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BIGGER THAN SNOWDEN: Wikileaks ‘Vault 7’ Classified CIA leak – What Does It Mean? | He who controls the spice controls the universe. Frank Herbert, from the Dune seriesShawn Helton 21st Century WireOver the past week, much of the CIA s cyber hacking capabilities were allegedly laid bare by the Wikileaks Vault 7 publication. According to the transparency seeking website, they ve published less than 1% of the intelligence regarding their Vault 7 series under the moniker Year Zero. All in all, the Wikileaks Vault 7 release is said to be the largest publication of classified intelligence in history. While there are still many unknowns associated with this latest CIA centered leak, there are a quite a few things to consider.Let s explore some of what we know to date and how it relates to other suspicious tech related stories over the past few years YEAR ZERO ZERO DAYS Wikileaks discloses the CIA s cyber hacking capabilities still no official comment from the intelligence agency. (Photo Illustration 21WIRE s Shawn Helton)Wikileaks Vault 7 In 21WIRE s first report regarding the new revelations concerning Wikileaks Vault 7, we discussed how some of the content exposed in part one of Year Zero revealed what many in new media and other investigative fields have thought technologically possible for years.Here s a portion from the 21WIRE news alert mentioned above that describes the latest controversial publication by Wikileaks: WikiLeaks has released its largest ever publication of confidential documents on the Central Intelligence Agency. Entitled Vault 7 and containing a password that echoed the alleged JFK quote splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds, this leak comprises 8,761 documents and files from an isolated, high-security network situated inside the CIA s Center for Cyber Intelligence in Langley, Virginia. Year Zero , which is part one of the leak and conveniently named after a zero day exploit used by intelligence agencies, was gathered throughout 2016 and is said to be the largest intelligence publication in history .Whilst a lot of the information and methodology outlined in Year Zero is of no surprise to security analysts and researchers since the Edward Snowden (image, left) revelations, once again the public has explicit confirmation of how one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the world, aided by their international counterparts like GCHQ, have been infiltrating and scooping vast quantities of private information from Apple and Android devices right up to Samsung Smart TV technology where false stand-by modes and live microphones can be executed to record information and send it back to the appropriate servers. The Year Zero leaks a simple but cleaver play on the term zero day something which is defined on Wikipedia as an undisclosed computer-software vulnerability that hackers can exploit to adversely affect computer programs, data, additional computers or a network. A zero day, zero hour exploit is said to leave a software author without the necessary time to correct coding or workaround actions of a particular hack or intrusive malware damage. (Image Source: daily express)According to Wikileaks and its editor-in-chief Julian Assange, their most recent treasure trove of confidential files were obtained by a current or former CIA contractor, a story similar in scope and impact to the collection of documents dropped by former CIA/NSA contractor Edward Snowden but are said to be much larger.This time, the public has been given a glance inside the prism of the CIA s cyber hacking potential and data mining efforts similar to the NSA.In May of 2013, Snowden revealed information displaying that American citizens as well as other foreign nations throughout the world were subject to unprecedented levels of spying at the behest of the NSA. Massive data mining via XKeyScore and other similar applications proved to be very controversial particularly in America as it seemed to be in direct contradiction to the US Constitution s 4th Amendment.Over the past decade other aspects of NSA spying activities were revealed under the George W Bush administration in 2005 and further brought to light by Mark Klein, a former AT&T technician who exposed how the multinational telecommunications company was working with the intelligence community to collect the public s data.In 2011, Gadgets and Gizmos reported the following: The recent Web 2.0 2011 conference in San Francisco saw the issue made public and now the worry is that private information could be obtained by third parties using this secretly stored data.Once the data is accessed it can even be downloaded onto an interactive map which shows where the owner of the device has been lately. So far the best way to avoid this causing a problem is to go into the settings menu and turn of the location services all together. The newly leaked Vault 7 documents identify specific cyber weapons, hacking systems, viruses and malware created by the CIA that can be used on just about anyone or any entity. This most assuredly will cause other countries to become more critical of the agency s cyber capabilities. By the looks of it, this is something that appears to be happening in Germany, as the Wikileaks docu-dump exposed an apparent CIA spy-hub in Frankfurt.Zero Hedge reports: The consulate was the focus of a German investigation into US intelligence capabilities following the 2013 revelation that NSA agents had tapped Chancellor Angela Merkel s phone.German daily S ddeutsche Zeitung reported the building was known to be home to a vast network of intelligence personnel including CIA agents, NSA spies, military secret service personnel, Department of Homeland Security employees and Secret Service employees. It reported the Americans had also established a dense network of outposts and shell companies in Frankfurt. Germany s reaction could prove to be more theatrical than that of true concern only time will tell.If Vault 7 is to be accepted wholesale, it also reveals that since the 9/11 attacks the CIA has gained political and budgetary preeminence over the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). The CIA found itself building not just its now infamous drone fleet, but a very different type of covert, globe-spanning force its own substantial fleet of hackers. Part and parcel to this, Wikileaks contends that CIA hackers have developed cyber weaponry to spy on people through cell phones, computers and smart TVs.According to Year Zero part one of the Wikileaks Vault 7 release: The increasing sophistication of surveillance techniques has drawn comparisons with George Orwell s 1984, but Weeping Angel , developed by the CIA s Embedded Devices Branch (EDB), which infests smart TVs, transforming them into covert microphones, is surely its most emblematic realization.The attack against Samsung smart TVs was developed in cooperation with the United Kingdom s MI5/BTSS. After infestation, Weeping Angel places the target TV in a Fake-Off mode, so that the owner falsely believes the TV is off when it is on. In Fake-Off mode the TV operates as a bug, recording conversations in the room and sending them over the Internet to a covert CIA server. Interestingly, Wikileaks published a batch of classified CIA spy/hacking documents that not only include the privacy invading Weeping Angel developed by the clandestine agency to listen on microphones covertly but also ways the CIA has sought to remotely infect and control Microsoft Windows, with viruses like Hammer Drill as well as automated infestation and control of CIA malware, such as Assassin and Medusa. According to security analysts, the CIA has designed the covert methods listed above for hostile foreign actors. However, since the intelligence service has had a propensity of going rogue, these technological leaps made by the secretive agency should be a major concern to the general public.Over the past few decades there have been other spoken critics of intelligence services such as well-known journalist James Bamford and former high-ranking NSA official William Binney, both who have come forward to share the inner workings of the security world. The screenshot above from Wikileaks Vault 7 discusses CIA s techniques that can be used to frame other entities for a malware attack.Framing the Big Bear?One of the more curious details contained in Vault 7 were the revelations concerning the CIA s ability to mask any hacking fingerprints that could potentially implicate the agency. Additionally, the secretive agency could also leave behind potential evidence that a cyber attack was carried out by a foreign body or nation. Here s another passage from the Wikileaks publication on the matter: Tradecraft DO s and DON Ts contains CIA rules on how its malware should be written to avoid fingerprints implicating the CIA, US government, or its witting partner companies in forensic review . QUESTION: Is it possible that the CIA could use its highly specialized malware to frame a foreign country for violating US national security?Zero Hedge reported the following Wikileaks information concerning the CIA s ability to bypass device encryption before it can be applied as well as mask itself from forensic review via its own entity, the Center For Cyber Inteliigence (CCI):Among the more notable disclosures which, if confirmed, would rock the technology world , the CIA had managed to bypass encryption on popular phone and messaging services such as Signal, WhatsApp and Telegram. According to the statement from WikiLeaks, government hackers can penetrate Android phones and collect audio and message traffic before encryption is applied. Another profound revelation is that the CIA can engage in false flag cyberattacks which portray Russia as the assailant. Discussing the CIA s Remote Devices Branch s UMBRAGE group, Wikileaks source notes that it collects and maintains a substantial library of attack techniques stolen from malware produced in other states including the Russian Federation. Here s an image originally published by Wikileaks Vault 7 that displays the CIA s Center For Cyber Intelligence apparatus With claims of alleged Russian hacking at the forefront of Western intelligence, let s take another look at how that meme started Prior to the 2016 US presidential race taking place the mainstream media along with the White House, set the stage for a massive PR push implicating Russia as a disrupting force for democracy allegedly through Kremlin-sponsored hacking of US democratic institutions and through sophisticated Russian propaganda. In August, the western media s claims against Russia began to hit overdrive, when the New York Times s Moscow bureau was the target of an attempted cyber attack this month. But so far, there is no evidence that the hackers, believed to be Russian, were successful. Flash forward to September here and here, as well as early October in the lead up to President Obama s Russian Hack decree, the Clinton-friendly outlet, the NY Times, had all but solidified the Russian cyber-hack claims but once again, without any definitive evidence or proof.Throw in another American October surprise in the form distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, renewed calls for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) internet, led to so-called cyber experts blaming the largest hack on America because of the inability to pass SOPA in effect, reigniting the previously stalled SOPA in Washington DC, along with all of its draconian copyright law positions all perfectly timed as mainstream reports regarding fake news suddenly became all the rage across all forms of media.Will Vault 7 prove to shed light on other CIA related activities?The screenshot above from Wikileaks Vault 7 discusses the CIA S HIVE multi-platform software control system.DDoS AttacksIn October of 2016, I noted some of the suspicious activity surrounding America s biggest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack that was said to be caused by the malware Mirai. Given that there was a hardcoded blacklist of certain government entities and major multinational companies/defense contractors from being attacked its seems more likely that the attack was US government created: Interestingly, according to Bradley Barth, a senior reporter for the IT security online magazine SC, the Mirai (supposedly leaked on September 30th) contains a very unique subset of characteristics that will not attack certain IP addresses such as the Department of Defense (DoD), the US Postal Service and consumer giant General Electric (GE) due to its coding: An Imperva analysis of the source code revealed several unique traits, including a hardcoded blacklist of IPs that the adversary did not want to attack, perhaps in order to keep a low profile. Some of these IPs belonged to the Department of Defense, the U.S. Postal Service and General Electric (GE). Though SC claims that the makers of Mirai may have been trying to keep a low profile, the recent DDoS attack attributed to the malware was as high-profile as you can get so this begs the question, what was the real reason the malware creators put an IP blockade on the DoD, the Postal Service and GE? Is it possible that the DDoS attack originated from whitehat hackers associated with the US government, a major US defense contractor like GE or some other intelligence service, possibly the CIA? HACKED? Michael Hastings death sparked a wave of controversial theories. (Image source: pinterest)CIA Hacking Tools Upon closer inspection of the Wikileaks Vault 7 release, we see that in addition to the public s privacy apparently being invaded through the CIA s ability to bypass encryption on Android and iOS phones, computers and smart TVs there was also the Wikileaks revelations exposing the agency s development of vehicular control.Wikileaks Vault 7 stated the following stunning revelation: As of October 2014 the CIA was also looking at infecting the vehicle control systems used by modern cars and trucks. The purpose of such control is not specified, but it would permit the CIA to engage in nearly undetectable assassinations. It is this part of Year Zero that has revived the conspiracy surrounding the death of investigative reporter and war veteran Michael Hastings, who died after his Mercedes C250 coupe supposedly burst into a giant fireball in the early hours of June 18 2013. According to eyewitness accounts, Hastings was going at a high rate of speed as sparks and flames were seen before his fiery automobile crashed.The UK s Sun recently revisited the Hastings tragedy. Here s a passage of that report: Hastings a vocal critic of government mass surveillance had sent an email to colleagues and friends just 12 hours earlier, telling them he was onto a big story and was under investigation.The Buzzfeed and Rolling Stone contributor, 33, wrote: The Feds are interviewing my close friends and associates . May be wise to immediately request legal counsel before any conversations or interviews about our news-gathering practices. I m onto a big story and need to go off the radar for a bit. WikiLeaks also tweeted after the crash to say Hastings had contacted its lawyer Jennifer Robinson just before his death, claiming the FBI was investigating him.The FBI took a departure from normal policy to deny that Hastings had ever been under investigation after receiving a barrage of calls about his death. The CIA has failed to confirm or deny the authenticity of the Vault 7 release, only deepening the mystery surrounding the death of Hastings.The question of CIA control over cars and trucks naturally leads us to what was revealed regarding high-tech avionics in recent years (Photo Illustration 21WIRE s Shawn Helton)Uninterruptible Flight ControlIn my article entitled FLIGHT CONTROL: Boeing s Uninterruptible Autopilot System , Drones & Remote Hijacking, I noted the CIA s involvement in certain advancements in flight technology. Lets revisit a portion of that article describing the agency s involvement: On December 4th of 2006, it was announced that Boeing had won a patent on an uninterruptible autopilot system for use in commercial aircraft. This was the first public acknowledgment by Boeing about the existence of such an autopilot system.The new autopilot patent was reported by John Croft for Flight Global, with the news piece subsequently linked by a Homeland Security News Wire and other British publications around the same time. According to the DHS release, it was disclosed that dedicated electrical circuits within an onboard flight system could control a plane without the need of pilots, stating that the advanced avionics would fly the aircraft remotely, independently of those operating the plane: The uninterruptible autopilot would be activated either by pilots, by onboard sensors, or even remotely via radio or satellite links by government agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency, if terrorists attempt to gain control of a flight deck. Continuing, I outlined the suspicious nature of both the MH370 disaster and that of MH17. Since then there have been a number of strange airline catastrophes including Germanwings 9525 and EygptAir MS804. Following the apparent vanishing act of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, many investigators and researchers began to question the likelihood of such an event happening in today s high-tech world.At 21WIRE, we ve also looked into the unprecedented disappearance of MH370 and the subsequent downing of MH17, as certain details came to light regarding the history of the remote autopilot function installed within Boeing commercial airliners (a subject which also opens the door to the events of 9/11).The Boeing 777 along with other Boeing models, can in fact be flown remotely through the use of independent embedded software and satellite communication. Once this advanced system is engaged, it can disallow any pilot or potential hijacker from controlling a plane, as the rooted setup uses digital signals that communicate with air traffic control, satellite links, as well as other government entities for the remainder of a flight s journey.This technology is known as the Boeing Honeywell Uninterruptible Autopilot System. Has the CIA had the ability to remotely hack vehicles for much longer than we think?The Wikileaks release once again opens questions about 9/11, the deep state and what intelligence agencies have control over in the War on Terror era. CLOAKED What other blueprints will Wikileaks provide regarding the CIA s capabilities? (Image Source: offgraun)Public Privacy Vs. the Deep State In an article detailing the encryption saga between Apple and the FBI, we stated that there are no guarantees in the security world, especially if a digital master-key were to be created, as this would potentially make it easier for invaders (either the government, or various hackers) mining for data moving forward into the future.If the CIA has been secretly data mining just like the NSA, they have unquestionably violated the public s constitutional rights and trust.Is this really what the CIA has been up too?In a 2016 the Guardian interviewed some of those involved in the technology and security sector. These individuals offered their thoughts regarding the government s continued encroachment on individual privacy. here s another look at that passage:Dan Kaminsky, the security expert who made his name with the discovery that one of the most basic parts of the internet, the domain name system, was vulnerable to fraud disagrees: Feds want final authority on engineering decisions, and their interests don t even align with fighting the vast bulk of real-world crime. Continuing, The Guardian interviewed former FBI agent Michael German, currently the Brennan Center, a judicial think-tank. The following is a part of that interview: After 9/11, you had this concept of total information awareness. The intelligence community was very enamoured of the idea that all information was available. Much like the NSA, they wanted to see it all, collect it all, and analyse it all. Western political leaders and their media arms often discuss the dangers of so-called terror sleeper cells residing in a nation near you, but none of them acknowledge or attempt to explain the historical fact that for decades, they themselves have helped to harbor, grow, foment and radicalize individuals through their own clandestine counter-terrorism operations.Many of these operations have directly implicated security agencies (and military alliances) such as the FBI, CIA, MI5, MI6 and NATO in the production of real terror.While most of these counter intelligence operations have fallen under the umbrella of the so-called War On Terror era, they have also largely served to obfuscate the nature of various government programs that some critics suggest is the work of a deep state apparatus.QUESTION: Will there be a large public outcry regarding the lack of oversight over the CIA s spying and hacking capabilities?Watch below as 21WIRE s Patrick Henningsen discusses the NSA-like body of the CIA on Peter Lavelle s Cross Talk show on RT In Summary The timely release of Vault 7 comes amid a flurry of wiretapping claims from President Donald Trump, while a review of US cyber capabilities and vulnerabilities is currently underway.Additionally, the Wikileaks Vault 7 publication revealed the following stunning information concerning the scope of the CIA s cyber capabilities previously unknown to the public: By the end of 2016, the CIA s hacking division, which formally falls under the agency s Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI), had over 5000 registered users and had produced more than a thousand hacking systems, trojans, viruses, and other weaponized malware. Such is the scale of the CIA s undertaking that by 2016, its hackers had utilized more code than that used to run Facebook. The CIA had created, in effect, its own NSA with even less accountability and without publicly answering the question as to whether such a massive budgetary spend on duplicating the capacities of a rival agency could be justified. In 2012, then CIA Director David Petraeus, mused about the emergence of an Internet of Things that is, wired devices at a summit for In-Q-Tel, the CIA s venture capital firm. The Wired magazine article continued, disclosing that the future of spying hinged on smart devices and a smart home: All those new online devices are a treasure trove of data if you re a person of interest to the spy community. Once upon a time, spies had to place a bug in your chandelier to hear your conversation. With the rise of the smart home, you d be sending tagged, geolocated data that a spy agency can intercept in real time when you use the lighting app on your phone to adjust your living room s ambiance. The public has long been prepped for the surreal level of surveillance we are only just beginning to understand, whether through books, film or tech magazines or by the government itself the warning signs of lost privacy and protection have been hidden in plain sight for decades.Even still, Wikileaks Vault 7 shocks the avid researcher, writer and pundit as it gives further insight into the CIA s multi-pronged ability to distort the perception of the public, while vacuuming up all kinds of data.*** Author Shawn Helton is Associate Editor of 21st Century Wire, as well as an independent media forensic analyst specializing in criminal investigations and media coverage from war theaters. READ MORE WIKILEAKS NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire WikiLeaks FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
McDonald's deletes Trump tweet, says Twitter account compromised | LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald’s Corp quickly deleted a tweet sent from the company’s handle slamming President Donald Trump on Thursday and said its official Twitter account had been compromised. The tweet, which was copied and shared widely before being deleted, came a day after the Twitter accounts of a number of major news organizations, chief executives, government agencies and other high-profile users were hijacked. “Based on our investigation, we have determined that our Twitter account was hacked by an external source. We took swift action to secure it, and we apologize this tweet was sent through our corporate McDonald’s account,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Terri Hickey said in a statement. Corporate accounts are attractive targets due to their large followings and the media attention that errant tweets can attract. Twitter Inc allows for two-factor authentication, a security feature that would deter many attempts to seize an account. Twitter declined comment on Thursday citing “privacy and security reasons”. The tweet sent from @McDonaldsCorp on Thursday morning read: “@realdonaldtrump You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have @BarackObama back, also you have tiny hands.” Trump did not respond to the incident on Twitter. High-profile Twitter accounts were hijacked on Wednesday to send anti-Nazi messages in Turkish in the midst of a diplomatic spat between Turkey, the Netherlands and Germany. Twitter said on Wednesday that the source of that attack was a third-party app, whose permissions have since been removed. Trump, one of the more fast-food friendly presidents in recent years, had tweeted pictures of himself eating food from McDonald’s and other chains during the U.S. election campaign. A 2002 ad campaign featured Trump and the chain’s Grimace mascot promoting an “amazing” $1 deal for McDonald’s since-discontinued Big N’ Tasty burger. The incident came as McDonald’s is bolstering its digital capabilities with mobile and kiosk ordering to help modernize the 60-year-old chain. Analysts said the hack raised questions about security at Twitter, but was unlikely to do much damage to the restaurant chain’s brand. “As long as Trump doesn’t tweet at them directly, which could be pretty disastrous, this will be a short-term thing for them,” said Mike Froggatt, director of intelligence at L2, which monitors the digital performance of brands. “Twitter trending topics last for maybe 6 hours, a backlash for 10 to 12 hours and then it goes and the herd moves on,” said Froggatt. The message from the account of the world’s largest restaurant chain caused a sensation on Twitter, where users shared copies of the deleted tweet and offered jokes and comments. Vanessa Veasley and other users speculated that Trump supporters could attempt to launch a boycott of the chain, as they threatened to do when Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Howard Schultz vowed to hire 10,000 refugees after Trump’s first executive order temporarily banning refugees from certain countries. “McDonald’s already deleted the tweet? lol Well at least Trump supporters can finally boycott something they can actually afford,” Veasley (@VanessaVeasley) wrote. Other users praised the fast-food chain, which has been fighting to reverse two straight years of customer traffic declines. “Suddenly I want a Big Mac, well done @McDonalds,” tweeted Shay Steward Bouley (@blackgirlinmain). Some Trump supporters said McDonald’s had not done enough to atone for the tweet and advocated for a boycott. “Hey @McDonaldsCorp YOU can’t just undo a tweet!!! Since you don’t support America, Americans will not support YOU!!! #BoycottMcDonalds,” wrote Deborah Brewer (@Debbie92083). McDonald’s is not the only high-profile company to be compromised with fake tweets over the years. Brands including Burger King, Jeep and Sony Music also have been hit. | 0fake |
U.S. consulate in Jerusalem issues security message after reports of Trump move on embassy | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem instructed employees on Tuesday to stay away from the occupied West Bank and parts of Jerusalem after President Donald Trump told Middle East leaders he planned to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to the holy city. The decision breaks with decades of U.S. policy and risks fuelling violence in the Middle East. Palestinian factions in Gaza and the West Bank issued calls on Tuesday for protests against Trump s expected moves on Jerusalem. With widespread calls for demonstrations beginning Dec. 6 in Jerusalem and the West Bank, U.S. government employees and their family members are not permitted until further notice to conduct personal travel in Jerusalem s Old City and in the West Bank, the U.S. consulate said in a security message. United States citizens should avoid areas where crowds have gathered and where there is increased police and/or military presence, the message said. | 0fake |
Kenya opposition leader proposes 'People's Assembly' | NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Tuesday he would use pickets and petitions to protest last week s presidential poll and convene a People s Assembly to try to improve governance but made no mention of challenging the result. We will guard our right to dissent by exercising it, Odinga said in a long-awaited television address. He emphasized that he wanted to limit his protests to well-recognised, legal avenues. | 0fake |
Remembrance Project Members Give Their Take on Jeff Sessions-John Kelly Address - Breitbart | Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly were joined by members of the Remembrance Project, a dedicated to giving a voice to those killed by illegal aliens, at their joint border security event Friday in San Diego. [Sessions and Kelly joined Sen. Ron Johnson ( ) as they continued their joint tour of border communities to address the crisis in immigration enforcement. The two members of Trump’s cabinet met privately with delegations including family members of those murdered by illegals and Remembrance Project leaders in recent months. Maria Espinoza, and National Director of the Remembrance Project, was thrilled by the change in direction she heard at the press conference, telling Breitbart News: These joint press conference in indicative of the dedication and commitment America will enjoy with America’s new era — the Trump Era! We had the high honor of having separate and private meetings with U. S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly. We went away knowing that our country is in excellent hands, and we are encouraged to work with even more vigor to protect our families. Our 2014 meeting with [former Homeland Security Secretary] Jeh Johnson and former Attorney General Holder was a stark contrast. And that’s a travesty. But now, Americans are finally the priority in America! Ruth is what the Remembrance Project calls an “angel wife,” someone whose husband was killed by an illegal alien. Her late husband, Police Officer Don Johnston, was shot and paralyzed during a 1990 bank robbery and later died from his injuries. She also attended Friday’s press conference. “The Remembrance Project is here in San Diego showing our full support,” she told Breitbart News. She too was encouraged by the change in leadership, adding: Illegal immigration is a serious issue in the State of California and many American families have lost loved ones to criminal acts committed by illegal aliens and refugees. Many families like mine have suffered in silence, but that is no longer the case with President Trump, AG Sessions and Secretary Kelly we now have a voice! The joint press conference, the second Kelly and Sessions have held this week, is part of an effort to promote their measures to bring the southern border under control. At the first conference in El Paso, for example, Kelly reconfirmed that the border wall will be “essential. ” Sessions, for his part, began the process of withdrawing funds from “sanctuary” jurisdictions like California. The Remembrance Project delegation, for one, is exuberant at the progress. “I am thrilled to pieces that finally, after eight long years, we finally have an administration that will enforce the law,” said Betty Robinson of Remembrance Project California. | 0fake |
U.S. judge throws out Texas voter ID law supported by Trump | (Reuters) - A federal court judge on Wednesday threw out a Texas voter identification law that was supported by the Trump administration, but the state’s attorney general said his office would appeal the ruling. The judge’s ruling said changes to the law passed earlier this year by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature that were meant to be less discriminatory than an earlier one did not accomplish that. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of the Southern District of Texas said the state did not allow enough types of photo IDs for voters, “even though the (5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals) was clearly critical of Texas having the most restrictive list in the country.” President Donald Trump campaigned on cutting voter fraud, picking up a theme of fellow Republicans across the country. Critics have said the Texas law and similar statutes enacted in other Republican-governed states are an effort to suppress voting, including among blacks and Hispanics who tend to favor Democrats. Trump has made unsubstantiated allegations that millions of people voted illegally for his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in last November’s election, in which Clinton won the popular vote but lost the decisive Electoral College count. “Today’s ruling is outrageous,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. Paxton, a Republican, added that changes to the law passed by the legislature included all those asked for by the 5th Circuit. The Justice Department filed a brief last month asking the court to halt action against the Texas voter ID law, saying the state’s new law fixed discriminatory issues of the state’s 2011 voter ID law. Texas Democrats welcomed Ramos’ ruling. “Jim Crow-era tactics have kept Texas Republicans in power,” said state Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa. “From discriminatory gerrymandering to discriminatory voter ID laws, it has become entirely clear that Texas Republicans are rigging our election system.” Ramos wrote in a 27-page ruling that voters with little education, or simply a lack of confidence, may forfeit their legitimate right to vote because of fear of being charged with perjury. She said Texas was overreaching by “threatening severe penalties for perjury,” and noted that the state’s “history of voter intimidation” led her not to accept the new voter ID law as a solution for the “purposeful discrimination” in the one it attempted to improve upon. | 0fake |
This is why Trump was smart to avoid her: Megyn Kelly just crushed the GOP debate | Despite what he told CNN in an interview shortly before the debate aired, Trump had been clear about why he didn’t want to participate in the Fox debate: the presence of moderator Megyn Kelly. Whether or not he really meant it, Kelly showed time and again why he was right to avoid a renewed confrontation with her.
Here’s the thing about Megyn Kelly. She’s not some closet liberal. That’s a common mistake made about her. She often indulges in the same right-wing racial hysteria as anybody on Fox. But she can be a pretty fearless—and fearsome—TV journalist. On Thursday, she unveiled what might be the most ruthless, devastating technique I’ve ever seen in any debate I’ve watched. It was so neat and brutally effective that you wondered why it had never been done before.
Put simply, Kelly pulled a “Daily Show” on Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, playing lengthy montages of their past support of a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. (They’ve each since flip-flopped.) Both men, robbed of their ability to insist that they’d never said the words they’d obviously said, floundered helplessly.
Can you imagine the kind of clip show Kelly and her team were preparing for Trump? She does not mess around. Instead of dealing with her, Trump got the best of both worlds. He ducked any debate messiness but still managed to dominate the proceedings in his absence, and got his alternative rally aired on both CNN and MSNBC. He also left Ted Cruz in place as a default frontrunner; Cruz, who even on his best nights has the air of a man trying to sell you a monorail you don’t need, had one of his worst nights. He resorted to whining about how much he was getting ganged up on, which is never attractive even when attractive people do it.
Nothing else in the debate reached the audacious heights of the clip-show hit jobs. Faced with Kelly’s sheer star power, the other moderators, Chris Wallace and Bret Baier, couldn’t help but play second fiddle. The worst part of the evening was the repeated tossing aside of interesting, relevant questions. The requisite 9 hours were spent getting each man onstage to brag about how many ISIS fighters he would personally disembowel, but questions on Puerto Rico’s debt, on criminal justice and policing, on climate change and on the crisis in Flint were all asked of just one candidate and then discarded. What’s the point of having multiple debates if you don’t use them to tackle a wide range of issues in the broadest way possible?
