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OBAMA’S JUSTICE DEPT. GRANTS IMMUNITY To Staffer Who Set Up Clinton E-Mail Server | This is Barack Obama s Justice Department and Loretta Lynch is just taking orders. This is a BIG development!The Justice Department has granted immunity to the former State Department staffer who worked on Hillary Rodham Clinton s private email server, a sign the FBI investigation into possible criminal wrongdoing is progressing.A senior U.S. law enforcement official said the FBI had secured the cooperation of Bryan Pagliano who worked on Clinton s 2008 presidential campaign before setting up the server in her New York home in 2009.As the FBI looks to wrap up its investigation in the coming months, agents will likely want to interview Clinton and her senior aides about the decision to use a private server, how it was set up, and whether any of the participants knew they were sending classified information in emails, current and former officials said.Read more: Washington Post | 1real |
NEIL CAVUTO AND YOUNG COMMIE CLASH: “The capitalist system is illegitimate” [Video] | Pro-Bernie Sanders Commie clashes with Neil Cavuto | 1real |
Three arrested in Malaysia for suspected beer festival bomb plot | KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian police arrested three people, including a teenager, suspected of planning to detonate a bomb at an annual beer festival in the capital, the police chief said on Tuesday. The two-day Better Beer Festival was canceled last month following objections from an Islamist party, which said the event could lead to rape and other crime and free sex. A construction contractor, a former soldier and a 19-year-old student with links to the Islamic State militant group were arrested in the northern state of Kelantan last Tuesday on suspicion of planning the attack, Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun told reporters. The suspects had plans to attack the beer festival, houses of worship and entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas, he said. The former soldier, 34, had provided funds to the student that were used to produce and test improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for use in the attacks, Mohamad Fuzi said. Police had seized materials used for making three IEDs with an estimated blast radius of 30 meters, he said. It s a big area, he said. It would have caused a lot of deaths if set off at the beer festival. The contractor, a 25-year-old man, was suspected to be linked to a militant cell that had carried out a grenade attack on a bar on the outskirts of the capital last year, Mohamad Fuzi said. The attack on the Movida bar, which wounded eight people, was ordered by a Syrian-based Malaysian militant and is considered to be the first successful attack by the Islamic State in the country. Police were still investigating whether the three suspects had received orders from other parties. Around 6,000 people had been expected to attend the Better Beer Festival , showcasing craft beers from at least 11 countries, according to the event s organizers. Protests against events considered Western and unIslamic are common in Muslim-majority Malaysia and are usually led by the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) and conservative Islamist NGOs. Since January, Malaysia has detained 78 people with suspected links to Islamic State in its crackdown on militancy, Mohamad Fuzi said. Five Malaysians are believed to have joined up with Islamic State-linked groups in the southern Philippines, while 53 others have joined the group in Syria, he added. | 0fake |
Exclusive: White House delivered EU-skeptic message before Pence visit - sources | BERLIN (Reuters) - In the week before U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited Brussels and pledged America’s “steadfast and enduring” commitment to the European Union, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon met with a German diplomat and delivered a different message, according to people familiar with the talks. Bannon, these people said, signalled to Germany’s ambassador to Washington that he viewed the EU as a flawed construct and favoured conducting relations with Europe on a bilateral basis. Three people who were briefed on the meeting spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. The German government and the ambassador, Peter Wittig, declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of the talks. A White House official who checked with Bannon in response to a Reuters query confirmed the meeting had taken place but said the account provided to Reuters was inaccurate. “They only spoke for about three minutes and it was just a quick hello,” the official said. The sources described a longer meeting in which Bannon took the time to spell out his world view. They said his message was similar to the one he delivered to a Vatican conference back in 2014 when he was running the right-wing website Breitbart News. In those remarks, delivered via Skype, Bannon spoke favourably about European populist movements and described a yearning for nationalism by people who “don’t believe in this kind of pan-European Union.” Western Europe, he said at the time, was built on a foundation of “strong nationalist movements”, adding: “I think it’s what can see us forward”. The encounter unsettled people in the German government, in part because some officials had been holding out hope that Bannon might temper his views once in government and offer a more nuanced message on Europe in private. One source briefed on the meeting said it had confirmed the view that Germany and its European partners must prepare for a policy of “hostility towards the EU”. A second source expressed concern, based on his contacts with the administration, that there was no appreciation for the EU’s role in ensuring peace and prosperity in post-war Europe. “There appears to be no understanding in the White House that an unravelling of the EU would have grave consequences,” the source said. The White House said there was no transcript of the conversation. The sources who had been briefed on it described it as polite and stressed there was no evidence Trump was prepared to go beyond his rhetorical attacks on the EU - he has repeatedly praised Britain’s decision to leave - and take concrete steps to destabilise the bloc. But anxiety over the White House stance led French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, to issue unusual calls last week for Pence to affirm during his visit to Europe that the U.S. was not aiming to break up the EU. Pence obliged on Monday in Brussels, pledging strong ties between the United States and the EU, and making clear his message was shared by the president. “President Trump and I look forward to working together with you and the European Union to deepen our political and economic partnership,” he said. But the message did not end the concerns in European capitals. “We are worried and we should be worried,” Thomas Matussek, senior adviser at Flint Global and a former German ambassador to the Britain and the United Nations, told Reuters. “No one knows anything at the moment about what sort of decisions will be coming out of Washington. But it is clear that the man on top and the people closest to him feel that it’s the nation state that creates identity and not what they see as an amorphous group of countries like the EU.” With elections looming in the Netherlands, France and Germany this year, European officials said they hoped Pence, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could convince Trump to work constructively with the EU. The worst-case scenario from Europe’s point of view was described by Ischinger in an article published last week, entitled “How Europe should deal with Trump”. He said that if the U.S. administration actively supported right-wing populists in the looming election campaigns it would trigger a “major transatlantic crisis”. | 0fake |
US spy chief gives false intel on Syria to Obama, Clinton: Analyst | Interviews James Clapper, Director of US National Intelligence Agency, speaks at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City on October 25, 2016. (AFP photo)
James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, has warned that the establishment of a no-fly zone in Syria could prompt Russia to shoot down US planes. This comes as Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for the 2016 US presidential election, has called for establishing a no-fly zone in the Arab country. Russia has recently deployed mobile S-400 and S-300 missile batteries to western Syria, which are ready to shoot down cruise missiles and aircraft.
Gordon Duff, a senior editor with the Veterans Today, told Press TV that James Clapper who spoke out against former secretary of state’s emphasis on a no-fly zone over Syria is responsible, because the American officials obtain their intelligence on the Syrian conflict from the spy chief.
“The public position of the United States vis-à-vis Syria was established based on intelligence supplied exclusively by James Clapper,” Duff noted, adding, “He (Clapper) is the one that talks about the gas, he’s the one who talks about the barrel bombs, [and] everything that’s been disproven.”
He said, “Every crazy scheme that the US comes up with to blame Syria for killing its own people or the Russians for slaughtering people in hospitals, it all comes from James Clapper, the director of the National Intelligence Agency, who fed that information to Secretary Clinton, who fed that information to President [Barack] Obama.”
“Clinton said that she favored a no-fly zone only if acceptable for both Russia and Damascus and after negotiations,” which is a very different story than the one said by the spy chief for political purposes, Duff said.
Duff added that the imposition of “no-fly zone obviously is going to help no one but al-Nusra [Front] and ISIS (Daesh)” terrorists.
Damascus and Moscow carry out airstrikes against terrorist groups who wreak havoc in the Arab country, but the US and its allies push for imposing a no-fly zone on Syria to pursue their agenda in the war-ridden state.
Since March 2011, Syria has been gripped with foreign-backed militancy, which has left hundreds of thousands of people dead or wounded and millions of others homeless. Loading ... | 1real |
Trump has shifted away from complete Muslim ban: Pence | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump has backed away from a total ban on Muslims entering the United States, vice presidential running mate Mike Pence said on Thursday, a shift from one of the Republican presidential candidate’s most provocative proposals. Trump’s call last December for “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” followed an Islamic State-inspired mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, by a husband-and-wife team. Critics have called the proposed ban discriminatory and probably a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of religion, and Democrats have used Trump’s policy to declare him a bigot. In recent months, Trump has said he would suspend immigration from countries where Islamist militants are active but has left vague as to whether this amounted to a narrowing or an expansion of his original policy position.Pence said in a round of television interviews that if elected on Nov. 8, Trump would suspend immigration from “countries that have been compromised by terrorism.” Asked if this amounted to a ban on Muslims, Pence said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” show: “Of course not.” On CNN’s “New Day,” Pence was asked why, given that he had been against the ban before becoming Trump’s running mate, he was not opposing it now.” “Well, because it’s not Donald Trump’s position now,” replied Pence. | 0fake |
Saudi Arabia swapping assets for freedom of some held in graft purge: sources | BEIRUT/RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi authorities are striking agreements with some of those detained in an anti-corruption crackdown, asking them to hand over assets and cash in return for their freedom, sources familiar with the matter said. The deals involve separating cash from assets like property and shares, and looking at bank accounts to assess cash values, one of the sources told Reuters. Dozens of princes, senior officials and businessmen, including cabinet ministers and billionaires, have been detained in the graft inquiry at least partly aimed at strengthening the power of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. These include billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the kingdom s most prominent businessmen. One businessman had tens of millions of Saudi riyals withdrawn from his account after he signed. In another case, a former senior official consented to hand over ownership of four billion riyals worth of shares, the source said. The Saudi government earlier this week moved from freezing accounts to issuing instructions for expropriation of unencumbered assets or seizure of assets, said a second source familiar with the situation. There was no immediate comment from the Saudi government on the deals and the sources declined to be identified because these agreements are not public. Analysts said the deals may help end uncertainty about the anti-corruption crackdown but could have an impact on Saudi Arabia s risk perception among investors. Eliminating uncertainty about what the Saudi authorities are going to do goes a long way toward giving the market comfort that the regime is getting its house in order, and plugging its deficit, said Louis Gargour, founder and senior portfolio manager at London-based hedge fund LNG Capital. Riyadh has been cutting spending while raising taxes and fees to curb a state budget deficit caused by low oil prices. The deficit, which hit $98 billion in 2015, is shrinking but at a high cost to the economy - data in late September showed Saudi Arabia in recession during the second quarter. The Saudi government has in recent years been pressing wealthy individuals to invest more in the kingdom and bring home some of their wealth from overseas. The United States is closely watching the situation in Saudi Arabia, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Friday. Asked about agreements to hand over wealth for detainees freedom, Mnuchin told CNBC: I think that the Crown Prince (Mohammed bin Salman) is doing a great job at transforming the country. Gargour said: From a civil liberties point of view obviously incarcerating people doesn t give us comfort, and that s why we ve seen spreads on Saudi bonds go 50 basis points or so wider. Funds started selling Middle East bonds early this month after Saudi Arabia detained dozens of senior officials and businessmen in an unprecedented crackdown on graft. Credit spreads and the cost of insuring debt against default have increased not only for Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, but across the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, which includes Qatar, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi. From a trading point of view you want to identify the private companies most impacted and short or sell them, and conversely public sector companies will benefit, said Gargour. The market value of the portfolio of Saudi equities held by the Public Investment Fund, the kingdom s sovereign wealth fund, has gained, even as the arrest or questioning of more than 200 people in the inquiry caused stocks in many privately controlled firms to slump. Reuters could not immediately verify a Financial Times report that in some cases the government is seeking to appropriate as much as 70 percent of suspects wealth to channel hundreds of billions of dollars into depleted state coffers. The Saudi authorities have help from international auditors, investigators and people with experience in tracing assets. Bank representatives are on hand to execute the decisions immediately, one of the sources said. Saudi authorities have said they have questioned 208 people in an anti-corruption investigation and estimate at least $100 billion has been stolen through graft, an official said last week as the inquiry expanded beyond the kingdom s borders into the United Arab Emirates. Those detained include other high-profile businessmen such as Mohammad al-Amoudi, whose wealth is estimated by Forbes at $10.4 billion, with construction, agriculture and energy companies in Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia; and finance and healthcare magnate Saleh Kamel, whose fortune is seen at $2.3 billion. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to use the anti-corruption purge as a way of boosting his popularity with the Saudi population, said Jason Tuvey, Middle East economist at Capital Economics. But he may have realized that by doing this he s gone a step too far and ruffled too many feathers, and he is maybe trying to find a way out that means these people don t end up in prison forever and can carry on their business operations as before. | 0fake |
Japan to build four radar stations for the Philippines to counter piracy surge: sources | TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan will build four coast guard radar stations on islands in the Sulu Celebes Seas separating the Philippines and Indonesia to help Manila counter a surge in piracy by Islamic insurgents, two sources said. An agreement to fund the facilities and provide training to local coast guard personnel may be signed as early next week by Japanese Prime Minister and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Manila, the sources said. The seas in that area are an important waterway for merchant ships traveling to Japanese ports, one of the people with knowledge of the plan said. The sources asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media. Of 30 acts of piracy reported in the first half of 2017 six involved the use of guns, of which three were crew abductions from ships underway in the Sulu Celebes Seas, according to the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP). Four attempted abductions in the waters were also logged. Japan will fund construction of the radar stations through its Overseas Development Aid (ODA) budget, the sources said. Japan is aware of the need to counter piracy in the region and is keen to help, but we can t discuss individual projects, said an official at Japan s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which overseas ODA spending. The radar stations are part of a wider aid package that include helicopter parts for the Philippines military, financing for infrastructure projects such as rail lines and help to rebuild conflict-torn southern Marawi city after five months of military operations against Islamic State rebels. By providing such aid Tokyo is aiming to deepen economic and security ties with Manila as it looks to contain China s growing power. Japan sees the Philippines, which lies on the eastern side of the South China Sea, as a key ally in helping prevent Beijing s influence spreading into the western Pacific. Abe will travel to the Philippines on Monday following a two day gathering of regional leaders at an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Vietnam. | 0fake |
German women ask Merkel for more support after vote | BERLIN (Reuters) - A group of German women s organizations wrote to Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday demanding more support for their goals of equal participation, equal pay and better monitoring of gender policies after the Sept. 24 election. Merkel was elected as Germany s first female chancellor in 2005, helped by strong support from women voters, but the leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) has not made fighting for equal rights a major priority. Women in Germany have moderated their demands for long enough and repeatedly accepted compromises. Without notable progress, wrote the 17 groups representing 12.5 million women in professions ranging from medicine to law and engineering. Now, new, binding milestones with clear targets need to be defined and achieved. Opinion polls show that Merkel should easily win a fourth term, with women still more likely to vote for the CDU than the SPD, and far more likely to support Merkel on 60 percent than her SPD challenger Martin Schulz on just 20 percent. Merkel was initially opposed to quotas, but her government has introduced a requirement for women to hold 30 percent of seats on non-executive company boards after it was championed by her junior coalition partners, the center-left Social Democrats. Beyond that, however, progress at boosting female representation in both business and politics has been slow. None of Germany s top 30 listed companies has a female CEO and women hold only 7 percent of executive positions in the 160 biggest listed firms, up from 6 percent in 2016. Meanwhile, the percentage of women in the German parliament is expected to fall to 32 percent from a current 36.5 percent after the election due to the likely entry of the male-dominated Free Democrats and Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD). Merkel says she wants half her new cabinet to be female, compared to seven out of 16 posts now, although that will depend on which party she shares power with. She has also warned firms they face tougher regulation if they do not promote more women. The women s groups said they welcomed Merkel s desire for an equal cabinet and for more women in business, but said more was needed to improve participation and equal pay. The example of the mandatory gender quota for supervisory boards of large companies shows that legal targets are needed to speed up the necessary processes of change and a switch in role models in business and society, the letter to Merkel said. | 0fake |
Will it be representative government or thugocracy? | Will it be representative government or thugocracy? Exclusive: Erik Rush envisions Clinton using high court 'as a bludgeon' against liberty Published: 43 mins ago About | | Archive Erik Rush is a columnist and author of sociopolitical fare. His latest book is "Negrophilia: From Slave Block to Pedestal - America's Racial Obsession." In 2007, he was the first to give national attention to the story of Sen. Barack Obama's ties to militant Chicago preacher Rev. Jeremiah Wright, initiating a media feeding frenzy. Erik has appeared on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes," CNN, and is a veteran of numerous radio appearances. Print
“ I feel strongly that the Supreme Court needs to stand on the side of the American people, not on the side of the powerful corporations and the wealthy. For me, that means that we need a Supreme Court that will stand up on behalf of women’s rights, on behalf of the rights of the LGBT community, that will stand up and say no to Citizens United, a decision that has undermined the election system in our country because of the way it permits dark, unaccountable money to come into our electoral system. ”
– Hillary Clinton
The first salvo from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton (or rather, her answer to the first question posed by Fox News’ Chris Wallace to her and Donald Trump at the third presidential debate) was as chilling as it was an exemplar of hypocrisy.
Those on the left are quite fond of leveling the accusation against conservatives of employing “dog whistle politics,” rhetoric that allegedly contains hidden or esoteric derogatory messaging which targets a specific subgroup within the opposition. Ms. Clinton’s response to Wallace’s question (where they wanted to see the Supreme Court take the country, and their views on how the Constitution ought to be interpreted) however, was representative of this tactic.
While women’s rights and those of the LGBT community may seem to be a curious focus for the high court (since objectively, women wouldn’t appear to be particularly oppressed given that one has been nominated to run for president, and the LGBT community accounts for less than 5 percent of the American population), Clinton’s answer revealed the focus she believes the court should have once she becomes empress.
“Women’s rights” is of course “dog whistle” for unfettered abortion, even late-term abortion, which is essentially infanticide via dismemberment. “LGBT rights” is “dog whistle” for disenfranchising the majority of Americans who hold traditional values, primarily Christians. Leveraging a vocal minority of homosexuals, bisexuals and transgender individuals whom the left has whipped into a froth against Christians is the methodology that was employed to negate the political power of Christians in Europe and Canada. A direct assault via legislation in this area would not work in the U.S. (at least not at present); however, judicial rulings could effectively bring about the same result.
Let us leave aside for a moment the fact that judicial activism is unethical and skirts the Constitution and that Clinton’s overall objectives are manifestly evil. Hillary Clinton’s stated priorities for the Supreme Court are a clear indicator of her desire to use the court as a bludgeon against the Constitution and individual liberties, rather than allowing it to perform its designated function. The hypocrisy attendant to Clinton citing the rights of women and homosexuals when she is beholden via financial contributions to nations that institutionally persecute and murder members of these groups remains plain for all to see, despite being conveniently ignored by the press.
Clinton’s reference to “powerful corporations and the wealthy” and the malign influence of that sinister conservative organization, Citizens United, was of course another exercise in blatant hypocrisy. Clinton is quite wealthy, and corrupt or otherwise compromised powerful corporations have been instrumental in bringing about the designs of American socialists. Even if Citizens United were a vehicle for “dark, unaccountable money,” the scope of its influence would pale next to the subversive designs of the Muslim Brotherhood, with which Bill and Hillary Clinton have been partnered for decades, or the myriad tentacles of organizations funded by George Soros, the former Nazi collaborator dedicated to advancing oligarchical collectivism in America, someone with whom the Clintons also have a long association.
One need not attempt to decipher the thinly veiled intent behind Clinton’s debate rhetoric to discern what a Hillary Clinton presidency might look like. Her actions to date – and particularly those in the pursuit of seeking that office – should suffice quite nicely. Despite the craven complicity of the establishment press (mainstream media), there is ample evidence for even the most indolent news consumer to reach the conclusion that she and the Democratic leviathan supporting her, and which facilitated Barack Obama’s rise to power, are fundamentally malignant.
In recent days, we’ve become aware of all manner of unethical conspiracies and outright criminality that’s been brought to bear in getting Clinton elected, from Democratic officials tampering with the outcome of the illegal email server investigation, to the oversampling of key demographics in polling in order to enhance the public perception of Clinton’s popularity, to the recent revelation of criminally prosecutable actions on the part of the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee and the White House.
