title stringlengths 1 456 ⌀ | text stringlengths 1 143k ⌀ | label class label 2
classes |
|---|---|---|
Hezbollah leader says Israeli war with Lebanon unlikely | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday an Israeli war with Lebanon was unlikely and warned Israel against exploiting the current political crisis in Lebanon. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri resigned in a speech from Saudi Arabia on Saturday and has yet to return to Lebanon. In a televised address Nasrallah said he believes Hariri is being detained in Riyadh. | 0fake |
As Attention Grows, Transgender Children’s Numbers Are Elusive - The New York Times | The Obama administration’s directive last week instructing public schools to allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with has set off an intense debate. Many politicians and parents have raised alarms about privacy and warned of predatory boys sneaking into girls’ bathrooms. But others say that such accommodations are critical protections for a vulnerable population. For all of the heated debate, a central fact remains elusive: How many students are we talking about? No one knows for sure. Researchers have not figured out how to obtain consistent, reliable answers from teenagers, much less younger children. The best estimates are that the population is small, probably under 1 percent of adolescents. There are none. Pediatricians generally do not ask patients about their gender identity, and if they do, they do not usually report findings in national health registries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which analyzes much of our behavioral health data, has tested ways for students to identify themselves as transgender. But it has not yet settled on a satisfactory method, and it does not expect to include such a question in its adolescent health survey before 2019. Some local surveys have been done, with results falling in a narrow range. A 2015 health behavior survey of 18, 494 high school students in Dane County, Wis. which includes Madison, found that 1. 5 percent of students identified themselves as transgender. In 2006, the Boston Youth Survey asked 1, 032 public high school students, “Are you transgender?” The responses were 1. 6 percent yes, 86. 3 percent no, and 6. 3 percent “don’t know. ” An additional 5. 7 percent skipped the question. Some believe that these estimates are low, “because trans identity has become more salient and acceptance has increased,” said Jody L. Herman, a scholar of public policy at the U. C. L. A. School of Law’s Williams Institute. “But we don’t have any way of knowing that. ” Interestingly, in surveys, a higher proportion of teenagers than adults tend to identify themselves as transgender. Analyzing adult survey data from Massachusetts and California, the Williams Institute estimated in 2011 that 700, 000 adults, or 0. 3 percent of the national population, were transgender, a number that is frequently cited. Lots of reasons. The situation in which a survey is conducted — in school a telephone call an interview — will influence the candor of the response. So will the wording of the question. In some surveys, for example, students have been asked, “Do you identify as: a) male, b) female or c) transgender?” “That is a terrible question because you can only select one,” said Emily A. Greytak, director of research at G. L. S. E. N. the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network. “‘So what do I check? Transgender?’ Or they’ll check girl, because ‘I want to be a girl.’ So you get bad data. ” And they are, after all, teenagers. “You end up with adolescents who don’t read the question carefully, or who will check ‘D’ for everything, or will choose what they think is a option,” said Kerith Conron, a social and psychiatric epidemiologist at the Fenway Institute in Boston, which develops health programs for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, among others. Still, despite all of the imperfect information, researchers have come up with a best estimate for the number of transgender teenagers. “We all have a sense that the number is probably between 0. 5 percent and 1. 5 percent,” Dr. Greytak said. The Obama administration’s directive covers elementary schools, too. But the number of very young children who identify as transgender is even harder to determine. Almost no research has been done on child gender identity. One challenge is that much of the information would have to come from parents. Dr. Conron, who has worked with parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youths, said, “Parents often do not know that a child’s gender identity is different from their assigned sex at birth until their child, or another person, often in adolescence, tells them so. ” Some developmental psychologists say that children as young as 2 or 3 can express a gender identity that is at odds with the one defined by their genitalia. But other children take years, even decades, to determine that they are transgender. Younger children whose behavior and preferences may not be solidly masculine or feminine are increasingly called “ ” or “ ” by educators, psychologists and parents. Those who work with transgender students say that school accommodations will affect few students. But the effect for transgender students, they say, is powerful. Many studies have shown that transgender students are a particularly vulnerable group. They are disproportionately affected by bullying and have higher rates of suicide than the population at large. “There’s a lot of documentation about how hunger impacts a kid’s ability to learn, how they can’t concentrate,” Dr. Conron said. “In my research with transgender youth, many talk about having to ‘hold it’ all day because they cannot access an appropriate, safe bathroom. Can you imagine how not being able to void would impact one’s ability to concentrate and succeed at school?” | 0fake |
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia: “I admire the integrity” of Muslim women who wear hijab and burqa | BY ROBERT SPENCER
It’s a common and recurring tendency among conservative Catholics to be complacent regarding the jihad threat because of a desire to see Muslims as allies in a culture war against all-encroaching and authoritarian secularism. This idea is based on ignorance of or indifference to the fact that, with its polygamy, divorce at a word, sexual slavery of Infidel women, allowance for wife-beating, tolerance for early abortion, and more, Islamic sexual morality is hardly akin to Catholic sexual morality. There is also a tendency, which is also found all over the West outside the Catholic Church, to assume that various concepts, and acts designed to express them, mean the same thing in an Islamic context that they do in a non-Muslim context. That false assumption is what we see here from Archbishop Chaput with regard to modesty.
Archbishop Chaput says: “The hijab and the burqa say two important things in a morally confused culture: ‘I’m not sexually available;’ and ‘I belong to a community different and separate from you and your obsessions.’” In reality, that is what a Western woman might be intending to convey, but in an Islamic context the message is slightly different, and that slight difference is all-important. Yes, the hijab and burqa certainly say, ‘I’m not sexually available” and “I belong to a community different and separate from you and your obsessions.” But there is more. The Qur’an says: “O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused.” (33:59) This is the foundation of the prevailing assumption in Islamic culture that if a woman is raped or sexually abused, it is her fault for exciting men, who can’t be expected to control themselves. This is the assumption underlying honor killing, and the reason why it is so common in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and other Muslim countries for women to be imprisoned after they were raped: the rape is their fault.
So the hijab and burqa are really saying: “I am assuming the responsibility — willingly or not — for the possibility that I might be raped or sexually abused.” It is a visible sign of the subjugation of women.
And that “willingly or not” clause is all-important as well. Archbishop Chaput says: “I admire the integrity of those Muslim women” who wear the hijab and the burqa. He assumes that they are wearing it freely, as they would be in the West. And to be sure, many Muslim women, especially in the West, are indeed wearing it of their own volition. What does Archbishop Chaput think of the integrity of Aqsa Parvez, whose Muslim father choked her to death with her hijab after she refused to wear it? How does he feel about the integrity of Amina Muse Ali, a Christian woman in Somalia whom Muslims murdered because she wasn’t wearing a hijab? And of the 40 women who were murdered in Iraq in 2007 for not wearing the hijab; and of Alya Al-Safar, whose Muslim cousin threatened to kill her and harm her family because she stopped wearing the hijab in Britain; and of Amira Osman Hamid, who faces whipping in Sudan for refusing to wear the hijab; and of the Egyptian girl, also named Amira, who committed suicide after being brutalized for her family for refusing to wear the hijab; and of the
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 1real |
Sarah Palin’s Idiocy Strikes Again, Urges Us To Start ‘Condoning Racism’ (IMAGE) | In what some may assume is a misspeak and others may attribute to a Freudian slip, Sarah Palin took to Facebook to go after rapper Azealia Banks. To be honest, the two of these ladies fighting is a mind-numbing assault on everything good and decent, because both women are outrageous in their own regards. The two have been trapped in a Twitter battle that s gotten kind of ugly.Trying to end the battle, in her own condescending way, was Palin when she took to her medium of choice, Facebook. She wrote: Hey Female Rapper listen up, little darling. No one has any idea what you re wigging out about in these bizarre, violent rants against me, but you re obviously not exercising enough intelligence to acknowledge you ve been sucked into believing some fake interview in which I supposedly offered comments representing the antithesis of my truth.In this life, you re blessed to have been given an influential platform. So have I. Why don t we strengthen both our platforms and work together on something worthwhile like condoning racism, along with empowering young women to defend themselves against a most misogynist, degrading, devastating assault perpetrated by evil men rape.Thanks. And now I ll go through my young daughter s playlist to make sure there hasn t been any inadvertent addition of any anti-woman, pro-rape garbage that you seem to endorse, which perpetuates the cultural challenges we face in America. I encourage other parents to do the same.God bless you Ms. Banks, as you consider a change of heart. Sarah Palin Mediaite seems to have captured the original post:via FacebookOf course, she either didn t know what condoning means or she really meant it. Either way, she s clearly been notified of how horrific she sounded, because her post was deleted and re-posted with the word condemning instead.Here s the thing, Palin is backing the most racist candidate running for president Donald Trump. His outright bigotry towards Latinos, Muslims, etc. isn t even thinly veiled. He boasts his hatred for the other right in the open. So while Palin may have written the wrong word initially, she clearly is condoning racism and misogyny by backing Trump.Featured Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 1real |
Egypt's Hasm militants claim attack targeting Myanmar embassy | CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian militant group Hasm claimed responsibility on Sunday for a small explosion at Myanmar s embassy in Cairo, saying it was in retaliation for that country s military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims. Egypt s interior ministry has not commented on Saturday s blast, which residents and media initially reported as probably the result of a faulty gas pipeline. Two security sources told Reuters that traces of explosives had been found at the scene. This bombing serves as a warning to the embassy of murderers, killers of women and children in the Muslim Rakhine State, and in solidarity with the sons of this weakened Muslim population, Hasm said in its statement. It was the first time that Hasm, a group blamed for several attacks targeting judges and policemen around Cairo since last year, has claimed an attack on a civilian target. (We have used) utmost caution to ensure that there were no civilian casualties or innocent people (hurt) during the operation, or else you would have seen a burning hell you could not have stopped, Hasm said in the statement. Myanmar s government spokesman urged citizens abroad to be careful. Pls take care Myanmar nationals around the world, the spokesman, Zaw Htay, said on his Twitter feed. The latest wave of violence in western Myanmar s Rakhine State began on Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked police posts and an army camp, killing about 12 people. The Myanmar military response has sent more than 410,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing to Bangladesh, escaping what they and rights monitors say is a campaign aimed at driving the Muslim population out of the majority-Buddhist country. Egypt accuses Hasm of being a militant wing of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group it outlawed in 2013. The Muslim Brotherhood denies this. Hundreds of Egyptian soldiers and police have been killed fighting an Islamist insurgency in Sinai that has gained pace since mid-2013, when General-turned-President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood after mass protests against his rule. | 0fake |
Brazil's top prosecutor says committed to 'Car Wash' probe | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil s new Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge said on Tuesday she is committed to continuing the sprawling Car Wash corruption investigation that has implicated dozens of Brazilian politicians, including President Michel Temer. In her first news conference since taking office on Sept. 18, Dodge declined to comment on charges filed against Temer by her predecessor Rodrigo Janot, but she said she could not withdraw them. Janot charged Temer with obstruction of justice and being a member of a criminal organization days before leaving office based on plea bargain testimony by the owners of meatpacker JBS SA. Janot had to revoke that plea deal after evidence emerged of crimes committed by the witnesses. Dodge, however, told reporters that the revoking of a plea deal did not erase the evidence provided. The lower house of Congress, which has the authority to decide whether a president should stand trial, began to discuss the new charges on Tuesday and is expected to block them as it did last month with an earlier graft charge brought against Temer for allegedly accepting bribes paid by JBS. Dodge said the Supreme Court must decide whether the Federal Police can also negotiate plea bargains with criminals, an authority currently limited to prosecutors who have opposed sharing the function with the police. Plea bargains have been instrumental for prosecutors in the uncovering of a massive network of bribes and political kickbacks in Brazil s largest corruption scandal. I am sure that the Supreme Court will hand down a ruling that will turn this into an valuable tool, she said. | 0fake |
Superbugs: Big Pharma to blame for coming death of 700,000 people annually | Superbugs: Big Pharma to blame for coming death of 700,000 people annually
Sunday, October 30, 2016 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer Tags: superbugs , antibiotics abuse , Big Pharma (NaturalNews) As new guidelines set forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to curb antibiotic overuse and abuse on factory farms slowly come into effect, the drug industry is apparently setting its greedy sights elsewhere – towards countries where restrictions on antibiotic use are looser, or simply where "anything goes."Livestock are the single biggest consumers of antibiotic drugs in the U.S. – not by choice, of course, but because farmers have long been sold a bill of goods by Big Pharma when it comes to using them to bulk up their cattle more quickly and get them to market as fast as possible. It's a common practice that generates a lot of money in the short-term, but a whole lot of problems in the long-term.The use of antibiotics on farms is arguably the biggest contributor to antibiotic resistance among humans, where drugs that used to treat deadly bugs no longer do. The result is the emergence of so-called "superbugs" that are capable of outsmarting even the most potent antibiotics, a phenomenon that's killing people by the hundreds of thousands.Some of the latest reports indicate that the superbug epidemic is claiming the lives of some 700,000 people annually all around the world. And if nothing is done now to stop the drug industry from continuing to poison the well, so to speak, then this number is expected to balloon more than 14-fold to 10 million lives lost by the year 2050.According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are very few countries in the world with any sort of formidable plan in place to address antibiotic resistance. Even with the U.S. somewhat taking the lead with voluntary FDA suggestions on the matter, none of this will stop drug companies from preying on the developing world that has yet to enact any sort of restrictions on antibiotic use."They're international companies," Gail Hansen, a veterinarian and consultant who works with drug companies, governments and nonprofit organizations, told Bloomberg . "What happens in the U.S. does certainly make a difference, but it's not the only market they have." Antibiotic resistance kills 10 times more people than opiate overdoses While it's become common practice for factory animal rearers to exploit antibiotics as a way to fatten their stocks more quickly and supposedly keep them healthy, the use of these drugs for such purposes is disastrous for public health. Comparatively speaking, only 69,000 people die from opiate overdoses globally, which translates to 10 times more people dying from superbugs than from the most deadly pharmaceuticals on the market.Antibiotics are also overused in the realm of human medicine, with some one-third of all prescriptions, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Pew Charitable Trusts, being completely unnecessary. This translates to roughly 47 million prescriptions that aren't even helpful, either because the patients have a viral infection, or don't have an infection at all.The only way anything is going to change is if Big Pharma is barred from selling antibiotics to farmers whose only desire is to rush their animals to market for maximum profits. Doctors must also be reigned in and stopped from indiscriminately handing out antibiotics whenever their patients feel any kind of ailment – and again, these measures must have a global reach."If some of the biggest responsible parties – namely the companies making the products – are still selling the antibiotics in other countries, it just underscores that this has to be a change that happens across the entire world," David Wallinga, a senior health official and physician at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), told Bloomberg ."And the companies bear a big responsibility for that approach." Sources for this article include: | 1real |
MILWAUKEE ART MUSEUM TO DISPLAY THIS HUGE PORTRAIT OF POPE FRANCIS MADE OF CONDOMS | No threats of beheadings have been made yet oh wait those types of threats only come from the religion of peace There won t be any criticisms of this piece of art created specifically to mock the belief that Catholics hold about contraception by the mainstream media. No one will accuse this artist of asking for trouble or inciting hate or violence. Catholics will just be expected to suck it up and deal with it after all, it s just art and unlike Pamela Gellar, her freedom of speech and expression rights are protected under our Constitution.Milwaukee Art Museum is getting complaints from the Milwaukee archbishop, members of the public, and even some of its donors over its plans to display a huge portrait of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI. This piece is made out of 17,000 nonlubricated condoms, artist Niki Johnson recently told WITI television in Milwaukee. What I did was inter-stuffed them and folded them in order to create this tonal range. The portrait, titled Eggs Benedict, measures almost seven feet high and five feet wide, and it can be viewed from both the front and the back: When you come to the back, you see the condoms themselves, Johnson noted.Johnson told the WITI she decided to make the latex mosaic after Pope Benedict s visit to Africa in 2009. Benedict said condoms would not resolve the AIDS epidemic: On the contrary, it increases the problem, he said at the time. And I was just dumbfounded, Johnson said. I mean, I couldn t make any sense of that statement. And so I figured I needed to do something. Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki says the museum s decision to display the piece is insulting and callous, the Associated Press reported. Some patrons have dropped their membership, and at least one donor has ended financial support of the not-for-profit museum. This was never intended to be derisive, mocking or disrespectful of the pope, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted museum Board of Trustees President Don Layden as saying. It was to have a conversation about AIDS and AIDS education. And my hope is when the piece appears in the museum that will be the focus of the discussion. The museum announced the acquisition of the piece earlier this month. But it won t go on display until this fall because the museum s permanent collection galleries are currently closed for renovation.The $31-million renovation project is being done in partnership with Milwaukee County, which committed $10 million to repair and restore two of the museum s buildings.Membership is the primary source of revenue for the museum.Via: CNS News | 1real |
Puerto Rico governor says he wants to improve, not 'destroy,' PREPA restructuring | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello said on Monday he does not want to “destroy” the pending debt restructuring deal for the island’s ailing power utility, but wants to “get a better one” as the U.S. territory’s fiscal situation worsens. Rossello said in an interview that he was invited to Washington for a U.S. congressional hearing on March 22 to discuss the fate of Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, also known as PREPA. The new governor said he is aware that his unwillingness to rubber-stamp the existing deal, whereby PREPA’s creditors would take a 15 percent cut on their $8 billion in debt, has vexed stakeholders who thought they were close to a resolution. But Puerto Rico’s financial picture has deteriorated since the deal was first struck, the governor said, adding that he is willing to renegotiate within the existing framework. “If I didn’t care, I would have just blown the deal up,” Rossello told Reuters. “I’m not here to destroy a deal, I’m here to get a better one, based on the reality that things have changed.” PREPA’s fate is one of the most contentious issues on an island facing $70 billion in debt. It was a focal point at Monday’s public meeting in New York of the island’s federally appointed financial oversight board. During the meeting, the oversight board approved Rossello’s revised blueprint to steer the island out of economic crisis. [nL2N1GQ0TY]. The board voiced support for Rossello’s efforts to extract deeper concessions from PREPA creditors. They have grumbled privately that his opposition to the deal is political since it dates back more than a year to his predecessor’s time in office. The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources said it would hold a hearing on the status of the deal. Rossello said he “received an invitation” to the hearing. “I’ll be there,” he said, but would not say if he had been subpoenaed. Rossello also discussed austerity measures ordered by the board as conditions for its approval of the fiscal plan, including reducing pension spending by 10 percent. The governor said he would not cut benefits to the island’s most vulnerable retirees. “The board and I are a little over $100 million apart there... and I don’t see any way I can reduce pensions of people already having a hard time getting medications and things,” he said. Rossello believes the island will avoid other austerity measures including furloughs and cuts to Christmas bonuses that the board has directed the utility to impose if it cannot find another $200 million to shore up its accounts by April 30. “I’m very confident we’ll have $200 million in reserve cash, so that we can jump over that obstacle,” he said. | 0fake |
Netanyahu: Obama's Iranian Nuclear Deal Worse Than Israel Feared | Israel has mounted what it terms an "uphill battle" against an agreement that might ease sanctions on the Iranians while leaving them with a nuclear infrastructure with bomb-making potential. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
"This deal, as it appears to be emerging, bears out all of our fears, and even more than that," Netanyahu told his cabinet in Jerusalem as the United States, five other world powers and Iran worked toward a March 31 deadline in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Noting advances made by Iranian-allied forces in Yemen and other Arab countries, Netanyahu accused the Islamic republic of trying to "conquer the entire Middle East" while moving toward nuclearization.
"The Iran-Lausanne-Yemen axis is very dangerous to humanity, and must be stopped," he said.
Netanyahu's campaigning against the nuclear negotiations crested on March 3 with his speech to the U.S. Congress at the invitation of its Republican speaker, John Boehner, that angered President Barack Obama and many fellow Democrats.
The right-wing prime minister, who won a fourth term in a March 17 election, said on Sunday he had spoken to senior U.S. lawmakers from both parties "and heard from them about the steadfast, strong and continuous bipartisan support for Israel".
Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli official who has been spearheading efforts to lobby world powers against the Iran deal, voiced cautious hope that the negotiations would collapse as they have in the past.
"We may still have a chance. We are not alone. There are still great doubts in the United States as well as in France, even in England," Steinitz told Israel Radio, referring to disputes with Iran over the scope of nuclear projects it might be allowed to retain.
But Steinitz said Israel, which is not a party to the talks and whose hardline demands have not been welcomed in Western capitals, was in an "uphill battle".
Another senior Israeli official, Security Cabinet Minister Gilad Erdan, saw a "good chance" of the powers and Iran reaching a framework deal by the Tuesday deadline, after which they would turn to the end-of-June target date for a comprehensive accord - a final stretch in which more counter-lobbying could be mounted.
"This is not over yet. There's the Congress, and also the players involved in the negotiations themselves have not agreed on all terms," Erdan told Israel's Army Radio. "There is still a great amount of room in which to operate diplomatically before the final accord." | 0fake |
‘Piece Of Sh*t’: GOP Senator Immediately Regrets Trolling Bernie Sanders Over Trumpcare | The Republican healthcare plan is a travesty and the numbers don t lie. Sen. Orrin Hatch does, though. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted on Thursday, Let us be clear and this is not trying to be overly dramatic: Thousands of people will die if the Republican health care bill becomes law. Sanders is correct but he s being stingy with his numbers. Actually, tens of thousands of our country s neediest will die if Trumpcare becomes law and all because Republicans want to gift the wealthy with a tax cut.Let us be clear and this is not trying to be overly dramatic: Thousands of people will die if the Republican health care bill becomes law. Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) June 23, 2017Medicaid saves lives and that s a fact that Hatch refuses to acknowledge. The Utah Senator responded to Sanders accurate tweet, saying, The brief time when we were *not* accusing those we disagree with of murder was nice while it lasted. The brief time when we were *not* accusing those we disagree with of murder was nice while it lasted. https://t.co/qr1rzon1cg Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) June 23, 2017When was that brief time, Orrin? Was it when Sarah Palin called Obamacare the death panels then when the Affordable Care Act became law, lives were saved. Trumpcare assures death to thousands of vulnerable Americans.Twitter users reacted swiftly to Hatch s tweet.Well you could stop trying to actively murder us while you line your pockets. Just see how that works out for public discourse. Dennis Perkins (@DennisPerkins5) June 24, 2017it is an unavoidable fact that people are going to die if this bill passes you useless cynical octogenarian piece of shit joe mande (@JoeMande) June 24, 2017 in this house we declare orrin hatch is a murderer David Kaib (@DavidKaib) June 24, 2017can we accuse you of trying to bankrupt people, then? Because that is also true Greg Olear (@gregolear) June 24, 2017Have you guys considered not trying to pass laws that will kill people? Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) June 24, 2017hey man. fellow verified account here. i can cuss at you without being banned so here goes: you are a crap person, mister! Virgil Texas (@virgiltexas) June 24, 2017But if thousands will die as a result, what do you call it, Senator? "A good tax cut?" HarleyPeyton (@HarleyPeyton) June 24, 2017Death panels, anyone? Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) June 24, 2017Stop trying to kill people then dickhead dan (@dannolan) June 24, 2017Stop trying to murder poor people Steve Schreiber (@sschreiber13) June 24, 2017fuck you. im putting you in the toilet you old bitch. fuck you jesse farrar (@BronzeHammer) June 24, 2017Vote no on the murder bill, Senator David Greenwald (@davidegreenwald) June 24, 2017Hey quick question who came up with "death panels" Victoria McNally (@vqnerdballs) June 24, 2017How rude of us to point out the fact that Trumpcare will kill thousands of us and wreck countless other lives. We must mind our manners. Lawrence Glickman (@LarryGlickman) June 24, 2017Well, we mustn't make our precious senators feel sad. That would be the greatest crime of all, apparently. Kevin Gannon (@TheTattooedProf) June 24, 2017You're a fucking murderer dude. Make peace with it. Prolific Jezzer ? (@leducviolet) June 24, 2017Healthcare is literally life and death. Life and death language utterly applies. Matt Debenham (@debenham) June 24, 2017You're a repulsive liar who cares about nothing but money. Fuck you for hurting the American people, you soulless fucking monster. beth ??? (@bourgeoisalien) June 24, 2017how can you stand being you 2ND AMENDMENT MUSLIM (@2dAmMuslim) June 24, 2017Obamacare is not perfect but Republicans insisted on a watered-down version before it passed and now we re left with a healthcare system that needs to be fixed but not eradicated. Some conservatives think that the GOP health care plan isn t cruel enough. We disagree with conservatives. This proposal to repeal Obamacare is cruel enough already. If it becomes law, it will destroy families, financially and emotionally. Sanders never mentioned the word murder in his tweet so we suspect that Hatch has a guilty conscience.As former Vice-President Joe Biden put it, Slashing Medicaid hurts kids, the elderly, people with disabilities and those struggling with addiction. All for tax breaks for the wealthy. Hatch already knows this. The opioid crisis is sweeping across the U.S. and Republicans want to target a program which would help some drug addicts eventually become useful citizens in this country. By the way, the Senator s state ranks 4th in overdose deaths.Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images. | 1real |
WATCH: Scottie Nell Hughes Calls Clinton A Bigot For Speaking Out Against Racism | On Sunday, Scottie Nell Hughes joined a panel discussion on CNN s Reliable Sources where the Trump campaign surrogate defended Donald Trump s characterization of his Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton as a bigot. The justification for the label? Clinton is prejudiced against the racist faction of Trump s base.Most of the conversation surrounded the Trump campaigns hiring of Steve Bannon as his campaign CEO. Bannon is officially on a temporary leave from his position as the executive chairman for the reactionary (often dubbed as the alt-right ) right-wing media site, Breitbart. The site caters to an audience that would probably consider Fox News to be a liberal propaganda network.MTV News host, Jamil Smith said during the panel discussion that he considers Breitbart to support white supremacy and racism. I would say that [Breitbart is] part of the white supremacist machine. They are trying to make sure these views become mainstream. And I think, through Trump, they are finding a way to do that. Trump has faced waves of criticism for the move to hire Bannon from Clinton, the left, and even some members of the right. To which Trump referred to Clinton as a bigot for doing so. Here s Hughes justification for the use of the term: Bigotry, if you look at the definition, it s about someone who s small-minded and sits there and directs hate towards a certain group. Hillary Clinton s speech was all about hate towards a group that, while my fellow counterpart might consider them to be very racist, it s the exact opposite. At that point, Hughes dives hot-head first into one of her just this side of unhinged rants, claiming that just because a section of Breitbart s readers are white supremacists, doesn t mean they all are.Smith, apparently noticing that Hughes doesn t understand what he said at all clarifies his position: What they present is the view of the white supremacist mentality through their coverage. It s not necessarily saying, Well, everyone who works there is a white supremacist. I don t know that. Smith continues, finalizing his thoughts, The point is to say, what kind of viewpoint did they reflect? And it s undeniable that they reflect a white supremacist view if you looked over their coverage over the last several years. I would consider being called a bigot against white supremacists and those who promote it a badge of honor, as I m sure most people would. In the mind of a Trump campaign surrogate, that s a valid line of attack.You can watch the segment below.Featured image from video screenshot | 1real |
'America Has Lost' in the Philippines as Duterte Calls for Alliance with Russia and China - Pepe Escobar | Media skeptic 'America Has Lost' in the Philippines as Duterte Calls for Alliance with Russia and China
'Maybe I will also go to Russia and talk to Putin, and tell him there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines, and Russia' Strategic Culture Foundation
«Your honors, in this venue I announce my separation from the United States… both in military and economics also».
Thus Philippines President Rodrigo «The Punisher» Duterte unleashed a geopolitical earthquake encompassing Eurasia and reverberating all across the Pacific Ocean.
And talk about choosing his venue with aplomb; right in the heart of the Rising Dragon, no less.
Capping his state visit to Beijing, Duterte then coined the mantra – pregnant with overtones - that will keep ringing all across the global South; «America has lost».
And if that was not enough, he announced a new alliance – Philippines, China and Russia – is about to emerge; «there are three of us against the world».
Predictably, the Beltway establishment in the «indispensable nation» went bananas, reacting as «puzzled» or in outright anger, dispersing the usual expletives on the «crude populist», «unhinged leader» .
The bottom line is that it takes a lot of balls for the leader of a poor, developing country, in Southeast Asia or elsewhere, to openly defy the hyperpower. Yet what Duterte is gaming at is pure realpolitik; if he prevails, he will be able to deftly play the US against China to the benefit of Filipino interests.
«The springtime of our relationship»
It did start with a bang; during Duterte’s China visit, Manila inked no less than $13 billion in deals with Beijing – from trade and investment to drug control, maritime security and infrastructure.
Beijing pulled out all stops to make Duterte feel welcomed.
President Xi Jinping suggested Manila and Beijing should «temporarily put aside» the intractable South China Sea disputes and learn from the «political wisdom» of history – as in give space to diplomatic talks. After all, the two peoples were «blood-linked brothers».
Duterte replied in kind; «Even as we arrive in Beijing close to winter, this is the springtime of our relationship,» he told Xi at the Great Hall of the People.
China is already the Philippines’ second-largest trade partner, behind Japan, the US and Singapore. Filipino exports to these three are at roughly 42.7 percent of the total, compared to 22.1 to China / Hong Kong. Imports from China are roughly 16.1 percent of the total. Even as trade with China is bound to rise, what really matters for Duterte is massive Chinese infrastructure investment.
What this will mean in practice is indeed ground-breaking; the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will definitely be involved in Philippine economic development; Manila will be more involved in promoting smooth China-ASEAN relations in all sorts of regional issues (it takes the rotating chair of ASEAN in 2017); and the Philippines will be more integrated in the New Silk Roads, a.k.a. One Belt, One Road (OBOR).
Three strikes; no wonder the US is out. And there’s even a fourth strike, embedded in Duterte’s promise that
he will soon end military cooperation with the US, despite the opposition of part of the Filipino armed forces.
Watch the First Island Chain
The build-up had already been dramatic enough. On the eve of his meeting with Xi, talking to members of the Filipino community in Beijing, Duterte said, «it’s time to say goodbye» to the US; «I will not ask but if they (the Chinese) offer and if they’ll ask me, do you need this aid? [I will say] Of course, we are very poor».
Then the clincher; «I will not go to America anymore … We will just be insulted there».
The US was the colonial power in the Philippines from 1899 to 1942. Hollywood permeates the collective unconscious. English is the lingua franca – side by side with tagalog. But the tentacles of Uncle Sam’s «protection» racket are not exactly welcomed. Two of the largest components of the US Empire of Bases were located for decades in the Philippines; Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Naval Base.
Clark, occupying 230 square miles, with 15,000 people, was busy to death during the Vietnam War – the main hub for men and hardware in and out of Saigon. Then it turned into one of those Pentagon «forward operating» HQs. Subic, occupying 260 square miles, was as busy as Clark. It was the forward operating base for the US 7th Fleet.
Already in 1987, before the end of the Cold War, the RAND corporation was alarmed by the loss of both bases; that would be «devastating for regional security». Devastating» in the – mythical - sense of «defending the interests of ASEAN» and the «security of the sea-lanes».
Translation; the Pentagon and the US Navy would lose a key instrument of pressure over ASEAN, as protecting the «security of the sea-lanes» was always the key justification for those bases.
And lose they eventually did; Clark was closed down in November 1991, and Subic in November 199
It took years for China to sense an opening – and profit from it; after all during the 1990s and the early 2000s, the absolute priority was breakneck speed internal development. But then Beijing did the math; no more US bases opened untold vistas as far as the First Island Chain is concerned.
The First Island Chain is a product, over millennia, of the fabulous tectonic forces of the Ring of Fire; a chain of islands running from southern Japan in the north to Borneo in the south. For Beijing, they work as a sort of shield for the Chinese eastern seaboard; if this chain is secure, Asia is secure.
For all practical purposes, Beijing considers the First Island Chain as a non-negotiable Western Pacific demarcation zone – ideally with no foreign (as in US) interference. The South China Sea – which in parts is characterized by Manila as the Western Philippine Sea - is inside the First Island Chain. So to really secure the First Island Chain, the South China Sea must be free of foreign interference.
And here we are plunged at the heart of arguably the key 21st century hotspot in Asian geopolitics – the main reason for the Obama administration’s pivot to Asia.
The US Navy so far counted on the Philippines to oppose the proverbial, hyped up «Chinese aggression» in the South China and East China seas. The neocon/neoliberalcon industrial-military complex fury against «unhinged» Duterte’s game-changer is that containing China and ruling over the First Island Chain has been at the core of US naval strategy since the beginning of the Cold War.
Beijing, meanwhile, will have all the time needed to polish its strategic environment. This has nothing to do with «freedom of navigation» and protecting sea-lanes; everyone needs South China Sea cross-trade. It’s all about China - perhaps within the next ten years - being able to deny «access» to the US Navy in the South China Sea and inside the First Island Chain.
Duterte’s game-changing «America has lost» is just a new salvo in arguably the key 21st century geopolitical thriller. A Supreme Court justice in Manila, for instance, has warned Duterte that, were he to give up sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal, he could be impeached. That won’t happen; Duterte wants loads of Chinese trade and investment, not abdicate from sovereignty. He’d rather be ready to confront being demonized by the hyperpower as much as the late Hugo Chavez was in his heyday. | 1real |
Only one in seven Catalan see dispute with Madrid ending in independence: poll | MADRID (Reuters) - Just one in seven people from Catalonia believe the current standoff between Barcelona and Madrid will end in independence for the region while more than two thirds think the process has been bad for the economy, a survey showed on Monday. Spain s central government took control of the region after local leaders staged a poll on secession, slated as illegal by the Constitutional Court, and then passed a unilateral declaration of independence through the parliament. In response, Spain s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy fired the government, stripped the region of its autonomous status and called a regional election for Dec. 21. On Sunday, the first part of the GAD3 survey showed that pro-independence parties would win the election but may not gain the parliamentary majority needed to continue with secession. Fifteen percent said they believed the process would end in an independent state, according to part two of survey of 1,233 people conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 3 and published in La Vanguard newspaper on Monday. Optimism that a negotiated solution would be found was low, with just over a fifth thinking the crisis would lead to talks between regional authorities and Madrid. The push for independence has dragged Spain in to its worst political crisis since its return to democracy four decades ago and has deeply divided the country, fuelling anti-Spanish feelings in Catalonia and nationalist tendencies elsewhere. The uncertainty has prompted more than 2,000 companies to relocate their legal headquarters out of the region since Oct. 1, while the Bank of Spain said if the conflict persists it could lead to slower growth and job creation. According to the poll, 67 percent said they believed the process had hurt the economy and almost 40 percent said the company exodus would have a negative affect on growth in the short term. | 0fake |
Sieben Sprachen in nur vier Jahren: Ist Bella ein Wunderkind? | Окт 5 2016 в 5:26 PDT
Mit zwei Jahren konnte Bella kurze Sätze bilden und in drei Sprachen schnell lesen. Kurz vor ihrem dritten Geburtstag fügten ihre Eltern Chinesisch zum Ausbildungsprogramm hinzu. Laut Julia zeigte ihre Tochter ein großes Interesse an der neuen Sprache und wollte selbst Cartoons auf Chinesisch schauen.