It would be foolish to predict what effect the debate will have. The caucuses are just around the corner. Nobody knows what’s going to happen. What does seem certain is that at least some of the people who participated in the debate on Thursday won’t be around much longer. Megyn Kelly won’t be one of those. She is now well on her way to cementing herself as the indispensable star of Fox News, with or without the assistance of Donald Trump. | 0fake |
Zimbabwe's Mugabe not in motorcade that left his residence: source | HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was not in a motorcade that was seen leaving his residence in Harare on Saturday, a security source told Reuters. Earlier, crowds booed and jeered as the motorcade left the Blue Roof residence. | 0fake |
Kamala Harris-Leftist Senator From California and Next Democratic Star - Breitbart | Kamala Harris, California’s freshman senator and former state attorney general, has been quite the newsmaker in her short five months on Capitol Hill. She’s been dropping told to stop harassing witnesses at hearings, and staking her ground as the most lawmaker in Washington. [Her face has been plastered all over newspaper front pages and TV screens. While she has become the darling of the progressive left, Harris is now among the most loathsome figures for conservatives or anyone who supports President Trump’s agenda. There is now rampant speculation that she’s gearing up for a 2020 presidential run, even though for now she denies it. But just exactly who is Kamala Harris? For all the noise she’s making now in Washington, Harris, 52, actually has a relatively low profile in much of her own state. Her political rise has been groomed by the state’s Democratic machine, which is now akin to a monarchical procession in rule California. Born to an Indian mother and a Jamaican father, Harris’ upbringing was that of a typical leftist. She was raised in Berkeley and grew up in academic circles of her mother after her parents’ divorce. She attended Howard University in Washington, D. C. and earned her law degree from Hastings in San Francisco, though she failed her bar exam on the first try. Harris’ big break in her political career came after dating Willie Brown, a powerful former California Assembly speaker and mayor of San Francisco. She became the District Attorney of San Francisco before running and narrowly winning the race for state attorney general in 2010 in an election that was possibly tainted by voter fraud and wasn’t decided until nearly three weeks later. After she became the state AG, her eventual ascension was mapped out. She was to become the next senator from California after the retirement of Barbara Boxer. Harris won the 2016 senate race easily, defeating Loretta Sanchez with more than 60 percent of the vote in an contest. Harris’ platform was that of the boilerplate progressive left, championing the climate change agenda, increasing the federal minimum wage, renewing the ban on assault weapons, and providing aid for illegal aliens while shielding them from federal agents. But after being accused of being too low key and risk averse during much of her political career in California, Harris has adopted a different persona after arriving in Washington. She intentionally dropped an at a public event discussing health care, voted against 32 of 38 of President Trump’s nominees, and then last week earned a rebuke from her senate colleagues when she endlessly interrupted both Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein during hearings. All these moves were designed to raise her profile among Democrats, who are bereft of talent to run on a national ticket. Harris presents a younger, sassier, and version of the models of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. “The dominant trend in Democratic Party politics is fresh, new, and interesting — that’s what people are looking for — not old, steady, and establishment,’’ Wade Randlett, a longtime Democratic fundraiser in Silicon Valley who has known Harris for years, told Politico. “And Kamala is the trifecta on that. ’’ Of course, being a progressive favorite may help Harris in the Democratic field, with a race seemingly on to determine who might be the loudest and most obnoxious. But will that play well in middle America? For now, the Democrats don’t care. They see nothing wrong with backing a political climber who’s thin on accomplishments. They just see another Barack Obama. Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, a political analyst at USC, told Politico that Harris faces particular pressure to perform among Democrats because she “is perceived as a part of this new generation of leadership. ” As a senator of and heritage, “she is a woman of color, a diverse ethnicity,’’ and one with powerful friends like Obama, who enthusiastically endorsed her senate bid. “You have to be careful to, first of all, say she is brilliant and she is dedicated and she is tough,” Obama said of Harris during a 2013 fundraiser. “She also happens to be, by far, the best looking attorney general in the country. ” Of course, even Obama had to apologize for that remark, the last part. Follow Samuel Chi on Twitter @ThePlayoffGuru. | 0fake |
Maine governor mulls political future amid racism flap | BOSTON (Reuters) - (Editor’s note: This story contains language that may offend some readers in the sixth and final paragraphs adds no comment from Gattine spokesman) Combative Maine Governor Paul LePage told a radio host on Tuesday that he was considering not finishing his term in office, amid a wave of criticism after he left a lawmaker a profanity-filled voicemail. But the two-term, Tea Party-backed Republican governor subsequently appeared to backtrack on the idea, paraphrasing Mark Twain in a tweet that read in part: “The reports of my political demise are greatly exaggerated.” That message came hours after he told an interviewer on Maine’s WVOM-FM radio that he was “looking at all options,” when asked if he would finish his term, which extends through 2018. LePage’s latest outburst came in response to a report that state Representative Drew Gattine had described him as racist for focusing on black people as bearing primary responsibility for the drug trade in the state. LePage responded to Gattine with a blistering, profanity-laced voicemail that has been widely circulated. “I’m not going to say that I’m not going to finish it; I’m not saying that I am going to finish it,” LePage said on Tuesday in the radio interview, in reference to his term in office. “What I’m going to do right now is I’m taking one step at a time. I want to meet with Mr. Gattine and then I want to meet with my team at my office and we’re going to look at what the proper steps are to move the state forward.” In last week’s voicemail, LePage called Gattine a “little son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker” and encouraged him to share the message publicly “because I am after you.” A LePage spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request to clarify the governor’s Twain tweet. A spokeswoman for Gattine said he would not comment until after he met LePage on Wednesday. LePage has repeatedly described himself as a less-than-polished, plain-speaking politician. “It’s possible it was a screw-up,” said Michael Franz, chairman of the government department at Maine’s Bowdoin College, referring to the radio interview. “My first inclination is that this is not serious and that he’s just attempting to establish his regret.” LePage, 67, said he had lost his temper when he was told that Gattine had described his views as racist. He told reporters he would like to engage in a duel with Gattine, a remark he later described as metaphoric. “I just want to apologize to the Maine people, to Gattine’s family and most of all to my family,” LePage said in the 15-minute interview. “And we will take action.” Some Democratic lawmakers have called for a special session of the legislature to censure LePage, who earlier this year fought off an impeachment effort. “A half-hearted, partial apology on a radio show does not get remotely close to addressing the core issue: Maine faces serious issues and its government is not functioning,” the state’s Democratic House leadership said in a statement on Tuesday. State Senate President Michael Thibodeau and other Republican legislative leaders convened a closed-door meeting with LePage late on Monday to discuss his future. The governor told the group he was going to talk to friends and family about what he would do next and respond to them on Tuesday, said Jim Cyr, a spokesman for Thibodeau. Controversial outbursts have marked LePage’s six years in office. Earlier this year, he said he did not mean to sound racist when he said drug dealers “with the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty” were coming to the state to impregnate “white girls.” Last week at a news conference LePage compared Maine’s efforts to thwart heroin dealers to war. “Look, the bad guy is the bad guy,” he said. “I don’t care what color he is ... You try to identify the enemy and the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority of people coming in, are people of color or people of Hispanic origin.” In 2013, he told a television interviewer that a political rival “claims to be for the people but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.” | 0fake |
Rohingya insurgents open to peace but Myanmar ceasefire ending | YANGON (Reuters) - Muslim Rohingya insurgents said on Saturday they are ready to respond to any peace move by the Myanmar government but a one-month ceasefire they declared to enable the delivery of aid in violence-racked Rakhine State is about to end. The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) did not say what action it would take after the ceasefire ends at midnight on Monday but it was determined to stop the tyranny and oppression waged against the Rohingya people. If at any stage, the Burmese government is inclined to peace, then ARSA will welcome that inclination and reciprocate, the group said in a statement. Government spokesmen were not immediately available for comment. When the ARSA announced its one-month ceasefire from Sept. 10, a government spokesman said: We have no policy to negotiate with terrorists. The rebels launched coordinated attacks on about 30 security posts and an army camp on Aug. 25 with the help of hundreds of disaffected Rohingya villagers, many wielding sticks or machetes, killing about a dozen people. In response, the military unleashed a sweeping offensive across the north of Rakhine State, driving more than half a million Rohingya villagers into Bangladesh in what the United Nations branded a textbook example of ethnic cleansing . Myanmar rejects that. It says more than 500 people have been killed in the fighting, most of them terrorists who have been attacking civilians and torching villages. The ability of the ARSA, which only surfaced in October last year, to mount any sort of challenge to the Myanmar army is not known but it does not appear to have been able to put up resistance to the military offensive unleashed in August. Inevitably, there are doubts about how the insurgents can operate in areas where the military has driven out the civilian population, cutting the insurgents off from recruits, food, funds and information. The ARSA accused the government of using murder, arson and rape as tools of depopulation . The ARSA denies links to foreign Islamists. In an interview with Reuters in March, ARSA leader Ata Ullah linked the creation of the group to communal violence between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine in 2012, when nearly 200 people were killed and 140,000, mostly Rohingya, displaced. The group says it is fighting for the rights of the Rohingya, who have never been regarded as an indigenous minority in Myanmar and so have been denied citizenship under a law that links nationality to ethnicity. The group repeated their demand that Rohingya be recognized as a native indigenous ethnic group, adding that all Rohingya people should be allowed to return home safely with dignity ... to freely determine their political status and pursue their economic, social and cultural development . The Rohingya have long faced discrimination and repression in Rakhine State where bad blood between them and ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, stemming from violence by both sides, goes back generations. The ARSA condemned the government for blocking humanitarian assistance in Rakhine and said it was willing to discuss ceasefires with international organizations so aid could be delivered. Some 515,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh but thousands remain in Rakhine. Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced scathing criticism for not doing more to stop the violence, although a military-drafted constitution gives her no power over the security forces. Suu Kyi has condemned rights abuses and said Myanmar was ready to start a process agreed with Bangladesh in 1993 by which anyone verified as a refugee would be accepted back. Many refugees fear they will not have the paperwork they believe Myanmar will demand to allow them back. | 0fake |
Iranians fear attacks and economic isolation as Trump gets tough | ANKARA (Reuters) - Many Iranians who dreamt of quiet, comfortable lives after a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 are starting to worry for the first time in decades they might be bombed in their own homes. Since taking office last month, U.S. President Donald Trump has pledged to get tough with Iran, warning the Islamic Republic after its ballistic missile test on Sunday that it was playing with fire and all U.S. options were on the table. Analysts say those options could range from diplomacy to military action and some scared Iranians are even preparing escape plans, just as they did in the eight-year war with Iraq when Saddam Hussein’s jets pounded Iranian towns and cities. “I told my children to have their passports ready ... if attacked by Israel or America we can flee to Turkey by car because airports will be closed,” said Ghorbanali Azhari, 65, a retired teacher in the Western city of Kermanshah. “We have had enough. An eight-year war, economic hardship, sanctions ... I cannot let my grandchildren live in fear. There will be bloodshed,” Azhari said. Trump plans to impose sanctions on several Iranian entities following its missile test, while crafting a broader strategy to counter what he sees as Iran’s destabilizing behavior, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. Iran’s most powerful authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has continued to denounce the United States, suggesting the antagonism between the two countries since the 1979 revolution will not abate because of the nuclear deal. “I thought Iran’s political and economic isolation was over ... but now I am deeply concerned about a military strike,” said private bank employee Homayoun Barkhordar. “I do not want war with any country. I love my country. We just want to live in peace,” said the 38-year-old father of two. While experts say both sides would take care to avoid armed confrontation in the oil-rich Gulf, U.S. threats of reprisals for the missile test, coupled with Iran’s defiant reaction, could ratchet up tensions dangerously. “I am thinking of moving to a small town,” said Ali Gharveh in the central city of Isfahan, which was bombed by Iraq during the 1980-88 war. “Life is cheaper and is safer than big cities that might be the main targets if America wants to attack Iran.” The United States and Iran have been at loggerheads since the revolution that toppled the U.S.-backed Shah and Washington cut diplomatic ties when students stormed the U.S. embassy soon after and took 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. The United States and its regional allies accuse Iran of trying to tighten its grip on Arab states, from Iraq to Lebanon, to Syria to Yemen, and Trump has accused former U.S. President Barack Obama of being too kind to Tehran. Days after coming to power, Trump barred residents from seven mainly Muslim countries, including Iran, from traveling to the United States for 90 days. Officials in Iran said Tehran would limit issuing visas to Americans in response. “I always wanted my two children to study in America. But the new government is just spreading hatred towards Iranians,” said Firuzeh Hengam, a computer engineer in the central city of Kashan. “They say no options are off the table. It means attacking Iran is among their options.” But while many Iranians worry about an escalation with the United States, just as they worry about economic hardship at home, they are also loyal and defiant. “Iran is my home no matter who the rulers are. Look at Syrians who left their country because of the war. They are being humiliated ... I do not want to be like them,” said hairdresser Samira Azamzadeh, 47, in the northern city of Rasht. “I don’t have money to go abroad. I am a single mother of two teenage girls.” Iran’s economy has been hit hard by the double hammer blows of years of sanctions over its nuclear program and the plunge in oil prices since the middle of 2014. Iranians had pinned their hopes on economic progress following the nuclear deal, but a year after sanctions were lifted the economy is only recovering slowly and deals with Western investors are few and far between. They now worry that U.S. aggression and the curbs on travel will make wary Western investors even less likely to return to do business with Tehran. “The economic situation will even get worse because of the America’s tough language. It will scare away foreign investors,” said Omid Sadrzadeh, a factory owner in Karaj near the capital Tehran. One former senior Iranian official also said Trump’s approach was playing into the hands of powerful hardliners such as Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The IRGC controls the country’s missile program and its deputy said on Thursday it had many underground missile facilities hidden in the mountains. “Iran’s hardliners want a war. It will strengthen their position in the establishment. They want Iran to be isolated,” said the official, who asked not to be named. “They will do whatever they can to deepen tension between Iran and America, from launching missiles to giving fiery speeches.” Analysts say Tehran could retaliate against any military strike with hit-and-run attacks in the Gulf and by closing the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which some 40 percent of Gulf oil exports pass. Iranian authorities have warned arch-enemy Israel and the United States in the past that Tehran’s response to a military strike would be tough, and some of Iran’s guided missiles have the range to strike Israel. Arash Kiai, a teenager in the central city of Yazd is scared, and angry, both with Trump and Iranian officials. But he will fall in line behind them if it comes to war. “Whatever happens in the world they blame Iran. But why? We are peaceful people,” he said. “I am not an Iran regime supporter but Trump has no right to humiliate Iranians. If attacked, I will fight for Iran.” | 0fake |
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 |
Activists or Terrorists? How Media Controls and Dictates ‘The Narrative’ in Burns, Oregon | Randy Johnson 21st Century WireThe majority of mainstream media reporting surrounding the Burns, Oregon, and Wildlife Refuge occupy protest has ranged from overly simplistic, to outright partisan. This story is a microcosm of media at its most divisive. At its core, the narrative has become reduced to the government versus the militia or the government versus the people depending on one s vantage point. On average, the mainstream media s most neutral narrative is as follows: Father-son duo of the Hammond ranching family started fires, were found guilty, went to jail, and a bunch of militant and anti-government militia men don t like what the federal government are doing and used the event to take over a federal building in the Malhuer Wildlife refuge. Further to the left, the narrative looks more like: Armed Anti-government gang takes over federal building Oregon community in crisis (exact words from one mainstream media news anchor)For most of the American media, that s a good enough explanation. If it fits your political template, then that is all good. Case closed ? Arizona rancher LaVoy Finicum sits watch overnight with media looking on (Image Credit: Capital Blue/AP Photo/Rebecca Boone)News media have become brand shopping. Do you want quality, fun, style, and value? Are you loyal to the name? Pick your poison. Reporting a story often times becomes the selling of a larger agenda, each agenda point with its own out-of-the-box marketing campaign and the corresponding planning that goes with it.The entire development, for major news networks, is much easier to navigate and is less confusing than constantly revising varying degrees of moderation and extremism between allegiance-switching groups in the Middle East.For a case closed perspective of the events from the Department of Justice, District of Oregon, after court rulings on the Hammonds in October of 2015, read here and stop.The first line of defense is to know that these events rarely, if ever, spawn up overnight and happen in isolation. For a review and thorough sequence of events, detailing how the situation has escalated to what it is now, read the following from 21WIRE, here.So is the media reporting events or peddling agendas? If they do both, maybe no one can tell the difference.Things are not that easy and navigating through mainstream news media sludge takes work. Certainly, the White House s gun-control marketing campaign this week has cast a convenient shadow over events in Oregon, and in order to force-in outside and unrelated issues, the matter at hand must be reduced to a quick and easy account by the media.One could maintain that Oregon s Malhuer Wildlife Refuge, the Hammonds, and militias have all become components for a guided tour on how to think. The reason for this is because any number of agendas and unrelated topics have been heaped upon the issue ranging from the Presidential race posturing, race itself, Islam, terrorism, gun control, and a host of distractive latch-on issues.Simplify MattersThe contrasting sides are often set-up, or at least alluded to, immediately. This is what public relations operatives and political consultants refer to as framing . There are plenty of them working in media now, so don t be surprised to see the exact same tactic deployed in politics as is commonplace in today s media industry.In today s media barrage, the title alone might suffice. A quick internet search of various article titles on the subject frame everything at a glance:FBI Monitoring Armed Stand Off in Oregon National Wildlife RefugeArmed Group Takes Over Federal Building Following Protest In OregonOregon Armed Protest Leader Says Group Will Defend Occupied BuildingThe narrative is further presented as two sides with contrasting positions. Choose your position, and make your case. Most Americans will have been pre-conditioned to know where they are supposed to stand, and will quickly align accordingly. The framing here is usually a binary dialectic, or two sides only, with no grey area or middle ground. A or B, Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, pro-government or anti-government, Jedi or Sith? We all know the drill. Here they are mainstream media style:The Hammonds: Victims of over-reach by a federal government, or rogue ranchers who are above the law with a fondness for starting fires?The Bundy s and outside militias: Lending a hand to fellow ranchers who are too over-matched to fight for themselves, or unwanted instigators on a personal anti-government crusade?The Bureau of Land Management: Caretakers and stewards of land and resources, or the very embodiment of big government imposing its will through a vantage point of official power and authority?Over-simplified, binary arguments almost never present real events. In reality, there are two or more sides to a story or event. This is what most media outlets do not want you to understand, and this is where the art of the delivery comes in, by steering the audience to the right choice.When reporting on the events in question in Oregon, the mainstream media imply, or outright allege, that protesters and the militia members who converged on the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge intend to draw first contact and start a shootout (as seen later in a CNN clip below). The analysis about a trigger-happy militia is pondered endlessly by mainstream news personalities, despite repeated statements to the contrary by organizers of the militias in question. This is followed by an endless string of pundits and experts expressing their righteous indignation that the federal government can t let these militants get away with this! , and so on.Activists or Terrorists?Part of the process of owning the narrative and shaping public opinion is to define the problem and the people involved with quick and easily identifiable labels. Among other things, this allows the media to avoid doing any real investigation into the core issues, and simply surf the partisan waves.In Burns, Oregon, this never happened. Instead the media have labeled the Hammonds as arsonists and the Bundys as terrorists .The mainstream media have worked diligently to characterize the protest s leader, Ammon Bundy (photo, left), son of now iconic Nevada rancher, Cliven Bundy, as an armed insurgent and a domestic terrorist. This is likely do to the fact that journalists are unfamiliar with the fact that Ammon Bundy has stepped into a political role as a public and state lands advocate since 2014 bringing attention to the thousands of ranchers and farmers in the southwestern states facing federal vs state land management issues, and has spoken publicly many times since the Bundy stand-off in 2014. Viewed through this prism, the Hammond protest and occupation of the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge is quite obviously a political event. But that s not how the media are treating this.Today saw one of the lowest points in partisan media. In one of the worst displays of mainstream gutter journalism, led by Carli Brosseau from Oregon LIVE, who has attempted to senselessly slander the Bundys by digging through all the personal records and finances of the Bundy sons and other protesters, including their businesses loans, personal property records and even traffic violations in a clear effort to try and slander them in public for matters not related at all to the public lands issue. If only the Oregon LIVE and CNN would apply that same level of effort to investigating the government s role in Hammond case, or for the thousands of other farmers who have been forcibly bankrupted and put out of business over the last two decades.What guilt-by-association words better fit today s on edge atmospherics than terrorists and terrorism ? These are precisely the terms which media began saturating the internet with moments after this event hit the headlines. Various left-wing hashtag campaigns like #YallQaeda and #VanillaISIS were strewn all over Twitter and have been trending ever since. This has provided a soft cushion on which larger media journalists and organizations can comfortably bounce around pejorative terms without receiving too much criticism. Here s one choice example: See tweet here.Amazingly, even long-established news organizations, such as the Washington Post, have published articles which question why the militia are not called terrorists , while Fox Radio ponders whether or not they are patriots or terrorists .The drive for the pejorative label is in full effect. This comes as no surprise, as the mainstream media have been swimming in confusion the last few years, with ever-fluctuating moderation levels of jihadists based upon what group is being backed by the West or its allies at any given moment. However, calling an American citizen or group terrorist immediately defines where you stand with regards to protesters or members of the militia.CNN gets right after it, throws down the gauntlet, and calls the militias in question terrorists without hesitation. The video below is a typical example of agenda driven news reporting that brings in unrelated issues of race, the Muslim religion, and loosely slapping a terrorist label over what might best be described as breaking and entering. Through their presentation, the event itself slightly matters and the story becomes everything but the event. Instead of an analysis into how the situation evolved, time is spent on painting a good versus bad narrative, which is done simply by applying the terrorist label to the militias. Watch: In reality, the happy mediums between demands, law, authority, and obedience are more calculus, than single digit addition. In other words, it s complicated, and no one hates complications more than media and partisan politicians. Through polarizing the issue, drawing sides, and picking a righteous winner, CNN sides with its apparent partner in Washington and presents the story in such a manner. You can even hear the sadness in the voices as they discuss the possibility that the government might wait out the militia instead of coming in with aggressive force and establishing who is boss. It might behoove any good journalist or pundit to pause and ask: are the various militias in question really terrorists, and do their acts constitute terrorism?Here is the definition of domestic terrorism and the federal crime of terrorism as delineated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI): Domestic terrorism means activities with the following three characteristics: Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.18 U.S.C. Sec 2332b defines the term federal crime of terrorism as an offense that: Is calculated to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct; and Is a violation of one of several listed statutes, including Sec 930(c) (relating to killing or attempted killing during an attack on a federal facility with a dangerous weapon); and Sec 1114 (relating to killing or attempted killing of officers and employees of the U.S.).Granted, America seems to be expanding this definition every year, as evidenced by the above inclusion of retaliate against government conduct on the list. This seems to indicate that any protest can be characterized as terrorism should the government chose to press there. Those calling these militias terrorists , seem to be taking only (ii) from the above definition of Domestic Terrorism and are running with it. Again, the FBI states in their own words above that the three characteristics are required. Nowhere does the FBI say, one of the above is terrorism, or some of the above is terrorism. As champions of the law and enforcing it, and assuming care was taken to review the definitions by many, one would believe that they meant what they wrote and wrote what they meant. The militia is a citizen s right clearly stated in the US Constitution, but perhaps breaking and entering or unlawfully occupying is not legal . but terrorism?What about committing the federal crime of terrorism from 18 U.S.C. (United States Code) Sec 2332b above? Clearly, the militias are there, openly, with guns and stating they will defend themselves if necessary. Or, are they simply there and carrying fire arms within the law (yes, it is legal to carry a gun in the US)? The definition might appear to be in the eye of the beholder, but from the government s perspective, the definition seems highly elastic.CNN and the Washington Post are telling you whom to side with through their narrative and terrorist labels for the militias in question.Depending on how one views the world with regards to the issue, along with their ability to process information presented to them, determines what side they are on, or if they are even on a side. Who has the bigger agenda and the bigger stake, the government, or the militias and ranchers? Is it really about Land Management and/or People Management, or are both inter-related?Let s start with the land itself. As noted in the Congressional Research Service s 2014 document Federal Land Ownership, the United States governs, oversees, owns, or otherwise has authority and jurisdiction over land primarily through the following 5 agencies:The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) The Forestry Service (FS) The Fish and Wild Life Service (FWS) The National Park Service (NPS) The Department of Defense (DoD)Here is what Oregon looked like with regard to the above agencies and some of their sub-departments in 1996, now twenty years ago: Oregon Public Lands 1996. (Image: Wiki Commons)The Federal Land Ownership document, cited above, also notes that the overall public land managed by the BLM has dropped nearly 25 million acres from 1990 to 2013. However, this comes mostly from almost 22 million acres within Alaska alone. Within Oregon, the state in question, the BLM alone has gained almost 550,000 acres to manage from the already color-dense map above, and is set to takeover another 2.5 million acres with the their proposed Owyhee Canyonlands National Monument an area larger than Yellowstone National Park set to be shut-off to the state and placed under BLM control.Part of the larger Department of the Interior (DOI), the Bureau of Land Management s (BLM) Mission Statement is: To sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. According to the BLM website, they oversee more than 245 million acres and over 700 million mineral and sub surface acres, with a multi-billion dollar budget and about 10,000 employees. The BLM also claims to be one of the few federal agencies that generate revenue, based largely on 4.3 billion dollars of onshore oil and gas development and numerous other land deals brokered by the BLM.Hundreds of millions of acres is vast. Most people probably see the need for a diligent and upstanding management of it, to include the natural resources and wildlife found on the land, as well as the resources beneath it. Understanding that a free for all of destroying resources combined with a full bore resource grab would be adverse, many would likely contribute to the oversight of it. Being entrusted with such a job could be seen as an honorable undertaking by citizens for citizens. But when does stewardship and land management turn into territorial control by Washington DC, which invariably leads to an institutional vendetta, or sending a message , or becomes a means to define boundaries between authorities and their subjects? Undoubtedly, this is what seems to be happening all over the western states, and with small farms being victims, picked off, one by one by a superior force the federal government.So the federal government in Washington DC is treating State public land as its territory , when, according to the US Constitution, it is not.Watch as Oregon Congressman Greg Walden (R) delivers an incredibly detailed and impassioned speech on the Capitol floor yesterday, outlining the scale of this problem in his state: Many Constitutional purists and opponents of federal government over reach and abuse of power argue that the government doesn t really own the land. By both the letter, and spirit of the law, there is a real Constitutional case to be made there. Unfortunately, it all quickly turns into a debate on power, control, and authority between the federal government and the states, further complicated by who happens to be in positions of authority for each.They point to Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution which authorizes Congress to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful Buildings, and they throw out the very premise of government land ownership outside of those parameters. The larger issue, beyond the Hammond family in particular, is also centered around jurisdiction literally. Jurisdiction over land and resources inevitably stem from arrangements involving ownership and control. Who is in charge of what, and to what degree? Whose goals are ultimately being achieved and who is affected are things all citizens would be wise to ask themselves.Are the Hammonds being crushed from above in accordance to what they did and were found guilty of and does the punishment fit?The Oregonian reports: There s nobody in history who has gone to federal prison for burning a few acres of public property, said Melodi Molt, a Harney County rancher and former president of Oregon CattleWomen. It s not right. The Oregon Farm Bureau said the second prison term is gross government overreach and the public should be outraged. And then there is what some locals see as a government land grab. The Hammonds in late 2014 agreed to pay the federal government $400,000 to settle a lawsuit seeking to force them to pay more than a $1 million in costs for fighting fires they set. The Hammonds paid $200,000 right away and paid the rest Thursday. The settlement also required the Hammonds to give the land bureau first chance at buying a particular ranch parcel adjacent to public land if they intended to sell. For some, this was evidence that the government all along was after the Hammond ground to add to its Steens Mountain holdings. The Oregonian continues, stating that the Hammonds originally served jail time starting in 2012 under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (AEDPA). The father, Dwight Hammond, aged 73, was sentenced to three months and the son, Steve, to one year. A possible 5 year sentence, according to U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan at the Hammonds original 2012 sentencing, would be unconstitutional and a sentence which would shock the conscience. After serving their time, both father and son were dragged back in front of a federal bench and re-sentenced to a full 5 year term in what many believe was just the latest chapter in a federal vendetta against the family, waged in part by then U.S Attorney for the State of Oregon, Amanda Marshall.A New Yorker article unabashedly calls the AEDPA law, one of the worst statutes ever passed by Congress [headed by Bob Dole] and signed into law by a President [President Clinton]. The heart of the law is a provision saying that, even when a state court misapplies the Constitution, a defendant cannot necessarily have his day in federal court. So is this the new image of a terrorist breeding ground and rallying point? (Image: Oregon Live/The Oregonian) Wild Cards and Other SubterfugeTo be fair, not everyone is happy about the outsiders. Caught in the midst of it all are citizens such as a local resident, Candy Tiller, quoted by Oregon Public Broadcasting, saying, I m worried that there s a trigger-happy idiot out there And maybe a law enforcement officer or somebody else makes a move that makes him think they re pulling a gun and he s going to shoot I don t want that. I don t want that for anybody This is crazy. This does not fit. These people need to go away. Locals will always feel the tension best, and no scenario would play to the establishment and mainstream media narrative better than an Waco-style gunfight and siege, also playing out on LIVE television. Based on the current situation report, the federal government would be the one escalating tension by pouring hundreds of assets into the small town and turning the area into a quasi-military occupation, as Washington clearly did with Bundy Ranch in 2014.Whether it s a Greenpeace protest, Occupy Wall Street, or Bundy Ranch, federal agencies have tried and tested methods besides overt force, in order to weaken and ultimately bring down any protest. The first method is disinformation a protest leak about a split within the group, or rumors about a member of the group wanting to leave. This type of manuever might look something like this: See the tweet here.Next is the Dirty Tricks phase, where a third party leaks personal information of the protesters to the mainstream media, in order discredit the protesters and help to break up the group.The other method of disinformation is a government insider leak designed to scare off other activists from coming to the event, but also to jar those inside of the protest and their families and as loved ones look on. Whether it is true or not is beside the point. This type of sensational storyline is designed make its way on to the internet and quickly go viral, and might look something like this: FBI preparing for Waco-style raid in Oregon Similarly, during the Bundy Ranch standoff in 2014, a slightly more outlandish story was planted in the alternative media about Eric Holder authorizing a drone strike on Bundy Ranch. Not surprisingly, the story was complete fiction. As wildly unbelievable as that story was, it worked incredibly well for the federal government because the bulk of the militia camped out at the ranch, a group known as Oathkeepers, immediately became frightened, packed up and left.Oathkeepers appear to have released another similar insider leak story last week for the Oregon Standoff, about the Pentagon deploying Delta Force to take back the Wildlife Refuge, which can be found here.Another example could be found in a Tweet released at the height of the Bundy Ranch stand-off in 2014, claiming that the government had shut down cell phone towers in a communications black-out (presumably preparing to attack ). Though this never actually happened, one could easily view this as an attempt to scare away members of the public from going to the ranch to support the cause:Bundy family reports cell towers near ranch have been shut down, preventing communication & video uploads. #BundyRanch Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) April 11, 2014If the disinformation fails, the next level of federal subterfuge is usually to embed or plant a federal informant(s) or agent provocateur (s) inside of the protest. Typically, this is done very early on in the process, but also becomes much easier once more people pour into the area. With a patriots unite call to stand with the militias, as seen in the below video, it s almost impossible for organizers to ever know who could be on-site, or what off-centered rebel or individual would simply just show up , either to make a name for themselves through media coverage, or even worse by starting some serious trouble between activists or with law enforcement.In terms of discrediting the protest in the court of public opinion, the Hammond Protest could field no one better than tabloid media mascot, like Jon Ritzheimer of Anti-Islam protesting fame. Ritzheimer quickly become the mainstream media s target of ridicule and used to discredit any of the other protesters. In addition to his armed march on American mosques, Ritzheimer also tried to grab headlines for traveling to Michigan to kidnap, or make a citizens arrest as Ritzheimer called it, of the elderly Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) because she supported the international Iran Nuclear Deal.Here is Ritzheimer recording his own martyrdom-style video before heading into the protest: Whether this is by design, or not, the effect is undeniable. This exact scenario has already played out in Burns, Oregon with the mainstream media casting Ritzheimer in the role of flag-waving xenophobe and militia nut-job , with the added knock-on effect of painting constitutionalists as mentally unstable, militant extremists. PHOTO: Professional media villain and provocateur Jon Ritzheimer.Another prominent militia personality at the Oregon protest is Blaine Cooper (also known as Stanley Blaine Hicks). Like Ritzheimer, he also acts as a media lightning rod due to his similar performance in a YouTube video where he rubs bacon on a copy of the Koran before burning and shooting arrows in to it, before calling it, the most evil, pathetic book on the face of the planet. Unfortunately, these media distractions only divert the public from real issues being raised by the Hammonds and the Bundys and will ultimately be used to discredit their land rights cause.Once again, more Patriot Games. As the event unfolds many scenarios could happen. The worst outcome of events in Oregon would be that the Hammond family issue loses the spotlight, and the public lands issue becomes obscured by a media desperate for a anti-gun narrative and obsessed with the ridiculous antics of synthetic YouTube actors attached to event.Only the craziest of megalomaniac government officials, robotic plants, or glory-seeking wackos would really want this to escalate, led by a depraved sensationalized media, and with a public glued to the screen Farenheit 451 style with a bag of Cheetos.READ MORE HAMMOND RANCH NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Hammond Ranch | 1real |
New York Times Editor Won’t Use Term Female Genital Mutilation: ‘Culturally Loaded’ and Divides People - Breitbart | The health and science editor at the New York Times told a reader in the newspaper’s “mailbag” feature that she decided not to use the term “female genital mutilation” because it is a “culturally loaded” term that widens the “gulf” between the West and the countries where the abuse is practiced. [“I never minced words in describing exactly what form of cutting was involved, and there are many gradations of severity, and the terrible damage it did, and stayed away from the euphemistic circumcision, but chose to use the less culturally loaded term, genital cutting,” Dugger wrote in response to a reader’s question about the semantics. Dugger said she made the decision following a trip to Africa in the 1990s. “There’s a gulf between the Western (and some African) advocates who campaign against the practice and the people who follow the rite, and I felt the language used widened that chasm,” Dugger said. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said that some 200 million girls “alive today” are believed to have suffered the abuse, according to the FAQ portion of its website. “The term ‘female genital mutilation’ is used by a wide range of women’s health and human rights organizations,” the UN website states. “It establishes a clear distinction from male circumcision. Use of the word “mutilation” also emphasizes the gravity of the act and reinforces that the practice is a violation of women’s and girls’ basic human rights. “This expression gained support in the late 1970s, and since 1994, it has been used in several United Nations conference documents and has served as a policy and advocacy tool. ” The website text notes that “female genital cutting” was introduced in the late 1990s because of “concern that communities could find the term ‘mutilation,’ demeaning, or that it could imply that parents or practitioners perform this procedure maliciously. ” In recent days three arrests were made in Detroit where two physicians and one physician’s wife are charged with performing the abuse on minor girls. The three suspects represent the first prosecution in the United States for the practice, which is common primarily in Muslim countries, particularly in Africa. | 0fake |
Conyers should resign if accusations are 'founded': No. 2 House Democrat | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Steny Hoyer, the No. 2 Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Wednesday that Democratic representative John Conyers should resign if the sexual harassment allegations against him are found to be true. “Notwithstanding the credibility of the witnesses, we have a process to determine: were these allegations founded? And if they’re founded, yes, he should resign,” Hoyer said in an interview with MSNBC. | 0fake |
White House says rollback of Obamacare must be part of short-term fix | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior White House aide said on Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump would demand steps toward repealing Obamacare in any healthcare legislation, comments that cast doubt on the prospects for a short-term bill to shore up insurance markets. Marc Short, the White House’s top liaison to Congress, said on CNN that Obamacare’s mandates and taxes would have to be rolled back and consumers be allowed to more heavily invest in health-savings accounts for Trump to sign off on any congressional deal. “We’re willing to work on this but we need to make sure that we’re getting something that will actually reduce healthcare costs,” Short said. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray unveiled legislation to shore up the insurance markets created under the 2010 healthcare law by reviving the subsidies, which Trump has discontinued, for two years to help lower-income Americans obtain medical coverage. The bill appeared to be gaining some momentum on Thursday after several Republican senators said they would support the measure. But Short’s comments may put a damper on hopes for any sort of bipartisan agreement. Democrats have consistently opposed efforts to dismantle any and all parts of Obamacare. Short said the administration was sending a list of the principles it would like to see in any legislation to the bill’s co-authors and would likely make them public. “The gist is we believe that the individual mandate should (be) repealed, employer mandate repealed and allow Americans to contribute to health savings accounts,” he said. Earlier on Thursday, Alexander and Murray said the deal they struck now has the support of 12 of the 52 Republicans in the 100-seat Senate, as well as 12 Democrats. While Alexander predicted in remarks on the Senate floor that the plan “will become law in some fashion before the end of the year,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not committed to bringing it to a vote, and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan is against it. Lobbyists and congressional aides closely following the matter said the legislation could make it onto the Senate floor tucked inside a bigger “must-pass” bill that Congress needs to act on in December, such as a broad spending measure to prevent a federal government shutdown. Trump campaigned for the presidency last year promising to get rid of Obamacare, the signature legislative achievement of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama. But his fellow Republicans who control Congress have failed to repeal and replace the law thanks to deep intra-party divisions. Obamacare, formally called the Affordable Care Act, extended health insurance to 20 million people but Republicans call it government interference in Americans’ healthcare. The law’s individual mandate requires all Americans to purchase health insurance, while its employer mandate requires businesses of a certain size to offer affordable coverage. Trump initially indicated support for the Alexander-Murray agreement but reversed himself, saying on Wednesday “I can never support bailing out” insurers. Senator Mike Rounds, one of the bill’s Republican co-sponsors, said that if Trump decides he does not support it, “then it will not go forward.” When a reporter noted that Trump does oppose it, Rounds replied, “That was yesterday.” Gabelli Funds portfolio manager Jeff Jonas, who focuses on healthcare, said there was too much political uncertainty for investors to latch onto any one thing, with Trump “flip-flopping every day” and Ryan not supportive of the bill. Among hospital stocks, Community Health Systems (CYH.N) closed up 3.7 percent, Tenet Healthcare Corp (THC.N) rose 2.9 percent and HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA.N) gained 3 percent. Most insurers rose more modestly. Without the subsidies, insurance premiums for some of the 10 million Americans who get coverage through Obamacare markets will surge. Noting that some conservative Republicans object to the subsidies, Alexander asked, “What’s conservative about creating chaos so millions can’t buy insurance, or at least failing to deal with the chaos that has been created?” The bill has broad support among Democrats, but had just seven Republicans on record supporting it only a day earlier. Republican Senators Bill Cassidy and Lindsey Graham, who co-authored a bill in September to repeal and replace Obamacare that failed to muster enough support, endorsed the bipartisan effort. “We believe we need a package which stabilizes the market in the short term and lays the groundwork for a long-term solution” that would overhaul Obamacare, they said in a joint statement. If passed in December, as opposed to before the Nov. 1 beginning of enrollment for 2018 Obamacare insurance policies, it would be unlikely to affect premiums for next year, meaning its benefits might not be felt until 2019. Insurers have already decided whether to participate in the Obamacare markets and set higher rates to build in the possibility that the subsidies would vanish. Insurers say they do not profit from the subsidies, but pass them on directly to consumers to reduce deductibles, co-payments and other out-of-pocket medical expenses for low-income people. The bill would also give more flexibility for states to offer a wider variety of health insurance plans while maintaining the requirement that sick and healthy people be charged the same rates for coverage. Many Senate Republicans are nervous about the prospect of voting on any healthcare measure - no matter what legislation it may be attached to - that buttresses Obamacare. Part of the fear, one senior Senate Republican aide said, is that Trump’s former chief White House strategist Steve Bannon is recruiting hard-line conservative primary challengers to run against incumbent Republican senators next year. The aide said incumbents do not want to be forced to cast a controversial vote to stabilize Obamacare, a law reviled by many conservatives. If all 46 Senate Democrats and two independents back the Alexander-Murray bill as expected, the support of the 12 Republicans means the bill has the 60 votes needed to reach the super-majority required to pass most legislation in the Senate. Trump on Thursday underscored his concerns about the bill. He urged Alexander and Murray to be “careful with respect to the insurance companies,” which he said are “extremely talented at making money.” Alexander and Murray said their legislation does not bail out insurers. Alexander said House Republicans passed an Obamacare repeal and replace bill in May that also would continue subsidy payments for two years. Alexander said Trump has called him four times in recent days on this subject, including a Saturday night call when he was at a restaurant and “my dinner got cold.” He urged the president to support the initiative. | 0fake |
To Survive, Evolve - Russia News Now | This post was originally published on this site
The concept of evolution should not be limited to the scientific assertions around Darwin’s theory of natural selection, but ought to include the more general idea that people and processes constantly evolve in response to the forces that surround them. We evolve from childhood into adulthood, and, ideally, from self-centeredness toward the good of larger entities like our community or nation (and now, faced with climate change, the good of our planet). Political arrangements have evolved from the divine right of kings into still–evolving democratic systems.
