with the Kouchner-style bag of rice, the West, vassalized by Washington, believes wholeheartedly that they can save the world by subjugating it to the pitiless ravages demanded by the financial vultures and military industrial complex.This supremacist enterprise was not born yesterday. It was midwived in the historical period dear to Fernand Braudel, that of the emergence of the world economy. Driven by its superior technological advances, since the Renaissance, the western world has propelled itself towards the conquest of our planet earth. Patiently, the west has appropriated other cultures, other worlds, and twisted them into its own image, enforcing obeissance and imitation, eliminating all those who would not conform. Its certitude is untroubled by its own hypocrisy, the West perceives itself as a metaphor for this world. The West wanted to expand from being a part of the world into being the whole. In the same way today, we see countries comprising 10% of the world s population portraying themselves as the International Community. Over the last three centuries, colonial conquest has demonstrated the West s desire to expand its influence beyond its own boundaries, under the banner of bringing civilization to the under-developed. This global domination project was temporarily derailed by the uprising of the colonized peoples in the 20th Century, but it made a triumphant return with its North American branch of hegemony.America, the Far West discovered by Christopher Columbus in search of the Far East , inherited the Old Continent penchant for imperialism and rapacious carpet-baggery. The US converted its lack of history into the promise of a better future , emerging suddenly from Anglo-Saxon puritanism, the US magnified the globalist for profit ethos. Paid for with the blood of the American-Indian genocide, America was born, the newly minted metaphor for the world.It is not certain that this change was for the better. Colonial empires collapsed under the weight of their archaic structures, while US hegemony maintains itself through modern technology channels, from Google to drone warfare. Suddenly the US was the most supple and resilient. What imbues it with flexibility also ensures its longevity. From the white pith helmet of the european colonial overlords to the digital screens of US cyber warfare, a revolution took place. The US substituted a shock-colonization, dismantled after bloody decolonization conflict, with a multi-faceted hegemonic enterprise. Taking over from the classic colonial three M s, the made in the US NGOs replaced the Christian missionary complex, merchants became multi-nationals and the soldiers converted to cyber supremacy.Emboldened by the die-hard spirit of born again Midwesterners, the American empire is projecting its devastating Manichaeism upon the rest of the world. Dreaming with its eyes wide open, the US envisages a definitive alliance between good and evil, the indestructible pillar upon which to build a straightforward ethnocentrism. The law is on their side as it embodies the core values of democracy, human rights and market economy . Obviously, this is a crude ideology, a fraudulent mask for its own sordid interests, but it is effective. Its efficacy is proven by the popular consensus that the US won the second world war, capitalism works, Cuba is a tropical gulag, Assad is worse than Hitler and that North Korea is a threat to the world. This process of self-beatification, bestows upon the North-American-Empire zealots, the right to track down all Evil in the world. No scruples will impede its saviour frenzy, it is the very incarnation of such an exceptional civilization , that it must cleanse the world of barbarism by all means at its disposal. That is why modern imperialism functions as a court of universal law, a judge, that rewards or punishes where it sees fit. Before this elevated moral jurisdiction, the CIA represents the prosecution, the Pentagon is the secular chamber, the US President is the high court judge, a deus ex machina , invoking divine justice, the lightning strike, upon the Axis of Evil and any other sinners circulating in the court of the Empire of Good .This tendency for the US to see itself as the moral compass for the world is central to this structure and is unperturbed by the rapid turn-around of Presidents in the White House, a new tenant changes nothing. Washington s crusade against the barbarians conceals the unbridled greed of the Military Industrial Complex and the iron claw of the deep state. From Harry Truman to Donald Trump with Barack Obama inbetween, from Korea to Vietnam to Syria, Indonesia, Angola, Mozambique, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chile, South Africa, Serbia, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Libya, death is the cure, by proxy or directly, for all those who oppose the saviour s kingdom of universal justice. Philanthropic America always harnesses the local labour force to carry out its dirty work. Franco, Hitler and Mussolini (until 1939), Chiang Kai Shek, Somoza, Syngman Rhee, Ngo Dinh Diem, Salazar, Batista, Mobutu, Marcos, Trujillo, Pik Botha, Duvalier, Suharto, Papadopoulos, Castelo Branco, Videla, Pinochet, Stroessner, Reza Shah Pahlevi, Zia Ul Haqq, Bin Laden, Uribe, King Salman, Nethanyahu, Ukrainian Nazis and the moderate terrorists in the Middle East have been of invaluable service to Empire.Undisputed leader of the Free World, America claims to embody civilization while obliterating entire populations with nuclear weapons, napalm or a rain of cruise missiles. Sometimes it chooses a slow death for its prey, with Agent Orange, depleted uranium, or with punitive embargoes on medicines and humanitarian aid.While America is never short of sychophants praising their services to Humanity , the evidence is irrefutable, that the collapse of this Empire would be a cause for celebration.Translation by Vanessa Beeley for 21st Century Wire*** Bruno Guigue is a French author and political analyst born in Toulouse 1962. Professor of philosophy and lecturer in international relations for highter education. The author of 5 books including Aux origines du conflit Isra lo-Arabe, l invisible remords de l Occident (L Harmattan, 2002).SUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @ 21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Washington Post Corrects ’Racist, Anti-Semitic’ Smears About MILO - Breitbart | The Washington Post has removed a reference to MILO in a piece about his upcoming appearance at CPAC implying that he “espoused racist, and sexist points of view. ”[The article, by David Weigel and Robert Costa, described MILO as being the latest example of the conservative movement’s “embrace of aligned figures,” despite MILO declaring on multiple occasions that he is not a member of, nor aligned with, the but only sought to give them a fair hearing in the press, notably by writing ‘An Establishment Conservatives Guide To The .’ After Breitbart News contacted the authors, the introduction was changed to describe MILO as a “ firebrand,” along with removing all references to the bigotry that MILO was accused of. One reader in the comment section, writing before the article updated, said that “this article is so riddled with errors, it may as well be fake news. ” Many other news outlets have attempted to brand MILO with the or white nationalist label, including CNN, The Chicago Tribune, CBS, USA Today, LA Times, Glamour Magazine and NBC News. White supremacists have repeatedly attacked MILO the Daily Stormer declared a “holy crusade” against MILO, and proceeded to protest him at the University of Alabama. Most of the aforementioned outlets were forced to issue corrections and retract their claims for having no basis in reality. Jack Hadfield is a student at the University of Warwick and a regular contributor to Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @ToryBastard_, on Gab @JH or email him at jack@yiannopoulos. net. | 0fake |
Denying Conflict, Trump Family Tries to Resolve Potential Problems - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — Realizing that his presidency could face potentially crippling questions over conflicts of interest, Donald J. Trump and his family are rushing to resolve potential controversies — like shuttering foundations and terminating development deals — even as the publicly maintains that no legal conflicts exist. In recent days, the and his aides have said that he intends to distribute the assets of his personal charity and then close it down, has examined a plan to hire an outside monitor to oversee the Trump Organization and has terminated some international business projects. “This is a process that my father and my family are taking incredibly seriously,” said Eric Trump, who will help oversee the Trump Organization, and who announced last week that he was terminating for his own charity, the Eric Trump Foundation. Even with these steps, Mr. Trump will enter the White House with a maze of financial holdings unlike those of any other president in American history. Many ethics experts still say the only way Mr. Trump can eliminate his most serious conflicts is to liquidate his company, and then put the money into a blind trust — a move Mr. Trump has so far rejected as impractical and unreasonable. The potential roles that his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, may play in the administration are particularly vexatious. Both have business operations that could benefit from their government roles — even if they are not involved in the businesses on a basis. Ms. Trump’s business is so tied to her name that any position she might take in the White House or informal role she might play as an adviser to her father could benefit her company, which she will still own. And because Mr. Trump refuses to release his tax returns, the extent of his potential conflicts remains unknown. “Yes, it would be hard to sell the business — there would be some personal discomfort,” said Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, a liberal nonprofit group that has mocked Mr. Trump’s efforts to “drain the swamp” of Washington special interests. “But he ran for president of the United States and won, so those considerations can’t be weighted very heavily. ” The hurried effort to clean up some of the family’s potential conflicts stands in contrast to the public statements by Mr. Trump since his election that as president he would not be subject to conflict of interest laws and could eliminate most questions by turning his business operations over entirely to his children. But in recent weeks, as public scrutiny of Mr. Trump’s global business operations has intensified, Mr. Trump, his family, their executives in New York and a team of outside lawyers have been working to eliminate many of these potential flash points — a task so complicated that Mr. Trump has delayed announcing the details. The list of actions contemplated — with some already executed — is long, but the planned dissolution of the Donald J. Trump Foundation might be the most resonant, given the enormous controversies surrounding the nonprofit, which is under investigation by the New York attorney general. The Trumps must work out the terms of the foundation’s closing. A spokeswoman for the New York attorney general’s office said Saturday that any move to close the foundation required state approval, given the investigation into how it spends its money and courts donations, and the state’s order that it stop . “The Trump Foundation is still under investigation by this office and cannot legally dissolve until that investigation is complete,” Amy Spitalnick, the press secretary, said. Mr. Trump gave little thought to what to do with his business in the event of a victory on Election Day. But embarrassing reversals by his children highlighted concerns that access to the incoming administration could be for sale, and pressed the family to respond. A charity auction for coffee with Ivanka Trump, his daughter, was canceled, and Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. the ’s sons, pulled out of another charity event that asked donors to give as much as $1 million in return for access to their father and a hunting expedition with his sons. In interviews late last week, executives at the Trump Organization, advisers on the Trump transition team and members of Mr. Trump’s family said they were determined to move aggressively in the remaining days before the inauguration to clear as many of these potential conflicts as possible. “I certainly can’t deny there is a greater desire to sort of clear the decks as much as possible to avoid distractions,” said Alan Garten, the general counsel at the Trump Organization, in an interview, pointing to the recent $25 million settlement of fraud claims against Mr. Trump’s educational program, Trump University. Among other measures: ■ Both the Trump Organization and the Ivanka Trump brand — a line of jewelry, clothing, handbags and other items — are exploring options for an outside monitor to help oversee operations, block inappropriate contacts between the companies and the federal government, and provide independent voices for management decisions, executives involved in the efforts said. One option is a trustee who would run the business alongside Eric and his brother, Donald Jr. The Trump Organization has discussed turning to legal experts such as former Attorney General Michael Mukasey as potential trustees. ■ The Trump Organization, in some cases citing deficiencies in the work performed by some of its foreign partners or other clauses in contracts with them, is terminating pending or nearly completed hotels and apartment buildings in Brazil, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Argentina, while also forgoing other