The bottom line here is that Hillary Clinton represents a class of people who transcend even the loathed archetypal modern politician in their rapaciousness and amorality. What all Americans – not just voters, and not just Republicans – need to realize is that leaders at the highest levels in the Republican Party are every bit as culpable as the gutter operatives of the Democratic Party who pay miscreants to dress up as ducks, instigate fistfights at opposition rallies and, yes, even vote for their candidates.
The burning question is this: In the end, are we to be governed by the will of the people, or are we going to continue pretending that we have a representative government, when we are in effect being ruled by abject thugs operating behind a faux veneer of government?
Media wishing to interview Erik Rush, please contact . Receive Erik Rush's commentaries in your email BONUS: By signing up for Erik Rush's alerts, you will also be signed up for news and special offers from WND via email. Name * | 1real |
Kp Message 10-30-16… “A Few Things” | [Kp note: started writing on 10-29, but posted on 10-30, so I changed the date in the title.]
Not sure what those “things” are yet, but I’m sure they’ll come.
There’s a lot of “something” going on today, at least within me. There was a period of time today when I felt I was walking around in another dimension… definitely not here , fully, at least, and more like in a “dream” or “transparent” type of shape. It actually felt very pleasant, and very much more “at home” than living upon/in this 3D-4D-whatever type physical “world” thing.
I have “stuff” to do, as I walk and move and BE upon this planet… even though I know I AM a BE ing of Light, yet I am here in the physical body, and I (apparently) have accepted that and know I have “physical type” areas in which to “work” (lots of quote marks in there).
This blog will very likely always be a secondary part of my expression here, however, as my DOing and BEing primarily centers on the “Energy work” I feel is mine to do. It is particularly significant that I am in Hawai’i, formerly known as Lemuria, and performing most of the “Energy missions” over here. Somehow the islands feel like fingers of my own hand… and that has been true ever since I first arrived.
I’m not trying to “teach” anything here. Just share the “sense” I have about all this stuff… from my viewpoint… no one else’s.
So why am I writing this particular post? Well, as always, I felt an urgent movement to do so. And I presume I’ll be following or listening to that “movement” for my entire experience here on this planet.
That is all for now.
Aloha, Kp | 1real |
Microsoft victory in overseas email seizure case is upheld | NEW YORK (Reuters) - An equally divided federal appeals court refused to reconsider its landmark decision forbidding the U.S. government from forcing Microsoft Corp and other companies to turn over customer emails stored on servers outside the United States. Tuesday’s 4-4 vote by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan let stand a July 14 decision that was seen as a victory for privacy advocates, and for technology companies offering cloud computing and other services worldwide. But the dissenting judges said that decision by a three-judge panel could hamstring law enforcement, and called on the U.S. Supreme Court or Congress to reverse it. “The panel majority’s decision does not serve any serious, legitimate, or substantial privacy interest,” Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes wrote in dissent. Peter Carr, a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman, said: “We are reviewing the decision and its multiple dissenting opinions and considering our options.” Microsoft had no immediate comment. In the July decision, Circuit Judge Susan Carney ruled that Microsoft could not be forced to turn over emails sought for a narcotics case, but stored on a server in Dublin, Ireland. Though Microsoft is based in Washington state, Carney said the emails were beyond the reach of domestic search warrants issued under the federal Stored Communications Act, a 1986 law. Microsoft was thought to be the first U.S. company to challenge a domestic search warrant seeking data held outside the country. The case attracted significant attention from technology and media companies concerned that a ruling for the government could jeopardize the privacy of customers, and make them less likely to use cloud services if they thought data could be seized. Microsoft’s position was supported by dozens of technology and media companies including Amazon.com, Apple, CNN, Fox News Network and Verizon Communications, as well as the American Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. But Tuesday’s dissenters said it should not matter where the emails were stored because Microsoft was a U.S. company. They also said the panel did not properly address the challenges that electronic data storage poses for law enforcement. “It has substantially burdened the government’s legitimate law enforcement efforts; created a roadmap for the facilitation of criminal activity; and impeded programs to protect the national security of the United States and its allies,” Cabranes wrote. The judge expressed hope that the panel’s view of the 1986 law “can be rectified as soon as possible by a higher judicial authority or by the Congress.” The case is Microsoft v U.S., 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 14-2985. | 0fake |
U.S. imposing more sanctions against N.Korea soon: White House | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States plans to impose additional sanctions against North Korea very soon, a White House spokeswoman said on Wednesday after Pyongyang said it had it successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile and could now reach the U.S. mainland with its nuclear weapons. We re going to add additional sanctions very shortly that will continue to put that maximum pressure on North Korea, White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told Fox News in an interview. Sanders also said the administration would also try to push Russia to take a bigger and bolder stance to put more pressure on North Korea. | 0fake |
Jimmy Kimmel on Hosting the Oscars at a Political Moment - The New York Times | He has been the host of the Emmy Awards, the ESPY Awards, the American Music Awards, the “Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson” and, for 14 years, his ABC show “Jimmy Kimmel Live! ,” so it’s only fair that Jimmy Kimmel should at last be allowed to host the Academy Awards. He’ll finally get his chance this Sunday, the first time in nearly a decade that a working star will be M. C. of the Oscars. Mr. Kimmel, 49, is taking on this award show in a year when there doesn’t seem to be much mystery about which major nominees will win. And he’ll have to find a way to connect with a nationwide audience at a fractious time, when political tempers are running high. So, no pressure there. As Mr. Kimmel said in a recent telephone interview, speaking from the El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles where “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is produced: “I’ve come to terms with the fact that someone is going to be disappointed in me at the end. I just don’t know who it will be yet. ” Days before he steps onto the Dolby Theater stage, in front of tens of millions of people, Mr. Kimmel spoke about the challenges of making this show while still working his day job and trying to find a sweet spot between a program with too much political content and one with not enough. These are edited excerpts from that conversation. How are the preparations going? Where do you even find the time? What, am I supposed to be planning something? I was thinking I would wing it. No one’s ever done that before. We’ll do some crowd work and see how it goes. [Laughs] We do it in whatever spare time we have. After the show, I usually spend an hour or two on the Oscars, and dedicate Fridays to and planning and interviews and meetings, promo shoots. Eventually it adds up. Does hosting a nightly talk show better prepare you for a challenge like this? When you do a show every night, hosting an awards show doesn’t seem as monumental a task as it might. Really, when you break it down, it’s like a monologue and a couple of taped pieces, then some intros and jokes along the way. You have to give out awards for all the categories, and you want to keep the show under nine hours long. You don’t have a ton of room to play with. Are you approaching this as a potential audition to host again in future years? That’s definitely not something I have in mind. [Laughs] You never know how these things have gone until you step offstage and read what a bunch of strangers thought. All your friends tell you it was great, no matter what you did, and your mother thinks it’s wonderful. Obviously it’s an honor, but the workload cannot be ignored. How do you make peace with this? It’s not even really about the work — it’s the anxiety leading up to the event itself, and the general malaise that I put my family through. I said to my wife this morning, “What if, to save time, instead of using the word ‘categories,’ we just called them ‘cats’?” And she pointed out that I would waste more time just explaining that. Given recent award shows and the general tenor of the moment, are you expecting a lot of political speeches? Is there a point where that becomes too much? There definitely is a point at which that becomes too much. There’s also a point at which it becomes too little. And finding that balance is, for me, the most difficult hurdle, when it comes to this broadcast. We don’t know what our mood in this country is going to be on Sunday. We seem to be in a very temperamental period. We’re having wild mood swings as a nation right now. Hopefully everyone will be in a good mood that night. Given that Donald J. Trump won the presidency and the Patriots won the Super Bowl, does that ensure that “La La Land” will win best picture? I don’t know if they go . But my plan is, I’m going to tank the first half of the Oscars. And then lead a furious comeback in the second four hours. Do you also see this as an opportunity to promote your ABC show? Well, let’s be honest: There’s a good chunk of America that doesn’t know that Jimmy Fallon and I are different people. So I’m not going to go into this presuming that they know me and all my bits. You need to approach this without any ego. If there’s too much inside stuff, it won’t work. So we shouldn’t expect to see Guillermo in any Oscars bits? I think that would be confusing to a lot of people. He’ll be working anyway — out on the red carpet, corralling people. People are shocked to hear that we have a show the next night and all week after that. It’s not like we can relax after it — we’ve got to get right back on the pony. There’s no point, really, to doing this if you don’t carry that momentum into your nightly show. In recent weeks, Stephen Colbert’s “Late Show” has been drawing more viewers than Jimmy Fallon’s “Tonight Show. ” Do you think it’s a sign that audiences want more pointed topical comedy? This is all fake news. [Laughs] I mean, that’s a very simple way of looking at the ratings. People seem to forget how important your is, too. When “The Voice” comes back, so will the ratings of “The Tonight Show. ” We’re all pretty lucky right now — all the shows — that more people are watching and reacting. I think everyone loves to have a story line, and people get excited if the tide is turning. But any mathematician would bang you over the head with his calculator. There’s a category of hosts — Mr. Colbert, Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Trevor Noah — who seem to own the beat. Do you worry about being left out of this group? It doesn’t worry me. I think it’s wrong. If anything, my concern is, do we do too much Trump stuff on the show? My monologue is at least 50 percent Donald Trump, and it’s not all light commentary. My focus is to comment on what people are talking about. It just so happens that this is what people are talking about. Right now, you go to dinner, and everyone wants to talk about Donald Trump the whole time. Love ’em or hate ’em, he is Topic No. 1, 2 and 4. Would you want to host this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner? If it seemed like it was going to be very uncomfortable, I would consider it. I’m attracted to that kind of situation. But I don’t know that it would be worth all the blowback. I did it once — it went well. Why put myself through that nightmare again? My dream is to be only saddled with doing [the talk show]. That would be just fine with me. | 0fake |
POVERTY PIMP AL SHARPTON USES THE BIBLE To Say Dems Should Give “The Big Payback” To Republicans | He s being nominated to sit in Garland s seat, Sharpton said. President Barack Obama nominated Judge Garland, who has got as much or more qualifications as this nominee, to have been the Supreme Court judge They stalled, they filibustered, they would not even give a hearing to Judge Garland. It is time for the Democrats now to say since you changed the rules, you re going to have to live by the rules that you applied to President Obama s nominee, and we are not going to allow you to change it, and we will use those rules to block this nominee, Judge Gorsuch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWV34eRQQA0 | 1real |
DHS Vows to Enforce Donald Trump’s Executive Order - Breitbart | The Department of Homeland Security plans to enforce President Donald Trump’s executive order to dramatically reduce immigration from high threat countries in the Middle East. [“The Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce all of President Trump’s Executive Orders in a manner that ensures the safety and security of the American people,” the agency made in a statement sent to reporters on Sunday. They reminded Americans that only a small percentage of travelers were affected by the new restrictions. The agency noted that although some individuals were held for further screening, some of them were allowed entry into the United States, despite protesters at area airports describing the order as a “Muslim ban. ” “These individuals went through enhanced security screenings and are being processed for entry to the United States, consistent with our immigration laws and judicial orders,” the department said. The agency did not signal that they were prepared to back down from the rigorous enforcement of Trump’s executive action. “The Department of Homeland Security will comply with judicial orders faithfully enforce our immigration laws, and implement President Trump’s Executive Orders to ensure that those entering the United States do not pose a threat to our country or the American people,” the statement concluded. | 0fake |
Macron: France ready to strengthen force in Sahel fighting Islamists | PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday France stood ready if needed to strengthen its military force fighting alongside African troops against Islamist insurgents in the Sahel. France has been seeking to eventually withdraw from the poorly policed scrublands of the Sahel region - which abuts the Sahara to the north and has become a recruiting and training ground for Islamist militants - with the help of a new regional African force. The G5 Sahel, which began official operations in November, is made up of troops from Mali, Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Mauritania that will patrol the region in collaboration with 4,000 French troops deployed there since intervening in 2013 to quell an insurgency in northern Mali. But Macron said on a visit to the Niger capital Niamey that the Sahel would remain a focus for the French army, should it be required in the future. France is ready, not only to maintain, but if necessary to strengthen its engagement in the region because the fight against terrorism in the Sahel is essential, in my opinion, he said during a joint news conference with his Nigerien counterpart Mahamoudou Issoufou. The fight is not won today ... it is essential not only to maintain but to further improve our agility on the ground, to innovate more and to focus our priorities on the regions identified as the most vulnerable, he added. Speaking during his visit to Niger, Macron also announced an additional 10 million euros to help educate girls, one of the priorities promoted by President Issoufou to curb migration. This sum is on top of 15 million euros already invested by France to help education in Niger. Paris pledged in mid-December to spend 400 million euros over 2017-2021 to support Niamey. | 0fake |
STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS OUT! Connected To Benghazi Scandal And Clinton E-mail Scandal [Video] | The Washington Post reported that higher ups in the State Department jumped ship before Rex Tillerson could take the helm but we don t know that was the case. Were the people who left asked to vacate their post or did they jump ship? WaPo was even called out by CNN for the misleading headline. One of the things that the main stream media doesn t mention is that these officials were knee deep in the Benghazi Scandal and one of those (see below for more on Patrick Kennedy) was knee deep in the Clinton e-mail scandal too! It s what the press doesn t tell you that s important. We just don t know if this is a matter of these people resigning or a matter of our new president recognizing that we need to DRAIN THE SWAMP! COULD THIS BE THE SMOKING GUN THAT TRUMP CALLED OUT ON PATRICK KENNEDY: In what one congressman called the flashing red light of potential criminality, FBI documents indicate a senior State Department official offered a quid pro quo to get the FBI to remove the Secret label from one of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton s emails from the days when she was secretary of state.The documents say State Department Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, who had served as an aide and confidante to Clinton, offered the deal, and continued trying to influence the FBI s decision by taking his case over the head of FBI agents to whom he initially proposed the deal.FBI documents say Kennedy offered the FBI additional positions overseas if the Secret label, the middle level of classification, would be removed. Clinton, who used a private server for her emails while she was secretary of state, has contended she never sent or received classified information. The FBI has ruled otherwise.In response to the FBI bombshell, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump released a video on Twitter in which he said the allegations show corruption at the highest level. READ MORE: WJ | 1real |
THIS ONE IS SPOT ON! The Democrat Party In a Nutshell | THERE MAY BE SOME THAT WOULD CHANGE A FEW OF THE DESCRIPTIONS BUT THIS IS PRETTY DARN CLOSE: | 1real |
EU calls on Malta to find journalist's 'barbarous' killers | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union vowed to ensure that Malta finds the barbarous assassins of a journalist being buried there on Friday and to resolve potential structural problems with the rule of law on the island. Reflecting concern in Europe over possible systemic failings in Maltese democracy, European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans called on the EU s smallest state to leave no stone unturned in hunting the killers of investigative blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died in a car bombing last month. The eyes of Europe are on the Maltese authorities, wrote Timmermans, a former Dutch foreign minister who as Jean-Claude Juncker s deputy oversees the Brussels executive s efforts to ensure member states respect democratic and judicial standards. If journalists are silenced, so is democracy, he said in a reply, seen by Reuters, to a letter from European media editors urging the EU to ensure justice for Caruana Galizia. We want those directly and indirectly responsible for this horrible murder to be brought to justice. And we want the investigations to run their full course, so that any other related wrongdoings that may emerge can also be prosecuted and potential structural problems be resolved, he added. Caruana Galizia was a controversial figure who accused many of the most senior figures in both government and opposition of corruption and involvement in international money-laundering. We insist that the Maltese authorities leave no stone unturned to make sure that this atrocious, barbarous assassination does not lead to the situation that the perpetrators apparently want to achieve: that no-one dares ask pertinent questions and no journalist dares investigate the powers that be, he added. This will not happen in Europe. Not on this Commission s watch. The Commission said in a separate statement that Juncker condemned such attacks in the strongest possible terms. The right of a journalist to investigate, ask uncomfortable questions and report effectively, is at the heart of our values and needs to be guaranteed at all times, the statement said. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who is himself suing Caruana Galizia s son for libel over allegations of corruption, says everything will be done to find her killers. His government has offered a one million-euro reward and protection for anyone providing information to identify them. The Commission has limited powers to intervene directly in member states. It has applied largely moral pressure on Hungary and Poland to reverse proposed laws that it sees as breaching EU treaties by curbing judicial, media or other freedoms. It has warned that it could seek to suspend Poland, but this would require support from all member states - something the Commission sees as difficult to obtain. The Commission does have powers to fine states for breaches of EU legislation. European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said in a statement he would attend the funeral in Malta at the invitation of Caruana Galizia s family. | 0fake |
Renowned Harvard Psychologist Says ADHD is Largely a Fraud | . Renowned Harvard Psychologist Says ADHD is Largely a Fraud Viewed by academics as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century, Jerome Kagan r... Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/renowned-harvard-psychologist-says-adhd.html Viewed by academics as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century, Jerome Kagan ranked above Carl Jung (the founder of analytical psychology) and Ivan Pavlov (who discovered the Pavlovian reflex) in a 2002 American Psychological Association ranking of the eminent psychologists. He is well-known for his pioneering work in developmental psychology at Harvard University, where he has spent decades documenting how babies and small children grow, and is an exceptional and highly-regarded researcher.So it may be surprising to learn that he believes the diagnosis of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) is an invention — and only benefits the pharmaceutical industry and psychiatrists. Mislabeling Mental Illness “That is the history of humanity: Those in authority believe they’re doing the right thing, and they harm those who have no power,” says Jerome Kagan.In an interview with Spiegel, Kagan addressed the skyrocketing rates of ADHD in America , which he attributes to “fuzzy diagnostic practices.” He illustrated his point with the following example:Say fifty years ago you have a 7-year-old who is bored in school and exhibits disruptive behavior. Back then, he would be labeled as lazy. But today, that same child is said to suffer from ADHD . That’s why we’ve seen such a dramatic increase in the disorder.Every child who is having problems in school is sent to see a pediatrician, who then claims it’s ADHD and prescribes Ritalin . “In fact, 90 percent of these 5.4 million kids don’t have an abnormal dopamine metabolism. The problem is, if a drug is available to doctors, they’ll make the corresponding diagnosis,” he said.“We could get philosophical and ask ourselves: “What does mental illness mean?” If you do interviews with children and adolescents aged 12 to 19, then 40 percent can be categorized as anxious or depressed. “But if you take a closer look and ask how many of them are seriously impaired by this, the number shrinks to 8 percent. Describing every child who is depressed or anxious as being mentally ill is ridiculous. “Adolescents are anxious, that’s normal. They don’t know what college to go to. Their boyfriend or girlfriend just stood them up. Being sad or anxious is just as much a part of life as anger or sexual frustration,” Kagan told Spiegel.What are the implications for the millions of American children who are inaccurately diagnosed as mentally ill? Kagan believes it’s devastating because they think there is something fundamentally wrong with them. He’s not the only psychologist to raise the alarm about this trend, but Kagan and others feel they’re up against “an enormously powerful alliance: pharmaceutical companies that are making billions , and a profession that is self-interested.”Kagan himself suffered from inner restlessness and stuttering as a child, but his mother told him: “There’s nothing wrong with you. Your mind is working faster than your tongue.”He thought at the time: “Gee, that’s great, I’m only stuttering because I’m so smart.” If he had been born in the present era, he most likely would have been classified as mentally ill.ADHD isn’t the only mental illness epidemic among children that worries Kagan, depression is another. In 1987, about one in 400 American teenagers was using an antidepressant. By 2002, the numbers leaped to one in 40. He feels it’s another overused diagnosis, simply because the pills are available. Instead of immediately resorting to pharmaceutical drugs, he thinks doctors should take more time with the child to find out why they aren’t as cheerful, for instance. At the very least, a few tests should be carried out — and an EEG for certain, especially since studies have shown that people who have heightened activity in the right frontal lobe respond poorly to antidepressants.Kagan remembers going into a textbook-type depression after a major research project he was involved with failed. He had insomnia and met all the other clinical criteria for depression. But since he knew what the cause was, he didn’t seek professional help. After six months, the depression was gone. Under normal circumstances, he would have been diagnosed as mentally ill by a psychiatrist and put on medication. By Carolanne Wright / Reference: Spiegel.de Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.
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Trump Gives 6 Reasons To Vote For Him | Thursday, 3 November 2016 'VOTE FOR ME, WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE?"