A Supreme Court justice’s orientation toward evolution in this basic sense determines whether he or she is a strict originalist (a nicer word for fundamentalist), or sees the Constitution as a living document that must be responsive to changing conditions. No founding father composing the second amendment could have foreseen the surfeit of guns decimating our country today.
Such evolutionary processes are alive, dynamic, an unstoppable juggernaut pervading every aspect of reality. Against them, even the determination not to evolve has evolutionary effects, as we have seen in the bizarre presidential process of the past year. A Neanderthal candidate has helped awaken a generation of young women, and ideally young men also, to evolve beyond being victims of crude chauvinist stereotypes.
The whole cosmos has been evolving for 13.8 billion years, from energy to matter to, here on earth, life and self-conscious life. Evolution is the context of our reality, the story all humans share. This story is beginning to seep into collective consciousness in a way that may yet render obsolete divisions such as those between Shia and Sunni, let alone between “radical Islamic fundamentalism” and the “post-Enlightenment West.” We all evolved from the same mysterious source. Every differentiation in that largest context, by race, tribe, religion, ethnicity, feels arbitrary and abstract.
It is not surprising that fundamentalism in whatever form has often found the evolutionary paradigm threatening, because it implies a challenging dynamic of change that feels insecure. For many believers, to generalize unfairly, religion provides behavioral rules that can be a source of security and comfort even as they are used as excuses to remain exclusive and resist evolving.
Within each world religion, there are minority enclaves (the Sufis in Islam, Zen practitioners of Buddhism, Catholic mystics like Teilhard de Chardin) who understand that their spiritual discipline is an opportunity to evolve toward inclusivity, toward looking within at fears and projections rather than looking outward for enemies, and toward expanding our identifications and responsibilities beyond the national to the planetary.
Far from being a benign, feel-good process, evolution is often painful, one step forward, two back. Take the tortured but necessary demise of the American coal industry. No one wants to see the debilitating effects of unemployment on real people with real families, but so far the technology of coal burning hasn’t evolved a way not to accelerate global warming.
We humans are supposedly not built to respond effectively to long-term threats like changes in climate, but, late in the game as it is, we do seem to be collectively learning what is at stake and evolving locally and globally. Entrepreneurs are rapidly bringing to market solar, wind, and other cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.
Unfortunately, negative and harmful processes can also become subject to an evolutionary juggernaut. Since 1945 weapons systems have evolved (more accurately, we have evolved them) to a level of complexity and destructive power that we are already powerless to control. The Pentagon is reported to be spending its usual vast sums on research into computer-controlled robotic drones capable of making their own autonomous decisions about who is an enemy. The defense establishments of other great nations are presumably up to the same mischief, or soon will be, because the arms race never stops evolving. Or won’t until we embrace a new way of thinking: that we must evolve to survive.
We, we the nations, are hopelessly complacent in our present reliance upon deterrence as a workable security system. As the fellow falling from the hundredth floor said as he passed the sixtieth: so far so good. The system, an emperor with no clothes solemnly worshipped by legions of self-confident experts, is too complex not to be subject to breakdown at any moment, perhaps by accident, perhaps where NATO and Russia push up against each other in Eastern Europe, perhaps in Kashmir.
The threat of nuclear extinction provides a new context for the obsolete parochialism of the world’s major religions. If this threat isn’t enough to accelerate the ecumenical impulse, what is? As people of diverse spiritual worldviews acknowledge that they have in common the possibility of annihilation, our shared anxiety can energize evolution toward inclusivity and nonviolent solutions to conflict. The world is in a race between fundamentalists and arms manufacturers on the one hand, and evolutionaries who see clearly both the futile dead-end of the arms race and the possibility of a security built upon the truth of interdependence, which appears in similar form in all the religions as the Golden Rule. We will live together or die together. As we treat others, so we will be treated. Whether they each understand this or not, this is the hidden-in-plain-sight background behind the Trump-Clinton mud-wrestle.
Will the arms manufacturers and the politicians in league with them evolve in the face of the nuclear threat in a way similar to our positive responses to the challenge of climate instability? I live in Maine, where the state’s largest private employer is the Bath Iron Works. They are building three of a new kind of guided missile destroyer that is contoured to hide from radar. Each one costs 4 billion dollars. Recently I had a conversation with an Iron Works employee. I made the assumption that, given his job, he would be hawkishly supportive of a robust military. Not at all. His exact parting words were “I’d be much happier building solar panels.” Related | 1real |
WHY THE HUGE 1.1 MILLION DROP in Food Stamp Enrollment? [VIDEO] | OVER 1 MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DROPPED OFF OF THE FOOD STAMP LISTS GREAT NEWS!The surprising group that dropped off is illegals Yes, some illegals ARE eligible for food stamps! The USDA has this SNAP FOR NON-CITIZEN GUIDANCEWith the states of Georgia and Alabama leading the way, more than 1.1 million Americans dropped off the food stamp rolls since President Trump took office in January 2017, according to the latest U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics on food stamp enrollment. Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) dropped to 41,496,255 in May 2017, the most recent data available from the USDA, from 42,691,363 in January 2017 when Trump took office.According to the latest data, SNAP enrollment during the first few months of Trump s presidency decreased by 2.79 percent.Food stamp participation on average in 2017 has dropped to its lowest level since 2010, and the latest numbers show that this trend is continuing.Trump proposed cuts to SNAP in his 2018 budget proposal, suggesting that states match up to 20 percent of federal money allotted for the food stamp program and expand work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving food stamps.Trump s crackdown on illegal immigration has also prompted many immigrants, both legal and illegal, to cancel their food stamps over concerns that they might be denied citizenship or deported.Federal lawmakers are also working on legislation that would seek to expand food stamp work requirements and put time limits on how long those enrolled in the food stamp program can receive benefits.Read more: Breitbart News | 1real |
WOW! MAJOR CREDIT CARD COMPANY Still Sponsoring Central Park Production Depicting Assassination Of President Trump After Other Sponsors Flee [VIDEO] | Delta Air Lines and Bank of America became the first companies to announce they are pulling their sponsorships of a Manhattan-based theater company s portrayal of Julius Caesar as a Donald Trump look-alike in a business suit who gets stabbed to death on stage.Delta and Bank of America both announced their intentions on Sunday. No matter what your political stance may be, the graphic staging of Julius Caesar at this summer s Free Shakespeare in the Park does not reflect Delta Air Lines values, the company s statement said. Their artistic and creative direction crossed the line on the standards of good taste. Bank of America added it was withdrawing funding for the production. The Public Theater chose to present Julius Caesar in such a way that was intended to provoke and offend, the bank said in a tweet. Had this intention been made known to us, we would have decided not to sponsor it. Fox News American Express also took to Twitter and announced their sponsorship doesn t support the play.A Statement from American Express: pic.twitter.com/Ig0Ju3B2dP American Express (@AmericanExpress) June 12, 2017 We would like to clarify that our sponsorship of the Public Theater does not fund the production of Shakespeare in the Park nor do we condone the interpretation of the Julius Caesar play, the financial corporation tweeted.Customers of American Express responded on Twitter:I'm am considering not accepting AE cards at my business and reminding customers why just to clarify. rex prescott (@rex1956) June 12, 2017Sadly, we expect the New York Times to support a production of President Trump being assassinated, but Amex customers like myself who currently use an American Express card can just as easily switch to VISA or MasterCard. The fees are generally less and both alternatives seem to be more widely accepted by businesses. Seems almost like a no-brainer | 1real |
Hillary Clinton: Trump ‘Crossed The Line’ With Second Amendment Comment (VIDEO) | Hillary Clinton took a swing back at Donald Trump on Wednesday. Speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa, she blasted him for suggesting that the Second Amendment people were the only ones that could stop her from becoming president and appointing justices to the Supreme Court.Clinton said in no uncertain terms that Trump had crossed the line when it comes to his casual inciting of violence. Words matter, my friends, and if you are running to be president or if you are president of the United States, words can have tremendous consequences. Yesterday, we witnessed the latest in a long line of casual comments from Donald Trump that crossed the line. His casual cruelty to a Gold Star family, his casual suggestion that more countries should have nuclear weapons, and now his casual inciting of violence. Every single one of these incidents shows us that Donald Trump simply does not have the temperament to be president and commander in chief of the United States.During a campaign event on Tuesday, Trump said, If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Though the second amendment folks, maybe there is He has since argued unconvincingly that he didn t mean it the way it sounded. Honest. He wasn t alluding to the assassination of his rival. Of course, not. He just meant they could vote for him instead. Really. He was only referring to the tremendous political power of voters who support the Second Amendment. (Insert eye roll here) You look at the power they have in terms of votes and that s what I was referring to, obviously that s what I was referring to and everybody knows it, Trump told Fox News on Wednesday.Watch Hillary Clinton slam Trump for crossing the line here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_2PkrQ9jq4]Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 1real |
Republican Senator Corker says he is still undecided on tax bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator Bob Corker on Wednesday said he was still undecided on whether to support his party’s tax legislation even as congressional Republicans announced a deal on a final plan. Corker, whose party has a slim majority in the Senate and can only afford to lose two votes, told reporters: “My deficit concerns have not been alleviated, so like in many tough votes around here, you’ve got to make a decision.” | 0fake |
Lifelong Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger TERMINATES The GOP Over Trump | I ll be back is not what Arnold Schwarzenegger is telling the Republican Party this year. Ever since the action movie icon became a United States citizen in 1983 he has faithfully voted for the GOP presidential candidate but not this year.Donald Trump s vulgar remarks about groping women were too much for the Terminator star, who, like other Republicans, are now jumping from a sinking ship.The Los Angeles Times reports that Arnold not only condemned Trump in a statement, but used the same statement to announce that he will not be voting Republican in November. For the first time since I became a citizen in 1983, I will not vote for the Republican candidate for president, Schwarzenegger said in a statement posted on Twitter. Like many Americans, I ve been conflicted by this election I still haven t made up my mind about how exactly I will vote next month. I have been a proud Republican since I moved to America in 1968 and I heard Nixon s words about getting government off our backs, free trade, and defending our liberty with a strong military. That day I joined the party of Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan.But as proud as I am to label myself a Republican, there is one label that hold above all else American. So I want to take a moment today to remind my fellow Republicans that it is not only acceptable to choose your country over your party it is your duty. As proud as I am to label myself a Republican, there is one label that I hold above all else American. My full statement: pic.twitter.com/biRvY8S3aZ Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) October 8, 2016As Governor of California, Schwarzenegger was embroiled in his own scandals which included an affair he had with his housekeeper that produced a child years prior to taking office, which he has taken responsibility for, and accusations of sexual misconduct for which he has expressed remorse.So Donald Trump s behavior and words are so bad that even Schwarzenegger can t bring himself to vote Republican. That s saying something.Featured image via Wikimedia | 1real |
Once Skeptical of Executive Power, Obama Has Come to Embrace It - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — In nearly eight years in office, President Obama has sought to reshape the nation with a sweeping assertion of executive authority and a canon of regulations that have inserted the United States government more deeply into American life. Once a presidential candidate with deep misgivings about executive power, Mr. Obama will leave the White House as one of the most prolific authors of major regulations in presidential history. Blocked for most of his presidency by Congress, Mr. Obama has sought to act however he could. In the process he created the kind of government neither he nor the Republicans wanted — one that depended on bureaucratic bulldozing rather than legislative transparency. But once Mr. Obama got the taste for it, he pursued his executive power without apology, and in ways that will shape the presidency for decades to come. The Obama administration in its first seven years finalized 560 major regulations — those classified by the Congressional Budget Office as having particularly significant economic or social impacts. That was nearly 50 percent more than the George W. Bush administration during the comparable period, according to data kept by the regulatory studies center at George Washington University. An army of lawyers working under Mr. Obama’s authority has sought to restructure the nation’s health care and financial industries, limit pollution, bolster workplace protections and extend equal rights to minorities. Under Mr. Obama, the government has literally placed a higher value on human life. And it has imposed billions of dollars in new costs on businesses and consumers. Many of the new rules are little known, even as they affect the way Americans eat, love and die. People can dine on genetically engineered salmon. Women can buy emergency contraceptive pills without prescriptions. Military veterans can design their own headstones. In its final year, the administration is enacting some of its most ambitious rules, including limits on airborne silica at job sites, an overhaul of food labels to clarify nutritional information, and a measure making millions of workers eligible for overtime pay. The administration’s regulatory legacy has become an issue in the campaign to replace Mr. Obama, as Donald J. Trump has sharply criticized regulatory overreach and promised to undo many of the new rules. But executive power has expanded steadily under both Republican and Democratic presidents in recent decades, and both Mr. Trump and Hillary Clinton have promised to act in the service of their own goals. The new rules built on the legislative victories Mr. Obama won during his first two years in office. Those laws — the Affordable Care Act, the Act and the $800 billion economic stimulus package — transformed the nation’s health care system, curbed the ambitions of the big banks and injected financial support into a creaky economy. But as Republicans increased their control of Capitol Hill, Mr. Obama’s deep frustration with congressional opposition led to a new approach: He gradually embraced a president’s power to act unilaterally. History may now judge the regulations to be one of Mr. Obama’s most enduring legacies. At the least, his exercise of administrative power expanded and cemented a domestic legacy that now rivals Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society in reach and scope. In May, Mr. Obama was asked by a farmer in Elkhart, Ind. to justify the “dramatic increase” in government regulations that affected his business. “I’m not interested in regulating just for the sake of regulating,” Mr. Obama responded. “But there are some things like making sure we’ve got clean air and clean water, making sure that folks have health insurance, making sure that worker safety is a priority — that, I do think, is part of our overall obligation. ” Infuriated Republicans describe many of the new rules as unwarranted, resulting in “less jobs, less businesses, less prosperity, lower pay,” in the words of the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan. Business groups, also incensed, have challenged a number of new regulations in court, delaying them or preventing them from taking effect. Some economic experts worry that the accumulation of regulation is contributing to the economy’s persistent sluggishness. “The big issue that I grapple with is that the regulatory state keeps growing,” said Robert Hahn, an economist and a regulatory expert at the Smith School at the University of Oxford. “And as it keeps growing, when does it become too much?” Mr. Obama entered office in January 2009 determined to make his mark by passing bold new laws, not by tinkering with rules. Rahm Emanuel, his first chief of staff, and other top aides mapped out an ambitious agenda that included a health care overhaul, new banking laws, a remake of the federal student loan program, infrastructure spending and stricter limits on pollution. The new president had a skeptical streak when it came to the value of regulation, influenced by his friend Cass R. Sunstein, a Harvard Law professor who had long argued that the government should more rigorously assess the benefits of new regulations. Mr. Obama liked that idea so much that he named Mr. Sunstein to lead the White House office that oversees . “The president is not somebody who is intuitively or inherently a regulator,” said Howard Shelanski, who followed Mr. Sunstein in that role in . He said Mr. Obama conveyed a simple message: “‘If we can get a good result without regulating, let’s do that. ’” But after eight years of a Republican administration, many Democrats were eager for the government to lean more forcefully on the levers of regulatory power, and officials within the federal bureaucracy felt emboldened. The White House did resist some ideas. It shut down efforts by Lisa Jackson, Mr. Obama’s first administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to increase the regulation of ozone, a decision that environmentalists viewed as a betrayal. But other rules were allowed to proceed. Kate Hanni, an advocate from Napa, Calif. for the rights of airline passengers, had tried for years to persuade the government to address a series of incidents in which flight delays left passengers trapped for hours on planes that had already left the gate, often in cabins with stinking toilets, weak and no food. The Bush administration put Ms. Hanni on a task force consisting mostly of airline executives, which concluded in the fall of 2008 — over her forceful and repeated objections — that the public was best served by allowing the airlines to make their own decisions. Weeks after the task force released its report, Ms. Hanni was invited to Washington in December 2008 to meet with Robert S. Rivkin, the head of Mr. Obama’s transportation transition team. Democrats in Congress had introduced legislation to address the issue, but Mr. Rivkin asked Ms. Hanni if she would support new regulations instead. She would back anything enforceable, Ms. Hanni said. “Right answer,” he replied. Over the course of the next nine months, Mr. Rivkin and his team of career regulators at the Department of Transportation developed rules prohibiting planes loaded with passengers from sitting on the tarmac for more than three hours. In meetings with Ray LaHood, Mr. Obama’s first transportation secretary, and his staff, airline representatives argued for flexibility, saying rigid timelines would only increase flight cancellations. They chafed at the regulators’ willingness to see the benefits but not the costs. Sharon L. Pinkerton, an executive at Airlines for America, the industry’s main trade group, recalled Transportation Department regulators suggesting that “unquantifiable, unidentifiable benefits” would “outweigh the costs” of new rules for the airlines. “What are we supposed to do with that?” she asked later in an interview. But Mr. LaHood had himself experienced long waits on the runway during frequent trips home to Illinois. Just days before Christmas in 2009, he announced a Passenger Bill of Rights, which for the first time levied fines of up to $27, 500 per passenger on airlines that leave domestic flights stranded for more than three hours. He challenged the major carriers to provide their service “in a way that is halfway convenient” for their customers. His department, Mr. LaHood said in a recent interview, had a new sense of purpose, independent of any specific directive from the White House. “They had other fish to fry,” Mr. LaHood said of senior officials at the White House. “We didn’t want to wait around for Congress to take five, 10 years to do this. We could do this by rule and regulation, so we were pretty much off to the races. ” Other agencies were moving too. In its second year, bureaucrats working across the government completed 96 major rules, more than in any subsequent year. The White House soon began to take a greater interest in regulation. In May 2009, Mr. Emanuel raised concerns about Janice Langbehn, a social worker featured in The New York Times who was barred from visiting her hospitalized partner. Passing legislation to address the problem was unlikely, Mr. Emanuel knew, given entrenched ideological opposition and the White House’s focus on overhauling the health insurance system. But DeParle, director of the newly created Office of Health Reform, suggested an alternative: The administration had the power to impose conditions on hospitals that got federal Medicare funding. A year later, the president directed the Department of Health and Human Services to develop regulations requiring hospitals to extend visitation rights to partners. “All too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall,” Mr. Obama wrote in an April 2010 memo. A focus on similar issues produced more than 100 executive actions and regulatory changes intended to improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, particularly after the Supreme Court in 2013 struck down the federal law that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. People with H. I. V. were no longer barred from entry into the country federal housing rules recognized lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families health insurance companies were barred from discriminating against gay people labor protections applied to gay couples married couples could take family and medical leave and the Internal Revenue Service started treating couples no differently. “These are really lasting things,” said David Stacy, the government affairs director for the Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy organization. “They affect people in their everyday lives. ” As the Obama administration turned toward regulation, it sought to strengthen its hand by changing the estimates of what a life is worth. Those estimates allowed the administration to argue that the benefits of many regulations were greater than previously appreciated. This push was particularly important as a justification for stronger environmental protections. A White House push to pass a sweeping climate change bill in 2009 failed to pass in Congress, but almost from the outset some of Mr. Obama’s aides were working on a Plan B. Mr. Sunstein and Michael Greenstone, the first chief economist of Mr. Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, created an internal task force to put a dollar figure on the cost of carbon emissions. The government does not try to quantify all the benefits of proposed regulations. When it came to environmental regulations, the calculation was particularly limited. Analysts often assigned a dollar figure to just one kind of damage — emissions of “small particles” — and then stacked up the costs of the proposal against the benefits of fewer particles. Quantifying a second kind of damage, from carbon emissions, would broaden the assessed benefits of new regulations — potentially justifying new and stronger restrictions. In 2010, the administration issued a report that estimated the economic impact of global warming, including agricultural disruptions, increased flooding and health problems. It pegged the cost of carbon emissions at $21 per ton. An updated assessment in 2013 raised the price tag to $33. When the administration announced stricter standards for automobile fuel efficiency in 2011, it cited the reduction in carbon emissions as a key benefit. Those benefits have since been cited in several dozen new regulations, including the hotly debated 2015 rule seeking to restrict emissions from new power plants. Regulators also revisited a more fundamental concept: the value of life. Not just a theological or philosophical abstraction, that figure is used to assess how much spending the government should require to prevent death or injury. The Department of Transportation, for example, increased the estimated value of preventing one death from $6. 6 million in 2009 to $9. 4 million last year, adjusting for inflation. The department made an even larger adjustment for preventing injuries, for example raising the value of averting a broken arm from $103, 000 in 2009 to $442, 000 in 2015, also adjusting for inflation. The increases have helped to justify new requirements for stronger roofs and rearview cameras on automobiles and seatbelts on buses. The new carbon cost estimate, in particular, has drawn fire from industry groups who regard it as an arbitrary assessment intended to further an environmental agenda. Environmentalists, however, argue that the government is still significantly understating the actual impact. A 2014 analysis by economists at Stanford University, published in the science journal Nature, estimated that the cost of carbon was actually $220 per ton, far above the government’s official estimate. Mr. Greenstone, in a recent interview, defended the government’s number as a result of a technocratic process that was not influenced by political pressures. “Our job as faceless bureaucrats sitting in windowless rooms was not to do science but to summarize the frontier of science,” he said. “ And I feel that we were faithful to that. ” By the fall of 2011, after a summer standoff between the two political parties nearly caused a government shutdown, it was clear to Mr. Obama that little hope remained for moving his agenda forward in a Congress controlled by Republicans. Speaking in Las Vegas that October, Mr. Obama expressed disdain for “an increasingly dysfunctional Congress” and pledged: “Where they won’t act, I will. ” That sentiment kicked off a realignment as White House officials held a series of strategy meetings that fall in the Roosevelt Room, first with Mr. Obama on Saturdays and later with agency and policy experts, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays. Led by Ms. DeParle, who had become deputy chief of staff, and Dan Pfeiffer, the communications director, they asked: What can we do without Congress? “It’s certainly true that we learned by about the third year that the answer to every challenge isn’t going to be legislative,” said Cecilia Muñoz, now director of Mr. Obama’s Domestic Policy Council. The pace of regulation stalled somewhat in 2012, amid political concerns about announcing sweeping new regulations during the campaign. In 2013, Mr. Obama’s team briefly hoped his victory would lead to legislative progress, but Republicans blocked gun control measures and an immigration overhaul, and partisan gridlock shut the government down for 15 days that October. In early 2014, the moment was finally ripe. Mr. Obama recruited John D. Podesta, then the head of the Center for American Progress, a liberal research and policy institution, to be his counselor in the White House “The weight, if you will, changed with a very recalcitrant Republican House, and with both the House and the Senate being part of the ‘Nyet!’ caucus,” Mr. Podesta said. “It meant that you had to be seriously concerned with trying to make change happen with the tools that you had available. ” In January 2014 a frustrated president stood before Congress and declared “a year of action” — with or without the help of the Republicans arrayed before him. “Whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do,” Mr. Obama said in his State of the Union address. Mr. Obama announced an executive order raising the minimum wage to $10. 10 an hour for several hundred thousand cooks, janitors and other federal contract workers. In subsequent orders, each resulting in a new regulation, the president required contractors to let their workers take paid sick days and banned discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers. He also increased workplace protections for all workers at businesses that held federal contracts — an umbrella covering roughly 29 million workers. “What the president was ultimately doing was holding up the United States government as a model employer,” said Joseph Geevarghese, director of Good Jobs Nation, a advocacy group that pressed the administration to embrace its regulatory power. “And it created a ripple effect. Within months of the president acting you had private C. E. O.s — Ikea, Gap, Disney, airlines — saying they too were going to boost minimum pay. ” The new regulations again required the White House to broaden its assessment of regulatory benefits. During Mr. Obama’s first term, administration officials told Mr. Geevarghese and other activists that the government did not have the power to make such changes. But after Mr. Obama’s they found a way: White House lawyers concluded that the president could impose requirements on contractors in the interest of taxpayers. Betsey Stevenson, a member of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers, took the lead in building a case that contractors who paid higher wages would attract and retain better workers, increasing their productivity. The theory holds, for example, that if the lunch lines at a federal office building moved a little more quickly because of more competent, motivated cafeteria workers, every employee in those lines would save a few minutes a day and have more time to work, thus increasing productivity. The idea has its roots in work by George Akerlof, a Nobel economist, and his wife, Janet Yellen, now chairwoman of the Federal Reserve, who decided in the early 1980s to pay their babysitter wages as motivation. With the president’s blessing, the E. P. A. also became more aggressive. The agency asserted federal authority to protect thousands of waterways and wetlands, proposed to cap carbon emissions at new and existing power plants, raised emissions standards for trucks and airplanes, and called for new limits on methane, mercury and ozone. “He has been much more ambitious and aggressive on environmental regulation than any other president we’ve had,” said Jeffrey Holmstead, a lawyer pursuing legal challenges to some of Mr. Obama’s signature environmental rules. Courts have now temporarily blocked the administration’s water rules and delayed the power plant limits on carbon dioxide emissions. The next administration will also have considerable leeway to determine how quickly new rules are carried out, and how strictly enforced. Every president promises to prune the federal rule book. Mr. Obama has tried to formalize the process for reviewing existing regulations, and the two candidates vying to take his place, Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump, have nodded at the need to ease the burdens of regulation. But the scope of federal regulation has continued to grow, and the trend is likely to continue. Presidents, both Democratic and Republican, have asserted greater power in recent decades to dictate the shape of regulations, while Congress has become less specific in its instructions. “We live in an era of presidential administration,” Elena Kagan, a Harvard law professor since appointed by Mr. Obama to the Supreme Court, wrote in a 2001 paper that reviewed the expansion of the regulatory state. Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Trump would most likely face significant congressional opposition to their major campaign promises. To sidestep Congress, they now have the legacy of Mr. Obama. Mr. Podesta, now Mrs. Clinton’s campaign chairman, said the appeal of taking action without Congress is hard to resist. “You come in with a strategy of going to the Hill, certainly where you can find some cooperation,” Mr. Podesta said. But when that fails, writing regulations “is a way to get much more substantial behind solving the problem. ” | 0fake |
New Zealand goes to polls on Saturday, ending tight, volatile race | WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealanders go to the polls on Saturday in the most volatile and hard-fought race in recent history, which could usher in a change in openness to migration and trade and the central bank s approach to monetary policy. Volatile opinion polls have shown a neck-and-neck race, although the ruling National Party of Prime Minister Bill English has led in recent polls, with two giving it a lead of nearly 10 points. A change in the Labour Party leadership last month turned what had been expected to be a dull campaign into a nail-biting event, with 37-year old Jacinda Ardern vying to become the third woman prime minister and the youngest of recent times. It s tight, Ardern, whose popularity prompted media to coin the term Jacindamania , said on Friday. It shows that every single vote will count and that turnout will determine this election. Labour hopes to ride a worldwide wave of change that most recently propelled France s Emmanuel Macron to become its youngest head of state since Napoleon. English, a 55-year-old former finance minister who took over after John Key s shock resignation last year, is making his second bid to be elected leader after a failed attempt in 2002. Both leaders are expected to stay the course in terms of fiscal prudence, but will probably differ on monetary policy, trade and immigration, spelling ramifications for the New Zealand dollar, the world s 11th most traded currency in 2016. Ardern wants to add employment to the central bank s inflation-targeting mandate, which could mean more stimulatory monetary policy. She also wants to cut migration and renegotiate certain trade deals, which some worry could hurt two key sources of growth for New Zealand s small, outward-looking economy. Election uncertainty could have temporarily weighed on the economy, by making firms more cautious over investments and hiring, said Philip Borkin, a senior economist at ANZ. A tight outcome could weigh on the currency as could one foreshadowing a change in government, he added. If it comes in and shows there is a decent chance of a change in government, I think that could be a factor weighing on the currency, just from an unknown point of view. Given New Zealand s German-style proportional representation system, it could take weeks to determine the composition of the new government, with minority parties expected to have an outsize impact. About 986,000 ballots have already been cast, says the Electoral Commission, accounting for almost a third of the 3.2 million voters enrolled. In past elections, advanced votes pointed to the final results. But special votes , from voters overseas and outside their home constituencies, could sway the outcome. This category, which made up 12 percent of votes in 2014, will only be announced on Oct. 7. The new government s make-up will also depend on negotiations between parties that could last weeks, particularly if the results are close. Winston Peters, leader of the nationalist New Zealand First Party, which is likely to become the kingmaker, has declined to say which bloc of parties will get his support until the results become official on Oct. 12. With a loss in momentum in the Labour campaign, the latest polls suggest it is more likely that Peters will join forces with National, said Oliver Hartwich, executive director at the New Zealand Initiative think tank. It would be hard for him to argue why he would give it to Labour if they are really 8 to 9 percentage points behind, he added. For a graphic on New Zealand's parliamentary elections, click: tmsnrt.rs/2joJZGV For a graphic on New Zealand markets react to opinion polls, click: tmsnrt.rs/2faMawe | 0fake |
Palestinian Authority Daily: Water The Soil With Martyr’s Blood | JERUSALEM — “Water the soil with your blood,” was the message conveyed by a cartoon published last week in the official Palestinian Authority daily. The cartoon depicted a Palestinian prisoner watering a blooming plant with blood directly from his vein. [The cartoon, which was published in and cited by Israeli NGO Palestinian Media Watch, is in keeping with the ideology of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, which regularly promotes the idea that the land and the cause of “Palestine” needs Palestinian blood in order to survive. Children from a young age are indoctrinated with this blood cult ideology of martyrdom as a poem posted on Fatah’s Facebook page testifies: Teach your children … There is a seed in the soil, If you water it with blood, It will sprout a revolution, When the most recent wave of terror was launched in October 2015, the PA fueled the fire by glorifying suicide and martyrdom. Following one of the first terror attacks, the PA daily summarized the attack thus: [Palestinians] insisted on perfuming themselves with the Martyr’s blood. … The residents of Jerusalem looked at the blood spots which were still on the ground and on the water which turned slightly red from it, formed a circle and recited the [Quranic Sura] for the martyr’s [soul]. Earlier the same month, PA official Governor of Ramallah and Laila Ghannam, posted a message on her Facebook page describing the morning as one “fragranced by the blood of the martyrs:” Palestine’s morning, A morning fragranced by the blood of the martyrs, The morning of wounded Jerusalem, Have a morning of pride and honor, In January, Fatah posted a separate call to water the soil with blood of martyrs: Fatah means full readiness to sacrifice and faith in Allah, and afterwards in the inevitable victory, in the justice of the cause, and in the national unity. We were born as rebels on the land of [Prophet] Muhammad’s Night Journey and Ascent to Heaven we carried out intifada as free men and we embraced the land in purity and washed in blood with which we watered our land for freedom and independence. | 0fake |
A Transformational November of Taking a Stand | Leave a reply
Henry Seltzer – The astrology of November features Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Eris. All the outer planets are strongly represented in the New Moon and Full Moon configurations, so that, as the month continues to unfold, our awareness of the transformational intensity of these times that we are living through is ever-present. The October 30th New Moon sets the stage for this powerful November cycle, bringing forward into the picture the astrological factor of thoughtful Mercury, in close conjunction with the Sun and Moon that day, and representing greater consciousness and a species of abstract logical analysis.