ventures in places such as India. ■ Ivanka Trump is looking at donating proceeds from a book, “Women Who Work: Rewriting the Rules for Success,” to charity. ■ A labor dispute with hundreds of workers at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas — which generated calls for a national boycott of Trump properties and protest rallies — was suddenly settled on Wednesday, with the hotel agreeing to provide pensions, health insurance, annual wage increases and other benefits that it previously refused to offer. Another agreement with employees at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington will allow them to organize a union. ■ The Trump Organization has shelved a planned sea wall at its oceanfront golf course in Ireland after the proposal provoked angry protests from environmentalists both in Ireland and in the United States. ■ Eric Trump said he no longer intended to participate in any meetings — business or — organized by his father, as the prepared to move to the White House, and would not interact with him or anyone in his administration on government matters once he was in office. “I’ll have no role in government,” he said, describing a division of “church and state” but saying he will still talk to his father about other things. The turnaround on the labor union dispute demonstrates just how sudden the shift has been. In November, four days before Election Day, the Trump hotel filed a lawsuit in the United States Court of Appeals challenging a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board that ordered his hotel in Las Vegas to recognize a labor union that workers voted for in late 2015 and to negotiate a new contract. A month later, company officials invited labor negotiators to Trump Tower for a negotiation. On Wednesday, the union ratified a deal that gave the 500 workers generous health care coverage, pensions, a guaranteed workweek and other protections, and set up a grievance system if they objected to conditions. The lawsuit was also dropped, as were outstanding matters pending before the labor relations board, which will soon be under Mr. Trump’s control. “It is everything the workers have been fighting for for over for a year,” said Bethany Khan, a spokeswoman for the Culinary Workers Union. While the family may be removing some of the most obvious problems, critics say Mr. Trump will still know what properties his family owns and which policy decisions will benefit them, no matter how careful he is. The portfolio of assets might influence his interactions with leaders in nations such as Turkey and the Philippines, where Mr. Trump has prominent marketing deals. In places where he has allowed the use of his family name and even his image, Mr. Trump will soon be confronting foreign policy decisions, such as how to confront human rights violations or fight terrorism. The family, at least so far, has not announced how it will resolve other issues, such as the lease at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which was issued by the federal government’s General Services Administration, an agency Mr. Trump will soon oversee. hotels and golf courses across the globe could benefit from business sent to them by foreign governments or other corporate players seeking to try to influence Mr. Trump. Loans that help finance his companies and permits issued by local government or foreign entities — even on projects that are already built — could be perceived as special favors. Payments by foreign governments to his hotels — for diplomatic soirees or overnight stays — might violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits gifts to federal employees from foreign government entities. Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, the ranking member on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, who has called for an investigation into Mr. Trump’s potential conflicts, said he was glad to see that the Trump family appeared to have acknowledged that the conflicts issues were real. But he said much more must be done. “He is headed in the right direction, but he has to reach the right destination, which is to divest of everything like Democratic and Republican ethics experts have said he must do,” Mr. Cummings said. “The presidency is probably the most difficult job in the world. Why would you want almost every decision you make to be questioned? You have more than 111 companies operating in 18 countries. That is a minefield, and sadly it will take away from his credibility. ” | 0fake |
Turkey releases French journalist detained on Iraqi border | PARIS (Reuters) - Turkey on Friday released French journalist Loup Bureau who was seized by security forces on the Iraqi border last month, his lawyer said on Friday. Bureau was detained by Turkish border guards in early August after he was found to have photographs and interviews with Kurdish militia fighters among his possessions. We are pleased to announce the release of journalist #LoupBureau. He will be expelled from Turkey shortly, lawyer Martin Pradel said via Twitter. French President Emmanuel Macron last month expressed his concerns about Bureau s detention in a telephone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. The announcement came as French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian concluded a two-day visit to Turkey. Turkey considers the Kurdish YPG militia, with which Bureau is accused of having links, to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group. The PKK has fought a three-decade insurgency in southeast Turkey and is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara, the United States and the European Union. Bureau s lawyer said a Turkish court had not closed the case. We must continue to fight, Pradel said in another tweet. | 0fake |
Did Hillary Clinton REALLY Break Her Toe? [VIDEO] | On Friday, freelance reporter and political consultant Michael J. Hout tweeted a photo of Hillary Clinton walking with forearm crutches at Yale Law School on Saturday. Hillary told the world that she broke her toe while walking downstairs with a cup of coffee in her hand, while she was in the UK promoting her ridiculous book What Happened , that tells the story of how it s everyone else s fault but her own that she lost the presidential election to Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton at @YaleLawSch today wearing braces of some kind pic.twitter.com/kduS19CkbU Michael J. Hout (@michaeljhout) October 22, 2017But is that really What Happened ? The Washington Free Beacon took a closer look at Hillary s story to see if she really broke her toe, if she just had a bit too much to drink, or if she s hiding from interviews after the new Uranium One story broke, with evidence of Hillary selling 20% of America s uranium to Russia in return for contributions to her Clinton Foundation slush fund.Watch: | 1real |
BRUTALLY HONEST BILLBOARD Turns Heads In State With Exploding Muslim Immigrant Population | American citizens should be more concerned about the Left and the leftist media s attempt to HIDE the brutal truth about Sharia in America, than a billboard that gives readers an opportunity to learn the truth.In a state that doesn t tolerate any discussion of what the massive influx of Somali refugees has done to their neighborhoods and schools, this billboard will likely be a hot topic in Minnesota. Recently, the Minnesota Governor told his constituents to Leave the state if they don t like the massive influx off Muslims. Watch the INCREDIBLE VIDEO HERE. [Video]A billboard of a woman in a niqab went up on I-94 in Rogers at the beginning of June, prompting calls to the sign company from the public. Copy was added to the billboard in July, which now reads Should America Fear Sharia? The billboard is sponsored by the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C. based national security think tank. The site shouldamericafearsharia.org consists mostly of links to videos discussing different topics about Islam and Islamic extremism.The billboard was contracted out by the Center with Franklin Outdoor Advertising, a billboard company in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The billboard went up the beginning of June, Franklin salesperson Chris Barta said, Last Friday we switched it out and put up the one with the website. The website advertisement billboard will be up from July 1st through the end of the month when the advertisement contract expires.The Center for Security Policy s website contains articles and videos on national security threats of Islamic terrorism.In the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the Center s executive vice president Jim Hanson called the attack, completely in keeping with totalitarian Islamic code called Shariah. Franklin Outdoor Advertising received a number of calls from the public regarding the billboard according to Barta, mostly in June when there was no text accompanying the image on the sign. AlphaNewsh/t Refugee Resettlement Watch | 1real |
B-1B bomber joins U.S.-South Korea drills as tensions escalate | SEOUL (Reuters) - A U.S. B-1B bomber on Wednesday joined large-scale U.S.-South Korean military exercises that North Korea has denounced as pushing the peninsula to the brink of nuclear war, as tension mounts between the North and the United States. The bomber flew from the Pacific U.S.-administered territory of Guam and joined U.S. F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters in the annual exercises, which run until Friday. The drills come a week after North Korea said it had tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, as part of a weapons program that it has conducted in defiance of international sanctions and condemnation. Asked about the bomber s flight, China s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing in Beijing: We hope relevant parties can maintain restraint and not do anything to add tensions on the Korean peninsula. North Korea regularly threatens to destroy South Korea, the United States and Japan. Its official KCNA state news agency said at the weekend that U.S. President Donald Trump s administration was begging for nuclear war by staging the drills. It also labeled Trump, who has threatened to destroy North Korea if the United States is threatened, insane . KCNA said on Tuesday that the exercises in which the bomber took part are simulating an all-out war , including drills to strike the state leadership and nuclear and ballistic rocket bases, air fields, naval bases and other major objects... U.S. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham on Sunday urged the Pentagon to start moving U.S. military dependants, such as spouses and children, out of South Korea, saying conflict with North Korea was getting close. The U.S.-South Korea drills coincide with a rare visit to the isolated North by U.N. political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman. North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong Guk met Feltman on Wednesday in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and discussed bilateral cooperation and other issues of mutual interest, KCNA said. Feltman, a former senior U.S. State Department official, is the highest-level U.N. official to visit North Korea since 2012. The State Department said on Tuesday he was not carrying any message from Washington. South Korean President Moon Jae-in will visit China next Wednesday for a summit with his counterpart Xi Jinping, Seoul s presidential Blue House said. North Korea s increasing nuclear and missile capability would top the agenda, it said. The military exercises, called Vigilant Ace , are designed to enhance joint readiness and operational capability of U.S. extended deterrence, South Korea s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. North Korea has vehemently criticized the drills since the weekend, saying the exercise precipitates U.S. and South Korean self-destruction . China and Russia had proposed that the United States and South Korea stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs. China is North Korea s lone major ally and fears widespread instability on its border. Russia also has communication channels open with North Korea and is ready to exert its influence, the RIA news agency quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov as saying on Tuesday. North Korea has tested dozens of ballistic missiles, two of which flew over Japan, and conducted its sixth and largest nuclear bomb test in September. It says its weapons programs are a necessary defense against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, denies any such intention. | 0fake |
No sign U.S. wants to cancel nuclear deal with Iran: German minister | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said it was necessary to do everything possible to make progress on the nuclear deal with Iran and that he did not see any indications during a visit to the United States that Washington would terminate it. U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier on Thursday that “nothing is off the table” in dealing with Iran following its test launch of a ballistic missile. | 0fake |
November 15: Daily Contrarian Reads | November 15: Daily Contrarian Reads My daily contrarian reads for Tuesday, November 15th, 2016. You need to login to view this content.
David Stockman’s Contra Corner isn’t your typical financial tipsheet. Instead it’s an ongoing dialogue about what’s really happening in the markets… the economy… and governments… so you can understand the world around you and make better decisions for yourself.
David believes the world -- certainly the United States -- is at a great inflection point in human history. The massive credit inflation of the last three decades has reached its apogee and is now going to splatter spectacularly.