Donald Trump has given an amazing closing speech about why he should be elected President in 2016. It can be broken down into different parts about why he should be elected according to Mr. Trump:
1) "People say I suffer from a pathological narcissistic disorder, am a megalomaniac, assault women, and am a sociopath. Well, suppose all of this is true. It mostly isn't true of Bill Clinton and Barak Obama and look where these lightweights have gotten us today! They are total losers who have destroyed the military and the middle class. Why not give a crazy person a chance? I'm bound to be better than they are. What have you got to lose?"
2) I'm a great entertainer. Elect me and you'll never be bored. If I threaten some country or the other with nuclear annihilation you'll hold your breaths to see if I carry it out. It will be amazingly exciting. You'll have nothing to lose!
3) Previous Presidents, from what I've read about only 4 of them, because of my limited attention span, have been relatively honest. Not me! I've engaged in many fraudulent business practices even cheating widows and orphans! Why not try a deceitful swindler like me? Politics is just one big con anyway! What have you got to lose with a guy like me on your side? What have you got to lose? Bing bing bong bong bing bing bing.
4) The PC people say that Presidents should be well read and educated. And the lightweight loses who have been in the Oval office have mostly been that way. Even though I've forgotten everything I've learned, I did go to one of the best Ivy League Schools. And, remember this folks, reading is for low energy people who don't have the best brains; they are the opposite of me. Education and reading, believe me, are overrated.
5) Hatred, bigotry, racism, strong immigration restrictions, Nativism, xenophobia, anti-intellectualism, advocacy of violence against one's political opponents and misogyny are part of our American heritage. I embody all of these. I am the true voice of the American people. I "tell it like it is," and say things millions of Americans are afraid to say. That is why hate groups support me.
6) People say I am a "walking Id." I say, so what? The id is very, very strong. It is the reptile in our brains. It's all about winning, being a celebrity and grabbing women's vaginas to show one's power. It's all about the strength and power that total losers don't have. I am an unbelievably strong winner just like my friend Putin. You need on your side. Vote for me. What have you got to lose? I truly am unbelievable."
With apologies to Nicholas Krisof whose 11/3/16 NYT's column sparked this. Make Keith Shirey's | 1real |
The USA Era (1945 - 2008) in Retrospect | The USA Era (1945 - 2008) in Retrospect It worked for some but not for all.Winners and losers of the US American era:.5. South East Asia (partly). Re: The USA Era (1945 - 2008) in Retrospect It worked for some but not for all.Winners and losers of the US American era:.5. South East Asia (partly). Quoting: Anonymous Coward 67204360 There is a simple economic explanation for this development.USA and Whites are now losing influence at an alarming rate. White companies are increasingly complaining about losing access to non-white markets while China's influence is growing there fast, leading, among others, to bank and financial crises like Deutsche Bank. Also, more and more countries are banning white culture and languages.The last 500 years whites controlled all manufacturing, arms production and finance and needed only resources from others. Now whites are losing all that, and are about to become irrelevant when non-whites soon control resources, manufacturing, markets and finance.. | 1real |
A New Paradigm for Diagnosis and Treatment of Modern Chronic Illnesses | A New Paradigm for Diagnosis and Treatment of Modern Chronic Illnesses Dr. Judy Mikovits
by John P. Thomas Health Impact News
The persistent investigation of Dr. Mikovits into the cause and treatment of modern illnesses, along with a handful of other scientists and healthcare providers such as the late Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, M.D., is leading us toward a new understanding of modern illness and its treatment.
Dr. Mikovits sees the bigger picture of health and illness that few scientists and healthcare providers have the courage to examine. She had great respect for the work of Dr. Bradstreet and his successful use of the new paradigm for treating difficult illnesses. Dr. Mikovits stated:
Dr. Bradstreet recognized that what we call autism is in fact an acquired immune deficiency. What we know of as autism is part of a collection of more than 60 diseases that is spiraling and increasing in our environment.
It is acquired immune deficiency resulting from all the toxins, all the vaccines and other contaminants in our environment from these biologicals that in fact means that what we know of as autism spectrum disorder is an acquired immune deficiency. [1] A Family of Acquired Immune Deficiency Diseases
Many who read this may be initially confused or may even balk at the use of the term Acquired Immune Deficiency , because of the association with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is one of many acquired immune deficiency syndromes (diseases). It is an acquired immune deficiency caused by the virus that is commonly called HIV. However, HIV is not the only acquired immune deficiency disease – there are more than 60 others, which can result in non-HIV AIDS.
When the human immune system is repeatedly stressed and weakened by toxic food, by toxins in the environment, and by toxic vaccines, then chronic retrovirus related illnesses can begin to emerge from their slumber. We can give a general name to all these illnesses. We can simply call them Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes or non-HIV AIDS.
The conventional healthcare system struggles to accurately diagnose these modern diseases, because there are so many overlapping sets of symptoms. Beyond the specific symptoms is the same underlying problem, which is immune system dysregulation and dysfunction.
People with these diseases have immune systems that have been pushed to the max by various stressors. Their immune systems have been pushed to the point of breakage where retroviral infections can be released from their confinement and begin to reproduce in the body.
Once this happens, the immune system is no longer able to adequately respond to the insults that it was formerly able to control. Various immune system pathways keep trying to fix the situation, but can’t overcome the damage.
An acquired immune deficiency is simply an immune system that has been broken to such a degree that it cannot properly respond to the conditions that are causing illness. It is so broken that it cannot even repair itself. The result of such severe immune dysfunction is chronic disabling illness. The Central Tenet of Modern Chronic Illnesses
Dr. Mikovits explains more about the new understanding of the immune system and the paradigm shift that is leading healthcare providers to reconsider long-held assumptions about health and illness. It is causing them to rethink what it means to bring about a “cure” for modern illnesses. Dr. Mikovits stated:
The paradigm shift was recognizing that the macrophage was the central tenet of disease. Our central hypothesis, which we have held for more than three decades, is that there is a critical threshold of immune activation, and when the activation rises above that level, damage to the immune system is being created. Damage is created at a distance.
The damage may be subclinical and it will create imbalance not only in the macrophages, but also in other parts of the immune system. What we want to do is to stop this process.
We want to stop the disease engine, stop the microbial switch from turning on the oxidative stress, and turning on the inflammatory cytokines — and doing this over and over again. If we can limit the damage to the subsets of the immune system, then it is possible to modulate and rebalance the immune system and cure the disease. [2] The Power of the Immune System can Heal Modern Diseases
The new paradigm offers the possibility of true cure, because it relies on the power of the human immune system to bring about a cure. Cure is not seen as the eradication of pathogens by pharmaceutical drugs or other means, rather, the goal is to restore the immune system so that it can once again control or manage pathogens.
In the case of retroviral infection such as HIV, HTLV-1 Leukemia virus, and others, these viruses cannot be eradicated from the body once they have imbedded themselves into human DNA. Once retroviruses have inserted themselves into cells, they cannot be removed – they are there for life.
This means that successful treatments will need to prevent further viral reproduction and enable the immune system to control the existing viral load. When this is done, then the symptoms of disease subside and people are able to live normal lives again.
The illnesses we are discussing first appeared after the dawn of the genetic age or they had a sudden increase in prevalence since it began. Many of these diseases were once considered only diseases of the elderly; but today they are appearing in children and even in newborn babies. This is especially true for cancer.
We are seeing babies born with cancer, two-year-olds dying of cancer, children being unable to digest food, teens dropping dead while playing sports, children with severe physical and intellectual delays, young adults in their twenties with disabling neurological failure, people in their 40s and 50s with deteriorating brain function and memory loss, and people of all ages developing brain fog and physical weakness to the point where they can no longer work or even take care of themselves.
Such things were virtually unheard of before the dawning of the genetic Age. The Bad Fruit of the Genetic Age
The diseases listed below are some of the illnesses that are associated with retroviral infection and immune system damage. We cannot say these diseases are caused by retroviruses, but only that retroviruses are often expressed in patients who have these diseases. Aberrant retrovirus expression and a compromised immune system are the common threads that link these diseases together. The prevalence of these diseases has increased dramatically over the past four decades.
Illnesses Associated with Retroviral Infection [3]
Cancers: Prostate, Breast, Lymphoma, Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, Mantle Cell Lymphoma, Adult T-Cell Leukemia, Hairy Cell Leukemia, Liver, Bladder, Kidney, Pancreas, Colorectal, Ovarian, and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
Auto-Immune Diseases: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Crohn’s Disease, Peripheral Neuropathy, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis, Sjogren’s Syndrome, Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Polymyositis, and Bechet’s Disease.
Neuro-Immune Diseases: Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), Multiple Sclerosis, Fibromyalgia, Gulf-War Syndrome, Morgellons Disease, treatment resistant Lyme disease, and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP).
Central Nervous System Diseases: Alzheimer’s, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, multiple system atrophy, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Parkinson’s.
A central sign of immune system dysfunction in these diseases is extreme fatigue. Many people also note unexplained weight loss or gain. These symptoms are early warning signs of cancer, but also are hallmarks of all the other diseases mentioned above.
In addition, there will be: signs of inflammation, significant hormone dysregulation, highly elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS), highly elevated reactive nitrogen species (RNS), changes in gene expression without a change to DNA (epigenetics), actual changes in DNA through the process of insertional mutagenesis in which exogenous genetic material is incorporated within the DNA of a host, and serious immune system deficiency. Proper Treatment of Immune System Dysfunction can Help Patients
This is a grim reality that Dr. Mikovits has been working to change.
The proper treatment of immune system dysfunction can help patients with these types of illnesses. These types of treatments enable the body’s normal immune defenses to take up their task and gain control over out-of-control situations in the body. Multiple Factors are Causing Illness and Death in Our Modern Age
These are some of the major factors that work together to damage immune system functioning. Alterations in human DNA caused by the presence of retroviruses, Opportunistic co-infections that accompany retroviral infections, Vaccines and most pharmaceutical drugs, Highly processed food and its toxic ingredients such as GMOs, glyphosate, preservatives, artificial flavorings, hydrogenated oil products, etc., Electromagnetic pollution, Toxic chemical exposure in the environment, Chlorinated and fluoridated drinking water, Biologically inactive and chemically contaminated agricultural soil, Antibiotics and incompatible GMO feed given to animals raised in confined feeding operations, Toxins and artificial fragrances in cleaning products and body care products, Mold infested homes and schools, and Of course, the high sugar and high carbohydrate diet.
These factors, plus many others, which are common to “modern life” in America, interact synergistically to damage the immune system. The combined harm is much higher than would be expected by simply adding the potential dangers together. Over time, the stress they produce on the immune system will cause it to crash, and one or more of the illnesses listed above will manifest.
Conventional physicians cannot seem to accept the reality that the modern diseases that plague the world today are linked to multiple factors. They have trouble believing there is synergy between these factors, and that together they could be disrupting the human immune system to the point where disease results. Question for Dr. Mikovits
Is Your Approach Really New?
Basically what I am describing is old-fashioned medicine, and it is rarely done anymore. There are some, of course, who do use these protocols. We need to look at the patient. Talk to the patient. Look at the family. That is what we do. That’s what we have always done.
Based on the fact that damage to the immune system is associated with a complex set of interconnected factors, many of which cannot be clearly assessed, then is it reasonable to think that the selection of treatment options needs to be based more on the dysfunctions in immune system pathways, than on the potential triggers of the dysfunction?
Yes, that is correct.
There are any number of therapies – both natural products and otherwise – that could be put together to address immune system dysfunction. But, there is no simple fix. Physicians tend to want to just hand a patient an antidepressant, which is not going to work, or give Lyrica or pain medication, which is going to mask the problem. Even steroids mask the problem and prevent immune system functioning, and down the road a few years things are going to get even worse and spin out of control.
Treating these patients is a lot like the protocol we used for treating AIDS patients. If the AIDS patient had TB or mycoplasma we couldn’t treat the retrovirus first. We had to clear the terrain. We had to stop some of the other overwhelming infections and prevent the downstream effects on their bodies. Otherwise, they couldn’t respond to the treatment. What we learned that was most significant was to never let the CD4 T cells get too low, because if they get too low then patients can’t respond to antiretroviral or antimicrobial treatments.
We are also learning which microbes in the human microbiome are key to drug responses, because they modulate the immune system, interferon and things like that.
Most people want natural products for their illnesses. Baicalin, medical marijuana, vitamin D binding protein (GcMAF), and HEEL Lymphomyosot are some of the natural products that we have studied. The New Paradigm must Address Vaccines and Vaccine Injury
Big Pharma and the government scientists who do their will want us to believe that the science regarding vaccine safety is settled, and the current vaccination schedule is safe. However, some scientists object to this conclusion and insist that the science is not settled and the schedule is not safe!
In fact, the science that has been produced since 2010 concerning vaccines is unsettling Big Pharma. It contradicts their past conclusions and is threatening their profitability.
Agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have lost touch with their original mandates to protect and serve the public. These U.S. government regulators continue to ignore the new science and pursue an informal program that discredits scientists who expose the harmful nature of current vaccines, and they discredit those who dare to criticize the CDC’s recommended vaccine schedule.
As we saw with the MMR vaccine, the FDA knowingly approves vaccines and drugs when research shows a high potential for harm, and even destroys data and alters its findings for the sake of keeping its corporate funders happy. [4] While the FDA is keeping its head buried in the sand, the CDC is promoting a schedule of childhood vaccination which has caused harm to millions of children.
Despite this level of corruption, strong voices can be heard from outside the corporate and regulatory world declaring the truth about vaccines and their schedule of administration.
Among the voices raising concern about the safety of vaccines and their schedule of administration is the respectful voice of scientist Dr. Judy A. Mikovits, Ph.D. She continues to speak out on the mechanisms of immune system injury and the treatments for retroviral and vaccine related illness. Her clear voice is a wake-up call to all people who value health freedom and independent thinking.
Her teaching is life-enriching, because she is addressing the needs of real people with serious illness, and is speaking directly to doctors who are beginning to realize they need new tools to understand and treat the modern illnesses of their patients.
Her teaching is not anti-vaccine, because Dr. Mikovits is not anti-vaccine. However, Dr. Mikovits is not afraid to raise serious questions about the safety of the vaccines being used today. She is not afraid to give a strong warning about the vaccine schedule used for infants and children, and will not remain silent about the lack of wisdom associated with vaccinating pregnant women and seniors.
Dr. Mikovits allows the science to speak. She works hard to avoid standing on the pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine soapbox. Instead, she quietly asks us to use our intelligence to make decisions concerning the use of vaccines based on everything that is known about the functioning of the human immune system and its reaction to vaccines. Dr. Mikovits is Challenging All of Us to Wake Up
Dr. Mikovits is inserting a healthy dose of common sense into the discussion of vaccine safety. She stated:
You will hear, “the science is settled, vaccines are safe.” They aren’t safe. What science is settled? We learn new things every day!
Dr. Mikovits is challenging all of us to wake up.
Physicians are being challenged to think twice whenever they consider recommending that all their patients receive vaccines according to the schedule promoted by the CDC. The general public is being challenged to think twice before agreeing to receive vaccines or permit vaccines to be given to their children. Patients are being challenged to engage their physicians in a dialogue about the potential harm that might result from being vaccinated, because vaccine injury is a real possibility whenever a vaccine is given, and the use of clever marketing slogans such as “the science is settled” does not remove the possibility of vaccine injury.
Comment on this article at VaccineImpact.com. About the Author
John P. Thomas is a health writer for Health Impact News. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan, and a Master of Science in Public Health (M.S.P.H.) from the School of Public Health, Department of Health Administration, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. References
[1] Judy Mikovits, Seeking Health Educational Institute 2016, 4/21/2016. https://seekinghealth.org/sheicon2016/
[2] Dr. Mikovits is referencing the analysis of researchers David J. Dowling and Ofer Levy; “Ontogeny of Early Life Immunity,” Trends Immunol, July 2014, PMCID PMC4109609. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4109609/
[3] This information was derived from my conversation with Dr. Mikovits and from her slides available from: “PRT 2013 Presentation,” MAR Consulting Inc., retrieved 12/ 18/2015. http://www.marconsultinginc.com/prt-2013-presentation.html
[4] “Vaxxed: From Cover-Up to Catastrophe,” Official Website, Retreived 10/20/2016. http://vaxxedthemovie.com/ Leaving a lucrative career as a nephrologist (kidney doctor), Dr. Suzanne Humphries is now free to actually help cure people. In this autobiography she explains why good doctors are constrained within the current corrupt medical system from practicing real, ethical medicine. FREE Shipping Available! Order here . Medical Doctors Opposed to Forced Vaccinations – Should Their Views be Silenced? eBook – Available for immediate download.
One of the biggest myths being propagated in the compliant mainstream media today is that doctors are either pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, and that the anti-vaccine doctors are all “quacks.”
However, nothing could be further from the truth in the vaccine debate. Doctors are not unified at all on their positions regarding “the science” of vaccines, nor are they unified in the position of removing informed consent to a medical procedure like vaccines.
The two most extreme positions are those doctors who are 100% against vaccines and do not administer them at all, and those doctors that believe that ALL vaccines are safe and effective for ALL people, ALL the time, by force if necessary.
Very few doctors fall into either of these two extremist positions, and yet it is the extreme pro-vaccine position that is presented by the U.S. Government and mainstream media as being the dominant position of the medical field.
In between these two extreme views, however, is where the vast majority of doctors practicing today would probably categorize their position. Many doctors who consider themselves “pro-vaccine,” for example, do not believe that every single vaccine is appropriate for every single individual.
Many doctors recommend a “delayed” vaccine schedule for some patients, and not always the recommended one-size-fits-all CDC childhood schedule. Other doctors choose to recommend vaccines based on the actual science and merit of each vaccine, recommending some, while determining that others are not worth the risk for children, such as the suspect seasonal flu shot.
These doctors who do not hold extreme positions would be opposed to government-mandated vaccinations and the removal of all parental exemptions.