Mit drei Jahren und zwei Monaten lernte Bella mit Begeisterung Spanisch und Deutsch, aber nicht nur: Nebenbei tanzte sie, spielte Geige und sang. Später kam noch die arabische Sprache hinzu. Damals wie heute geht Bella spazieren, spielt Verstecken und liest normale Kinderbücher –in verschiedenen Sprachen. Grundsätzlich haben Spiele einen wichtigen Platz in ihrem Lernprozess.
Die kleine Bella verbringt ihre Zeit mit Reisen mit Muttersprachlern, besucht eine englischsprachige Theatergruppe, hat Malunterricht auf Französisch, Tanzunterricht auf Spanisch und lernt Eiskunstlauf mit einem deutschen Muttersprachler. Außerdem organisieren ihre Eltern für sie Sprachunterricht mit ihren Freunden, die genauso mehrsprachig aufwachsen. Sprachen lernen ist gut für das Gehirn Авг 25 2016 в 10:32 PDT
Wissenschaftler fanden heraus, dass die Fähigkeit, verschiedene Sprachen zu sprechen und zwischen ihnen zu wechseln, von unterschiedlichen Gehirnarealen abhängt. Sie werden je nach phonetischen Sprachmerkmalen, der Grammatik, Vorstellungen und sogar der Tonalität der Aussprache aktiv.
„Jede neue Erfahrung führt dazu, dass unser Gehirn neue Nervenverbindungen herstellt”, erklärt Psychologin Tatjana Djatschenko. „Der für unser Gedächtnis zuständige Hippocampus stimuliert das Wachstum von neuen Neuronen. Dadurch wachsen wortwörtlich einige Gehirnareale.“
„Die Mehrsprachigkeit wirkt sich positiv auf die allgemeine Entwicklung des Kindes aus, obwohl es manchmal Sprachentwicklungsstörungen im frühen Alter verursachen kann. Dies tritt bei Kindern, die einsprachig aufwachsen, seltener auf”, sagt Kira Iwanowa, Mitarbeiterin des Instituts für linguistische Studien der Russischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Sprachunterricht im frühen Alter sei jedoch keine Garantie dafür, dass ein Kind diese Sprache später gut beherrschen werde, erklärt Maria Molina, wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin des Instituts für Sprachwissenschaften der Russischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. “Ich kenne ein Beispiel: Eine Mutter hat mit ihrem Sohn nur Englisch gesprochen, bis er drei Jahre alt wurde. Dieser Junge kann derzeit nicht einmal sein Pensum in einer ganz normalen Schule schaffen.” | 1real |
A Shopping Mall at Ground Zero, Uninformed by Its Sacred Land - The New York Times | “The advice that I would give to people today, if they’re home from work, is to — is to go about a normal day,” Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani said on Sept. 12, 2001. “Take the day as an opportunity to go shopping, be with your children. Do things. Get out. Don’t feel — don’t feel locked in. ” Go shopping. Mr. Giuliani’s counsel on the day after a terrorist attack killed 2, 753 people in Lower Manhattan was quickly stripped of context and turned into caricature — retail as opiate. When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping. I don’t think he meant that shopping would solve the problems of a city struggling to awaken from an unparalleled nightmare. But it was the first thing that came to his mind. The role of retailing at ground zero came to mind again last week on my first visit to the Westfield World Trade Center shopping mall, which opened in August. The experience was at once heartening and dispiriting. Heartening, because Santiago Calatrava’s soaring Oculus now teems with people. The cantilevered “diving boards” over the great hall have instantly become downtown’s version of the crowded balconies at Grand Central Terminal, the ideal spot to take that perfectly symmetrical architectural panorama. (With a selfie in the bargain.) Things will only get livelier when subway stations are opened at either end of the hall, and the Oculus grows into its role as a transit corridor. Dispiriting, because there is little to suggest that Westfield World Trade Center occupies consecrated ground. Apart from the bravura of Mr. Calatrava’s design, and the marble floors, this mall could be just about anywhere. And unlike the mall of the original trade center, there seems to be no place yet to get your shoes shined or a key copied. It was also dispiriting because I could have seen this coming years ago. As a reporter, I failed to pay enough attention to the role played by Westfield America in the redevelopment. That left me susceptible to the official line that the Oculus was a transportation center with shops appended. It is now clear that the Oculus is — and was always intended to be — a shopping mall with an ancillary transportation purpose. Lynne B. Sagalyn’s new book, “Power at Ground Zero: Politics, Money and the Remaking of Lower Manhattan,” lays out some clues I neglected. Westfield had big ideas for a trade center mall years before the attack. The company is a shopping center operator founded by Frank P. Lowy and based in Australia. Its American arm was the partner of Silverstein Properties, which signed a contract with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in April 2001 to take over the trade center. Westfield looked at the expansive trade center plaza and the already profitable underground mall, and dreamed greater dreams, Ms. Sagalyn wrote: “150, 000 square feet of additional shopping space created by raising the plaza one level, opening up the concourse with a grand entrance to bring light into the underground areas, and making better connections with ramps and staircases to provide access to the new level. ” Silverstein and Westfield remained the leaseholders after the trade center was destroyed. Though city planners sought to recreate the street grid that had been obliterated by the original trade center, Westfield was adamantly opposed. “Frank Lowy had built his mall empire on the highly successful model of the suburban center the design of this prototype — large, undivided pedestrian spaces without passing cars and trucks — was totally oriented to making it as easy as possible for consumers to spend money,” Ms. Sagalyn wrote. Westfield pulled out of the project in September 2003 but paid $1 million for an option to return. “Nothing had changed about the company’s ambition to control the retail opportunity in one of the country’s most valuable locations,” Ms. Sagalyn wrote. Four months later, Mr. Calatrava’s design for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub was unveiled. The mezzanine level was the working heart of the PATH commuter railroad terminal. But the birdlike shell between Church and Greenwich Streets — now known as the Oculus — was what captured the city’s imagination. And that is where the Port Authority intended to accommodate many of the trade center stores. “The Transportation Hub offered exceptionally good retail space with strong profit potential,” Ms. Sagalyn noted. Westfield returned and eventually put $2 billion into the project, Ms. Sagalyn said. The Oculus structure, built by the Port Authority, cost $483 million out of the overall $4 billion budget for the hub. On Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the attack will be marked with a solemn ceremony at the trade center. This is Westfield’s first chance to show itself as a corporate citizen there. “Due to the sensitive nature of the day,” Westfield told its tenants in a recent letter, “we’re recommending to our retailers — in part based upon guidance from our community partners — that they not open for business until the conclusion of the ceremony at approximately 12:30 p. m. This is 90 minutes after our traditional open hours on Sundays. ” Last week, I canvassed 50 of the 60 tenants currently at the trade center. Of the 21 that responded to an email inquiry, 19 — including Apple, Breitling, Charles Tyrwhitt, Fossil, John Varvatos, Kate Spade, Kiehl’s, Kit and Ace, L. K. Bennett, Moleskine, Sephora, Sugarfina and Thomas Sabo — said they would honor the request. Two other stores, COS and House of Samsonite, said they would not open until 1 p. m. The John Varvatos store said it would donate 20 percent of the day’s sale proceeds to the Tribute Center. Westfield also plans to turn the enormous LED advertising billboards in the concourses over to video programming by the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. The restraint is commendable. I’m not certain it suffices for the magnitude of the moment. But it certainly hews to Mr. Giuliani’s suggestion, made long ago. | 0fake |
OBAMA GIVES FINAL THOUGHTS On Trump Presidency: He’s ‘a Comma’ in ‘the Story of Building America’ | The Obama family ended their eight-year residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue on Friday, as the former first couple bid a temporary farewell to the nation s capital following Donald Trump s swearing-in ceremony.The Obamas stood with President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, before walking down in unison toward a Marine helicopter. The two couples exchanged pleasantries, before the Obamas boarded the helicopter for the quick hop to Joint Base Andrews, where daughters Malia and Sasha awaited along with the Air Force jet that, for the next four years, will only be known as Air Force One when Trump is on board.Barack Obama addressed the crowd after their arrival at Andrews, and joked that Michelle and I, we ve really been milking this goodbye thing, so it behooves me to be very brief. He then circled back to his campaign message of hope: Throughout it was infused with a sense of hope It wasn t blind optimism that drove you to do all this work, it wasn t naivet it was hope in the face of difficulty. It was hope in the face of uncertainty. This is just a little pit stop. This is not a period, this is a comma. In the continuing story of building America, he added later.Via: People | 1real |
BREAKING Fraudulent Clinton Votes Discovered By The “Tens Of Thousands
| Election officials in Franklin County, Ohio are reportedly stumped over what one maintenance worker found in a dilapidated downtown Columbus warehouse earlier this week.
According to sources, Randall Prince, a Columbus-area electrical worker, was doing a routine check of his companies wiring and electrical systems when he stumbled across approximately one dozen black, sealed ballot boxes filled with thousands of Franklin County votes for Hillary Clinton and other Democrat candidates.
No one really goes in this building. Its mainly used for short-term storage by a commercial plumber, Prince said.
So when Prince, who is a Trump supporter, saw several black boxes in an otherwise empty room, he went to investigate. What he found could allegedly be evidence of a massive operation designed to deliver Clinton the crucial swing state.
Early voting does not begin in Ohio until October 12, so no votes have officially been castin the Buckeye state. However, inside these boxes were, what one source described as, potentially tens of thousands of votes for Hillary Clinton.
Christian Times Newspaper has not yet been able to obtain a photocopy of one of the ballots found inside the box, but an affiliate in Ohio passed along a replica of what was found. | 1real |
HERE YOU GO! TRUMP CONDEMNS DAVID DUKE…Calls Him A “Bigot” and A “Racist” [Video] | Following the situation in Charlottesville, Trump was one of the very few people to call out all sides for displays of violence and bigotry: white supremacists, black supremacists, Communists, and Antifa. In short, this flurry of frustration was far from one-sided.Amidst all of the chaos, David Duke tried to link Trump to the bigotry and violence that was present in Charlottesville. This is certainly interesting considering the fact that Trump called Duke out on his own bigotry nearly seventeen years ago. In an interview with Matt Lauer in 2000, Trump condemned Duke while being questioned about his reasons for dropping out of the Reform Party primary.Trump attributed the party s self-destructing nature to the people involved with it, specifically Duke. When pressed on this matter by Lauer, Trump responded, Well, you ve got David Duke just joined, a bigot, a racist, a problem, I mean, this is not exactly the people you want in your party. Further proof that Trump is never afraid to call a spade a spade, or a racist a racist.Read more: The Gateway Pundit | 1real |
BEST SUMMARY Yet Of The Shocking Clinton Uranium One Scandal From The Beginning | There s so much to know in order to understand just how bad the Uranium One scandal is to what s happening now with the Fake Russia probe by Comey. Once you understand the connections and the details of it, you realize it s HUGE!It s not just the Clinton grifters but Obama, the FBI and the DOJ!And at the heart of it is not just the greedy, grasping Clintons, but the Obama Administration, the FBI and the DOJ.Andrew McCarthy does a masterful job of breaking down the entire scandal from beginning until now.McCarthy breaks it all down for you.You ll be shocked to know that the same people investigating the phony Trump/Russia collusion were aware of the Uranium One scam AND even helped to cover it up! Here s just a little of what Andy McCarthy explains to us in his summary:Here s the kicker: The Uranium One scandal is not only, or even principally, a Clinton scandal. It is an Obama-administration scandal.The Clintons were just doing what the Clintons do: cashing in on their public service. The Obama administration, with Secretary Clinton at the forefront but hardly alone, was knowingly compromising American national-security interests. The administration green-lighted the transfer of control over one-fifth of American uranium-mining capacity to Russia, a hostile regime and specifically to Russia s state-controlled nuclear-energy conglomerate, Rosatom. Worse, at the time the administration approved the transfer, it knew that Rosatom s American subsidiary was engaged in a lucrative racketeering enterprise that had already committed felony extortion, fraud, and money-laundering offenses.This next part is even worse:The Obama administration also knew that congressional Republicans were trying to stop the transfer. Consequently, the Justice Department concealed what it knew. DOJ allowed the racketeering enterprise to continue compromising the American uranium industry rather than commencing a prosecution that would have scotched the transfer. Prosecutors waited four years before quietly pleading the case out for a song, in violation of Justice Department charging guidelines. Meanwhile, the administration stonewalled Congress, reportedly threatening an informant who wanted to go public.Read more here: Andy McCarthyOnce you read the entire summary you ll know just how bad this entire scandal is and how the Obama administration covered it all up. | 1real |
KELLYANNE CONWAY Destroys CBS Anchor In Discussion On Russian Hacking [Video] | 1real | |
Preliminary Approval Given to $208.7 Million NCAA Settlement - Breitbart | About 40, 000 college football and basketball players will not need to submit a claim to receive a portion of the $208. 7 million the NCAA will pay to settle a federal lawsuit that claimed the value of their athletic scholarships was illegally capped. [U. S. District Judge Claudia Wilken in California gave preliminary approval Tuesday to the settlement that was agreed upon by the NCAA and plaintiffs in February. Hagens Berman, the law firm representing plaintiffs, says each eligible person will receive approximately $6, 500 and it can begin mailing notice to class members by July. “We’re grateful to the court for preliminarily approving this monumental settlement that will bring real change to the way the NCAA treats Division I players, and grateful to the players themselves for stepping up to the plate,” lead attorney Steve Berman said in a statement. Final approval of the settlement from Wilken is scheduled for November. The original antitrust lawsuit was filed in 2014 by former West Virginia football player Shawne Alston. The case was later combined with other lawsuits and covers Division I men’s and women’s basketball players and FBS football players who competed from and did not receive a stipend. “We are pleased the court has provided preliminary approval in a portion of the lawsuit,” Donald Remy, NCAA chief legal officer, said in a statement. “The judge’s decision allows us to begin steps toward providing class members funds up to, but not exceeding, their full cost of attendance. ” In January 2015, the five wealthiest college conferences — the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, and Southeastern Conference — passed NCAA legislation that allowed schools to increase the value of an athletic scholarship by several thousand dollars to the federally determined actual cost of attending a college or university. Cost of attendance includes expenses beyond tuition, room and board, books and fees. The settlement will be fully funded by NCAA reserves, the association has said. No school or conference will be required to contribute. | 0fake |
Donald Trump: 'I want surveillance of certain mosques' | (CNN) Donald Trump is ratcheting up his rhetoric about American Muslims, saying there's precedent for monitoring some mosques amid the recent terror wave.
At a Birmingham, Alabama, rally on Saturday -- which included a physical altercation between a black protester and several white Trump backers -- the 2016 Republican front-runner suggested law enforcement keep an eye on certain Islamic houses of worship which, in his view, could pose terrorist threats.
"I want surveillance of certain mosques if that's OK," Trump told the often-raucous and approving crowd. "We've had it before."
The remarks echo a call Trump made earlier in the week, when he said on MSNBC he'd "strongly consider" shutting down mosques in the U.S.
The billionaire businessman also linked current terrorist concerns, after the Paris carnage and other attacks, with 9/11.
"I watched the World Trade Center go down," Trump asserted, adding he watched in New Jersey, "as thousands of people were cheering as the building was coming down."
Trump then denounced calls to resettle Syrian refuges on U.S. soil, which his Republican rivals for the nomination also oppose.
"I want surveillance. I will absolutely take (a) database on the people coming in from Syria. "If we can't stop it -- but we are going to if I win -- they're going back."
Several attendees at the rally punched and kicked a protester who tried to disrupt Trump's speech.
At least a half-dozen attendees shoved and tackled the protester, a black man, to the ground as he refused to leave the event. At least one man punched the protester and a woman kicked him while he was on the ground.
All of the attendees who were involved in the physical altercation with the protester were white.
The protester appeared to be shouting "black lives matter" and later removed his sweatshirt to reveal a shirt with those words.
At least one attendee shouted "all lives matter" as the protester was eventually led out by police officers on the scene.
Birmingham Police Lt. Sean Edwards told CNN that three people were asked to leave the event following the scuffle. No arrests were made, and the protester did not require medical attention.
Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks told CNN that "the campaign does not condone this behavior."
Trump has fended off criticism recently that he was accused of backing a U.S. database on all Muslims in the country. Trump has denied making that remark but hasn't dismissed the idea out-of-hand.
The database controversy began Thursday when Trump told Yahoo News that he would create new anti-terrorism measures if he's elected.
"We're going to have to do things that we never did before. And some people are going to be upset about it, but I think that now everybody is feeling that security is going to rule," he told Yahoo News. "And certain things will be done that we never thought would happen in this country in terms of information and learning about the enemy. And so we're going to have to do certain things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago."
The Yahoo reporter asked about the possibility of a database for Muslims or "a form of special identification that noted their religion." Trump did not say no to either idea. Then, after an Iowa campaign event later that day, an NBC reporter asked Trump if he favored a database to track Muslims in the country. Trump responded in a way some took as backing that idea.
At Saturday's rally in Alabama, Trump said he decided not to answer once he heard the reporter identified as being with NBC News. | 0fake |
Ford tells Trump no Lincoln SUV production going to Mexico | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Ford Motor Co Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr told him the automaker would not move a Kentucky plant to Mexico, but the firm said it informed him the decision was to keep one vehicle in U.S. production. On Thursday, Trump posted on Twitter: “I worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky. I owed it to the great State of Kentucky for their confidence in me!” “He will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico,” the President-elect tweeted. But Ford has repeatedly said it has no plans to close any U.S. plants and likely could not do so under the terms of the current United Auto Workers contract that expires in 2019. This is not the first time Trump’s comments about Ford production have been called into question. Last year, he took credit for Ford moving work from Mexico to Ohio, while the automaker had already made the decision in 2011 - long before Trump announced a run for president. Spokeswoman Christin Baker said Ford “confirmed with the President-elect that our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly plant will stay in Kentucky”. “We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States,” she added, in a statement. The company builds both the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC SUV at its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky, which Trump refers to as the “Lincoln plant” and where Ford employs about 4,700 people. It also has a separate truck plant in Louisville, where it builds pickups and larger SUVs. It is not clear how many jobs would have been impacted if the low-selling MKC had moved to Mexico. Ford has sold about 20,000 MKC SUVs this year in the United States, compared with 258,000 Escape SUVs. Ford said last month it would suspend production of the Escape and MKC at its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky for two weeks because of low demand. In 2015, it told workers at the plant that it planned to phase out MKC production by 2019 and move it elsewhere. The U.S. No. 2 automaker is planning to move some small-car production south of the border. Ford has endured scathing criticism from Trump over its Mexican investments for nearly 18 months. He has said at times incorrectly that Ford planned to fire American workers because of its Mexican investments. During his presidential campaign, the Republican candidate also said that if elected he would not allow Ford to open a new plant in Mexico and would slap hefty tariffs on any Ford vehicles made there. A Trump spokeswoman did not immediately respond to questions about whether Ford’s decision to keep production of an SUV in the United States would cause him to drop plans to impose tariffs on some Ford vehicles built in Mexico. In April 2015, Ford said it planned to invest $2.5 billion to build two new plants in Mexico, adding 3,800 jobs in all. Earlier this year, Ford said it will invest a further $1.6 billion in Mexico for small-car production to start in 2018. In September, Ford confirmed that all of the company’s small-car production will leave U.S. plants and head to lower-cost Mexico by 2019, but no plants would be closed as a result. Ford has repeatedly said no U.S. jobs will be lost because of the move - and it will produce two new vehicles at a Detroit area plant that built the small cars. In October, Bill Ford said he had met with Trump to talk about his extensive attacks on Ford’s investments in Mexico. Ford said Trump’s criticism was “infuriating” and “frustrating” because of the company’s extensive investments and employment in the United States. | 0fake |
WATCH SEAN SPICER Slam Hillary With Great Sports Analogy On Election Loss: “Look, I’m a Patriots fan…” [Video] | Sean Spicer gave Hillary Clinton a little dig when he used the analogy of the Falcons vs Patriots game to explain the election last year. You ll love this! It s in response to Clinton s ridiculous claim that the press and Comey were to blame for her loss (see below). She needs to just go away! It s somewhat sad that we re still debating that the president won in the fashion he did Amen to that!The Media Research Center recently published a study showing that 91% of the coverage Donald Trump received during his campaign was considered negative or hostile .Was it even necessary to prove that almost all of candidate Trump s media coverage was negative or hostile compared to Hillary Clinton s? For the most part, the media mocked anyone who even suggested Hillary had a part in the Benghazi attack that took the lives of 4 innocent Americans. They ignored and even laughed at the brave victims who came forward and publicly accused Hillary of enabling her sexual predator husband, while referring to her as a champion of women and girls . The media did everything in their power to push Hillary s email scandal to the bottom of the news pile, but were finally forced to address it when FBI Director James Comey came forward and announced his investigation into her unsecured email server that was being used for official State Department business.After several months of keeping a pretty low profile, Hillary is coming out with excuses about why she lost the election. The timing is a bit suspicious however after an inside account of Hillary s disastrous campaign was just released by an insider who wrote a tell-all book titled Shattered that offers a less than charitable view of the real Hillary Clinton.Watch Hillary in her latest video, as she hilariously blames the press for losing the election:Here s the second part of Hillary s appearance where she tells the crowd she was on her way to victory until FBI Director James Comey ruined it for her:Politico In addition to receiving far more network coverage, the networks spent far more airtime focusing on the personal controversies involving Trump, such as his treatment of women, than controversies surrounding Clinton, such as her email practices or the Clinton Foundation.For the study, MRC analyzed all 588 evening news stories that either discussed or mentioned the presidential campaign on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts from July 29 through October 20 (including weekends). Of the total newscasts, the networks devoted 29 percent of their time to the campaign. The study did not include comments from the campaigns or candidates themselves, instead focusing on what the correspondents, anchors, expert commentators, and voters on the street said in order to try and hone in on any sort of slant from the networks.Though neither candidate was necessarily celebrated, Clinton largely just stayed out of the line of fire. Even when they were critical of Hillary Clinton for concealing her pneumonia, for example, or mischaracterizing the FBI investigation of her e-mail server network reporters always maintained a respectful tone in their coverage, the study found. This was not the case with Trump, who was slammed as embodying the politics of fear, or a dangerous and vulgar misogynistic bully who had insulted vast swaths of the American electorate. It doesn t really surprise me, I think most people got the sense that this was a hostile place for Trump, the establishment media, said Rich Noyes, director of research for the MRC. I would say looking at the big picture, the Trump campaign and to a lesser extent Republicans in general wanted this to be a referendum on Obama the Clinton campaign, the Democrats, once Trump was picked wanted this be a referendum on Donald Trump. Television news has for the past 12 weeks has been giving the Democrats the campaign they wanted. | 1real |
Rubio battles Cruz for Iowa edge | Killing Obama administration rules, dismantling Obamacare and pushing through tax reform are on the early to-do list. | 0fake |
ABC NEWS Gets DESTROYED On Twitter For Waiting Several Hours To Admit They Got Major Detail In Flynn Story Wrong…#FakeNewsABC | After ABC News broke the General Flynn-Trump story, the stock market began its freefall, Americans were stunned by the news, and the media, who s been searching for blood in the water since Trump s inauguration, was in a feeding frenzy over the prospect of President Trump being caught directing General Flynn to meet with the Russians when he was actively campaigning. As it turns out, ABC News got it wrong. But no worries, several hours later, they clarified how the story should have read ABC News major report on Michael Flynn and President Trump s direction on reaching out to the Russians has been corrected. Hours later. And Twitter is ripping the network over it.Per multiple reports earlier, Brian Ross report that Flynn is expected to testify Trump directed him to meet with Russians as a candidate was followed minutes later by a drop in the stock market.But as Ross clarified on World News Tonight (video here), it was as President-elect, not as a candidate, and that is kind of a major difference. MediaiteABC News also tweeted out a clarification and deleted its earlier tweet:CLARIFICATION of ABC News Special Report: Flynn prepared to testify that President-elect Donald Trump directed him to make contact with the Russians *during the transition* initially as a way to work together to fight ISIS in Syria, confidant now says. https://t.co/ewrkVZBTbc pic.twitter.com/GQAKwT1Eda ABC News (@ABC) December 2, 2017Twitter users responded to the clarification by ABC News, who should NEVER have gotten this story wrong in the first place. Jim VandeHei, CEO and co-founder of Axio slammed ABC for moving the markets and setting off a frenzy with their massive mistake:Astonishing. The story moved markets, set off a media frenzy, suggested worst possible outcome. This is called a massive correction, or retraction, not clarification. https://t.co/uVUamf4jYY Jim VandeHei (@JimVandeHei) December 2, 2017Associate editor of the Daily Caller reminded ABC News that their clarification was actually a huge correction. That's a huge correction https://t.co/EIMaE0EkGu Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) December 1, 2017David Rubin reminded ABC News why no one trusts them anymore: Reason nobody trusts the mainstream media 14,761 .Reason nobody trusts the mainstream media 14,761 https://t.co/1RQ7FRbava Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) December 2, 2017Twitter user Echo Lew called out ABC News for blaming their source and not Brian Ross, their reckless reporter who actually made the mistake:Blame it on a source and not your reckless reporter @BrianRoss 'on air' tremendous mistake. Echo Lew (@PhinsnNoles) December 2, 2017ABC News has apparently earned a new name to go along with their acronym.ABC Always Broadcasting Crap BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) December 2, 2017And then, finally, Twitter user Jake Blum called ABC News out for reporting fake news :This is so incredibly irresponsible and reckless. Sowing damage to the legitimacy of our government. Hard for you all to push back on the fake news label when this is so damn common. Jake Blum (@RealJakeBlum) December 2, 2017 | 1real |
Republicans push ahead with tax bill as Democrats sharpen attacks | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers on Monday began revising their proposed overhaul of the U.S. tax code, as Democrats pointed to the loss of popular deductions as proof the legislation was an assault on the middle class. A draft bill unveiled last week by Republicans in the House of Representatives, if enacted, would be the biggest restructuring of the tax system since the 1980s and the first major legislative victory of the Trump presidency. One of the first changes agreed to on Monday, related to carried interest, would go toward fulfilling one of President Donald Trump’s campaign promises. Republican Representative Kevin Brady, chairman of the House tax-writing panel, offered to make smaller portions of Wall Street financiers’ income eligible for a lower capital gains tax rate. It was one of many revisions that are expected as the House Ways and Means Committee amends the tax bill. Brady pledged to lawmakers that they would have a chance to propose their own changes. “Let me assure you this is the beginning of the tax reform process,” he told the committee. Although Republicans generally support the bill’s broader themes, including a sharp cut in the corporate income tax, there are rumblings of dissent over other elements, including repeal of the deduction for state and local income tax (SALT) payments. New York, California and other high-tax states would be hard hit by the removal of that deduction, a fact seized upon by Democrats to bolster their argument that Trump’s plan is a gift to the wealthiest Americans and the corporate sector. “There are a lot of people expecting a tax cut who will be big losers under this bill,” Representative Bill Pascrell of New Jersey, a Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, said as the tax-writing panel convened to consider the bill. An analysis of how taxpayers would be impacted by the bill from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center issued on Monday was later withdrawn due to an error. TPC said that its analysis contained an error related to a proposed child tax credit and that it would release a revised version as soon as possible. The White House argues that tax cuts are needed to boost economic growth and create jobs. The linchpin of the plan is the reduction of the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent and establishment of a 25 percent tax rate for “pass through” businesses, which currently pay income tax rates as high as 39.6 percent. With Democrats united in opposition to the plan, Republican defections from a few traditionally Democratic-leaning states could be enough to torpedo it in the House. Brady has already agreed to retain the deduction for property tax payments up to a cap of $10,000 as part of a SALT compromise and has said he would be open to raising it. Brady’s carried interest provision would lengthen to more than three years from one the amount of time Wall Street financiers must hold assets in order to be eligible for a lower tax rate. Carried interest is a share of an investment fund’s profits – typically about 20 percent beyond the return guaranteed to investors – that goes to the general partners of private equity, venture capital and hedge funds. Under current law, high-income fund partners pay the long-term capital gains rate of 20 percent on their carried interest income, instead of the 39.6 percent individual tax rate that applies to the ordinary wage income of high earners. Securing congressional passage of the tax plan is critically important to Trump, who has yet to get major legislation through Congress since taking office in January, including a healthcare overhaul he promised as a candidate last year. Investors are adding to the pressure. The expectation of deep tax cuts has helped fuel a stock market rally during Trump's time as president, with the broad S&P 500 index .SPX up about 14 percent. The Senate, where Republicans have a 52-48 majority, is developing its own version of the tax legislation, which would have to eventually be reconciled with the House version before it is sent to Trump for signing. Several Republican senators have said they would have a problem voting for any tax bill that significantly increased the deficit. The House bill is projected to add $1.5 trillion over 10 years to the $20 trillion national debt. Fitch Ratings said on Monday that the House bill could add to the fiscal strain in some states and local jurisdictions by limiting their tax-raising flexibility. Republican leaders are pushing for the House to vote on a revised tax bill before the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Nov. 23. They have said a draft Senate bill could be ready at the end of this week. The Republican tax plan was devised without Democratic input. The last major tax restructuring, Republican former President Ronald Reagan’s 1986 overhaul, received significant input and support from Democrats. | 0fake |
ITALIANS FURIOUS! Have You Ever Dreamed Of Living FREE OF CHARGE In A 4-Star Seaside Resort In Italy?…Become A Refugee And You Can! | One short trip on a boat and this could be all yours! No papers required A group of local citizens from the Italian Island of Sicily have denounced a recent political decision to turn a 4-star seaside resort into the latest migrant welcome center, near the historic city of Agrigento. The hotel Capo Rossello Realmonte is located just a short distance from the Scala dei Turchi, or Turkish Steps, an unusual white, rocky cliff popular with tourists that has also been proposed for the UNESCO Heritage list.The Region of Sicily, led by governor Rosario Crocetta of the Democratic Party, has decided to transform the hotel into a hub where asylum-seekers will be accommodated, theoretically just for 48 hours for registration purposes before being transferred to other centers or possible repatriation. Critics have noted that the migrants and refugees will actually be staying considerably longer, judging from the way such centers work elsewhere in Italy.The local City Council of Realmonte, chaired by Mayor Calogero Zicari has joined a local citizens movement in collecting signatures protesting the plan to convert the hotel into a migrant center.The mayor told local media that since the area depends on tourism, the proposal would have a major impact on the economy, recalling that the arrival of large groups of migrants in other areas has destroyed investments that had been developed over years. We are angry and worried by this latest irresponsible decision, said Angelo Attaguile, the local leader of the Noi con Salvini populist political party. Some people forget that we are talking about a site with enormous touristic value, which was recently nominated as a UNESCO Heritage site, and which could be jeopardizes by this foolish decision, Attaguile said. We cannot accept that top-tier hotel facilities, close to the sea and tourist destinations like the Scala Dei Turchi, continue to be turned into reception centers, he added.Another political operative from the Noi con Salvini party, Giuseppe Di Rosa, has accused politicians in office of reaping economic benefits from public funds coming in for the construction and operation of refugee centers. They are transforming our land into a mega hotel that houses refugees of all kinds without any sanitary control of the territory, he said. -Via: Bretibart News | 1real |
Islamic State claims responsibility for attack on Shi'ite mosque in Kabul: statement | CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on the Imam Zaman mosque in the Kabul s western Dasht-e-Barchi district, which killed at least 39 people, the group said in a statement on Saturday. The group said in the statement that a suicide bomber had detonated a vest. It did not provide evidence to support its claim. | 0fake |
Trudeau defends Canada's dairy system against Trump protectionist charge | OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday brushed off an attack by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canada’s system of dairy protections, saying every nation defended its agricultural industries. Trudeau told Bloomberg Television that the United States in fact ran a dairy surplus with Canada. Trump took aim at Canada’s dairy industry this week and said on Thursday “what they’ve done to our dairy farm workers is a disgrace”. Canada’s dairy sector is protected by high tariffs on imported products and controls on domestic production as a means of supporting prices that farmers receive. Trudeau said the system “works very well” in Canada. “Let’s not pretend we’re in a global free market when it comes to agriculture,” he said. “Every country protects, for good reason, its agricultural industries.” Trump’s comments were the second time this week he has attacked Canada’s dairy industry and on Thursday he included the lumber, timber and energy sectors in a list of what he said were problematic areas of trade. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, asked for a reaction, rejected the suggestion of wrongdoing. “Canada strongly believes in a rules-based system of trade, and therefore always abides by and upholds the rules that govern trade,” she said in an e-mailed statement. Trump said the United States will report in the next two weeks what it intends to do with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which he has promised to renegotiate. The threat to get rid of or alter NAFTA is a potential problem for Canada, whose biggest trade partner is the United States. Trudeau said he would not “overreact” and planned to move the trade conversation forward “in a way that both protects our consumers and our agricultural producers.” He also said he saw an opportunity to engage with the U.S. President. “He has shown if he says one thing and actually hears good counter arguments or good reasons why he should shift his position, he will take a different position if it’s a better one, if the arguments win him over,” Trudeau said. The two nations are embroiled in a long-standing dispute over exports of Canadian softwood lumber, which U.S. producers complain are unfairly subsidized. “Our producers and workers have never been found in the wrong .. the United States needs Canadian lumber. A protracted dispute will only drive up the cost of wood and homes for U.S. consumers,” Freeland said. | 0fake |
Obamacare's unlikely No. 1 city | Killing Obama administration rules, dismantling Obamacare and pushing through tax reform are on the early to-do list. | 0fake |
US Coalition Airstrike on Syrian Army in Al-Tanf is Another Calculated War Crime, Aims to Destroy Arab Unity | Bouthaina Shaaban, Political & Media Advisor to Syrian President, Bashar Al AssadThe crimes committed by the US forces by bombing units of the Syrian Arab Army that were advancing to liberate the Al-Tanf crossing on the border with Iraq, and before it in Al-Thardah Mountain in Deir Al-Zour, and then Al-Shaerat Airport were not random or coincidental. They were, as in the case of the war crimes committed by US aircrafts against the Syrian people and Syrian infrastructure, calculated, and are part of the general geopolitical scheme to divide the region.The truth is that any connection between Syria and Iraq has been forbidden since the two countries independence in the middle of the 20th century. The Baghdad Pact of 1955, which included Britain, Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Pakistan was meant contain the Arab national tide on the one hand, and to counter what then was called Soviet influence in the region on the other hand. Although this alliance fell in 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower declared a set principles in a private letter to Congress, which became known as the Eisenhower Doctrine. According to these principles, any country could request US economic aid or aid of the US armed forces if subjected to threats from another country. This was what Camille Chamoun did in 1958, when the nationalists in Lebanon rebelled to pursue the Arab national line and against Chamoun s attempt to rig elections. Eisenhower responded to Chamoun s request and sent the Marines to Beirut to preserve the neutrality of Lebanon s foreign policy, despite its sympathy with Arab issues.After Sadat signed the Sinai 2 Agreement, and later the Camp David Accords, President Hafez al-Assad tried to compensate for the Arabs loss of Egypt by establishing a Levantine Front. He went to Iraq, Jordan and the Palestine Liberation Organization in Beirut.To the present day, secret CIA documents show that the instructions were issued at the time to Saddam Hussein to mobilise military forces on the Syrian border, to threaten Syria, and to advise Yasser Arafat against cooperation or even coordination with Syria . Despite President Hafez al-Assad s visit to Jordan, King Hussein has never been able shake off Western influence and engage in any joint Arab action.Today, despite the various reasons and pretexts, all the actions of the United States, Britain and France in Syria aim to continue to weaken the Syrian state, and cut off ties with neighbouring Arab countries, as well as countering the Russian efforts to support Syrian unity. After years of intervening in support of terrorism and arming its gangs, Britain and France recently recognised the presence of their troops on Syrian soil. U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (left) and President Eisenhower (right)The United States is applying the Eisenhower Doctrine, at times under the guise of supporting Kurds, or supporting democracy, but the real aim is to drain each Arab country separately, so that the Arab Nation could not form a human, geographical, historical, and cultural unity in the face of the Zionist project and the Western influence in the region.President Hafez al-Assad has tried, with all Arabs, to create any form of Arab solidarity and has expressed his willingness to make any necessary concessions, especially with Iraq. During the Iraq-Iran war he made an offer to Iraq to establish a Syrian-Iraqi unity, in which he would be vice-president, as a way out of the war through negotiations with the Iranians, but all his offers were rejected.Instead, Saddam Hussein supported and armed the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist gangs associated with Israel and the Western intelligence, who hit Syrian cities by car bombs, assassination, and sectarian killingsbetween the late seventies and early eighties.If we look closely at the history of the twentieth century and what is happening today in our country, it is certain that the main target of Britain, France and the United States since World War I, is the Arab civilization, Arab identity and the geographical unity of Arab lands.What is remarkable is that very few Arabs have shown any awareness of this strategy, not to mention developing their own strategies for ensuring the Arabs interests and rights. Hence, the Syrian Arab Army s plan to give priority for reaching the al-Tanf crossing and to make way for the geographical, economic and social ties with Iraq is to undermine the old old western plans to prevent communication between these two brotherly countries.The replacement of Israel with Iran as an enemy of the Arabs and the fabrication of the danger of Shiism are the latest pretexts for the continuation of Western hegemony on our land, our people and our wealth, using terrorism and Wahhabi money this time. These lies are a new episode in a series of lies, and their main aim is to prevent Arab unity and the rise of Arab power.***READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Syria FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Readings in the Jewish Zionist Control of the United States: Interviews with Francis Boyle, James Petras, Kim Petersen | Part 1: Introduction 10 Shares
9 0 0 1
For the last 30 years, I have witnessed and experienced the severe restraints on any free and balanced discussion of the facts. This reluctance to criticize any policies of the Israeli government is because of the extraordinary lobbying efforts of the American-Israel Political Action Committee and the absence of any significant contrary voices.
— Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter [1]
How the Interviews Came About
The Marxian thesis that the dominant culture and ideology of a society (here referred to as Social Base or just Base) are those of the dominant class (here referred to as System) is a sharp tool to probe how political systems work and how they stay in power. Does this tool work in the U.S. model? Certainly, , the relation between the System and its Social Base has been regular since the inception of the thirteen colonies. Because of that sustained regularity, System and Base acted in convergent patterns of dependency. In historical perspective, it was not possible for the System to transform those colonies into states, and thereafter expand its conquests to form a continental empire without a solid social base that shared its purpose and visions for expansion. From that time onward, an ideological symbiosis ran between the System and the Base. Not only that, but each time the System modifies direction, philosophy, or ideology, the Base would adapt by modifying its attitudes and perception.
The patterns of ideological association between the U.S. System and its Social Base extended into modern times, and the yardstick to measure them is the presidential elections. If you look at voters' turnout since 1960 , you will notice that a relative-to-large majority of Americans had voted in those elections. My interpretation of the vote in relation to Marx's thesis is the following. Voting for a system that is known for its aggressive imperialist policies, crimes around the world, overthrowing foreign governments not in line with Washington, and countless military interventions and invasions that left millions of people dead means one thing: Voting for that system while knowing its attributes, policies, and actions amounts to active sharing in its ideology, culture, and violence.
MORE... Zionism is Racism Zionism goes from bad to worse, taking Judaism with it How modern is Israel? Green Party of Canada calls to revoke Jewish National Fund charitable status Caveat! That does not necessarily mean that all voters share the System's imperialistic values of violence and destruction of foreign peoples. The pertinent meaning of voting interpreted in relation to the System's foreign policy objectives versus the objectives of the Base resides in two concepts. Discarding immediately the notion that the Base has been cohabitated by the system, the first concept has it that the Base has given a mandate to the System to carry out its ideology of empire and imperialism based on the undeclared condition to spare the people from the horrors of foreign wars. A dichotomy sets in here. The System has its way of life, and the Base has its own. The second concept has to do with the basic tenets of colonialism. Meaning, if the System could be successful to obtain unspecified benefits through wars, then the base could share in these benefits despite aversion to violence and opposition to the institution of war as a means to resolve problems between nations.
A question: Would abstaining from voting resolve the issue of "active sharing" in the policies of the system? This subject is open for debate . . .
The relation between the American System and its Base was uniform up to a certain point in history (late 1920s). Until that point, the American state was still busy completing its structural transformation into a big power status. That uniformity, however, managed to keep the patterns of the political power unchanged. To be exact, despite persistent immigration that should have altered the relations between the Base and government, as well as the composition of the latter, the dominance of the traditional ruling elites was 1) not open for challenge, and 2) shaped by an exclusive American Anglo-Saxon experience.
But when Franklyn D. Roosevelt showed signs of surrender to the Zionist pressure on the issue of establishing a "Jewish" state in Palestine, he opened a large crack in the System. That was the first time in U.S. history where the powerful American imperialist state yielded to a foreign ideology that was not part of its basic project. With that, a movement with a limited religious social base began penetrating the files and ranks of the U.S. power. The rest is history. As a result, the unrelenting entrenchment inside the political structures of the United States coupled with accumulated changes in the configuration of the U.S. power, the dominant American System itself fell under the domination of one of its social factions—American Jewish Zionists.
When Franklyn D. Roosevelt showed signs of surrender to the Zionist pressure on the issue of establishing a "Jewish" state in Palestine, he opened a large crack in the System.
As a group, American Jewish Zionists have all attributes of an independent establishment. They possess efficient organizational structures, have a monolithic political presence across the American system, and they know how to finance their activities with U.S. tax money. I must note that their alignment with the global agenda of U.S. imperialism is a two-point expedient. The first is focused on being recognized as earnest operators at the service of America's interests. The second is tactical. To reap, on behalf of Israel, the benefits of alignment with slogans such as "Israel is our only trusted ally in the Middle East".
The American Jewish Zionist experience is agenda driven. As such, their domestic and foreign agendas have precedence over any other Jewish-related consideration.
On the domestic front, the focus could not be more evident: to consolidate Zionism and turn it into a means to 1) perpetuate Israel as an American national issue, and 2) make of them the principal factor in defining American politics. You can notice the endeavor clearly during U.S. elections when the Zionist media question whether this or that candidate is good for the Jews, and for Israel. Today, voicing dissent against the policies of American Jewish Zionism or criticizing Israel amounts to crime. Jimmy Carter experienced this firsthand. When he published his book: Palestine: Peace not Apartheid , American Jewish Zionists unleashed the fire of hell upon him.
As for the Jewish Zionist foreign agenda, this is clear-cut and leaves no space for misunderstanding. It aims to induce, control, or lead the United States to 1) adopt hostile policies toward the Arab nations because due to their rejection of the Zionist state, and 2) undertake military actions against any country that appears as posing a potential or direct threat to Israel. Equally important, it demands that the United States keep denying the Palestinians rights for nationhood through American diplomacy. What is the rationale? Recognition of the Palestinian national rights means the invalidation of the Zionist state and its claim on Palestine.
Because the Jewish Zionist control of the U.S. System is real and dominant, how does the American society figure vis-à-vis this dominance? Based on observations of the American society and its multiple cultural and ideological patterns, there can be but one answer: Zionism is not the dominant culture and ideology of the American people. It is, however, the dominant culture and ideology of the U.S. political system.
OBSERVATIONS
First, despite gargantuan Zionist propaganda apparatuses directed to the American people, Jewish Zionists have consistently failed to create interest or sympathy for Zionist issues and for Israel,
Second, due to historically developed indifference to foreign issues, a majority of Americans have only vague ideas on what Zionism is,
Third, to establish roots for their political dominance, Jewish Zionist activists invariably focus not on the American people, but on ways to control the American system from inside by controlling first the institutions that matter: White House and Congress.
Fourth, this control did not happen because of elections. It is preponderantly due to the practice of appointing Jewish Zionists to important positions inside the administrations,
Fifth, among the stratagems employed by Zionists when they run for elective offices, one was particularly effective: Take advantage of the reverence of the population for the idea of election. To do that, Jewish Zionist candidates rarely, if ever, talk about Israel or Zionism. Instead, they only debate matters of interest to the voters. Once elected though, promoting Israel via American legislations becomes the top hidden agenda,
Sixth, and to conclude this particular argument, the fact that one administration after another succumbed to the diktat of Jewish Zionists (thus indirectly to Israel) in matters of foreign policy and wars proves that the culture and praxis of those administrations are those of the dominant ideology and culture—Zionism.
Another point to discuss is the expansion of the Jewish Zionist power. By all accounts, such an expansion is not a phenomenon but an incremental process. In his book, The Arabists: The Romance of an American Elite , Robert D. Kaplan defined the issue that I framed as a process in terms of gradual replacement of traditional diplomatic elites with new ideological elites that had no interest in the ways of the old school of diplomacy. Kaplan was unambiguous. He called these new elites by their names: Irish-Americans and Jewish-Americans.
Kaplan's viewpoint on this replacement is important to our discussion. He argued that the old elites approached the U.S.-Arab relations with an open mind and readiness for dialog, all while keeping an eye on the U.S. imperialist interests. His argument opens the door for a veritable conclusion. The two groups of post-WWII American society that Kaplan mentioned had in fact changed the dynamics of U.S. foreign policy. (It is public knowledge that both groups are known for their hostility toward Arabs and Muslims—each for his own set of religious, political, and ideological rationales.). As for the successive shares of African-Americans and Hispanics in the making of the national policy of the United States, this is another argument.
As a witness to history, in early 2012, I began drafting a comprehensive analysis on the role of American Jewish Zionists in the making of U.S. policies and wars in the Arab world. In May of that year, as my work became broad in scope, I decided to seek more views on the subject. I came up with the idea to conduct several interviews where I pose the same questions. While some of the prospective interviewees declined, and others accepted but then withdrew, three prominent thinkers acclaimed for their knowledge, scholarship, and outstanding political activism graciously gave me their views.
They are Francis Boyle, a professor of international law, University of Illinois, College of Law; James Petras, a professor emeritus, University of Binghamton, New York; Canadian writer and former co-editor of the online publication of Dissident Voice Kim Petersen. Professors Boyle and Petras answered my questions via phone conversations, and, Petersen via email correspondence.
However, in the weeks following the interviews, my work swelled up to such a length that it became unsuitable for internet publishing. In short, I was unable to honor my commitment to publish the interviews as planned. Today, as I thank Prof. Francis Boyle, Prof. James Petras, and Kim Petersen for sharing their invaluable insight, I apologize to them for the delay in putting the interviews out there to read.
INTRODUCTION
The turning point in the emergence of Jewish Zionism as a dominant American political force came about when Iraq invaded Kuwait. (Discussing the origins and strategic complications of that invasion goes beyond the scope of this introduction.) The Jewish Zionist establishment seized the occasion, mobilized its omnipresent propaganda operatives, and led colossal media campaigns to promote military actions against Iraq. To bring their war mania to fruition, they unleashed their "experts" in all directions. They talked about Iraq's "formidable" military capabilities and about Saddam's one-million-man standing army ready to invade Saudi Arabia and seize its oil. They told stories about Saddam Hussein's personal life, his bunkers, and his mortal "nuclear threats" to Israel. And they talked about Iraq's threats to U.S. interests and "allies" in the Middle East. . . . Here is a brief account of those events.
On July 25, 1990, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein met with U.S. ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie. It is on record that Glaspie gave Hussein an unambiguous but indirect greenlight to resolve Iraq's problems with Kuwait militarily. On August 2, Iraq invaded Kuwait. On August 3, George H. W. Bush ordered the freezing of Iraqi and Kuwaiti assets and immediately placed Iraq under hermetic embargo. Considering the prompt, extraordinary anti-Iraq measures that the United States took in the first 24 hours of that invasion, one wonders what was pushing the U.S. to move so quickly on Iraq knowing that only two days earlier, this was conducting a U.S. proxy against Iran. The observation that the U.S. did not take similar actions when Iraq invaded Iran in 1980, or when Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 raises many questions. What were the U.S. rationales in taking such measures? Who conceived them? Did the U.S. entrap Iraq? Why? . . .
The atmosphere that followed the invasion was surrealistic. Like a lightning bolt, U.S. imperialist and Zionist forces instantly mobilized their media, talking heads, retired generals, and bogus experts on the Middle East. The deafening uproar they made and all lies they told about atrocities committed by Iraq in Kuwait hid a definite scheme: Incite for war . In the period August 2, 1990 – January 14, 1991, Israelis and Jewish Zionists from all fields appeared en mass and in every possible medium available to urge the Bush regime to give up diplomacy in favor of war. On January 15, 1991, a 30-member "coalition" in which the U.S. had the lion share—ninety-seven percent of the total force—attacked Iraq. By every standard and minutia of details, the war on Iraq in 1991 was an American War .
At the end of a war that destroyed one of Israel's Arab adversaries, George H. W. Bush might have thought of himself as America's "laureate hero". He did not predict though that his temporary freezing of the U.S. loan guaranties to Israel, would have unleashed the Jewish Zionist establishment against him. The fact that he lost to Bill Clinton (who opposed Bush's freeze, and who stated that Israel was the "only country that paid back its debts") indicated that American Jewish Zionists had finally reached their objective: To perfect ways to control the U.S. politics from the inside . In retrospect, it can be said that George H. W. Bush was the last non-Zionist American president. From Bill Clinton forward, U.S. presidents and their vice president became pawns in the Jewish Zionist play of power.
Now, as the United States was preparing for war with Iraq to "liberate" Kuwait, thousands of antiwar activists and intellectuals from a wide spectrum of political convictions spoke loudly against it. But no one could have ever beaten Patrick J. Buchanan's memorable words about how American Jewish Zionists and Israel were pushing for that war. He said, ''There are only two groups that are beating the drums for war in the Middle East - the Israeli Defense Ministry and its amen corner .'' [2] With that, Buchanan hit the proverbial nail on the head. A.M. Rosenthal, a ringleader of U.S. Zionist journalism could not bear what he heard. In a rebuttal, he unleashed an acerbic attack against Buchanan. His weapon of argument, so to speak, was the stale and trite accusation of "antisemitism".
Whining, Rosenthal twisted Buchanan's clear words and went on to imply that Buchanan was in effect engaging in an "anti-Jewish" tirade. He re-interpreted Buchanan's words and cast them in a standard Zionistic fashion. He wrote that Buchanan's intention was ''The Jews are trying to drag us into war. Only Jews want war. Israeli Jews want war to save Israel's hide. American Jews who talk of military action against Iraq want war because it would suit Israeli interests. They are willing to spill American blood for Israeli interests." [3]
By inserting the word, "Jew" in his reply, Rosenthal and the New York Times behind him spat on the face of U.S. political reality under the tight grip of Zionism. We need not waste our breath on Rosenthal's petty tactic. His clear objective was to distract from the central issue, which is, Buchanan's opposition to the planned war against Iraq was unrelated to the religious denomination of those who were promoting it. Rather he was unmistakably referring to their political identity.
Still, Buchanan was honest. He pointed the finger to Israel and its "Amen corner" because that was the truth. The fact that most Israelis and "Amen corners" happened to be of Jewish faith was nonissue. To conclude, it is evident that Buchanan, a dreamer of an American "republic" not "empire", could not stand by idle while seeing the United States sheepishly fastened to the yoke of Zionism and gutlessly prostrating before a tiny settler state, Israel.
Buchanan did not stop there. Truthful and resolute, he dared to describe in categorical terms the pitiful condition of the U.S. Congress vis-à-vis Israel and American Jewish Zionists. He dubbed it as "An Israeli-occupied territory" [4]. Buchanan powerfully hit the target in such a way that countless cowardly American politicians would dare not think, let alone say. Notice that Buchanan had placed Israel before its U.S. "amen corner". I view this as a statement. He clearly implied that Israel is the primary decision maker. Did that also imply that U.S. Zionist groups (amen corner) are puppets moved by Israel? Most likely, if so, which has more power in setting the U.S. world agenda and policies: Israel or American Jewish Zionists? Dialectically, the answer should be Israel by means of its "amen corner'.
Now, in December 1991, Jim Lehrer (a former co-anchor of The Macneil/Lehrer NewsHour, and later sole anchor of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer ) interviewed Pat Buchanan. It is important to mention, that Jim Lehrer has monopolized a significant position funded by federal tax money for over 30 years starting in 1975. Is that an issue? Yes, and to debate it, the following applies. Whenever a specific group of people, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish, atheist, duopoly party apparatchiks, etc., keeps an important public post for such a long duration, the implication is unescapable: the group controls that post because of its embedded importance. . . . But more important, they have the power to keep it.
Nonetheless, when a specific group continues to hold, throughout time, important positions inside public corporations, agencies, and branches of the U.S. government, a paradigm emerges. Either the group controls said corporations directly—that is why it is able to do what they want. Or, it controls them indirectly by controlling first who appoints the board of trustees and sets corporate policies and appointees. At any rate, considering this type of control, the assumption that such group has power over the government and its public corporations is reasonable.
Additionally, the issue of monopoly of news is critical in another respect. It means that someone within the context of U.S. imperialism has decided that the U.S. public discourse must conform to predetermined patterns. In these patterns, issues such as Israel, Zionism, Palestine, U.S. imperialism in the Middle East, wars, etc., are designed to move only on linear grounds without ever touching the core of the matter.
Before continuing, I must state that Lehrer's political views are not a subject to discuss vis-à-vis his program. For one, the NewsHour program is not about the personal views of presenters—it is about information prepared for the public from a public corporation. Second, whether Lehrer had sympathies for Israel or Zionism is nonissue because most viewers expect neutral discussions regardless of who delivers them. Nevertheless, a situation such as this has a consequence affecting the special relations between the narrated news/comments, the people who deliver them, and the people who hear them.
Firstly, planning news delivery to attain specific results is a good technique for those in the business of indoctrination. Psychology and perception are the areas of expertise that news planners depend on to disseminate certain news and analyses. To be sure, these planners know that most viewers have no special or personal stakes on events happening in other countries. Still, the immediate consequence that controlled news and commentaries could generate is easy to predict. They also know they can seep to the viewers pre-conceived ideas through pleasant dialogs, affable manners, appearance of neutrality, and clever circumlocutions.
To be fair to Lehrer, he was consistent in making intelligent questions. However, he was also consistent at doing something else. He would calibrate his questions in such a way as not to reveal new truths or solicit critical replies that could go beyond boundaries deliberately conceived so as not to be crossed. It is pragmatic to say that the observance of these boundaries would nicely serve the Zionist and imperialist discourse. In essence, a practice thusly followed is a preemptive mechanism of control cloaked as a professional presentation.
Now, in his interview, Lehrer played dumb when he asked Buchanan about his bold characterization of the Congress. He phrased his question as follows, "You have also said that Congress is an Israeli-occupied territory. Now, what do you mean by that ?" [Italics are mine]
COMMENT: Semantically as much as politically, Buchanan's figure of speech was terse and unequivocal. He plainly meant that the Congress observes Israel's agenda and acts accordingly. There was no need for Buchanan to say anything further because what he said had (and still has) basis in verifiable facts. With a question such as, "what do you mean by that" Lehrer was not seeking a rational reply from Buchanan. The form and content of the question had the objective of wanting to entrap Buchanan, make him retract, or at least contradict himself to show inconsistency. In essence, Lehrer had simply tried to deny that Israel controls the Congress through its "amen corner" because his "what do you mean" indicated astonishment rather than request for explanation. [5]
To wrap up the issue, without exclusion, any denial of the Jewish Zionist control of the United States is a farce. Take Abraham H. Foxman of the infamous Anti-Defamation League as an example. Foxman authored a master‑deceptive propaganda book that he called, " The Deadliest Lies : The Israeli Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control. [Italics are mine]. First, Foxman lied. He knew very well that the Jewish [Zionist] control is not a myth but a pervasive reality. Second, but most important, the problem is not the abstract "Jewish control" but the specific—Jewish Zionist control. This can be explained using a current universal truth: hundreds of thousands of Jews from all nationalities actively oppose Zionism on political, religious, ethical, historical, and ideological grounds.
Foxman's denial means one of two things. Either he is a parochial charlatan when the subject is the undisputed power of American Jewish Zionism, or he is very ignorant of the history of Zionism , which is impossible. Either way, Foxman's business is propaganda, demagogy, and deception. Incidentally, Foxman's denial looks very similar to what some Arabs do in the Middle East. Villagers—but even some city folks—try to fend off "envy" by following an eon-old superstition. They fix a drawing on a wall in their shops or homes showing the palm of an open hand with an open eye in its center. It appears that Foxman and his associates have their own superstition. By decrying the "deadliest lies" against American Jewish Zionists, they try to fend off the accusation or the "envy" that Jews—specifically, Jewish Zionists—have power and influence.
Of substance, did Foxman not learn or did anyone inform him about what John Foster Dulles told William Knowland (a pro-Zionist senator from California) back in February 1957? In an exchange about the proposed sanctions to get Israel out of Egyptian territory occupied by Israel in the Suez War, Dulles pronounced these prophetic words, "We cannot have all our policies made in Jerusalem . . ." [6]. That was in 1957. Today, all those who deride or deny the charge that Israel has a say on U.S. foreign policy and wars in the Middle East must prove that those who are making this charge are misinformed or just lying.
Interestingly, years after Buchanan made that statement, the successive events proved his sharp assessment and political perspicacity. Two people vindicated his characterization of Capitol Hills as an Israeli-occupied territory" and both used his words to make the point. The first is a former CIA officer Philip Giraldi, and the second is Philip Weiss, founder of MondoWeiss Website. In an article he wrote in 2011, Giraldi pointed to the Congress as, " It’s Still Occupied Territory ". Weiss titled a piece he wrote in 2015 as such: " Capitol Hill — still Israeli-occupied territory ".
At this point, do American Jewish Zionists control the United States? Do they control it as polity or only the political system? Do they have real influence in setting U.S. foreign policy and wars against the Arab and Muslim nations? Or maybe all this talk is no more than baseless allegations?
NEXT
Part 2: Discussion
Part 3: Interview with Francis Boyle
Part 4: Interview with James Petras
Part 5: Interview with Kim Petersen
NOTES
Jimmy carter, Speaking frankly about Israel and Palestine , Los Angeles Times, 8 December 2006 Pat Buchanan, The McLaughlin Group, Aug 26, 1990, Quote: d in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, What They Said: Israel and Its "Amen Corner" , February 1992 ON MY MIND; Forgive Them Not , The New York Times, 14 September 1990 Quote: d in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Is Congress an Israeli-Occupied Territory ?, July 1995 The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, What They Said: Israel and Its "Amen Corner" , Feb. 1992 David Tal, editor, The 1956 War: Collusion and Rivalry in the Middle East, Frank Cass Publishers, 2001, p. 40 | 1real |
BOILER ROOM – EP #46 – Murder, Witchery, Politricks & A Manatee | Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6 PM PST | 9 PM EST every Wednesday. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR hosts Hesher, & Spore along with Daniel Spaulding of Soul of the East, Andy Nowicki from Alt Right Blogspot, Jay Dyer of Jays Analysis & ACR/21Wire contributor Randy J. In this broadcast listeners will be hearing us go around the BOILER ROOM on a veritable feast of topics including commentary on the latest in the lame stream media reality TV show that is the US Presidential race, the mysterious death of Supreme Court Justice Scalia, an in depth discussion with Jay Dyer on the pitfalls of anarchy/libertarian ideologies, predictive programming aimed at children through Barbie cartoons, unfortunate experiences in air travel, a cautionary tale about manatees and a discourse between Randy J and Hesher on aftermath of the Oregon stand off. If you want to participate, bring something interesting to throw into the boiler Join us in the ALTERNATE CURRENT RADIO chat room.BOILER ROOM IS NOT A POLICTALLY CORRECT ZONE! LISTEN TO THE RECORDING IN THE PLAYER BELOW ENJOY! | 1real |
Cyber War From Trifle to Catastrophe : Information | Cyber War - From Trifle to Catastrophe By Ernest Partridge
November 06, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - Hillary Clinton tells us that all seventeen intelligence agencies agree that the Wikileaks hack comes from the Kremlin. Those agencies proclaim this with a rock-solid conviction that I have not heard since Vice President DIck Cheney told us all that "there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us." Add to that, the rock-solid evidence of Saddam's treachery that Colin Powell presented to the UN Security Council. The mainstream corporate media bought it whole.
However, as all know today, these were lies. Saddam had no WMDs, and there were no Iraqi chemical weapons "Winebagos of Death" vividly described by Colin Powell.
Now we are told, "with high confidence," that Vladimir Putin's Kremlin has launched a cyber attack to disrupt our presidential election. Never mind that, as MIT expert Theodore Postol has written that there is, "no technical way that the US intelligence community could know who did the hacking if it was done by sophisticated nation-state actors."
The lies that launched the disastrous Iraq war have had lasting consequences to the credibility of the United States Government. The last time that government cried "wolf," there was no wolf. Why should we believe it now?
So no, I am not convinced. There is good reason not to believe the "Kremlin hack" story.
A crucial distinction is in order: First, there is the actual content of the hacked emails. Second, there are the consequences of the general media assumption and public belief that the emails were a Kremlin plot to disrupt the presidential election.
As for the content , it was trivial and still worse, not credible. There is nothing remarkable in the disclosed content of the hacked emails. They might, if believed, cause John Podesta some embarrassment. In addition, they might reveal that the Democratic National Committee is controlled by a political elite. But we already know that.
But why should we believe any of that content? If, as claimed, the leaks came from the Kremlin, there is not, and cannot be, any authentication of the hacked emails unless the original sources (e.g, John Podesta) produce the originals. And why would they? Accordingly, the leakers (whoever they might be) are free to concoct forgeries at will. And of course, it follows that we, the intended audience, are advised to ignore all of them.
Furthermore, , why would Putin want to use these emails to "rig" our election? To tilt the election toward Trump? If that is his motive, it has backfired spectacularly. That alleged "disclosure" of the hacking has benefited Clinton far more than Trump. It is one of her favorite talking points, as we discovered in the final debate.
So we are left with two alternate conclusions: The Russian government likely had no part in the leaking. Or if they did, the leaks will have little or no effect on the election, except to provide Hillary Clinton with a talking point and to embarrass John Podesta.
In short, the Wikileaks hacks, whatever the source, appear to be a just a prank: A trifle, blown hugely out of proportion by a scandal-hungry media.
However, even though the content of the hacked emails may be trivial and not credible, the consequences of the accusation of Kremlin connivance could be catastrophic.
First of all, as we are finding out, the neo-cons and the media are using the hacks to intensify the demonization of Putin and to heat up the renewed Cold War.
Still worse, as Joe Biden stated recently on Meet the Press , the accusation that Putin is behind the hacks and their release might provoke a cyber retaliation from the United States.
A Kremlin spokesman has called Biden's threat a a "virtual American declaration of war on Russia."
If, as Biden warns, the United States retaliates, then the Russian response might, unlike the present alleged leaks, be devastating to the US economy.
Be assured that a "cyber-war" entails infinitely more than leaked emails. It might include the shutdown of the internet and emails. Also, the disruption of business and financial communications and utility grids. The world today runs on silicon and microprocessors. Imagine returning home to no electric power, phone service or access to the internet. Add to that, no restocking of the local supermarket or gas stations. And no capability of the government to make prompt repairs. The result: Total economic shutdown.
We can do this to Russia, and be assured that Russia can do this to us.
The reality of cyber attacks is no mere speculation, we have seen them at work. The Iranian nuclear weapons program was severely damaged and set back by a CIA implanted computer virus. And this past month, large regions of the United States temporarily lost internet service. The cause remains unknown.
Has Joe Biden thought through the implications of his threat? Is this the horror that Biden wants to unleash on us and the world in response to an essentially harmless prank? To what purpose? Some kind of capitulation by the Russians? No chance of that.
A far more likely result would be an escalation from cyber to military combat. And then what?
Where are the cool-headed grownups, now that we need them?
Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. He has taught Philosophy at the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He publishes the website, "The Online Gadfly" (www.igc.org/gadfly) and co-edits the progressive website, "The Crisis Papers" (www.crisispapers.org). His book in progress, "Conscience of a Progressive," can be seen at www.igc.org/gadfly/progressive/^toc.htm . Send comments to: gadfly@igc.org . Ernest Partridge's blog | 1real |
The best halloween costume ever is this guy who dressed up as a stock photo | Next Prev Swipe left/right The best halloween costume ever is this guy who dressed up as a stock photo
@Trungles over on Twitter notes, “My little brother dressed up as a stock photo for Halloween, so he’s basically my hero”
“I like how he also captured the “brown face white hand” blooper one sometimes sees in touched up promotional material.” comments @root2702.
And the star of the photo Tin Nguyen says, “Getting the shutterstock logo off that image was more expensive than my whole costume.”
@Trungles photo of his brother has gone viral with nearly 40k RTs and likes, but the star Tin Nguyen only has 100 followers himself so maybe some of our readers can bump them numbers up? | 1real |
Trump does not recall suggestion of Putin meeting: White House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump does not recall a meeting with his foreign policy advisers in March 2016 in which one of them suggested he could arrange a meeting between candidate Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House said on Wednesday. George Papadopoulos, an obscure Trump campaign adviser, pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about contacts with people who claimed to have ties to top Russian officials, in the first criminal charges alleging links between the campaign and Moscow, according to court documents released on Monday. According to the court documents, Papadopoulos, a Chicago-based international energy lawyer, told the March 31, 2016, meeting that he had connections that could help arrange a Trump-Putin meeting. Asked at a news briefing if the Republican president recalled the suggestion by Papadopoulos, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said: “No I don’t believe he does.” The charges against Papadopoulos were made public just after indictments charging Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and another aide with multiple offenses, including money laundering, conspiracy against the United States and failing to register as foreign agents. The New York Times said Trump, in a telephone conversation with the newspaper on Wednesday, said investigations into possible collusion between his campaign and Russia had not come anywhere near him personally. “I’m not under investigation, as you know,” the Times quoted Trump as saying. Pointing to Manafort’s indictment, the president said: “There’s not even a mention of Trump in there,” according to the Times. “It has nothing to do with us.” U.S. intelligence agencies said in January that Russia had meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign to discredit Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Trump has denounced the investigations as a witch hunt. Russia denies meddling in the U.S. election. Manafort and Rick Gates on Monday pleaded not guilty to the charges, some of which go back more than a decade and center on Manafort’s work for Ukraine. Neither Trump nor his campaign was mentioned in the indictment against Manafort and Gates. | 0fake |
U.N., Red Cross urge Saudi-led coalition to re-open aid lifeline to Yemen | GENEVA (Reuters) - The United Nations and Red Cross on Tuesday urged the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen to re-open an aid lifeline to bring imported food and medicine into the country. It is estimated that seven million people are facing famine there. The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthi movement in Yemen said on Monday it would close all air, land and sea ports to the Arabian Peninsula country to stem the flow of arms from Iran. The Saudis and their allies say the Houthis get weapons from their arch-foe, Iran. Iran denies the charges and blames the conflict in Yemen on Riyadh. The U.N. Security Council is due to meet on Wednesday, at the request of Sweden, to discuss the humanitarian situation in Yemen, diplomats said in New York. We call for all air and sea ports to remain open to ensure food, fuel and medicines can enter the country, Jens Laerke of the U.N. Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs said in Geneva. He said humanitarian operations are currently blocked because air and sea ports in Yemen are closed, The Saudi-led coalition has told the world body to inform all commercial vessels at Hodeidah and Saleef ports to leave , Laerke said, referring to Red Sea ports controlled by the Houthis. The price of fuel jumped 60 percent overnight in Yemen and the price of cooking gas doubled, he said. This is an access problem of colossal dimensions right now. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) joined the call. Food, medicine and other essential supplies are critical for the survival of 27 million Yemenis already weakened by a conflict now in its third year, Robert Mardini, ICRC regional director for the Near and Middle East, said in a statement. The ICRC said that a shipment of chlorine tablets to prevent cholera did not get clearance at Yemen s northern border. It voiced fears for 50,000 vials of insulin for diabetics due to be delivered by next week, which require constant refrigeration. ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said that a ship carrying 500 metric tonnes of rice, which arrived in Hodeidah port in October after a three-month trip from Pakistan, had to leave the port last week without offloading because the ship s crane had broken. The port itself lacks adequate cranes after repeated coalition bombing. Rupert Colville, U.N. human rights spokesman, said it would study whether the blockade amounted to collective punishment , banned under international law, but hoped that it would be temporary. Attacks in Yemen over the past week that have killed dozens of civilians, including children, at markets and homes, he said. These included at least nine air strikes on the Houthi-held city of Sanaa since Saturday, when a missile was fired from Yemen toward the Saudi capital of Riyadh, he said. A cholera epidemic has caused 908,702 suspected cases and 2,194 deaths since the outbreak began in April, WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said. In Berlin, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel called for increased aid to Yemen, citing alarm at the latest U.N. report. No one will be able to say later, particularly with respect to Yemen, that they didn t know what was happening. | 0fake |
COMMUNISM 101: CA School District Bans All Drawings Of Religious Figures…What Prompted The Ban Is Even More Disturbing | We certainly don t want to do anything that might offend the Muslim faith. By all means, America should do whatever Islam dictates it s the politically correct thing to do right?A California school district announced last week a ban on the drawing of religious figures after a parent complained about a class assignment in which students were directed to draw the Islamic prophet Muhammad.The task was part of a 7th-grade history worksheet, Vocabulary Pictures: The Rise of Islam, at High Desert School in Acton, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Muslims are forbidden from drawing Muhammad, and threats from Islamic terrorist groups have largely ended the practice among non-Muslims as well. I have directed all staff to permanently suspend the practice of drawing or depiction of any religious leader, Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District Superintendent Brent Woodard told the Daily News in a text message on Wednesday. I am certain this teacher did not intend to offend anyone and,in fact, was simply teaching respect and tolerance for all cultures. Melinda Van Stone said she complained to the school when her 12-year-old son brought the assignment home in October. Van Stone would not tell the Daily News what religion she or her son practiced. It s not appropriate to have our children go to school and learn how to insult a religious group, Van Stone said.High Desert School Principal Lynn David said the worksheet was not part of a textbook, but came from supplemental material. David said Van Stone was the only parent to complain about the assignment.Drawing Muhammad has become a deadly gambit. Islamic terrorists killed 11 and wounded 11 others in an attack on the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January. Those responsible perpetrated the bloodbath because of the paper s numerous illustrations of Muhammad. Four months later, two Islamic gunmen were shot and killed outside of a Muhammad cartoon contest in Texas. The duo had planned a massacre of the contest s participants. Via: FOX News | 1real |
WHERE’S THE MONEY? State Department Missing Millions Meant For Benghazi Investigation [Video] | James Rosen reports on missing money meant for the Benghazi investigation: | 1real |
DONALD TRUMP Calls Meeting With Press…Dresses Down Real Fake News Networks: “Everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed” | Go to Article
They had to know they had it coming…
Donald Trump scolded media big shots during an off-the-record Trump Tower sitdown on Monday, sources told The Post.