The sign placement of these personal planets being Scorpio becomes an added factor of emotional intensity that stirs us deeply, especially when we consider that Mercury is in partile or same-degree trine formation with the Pisces placement of numinous Neptune. We are therefore this entire month experiencing a compassionate and a highly idealized time of recognizing what we all hold deep inside ourselves, that directly connects with, and supports and underlies, the surface details of all our activities in the visible physical plane that we more consciously inhabit.
As befits this Scorpionic time of the year, the surface layers of our more normative comings and goings are only part of the story now, with the vast unseen realm of unconscious process taking a major role in the characterization of this month’s true activity.
Neptune, along with the other outer planets, represents access to numinous realities beyond the purely physical, the significant life of our deep internal process. This is the vast unconscious realm, deep within, which Freud and Jung first annunciated in the early 20th century, and which finds even greater credence today. The highlighted placements of Uranus with Eris, and of Saturn and Pluto, complete the roster of planetary significators, also including Venus in close aspect with Mercury and Mars at the timing of the mid-month Full Moon that punctuates this rather intense monthly cycle.
The new planet, Eris, beyond Pluto, only named as recently as 2006, represents the astrological archetype of Spiritual Warrior: that is to say the determination to stand up for what one most deeply believes, at soul level. This energy is strongly highlighted now, and is thus prominent on our inner radar, because still within little more than a degree of Uranus, and closely squared by Mars, in the timing of the New Moon that initiates the Scorpio cycle.
The question that comes up for everyone quite poignantly these days is whether you can find that inner urge for true achievement, what you feel, at the most profound level, that you must, at all costs, accomplish in this lifetime. This might have nothing to do with success in the eyes of the world, but is nevertheless vital from the standpoint of an inner drive, deep within, for what feels most important.
This month of November represents quite a ride. When we see in the timing of the First Quarter Moon of Monday, November 7th, that the Sun and Moon are closely aligned with both Saturn and Pluto, in the same degree that they occupy, in the two signs between, and that Saturn is almost exactly in parallel aspect with Pluto, we can be sure that in some profound and completely individual fashion, the structure of our lives is changing.
We can see this also in the collective, where this thought can give us courage as we come to understand that we are not hopelessly enmired in an existing status quo, but that everything, even the underlying social fabric of our lives, is in serious flux.
With the Full Moon of the following Monday, November 14th, at the 22 degree mark of Scorpio, the same degree that Eris occupies in Aries, we come to a culmination of these remarkable two weeks, the launch point for the remainder of the November cycle. We come as well to a better understanding of what we have going on deep within us. This includes the necessity for standing up for ourselves, and for our most deeply held values, no matter what. SF Source Astrograph Nov. 2016 Share this: | 1real |
EU imposes oil embargo on North Korea in symbolic gesture | LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - The European Union banned the sale of oil and oil products to North Korea on Monday, in a largely symbolic move aimed at encouraging countries that have more significant levels of trade with the country to follow suit. EU foreign ministers also imposed a blanket ban on doing business with North Korea in sanctions that go beyond the latest U.N. measures. The EU does not sell oil to Pyongyang. Following North Korea s most powerful nuclear test, the U.N. Security Council capped North Korean imports of crude oil, but China and Russia resisted an outright ban. EU ministers cited the persistent threat to international peace and stability posed by Pyongyang. As part of the measures, North Korean workers in the EU - estimated to be about 400, mainly in Poland - now face a lower limit on the amount for money they can send home and their work visas will not be renewed once they expire. The sanctions add three more top North Korean officials and six businesses to a blacklist banning them from travel to the EU and freezing their assets. That will take the total of those sanctioned by the EU to 41 individuals and 10 companies, a senior EU official said. U.N. sanctions target 63 people and 53 companies and institutions. | 0fake |
Why We Wait For The Future | opednews.com - Advertisement -
I have suggested elsewhere that if we want a better future we will have to create it out of whole cloth and intend that it be 'for the highest and best good for all concerned and the planet'.
Most of us know that two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time. The time, space thing that is our planetary reality is occupied by dark, evil, powerful forces with no intention of moving aside to accommodate positive outcomes.
Carl Jung has noted that "the opposite of love is not hate, it is power". I get this. Love nourishes and empowers the object of its attention, power seeks dominion over what it notices, is destructive. We cannot confront this power and it would be karmically harmful to do so resulting in no change.
So, the existent power, in play for 300,000 years, must 'start' to break down before change is possible, to allow space for that change. If we want to be in control of that change we must be the dominate unified conscious intent during the breakdown of order and focus that positive intend toward a better future.
The breakdown of order is in play right now in front of our eyes .It is remarkable and noteworthy that the U.S., the evil empire has leveled most of the Middle East, used depleted uranium weaponry in Iraq causing severe genetic damage to newborns for generations, has driven millions of hapless refugees into Europe and I hear no loud, clear voice screaming for them,us, to stop. I have just described an 'end of times, type horror story the evil doers who run the U.S. are engaged in and plan to expand around the globe. They actually plan and promote the breakdown of order, the chaos out of which they expect to rise with an absolute grip on all power. They expect us to welcome this enslavement just to stop the pain and suffering they have caused us. Again, this madness is taking place right now in front of our eyes.
If the decent and responsible among us organize now to be that dominate unified intent, the dominate consciousness , we would control the aftermath of the planned breakdown of order. Our rulers do not imagine us capable of this since we have behaved like victims who always attract and suffer victimizers to their lives. - Advertisement -
So that's it. We need about ten percent of us to to lightly hold the intent to create the new paradigm of existence and hold this vision while chaos descends around us. If this is an effort by 'enough' of us we will prevail. The Law of Attraction, the first universal law will assist us and attract more positive energy than thought possible. The planet herself is considered a conscious being and would certainly direct all possible positive energy to our cause-her cause. As our energy grows the energy available to evil wanes. When they sense this their testicles will shrink!
Finally, no one need give their life to this cause rather a commitment to prevail not founded solely on self interest and a real sense of responsibility to humankind and the planet.
The breakdown of order has begun.... - Advertisement - | 1real |
Senior Saudi prince freed in $1 billion settlement agreement: official | RIYADH (Reuters) - Senior Saudi Arabian prince Miteb bin Abdullah, once seen as a leading contender to the throne, has been freed after agreeing to pay over $1 billion to settle corruption allegations against him, a Saudi official said on Wednesday. Miteb, 65, son of the late King Abdullah and former head of the elite National Guard, was among dozens of royal family members, high officials and senior businessmen rounded up this month in a crackdown on graft that has strengthened the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The official, who is involved in the crackdown and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Miteb was released on Tuesday after reaching an acceptable settlement agreement . The official said he believed the agreed sum to be the equivalent of over $1 billion. It is understood that the settlement included admitting corruption involving known cases, the official said, without giving details. According to the official, Prince Miteb was accused of embezzlement, hiring ghost employees and awarding contracts to his own firms, including a deal for walkie talkies and bulletproof military gear. Prince Miteb is the first senior figure known to be released among those detained. Around 200 people in total have been questioned in the crackdown, authorities said earlier this month. The allegations, which include kickbacks, inflating government contracts, extortion and bribery, could not be independently verified. Saudi authorities, who estimate they could eventually recover around $100 billion of illicit funds, have been working on reaching agreements with suspects detained at Riyadh s luxurious Ritz Carlton hotel, asking them to hand over assets and cash in return for their freedom. Apart from Miteb, the Saudi official said that at least three other suspects had finalised settlement agreements and that the public prosecutor had decided to release several individuals. The prosecutor has decided to put at least five people on trial, the official said without disclosing their identities. The fate of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, chairman of investment firm Kingdom Holding 4280.SE and one of Saudi Arabia s most prominent international businessmen, was not known. Kingdom issued a statement earlier this month saying it was continuing to operate normally but has not responded to queries about his status since he was detained early this month. Two Saudi sources told Reuters that Prince Alwaleed has so far refused to reach a settlement and had asked for access to his lawyer in order to fight allegations against him. Relatives, his lawyer and officials in his office could not be contacted to comment. Saudi Arabia s stock market .TASI, where many investors have been alarmed by the corruption probe, rose after news of the settlements by Prince Miteb and others. The main index was trading 0.4 percent higher around midday on Wednesday. The settlements may mean authorities can soon wind down parts of the probe, reducing the risk of damage to the economy through the freezing of hundreds of bank accounts, and easing the danger that firms linked to detainees could be affected. Officials from Prince Miteb s office could not be reached for comment about his release, and it was unclear if he was able to move freely or whether he would be put under house arrest. An acquaintance of the family said earlier on his Twitter account that Prince Miteb was receiving brothers and sons at his palace in Riyadh. The arrests of royals and top businessmen have been welcomed by many Saudis who are frustrated by corruption, but the crackdown is also seen by many people as a pre-emptive step by Prince Mohammed to remove any possible challenge to his control over the world s top oil exporting country. The round-up follows a meticulously planned palace coup in June through which Prince Mohammed ousted his elder cousin Prince Mohammed bin Nayef as heir to the throne. Prince Miteb, as overlord of the 100,000-strong National Guard, represented the last great competing power center left after the toppling of Prince Mohammed bin Nayef. In September, religious and intellectual critics of the government were jailed. | 0fake |
New North Dakota governor expects controversial pipeline to be built | (Reuters) - North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who took office last month in the height of tensions surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline, said he believed the line would eventually be built and asked opponents to clean their protest camp before spring floodwaters create a potential ecological disaster. A centrist Republican with no prior political experience, Burgum was elected in a landslide on a platform of streamlining government and improving relations across the state. Burgum built a successful software business before selling it to Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) in 2001. Burgum told Reuters that approval of the pipeline appeared to be a foregone conclusion once Donald Trump moved into the White House. “I expect the world’s going to change dramatically on that day relative to finding resolution on this issue,” Burgum said in an interview. “I would expect that (Energy Transfer Partners (ETP.N)) will get its easement and it will go through.” A coalition of Native American groups, environmentalists, Hollywood stars and veterans of the U.S. armed forces protested the $3.8 billion oil project at a North Dakota camp, which at one point held more than 5,000, though that number has shrunk in size during the winter. Opponents contend construction would damage sacred lands and any leaks could pollute the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. Last month, President Barack Obama denied a key permit needed to complete the pipeline, but Trump has said he will review that decision. Local law enforcement have voiced concerns that any reversal by the federal government could cause the area to swell again with protesters, straining resources. David Archambault, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, has repeatedly asked protesters to leave the area and let the pipeline fight play out in courts. Burgum said he agrees with Archambault and asked protesters to help clean up the camp before it threatens the environment itself. More than 300 vehicles, along with dozens of temporary dwellings and other detritus, have been abandoned at the campsite, which sits in a flood plain that is likely to be overrun by spring rain and snowmelt. State officials are concerned that floodwaters could carry that material away. “The amount of cleanup that needs to take place is enormous,” Burgum said. “We’ve got a potential ecological disaster if this land floods and all the debris flows downstream into tribal lands.” | 0fake |
Anti-War Movement Anticipates More War Under A Clinton Presidency | U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, December 5, 2012.
NEW YORK — As the bizarre 2016 presidential election nears its end, activists in the United States are considering the prospects for war and peace under the next administration.
And with Hillary Clinton leading comfortably in most polls, the Democratic nominee’s militaristic record, as well as her promises to expand the use of force, are sparking concern.
“Clinton is one of the biggest war-mongers the country has,” Joe Lombardo, co-coordinator of the United National Antiwar Coalition , told MintPress News.
“She pushed for the bombing of Libya and the regime change in that country. She has supported a no-fly zone in Syria, which can put the U.S. in direct conflict with Russia.”
On the campaign trail, Clinton has repeatedly advocated a “no-fly zone” in Syria, an aggressive move necessarily accompanied by a widespread bombing campaign, similar to those in Iraq and Libya, which were followed by expanded interventions to impose regime change.
Senior U.S. military pilots have warned that the proposal could plunge the United States into direct conflict with Russia, whose air force is currently deployed over Syria.
In September, Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate that the prospect “requires us to go to war against Syria and Russia.”
‘Kill a lot of Syrians’ “It is critical that we not be confused about what Clinton’s promise of a no-fly zone will mean,” Meredith Aby of the Minneapolis-based Anti-War Committee told MintPress.
“It is an escalation of U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war and it will mean an increase in casualties.”
In 2013, Clinton herself admitted in a paid speech to Goldman Sachs, obtained and released by WikiLeaks in September, that her proposal would “kill a lot of Syrians.”
“To have a no-fly zone you have to take out all of the air defense, many of which are located in populated areas,” she said.
Beyond Syria, Clinton has also threatened to attack and “totally obliterate” Iran , and she has repeatedly promised to take the United States’ ties with Israel “to the next level.”
In August, after accusing Russia and China of hacking U.S. computer systems, she warned : “We will be ready with serious political, economic and military responses.”
‘A voice for war since 2002’ US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in Jerusalem, Israel, Monday, July 16, 2012.
These statements, along with Clinton’s long, unbroken record of supporting military interventions, have anti-war activists eying the future warily.
“Many in the anti-war movement understand the dangers of a Clinton presidency,” Aby said.
“From her resume it is fairly obvious she will be a hawk, more so than President Obama and President Clinton. She has been a voice for war since 2002 when she voted for war in Iraq.”
Beyond Clinton’s explicit threats of wars, her administration may also seek to expand the use of “soft power,” ranging from diplomatic assistance and military aid to subversion and coups, in pursuit of its foreign policy goals.
“She has called for boosting U.S. support for Israeli missile defense systems and supports helping Israel with technology to fight in Gaza,” Aby said, adding:
“On the campaign trail, she has denounced the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a threat to Israel. And while she hasn’t campaigned on it, she is no friend of Latin America. Her own emails show the role she played in helping provide support for the coup in Honduras.”
Lombardo also noted that regions further removed from the headlines than flashpoints like Syria could face similar threats from a Hillary Clinton administration.
“The Philippines is heating up and Clinton has a history in Latin America, where there are many places that the U.S. would like to see regime change,” he said.
‘A very unpopular president from day one’ In the waning months of the campaign, both Clinton and her Republican rival, Donald Trump, have emerged as historically unpopular candidates , more so than others in the era of scientific polling.
Indeed, while Trump’s aggression has kept his popularity below Clinton’s, she recently surpassed the bellicose billionaire as the least-liked candidate in history.
A poll released by ABC News and the Washington Post on Tuesday showed Clinton’s unpopularity had reached a record-breaking 60 percent, while Trump’s stood at 58 percent.
Despite her jingoism and promises to expand U.S. military efforts far beyond those of Barack Obama, organizers hope this public disdain may give them room to maneuver.
“Although Clinton will win the presidency, she will be a very unpopular president from day one, which will give us the political space to organize opposition to her foreign policy,” Aby said.
Lombardo agreed. “Clinton is very unpopular, and while the election of Obama put a damper on the anti-war movement, I believe we will see that turn around under Clinton.”
He also noted the growth of domestic social movements, like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter, that could herald a resurgence in mobilization.
“There is a downturn in the economy, distrust of the government and the system as a whole,” Lombardo said. “The connections with the wars abroad and the wars at home is clear to more and more people. I think a movement against increased war can be explosive and powerful during a Clinton administration.”
But he added that there was much work to be done. “Although anti-war sentiment in the U.S. is high, the anti-war movement in weak compared to where it was in the past.”
‘No optimism, only apprehension’ A woman with the words “hands off” painted on her face takes part in a protest organized by the Stop the War coalition calling for no military attack on Syria from the U.S., Britain or France, across the road from the entrance of Downing Street in London, Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013.
As the clock ticks down to the election, numerous organizations have launched new efforts they hope will preempt the war drive expected to start soon after Jan. 20.
Along with other groups and individual supporters, the United National Antiwar Coalition launched a “Hands Off Syria Coalition” and accompanying statement against further U.S. intervention in the war-torn country.
The effort “is getting a tremendous response,” Lombardo said.
Other organizations, including the ANSWER Coalition and International Action Center , have called for protests against the inauguration in Washington.
“There’s no optimism, only apprehension,” International Action Center co-director Sara Flounders told MintPress. “People know in their bones that a larger war is coming. From the first day of a new administration, we need to send an angry warning.”
But with the United States fatigued from a grueling election season that has left few residents with positive impressions of either candidate, widespread distrust of the political system may deny the new president the mandate he or she would need to embark on new military adventures.
“I think people are less naive now then they were eight years ago,” Aby said. “People understand that foreign policy is not an issue that truly separates the two major party candidates.” | 1real |
Donald Trump: Democrats ‘Phony Hypocrites’ for Protesting James Comey Firing - Breitbart | President Donald Trump said Democrats were “phony hypocrites” after protesting his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. [“Dems have been complaining for months months about Dir. Comey,” the president wrote on Twitter. “Now that he has been fired they PRETEND to be aggrieved. “Phony hypocrites!” Trump’s response helped conclude the White House reaction to the hysteria from Democrats after Comey’s firing and calling for an independent investigation into Russia. Earlier in the day, leftists outside the White House protested Trump’s decision to remove Comey. White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said during the press briefing that the administration was anxious for the investigation’s completion. “We encourage them to complete this investigation so we can put it behind us and we can continue to see exactly what we’ve been saying for nearly a year: There’s no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia,” she said. | 0fake |
Trump Supporters Declare WAR On Paul Ryan, And Republicans Only Have Themselves To Blame | If Donald Trump goes down, so does House Speaker Paul Ryan.At least that s what Trump supporters are suggesting in an attack on Ryan on Breitbart.com, whose CEO Steve Bannon works on the Trump campaign.An article posted on Breitbart accuses Ryan being a Hillary Clinton supporter who has a pro-Islamic agenda simply because he has been critical of Trump and some of the things he has said and done throughout the campaign.Ryan and Clinton share a progressive, globalist worldview, which is at odds with Trump s America first approach. Indeed, both Clinton and Ryan have said that they see themselves as representatives not only for American citizens, but also for foreign nationals and foreign interests. This view that the needs of foreign citizens are equal to the needs of American citizens reflects the belief that Americans are only part of many interest groups that a lawmaker ought to consider when crafting legislation even as he or she negotiates with other countries, which always put their citizens first. The divide between progressive globalism and nation-state conservatism perhaps helps to illuminate why Ryan has spent months both quietly and loudly undermining his own party s nominee for president, the article continues.Of course, saying that Paul Ryan is in league with Hillary Clinton is absurd. After all, Ryan may be one of the less openly insane Republicans but he s definitely NOT a progressive.But conservatives are so enraged at Ryan for not blindly pledging allegiance to Trump that they are now calling for his head, which means Paul Ryan is in serious jeopardy of losing the tight House race he is embroiled in. And even if he wins on November 8th, Ryan faces a revolt from conservatives against him continuing to be Speaker, that is if Republicans keep control of the House.Either way, Paul Ryan is being undermined by Trump and his minions, so it continues to be a mystery why Ryan still hasn t unendorsed him.Conservatives are even questioning Ryan s loyalty to America and to the party.The push to remove Ryan as Speaker is picking up some steam, said Congressman Mark Meadows who also voted for Ryan last year after leading the charge to remove Ryan s predecessor, John Boehner, as Speaker. Meadows explained that a lot of conservatives now question the loyalty of the Speaker in light of Ryan s treatment of Trump.Frankly, Republicans only have themselves to blame for this. They gave their far right conservative base a place at the table and now these extremists have taken over the party. For years, Republicans used fear and hate to gin up their base against Democrats. Now that anger is being turned against any Republican who refuses to bow down and kiss Trump s ass.Trump has used the Republican playbook against them. And the result is a once proud party descending into chaos and tearing itself apart from within.Featured Image: Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 1real |
GERMANY’S Anti-Trump, Open Borders ANGELA MERKEL Sees Re-election Poll Numbers Drop…Orders 100,000 Migrants To Be Deported…By Force If Necessary | In what has to be considered an historic about face, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that 100,000 migrants who recently arrived in Germany would be deported.For more than a year following the massive tide of humanity that flooded into Germany from Africa and the Middle East, Merkel stoutly defended her open border policy as being consistent with western values. A million migrants later, and a huge voter backlash due to overburdened local governments and a sky rocketing crime rate, Merkel has changed her tune.On November 9, 2016, Germany s Angela Merkel offered Donald J. Trump a public admonishment following his historic win against pro-amensty Hillary Clinton: Sunday Express:Ordinarily, a politician who tried to pull this off would be toast. But Merkel finds herself in a strong position because the alternatives to her are even worse.Recent polls show her coalition of the CDU/CSU comfortably ahead by 11 points over the Social Democratic Party the leading left wing party in Germany by 33-22%. The next strongest party are the Greens who poll at 12% and then the nationalist party AfD at almost 9%. Put simply, the German voter has nowhere else to go now that Merkel has flip flopped on immigration.There is a chance that the left wing parties will poll enough votes to fashion a majority, but given that the Social Democrats are determined to continue with a liberal immigration policy, it isn t likely.Merkel will probably pull off her switcheroo on open borders and win re-election. But she has already accelerated the timetable for a takeover of her country by people with no interest in promoting German or western values and ideas. American Thinker | 1real |
Hillary Reveals Her Pick for Secretary of State – This Woman CANNOT be Elected! | 0 comments
Hillary Clinton has reportedly been eyeing Joe Biden for Secretary of State. Creepy Uncle Joe Biden.
A source familiar with Clinton’s planning told Politico that Biden is at the top of her internal shortlist, but he has not yet been notified. The list is being prepared by Clinton’s “transition team.”
According to the same source, Clinton’s team is strategizing about how to approach the Vice President, who nearly ran against her in the primaries.
“He’d be great, and they are spending a lot of time figuring out the best way to try to persuade him to do it if she wins,” said the source.
From Politico :
Among the names most discussed: former undersecretary of state Wendy Sherman, the point person on the Iran deal and a favorite within the State Department; former Deputy Secretary of State Bill Burns, who now heads the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Nick Burns, the former under secretary of state of political affairs under George W. Bush who’s been an active advocate for Clinton this year; Kurt Campbell, Clinton’s assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs when she was in the job; Strobe Talbott, the deputy secretary of state during Bill Clinton’s first term and a longtime friend of the Clintons who’s now the president of the Brookings Institution; and James Stavridis, the retired admiral who earlier this summer made it into consideration as the sleeper pick to be her running mate.
Despite being widely known for his numerous gaffes, Biden chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before joining the Obama Administration, and is one of the most experienced and respected Democrats on the world stage.
He is coming to what would be the close of a 44-year career in Washington, first with six terms in the Senate and then two terms as President Barack Obama’s closest adviser, and has expressed his desire to retire.
In addition to his resumé, Biden would bring to the table a “star power” none of Hillary’s other picks could.
To be fair, no one could possibly make a worse Secretary of State than Hillary herself, though Joe Biden might be a close second. | 1real |
Iraq's Al-Abadi making in-person appeal to Obama for financial help | Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is making an in-person appeal to President Obama on Tuesday for more help defeating the Islamic State militants, hoping recent gains in the fight will encourage more investment from a war-weary United States.
Seven months after al-Abadi's election raised hope in Washington for Iraq's future, an honor guard of U.S. service members holding flags aloft greeted his limo for his first visit to the White House. The prime minister quickly entered the West Wing for an Oval Office visit.
Al-Abadi told reporters Monday that the increase in U.S. airstrikes, weapons deliveries and training has helped roll back Islamic State forces, but he needs greater support from the international coalition to "finish" them. "We want to see more," he said.
The White House signaled that more aid could be coming. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden touted momentum in the fight against the Islamic State, and White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday, "If there are specific ideas that Prime Minister Abadi has for stepped-up assistance, then we'll obviously consider them seriously."
"This is a partnership that the United States is obviously invested in," Earnest told reporters Monday. "And our success in working with an inclusive Iraqi government has been important to some of the security gains that Iraq has realized against ISIL in the last few months."
Earlier this month, Iraqi forces and allied Shiite militias, backed by U.S. airstrikes, were able to recapture the city of Tikrit from the Sunni militants in what was the government's first major victory in Iraq's Sunni heartland.
"More efforts to organize, arm and integrate the Sunnis willing to fight ISIL are going to be needed in the months ahead to liberate Anbar and Mosul," the Islamic State's stronghold, Biden said in a speech Thursday at National Defense University previewing al-Abadi's visit. Biden joked that he's spent more time on the phone with the prime minister talking over the issues than he spends talking to his wife.
Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Biden was trying to make the case that it's worth investing more at a time when many Americans feel their country has done enough.
"There's a military campaign that the U.S. is helping wage, but it has more internal problems than I think people on either side are willing to admit," Alterman said. "The reality is what we are trying to do is very difficult, very complicated and many people question how unified we are with the Iraqi government on what we are trying to do."
The White House also announced Tuesday that Obama will host another important Arab ally in the fight against extremists, with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan planning a visit Monday. The White House said their agenda includes the air campaign against Shiite rebels in Yemen, Iran nuclear negotiations, conflicts in Libya and Syria as well as the fight against the Islamic State.
The U.S. and its coalition allies have carried out nearly 2,000 strikes in Iraq since the campaign against the Islamic State began in August -- as well as nearly 1,400 in neighboring Syria. American officials say that while the campaign has made gains, it is likely to stretch on for years.
After years of war, the United States withdrew its forces from Iraq in 2011 but left behind troops to guard the U.S. Embassy. In November, Obama authorized the deployment of up to 1,500 more American troops to bolster Iraqi forces, which could more than double the total number of U.S. forces to 3,100. The Pentagon has made a spending request to Congress of $1.6 billion, focusing on training and arming Iraqi and Kurdish forces. According to a Pentagon document prepared in November, the U.S. is looking to provide an estimated $89.3 million worth of weapons and other equipment to each of the nine Iraqi army brigades.
The U.S. blamed the lack of inclusiveness by al-Abadi's predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, for giving the Islamic State a recruiting tool and had made the formation of a new government a condition for deeper military action to stop the militant group. Obama met al-Abadi at the United Nations shortly after his election and praised him as "the right person to help work with a broad-based coalition of Iraqis," and he said the U.S. supports the new prime minister's "political vision." | 0fake |
North Korea's 'princess' now one of the secretive state's top policy makers | (This Oct. 9 story corrects para 18 to show that person attending concert was likely not Kim Yo Jong) By Hyonhee Shin and Soyoung Kim SEOUL (Reuters) - The promotion of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un s 28-year-old sister to the country s top decision-making body is a sign he is strengthening his position by drawing his most important people closer to the center of power, experts and officials say. Kim Yo Jong was named as an alternate member of the politburo within the ruling Workers Party of Korea - the opaque, all-powerful party organ where top state affairs are decided, the North s official media said on Sunday. It makes her only the second woman in patriarchal North Korea to join the exclusive club after Kim Kyong Hui, who held powerful roles when her brother Kim Jong Il ruled the country. Since she is a female, Kim Jong Un likely does not see her as a threat and a challenge to his leadership, said Moon Hong-sik, research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy. As the saying goes blood is thicker than water, Kim Jong Un thinks Kim Yo Jong can be trusted. Unlike her aunt, who was promoted to the politburo in 2012 after serving more than three decades in the party, Kim Yo Jong has risen to power at an unprecedented pace. Kim Kyong Hui has not been seen since her husband, Jang Song Thaek, once regarded as the No.2 leader in Pyongyang, was executed in 2013. South Korea s spy agency believes she is now in a secluded place near Pyongyang undergoing a treatment for an unidentified disease, according to an August briefing to parliament. Jang and his wife are not the only relatives to fall from Kim Jong Un s favor. Kim Jong Un s estranged half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, was killed with a toxic nerve agent at a Malaysian airport in February. Two women are on trial for the murder, which South Korean and U.S. officials believe Kim Jong Un s regime was behind. Kim Jong Nam, who lived in exile in Macau, had criticized his family s dynastic rule and his brother had issued a standing order for his execution, according to some South Korean lawmakers. The smartly dressed Kim Yo Jong, her hair usually pulled back in a ponytail and mostly seen in black suits and black-heeled shoes, made her first debut on state media in December 2011, seen standing tearfully next to Kim Jong Un at the funeral of their father. Since then, Kim has made several appearances with her brother, giggling at concerts, riding a white horse, smiling as she receives flowers on his behalf at state functions. Her youth and bubbly personality seen in state media are in stark contrast to the usually glum generals and ageing party cadres who follow Kim Jong Un on official duties. Having previously only occasionally appeared in the background, the young heiress has moved to the front and center of media photos more recently, assisting her brother at numerous high-profile state events. At a massive military parade in April to mark the 105th birth anniversary of founding father Kim Il Sung, she was seen rushing out from behind pillars to bring paperwork to her brother as he prepared to give an address. The same month, she stood alongside him during the unveiling ceremony of a construction project in Pyongyang. In March 2016, she accompanied Kim Jong Un to a field guidance for nuclear scientists, where he claimed successful miniaturization of nuclear warheads. Kim Yo Jong s official inclusion in the 30-strong exclusive club of North Korea s chief policy makers means her role within the regime will be expanded further, Cheong Seong-chang, senior fellow at the Sejong Institute south of Seoul. Apart from her age, little is known about Kim Yo Jong. In February 2011, South Korean TV station KBS showed a woman it identified as Kim Yo Jong and her other brother, Kim Jong Chol, enjoying an Eric Clapton concert in Singapore. However, a Reuters review of those pictures shows it was most likely a different person. The three, who all reportedly went to school in Switzerland, are full blood siblings, born to Kim Jong Il s fourth partner, Ko Yong Hui. Kim Jong Chol, the oldest of Kim Jong Il s sons, does not involve himself in politics, leading a quiet life in Pyongyang where he plays guitar in a band, according to Thae Yong Ho, North Korea s former deputy ambassador in London who defected to the South. In 2014, Kim Yo Jong was made vice director of the Workers Party s Propaganda and Agitation Department, which handles ideological messaging through the media, arts and culture. The position led the U.S. Treasury Department to blacklist her along with six other North Korean officials in January for severe human rights abuses and censorship that concealed the regime s inhumane and oppressive behavior . Last year, South Korea s former spy chief said Kim Yo Jong was seen abusing power , punishing propaganda department executives for minor mistakes . In a North Korean state media photo in January 2015, she was spotted wearing a ring on her fourth finger during a visit to a child care center. South Korean intelligence officials say Kim might have wed a schoolmate from the prestigious Kim Il Sung University, but there has been no confirmation of whether she is indeed married or to whom. | 0fake |
NOT FUNNY! #PaulRyan Bashes Trump Last Night At Al Smith Dinner [Video] | Paul Ryan attended the Al Smith dinner last night and proceeded to take swipes at President Trump the entire time. Not funny! He just looked like a jerk reading bad and insulting jokes from a script. Watch below:WATCH: Speaker Paul Ryan roasts President Trump at Al Smith dinner. Read more: https://t.co/C6yskrO5Yu pic.twitter.com/PinNgUr7v3 NBC News (@NBCNews) October 20, 2017The Al Smith Dinner is a Catholic fundraiser for needy children that celebrates its 72nd year this year. It s known for its jokes and roasting of political figures. The Catholic fundraiser for New York s neediest children included a who s who of New York politicians, among them Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Emmy Award-winning Patricia Heaton served as the event s first-ever woman emcee.Ryan hit at President Trump several times during his speech: I m learning being Speaker of the House is a stepping stone to becoming ex-Speaker of the House. But just because I m speaker, you did not have to invite me, Ryan quipped.This is probably NOT the best time to focus on bashing President Trump but it s no secret that globalist Ryan isn t a huge fan. He famously said during the 2016 campaign that he would fight against Trump s agenda:The October conference call apparently was intended only for House Republican members. It s unclear which or how many House Republicans took part in the call, whether the participants knew it was being recorded, who made the recording, or whether a recording exists of the entire call. The remarks on the portion provided to Breitbart News certainly sound like they were coming from Speaker Ryan, who seemed to be abandoning his party s presidential nominee altogether just weeks before the election. He says not only will he not defend the Access Hollywood comments, but he will not campaign with Trump at all between this call on Oct. 10, 2016, and the general election for the presidency on Nov. 8 and that Ryan would not defend Trump on anything generally. For entire story- Matthew Boyle, Breitbart NewsLISTEN:Globalist RINOs like Paul Ryan hate Trump s agenda because it focuses on the American people 100%. Ryan has famously supported cheap foreign labor that kills American jobs and has expressed his dislike for Trump s wall that would prevent the flood of illegals we have now. The bottom line is that Ryan is part of the swamp that Trump wants to drain. Let s hope Ryan is out soon! | 1real |
SEAN HANNITY BLASTS FAKE TRUMP-RUSSIA Collusion Narrative: “Is this all Mueller has? Because if it is, it’s PATHETIC” [VIDEO] | During his Fox News show tonight, Sean Hannity went off on the unequal justice in the Mueller indictment of Paul Manafort and phony Trump-Russia collusion narrative. Hannity reminded his audience that none of the charges that have been levied against Manafort have anything whatsoever to do with Trump-Russian collusion. He reminded his viewers that the financial issues Mueller s team was looking at were between the years of 2008-2014.So in other words, nothing of the Paul Manfort indictment had anything to do with the Trump campaign or Donald Trump. Is this all Mueller has? Because, if it is, it s pathetic. Another day, another example, after a year of speculation. No evidence of any collusion between President Trump and Russia.Sean goes on to remind his viewers that the Grand Jury was empaneled in Washington DC, one of the most liberal cities in America, where over 90% of the people there voted for Hillary Clinton.Watch:.@seanhannity on Manafort indictment: "Is this all Mueller has? Because if it is, it's pathetic." #Hannity https://t.co/RW3GsNSXP3 pic.twitter.com/pXNOGVlsd9 Fox News (@FoxNews) October 31, 2017Newt Gingrich was a guest on the Sean Hannity show tonight, where he shared his thoughts on the Mueller investigation of Paul Manafort. Gingrich pointed out the same thing that Sean said, there is an out of control prosecutor, who was supposed to be looking into Russian collusion . Gingrich went on to explain how the most grotesque abuse of power was used by Mueller to threaten and intimidated Paul Manafort.Watch:.@newtgingrich on Mueller investigation: "You have an out-of-control prosecutor." #Hannity https://t.co/RW3GsOazdD pic.twitter.com/qs8hRFGPjR Fox News (@FoxNews) October 31, 2017 | 1real |
SICK! DEMOCRAT ORGANIZER, Mayor DeBlasio Employee Arrested On CHILD PORN Charges: Possessed Videos Of Female BABIES As Young As 6 Months Involved In Sex Acts | Last week it was Huma Abedin s husband Anthony Weiner, this week, it s a Democrat organizer and employee of Democrat Mayor of NYC Bill DeBlasio, 29 year old Jacob Schwartz.A leading young Democrat and de Blasio administration employee has a secret taste for sickening kiddie porn that involves baby girls as young as 6 months old, court papers revealed Friday.Jacob Schwartz, 29, was busted for allegedly keeping more than 3,000 disgusting images and 89 videos on a laptop after downloading the filth from the internet. NYPAccording to the NYP: Schwartz s father labor lawyer and Democratic insider Arthur Schwartz called his son s case a personal tragedy. I understand these are serious charges, said the elder Schwartz, who watched his son get arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday night. He s already in therapy for this. | 1real |
This One Sentence BEAUTIFULLY Nails Down Exactly What Kind Of ‘Leader’ Trump Will Be | The double-talk that spews forth from King Cheeto s mouth is astonishing, if for no other reason than so many people believe all of it. He s a liar, he s a hypocrite, he s an autocrat, he s a narcissist. And he promises to continue talking out of both sides of his mouth the same as he did on the campaign trail.And his audiences will continue to eat up every syllable. Why on earth do they do that? Matt Bai, a political columnist at Yahoo! News, boils it down to this one sentence: Trump is a pure opportunist, a pitch-perfect crooner of whatever note resonates. [emphasis mine]BOOM! There it is, right there. Trump knows exactly what will make people respond favorably to him and he says it. In doing so, he renders anything he said before irrelevant, no matter how contradictory. Look at all his cabinet picks that followed his promise of draining the swamp of Washington insiders, elites and cronies. His cabinet is Wall Street bankers. It s establishment politicians. It s members of the very same military leadership he called stupid during his campaign.Trump embodies a type of leader known as the charismatic leader, and that s not necessarily a good thing. True, not all charismatic leaders are bad, but they aren t all good either. In Trump s case, this is a very bad thing. In Management Today, columnist Adam Gale says the world that Trump comes from is one where force of personality is more important than collaboration or cold reasoning. That s all that matters, and why we re suddenly living in a post-fact world. Facts, truths, and reason don t matter if Trump can convince people they don t matter. And he himself admitted to playing his audiences like the violins they re not in The Art of the Deal: I play to people s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That s why a little hyperbole never hurts. [emphasis mine]Think he won t do that as President? Think again he s already done it. His loyal subjects still bleat about how amazing he is to have struck a deal with Carrier to keep jobs here in the U.S. They completely ignore the facts that Carrier is still sending jobs to Mexico and is planning to raise prices. They don t seem to care that they re going to automate their Indiana plant, which will destroy some of those jobs Trump supposedly saved so they can keep their costs down. Their parent company s CEO, Greg Hayes, said that outright: We re going to automate to drive the cost down so that we can continue to be competitive. Is it as cheap as moving to Mexico with lower cost labor? No. But we will make that plant competitive just because we ll make the capital investments there. But what that ultimately means is there will be fewer jobs. In the case of the Carrier deal, Trumpkins specific fantasy is the idea that Trump can coerce, cajole, and even strongarm companies, one by one, into not only keep jobs here, but also into at least maintaining their current workforce, or adding more jobs. The fantasy is that Trump is going to be able to erase every individual s personal economic distress.That s impossible, but that s what they see through their rose-colored glasses. There are other fantasies, too, like this: My whole life I ve been greedy, greedy, greedy. I ve grabbed all the money I could get. I m so greedy. But now I d like to be greedy for the United States. Washington Post columnist and The Nation publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel hit the nail of that Trumpkin fantasy on the head with this: It was a compelling story: the rapacious mogul turned Robin Hood, setting out to reform the rigged system that made him rich in the name of the common good. She went on to describe how that s an illusion that Trump has created for his faithful subjects, but which his actual policy positions during his campaign should have shattered.This is how Trump s followers can keep right on crowing about Trump s awesomeness and how he s the president we need to be great again. One could even say that they re brainwashed in a very real way (they also seem to be too stupid to see how stupid they are, but that s a different subject).Oh sure, there are a few who are angry. There are a few who have woken up. Former Congressman Joe Walsh, of Illinois, is one such person (and agreeing with that man on anything at all makes us feel like we re in a bizarre alternate reality where night is day, hell is cold, and dragons really do exist, but, well, there it is).Sarah Palin called out his deal with Carrier as crony capitalism.But so many others? They re on social media being as trashy as ever toward the press, toward Democrats, toward anyone who doesn t march exactly to Trump s drumbeat. They re calling any news that doesn t reinforce the golden crown they see on Cheetolini s head fake news, and completely ignoring how many campaign promises Trump has already broken. They trust him implicitly because he knows exactly how to sing their tune in perfect time and pitch. Whether he means it is irrelevant.And he ll keep right on playing them. Bai said he ll do it until someone can prove to him that there s a real cost. Bai is right.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 1real |
The Old Democrat Wall Street Plus Identity Politics Playbook is Dead | by Yves Smith
Yves here. This is a very important video from the Real News Network , and I wish there were a transcript, so do take the trouble to listen to it.