In this eBook, I am going to summarize the many doctors today who do not take the most extremist pro-vaccine position, which is probably not held by very many doctors at all, in spite of what the pharmaceutical industry, the federal government, and the mainstream media would like the public to believe. Read : Medical Doctors Opposed to Forced Vaccinations – Should Their Views be Silenced? on your mobile device! | 1real |
Kurds say reject Iraqi warning to withdraw from key junction south of Kirkuk | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Kurdish Peshmerga fighters rejected a warning from an Iraqi paramilitary force to withdraw from a strategic junction south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a Kurdish security official told Reuters on Sunday. Popular Mobilisation, formed mainly by Iranian-trained Shi ite groups, gave the Peshmerga until midnight local time (2100 GMT Saturday) to leave a position north of the Maktab Khalid junction, the official from the Kurdistan Regional Government s (KRG) Security Council said. The position controls the access to an airbase and some of the oilfields located in the region of Kirkuk, the official said. The city and its immediate surroundings, including the oilfields, are under Kurdish control. There were no clashes reported about an hour after the deadline, but a resident said dozens of young Kurds deployed around Kirkuk with machine guns as the news of the warning spread. The KRG and the Shi ite-led central government in Baghdad are at loggerheads since a Kurdish independence referendum held last month in northern Iraq. Kurdish authorities said on Friday they had sent thousands more troops to Kirkuk to confront Iraqi threats. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has repeatedly denied any plans to attack the Kurds. Popular Mobilisation is a separate force from the regular army and officially reports to Abadi. It is deployed alongside the army south and west of Kirkuk. Kirkuk, a city of more than one million people, lies just outside KRG territory but Peshmerga forces deployed there in 2014 when Iraqi security forces collapsed in the face of an Islamic State onslaught. The Peshmerga deployment prevented Kirkuk s oilfields from falling into jihadist hands. The Baghdad central government has taken a series of steps to isolate the autonomous Kurdish region since its overwhelming vote for independence in the referendum, including banning international flights from going there. | 0fake |
The Newest Clinton Email Scandal Actually PROVES There’s No Scandal | On Thursday, the New York Times published an article entitled Emails Raise New Questions About Clinton Foundation Ties to State Department. Then, we read the article. Let s just say that not only is there no there there, the article literally proves the exact opposite of what they are trying to say.The lede paragraph of the article says this:A top aide to Hillary Clinton at the State Department agreed to try to obtain a special diplomatic passport for an adviser to former President Bill Clinton in 2009, according to emails released Thursday, raising new questions about whether people tied to the Clinton Foundation received special access at the department.That sounds pretty, well, damning is perhaps too strong a word, but the very next paragraph admits that the adviser, Douglas J. Band, didn t get the passport. Think about it, not even an adviser to the Secretary of State s very own husband, who happens to be a former President, got what he wanted out of the State Department. That s the very opposite of evidence of quid pro quo. Vox has more detail:If this proves anything at all, it s that the media is certainly not in the tank for Clinton. Actually, it was Harvard who proved that back in July:A new report released this week by Harvard Kennedy School s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy found Clinton has received far more negative coverage than any other candidate in the race thus far. The study was based on an analysis of news statements from CBS, Fox, the Los Angeles Times, NBC, the New York Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post.According to the study, a whopping 84 percent of Clinton coverage is negative. At that time, just 43 percent of Trump coverage was negative. The New York Times article might not be absolute proof that the media is stacked against Clinton, but when people think of the mainstream media, they certainly are at the top of most people s lists. The New York Times supposedly sets the standard, and apparently the standard in this election cycle is to manufacture controversies that, with the teeniest bit of analysis, actually disprove the controversies. Yes, that s convoluted and confusing, but that s the only way propaganda like this works.Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. | 1real |
A Tale Of Two Cities: Mosul And Aleppo | By Brandon Turbeville Over the past few days, the Western corporate press has kicked into overdrive with reports of hospital bombings, dead civilians, and war... | 1real |
NOT KIDDING: Lawmakers To Decide If Women Can Go Topless In Berkeley To Eliminate “Transgender Confusion” | A Berkeley law that makes public displays of the female breast illegal could be abolished this month if a city councilman gets his way.On September 12, the city council will vote on the insane ordinance.The nudity ordinance as it stands makes it a misdemeanor or infraction for a woman to expose any portion of the breast at or below the areola similar to municipal codes across the country. Under the new proposal, anyone could go topless in the city without regard to gender.Kriss Worthington, the progressive councilman who has represented a student-heavy district near UC Berkeley for two decades, said the indecent exposure law is antiquated and sexist.He said it objectifies women and creates confusion for transgender individuals as well. SF GateBegging the question, why not just allow full-nudity to eliminate any confusion about who is and who isn t a transgender? | 1real |
Mexicans Accuse President of ‘Historic Error’ in Welcoming Donald Trump - The New York Times | MEXICO CITY — If President Enrique Peña Nieto invited Donald J. Trump to visit Mexico for a dialogue in the interest of democracy, the message has fallen on deaf ears. Instead, the predominant feeling here in the Mexican capital is one of betrayal. “It’s a historic error,” said Enrique Krauze, a historian. “You confront tyrants. You don’t appease them. ” On Mexico’s most popular morning television show on Wednesday, a livid Mr. Krauze likened the president’s meeting with Mr. Trump to the decision by Neville Chamberlain, then the British prime minister, to sit down with Hitler in Munich in 1938. “It isn’t brave to meet in private with somebody who has insulted and denigrated” Mexicans, Mr. Krauze said. “It isn’t dignified to simply have a dialogue. ” Yes, many Mexicans say, it was Mr. Trump who offended the people of Mexico with his disparaging comments about migrants and his promises to build a border wall paid for by Mexico. But for many Mexicans, the surprising invitation from Mr. Peña Nieto — who has likened Mr. Trump’s language to that of Hitler and Mussolini in the past — is even worse. Newspapers, television stations, social media and all manner of national communications were awash in vitriol at the idea of a meeting between the two men, while political analysts on both sides of the border said they were mystified about why Mr. Peña Nieto invited Mr. Trump. “It is Peña Nieto’s worst mistake so far and one we still don’t understand,” said Vidal Romero, the head of the political science department at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, a university in Mexico City. “This would only hurt him. ” But as others pointed out, Mr. Trump is the Republican presidential candidate, and not the first to visit a Mexican president. John McCain came to Mexico when he was running against Barack Obama. “At the end of the day, this is the Republican candidate,” said Rafael Fernández de Castro, a professor at Syracuse University and former foreign policy adviser to Felipe Calderón, the previous Mexican president. “The U. S. electorate put him in this position, and Peña is respecting that. ” Ultimately, he said, foreign policy cannot always be guided by public opinion, no matter the political consequences. “He has everything to lose in the media, but this is about governing,” Mr. Fernández de Castro said. “He had no other choice — a good relationship with the U. S. is essential for the of Mexico. ” From that perspective, with his approval ratings already low, Mr. Peña Nieto may have less to lose than is commonly thought. If the goal was to ensure national interests in the event Mr. Trump wins, then the furor over the visit seemed a political cost the government was willing to take. Still, there is “unanimity that this is a giant farce,” said Jesús Márquez, a professor at the Tecnólogico de Monterrey in Mexico City and columnist for Reforma, a Mexico City newspaper. Mr. Peña Nieto “compared Mr. Trump to Mussolini and Hitler,” he added, “and now we invite Mussolini, we are going to negotiate with Hitler when he hasn’t even won the election. ” After the men met, in what Mr. Trump described as an “excellent” occasion, they spoke at a very civil news conference. Mr. Peña Nieto promised to work with whichever candidate was elected and emphasized the importance of ties with the United States. “I shared with him the fact that there have been misunderstandings or affirmations that hurt and affected Mexicans in their perception of his candidacy,” Mr. Peña Nieto said he told Mr. Trump. “The Mexican people felt aggravated for comments that were formulated, but I am certain that he has a genuine interest in building a relationship that would lead us to provide better conditions for our people. ” While Mr. Trump hardly offered Mexicans the sort of apology many had hoped for, he was a far more chastened candidate than they had come to expect. He repeatedly lauded their hard work, and spoke of his “tremendous feeling” for Mexicans. “They are amazing people,” he noted. In the end, he called Mr. Peña Nieto a friend. Citing Mr. Trump’s more respectful tone, the government described the meeting as a success. “It was a different Trump,” said Eduardo Sánchez, the president’s spokesman. “The attitude of this Trump is different from the ones we have seen before today. ” But Shannon K. O’Neil, a Mexico expert at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said: “I don’t see how that helped Peña Nieto. If the reason Peña was inviting Trump was to stand up to him and show his strength in front of somebody who has attacked Mexicans, then he failed. ” Other critics were less kind. “To put it mildly, I think it was the biggest humiliation a Mexican president has suffered on his own territory in the last 50 years,” said Esteban Illades, editor of Nexos, a magazine in Mexico. “He not only managed to make Donald Trump look presidential, which is an incredibly hard thing to do, he managed to forgive Donald Trump even though he didn’t actually offer an apology in the first place. ” Mexican officials did not clearly articulate the reasons for the visit at first. Later, in a news release, the president explained the rationale for the meeting as being in the interest of democracy and to create a dialogue. In his remarks, Mr. Peña Nieto suggested that he wanted to fortify the nation’s ties with its most important global partner, while standing up for Mexico. “I also made him notice and feel the great responsibility I have as president of Mexico, to defend the Mexican people, both those who are here and abroad,” Mr. Peña Nieto said after the meeting. Some argued that the invitation was a distraction from the domestic problems that have gnawed at the president. Violence is rising, new scandals seem to emerge regularly and the impunity that lies at the heart of discord in Mexico remains undisturbed. Most recently, the president was accused of plagiarizing a third of his law school thesis, which his office explained as an error in citation. Others were not convinced by that explanation, contending meeting with Mr. Trump hardly made the other problems go away. “I do not see this as a distraction to his problems the visit will only add to the problems he faces in Mexico,” said Jason Marczak, a director in the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, a research center. “Donald Trump will come out of this meeting carrying the message of the meeting. ” “He will use Peña Nieto as a political pawn in his campaign,” he added. | 0fake |
Exclusive: Trump aides’ bid to plug leaks creates unease among some civil servants | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin used his first senior staff meeting last month to tell his new aides he would not tolerate leaks to the news media, three sources familiar with the matter said. Current and former officials said that in a departure from past practice, access to a classified computer system at the White House has been tightened by political appointees to prevent some professional staffers from seeing memos being prepared for the new president. And at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), some officials told Reuters they believe a search is under way for the leaker of a draft intelligence report which found little evidence that citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries covered by Trump’s now-suspended travel ban pose a threat to the United States. Washington career civil servants say the clampdown appears designed to try to limit the flow of information inside and outside government agencies charged with foreign policy and national security and to deter officials from talking to the media about topics that could result in negative stories. The White House did not immediately comment on Friday about why it is trying to crack down on leaks. Trump, who has been infuriated by some news reports of government dysfunction, has expressed his intention to prevent unauthorized disclosures to the media. “We’re going to find the leakers. They’re going to pay a big price for leaking,” he said in response to a reporter’s question during a meeting with lawmakers on Feb. 16. At a news conference the same day, Trump said he had asked the Department of Justice to look into leaks of “classified information that was given illegally” to journalists regarding contacts between some of his aides and Russian officials. Several officials in different government agencies who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity said some employees fear their phone calls and emails may be monitored and that they are reluctant to speak their minds during internal discussions. Reuters has no independent evidence of this happening. In another effort to deter leaks, White House spokesman Sean Spicer demanded that some aides there surrender their phones so they could be checked for calls or texts to reporters, Politico reported on Sunday. Word of the inspection quickly leaked. Trump said later he supported Spicer. He added “I would have handled it differently than Sean. But Sean handles it his way and I’m OK with it,” he said in an interview with Fox News. On Friday, Spicer did not respond to requests for comment on his reasons for demanding the phones from his staff. Two sources familiar with Mnuchin’s first meeting with senior Treasury staff said he told them that their telephone calls and emails could be monitored to prevent leaks. One of the sources said that staff were told that monitoring could become “policy.” Asked about Mnuchin’s comments to his senior staff, a Treasury spokesman said: “Secretary Mnuchin had a discussion with staff about confidential information not being shared with the media nor any other sources. In the course of that conversation, the idea of checking phones was not discussed.” Asked in a follow-up email whether Mnuchin had raised the possibility of monitoring phones or emails as a matter of policy, the Treasury spokesman replied: “It was not discussed.” Attempts by Republican and Democratic presidents to limit leaks are not new. During Republican Richard Nixon’s administration, the FBI wiretapped White House aides and journalists. Trump’s predecessor, Democrat Barack Obama, aggressively pursued leaks to try to “control the narrative,” as White House aides put it. New York Times reporter James Risen, whose articles led to investigations of leaks, said the Obama administration prosecuted nine cases involving whistleblowers and leakers, compared with three by all previous administrations combined. Leonard Downie, a former executive editor of the Washington Post, said it was too early to make historical comparisons. He said it is rare to learn about an administration’s internal efforts to impose message discipline. At the State Department, the fear of getting caught in a leak investigation or running afoul of White House positions is so acute that some officials will discuss issues only face-to-face rather than use phones, email, texts or other messaging applications, two State Department officials said. “There is a climate of intimidation, not just about talking to reporters, but also about communicating with colleagues,” said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner did not respond directly to the officials’ statements but said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson aimed to foster an open climate where new ideas are raised and considered on their merits. “There does have to be some degree of trust among colleagues in order to have those kinds of conversations,” Toner said. There also is high anxiety in parts of DHS, three officials there said. They said some officials fear phone calls and emails are being monitored to try to find who leaked the draft intelligence report to the Associated Press. Reuters has no independent evidence that this is the case. The report found that being a citizen of countries covered by Trump’s Jan. 27 temporary immigration ban - Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen - was “an unreliable indicator of terrorist threat.” The DHS did not respond to several requests for comment. Before Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, National Security Council officials drafting memos, or “packages,” for the president on a classified computer system could choose other officials who should have input, several current and former officials said. Under a change made after Trump took office, staffers now cannot choose who may see and edit a memo. Instead, access is approved by the office of the NSC executive secretary, retired Army lieutenant general Keith Kellogg. Asked about the new restrictions, National Security Council spokesman Michael Anton said: “President Trump takes very seriously the criminal release of classified information critical to U.S. national security. Access procedures are designed to ensure that appropriate personnel see material relevant to their duties, while protecting sensitive information.” One U.S. official called the new system “inefficient,” saying Kellogg’s office may not know who has a stake in any given issue and may not share the drafts widely enough. Steven Aftergood of the nonprofit Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy, which works to limit official secrecy, said the policy change suggested the White House wants to tighten control over internal deliberations. He said restricting access to information adds friction to the decision-making process and predicted that “inferior policy decisions are a likely result.” Spicer did not immediately comment on Friday on whether the new procedure might harm policy-making. An administration official said the White House changed the access procedures about a month ago in reaction to leaks of the contents of Trump’s conversations with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Australia. Asked if the change had made the NSC less efficient, this official replied: “No, because we are being conscientious about ensuring that all relevant staff members and experts are included on materials that they need to see.” | 0fake |
BREAKING BOMBSHELL: State Department Busted In Cover Up Regarding Hillary’s Server | They knew! Can you believe these people? FOX News reported earlier that the release of this report was delayed twice today. Now we know why they released it late. These people are sickening! Please never forget these American heroes left to die by this woman. The U.S. State Department told a watchdog group in 2013 that it didn t have any information about former secretary Hillary Clinton s emails, even though dozens of senior officials knew she was using a private server for all her electronic communications.A report released Thursday by the agency s inspector general a powerful and impartial internal investigator described a cavalier culture about transparency inside Clinton s agency, saying that 177 requests for documents about Clinton are still pending nearly three years after she left office. The Freedom of Information Act requires federal agencies to respond to requests for information within 20 business days. The botched FOIA request, filed in December 2012 just before Clinton left office, specifically asked whether or not Clinton used an email account other than one hosted at state.gov. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal group, was reacting to news that former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson had used an alias Richard Windsor to send and receive emails in a way that couldn t be tied to her when FOIA requests came in. In May 2013 the State Department responded to CREW s request, saying it had no records related to what the group asked for. By then, Clinton had spent four years emailing department employees from her private home-brew account, but had never turned the messages over to the State Department. That CREW request was filed in December 2012, just before Mrs. Clinton left office, and specifically asked whether Mrs. Clinton used anon-State.gov email account for government business. At the time the request was received, dozens of senior officials throughout the Department, including members of Secretary Clinton s immediate staff, exchanged emails with the Secretary using the personal accounts she used to conduct official business, the Office of Inspector General concluded. OIG found evidence that the Secretary s then-Chief of Staff was informed of the request at the time it was received and subsequently tasked staff to follow up. However, OIG found no evidence to indicate that any of these senior officials reviewed the search results or approved the response to CREW. The employees responsible for searching the State Department s records, the report says, never searched any email records, even though the request clearly encompassed emails. State has received an unprecedented crush of requests for Clinton-related documents 240 in all, a number bigger than those related to secretaries Madeline Albright, Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice and John Kerry combined. But the inspector general found that the agency cut the number of people processing those FOIA requests as they poured in. Clinton s emails sat on her private server for years until the State Department asked her in 2014 to turn them over. She deleted more than half of the messages, calling them personal in nature, before complying. In the meantime, however, her emails were out of reach when federal employees searched for records that might satisfy FOIA requests.Read more: Daily Mail | 1real |
60 Minutes Uses “Fake News” Story To Destroy Credibility Of Popular Conservative Twitter Personality For Suggesting Hillary Had Parkinson’s [VIDEO] | Things got tense Sunday on 60 Minutes as CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley squared off with prominent Trump supporter Mike Cernovich.As part of a segment on Fake News, Pelley introduced Cernovich as the founder of a website, Danger & Play, which has become a magnet for readers with a taste for stories with no basis in fact. Things only got testier from there.Pelley grilled Cernovich over a story he published titled Hillary Clinton has Parkinson s Disease, Physician Confirms. Kelley pointed out that Cernovich had not actually spoken to any doctor who had examined the democratic Presidential nominee, and that the campaign denied the allegation. MediaiteSpeaking of fake news here s the clip of the 60 Minutes segment CBS s 60 Minutes tweeted.: That story got so much traction, it had to be denied not only by Clinton s doctor, but by the National Parkinson s Foundation. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/SLu19bN6Gr 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) March 27, 2017The only thing CBS showed that could have been construed as negative news for the left would be the studies that showed the | 1real |
George Will on Fox News Shake-Up: ’I Have a Feeling Mr. O’Reilly Is Replaceable’ - Breitbart | Wednesday on CNBC’s “Power Lunch,” Washington Post columnist George Will reacted to the news of Bill O’Reilly, host of Fox News Channel’s flagship program “The O’Reilly Factor,” would be parting ways with Fox News amid allegations of sexual harassment. Will, who had a with O’Reilly in November 2015 over some of the details in O’Reilly’s “Killing Reagan” book, said for Fox News to brand itself as something other than “a somewhat stale product” was contingent on moving beyond O’Reilly. “It’s like being called you ugly by a frog,” Will said. “Mr. O’Reilly is, on air is reckless, coarse and bullying. Turns out off the air, he’s reckless, coarse and bullying. So there’s a kind of seamlessness here. I think Fox News has to decide what it wants to be and for whom it wants to be a news source. It seems as long as Bill O’Reilly is the face of Fox News, and let’s face it, he is, their ability to expand their brand and to diversify their audience and become something other than a somewhat stale product depends on moving beyond Bill O’Reilly. ” “Power Lunch” Michelle asked how that squared with the fact the O’Reilly puts up the biggest numbers in cable news, to which Will said it was based more on brand loyalty than personalities. “Well, the question is, are they loyal to Bill O’Reilly or are they loyal to the Fox brand itself?” Will replied. “When Megyn Kelly left, and they put Tucker Carlson in her slot, nothing happened. The ratings stayed strong, and the viewers were happy. I have a feeling that Mr. O’Reilly is replaceable. As Charles de Gaulle once said, the graveyards are full of indispensable men. ” Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor | 0fake |
Clinton Is the Most Dangerous Person Alive – An Interview with Edward S. Herman | 2016 presidential campaign by Ann Garrison
The just-concluded election revealed as much about the corporate media, which has broken every rule of journalism to support Hillary Clinton, and the fraudulence of much of the American Left, which turns out to have no real problem with war or capitalism, than it did about the candidates, themselves. Edward Herman is an exception, a genuine man of the Left. He says “a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for war with Syria and Russia.” Clinton Is the Most Dangerous Person Alive – An Interview with Edward S. Herman by Ann Garrison
“ The election of Hillary Clinton might threaten a democratic order as much as a Trump victory.”
Ann Garrison: Earlier this year, you told me that you differ with Noam Chomsky, your co-author of Manufacturing Consent and other books, in that you plan to vote for the Green Party's presidential and vice presidential candidates Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka in the swing state of Pennsylvania. Are you still planning to do so?
Edward S. Herman: Yes.
AG: Can you explain why?
ESH: Because the two duopoly candidates are dangerous to societal and international welfare and even survival. Hillary Clinton is a neo-liberal and pre-eminent war-monger. I think she is the most dangerous person living in the world today, given her highly likely election victory and her likely performance as president. She represents the corporate elite and military-industrial complex more clearly than Trump and she is a follow-on to Bush and Obama. She will pursue similar policies except for her somewhat more aggressive bent.
Trump is a self-promoting windbag, racist and dangerous, unpredictable phony. We have a ghastly choice in these two. Jill Stein offers a protest opportunity, more so than not voting. On the line that either voting for Stein or not voting would constitute a vote for Trump, one might argue that a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote for war with Syria and Russia and a vote for Netanyahu (and hence for escalated violence in Palestine).
AG: Hillary Clinton and John Podesta's e-mail has revealed that Hillary Clinton is well aware that the Saudi and Qatari rulers - not rogue elements - fund ISIS, and the same Saudi and Qatari rulers fund the Clinton Foundation. Throughout the last George Bush's presidency, there were innumerable headlines that "Saudi oil sheikhs met with George Bush on his Crawford, Texas ranch." What are your thoughts on that?