“It was like a f–ing firing squad,” one source said of the encounter.
“Trump started with [CNN chief] Jeff Zucker and said ‘I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed,’ ” the source said.
“The meeting was a total disaster. The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down,” the source added.
A second source confirmed the fireworks.
“The meeting took place in a big board room and there were about 30 or 40 people, including the big news anchors from all the networks,” the other source said.
“Trump kept saying, ‘We’re in a room of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong.’ He addressed everyone in the room calling the media dishonest, deceitful liars. He called out Jeff Zucker by name and said everyone at CNN was a liar, and CNN was [a] network of liars,” the source said.
“Trump didn’t say [NBC reporter] Katy Tur by name, but talked about an NBC female correspondent who got it wrong, then he referred to a horrible network correspondent who cried when Hillary lost who hosted a debate – which was Martha Raddatz who was also in the room.”
The stunned reporters tried to get a word in edgewise to discuss access to a Trump Administration.
“[CBS Good Morning co-host Gayle] King did not stand up, but asked some question, ‘How do you propose we the media work with you?’ Chuck Todd asked some pretty pointed questions. David Muir asked ‘How are you going to cope living in DC while your family is in NYC? It was a horrible meeting.”
Here’s a sampling of Trump hitting back at the dishonest media while he was on the campaign trail. Trump did something no other presidential candidate has ever done before, he won the election in a landslide, in spite of the entire fake news empire working together to take him down:
Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway told reporters the gathering went well.
“Excellent meetings with the top executives of the major networks,” she said during a gaggle in the lobby of Trump Tower. “Pretty unprecedented meeting we put together in two days.”
The meeting was off the record, meaning the participants agreed not to talk about the substance of the conversations.
The hour-long session included top execs from network and cable news channels. Among the attendees were NBC’s Deborah Turness, Lester Holt and Chuck Todd, ABC’s James Goldston, George Stephanopoulos, David Muir and Martha Raddatz,
Also, CBS’ Norah O’Donnell John Dickerson, Charlie Rose, Christopher Isham and King, Fox News’ Bill Shine, Jack Abernethy, Jay Wallace, Suzanne Scott, MSNBC’s Phil Griffin and CNN’s Jeff Zucker and Erin Burnett. -Via : NYP | 1real |
Judge gives research firm in Trump-Russia probe more time to answer subpoena | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. judge has given Fusion GPS, the research firm that hired a former British spy to investigate Donald Trump during the 2016 election campaign, until Thursday to reach an agreement with Congress over a subpoena for the firm’s bank records. Judge Tanya Chutkan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia late on Tuesday temporarily extended the deadline for complying with the subpoena, according to court records seen on Wednesday. Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee earlier this month subpoenaed an unidentified bank for the last two years of records of the accounts of Fusion GPS. Congressional investigators and Special Counsel Robert Mueller are pursuing allegations in the dossier assembled by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele of connections between Trump’s presidential campaign and Russia. It has been widely reported that supporters of Republican Jeb Bush, one of Trump’s opponents for the party’s presidential nomination, initially paid for research that was later picked up by supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. A letter sent on Tuesday to Fusion’s lawyers by Perkins Coie, a law firm which represented both the Democratic National Committee and Clinton’s campaign, confirmed that Perkins Coie had hired Fusion GPS in April 2016 to conduct election related research. A source familiar with the matter said Fusion GPS did not hire Steele until late May 2016. President Trump, who disputes he and his associates colluded with Moscow officials and has called the investigations a “witch hunt,” raised the issue again on Wednesday. “The whole Russia thing is what it’s turned out to be. This was the Democrats coming up with an excuse for losing an election,” Trump told reporters as he was leaving for Dallas. Fusion last week sued the bank and asked the court to issue an injunction ordering the bank not to comply with the subpoena. Lawyers for Fusion argued that the subpoena, signed by House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, was “exceedingly broad.” The lawyers also argued that Nunes issuing the subpoena was “not a legitimate legislative activity” because Nunes had “served on President Donald Trump’s campaign” and had “recused himself” from the panel’s probe into allegations by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 campaign to help Trump. Russia has repeatedly denied the allegations. In a court filing on behalf of the committee, lawyers for the House of Representatives asked the judge to reject Fusion’s request to block the subpoena. A footnote said the top two Democrats in the House did not endorse the request. On Wednesday, Trump also echoed unsubstantiated allegations revived on Tuesday by Republicans that when Clinton was secretary of state she approved a sale of U.S. uranium to Russia in exchange for contributions to her husband’s charity. “I think the uranium sales to Russia and the way it was done, so underhanded, with tremendous amounts of money being passed, I actually think that’s Watergate modern age,” Trump said. | 0fake |
Flint, Michigan: Neglected because city is black, poor? | (CNN) The contamination of drinking water in Flint, Michigan, has so outraged community advocates that they now pose a powerful question: Was the city neglected because it is mostly black and about 40% poor?
Several advocates say yes. They charge that Flint residents are victims of "environmental racism" -- that is, race and poverty factored into how Flint wasn't adequately protected and how its water became contaminated with lead, making the tap water undrinkable.
"Would more have been done, and at a much faster pace, if nearly 40 percent of Flint residents were not living below the poverty line? The answer is unequivocally yes," the NAACP said in a statement.
Others go further.
"While it might not be intentional, there's this implicit bias against older cities -- particularly older cities with poverty (and) majority-minority communities," said Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, who represents the Flint area.
"It's hard for me to imagine the indifference that we've seen exhibited if this had happened in a much more affluent community," he said.
NAACP President and CEO Cornell Brooks drew a direct connection between Flint's socioeconomic factors and the toxic drinking water.
"Environmental Racism + Indifference = Lead in the Water & Blood," he tweeted.
Brooks is pressing for a definitive plan of attack.
"We're trying to take action that is specific, that's focused, that's urgent and speaks to the people's needs," he said. "Talking with a deadline that has dollar symbols represents action, and that's what we're trying to do."
In an interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow this week, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder repeatedly said that he was taking responsibility for the crisis even as she reminded him that his then-chief of staff sent an email in July 2015 to a health department official warning of lead in the Flint drinking water. The email was released as part of a freedom of information request.
In October 2014, General Motors stopped using Flint River water at its engine plant because the company was seeing rust of vehicle parts.
Snyder said that General Motors' concern "was not a lead issue."
Harlow responded, "It was the same issue of the pipes being corroded by the water, chemicals in the water, just like it is (in Flint.) It's actually the same."
The governor said, "These are very technical issues. But the lead came to my attention in October, end of September, early October of 2015. We took immediate action, need to do more, did more."
He said Flint has seen a 45% reduction in crime, and he touted a dental program for low-income children -- all moves his administration pushed for.
"In terms of saying it happened because of the nature of the community here? Absolutely not."
Snyder compared Flint's unemployment struggles and other economic woes to what people in Detroit have endured in recent years, and he said his administration is responsible for improvements there.
This week, Snyder was served with a subpoena by attorneys representing Flint residents who have filed a class-action suit. They have asked for the governor's emails and text messages going back to January 2011.
Snyder has released some emails from 2014 and 2015.
"Will you release all of those back to 2011, from personal and work accounts?" Harlow asked.
"I released the relevant emails, my emails, that address that issue for the relevant time period," said Snyder, who has released some emails from 2014 and 2015.
"We are complying with every investigation in terms of being open," he added. "We'll follow the appropriate legal process for subpoenas and other legal matters."
"Again, we're complying with every investigation," Snyder said. "We'll follow the appropriate legal process for subpoenas and other legal matters. With respect to releasing my emails, I did that. This is an extraordinary case."
Whether Flint's water crisis happened because the city has poor residents has been discussed in social media, particularly by filmmaker and Flint native Michael Moore.
"This is a racial killing. Flint MI is 60% black. When u knowingly poison a black city, u r committing a version of genocide #ArrestGovSnyder," Moore tweeted at one point.
"Just to be clear: all 102K residents of Flint have been exposed to toxic water, all of Flint's kids have ingested lead, & 10 ppl have died," Moore tweeted on another occasion.
The Black Lives Matter group said African-Americans, especially those in rural and poor areas, have long been denied equal access to clean drinking water.
On Monday, state Attorney General Bill Schuette said he is appointing an ex-prosecutor and Detroit's former FBI chief to join the investigation into Flint's water crisis, creating a "conflict wall" between the state's inquiry and the lawsuits targeting the state.
The prior announced investigation will determine "whether any Michigan laws were violated in the process that created a major public health crisis for Flint residents."
Flint's state of emergency -- declared at municipal and state levels -- began years ago when the city suffered a financial emergency. The state took over the city's budget and decided to temporarily switch Flint's water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River to save money until a new supply line to Lake Huron was ready.
The river, however, was long-known as befouled. Locals call it the "General Motors sewer."
After the April 2014 switch, residents complained their water had problems. Virginia Tech researchers found the water was highly corrosive. A class-action lawsuit alleges the state Department of Environmental Quality didn't treat the water for corrosion, in accordance with federal law, and because so many service lines to Flint are made of lead, the noxious element leached into the water of the city's homes.
The city switched back to the Lake Huron water supply in October, but the damage was already done to the lead pipes. The state is now handing out filters and bottled water with the National Guard. | 0fake |
The Twists and Turns of ‘La Marseillaise’ - The New York Times | PARIS — Last November, immediately after the Bataclan terror attacks here, France’s national anthem took on a global significance that few would have predicted. “La Marseillaise” was sung at rallies across the country, in English soccer stadiums and American concert halls. But it was actually a song transformed — throwing off its appropriation by the far right to become an anthem of unity and hope. That change had begun to occur after the earlier Charlie Hebdo attack — something noted by President François Hollande, who named 2016 the Year of the “Marseillaise. ” This month, about 100 academics, government officials and military personnel gathered at a daylong conference at the French Defense Ministry to help mark an end to that commemoration. They debated the song’s meaning, especially its climax that calls on people to “water the fields with impure blood” (the debate was over whose blood it was). They discussed how its melody had inspired revolutionaries from Russia to Chile. And they listened to countless versions of it, a feminist “Marseillaise” going down particularly well (its chorus — “Tremble, tremble, jealous husbands” — was met with laughter). Todeschini, who is responsible for veteran affairs at the Defense Ministry, said that the Year of the Marseillaise was declared precisely so that the French, especially the young, could the republican values of the song, which was written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792 during the French Revolution. “I am thinking in particular of freedom, resistance and fraternity,” he said. “It belongs to all the French, not to one political party or sectarian ideology. It’s important in the current context of terrorism and risk to our social cohesion to unite all French people around our hymn. ” At the same time that the government has been promoting its reappropriation, others in France have been debating the value of the song — and its ability to unite — in less formal settings. “I didn’t grow up with the mentality of singing it,” said Philippe Fragione, better known as Akhenaton, one of France’s most popular rappers. “I’m from Marseilles and there’s always been a feeling there that we have to rebel against the state. My view changed a bit after the attacks when people in other countries were singing it — that showed solidarity — but sometimes politicians and fake philosophers use it to point out differences, and that’s a problem. ” Magyd Cherfi, a writer and frontman of the band Zebda, said that in his view, “things have evolved in France” over the past year, changing people’s relationship to the country and the anthem. “Fear lives on every street now and people lose confidence in the nation. They take refuge in extremes. ” Mr. Cherfi has a long, complicated history with the “Marseillaise. ” In the late 1990s, he made an album of covers of revolutionary songs, but chose not to include the anthem, saying at the time, “France, in some ways, does not want us,” referring to immigrants like himself. However, after the Paris attacks, he wrote in a widely republished Facebook post: “There are days like this when we love France, when we want to sing the ‘Marseillaise.’ ” He went on: “It was carnage and it’s my day of baptism. I become solemnly French. ” He feels the same connection today, he said, but seems less certain about the anthem. “The Marseillaise is lost in modernity,” he said. “It addresses the French of more than two centuries ago. I think it is good to change the text to make it more universal, because now France’s children are black, Asian, North African. They must find themselves in it. ” There are no surveys to reveal how common such views are, but it is just as easy to find people who celebrate the song. Georges Salines of the victim association 13onze15: Fraternité et Vérité lost his daughter, Lola, in the attack at the Bataclan concert hall and soon afterward heard the “Marseillaise” at a national remembrance ceremony. “I’m not really a fan of the tune, but it was the version by Berlioz, and it was most beautiful I’d ever heard,” he said. He buried his daughter on the same day. “I can’t separate it from those memories now. It’s taken a different meaning to me, beyond an anthem. ” He said the “Marseillaise” has probably helped unite the country since the attacks thanks to its lyrics “against tyranny, absolutism and intolerance. ” He said he understood why some disliked it, since he used to share many of their reservations. But he disagrees with calls to change the words. “I don’t like this idea of correcting pieces of art for political correctness purposes,” he said. “There are racist phrases in ‘Tom Sawyer,’ but you will not change ‘Tom Sawyer.’ ” The Year of the Marseillaise has not put questions of national identity at its forefront, preferring initiatives focused on educating children about the anthem’s origins. Not all have been successful. A competition for musicians to cover the anthem, for instance, largely received joke entries. One simply involved Google Translate reading out the lyrics. Even the winner turned the anthem into a stark soul song. (The singer behind it, Student Kay, said this was because he found its call for sacrifice “quite tragic. ”) Speakers at the conference this month agreed that the anthem was playing perhaps its largest role since World War II, when it helped motivate people against German invaders and the collaborationist Vichy government. “In recent years, the Front National were the only party to use these republican symbols,” said Hervé Drévillon, a professor of modern history at Paris 1 university, referring to the party. “The attacks gave legitimacy to the other parties to it. ” All the candidates for next year’s French presidential election have been singing it at rallies, he added. But several speakers noted that some in France were still uncomfortable with the anthem. They either find its lyrics calling citizens “to arms” outdated and violent, or find the line about “impure blood” inflammatory given France’s colonial history. and Corsicans booed the anthem at football matches in the 2000s. Mathieu Schwartz, a documentary maker who spoke at the conference, said such objections were not about “La Marseillaise” itself. “I don’t think it’s any different from other national hymns,” he said. “If you have a problem with the nation, you have a problem with it. If you changed the music or words, you’d still have a problem. ” Ismael El Iraki, a Moroccan filmmaker who has been living in Paris for 15 years and escaped the Bataclan during the attacks, said the lyrics did not need to be changed. “That infamous line about impure blood is my favorite,” he said, sharing an unusual interpretation from his high school history teacher: Rouget de Lisle was calling on people to shed their own impure blood in defense of the French Revolution — purity having been something previously associated with the aristocracy. “That’s why I love the ‘Marseillaise,’ ” he said. “In a moment in history where purity is used as a horrible goal by jihadists and fear mongers alike, I think it’s a cool line to keep in mind, reminding us that impurity is our own, and our strength. ” | 0fake |
Moldova sends troops to NATO drills despite presidential veto | CHISINAU (Reuters) - The Moldovan government said on Thursday it has sent 57 servicemen to Ukraine to participate in military exercises starting this week, deepening a row with the pro-Russian president who had vetoed the move. The drills in western Ukraine from Sept. 8-23 will be conducted mainly by NATO member countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom and Turkey. They coincide with war games known as Zapad , or West , by thousands of Russian troops in Belarus, the Baltic Sea, western Russia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. The Russian exercises have worried NATO despite Moscow s assurances troops would rehearse a purely defensive scenario. Moldova is governed by a pro-Western government and a pro-Moscow president, meaning frequent clashes over foreign policy, especially where relations with Russia and the European Union are concerned. The government s plans to send troops were vetoed by President Igor Dodon, who argued that Moldova is bound by its constitution to stay neutral. The defense ministry ignored the president, who is also Moldova s commander-in-chief. Officially I confirm that, despite all the obstacles, 57 servicemen of Moldova, as was planned earlier, just an hour ago went by bus to participate in NATO military exercises, which start on Friday in Ukraine, Defence Ministry spokeswoman Diana Gradinaru said. Earlier this year Dodon banned the participation of military personnel in NATO exercises in Romania, prompting complaints by the U.S. and Romanian ambassadors. Moldova has been governed by pro-Western governments since 2009 and signed a trade pact with the EU in 2014. Russia retaliated by halting imports of Moldovan farm produce, depriving the country of a key market for its wine, fruit and vegetables. Relations suffered further this year due to a dispute in March over the treatment of Moldovan officials traveling to or through Russia, and the expulsion of Russian diplomats in May. In August, Moldova declared Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin persona non grata, accusing him of making defamatory remarks about Moldovan government officials. | 0fake |
WATCH: STONE-FACED ANDERSON COOPER Gets Schooled By Trump’s Deputy Assistant On Fake News…”I know you want salacious, sensational coverage for your ratings, so your corporate sponsors and owners will have more money but that’s not media” | President Trump s deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka appeared on Anderson Cooper s 360 show, where he admonished the network for making up news about the Trump administration being in crisis and that they were in bunker mentality following the news story that broke about a June 2016 meeting between Donald Trump Jr. and a Russian Lawyer who promised dirt on Hillary, but instead wanted to talk about Russian adoptions. Gorka told Cooper, It s laughable. Your chyron talked about a bunker mentality. I actually work in the West Wing, I work in the White House. It is absolutely nothing of the kind, Trump s Deputy Assistant continued, We are pushing the Make America Great Again agenda, the president is a steam locomotive that cannot be stopped, it s just fake news. I m sad to see CNN fall to this. Gorka continued with his tongue-lashing of CNN s stone-faced host Cooper Anderson: I know you want salacious, sensational coverage for your ratings, so your corporate sponsors and owners will have more money but that s not media, that s not reportage, it s just fake news. Cooper, remained surprisingly stoic as Gorka outed CNN s real agenda, which is clearly not reporting actual news, but instead, chasing ratings and ultimately money from advertisers. When Gorka appeared to be finished, Cooper replied, Okay, I m just going to ignore the insults because I don t think it gets us anywhere. Gorka quickly replied saying, It s not about you, its about actually having journalism back on TV. Where are the Walter Cronkite s of yesteryear? This is just about ratings and money. It s actually quite sad. TRUMPSTERS NEWS TRUTH ,https://t.co/VW6eRiutDD cp (@Gumball55668882) July 13, 2017 | 1real |
Now talk nice: EU script to help May settle Brexit bill | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Diplomatic theatrics at last week s Brussels summit revealed how European Union leaders will coax British Prime Minister Theresa May over the next two months into parting with tens of billions of euros in return for a post-Brexit trade deal. May gave away nothing hardliners in her Conservative cabinet can beat her with. She stuck to earlier vague concessions about honoring commitments and insisting a Brexit bill , which the EU reckons at around 60 billion euros ($70 billion), must be part of a package deal on what Britain s relationship with the EU will be once it leaves in March 2019. Sticking to their own script, the other 27 states gave May until the next regular summit in eight weeks to improve an offer officials estimate at about 20 billion euros if she wants them to start discussing future trade ties. Miss that deadline and, the EU says, time will be running out for any deal. Yet between the lines of well-rehearsed arguments that have hit deadlock in the view of the EU negotiator, the outlines of a political fix are emerging. It may create leeway to get round an impasse that is in neither side s interest and which has left businesses fearing the legal limbo of a messy divorce. In essence, the 27 need to trust May that Britain will pay much more than is on the table but understand her difficulties in naming a figure by December, which could spark revolt at home and derail the process. In return, they seem likely to let slip more hints of what kind of future relationship she might secure. The EU position is solid , Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters after the talks, but also flexible . It was unrealistic, he said, to expect May to sell a precise demand for money in December. Equally, she could not expect the EU to negotiate a future trade deal without knowing roughly what outstanding items Britain would pay for. But defining those items could, Gentiloni said, be done in the most politically manageable way possible for our British friends . Even the roughest of definitions will let commentators work out numbers. But as a senior diplomat from another major EU power put it: We don t want to go public with a bald figure. If it s on the front page of The Sun, the whole process is dead. Underlining a growing appreciation of May s limited room for maneuver, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted in a German newspaper on Sunday as telling aides he found May despondent when they met last Monday, beset by party coup plots and asking Europeans to help her out. Aware of her troubles, EU leaders accentuated the positive. Reports of the deadlock ... have been exaggerated, summit chair Donald Tusk concluded, adding that discussions with May had finally succeeded in establishing trust and goodwill . Tusk, a former Polish premier, echoed the EU mantra of unity among the 27 and full backing for European Commission negotiator Michel Barnier, whose team of technical experts are handling the talks with London. But he also acknowledged a nuance in his role in steering the high-level political imperatives of the leaders. That, Tusk said, meant he would be a positive motivator in the coming weeks to create a more positive narrative than what some British politicians call EU blackmail demands. Anxious not to worsen May s troubles at home, fellow leaders made an effort to demonstrate goodwill. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron take a hard line on sequencing divorce talks before trade, but they huddled with May in amicable conversation for television cameras. The EU communique acknowledged progress on key issues, which also comprise expatriate rights and the Irish border, and instructed Barnier to begin internal EU preparations for the talks May wants on a two-year transition period after Brexit. Tusk said EU preparations would take account of proposals presented by our British friends an indication that, even without direct talks, May might be able to show her domestic audience an outline of how the EU sees future ties. Over dinner on Thursday, she appealed for help and stressed two concessions made in a speech at Florence on Sept. 22 that the 27 would not lose out financially in the current EU budget ending in 2020 and that Britain would honor its commitments . Some were disappointed that she repeated Britain s rejection of the legal basis of much of the EU s demands, notably that it pay for EU commitments lasting beyond 2020. Macron, for one, said they were not even half way toward an agreement on money. But others detected a more positive tone. Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel said May had indicated that Britain was at least analyzing what other parts of the bill it might pay. Merkel said she had no doubt a good agreement was possible. Yet there are few illusions that the Brexit plot will play out smoothly. We ve always predicted a drama for autumn, one EU diplomat said. We haven t seen it yet. So maybe November. | 0fake |
Team Clinton: Let’s Talk About Russia, Not the WikiLeaks Emails | Washington Free Beacon October 26, 2016
Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine and every one of their Democratic surrogates have pivoted to attacking Russia’s role in the WikiLeaks release of John Podesta’s emails when asked about their subject matter.
So thorough is this particular talking point that both Howard Dean and Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (D., N.M.) blamed the Russians when asked about a totally separate matter involving quid pro quo accusations within the State Department.
So long as they’re asked about WikiLeaks, Team Clinton will just power through . This article was posted: Wednesday, October 26, 2016 at 7:33 am Share this article | 1real |
WOW! THE WASHINGTON POST Publishes #RealNews Story About President Trump : Under Trump’s Leadership, Gains Against ISIS Have “Dramatically Accelerated” | The Washington Post Nearly a third of territory reclaimed from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria since 2014 has been won in the past six months, due to new policies adopted by the Trump administration, a senior State Department official said Friday.Brett McGurk, the State Department s senior envoy to the anti-Islamic State coalition, said that steps President Trump has taken, including delegating decision-making authority down from the White House to commanders in the field, have dramatically accelerated gains against the militants.Combined Islamic State losses in both countries since the group s peak control in early 2015 total about 27,000 square miles of territory 78 percent of militant holdings in Iraq and 58 percent in Syria. About 8,000 square miles have been reclaimed under Trump, McGurk said in a briefing for reporters.Although the Trump administration has yet to announce its new strategy for the campaign against the Islamic State, McGurk cited key changes under Trump. In addition to the delegation of decision-making authority, which he said has allowed much greater responsiveness to opportunities and changing circumstances, he cited a campaign of annihilation that has concentrated on surrounding cities held by the militants before launching offensives, to ensure that no militants will escape.He said the 2,000 militants remaining in Raqqa most likely will die in Raqqa. The United Nations has estimated that 25,000 civilians also remain in the city.McGurk, who held the same job in the Obama administration, also cited renewed administration efforts to increase burden sharing from the coalition among what he said were 73 countries. Most of them do not contribute to the warfighting but are expected to help with stabilization efforts in cleared areas, including in the Iraqi city of Mosul, where U.S.-backed Iraq security forces declared victory over the Islamic State last month. | 1real |
Rulings and Remarks Tell Divided Story of an 8-Member Supreme Court - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is trying hard to reach common ground in the wake of the vacancy created by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February. But some justices are trying harder than others. A burst of 11 decisions issued in just over a week in late May provided one telling snapshot of a court divided over the value of consensus. A series of public remarks last week from three justices delivered another. The court seems to have split into two camps, with the four justices at its ideological center working diligently to deliver unified opinions. The remaining members of the court seem less committed to that project. The recent run of rulings, accounting for more than a quarter of all decisions in argued cases so far this term, tells the story. The court’s most conservative members — Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — wrote eight concurrences or dissents. Its two most liberal members — Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor — wrote four. The remaining justices make up the new center of the court. Three of them — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony M. Kennedy and Elena Kagan — voted together in every case, and Justice Stephen G. Breyer cast a single dissenting vote. None wrote a concurrence or dissent. Two members of that core group offered public reflections last week on the court’s current state, declaring themselves satisfied. “I try to achieve as much consensus as I can,” Chief Justice Roberts said at a judicial conference in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va. “We kind of have to have a commitment as a group. I think we spend a fair amount of time — maybe a little more than others in the past — talking about things, talking them out. It sometimes brings you a bit closer together. ” The resulting decisions can be narrow or nonexistent, as when the court unanimously returned a major case on access to contraception to the lower courts. That effectively deferred a Supreme Court ruling on the matter for at least a year and probably much longer. The chief justice acknowledged, “It’s been subject to some criticism that you can put things off. ” “Some people think that’s bad,” he said. “I think it has something to do with judicial philosophy. I think we should be as restrained in when we decide the issues when it’s necessary to do so. I think that’s part of how I look at the job. ” The contraception opinion was unsigned, but some sophisticated observers suspect that Justice Breyer played a major role in setting it in motion. He did not address the case directly in remarks at an awards ceremony last week, but he took issue with the idea that the Supreme Court is diminished when it fails to rule in significant cases. “If you believe the Supreme Court should decide all the major issues for the country, you’d like them all decided,” he said. “I happen not to believe that. ” Justice Ginsburg, the leader of the court’s liberal wing, sounded less content with the current state of affairs on Thursday at a judicial conference in Saratoga Springs, N. Y. “Eight, as you know, is not a good number for a multimember court,” she said. In his own remarks, Justice Breyer said an court was capable of deciding most cases, supporting the point with statistics from recent terms. “We’re unanimous 50 percent of the time,” he said. “Twenty percent of the time we’re and half of those are kind of random, not what the press would call the usual suspects. ” That was just about correct, though the fraction of decisions that split along the usual ideological lines in recent terms was more like . But Justice Breyer’s larger point was true: There is no reason to think the court is likely to deadlock all that often. The number of closely divided decisions was never large, and Justice Scalia was not the decisive vote in all of them. In the term that ended last June, he was in the majority in six of 19 decisions decided by a vote. The recent run of 11 decisions followed the general pattern. None were deadlocks. Five were authentically unanimous, while a sixth was unanimous about the bottom line but divided over the rationale. One split 5 to 3, another 6 to 2. The three remaining decisions were 7 to 1, with Justice Thomas in dissent every time. One case concerned prosecutors’ exclusion of all black potential jurors from the trial of a black defendant facing the death penalty. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, said a prosecutor’s explanation for striking a black potential juror was “nonsense. ” But it was good enough for Justice Thomas, the member of the court least interested in consensus. That same day, the four more quarrelsome justices issued dueling concurrences in a series of cases about offenders sentenced to die in prison. The court itself had done nothing more than return the cases to lower courts for reconsideration in light of a January decision that had seemed to give the prisoners a fresh shot at eventual release. Justices Thomas and Alito, in separate concurrences, said there were still reasons to sustain the sentences. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ginsburg, said lower courts should grant relief in all but the rarest cases. John P. Elwood, a lawyer with Vinson Elkins, wrote on Scotusblog that he was struck by the level of discord. “That’s a lot of disagreement,” he wrote, “for people who agree on the disposition of a case. ” | 0fake |
Vice President Pence Appears to Support EU Freedom of Movement | U. S. Vice President Mike Pence held a joint press conference with European Council President Donald Tusk on Monday in which Pence affirmed United States commitment to the European Union while also raising questions as to whether the U. S. supports the European Union’s “freedom of movement. ”[In the joint press conference with Tusk, Vice President Pence stated in part: Saturday, as President Tusk said, I was pleased to address the Munich Security Council to speak about the importance of the strategic alliance [inaudible] … entered the bond so many years ago in the North American Treaty Organization. But the president did ask me to come here, to Brussels, to the home of the European Union, and deliver an additional message, so today it is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continued cooperation and partnership with the European Union. Whatever our differences, our two continents share the same marriage, the same values, and above all, the same purpose — to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. And to those objectives, we will remain committed. This has been European Union’s goal since before its formal founding in 1993. What began as a modest Western European trade agreement in 1951, freedom of movement, has grown into a commitment to the four freedoms — the freedom of movement, goods, capital, services and people, the common currency, and common approach to foreign and security policy. Pence continued speaking of the history of the European Union (EU). He moved to speak of U. S. and EU economies and “reaffirm our commitment to a free, fair and flourishing economies that undergird our success and a cooperation in achieving that. Maintaining and strengthening our economic vitality will require hard but necessary choices. ” Pence also reaffirmed the U. S. commitment to fighting terrorism, mentioned the Islamic terror bombings on Brussels that killed more than 30 people, then called on the European community to intensify efforts to fight radical Islamic terrorism alongside the United States. “This will require greater coordination and among EU member states and between the EU and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” he said. Speaking of Russian aggression, Pence said, “In addition to confronting terrorism together, clearly, we must stand strong in defense of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nations in Europe. ” On Tuesday, Reuters reported that in the week leading up to the vice president’s meetings in Brussels and affirmation of U. S. commitment to the EU, in a conversation with a German diplomat, White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon described the EU as a flawed construct. He cited three confidential sources that had been briefed on the meeting. The sources stated that Bannon conveyed favor for bilateral relations with Europe. One White House official claimed to Reuters a more brief version of the interaction between Bannon and German ambassador to Washington Peter Wittig than the three other sources. The three sources reportedly described Bannon’s message to the diplomat as favoring strong nationalist movements. One of the three described the White House position on the EU as not seeing an unraveling of the EU as having grave consequences. The vice president spoke at the Munich Security Conference in the days before his visit to Brussels as part of his first trip abroad since taking office. Last week, the conference chairman, French Foreign Minister Ayrault, called on Pence to affirm during his visit that the U. S. supports the EU and was not aiming to break up the organization, according to Reuters. Pence made the trip to the security conference on behalf of President Trump. A senior White House policy adviser previewed the trip last week, promising an overarching message of reassurance. In his speech to conference participants, he brought this promise from President Trump: “We will stand with Europe today and every day we are bound together by the same noble ideals — freedom, democracy, justice, and the rule of law. ” At Monday’s joint press conference, Pence stated, “The United States commitment to the European Union is steadfast and enduring. President Tusk, President Trump, and I look forward to working together with you and the European Union to deepen our political and economic partnership. ” During his presidential campaign, Donald Trump made clear that he supported the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” vote to leave the European Union. The day after the June 23 Brexit vote, Trump compared the vote to the upcoming presidential election in the U. S. and attributed the U. K. vote to leave the EU, and prospectively the U. S. presidential vote, in large part to people’s desire to control borders and block illegal immigration. USA Today quoted Trump as stating, “All over the world [people are] angry. They are angry at the borders. They are angry over people coming into the country and taking over. ” In late January, European Parliament chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who vehemently opposes Brexit, said, “We have a third front undermining the European Union, and it is Donald Trump, who has joined [the parties] from across the Atlantic. He has talked fairly favorably of other countries wanting to break away from the EU and that he hoped for disintegration from European Union,” according to the Telegraph. In the Monday press conference, President Tusk emphasized a particular portion of his meeting with Vice President Pence, saying, “I asked the vice president directly if he shared my opinions on three key matters: the international order, security, and the attitude of the new American administration towards the European Union. ” Tusk continued, “In reply to these three matters, I heard today from Vice President Pence three times ‘yes.’ After such a positive declaration, both Europeans and Americans must simply practice what they preach. ” Request for comment from the vice president on whether the State Department had a role in statements made at Monday’s joint press conference returned no comment by the time of this report. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana. | 0fake |
Anne Frank Center SAVAGES Spicer After He Said Hitler Didn’t Gas Jews At ‘Holocaust Centers’ (TWEETS) | It s no secret that a large percentage of the Trump administration thinks the Holocaust didn t happen (or, if they do, they think Hitler had it right), but even The Donald s harshest critics didn t expect the White House Press Secretary to openly deny the Holocaust during a press briefing. But, of course, this is the Trump administration where up is down, taking food from the poor is compassionate, and Hitler didn t gas the Jews.On Tuesday, White House Propaganda Minister Sean Spicer attempted to defend Trump s seemingly pointless (unless the point was to make himself a whole lot of money through investments in the company that makes the missiles used) bombing run in Syria that he authorized because Ivanka was having a sad day. According to Spicer, Assad is much worse than Hitler becauseat least he didn t use chemical weapons on his people like Syria s president does. We didn t use chemical weapons in World War II. You had a, someone who is as despicable as Hitler who didn t even sink to using chemical weapons, Spicer told a room full of almost certainly stunned reporters. In other words, Zyklon B didn t exist and concentration camps Spicer called them Holocaust centers were just fun places where stuff happened that totally didn t involve chemical weapons being used on Jewish people.Shortly after Spicer said the Holocaust didn t happen, the Anne Frank Center stepped up to take his words and shove them down his throat with such force that they traveled through time and shot out the seat of his great grandson s pants in the middle of his Speech final. (He ran out of the room and received an Incomplete )..@POTUS @realDonaldTrump MUST FIRE SEAN SPICER NOW FOR ENGAGING IN HOLOCAUST DENIAL. OUR STATEMENT BELOW. #Antisemitism #NeverAgain pic.twitter.com/4dB9ESCaZr AnneFrankCenter(US) (@AnneFrankCenter) April 11, 2017 On Passover no less, Sean Spicer has engaged in Holocaust denial, the most offensive form of fake news imaginable, by denying Hitler gassed millions of Jews to death, the organization s executive director, Steven Goldstein, said in a statement. Spicer s statement is the most evil slur upon a group of people we have ever heard from a White House press secretary. Sean Spicer now lacks the integrity to serve and President Trump must fire him at once, Goldstein says.Though many would disagree with the idea that Spicer had integrity at all at any point in his life, the sentiment is true: Spicer must resign, or Trump must fire him. Or there will be hell to pay.Watch Spicer s remarks below, and happy Genocide Awareness and Prevention Month, everyone!Here s Spicer s answer about Hitler not using chemical weapons (he gassed millions), and his attempt at a clarification, which made it worse pic.twitter.com/gcJGhASVK2 Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 11, 2017Spicer, trying to clarify his Hitler answer makes it worse: He was not using the gas on his own people in the same way that Assad is doing pic.twitter.com/SSA1P680z5 Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) April 11, 2017Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
U.N. launches new plan to end Libya's post-revolution turmoil | TUNIS (Reuters) - The United Nations began a new push on Tuesday to stabilize Libya by getting rival factions to revise the stalled peace plan and set the country on the path to elections. The effort aims to end the turmoil that developed in Libya after the 2011 NATO-backed uprising ended Muammar Gaddafi s 42-year rule, giving space to Islamist militants and smuggling networks that have sent hundreds of thousands of migrants to Europe. Political and military fractures have left the country mired in conflict and the OPEC member s economy in freefall. Rival parliaments and governments have vied for power. Last week, U.N. envoy Ghassan Salame announced a one-year action plan for a transition toward presidential and parliamentary elections. The plan got underway on Tuesday with negotiations between delegations from rival parliaments from eastern Libya and Tripoli, which are meant to draw up amendments to a previous U.N.-mediated plan signed in December 2015. As the delegations convened in Tunis, Salame said he hoped the amendments could be agreed rapidly and that he sensed a window of opportunity for reconciliation. All Libyans are fed up. They are going from transition to transition with no horizon, he said. We have sleeping institutions that need to be awoken, divided institutions that need to be united, and hijacked institutions that need to be rebuilt. The 2015 deal has only had limited support from power-brokers and was never endorsed by factions aligned with military commander Khalifa Haftar that control eastern Libya. Haftar, who has been courted by Western states after making military gains, was in Rome on Tuesday where he met Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti and Italy s highest ranking military officer, Claudio Graziano. Pinotti expressed hope that all parties would support Salame s inclusive political strategy ... excluding any military solution , according to a defense ministry statement. Italy and other Western states have tried to work with the U.N.-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, but it has been hamstrung by internal splits and has been unable to halt a slide in living standards or tame the power of armed groups. We re here to move the political process forward for the sake of the country s stability, said Moussa Faraj, head of the delegation from the High Council of State in Tripoli, according to a tweet from the United Nations from the Tunis meeting which got closed to the press after Salame s speech. Under the new U.N. plan, once amendments have been agreed a national conference drawing on a much larger number of representatives from across Libya is meant to approve the members of a transitional government that would run the country until elections. The eastern parliament, or House of Representatives (HOR), is expected to devise laws for national elections and for a referendum to approve a much-delayed constitution. The chamber has barely functioned over the past two years and has been boycotted by a large number of its members. Our task is difficult, said Abdusalam Nasia, head of the HOR delegation, according to the United Nations. I call on all to leave personal interests behind and focus on common interests. | 0fake |
Playing the “rigged” card: Trump, Jones and other conspiracy mongers must look within the GOP for the legit scandals | As predicted by anyone who knows how the FBI works and, more importantly, by anyone who knows the actual law in question, Hillary Clinton won’t be indicted by the FBI or the Justice Department over the use of a private email server. Firstly, conspiracy theorists and Hillary haters alike have been peddling the misinformation that the FBI is capable of indicting people, which it’s not. Secondly, even if the FBI could single-handedly indict someone, which it can’t, there’s clearly no evidence proving Hillary deliberately broke the law.