One of the reasons for the ferocity of the howling from the Democratic Party hackocracy in the wake of the unexpected Trump vicory is that they are effectively cornered animals. As political scientist Tom Ferguson explains, the Democrats can’t get the number of voters they need with their traditional coalition of Big Finance money plus identity politics without delivering tangible benefits to workers, which they have abjectly failed to do. But the power of mone in the Democratic party makes it well nigh impossible for them to devise the sort of populist policies that would appeal to voters that Trump has successfully peeled off.
Ferguson also has some important exit poll and early, granular data that debunks some cherished Democratic party myths. For instance, playing the gender card wasn’t as successful as the media would lead you to believe.
Ferguson, who has been a consistent critic of the Democrats from the left, does not rule out the idea that Trump could deliver on policies that would make him popular, most important, ones that would create more jobs and improve wages. One expert close to the Sanders camp came to the same view separately months ago. So while Trump may be stymied, or may never have been sincere about his battle call to downtrodden workers, it’s a mistake to rule out the possibility that he will continue to succeed despite the odds and his glaring character defects. 0 0 0 0 0 1 | 1real |
In American Markets, Panic Begins to Subside - The New York Times | The market panic that initially met Britain’s vote to leave the European Union showed signs of subsiding on Monday. While stocks continued to slide for a second trading day, by the close of business Monday a measure of calm appeared to be returning to certain significant corners of the market. The benchmark Standard Poor’s index was stable for most of the day after dropping around 2 percent in the first minutes of trading. It ended the day down 1. 8 percent. Markets in Japan and China finished Monday in positive territory. A gauge of expected future volatility in the markets, the VIX, fell on Monday after spiking on Friday, and remained far below the level it reached last summer when problems in the Chinese economy came to the fore. “I’m not expecting contagion here,” said Jack A. Ablin, the chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank, based in Chicago. “We’re pretty well insulated,” he said of the American economy. The outlook was less sanguine in Europe. Investors continued dumping European stocks and seeking out the safety of gold and bonds on Monday, despite comments from British and European officials intended to calm markets. George Osborne, the British chancellor of the Exchequer, spoke for the first time since the Brexit vote, before markets opened on Monday. He said that while Britain’s public finances would be affected by an exit from the bloc, the broader economy was still in good shape. “Our economy is about as strong as it could be to confront the challenge our country now faces,” Mr. Osborne said. “It is inevitable, after Thursday’s vote, that Britain’s economy is going to have to adjust to the new situation we find ourselves in. ” “We were prepared for the unexpected,” he added. “We are equipped for whatever happens. ” But Mr. Osborne’s comments appeared to do little to shore up the nation’s currency. The British pound fell on Monday to its lowest level against the dollar since the 1980s. In another blow to the British economy, the Standard Poor’s rating agency announced on Monday that it was stripping Great Britain of its AAA rating. The country’s rating was dropped two notches, to AA. Standard Poor’s analysts said in their report that the vote last week “will weaken the predictability, stability, and effectiveness of policy making in the U. K. and affect its economy, G. D. P. growth and fiscal and external balances. ” There is still enormous uncertainty about how exactly Britain’s exit will play out, and how it will ripple through the economy. The most obvious victims are likely to be the big European banks, which have relied on an ability to operate easily across borders. Trading in financial stocks like Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland was briefly suspended on Monday because of precipitous declines. Barclays fell 17 percent on Monday on top of its 17 percent decline on Friday. That brought the bank’s stock below the bottom it reached during the 2011 eurozone crisis, though it remained far above the trough reached during the financial crisis. “Banks are one of the most exposed sectors to Brexit,” Andrew Coombs, a Citigroup analyst, said in a research note distributed on Monday. He noted that British banks were particularly vulnerable “given the likely headwinds of a deteriorating domestic economy, and higher risk premia associated with a less predictable political and economic landscape. ” But, he warned, “the European investment banks are also not immune, with sizable operations in London, which may now need to be reviewed. ” Italian officials said on Monday that they were looking at creating what amounted to a bailout fund to help struggling banks in the country. Throughout Europe, however, investors have not been assuming the worst — they seem to have reserved their harshest punishment so far for bank stocks. By contrast, a broad index of European shares, the Euro Stoxx, fell 2. 8 percent on Monday but was still above the lows it reached earlier this year. In the United States, the S. P. index finished down 1. 8 percent, or 36. 87 points, at 2, 000. 54 on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1. 5 percent, or 260. 51 points, to 17, 140. 24. The Nasdaq composite was down 2. 4 percent, or 113. 54 points, to 4, 594. 44. Some economists said that the turmoil in Europe could slightly stunt American growth. Goldman Sachs economists said on Monday that they had reduced their estimates for American economic growth in the second half of 2016, to 2 percent from 2. 25 percent. But other analysts were far more optimistic. Pantheon Macroeconomics said on Monday that it still anticipated American economic growth to gain steam this year, driven by improving consumer confidence. For American investors, the biggest fallout from the British vote may be the influence that it has on the Federal Reserve and its plans for raising interest rates in the economy. Traders were betting on Monday that the Fed would have to keep rates lower for longer, which could help stimulate the economy. Janet L. Yellen, the Fed chairwoman, was supposed to attend a meeting of central bank chiefs this week in Portugal, but she called that off after the British vote last week. In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held an emergency meeting on Monday with officials from the nation’s central bank and Finance Ministry to discuss how to contain the fallout from the vote in Britain, which pummeled markets in Japan and elsewhere on Friday. Japan was hit especially hard. The Nikkei suffered its biggest point drop in 16 years and the yen jumped about 5 percent against the dollar. On Monday, Japanese authorities issued their strongest warning yet that they were prepared to intervene in the market to curb the rise of the yen. Markets elsewhere in the region were mostly little changed. Japan, however, generally fears an excessively strong currency, which can hurt the country’s economy by making its exports more expensive and consequently less competitive. “There is still uncertainty and risk in the financial markets, and it’s important that we continue to work for stability,” Mr. Abe told reporters after a meeting at the prime minister’s office. He added that he had instructed the finance minister, Taro Aso, to “coordinate with the Bank of Japan and be even more mindful of movements in the markets, including the currency market. ” | 0fake |
BAM! THREE THINGS UFC’s Dana White Respects About Donald Trump [Video] | Dana White, Ultimate Fighting Championship President, speaks at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, about the reasons he respects Donald Trump. | 1real |
Scotland Votes to Demand a Post-‘Brexit’ Independence Referendum - The New York Times | LONDON — Only hours before Britain is to embark on its momentous journey out of the European Union, Scotland’s Parliament on Tuesday underscored one of the risks along that path by voting to demand a new referendum on Scottish independence. By a vote of 69 to 59, members of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh approved plans to request a referendum on independence that could take place just before Britain completes its withdrawal from the European Union, a process known as Brexit. That timing has already been rejected by Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain, who must agree to any legally binding referendum on Scotland’s future. Nevertheless, the Scottish Parliament’s vote sets the stage for a constitutional tussle between London and Edinburgh, and it illustrates the and destabilizing, consequences of Britain’s divisive decision in June to withdraw from the European Union. In that referendum, 52 percent of voters chose to leave the European Union. But Scotland voted, 62 percent to 38 percent, to remain in the bloc, illustrating a divergence between Scottish and English politics that poses an existential risk to Britain. In Northern Ireland, too, a majority voted to remain in the European Union, amid fears that a withdrawal could weaken the peace process there. The Scottish vote came on the eve of a historic day for a British government intent on disentangling itself from more than four decades of European integration. On Wednesday, Mrs. May is expected to send formal notification of Britain’s desire to leave the bloc by invoking Article 50 of its governing treaty. Late Tuesday, Mrs. May’s office issued a photograph of the prime minister signing the letter its delivery will start the clock on a negotiation scheduled to last two years. During that time, Mrs. May aims to agree to divorce terms and to negotiate a new economic relationship with the countries that remain in the European Union. In a speech that she is expected to deliver on Wednesday, she will argue that as Britons “face the opportunities ahead of us on this momentous journey, our shared values, interests and ambitions can — and must — bring us together,” according to excerpts issued by her office. Mrs. May will also promise that, in negotiations, she will “represent every person in the whole United Kingdom,” including citizens of countries in the European Union who have made Britain their home. As she embarks on the talks to leave the bloc, Mrs. May knows that one of her many challenges is to secure a deal that helps avert a breakup of Britain. But because of her control over the timing, a referendum on Scottish independence is unlikely to happen anytime soon. The vote on Tuesday empowers Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to formally request a referendum, but she already knows Mrs. May’s answer: not now. The British government plans to withhold agreement at least until it has secured its departure from the bloc, scheduled for the first half of 2019. On Tuesday, David Mundell, the British government’s Scottish secretary, seemed to push the timetable further by saying that government “won’t be entering into any negotiations at all until the Brexit process is complete. ” That hints at a date beyond the British withdrawal and after any further transitional period, perhaps several years later. Nevertheless, Britain’s vote has given Ms. Sturgeon’s governing Scottish National Party a reason to demand another independence referendum, less than three years after it lost the last one in 2014. At that time, Scots were told that if they voted to leave Britain, they would lose their place in the European Union. They may now lose it anyway. Ms. Sturgeon argued that Scots should have the right to choose between Brexit “or becoming an independent country, able to chart our own course and create a true partnership of equals across these islands. ” Ms. Sturgeon argues that the shape of any Brexit deal should be known by autumn 2018. Scots should then have the opportunity to try, through independence, to stay in the European Union, or at least in its single market and customs union, she has said. But with London intent on blocking a referendum anytime soon, Ms. Sturgeon’s best hope may be for Mrs. May’s stalling tactics to backfire — annoying Scots enough to persuade a majority to support independence if they finally have the chance to vote. | 0fake |
Abe aims to underscore importance of Japan-U.S. alliance with Trump | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to underscore the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance when he meets President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida said on Sunday. “This is going to be an important meeting to build trust,” Kishida told public broadcaster NHK. “We also would like to use this opportunity to input the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance, as well.” With Abe set to meet Trump in New York on his way to an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru, Tokyo has been seeking clarity on what direction the Republican political novice wants for bilateral relations after he made comments on the campaign trail that were at odds with longstanding policies. Kishida reiterated Japan’s long-standing position that it has no plans to possess nuclear weapons. During his campaign, Trump left open the possibility that Japan - the only country to have suffered a nuclear bombing - might adopt nuclear weapons. “I don’t believe Japan will possess nuclear arms. This principle won’t change,” Kishida said. Trump’s campaign comments on Japan’s nuclear armament and his demand that Japan pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces on its soil have worried Tokyo about a possible rift in a security alliance with Washington that has been the bedrock of its defense since World War Two. Defence Minister Tomomi Inada told the same NHK program that Japan is already shouldering enough financial burden to support U.S. troops deployed in Japan. “Japan is making sufficient contribution,” she said. “I would like to continue underscoring that Japan is going to strengthen its own defense posture both in quality and quantity, strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and strengthen ties with other relevant countries.” | 0fake |
Senate committee to take up bill on CFTC | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee will soon consider legislation on the country’s commodities and derivatives regulator that is intended to keep financial-sector restrictions in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law from applying to farmers and ranchers because their derivatives trading helps them manage operational risks. On Thursday, the Agriculture Committee will mark up legislation reauthorizing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees the $400 trillion U.S. swaps market as well as trading in agriculture, metals and energy. Republicans, who are the majority in Congress and lead the committee, unveiled the bill late on Monday. A congressional source familiar with the legislation said lawmakers were open to negotiation and the bill could change before Thursday. The central aim of the Senate committee’s bill is to allow farmers, ranchers and energy providers to hedge their operational risks with derivatives, while maintaining regulation of financial swaps trading. The source said it was not an attempt to affect position limits that the CFTC sets on contracts or options. The 2010 Dodd-Frank law strengthened oversight of swaps in order to prevent a repeat of the risky bets that contributed to the financial crisis. Republicans have said that rules the CFTC put in place to carry out the law have spread regulation into areas outside of finance, which Congress did not intend. Nonetheless, the Senate bill would address some financial elements such as requiring electronic confirmation of customers’ account balances at banks and preventing firms from moving funds among accounts without notifying regulators. It would also strengthen protection for proprietary information submitted to the CFTC as part of required disclosures and create a judicial review process for the commission’s rulemaking. The bill unveiled on Monday would also require the commission to review and take action on the London Metal Exchange’s application to register as a foreign board of trade. The CFTC has had to operate on year-by-year funding since the end of 2013 because Congress has not passed a new authorization for it. Lawmakers say this has created uncertainty in many markets. The House of Representatives passed its version of the CFTC authorization in June. Parts of that legislation that stirred controversy, such as a cost-benefit analysis requirement, were not included in this bill. | 0fake |
Re: Don’t worry about Hillary: BuzzFeed confirms she remained totally super awesome while under siege | Don’t worry about Hillary: BuzzFeed confirms she remained totally super awesome while under siege Posted at 5:54 pm on October 29, 2016 by Brett T. Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
Well, this wasn’t altogether unexpected. After news broke Friday that the FBI had uncovered new information pertinent to its investigation into Hillary Clinton, it wasn’t long before reporters, as predicted, began filing stories about Republicans “pouncing” on the news .
That’s all well and good — everyone knew those mean Republicans would attack. As always, Clinton put up a brave front, challenging the FBI to go public with whatever it had, possibly including classified documents related to an ongoing federal investigation.
But did anyone think to really check on the Democratic candidate? How was she holding up behind the scenes? Pretty well, it seems. BuzzFeed’s Ruby Cramer provided readers with an insider’s look at Hillary’s super-weird day under siege. Your guide to the *weirdest* yet most totally normal day on the plane w/Clinton—a candidate unfazed when under seige https://t.co/i3xwJ1T4Bn
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) October 29, 2016
So relax, everyone: there’s no need whatsoever to lose sleep on Clinton’s behalf. Even while besieged by the continuing fallout of a scandal of her own making, she was “almost bizarrely unfazed by crisis.” @rubycramer @maggieNYT this woman is tougher than any man i no of
— allen stubbs (@NASTY4HRC) October 29, 2016
OMG, right? Totally. @rubycramer "a candidate unfazed when under siege"
That's what I like.
— Jaymes Winn (@jaymeswinn) October 29, 2016 @rubycramer @maggieNYT This woman is a rock of strength! That is the mark of a true leader!
— M. Stein (@MStein2016) October 29, 2016 @rubycramer @BuzzFeedNews good piece. She's made of steel, our Hillary. | 1real |
Belarus plays down Western fears of aggression stirred by joint war games with Russia | BORISOV FIRING RANGE, Belarus (Reuters) - Belarus said on Wednesday the West had no reason to fear attack by its close ally Russia or that Moscow could leave behind forces after war games it is holding with Minsk for a possible occupation of Western neighbors. Russia has repeatedly said the exercises, code named Zapad or West which began on Sept. 14, are purely defensive in nature and do not target a third country or group of countries. NATO has voiced concern that Moscow could use the war games as a cover to station troops and equipment in Belarus. The U.S.-led alliance has said the drills lack transparency and the number of troops taking part could be much larger than the 12,700 servicemen declared by Moscow and Minsk. Russia s neighbors have said they fear Moscow could use the exercises as a rehearsal for an occupation of adjacent nations like Poland, Ukraine or the three Baltic republics - all of which were under Moscow s rule before the Communist Soviet Union broke up in 1991. Poland and the Baltics are now members of NATO and the European Union, while Ukraine is pursuing such ties. The attempt to discredit the exercises is extremely unprofessional, said Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko. We won t wage war on anyone. Do not expect any attack from us - especially on Ukraine, he told reporters at a firing range 75 km (47 miles) east of Belarus s capital Minsk after overseeing the last day of Zapad maneuvers. All the troops will be back to the sites of their permanent deployment, he said, dressed in camouflage uniform as supreme commander. In a week, this issue will become irrelevant. On an overcast and rainy day, he watched from a vantage point as allied troops of Russia and Belarus repelled a simulated attack by forces of three fictitious neighboring nations on Belarus. Aircraft zeroed in on ground targets after mock dogfighting, after which a ground offensive unfolded. Hours earlier, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait made the exercises the centerpiece of her annual speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Even as we speak, around 100,000 Russian troops are engaged in offensive military exercise Zapad 2017 on the borders of the Baltic States, Poland and even in the Arctic, she said. The Kremlin is rehearsing aggressive scenarios against its neighbors, training its army to attack the West. The exercise is also part of information warfare aimed at spreading uncertainty and fear. The Kremlin said on Wednesday it had provided exhaustive information on the exercises before they were held to the military attaches of all interested countries and allowed their observers to attend the event to allay any concerns. I think that upon receiving this information Ms. Grybauskaite will have a chance to change her point of view, President Vladimir Putin s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo also voiced disquiet at the exercises and said Warsaw opposed any lifting of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine s Crimea region and role in its separatist conflict. We are very concerned by what is happening in Belarus, from the exercises there, Szydlo said during a visit to Bulgaria. | 0fake |
Irma creates bittersweet travel bonus for luckier Caribbean islands | (Reuters) - On Friday, a cruise ship carrying around 3,000 passengers will dock at St. John s harbor in the Caribbean island of Antigua. It will not be where the passengers expected to land when they booked, however. The Carnival Plc ship was meant to dock in Saint Martin, 100 miles (160 km) to the northwest. However, Hurricane Irma devastated the island, wrecking its port and infrastructure, and leaving it out of bounds for tourists. Antiguan officials now expect the Carnival Fascination to visit every Friday, and have gotten about 25 calls from major cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Norwegian Cruise Lines looking to make stops through the end of the year. For Asot Michael, Antigua and Barbuda s minister for tourism, the unexpected arrival of thousands of tourists is a bittersweet bonus. We are going to be benefiting. I don t want to benefit from others misfortune after such a disaster, Michael said. But because the port is so damaged in Saint Martin, so damaged in Tortola in the British Virgin Islands, we re getting some of those cancellations. Those cruise lines now are making ports of call into Antigua. Hurricane Irma left behind a stark divide in the Caribbean ahead of the winter tourism season that is the region s economic lifeblood. As travel to the region picks up again, cruise lines, hotels, airlines and other companies are directing customers to places that are able to host them, and away from the worst-hit areas. Popular winter vacation spots such as Saint Martin, the British Virgin Islands and Saint Barthelemy that were devastated by the storm could be sidelined for weeks or months. In 2016, 29.3 million tourists visited the Caribbean and spent $35.5 billion, both new records, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization. For Saint Martin and Saint Bart, the holiday season looks very compromised, said Jean-Pierre Mas, chairman of French travel agency federation SNAV. My sentiment is that the winter season is lost. Decisions to book for the winter season are taken right now. Busy tourist destinations in the western Caribbean, such as Barbados and Trinidad, were well away from the path of the storm. Cozumel, on Mexico s Gulf Coast, got four additional visits this week as ships were rerouted to avoid the storm s impact, although Cozumel tourism officials said three cruises were canceled. Florida, which was anticipating another record year for its $100 billion a year tourism industry, is expected to rebound in time for the peak winter travel months, Moody s Analytics said earlier this week. Walt Disney Co reopened its Orlando Disney World theme park on Sept. 12. The Florida Keys, however, wrestled with more severe storm damage. [nL2N1LR0N1] [nF9N1L0029] [nL2N1LS1HW] Some travel companies said they are still assessing the situation and had not made firm decisions about rerouting ships. Tour operator Virgin Holidays said that it was beginning to return to regular operations in Antigua, despite damage to some properties on the island. Antigua wasn t as badly damaged as we feared, and we have reopened tourism there, although three resorts are currently not on sale because of the damage, a spokesman for Virgin Atlantic said. Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia are three big tourist examples that were not impacted. However, the small island of Saint Martin, which France shares with the Netherlands, could miss out on much of its tourism season. French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday vowed to swiftly rebuild the islands of the French Caribbean, including Saint Martin, and a French public reinsurance body estimated a cost of at least 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) from the damage there and in Saint Barthelemy. [nL2N1LT1SF] [nL5N1LQ09G] Hurricane Irma badly damaged many hotels on the island, such as AccorHotels Mercure hotel. A spokeswoman for Accor said that while nobody had been hurt, the hotel would be closed until Jan. 8 at least. While 70 hotel rooms remain operational, they are being used to house military forces and other staff that are supporting the relief effort. AccorHotels is offering cancellation and reimbursement for those who had booked stays at the hotel. | 0fake |
Yemen's Houthis say Iranian missile charges a distraction from Jerusalem decision | DUBAI (Reuters) - A spokesman for Yemen s Houthi group on Thursday dismissed U.S. accusations that Iran had supplied a missile fired at Saudi Arabia last month, saying it was an attempt to divert attention from the United States decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel s capital. After three years of war, America suddenly finds evidence that Iran supports the Houthis, Abdel-Malek al-Ejri said in a message on his Twitter account. America did not find any evidence in all the missiles fired from Yemen until now. The story is clear. They want to give Arabs a story to divert their attention from Jerusalem. Instead being angry at Israel, they wave the Iranian bogey, he added. The United States on Thursday presented for the first time pieces of what it said were Iranian weapons supplied to the Iran-aligned Houthis, describing it as conclusive evidence that Tehran was violating U.N. resolutions. Iran has denied supplying the Houthis with such weaponry and on Thursday described the arms displayed as fabricated. President Donald Trump on Dec. 6 announced U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital, stirring anger across the Arab and Muslim world and concern among Washington s European allies as well as Russia. | 0fake |
BAHAHA! Wanna bet Hillary made THIS face when she found out about the FBI? [photo] | — Adam Baldwin (@AdamBaldwin) October 28, 2016
She did finally land … Everyone at Hillary's Cedar Rapids "rally" knew about the FBI reopening the case before she did. pic.twitter.com/WoPaBmhF3v
— Adam Baldwin (@AdamBaldwin) October 28, 2016
Sounds like there was a wait on the tarmac for Hillary … but it supposedly wasn’t FBI story related. Clinton delay on tarmac wasn't about the FBI, it turns out. Pool report notes that Annie Leibovitz came off after, likely had a photo shoot. pic.twitter.com/xE5pm3ITRC
— Ruby Cramer (@rubycramer) October 28, 2016
Photo shoot must be code for a “holy crap, what do we do with this FBI thing” meeting. Trending | 1real |
WHY IS OBAMA DISARMING COPS IN AMERICA At Same Time Terror Threat Is Being Raised? | In the face of mounting threats of terrorism and civil unrest in U.S. cities, President Barack Obama is arbitrarily prohibiting local police and sheriff departments from obtaining military surplus equipment from the Defense Department as part of what many law enforcement officers are calling his war on police.Beginning on Monday, Obama visited a number of high-crime areas especially those with large black populations to explain the need for his unilateral action, according to news sources on Monday.President Obama s spokespeople said Monday that the administration will no longer give local cops some types of protective gear and vehicles while putting stricter controls on other weapons and equipment distributed to law enforcement. The details were released prior to Obama s visit to Camden, News Jersey, Monday afternoon to give a speech on how he will address police officers allegedly using racist tactics based on racist departmental policies.Obama and his supporters view police wearing protective riot gear and using armored vehicles as being overly-aggressive in neighborhoods that are predominately black and Hispanic. The President even accused some departments of issuing bayonets, which is demonstrably untrue, according to one police officer who claims she voted for Obama in 2008. This President actually shows his dislike for local cops. I believe he wants to federalize policing and do away with local and state law enforcement. While the constitution prohibits that, when was the last time Obama cared about what the constitution says, said Iris Aquino, a former police detective.During Obama s speech in Camden, New Jersey, a city reputed to have the highest violent crime rate in the United States, not once did he mention the police officers who were gunned down by blacks or whites within the last few months, noted a New York City police official who has been active fighting against the anti-cop Mayor Bill de Blasio. That s because Obama like many liberal-left ideologues believe that police officers are the primary oppressors of minorities. The fact that Obama and the racial-division industry which includes the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson keep blacks in a state of poverty in order to use their anger and resentment for their own political interests appears to escape the notice of the news media, another group that doesn t care about dead cops, he said.Originally police officers were led to believe that Obama would continue the Pentagon s military surplus program, however a panel of his sycophants warned that there is a propensity for misuse of equipment such as armored vehicles, high-powered firearms and camouflage. But not one example of police misusing an armored vehicle has been reported. I have not heard of one incident in which police misused an armored vehicle. These are defensive vehicles used by cops to protect themselves from gunfire, Molotov cocktails, explosives and weapons of mass destruction, said former law enforcement commander Jack McGowan. High-powered firearms? The police use nothing that even resembles a powerful firearm. And camo clothing is clothing. No one gets hurt from a shirt s design pattern, McGowan said.Besides cutting off the flow of equipment that would have gone to local law enforcement, the Obama government considering a recall of certain equipment that was already give to local police and sheriffs departments. I ll highlight steps all cities can take to maintain trust between the brave law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line, and the communities they re sworn to serve and protect, Obama said in his weekly address out Saturday.Obama believes law enforcement is a necessary evil, claim his opponents. He s never showed local cops any respect. He also doesn t trust any agency he doesn t directly control. This is an American leader who wants to federalize the law enforcement function and he has a lot supporters who trust big government over states rights, political strategist Michael Baker.Former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani s Police Commissioner Howard Safir said he believes a war on police, exists in America, the anti-cop attitudes are being stoked up by Obama and his minions. After 20 years of incredible crime reduction accomplished by thousands of dedicated police officers, the public has become complacent now that they are safer, said Safir. They have let the anti-police pundits and talking heads convince everyone from the president to the attorney general that police are racist and brutal. Via: Examiner | 1real |
Uganda in anti-online pornography drive seen by critics as diversion | KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda is launching a drive against online pornography that critics condemn as a diversion from deeper problems of graft, unemployment and crumbling social services facing President Yoweri Museveni. The campaign is the latest salvo in a culture war between conservatives fighting what they see as foreign moral influences promoting criminality and a more liberal, often younger population. This is an invasion, it s Western culture, said Simon Lokodo, a 59-year-old Catholic priest who serves as minister of ethics and integrity. Over consumption of pornography ... the consequences are very dire, he told Reuters this week. The government had released 2 billion shillings ($556,000) to his office to combat online pornography. Some money would go to pornography-blocking software, he said. Some Ugandans expressed anger at the cost of the ban, saying it served only to divert public attention from failures of President Museveni s government. Critics of Museveni, who has ruled for 31 years, say he presides over widespread corruption and human rights abuses. Parliament is considering a removing a constitutional age cap to allow Museveni to serve longer. He is also widely considered to be grooming his son, a presidential adviser and the former commander of an elite military unit, to succeed him. Andrew Karamagi, a rights activist and lawyer in Kampala, said he could not understand government obsession with what people watch, who sleeps with whom, how and when , while it struggled to fund social services such as hospitals and schools. Uganda s only radiotherapy machine broke down last year and hasn t been replaced due to funding shortages. Drug shortages are common in public hospitals where and in dilapidated public schools poorly-paid teachers often don t show up for class. The regime ... does not have the moral authority to combat pornography, Karamagi said. They are themselves an obscenity. | 0fake |
Little hope of peace talks as renewed fighting looms in South Sudan | KAMPALA (Reuters) - As fresh fighting looms in South Sudan with the onset of the dry season, there is little chance of peace talks to end a war that has already killed tens of thousands of people and created Africa s largest refugee crisis, diplomats and analysts said. South Sudan s December-to-May dry season usually intensifies clashes because travel is easier on the impoverished country s unpaved roads, which turn to mud in the rains. It would be a miracle if they get anything done, said Peter Biar Ajak, a civil society leader who consults with African and western diplomats on the country s stop-start peace process. South Sudan s war began in late 2013 between soldiers of President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former vice president, Riek Machar, a Nuer, devastating the country s swampy northeast. A third of the country s 12 million-strong population has fled their homes amid persistent reports of gang rape and ethnic violence. An East African bloc, IGAD, led two rounds of peace talks over two years, culminating in a brief power-sharing agreement signed by Kiir and Machar in 2015. But even as IGAD urges a new ceasefire, the warring parties are preparing for more fighting. The government plans to deploy a new force to around oil fields in the northeast, while rebels told Reuters they had procured new weapons in September and are organizing in the south. We re long past the point where power-sharing is a viable solution in South Sudan, if it ever was, said Payton Knopf, former head of a U.N. experts panel for South Sudan. Kiir s government has little reason to negotiate; it holds the military upper hand and captured Machar s main base in the northeast this year. The rebels are disorganized: Machar is under house arrest in South Africa and his subordinates are scattered across six countries. Complicating matters, many new groups have cropped up over the last 18 months and want to participate in peace talks. Four parties signed the 2015 deal. This time, IGAD has named more than 20. This is where the test is now, said Alex Rondos, the EU s Special Representative to the Horn of Africa. Can IGAD begin to exert a degree of united influence on all the parties to begin to find some degree of common ground? IGAD lost some credibility when a U.N. experts panel in September accused rival countries in the bloc of pursuing their own, conflicting interests. The South Sudanese government is also part of IGAD. IGAD is not speaking with one voice, said Rebecca Garang, a prominent opposition-aligned figure. President Salva is part of the IGAD even when he is part of the conflict. | 0fake |
The Catholic Church Uses Tax-Exempt Funds To Stop Marijuana Legalization | By Rmuse 10:03 am "The archdiocese holds the matter among its highest priorities. If passed, the law would have significantly detrimental impacts on our parishes, our ministries" *The following is an opinion column by R Muse*
For almost all secular humanists, organized religion is nothing more than an easy means of controlling people through fear and intimidation. Throughout recorded history, the Catholic Church has been responsible for all manner of devious machinations to control not just its adherents, but any humans it comes in contact with. That lust to control human beings has continued unabated into the 21st Century and in America like the rest of the Earth the Catholics number one focus has been on controlling women. Apparently, the Catholic Church in Massachusetts wants to expand its control over the population.