ESH: Saudi Arabia is a US ally and an instrument of the warfare state. Hillary Clinton has treated its leaders warmly and she will continue to do so as president. The Clinton Foundation's receipt of money from Saudi and Qatari leaders is a first class conflict of interest and outrage, but the media have focused on the many less important abuses of Trump, helping cover over the outrages of their preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, and her husband, Bill Clinton.
AG: What do you think of Clinton's statement that she would make removing Bashar Al-Assad her top priority? And Trump's statement that he would not, because that would recklessly risk confrontation with Russia?
ESH: Hillary Clinton has essentially promised to escalate war in Syria and is therefore promising to go to war with Russia as well. Diana Johnstone has made the case that Hillary Clinton plans to try to bring about "regime change" in Russia (cite). This is of course incredibly dangerous and would have aroused a really democratic media, but the existing media are part of the war system, hence Hillary Clinton's commitment to wars is essentially suppressed. Trump has made a number of statements along the lines of reducing US interventions and commitments abroad and trying to deal with Russia in a less confrontational manner, but he has sometimes contradicted himself by urging expanded arms, use of nuclear weapons, etc. But Hillary Clinton has said nothing that would offset her war-mongering. This difference from Trump may help explain the intensity of media hostility to Trump.
AG: Jill Stein has said that "wars for oil are blowing back at us wth a vengeance" and that she would cut the military budget by half, close most of the foreign bases, and redirect resources into a Green New Deal that would fully employ Americans building sustainable energy and agricultural infrastructure. I can't imagine you disagree, but do you think it's important for the Greens to articulate such a vision at the national and international level, instead of focusing solely on local races that they might win?
ESH: The Greens don't have the resources to compete in many local elections. So she is wise to focus on the big national and international issues. Furthermore, the real gap in the political system is the lack of opposition to national neoliberal and militaristic policies. It is said that she can't make a bigger mark given the hegemony of the duopoly, but even Ralph Nader couldn't get 5 percent of the vote. The system still works well, for the 1%.
AG : Michael Moore has made a movie called "Trumpland" and warned that Trump's election would be the end of the United States , assuming that would be a bad thing. David Swanson, author of "War Is a Lie," has imagined the same but argued, in " Secession, Trump, and the Avoidability of Civil War ," that the break-up of the United States is not the worst possibility on the horizon. Do you have any thoughts on this?
ESH: Michael Moore is completely oblivious to the fact that the enlarging war that is likely to follow Hillary Clinton's election threatens not only a nuclear exchange but also attacks on civil liberties and the march toward fascism. In its own way, the election of Hillary Clinton might threaten a democratic order as much as a Trump victory. The anti-Trump hysteria has tended to block out consideration of the Hillary Clinton menace.
AG: Is there anything else you'd like to say about why you're voting for Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka?
ESH: I've always believed in the moral rule laid down in the categorical imperative: "Do that which you would wish generalized." Ann Garrison an independent journalist based in Oakland, USA. | 1real |
PA TRUMP RALLY: How Support From The Amish Community Could Help Trump Win Key Swing States [VIDEO] | Maybe it s the commonality they share with Trump, considering the media and never Trumpers have painted him as an outcast or an outsider. Whatever their reasons are, indications are that conservative Amish Americans are getting behind Donald Trump. And in some swing states where every vote will count, this is one group Crooked Hillary won t likely be able to win over The Amish may not watch TV and rarely vote but could they be persuaded to vote Republican in this year s US elections? Ben Walters is the Amish Pact fund raising officer, and thinks that Donald Trump s conservative values could appeal to this community.The Amish community came out in big numbers to attend Trump s rally yesterday in PA:AMISH COME OUT FOR TRUMP IN PA. GOD BLESS TRUMP!!! pic.twitter.com/hAAypaL6PV TRUMP MY PRESIDENT (@AngelSt35124353) October 2, 2016 Trump rally in Pennsylvania's Amish country:#AmishForTrump #MakeAmericaGreatAgain pic.twitter.com/YfrFcKe5uU Trump 4 America (@america_trump) October 2, 2016Though they travel at the pace of a horse and buggy, the Amish are spreading out across the nation more rapidly than most other religious communities.A new Amish settlement is founded in the United States nearly once a month, according to a new census, which also found that more than 60 percent of all existing Amish communities sprang up after 1990. The Amish are one of the fastest-growing religious groups in North America, Ohio State researcher Joseph Donnermeyer, who led the census project, said in a statement. They re doubling their population about every 21 to 22 years, primarily because they produce large families and the vast majority of daughters and sons remain in the community as adults baptized into the faith, starting their own families and sustaining their religious beliefs and practices. Swing states like Ohio, which has the largest Amish population at 60,233, and, Pennsylvania a close second, with 59,078 Amish residents could make all the difference in a close race in those states. Indiana has 44,831 Amish citizens, according to Ohio State. New York where 15 new settlements have been established since 2010 has seen the greatest recent growth in Amish population of any state. Via: Live ScienceHere s why they re getting behind Donald Trump:Via: BBC | 1real |
WOW! STATE DEPARTMENT Lies Again About The Big Lie That The Benghazi Attack Was Caused By A Video | Watch this State Department spokesperson tap dance around the big lie that the Benghazi attack was caused by a video. These people are evil! | 1real |
FBI Director Comey Ignored DOJ’s Warning Against Releasing Info On Hillary Email (TWEETS) | Subscribe
On Friday, FBI Director James Comey told Congress that his agency had discovered emails that could potentially be related to the flap over Hillary Clinton’s email server. In the 24 hours since then, most of the discussion hasn’t been over the emails, but over whether Comey acted appropriately when he made this disclosure. Well, a front page story in Sunday morning’s edition of The New York Times reveals that Comey’s bosses at the Justice Department believed this letter was manifestly improper .
The reason? Comey’s letter risked running afoul of a longstanding DOJ policy that strongly discourages commenting on politically sensitive investigations within 60 days of an election. It is a policy that has been maintained by both Democratic and Republican administrations in order to avoid even the appearance of partisanship. We can all agree, however, that if there is any case for an exception, it would be if there was a potentially earth-shaking development in a politically-charged investigation.
But based on what has emerged since Friday, Comey’s letter didn’t even begin to meet that standard. According to The Times, the FBI is in the process of getting court permission to review emails it seized from the laptop of longtime Hillary aide Huma Abedin while investigating her estranged husband, former congressman Anthony Weiner, for sexting with a North Carolina teenager. Investigators don’t know as of yet whether those emails contain classified information, or whether it even potentially rose to the level of criminal misconduct. Additionally, there is virtually no chance that such a review will be complete before the election.
That explains why Comey’s draft letter, which was prepared on Thursday, sent eyebrows into hairlines at the DOJ. According to CNN, department staffers told Comey that Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates opposed sending the letter . They told Comey in no uncertain terms that under the circumstances, the letter ran counter to the longstanding policy about politically sensitive investigations. However, according to The Times, Comey believed that the emails would almost certainly be leaked–and the FBI would be accused of misleading Congress.
However, a number of former DOJ officials think Comey made an egregious blunder. I already told you that Matthew Miller, the former chief spokesman for the DOJ under Lynch’s predecessor, Eric Holder, condemned the letter in the strongest terms on Friday. But Comey has been condemned by veterans of Republican administrations as well. One of them, George Terwilliger III, the deputy attorney general for the last two years of the George H. W. Bush administration, was particularly baffled by Comey’s move. Terwilliger said that while the guidelines on politically sensitive investigations can make for “hard decisions” at times, there was “a difference between flying independent and flying solo.”
Kurt Eichenwald of Vanity Fair and Newsweek revealed on Twitter that a number of FBI agents are up in arms over this letter as well. Word from inside @FBI . FURIOUS at Comey, think he's mishandled public revelations from get go. "Outrageous incompetence" one agent told me.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 29, 2016 If Comey doesn't get ahead of this, going to have a mutiny at @FBI . "This is why u say 'We dont talk about investigations'" one told me….
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 29, 2016 …his original decision to lay out info on clinton case, then opine on what it meant outside of criminal findings, infuriated these folks..
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 29, 2016 Re: anger within @FBI at Comey. I am getting this at the Special Agent, ASAC and SAC level. Those are the troops. (Most of em GOPrs)….
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 29, 2016 …for Comey to have so angered ppl at the field office level is really, really bad.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 29, 2016 If Comey's improper comment on ongoing investigation changes polls, @FBI reputation as apolitical will never recover cause of his screwup.
— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) October 29, 2016
Based on what we now know, this anger is easy to understand. Apparently Comey was so worried about the potential fallout that he felt compelled to brief Congress before his people even knew whether there was any there there, let alone before getting a court to allow them to find out what was in those emails. If that’s the case, then Comey’s judgment appears curious at best. You would think the FBI would be able to keep a lid on an investigation this explosive.
Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, suggested that the Donald forced Comey’s hand . If Comey was so afraid of being the victim of a Twitter attack from Trump and his alt-right army that it felt the need to throw fundamental fairness and time-honored precedent out the window, as well as leave his own agents on an island, then there is something fundamentally wrong.
( featured image courtesy FBI Flickr feed, part of public domain) About Darrell Lucus
Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC . Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook . Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello. Connect | 1real |
IS LONDON About To Elect Its First MUSLIM Mayor? [VIDEO] | London is about to find out why putting political correctness before your country is a bad idea By BI: Sooner than you think if the Labour (far left) Party has anything to do with it. Labour has chosen Sadiq Khan as its candidate for Mayor of Londonistan in 2016 a Muslim career politician with strong sympathies for Islamic radicals and extremists.https://youtu.be/dHOYOrThmdsVia: Shoebat.com | 1real |
Lavrov to Trump: ‘Do Not Attack Venezuela’ | 21st Century Wire says Last Friday, President Donald Trump appears to have temporarily lost his mind by suggesting that the US may act militarily against Venezuela. The rationale (or irrationale) seems to be that (US-backed) protests against the rule of President Nicolas Maduro are destabilizing the country and therefore, the US must intervene if Maduro does not go . It was shades of the last 7 years of US and western anti-Syrian regime change rhetoric. Washington will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles, he said.Vice President Mike Pence is on a four-nation Latin American tour, where he expressed his concern that Venezuela will trigger regional instability in South America.Meanwhile, other Latin America countries have now rallied around Venezuela after Trump s off-handed comments. This has been somewhat of an own goal by Trump who seems to have now united Latin America in support of Venezuela and against the United States.Venezuela foreign minister, Jorge Arreaza, urged Venezuelans to resist America s insolent foreign aggression . The reckless threats of President Donald Trump aim to drag Latin America and the Caribbean into a conflict which would permanently alter the stability, the peace and the security of our region, said Arreaza.To compound Washington s problems on the issue, Russia has now also weighed in The DuranSergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister was speaking with his Bolivian counterpart when the issue of Venezuela arose. Bolivia is one of Venezuela s closest regional allies along with Cuba.Sergey Lavrov responded to threats made by Donald Trump against Caracas when the US President threatened the use of military action against the oil rich South American country. Venezuela has called Trump s threats crazy and a threat to the sovereignty of the country.Today, Lavrov stated: We are united in the need to overcome the existing disagreements in the country by peaceful means through a nationwide dialogue as soon as possible, without any external pressure, not to mention the unacceptability of the threats of military intervention in the internal affairs of this country .Recently Mercosur, a bloc of nations covering the majority of South America condemned any attempts by the US to stage a war against Venezuela. This included countries who themselves have disagreements with Caracas. Today, Lavrov cited this as an example of widespread opposition to any war on Venezuela.READ MORE: South America opposes Trump s military threat against VenezuelaThis is Russia s strongest condemnation of the threat of war against Venezuela to-date.READ MORE VENEZUELA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Russia FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
National Security Agency Said to Use Manhattan Tower as Listening Post - The New York Times | On any person who desires such queer prizes, New York will bestow the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy. — E. B. White, “Here Is New York,” 1949 From a sidewalk in Lower Manhattan, the building at 33 Thomas Street, known as the Long Lines Building, looks like nothing less than a monument to the prize of privacy. With not a window in its walls from the ground up to its height of 550 feet, 33 Thomas looms over Church Street with an architectural blank face. Nothing about it resembles a place of human habitation, and in fact it was built for machines: An ATT subsidiary commissioned the tower to house phone lines. Completed in 1974, it was fortified to withstand a nuclear attack on New York, and the architect made plans to include enough food, water and generator fuel to sustain 1, 500 people for two weeks during a catastrophic loss of power to the city. Now, an investigative article in The Intercept and an accompanying documentary film, “Project X,” opening on Friday at the IFC Center in Greenwich Village, say the building appears to have served another purpose: as a listening post Titanpointe by the National Security Agency. The article and film say that Titanpointe was one of the facilities used to collect communications — with permission granted by judges — from international entities that have at least some operations in New York, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and 38 countries. According to the article and film, N. S. A. employees and contractors who traveled to Titanpointe were given detailed instructions about how to rent cars anonymously through the F. B. I. how to dress (not surprisingly, they were not to wear badges that said “N. S. A. ”) and even what to do if they got into a car accident (don’t make a fuss, make a call everything would be taken care of). Equipment in the building monitored international phone calls, faxes, videoconferencing, voice calls made over the internet. Much of the documentation for the article and film draws on material provided by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the agency who released information in 2013 about the N. S. A. ’s collaboration with telecommunication companies in vast surveillance programs. Laura Poitras, who collaborated with Henrik Moltke on the documentary film, was a member of a group of journalists awarded a 2014 Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on Mr. Snowden’s revelations. The new article and film say that N. S. A. memos from 2013 refer to Titanpointe by its code name and activities that take place there but do not mention its address. Mr. Moltke said a number of details in the Snowden material pointed to 33 Thomas Street, including references to a known code name for ATT the building’s location about a block from F. B. I. offices at 26 Federal Plaza and a reference to satellite intercepts for a program called Skidrowe. The building has satellite dishes on the roof and is the only site in New York City where ATT has a Federal Communications Commission license for such stations, according to Mr. Moltke, who wrote the article with Ryan Gallagher. The New York Times and Pro Publica reported in August 2015, that ATT had had a close relationship with the N. S. A. for decades and had been lauded by the agency for its “extreme willingness to help. ” However, neither the materials from Mr. Snowden nor the new reports state with certainty that the N. S. A. was using ATT space or equipment. As it happens, while ATT Inc. owns the land at 33 Thomas, it has only about 87 percent of the floor space the balance is owned by Verizon. Asked about the Intercept report, Fletcher Cook, an ATT spokesman, did not directly respond but said the company provided information when legally required or in specific emergency cases. “We do not allow any government agency to connect directly to or otherwise control our network to obtain our customers’ information,” he said. A Verizon spokesman took questions about his company’s space but did not provide answers. The N. S. A. did not reply to a request for comment. For all the powerful machinery available to government surveillance programs, they are subject to some court jurisdiction. That is not the case for commercial surveillance: Every aspect of daily life is tracked by smartphone apps, social media and websites. Whatever spying may go on at 33 Thomas Street would at least still be subject to legal oversight. The building really may be a monument to quaint ideas about privacy. | 0fake |
Pyrotechnic Party of Legend, Killed Off by Social Media - The New York Times | On Sept. 29, 1973, Peter Schjeldahl and Brooke Alderson, who had met the previous spring at an opening at the Whitney Museum, moved into an apartment on the top floor of a at 53 St. Marks Place. It was the day W. H. Auden died, a fact that seemed to portend the lush bohemian life that followed. Mr. Schjeldahl, a poet and art critic, would go on to write for The Village Voice and for The New Yorker, where he has remained for two decades Ms. Alderson was an actress and comic. They had a daughter, Ada Calhoun, who grew up to be a writer herself. She dedicated her recent book, “St. Marks Is Dead,” a history of the street where she grew up, to them: “To my parents, who looked at the apocalyptic 1970s East Village and thought, What a great place to raise a kid. ” That chaos found counterbalance in a rural idyll. In the 1980s, Mr. Schjeldahl and his wife purchased many acres of mountainous land in the town of Bovina, a little more than three hours north of Midtown Manhattan. For more than a the property served as the site of a Fourth of July celebration that has maintained a singular place in New York’s social history, drawing friends, and friends of friends, from the city — artists, writers, musicians, academics, gallery owners, movie stars — and a considerable segment of the surrounding population of Delaware County. At its most constrained, the event attracted as many as 300 people, who gathered not only for the kind of ecumenical fellowship rarely found in the modern world outside an A. A. meeting, but, above all, to experience Mr. Schjeldahl’s mythic, untamed fireworks. “We were strictly illegal, until the end,” Mr. Schjeldahl told me recently. “The cops and firemen brought their families. This is libertarian country. ” Last year, the pyrotechnics hewed more closely to legitimacy — a technical supervisor was even on the premises — but that party turned out to be the last, after approximately 2, 000 people showed up, word of it having reached a vast universe of Brooklyn millennials via social media, a means of communication Mr. Schjeldahl and his wife have never employed. “It was 300 hipsters from Bushwick coming down the driveway, and I nearly died,” Ms. Alderson said. Last year, guests, most of them not known to their hosts, could be overheard arguing about whether the property was a state park or a municipal park. One generation’s utopia had encroached upon another’s. Ominous signs began to present themselves a few years ago. Ms. Calhoun recalls entering a bedroom at the Bovina house to find a young woman she had never seen before changing into a bathing suit. On another occasion, her husband and young son were at a florist in Williamsburg where they learned that the young saleswoman behind the counter had become a regular at the party, even though she had no idea who actually held it. Even back in its more tightly circumscribed days, the party was so enormous that its hosts were hardly able to speak to everyone. One year, Mr. Schjeldahl received a warm note of thanks from Louis Menand, the literary critic and Harvard professor, who described the party as a spectacular aesthetic experience. The men had never met, not at The New Yorker, where they are colleagues, nor at the Fourth of July event. Over the years, the artists Brice and Helen Marden came, as did Steve Martin, the poet Susan Wheeler and Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys, who eventually brought Ben Stiller. The year Mr. Stiller came, he was assigned to the “front line,” an assemblage of guests tasked with lighting fireworks by hand. Carmine Covelli, the drummer for a band called the Julie Ruin, was dispatched to watch over him. Mr. Stiller looked terrified, Mr. Covelli said he noted that the actor never returned. Mesmerized by Mr. Schjeldahl’s obsession — one year, he said, he strapped explosives to trees because he’d seen fireworks shot horizontally from the Eiffel Tower, and grew jealous of French ingenuity — Mr. Covelli and Mr. Horovitz began filming a documentary about the annual event. The food was the other hallmark of the party. Everyone brought something. There were maybe a hundred pies once a hunter brought bear meat. Another distinctive element was an exercise in making uptight urban parents nervous. During the day, a huge basket of bottle rockets was made available to the children who were old enough to shoot away. “I know what I want when I grow up,” one little boy announced to his parents as they were leaving the party, Mr. Schjeldahl recounted. “A lighter. ” With the money they saved by calling off the party this year, Mr. Schjeldahl and Ms. Alderson went to Rome in the spring. They had a good time. This weekend, they will have two people posted on their front porch telling anyone who might not have heard that the era has ended. When Ms. Alderson realized she would need something to fill the time that months of party planning had consumed, she decided to build a miniature golf course with a Rip Van Winkle theme, a work still in progress. This weekend the couple will eat out, and they will mourn what was lost — a sense of inclusion and ultimately a tent that just got too big. | 0fake |