We also know that the announcement by the FBI’s James Comey on Tuesday won’t dissuade the aforementioned Hillary haters from continuing to beat-to-death the Benghazi issue and everything orbiting it, including the email server, even though every investigation has turned up nothing — and this includes investigations by the hyper-litigious Republicans who have no reason to exonerate Hillary, and every reason to summarily jail her. And, among the usual suspects whose indictment fantasies border on obsessive, there’s Donald Trump:
Trump joins a growing faction of politicians and observers who are actively abusing the “rigged” card whenever events don’t go their way. Broadly speaking, Trump’s been transparently courting disaffected Bernie Sanders loyalists by echoing their claims of a rigged primary process, despite the fact that Bernie himself stated that the process was fair and square. Bernie even went so far as to explicitly tell CBS News that the system is “not rigged.”
Nevertheless, garment rending over rigged votes or rigged investigations in America is indicative of the growing influence of conspiracy theory marketeering here, fueled primarily by social media gossip and the exploitative rantings of radio flimflam artist Alex Jones, who’s made a fortune by taking advantage of those who are predisposed to believing wild schemes about sinister plots to undermine democracy. Losing an election? Well, then, it’s not that you ran a shoddy campaign, the system is obviously rigged against you. No scandal where you wrongly insisted there was one? Rigged. Or if your career and personal wealth are predicated upon marketing in allegations that the system is rigged, then, naturally, everything is rigged. Except, that is, the deeds of Jones and Trump, who always deal in truths, right?
In the social media age, the old maxim is again proved: a lie travels halfway around the world before the truth gets its pants on. The notion of a rigged system from top-to-bottom has become so entrenched that not even 13 published reports, the involvement of 10 congressional committees, the testimony of 252 witnesses, the convening of 33 congressional hearings and $7 million in funding for the Benghazi select committee can dislodge it from the deranged brain-pans of those who simply want the Benghazi conspiracies to be true. Jones and Trump are observant enough to understand that social media users, in particular, are suckers and easy marks — unthinkingly retweeting quick hits about unsourced or entirely fake claims. If your Facebook news feed isn’t festooned with fake articles inadvertently shared by friends who never bother to think critically, and that’s if they read the article in the first place before posting, which they often don’t, you’re one of the lucky ones.
Here’s the real crisis, though. When everything is rigged, then nothing is. By turning every news event into either a false flag or a red flag, or both, legitimately rigged aspects of the system become drowned in a bathtub of gibberish and half-baked pulp fiction. Between Bernie loyalists continuing to screech about rigged primaries, and Trump people engaging in daily meltdowns about the rigged email investigation, along with the rest of us who are tasked with swatting down both sets of scandals, there are very few participants who are paying attention to real crises such as, for example, gerrymandering and voter ID laws. Indeed, we’re four months away from another presidential election, and exactly nothing is being done to expand opportunities to vote, while offering voters a fair slate of candidates that aren’t shuffled into office again and again because congressional districts were deliberately redrawn to suit their victories. The latter, gerrymandering, is exploited by both parties, while voter ID laws have been passed by Republicans for the express purpose of disenfranchising Democratic voters and therefore electing more Republicans. Casting a ballot in the United States, of all places, should be easier than ordering a burger at a drive-thru window, yet we can already safely assume that precincts across the nation won’t have enough ballots or enough voting booths, and lines will be prohibitively long. We also know that nothing is being done to roll back voter ID laws, each one making it unconstitutionally difficult for students, lower-income workers and elderly voters to cast ballots. And we know that a growing list of Republicans have confirmed our suspicions about the ID laws — that they’re designed solely to put a thumb on the scales for the GOP — a fact that’s supported by the reality that there’s a 0.00000031 chance of voter fraud, based on a Bush administration study from 2002-2007. Conveniently, too much attention is being paid to a completely disproved conspiracy theory about Hillary and Benghazi, as well as evidence-free allegations of Hillary somehow rigging the primary election in her favor, even though there are volumes of statistics, as well as quotes from various Republicans, confirming the true purpose of voter ID laws. As for gerrymandering, the practice and its consequences are self-evident. Put another way, there’s a reason why the House of Representatives is loaded with unqualified demagogues who somehow remain in office long past their shelf-life. If as much attention was paid to actual conspiracies as is paid to racist garbage like Obama’s birth certificate or the Vince Foster suicide, voting would be easier and we’d have a real chance to elect a better and more competent litter of politicians for the 115th Congress. | 0fake |
I Planned My Wedding in 5 Days. You Could, Too. - The New York Times | It was the day before my wedding, and I still didn’t have a dress. In less than 24 hours, family and friends would be gathering to celebrate the occasion, and at this point my “something borrowed” was going to be an entire church outfit. Was I concerned? Not really, and not for long. I decided to throw a Hail Mary at my mom by asking if she would make a skirt to match the $10 top I found. She did. And it was lovely. My wedding dress was just one of many things I wasn’t concerned about. For example, five days earlier (on a Thursday, which also happened to be New Year’s Eve) I was on the phone with the woman who would become my banquet coordinator. The conversation took place about an hour after I was officially engaged (with an $8. 88 Walmart wedding ring purchased that morning) while hiking in the Sedona Verde Valley in Arizona. It went like this: HER (choking cough) “Excuse me? You’re getting married in five days, and you’re just calling me now?” ME “Well, I actually think I’m being quite generous. I just got engaged, and you’re my first call. I figured I should work out some logistics before texting everyone. And no, I’m not pregnant. ” HER “Well this is unusual. How many people are you expecting?” ME “Probably 100. ” HER (cough) “One hundred people with five days’ notice?” ME “People do it for funerals all the time. If I’ve underestimated, we’ll have leftovers. If I overestimated, I’ll just make my family eat last. ” HER “I’m not sure how to process this. O. K. let’s talk about flowers. ” ME “Ha. No, thank you. ” HER “No flowers?” ME “The room is beautiful enough, so I don’t think anyone will notice. Seems wasteful. ” HER “How about tablecloths and napkin colors?” ME “Just whatever is cheapest and most convenient. ” HER “You don’t have colors?” ME “Well, I guess the only suit my fiancé has right now is navy. Plus, he has a pink tie. So I guess we’ll go with that for our wedding colors. Navy and pink. ” HER “Is this a joke?” The entire luncheon was planned in an hour. Because Rob Reading, now my husband, and I knew each other for four years and had been dating for a year, we already knew we wanted to spend eternity together. (We had already met with our bishops for premarriage approval but had not become officially engaged.) And because of my husband’s maritime work and subsequent transfer from London to the Bay Area, along with my working on the legal team for the Little Sisters of the Poor Supreme Court case, we figured we had two options in the moments after his proposal: get married in a week or in a year. We eagerly decided it was five days to put my theory to the test. Why five days? Long ago, I became convinced that modern weddings were unnecessarily burdensome. My theory: You could plan a beautiful wedding in a week. The second call I made that day in the desert was to my parents (who told me their prayers were answered). The third call that afternoon was to the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Saints. I wasn’t concerned about getting a slot at the temple because early Tuesday morning isn’t prime time for weddings. It was still Day 1 of planning at this point. I already had my ceremony and reception sites secured. Wedding invitations were soon sent (yes, that day) via text message with a collage of selfies saying: “Would love to have you come if you can make it. No gifts. Just love. ” I called in favors from my best friends to do photos, hair and makeup. I pulled strings to get performers and an M. C. for the event. As I was the last of six children to marry (not to mention my 13 foster siblings) my parents certainly weren’t complaining. In addition, the small farm town that I grew up in — more cows than humans — was rejoicing that the two of us, in our 30s and 40s, were marrying at all. To be sure, five days’ notice was inconvenient for our guests, and there were a few who could not make it. But whether five days or five years, it would have been inconvenient and there would have been those who would have missed it. And surprisingly, there were only a handful of close friends who couldn’t make it, the same rate as any wedding. And some of the best parts? Total planning time: 26 hours. Total cost: $4, 500. The result, on Jan. 5, 2016, was the perfect wedding day. People said that it couldn’t have been more lovely if we had had a year to plan it. No one noticed that we didn’t have flowers. Or, as my mother, Marilyn, said: “Hallelujah! Hallelujah for putting the relationship above a wedding reception. Hallelujah for not worrying about complicated logistics. And hallelujah for not having enough time to change your mind!” Rob kept saying to me throughout the planning process, “What do you want me to do?” I told him there really wasn’t a lot that has to be done to plan the wedding, and here’s why: With each social expectation for weddings, I asked myself: “Does this achieve the goal of making the people at my wedding feel loved and appreciated for the role they play in my life? Will it help strengthen my marriage and the promises we made to each other?” If the answer was no, I didn’t waste any more time. I now appreciate applying this to other areas of life. Is where we go to dinner eternally significant? If not, it’s not worth arguing over. Do party favors for the barbecue you’re giving matter? Probably not. Enjoy the path of least resistance. If it truly represents the most important elements of your life and relationship, put time, energy and creativity into it. If not, do yourself a favor and skip the stress. Rob also saw the beauty in our short engagement and the microburst planning period. “The longer it plays out, the longer the nuisance,” he said. “It would have been just an obstacle to starting our life. So why wait?” We may not have a $200 gravy boat, and I may have worn an $8. 88 Walmart wedding ring that eventually turned my finger green, but our flowerless, wedding set the perfect precedent for married life — elegantly simple. Read More: Here’s How She Planned Her Wedding in a Week | 0fake |
Delta to cancel about 800 flights due to Irma | (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc said it would cancel about 800 flights on Monday as it braces for Tropical Storm Irma at its Atlanta hub. "Hurricane Irma is expected to bring to the Atlanta hub strong crosswinds that exceed operating limits on select mainline and regional aircraft," Delta said on Monday. (bit.ly/2gXW5Cu) The No. 2 U.S. airline by passenger traffic, whose business is heavily dependent on operations at the Atlanta airport, said it was planning to resume service to airports in Florida. Irma, ranked as one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic, hit a wide swath of Florida over the past day. It is now a tropical storm with sustained winds of up to 70 miles per hour (110 km per hour). Bigger rival American Airlines Group Inc said on Sunday it would not resume commercial flights at its Miami International Airport hub on Monday, but may operate flights to bring in staff and supplies. | 0fake |
BREAKING: BRAZIL Detains Two US Olympic Swimmers In Robbery Investigation…Let Our Swimmers Go! | This all started a few days ago when Ryan Lochte claimed he was robbed and his wallet was taken:Ryan Lochte was reportedly held up at gunpoint this weekend in Rio apparently at a party in the city, but an IOC spokesperson says it s not true. Lochte s mom says her son called her right after the stickup and says it was terrifying according to a Fox Sports Australia reporter. The reporter says the thief or thieves made off with Ryan s wallet. Ryan was invited to the party by Brazilian swimmer Thiago Pereira, along with 3 of Lochte s teammates. It was discovered later that his wallet was spotted on him when he went back through the metal detector at the entrance to the Olympic Village. A Brazilian Judge wanted to detain Lochte but he had already arrived back in the US. Now they have our two swimmers for questioning LET OUR SWIMMERS GO!Team USA swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz who were with Ryan Lochte during the alleged robbery in Rio got yanked off an airplane as they were trying to leave Brazil. Conger and Bentz were detained by authorities, but says it s still gathering information as to find out exactly why. Earlier on Tuesday, cops in Rio said they were suspicious of the swimmers claim they were robbed at gunpoint early Sunday morning. The USOC says cops went to the Olympic Village to interview Lochte and teammate James Feigen, but discovered they d already left the country. Looks like they nabbed Conger and Bentz at the last possible moment.Read more: TMZ Sports | 1real |
NYPD So Delighted With Cop Who Killed Eric Garner They Now Pay Him $120K | Daniel Pantaleo was caught on video using an illegal chokehold on Eric Garner, killing him in front of the entire world for the crime of selling loose cigarettes. There was a lengthy investigation, but ultimately no indictment, despite public outrage and widespread protests. Now, a new report of payroll records shows just how delighted the NYPD was with Pantaleo and his deadly actions.Ever since Pantaleo killed Garner on that New York City street, he has consistently gotten raise after raise, even while being actively investigated for Garner s death, and is now making upwards of $120,000 a year.A report from Politico reads: Pantaleo earned $119,996 in fiscal year 2016, which includes earnings between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016. His base pay was $78,026 and he earned $23,220 in overtime, according to a review of payroll records. He received an additional $12,853 in unspecified pay, which could include retroactive pay or bonuses.Pantaleo s earnings in 2016 represent a 35 percent increase in overtime pay, and a 14 percent overall increase from the previous fiscal year, which began shortly before Garner s death on July 17, 2014.In that 12-month period, ending June 30, 2015, Pantaleo earned $105,061, with $76,488 base pay, $17,109 in overtime and $11,673 in additional earnings, records show.In fiscal year 2014, which was completed before Garner s death and Pantaleo s subsequent reassignment, he made $99,915, which included $17,189 in overtime. An investigation into Garner s killing by the Department of Justice is ongoing and the NYPD has still not released the results of their investigation. Mayor Bill DeBlasio insists that state law prevents Pantaleo s full disciplinary file from being released. This claim prompted Governor Andrew Cuomo to call bullshit and he told DeBlasio not to blame the state law when a judge interpreted the law otherwise and your office is now contradicting the judge. So far, this is what we do know about Pantaleo s record as one of New York s finest, according to Latest.com: Pantaleo was involved in at least three lawsuits in which he allegedly violated a (black) citizen s civil rights. He was disciplined for a bogus stop and frisk incident before the NYPD banned the practice. In April he was named as a defendant with the NYPD for allegedly crashing his cruiser into another man s car and injuring the driver. So in America, when a cop kills an unarmed black man with an illegal chokehold and there is video proof, not only does he get a paid vacation, he also gets one hell of a pay raise. Something is very wrong with this picture.Featured image via Latest.com | 1real |
Trump Pushes ’America First’ at Boeing Visit - Breitbart | Friday at a Boeing manufacturing facility in North Charleston, SC, President Donald Trump gave a speech that promoted the “America first” theme that was also a part of his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump’s stop in North Charleston was part of Boeing’s rollout of the aerospace manufacturer’s aircraft. Transcript as follows: TRUMP: USA. AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! TRUMP: Thank you, Dennis (ph). And I have to say, I love South Carolina. I love it. (APPLAUSE) Remember we came down all together. We came down, and this was going to be a place that was tough to win, and we won in a landslide. This was a good one. (APPLAUSE) So I want to thank — I want to thank the people of South Carolina. And your governor, tremendous guy. He supported us right from the beginning. So I’d like to thank Governor McMaster for the incredible job, he’s right here someplace. Thank you very much. You have been fantastic. And I have to say also, that is one beautiful airplane. (APPLAUSE) Congratulations to the men and women here who have built it. What an amazing piece of art. What an amazing piece of work. Thank you, Dennis (ph) for the invitation to be with you today. You know, the old days when I made this speech, I got paid a lot of money. Now I have to do it for nothing. (LAUGHTER) So, not a good deal, but that’s OK, we love it. It’s wonderful to be back in South Carolina, especially with your new governor. Where is Henry? He’s around here someplace. Where is he? Stand up, Henry. Proud of you. He helped us so much. (APPLAUSE) And I want to also thank your former governor, Nikki Haley, who’s doing an awfully good job for us. (APPLAUSE) She’s representing America very well as our ambassador to the United Nations. She is doing a spectacular job. It’s early, but she has just been really great. We’re here today to celebrate American engineering and American manufacturing. We’re also here today to celebrate jobs, jobs. (APPLAUSE) This plane, as you know, was built right here in the great state of South Carolina. Our goal as a nation must be to rely less on imports and more on products made here in the USA, right here in the USA. (APPLAUSE) It’s amazing to think that a little over 113 years ago, next door in North Carolina, Orville Wright was the first man to sail the skies in a very little airplane. The 1903 Wright Flyer was made of mostly wood and cloth. It was so small that Orville’s brother Wilbur could not join him on the flight. He was always very upset about that. The flight lasted all of 12 seconds, but it was incredible. That flight was a testament to the American spirit. I see that same spirit everywhere I travel in the country. I saw that spirit all throughout the campaign. We have the greatest people anywhere in the world. We have the greatest spirit, and you just look at what’s going on today in our country, you look at what’s happening with jobs, you look at what’s happening with plants moving back into our country. TRUMP: All of a sudden, they’re coming back and they’re gonna be very happy about it, believe me. (APPLAUSE) They’re gonna be very, very happy. As your president, I’m going to do everything I can to unleash the power of the American spirit and to put our great people back to work. (APPLAUSE) This is our mantra, “buy American and hire American. ” We want products made in America, made by American hands. You probably saw the keystone pipeline I approved recently and the Dakota. And I’m getting ready to sign the bill I said where is the pipe made? They told me, not here. I said, that’s good, add little sentence that you have to buy American steel. And you know what? That’s the way it is. (APPLAUSE) That’s the way it is going to be. We are going to fight for every last American job. We’ve come a long way since the Wright brothers and their first flight more than a century ago. Your plane is made of carbon fiber. It seats 330 passengers. Its 18 feet longer than the previous version of the 787, and this airplane can fly for half away before it touches the ground. The name says it all “Dreamliner,” great name. Our country is all about making dreams come true. Over the last number of years, that hasn’t been necessarily the case, but we’re going to make it the case again. (APPLAUSE) That’s what we do in America. We dream of things and then we build them. We turned vision into reality, and we will be doing a lot more of that believe me, in the months and years to come. (APPLAUSE) I also want to say a word to all of the members of the armed forces who are here with us today in this record crowd. (APPLAUSE) South Carolina has a long, very, very proud military tradition and history. We salute all South Carolina military families, and we salute all of the men and women who wear the uniform. (APPLAUSE) We are going to fully rebuild our military — by the way, do you care if we use the Super Hornet or do you only care about — what do you think? (APPLAUSE) Well — I thought that was Super Hornet. We are looking seriously at big order, and we will see how that — you know, the problem is that Dennis is a very, very tough negotiator. But I think we may get there. We’re also working on the Air Force One project which was a difficult project for previous administrations, but it looks like we are getting closer and closer. And we’re going to ensure … (APPLAUSE) … that our great service members have the tools, equipment, training, and resources they need to get the job done. (APPLAUSE) As George Washington said, “being prepared for war is the best way to prevent it. ” And that’s really what it is. The best way to prevent war, being prepared. Peace through strength. We build a military might so great, and we are going to do that, that none will dare to challenge it, none. (APPLAUSE) We will ensure our men and women in uniform have the latest, the most cutting edge systems in their arsenal. Right now, it’s not that way. It will be that way very, very soon, believe me. You will be an important player in this effort. TRUMP: Boeing has built many important aircraft including, as I said, the Super Hornet, the Strike Eagle, and the Apache helicopter, just to name a few. (APPLAUSE) And I am being very, very serious, the new Air Force One, that plane, as beautiful as it looks is 30 years old. Can you believe it? What can look so beautiful at 30? An airplane. (LAUGHTER) I don’t know. Which one do we like better, folks, tell me. AUDIENCE: ( ) TRUMP: On every front, we are going to work for the American people. No where in our focus is — and I mean this so strongly, and our focus has to be so strong, but my focus has been all about jobs, and jobs is one of the primary reasons I am standing here today as your president. And I will never, ever disappoint you, believe me. I will not disappoint you. (APPLAUSE) I campaigned on the promise that I will do everything in my power to bring those jobs back into America. We wanted to make much easier — it has to be much easier to manufacture in our country and much harder to leave. I don’t want companies leaving our country. Making their product, selling it back, no tax, no nothing, firing everybody in our country. We’re not letting that happen anymore, folks, believe me. There will be a very substantial penalty to be paid when they fire their people and move to another country, make the product and think they are going to sell it back over what will soon be a very, very strong border. It’s going to be a lot different. It’s going to be a lot different. (APPLAUSE) Already, American industry is roaring back. And believe me, if we — not me, I’m a messenger — if we didn’t have this victory, we wouldn’t even be talking about it. To achieve that goal, we are going to massively reduce job crushing regulations — already started you’ve seen that — that sent our jobs to those other countries. We are going to lower taxes on American business so it’s cheaper and easier to produce product and beautiful things like airplanes right here in America. (APPLAUSE) We are going to enforce, very strongly, enforce our trade rules and stop foreign cheating — tremendous cheating, tremendous cheating. We want products made by our workers, in our factories, stamped with those four magnificent words, made in the USA. (APPLAUSE) AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! TRUMP: Since November, jobs have already begun to surge. We’re seeing companies open up factories in America. We’re seeing them keep jobs at home. Ford, General Motors, Fiat Chrysler, just to name a very, very few, so many more already. They are keeping and bringing thousands of jobs in our country because the business climate they know, has already changed. In Arizona, Intel announced it will open a new plant that will create 10, 000 American jobs. They’re spending billions of dollars. (APPLAUSE) We will see more and more of that across the country as we continue to work on reducing regulations, cutting taxes, including for the middle class, including for everyone and including for business, and creating a level playing field for our workers. When there is a level playing field — and I’ve been saying this for a long time — American workers will always, always, always win. But we don’t have a level playing field. Very shortly, you will have a level playing field again. (APPLAUSE) Because when American workers win, America as a country wins big league, wins. That’s my message here today. America is going to start winning again, winning like never, ever before. We’re not going to let our country be taken advantage of anymore, in any way, shape, or form. We love America and we are going to protect America. We love our workers, and we are going to protect our workers. We are going to fight for our jobs, we are going to fight for our families and we are going to fight to get more jobs and better paying jobs for the loyal citizens of our country. Believe me. (APPLAUSE) You have heard me say it before and I will say it again. From now on, it’s going to be America first. (APPLAUSE) Working together as a unit, there is nothing we cannot accomplish, no task too large, no dream too great, no goal beyond our reach. Just like you built this incredible airplane behind me, both of them when you think about it, we are going to rebuild this country and ensure that every forgotten community has the bright future it deserves. And by the way, those communities are forgotten no longer. The election took care of that. (APPLAUSE) And we will pass onto our children the freedom and prosperity that is their American birthright. Our children will inherit from us a nation that is strong, that is proud and that is totally free. And each of you will be part of creating that new American future. I want to thank you, South Carolina. I want to thank the great people of South Carolina. God bless you. May God bless the United States of America and God bless Boeing. (APPLAUSE) Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 0fake |
SHOULD THIS RACIST GIRL BE FIRED FOR BEHAVING LIKE OUR FIRST LADY? | Perhaps this young girl aspires to be the First Lady someday. Is it really fair to fire her for making racist remarks on social media when our President and First Lady have been on a hate/blame the white man media tour since they entered the White House? Meet Illinois resident Shana Poohpooh Latrice, a Brookfield Zoo employee who made the mistake of sharing an Instagram photo on Facebook with the caption, At work serving these rude ass white people :She made the even bigger mistake of tagging the photo as having been taken at the zoo.As a result, Brookfield Zoo got bombarded with a litany of complaints from pissed-off zoo visitors who found her comments to be clearly hateful and racist. Some even demanded that Latrice be fired for her mistake, and judging by what spokeswoman Sondra Katzen told reporters, that s exactly what s going to happen. This employee s statements in social media are in violation of our policies and do not reflect our institution s values, she said. We have zero tolerance for these kinds of divisive behaviors. We treat all employment matters confidentially, but rest assured that we have taken prompt action to remedy the situation. Via: DownTrend | 1real |
Russian senators approve 'foreign agents' media bill: RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia s upper house of parliament on Wednesday approved a bill which will allow the authorities to list foreign media operating in Russia as foreign agents , responding to U.S. restrictions on two Russian media outlets, RIA news agency reported. Last week the foreign agents law was swiftly approved by the lower chamber of the legislature. It now needs President Vladimir Putin s signature to become law. The move by the compliant parliament heavily dominated by Putin s loyalists comes after his threat this month that Russia would respond in kind to what he said were Washington s measures to restrict the freedom of speech of Russian media organizations operating on U.S. soil. | 0fake |
N.J. Governor Christie signs Atlantic City rescue package into law | (Reuters) - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on Friday signed into law a package of legislation that provides distressed gambling hub Atlantic City with immediate cash help but also a potential state takeover if the city cannot fix its finances. The bills will help reform the city’s “overblown municipal government” while protecting state and local taxpayers, Christie said in a statement while continuing to take shots at local officials. “We all agree that Atlantic City’s government has not demonstrated the competence to properly manage the people’s money without state guidance and oversight,” he said. The legislation “embraces my demand that Atlantic City immediately account for every dollar it receives and spends, and triggers a series of strict conditions and rigorous requirements the city must meet immediately,” Christie said. Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier on Friday, Guardian marked the opening of summer beach season for the seaside resort city. The bills provide a $60 million, six-month bridge loan from the state to the city and establish $120 million of payments annually from casinos in lieu of property taxes, a move aimed at stabilizing the city’s volatile, eroded tax base. In return, the city must prepare a balanced budget for fiscal 2017, which begins Jan. 1, and a five-year recovery plan. If it falls short, the state can move to take over operations and throw out collective bargaining agreements, among other powers. The package could prove positive for the city’s credit rating, which is deep in junk territory at Caa3, because it provides much-needed financial relief and removes the immediate threat of default or bankruptcy, Moody’s Investors Service said after the governor announced his signature. But a bond restructuring, which Guardian has said the city will likely pursue, would be considered a default if it includes bondholder impairment, Moody’s said. The city has about $240 million of bond debt outstanding. | 0fake |
W. Virginia Halloween Store Boasts Shockingly Racist Costume Display Featuring Pres. Obama (VIDEO) | West Virginia is solid Trump country. The argument has been made that the opioid crisis, along with the forgotten population of white working class voters, is the reason for that state being overwhelmingly Trump Nation. However, there is one element that cannot be ignored here: Those same white working class voters also feature a lot of racists who hate President Barack Obama, and the ultimate way to stick it to him was to put Donald Trump in the White House.Well, it seems that putting Trump in power wasn t enough for these people. Even though the orange fascist has been steadily shredding the country, degrading the office of the presidency, emboldening our adversaries and scaring the hell out of our allies for nigh on a year now, these people simply cannot resist the temptation to attack President Obama in ever more stunningly racist ways. Case in point a Halloween costume display in Spirit Halloween in Triadelphia, West Virginia.The display features an extremely racist depiction of President Obama in the form of a mask complete with a watermelon costume in the same display, and banana costumes a shelf or two over, according to my friend and colleague John Prager, who shot the video of the shocking racism on the part of this retailer below:This just goes to show how racist certain people in this country are. This entire display is dripping with racist stereotypes, and it uses our first African American president s image to reinforce them. We need to confront this bigotry, rather than brushing it under the rug as economic anxiety, or whatever other excuses we ve been letting float out there for people voting for this despicable excuse for a human being. Trump is a crude, crass, rude, misogynistic bigot. There is not one excuse on the face of the earth for voting for a blatant white supremacist, and even less than that for continuing to excuse the behavior of so many of his voters.Shame on you, Spirit Halloween. It s time for a boycott, just in time for the best holiday of the year.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
Upcoming Horror Game ’Outlast 2’ Banned in Australia - Breitbart | survival horror game Outlast 2 has been denied classification by the Australian Classification Board, effectively banning it from sale in Australia. [While the original Outlast and its Whistleblower expansion contained numerous scenes of graphic violence, and Outlast 2 looks to follow that trend based on the demo that was released last year, that’s not the reason given for its ban. The game has reportedly been refused even the R18+ rating due to “a depiction of implied sexual violence” in one part of the game (SPOILER WARNING): In one in the game … a female creature prepares Blake for a ritual. She says, “I want to see your true face. Your seed will burn this world. ” Shortly afterwards, he objects to having dust blown into his face, yelling, “Nope! Nope!” before he stumbles into a forest clearing. His vision blurring, he witnesses what appears to a ritualistic orgy. His wife, Lynn, calls out for his help, saying, “It hurts! Oh god! ,” as she hangs from chains on a raised platform at the front of the clearing. Humanoid creatures, their skin grey, spattered with blood and scarred, implicity have sex as others pray, or chant, or gesticulate. One creature has another bent over a rock, thrusting as they implicitly have sex, another sits astride the pelvic region of a creature prone on the ground, moving their hips rhythmically as they too implicitly have sex. Two other pairs of creatures in the clearing are also implicitly having sex. As Blake yells for the creatures to “Get away from her!” a female creature, her greyish breasts bared, pushes him onto his back, holds his arms to the ground and repeatedly thrusts her crotch against him. As Blake protests, saying “No! Stop that!” the creature thrusts again, before placing its face over his midsection and then sitting up and wiping its mouth. Their conclusion: Although much of the contact between the creature and Blake is obscurred, by it taking place below screen, the sexualised surroundings and aggressive behaviour of the creature suggest that it is an assault which is sexual in nature. The Board is of the opinion that this, combined with Blake’s objections and distress, constitutes a depiction of implied sexual violence. In the Board’s opinion, the above example constitutes a depiction of implied sexual violence and therefore cannot be accommodated within the R18+ classification category and the game is therefore Refused Classification. This is not the only content on which the refusal was based but seems to be the final straw for members of the board. Developer Red Barrels will be forced to decide between heavily censoring their game or being refused the opportunity to sell it to Australian consumers. While the sequence depicted above is undoubtedly horrific, it’s important to remember that Outlast 2 is, in fact, a horror game. Its content is roughly equivalent to what you would expect from any of the copious horrors in books or films — areas in which the Australian Classification Board is decidedly more lenient. Games are no stranger to exceptional scrutiny and subjected to a broad spectrum of myths about their comparative effects on empathy and development, against all evidence to the contrary. For now, developers must regularly choose between delivering content as it was originally intended or being permitted to sell their products in countries with zealous media restrictions in place. Follow Nate Church @Get2Church on Twitter for the latest news in gaming and technology, and snarky opinions on both. | 0fake |
Bill Clinton’s Lover: He Called Ruthless Hillary ‘The Warden’ | Bill Clinton is a sex-addicted ‘monster’ who mocked Hillary Clinton by calling her ‘The Warden’ in front of friends and privately boasted about his high notch count, according to his long-time mistress and childhood friend Dolly Kyle. Kyle, now 68, says she had a decades-long affair with before and during his marriage and had a front-row seat to Bill’s salacious double-life in the 1970s and ’80s. Their on-again, off-again relationship ended abruptly in the 1990s, after Bill Clinton allegedly threatened to ‘destroy’ Kyle if she spoke to the media about their relationship. Kyle’s decades of observations, shared in an interview with the DailyMail.com as well as in her 2016 book The Other Woman, provide a unique perspective on the Clintons’ marriage and the couple’s treatment of the women who have accused of infidelity or sexual assault over the years. Kyle, an Arkansas native who has since befriended several of Bill Clinton’s sexual assault accusers, said she was determined to come forward with her story after hearing Hillary Clinton say on the campaign trail that women who have been sexually assaulted have the ‘right to be believed’. 35 | 1real |
TRUMP BLASTS SENATE RINO ON TWITTER…Exposes REAL REASON He’s Not Running For Reelection | President Trump just exposed one of the biggest obstructionists to making America great again Senator Bob Corker asked for an endorsement from Trump but Trump just tweeted out that he refused to endorse Corker. Corker has threatened to obstruct and be a thorn in the side of Trump because he has nothing to lose now that he s not running for reelection. What that tells us is this man was NEVER a true Republican! He s a RINO! DRAIN THE SWAMP!PROOF BELOW THAT WHAT TRUMP SAID IS TRUE:CORKER THREATENS TO HALT PROGRESS ON TAX REFORM Corker announced in September that he will retire after his term expires in 2018. Sen. Corker announced his departure from the Senate one day after Breitbart News reported on his $3 million swamp deal and just hours after conservative Judge Roy Moore beat establishment candidate Sen. Luther Strange (R-AL) in a Senate runoff election.Now, Sen. Corker threatens to halt any progress that Republicans have made with tax reform, similarly to how Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) tanked Obamacare repeal twice this year. Patty McMurray Corker said at the hearing, This is some of the most meaningless work that we do here. The Tennesseean argued that the 2018 budget amounts to nothing more than a vehicle for Republicans to pass a tax reform package.Republicans hope to use budgetary reconciliation to attach a tax reform proposal to the 2018 budget that will allow the Senate to pass the tax reform legislation using a simple majority. GOP lawmakers tried to repeal and replace Obamacare using the same strategy.The current tax plan proposal introduced by Republicans would include $4 trillion in tax cuts. Republicans hope to cut roughly $2.5 trillion in missing revenue by closing loopholes and eliminating deductions to hit the maximum $1.5 trillion deficit allowed for Congress s budget rules.President Donald Trump said that the tax reform plan will be rocket fuel for our economy. Read more: BreitbartHere is the article that verifies what Trump said is true about the cabinet post:Sen. Bob Corker emerged from an interview Tuesday with Donald Trump and said he believed the president-elect had narrowed the list of candidates for secretary of state to a very small group. The selection process for who will run the State Department in the Trump administration has been grueling, including grumbling among Mr. Trump s allies about his considering bitter foe Mitt Romney for the nomination. Mr. Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, described this moment as the greatest opportunity in modern times to really strengthen our nation s security interests around the world and help us economically. He said that he was honored to be considered for the job. It s been an honor to have the kind of meeting that I had today. We had a very wide-ranging meeting, actually a couple meetings and his instincts on foreign policy are obviously very, very good, Mr. Corker told reporters at Trump Tower, where Mr. Trump lives and the transition team offices are located. I know he has a number of outstanding individuals that he s talking with. I was glad to be here and glad to see more fully some of what his views about the world are, he said. Pressed about when he expected Mr. Trump to announce the nomination, Mr. Corker said they didn t talk about that in the meeting. I think he ll make the decision when he s comfortable. My sense is he s narrowed it down to a very small group of people, he said. The president-elect is scheduled to meet later Tuesday with Mr. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee who harshly criticized Mr. Trump s during the campaign and worked to prevent him from winning the nomination and the White House. Other candidates for secretary of state include retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. LOAD COMMENTS (10) READ MORE: WT | 1real |
Forget the FBI Cache; The Podesta Emails Show How America is Run : Information Clearing House - ICH | . Mr Netanyahu has presented this as a rebuff to those who accuse him of jeopardising Israeli security interests with his governments repeated affronts to the White House.