This will have lasting ramifications on how governments tax and regulate you… the type of work you and your family members will have available and what you get paid… the value of your nest egg… and all other areas comprising your quality of life. Login
| 1real |
Rise of Saudi Prince Shatters Decades of Royal Tradition - The New York Times | He has slashed the state budget, frozen government contracts and reduced the pay of civil employees, all part of drastic austerity measures as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is buffeted by low oil prices. But last year, Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s deputy crown prince, saw a yacht he couldn’t resist. While vacationing in the south of France, Prince bin Salman spotted a yacht floating off the coast. He dispatched an aide to buy the ship, the Serene, which was owned by Yuri Shefler, a Russian vodka tycoon. The deal was done within hours, at a price of approximately 500 million euros (roughly $550 million today) according to an associate of Mr. Shefler and a Saudi close to the royal family. The Russian moved off the yacht the same day. It is the paradox of the brash, Prince bin Salman: a man who is trying to overturn tradition, reinvent the economy and consolidate power — while holding tight to his royal privilege. In less than two years, he has emerged as the most dynamic royal in the Arab world’s wealthiest nation, setting up a potential rivalry for the throne. He has a hand in nearly all elements of Saudi policy — from a war in Yemen that has cost the kingdom billions of dollars and led to international criticism over civilian deaths, to a push domestically to restrain Saudi Arabia’s habits and to break its “addiction” to oil. He has begun to loosen social restrictions that grate on young people. The rise of Prince bin Salman has shattered decades of tradition in the royal family, where respect for seniority and among branches are traditions. Never before in Saudi history has so much power been wielded by the deputy crown prince, who is second in line to the throne. That centralization of authority has angered many of his relatives. His seemingly boundless ambitions have led many Saudis and foreign officials to suspect that his ultimate goal is not just to transform the kingdom, but also to shove aside the current crown prince, his cousin, Mohammed bin Nayef, to become the next king. Such a move could further upset his relatives and — if successful — give the country what it has never seen: a young king who could rule the kingdom for many decades. Crown Prince bin Nayef, the interior minister and longtime counterterrorism czar, has deep ties to Washington and the support of many of the older royals. Deciphering the dynamics of the family can be like trying to navigate a hall of mirrors, but many Saudi and American officials say Prince bin Salman has made moves aimed at reaching into Prince bin Nayef’s portfolios and weakening him. This has left officials in Washington hedging their bets by building relationships with both men, unsure who will end up on top. The White House got an early sign of the ascent of the young prince in late 2015, when — breaking protocol — Prince bin Salman delivered a soliloquy about the failures of American foreign policy during a meeting between his father, King Salman, and President Obama. Many young Saudis admire him as an energetic representative of their generation who has addressed some of the country’s problems with uncommon bluntness. The kingdom’s news media have built his image as a hardworking, businesslike leader less concerned than his predecessors with the trappings of royalty. Others see him as a upstart who is risking instability by changing too much, too fast. Months of interviews with Saudi and American officials, members of the royal family and their associates, and diplomats focused on Saudi affairs reveal a portrait of a prince in a hurry to prove that he can transform Saudi Arabia. Prince bin Salman declined multiple interview requests for this article. But the question many raise — and cannot yet answer — is whether the energetic leader will succeed in charting a new path for the kingdom, or whether his impulsiveness and inexperience will destabilize the Arab world’s largest economy at a time of turbulence in the Middle East. Early this year, Crown Prince bin Nayef left the kingdom for his family’s villa in Algeria, a sprawling compound an hour’s drive north of Algiers. Although he has long taken annual hunting vacations there, many who know him said that this year was different. He stayed away for weeks, largely incommunicado and often refusing to respond to messages from Saudi officials and close associates in Washington. Even John O. Brennan, the C. I. A. director, whom he has known for decades, had difficulty reaching him. The crown prince has diabetes, and suffers from the lingering effects of an assassination attempt in 2009 by a jihadist who detonated a bomb he had hidden in his rectum. But his lengthy absence at a time of low oil prices, turmoil in the Middle East and a foundering war in Yemen led several American officials to conclude that the crown prince was fleeing frictions with his younger cousin and that the prince was worried his chance to ascend the throne was in jeopardy. Since King Salman ascended to the throne in January 2015, new powers had been flowing to his son, some of them undermining the authority of the crown prince. King Salman collapsed the crown prince’s court into his own, giving Prince bin Salman control over access to the king. Prince bin Salman also hastily announced the formation of a military alliance of Islamic countries to fight terrorism. Counterterrorism had long been the domain of Prince bin Nayef, but the new plan gave no role to him or his powerful Interior Ministry. The exact personal relationship between the two men is unclear, fueling discussion in Saudi Arabia and in foreign capitals about who is ascendant. Obscuring the picture are the stark differences in the men’s public profiles. Prince bin Nayef has largely stayed in the shadows, although he did visit New York last month to address the United Nations General Assembly before heading to Turkey for a state visit. His younger cousin, meanwhile, has worked to remain in the spotlight, touring world capitals, speaking with foreign journalists, being photographed with the Facebook chairman Mark Zuckerberg and presenting himself as a face of a new Saudi Arabia. “There is no topic that is more important than succession matters, especially now,” said Joseph A. Kechichian, a senior fellow at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh, who has extensive contacts in the Saudi royal family. “This matters for monarchy, for the regional allies and for the kingdom’s international partners. ” Among the most concrete initiatives so far of Prince bin Salman, who serves as minister of defense, is the war in Yemen, which since it was begun last year has failed to dislodge the Shiite Houthi rebels and their allies from the Yemeni capital. The war has driven much of Yemen toward famine and killed thousands of civilians while costing the Saudi government tens of billions of dollars. The prosecution of the war by a prince with no military experience has exacerbated tensions between him and his older cousins, according to American officials and members of the royal family. Three of Saudi Arabia’s main security services are run by princes. Although all agreed that the kingdom had to respond when the Houthis seized the Yemeni capital and forced the government into exile, Prince bin Salman took the lead, launching the war in March 2015 without full coordination across the security services. The head of the National Guard, Prince Mutaib bin Abdullah, had not been informed and was out of the country when the first strikes were carried out, according to a senior National Guard officer. The National Guard is now holding much of the Yemeni border. American officials, too, were put off when, just as the Yemen campaign was escalating, Prince bin Salman took a vacation in the Maldives, the island archipelago off the coast of India. Several American officials said Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter had trouble reaching him for days during one part of the trip. The prolonged war has also heightened tensions between Prince bin Salman and Prince bin Nayef, who won the respect of Saudis and American officials for dismantling Al Qaeda in the kingdom nearly a decade ago and now sees it taking advantage of chaos in Yemen, according to several American officials and analysts. “If Mohammed bin Nayef wanted to be seen as a big supporter of this war, he’s had a year and a half to do it,” said Bruce Riedel, a former Middle East analyst at the C. I. A. and a fellow at the Brookings Institution. Near the start of the war, Prince bin Salman was a forceful public advocate for the campaign and was often photographed visiting troops and meeting with military leaders. But as the campaign has stalemated, such appearances have grown rare. The war underlines the plans of Prince bin Salman for a brawny foreign policy for the kingdom, one less reliant on Western powers like the United States for its security. He has criticized the thawing of America’s relations with Iran and comments by Mr. Obama during an interview this year that Saudi Arabia must “share the neighborhood” with Iran. This is part of what analysts say is Prince bin Salman’s attempt to foster a sense of Saudi national identity that has not existed since the kingdom’s founding in 1932. “There has been a surge of Saudi nationalism since the campaign in Yemen began, with the sense that Saudi Arabia is taking independent collective action,” said Andrew Bowen, a Saudi expert at the Wilson Center in Washington. Still, Mr. Bowen said support among younger Saudis could diminish the longer the conflict dragged on. Diplomats say the death toll for Saudi troops is higher than the government has publicly acknowledged, and a recent deadly airstrike on a funeral in the Yemeni capital has renewed calls by human rights groups and some American lawmakers to block or delay weapons sales to the kingdom. People who have met Prince bin Salman said he insisted that Saudi Arabia must be more assertive in shaping events in the Middle East and confronting Iran’s influence in the region — whether in Yemen, Syria, Iraq or Lebanon. Brian Katulis, a Middle East expert at the Center for American Progress in Washington, who met the prince this year in Riyadh, said his agenda was clear. “His main message is that Saudi Arabia is a force to be reckoned with,” Mr. Katulis said. Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s few remaining absolute monarchies, which means that Prince bin Salman was given all of his powers by a vote of one: his own father. The prince’s rise began in early 2015, after King Abdullah died of lung cancer and King Salman ascended to the throne. In a series of royal decrees, the new king restructured the government and shook up the order of succession in the royal family in ways that invested tremendous power in his son. He was named defense minister and head of a powerful new council to oversee the Saudi economy as well as put in charge of the governing body of Saudi Aramco, the state oil company and the primary engine of the Saudi economy. More important, the king decreed a new order of succession, overturning the wishes of King Abdullah and replacing his designated crown prince, Muqrin bin Abdulaziz, with Prince bin Nayef. While all previous Saudi kings and crown princes had been sons of the kingdom’s founder, Prince bin Nayef was the first of the founder’s grandsons to be put in line. Many hailed the move because of the prince’s success at fighting Al Qaeda and because he has only daughters, leading many to hope he would choose a successor based on merit rather than paternity. The bigger surprise was that the king named Prince bin Salman deputy crown prince. He was 29 years old at the time and virtually unknown to the kingdom’s closest allies. This effectively scrapped the political aspirations of his older relatives, many of whom had decades of experience in public life and in key sectors like defense and oil policy. Some are still angry — although only in private, out of deference to the king. Since then, Prince bin Salman has moved quickly to build his public profile and market himself to other nations as the point man for the kingdom. Domestically, his focus has been on an ambitious plan for the future of the kingdom, called Vision 2030. The plan, released in April, seeks to transform Saudi life by diversifying its economy away from oil, increasing Saudi employment and improving education, health and other government services. A National Transformation Plan, laying out targets for improving government ministries, came shortly after. Read in one way, the documents are an ambitious blueprint to change the Saudi way of life. Read in another, they are a scathing indictment of how poorly the kingdom has been run by Prince bin Salman’s elders. Official government development plans going back decades have called for reducing the dependence on oil and increasing Saudi employment — to little effect. And in calling for transparency and accountability, the plan acknowledges that both have been in short supply. Diplomats and economists say much about the Saudi economy remains opaque, including the cost of generous perks and stipends for members of the royal family. The need for change is greater now, with global oil prices less than half of what they were in 2014 and hundreds of thousands of young Saudis entering the job market yearly. Prince bin Salman has called for a new era of fiscal responsibility, and over the last year, fuel, water and electricity prices have gone up while the pay of some public sector employees has been cut — squeezing the budgets of average Saudis. He has also said the government will sell shares of Saudi Aramco, believed to be the world’s most valuable company. Many Saudis say his age and ambition are benefits at a time when old ways of thinking must be changed. “He is speaking in the language of the youth,” said Hoda a member of the kingdom’s advisory Shura Council, which is appointed by the king. “The country for too long has been looking through the lenses of the older generation, and we need to look at who is going to carry the torch to the next generation. ” Some of his initiatives have appeared . In December, he held his first news conference to announce the formation of a military alliance of Islamic countries to fight terrorism. But a number of countries that he said were involved soon responded that they knew nothing about it or were still waiting for information before deciding whether to join. Others have been popular. After Prince bin Salman called for more entertainment options for families and young people, who often flee the country on their vacations, the cabinet passed regulations restricting the powers of the religious police. An Entertainment Authority he established has planned its first activities, which include comedy shows, pro wrestling events and monster truck rallies. The prince has kept his distance from the Council of Senior Scholars, the mostly elderly clerics who set official religious policy and often release religious opinions that young Saudis mock as being out of touch with modern life. Instead, he has sought the favor of younger clerics who boast millions of followers on social media. After the release of Vision 2030, Prince bin Salman held a reception for Saudi journalists and academics that included a number