Trump Nominees’ Filings Threaten to Overwhelm Federal Ethics Office - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — Rex W. Tillerson owns more than $50 million of Exxon Mobil stock, has earned an annual salary of $10 million and holds a range of positions — from director at the Boy Scouts of America to the managing director of a Texas horse and cattle ranch. But Mr. Tillerson is prepared to resign from all those posts, sell all his stock and put much of his money into bland investments like Treasury bonds if he becomes secretary of state, according to an “ethics undertakings” memo he filed this week with the State Department. And, if he returns to the oil industry in the next decade, he could lose as much as $180 million. The ethics letter detailing Mr. Tillerson’s commitments is the first of hundreds that will be made public in the coming weeks by members of Donald J. Trump’s cabinet and other top political appointees, presenting a historic test of the federal government’s ability to identify conflicts of interest — and figure out ways to avoid them. Mr. Trump has selected what would be the wealthiest cabinet in modern American history, filled with millionaires and billionaires with complicated financial portfolios. Mr. Tillerson is worth at least $300 million, but is hardly the richest among them: Wilbur L. Ross Jr. the commerce secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, the education secretary nominee and Steven T. Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary nominee, each hold assets estimated at more than a billion dollars. Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s wealthy is in the process of submitting his own forms as he prepares to take a formal White House position, people involved in the process said. “The Office of Government Ethics is stressed, no doubt about that,” said Robert Rizzi, a partner at Steptoe Johnson, who represents half a dozen Trump administration nominees going through the process, although he would not name them, citing confidentiality agreements. “They are having some difficulty keeping up. ” All of the cabinet appointees and hundreds of others must submit a financial disclosure report detailing all the assets they own, their approximate value and income from any source they have made in the last year. Some of the nominees are so wealthy — and their assets so varied — there are not enough boxes on the standard form for them, lawyers involved in the process said. The disclosures are then used by the agencies they are to take over, along with the Office of Government Ethics, to identify potential conflicts of interest and to negotiate ethics letters to be signed by the nominees, committing to avoid conflicts of interest. At the same time, this class of wealthy incoming officials could save hundreds of millions of dollars in income tax payments, thanks to a special tax benefit created so that affluent Americans do not avoid federal government jobs. The Trump administration, lawyers involved in the effort said, is behind where it should be in this process of disentangling conflicts of interest. This is partly a reflection of the extraordinary complexity of negotiating such conflict of interest agreements for incoming government officials worth hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars. “Usually, you just own a bunch of stocks and bonds, but he’s getting people that own buildings and real estate and stuff you can’t sell,” said Alan Johnson, a New compensation consultant. “He has Wilbur Ross, who is probably involved in a gazillion different things. I think it is going to be very complicated to try to disentangle all of these things. ” Mr. Ross is a billionaire investor and former banker who made a fortune in steel, coal, telecommunications and other industries. Under federal law, executive branch employees, including cabinet members, are prohibited from using their positions in the government to enrich themselves, meaning they are not allowed to participate in any particular matter that might directly financially benefit assets they own. The best way to avoid such a conflict, said Lawrence M. Noble, former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission, is to sell any assets — like Exxon Mobil stock or any individual company stock — and put proceeds into Treasury bonds or mutual funds. “We don’t want the decisions that these individuals make to be influenced — in reality, or even appearance — by their own financial interests,” Mr. Noble said. “They are working for the American people, and not to enrich themselves or their families. ” The rules do not apply to the president and vice president, although ethics experts — and even the Office of Government Ethics — have urged Mr. Trump to divest his assets voluntarily to rid himself of potential concerns as he takes over the White House. He has thus far resisted such a move, saying that he plans to let his two oldest sons and other Trump Organization executives manage the business, perhaps with an outside monitor. For appointees like Mr. Tillerson, the transition to government can have lucrative benefits: They can take advantage of measures in the tax code meant to be an incentive for wealthy people to consider public service jobs. The measure was put in place during the administration of the first President George Bush. This tax benefit, which requires approval by the Office of Government Ethics, allows government officials to defer paying capital gains taxes on certain assets that they must sell in order to clear potential conflicts as they take office — essentially providing them with loans. To gain the tax advantage, the liquidated proceeds must then be invested in Treasury bonds, mutual funds or funds, and the official must seek a certificate of divestiture. Until now, Henry M. Paulson Jr. Treasury secretary under President George W. Bush, has been the most prominent example of a public official who has taken advantage of the divestiture certificate. In 2006, Mr. Paulson left Goldman Sachs and sold an estimated $500 million in Goldman stock, deferring taxes on the sale. In his memo, Mr. Tillerson suggested that he was likely to seek such a certificate, and laid out a series of plans to divorce himself from financial engagements, board appointments and Exxon Mobil. This means he will most likely avoid capital gains taxes based on his sale of $50 million in Exxon Mobil stock he owns, as well as shares in more than 150 companies including Airbus and the Walt Disney Company, all of which he has promised to sell off within 90 days of his confirmation, his ethics documents suggest. But a more complicated task involved resolving the fate of two million shares of Exxon Mobil stock, worth about $180 million, that Mr. Tillerson was set to receive over the next decade. If he held on to this promised future payout from Exxon Mobil, he would still have a financial interest in matters that might affect the company and the oil industry. So Exxon Mobil agreed to take the unusual step of paying out the value of these sales and putting the money into an independent trust, with the money invested in neutral assets like Treasury bonds and mutual funds. Under the terms of the agreement, if Mr. Tillerson, 64, goes back into the oil industry during the next decade, he will forfeit any money left in the account. Richard W. Painter, a White House ethics lawyer during the administration of President George W. Bush, said this provision preventing Mr. Tillerson from returning to the oil industry was unusual and positive, as it removes the incentive for him to take steps while in government that might benefit an industry he planned to return to work for upon his departure. “It gives up something I had never been able to get from other government officials — a promise not to go back to an industry from which you came,” Mr. Painter said. Still, some environmental activists say such steps cannot address what they argue will be Mr. Tillerson’s inherent bias in the State Department. “It is impossible for this man to remove his career, and frankly his personality, from the oil and gas industry,” said Lena Moffitt, director of a Sierra Club campaign trying to reduce the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels. “He has been knee deep in this industry for more than four decades. ” | 0fake |
States Could Make Work a Medicaid Requirement Under G.O.P. Deal - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — President Trump and conservative lawmakers in the House agreed Friday to significant changes to Medicaid that could impose work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries in some states and limit federal funds for the program, as Republican leaders tried to rally balking lawmakers behind legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. “I want everyone to know, I’m 100 percent behind this,” Mr. Trump said at the White House, where he met with House members in the conservative Republican Study Committee. At a news conference hours later, the president predicted, “It’s going to be passed, I believe — I think substantially and pretty quickly. ” On Capitol Hill, the outlook was far less clear. The House is tentatively scheduled to vote Thursday to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature domestic achievement, exactly seven years after Mr. Obama signed it into law. As some lawmakers came out for the measure, some others — in the House and Senate — were stepping forward to oppose it. “Fundamentally, I don’t believe this proposal provides an adequate option for insurance access, nor does it address costs,” Representative John Katko, Republican of New York, said in a statement on Friday. “Further, I am confident the proposal would harm hospitals across my district. ” The concessions to conservatives are significant — and politically risky. The Obama administration refused to allow work requirements, saying they were not consistent with the goals of Medicaid, the health program for people. Several Republican governors have expressed interest in imposing such requirements on certain Medicaid beneficiaries — adults without minor children. “The Medicaid expansion has created a perverse incentive for states to provide benefits to adults at the expense of the elderly, the blind and the disabled,” Representative Gary Palmer, Republican of Alabama, said this week. “A work requirement would help states focus their limited resources on the truly needy. ” The president and House conservatives also agreed to allow states to choose one block grant to fund their Medicaid programs. The initial House bill would end Medicaid as an entitlement to health care, replacing that with an allotment to the states for each Medicaid beneficiary. If, instead, states accepted payments, they could gain more control over spending and more freedom to administer the program and define eligibility and benefits. Critics say that would restrict access to Medicaid in states with conservative governments. It is not clear how the federal government would calculate the amount of block grants. Nor is it clear which states, if any, might accept that option. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has already estimated that, under the House bill, the number of people without health insurance would be 14 million higher than expected next year and would be 24 million higher by 2026. The Medicaid adjustments could nudge that number even higher, a problem for many senators. The one Republican senator up for next year in a true swing state, Dean Heller of Nevada, said on Friday that he opposed the bill in its current form. Another Republican senator, Joni Ernst of Iowa, was noncommittal. Another likely change, Republicans said, would be to restructure the tax credits offered under the bill to help people buy private health insurance. Republican lawmakers had expressed concern that the tax credits, as originally devised by House leaders, were insufficient and could produce huge increases in premiums for some people age 50 to 64. The changes in Medicaid provisions of the bill could help win over conservative House members who have expressed concern or outright opposition to the bill for multiple reasons. Mr. Palmer voted against the House bill in the Budget Committee on Thursday. On Friday, he emerged from the White House in favor of it. “We’ve never had an opportunity to do anything like this,” Mr. Palmer said later. “This will be the most significant entitlement reform that we’ve seen. ” Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina, the chairman of the Republican Study Committee, said other members were on board as well. “On balance and with the changes we agreed to in the bill’s final text, I can vote for it,” he said after the meeting in the Oval Office. Mr. Trump’s level of engagement has been a major question mark as congressional leaders have tried to sell the proposal in the face of stinging opposition from a number of directions. His show of support for the House plan on Friday provided a lift for House leaders, who have been on the defensive all week over their bill and the persistent conservative opposition to it. Conservative holdouts who still have objections to the bill may reconsider if they come under more pressure from the president. “These changes definitely strengthen our number, but also show that President Trump’s now,” said the House majority whip, Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, who was at the White House meeting and recounted how Mr. Trump voiced his support for the measure. Representative Bradley Byrne, Republican of Alabama, said the changes in the bill were having the intended effect. “I can tell you, from the private conversations I’m having with people, support for the bill has built dramatically over the last 24 hours,” he said Friday. But the changes were not enough to sway the House Freedom Caucus, which reiterated its opposition on Friday. Changing the bill to win over such conservatives risks alienating more moderate members of the House and the Senate who worry that the measure could cause millions of people to lose health coverage. The Republican governors of four states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act — Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio — sent a letter to congressional leaders this week rejecting the House bill as written. Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, said on Thursday that she opposed the House bill, explaining that it would not do enough to help older people afford insurance. “We don’t want to in any way sacrifice coverage for people who need it the most,” she told The Portland Press Herald. House Republican moderates may be loath to take a difficult political vote if they are convinced the measure will die in the Senate. “If I hear one more senator tell me that this is dead on arrival, I think my head’s going to explode,” said Representative Charlie Dent, a moderate Republican from Pennsylvania. “That certainly is not something many members of the House find very appetizing — voting for something that will go nowhere in the Senate. ” The House Democratic whip, Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, predicted that while the bill might be approved by the House, “It will not become law. ” Under the Affordable Care Act, 31 states have expanded Medicaid, providing coverage to millions of adults. The federal government has been paying more than 90 percent of the costs for the newly eligible beneficiaries. Republicans say this has taken the program away from its original purpose. Democrats contend that work requirements could increase the number of uninsured, limiting access to health care without significantly increasing employment. | 0fake |
Republican Senator John McCain leaves Washington before expected tax vote | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. Senator John McCain is expected to miss an upcoming vote on a tax code overhaul, after his office said he had returned to his home in Arizona following medical treatment. The Senate is expected to vote as early as Tuesday on tax legislation. But McCain, undergoing treatment for brain cancer, will be out of Washington until January, his office said on Sunday. Top U.S. Republicans said on Sunday they expected Congress to pass the tax bill. | 0fake |
Pope Considers Trip to South Sudan | ROME (AP) — Pope Francis says he’s studying the possibility of going to South Sudan, the East African nation suffering famine and civil war. [Francis said while visiting an Anglican church in Rome on Sunday that Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic bishops had asked him to “please come, even for a day. ” The pope says they asked him to visit with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the Anglican leader who also has decried the suffering in South Sudan. | 0fake |
Solar Storm Alert | October 27, 2016 Solar winds triggered a giant geomagnetic storm this week, raising fears that they could cripple power supplies. The charged particles are coming from a coronal hole on the sun that is currently facing Earth. If Earth’s magnetic field was hit by charged particles the effects could also include radar and satellite interference, causing problems phone and internet networks and navigation services. Power grid operators in the US were put on alert yesterday following concerning space weather forecasts. But the impact could be felt all over the world. Warnings were issued by the operator of the biggest power grid in the US, PJM Interconnection LLC, as well as by Midcontinent Independent System Operator, which manages high-voltage power lines across North America, reports Bloomberg . These were the result of US Space Weather Prediction Center raising a ‘serious’ G3 level storm alert, though the alert was later downgraded to a less severe G2 storm. ‘Voltage corrections may be required, false alarms triggered on some protection devices’, said the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center. ‘Drag may increase on low-Earth-orbit satellites, and corrections may be needed for orientation problems’. The ‘moderate’ G2 warning remains in affect today. The solar storms could potentially affect telecommunications and power infrastructures all over the globe. The UK’s Met Office space weather forecast for today said: ‘Elevated solar winds are expected throughout the period, with G1-G2 minor to moderate geomagnetic storms forecast.’ | 1real |
Supreme Court Justice Removes Brazil’s Senate Leader Amid Graft Case - The New York Times | RIO DE JANEIRO — A justice on Brazil’s Supreme Court on Monday night removed the powerful head of the Senate from his post, as tensions have escalated between Congress and the judiciary over efforts by legislators to curb the power of prosecutors and judges overseeing corruption investigations. The justice, Marco Aurélio Mello, based his ruling on the fact that the Senate leader, Renan Calheiros, is going to stand trial in a graft case in which a lobbyist paid for the child support of a daughter Mr. Calheiros, 61, fathered in an extramarital affair. Mr. Mello’s ruling reflects how Brazil’s political tumult is intensifying once again, in a year in which President Dilma Rousseff was ousted and an orchestrator of her impeachment, Eduardo Cunha, the former speaker of the lower house, is now in jail on graft charges. The move by Mr. Mello also comes amid a tense standoff between Congress and the judiciary. Last week, the lower house held a marathon session in which its members gutted a anticorruption bill. The legislation, which would erode the authority of prosecutors and judges guiding graft inquiries, then moved to the Senate, where Mr. Calheiros unsuccessfully tried to hold a vote on it. Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets on Sunday to protest the moves in Congress, venting their wrath especially against Mr. Calheiros. Even as he faces a loss of authority, Mr. Calheiros, from Alagoas State in Brazil’s northeast, is expected to keep his seat in the Senate. For many of the protesters on the streets of Brazilian cities, Mr. Calheiros came to symbolize impunity in the nation’s political system, resurrecting his career despite facing an array of scandals. (In 2007, he was forced to resign as head of the Senate over the same child support case.) It was not immediately clear if the Supreme Court would need to ratify or reject Mr. Mello’s ruling with a full vote of its members. The request for Mr. Calheiros’s ouster came from Sustainability Network, a political party in the opposition. Mr. Calheiros may be able to appeal the decision. “I applaud this ruling,” said Randolfe Rodrigues, a senator from Sustainability Network, which largely blends centrist and leftist ideas. He said that the decision built on previous votes by justices aiming at preventing politicians on trial in corruption cases from remaining in the presidential line of succession. Jorge Viana, a senator from Ms. Rousseff’s leftist Workers’ Party, is expected to ascend to the post as head of the Senate. Mr. Calheiros is a member of the Brazilian Democratic Movement Party, the same centrist grouping led by President Michel Temer. Senators from the Workers’ Party said on Monday night that they would seek to delay voting in the Senate on a bill that would place a cap on federal spending, a cornerstone of Mr. Temer’s proposed austerity measures. The Senate already approved the bill in a first round of voting in November, with a second and final round scheduled for . With some in Congress now also calling for Mr. Temer’s impeachment after a scandal involving his support for an ally in a property deal, Brazil’s political establishment is facing the prospect of renewed instability. But at least for now, few observers see Mr. Temer at imminent risk of falling, given his coalition’s control of Congress. | 0fake |
Kansas GOP Will Undercut State Supreme Court Before Fixing Education Budget As Ordered | Kansas education system is a mess, thanks to the Republican-led legislature s budget cuts. Funding allocation is heavily biased against poorer schools, and the state s Supreme Court ordered the legislature to fix it so it was both fair and in line with the state s constitution. So what are these Republicans doing instead? They re looking for ways to undermine the Supreme Court instead of doing their jobs.The Kansas Supreme Court said that all schools would remain closed across the state until the legislature fixed the funding problems. They re supposed to meet on June 23, ahead of the June 30 deadline set by the court, to work on the issue.However, in a move that s oh-so-typical of crooked Republicans, they re going to meet next week to discuss an amendment to the state constitution to limit the power of the court, instead of understanding that they screwed up and putting forth an honest effort to fix education funding.The House and Senate Judiciary Committees will put their heads together and plot this out next week. The plan? Find a way to stop the court from ever halting funding in the future. They re wrapping the issue in the pretty paper of the people of Kansas should be deciding this, not the courts, and tying it neatly with a satin bow of we need to have discussions on this, not court orders. In other words, they re sounding the GOP s trumpet of alarm on what they think is a runaway court system because the courts aren t doing what they want.What they re not thinking about (and they re Republicans so why would they?) is all the innocent students, teachers and administrators caught up in this. Special education students, for instance, could see some necessary summer classes cancelled if the schools lose their funding, along with federal funding.The state is mandated to evaluate students with disabilities and create individual education programs that fit their needs, and, for some students, that includes summer school in order to ensure they continue to progress throughout the entire year.There are also teachers who are starting to look for jobs out of state because they ve had it with Republicans inability to do anything for the people. One teacher said: They need to do what the kids do sit down and solve a problem. That would be so nice if they did. But, in light of the GOP s political crusade against the courts, they d rather hamstring their state courts than actually solve the problem. Of course, they ve acknowledged that this amendment, if it went through, wouldn t affect the current crisis. However, it could ensure that the courts have a harder time addressing future funding problems that hurt innocent people.Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump's blocking of Twitter users violates U.S. Constitution: rights institute | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A free-speech institute on Tuesday sent a letter to President Donald Trump demanding the prolific tweeter unblock certain Twitter (TWTR.N) users on grounds the practice violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Trump’s @realDonaldTrump account recently blocked a number of accounts that replied to his tweets with commentary that criticized, mocked or disagreed with his actions. Twitter users are unable to see or respond to tweets from accounts that block them. The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in New York said in its letter that the blocking suppressed speech in a public forum protected by the Constitution. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Twitter Inc said it had no comment. Alex Abdo, the institute’s senior staff attorney, likened Twitter to a modern form of town hall meeting or public comment periods for government agency proposals, both venues where U.S. law requires even-handed treatment of speech. Eric Goldman, a Santa Clara University law professor who focuses on internet law, said that previous cases involving politicians blocking users on Facebook (FB.O) supported the Knight Institute’s position. If the institute should sue, Trump could claim his @realDonaldTrump account is for personal use and separate from his official duties as president, Goldman said. But he called that defense “laughable.” Trump also has a presidential @POTUS Twitter account. The Knight Institute said its arguments would apply with “equal force” to both accounts. Trump’s Twitter use has drawn intense media attention for his unvarnished commentary about his agenda and attacks on critics. His tweets are often retweeted tens of thousands of times, and can shape the news cycle. Legal experts have said his tweets may directly affect policy. A chain of postings about his travel ban may hamper his administration’s defense in courts. The letter said Trump or his aides blocked the accounts @AynRandPaulRyan and @joepabike, belonging to songwriter Holly O’Reilly and professional cyclist and author Joseph M. Papp, respectively. O’Reilly was blocked on May 28 after posting a brief animated clip of Pope Francis appearing uncomfortable during a meeting with Trump with a caption, “this is pretty much how the whole world sees you,” the letter said. Papp learned he was blocked on June 4 after responding to a Trump tweet with a tweet labeling the president a “#fake leader.” The accounts are just two of several that have been blocked by Trump or his aides, Abdo said. | 0fake |