In the past weeks alone, defence minister Avigdor Lieberman has compared last years nuclear deal between Washington and Iran with the 1938 Munich pact, which bolstered Hitler; and Mr Netanyahu has implied that US opposition to settlement expansion is the same as support for the ethnic cleansing of Jews.
American president Barack Obama, meanwhile, hopes to stifle his own critics who insinuate that he is anti-Israel. The deal should serve as a fillip too for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic partys candidate to succeed Mr Obama in Novembers election.
In reality, however, the Obama administration has quietly punished Mr Netanyahu for his misbehaviour. Israeli expectations of a $4.5bn-a-year deal were whittled down after Mr Netanyahu stalled negotiations last year as he sought to recruit Congress to his battle against the Iran deal.
In fact, Israel already receives roughly $3.8bn if Congresss assistance on developing missile defence programmes is factored in. Notably, Israel has been forced to promise not to approach Congress for extra funds.
The deal takes into account neither inflation nor the dollars depreciation against the shekel.
A bigger blow still is the White Houses demand to phase out a special exemption that allowed Israel to spend nearly 40 per cent of aid locally on weapon and fuel purchases. Israel will soon have to buy all its armaments from the US, ending what amounted to a subsidy to its own arms industry.
Nonetheless, Washingtons renewed military largesse in the face of almost continual insults inevitably fuels claims that the Israeli tail is wagging the US dog. Even The New York Times has described the aid package as too big.
Since the 1973 war, Israel has received at least $100bn in military aid, with more assistance hidden from view. Back in the 1970s, Washington paid half of Israels military budget. Today it still foots a fifth of the bill, despite Israels economic success.
But the US expects a return on its massive investment. As the late Israeli politician-general Ariel Sharon once observed, Israel has been a US aircraft carrier in the Middle East, acting as the regional bully and carrying out operations that benefit Washington.
Almost no one blames the US for Israeli attacks that wiped out Iraqs and Syrias nuclear programmes. A nuclear-armed Iraq or Syria would have deterred later US-backed moves at regime overthrow, as well as countering the strategic advantage Israel derives from its own nuclear arsenal.
In addition, Israels US-sponsored military prowess is a triple boon to the US weapons industry, the countrys most powerful lobby. Public funds are siphoned off to let Israel buy goodies from American arms makers. That, in turn, serves as a shop window for other customers and spurs an endless and lucrative game of catch-up in the rest of the Middle East.
The first F-35 fighter jets to arrive in Israel in December their various components produced in 46 US states will increase the clamour for the cutting-edge warplane.
Israel is also a front-line laboratory, as former Israeli army negotiator Eival Gilady admitted at the weekend, that develops and field-tests new technology Washington can later use itself.
The US is planning to buy back the missile interception system Iron Dome which neutralises battlefield threats of retaliation it largely paid for. Israel works closely too with the US in developing cyberwarfare, such as the Stuxnet worm that damaged Irans civilian nuclear programme.
But the clearest message from Israels new aid package is one delivered to the Palestinians: Washington sees no pressing strategic interest in ending the occupation. It stood up to Mr Netanyahu over the Iran deal but will not risk a damaging clash over Palestinian statehood.
Some believe that Mr Obama signed the aid package to win the credibility necessary to overcome his domestic Israel lobby and pull a rabbit from the hat: an initiative, unveiled shortly before he leaves office, that corners Mr Netanyahu into making peace.
Hopes have been raised by an expected meeting at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday. But their first talks in 10 months are planned only to demonstrate unity to confound critics of the aid deal.
If Mr Obama really wanted to pressure Mr Netanyahu, he would have used the aid agreement as leverage. Now Mr Netanyahu need not fear US financial retaliation, even as he intensifies effective annexation of the West Bank.
Mr Netanyahu has drawn the right lesson from the aid deal he can act against the Palestinians with continuing US impunity.
- See more at: http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2016-09-19/palestinians-lose-in-us-military-aid-deal-with-israel/#sthash.fL4Eq28N.dpuf Forget the FBI Cache; The Podesta Emails Show How America is Run By Thomas Frank
November 01, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " The Guardian " - T he emails currently roiling the US presidential campaign are part of some unknown digital collection amassed by the troublesome Anthony Weiner, but if your purpose is to understand the clique of people who dominate Washington today, the emails that really matter are the ones being slowly released by WikiLeaks from the hacked account of Hillary Clintons campaign chair John Podesta. They are last weeks scandal in a year running over with scandals, but in truth their significance goes far beyond mere scandal: they are a window into the soul of the Democratic party and into the dreams and thoughts of the class to whom the party answers.
The class to which I refer is not rising in angry protest; they are by and large pretty satisfied, pretty contented. Nobody takes road trips to exotic West Virginia to see what the members of this class looks like or how they live; on the contrary, they are the ones for whom such stories are written. This bunch doesnt have to make do with a comb-over TV mountebank for a leader; for this class, the choices are always pretty good, and this year they happen to be excellent.
They are the comfortable and well-educated mainstay of our modern Democratic party. They are also the grandees of our national media; the architects of our software; the designers of our streets; the high officials of our banking system; the authors of just about every plan to fix social security or fine-tune the Middle East with precision droning. They are, they think, not a class at all but rather the enlightened ones, the people who must be answered to but who need never explain themselves.
Let us turn the magnifying glass on them for a change, by sorting through the hacked personal emails of John Podesta, who has been a Washington power broker for decades. I admit that I feel uncomfortable digging through this hoard; stealing someones email is a crime, after all, and it is outrageous that peoples personal information has been exposed, since WikiLeaks doesnt seem to have redacted the emails in any way. There is also the issue of authenticity to contend with: we dont know absolutely and for sure that these emails were not tampered with by whoever stole them from John Podesta. The supposed authors of the messages are refusing to confirm or deny their authenticity, and though they seem to be real, there is a small possibility they arent.
Republican nominee hunkers down at Valley Forge; surrogates spread out as campaign enters final week; Clinton camp accuses FBI of double standards
With all that taken into consideration, I think the WikiLeaks releases furnish us with an opportunity to observe the upper reaches of the American status hierarchy in all its righteousness and majesty.
The dramatis personae of the liberal class are all present in this amazing body of work: financial innovators. High-achieving colleagues attempting to get jobs for their high-achieving children. Foundation executives doing fine and noble things. Prizes, of course, and high academic achievement.
Certain industries loom large and virtuous here. Hillarys ingratiating speeches to Wall Street are well known of course, but what is remarkable is that, in the party of Jackson and Bryan and Roosevelt, smiling financiers now seem to stand on every corner, constantly proffering advice about this and that. In one now-famous email chain, for example, the reader can watch current US trade representative Michael Froman, writing from a Citibank email address in 2008, appear to name President Obamas cabinet even before the great hope-and-change election was decided (incidentally, an important clue to understanding why that greatest of zombie banks was never put out of its misery).
The far-sighted innovators of Silicon Valley are also here in force, interacting all the time with the leaders of the party of the people. We watch as Podesta appears to email Sheryl Sandberg. He makes plans to visit Mark Zuckerberg (who, according to one missive, wants to learn more about next steps for his philanthropy and social action). Podesta exchanges emails with an entrepreneur about an ugly race now unfolding for Silicon Valleys seat in Congress; this man, in turn, appears to forward to Podesta the remarks of yet another Silicon Valley grandee, who complains that one of the Democratic combatants in that fight was criticizing billionaires who give to Democrats. Specifically, the miscreant Dem in question was said to be:
spinning (and attacking) donors who have supported Democrats. John Arnold and Marc Leder have both given to Cory Booker, Joe Kennedy, and others. He is also attacking every billionaire that donates to [Congressional candidate] Ro [Khanna], many whom support other Democrats as well.
Attacking billionaires! In the year 2015! It was, one of the correspondents appears to write, madness and political malpractice of the party to allow this to continue.
There are wonderful things to be found in this treasure trove when you search the gilded words Davos or Tahoe. But it is when you search Vineyard on the WikiLeaks dump that you realize these people truly inhabit a different world from the rest of us. By vineyard, of course, they mean Marthas Vineyard, the ritzy vacation resort island off the coast of Massachusetts where presidents Clinton and Obama spent most of their summer vacations. The Vineyard is a place for the very, very rich to unwind, yes, but as we learn from these emails, it is also a place of high idealism; a land of enlightened liberal commitment far beyond anything ordinary citizens can ever achieve.
Consider, for example, the 2015 email from a foundation executive to a retired mortgage banker (who then seems to have forwarded the note on to Podesta, and thus into history) expressing concern that Hillarys image is being torn apart in the media and theres not enough effective push back. The public eavesdrops as yet another financier invites Podesta to a dinner featuring food produced exclusively by the islands farmers and fishermen which will be matched with specially selected wines. We learn how a Hillary campaign aide recommended that a policy statement appear on a certain day so that It wont get in the way of any other news we are trying to make but far enough ahead of Hamptons and Vineyard money events. We even read the pleadings of a man who wants to be invited to a state dinner at the White House and who offers, as one of several exhibits in his favor, the fact that he joined the DSCC Majority Trust in Marthas Vineyard (contributing over $32,400 to Democratic senators) in July 2014.
(Hilariously, in another email chain , the Clinton team appears to scheme to hit Bernie Sanders for attending DSCC retreats on Marthas Vineyard with lobbyists.)
Then there is the apparent nepotism, the dozens if not hundreds of mundane emails in which petitioners for this or that plum Washington job or high-profile academic appointment politely appeal to Podesta the ward-heeler of the meritocratic elite for a solicitous word whispered in the ear of a powerful crony.
This genre of Podesta email, in which people try to arrange jobs for themselves or their kids, points us toward the most fundamental thing we know about the people at the top of this class: their loyalty to one another and the way it overrides everything else. Of course Hillary Clinton staffed her state department with investment bankers and then did speaking engagements for investment banks as soon as she was done at the state department. Of course she appears to think that any kind of bank reform should come from the industry itself. And of course no elite bankers were ever prosecuted by the Obama administration. Read these emails and you understand, with a start, that the people at the top tier of American life all know each other. They are all engaged in promoting one anothers careers, constantly.
Everything blurs into everything else in this world. The state department, the banks, Silicon Valley, the nonprofits, the Global CEO Advisory Firm that appears to have solicited donations for the Clinton Foundation. Executives here go from foundation to government to thinktank to startup. There are honors. Venture capital. Foundation grants. Endowed chairs. Advanced degrees. For them the door revolves. The friends all succeed. They break every boundary.
But the One Big Boundary remains. Yes, its all supposed to be a meritocracy. But if you arent part of this happy, prosperous in-group if you dont have John Podestas email address youre out. | 1real |
Let’s Be Clear—A Vote for Warmonger Hillary Clinton Is a Vote for World War 3 | October 28, 2016 Let’s Be Clear—A Vote for Warmonger Hillary Clinton Is a Vote for World War 3
If you want to see war without end, vote for Hillary Clinton.
It is tremendously ironic that Hillary Clinton and the mainstream media have attempted to portray Donald Trump as “dangerous” and “temperamental” because it is Clinton who actually has a long history of being emotionally unstable. She has a temper that is absolutely legendary, and she has been cussing out the men and women in her security detail for decades.
Hillary Clinton played a key role in starting the civil war in Syria, thanks to her Libya is a post-apocalyptic wasteland today, and now she is picking a fight with the Russians before she has even won the election. Of all the candidates there were running for president this election cycle, there was nobody that was even close to as dangerous as Hillary Clinton, and if she wins the election, I am fully convinced that World War III will begin before her time in the White House is over.
Someone that shares this opinion with me is Donald Trump. According to Reuters, Trump recently stated that we are “going to end up in World War III over Syria if we listen to Hillary Clinton”: | 1real |
The Mothers | Keep CounterPunch ad free . Support our annual fund drive today! The Fearless Voice of the American
Left Since 1993
Home Articles Recent Articles Magazine Current Issue Back Issues Subscribe Subscriber Access Subscribe Donate Archives Search Authors About JOIN LIST Books T-shirts podcasts FAQs We Are Close to Our Goal, But Not There Yet! Make a tax-deductible donatation to CounterPunch today. (PayPal accepted)
October 28, 2016 The Mothers by stclair by | 1real |
Trump DESPERATE For Celebrities To Perform At His Inauguration, So He’s Doing This | While his major qualification to be President of the United States was his status as a celebrity after hosting his reality TV show, The Apprentice, Donald Trump does not actually have a lot of contacts among real A-list celebrities. We first saw that on display during the Republican National Convention this summer, when the celebrities in attendance were a mix of the D-list, never were and is he still alive variety.Trump s inability to attract the big names now apparently extends to his upcoming inauguration, where the Trump team is now reportedly trying to bribe big names into coming on board out of sheer desperation.One talent manager described being offered access to the administration if he could lure major talent. They said they were in the process of figuring out posts, ambassadorships, and commissions if that was of any interest, he said.Another source also described receiving a serious ambassadorship offer, and that he was so shocked at the proposal that he almost dropped the phone. Never in a million years have I heard something so crazy, he said. Both declined the offers.Trump s team is denying the story, but the whiff of desperation echoes many of the strange things they ve been involved in already.Trump is going to have to try very hard to have even half of the star power in attendance at President Obama s two inaugurations. At his first, in 2009, Aretha Franklin sang a version of My Country Tis Of Thee which will go down in history, then in 2013 Beyonc sang the national anthem and brought down the house.For years people mocked the contestant on Trump s Celebrity Apprentice, pointing out that NBC often seemed to hire the people most likely to be sitting next to their telephone, but Trump may need to go back to the tape to pad out his inauguration guest list.Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Flickr | 1real |
Used Cars Slip Past Recall Safeguards, Putting Drivers in Danger - The New York Times | The outdoor lot of Mr. Z Towing in Flushing, Queens, looked like an automotive graveyard. A Pontiac Grand Prix, one of 20 towed or abandoned cars that the New York City Department of Finance was auctioning on Tuesday, came with a Popeyes fried chicken box on its dashboard. Others were scuffed and dented. The cars did not even have keys. Some of the vehicles on offer had another serious flaw: safety problems for which recall notices had been issued but repairs were never made. That included explosive Takata airbags that have been linked to 15 deaths. The airbag defect claimed another life last month, a Riverside, Calif. woman whose 2001 Honda Civic had been sold three times at auto auctions much like the one in Queens, before her son bought it from an acquaintance. The woman, Delia Robles, was on her way to get a flu shot when her car collided with a pickup truck. The death has highlighted a group of drivers especially vulnerable to dangerous vehicles: second, third or even fourth owners, who purchased their vehicles in transactions far removed from the protections offered to buyers of new cars. There is no explicit federal requirement that sellers of used cars fix problems related to safety recalls, or even disclose the recalls, the way dealers must. Efforts to introduce tougher laws for used cars have languished in Congress, under lobbying pressure from the industry. The more lax regulations for safety affect a large swath of the population. Last year, more than 38 million used cars were sold across the country — more than twice as many as were sold new, according to the automotive information site Edmunds. com. Auctions, whether by governments or dealers, represent the least regulated rung of the industry, often dealing in cars that are sold to the most vulnerable consumers, said Bernard Brown, a consumer protection lawyer in Kansas City, Mo. who has closely followed auto auction companies. “Auctions are where dealers who would be uncomfortable selling damaged and defective cars directly to their customers will unload to other dealers who do want to sell them,” he said. “It would typically be dealers who sell to the less educated, less poorer, consumers,” Mr. Brown said. While the country’s largest trade groups for sellers of used vehicles say they encourage their members to disclose and fix recalled vehicles, they stop short of requiring it. “We certainly advise, from a standpoint, that if a fix is available then our dealers follow that process,” said Shaun Petersen, a senior vice president at the National Independent Automobile Dealers Association, a trade group whose members include dealers. “And if a fix is not available, then certainly it’s in your best interest and best practice to disclose. ” Ms. Robles’s son, Jose Contreras, 26, bought his mother’s car a year ago from Ivan Henderson, a man he met playing pool. Last month, during a the car’s airbag exploded, propelling metal parts that killed Ms. Robles, who worked the 5 a. m. shift as a breakfast attendant at a Hampton Inn. “She was my best friend,” Mr. Contreras said of his mother, in text messages, from his home in Riverside. “Her grandkids were her world. ” Honda said it had sent out more than 20 notices since that model was first recalled in 2008, warning that its airbag could rupture. Instead of being fixed, the Honda was resold at least three times since the recall — at auctions in 2010 and in 2015, then by Mr. Henderson, who bought the car at an auction then sold it to Mr. Contreras for $2, 100. The estimated value of Ms. Robles’s car, which had clocked 139, 000 miles, was about $1, 450, assuming it was in fair condition, according to Kelley Blue Book. Safety advocates say that Mr. Henderson and the sellers before him should never have sold a recalled car without disclosing the defect or getting the airbag replaced at a Honda dealer at no cost to the owner. Recall information on specific cars is available from the car’s maker and, since 2014, has been pooled in an online government database, which anyone can search using a vehicle identification number. And even before then, dealers and consumers alike were able to check whether a car was under recall by calling a government auto safety hotline. Vendors like Carfax also provide detailed car history reports for a fee. Despite the lack of explicit federal laws on recalled used cars, a patchwork of state consumer protections and laws already effectively prohibits the sale of dangerous vehicles, some safety advocates and lawyers say. “Anytime they conceal a material defect, that’s fraud,” said Rosemary Shahan, the president of the nonprofit Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety. New York State, for instance, forbids the sale of vehicles “as is. ” The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs says cars offered for sale must be “roadworthy,” and it has gone after dealers it suspected of selling cars that were recalled but not repaired. But in New York State, government agencies are exempt from the “as is” rule, providing a loophole for the city’s Department of Finance auctions. Some companies like CarMax, one of the country’s largest dealers, advertise that their vehicles pass rigorous safety tests — even if the cars have unrepaired problems for which recalls have been issued. CarMax says it discloses recalls. Still, Ms. Shahan and others argue, advertising a recalled vehicle as safe is misleading. The vast universe of sales has created challenges for reaching owners of recalled vehicles, said Bryan Thomas, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Though automakers are required by law to make an effort to contact a car’s current owner about a recall, the owners of used cars that have changed hands several times can be hard to track down. “The people who own vehicles don’t generally have a direct relationship with the dealers,” Mr. Thomas said. “How do you get to those people? Is the address data ?” And, he said, do they know that fixing recalls is free? The task is especially critical for defective Takata airbags, which contain a compound that breaks down over time, making them increasingly prone to rupturing. Ms. Robles’s 2001 Civic was one of about 300, 000 cars with airbags that federal regulators say pose a particularly high risk of exploding. Three of the cars at Tuesday’s Department of Finance auction had been recalled for defective Takata airbags. Three others had open recalls for a deadly ignition switch defect that can cause a loss of power in cars. But the cars were being sold “as is,” even if they were under recall, the auctioneer, Dennis Alestra, announced through a loudspeaker. “All sales are final,” he warned. The city checks whether cars have been stolen or salvaged but does not look at whether a car has been recalled, said Patrick Edwards, a Department of Finance official. “We’re not responsible for any safety issues,” he said. “All buyers, the risk is on them. ” In a statement, Sonia Alleyne, a spokeswoman for the department, said that protecting consumers was a “priority” and that the agency was “open to working with state lawmakers to improve” the auction process. Juan Carlos, a retired mechanical engineer who had his eye on a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan, knew to be wary. “These cars are from the street,” he said, “so you’re taking a chance. ” But Mr. Henderson, who bought the car that killed Ms. Robles in California, said he was shocked to learn only after her death about the car’s safety issues. He bought the car at a wholesale auction run by Manheim, part of Cox Automotive, which also runs the vehicle research and valuation company Kelley Blue Book. “They just said ‘as is,’” he said. “I knew nothing about the car. ” A spokesman for Manheim, which processes 7. 5 million cars a year, said the company encouraged sellers to disclose recall information. There was “no realistic way” for the company to force dealers to disclose safety defects, said the spokesman, Chintan Talati. Honda said it had been looking for the car’s owner. On top of the 20 mailed notifications, the automaker made more than 90 phone calls to the vehicle’s previous owners, a Honda spokesman, Chris Martin, said. And while Honda said it had sent recall notices to two addresses associated with Ms. Robles, Mr. Contreras said he did not know about them. Honda said it had been unable to find Ms. Robles’s phone number. Honda never managed to elicit a response from Ms. Robles. When she drove to a clinic to get a flu shot on her day off last month, she hit a Chevy pickup that turned in her path. It was an accident that Ms. Robles should have walked away from. But her airbag ruptured violently. She was taken to a nearby hospital but later died from her wounds, according to the Riverside Police Department. She left behind three children and three grandchildren. “She had just such a bright spirit,” said Monica Sanchez, front office manager at the Hampton Inn where Ms. Robles had worked for five years. Ms. Robles had come to know the regulars, Ms. Sanchez said, including one guest whom she greeted every morning with a bowl of strawberries, which he liked to eat. After the accident, the hotel staff made a photo collage of Ms. Robles. It hangs near the kitchen, for all the guests to see. | 0fake |
Planned Parenthood Fundraises Over Shooting…Only Problem Is, No One At Body Parts Harvesting Store Was Shot | Obama and the Democrats can kill two birds with one stone. They can gain sympathy for Planned Parenthood, (regardless of the facts) and promote gun control all at the same time. Meanwhile, nothing will change for those angry pro-life Christians, who will continue to pray for the lives of innocent babies being murdered every day by Planned Parenthood, and for the lives of the innocent people who were killed in this tragedy. The facts surrounding the case certainly won t stop the fundraising machine at Planned Parenthood from cashing in on this horrible tragedy Police detained a shooter at a Planned Parenthood building Friday afternoon, according to Colorado Springs police.Four police officers and five civilians were injured in a shooting. Three people died including Police Officer Garrett Swasey.Scott Dontanville, co-pastor at Hope Chapel where Swasey was a church elder, said the officer had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and trusted him so much so that he was willing to die to protect the public. He may not agree with the abortion position, but he was willing to lay down his life for other people, Dontanville said.Garrett Swasey, 44, a six-year veteran of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs Police force, was described as an avid teacher of scripture who played guitar and loved his work in law enforcement.According to Hope Chapel s website, where Swasey served as an elder, he is survived by his wife, Rachel; 10-year-old son, Elijah; and 6-year-old daughter, Faith.** Given the narrative, anti-Christian bias and blame displayed on social media after the attack, and considering Planned Parenthood is fundraising off of this tragedy, it should be noted that none of those shot on Friday in Colorado Springs were Planned Parenthood staff or patients.The criminal shooter suffered from long term antisocial issues. Robert Lewis Dear lived in a small cabin in North Carolina with no running water or electricity. Dear bought a plot of land in Hartsel, Colorado and lived in a trailer there, per his neighbor. Via: GWPMeanwhile, Planned Parenthood officials have confirmed none of the people killed in the shooting or 9 victims who were injured were Planned Parenthood abortion clinic staff or patients and authorities have released no motive for the shooter as to whether or not he actually targeted Planned Parenthood.As LifeNews reported, the police officer killed during Friday s shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood is pro-life and a co-pastor at his local church. Garrett Swasey, 44, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs police officer who was shot and killed while responding to the shooting and was described by his fellow church members and friends as a courageous man and loving father who drew strength and inspiration from his Christian faith.Dear is being held without bond and will appear in court on Monday.Robert Lewis Dear lived with a woman and two German shepherds in a dilapidated recreational vehicle with no running water, sewer or electricity.Metal scraps litter the 57-year-old man s 5-acre lot near the sparsely populated mountain town of Hartsel, where a few of his neighbors grow marijuana and boast solitary lifestyles. It looks like white-trash living at its finest like a bomb went off and everything was thrown in the air, said his neighbor, Zigmond Post, 45.Those who knew Dear alternately describe him as combative or secretive, occasionally known to spout off politically. He feuded with some neighbors who called the police on him but appeared to others to just be an ordinary, easygoing man.Dear is scheduled to appear in El Paso County Court before 4th Judicial District Chief Judge Gil Martinez in Colorado Springs on Monday morning in connection with the Friday shooting at Planned Parenthood.He lived most of his life in the Carolinas, where he was arrested on charges of domestic violence and being a peeping Tom. He was acquitted twice of cruelty-to-animal charges and was accused of firing a pellet gun at a neighborhood dog.His first wife, Pam Ross, called police in 1997, accusing him of locking her out of their house and shoving her to the ground. She declined to file formal charges, explaining that she wanted her report of abuse on the record. | 1real |
Anti-Zuma MP quits South Africa's 'corrupt' ANC | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - African National Congress (ANC) MP Makhosi Khoza, a strident critic of scandal-plagued President Jacob Zuma, quit South Africa s ruling party on Thursday, labeling Nelson Mandela s 105-year-old liberation movement alien and corrupt . The 47-year-old Zulu linguistics expert, an ANC supporter since the age of 12, denounced Zuma in July as a dishonorable and disgraceful leader due to the litany of scandals he has attracted during his eight years in power. Her comments earned her death threats and a provincial party disciplinary hearing, but Khoza said she was not prepared to sit around and wait for the verdict from a party she said was willfully blind to the failings of its leader. Why haven t we charged Zuma? Why are we charging Makhosi Khoza? We are making a mockery of the rule of law. We are making a mockery of the ANC constitution, she said in an interview on the SABC, the state broadcaster. Charge Zuma. Fire Zuma from the ANC, then I will know that you are serious about self-correcting. Khoza is believed to have been one of around 30 ANC members of parliament who voted against Zuma in an ultimately unsuccessful Aug. 8 parliamentary no-confidence vote conducted by secret ballot. ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa did not answer calls to his mobile phone. The most serious allegations against Zuma relate to his friendship with the Guptas, a family of Indian-born businessmen accused of using political influence to secure lucrative contracts with state-run companies and remain above the law. Zuma and the Guptas, who employ Zuma s son, Duduzane, as a director of at least one of their companies, have denied any wrongdoing and say they are the victims of a politically motivated witch-hunt. Zuma s time at the helm of the ANC comes to an end in December when the party chooses a new leader, although he will remain head of state until 2019 unless the ANC removes him early, as it did with President Thabo Mbeki in 2008. As Khoza fulminated on air, Zuma s former wife Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was sworn in behind closed doors as a member of parliament, cementing the belief she is his preferred successor against challengers led by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. The parliamentary seat gives Dlamini-Zuma, ex-chairwoman of the African Union Commission in Addis Ababa, a platform from which to raise her profile ahead of December s party leadership conference. Separately, the Pretoria High Court delivered a blow to the Gupta s media-to-mining commercial empire, throwing out its attempt to block India s Bank of Baroda, the last bank in South Africa prepared to handle its money, from pulling the plug. Judge Hans Fabricius dedicated eight pages of his verdict to the allegations against the Guptas, questioning why police and prosecutors had failed to act despite years of stunning media revelations and numerous formal criminal complaints. I could not help wonder whether, unbeknown to me, democracy and the rule of law had somehow been suspended, he said, lamenting the decline from the optimism and idealism of the self-styled Rainbow Nation immediately after apartheid ended. Could it be possible that the future, so bright in 1994, was now only history? he continued. Do the various investigating bodies of the police service ... still remember their constitutional duty to combat and investigate crime? Gary Naidoo, editor of the Gupta-owned New Age newspaper and the family s de facto spokesman, was not available for comment. | 0fake |
After Bringing Cholera to Haiti, U.N. Can’t Raise Money to Fight It - The New York Times | When the leader of the United Nations apologized to Haitians for the cholera epidemic that has ravaged their country for more than six years — caused by infected peacekeepers sent to protect them — he proclaimed a “moral responsibility” to make things right. The apology, announced in December along with a $400 million strategy to combat the epidemic and “provide material assistance and support” for victims, amounted to a rare public act of contrition by the United Nations. Under its secretary general at the time, Ban the organization had resisted any acceptance of blame for the epidemic, one of the worst cholera outbreaks in modern times. Since then, however, the United Nations’ strategy to fight the epidemic, which it calls the “New Approach,” has failed to gain traction. A trust fund created to help finance the strategy has only about $2 million, according to the latest data on its website. Just six of the 193 member states — Britain, Chile, France, India, Liechtenstein and South Korea — have donated. Other countries have provided additional sources of funding for Haiti outside the trust fund, most notably Canada, at about $4. 6 million, and Japan, at $2. 6 million, according to the United Nations. Nonetheless, the totals received are a fraction of what Mr. Ban envisioned. In a letter sent to member states last month, Mr. Ban’s successor, António Guterres, asked for financial commitments to the trust fund by March 6. He also appeared to raise the possibility of a mandatory dues assessment if there were no significant pledges. The deadline came and went without much response. Mr. Guterres has not stated publicly whether he intends to push for a mandatory assessment in the budget negotiations now underway at the United Nations. Privately, however, diplomats and United Nations officials said he had shelved the idea, partly because of strong resistance by some powerful members, including the United States. Diplomats said part of the problem could be traced to simple donor fatigue, as well as to many countries’ reluctance to make financial commitments without certainty that the money will be used effectively. The donor challenge was acknowledged by Dr. David Nabarro, a United Nations special adviser who rose to prominence running its mobilization to fight the Ebola crisis in West Africa, and who has been leading its efforts for Haiti as he seeks to become the next director general of the World Health Organization. “Donors will respond, but they need to be convinced that they’re going to be given a good proposition for what’s done with their money,” he said in January at the World Economic Forum. “The Haiti cholera story is not actually a very good one, in that it’s taken us a rather long time to get on top of it, and still the problem is persisting. ” The effort has been further complicated by the Trump administration’s intention to cut spending on foreign aid. The United States, historically a leading source of Haiti’s foreign aid, is also the biggest single financing source for the United Nations, which may now confront painful choices over how to allocate reduced revenue. Ross Mountain, a veteran United Nations aid official who is its senior adviser on cholera in Haiti, said that a number of ideas concerning the financing were under discussion. And, he said, while “$400 million is not a very large sum, considering the circumstances, we are all very aware about the competing demands. ” Mr. Mountain also conceded that “on the financial side, we have not moved further ahead. ” Mr. Trump’s new United Nations ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, who has called the cholera crisis “nothing short of devastating,” did not respond to requests for comment about the funding problem. But in her Senate confirmation testimony in January, Ms. Haley said, “We’re going to have to make this right with Haiti, without question, and the U. N. is going to have to take responsibility. ” Cholera, a waterborne bacterial scourge that can cause acute diarrhea and fatal dehydration if not treated quickly, has killed nearly 10, 000 people and sickened nearly 800, 000 in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, since it was introduced there in 2010 by infected Nepalese members of a United Nations peacekeeping force. This year, as of late February, nearly 2, 000 new cases had been reported, amounting to hundreds a week. Studies have traced the highly contagious disease to sloppy sanitation that had leached fecal waste laced with cholera germs from latrines used by the Nepalese peacekeepers into the water supply. “We still have the biggest outbreak of cholera of any country anywhere,” said Dr. Louise Ivers, a senior policy adviser at Partners in Health, an international medical aid organization that has long worked in Haiti. “Here we are, nearly seven years later, and it’s still a big problem. ” Compared with other disasters confronting the United Nations, like the Syria refugee crisis and famines threatening 20 million people in Yemen and parts of Africa, the Haiti crisis may not loom as large. But unlike the others, the direct cause in Haiti was traced to the United Nations. This fact weighed on Mr. Ban until near the end of his tenure. He finally acted after the organization’s independent investigator on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, said in a scathing report that the United Nations’ failure to take responsibility for the cholera crisis was “morally unconscionable, legally indefensible and politically . ” But Mr. Ban’s apology for Haiti’s cholera epidemic also clearly reflected an assumption that all members were responsible for the success of the new strategy to defeat it. “For the sake of the Haitian people, but also for the sake of the United Nations itself, we have a moral responsibility to act,” he told the General Assembly on Dec. 1. “And we have a collective responsibility to deliver. ” Advocacy groups that had been somewhat heartened by Mr. Ban’s words have grown increasingly anxious not only about the lack of money, but also about the lack of clarity in how the “material assistance and support” part of the plan, which represents half of the $400 million goal, will be used. Two leading advocacy groups for Haitian cholera victims, the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, sent a letter on Thursday to Mr. Guterres, requesting a meeting and expressing concern that “the current trajectory of and elaboration of the New Approach is betraying the U. N.’s promises of a meaningful and accountable response in Haiti. ” Lawmakers in the United States critical of the United Nations’ response in Haiti have also put pressure on the organization. “While the U. N. has admitted to wrongdoing and promised to create a fund to provide restitution to the people of Haiti victimized by cholera,” Representative John Conyers Jr. Democrat of Michigan, said in a statement last week, “they have failed to make good on these promises. ” | 0fake |
Trump Is Already Creating A STRIKING Double Standard With Requirements For His Administration | One of the major issues of the 2016 campaign was Trump s taxes, and the reason everyone made such a big deal of it was the fact that, except for a financial disclosure that was about as vague as possible, he was being as opaque as he could. It s hard to trust someone who s that opaque. For applicants for his transition team and administration? They have to be transparent about it, which reveals massive double standards on Trump s part.The transition team s website, GreatAgain.gov, says: Financial holdings and sources of income must be disclosed. Any conflicts must be remedied by divestiture, the creation of special trusts, and other actions. Okay, so they can do that with financial disclosures rather than their tax returns. In fact, they ll be required to file those financial disclosures. But then there s this, which is where Trump s hypocrisy comes in: You will be asked about possible conflicts of interest deriving from your sources of income; all aspects of your personal and professional life, including organization [sic] which you belong or once belonged; speeches you may have given and books, articles and editorials you may have written; legal, administrative and regulatory proceedings to which you may have been a party; in short, anything that might embarrass the President or you if he should choose you for a position in his administration. This refers, in part, to the SF-86, which is required for anyone in order to gain a security clearance. The kicker is this: Even knowing that these job candidates have to give out sensitive and detailed information about their lives, it shows that Trump is applying a different set of standards to himself than those by which his workforce must abide.Trump gets away with being opaque to everyone and probably pats himself on the back for it, and can continue to be so while his candidates will have to be forthcoming and detailed. He can even continue to lie about things that are important to gain the public s trust. His candidates?Nope.The SF-86 is ridiculously thorough, and it s an ungodly pain in the ass to fill out because of that, even through the online e-Qip system. It asks for a lot of financial information (along with just about everything else that was ever in your life) including bankruptcies, tax liens, repossessions, judgments entered against you, and more. A lot of this is information that Trump has flatly lied about, denied, or downplayed. His candidates don t have that luxury.Information provided on the SF-86 is covered under the Privacy Act, so his candidates info will not be made public, even through a FOIA request. Someone handling those forms and investigations would have to get stupid in order for that info to be made public.The double standard remains, though. Trump is a hypocrite who is already making it clear that he won t live or govern by the same standards that everyone else must live and/or govern. That s absurd.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 1real |
Trump warning: the start of World War III and ISIS | Chaosistan , Phenomenon of Terrorism by Gulam ASGAR MITHA (Canada)
The American lust for power and neo-con agendas has been causing catastrophes in the Middle East and the Muslim world now for over four decades. What is, however, a cause for greater fear is that this is leading towards a global conflict. The world just got another warning, this time from Donald Trump the US Republican Presidential candidate who has been speaking the truth though rather incoherently since he is not a politician. He has been set up by a strong establishment to ensure that Hillary Clinton wins the November 4 elections. It may seem that the Republicans did not want to host a conflict which is why they provided an opening for Trump against Hillary who will go down in history as the first US woman President. She has no qualms towing the neo-con agenda.