On Friday the Boston Globe reported that the Archdiocese of Boston dropped about a million dollars in a last-ditch effort to exert Church control over Massachusetts law and citizens to stop marijuana from being legalized for recreational use. Other reports reveal that the tax-exempt political spending is meant to help defeat a Massachusetts ballot measure, Question 4 . Question 4 simply legalizes cannabis for recreational use for people over 21 and creates a commission to regulate marijuana in the state of Massachusetts. Question 4 contains no references to the Catholic, or any other church, and makes no claim of trying to “ impact ministries .”
A spokesman for the Boston Archdiocese, Terrence Donilon, made a truly pathetic attempt at justifying the Catholic church’s political donation to the campaign against Massachusetts’ version of legalized recreational marijuana saying :
“ It reflects the fact that the archdiocese holds the matter among its highest priorities. It’s a recognition that, if passed, the law would have significantly detrimental impacts on our parishes, our ministries .”
Seriously, that has to be one of the most monumental piles of bovine excrement of a reason to use tax-free congregants’ donations to interfere in an election ever offered. Nowhere in Massachusetts’ or any state’s decriminalization statutes is any church mentioned, much less affected by the outcome of an election. Catholic priests will still be free to sexually abuse little boys if adults can legally purchase and consume cannabis. And despite residents having a toke in the privacy of their homes, the Church will still frighten its members into increasing their tithes, and the USCCB will still attempt to control and dominate all American women. No reefer decriminalization will impact the Catholic ministry, but it will drastically reduce the number of people being arrested and imprisoned for marijuana possession, free up law enforcement to pursue nasty pedophile priests, and relieve America’s over-burdened judicial system.
Now, the Catholics claim that people using cannabis legally, whether they inhale or eat it, will have “ significantly detrimental impacts on their ministries .” That is an odd assertion on yet another point; Surely part of “Catholic ministries” is teaching according to their god’s word in the Christian bible. It is nearly certain that every Catholic priest on the planet, including those in Massachusetts, are aware of god’s word in Genesis where in chapter 2, verse 9 the Catholics’ “ almighty god ” said:
“ Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food. ” And he continues in verses 15-17 , “ Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die .”
Although there is recorded evidence that cannabis was first discovered to be used for its medicinal qualities 10,000 years ago , there is no record of reefer ever being confused with “ The tree of the knowledge of good and evil; ” weed is not and will not affect the Catholic ministries if it is decriminalized today any more than it has over the past two-thousand years the Catholic Church has existed and cannabis was either unknown to the clergy or illegal.
In a reaction to the news the archdiocese was interfering with politics with tax-exempt money, an advocate and spokesman for the Yes on Question 4, Jim Borghesani, said :
“ The archdiocese has come up with a position that, frankly, we think is based on unfounded assumptions and junk science. What I think the archdiocese is missing is the terrible harm that (marijuana) prohibition has done to people of color, to people who have chosen a substance that is less dangerous than alcohol and have had their lives ruined because they’ve been arrested .”
One wonders if part of the Boston archdiocese’s ministry entails increasing the number of Americans, mainly Americans of color, sent to prison for possessing or using a plant that “ god caused to grow ” and was “ pleasing to the sight and good to eat .” Obviously, that is the case and according to a new set of data, keeping marijuana illegal means keeping Americans arrested for drug possession at a rate of every 25 seconds of every day of the year.
Why is the Catholic Church so interested in perpetuating the failed “War on Drugs in general, and the criminalization of marijuana in particular?” As noted by Michael Stone over at Patheos, what the Massachusetts Catholics, and Mormons, are actually helping to sustain is “ in reality a war on poor people and people of color .” Mr. Stone really nails it when he said that by spending tax-exempt donations on a political agenda to “ defend the unjust prohibition on marijuana; the Catholic church is guilty of perpetuating the failed War on Drugs and the New Jim Crow .”
The archdiocese is also guilty of hypocrisy, besides implicit racism. Because any religious organization that condones and even promotes the use of alcohol while using tax-exempt donations to maintain the ridiculous prohibition on cannabis is “ morally indefensible .” Mormons are also busy instructing LDS members to vote against all state initiatives that seek to decriminalize and regulate recreational marijuana use as if it has any affect whatsoever on either their private Mormon lives or their LDS ministry, but they allegedly don’t condone or enjoy alcohol so they just have control issues and are not blatant hypocrites; at least where cannabis decriminalization is concerned.
The Massachusetts Catholics may not be violating the law by “ acting as an anti-marijuana super PAC ,” but they are using tax-exempt member donations to politically influence an election and control other Americans’ lives; the church is all about wielding ultimate control over all facets of American society. However, if the Church is so flush with money; why not use that money to compensate the thousands of victims of the Church’s pedophile priests? Or, dog forbid, use that tax-exempt donors’ money to help the people of Massachusetts in need.
The Catholic Church is guilty of using fear and intimidation to control its own adherents, and that is down to frightened people needing a ‘ daddy’ figure in the Church to tell them what is right, what is wrong, and how to stay out of the proverbial Hell; that is all well and good for people that willingly cry out for a controlling organization speaking for a deity. But for people that are not “ in the church ” it is an affront to use donated tax-exempt money to impact (read control) their private lives. The only good news out of this abominable story is that it looks like Question 4 will pass with relative ease informing that the archdiocese wasted about a million dollars of its congregation’s hard-earned money.
This is yet another example of why all churches should be taxed like every other business and American citizen, except Donald Trump. It is “ morally obnoxious ” that the archdiocese is using the congregations’ donations for political purposes to influence an election and yet another sign that there is no area the church considers as out of bounds in attempting to control every aspect of society with tax-exempt funds wrung out of hardworking Americans, many of whom use recreational cannabis.
h/t Patheos | 1real |
MOCKINGBIRD REDUX? CNN’s Role in Peddling Fake ‘Nothing Burger’ Russia-Gate News Revealed | 21st Century Wire says CNN has reportedly refused to punish one of its senior producers John Bonifield, after a recent Project Veritas video sting operation exposed the network s role in peddling a fake Russia-gate narrative just for ratings. As if that wasn t enough of a network crisis, CNN s Van Jones was also caught in a new Veritas video sting release stating that the mainstream media s long-running Russian collusion story is a big nothing burger. This latest twin expos comes after three prominent writers from CNN were urged to resign (fired) after the network was threatened with an estimated $100 million dollar lawsuit (something which 21WIRE predicted) earlier this week following a bogus story (since retracted) that falsely linked political figure and financier Anthony Scaramucci to a Russian investment fund currently under a congressional probe.NOTE: CNN and other big media outlets have been pushing a vast Russian conspiracy for nearly a year and now those at CNN are brushing off the narrative after being caught in an ongoing deception MEDIA MOCKERY Senior CNN producer John Bonifield was caught in a video sting admitting that the Trump-Russia narrative was untrue and Van Jones further confirmed the network s position. (Photo Illustration 21WIRE s Shawn Helton)The US media has been floating the blame Russia meme for almost a year, and even more conveniently over this past 2016 US presidential election cycle, before morphing into the dodgy dossier that included unverified Trump-Russia claims. Incredibly, the still as of yet unsubstantiated Russia-Trump collusion story briefly vanished, only to be newly reignited again, after two US military missile strikes in Syria and Afghanistan took place following the fabricated sarin chemical attack allegations in April which the White House claimed hit the Al Nusra-held town of Khan Sheikhoun in Syria.Just this week, the US government warned (a story peddled by CNN among others) of an upcoming, soon-to-be-released alleged chemical attack out of Syria, something which would potentially prompt another wag the dog theatrical bombing from the US-led Coalition. Is this false flag foreshadowing by Washington?Perhaps such plans may have been scarpered by a blistering report detailing false sarin claims concerning the Idlib province by award-winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh only days ago. Hersh s report, appropriately titled Trump s Red Line confirmed much of what we at 21WIRE managed to outline in the aftermath of the alleged chemical attack, while also condemning the lack of clear evidence and reactionary military response by the Trump administration even after Russia shared deconfliction intelligence with the US.The fallout from the sarin hoax and CNN Russia-gate spin has also been compounded by an embarrassing retraction from the NY Times over their Russian hack/influence claims said to be confirmed by 17 US intelligence agencies a story which once again turned out to be a falsehood as recently discussed by well-known investigative reporter Robert Parry. SARIN HOAX It s official now, the alleged Syrian chemical attack story was a false narrative that Western media outlets gleefully lapped up. (Image Source: cnn)Propaganda 3.0Here is where the propaganda goes into overdrive.Suddenly, as if by coincidence (or right on cue) Reuters reports that Syria has heeded its warning, almost immediately after Hersh s stirring investigative effort laid bare many elements of April s sarin hoax in Syria. That s right: because it issued a warning based on secret intelligence that no one is allowed to see, Washington is somehow claiming credit for stopping a chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime.As both the Russian and Syria narratives continue to crumble, an awkwardness has set in for CNN and the Trump Administration (its Syria policy duly inherited from the Obama Administration) both of whom have relied on these narratives to prop-up dysfunctional US foreign policy agendas.The recent CNN video sting revelations weakens the already questionable Russian collusion plot line, something which we ve covered extensively here at 21WIRE. In fact, following the highly dubious DDoS attacks in America in October of 2016, we made the following accurate assessment: Indeed, as you look back at NY Times articles since the summer [of 2016], the stage was being set to implant the idea of an alleged Russian cyber war being waged at the US, principally charging that they would meddle with the US presidential elections in 2016 by aiding Donald Trump. Here s the NY Times building the case for Washington, seemingly without the burden of proof: An unusual question is capturing the attention of cyberspecialists, Russia experts and Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia: Is Vladimir V. Putin trying to meddle in the American presidential election?Until Friday, that charge, with its eerie suggestion of a Kremlin conspiracy to aid Donald J. Trump, has been only whispered. In August, the western media s claims against Russia hit overdrive, when the New York Times s Moscow bureau was the target of an attempted cyberattack this month. But so far, there is no evidence that the hackers, believed to be Russian, were successful. Flash forward to September here and here, as well as early October in the lead up to President Obama s decree, the Clinton friendly outlet the NY Times had all but solidified the Russian cyber/hack claims once again, without any definitive proof. Here s a newer Project Veritas video exposing CNN s Van Jones admitting there s no evidence to back-up the Russian conspiracy story Here s another look at the recent Project Veritas video exposing CNN producer John Bonfield admitting the network has pushed a false Russian collusion meme As the Project Veritas series continues, CNN Associate Producer Jimmy Carr disclosed the political bias pushed by the network QUESTION: Why has CNN been peddling Russian collusion allegations without any evidence?It s not just for ratings The new Project Veritas video stings provide more evidence of an overtly political agenda, something we saw throughout the 2016 US presidential election. In fact, the entire video expos is reminiscent of Democratic consultant Robert Creamer of Democracy Partners being caught discussing how to commit large-scale voter fraud, while also apparently outlining how to incite violence at campaign rallies. Unbelievably in the year leading up to the 2016 US presidential election, Creamer met with White House officials some 342 times along with his wife, a 9-term Illinois Democratic congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.White House visitor records show that Schakowsky took 47 private meetings with Obama or his senior staff, in the year leading up to the election.Furthermore, the Russia-gate plot line perpetuated by CNN immediately recalls the symbiotic relationship between the CIA and American media seen during the Cold War era. In the early 1950 s, the CIA ran a wide-scale program called Operation Mockingbird that was said to have infiltrated the American news media in particular, which propagandized the public through various front organizations, magazines and cultural groups. Is the recent CNN fallout more evidence confirming that a modern version of Operation Mockingbird is alive and well?In recent years, there has been a series of surreal and unreal news stories since the Smith-Mundt Act was effectively rendered obsolete by US lawmakers on July 2nd 2013, as confirmed by RT below: Until earlier this month, a longstanding federal law made it illegal for the US Department of State to share domestically the internally-authored news stories sent to American-operated outlets broadcasting around the globe. All of that changed effective July 2, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was given permission to let US households tune-in to hear the type of programming that has previously only been allowed in outside nations. The Smith-Mundt Act has ensured for decades that government-made media intended for foreign audiences doesn t end up on radio networks broadcast within the US. An amendment tagged onto the National Defense Authorization Act removed that prohibition this year. There has been an unprecedented increase in propaganda over the years from big media, despite claims that the NDAA provision offered more transparency to the American public.More from RT below THE FIX John Bonifield admitted that CNN s Russia collusion narrative is not based on evidence. (Image Source rt)CNN stands behind its producer caught in sting video, says he won t be punishedRTCNN has backed one of its senior producers caught in a Project Veritas sting video, saying the company encourages diversity of personal opinions. John Bonifield was filmed admitting the network s craze over alleged Trump-Russia collusion is bullsh*t. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong, we welcome it and embrace it, an email from a CNN spokesman to the Daily Beast reads. CNN stands by our medical producer John Bonifield, it said.CNN Health supervising producer Bonifield, who is not involved in the channel s political coverage, was videotaped saying the company does not have any evidence to support its Russia-Trump narrative, driven mostly by the desire for ratings. It s mostly bullsh*t right now. Like, we don t have any big giant proof, the CNN producer can be heard saying in the video, adding that US President Donald Trump is probably right to accuse them of a conducting a witch-hunt.This story continues at RT READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Syria FilesREAD MORE ON THE WHITE HELMETS AT: 21st Century Wire White Helmet FilesREAD MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Pound Falls Three Cents on the Dollar in Wake of General Election Uncertainty | LONDON (AP) — The pound fell sharply after Britain’s election saw the Conservatives lose their majority in parliament, raising questions about the next government’s ability to lead the talks to leave the European Union. [The British currency lost as much as 3 cents against the dollar by Friday as the results confirmed exit poll predictions that Prime Minister Theresa May had failed in her gambit to gain a stronger majority for those Brexit talks. The pound fell as low as $1. 2636 from $1. 2955 on Thursday, before recovering slightly to trade at $1. 2737. Above all, investors are worried about the general uncertainty surrounding the country — whether a bruised May will resign in due course, whether the Conservatives will be able to form a new government or whether it will be an alliance of opposition parties, led by the Labour Party. “The big picture is that political uncertainty could take weeks or months to be resolved and it is likely to weigh on both financial markets (in particular the pound) and the economy,” said Paul Hollingsworth, economist at Capital Economics in London. As the dust settles, one issue will dominate investors’ concerns above all: whether Britain is more or less likely to retain privileged access to the EU’s single market, the destination for most of the country’s exports. Currently, investors seem to worry that a weakened Conservative prime minister would not have the power to resist calls from some within the party who want a clean divorce from the EU, even if that means losing privileged access to the EU single market. When May called the election in April, she did so with the Conservatives riding high in the polls, and the pound had surged on expectations that a big majority for the Conservatives would allow her to quell the eurosceptics in her parliamentary ranks. But her decision to call the general election has backfired, and it is not even certain she will remain at the helm. Samuel Tombs, analyst at Pantheon Macroeconomics, says the pound could drop further, to $1. 2600, where it was trading before May announced the election in April. Complicating the outlook for the pound, however, is the strong showing by the Labour Party, which has advocated for closer ties between Britain and the EU single market. Though Labour is not expected to form the next government, even through an alliance with smaller parties, the vote suggests the British warmed to the party’s vision of keeping close ties with the lucrative EU market. The drop in the pound could push up inflation further in Britain, eroding people’s living standards. It would make British exports more price competitive around the world — something that was reflected in a rise in shares for major British companies on Friday, with the FTSE 100 index was up 0. 6 percent. It would also in theory make it cheaper for foreign people and companies to spend and invest in Britain, though analysts say any gains would likely be offset by the chilling effect the general uncertainty will have on business investment. “This is a serious moment for the U. K. economy,” said Carolyn Fairbairn, the head of Britain’s biggest business lobby, the CBI. “Politicians must act responsibly, putting the interests of the country first and showing the world that the U. K. remains a safe destination for business. ” | 0fake |
Clinton cronies steered millions to foundation — and Bill’s wallet | Email
Two Bill Clinton cronies used their private consulting firm to steer millions in business to the former president while raising funds for the Clinton Foundation — and even called the arrangement “Bill Clinton Inc.”
Doug Band, a top Clinton aide, detailed the complex financial arrangement between his company, Teneo, and the foundation in a memo contained in hacked e-mails released Wednesday by WikiLeaks.
“Teneo partners have raised in excess of $8 million for the foundation, more than $5.25 million of which is in the bank,” the memo reads.
“Teneo partners also have generated over $3 million in paid speeches for President Clinton, $1.25 million of which has been paid to him thus far.”
The consulting company was formed by Band and former State Department envoy Declan Kelly. The memo about its activities shows the incestuous relationship between the foundation and the private business interests of the former president.
In one arrangement, Kelly introduced Bob McCann, the head of UBS Wealth Management, to Clinton at an event in 2009.
After the meeting, McCann donated hundreds of thousands to the foundation while inviting Clinton to give several paid speeches.
Another arrangement involved the Laureate Foundation, which donated more than $1 million to the Clinton Global Initiative.
Laureate was a “personal advisory services business,” the memo said, paying Clinton “$3.5 million annually to provide advice and serve as their honorary chairman.”
The cozy relationship with the Clintons put the Baltimore-based Laureate at high-profile events with international players who could help it expand its reach around the globe.
The Band memo also includes a section about “For-Profit Activity of President Clinton (i.e., Bill Clinton Inc.).”
Some of the speeches “secured” by Teneo include two $450,000 addresses delivered to UBS in 2011 and 2012, as well as a commitment for three additional paid speeches, if he chose to give them.
Another secured event was a $1 million fee for Clinton to speak at two one-hour sessions during an event in Hong Kong. The fee included $400,000 for a private plane.
“Since 2001, President Clinton’s business arrangements have yielded more than $30 million for him personally, with $66 million to be paid out over the next nine years should he choose to continue with the current engagements,” the memo reads.
The relationship between Band and the donors was criticized harshly by daughter Chelsea Clinton in another e-mail.
Chelsea specifically called out Band and Teneo for “hustling’” business opportunities out of the foundation.
“I continue to want — and to try — to disintermediate myself from this muddle, edify the corporate audit and existential process we are in — while also being a responsible board member, daughter and person,” Chelsea wrote in the 2011 e-mail.
The relationship between foundation donors and Hillary Clinton’s State Department was raised through e-mails obtained by Citizens United in which top Hillary aide Huma Abedin appeared to vet donors’ access to the Clintons based on their links to the CGI.
In a December 2012 e-mail in which a CGI official asks for Band and a few others to meet with Hillary during a trip to Ireland, Abedin writes to Band, “Are these legit cgi people?” | 1real |
Putin says Russia will respond if Russian media under pressure in U.S. | SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Moscow will retaliate if the Unites States take measures to pressure Russian media outlets operating there. In this case we will do it only in kind and quite quickly, as soon as we see steps (to pressure) our media, there will immediately be an answer, Putin said at a forum with scholars. | 0fake |
Ahead of Trump meeting, Abe told not to take campaign rhetoric literally | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will seek reassurances from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on U.S.-Japan ties on Thursday and a senior adviser to Abe said he had been told that campaign remarks calling the alliance into question should not be taken literally. Abe is due to meet Trump in New York on Thursday and is expected to be the first foreign leader to meet the president- elect since his election last week. Trump’s transition team has not responded to requests for comment on the meeting, but an adviser to Trump, speaking anonymously, said this week that Trump would seek to reassure Abe and other Asian allies rattled by his campaign rhetoric. Trump had fanned worries in Tokyo and beyond with his comments on the possibility of Japan acquiring nuclear arms and demands that allies pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces on their soil or face the possibility of their withdrawal. Katsuyuki Kawai, an adviser to Abe sent to set up the Trump meeting, said he had spoken to several Trump advisers since arriving in Washington on Monday. “I have been meeting with so many top aides to the president-elect and also I have been meeting with the very distinguished senators and congressmen and they unanimously told me that we don’t have to take each word that Mr. Trump said publicly literally,” he told Reuters. Kawai said that among the Trump advisers he had met were Representative Devin Nunes, Senator Tom Cotton, and the presidents of the conservative Heritage Foundation and Hudson Institute think tanks, Jim DeMint and Ken Weinstein. Kawai said the fact that Abe would be the first foreign leader Trump would meet since winning the presidency on Nov. 8 was “a meaningful signal” and Abe’s aim was “to establish the highest level personal ties with the president-elect.” “That meeting will be the first for building up the great personal relationship between two leaders,” he said. “Prime Minister Abe will definitely talk about the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance and that alliance is not only for Japan and the United States, but also for the entire Indo-Pacific region as well as world politics.” A Trump adviser, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said he expected the meeting to “set the tone” for Trump’s relations with Japan and the region. “I think the message ... is going to be extremely reassuring,” the adviser said. “I expect he is going to reaffirm his commitments to the alliance and the American commitment to being in the Pacific long-term.” The adviser said Japan’s financial support for U.S. troops in Japan might come up but was unlikely to be a focus. Some diplomats say that until Trump makes key appointments, it will be hard to assess his policies on issues ranging from overseas deployments of U.S. troops, China’s maritime aggressiveness in Asia and North Korea’s nuclear threat. A day before the Trump-Abe meeting, Japanese officials said they had no idea exactly when the meeting would take place, where in New York it will happen, who will be invited or whom to call for answers. Japanese and U.S. officials said on Wednesday the State Department had not been involved in planning the meeting, which has left the logistical and protocol details that normally would be settled weeks in advance still to be determined. “There has been a lot of confusion,” said one Japanese official. Abe, a political blue blood and veteran lawmaker, and Trump, a brash outsider with no diplomatic or government experience, have sharp differences on policy issues such as free trade. But the two may find they have much in common, including pledges to restore their countries’ global stature and a desire to counter a rising China while improving relations with Russia. “Prime Minister Abe and Mr. Trump will have good chemistry,” said Takashi Kawakami, a professor at Tokyo’s Takushoku University. “Both tend to decide and act based on intuition. And both are pragmatists who put their countries’ interests first.” Kawai said Abe considered the U.S. relationship Japan’s most important and that it was essential that it was built on trust. “That is why the prime minister wants to build the highest level personal ties with Mr. Trump,” he said. Some of Trump’s rhetoric suggests an image of Japan forged in the 1980s, when Tokyo was seen by many in the United States as a threat to jobs and a free-rider on defense. His election also has dashed hopes for U.S. approval of a 12-nation trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a linchpin of Washington’s “pivot” to Asia and a pillar of Abe’s economic reforms. But Abe’s personal attitude about defense appears to be viewed more positively in the Trump camp, even if it would like Japan to do more. Since taking office in 2012 Abe has boosted Japan’s overall defense spending while stretching the limits of its pacifist post-war constitution to allow the military to take a bigger global role. “Frankly, the prime minister has been more assertive and forthright in trying to make those changes to Japan’s global posture,” the Trump adviser said. “I think he’s going to get a very receptive audience there.” Japan agreed last December to boost spending for U.S. forces in Japan by 1.4 percent for the next five years, at an average of 189.3 billion yen ($1.74 billion) per year. Defence Minister Tomomi Inada has said Tokyo was paying enough. However, defense spending still stands at just over 1 percent of GDP against over 3 percent in the United States. | 0fake |
VICIOUS! PORTLAND RIOTERS ATTACK Pregnant Woman With Baseball Bat [Video] | 1real | |
Camden Yards briefly closed off as Freddie Gray protests intensify in Baltimore | Protests in Baltimore on Saturday got intense and, on occasion, violent as demonstrators banded together to rally for answers and justice after Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, died of a spinal injury after being arrested by Baltimore police.
A day of largely peaceful protests was marred by occasional skirmishes between small groups of protesters and police and some destruction of property. As a result, police briefly closed off Camden Yards baseball stadium in Baltimore, where a Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox game was ongoing. People at the game were stuck inside the stadium until police gave the all-clear.
Before Camden Yards was closed off, here's some of what was happening in Baltimore Saturday, according to some of the journalists on the scene: | 0fake |
Sberbank plans to introduce Samsung pay technology in near future | Sberbank plans to introduce Samsung pay technology in near future October 28, 2016 TASS banks , apps Sberbank is going to introduce Samsung pay technology in the near future. Source: Reuters
Sberbank is going to introduce Samsung pay technology in the near future, Sberbank CEO German Gref told reporters on Oct. 28.
"We are currently working on Samsung pay. I think we will introduce it in the near future," he said.
Gref also noted that the bank is working to make Samsung pay and Apple pay available for cards of all payment systems, including Visa and Mir.
In early October, Sberbank and MasterCard launched Apple Pay system on the Russian market.
According to Sberbank, Apple Pay can be easily set up in the Sberbank Online mobile application, which is familiar to all Sberbank cardholders. Users can enjoy contactless payment service while continuing to receive all the benefits from using their credit and debit cards.