of younger, clerics who have gone forth to praise the plan. Prince bin Salman’s prominence today was difficult to predict during his early years, spent largely below the radar of Western officials who keep track of young Saudi royals who might one day rule the kingdom. Several of King Salman’s other sons, who studied overseas to perfect foreign languages and earn advanced degrees, built impressive résumés. One became the first Arab astronaut, another a deputy oil minister, yet another the governor of Medina Province. Prince bin Salman stayed in Saudi Arabia and does not speak fluent English, although he appears to understand it. After a private school education, he studied law at King Saud University in Riyadh, reportedly graduating fourth in his class. Another prince of the same generation said he had gotten to know him during high school, when one of their uncles hosted regular dinners for the younger princes at his palace. He recalled Prince bin Salman being one of the crowd, saying he liked to play bridge and admired Margaret Thatcher. King Salman is said to see himself in his favorite son, the latest in the lineage of a family that has ruled most of the Arabian Peninsula for eight decades. In 2007, when the United States ambassador dropped in on King Salman, then a prince and the governor of Riyadh Province, to say farewell at the end of his posting, the governor asked for help circumventing America’s stringent visa procedures. His wife could not get a visa to see her doctor, and although his other children were willing to submit to the visa hurdles, “his son, Prince Mohammed, refused to go to the U. S. Embassy to be fingerprinted ‘like some criminal,’” according to a State Department cable at the time. Prince bin Salman graduated from the university that year and continued to work for his father, who was named defense minister in 2011, while dabbling in real estate and business. Many members of the royal family remain wary of the young prince’s projects and ultimate ambitions. Some mock him as the “Prince of the Vision” and complain about his army of foreign consultants and . Other are annoyed by the media cell he created inside the royal court to promote his initiatives, both foreign and domestic. Called the Center for Studies and Media Affairs, the group has focused on promoting a positive story about the Yemen war in Washington and has hired numerous Washington lobbying and public affairs firms to assist in the effort. Inside the kingdom, the government has largely succeeded in keeping criticism — and even open discussion — of the prince and his projects out of the public sphere. His family holds sway over the parent company of many Saudi newspapers, which have breathlessly covered his initiatives, and prominent Saudi editors and journalists who have accompanied him on foreign trips have been given up to $100, 000 in cash, according to two people who have traveled with the prince’s delegation. Meanwhile, Saudi journalists deemed too critical have been quietly silenced through phone calls informing them that they are barred from publishing, and sometimes from traveling abroad. In June, a Saudi journalist, Sultan published an article in Arabic on his website, The Riyadh Post, in which he addressed the lack of discussion about Prince bin Salman’s rise. “You can buy tens of newspapers and hundreds of journalists, but you can’t buy the history that will be written about you,” he wrote. He said that the prince’s popularity among Saudis was based on a “sweeping desire for great change” and that they loved him based on the hope that he would “turn their dreams into reality. ” In that lay the risk, Mr. Qahtani wrote: “If you fail, this love withers quickly, as if it never existed, and is replaced by a deep feeling of frustration and hatred. ” The site was blocked the next day, Mr. Qahtani said, for the third time in 13 months. (It is now back up, at a new address.) As sweeping and as Prince bin Salman’s initiatives are, they may hang by the tenuous thread of his link to his father, who has memory lapses, according to foreign officials who have met with him. Even the prince’s supporters acknowledge that they are not sure he will retain his current roles after his father dies. In the meantime, he is racing against time to establish his reputation and cement his place in the kingdom’s power structure. His fast ascent, and his foreign trips to Washington, Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere in Asia, have led senior Obama administration officials to consider the prospect that he could step over Prince bin Nayef and become Saudi Arabia’s next king. This has led to a balancing act for American officials who want to build a relationship with him while not being used as leverage in any rivalry with Prince bin Nayef. Obama administration officials say relations with Prince bin Salman have generally improved, but only after a rocky start when he would routinely lecture senior Americans — even the president. In November, during a Group of 20 summit meeting at a luxury resort on the Turkish coast, Prince bin Salman gave what American officials described as a lengthy speech about what he saw as the failure of American foreign policy in the Middle East — from the Obama administration’s restraint in Syria to its efforts to improve relations with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s bitter enemy. Personal relationships have long been the bedrock of relations, yet the Obama administration has struggled to find someone to develop a rapport with the prince. The job has largely fallen to Secretary of State John Kerry, who has hosted the prince several times at his home in Georgetown. In June, the two men shared an iftar dinner, breaking the Ramadan fast. In September 2015, dinner at Mr. Kerry’s house ended with Prince bin Salman playing Beethoven on the piano for the secretary of state and the other guests. In May, the prince invited Mr. Kerry for a meeting on the Serene, the luxury yacht he bought from the Russian billionaire. His desire to reimagine the Saudi state is reflected in his admiration — some even call it envy — for the kingdom’s more modern and progressive neighbor in the Persian Gulf, the United Arab Emirates. He has influential supporters in this effort, particularly the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who for more than a year has been promoting Prince bin Salman in the Middle East and in Washington. Crown Prince bin Zayed, the United Arab Emirates’ de facto ruler, is a favorite among Obama administration officials, who view him as a reliable ally and a respected voice in the Sunni world. But he also has a history of personal antipathy toward Prince bin Nayef, adding a particular urgency to his support for the chief rival of the Saudi crown prince. In April of last year, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice, led a small delegation of top White House officials to visit Prince bin Zayed at his home in McLean, Va. During the meeting, according to several officials who attended, the prince urged the Americans to develop a relationship with Prince bin Salman. But all questions about Prince bin Salman’s future are likely to depend on how long his father lives, according to diplomats who track Saudi Arabia. If he died soon, Prince bin Nayef would become king and could dismiss his younger cousin as a gesture to his fellow royals. In fact, it was King Salman who set the precedent for such moves by dismissing the crown prince named by his predecessor. “If the king’s health starts to deteriorate, Mohammed bin Salman is very likely to try to get Mohammed bin Nayef out of the picture,” said Mr. Riedel, the former C. I. A. analyst. But the longer King Salman reigns, foreign officials said, the longer the young prince has to consolidate his power — or to convince Prince bin Nayef that he is worth keeping around if Prince bin Nayef becomes king. Most Saudi watchers do not expect any struggles within the family to spill into the open, as all the royals understand how much they have to lose from such fissures becoming public or destabilizing their grip on the kingdom. “I am persuaded as someone who focuses on this topic that the ruling family of Saudi Arabia above all else puts the interest of the family first and foremost,” said Mr. Kechichian, the analyst who knows many royals. “Not a single member of the family will do anything to hurt the family. ” | 0fake |
Saudi Arabia to behead disabled man who peacefully protested | Posted on November 4, 2016 by Eric Zuesse. By Paul Antonopoulos, originally published at almasdarnews.com , on 5 November 2016
23 year old Munir al-Adam has been sentenced to death for alleged “attacks on police” during protests in the predominately Shi’ite Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia in late 2011.
Al-Adam is partly blind and was already partially deaf at the time when the Saudi forces arrested him, however, he is now fully deaf in one ear because of police brutality while in custody.
Al-Adam’s family say his confession to any crime was extracted under torture.
“Munir Adam’s appalling case illustrates how the Saudi authorities are all too happy to subject the most vulnerable people to the swordsman’s blade – including juveniles and people with disabilities,” said Reprieve’s Death Penalty Team Director Maya Foa.
“Like so many others, Munir was arrested for allegedly attending protests, and tortured into a ‘confession’ – he was beaten so badly that he lost his hearing. It’s a scandal that Munir now faces beheading on the basis of a bogus statement that he has since recanted,” she added.
Saudi Arabia has recently been re-elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council. | 1real |
WATCH: Trump Get His A** Handed To Him By Chris Cuomo For Crying ‘Fake News’ During Broadcast | Donald Trump got humiliated in real time on Thursday morning as CNN host Chris Cuomo responded to a tweet on the air.During an interview with Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal, Cuomo discussed Trump s Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Blumenthal had earlier confirmed that Gorsuch criticized Trump s disgraceful attack on the federal judge who halted his executive order banning travel from seven countries into the United States. He said very specifically that they were demoralizing and disheartening and he characterized them very specifically that way, Blumenthal said after meeting with Gorsuch. I said they were more than disheartening and I said to him that he has an obligation to make his views clear to the American people, so they understand how abhorrent or unacceptable President Trump s attacks on the judiciary are. Gorsuch confirmed his remarks via a spokesman, but that didn t stop Trump from lashing out at Cuomo and Blumenthal on Twitter.Chris Cuomo, in his interview with Sen. Blumenthal, never asked him about his long-term lie about his brave service in Vietnam. FAKE NEWS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017In reality, Cuomo did ask Blumenthal about his misrepresentation of his military service, which basically stems from Blumenthal having misspoken that he served in Vietnam when he meant that he served during Vietnam but not actually in the war. He has apologized for the mistake multiple times. Meanwhile, Donald Trump never served at all because he dodged the draft.Anyway, Cuomo learned of Trump s attack on the air and he responded in real time.Cuomo asked that the beginning of his interview with Blumenthal be aired again. What is your response to the president of the United States who says you should not be believed because you misrepresented your military record in the past? Cuomo asked.Clearly, Cuomo did ask Blumenthal about his military service. The president, with all due respect, is off on the facts, Cuomo said. He just keeps doubling down when the facts don t favor his position. Indeed, even CNN issued a brief statement, which includes video, via Twitter.@realDonaldTrump . @ChrisCuomo did address that point at the start of his interview. https://t.co/JWJEAshv1y Those are the facts. CNN Communications (@CNNPR) February 9, 2017At this point, Donald Trump really should be embarrassed and he owes CNN and Chris Cuomo a public apology.Featured Image: Screenshot | 1real |
DISNEY’S ESPN PUNISHES TRUMP FOR FREE SPEECH…Isn’t It Time America Punished DISNEY For Putting Their Leftist Agenda Before Free Speech? | Disney s just doing their part to advance a radical leftist agenda by punishing conservatives and anyone who dares to challenge their views ESPN has become the latest corporate entity jump on the pig-pile on Donald Trump.Following moves by Macy s, NBCUniversal, and NASCAR to distance themselves from the presidential candidate, ESPN has decided to move an annual golf tournament honoring late North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano from the Trump National Golf Club. We decided it was appropriate to change the venue, and are grateful for the opportunity to stage the event at Pelican Hill on short notice, the network announced in a statement. This charity outing benefits The V Foundation s Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, providing resources for important cancer research for minority populations, including Hispanics and African Americans. Our decision reflects our deep feelings for our former colleague and support for inclusion of all sports fans. Diversity and inclusion are core values at ESPN and our decision also supports that commitment. Corporations seeking to limit speech have tangled with the businessman-turned-politician since his remarks critical of illegal immigration that came during his presidential announcement last month. When Mexico sends its people, they re not sending their best, Trump maintained on June 16. They re sending people that have lots of problems, and they re bringing those problems with us. They re bringing drugs. They re bringing crime. They re rapists. Via: Breitbart NewsDisney s ESPN is the top cable network in viewers, advertising and affiliate revenue, according to data from Nielsen and SNL Kagan. The all-sports network ended 2014 by ousting Comcast s USA Network from the No. 1 spot for the first time in recent memory, thanks to a stream of negative news out of the NFL that stimulated viewing along with an unquenchable interest in World Cup soccer. The flagship network is poised to see its affiliate fees per subscriber, per month, rocket from $6.04 last year to $6.55 in 2015 and as much as $7.21 in 2016, according to SNL Kagan estimates. ESPN s five networks will net $8.80 by the end of 2016, according to estimates. Meanwhile, advertising revenue at the sports networks is poised to balloon to $2.3 billion next year. Via: NY Post | 1real |