Trump has now openly come out on CNN on October 26 and suggested that Hillary Clinton, when elected, will start World War 3. Why? In my opinion the best reasonings were provided by WeAreChange in a video titled ISIS: The Start of World War 3 (2014) . So here we’ve Trump who warns not only about the Great War but he is mentioning the need to focus on ISIS and not on Syria. One must remember that the seeds for the Great War were planted in 2011 in Libya first and following that in Syria under the pretext of toppling Assad.
There are too many dots to connect but by connecting some dots chronographically, it is interesting to note a few facts. One is that ISIL (the L being Levant) drove through from Eastern Syria into Iraq stretching from Mosul to Tikrit to slightly north of Baghdad along the banks of River Euphrates for establishing the “Islamic Caliphate”. Euphrates is the eastern boundary that Israel claims is the Biblical greater Zion; the Nile being the western boundary. Two, ISIL fighters appeared in a most enigmatic manner in early 2014, very well armed. Some sources have suggested that the weapons were looted from Libyan armories stashed by NATO to topple Gaddafi in 2011 and then smuggled into Syria through Turkey a key NATO ally. On June 13, 2013 the New York Times reported that three Qatari C-17 cargo planes collected arms from Libya then returned to Al-Udeid base from where the cargo was then flown to Ankara, Turkey, along with other weapons and equipment that the Qataris had been gathering for the rebels, officials said. Sources have suggested that funding of $2-4 billion initially came from Saudi Arabia and Qatar through Turkey.
Three, the behaviour of the “terrorists” was unbecoming of Islamic preaching or what any Muslim would condone, especially that towards women and children. Four, within one year of ISIL takeover of a large part of Iraq, the P5+1 nuclear deal was finalized as a historic achievement.
Though US-NATO may not have directly created ISIL or ISIS, there has most definitely been suggestions that the US played a covert role with the overt objective of creating a Sunni bloc.
With retrospect to Iran, the Supreme Leader Ayotallah Ali Khamenei had told Javed Zarif that he supports the P5+1 N-deal maintaining that Iran never had the need for a N-bomb. His reservations were about the Israeli-American interests specifically that “beneath the nuclear bowl lies a half nuclear bowl”. He suggested to Zarif to try and find out the agenda but most importantly to get the sanctions lifted. In words of many experts the Iranians got more out of the deal. The Ayatollah was probably aware of the agenda which could well be the Shia-Sunni conflict. The sanctions against Iran had failed to satisfy the US towards weakening Iran; in fact Iran has become stronger much to American chagrin. By lifting the sanctions the US has economically and politically empowered Iran and by default created a Shia bloc extending from Iran to Lebanon which includes Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
Iran had covertly supported Hezbollah in the July 2006 conflict with Israel and now they’re again supporting Iraq to successfully oust ISIL from Iraq. Mosul is the last remaining ISIL bastion after which they might flee and regroup with Jabhat Fatal al-Sham (formerly Al-Nusra) and the Sunni coalition (including Turkey, Egypt and Arab countries) in Syria where Russia, Iran and Hezbollah might become engaged in an open conflict.
President Obama has not supported the no-fly zone (NFZ) in his watch mentioning that the Syrian civil war is “not a conflict between the US and any party in Syria” although former US secretary of State Hillary Clinton has publicly supported the idea. In a paper published by the Washington based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on November 4, 2015, it is mentioned that a UN sponsored NFZ resolution is desirable but not essential for US action. The ISW paper has stated that “if the US intends to lead a sustainable negotiated settlement to the Syrian Civil war or to reinvigorate the moderate rebels, establishing a NFZ is essential.”If as President, Hillary Clinton does arbitrarily institute the NFZ without a UN approval that would certainly imply the direct involvement of the US in the conflict which could well become the flashpoint for the Great War
It might interest the reader that the founder of ISW is none other than Dr. Kimberly Kagan, wife of Dr. Frederick Kagan who is associated with the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a Washington based conservative (neo-con) think tank and a signatory to the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). The Kagan family also include Donald, Robert (characterized as a leading neo-conservative) and Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs in which position she maneuvered the Ukrainian crisis in early 2014. Are these diplomats, including John Kerry, slated to be a strong part of Ms. Clinton’s cabinet?
In conclusion, it is not unreasonable to forego that Trump is correct that Hillary Clinton could catalyse the Syrian civil war into a global conflict. This author’s premise and We Are Change video provides the reasoning that ISIS is the start of WW III.
Gulam Asgar Mitha is a retired Technical Safety Engineer. He has worked with several N. American and International oil and gas companies. He has worked in Libya, Qatar, Pakistan, France, Yemen and UAE. Currently Gulam lives in Calgary, Canada and enjoys reading and keeping in tune with current global political issues. RELATED POSTS | 1real |
VANISHED: FBI FILES Related To Mysterious “Suicide” Death Of Hillary’s Trusted WH Counsel, Vince Foster DISAPPEAR From National Archives | Corruption is nothing new for Hillary and Bill. What is truly stunning is the mountain of evidence that clearly shows their criminal behavior has been going on for decades How did documents describing Hillary Clinton s role in the death of White House counsel Vince Foster vanish?Foster is believed to have shot himself with a .38 caliber revolver at Fort Marcy Park along the Potomac River on July 20, 1993From NewsMax April 4, 2001. Vince Foster s Gun Serial Number Searched Before DeathWhen Vince Foster was found dead from an apparent gunshot wound to the head in 1993, the government was quick to write off the death as a suicide.That sat well with Bill Clinton and Vince s closest confidante, Hillary Rodham Clinton.For years, detail after detail emerged questioning the official ruling.Significant questions were raised about the unusual gun a .38 Colt revolver made from the parts of three guns with two serial numbers found conveniently in Vince s hand.The Park Police said one of the serial numbers indicated the gun was vintage 1913 and had no pedigree.Foster family members insisted neither Foster nor his father ever owned the old revolver.Recently, a NewsMax.com reader named Craig Brinkley contacted us.Curious about the gun, Brinkley had filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI, asking details of requests on the gun s serial numbers with the NCIC the National Crime Information Center.The NCIC keeps records of all law enforcment inquiries of serial numbers.On March 23, 2001, the FBI responded to Brinkley s request.Serial number 356555, one of the numbers on the gun, was never searched, not by the FBI, the Park Police or by that investigation by Ken Starr.Serial number 355055 was found on the frame of the gun. Brinkley believes that was the gun s real nnumber.That number was indeed searched by the Park Police, on the evening of Foster s death, more exactly at 22:45 EDT on July 20, 1993.Interestingly, searches were conducted on the same serial number no fewer than three times earlier that year, before Foster s death, on March 3, March 7 and April 29.Was someone checking to see that this gun had a clean predigree and was untraceable?We called Marilyn Walton at the FBI s Access Integrity Unit. She told us that the government does not disclose which law enforcement agencies requested a trace on the serial number. She said it could have been made by local or federal agencies who have access to the NCIC computer.She noted that serial numbers are often duplicated, and usually when a request is made, it includes additional information, such as the gun s make and model.In all four cases no such information was entered, just the number. Walton added that many guns share similar serial numbers.Is it a coincidence that in the year of Foster s death, four searches were conducted on the serial number found on the old gun none ever before or after? Two former FBI agents involved in the investigation tell Daily Mail Online they issued reports linking Hillary s tirade to Foster s suicideIn interviewing Clinton White House aides and Foster s friends and family, the FBI found that a week before Foster s death, Hillary held a meeting at the White House with Foster and other top aides to discuss her proposed health care legislation.Hillary angrily disagreed with a legal objection Foster raised at the meeting and ridiculed him in front of his peers, former FBI agent Coy Copeland and former FBI supervisory agent Jim Clemente told me. Copeland was Starr s senior investigator and read the reports of other agents working for Starr.During the White House meeting, Hillary continued to humiliate Foster mercilessly, according to both former FBI agents, who spoke about the investigation for the first time. Hillary put him down really, really bad in a pretty good-size meeting, Copeland says. She told him he didn t get the picture, and he would always be a little hick town lawyer who was obviously not ready for the big time. Indeed, Hillary went so far as to blame Foster for all the Clintons problems and to accuse him of failing them, according to Clemente, who was also assigned by the FBI to the Starr investigation and who probed the circumstances surrounding Foster s suicide. Foster was profoundly depressed, but Hillary lambasting him was the final straw because she publicly embarrassed him in front of others, says Clemente. Hillary blamed him for failed nominations, claimed he had not vetted them properly, and said in front of his White House colleagues, You re not protecting us and You have failed us, Clemente says. That was the final blow. After the White House meeting, Foster s behavior changed dramatically, the FBI agents found. Those who knew him said his voice sounded strained, he became withdrawn and preoccupied, and his sense of humor vanished. At times, Foster teared up. He talked of feeling trapped.On Tuesday, July 13, 1993, while having dinner with his wife Lisa, Foster broke down and began to cry. He said he was considering resigning.Archived material related to the case, housed at National Archives in College Park, Md. were examined by the author to no availAfter filing a Freedom of Information request, it was determined that the agents reported have gone missing FBI agents reports of interviews documenting that Hillary Clinton s stinging humiliation of her friend and mentor Vince Foster in front of White House aides triggered his suicide a week later are missing from where they should be filed at the National Archives, Daily Mail Online has learned exclusively.On two separate occasions, this author visited the National Archives and Records Service in College Park, Md., to review the reports generated by FBI agents assigned to investigate the 1993 death of Bill Clinton s deputy White House counsel.On the first visit, archivist David Paynter provided the box of records that he said contained the FBI reports of interviews conducted by FBI agents on Foster s death.On a second visit, archivist James Mathis provided what he said were those same documents.While the box contained dozens of FBI reports concerning Foster s death including interviews with the medical examiner, U.S. Park Police officers, and White House aides about the contents of Foster s office the reports on Hillary Clinton s role in his death were absent.After filing a Freedom of Information request with the National Archives, Martha Murphy, the archives public liaison, reported that she directed a senior archivist to conduct a more thorough review of the relevant FBI files, including those that had not been previously made public in response to FOIA requests. He examined all eight boxes but found no interviews by any investigator that detail either a meeting between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster or the effects of a meeting between Hillary Clinton and Vince Foster on Vince Foster s state of mind, Murphy reported in an email. We did not limit ourselves to interviews by the two individuals [FBI agents] you mention. While Murphy said the archives searched for the records that would be responsive to your request and concluded that they could not be found, when asked for comment, John Valceanu, the archives director of communications and marketing, said, We do not agree with your conclusion that the records you requested are missing from the National Archives simply because we were unable to locate any responsive records in response to your request. While confirming that the records could not be located, Valceanu held out the possibility that the FBI interviews were not filed where they should have been and were somewhere else in the more than 3,000 boxes of records amounting to 7.5 million pages generated by the Starr investigation.This is not the first time documents related to the Clintons have apparently vanished from the National Archive.In March 2009, the archives found that an external hard drive from the Bill Clinton White House containing confidential documents was missing.When it could not be located, the inspector general s office announced that it had opened a criminal investigation.Offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to recovery of the hard drive, the archives asked that tips be reported to the Secret Service. At the time, the archives said it had a backup drive.Via: Daily Mail | 1real |
A Defeated Obama Condescendingly Mocks Winner Trump, Says ‘He Can’t Keep Campaign Promises’ | A Defeated Obama Condescendingly Mocks Winner Trump, Says ‘He Can’t Keep Campaign Promises’ Obama scolded his Republican successor for believing he can deliver on his campaign promises. 'I think that he successfully mobilized a big chunk of the country to vote for him,' Obama told reporters. Barack Obama delivered a series of patronizing backhanded compliments to President-Elect Donald Trump on Monday during a lengthy White House press conference conducted before his final trip abroad as America’s leader. While he praised Trump for pulling off ‘one of the biggest political upsets in history,’ Obama scolded his Republican successor for believing he can deliver on his campaign promises . ‘I think that he successfully mobilized a big chunk of the country to vote for him,’ Obama told reporters. But ‘regardless of what experience or assumptions he brought to the office, this office has a way of waking you up.’‘And those aspects of his positions or predispositions that don’t match up with reality, he will find shaken up pretty quick. Because reality has a way of asserting itself.’ Trump campaigned on an no-holds-barred agenda of dismantling much of Obama’s agenda including immigration reforms put in place without congressional input, a widely criticized Iranian nuclear deal and an Obamacare system whose pilings have grown shaky. But the president suggested the billionaire’s poetic rallies can never jive with Washington’s messier prose. ‘I think it’ll be important for him to have the room, to staff up, to figure out what his priorities are, to be able to distinguish between what he was campaigning on and what is practical – what he can actually achieve,’ Obama cautioned. ‘You know, there are certain things that made for good good soundbites, but don’t always translate into good policy. And that’s something that he and his team will wrestle with in the same way every president wrestles with.’ Ultimately, Obama hinted , he believes Trump is more a realist than a principled conservative – despite connecting with a previously disengaged voting base on the strength of broad promises. | 1real |
World’s first 3D-printed supercar: Ultra-light 700hp Divergent Blade showcased at LA Auto Show | Divergent 3D showcased its Blade Supercar, the world’s first highway-safe, 3D-printed supercar, during a press and dealers’ preview ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show on Wednesday.
The vehicle boasts 700-hp motor, weights 1,400 lbs (635 kg), and is able to reach 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds, according to manufacturer. Apart from that, Blade has 1/3 the emissions of an electric car and 1/50 the factory capital costs of other manufactured cars.
Kevin Czinger, CEO of Divergent 3D, says ‘this is the first car that’s actually a real car that can be taken on a highway that can be safety certified as a fully safe highway car… It’s going to be a 21st century revolution in manufacturing.’
COURTESY: RT’s RUPTLY video agency, NO RE-UPLOAD, NO REUSE – FOR LICENSING, PLEASE, CONTACT http://ruptly.tv
Subscribe
Like
Share the joy | 1real |
Netanyahu orders redraft of law seen as protecting him | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that a draft bill that sets limits on police investigators should be revised so it does not apply to criminal probes in which he is a suspect. The proposed legislation, which has sparked protests in Israel, would prohibit the police from publicizing whether they have found sufficient grounds to charge a suspect. Critics say the bill is an attempt to protect Netanyahu and keep the public in the dark regarding ongoing investigations in which he is a suspect, but its supporters said it is intended to protect suspects legal rights and reputations. Some 20,000 Israelis demonstrated against the bill in Tel Aviv on Saturday and, as public pressure mounted, support among coalition members for the bill began to wane on Sunday, a day before parliament was expected to ratify it. For the debate on the bill to be topical and not be used for political propaganda, I have asked ... that (it) be worded so that it does not cover the ongoing investigations in my matters, Netanyahu wrote on his Facebook page. With ratification of the legislation delayed, he said he had told the bill s proponent, David Amsalem, a lawmaker from his own right-wing Likud party, that it had become a political battering ram against the government. But in justifying the legislation, Netanyahu said: The bill is intended to prevent publication of police recommendations which would leave a cloud over innocent people, something that happens every day. Netanyahu is a suspect in two cases. In one, he is alleged to have meddled in the media industry and the other concerns gifts he received from wealthy businessmen. He denies any wrongdoing. But, if charged, he would come under heavy pressure to resign or he could call an election to test whether he still has a mandate to govern. Netanyahu has in the past said he had no interest in promoting personal legislation but he also did not order the bill s sponsors, Amsalem, and David Bitan, another Likud confidant, to withdraw it. Netanyahu has described himself as a victim of a political witch hunt and said he will be cleared. There will be nothing because there is nothing, he has said repeatedly. (This story removes extraneous text from first paragraph) | 0fake |
North Carolina Passes Anti-LGBT Law So This Porn Site Blocked The Entire State | North Carolina is facing even more backlash for their anti-LGBT law Monday after a popular adult film site has decided to block the entire state in protest.XHamster.com went offline in the state at 12:30 p.m. EST today, leaving thousands of fans without their favorite porn site. When residents of North Carolina go to the webpage they are greeted with a black screen that the site s spokesman, Mike Kulich, says will stay there until lawmakers repeal House Bill 2. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Kulich explains why the company decided to pull out (no pun intended) of the state: We have spent the last 50 years fighting for equality for everyone and these laws are discriminatory which XHamster.com does not tolerate. Judging by the stats of what you North Carolinians watch, we feel this punishment is a severe one. We will not standby and pump revenue into a system that promotes this type of garbage. We respect all sexualities and embrace them. He went on to say that even though lawmakers rammed a bill that discriminates against transsexuals through, the viewers of XHamster seem to be far less bigoted than Republicans would like them to be: Back in March, we had 400,000 hits for the term Transsexual from North Carolina alone, he said. People from that state searched Gay 319,907 times. That is actually quite common in Southern Bible Belt states, believe it or not. Although many of the voters in these states proclaim that they love their holy book and do not believe gay people deserve the same rights as everyone else, in the privacy of their own homes they frequently watch gay and lesbian pornography. Earlier this year PornHub (another popular XXX site) released the most popular categories by state and the South overwhelmingly preferred lesbian porn:Hypocrisy run deep in the South, doesn t it?Kulich says the company plans to replace the black screen with petition to repeal HB2 in the near future: Hopefully, it will get as many signatures as the transsexual searches, he said.XHamster is just the latest in an expanding list of companies and entertainers who are protesting the state s ignorant law. One thing is becoming very obvious: Bigotry does not pay. Hopefully, the Republican lawmakers in North Carolina figure this out before they completely destroy their state, but until then, thousands of their voters are going to be a whole lot less satisfied.Featured image via Fallout Wiki | 1real |
Angry Town Hall Meetings on Health Care Law, and Few Answers - The New York Times | PEWAUKEE, Wis. — Michelle Roelandts had a question for her congressman: If the Affordable Care Act and its premium subsidies were repealed, what would happen when her daughter turns 26 this year and needs to get her own health insurance while attending law school? Representative Jim Sensenbrenner, a durable Wisconsin Republican who has served in the House since 1979, had little to offer in response. “If I could give you an answer today, I would, but I can’t,” Mr. Sensenbrenner said at a meeting on Saturday, where about 70 people packed a room at the Pewaukee Public Library. Ms. Roelandts’s question and others like it are being asked with increasing anger and urgency across the country, and Republicans have found themselves on the defensive — for all their fury aimed at repealing the law, so far they have not agreed on an alternative. Soon after, a man yelled to Mr. Sensenbrenner: “How many times did you vote to repeal without knowing what the replacement would be? How many times? Dozens!” The congressman, who prides himself on his prolific schedule of meetings, banged his gavel and insisted that his rules for civility be obeyed. While Mr. Sensenbrenner did not face the kind of anger that some of his peers did in recent days, he must answer the same question: Is this resistance a sign of a sustainable organic movement, or one that will soon flame out? And like his colleagues, he is also coming to grips with how much he will be saddled with the combative comments made by President Trump. Mr. Sensenbrenner, in an interview, attributed the turnout at his gatherings to “organized opposition by people who were on the losing side of the election. ” Facing restive audiences in public meetings is not new, but in the age of social media, an ugly scene in one congressional district can quickly attract widespread attention. “I’d be lying to you if I told you it was fun,” he said. In California, Representative Tom McClintock was escorted by police officers after a meeting earlier this month in Utah, the crowd chanted “Do your job!” at Representative Jason Chaffetz, the chairman of the Oversight Committee. At a meeting last week, House Republicans were advised on security precautions so they would be prepared for protesters at meetings or their district offices. The questions from voters on display this weekend at a series of meetings in Wisconsin’s Fifth Congressional District, many of which were focused on the future of the health care law, underscored the quandary many lawmakers are facing even in solidly Republican districts. The imminent problem: Constituents want answers, and without any consensus on how to go about replacing the law, Republicans have little to say. “It’s kind of like, you know, getting a jigsaw puzzle for Christmas,” Mr. Sensenbrenner said, “and, you know, cleaning off the dining room table and seeing how long it takes to put all the 30, 000 pieces together in the right place. It’s not going to be easy. ” Mr. Sensenbrenner won last year by 37 percentage points. His district, which includes suburbs around Milwaukee, voted decisively for Mr. Trump over Hillary Clinton. At three meetings over the weekend, Mr. Sensenbrenner sat at the front of the room to take questions from people who submitted slips of paper listing their name and address. When he called on people, he read their names and where they live — a practice that makes people “less likely to make fools of themselves,” he said in the interview. At the meetings, he faced crowds that were adversarial but generally civil, and he fielded questions on a range of issues. At moments when the gatherings grew a bit unruly, he did not hesitate to bang his gavel. Like a frustrated teacher, he offered some unsolicited advice about comportment. “This is not a session on who can cheer or boo the loudest,” he said as he began the Pewaukee meeting on Saturday, urging people to “be respectful of opinions that you do not share. ” The tough questioning of Republican lawmakers has been driven partly by concerns over health care, but also by outrage over Mr. Trump’s presidency. That was true in Wisconsin, too. Mr. Sensenbrenner, who has long worked on immigration issues in Congress, said the executive order on immigration was “completely messed up” and a “train wreck. ” And he suggested he would be of little assistance in reining in Mr. Trump. “Do you think I’m able to control anybody else’s mouth, from the president on down?” he asked. Repeatedly, the questions Mr. Sensenbrenner faced over the weekend showed the challenge that lawmakers have in explaining the effects of repealing the Affordable Care Act, especially now, when Republicans have yet to coalesce around a replacement plan. Pressed by one questioner to oppose a replacement for the health care law if that replacement would raise costs for sick people, he explained that “there are winners and losers” when bills are passed. A woman told him she learned she had skin cancer in 2005, and she asked about coverage for people with conditions. Another woman told him that her mother was in a nursing home, and she wondered whether changing Medicaid to give each state a fixed amount of money, called a block grant, could cause her mother to be “put out on the street. ” Leigh Levas, 35, a medical technologist, told him that her daughter had juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. “I’ve been sending him postcards with her photo, because I think he needs to see the people that it affects,” Ms. Levas said after the Pewaukee meeting. Mr. Sensenbrenner offered a reassurance that some popular aspects of the health care law would remain: insurers would not be able to deny coverage because of conditions, young adults could stay on their parents’ health plan until they are 26, and lifetime limits on coverage would not be allowed. And he acknowledged the stakes of the repeal effort. “From a political standpoint, we Republicans know that we will own whatever the replacement will be, just as Obama and the Democrats own the A. C. A. ,” he told Ms. Roelandts, who asked about health coverage for her daughter. “We got to get it right, and we got to get it right the first time. ” Ms. Roelandts, an accountant, said later that she was not happy with his answer. “I kind of interpret it as they don’t really know what they’re going to do yet,” she said, adding that she was alarmed by the comparison to a jigsaw puzzle. “Don’t talk about repealing something until you have valid ideas on the table for replacing it,” she said. “I mean, it’s causing me to literally lose sleep at night. ” Still, Mr. Sensenbrenner was blunt and unapologetic about the Republican push for dismantling President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement. “I won by 146, 000 votes,” he said in the interview. “I represent the majority. Now, they’re a vocal minority. ” | 0fake |
“MAXINE WATERS IN A GLITTERY COWBOY HAT” Goes To War With Trump Over Words Said To Grieving Widow | The left is going ballistic over supposed words said by President Trump to a grieving military widow. President Trump made a call to Myeshia Wilson that has been turned into a political football by the left to make Trump out to be crazy . Wilson s husband was killed in Niger while serving in our military.The media also wasted no time covering this story that does it s best to try and make Trump look as bad as possible Just another day in the life of the lefty media.Far left Congresswoman Frederica Wilson jumped right in to trash Trump after the call. She s following the left s narrative by claiming Trump is a sick man . It s pretty funny that Wilson calls Trump crazy while wearing a glittery cowgirl hat 24/7.According to NBC: He said, But you know he must ve known what he signed up for, the Democrat recounted Trump saying more than once during the call to express his sympathy. According to Wilson, the conversation lasted somewhere from three to five minutes. Everyone knows when you go to war you could possibly not come back alive but you don t remind a grieving widow of that, Wilson said. That s so insensitive. Trump didn t even remember his name, Wilson recalled Myeshia Johnson telling her after the call ended, the congresswoman told MSNBC s Morning Joe Wednesday. She hung up the phone and said, He didn t even remember his name, Wilson said. That s the hurting part. The White House said Tuesday that the president had called the families of all four service members who were killed. He offered condolences on behalf of a grateful nation and assured them their family s extraordinary sacrifice to the country will never be forgotten, the White House said.Asked about Wilson s characterization of the call, a White House official said Tuesday night that the president s conversations with the families of American heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice are private. Trump hit back at the claims saying he has proof of what was said on the call:Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017Wilson took no time in shooting back that Trump is a sick man . She s clearly milking this for all it s worth. It s sick that this Democrat would use this call to a grieving widow to bash our president. | 1real |
Germany calls for restraint, dialogue in Zimbabwe | BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany called for all sides to show restraint in Zimbabwe after the military seized power there early on Wednesday, saying it is targeting criminals around President Robert Mugabe. We see developments there with concern ... The situation there is confusing and unclear, a Foreign Ministry spokesman told a regular government news conference in Berlin. Together with our European partners, we urge the actors to show restraint and above all not to exercise any violence, the spokesman added. A dialogue of the actors is needed to avoid a confrontation and to come to a peaceful solution. | 0fake |
BOOM! Hey Democrats….Why The Violent Riots? YOUNG AMERICAN Proves Dems Really Don’t Care About Jobs, Helping Minorities or Women [VIDEO] | Watch:You want a #JobsReport?Here's a jobs report: President Trump is bringing jobs back to America & keeping promises. #FlashbackFriday pic.twitter.com/qViMRO9OOv #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) March 10, 2017 | 1real |
Tennessee Woman Accused of Coat-Hanger Abortion Attempt Faces New Charges - The New York Times | A Tennessee woman who is accused of trying to abort her fetus at 24 weeks with a coat hanger last year is facing new felony charges, in a case that has raised concerns among some advocates over strict abortion laws. The case concerning the woman, Anna Yocca, 32, has wound its way through the courts in Rutherford County for nearly a year, seesawing between multiple charges in three indictments as she has continued to sit in a central Tennessee jail. On Monday, Ms. Yocca was arraigned on new charges: aggravated assault, an attempt to procure a miscarriage and an attempted criminal abortion. She entered a plea of not guilty, The Daily News Journal reported. Ms. Yocca’s public defender, Gerald Melton, did not respond to multiple requests for comment by email or telephone. Hugh Ammerman, the Rutherford County assistant district attorney who is prosecuting the case, could not be reached early on Tuesday. Ms. Yocca was first charged on Dec. 8, 2015, with the attempted murder of her fetus in September 2015. She was booked into the Rutherford County jail, where she has remained, with bond set at $200, 000. She is expected to return to court on Dec. 9, The Journal reported. The case has pitted advocates against defenders of the state’s laws, which are among the strictest in the country. The authorities have said that Ms. Yocca climbed into a bathtub in September 2015 and tried to “ ” her pregnancy, which caused her to bleed so profusely that she was taken to a hospital, The Murfreesboro Post reported, quoting a police report. The baby, a boy, was delivered alive by cesarean section at the hospital, weighing 1. 5 pounds, but he had injuries, The Murfreesboro Post reported. The police report, quoting unidentified physicians, blamed Ms. Yocca’s probing with the hanger, but it offered no medical evidence for what the indictment called bodily injury, and similar health problems are often associated with extreme prematurity. When contacted for a copy of the report, Sergeant Kyle Evans, a spokesman for the Murfreesboro Police Department, referred calls to the district attorney’s office. The case has drawn attention to strict abortion laws, and in some cases the criminalization of the procedure, as Donald J. Trump prepares to take office. During his presidential campaign, Mr. Trump pledged to roll back the abortion rights guaranteed by the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, and he suggested “punishment” for abortion providers and their patients. In his first television interview after he won the presidency, he repeated his desire to see Roe v. Wade overturned and said, of women seeking abortions, “Well, they’ll perhaps have to go — they’ll have to go to another state. ” “I think that this is a very shocking case and one that is incredibly tragic,” said Allison Glass, the director of Healthy and Free Tennessee, which promotes sexual health. “This is not a common case for Tennessee, but with the threat of Roe being overturned,” she added, “that is absolutely where we are headed. ” Tennessee Right to Life representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The baby was initially placed in foster care. Last week Rob Johnson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, said by telephone that the child was “safe” but no longer in state custody. Citing confidentiality, he declined to answer further questions. The law in Tennessee permits abortions after 24 weeks — about the limit for fetal viability outside the womb, doctors say — if the woman’s life or health is at risk. It also requires women to receive counseling and wait 48 hours before the procedure, which necessitates multiple trips to a clinic. Ms. Glass said that only four out of 95 counties in Tennessee had abortion clinics, and that Rutherford County was not one of them. Lynn M. Paltrow, the executive director of National Advocates for Pregnant Women, which is helping with Ms. Yocca’s defense, said the case was one of several instances showing what can happen when prosecutors apply criminal law to women’s pregnancies. Last year, an Indiana woman, Purvi Patel, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after she was convicted of feticide for taking pills to terminate her pregnancy, and then delivering a baby who, the jury found, died from neglect. The conviction was vacated on appeal. In some states pregnant women have been charged with attempted feticide for falling down stairs for not wearing a seatbelt and for trying to commit suicide while pregnant, Ms. Paltrow said. In Ms. Yocca’s case, Ms. Paltrow said, “It is absolutely not clear to us that her intention was to have an abortion, as opposed to having an early birth at home, or some other reason. ” “This is the problem around the criminal justice system being involved in pregnancy outcomes,” she added. “In a country where more and more things have been criminalized, there is a virtually limitless number of crimes that prosecutors can chose from if we allow pregnancy to become the subject of criminal justice and court systems. ” | 0fake |
Democrats seek Trump's cooperation on drug price reform | NEW YORK (Reuters) - A group of Democratic senators took their plans to tackle rising drug costs to President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday, asking him to work with them and Republicans on the issue. In a letter dated Tuesday, the 19 senators named five areas for cooperation: allowing the Medicare program to negotiate prescription prices, increasing transparency, stopping abusive pricing, passing reform on incentives for innovation and supporting generic competition for branded drugs. Trump’s focus during the presidential election campaign was not on drug prices but on his promise to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, President Barack Obama’s signature health reform law passed by Democrats in 2010. But he did talk about allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices, which is currently prohibited by law, and importing cheaper drugs from other countries. Since elected, Trump promised in an interview with Time magazine that “I’m going to bring down drug prices” but did not say how. In the letter led by Senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Al Franken of Minnesota and co-signed by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren among others, the group suggested that there would be opportunities in Congress for Trump to steer bipartisan reform. It suggested that the Prescription Drug, Generic Drug, and Biosimilars User Fee Agreement reauthorization, due to be passed in the spring, and “other health-related legislative priorities” would be good opportunities. Republicans have a majority in Congress and is working on a two-part plan to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, according to Republican senators. The repeal would take place through the budget reconciliation process, which can pass with 51 votes. For replacement legislation, some Republican senators have said they may seek Democratic support in order to have bipartisan legislation with 60 votes. | 0fake |