Apple Pay works with iPhone SE, iPhone 6 and later, and Apple Watch. | 1real |
Chris Bertish Becomes First to Cross Atlantic by Paddleboard - The New York Times | As dawn broke over the Caribbean on Thursday, Chris Bertish, bearded and shirtless, paddled toward Antigua’s English Harbour more than three months after leaving Africa, successfully finishing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a paddleboard. Bertish, a South African sailor and surfer, had paddled through the night and was now approaching the island under stormy skies, listening to “Impi” by Johnny Clegg and Juluka. “The sky was really fierce and ominous,” Bertish, 42, said in his first interview after arriving. “But then the sun peeked its way through with this incredible gold and black beaming through the clouds. It was just beautiful, and it was just me in the middle of it. ” He pushed hard over the last three days, covering 125 nautical miles. “The last few days were super intense,” he said, his voice weak and croaky. “It’s just so nice to be on dry land and not to have to worry about all the billions of things that could wrong. ” Bertish left the Agadir Marina in Morocco on Dec. 6. and planned to make the passage unsupported and unassisted on a paddleboard to Florida in four months. He changed course south to Antigua because of low pressure systems and volatile weather, completing the crossing in 93 days, arriving at 8:32 a. m. local time. Bertish averaged 44 miles a day — mostly at night to avoid exposure to the sun — and alternated between resting and paddling every two or three hours. He made an estimated two million paddle strokes during the journey. “You can feel very inconsequential at sea,” said Bertish, who won the renowned Mavericks surf contest in Northern California in 2010. “When that happens, you have to tune in and get in sync with what’s around you and go with the flow. “It’s the only thing that’s going to help you survive out there for that amount of time. That said, there were definitely times when I was hanging on by a thread, just trying to keep it together. ” One of those times involved being caught in a storm for days near rocks off the Canary Islands. “The hatch was leaking, and I was running out of water, Bertish said. “I thought I was going to sink. ” During the first five days of the journey, he fought to avoid being blown back to land. And over the final 72 hours, the weather and the difficult angles for the final approach were scary, he said. Then there were the sharks. One charged at his craft, another bumped him in the middle of the night. Neither bit his vessel. Bertish used a $120, 000 watertight craft, which was designed for the crossing by the naval architect Phil Morrison. Bertish could seek shelter from rough weather, sleep and have access to navigational and communications instruments. He could stabilize the vessel when necessary, using anchors and drogues. The craft was also capable of righting itself after capsizing and submerging. In a telephone interview in February from the middle of the Atlantic, he said there had been a string of failures with the craft. “Everything that could possibly have gone wrong, went wrong,” he said last month. “It’s been constant stress. ” But the craft did not sink. He had 12 items that had broken on the craft, and tended to leaks constantly. When he ran out of lubricant for the craft’s moving parts, he improvised with sunscreen. Bertish also endured some medical problems, including a torn rotator cuff. Now back on land, he plans to have surgery. Last year, Nicolas Jarossay of France attempted an Atlantic crossing by paddleboard. He was rescued one night into the journey by a crew that pulled him from the water after his craft capsized. | 0fake |
Schumer: delay tax overhaul vote until new Alabama senator seated | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday called on Republicans to delay a vote on pending tax overhaul legislation until the new U.S. senator from Alabama, a Democrat, is seated. Schumer wants to slow down the legislation - which Republican leaders want to vote on before Christmas - so that Democrat Doug Jones, who won an upset victory in deeply conservative Alabama on Tuesday night, can cast a vote in the closely divided chamber. Schumer said that under Alabama law, Jones could not be sworn in until at least the end of December. But Republicans are expected to reject the Democratic leader’s plea for a delay in voting on the tax bill. Speaking to reporters, Schumer cast Alabama’s senate election results as a repudiation of the policies being pursued by President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans in Congress, including the tax legislation. “The Republican brand, even in deep red Alabama, is positively toxic,” he said. “The president keeps talking like he’s helping the middle class, but his policy after policy helps the wealthy and the powerful and hurts the middle class.” Schumer said Jones’ defeat of Republican candidate Roy Moore was in part a referendum on the Republican tax bill, especially in the suburbs, where he said voters were worried about the bill’s proposed elimination of the state and local tax deduction. Schumer said Republicans should abandon their effort and start over in cooperation with Democrats. “Pausing on this tax bill and going back to the drawing board is the right thing for Republicans to do,” he said. | 0fake |
VIDEO SHOWS Stunning Damage To Streets Of Historic Hamburg After SOROS’ ANTI-CAPITALISM Cockroaches Cleared Out Of G20 [VIDEO] | New York City s radical leftist Democrat Mayor Bill DeBlasio jetted off to Hamburg, Germany, leaving New Yorker s to deal with their issues, as he joined G-20 protesters who violently rioted, burned and looted the historic city lined with cobblestone streets and beautiful buildings. Not surprisingly, the media was silent about the Mayor of America s largest city, who flew halfway around the world to join the violent, anti-capitalist protesters. The media s focus was instead on Ivanka Trump, who temporarily sat in on a G20 meeting, while her father stepped out for a short period of time.Videos showing anti-capitalist thugs breaking windows of businesses, burning cars, tearing down street signs and looting local stores have been circulating everywhere on the internet. The violent cowardly Antifa groups who are attempting to shut down free speech and threaten supporters of President Trump in America, were seen wearing masks to hide their identities as they ravaged businesses and threatened anyone who got in their way.Watch G20 rioters loot a local store in this stunning video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ_CrspbeSgAfter several days of violent riots, fires in the streets and looting by anti-capitalist punks, citizens of Hamburg woke to find their streets and businesses looking like the aftermath of a war-zone. You won t see the mainstream media covering the damage to the streets and businesses of Hamburg however, simply because it doesn t fit their anti-Trump narrative. | 1real |
Brazil's president loses minister as PSDB party quits coalition | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Michel Temer accepted the resignation on Friday of his minister of political affairs, whose party is abandoning the ruling coalition to ready for the 2018 election. Antonio Imbassahy of the Brazilian Social Democratic Party (PSDB) has handled the government s relations with Congress, keeping an unwieldy coalition united in blocking the prosecution of Temer on corruption charges earlier this year. However the PSDB, Temer s largest ally, has split over whether to stick with the unpopular president in the run-up to a general election next October, when the party plans to field its own presidential candidate. The PSDB will hold its national convention in Brasilia on Saturday, when it is expected to elect Sao Paulo Governor Geraldo Alckmin as its new party leader, replacing Senator Aecio Neves, who is under investigation for graft. That would make Alckmin the PSDB s most likely candidate in next year s presidential race. Allies say Alckmin plans to continue his party s disengagement from the Temer government, where the PSDB still has two ministers, including Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes, who is expected to stay on the job based on personal conviction. Still, Alckmin is expected to mobilize PSDB support for Temer s signature legislation proposal, the overhaul of Brazil s costly social security system. Investors consider the measure crucial to closing a huge budget deficit that cost Latin America s largest economy its investment-grade credit rating. Temer needs the PSDB s 46 votes in the lower house of Congress to win passage of the pension reform bill, which is set for a vote the week of Dec. 18. | 0fake |
Senate to vote later on Wednesday to work with House on tax bill: McConnell | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will vote later on Wednesday on whether to send its tax legislation to a conference to hammer out differences with the U.S. House of Representatives’ version of the plan. Speaking on the chamber’s floor, McConnell also said Congress later this week would pass a short-term continuing resolution measure to continue funding the federal government while lawmakers work on a longer-term spending bill. He did not give any dates. | 0fake |
Trump Shows How to Smother a Scandal: With a Bigger Story - The New York Times | The bar for scandal in the Trump administration keeps being raised. Every week brings potentially damaging developments that in other contexts could have generated weekslong controversies. With so many competing stories, however, they are frequently ignored or forgotten. As a result, even negative coverage can sometimes benefit Donald J. Trump by displacing potentially more damaging stories from the news agenda. For instance, many of Mr. Trump’s nominees for cabinet positions have faced relatively little scrutiny of their backgrounds or records. Many failed even to complete background checks before the start of Senate hearings, a break from decades of precedent. Or consider the case of Monica Crowley, an incoming National Security Agency aide found to have engaged in extensive plagiarism in her book (which Harper Collins pulled from the market) her Ph. D. dissertation and her Washington Times column. These developments have struggled to gain traction amid the many competing stories about Mr. Trump and his presidential transition, including Tuesday night’s release of unverified allegations against the . Scandals need time and space to develop. When the news cycle is congested, potential scandals are deprived of attention, causing the media to move on to other stories and the political opposition to anticipate that any criticisms will probably have little effect. Many observers suspect that Mr. Trump seeks to exploit this dynamic by distracting the press and the public with stunts like meeting with Kanye West after delaying a news conference on conflicts of interest or tweeting about Meryl Streep before hearings to consider his nominees on Capitol Hill. It’s impossible to determine his motivations, of course, but the effect is often to divert attention from less flattering issues. On Wednesday, for instance, Mr. Trump’s news conference on conflict of interest issues was scheduled on the same day as hearings for six nominees. (After Democrats accused Republicans of scheduling the hearings in part to exploit this dynamic and divert the news media’s attention, some were rescheduled.) History shows that potential scandals can easily be crowded off the news agenda by other events. During the chaotic period, for instance, the focus on more important events kept Army Secretary Thomas White in office despite numerous questionable decisions. (The surge in news continued all the way through the invasion of Iraq in early 2003, helping to insulate George W. Bush from fallout over the collapse of the Enron corporation and other matters Bush didn’t suffer a major scandal until Valerie Plame was outed as a C. I. A. officer that summer.) Another example came during the summer of 2009, when the death of Michael Jackson helped push the furor over the affair of the South Carolina governor, Mark Sanford, out of the news. By contrast, relatively slow news periods may increase the likelihood of a scandal’s developing, as with the travel habits of former White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu in 1991, which became an issue in the months after the end of the first Persian Gulf war, and as with Chris Christie’s Bridgegate scandal in 2014. In an article published in The British Journal of Political Science, I provide quantitative evidence suggesting that competition from other news stories can prevent potential scandals from reaching critical mass. Using data from more than three decades of news media coverage of the president and the executive branch, I show that when the incidence of major disasters and tragedies causes an unexpected surge in news coverage, the likelihood of a new scandal developing and the intensity of scandal coverage both decrease significantly. (I find that a similar dynamic appears to apply to governors.) In this sense, the continuing reality show that Mr. Trump creates may help protect him from deep damage by any particular scandal. As in the campaign, he makes so much news every day that few stories ever generate sustained controversy. Instead, public attention lurches from one story to the next, never quite focusing on any particular controversy. He may prefer it that way. | 0fake |
Obama says new ties with Cuba made 'wet-foot, dry-foot' policy obsolete | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he decided to eliminate the so-called “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy for Cuban immigrants because it no longer made since given growing U.S. engagement with Havana and the opening of travel between the two countries. The White House announced the policy change last week. It had enabled Cubans who fled to the United States to pursue residency if they reached the mainland, but not if they were picked up at sea before reaching land. | 0fake |
Exclusive: Rand Paul Says Obama Administration May Have Spied on His Campaign - Breitbart | Sen. Rand Paul ( ) on Friday told Breitbart News that several sources have told him that the Obama administration spied on his presidential campaign. [“We’ve had several people come to us and say that it happened. I don’t have access to that information, but I’ve been very concerned that too many Americans’ information is being culled through without a warrant,” he told Breitbart News. “I don’t have any facts to say it happened,” he said. “But numerous sources are coming to us saying it did happen so I want to search through, find out why I wasn’t notified. Was it on purpose?” “There’s a lot of things to be found out, particularly since we found out that Susan Rice was unmasking people and we need to know was there a political motivation, because one of the real dangers in a free society is if government gets so powerful it’s listening to all of our phone calls, the possibility of extortion, the possibility of blackmail — all of that goes up exponentially,” he said. Earlier in the day, Paul revealed that he had requested information from the White House and the intelligence community on whether he was surveilled by the Obama administration or the intelligence community. I have formally requested from the WH and the Intel Committees info on whether I was surveilled by Obama admin and or the Intel community! — Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) May 5, 2017, In a letter Paul sent to President Trump on April 10, he asked that the administration “promptly investigate” whether his name or the names of other members of Congress, individuals from their staffs or campaigns, were included in queries or searches of database of the intelligence community, or if their identities were unmasked in any intelligence reports or products. Paul said at a CATO Institute speech later that he was sending a new letter Friday morning. “We have several sources telling us that members of the Obama administration were looking at politicians, particularly who were running for office,” he said. Paul said he has never received a “Gates notification,” which Congress is supposed to receive if the intelligence community reveals the identity of a lawmaker in a National Security Agency intercept. He said in the new letter, he is asking specifically whether there was a Gates notification for him. He said he’s heard from people “specific aspects of a private conversation” he had with President Obama. “How’s anybody know that? How did General Flynn’s conversation get reported? They keep using the word incidental. Don’t let that let your guard down. There’s a million Americans having their phone calls recorded incidentally. It’s not just a no big deal to have your phone call recorded,” he said. “Particularly if someone in the intelligence community uses the media to destroy you … As an American citizen, I’m horrified that his private conversation was leaked. Does the president not have any privacy in who he talks to?” Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was forced to step down after a private conversation he had with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kisylak was leaked to the Washington Post. “This is very very worrisome, and what we’ve allowed to happen,” Paul said. Paul was among several Republican members of Congress who ran for president in 2016. The others were Sens. Ted Cruz ( ) Lindsey Graham ( ) and Marco Rubio ( ). Paul’s query comes after news reports revealed last month that former President Obama’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice had requested the unmasking of Trump campaign officials. She has not denied doing so, only doing anything illegal or “untoward. ” Rice on Wednesday denied an invite from Graham to appear before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Monday to testify on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections. Rice’s lawyer said in a letter that Rice declined after the subcommittee’s Democrat ranking member had notified her that he disagreed with the invite. Paul told Breitbart News “I think it’s especially egregious if it’s happening to another branch of government, that one branch of government is spying on the other branch of government and you don’t really have checks and balances. ” “I can’t for the life of me think of any reason why I would be part of an investigation. And it also goes further to prove that maybe we have an intelligence community run amok if they’re looking at political figures, because I had nothing to do with any of the other things,” he added. | 0fake |
ALERT: Soros Associate Warns Fed May Use Friday’s GDP Release To Smash Gold | 100 Views October 27, 2016 GOLD , KWN , KWN II King World News
As investors await tomorrow’s GDP release in the United States, a former associate of George Soros warned King World News that the Fed may use tomorrow’s GDP release to smash gold .
Victor Sperandeo manages over $3 billion, has been in the business 45 years, and has worked with famous individuals such as Leon Cooperman and George Soros. Below is what Sperandeo had to say .
Victor Sperandeo: “KWN readers need to be cautious about the gold market heading into tomorrow because the U.S. government is going to release a politically influenced GDP number that implies very strong growth… IMPORTANT: To hear which legend just spoke with KWN about $8,000 gold and the coming mania in the gold, silver, and mining shares markets CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
If the GDP number comes in well above 2 percent growth, that would be used (by the Fed) to attack the gold market. I expect a number of around 2.6 percent for GDP. This would create a rally in the dollar and additional downside pressure in the gold market.
If The Fed Smashes Gold Friday, Buy The Dip For what it’s worth, if gold gets hit tomorrow I would be a buyer because I think that will represent the correction low in the secular move higher. The Fed is not going to raise rates and so reality will set in and gold should strengthen for the remainder of the year and into next.”
King World News note: For those of you who look to accumulate physical gold and silver on dips, if Victor is correct, tomorrow may represent a very good buying opportunity to add to your physical holdings.
Look At This Remarkable Chart As The Public Dumps Stocks! | 1real |
Martin O’Malley Suspends Campaign After Predictably Crushing Iowa Caucus Loss (TWEET) | Democratic presidential candidate Martin O Malley likely never really had a chance against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, but he has to be admired for staying in the race for so long, despite such consistently terrible poll numbers. However, all of that change the night of the Iowa Caucuses. Even before all of the votes were in, ABC News tweeted that the former Maryland governor is suspending his campaign.JUST IN: Sources close to Martin O'Malley campaign tell @ABC O'Malley will suspend his campaign tonight. @maryaliceparks ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) February 2, 2016According to Town Hall, O Malley got less than one percent of the votes at the all-important caucus. This result is unsurprising, as nobody really thought that O Malley was a serious candidate.This is actually a good thing, because it s not like O Malley would have had a snowball s chance in hell of winning a general election against any serious GOP candidate, even if by some crazy twist of fate he had managed to beat both Bernie and Hillary in the primary to cinch the nomination.In short, Martin O Malley s candidacy was never anything more than an early election cycle distraction. No matter what one might think of his political positions, the guy was really never going to get very far, and thanks to the stakes being so high with the people we re up against on the crazy right, it s time to focus on the folks who can actually win.You had a good run, Governor O Malley. Thanks for doing the right thing at the right time.Featured image from Gage Skidmore/Flickr | 1real |
Trump vs. Clinton: A risk vs. a disaster | Trump vs. Clinton: A risk vs. a disaster Larry Elder: Hillary has never been asked by anyone in media about Juanita Broaddrick Published: 53 mins ago × Receive Larry Elder's alerts in your email
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Two weeks left to go in the election and the electorate feels like a battered NFL fan. The game gets increasingly old and tiring to watch, and playing it can inflict permanent brain damage.
Democrats can be counted upon to call the Republican opponent racist, whether the opponent is the priestly Mitt Romney or the Supreme Court justice who wrote the Dred Scott decision. Donald Trump, you see, is “racist” because, among other reasons, at a campaign stop he pointed to a black man and called him “my African-American.” Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is not anti-Semitic, even though three witnesses, one of whom took and passed a polygraph, claim that she referred to her husband’s former congressional campaign manager as a “f–-ing Jew bastard.”
With a Republican candidate, the media can be counted upon to seize upon any deficiencies – big or small, real or imagined – while giving the Democrat a pass. So Trump’s “failure to ever apologize” outweighs an examination of Clinton’s flat-out lie during the third debate when she insisted that the Supreme Court Heller case was about “toddlers,” as opposed to the fundamental issue of whether the Second Amendment confers an individual right to keep and bear arms.
In Heller, nowhere in the majority decision or in any of the dissenting decisions does the word “toddler” appear. Clinton, a year ago, flat-out said, “The Supreme Court is wrong on the Second Amendment.” To normal people, this meant she opposed what the decision ruled on, which, again, was whether we, as individuals, have a right to keep and bear arms.
Meanwhile, we learn more and more about what the media labels an “email scandal,” when the accurate description is “national security scandal.” The Espionage Act criminalizes gross negligence in the handling of important national security matters. The law does not require, as FBI Director James Comey falsely stated, an “intent.” Nor is it relevant, as Clinton insists, whether or not her private server, the one she maintained in her basement, was “hacked.”
Five people who worked with or for Clinton, including her chief of staff, all received immunity deals, something normally given to get someone to flip on a target. Some of the five were involved in deleting emails after the emails were subpoenaed. But the “target,” that is to say Hillary Clinton, was deemed by Comey to have lacked sufficient criminal intent to be prosecuted. So why the immunity deals? Who knows – and as far as most of the media are concerned, who cares?
Clinton insists that “President Obama doesn’t get enough credit” for the swell job he did with the economy. This would be the economy in which, for the first time in history, a president has presided over a recovery without a single year of at least 3 percent growth in gross domestic product. This would be the same economy with an alleged low unemployment number that Gallup CEO Jim Clifton calls “the big lie,” given the large number of people who simply abandoned the job hunt or are under-employed.
Meanwhile, it’s yet another day in which another woman who alleges she was kissed, groped, touched, or made fun of by Trump has appeared with her attorney, feminist Gloria Allred. Allred, a Clinton supporter, sees no contradiction between representing alleged victims of Trump’s sexual misconduct and her support for Clinton, who is alleged to have hired private detectives and lawyers to dig up dirt on her husband’s accusers. One such accuser, Juanita Broaddrick, claims not only that she was raped by Bill Clinton but also that two weeks after the alleged rape, Hillary Clinton verbally threatened her.
Hillary Clinton, mind you, has never been asked by anyone in the media about Broaddrick’s allegation. Never. And only one national reporter, Sam Donaldson, has ever asked Bill Clinton about Juanita Broaddrick’s allegation. Ever. Clinton’s answer? He referred Donaldson to his lawyer, David Kendall. Donaldson quickly tried again, asking the then-president to “simply deny it.” Same answer: “My attorney … speaks for me.” And that was that.
So Hillary Clinton is a candidate who wants to continue the same policy that’s given us the worst recovery since 1949; who has clearly violated the Espionage Act and placed the nation’s security at risk; who told the Benghazi victim’s families that the death of four Americans was inspired by a video, while telling her daughter and foreign officials something entirely different; whose charitable foundation engaged in pay-to-play in Haiti, so that donors got contracts for disaster relief and non-donors went to the back of the line; who wants to gut the Second Amendment; who wants to continue the same foreign policies that that have encouraged aggressiveness on the part of ISIS, Russia and the Chinese; and whose media compadres, including scribes with the New York Times, Washington Post and CNBC, have been outed by WikiLeaks as colluding with her campaign. And she is now odds-on favorite to become the next president of the United States. Receive Larry Elder's commentaries in your email BONUS: By signing up for Larry Elder's alerts, you will also be signed up for news and special offers from WND via email. Name * | 1real |
Trump Puts a Presidential-Size Spotlight on His Brand - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — President Trump’s Saturday started with a trip to the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. By Saturday night, on one of the few weekends since the inauguration that Mr. Trump remained in Washington, the president was dining at the Trump International Hotel a few blocks from the White House. He was greeted by as he entered and exited the hotel’s steakhouse restaurant, BLT Prime by David Burke, with his daughter and . On Sunday morning, Mr. Trump was once again at the family’s Virginia golf course. For Mr. Trump, it was just another weekend with a spotlight on his family’s business outlets, a pattern that started during his transition when he drew international attention to the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N. J. by interviewing potential cabinet picks there. Saturday’s stops marked the eighth weekend in a row — out of the 10 weekends he has been in office — that Mr. Trump has visited a property, including his resort in Palm Beach. White House officials have said Mr. Trump goes to his clubs and restaurants because he is comfortable there, but critics increasingly argue that the visits are priceless advertising and that Mr. Trump and his family are using the presidency as a way to enrich themselves. “It is normal for presidents to get out — and it can be a boost for small businesses across the city and the country,” said Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, a liberal nonprofit group. “But with President Trump, he spends his down time as a walking advertisement for his businesses. It is a major departure from historic norm and degradation of the office. ” Eric Trump, in an interview this month, disputed any suggestion that his father’s visits to family properties represented a conflict of interest. But he agreed that the Trump Organization’s assets — from where interest in memberships has surged, to its golf courses — were doing well. “The stars have all aligned,” said Eric Trump, during a recent news conference in Washington to promote the upcoming Senior PGA Championship tournament at the Trump National Golf Course in Sterling, Va. Memorial Day weekend. (He did not mention his father by name.) As executive vice president of the Trump Organization, he oversees its 16 owned or operated golf courses around the world. “I think our brand is the hottest it has ever been. ” The president has now made three visits to the Trump National Golf Club. . Tickets to the event are being sold as Mr. Trump is pushing the golf course into the spotlight, with reporters and photographers in tow on Saturday for a daylong visit. On Sunday shortly after 11 a. m. with reporters placed at the complex’s indoor tennis center, Mr. Trump made a quick visit to the club for what White House officials said were three meetings. By noon Mr. Trump was headed back to Washington. Photos of Mr. Trump surfaced on social media on Saturday and Sunday that appeared to show him in golf shoes and out on the golf course on Saturday, and then sitting at the golf club, during his short visit Sunday, watching a game of golf on television. The New York Times confirmed, via tools, that the items were posted Sunday from the Trump National Golf Club. But the White House officials did not respond when asked about the photographs, and would not confirm whether Mr. Trump played golf. The warm welcome Mr. Trump received Saturday night at the Trump hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue offered a hint of why Mr. Trump may visit his family’s establishments so often: He is almost guaranteed the kind of enthusiastic crowd he would never find at Camp David, the presidential retreat in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains. “Keep up the good work!” one man shouted after Mr. Trump wrapped up his dinner at the hotel on Saturday. “Thank you, Donald! Thank you, Trump!” another man yelled. Mr. Trump arrived shortly after 9 p. m. — a reporter from The Times was already having dinner at the hotel’s only restaurant — and walked through the lobby’s expansive atrium and into the restaurant, BLT Prime. guests turned to one another in disbelief. A man shouting Mr. Trump’s name had to be quieted by hotel security. Mr. Trump, his daughter Ivanka Trump and his Jared Kushner, were led to the mezzanine, which looks out onto the vast lobby. Hotel guests leaned over the railings of the upper floors to gawk at the president sitting down for a family dinner. Mr. Trump has a particular preference for steaks, well done and with ketchup, although the restaurant would not confirm what he dined on Saturday night. The meal went on for more than two hours, even as guests had stopped eating and had turned around simply to watch Mr. Trump. One diner sitting a few feet from the Trump party said the president had interrupted his meal several times to allow to greet him. Members of the Secret Service took over a table on the first floor and ordered drinks while waiting for the president to conclude his meal. Right above them, Mr. Trump’s personal security guard, Keith Schiller, patrolled the mezzanine level while chatting and joking with guests. “We ate slowly,” said John Nix, who was having dinner at BLT Prime with his wife and three children on their final night at the hotel, which he said they had found on TripAdvisor. The family was visiting Washington from Columbus, Ga. to see sights and visit colleges, and had made a reservation for the restaurant a month before. As the two hours passed, hotel guests who had been at the bar and waiting in the lobby formed a long line, hoping to meet the president as he left. Mr. Trump happily obliged. Around 11:30 p. m. he and Ms. Trump worked the crowd, which included a teenager in a red “Make America Great Again” hat and a young girl asleep on the shoulders of her parents. Screams then gave way to dozens of people chanting “U. S. A.! U. S. A. !” A few minutes later, Mr. Trump disappeared into his motorcade for the short ride home. | 0fake |
Draw Down Continues: Kellogg’s Laying Off 200 in Minnesota | The boom has fallen on another 216 employees of cereal giant Kellogg Company with workers in Minnesota being handed pink slips at a snack food manufacturing facility. [Up to 216 workers at the Kellogg plant in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota, were notified last week that their jobs were on the chopping block as part of the company’s plan to reverse its financial freefall, according to CBS news. Jeremy Hanson Willis, deputy commissioner of Minnesota’s Department of Employment and Economic Development, told the media that he received the company’s notification satisfying a federal mandate to alert state authorities when a mass layoff is occurring. Willis tried to put a brave face on it insisting the laid off workers will be fine. “There are a lot of businesses around the state looking for workers and having a hard time to employ them because we have so few unemployed folks in our state,” Willis told the media. A Kellogg’s spokesman admitted that the layoffs were part of the company’s effort to retool. Joe Lierz, Kellogg’s director of labor relations, told the StarTribune that the layoffs were “directly related” to the company’s plan. He added that the Minnesota job loss “is one in a series” of layoff announcements coming across the country. The layoffs in Minnesota came on the heels of layoffs at Kellogg’s plants and distribution centers in New York, Michigan, and other states. The plan was a result of the $53 million loss reported by the cereal maker and is expected to include the closure of 39 distribution centers affecting roughly 1, 100 workers across the country. The cereal giant’s financial troubles coincided with its decision to cut its advertising with Breitbart News at the end of 2016, thereby snubbing Breitbart’s 45, 000, 000 readers. In November, Kellogg’s announced that Breitbart News’s conservative readers are not “aligned with our values as a company. ” While the decision by Kellogg’s to cease advertising made virtually no revenue impact on Breitbart. com, it did represent an escalation in the war by companies like Target and Allstate against conservative customers whose values propelled Donald Trump into the White House. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0fake |
U.S. War Policy Has Created The Multi-polar World | U.S. War Policy Has Created The Multi-polar World Brandon Turbeville, Activist Post
As the United States squanders the enormous good will and respect it once had by marching forward on the tired legs of a dying empire, the U.S.’ enemies-of-its-own-making are beginning to forge new alliances that might not have been a reality had the U.S. at the very least pursued a strategy of positive reinforcement and cooperation as opposed to a policy of tension, pillage, and war.
The first major crack in the iron curtain of the Anglo-American world hegemon started becoming apparent with the emergence of the U.S. destabilization and proxy war against Syria. While the NATO/American proxy war has left hundreds of thousands of Syrians dead, hundreds of thousands more displaced, and destroyed much of the Syrian infrastructure as well as crippled the Syrian economy, another result of American policy in Syria is that it has strengthened and even created alliances that otherwise may not have existed not only between Middle Eastern countries but European, Asian, and African nations as well.
Unfortunately for the United States, these new alliances of its targers were created out of a political, economic, and military necessity by which to survive the Western onslaught of destabilization, sanctions, and war aimed at these respective nations. Thus, if the West wanted to break resistance to its hegemonic system, it has managed instead to encourage the opposite.
While already an axis of mutual interest, the crisis in Syria has resulted in the strengthening of ties between Syria, Iran, and Hezbollah. Not only a strategic alliance, this arc of resistance has solidified ties that are slowly pulling Iraq away from the influence of the United States. Indeed, the Iraqis are still tethered to the United States due largely to bribery, deception, economic threats, and the decreasing dependency on the United States for military assistance to combat ISIS.
Syria itself is spreading its wings as it mops up America’s terrorists. Reaching out to not only the nations of the resistance axis and Russia, it is reaching out and solidifying relationships with Russia and China as well as with other European and African nations like the Czech Republic and Egypt.
Likewise, if the ties between Iran and the Houthis were not strong enough before the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led coalition, they certainly are now. Despite no credible evidence that Iran is providing weapons to the Houthis, there is little doubt that the Iranians are providing whatever support they can in whatever form that can take and that they will do so in the future.
Russia, of course, factors in as the biggest and most important player in the strategic realignment with its insistence (which has come as a result of the U.S. aggression across the planet) in the emergence of a “multi-polar” world. Russia’s reunification with Crimea, support of the Ukrainian rebels, as well as its support of Syria is only the tip of the iceberg. A growing cooperation with China and with a host of other nations throughout the world – by virtue of the carrot as opposed to the stick – is rapidly drawing more and more nations into the Russian fold.
Iran, too, having not expressed a desire for empire nonetheless is now beginning to express interest in stretching its muscles and expanding its own influence. How much of this newly expressed desire is innate and how much is simply a necessary act of self-defense against and encroaching war machine that sees Iran as next in line for destruction is unclear. The fact that it is happening, however, is not in doubt.
These new alliances may not have ever taken shape and solidified had the United States not insisted on acting as the battering ram for the Anglo-American system across the world and squandered all the respect and good will that existed for it in so many nations. The U.S. could easily have won many nations over by using positive reinforcement and enticement such as development, higher living standards, and peace. Instead, it has bombed, burned, bribed, and destabilized itself across the globe to the point that it has become the number one threat to world peace, a reality that is being acknowledged by more and more countries by the day.
What could have been the greatest force for peace, stability, democracy, and high living standards has been utterly squandered into being the greatest force for the opposite. If the United States continues down this path of imperialism, it will soon find itself not only hated the world over, but collapsed, weak, and bitter while the nations it has targeted in the final days of its war push have united against it. We can only hope that they have more restraint, good will, and compassion than what the U.S. has shown to them. | 1real |
Trump touts urban policy following detour to open new hotel | CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, in an appeal on Wednesday to African-Americans and working-class voters, promised “21st century” banking industry reforms and tax changes to spur job creation and investment in blighted communities. Delivering an urban policy speech two weeks before the Nov. 8 election, Trump highlighted his plan to ease access to bank credit for young blacks trying to start businesses and create jobs in their communities. The New York businessman, who trails Democrat Hillary Clinton in national opinion polls and is struggling to appeal to African-Americans and Latinos, also called for broader tax incentives to spur inner-city investment. The steps, coupled with efforts to reduce U.S. trade deficits and the outsourcing of jobs abroad, Trump said, would “raise wages at home, meaning rent and bills become instantly more affordable” for the poor. Trump flew to Charlotte, a major commercial hub in the U.S. South, after attending the formal opening in Washington of a Trump International Hotel just blocks from the White House. Trump’s detour from the campaign trail to plug his business drew criticism from some fellow Republicans, but the former reality TV star said the project, completed “under budget and ahead of schedule,” showed what he could accomplish if elected president. His Democratic rival, Clinton, said: “Donald Trump is actually paying more attention to his business than to the campaign. That’s his choice, but we’re going to keep working really hard to reach as many voters as possible.” Speaking to reporters during a flight to New York after campaigning in Florida, Clinton also said the proposed merger of AT&T Inc and Time Warner Inc “raises questions and concerns and they should be looked into.” In Charlotte, Trump provided few details of “21st century Glass-Steagall,” which would build on the 1933 Depression-era law requiring the separation of commercial and investment banking. Glass-Steagall was repealed in 1999 under then-President Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton’s husband. The 2008 financial crisis prompted an overhaul of banking rules with the passage in 2010 of “Dodd-Frank” Wall Street reforms that many Republicans have criticized. “Dodd-Frank has been a disaster, making it harder for small businesses to get the credit they need,” Trump said. Trump, speaking to a mostly white audience after meeting with black religious leaders, said he would step up the police presence in U.S. cities so that “every poor African-American child” can walk on the streets in safety. “Safety is a civil right. The problem is not the presence of police but the absence of police,” he said. Last month, hundreds of demonstrators protested in Charlotte after the release of videos showing the fatal shooting of a black man by police officers. While Trump’s speech stuck mainly to policy initiatives, he also got in a jab at Clinton. “Honestly, she has less energy than Jeb Bush,” Trump said, criticizing Clinton’s stamina and harking back to his charges that Bush, a former rival for the Republican nomination, was “low energy.” Clinton told reporters that “there was not an ounce of complacency” in her campaign and said that if elected, she would reach out to Republicans and independents, including congressional leaders, “both before the inauguration and to continue afterwards.” Before Trump’s Charlotte speech, much of Wednesday’s media attention focused on Trump’s appearance at his new, 263-room luxury hotel. Republican strategist Steve Schmidt, who led 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s unsuccessful campaign, said the hotel stop was the latest inexplicable act from Trump and atypical behavior for someone trying to win the White House. “The walls are collapsing,” Schmidt told MSNBC in an interview. “He is not doing any of the normal activities that you’d be doing 13 days out in a presidential race for somebody who’s competitive. You don’t take a time-out to tend to your business interests.” Trump, making his first run for elected office, often highlights his business accomplishments and has held numerous events at his properties since launching his White House bid last year, including a trip to Scotland to open a refurbished golf resort in June. Asked after the event why he was in Washington instead of campaigning in a battleground state, Trump told CNN it was “a very rude question” and said he worked hard on the trail every day. “I can’t take one hour off to cut a ribbon at one of the great hotels of the world? I mean, I think I’m entitled to it,” Trump told ABC News. He said there was a double standard, noting that Clinton was not criticized for taking time to see the singer Adele in concert on Tuesday night. Clinton campaigned on Wednesday in Florida, where many opinion polls show a tight race. An average of Florida polls compiled by RealClearPolitics showed Clinton at 46.4 percent compared with 44.8 percent for Trump in a race including third-party candidates. Clinton has a strong lead in the race to secure the 270 Electoral College votes - or tally of wins from the states - needed to capture the White House, according to results from Reuters/Ipsos States of the Nation project released on Saturday. | 0fake |
Melania Trump And Heidi Cruz Finally Get Together On ‘Maya & Marty’ – And It’s Hilarious (VIDEO) | Someone we haven t heard a lot from during the course of this year s election cycle is Melania Trump, wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. However, wait no longer, because Maya Rudolph on her new show Maya & Marty just gave us what we can only assume to be a pretty accurate representation of the wannabe First Lady.Rudolph s Melania introduces us to the world of edible diamonds, which are pretty much just regular diamonds that you eat. Alongside Melania on this new venture is Heidi Cruz, wife of Senator Ted Cruz, played by the brilliant Kate McKinnon from SNL.The two ladies get together and discuss the presidential race while munching on some of the diamonds. Heidi starts by saying, Ted would be very upset to know that I m here, so shhh but truthfully, you know I m quite fond of you Also saying, l love being compared to you. With Melania saying, it s so funny because my face is so perfect, and yours is so loose and fun, it s like a broken balloon. The satirized comparison obviously going back to when the two real-life women were compared on Twitter.It s doubtful these women would ever be friends in real life, but watching Rudolph and McKinnon together is worth every second of viewing.Check the hilarious sketch out here:Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
Donald Trump in first full week as U.S. president | (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump addressed business and trade issues on Monday. Highlights of the day follow: Trump formally withdraws the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, distancing America from Asian allies as China’s influence in the region rises. Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto says his country will aim to keep tariff-free commerce with North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and the United States in its talks with the Trump administration. Canada has a “very special status” and is unlikely to be hit hard by changes the United States wants to make to the NAFTA trade accord, the head of a business advisory council to Trump says. Trump meets with a dozen prominent U.S. manufacturers, promising to cut regulations and corporate taxes but warning them of penalties if they move production outside the country. Trump meets at the White House with leaders of construction, carpenters, plumbers and sheet metal unions, the administration says. Trump will have breakfast on Tuesday with the chief executives of General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV as he pressures automakers to boost American employment. The U.S. Senate confirms Representative Mike Pompeo as Trump’s CIA director. Trump’s choice for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil Corp Chairman Rex Tillerson, narrowly wins approval from a Senate committee and is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate. The White House says national security adviser Michael Flynn held just two phone calls with Russia’s ambassador to Washington, amid reports that Flynn’s communications are being scrutinized by U.S. counterintelligence agents. The Trump administration vows to prevent China from taking territory in international waters in the South China Sea, something Chinese media has said would require Washington to “wage war.” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi discussed terrorism and extremism in a call with Trump, and Trump applauded Egypt’s efforts on those fronts, Sisi’s office says. A White House spokesman says Trump will announce a nominee in the next couple of weeks to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court. Two Republican senators say U.S. states should be allowed to stay in the Obamacare medical insurance program if they like. Trump dismisses allegations in a new lawsuit accusing him of violating the U.S. Constitution by letting his hotels and other businesses accept payments from foreign governments. | 0fake |
BLUNT MEME EXPOSES Difference Between Forced Government And Charitable Giving | 2 Corinthians 9:7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. | 1real |
NYT Mag: Facebook’s ‘Building Global Community’ Manifesto ‘Bound to Be Considered Partisan’ | Even the New York Times Magazine, a liberal outlet, is convinced that Facebook’s new manifesto — influenced by none other than former president Barack Obama — will be considered politically partisan. [The NYT Magazine notes in its story “Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?” that changes Facebook is looking to make, especially to its News Feed, “are bound to be considered partisan. ” But if the company pursues the admittedly airy aims outlined in “Building Global Community,” the changes will echo across media and politics, and some are bound to be considered partisan. The risks are especially clear for changes aimed at adding layers of journalistic ethics across News Feed, which could transform the public’s perception of Facebook, not to mention shake the foundations of its business. According to NYT Magazine, Zuckerberg was “dismayed” that the planned changes might be seen as an attack on President Donal Trump and took the opportunity to “shoot down” rumors that the Facebook CEO plans to run against the President in 2020. At the time of our second interview, the manifesto was still only a draft, and I was surprised by how unsure Zuckerberg seemed about it in person. He had almost as many questions for us — about whether we understood what he was trying to say, how we thought it would land in the media — as we had for him. When I suggested that it might be perceived as an attack on Trump, he looked dismayed. He noted several times that he had been noodling over these ideas since long before November. A few weeks earlier, there was media speculation, fueled by a postelection tour of America by Zuckerberg and his wife, that he was laying the groundwork to run against Trump in 2020, and in this meeting he took pains to shoot down the rumors. Nevertheless, as NYT Magazine points out, pressure to change Facebook’s algorithms and tackle “fake news” came about as a direct response to the election of Trump and the popularity of Breitbart News’ election coverage on the social media platform. After studying how people shared 1. 25 million stories during the campaign, a team of researchers at M. I. T. and Harvard implicated Facebook and Twitter in the larger failure of media in 2016. The researchers found that social media created a right wing echo chamber: a “media network anchored around Breitbart developed as a distinct and insulated media system, using social media as a backbone to transmit a hyperpartisan perspective to the world. ” The findings partially echoed a long held worry about social news: that people would use sites like Facebook to cocoon themselves into self reinforcing bubbles of confirmatory ideas, to the detriment of civility and a shared factual basis from which to make collective, democratic decisions. A week and a half after the election, President Obama bemoaned “an age where there’s so much active misinformation and it’s packaged very well and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television. ” Read the full piece at the New York Times website. You can follow Allum Bokhari on Twitter and add him on Facebook. Email tips and suggestions to abokhari@breitbart. com. | 0fake |
Donald Trump and the $12.7 million Ukraine connection | Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort, is linked to an undisclosed $12.7 million in campaign contributions from his previous work as political consultant.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gives a thumbs up as his campaign manager Paul Manafort (c.) and daughter Ivanka (r.) look on during Mr. Trump's walk through at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, July 21, 2016.