Hurricane Irma swirling very close to Leeward Islands: NHC | (Reuters) - Hurricane Irma is moving very close to the northern Leeward Islands and the category 5 storm is expected to move over sections of the Caribbean islands by Tuesday night or early Wednesday, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The potentially catastrophic hurricane was about 50 miles (75 km) east-southeast of Barbuda, with maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour (295 kph), the NHC said. | 0fake |
Senate banking panel approves Szubin for key sanctions post | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate Banking Committee approved Barack Obama’s choice to be the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence by a 14-8 vote on Thursday, nearly 11 months after the president nominated him. Obama nominated Adam Szubin in April 2015 for the post, which oversees U.S. sanctions as well as efforts to cut off money illegally flowing to nations such as Iran and North Korea and groups including Islamic State. But his nomination got caught up in partisan fighting over foreign policy, particularly the international nuclear agreement with Iran announced in July, between the administration of Obama, a Democrat, and Republicans who control Congress. Senator Richard Shelby, the banking panel’s chairman, did not allow votes on any of Obama’s nominees until after surviving a challenge in Alabama’s primary on March 1. All eight of the “no” votes on the committee were from Republicans, although four Republicans joined all of the panel’s 10 Democrats in recommending Szubin. The nomination must still be approved by the full Senate. Shelby, who voted no, told reporters the nominee “is a nice man,” and qualified for many jobs. “But the policies he would have to carry out, a lot of us oppose them.” In a statement issued later, he said, “Mr. Szubin’s role at the Treasury Department has required him to both promote and defend the Administration’s ill-conceived Iran nuclear agreement. I could not support his nomination today because of his participation in facilitating a deal that I believe is crippling to our national security.” The deal between Iran and major powers eases international sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. The banking panel was the only committee in the U.S. Senate that did not vote on any Obama nominee in 2015. About 14 are still outstanding. Shelby said he did not know when the full Senate might vote on Szubin, who is currently acting undersecretary. “The simple fact is that the Senate should have unanimously confirmed Mr. Szubin last spring instead of keeping him in limbo for almost an entire year,” Senator Sherrod Brown, the committee’s top Democrat, said in a statement. Besides Shelby, Republican Senators Mike Crapo, Tom Cotton, Dean Heller, Mark Kirk, Ben Sasse, Tim Scott and Pat Toomey opposed Szubin’s nomination. Republicans Bob Corker, David Vitter, Mike Rounds and Jerry Moran backed him. | 0fake |
In Trump/Clinton face-off on Monday, winning over women will be key | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton face off in their first presidential debate together on Monday, they will have their best chance yet to win over the roughly 27 million Americans who have yet to decide who to vote for. In some ways, this group looks like a typical Trump supporter: they are mainly white, without college degrees, older, and frustrated by the status quo. But while Trump’s supporters are mostly men, America’s uncommitted voters are mostly women, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. With polls showing a close fight between Trump and Hillary, this is a group that could decide the election. Katie Packer, a Republican strategist who served as a top aide to Mitt Romney in 2012 said polls show that many undecided women have been put off by Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric, while others see Clinton, the first female presidential candidate from a major U.S. party, as dishonest. “These are the same women who don’t trust Hillary and think she’s phony,” she said. “But Trump is scary to them.” Roughly 20 percent of America’s likely voters are still on the fence, compared to just 12 percent at the same time in the 2012 election, underscoring the unpopularity of both Trump and Clinton. Some 77 percent of them think the country is on the “wrong track,” which puts them more in line with Trump supporters than Clinton backers. They are also similar in age to many Trump backers: some 54 percent are at least 55 years old. And 67 percent never earned a college degree, compared with 71 percent for Trump supporters and 56 percent for Clinton supporters. Gender-wise, they track more closely with Clinton’s base. Some 60 percent are women. Trump’s base is made up of about 48 percent women, compared with 52 percent for Clinton. The most recent Reuters/Ipsos poll found Clinton leading Trump by 4 percentage points in a two-way race. The Democratic nominee has mostly led Trump in the poll this year, but the gap between the two candidates has narrowed with six weeks left before the Nov. 8 election. With neither candidate a clear favorite on issues like creating jobs or keeping the nation safe, nearly a third of uncommitted voters said they may be more likely to vote for a third-party candidate than for either Clinton or Trump. “One of the most important issues in this election is just making sure that our country has a future both through education and jobs,” said undecided voter Erika Szotek, 43, of Hanover Park, Illinois, who voted for Romney in 2012. She said she thought Trump’s “flamboyancy is going to get the country into a lot of trouble with other countries.” But she isn’t sold on Clinton either. “There are some things I just don’t trust about her.” Women have been a lingering problem for Trump, whose unfiltered speaking style and fiery rhetoric on immigration and security have put many off. He has also gotten into trouble for some remarks he has made about women. He was widely criticized for saying Fox News host Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her wherever,” a comment many interpreted as referring to her menstruating, although he insisted that was not what he meant. He has also called television personality Rosie O’Donnell a “fat pig” and made fun of former presidential rival and ex-Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s face, saying, “Would anyone vote for that?” Clinton’s campaign has seized on the vulnerability. This week it launched an ad titled “Mirrors” that shows images of girls looking in mirrors while recordings of Trump comment on women’s weight and breast size, calling them “slob,” “pig,” and “fat.” But Clinton has her own troubles. Multiple polls show that her use of a private email server without approval while secretary of state has deepened voters’ mistrust of her even though she has since acknowledged it was a mistake. Trump frequently calls her “Crooked Hillary.” FBI director James Comey recommended in July that no criminal charges be brought against Clinton for her handling of classified information while she was secretary of state, but he called her use of the server “extremely careless.” Ruth Hammett, 77, of Kingsland, Georgia, said she would be looking to the debates for guidance on which candidate to support. She is leaning toward Clinton but wants to hear both candidates address national security. “I’m very scared, most so for my kids and my grandkids,” Hammett said. “I’m scared to death.” | 0fake |
Trump Didn’t Want These Secrets To Get Out, But A Judge Just Said ‘No’ | Donald Trump has been trying to suppress internal documents from his controversial Trump University business, but a judge has just ruled that they must be released into the public domain.The Friday ruling, in which Judge Gonzalo Curiel cited heightened public interest in presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, was issued in response to a request by The Washington Post. The ruling was a setback for Trump, whose attorneys argued that the documents contained trade secrets.Curiel s order came the same day that Trump railed against the judge at a boisterous San Diego rally for his handling of the case, in which students have alleged they were misled and defrauded. The trial is set for November.The documents reportedly contain information on how Trump University advised its employees on how to squeeze the most money from students who had signed up for information on building their own real estate business. Trump University has been criticized by former students and investigators like the Attorney general for New York for trying to make money from people desperate to be entrepreneurs, when in fact much of the material they received was worthless.Trump University students have previously said they were constantly upsold new material, while rarely making the kind of money that was promised in ads featuring Trump and his personal branding.On Friday, Trump included an attack on the judge in the Trump University case in his remarks at a campaign rally. He described the judge as a Mexican, when in reality he is a U.S. citizen.Trump University is among the many failed businesses Trump has been involved in over the years. Other companies that failed include Trump Steaks, Trump Air, and Trump Magazine. Trump s business and casinos have filed for bankruptcy several times. Yet despite these failures, Trump has regularly presented himself as a winner who is unfamiliar with losing.Featured image via Flickr | 1real |
HOLLYWEIRD LIB SUSAN SARANDON Compares Muslim Refugees To Jesus’ Family | There are two small problems with your analogy Susan Jesus was NOT a Muslim and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem with Mary. For anyone who s not paying attention there don t appear to be many female refugees accompanying male Muslim refugees to Greece.Susan Sarandon spent the Christmas holiday on the Greek island of Lesbos assisting international organizations with the mounting Syrian refugee crisis a crisis, she says, that recalls the travails of Joseph and Mary on their way to the Inn in Bethlehem.In a column for the Huffington Post and RYOT, the 69-year-old Oscar-winning actress described meeting a 16-year-old girl who had apparently given birth shortly before arriving on the island. I smile and approach her, but without a translator, our conversation is basic-friendly, Sarandon wrote of her experience. She takes the bundle next to her and opens it to me. Inside is a perfect, rosy, newborn. The actress continues:She is beaming, so proud. How did this young girl, just having given birth, manage that trip at sea? How did she do all that walking? Where did she give birth?Wasn t Mary just a kid too when she and Joseph took to the road? So far, there is no manger for this Syrian baby, no room at the inn.Sarandon s short column is part of a new collaborative series with the Huffington Post and the virtual reality network RYOT called The Crossing, which will see the actress host a series of reports chronicling the refugee crisis as it unfolds in Greece. The actress also criticized the political discourse surrounding the refugee crisis in the United States: It seemed like people who had the loudest voices were the most xenophobic and un-American, she said.Sarandon isn t the only actor to have visited the Greek island to assist international aid efforts for refugees; Homeland star Mandy Patinkin recently spent time there assisting the International Rescue Committee after wrapping production on the fifth season of the hit Showtime drama. Via: Breitbart News | 1real |
WATCH: Rob Reiner Rips Rick Santorum A New One For Defending Mentally Ill Trump | Rick Santorum had the impossible job of defending Donald Trump during Friday s Real Time and he found himself humiliatingly outnumbered.Bill Maher began by expressing astonishment at how the Republican nominee has been acting throughout the campaign. Even conservative commentator Tara Setmayer couldn t believe Trump s antics, surmising that it s almost like he is trying to lose but people just keep supporting him so he has to do something even more outrageous. It s easy to behave this way when you re mentally ill, director Rob Reiner chimed in. It s not like he s trying to lose. He can t help himself. Then Santorum took his turn and instantly became the punching bag for Maher and the other two panelists when he attempted to defend Trump as some kind of change-maker while portraying Hillary Clinton as a politics-as-usual candidate.Setmayer pointed at Santorum and pointed out that people like him are to blame for Trump getting this far while Rob Reiner once again pleaded, Stop being mentally ill. Santorum claimed that Trump was relatively tame on Friday, prompting Setmayer to ask if Trump seriously wants a cookie for acting like an adult for once.Maher explained that Trump can never be president because his number one priority is getting back at anybody who has slighted him in any way. Santorum continued repeating how Trump has tapped into some kind of anger among conservatives who think they are being ignored, but Setmayer hit back by noting that there s a way to do that without acting like a petulant child, and that Trump is an embarrassment.Santorum then attacked Hillary Clinton by claiming Trump isn t a liar like her by bringing up her emails again, which drew the ire of Rob Reiner. Let s talk about the FBI! There was one email! One email that was not listed as classified with a little tiny c and James Comey said anybody could have missed that! Enough of that! Enough of that! Bill Maher agreed, saying that he is sick of hearing about Hillary s emails all the time.The panel continued piling on Santorum with Setmayer doing the most damage and then Maher slammed Republicans for handcuffing themselves to a dead hooker by making Trump their nominee and catering to a base that hates and denies facts.Here s the video via YouTube:Donald Trump is an embarrassment to this country and as this episode of Maher demonstrates, even conservatives are embarrassed that he is the Republican nominee. Those who still support him are either ignorant or just want to watch the world burn.Featured Image: Screenshot | 1real |
CNN basically ignored Ben Carson at Thursday’s debate. And that’s just fine. | Ben Carson’s debate night in Houston can be summarized in one line: “Can somebody attack me, please?”
Okay, his “fruit salad” line was pretty good, too, but it was his plea for negative attention that perfectly captured his irrelevance. He was so desperate for a chance to speak that he figured a verbal assault from one of his opponents — which, by rule, would entitle him to a response — might be the only way he’d get to talk.
CNN, which broadcast the debate and supplied the moderator, Wolf Blitzer, didn’t even pretend that the retired neurosurgeon is still a factor in the Republican presidential nominating contest. Carson received just six questions in more than two hours and got only 11 minutes and 10 seconds of speaking time — roughly half the allotment of Ted Cruz and about a third of Donald Trump’s share, according to a tally by Politico.
[Why is Ben Carson still running for president?]
Managing talk time is always difficult, especially in a debate as fractious as Thursday’s. Trump, Cruz and Marco Rubio bickered, interrupted and shouted over one another constantly. But it’s philosophically challenging, too: Should a moderator try to grant equal time to every candidate or focus more heavily on the leaders?
It depends. In November, when I interviewed Fox Business Network anchors Neil Cavuto and Maria Bartiromo before they moderated a GOP debate featuring eight candidates, they acknowledged some imbalance is inevitable but said they would attempt to dole out time more or less evenly.
Their efforts made sense at that stage of the race — three months before the start of primary balloting, a point where polls aren’t very good predictors. On the day of that debate (Nov. 10), Trump and Carson were in a virtual tie atop the Republican field, according to the Real Clear Politics national average.
Carson, of course, has plummeted since then; it was just too early for moderators to judge who was or was not legit and to hand out speaking time accordingly.
But by now, it’s very clear that Carson has no shot to be the Republican nominee. While each of the other remaining candidates has managed to finish second or better in at least one of the first four primary states, Carson hasn’t placed higher than fourth. Those are real results — not polls. He hasn’t done well in the Midwest, Northeast, South or West. He has a very small constituency that is sticking by him, but there is zero reason to believe he's got a shot.
It’s hard to understand why he’s still in the race, in fact.
Debate moderators should be slow to dismiss candidates, allowing for the possibility of an improbable comeback. Perhaps that’s why John Kasich, whose own viability is in serious doubt, got almost exactly as much speaking time as Rubio.
But Carson is so far out of the running that it would have been difficult to justify giving him much air. This was the last debate before Super Tuesday. The purpose was to help voters in the upcoming states — and elsewhere — choose among the candidates who could actually represent the Republican Party in the general election.
Carson just isn’t one of them. And every minute devoted to him was a minute deducted from a real contender. This kind of thing is a judgment call, and CNN got the judgment right. | 0fake |
Thanks Obama: Manufacturing Jobs Hits Decade High | Republicans say Trump won because of the economic anxiety. Republicans say the Democrats ignored the white working class in rust-belt America. Republicans say the Democrats ignored manufacturing jobs and shipped them overseas thanks to trade deals.Only the facts are just the opposite.As President Obama prepares to leave office, the U.S. manufacturing job opening has hit a nine year high, tripling from 99,000 in 2009 to 322,000 in October of this year.In April, as the primaries were underway, the rate hit over 400,000.However, even though openings reached 322,000, only 271,000 openings were filled. While a recovering economy (in which all households have been benefiting) is helping to fuel these job booms, a gap in job skills and a passive recruitment process is causing not every position to be filled.Jobs in manufacturing are paying more employees more money. Back in 2008, half of U.S. manufacturing firms paid employees $25 or less. Now, eight years later, only 30 percent of firms are paying less than $25.At the same time, unskilled workers are missing out on better opportunities while skilled positions aren t being filled, stifling a resurgence of manufacturing in the rust belt.So while there are still plateaus the industry must overcome, the economic anxiety felt by the Midwest that supposedly fueled Trump s rise to the presidency has been based on a lie prorogated by conservative outlets like Fox and Trump himself (and a little by the far left).While Democrats have been delivering to the rustbelt and fighting for the coal miners of West Virginia, Republicans have drummed up fear, lies and distrust to rise to power.Once again, President Obama has cleaned up the Republican Party s mess and just like with George W. Bush, an incoming Republican is going to wreck the Democrat s progress.Let s hope the rustbelt doesn t suffer too badly from Trump.Featured image via Lisa DeJong/The Plain Dealer | 1real |
Abadi says Iraq to act soon over border areas in stand-off with Kurds | BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, seeking to up the pressure in a stand-off with Iraq s Kurdish region, said on Tuesday he would act soon over border areas under Kurdish control but predicted his government s forces would regain them without violence. The central government in Baghdad has cracked down hard on the Kurds since the government of the Kurdish autonomous region staged an independence referendum on Sept. 25 that Baghdad considers illegal. The Iraqi armed forces have threatened to resume military operations against the Kurds, accusing them of delaying the handover of control of borders and taking advantage of negotiations to bolster their defenses. We will regain control on border areas without escalation. But our patience will run out. We will not wait forever. We will take action, Abadi said at a news conference. The independence vote defied the central government in Baghdad which had ruled the ballot illegal as well as neighboring Turkey and Iran which have their own Kurdish minorities. Abadi spoke a few hours after the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced a concession to Iraq s central government by saying it would accept a court decision prohibiting the region from seceding. The announcement marks the Kurds latest attempt to revive negotiations with Baghdad over their region s future after the central government imposed measures in retaliation against the independence vote. Among the steps was an offensive by Iraqi government forces and the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces that took back the oil city of Kirkuk and other disputed territories from the control from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) last month. The KRG said on Tuesday it would respect the Nov. 6 ruling by the Supreme Federal Court, which declared that no Iraqi province could secede. We believe that this decision must become a basis for starting an inclusive national dialogue between (Kurdish authorities in) Erbil and Baghdad to resolve all disputes, the KRG said in a statement. Abadi had previously urged the northern semi-autonomous Kurdish region to abide by the court s decision. The court is responsible for settling disputes between Iraq s central government and the country s regions and provinces. Its decisions cannot be appealed, though it has no mechanism to enforce its ruling in the Kurdish region. | 0fake |
Hillary Clintons E-Mails und die Muslimbruderschaft, von Thierry Meyssan | Hillary Clintons E-Mails und die Muslimbruderschaft von Thierry Meyssan Die Ermittlungen des FBI zu den privaten E-Mails von Hillary Clinton sind nicht gegen eine Vernachlässigung der Sicherheitsbestimmungen gerichtet, sondern gegen eine Verschwörung zu dem Zweck, jede Spur ihres Schriftverkehrs, der auf Bundes-Servern hätte archiviert werden müssen, beiseite zu schaffen. Sie könnte den Austausch von E-Mails über illegale Finanzmittelbeschaffungen oder Bestechungen umfassen oder auch über die Verbindungen des Ehepaars Clinton zu den Muslimbrüdern und den Dschihadisten.
Voltaire Netzwerk | Damaskus (Syrien) | 1. November 2016 ελληνικά English Español français Türkçe русский Hillary Clinton und ihre Kabinettschefin Huma Abedin. Die Wiederaufnahme der FBI-Ermittlungen zum privaten E-Mail-Verkehr von Hillary Clinton ist nicht mehr auf Sicherheitsfragen gerichtet, sondern auf Mauscheleien, die bis zum Hochverrat gehen könnten.
In technischer Hinsicht hatte die Außenministerin, statt einen gesicherten Server des Bundes zu benutzen, an ihrem Wohnsitz einen privaten Server einrichten lassen, um das Internet nutzen zu können, ohne auf einem Gerät der Bundesregierung Spuren zu hinterlassen. Frau Clintons privater Techniker hatte vor der Ankunft des FBI ihren Server bereinigt, sodass es nicht möglich war herauszufinden, warum sie diese Einrichtung hatte installieren lassen.
Im ersten Anlauf hatte das FBI festgestellt, dass der private Server nicht die Sicherheitsvorkehrungen des Servers des Außenministeriums aufwies. Frau Clinton hatte also nur einen Sicherheitsverstoß begangen. Im zweiten Schritt beschlagnahmte das FBI den Computer des ehemaligen Kongressmitglieds Anthony Weiner. Er ist der frühere Ehemann von Huma Abedin, der Kabinettschefin von Hillary. Dort sind E-Mails wiedergefunden worden, die von der Außenministerin stammen.
Anthony Weiner ist ein den Clintons sehr nahestehender jüdischer Politiker, der Bürgermeister von New York werden wollte. Nach einem sehr puritanischen Skandal musste er aufgeben: Er hatte erotische SMS an eine junge Frau geschickt, die nicht seine Ehefrau war. Offiziell trennte sich Huma Abedin während dieser Turbulenzen von ihm, in Wirklichkeit verließ sie ihn aber nicht.
Huma Abedin ist eine US-Amerikanerin, die in Saudi-Arabien aufgezogen wurde. Ihr Vater hat die Leitung einer akademischen Zeitschrift – für die sie jahrelang Redaktionsassistentin war –, die regelmäßig die Ansichten der Muslimbrüder wiedergab. Ihre Mutter hat den Vorsitz in der saudischen Vereinigung der weiblichen Mitglieder der Muslimbruderschaft und arbeitete mit der Ehefrau des ägyptischen Präsidenten Morsi zusammen. Ihr Bruder Hassan arbeitet auf Rechnung von Scheich Yusuf al-Qaradawi, dem Prediger der Muslimbrüder und spirituellen Berater von Al-Jazeera.