At least 61 dead after days of violence in Ethiopia's Oromiya region | ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - At least 61 people have been killed in clashes between different ethnic groups in Ethiopia s Oromiya region, officials said, the latest bout of violence to highlight increasing instability in a province racked by bloody protests in 2015 and 2016. From Thursday, 29 ethnic Oromos were killed by ethnic Somali attackers in the region s Hawi Gudina and Daro Lebu districts, regional spokesman Addisu Arega Kitessa said. The violence triggered revenge attacks by ethnic Oromos in another district, resulting in the killing of 32 Somalis who were being sheltered in the area following a previous round of violence. The region is working to bring the perpetrators to justice, the spokesman said in a statement. The cause of the latest violence was not known, but it followed protests in Oromiya s Celenko town where the region s officials said 16 ethnic Oromos were shot dead on Tuesday by soldiers trying to disperse the crowd. We do not know who ordered the deployment of the military. This illegal act should be punished, said Lema Megersa, the region s president. The clashes are likely to fuel fears about security in Ethiopia, the region s biggest economy and a staunch Western ally. Lema s comments also illustrate growing friction within Ethiopia s ruling EPRDF coalition, since unrest roiled the Oromiya region in 2015 and 2016, when hundreds of people were killed. At that time, the violence forced the government to impose a nine-month state of emergency that was only lifted in August. The unrest was provoked by a development scheme for the capital Addis Ababa that dissidents said amounted to land grabs and turned into broader anti-government demonstrations over political and human rights. It included attacks on businesses, many of them foreign-owned, including farms growing flowers for export. | 0fake |
Adult Baptisms Skyrocket Due To Migrant Conversions | The number of adult baptisms in the Austrian Catholic church has more than doubled over the last year. The church claims the rise is due to a huge influx of migrants from Afghanistan and Iran converting to Christianity. [The Archdiocese of Vienna has announced that 254 men and women were selected for baptism after completing the rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) taking part in a baptism ceremony conducted by Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schönborn Die Presse reports. The group of converts had to wait a year to be prepared for baptism — a recent move by the church due to the number of requests by Muslim asylum seekers for conversion. The baptism ceremony was not opened to the public due to the fears of many of the converts that they could face retaliation from other Muslims or even attacks against their family, particularly those who come from Iran. Cardinal Schönborn declared the day a celebration for the church, saying it was a “a great and moving day for the Church of Vienna. ” “That they want to follow Christ and live in his fellowship is also a call to us — which we have the happiness and privilege of growing up in faith from childhood, but may have forgotten how precious this is,” he added. Schönborn, who many see as a likely successor to Pope Francis, has made headlines several times in recent months. In September he said that many Muslims actively sought to conquer Europe for Islam. Three months later he slammed European politicians and their migrant policies, saying the migrant crisis had gone too far and that it was better to help migrants where they lived. He added that he was shocked by the sheer number of migrants who have come to Europe in recent years. The conservative Cardinal has also been at odds with many European leaders in regards to U. S. President Donald Trump. In early January he compared Trump to former president Ronald Reagan saying, “Many also shook their heads when Ronald Reagan was elected: ‘For God’s sake, an actor from California!’ But Reagan was certainly one of the best presidents the U. S. ever had. So you should not be too quick to judge. ” The trend of conversions is also seen in neighbouring Germany, but some are sceptical of the motives of those converting. Two Syrian migrants living in Lebanon even admitted that they had converted because it gave them a better chance of claiming asylum in Europe. Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart. com | 0fake |
U.S. Republicans working on Medicaid, tax credit changes: Ryan | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans are working on changes to their healthcare overhaul bill that would implement a work requirement for the Medicaid program for the poor, as well as boost tax credits for older, lower income people, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Sunday. “We think we should be offering more assistance than the bill currently does,” for lower-income people age 50 to 64, Ryan said of the tax credits for health insurance that are proposed in the legislation. Speaking on the “Fox News Sunday” television program, Ryan also said Republicans are working on changes that would allow federal block grants to states for Medicaid. Lawmakers plan to have the healthcare legislation on the House floor this Thursday, Ryan said. | 0fake |
STEALING THE ELECTION…SHOCKING CBS Report Shows How Anyone Can Hack The Vote For $15…VIDEO Shows How Easy It Is To Rig The System | Roughly 70% of states use some form of electronic voting machine. The ease with which these machines can be manipulated is stunning Donald Trump said this week that he fears the election will be rigged for Hillary Clinton. Although he didn t specify exactly how Clinton, her team, or her supporters would commit widespread voter fraud, allowing her to steal a Presidential election, he insisted that the 2012 Presidential election demonstrated a cause for significant concern.I ve been hearing about it for a long time, Trump told CNN. And I know last time, there were you had precincts where there was practically nobody voting for the Republican. And I think that s wrong. I think that was unfair, frankly. Many of Trump s supporters agree.But how easy is it to actually rig an election? It turns out that while voting machines are notoriously easy to hack, throwing a national election is a major operation that would require serious technical firepower.In a recent CBS News report, hackers demonstrated that individual electronic voting machines the kind used in most precincts are particularly vulnerable.WATCH:Via: Heat Street | 1real |
220 ‘Significant’ Pipeline Spills Already This Year Exposes Troubling Safety Record | By Dan Zukowski
Three major U.S. pipeline spills within the last month are just a small part of the 220 significant incidents reported so far this year—and 3,032 since 2006—that provide a stark reminder of the environmental hazards of an aging pipeline infrastructure carrying fossil fuels. The costs of these leaks since 2006 has amounted to $4.7 billion.
1. Oklahoma: On Oct. 24, the 30-inch S-1 pipeline carrying crude oil from the critical Cushing, Oklahoma hub to refineries and chemical plants on the Gulf Coast began to leak and was shut down overnight. It was the second release connected with the Cushing storage facility in less than a month.
2. Pennsylvania: On Oct. 21, 55,000 gallons of gasoline gushed from a ruptured Sunoco Logistics pipeline in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, just upstream from the Susquehanna River. Carol Parenzan, Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper , said that witnesses who contacted her office reported that the “smell of petroleum is so thick you can taste it.” The 80-year old pipeline was damaged by a heavy storm that dumped seven inches of rain on the area.
3. Alabama: Last month, the Colonial Pipeline in Alabama leaked an estimated 336,000 gallons of gasoline and triggered concerns about gas shortages for drivers in the East. That spill was Colonial’s fifth in the state this year and occurred on a 43-year old section of the pipeline.
Based on data from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), an arm of the U.S. Department of Transportation, the number of significant pipeline incidents grew 26.8 percent from 2006 to 2015. A significant incident is defined as one that results in serious injury or fatality, costs more than $50,000, releases more than five barrels of volatile fluids such as gasoline or 50 barrels of other liquids, or results in a fire or explosion. In 2015, there were 326 such incidents—almost one per day.
Some 55 percent of the U.S. network of 135,000 miles of pipeline is more than 45 years old. Technology designed to detect pipeline leaks is highly unreliable, even though companies like Colonial Pipeline tout their use as a way “to insure safe operations.” But a recent Reuters report found that these technologies are “about as successful as a random member of the public” finding a leak. Of 466 incidents studied by Reuters, only 22 percent, or 105, were detected by advanced detection systems. The others were found in different ways, with the public finding 99 of the leaks.
In testimony before a House subcommittee earlier this year, Carl Weimer, executive director of the watchdog group Pipeline Safety Trust , said, “Under the current statutes there is no requirement that a pipeline company obtain any permit or permission to operate a pipeline in this country.” Weimer called on Congress to require PHMSA to issue permits for interstate transmission pipelines and ensure that the company follow all rules and regulations.
“It is important that we not only maintain our aging energy infrastructure, but that we also remain vigilant about new pipelines and energy interests that threaten water quality,” said Parenzan.
Dan Zukowski — Environmental journalist and nature photographer. Member, Society of Environmental Journalists. Follow me on Twitter @DanZukowski and visit DBZ Photo
Source: EcoWatch
| 1real |
Shocked Stockholm Eerily Silent After Truck ’Terror Attack’ | STOCKHOLM (AFP) — Stockholm’s usually vibrant city centre was eerily silent on Friday evening with restaurants, bars and cinemas shuttered and streets emptied hours after a truck ploughed into a crowd outside a department store, killing four people and injuring 15. [Stockholmers appeared to be following police advice to stay indoors and avoid crowded areas, with a number of city streets deserted. The attack occurred just before 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) when a beer truck slammed into the corner of the bustling Ahlens store and the popular pedestrian street Drottninggatan, above ground from Stockholm’s central subway station. The initial scene was chaotic. After emergency responders rushed to the scene, several bodies could be seen lying on the ground covered with orange blankets. Shattered glass was scattered on the ground near a large blood stain on the asphalt. Shaken passersby described their horror at witnessing what police and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven described as a “terror attack”. “A massive truck starts driving … and mangles everything and just drives over exactly everything,” eyewitness Rikard Gauffin told AFP. “It was so terrible and there were bodies lying everywhere … it was really terrifying,” he added. — Trapped — Police cars and ambulances rapidly flooded the scene, as central streets and squares were blocked off amid fears that another attack could be imminent. Helicopters hovered overhead across the city, sirens wailed, and police vans the streets using loudspeakers to urge people to head straight home and avoid crowded places. But with the metro system and commuter trains shut down for several hours after the attack, other streets heading out of the city were packed with thousands of pedestrians trying to find a way home. Central Stockholm would on any other Friday be abuzz with locals queueing up outside glitzy bars and restaurants and upscale nightclubs. Haval, a sales clerk who didn’t want to reveal his last name, was in the metro at the time of the attack. His train stopped immediately and he had to get out, along with all the other passengers. They walked along the street before being ushered inside a nearby hotel for safety. “We were suddenly trapped inside a hotel and there was the worst kind of horror in there,” he told AFP. “We were scared, we were scared something else would happen, he added. — ‘Suddenly it happens’ — The attack was the latest in a string of similar assaults with vehicles in Europe that include the southern French city of Nice, Berlin and London. “I never thought that something would happen in Sweden, but then suddenly it happens,” Haval said. One witness identified only as Dimitris told the Aftonbladet daily the truck came “out of nowhere. ” “I couldn’t see if anyone was driving but it was out of control. I saw at least two people get run down. I ran as fast as I could away from there,” he said. — ‘You won’t break us’ — Marko was in coffee shop near the scene with his girlfriend when he saw the truck ram into the store. “He hit a woman first, then he drove over a bunch of other people … We took care of everyone lying on the ground,” he told Swedish daily newspaper Aftonbladet. Hasan Sidi, another passerby, told Aftonbladet he saw two elderly women lying on the ground. He said people at the scene urged him to help one of the women who was “bleeding to death”. “One of them died … I don’t know if the other one made it,” Sidi said. “The police were shocked. Everyone was shocked. ” Despite that shock, Sweden was determined to not let the attackers create fear. “Terrorists want us to be afraid, want us to change our behaviour, want us to not live our lives normally, but that is what we’re going to do. So terrorists can never defeat Sweden, never,” Prime Minister Lofven said. Shortly afterwards, he placed a bouquet of flowers near the scene, visibly shaken and wiping away a tear. In an editorial, Sweden’s biggest broadsheet Dagens Nyheter wrote: “What we feared for a long time finally happened. ” “The fear and panic right after the incident was inevitable. The images from the attack were terrible,” the paper said. But Stockholm managed to stay “ ” even though the attacker struck “Sweden and Stockholm’s heart” it added. “Stockholm stands strong. You won’t break Stockholm. ” | 0fake |
Report: Huma Abedin Finally Files for Divorce from Anthony Weiner - Breitbart | The wife of disgraced former New York congressman Anthony Weiner, Huma Abedin, has finally filed for divorce on the same day he plead guilty to charges of sexting a minor. [Abedin, a former close aide to Hillary Clinton, filed an uncontested “Anonymous vs. Anonymous” action in Manhattan Supreme Court, meaning she is likely to hold custody of the couple’s young son. Last August, Abedin announced that she was separating from Weiner, after further lewd photos of Weiner were leaked, one of which included his son. However, a report earlier this year indicated the pair were “working hard” to save their marriage. Her filing comes on the same day that Weiner pleaded guilty on a single charge of sending explicit material to a minor. The girl alleged that over the course of their communication, Weiner had sent her nude photos, shared pornographic videos with her, discussed his “rape fantasies,” and requested that she undress and masturbate during video calls. Weiner cried in court as he entered his guilty plea, saying, “I have a sickness, but I do not have an excuse. ” Although a final determination is yet to be made, Weiner will not appeal a sentence of between 21 and 27 months in prison and will be forced to register as a sex offender after his conviction. You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart. com | 0fake |
Rand Paul: Polls Showing Hillary Ahead Are ‘Designed To Suppress Turnout’ | Email
Wednesday on 800 WVHU radio’s “The Tom Roten Morning Show,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said polls showing Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton with a lead over Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump were “designed to suppress turnout.”
Paul said “You know, I think sometimes polling is done to dampen election turnout. So when Trump says the thing’s rigged, I’m not sure exactly what he means and I’m not sure I always agree with him. But I do think that when we say over and over someone can’t win, that is a form of rigging in the sense that it is designed to suppress turnout.”