Following the recent alleged infiltration of the Democratic National Committee servers by Russian hackers, as well as the then ensuing though now-redacted statement by Donald Trump that Russian hackers should help find Hillary Clinton’s missing emails, has raised questions about the Republican presidential nominee and his relationship with Russia.
Those questions are now further complicated by the revelation of a secret ledger that allegedly connects Mr. Trump's campaign chairman and $12.7 million in undisclosed payments from his previous employer, the deposed former president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, who is currently exiled in Russia.
Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chief spent the years from 2007 to 2012 working as a political consultant for the former ruling Party of Regions in Ukraine, where the party leader and the former President Yanukovych allegedly relied heavily on advice from Mr. Manafort until the president was forced into exile in Russia. He left after a popular uprising in 2014 – an uprising largely assumed to be conducted in opposition to Mr. Yanukovych and his government's close ties to Russia.
According to the Ukrainian National Anti-Corruption Bureau, which has obtained the ledgers, the records involve nearly 400 pages of handwritten figures, including some $12.7 million in undisclosed contributions designated for Manafort specifically, paid by the Party of Regions. The Bureau stated that Manafort’s name appeared 22 times over the span of five years, though the nature of the payments were not made clear.
"Paul Manafort is among those names on the list of so-called 'black accounts of the Party of Regions,' which the detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine are investigating," the Anti-Corruption Bureau said in a public statement quoted in The New York Times. "We emphasize that the presence of P. Manafort’s name in the list does not mean that he actually got the money, because the signatures that appear in the column of recipients could belong to other people."
Manafort’s lawyer has stated specifically that he did not receive any cash payments. But the Clinton campaign is raising questions about the nature of the payments as well as the consistently complicated and opaque relationship between Manafort’s current employer, Donald Trump, and Vanukovych’s close ally, Russia President Vladimir Putin.
Yanukovych, who initially disappeared following the 2014 uprising, had previously been accused of corruption and cronyism and even served a short stint on an Interpol wanted list for alleged embezzlement and financial wrongdoing. His palatial estate outside of Kiev made international news when, after his flight, protestors discovered the opulence he had been living in while the country was wracked with political turmoil.
While employed by Yanukovych, Manafort never registered as a foreign agent with the United States Justice Department, something that would be required for anyone looking to influence American policy on behalf of a foreign client, something for which one of Manafort’s subcontractors did register. Though it is unclear whether Manafort's actions in Ukraine would have required such registration, doing so would have required he disclose how much he was being paid and by whom during his period abroad – information that may now be available because of the discovery of secret ledgers once held in an office at the former Party of Regions headquarters in Kiev.
On Monday, Trump is expected to declare an end to nation building if he's elected president. In a speech in Ohio, his aides say Trump will outline his approach of "foreign policy realism" – a focus on destroying the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations.
Trump is expected to argue the country needs to work with anyone that shares that mission, regardless of other disagreements. | 0fake |
BATTLE OVER PRIVACY: Why the FBI’s Case Against Apple is Falling Apart | Shawn Helton 21st Century WireThis week a House Judiciary Committee began overseeing details of a US Federal Court case between tech company Apple and the FBI.On February 16th, Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly rejected a court order to decrypt an iPhone said to be connected to the San Bernardino mass-shooting case from December of 2015.The House Judiciary Committee listened to the controversial case between tech titan Apple and the FBI a day after Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of New York, struck down a federal court order pressuring Apple to help access encrypted data in a separate case involving illegal drug trafficking.The landmark decision made by Judge Orenstein stated that the All Writs Act of 1789 (also used as the FBI s main argument in the Apple/San Bernardino case) does not permit a court to order companies to pull encrypted data off a customer s phone or tablet, according to a recent article from The Washington Post.The Post continued by discussing Orenstein s lengthy argument against the FBI s order against Apple in the drug related case: In a 50-page opinion disdainful of the government s arguments, Orenstein found that the All Writs Act does not apply in instances where Congress had the opportunity but failed to create an authority for the government to get the type of help it was seeking, such as having firms ensure they have a way to obtain data from encrypted phones. In addition, The Post outlined some of the social engineering aspects involved in the lead up to the FBI drug case overseen by Judge Orenstein, a case which has arguably been a part of an overarching back drop concerning the larger San Bernardino case: The Brooklyn case began last fall when Orenstein, one of a handful of magistrates across the country who are activists in the surveillance debate, received the government s application to issue an order to Apple. While Apple has previously helped the federal government with some 70 phone cases since 2008, Judge Orenstein examined several problems with the FBI s use of the All Writs Act: In an Oct. 9 ruling, Orenstein identified what he thought was a problem with the government s argument. Though prosecutors cited a 1985 decision that found that the All Writs Act is a source of authority to issue writs not otherwise covered by statute, he said they failed to cite another part of the decision that found that the act does not authorize the issuance of ad hoc writs whenever compliance with statutory procedures appears inconvenient or less appropriate. The new ruling in the FBI drug case will likely have a heavy impact on the eventual ruling in the San Bernardino/Apple court order, as it directly questions the heart of the government s argument to gain easier access to encrypted consumer data.It s also interesting to note, that it was the FBI who put themselves in this position regarding the San Bernardino phone as they reportedly ordered the password to be reset via iCloud shortly after the apparent mass shooting.You have to wonder why the agency would have ordered a new password almost immediately following the highly dramatic scene in San Bernardino INVENTIONS OF REALITY? Is this latest privacy crisis a manufactured drama or a legitimate battle for those in the tech industry? (Photo illustration 21WIRE)What s interesting here, is that ABC news reported on December 3rd, a day after the apparent shooting, Sources say mobile phones, hard drives, virtually anything with digital memory that was associated with the alleged shooters Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik was smashed. Adding to that, we ve mentioned a number of times here at 21WIRE, that none of the eyewitness testimony mentioned seeing a female shooter at the scene of the Inland Regional Center in the aftermath of the San Bernardino shooting.A Right to PrivacyIn our previous article detailing the ongoing encryption saga between Apple and the FBI, we stated that there are no guarantees in the security world, especially if a digital master-key were to be created, as this would potentially make it easier for invaders (either the government, or various hackers) mining for data moving forward into the future.In a recent Guardian article, some of those involved in the technology and security sector offered their thoughts regarding the government s continued encroachment on individual privacy:Dan Kaminsky, the security expert who made his name with the discovery that one of the most basic parts of the internet, the domain name system, was vulnerable to fraud disagrees: Feds want final authority on engineering decisions, and their interests don t even align with fighting the vast bulk of real-world crime. Kaminsky further explained why Apple s security measures already help law enforcement, If my iPhone is stolen, my emails stay unread, my photos stay unviewed, and I don t need to notify anyone that the secrets they entrusted me with are going to show up on the internet tomorrow. Continuing, The Guardian interviewed former FBI agent Michael German, currently at judicial think-tank the Brennan Center. The following is a portion of that interview: After 9/11, you had this concept of total information awareness. The intelligence community was very enamoured of the idea that all information was available. Much like the NSA, they wanted to see it all, collect it all, and analyse it all. Additionally, there are many who believe weaker encryption may pose an even bigger security risk globally.In many ways, it appears as though federal agencies are seemingly searching for the right crisis to push public opinion in favor of the state when it comes to security.This is at the core of the perpetual privacy and security battle post 9/11 TARGETING PRIVACY FBI Director James Comey speaking at the Brookings Institution in October of 2014 about Going Dark. (Photo link brookings)Shining a Light on the FBI Going Dark Last September, The Washington Post published an article entitled, Obama faces growing momentum to support widespread encryption, and within its contents, perhaps the true nature of the security/privacy issue was laid bare (hat tip saperetic): Privately, law enforcement officials have acknowledged that prospects for congressional action this year are remote. Although the legislative environment is very hostile today, the intelligence community s top lawyer, Robert S. Litt, said to colleagues in an August e-mail, which was obtained by The Post, it could turn in the event of a terrorist attack or criminal event where strong encryption can be shown to have hindered law enforcement. There is value, he said, in keeping our options open for such a situation. Interestingly, in October of 2014, FBI Director James B. Comey, explained while speaking at the Brookings Institution he was focused on trying to get the law changed so that tech companies would have to comply with law enforcement to unlock data on various devices.Continuing, he outlined the current security agenda concerning the FBI, We have the legal authority to intercept and access communications and information pursuant to a court order, but we often lack the technical ability to do that. The Brookings speech from 2014, appeared in stark contrast with a recent emotionally driven op-ed Comey wrote for Lawfare entitled We Could Not Look the Survivors in the Eye if We Did Not Follow this Lead. Here s a passage from that piece, that clearly displays the conflicting message of the FBI director: We simply want the chance, with a search warrant, to try to guess the terrorist s passcode without the phone essentially self-destructing and without it taking a decade to guess correctly. That s it. We don t want to break anyone s encryption or set a master key loose on the land. The Guardian refers to this as a two-pronged approach on the public s senses as one tone from the FBI comes across as caring and the other seems more focused on the greater, nationalistic implications of encryption.Think good cop/bad cop hovering over you in an interrogation room and you d be getting very warm.This is the kind of psychological drama that has prompted some in media to think that the law enforcement agency has been exploiting the public in the wake of tragedy, in order to increase security measures.This is absolutely something to watch.So, what are we to make of the FBI s claims of going dark in the digital age?It has long since been claimed that intelligence agencies fear going dark in the age of high-tech gadgetry. This idea is vastly overblown and not rooted in reality, especially when you consider the many revelations concerning NSA spying, collection of bulk metadata and other tracking programs such as the IMSI catcher, otherwise known as Stingray (Stingray acts as cell tower locking onto all devices in a certain area) intercepts phone calls, texts, as well as your location.The very notion that law enforcement will somehow be condemned eternally to outdated methods to catch criminals in the future is patently absurd.Furthermore, the concept and presentation of the FBI s going dark scenario is nothing more than a talking point used to increase a police state apparatus within the United States.Don t PanicOn February 1st, a group of experts published report regarding the current status of law enforcement and their ability to keep up with the demands of crime solving in the world today. The lengthy report entitled Don t Panic was compiled by The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. Here s a passage below examining the FBI s catchy mantra, Going Dark :The U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities view this trend with varying degrees of alarm, alleging that their interception capabilities are going dark. As they describe it, companies are increasingly adopting technological architectures that inhibit the government s ability to obtain access to communications, even in circumstances that satisfy the Fourth Amendment s warrant requirements. Encryption is the hallmark of these architectures. Government officials are concerned because, without access to communications, they fear they may not be able to prevent terrorist attacks and investigate and prosecute criminal activity. Their solution is to force companies to maintain access to user communications and data, and provide that access to law enforcement on demand, pursuant to the applicable legal process. However, the private sector has resisted. Critics fear that architectures geared to guarantee such access would compromise the security and privacy of users around the world, while also hurting the economic viability of U.S. companies. They also dispute the degree to which the proposed solutions would truly prevent terrorists and criminals from communicating in mediums resistant to surveillance.While the report states that encryption is a difficult issue for law enforcement, all sorts of digital data is unencrypted and therefore can be accessed via a search warrant if there is cause not to mention the spying capabilities of a plethora of smart devices also available for review.Below is FBI Director (former Senior Vice President at Lockheed Martin) discussing the idea that the government is Going Dark In an article entitled Here s Why the FBI Went After Apple When It Did, Fortune magazine revealed that on February 9th, DOJ head Loretta Lynch requested an extra $38 million to help the FBI development workarounds on data encryption, bringing the total budget of what it calls project Going Dark to $69 million. Will the FBI continue to develop encryption workarounds in the event that they lose their battle with Apple over the San Bernardino case?In Summary Regardless of how you shape the court battle between Apple and the FBI, this is about the government wanting a more direct route into personal devices moving ahead.For Apple, this is a very important issue as a dip in consumer confidence, could be a crushing blow to the tech company s overall brand.It s important to remember anomaly ridden events such as the San Bernardino shooting and the suspicious events in Garland, Texas, of last year, in addition to other inconvenient truths concerning the government s role in manufacturing its own terror plots which have ironically prompted calls for greater national security, while continuing to appropriate large funds to federal agencies.You have to wonder, has the FBI s case against Apple fallen apart?READ MORE ENCRYPTION NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Encryption Files | 1real |
Brexit bill gives UK ministers 'excessively wide' powers, parliament committee says | LONDON (Reuters) - A parliamentary committee on Thursday accused British Prime Minister Theresa May s government of giving ministers excessively wide powers in new bill to transfer EU law into British law. The bill in question sets out the government s plan for transposing European Union law into the British statute book as part of Brexit. But it creates scope for ministers to alter legislation without full parliamentary scrutiny in order to make sure laws works properly once transferred. The bill gives ministers excessively wide legislative powers beyond what is necessary to ensure UK law works properly when the UK leaves the EU, said a statement accompanying a report by a committee of lawmakers from parliament s unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords. The government has said the powers created by the bill are strictly limited to what is needed to allow for a smooth transition - something they say is necessary to give businesses certainty over the rules they will face when Britain s EU membership ends in March 2019. Nevertheless, May, whose Conservative Party does not have an outright majority in parliament, could be forced into making concessions to ease concerns from across the political spectrum to clear the remaining lawmaking stages. Thursday s critical report by the House of Lords Delegated Powers Committee set out an alternative proposal that would allow more rigorous scrutiny of changes that the government wants to make when transposing EU law. The report offers a taste of the resistance May can expect to find in the House of Lords, where her Conservatives peers are significantly outnumbered by rivals from other parties. The Lords will have to approve the withdrawal bill before it can become law. Earlier this month the government cleared the first of many parliamentary hurdles, winning a vote on crucial legislation known as the EU withdrawal bill despite criticism that it amounted to a government power grab. | 0fake |
China says resurfacing tensions on Korean peninsula regrettable | BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday that after two months of relative calm on the Korean peninsula, the resurfacing of tensions was regrettable. Wang, speaking to reporters at a joint briefing with his Mongolian counterpart, said that China has an open attitude on solutions to the North Korean nuclear issue, but that parties should be consultative. In late November, North Korea tested its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile yet, putting the continental United States within range and increasing pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump to deal with the nuclear-armed nation. North Korea s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country called Trump insane on Sunday and said air drills between the United States and the South would push the already acute situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war . | 0fake |
BREAKING: Hillary’s ‘LOCKER ROOM’ Moment…Hidden Cam Catches EXPLOSIVE Video! [WATCH] | BREAKING: Hillary’s ‘LOCKER ROOM’ Moment…Hidden Cam Catches EXPLOSIVE Video! [WATCH] Oct 28, 2016 Previous post
Project Veritas is releasing one video each day until the election, but their latest video is damning enough to take out Hillary—or at least lose millions of independents in the process.
Her own campaign, in two separate events shown in the video below, show her complete hypocrisy, dirty dealings and illegal actions to suppress Republican voters.
But what’s even worse is that for as much as Hillary attacked Trump’s comments released on video from a decade ago , getting her media attack dogs to go after him full force, her own people do exactly the same thing.
And Project Veritas has brought us the proof. From Political Insider:
It’s official! Hillary Clinton and her campaign just had their own “locker room moment.” Watch (below) as this hidden camera video from Project Veritas shows Hillary Clinton campaign field organizer Wylie Mao, laughing and bragging about being able to grab a “co-worker’s” ass and not get fired.
The video was filmed of Mao at a bar in West Palm Beach, and he explained just how acceptable harassment is on Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
WARNING: Contains adult language and content.
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 1real |
Trump election result of US defeat in Middle East & victory of Syria, Iran, Russia: Top Analyst (Eng subs) | Leave a Reply Click here to get more info on formatting (1) Leave the name field empty if you want to post as Anonymous. It's preferable that you choose a name so it becomes clear who said what. E-mail address is not mandatory either. The website automatically checks for spam. Please refer to our moderation policies for more details. We check to make sure that no comment is mistakenly marked as spam. This takes time and effort, so please be patient until your comment appears. Thanks. (2) 10 replies to a comment are the maximum. (3) Here are formating examples which you can use in your writing:<b>bold text</b> results in bold text <i>italic text</i> results in italic text (You can also combine two formating tags with each other, for example to get bold-italic text.)<em>emphasized text</em> results in emphasized text <strong>strong text</strong> results in strong text <q>a quote text</q> results in a quote text (quotation marks are added automatically) <cite>a phrase or a block of text that needs to be cited</cite> results in: a phrase or a block of text that needs to be cited <blockquote>a heavier version of quoting a block of text...</blockquote> results in: a heavier version of quoting a block of text that can span several lines. Use these possibilities appropriately. They are meant to help you create and follow the discussions in a better way. They can assist in grasping the content value of a comment more quickly. and last but not least:<a href=''http://link-address.com''>Name of your link</a> results in Name of your link (4) No need to use this special character in between paragraphs: ; You do not need it anymore. Just write as you like and your paragraphs will be separated. The "Live Preview" appears automatically when you start typing below the text area and it will show you how your comment will look like before you send it. (5) If you now think that this is too confusing then just ignore the code above and write as you like. Name: | 1real |
UK ministry says parliament will vote on any deal before Brexit | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain s Brexit ministry said on Wednesday parliament will vote on the final deal with the European Union before the country has left the bloc, clarifying an earlier statement by its minister that politicians may be denied a vote until after it has left. Once the deal is agreed, we will meet our long-standing commitment to a vote in both Houses and we expect and intend this to be before the vote in the European Parliament and therefore before we leave, a spokesperson for Brexit minister David Davis said in a statement. | 0fake |
How public funding of elections makes politics even more polarized | Public funding of elections — that is, relying on tax revenue more than private donations to fund candidate campaigns — is a popular campaign finance reform proposal, if one that many Americans don’t fully embrace. Public funding is often thought to free candidates from the burden of fundraising and reduce the influence of wealthy donors and special interests. That all sounds good. Who likes “special interests,” after all?
Now, new research shows that public funding has an unexpected consequence: increased polarization. That is, public funding makes it harder, not easier, to elect moderate candidates.
That is the conclusion of political scientist Andrew Hall. He focuses on state legislative elections and compares trends in the five states that implemented robust public funding programs — Arizona, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, and Wisconsin — to trends in other states. Here is what he finds:
Below is a graph showing the distribution of ideology (“NP scores”) in legislatures in states that implemented public financing (the “treated” states) and those that did not (the “control” states). The first group of states became more polarized after the implementation of public financing. But no such change occurred during this time in the states that didn’t implement public financing.
In a more elaborate statistical analysis, Hall examines the gap between Republican and Democratic legislators representing similar districts. In a polarized legislature, a Republican and a Democrat will tend to vote in very different ways even though they represent essentially the same constituents. Hall finds that public financing increases this gap between the parties by 30 percent.
Why does public financing appear to have this effect? Hall argues that public financing weakens the influence of a maligned, but moderating, force in elections: access-oriented interest groups. Public financing reduces the funding supplied by these groups by over $20,000 per race, on average. The problem is that these groups give relatively little to ideologically extreme legislators and much more to moderates. Individual donors, however, have no such preference.
This leads to a broader point about campaign finance and polarization. Much of the debate over campaign finance is based on distinctions between “good” donors and “bad” donors. Good donors are taxpayers, in a public financing system. Or, in a privately funded system, good donors are ordinary citizens, sometimes called “small donors.” Bad donors are political party organizations, wealthy people, political action committees, and interest groups.
The problem is that if you want to reduce polarization, this way of thinking about donors gets things exactly backward. Small donors are a polarizing influence, as Adam Bonica has shown. Meanwhile, wealthy people tend to be a moderating influence. The same is true of many political action committees and interest groups. The same is true of political party organizations, as Brian Schaffner and Ray La Raja argue in this post.
That’s not to say that there aren’t good reasons to favor public financing or small donors. But favoring those things may also mean living with the trade-off: a more polarized, and probably less functional, politics.
Note: For a response, see this follow-up post by Seth Masket and Michael Miller. | 0fake |
BOOM! Trump Exposes Phony Michelle Obama…When She Went LOW With Oprah…Trump Went HIGH…Very High [VIDEO] | Michelle Obama told Oprah Winfrey in her final interview as our divisive First Lady, Now we re feeling what not having hope feels like. Sadly, for Michelle Obama hope for her is strictly based skin color. When her husband Barack Obama was being received like a rock-star across America (by mostly white supporters), she admitted that she suddenly found herself feeling pride in America for the first time in her adult life. Now that Donald J. Trump is about to become our next President, she openly admits to Oprah that she s lost all hope. Michelle has spent much of her 8 years as First Lady speaking about and obsessing over skin color. Many of the accusations she s made about white people in America are inaccurate and divisive, yet she curiously depicts herself as a victim during her interview with Oprah where she whines that Americans accuse her of being, An angry black woman. Michelle never bothers to acknowledge that her hateful, racist rhetoric has helped to earn that title, and not the color of her skin.Trump responded beautifully to her implied criticism of him by saying, I assume she was talking about the past and not the future. I actually think she made that statement not meaning it the way it came out. Ironically, Trump actually stepped up and saved her from making herself look like, An angry black woman. Watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noIoC4SF3AgHere s Mooch speaking about Americans who don t approve and criticize the way her husband has screwed up our nation, telling cheering supporters at the DNC Convention, When they go low, we go high. Of course, she and her husband have yet to prove that to be true.Watch that portion of her speech here:Here is the video where Michelle tells a huge crowd of Obama supporters that, For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am proud of my country. : | 1real |
Last Stand For ISIS? | Chaosistan , Iraq , Phenomenon of Terrorism By Eric MARGOLIS (USA)
As a former soldier and war correspondent who has covered 14 conflicts, I look at all the media hoopla over tightening siege of Mosul, Iraq and shake my head. This western-organized “liberation” of Mosul is one of the bigger pieces of political-military theater that I’ve seen.
Islamic State(IS), the defender of Mosul, is a paper tiger, blown out of all proportion by western media. IS is, as this writer has been saying for years, an armed mob made up of 20-something malcontents, religious fanatics, and modern-day anarchists. At its top is a cadre of former Iraqi Army officers with military experience.
These former officers of Saddam Hussain are bent on revenge for the US destruction of their nation and the lynching of its late leader. But IS rank and file has no military training, little discipline, degraded communications, and ragged logistics.
In fact, today’s Islamic State is what the Ottoman Empire used to term, ‘bashi-bazouks,” a collection of irregular cut-throats and scum of the gutter sent to punish and terrorize enemies by means of torture, rapine, looting and arson.
What has amazed me about the faux western war against ISIS is its leisurely nature, lack of élan, and hesitancy. In my view, ISIS was mostly created by the US and its allies as a weapon to be used against Syria’s government – just as the Afghan mujahadin were used by the US and the Saudis to overthrow the Soviet-backed Afghan government. Israel tried the same tactics by helping create Hamas in Palestine and Hezbullah in Lebanon. Both were cultivated to split the PLO.
ISIS is an ad hoc movement that wants to punish the West and the Saudis for the gross carnage they have inflicted on the Arab world.
Western and Kudish auxiliary forces have been sitting 1.5 hours drive from Mosul and the IS town of Raqqa for over a year. Instead, western – mainly US – warplanes have been gingerly bombing around these targets in what may be an effort to convince breakaway ISIS to rejoin US-led forces fight the Damascus regime.
Note that ISIS does not appear to have ever attacked Israel though it is playing an important role in the destruction of Syria. Some reports say Israel is providing logistic and medical support for IS.
The siege of Mosul is being played up by western media as a heroic second Stalingrad. Don’t be fooled. IS has only 3-5,000 lightly armed fighters in Mosul and Raqqa, maybe even less. The leaders of IS are likely long gone. IS has few heavy weapons, no air cover at all, and poor communications. Its rag-tag fighters will run out of ammunitions and explosives very quickly.
Encircling Mosul are at least 50,000 western-led soldiers, backed by heavy artillery, rocket batteries, tanks, armored vehicles and awesome air power
The western imperial forces are composed of tough Kurdish pasha merga fighters, Iraqi army and special forces, some Syrian Kurds, Iranian ‘volunteers’ irregular forces and at least 5,000 US combat troops called “advisors”, plus small numbers of French, Canadian and British special forces. Hovering in the background are some thousands of Turkish troops, supported by armor and artillery ready to ‘liberate’ Iraq – which was once part of the Ottoman Empire.
For the US, current military operations in Syria and Iraq are the realization of an imperialist’s fondest dream: native troops led by white officers, the model of the old British Indian Raj. Washington arms, trained, equips and financed all its native auxiliaries.
The IS is caught in a dangerous dilemma. To be a political movement, it was delighted to control Iraq’s second largest city. But as a guerilla force, it should not have holed up in an urban area where it was highly vulnerable to concentrated air attack and being surrounded. This is what’s happening right now.
In the mostly flat Fertile Crescent with too few trees, ground forces are totally vulnerable to air power, as the recent 1967, 1973 Israel-Arab wars and 2003 Iraq wars have shown. Dispersion and guerilla tactics are the only hope for those that lack air cover.
IS forces would best advised to disperse across the region and continue their hit-and-run attacks. Otherwise, they risk being destroyed. But being mostly bloody-minded young fanatics, IS may not heed military logic and precedent in favor of making a last stand in the ruins of Mosul and Raqqa.
When this happens, western leaders will compete to claim authorship of the faux crusade against the paper tiger of ISIS.
Eric S. Margolis is an award-winning, internationally syndicated columnist, writing and commenting for the top media outlets of the United States, Canada UK, France, Gulf states, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan. | 1real |
ANOTHER WIN FOR TRUMP! Release Of Americans Jailed In Egypt Secured By Trump Administration [Video] | Another great move by the Trump administration! They were proactive in securing the release of Aya Hijazi. Hijazi s release was negotiated with Egypt by President Trump and his aides.They worked for several weeks with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi (pictured above) to secure the freedom of Aya Hijazi, 30, a U.S. citizen, as well as her husband, Mohamed Hassanein, who is Egyptian, and four other humanitarian workers. Trump dispatched a U.S. government aircraft to Cairo to bring Hijazi and her family to Washington.The Obama administration unsuccessfully pressed Sissi s government for their release. It was not until Trump moved to reset U.S. relations with Egypt by embracing Sissi at the White House on April 3 he publicly hailed the autocrat s leadership as fantastic and offered the U.S. government s strong backing that Egypt s posture changed. Last Sunday, a court in Cairo dropped all charges against Hijazi and the others:Video: The moment of Aya Hijazi and her co-defendants acquittal:Video: The moment of Aya Hijazi and her co-defendants acquittal pic.twitter.com/fRb6ombu2x#Egypt Mai El-Sadany (@maitelsadany) April 16, 2017 Hijazi co-founded the Belady Foundation in 2013 with her husband Mohamed Hassanein shortly after graduating from George Mason University. The Cairo-based NGO provided resources and counseling to abandoned or runaway children.In May 2014, authorities detained Hijazi, Mohammad and six others volunteers with the organization on accusations that they physically and sexually abused these children, and included the children in anti-government protests. They had been held in pre-trial detention ever since.Throughout the course of their detention, hearings were adjourned before they began over six times. The verdict was originally scheduled for March, just before Egyptian President Abul Fattah el-Sisi s first meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington.Read more: PBS | 1real |
WATCH: North Carolina Governor Wants To Kill Civil Rights Act To Bring Back Segregation | In 2013, conservatives used their 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court to kill a key part of the Voting Rights Act. Now Republicans are aiming at the Civil Rights Act to bring back segregation.During an interview on CNN with Jake Tapper, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory actually argued that Congress should revisit the Civil Right Act of 1964 to make segregation legal again so that the state can make accommodations for transgender people. I think we ought to make special circumstances for those individuals, McCrory said when asked how we should treat transgender kids. He suggested that the federal government is preventing the creation of unisex bathrooms and that we should segregate by forcing transgender kids to use those bathrooms.Of course, many businesses have already added unisex bathrooms without a problem so McCrory seems to pretending that the federal government is blocking him.He whined about the Justice Department taking issue with North Carolina s HB2 law, which allows business owners to discriminate against LGBT customers and employees under the guise of religious liberty. And he blamed the left for the discriminatory laws Republicans have been passing across the country. I think that this was an argument that we didn t need to have, McCrory said. But this is an agenda by the far left. And for some reason, the national media is saying the far right brought this up. I had no interest in this subject. But the Justice Department is basically making a civil rights claim that every private sector employer in the U.S. and every university in the United States must have gender expression or gender identity bathroom choices for individuals. 17 states and over 200 cities have simply passed laws or ordinances protecting transgender people allowing them to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity free from discrimination.It s the Republicans who made this a problem by passing laws overriding local ordinances and legalizing bigotry against LGBT people.However, McCrory would like the Republican-controlled Congress to go another step further and gut the Civil Rights Act of 1964 so that segregation can once again be legal in the United States. I think there s a time where the Republicans and the Democrats in this Congress need to revisit the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and revisit all this issue. Because these are complex issues and North Carolina for whatever reason politically has become the target by the left on this agenda. Here s the video via YouTube.If McCrory had his way, we would not only see transgender people get segregated from from the rest of the population, we would see many southern states segregate black people as well. We would once again have bathrooms for whites and blacks, separate water fountains, separate schools, and businesses could signs outside that say whites only. Basically, McCrory made the Justice Department s case by admitting that he wants to segregate transgender people into separate but equal bathrooms, which is going to be pretty difficult to enforce unless you put a perverted cop in every public bathroom. Segregation has been illegal since 1954 for a reason. It goes against our constitutional values and divides Americans when we should be united.The very fact that McCrory even suggested killing a key part of the Civil Rights Act should make it clear to every American that Republicans are just itching to attack the landmark legislation to take the country backward. And if voters allow a President Trump along with a Republican majority in Congress, McCrory could very well get his wish.Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
HYSTERICAL LIBERALS CHEER FOR JOHN KERRY…He Came To Protest Something…He’s Not Sure What It Is [Video] | This is scary this guy was our Secretary of State! Yikes! His tongue! | 1real |
Newly Approved GM Potatoes Have Potential to Silence Human Genes | Late last week, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved two new strains of genetically engineered potatoes. The potatoes, created by JR Simplot, have been engineered to resist potato blight,... | 1real |
“HILLARY CLINTON SEXUALLY ASSAULTED ME!” [Video] | After years and even decades in some cases, throngs of women have decided to finally speak out, all at once only weeks before the man they re accusing is about to defeat Crooked Hillary in one of the most important Presidential races of our lifetime. Terrance Williams has a thing (or two) to say about that. Watch: | 1real |
Macedonian nationals arrested in Greece over wiretap scandal: police source | ATHENS (Reuters) - Two Macedonian nationals wanted by Interpol have been arrested in Greece over their alleged involvement in a wiretap scandal that brought down Macedonia s government, a police official said on Thursday. Two years of political turmoil were triggered in 2015 after opposition parties accused then prime minister Nikola Gruevski and his counter-intelligence chief of orchestrating the wiretapping of more than 20,000 people. The EU, which Macedonia aspires to join, was forced to broker an agreement in which parties agreed to hold early elections and establish the office of a special prosecutor to investigate the content of the wiretaps. A new government was formed in May. The two Macedonians, aged 51 and 35, are accused of destroying machines used in wiretapping, a police official said on condition of anonymity. They were arrested on Wednesday at the airport in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki carrying fake Bulgarian passports, the official said. Greek police said the men were also accused of setting up a criminal gang to carry out technology-related crimes. They are due to appear before a prosecutor on Thursday. In June, Macedonia s special prosecutor filed charges against 94 people, including former high government officials, over their involvement in alleged crimes revealed in tapes that emerged during the surveillance scandal. | 0fake |
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