All Aboard the Nordic Express, at Agern - The New York Times | Almost everyone who has lived in Manhattan has had the dream. Wandering through your apartment, you see a door nobody has noticed before. On the other side, you find that you have been living all along with extra rooms: enough space for an office, a guest bedroom, a painting studio, a closet, a tiki bar, a library. That sensation is what you get walking into Agern for the first time. Just off a corridor in Grand Central Terminal that you’ve probably rushed down hundreds of times, behind a set of doors locked for longer than most New Yorkers can remember, a restaurant has appeared. In the three months since it opened, Agern has made both the train station and the city’s dining landscape into roomier, more interesting places. There are no windows, and the front entrance, at the top of a short flight of stairs, is marked by a small sign that’s easy to walk past. This makes Agern ( ) feel like a quiet harbor away from the eddies and currents of commuters outside. Hours can slip away. In the modern Scandinavian dining room, pale wood, charcoal seat cushions and wall tiles in mossy Grand Central green create a calming mood. It’s like a spa with tasting menus and cocktails. The primary owner is the Danish restaurateur Claus Meyer, one of the founders of Noma, in Copenhagen, and of its New Nordic cooking style. New Nordic is not so much a cuisine as a philosophy. Its followers value traditional methods like curing and smoking, and seek out forgotten or overlooked ingredients from nearby. Mr. Meyer recruited Gunnar Gislason, the chef of the New Nordic restaurant Dill, in Reykjavik, Iceland, to run the kitchen. Mr. Gislason has imported Dill’s philosophy but not, for the most part, its Icelandic provisions, like the dried sheep droppings over which fish is smoked. Buying food raised around New York, he and his chef de cuisine, Joseph Yardley, treat the city as another Scandinavian capital: . Sign on for the Field and Forest menu, a vegetarian excursion through seven courses with a salvo of finger foods (the $120 price, like all the prices at Agern, includes service) and the plants you eat are mostly those you could buy at Union Square Greenmarket. What the kitchen does to them gives them an unfamiliar and often transporting cast. There was, for instance, a potato salad that caused double and triple takes. The potatoes had a restrained but durable smokiness. They were served with shaved rhubarb, ramps and feathery red seaweed, which carried a memory of the ocean. Finally, long yellow bands of cured egg yolk had the salty, intensifying effect of bottarga. That salad has been replaced by one with lemon cucumbers and fleshy summer melon, but the cured egg remains, giving the fruit and vegetables a depth I didn’t expect. Preserved blackberries, tart and a little salty, brought a welcome sharpness to endive salad, dressed with mild and creamy havgus cheese and chopped almonds. Sweet corn and fresh chanterelles are a classic summer match, but I had no idea how wonderful they could taste with the addition of tarragon and golden raspberries. The Land and Sea menu costs $25 more. In the New Nordic spirit, the animal flesh is not supplied by overworked and unsustainable ingredients. It comes from more humble stuff. Rather than foie gras, there is beef heart, chopped into red filaments that provide ballast and iron to a salad of skinny asparagus stems and garlic scapes with tart green slices of unripe strawberries. Instead of bluefin tuna, you eat skate, cooked gingerly to keep the appealing gelatinous softness, under celery and batons of apple. Heirloom pork is not the loin but the neck, imbued (too strongly?) with rosemary and served with a crisp, simple, creamy and very good salad of green beans. The two menus are not that far apart. Sometimes they are separated by a single ingredient: A few briny spoonfuls of trout eggs get the potato salad admitted to the Land and Sea menu. From time to time, they converge on an identical dish like the unaccountably delicious potato fry bread, a fritter of sourdough mixed with mashed potatoes, or the roasted beet. The last time I ate at Agern, this had become “our famous beet. ” It does seem to have been consciously designed to be talked about. It’s carved on a cart next to the table after being liberated from the crust it’s baked in. The crust is supposed to give the beet the flavor it would pick up over a wood fire, but it didn’t taste smoky to me. My first bite was impossibly salty, too. But after that, its natural flavors were deeply concentrated, and the underlying beet salad, flecked with fresh horseradish and fried caraway seeds, was stunning on its own. So was the tiny loaf of rye bread, wonderful with beets mashed into it and even more wonderful under a thick coat of butter. These loaves are baked by Rhonda Crosson, and I think they are at least as good as her big rounds of sourdough, and those are exceptional. Agern’s pastry chef, Rebecca Eichenbaum, showed how resourceful she could be in her last job, at Wassail, where she spun elaborate desserts out of parsnips and carrots. She is no less inventive at Agern, but the results are a little less effortful, even as she tops ripe berries with a kombucha ice made from rose petals or doubles up on the tartness of sorrel sherbet with curls of barely sweetened rhubarb. Many of these can be ordered individually, a considerate option from a restaurant where on the wrong night the tasting menus can inch forward like the local to New Haven. My last meal lasted more than four hours, for no discernible reason. There may be travelers, or even nontravelers, who would be happy with two courses and dessert. I’d suggest, though, that they stay away from the $68 “ hung beef” whatever flavor it picked up from hanging was stamped out by horseradish cream and horseradish leaves. In Denmark, Mr. Meyer is also active in delis, bakeries, a coffee roaster and other concerns. Last year, he moved to New York, and he is adapting to his new home with the same entrepreneurial energy. In Brooklyn, he has opened a bakery and a coffee roaster under the direction of a star of the Copenhagen caffeine scene named Omar Maagaard. Mr. Maagaard’s beans are brewed into Agern’s espresso and which made me think for the first time that the people who compare coffee to great wine are not completely barking mad. And I say this having lived through five excruciating minutes during which coffee was brewed drop by drop atop a digital scale. (For tableside drama, digital scales run a distant third to sharp knives and open flames.) Following the spirit, most of the other drinks are grown in the United States. Chad Walsh has put together a list of domestic wines, beers, spirits, cider and mead. (Strange things are happening in mead, a beverage that is pretty strange to begin with.) As you leave, you’re handed a cloth sack or two. Inside you may find a small sourdough loaf with a jar of butter or bright, freshly cooked raspberry jam. Or a bottle of coffee. They could be advertisements for Mr. Meyer’s tentacular operations, I suppose, but ads rarely taste so good the next day. | 0fake |
Wounded North Korean defector transferred to South Korean military hospital | SEOUL (Reuters) - A North Korean soldier who suffered critical gunshot wounds during a defection dash across the border to South Korea has been transferred to a military hospital, a South Korean intelligence official said on Saturday. The North Korean soldier, 24-year-old Oh Chong Song, was transferred to the military hospital on Friday from a trauma center at Ajou University Hospital south of Seoul, where his treatment for gunshot wounds and pre-existing conditions included two major operations. Oh has been transferred to South Korea s military hospital and South Korea s intelligence services will soon schedule the security questioning process depending on Oh s condition, the intelligence official told Reuters. The official, who declined to be identified, also declined to provide a specific schedule for Oh s questioning. Oh was shot and badly wounded by his fellow North Korean soldiers while fleeing across the border into the South in November. Three South Korean soldiers brought Oh to safety and he was immediately taken aboard a U.S. Black Hawk military helicopter and rushed into surgery. Medical staff at the Armed Forces Hospital will continue to provide proper care and treatment for Oh, a South Korean defense ministry official. Surgeon John Cook-Jong Lee accompanied Oh, along with a few South Korean intelligence services agents and other medical crew, as he was airlifted by a South Korean military helicopter to the Korean Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, south of Seoul. Oh is still recovering from two major surgeries and other minor injuries. He has not gained full strength yet, but his condition has been much stabilized, said a person familiar with Oh s condition, who declined to be identified. | 0fake |
China's richest man built fortune even as debt mountain climbed | HONG KONG (Reuters) - Named the richest man in China on Thursday with a net worth of $43 billion, property tycoon Xu Jiayin is likened by some media to Donald Trump, having built his fortune on a real estate business that has blossomed under a mountain of debt. The 59-year-old Xu s China Evergrande Group has a market value of $47 billion, although its total debt stands at more than $100 billion, an issue that has prompted some wary investors to short the stock. Evergrande, China s second-most indebted company, has now pledged to cut its net debt ratio to around 70 percent by June 2020 from 240 percent and has raised $3.8 billion in new funds and exchanged $2.8 billion of existing debt this year. Thanks to a boom in the value of Chinese property assets, Xu s wealth has climbed by $30 billion in the past year to top the rich list compiled annually by the Hurun Report. Evergrande, whose shares have surged 480 percent this year, is now ranked as the country s third-largest developer by sales. The stock s bull run to record highs accelerated this month, driven by plans for a backdoor listing in mainland China and the announcement of a target to reduce debt. Xu s political stock is also high with the ruling Communist Party. He is a member of the Chinese People s Political Consultative Conference, the top advisory body. And the State Council, China s cabinet, bestowed on him the title National Model Worker - one of the country s highest civilian honors. Earlier this year, Xu, in his advisory role, proposed measures to alleviate poverty and hailed China s president. We believe that under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee with General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core, we would certainly win the battle against poverty, Xu said. Xu graduated from Wuhan University of Science and Technology in 1982, and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree in commerce by the University of West Alabama in 2008. He founded Evergrande in 1996 and listed it in Hong Kong in 2009 after raising around HK$6 billion ($767 million) in an initial public offering. Acquisition-hungry Evergrande, which has developed thousands of middle class homes in China, made headlines in 2010 when it bought the main soccer club in its home town of Guangzhou for 100 million yuan ($15 million). In 2014, Xu sold a half stake in the club to China s biggest e-commerce company Alibaba for $192 million. Alibaba s founder Jack Ma said at the time that he and Xu hatched the deal over dinner and drinks, and wrapped it up in just a few days. Xu came under a less friendly spotlight in 2015, when Australia ordered him to sell his A$39 million ($31 million) Sydney mansion as part of a crackdown on foreigners whose buying had contributed to an overheated residential property market. | 0fake |
AS ISIS HAS CELEBRATORY PARADE IN W. ANBAR PROVINCE OF IRAQ: Pathetic Obama Regime Asks Networks To Stop Using “B-loop” ISIS Footage | A Pentagon spokesman claims it s more like One Toyota speeding down the road by itself at night with its headlights off. Um Unless I m mistaken Barry, I see more than one Toyota Really? Because just the other day ISIS rolled into the W. Anbar province and actually held a parade to celebrate their victory. All of this pomp and circumstance took place in a country where Obama pulled our troops and declared he ended the war in Iraq. Here is Barack Hussein Obama bragging about ending the war in Iraq and then wonders aloud to the press why they keep asking him about pulling out of Iraq like as if it was my decision. Here is President George W. Bush in 2007 warning that if we pulled out of Iraq on a whim before our commanders told us we were ready, it would be dangerous and warned about mass killings on a horrific scale. https://youtu.be/6ZkExYK_YWkInstead of fighting a war in Iraq, Obama and his regime are busy crafting a lie about the strength of ISIS and openly demanding that our state-run media comply with his propaganda. And now: Frustrated that coverage of the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant isn t reflecting reality on the ground, senior Obama administration officials are urging television networks to update their footage of the radical militant group.Senior State Department and Pentagon officials have begun contacting television network reporters to ask them to stop using B-roll stock footage that appears on screen while reporters and commentators talk showing ISIL at the peak of its strength last summer. We are urging broadcasters to avoid using the familiar B-roll that we ve all seen before, file footage of ISIL convoys operating in broad daylight, moving in large formations with guns out, looking to wreak havoc, said Emily Horne, spokeswoman for retired Gen. John Allen, the State Department s special envoy leading the international coalition against ISIL. It s inaccurate that s no longer how ISIL moves, Horne said. A lot of that footage is from last summer before we began tactical strikes. The effort is ad hoc for now, with U.S. officials approaching correspondents from several networks in informal settings. Representatives from CNN, NBC, Fox, or ABC did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A source at CBS said they hadn t heard from the administration yet regarding their footage. Since the U.S. began conducting air strikes against ISIL positions and convoys last August, America and its allies have dropped thousands of bombs against the group in Iraq and Syria. U.S. officials say ISIL fighters can no longer congregate in daylight or move in large convoys that are easily spotted and struck from above.A more accurate image, said Col. Steven Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, would be one Toyota speeding down the road by itself at night with its headlights off. Via: Politico | 1real |
Militants kill Egyptian U.N. peacekeeper in Central African Republic | DAKAR (Reuters) - Suspected Christian militias killed an Egyptian U.N. peacekeeper and wounded three others in an attack in southern Central African Republic on Sunday, the United Nations said in a statement. The attack, which the United Nations said was carried out by anti-balaka militants, occurred in Gambo, about 100 km (60 miles) from the town of Bangassou where more than 100 civilians and three Moroccan peacekeepers were killed in separate incidents in May and July. Conflict has killed thousands in Central African Republic since Muslim Seleka rebels ousted President Francois Bozize in 2013, provoking a backlash from the Christian anti-balaka militia. Violence spiked when former colonial power France ended its peacekeeping mission last year. Since then, the United Nations 13,000-strong Central African Republic mission, known as MINUSCA, has struggled to restore order to a country where government control barely extends beyond the capital Bangui. In total, 13 MINUSCA peacekeepers have been killed in the country this year alone. Five militants were also killed during Sunday s clash, the United Nations said. | 0fake |
Break the Silence or Support Self-Determination? In Syria, the Answer Should be Obvious | B y Danny Haiphong S yria is “the target of one of the greatest misinformation campaigns in recent history.” The author regrets that left analyst Eric Draitser has contributed to the confusion. Draitser criticizes leftists who firmly support the Syrian government. Danny Haiphong counters that “the left must act with uncompromising dedication to the principle of self-determination in every case where US and Western imperialism wages wars of neo-colonial plunder.” PHOTO ABOVE: Western supported Takfiri primes field gun supplied via Turkey. “To claim that the left in the US should fight for ‘peace’ and at the same time oppose the Syrian government is an intentional attempt to remain neutral in a time of war.” Imperialism’s war on Syria may be the most important question on the order of the day for those fighting for a world free of exploitation and oppression. Syria is currently the battleground of imperialism’s last gasp of life. In nearly six years, Syria has been turned into a site of intense struggle between the forces of resistance and imperialism’s forces of reaction. It has also been the target of one of the greatest misinformation campaigns in recent history. The imperialist countries and their media lackeys have sewed deep confusion about the true character of the war being waged on Syria. Nowhere is this confusion greater than in the United States, and it appears someone I deeply respect has been overtaken by it. Imperialism’s war on Syria may be the most important question on the order of the day for those fighting for a world free of exploitation and oppression. Syria is currently the battleground of imperialism’s last gasp of life. In nearly six years, Syria has been turned into a site of intense struggle between the forces of resistance and imperialism’s forces of reaction. It has also been the target of one of the greatest misinformation campaigns in recent history. In a recent issue of CounterPunch, Eric Draitser dives head deep into the confusion [3] . He criticizes what he deems as two critical problems with the left’s stance. Draitser first criticizes the pro-imperialist left for their decision to align themselves with the foreign-sponsored terror groups in Syria, which have been labeled “revolutionaries” or “rebels” by the imperialist countries. He then goes on to criticize leftists who have positioned themselves firmly in support of the Syrian government. ERIC DRAITSER: Usually solid analysis, but suddenly a plunge into rank political collaboration with the forces of imperialism which he supposedly opposes. The question is why act like a liberaloid? Given his record, we refuse to believe he is that dumb. It is his criticism of the “pro-Assad left” that needs further examination. Draitser reveals his deep confusion when he asks: “Will you continue to delude yourselves by refusing to accept the plainly obvious truth that no state or group has the best interests of Syrians at heart?” Draitser’s question assumes that the Syrian and Russian governments are equally to blame for the chaos in Syria. Their bombs are assumed to be prolonging the war and committing atrocities against the Syrian people at the same rate of the imperialists. If this is not the case, he doesn’t state otherwise in the piece. In fact, Draitser sets out to prove true what has already been proven false by a wide range of independent and corporate media sources. “The imperialist countries and their media lackeys have sewed deep confusion about the true character of the war being waged on Syria.” First, Draitser claims that the war on Syria began as a genuine protest against “neo-liberal” reforms instituted by the Syrian government. This narrative is popular among the liberal-left media as well as the white left generally. However, those who make this claim rarely specify what neo-liberal reforms were made or how the confrontation all of a sudden became violent. Stephen Gowans reviews numerous reports from the corporate media [4] that describe the uprising in March of 2011 as immediately violent, ill-supported, and ultimately insignificant in the midst of reforms from the Syrian government that were broadly supported by the Syrian people. At the same time as the violent uprisings, thousands of Syrians were protesting in the streets [5] in support of President Assad. US/Saudi supported Takfiri fanatics operating in Syria, and depicted by the media as “moderates”. Furthermore, reports from the city of Daraa during the 2011 uprisings confirmed the presence of armed “rebels” who had freshly arrived from their US-NATO backed destruction of Libya [6] . These “rebels” have since infested the country through various channels of the Syrian border. Each group possesses a fundamentalist Wahhabi ideology and receives varying degrees of assistance from the Gulf monarchies, Israel, Turkey, NATO, and of course, the US. This is confirmed in Draitser’s article. Yet he still reinforces the claim that a popular uprising started the war even though Assad possessed broad support in 2011 [7] . The truth is that the war on Syria has little to do with neo-liberalism or popular discontent. It has been acknowledged by UN sources that despite reforms, the Syrian economy remains highly regulated and socialist in character [8] . Syria’s own form of socialism has brought many benefits to the Syrian people. Healthcare and education are rights guaranteed to all citizens [9] . Syria also possesses a secular government where Muslims, Christians, and all religious and ethnic groups lived peacefully prior to the war. Syria is thus a poor example of neo-liberalism. What economic struggles that do exist in Syria have largely stemmed from the harsh sanctions imposed by the US [10] in 2004. “The war on Syria has little to do with neo-liberalism or popular discontent.” Furthermore, Draitser cites numerous sources that support regime change to smear the Syrian government and, by extension, the Syrian people. One of the sources receives much of its information from the White Helmets. The White Helmets have long been exposed as an NGO that works directly in service of imperialism’s regime change operation in Syria. The organization receives approximately 33 million in funds [11] directly from the US and UK governments. Eva Bartlett recently visited Aleppo and witnessed many White Helmet workers sporting arms and fighting among the terror groups [12] . Draister also cites a source from the New York Post . The Post article relies heavily on documents collected by the dubious Center for International Justice and Accountability. This purported “international law” NGO [13] is run by a consortium of corporate lawyers, former or current Amnesty International staffers, and various other servants of empire. The organization specializes in “transitional justice.” In other words, the Center for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA) provides a legal framework for regime change on behalf of its imperial funders. Draitser claims no group involved in the war has the interests of the Syrian people at heart yet cites directly from an organization dedicated to the promotion of war in Syria. The NGOs and their partners in the corporate media have worked together to distort the reality on the ground. Aleppo is case and point. A ceasefire was brokered by all parties in late October that was supposed to allow Syrians to escape safely from East to West Aleppo. However, the humanitarian corridors were repeatedly shelled by the Nusra Front [14] , the US-backed Al Qaeda affiliate . The media decided to ignore this and report instead that the ceasefire’s failure was due to the withholding of aid by Russia and Syria [15] . This is but one example of many where the Syrian government has been blamed for the rebel-sponsored terror inflicted on Syrian people. “His analysis uses an abstract, moral argument to violate Syria’s self-determination.” After five years of war on Syria, it is a wonder how anyone could believe a word that comes from the mouths of the imperialist countries. They lied about the origins of the conflict. They have continuously blamed the Syrian government for events that have all been traced back to the armed proxies they support. This includes the Houla Massacre [16] , the sarin gas attack [17] in Ghouta, and the so-called starvation of Madaya [18] . Aleppo is no different. The Syrian city has been under constant siege from NATO-backed terrorists. The terrorists are holding nearly 250,000 Syrians hostage in the Eastern side of war-torn Aleppo. This has been verified by journalists on the ground such as Vanessa Beeley [19] . These facts seem not to matter in Draitser’s newfound assessment of Syria. His analysis uses an abstract, moral argument to violate Syria’s self-determination. Calling those who unequivocally support the Syrian government “fetishists” assumes that the US left should take a position different from that of the Syrian people. Actual Syrians supported Bashar Al-Assad, and thus the Syrian Army, with 88.7 percent of the vote [20] in the 2014 elections. To claim that the left in the US should fight for “peace” and at the same time oppose the Syrian government is an intentional attempt to remain neutral in a time of war. As Howard Zinn brilliantly stated, one cannot be neutral on a moving train. And the imperialist war against Syria is moving dangerously toward a World War III scenario. Hillary Clinton will be elected the next President of the United States and has repeatedly expressed that she will pursue a no-fly zone [20] once in office. A no-fly zone would place Russian and Syrian military assets at risk of US-sponsored bombs and thus the world at risk of a global military confrontation not seen since World War II. How convenient it is then that Draitser should rebuke his former anti-imperialist stance in place of a stealth form of regime change. The world is on fire, yet Draitser has interpreted the situation as a chance to distort an already highly misunderstood situation . “Draister’s conclusions ultimately reinforce the Western assumption that the left must come to the rescue and save the Syrian people from their plight.” Positions such as Draitser’s are ultimately shaped by the material conditions of an imperialist empire in crisis and decline. White supremacy has been a principal condition of US imperialism since its inception. The war machine and white supremacy are deeply connected. The peoples and nations on imperialism’s hit-list are routinely depicted in a manner that justifies the need for US and Western military medicine. This notion has trickled down to the day-to-day actions of ordinary people, including what currently passes as the “anti-war” movement in the US today. Draister’s conclusions ultimately reinforce the Western assumption that the left must come to the rescue and save the Syrian people from their plight. Indeed, the Syrian people need allies and the left must be organizing toward an end to the war. But an end to the war cannot be achieved unless the left supports the will of the Syrian people. At the moment, this means the US left must align itself with the Syrian government and its allies. The left must act with uncompromising dedication to the principle of self-determination in every case where US and Western imperialism wages wars of neo-colonial plunder. Syria should be no exception. Of course, this critique should not be seen as a personal attack on Draitser himself. His body of work reflects a deep commitment to the struggle against war and Empire. He has often taken positions on international questions that are deeply unpopular with the US imperialist order. However, when mistakes are made, the left has a responsibility to correct them. There is too much at stake. Failure to step up in defense of Syria means another regime change scenario similar to what happened in Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Libya. Draitser’s piece is a study into the path that all genuine anti-imperialists should avoid. But what is the correct path forward? Imperialism is the unquestionable cause of the war in Syria, so imperialism must be the primary target of an anti-imperialist movement. The US and its allies are risking world war over Syria’s destruction. On the other side, the Syrian and Russian governments (along with Iran and China) are doing as much as they can to find a peaceful solution to the conflict that also respects Syria’s national sovereignty. It is without question that this is the side where the left ought to be in the continued struggle to end the war once and for all. Source URL: http://blackagendareport.com/haiphong_answers_eric_draitser | 1real |
Outrage Over Bundy Verdict: White Militants Acquitted While Native Protesters Brutalized | 16934 SHARES
After Thursday’s Bundy verdict and Standing Rock response, the judicial system seems to be communicating loud and clear that white lives matter more.
On the same day that Ammon Bundy and his gang of domestic terrorists were acquitted for taking over federal property while armed to the teeth , over 100 Native Americans protecting their own land were arrested, gassed, beaten with batons, and shot with rubber bullets . The difference in how each group was treated couldn’t be more stark.
From the very beginning, the system was set up to favor the Bundys. Shortly after the takeover of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in rural Oregon took place earlier this year, the police response was muted .
“During Saturday’s rally, not a police officer was visible. And so far law enforcement agencies have not approached the refuge or blocked access to the territory,” The Oregonian reported in January.
Even though the wildlife refuge was on federal property, no FBI agents or military units were deployed to remove the Bundy militia from the building. The Bundys’ acquittal came from an all-white jury , who took just 6 hours of deliberation to find the gang not guilty of the crimes they were charged for, despite the Bundys livestreaming the event to the world . And as the Associated Press reported, the threat of violence was very real, as federal authorities recovered nearly 17,000 live rounds of ammunition at the bird sanctuary, as well as almost 2,000 shell casings from rounds previously fired.
To contrast, the response from both state law enforcement and private security to the nonviolent civil disobedience exercised by the Standing Rock Sioux at the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline was incredibly heavy-handed. As water protector Dallas Goldtooth wrote on his Facebook profile , Native Americans protesting pipeline construction were dragged out of a religious ceremony at gunpoint, one of their horses was so badly injured by private security that it had to be put down, and national guardsmen were used to clear the protest site despite an order from President Obama’s Department of Justice halting pipeline construction within 20 miles of the Missouri River.
The Sacred Stone Camp further described the violence carried out against unarmed indigenous protesters in a post to their website :
In addition to pepper spray and percussion grenades, shotguns were fired into the crowd with less lethal ammunition and a sound cannon was used (see images below). At least one person was tased and the barbed hook lodged in his face, just outside his eye. Another was hit in the face by a rubber bullet… A member of the International Indigenous Youth Council (IIYC) that had her wrist broken during a mass-arrest on October 22nd was hurt again after an officer gripped her visibly injured wrist and twisted it during an attempted arrest. At least six other members of the youth council verified that they had been maced up to five times and were also shot and hit with bean bags.
German Lopez, a writer for Vox.com, summed up the injustice of the Bundy verdict :
“It is impossible to ignore race here. This was a group of armed white people, mostly men, taking over a facility. Just imagine: What would happen if a group of armed black men, protesting police brutality, tried to take over a police facility and hold it hostage for more than a month?” Lopez wrote. “Would they even come out alive and get to trial? Would a jury find them and their cause relatable, making it easier to send them back home with no prison time?”
Zach Cartwright is an activist and author from Richmond, Virginia. He enjoys writing about politics, government, and the media. Send him an email at [email protected] , and follow his work on the Public Banking Institute blog . 16934 | 1real |
Ramping up tensions over North Korea may have dangerous consequences - Kremlin | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Actions that lead to an escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula are undesirable and fraught with very dangerous consequences, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump had declared war on North Korea and that Pyongyang reserves the right to take countermeasures, including shooting down U.S. strategic bombers even if they are not in the country s air space. | 0fake |
Trump Contradicts Himself In Latest Whiny Tweet, And It’s Pretty Damn Hilarious (TWEET) | In case you haven t noticed, because maybe you ve been living away at sea with no contact to the rest of humanity, Donald Trump likes to tweet a lot, especially about what he loves the most the media.Oh, he ll say he hates the media, but he s been given hundreds and hundreds of free press coverage hours and air time to spew his hatred and lies, you d think, maybe sometimes, that the media was pulling for Trump to win.However, Trump doesn t see it that way. He doesn t like it when people don t say nice things about him at all times. Of course, he can pay people to do that on his campaign team. Thus the revolving door of campaign managers. Yet, when it comes to the press, they re pretty much just going to report the words coming out of his mouth, and he really doesn t like that, because, well, he s an ass, and honest reporting highlights that fact.In yet another whiny tweet, Trump unloads on the media, but this time around his source for the media being unfair to him is, well, the media.He tweeted: It is being reported by virtually everyone, and is a fact, that the media pile on against me is the worst in American political history! It is being reported by virtually everyone, and is a fact, that the media pile on against me is the worst in American political history! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2016So, let me get this perfectly clear: Trump is whining that the media is piling on against him, and his proof of that is the media.Okay there, buddy. Way to fully contradict yourself. Sad!How in the hell does he think he can be president if he can t handle criticism?If only there were a tiny violin to play him a sad, sad song.Featured Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images; Twitter | 1real |
10 Last Minute Preps When A Disruptive Event Is Brewing | in: News Articles , Preparedness\Survival Back in the early days, before writing about any one aspect of prepping, I had to do a lot of research. Online resources were meager so there was a lot of trial and error involved as I formulated my own preparedness strategy. Sadly, as I look back, there was considerable error. Who knew? The good news is that the school of hard prepping knocks has taught me a thing or two. This is especially true when it comes to last minute preps. Now that I am lot smarter, I thought it might be fun to put on my thinking cap and come up with a list of ten last minute preps that could be put into place if I had a modicum of warning that a storm or other disruptive event was brewing. There are two parts to this list, things to do and things to buy. Things To Do 1. Top Off Vehicles with Fuel I never let our two cars go under half a tank but even so, 100% full is always a better option than 50%. Hopefully I will get wind of the pending event soon enough to beat the crowds. 2. Do the Laundry It is not that I hate doing laundry but rather I get lazy about it. It is not unusual to have to do six loads at a time, simply due to procrastination. Given a brewing storm, you can bet the laundry will get done and while I am at it, the bedding will also get changed. 3. Inventory Prescription Drugs With my Ammo Can First Aid Kit already stocked and set aside, I will want to do a quick check on prescription meds and if necessary, get them refilled. 4. Charge All Electronic Devices Compared to six years ago, my home is overrun by electronic devices. Three Kindles, three iPads of varying ages, and four laptop computers, and two iPhones make up a motely crew of electronic devices that hold a wealth of both reference material and amusements. All can be charged using portable solar devices (which are pretty darn cheap these days), but if I am stuck indoors for any length of tine, solar is not going to help. 5. Set Out Spare Lanterns, Flashlights, and Batteries Why wait until the power is out before digging out your emergency light sources? As I say this, I am confident in the knowledge that I already have a flashlight in every room of the house as well as a portable lantern. Still, this would be a good time to check to ensure their batteries are fully charged. 6. Gather Fresh Biomass Rather than use up my back stock of charcoal and wood, I would prefer to burn the odd branches, twigs, leaves I find on the ground. They work perfectly in both my Solo Stove and EcoZoom rocket stoves . Plus, biomass is free for the taking. Things to Buy 7. Fresh Fruit and Vegetables As an experienced prepper I have a good supply of freeze-dried fruits and vegetables. But once a #10 can or pouch is opened, the 25 year shelf life is reduced to one or two years. For that reason, if a short term disruptive event is predicted, I will want to pick up fresh vegetables and fruits that require no refrigeration and can be eaten raw. The nice thing about fresh fruit and vegetables is that most last-minute disaster shoppers will be hitting the packaged and canned goods aisle. Let them. I am already well-stock with canned goods and want as much fresh stuff as I can get. 8. Wine and Spirits Not everyone consumes alcoholic beverages but here in my household, we do enjoy a nightly glass of wine or a cocktail . That said, I do not stockpile spirits to any great extent due to space considerations. My pre-event checklist would definitely include bottled beverages of the alcoholic type. 9. Paper Plates and Disposable Cups and Eating Utensils Water may be at a premium and where as I will want to use stored water for drinking and hygiene, using it for cleanup is not high on my list of priorities, Instead, I am going to want disposables. It might be a good idea to pick up extra trash bags as well. The goal is not to have to dig into long term emergency preps unless absolutely necessary, 10. Dark Chocolate You are going to be stressed so accept that. Get yourself some chocolate – okay a lot of chocolate – and ride things out while indulging in your favorite chocolate treat. If chocolate is not your thing, then perhaps some cookies or graham crackers or just this once, some seriously unhealthy packaged caramel corn. The Final Word Some of my selections may have surprised you but that’s okay. They were meant to inspire you to come up with your own last minute prepping strategy. Why not sit down right now and make up your own list and share it with the rest of us.? Just don’t forget to include the chocolate! Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation! Submit your review | 1real |
Russia’s super secret spy submarine returns to sea…. AFTER 16 YEARS. | Russia’s super secret spy submarine returns to sea…. AFTER 16 YEARS. Tweet
Earlier this month, a Russian ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) called Podmoskovie slipped out of its pier at Severodvinsk for the first time in 16 years.
But BS-64 Podmoskovie—which was commissioned in 1986 as a Project 667BDRM Delfin-class (NATO: Delta IV) SSBN designated K-64—is no ordinary boomer. Over the course of nearly two decades, the massive submarine was modified to conduct special missions. But exactly what those missions might be remains somewhat of a mystery.
Podmoskovie was photographed leaving the shipyard for contractor sea trials on Oct. 22 by Oleg Kuleshov, who writes for the BMPD blog—a product of the Moscow-based Centre for the Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. | 1real |
U.S. coal miners applaud Republican axing of stream protections | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The battered U.S. coal industry rejoiced after the Senate voted on Thursday to repeal a rule that limited companies from dumping mining waste in streams, saying the move could halt the sector’s decline. The Senate, approving a resolution passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday, overturned the Stream Protection Rule as part of a broader move by Republicans to reverse what they see as overregulation by former President Barack Obama’s administration on energy development. The demise of the rule had been expected. The Congressional Review Act allows Congress, controlled by Republicans, to undo rules finalized at the end of a previous administration. “This is one very, very important step to get coal back on its feet and stop the hemorrhaging of jobs that we’ve seen,” said Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the National Mining Association. The coal industry hopes the move is the first step toward a recovery under President Donald Trump, who has vowed to clear away regulation to support more mining. Coal advocates are hoping his administration will overturn a moratorium the Obama administration placed on new coal leases on federal lands, and scrap regulations on carbon dioxide emissions. The coal waste rule was intended to protect 6,000 miles (9,700 km) of streams and large areas of forests over the next two decades, the Interior Department said when it issued the rule in December. It argued the rule would protect drinking water without undermining the economy or energy supply. The coal industry countered that the rule could have reduced the number of direct mining jobs by 30 percent and made 60 percent of its existing reservoirs uneconomic to produce. Coal companies such as Arch Coal Inc and Peabody Energy Corp - two of the nation’s biggest miners - experienced recent bankruptcies because of a surge in production of natural gas and new regulations curbing carbon dioxide emissions. Stephanie Weiler, a spokeswoman at Peabody Energy said the company was “pleased” by the elimination of the rule and supported “any actions aimed at reining in unnecessary regulations that don’t improve the environment yet harm the economic and jobs landscape.” Arch did not immediately comment. Gary Broadbent, a spokesman for private company Murray Energy, said the rule was an attempt to “destroy our nation’s underground coal mines” and put coal miners out of work. Democratic Senator Edward Markey said the coal industry’s request that Republicans kill the rule amounted to saying: “Please protect us from having to protect the public.” | 0fake |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.