He added, “The polls are put out, you know to make it either look closer than it is or to make it look like Democrats have a better chance. And I think it’s done by design to try to dampen turnout.” | 1real |
Pursuing a Dream in Film, With Tips From Spike Lee - The New York Times | Jazmyn Benjamin walked onto the hardwood floor at Madison Square Garden to a symphony of squeaking soles. She made her way through a maze of tall men in tailored sweatsuits rehearsing beneath a basket, to a spot that signified a turning point in her life. “I was standing right here back in 2009 when I interviewed Estelle,” she said, referring to the British singer and songwriter, shortly before the start of a New York Knicks basketball game last week. “I was so nervous that day because she was such a big celebrity, and I was just a kid in the program. ” Ms. Benjamin — now a senior at Brooklyn College majoring in film production who hopes, she said, “to become the next influential film director” — was referring to her days as a student in the MSG Classroom program, which teaches children about jobs in television, including announcing, producing, directing and creating graphics. In 2009, Ms. Benjamin was living with her mother and two younger siblings in a homeless shelter. Things began to brighten when she was one of 10 children from neighborhoods selected to participate in the Hope Leadership Academy. The academy is run by the Children’s Aid Society, one of the eight agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. The Children’s Aid Society also provided $300 to Ms. Benjamin to buy clothes to wear during interview assignments and college visits. The academy worked with the Garden of Dreams Foundation, a nonprofit that helps children facing obstacles, to form the MSG Classroom program, which allows students to use Madison Square Garden as a laboratory of sorts. Program members are free to interview MSG employees and officials players with the Knicks, the New York Rangers and the New York Liberty and celebrity guests booked by MSG Entertainment. “That experience is what motivated me to want to become the next Martin Scorsese, the next Quentin Tarantino, the next Spike Lee,” Ms. Benjamin said. “There aren’t nearly as many female directors out there, so I would love to break through and contribute my own artistic vision to the industry. And if that means directing a drama or a horror flick or a cheesy romantic comedy, it really doesn’t matter. I just want the opportunity to put my own creative stamp on something. ” Having long recognized Ms. Benjamin’s desire to become a director, program officials gave her the chance to meet Mr. Lee, an avid Knicks fan. His directorial skills, Ms. Benjamin said, “changed the film game in a lot of ways. ” The meeting took place during halftime at the Knicks game against the Oklahoma City Thunder last Monday, when Ms. Benjamin was escorted to a section of courtside seats where she found Mr. Lee chatting with the comedian Chris Rock. Mr. Lee immediately invited Ms. Benjamin over, and wasted no time offering her valuable advice. “The easiest way to break into this business is to be a with a hyphen,” he said. “How are your writing skills? Do you keep a journal? Do you write down your story ideas every single day? Just keep writing. ” Mr. Lee became animated when Ms. Benjamin said to him, “When you came along, you did a lot of things that were new at the time, and now it sometimes feels as if everything has already been done. ” “That’s not true,” he said. “There’s a whole new world of cinema yet to be discovered, and we need more female directors like yourself out there trying to find it. So keep believing in yourself and do not let anyone discourage you from telling a story you want to tell. That’s just noise that you don’t want to hear. ” Mr. Lee offered one more directorial tip. “Always remember that a good director needs to be surrounded by very good actors, because the best actors might bring something extra or new to a role that you never expected,” he said. “You’ll find that out one day when you’re directing Denzel. ” When their conversation ended, Mr. Lee invited Ms. Benjamin to spend a day on the set of his coming Netflix show, “She’s Gotta Have It,” named for Mr. Lee’s first movie, released in 1986. The series is being filmed in Brooklyn. “Oh my goodness,” Ms. Benjamin said, her smile widening. “That would be amazing. ” Andrea Greenberg, president and chief executive of the television company MSG Networks, which runs the program, and a board member of the Garden of Dreams Foundation, said that Ms. Benjamin was “just one example of the impact and effect the foundation has on our kids, which is something we pride ourselves on — and we are very proud of Jazmyn. ” So is Ms. Benjamin’s mother, Monica, who watched as Mr. Lee held court with her daughter. “What an amazing night,” said the elder Ms. Benjamin, who now lives with her three children in an apartment of their own in West Harlem. “Jazmyn is a very artistic person who has impressed me with a few film projects she has directed at school,” she said. “She’s always looking for that different camera angle, always trying new and creative things, and in that regard, she’s a lot like Spike. ” | 0fake |
Egypt announces reshuffle in top security ranks | CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi appointed a new armed forces chief of staff on Saturday, and the interior ministry dismissed several high-ranking officials in an apparent reorganization of the country s security command. No reason was given for the reshuffle, but the interior ministry decision came a week after a deadly attack on a police operation in a western desert area of Giza Province, in which the ministry said 16 police were killed after coming under heavy fire. Egyptian forces have been fighting several armed Islamist groups, mostly in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula, since Sisi helped lead the military overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013. Hundreds of members of the security forces have been killed in attacks by militants in recent years. A local Islamic State affiliate has been the main foe of the security forces in the north Sinai. A statement from the presidency said Gen. Mohamed Farid Hegazy would replace Gen. Mahmoud Hegazy, who has been made the president s adviser for strategic planning and crisis management. In a separate statement, the interior ministry announced that it had replaced several high-ranking officials, including the head of homeland security, assistant to the minister for security in Giza province, the director of Giza s security and director of operations for central security. It gave no further details on the shakeup. No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for last week s attack on the police in a remote desert area of Giza, about 130 km (80 miles) southwest of the capital Cairo. Thirteen militants were killed in a raid on a farm hideout in the region on Friday. State news agency MENA quoted a security official as saying it was revenge for the blood of the men who were martyred last week in the oasis . The vast western desert region has always been a security headache with arms flowing across the frontier with Libya, where militant groups have found shelter since the country fell into chaos after the 2011 end of Muammar Gaddafi s rule. Sisi is a former military commander elected by a landslide in 2014 and presents himself as a bulwark against Islamist militancy. He is widely expected to run for re-election next year. | 0fake |
General is most senior Army officer to kill self | USA Today
WASHINGTON — The Army acknowledged Friday that Maj. Gen. John Rossi committed suicide on July 31, making him the highest-ranking soldier ever to have taken his own life.
Rossi, who was 55, was just two days from pinning on his third star and taking command of Army Space and Missile Command when he killed himself at his home at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama. ‘
Investigators could find no event, infidelity, misconduct or drug or alcohol abuse, that triggered Rossi’s suicide, said a U.S. government official with direct knowledge of the investigation. It appears that Rossi was overwhelmed by his responsibilities, said the official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the investigation.
Rossi himself talked in March about suicide at a conference on preventing troops from killing themselves.
He held up a card from his wallet with photos of 10 soldiers who had died under his command at Fort Sill, Okla. Four of them had committed suicide.
Rossi led off the event by reading the reports of recent suicide attempts to the soldiers at the event, according to a news story on the Army’s web site. He told the conference that he received reports of four soldiers per week thinking about or attempting suicide.
“We are ultimately responsible for soldiers both on and off duty,” Rossi said.
In a separate statement on Friday, Rossi’s family asked for privacy and called on soldiers with emotional problems to seek help.
“To all the other families out there, to the man or woman who may be facing challenging times, please seek assistance immediately,” according to a statement released on the family’s behalf by the Army.
The Army, the armed forces and its veterans have struggled with the scourge of suicide since the 9/11 terror attacks and the wars that followed in Afghanistan and Iraq. About 20 veterans a day kill themselves, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, putting them at 21% higher risk of suicide compared with civilian adults.
The suicide rate for active-duty troops was similar to that of civilians in 2014, according to the most recent data released by the Pentagon. The Army’s rate of 23.9 suicides per 100,000 soldiers was the highest among the services.
Almost 20 years ago, Adm. Jeremy Boorda, the Navy’s top sailor, killed himself with a gunshot to the chest. Then the chief of naval operations, Boorda had been the focus of an investigation into his improperly wearing combat medals. The four-star officer was the highest-ranking ever to have killed himself. | 1real |
YIKES! JUST WHEN Everyone Thought Things Couldn’t Get Much Worse For United Airlines…THIS Happened | It s been a bumpy PR ride for United Airlines, but this one really stings.A passenger was traveling on board Flight 1418 from Calgary to Houston when he was stung by a scorpion, CBS News correspondent Kris Van Kleave confirmed.The scorpion fell onto Richard Bell s head and stung him underneath his fingernail. We were on the plane about an hour, having dinner, and then something fell on my head, so I grabbed it. I was hanging onto it, Bell said in a Skype interview. It was lucky that it hit my nail more than my skin I think, so maybe my thumbnail saved me a little bit. United apologized and offered Bell and his wife a credit for a future flight.As a precaution, crews also checked the airplane for a possible infestation. Our crew immediately consulted with a MedLink physician on the ground who provided guidance throughout the incident and assured our crew that it was not a life-threatening matter. Medical personnel met the aircraft after it arrived in Calgary, United said in a statement. CBS NewsSadly, this scary incident took place the same day that a passenger was filmed as he was being dragged off a United flight from Chicago to Louisville by the airport police. United took a huge PR hit after the video was seen by millions. | 1real |
Larry Summers’ Worst Nightmare | Time limit is exhausted. Please reload CAPTCHA. six − five = Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. CLICK IMAGE FOR BITGOLD The Next Bull Market In Mining Stocks Is Here Paypal Account Is Not Required Kinder Morgan Report Paypal Account Is Not Required AmazonDotCon Paypal Account Is Not Required Get E-mail Alerts | 1real |
Trump growing frustrated with China, weighs trade steps: officials | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump is growing increasingly frustrated with China over its inaction on North Korea and bilateral trade issues and is now considering possible trade actions against Beijing, three senior administration officials told Reuters. The officials said Trump was looking at options including tariffs on steel imports, which Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross already has said he is considering as part of a national security study of the U.S. steel industry. Whether Trump would take any steps against China remains unclear. In April, he backed off from a threat to withdraw from NAFTA after he said Canadian and Mexican leaders telephoned him asking him to halt a planned executive order in favor of opening discussions. The officials said there was no consensus on the way forward with China and they did not say what other options were being studied. No decision was expected this week, a senior official said. Chinese steel already is subject to dozens of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy orders. As a result it has only a small share of the U.S. market. “What’s guiding this is he ran to protect American industry and American workers,” one of the U.S. officials said, referring to Trump’s 2016 election promise to take a hard line on trade with China. On North Korea, Trump “feels like he gave China a chance to make a difference” but has not seen enough results, the official said. The United States has pressed China to exert more economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to help rein in its nuclear and missile programs. Beijing has repeatedly said its influence on North Korea is limited and that it is doing all it can. “They did a little, not a lot,” the official said. “And if he’s not going to get what he needs on that, he needs to move ahead on his broader agenda on trade and on North Korea.” U.S. Ambassador to China Terry Branstad, who arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, spoke reporters outside his residence on Wednesday and said the United States hoped to collaborate with China. “We need to work together to deal with some of the pressing, difficult issues, such as the threat from North Korea. We want to work together to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula,” he said. The death of American university student Otto Warmbier last week, after his release from 17 months of imprisonment in Pyongyang, has further complicated Trump’s approach to North Korea, his top national security challenge. Trump signaled his disappointment with China’s efforts in a tweet last week: “While I greatly appreciate the efforts of President Xi & China to help with North Korea, it has not worked out. At least I know China tried!” Trump had made a grand gesture of his desire for warm ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping when he played host to Xi in April at his Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida. “I think China will be stepping up,” Trump said at the time. Since then, however, North Korea’s tests of long-range missiles have continued unabated and there have been reports it is preparing for another underground nuclear test. Trump dropped by last Thursday as White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster and Trump senior adviser Jared Kushner were meeting Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi, an official said. China’s inability to make headway on North Korea was one of the topics that was discussed, according to two people familiar with the meeting. In a statement last week, China’s foreign ministry said Yang had met McMaster and Kushner, but it gave no details. Ministry spokesman Lu Kang did not directly answer a question about that meeting, but said China and the United States had discussed North Korea, among other issues, during a security dialogue Yang attended. Yang also had a separate meeting with Trump. The ministry said last week that Yang told Trump that China was willing to work with all sides, including the United States, to lessen tension on the Korean peninsula and promote an “appropriate” resolution. Trump met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday at the White House and made a point of noting that the United States, India and Japan would be joining together in naval exercises soon in the Indian Ocean, a point that seemed aimed at India rival Beijing. Trump also thanked India for joining the United States in imposing new sanctions against North Korea. | 0fake |
Evidence Building Against Soros | Evidence Building Against Soros
George Soros Funded Trump Protests:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
This one might be wishful thinking:
http://usdefensewatch.com/2016/11/putin-issues-international-arrest-warrant-for-george-soros-dead-or-alive/
A reader writes that Soros
“is involved in destabilizing and overthrowing democratically elected governmenbts all over the world. He is not just a political and social threat to Russia and Ukraine, but evidently now to the USA and Western Europe, where he has been behind the mass influx of immigrants to destabilise those countries as well.
“It is clear that Trump and Putin have a lot of threats in common to deal with. The shadow government is currently rattled, but will strike back soon. After the recent violent events, Trump should join the Russian government and also call for the immediate arrest of Soros for his treasonous activities and confiscate all his assets in the West, appoint special prosecutors to deal with the neocon war criminals and break up the bought and paid for press and media monopolies that are the corrupt and mendacious whores of the oligarchy. Furthermore, he should also shut down the oligarchs’ Fed and create a national bank to issue debt- and interest-free US money to fund infrastructure and the rebuilding of the US economy. That would critically weaken the opposition and strengthen his position in dealing with the shadow government.
“These forces will be eternal enemies not just of him, but of the Western people. They represent a cancer that is killing the host. Not reconciliation, but deep and thorough cleaning is required to rout out this den of vipers.”
The audacity of George Soros is extraordinary. How does he get away with it?
The post Evidence Building Against Soros appeared first on PaulCraigRoberts.org . | 1real |
Trump opposes plan for U.S. to cede internet oversight | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump opposes a long-planned transition of oversight of the internet’s technical management from the U.S. government to a global community of stakeholders, his campaign said in a statement on Wednesday. Congress should block the handover, scheduled to occur on Oct. 1, “or internet freedom will be lost for good, since there will be no way to make it great again once it is lost,” Stephen Miller, national policy director for the Trump campaign, said in a statement. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, a former presidential primary foe of Trump’s who has refused to endorse the real estate developer, has led a movement in Congress to block the transition, arguing it could cede control of the internet itself to authoritarian regimes like Russia and China and threaten online freedom. Technical experts have said those claims are baseless, and that a delay will backfire by undermining U.S. credibility in future international negotiations over internet standards and security. Publicly proposed in March 2014, the transfer of oversight of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, is expected to go forward unless Congress votes to block the move. A vote to delay the transition may come as an amendment to a temporary spending bill that Congress must pass by Sept. 30 to prevent much of the federal government from shutting down. Congressional negotiators on Wednesday were working to finalize an agreement on the spending package. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton supports the Obama administration’s planned transition to a global community of technologists, civil society groups and internet users, according to policy positions available on her campaign website. | 0fake |
NEWT GINGRICH Punches Back At Democrats With Mega Doses Of TRUTH On The BOGUS Russia Scandal: “This is a cultural civil war” [Video] | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjeOoJyPNCk | 1real |
Snowden’s former employer hires ex-FBI director to review security after 2nd data breach | Snowden’s former employer hires ex-FBI director to review security after 2nd data... Snowden’s former employer hires ex-FBI director to review security after 2nd data breach By 0 144
Booz Allen Hamilton has hired an ex-FBI director to launch an external review of security and staffing procedures after an employee stole up to 500 million pages of data, marking the second NSA breach in just three years since the Snowden case.
Craig Veith, Booz Allen vice president for external relations, said on Thursday that Robert Mueller, who became director of the FBI one week before the 9/11 attacks and led the agency for 12 years, will conduct “a fair, objective and thorough review,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
Read more
The announcement came after Harold Martin III, a former Booz Allen employee and US Navy veteran, was charged in what is believed to be one of the largest classified data breaches in US history.
Edward Snowden’s case is likely to pale in comparison to that of Martin’s when it comes to the number of documents stolen. Prosecutors said that Martin had taken as many as 500 million pages of top secret information, which equals 50 terabytes of data, along with six more boxes of files, many of which were reportedly left open in his house or car.
The man, already dubbed ‘the second Snowden’, had nothing to do with blowing the whistle on NSA surveillance activities, his lawyers argued. Instead, they described Martin as a “voracious reader committed to being excellent at his work,” according to the Washington Post.
Martin’s attorney, James Wyda, told a US magistrate judge last week that gathering terabytes of classified information “began as an effort to be better at his job,” adding that he is “a compulsive hoarder” rather than a “traitor.”
Prosecutors insisted, however, that Martin remain in custody, alleging they found the names of US intelligence operatives in the files stolen by the former Booz Allen employee, citing a particular threat to the safety of officers working undercover abroad.
Commenting on Mueller’s appointment, Booz Allen vice president Veith said that “we are an organization that prides itself on constant learning. If there are areas where Booz Allen can improve, we will address them.”
After leaving the FBI in 2013, Mueller became a visiting professor at Stanford University where he focused on cyber-security issues.
Questions, however, still remain about how these breaches could happen twice in just three years despite the company’s assurances of learning lessons and improving internal control after Snowden’s revelations that shed light on NSA wiretapping activities in the US and other countries.
Coleen Rowley, a former FBI agent, told RT earlier in October that the number of US citizens having top secret clearances or access to classified information “has soared” through the years.
“The last I heard it is something like five million Americans have been cleared for classified information. So, any time you get that large of a number, you are going to have all kinds of potential. And it doesn’t matter contractors or government, both of them,” she said.
Via RT . This piece was reprinted by RINF Alternative News with permission or license. | 1real |
A Vote For Hillary is a Vote For World War 3 | A Vote For Hillary is a Vote For World War 3 Do you stand "with her" nuclear holocaust? Paul Joseph Watson - October 28, 2016 Comments
Do you stand “with her” nuclear holocaust?
Hillary Clinton has vowed to use military assets against Russia if Moscow is merely suspected of having engaged in a cyber attack.
Hillary Clinton has already proven that she is a sociopathic warmonger. Her bloodthirsty zeal to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya directly led to the rise of ISIS, the international migrant crisis and a wrecked continent.
If she is elected, Hillary will push for arming jihadist rebels in Syria with even more sophisticated weaponry and a no fly zone over the country – an effective declaration of war on the Syrian government and its ally, Russia.
A vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for world war three. Jill Stein: "If Hillary gets elected, we're going to war with Russia, a nuclear armed power." pic.twitter.com/0mp7JVSWy1
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) October 19, 2016
Hillary Clinton is George W. Bush 2.0 – that’s why she is supported by a plethora of ‘Never Trump’ neo-cons who are salivating over the prospect of getting back into power and launching new wars of aggression.
Except this time the enemy won’t be Saddam Hussein, Gaddafi or any other third world nation with a flimsy, virtually non-existent army.
The enemy will be Russia – a country with a 3 million man army and a huge stockpile of nuclear weapons.
It is important to not fall prey to normalcy bias. Just because there hasn’t been a major conflict in most our our lifetimes doesn’t mean it can’t happen. The history of humanity is the history of warfare.
A vote for Hillary is a vote for World War 3.
Make this message go viral by sharing this video . Because nuclear war is progressive. https://t.co/bwYbmZbkrN pic.twitter.com/90UGR46I1g
— Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) October 28, 2016
SUBSCRIBE on YouTube: | 1real |
MUSLIM ASSIMILATION UPDATE: Migrants Arrested For STONING Transgender Women In GERMANY | This is a story is for anyone who thinks these Muslim migrants are going to change their stone-age tactics because they are living at the expense of taxpayers in another country. Three young men from North Africa were arrested on Saturday in the western German city of Dortmund for stoning two transgender women.According to a report on Friday on television station SAT1.NRW, the men attacked Yasmine und Elisa, two transgender women, near the city s main train station. Within seconds we were tossed around and they took stones from a gravel bed on the corner and threw them at us, said Elisa.A police car appeared at the train station as the stoning attack unfolded and arrested the men.The German media as a general rule do not disclose the last names of victims to protect their privacy. The three men are between 16 and 18 years-old and are known to the authorities from theft and assault arrests.Dortmund police official Kim-Ben Freigang said the suspects told the police that such persons must be stoned. Yasmine installed a security camera at the residence where she lives with Elisa after the attacks. That was barbaric what they did. They are barbarians, Yasmine said.She added that she could not believe that such an act of shamelessness occurred. In 2016, in Germany, with stoning! According to the SATI.NRW report, Yasmine said it was the first time in 30 years she felt unsafe as a transgender woman.According to Yasmine and Elisa, the three young men propositioned them, but after they realized that Yasmine and Elisa are transgender women, they attacked them with stones.Stoning people to death is a penalty used in nine Muslim-majority countries. In November, a criminal court in Iran s northern province of Gilan sentenced a woman to be executed by stoning for alleged complicity in the murder of her husband, Arash Babaieepour Tabrizinejad. Via: Jerusalem Post | 1real |
Putin praises Trump, says U.S. spies may have faked hacking evidence | ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that Donald Trump had run a better presidential campaign than Hillary Clinton and that U.S. intelligence agencies could have easily faked what he said was false evidence that Russia had hacked the Democratic Party. U.S. intelligence officials have said Russia tried to interfere in the U.S. election by hacking Trump’s opponents, a charge that has deepened a political scandal which has focused on whether Trump had improper ties with Moscow, something he flatly denies. Putin, addressing the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, said on Friday that the hacking accusations were nothing more than “harmful gossip” which he complained was damaging international relations and the global economy. He said he had personally reviewed the U.S. intelligence reports which made the hacking allegations against Russia, and that they contained no meaningful evidence. “I have read these reports,” said Putin. “Even in these reports there is nothing specific but only assumptions and conclusions based on assumptions.” The idea that the hacking had reportedly been carried out from Russian IP addresses which constituted meaningful evidence of anything was absurd, he said. “Where are the finger prints? IP addresses can be faked. Do you know how many specialists there are who can make it look as if your children sent something from your home IP address? They can fake anything and then accuse anyone. It’s not evidence.” Putin, who is keen to repair battered U.S.-Russia relations and is expected to meet Trump for the first time at the G20 in Hamburg in July, said Trump had simply run a better campaign and better connected with voters than Clinton. He said her supporters were now trying to blame Russia for their failure. “But the problem is not with us, the problem is inside American politics,” said Putin. “The other (Clinton) team miscalculated. They don’t want to admit their mistake. It’s easier for them to say that they are not guilty, that the Russians are the guilty ones for interfering in our election. It reminds me of anti-Semitism.” Visibly irritated by having to discuss the matter, Putin was equally forthright about denying separate accusations that there had been some kind of secret deal between Moscow and the Trump team before his inauguration. “There was nothing concrete, zero. It’s just hysteria. Should I give you a pill?” Putin said to a moderator who asked him about the matter. | 0fake |
Mall Attack Threat Linked to Islamic State, Minister Confirms | BERLIN (AP) — A threatened attack against a mall in the western city of Essen is linked to the Islamic State extremist group, Germany’s interior minister said Sunday. [Thomas de Maiziere told public broadcaster ARD that Germany’s domestic intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, had received “tips of an attack and passed them on” to local security authorities in Essen. “The case was evaluated several times … and it couldn’t be eliminated that there could have been a concrete attack at this mall. This was prevented,” de Maiziere said. Daily papers Bild, Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung and public broadcaster WDR had reported earlier, citing anonymous security sources, that a German fighter with the IS in Syria had contacted via online messenger a group of fighters — based in Germany and abroad — and tried to motivate them to attack the mall Saturday. De Maiziere also confirmed a connection between “somebody who had traveled there from Germany and indications and assignments from that region. ” The mall in Essen, one of the biggest in Germany, didn’t open Saturday. About 100 heavily armed police officers positioned themselves around the compound to prevent anyone from entering. The apartments of two men were later searched in nearby Oberhausen and they were detained and interrogated. One was released Saturday, police said, with no details. The mall in downtown Essen will open again on Monday because there is no longer an increased threat of an attack, the German news agency dpa reported. Germany has been on the edge following a series of attacks in public places over the past year. When a man went on a rampage with an axe on Friday night at Duesseldorf’s main station and injured 10 people, hundreds of police officers were deployed to the scene, even though it later turned out that he had no links to extremists, but was suffering from psychological problems. | 0fake |
Bill O’Reilly Makes Ben Carson Admit ‘It Would Take A Miracle’ To Win GOP Nomination (VIDEO) | Ben Carson just got a reality check he really didn t like by fellow conservative Bill O Reilly!On Monday night s edition of The O Reilly Factor, the host delivered the hard, soul-crushing facts to the Republican presidential candidate about how improbable it was that he would win the GOP nomination. Basically, O Reilly told Carson it would take a miracle. Even after an embarrassing loss in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, Carson couldn t come to terms that his campaign was over. He not only told his supporters that he had just as many delegates as the other candidates (aside from the winner, of course), but continued to keep up this act with O Reilly.While trying to convince O Reilly (and possibly himself) that with just one more point he would have come in third, O Reilly got fed up with Carson s denial tactics and decided to give him the cold, hard truth. He said: You know me, I m a fairly straight forward guy. It would take a miracle for not only you but John Kasich, at this point, with the delegate situation being what it is, to overcome Trump. While O Reilly still felt there might be hope that Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) could give Trump a run for his money, O Reilly said to Carson, But for you. Very difficult. It was like O Reilly was speaking to a wall, because Carson continued to believe a lot of things can happen and that with only five GOP candidates now, he could be more successful when America focuses on the issues over personalities. O Reilly kept taking Carson off cloud nine and putting him back into reality, where it was becoming clear that Carson should soon be dropping out of the presidential race. Noting that March 1st was a crucial date for Carson, O Reilly said: You know, doc, I gotta tell ya, I just don t think you re gonna do it. It s not you. It s history. It s almost like Governor Bush in a sense that it was just the wrong time for Governor Bush up against the colossus. Carson reluctantly agreed with O Reilly, but mentioned that Bill Clinton didn t emerge as a success until after the sixth contest and O Reilly shut him down once again. It became clear that O Reilly already thinks Carson s campaign is over when he asked Carson who he d be endorsing after he drops out. Carson didn t have an answer, and probably isn t ready to accept defeat, but it s clear that he should start thinking about it.You can watch O Reilly break Carson s heart below: Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
Trump Just Got Some Really, REALLY Bad News About His Tax Returns (DETAILS) | Donald Trump has been playing games with his tax returns ever since he began his disgraceful presidential campaign. He repeatedly promised to release his tax returns after the election, but has continued to keep them a secret from the American people. Democrats and Republicans alike know that the American people deserve transparency from their president, and the latest effort to make Trump reveal his tax documents is going to send him into a rage.Two House Republicans have just joined a Democratic effort to obtain copies of Trump s tax returns, with the help of the Internal Revenue Service. This is big news and proves that not even the GOP approves of the way Trump has conducted himself.The two Republicans, Reps. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) and Walter Jones (R-N.C.), have added their signatures to a letter requesting Trump s tax returns from the past ten years. This letter was championed by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and backed by almost every person in the 193-member House Democratic Caucus. In the letter, it is stated that Trump s tax returns would provide clarity on his conflicts of interest, which Trump has tried to hide and distract from. The letter says: Disclosure would serve the public interest of clarifying President Trump s conflicts of interest in office, the potential for him to personally benefit from tax reform, and ensure that he is not receiving any preferential treatment from the IRS.We believe the powerful and respected Committees on Finance and Ways and Means have the responsibility to ensure oversight of the executive branch by requesting a review of President Trump s tax returns and moving toward a formal release of these documents to the public. Trump s refusal to reveal his tax returns is unusual, breaking four decades in which every presidential nominee has been transparent with their tax returns. Trump tried to use an IRS audit to excuse himself, but even the IRS stated he was free to release his documents whenever he wanted to. Hopefully, this letter and the Republican senators signatures will add enough pressure to the situation so Americans can finally know the truth about Trump.Featured image via Drew Angerer / Getty Images | 1real |
MICHELLE OBAMA Slams America At Iranian Party: “We’re Hearing So Much Disturbing And Hateful Rhetoric” | So you have to listen to this little speech by Michelle Obama and understand that she s totally lying when she speaks about disturbing and hateful rhetoric . Americans are NOT blowing themselves up or cutting heads off. If anything, Americans have been so forgiving and fantastic in the face of Islamic terrorism. There s so much more to say but in a nutshell we re not the ones screaming Death to Iran! BUT Iranians are screaming DEATH TO AMERICA NUF SAID! Here s some propaganda from USA Today: | 1real |
COMEDY GOLD ON DETROIT NEWS: “Willy” Dumps His Tires In The Wrong Spot [Video] | Charlie LeDuff is legend in Detroit but this is a classic: | 1real |
UNCENSORED VIDEO: Real New Yorkers’ Opinions On TRUMP | New York City that great melting pot of diversity has an equally diverse set of opinions on Donald Trump, and as VF.com discovered while walking through the city, there exists a strain of New Yorker who gasp! actually admires the man. Interview by Jeffrey Tousey; Audio by William Pierce; Director of Photography: Jeremy Elkin. Read more: Live Leak | 1real |
BRITISH MAN GOES UNDERCOVER, Makes Chilling Video In “Welcoming” Neighborhood Mosque | If she doesn t wear a hijab, we hit her This is truly a shocking undercover film. It exposes the wide network of Muslim radicals and how they have no intention of assimilating with Westerners. The things that are said in this film should make every American and European question what really takes place in these neighborhood mosques. Marrying off a girl before puberty is permissible. None of this has been stopped in Britain by the government, who did not care to protect thousands of children raped, threatened, sold, drugged and many even killed by Muslim men. This mentality amongst Muslims that the video shows, especially Sunni Muslims, will be common in virtually every single mosque not only in Britain, but throughout Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US.The Muslim hatred continues to flourish throughout the country, all because of a weak and incompetent leadership and EU policies that protect hate preachers and terrorism. The permission for Islam to grow and exist a fascist ideology of the medieval ages is the root cause of growing terrorism growing and expanding into the West.It is not difficult to see what Britain s future will be. Islam is a far greater threat than Nazism. But the Nazi s did not infiltrate the country and was easier to battle.Prime Minister Tony Blair recently described tolerance as what makes Britain Britain but in this extensive investigation Dispatches reveals how a message of hatred and segregation is being spread throughout the UK and examines how it is influenced by the religious establishment of Saudi Arabia.Dispatches has investigated a number of mosques run by high profile national organisations that claim to be dedicated to moderation and dialogue with other faiths. But an undercover reporter joined worshippers to find a message of religious bigotry and extremism being preached.He captures chilling sermons in which Saudi-trained preachers proclaim the supremacy of Islam, preach hatred for non-Muslims and for Muslims who do not follow their extreme beliefs and predict a coming jihad. An army of Muslims will arise, announces one preacher. Another preacher said British Muslims must dismantle British democracy they must live like a state within a state until they are strong enough to take over. The investigation reveals Saudi Arabian universities are recruiting young Western Muslims to train them in their extreme theology, then sending them back to the West to spread the word. And the Dispatches reporter discovers that British Muslims can ask for fatwas, religious rulings, direct from the top religious leader in Saudi Arabia, the Grand Mufti.Via: The Muslim Issue | 1real |
White House Officials CONFIRM: Trump Got His Story About Obama Tapping His ‘Wires’ Directly From Breitbart | Donald Trump has access to a wealth of information as President, but seems content relying on Breitbart and other slimy right-wing propaganda mills as the sole source of what he thinks are facts. Recently, The Donald dissolved into a complete mess after a Breitbart article began circulating among his staff that claimed Obama tapped Trump Tower s wires something the President, no matter whom it is, can not do. To clear up the confusion, CNN s Jake Tapper reached out to Trump administration officials, and it turns out that, yes, the situation is just as stupid as it seems. Donald Trump did get his news from Breitbart, not the wealth of government information to which he has access. WH officials with whom I spoke said POTUS got the info about wiretap from media Breitbart, Levin not from govt sources, Tapper tweeted Sunday.WH officials with whom I spoke said POTUS got the info about wiretap from media Breitbart, Levin not from govt sources. Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 5, 2017 Obviously FBI/DOJ wiretap of POTUS would be HUGE story. One illegally ordered by previous POTUS even bigger. BUT WH officials have no proof, he added.Obviously FBI/DOJ wiretap of POTUS would be HUGE story. One illegally ordered by previous POTUS even bigger. BUT WH officials have no proof Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 5, 2017Tapper says that most reporters are digging on this but everyone to whom they have spoken in the intelligence community, like the rest of us, has no idea what the f*ck Trump is talking about. Moreover we cannot pretend we haven t been here before, w/POTUS putting out wild accusations that are untethered to reality, Tapper adds, listing a few examples of many. Obama s birth certificate/ Vaccines/ Ted Cruz s father & Lee Harvey Oswald / crowd sizes/ Vince Foster / Murder rate / 3-5 illegal votes. 4/Moreover we cannot pretend we haven't been here before, w/POTUS putting out wild accusations that are untethered to reality. Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 5, 20175/Obama's birth certificate/ Vaccines/ Ted Cruz's father & Lee Harvey Oswald / crowd sizes/ Vince Foster / Murder rate / 3-5 illegal votes Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) March 5, 2017 In any case, will continue to report. WH call for Congress to find evidence of POTUS claim with no further comment is not proof, Tapper says, adding that he has requested an interview with President Obama to clear the matter up (which totally needs to happen and promises to be hilarious).Journalists are not alone in being baffled by Trump s ridiculous claim that the former President ordered a wiretap which, once again, he could not do. On Sunday, vocal Obama opponent Marco Rubio said he has no idea where Trump s claim comes from either. I m not sure what it is he is talking about, Rubio says. Perhaps the President has information that is not yet available to us or to the public. And if it s true, obviously we re going to find out very quickly. And if it isn t, then obviously he ll have to explain what he meant by it. Unfortunately, as Tapper notes, the information wasn t a closely-held government secret. It was the result of the ravings of a known far-Right conspiracy theorist who has admitted he doesn t even have the evidence to back his claims; he just wants to see Obama investigated.President Obama should do the interview. He s so past the point of caring what these idiots think that it should be hilarious.Featured image via Getty Images | 1real |
“They Are Trying To Get You To Stay Home” | Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Security Question: What is 4 + 2 ? Please leave these two fields as-is: IMPORTANT! To be able to proceed, you need to solve the following simple math (so we know that you are a human) :-) Doom and Bloom | 1real |
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