Anlässlich einer offiziellen Reise nach Saudi-Arabien besucht die Außenministerin in Begleitung der Vorsitzenden der Vereinigung der Muslimschwestern in der Bruderschaft, Saleha Abedin (Mutter der Kabinettschefin), das College Dar al-Hekma. Huma Abedin ist heute eine zentrale Persönlichkeit der Präsidentschaftskampagne Clintons an der Seite des Wahlkampfleiters John Podesta, dem ehemaligen Stabschef des Weißen Hauses in der Amtszeit Bill Clintons. Für die bescheidene Summe von 200.000 Dollar ist Podesta übrigens im Kongress der ständige Lobbyist des saudi-arabischen Königreichs. Am 12. Juni 2016 hatte Petra, die amtliche Presseagentur Jordaniens, ein Interview mit dem arabischen Kronprinzen Mohammed bin Salman veröffentlicht, in dem er die Modernität seiner Familie damit unter Beweis stellte, dass sie illegal zu 20 Prozent die Präsidentschaftskampagne Hillary Clintons finanziert habe, obwohl sie eine Frau ist. Am Tag nach dieser Veröffentlichung zog die Agentur die Meldung zurück und behauptete, ihre Webseite sei gehackt worden.
Laut der amtlichen jordanischen Presseagentur Petra vom 12. Juni 2016 hat die saudische königliche Familie illegal 20 Prozent der Präsidentschaftskampagne von Hillary Clinton finanziert. Frau Abedin ist nicht das einzige mit der Bruderschaft verbundene Mitglied der Obama-Regierung. Der Halbbruder des Präsidenten, Abon’go Malik Obama, ist Schatzmeister des Missionswerks der Bruderschaft im Sudan und Vorsitzender der Stiftung Barack H. Obama. Er ist dem sudanesischen Präsidenten Omar el-Bechir direkt unterstellt. Ein Muslimbruder ist Mitglied im Nationalen Sicherheitsrat, der obersten exekutiven Instanz der Vereinigten Staaten. Von 2009 bis 2012 war dies Mehdi K. Alhassani. Es ist nicht bekannt, wer sein Nachfolger war, aber das Weiße Haus leugnete, dass ein Muslimbruder im Sicherheitsrat sei, bis ein Beweis auftauchte. Auch der Botschafter der Vereinigten Staaten bei der Islamischen Konferenz, Rashad Hussain, ist Muslimbruder. Die anderen identifizierten Brüder besetzen weniger wichtige Ämter. Doch muss Louay M. Safi, zur Zeit Mitglied der Syrischen Nationalen Koalition und ehemaliger Pentagon-Berater, genannt werden.
Präsident Obama und sein Halbbruder Abon’go Malik Obama im Oval Office. Abon’go Malik ist Schatzmeister des Missionswerks der Muslimbrüder im Sudan. Im April 2009, zwei Monate vor seiner Kairoer Rede, hatte Präsident Obama heimlich eine Delegation der Bruderschaft im Oval Office empfangen. Bereits bei seiner Amtseinführung hatte er Ingrid Mattson, die Vorsitzende der Vereinigung der muslimischen Brüder und Schwestern in den Vereinigten Staaten, eingeladen.
Die Clinton-Stiftung hat ihrerseits als Verantwortlichen für ihr „Klima“-Projekt Gehad el-Haddad eingesetzt, einen der globalen Führer der Bruderschaft, der bis dahin Leiter einer Koran-TV-Sendung war. Sein Vater war 1951 einer der Mitbegründer der Bruderschaft bei ihrer Neubildung durch die CIA und den MI6. Gehad verließ die Stiftung 2012 zu dem Zeitpunkt, als er in Kairo Sprecher des Kandidaten Mohammed Morsi wurde, dann offizieller Sprecher der Muslimbrüder weltweit.
Wenn man weiß, dass die Gesamtheit der dschihadistischen Führer auf der Welt entweder aus der Bruderschaft oder aus dem Sufi-Orden der Naqchbandis – die beiden Bestandteile der islamischen Weltliga, der saudischen antinationalistischen arabischen Organisation – hervorgegangen ist, wüsste man gern mehr über die Beziehungen von Frau Clinton zu Saudi-Arabien und den Muslimbrüdern.
Nun befindet sich im Team ihres Herausforderers Donald Trump General Michael T. Flynn, der versucht hatte sich der Gründung des Kalifats durch das Weiße Haus entgegenzustellen und aus dem Vorstand der Defense Intelligence Agency (militärischer Nachrichtendienst) zurücktrat, um seine Missbilligung herauszustellen. Er kommt dort in Berührung mit Frank Gaffney, einem historischen „kalten Krieger“, der jetzt als „Verschwörungstheoretiker“ angeprangert wird, weil er die Anwesenheit der Bruderschaft im Föderalstaat aufgedeckt hat.
Es versteht sich von selbst, dass aus Sicht des FBI jede Unterstützung für die dschihadistischen Organisationen ein Verbrechen darstellt, unabhängig davon, wie die Politik der CIA aussieht. 1991 haben die Polizisten – und Senator John Kerry – den Zusammenbruch der pakistanischen Bank BCCI (obgleich auf den Kaiman-Inseln registriert) bewirkt, die von der CIA für alle Arten von Geheimoperationen mit den Muslimbrüdern und auch mit den Latino-Drogenkartellen benutzt wurde.
Thierry Meyssan Übersetzung
Sabine | 1real |
Los Zetas Cartel Leader Arrested in Mexican Border State | MONTERREY, Nuevo León — Mexican authorities have arrested one of the key leaders within the fearsome Mexican cartel known as Los Zetas. The man is considered one of the individuals largely responsible for the violence that has spread throughout northern Mexico. [Over the weekend, Mexican Marines arrested Juan Pablo “El Oaxaco” or “Bravo 1” Perez Garcia, in the town of Los Ramones, Nuevo León. Perez Garcia has since been transferred to Mexico City where he is facing multiple organized crime, drug, and weapons charges. The man known as El Oaxaco is considered to be the leader of the Vieja Escuela Z and Grupo Bravo factions of the Los Zetas cartel. As Breitbart Texas has been reporting, Vieja Escuela Z has been waging a bloody war against the Los Zetas faction known as Cartel Del Noreste over lucrative drug trafficking territories. The fighting between the two factions has resulted in almost daily kidnappings, gun battles, beheadings, dismemberments, and other gory executions in the border states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León and Coahuila. Breitbart Texas consulted with Mexican law enforcement officials who revealed that El Oaxaco was a corporal with the Mexican Army before joining the Los Zetas during a time when the criminal organization was the enforcement wing of the Gulf Cartel. While part of the Los Zetas, Perez Garcia was a Tamaulipas State Police officer and had also worked as a security guard with Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE). El Oaxaco had been in charge of Grupo Bravo and along with Javier “El Shaggy” Morales Valencia and used the nickname “Bravo 1” as a diversion tactic when signing various cartel banners. The banners were routinely left behind in gory crime scenes to spread fear among rivals. The now captured cartel leader also assumed command of the Vieja Escuela Z faction of the Los Zetas after the incarceration of Luis “El Rex” or “ ” Reyes, another original member of the Los Zetas who was arrested in the upscale suburb of San Pedro. Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to the Mexican States of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by Tony Aranda from Monterrey, Nuevo León and “M. A. Navarro” from Ciudad Victoria. | 0fake |
Comment on NOT GUILTY: Oregon Standoff Leaders Acquitted for Malheur Wildlife Refuge Takeover by Richard Johnson | Posted on October 28, 2016 by Jay Syrmopoulos
Portland, OR – The group of men who seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge , in rural Oregon were found not guilty late Thursday, vindicating brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy after the 41-day standoff that brought nationwide focus to long-running dispute over federal control of rural land in the Western United States.
According to a report in by the Associated Press :
A jury found brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy not guilty a firearm in a federal facility and conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs at the 300 miles southeast of Portland where the trial took place. Five co-defendants also were tried one or both of the charges. Ammon Bundy has a house in Emmett.
Despite the acquittal, the Bundys were expected to stand trial in Nevada early next year on charges stemming from another high-profile standoff with federal agents. Authorities rounding up cattle at their father Cliven Bundy’s ranch in 2014 because of unpaid grazing fees released the animals as they faced armed protesters.
The Bundy family initially made headlines in 2013 when the Bureau of Land Management brought armed agents in to seize rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle after his refusal to pay federal authorities a massive debt – which he claims is illegitimate.
In response to the militarized response in Nevada by the BLM, militia from across the U.S. mobilized and coordinated a response which saw hundreds of armed Americans stand up to what they perceived as vast federal overreach.
What the government thought would be an open-and-shut case was anything but. The group never denied they seized the refuge while armed or that they made demands of the government.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this case is not a whodunit,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Knight said in his closing argument, making the argument the group illegally commandeered a federal building.
The AP reports:
On technical grounds, the defendants said they never discussed stopping individual workers from accessing their offices but merely wanted the land and the buildings. On emotional grounds, Ammon Bundy and other defendants argued that the takeover was an act of civil disobedience against an out-of-control federal government that has crippled the rural West.
Federal prosecutors took two weeks to present their case, finishing with a display of more than 30 guns seized after the standoff. An FBI agent testified that 16,636 live rounds and nearly 1,700 spent casings were found.
Ammon Bundy spent three days testifying in his own defense, focusing on the fact that federal overreach is destroying rural Western communities that have relied on the land — for generations in many cases. Bundy made clear that the plan was to simply take control of the refuge by occupation, while eventually returning it to local control.
Originally, 26 occupiers were charged with conspiracy. Eleven pleaded guilty, while another had the charge dropped. Seven defendants have not yet been tried. Their trial is scheduled to begin February 14, according to the AP.
Shortly after the verdict was announced, an Oregon-area reporter posted to Twitter that Ammon Bundy’s attorney Marcus Mumford was tackled by U.S. Marshals after insisting that Bundy should be allowed to be released from custody, with the judge subsequently ordering the courtroom cleared.
The armed occupiers took control of the remote bird sanctuary on January 2, in response to the prison sentences given to two local ranchers, Dwight and Steven Hammond, after being convicted of arson in relation to an ongoing dispute with the BLM. Upon occupying the refuge the group demanded that the father and son be freed and that federal officials cede control of publicly held lands to local control.
Ultimately, the Bundy brothers and a number of their fellow occupiers were arrested in an ambush style attack, while on the way to negotiate with a Sheriff. It ended with officers gunning down Robert “LaVoy” Finicum – a charismatic group spokesman. Currently, numerous federal SRT agents are under investigation for lying about firing at the occupiers’ vehicle during the ambush.
The majority of the remaining occupants left the refuge in the wake of Finicum’s killing , with four holdouts negotiating their surrender until February 11.
In the wake of the verdict, both the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office also expressed disappointment.
U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams said his office “respects the verdict of the jury and thanks them for their dedicated service during this long and difficult trial.”
“For many weeks, hundreds of law enforcement officers — federal, state, and local — worked around-the-clock to resolve the armed occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge peacefully. We believe now — as we did then — that protecting and defending this nation through rigorous obedience to the U.S. Constitution is our most important responsibility. Although we are extremely disappointed in the verdict, we respect the court and the role of the jury in the American judicial system.” – Greg Bretzing, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Oregon
Regardless of the sentiments of those in government and law enforcement, the jury carried out justice — with this verdict solidifying that the killing of LaVoy Finnicum was nothing less than criminal .
Revealing exactly why the 2nd Amendment is so important to a free people, Bundy testified that the reason occupiers chose to carry guns was because they understood that they would be immediately arrested otherwise and needed to protect themselves against possible government violence.
There is no mistaking the difference in law enforcement’s response to unarmed protestors — versus those that exercise their right to bear arms. One need look no further than the ongoing protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock – which has been met with numerous militarized and violent crackdowns on non-violent water protectors – to see exactly how differently armed protesters are treated. Don't forget to follow the D.C. Clothesline on Facebook and Twitter. PLEASE help spread the word by sharing our articles on your favorite social networks. Share this: | 1real |
Hillary Responds To Trump’s London Failure And It’s Absolutely Perfect (TWEET) | Donald Trump s reaction to the London terrorist attack could not have been more disgraceful. Not only did he use the incident to promote his extremely unconstitutional Muslim ban, but he trashed the London mayor and completely failed to send a message of solidarity or hope.Thank goodness we still have Hillary Clinton, the overqualified Democratic presidential candidate who won the popular vote by millions. Despite losing the election to an undeserving orange man baby, Clinton has not abandoned Americans or the world, and continues to act far more presidential than the current moron we have in the White House.Clinton also responded to the London attack, and it was a sharp reminder that we elected the wrong candidate. In her response on Twitter, Clinton showed everyone just how an American president should act, and just how much Trump falls short. She tweeted: After acts of unspeakable cruelty and cowardice, the people of London and the UK choose resolve over fear. Your friends in the US stand with you. Trump s message was divisive, while Clinton sent out a call for unity and peace. At a time when Trump currently has a historically low 36% approval rating, it appears that America is admitting that the wrong person is in the White House.This amazing message from Clinton is hardly surprising. During Trump s abrasive presidential campaign, in which he attacked her nonstop for months, Clinton always remained classy, dignified, and focused on the job ahead. She was always there for the American people, and truly believed in the values this country was built on.This tweet should be burned into the minds of every American when it comes time to vote in 2018 and 2020. America cannot afford to keep Trump in office, or to have another imbecile like him leading the country.Featured image is a screenshot | 1real |
NO TOILET PAPER?! SOCIALISM IS IN ITS FINAL STAGES FOR VENEZUELA SO BYOTP | Socialism doesn t work but I guess Venezuela didn t get the memo. No toilet paper? No food? Yes, it s come to that in this socialist hellhole Venezuela s product shortages have become so severe that some hotels in that country are asking guests to bring their own toilet paper and soap, a local tourism industry spokesman said on Wednesday . It s an extreme situation, says Xinia Camacho, owner of a 20-room boutique hotel in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada national park. For over a year we haven t had toilet paper, soap, any kind of milk, coffee or sugar. So we have to tell our guests to come prepared. Montilla says bigger hotels can circumvent product shortages by buying toilet paper and other basic supplies from black market smugglers who charge up to 6-times the regular price. But smaller, family-run hotels can t always afford to pay such steep prices, which means that sometimes they have to make do without. Camacho says she refuses to buy toilet paper from the black market on principle. In the black market you have to pay 110 bolivares [$0.50] for a roll of toilet paper that usually costs 17 bolivares [$ 0.08] in the supermarket, Camacho told Fusion. We don t want to participate in the corruption of the black market, and I don t have four hours a day to line up for toilet paper at a supermarket . Recently, Venezuelan officials have been stopping people from transporting essential goods across the country in an effort to stem the flow of contraband. So now Camacho s guests could potentially have their toilet paper confiscated before they even make it to the hotel. Shortages, queues, black markets, and official theft. And blaming the CIA. Yes, Venezuela has truly achieved socialism.But what I never understood is this: Why toilet paper? How hard is it to make toilet paper? I can understand a socialist economy having trouble producing decent cars or computers. But toilet paper? And soap? And matches?Sure, it s been said that if you tried communism in the Sahara, you d get a shortage of sand. Still, a shortage of paper seems like a real achievement.Read more: CATO | 1real |
Macron INCREASES Lead Ahead of French Election Sunday - Breitbart | Centrist French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron extended his lead in the polls over his rival Marine Le Pen on Friday, the final day of a tumultuous election campaign that has turned the country’s politics upside down. [The election is seen as the most important in France for decades with two diametrically opposed views of Europe and France’s place in the world at stake. The National Front’s Le Pen would close borders and quit the euro currency, while independent Macron, who has never held elected office, wants closer European cooperation and an open economy. The candidates of France’s two mainstream parties were both eliminated in the first round on April 23. Read the rest on Reuters … | 0fake |
‘Christian’ Author Rants That Women Who Masturbate Are Going To Hell | Christian fundamentalists just can t keep their mouths shut, and they wonder why people are turning away from organized religion.A supposed Christian author took to Facebook on Saturday to condemn women who use sex toys and masturbate to Hell, claiming that both are a direct path to Satan and declared that any Christian who disagrees should be ashamed. Too many Christian women are losing their salvation because they masturbate. author Mack Major wrote. Dildos and all of those other sex toys have been used for thousands of years in demonic sex rituals. It s one of the main ways ancient pagan societies worshiped their demonic gods.Masturbation is a direct path to Satan. There s nothing normal about it. And shame on any Christian that says so. Hypocritically enough, Major seems to only take issue with women achieving sexual pleasure by themselves while avoiding the topic of male masturbation. Apparently that s acceptable.Mack goes on to warn on his blog that women are inviting demons into the world by masturbating. Many of you who are reading this have sex toys in your possession right now. And whether you want to accept it as fact or not: those sex toys are an open portal between the demonic realm and your own life. As long as you have those sex toys in your home, you have a doorway that can allow demons to not only access your life at will, but also to torment you, hinder and destroy certain parts of your life as it relates to sex and your relationships. Major also has a problem with women getting tattoos and piercings and tells them how to dress in church.This is the kind of crap women have to put up with from conservative Christians every day and it s only getting worse as some Christian pastors have gone so far as to call for women to lose voting rights and for women to be confined to the home.Again, it s bewildering how these same Christians can complain about dropping church attendance and fail to see that they are the ones causing people to walk away from the church in the first place.Featured Image: Wikimedia | 1real |
Bahrain says deadly bus attack engineered by Iran | DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain said on Wednesday a bomb attack on a police bus which killed an officer and wounded nine last month was carried out by a militant cell trained by its arch-foe Iran. After authorities quashed Shi ite Muslim-led Arab Spring protests on the Sunni-ruled island in 2011, militants have launched deadly bombing and shooting attacks against security forces that Bahrain blames on Tehran s Shi ite theocracy. Iran denies any role in Bahrain s unrest. There was no immediate Iranian reaction to Wednesday s Bahraini interior ministry statement, which added that authorities had arrested one member of the cell while others were fugitives in Iran. The terrorist cell received extensive training in Iranian Revolutionary Guard camps on the use and manufacture of explosives and firearms, as well as material and logistical support, the ministry said. Bahrain said earlier this week that an explosion at its main oil pipeline on Friday was caused by terrorist sabotage, linking the unprecedented attack to Iran. A key Western ally and host to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, Gulf Arab monarchy Bahrain has for years grappled with protests and sporadic violence coming from its Shi ite majority. | 0fake |
Speaker David Gowan Reshapes Arizona House, From the Carpets on Up - The New York Times | PHOENIX — When lawmakers in the Arizona House of Representatives went looking for a new speaker in late 2014, they turned to David M. Gowan, an unassuming Republican legislator whom colleagues on both sides of the aisle saw as someone they could work with. But Mr. Gowan has proved to be anything but. He has angered lawmakers from the right and left since assuming the post in January 2015, putting his own stamp on a legislative body that has garnered its share of attention for its leanings on issues like immigration and abortion. Right after approving a budget last year that forced state agencies to make another round of cuts, Mr. Gowan, a conservative who makes his home in a rural border county in southeastern Arizona, embarked on a redecorating spree. The House floor got an elegant carpet. Lawmakers got reupholstered chairs. His leadership team got cherry wood office furniture. He also planned for showers and a multiuse room in the basement, but shelved the project after half of his Republican caucus chided his “excessive spending” in a letter. In January, Mr. Gowan repaid the state for travel reimbursements and daily allowances he had improperly claimed, a matter that remains under investigation by the state’s attorney general. He began this month by abruptly revoking reporters’ access to the House floor unless they agreed to an extensive background check. None of them did. Fourteen journalists regularly assigned to cover the Capitol retreated to the gallery that morning, taking pictures and writing stories as a group of visiting elementary school students giggled and gawked. State Representative Ken Clark, a Democrat from Phoenix, warned, “This is a slippery slope. ” In an column, Amanda Ventura, the president of the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, wrote, “Reporters pose no security threat — unless truth hurts. ” From the floor, Mr. Gowan told his colleagues, by way of explanation, “I want to make sure you’re protected. ” But the ensuing debate promptly stirred another controversy, about guns in the chamber. Mr. Gowan had authorized the removal of a sign that banned firearms from the staff entrance to the House building, effectively allowing lawmakers to enter armed. Mr. Gowan, 46, who was first elected as a state representative in 2008, is leaving the House at the end of the year because of term limits. He is now aiming his sights at Washington, running to represent one of the largest congressional districts in the country. In a crowded field of Republican contenders, he is considered an underdog, though he does not seem deterred. “David Gowan has always been underestimated, always traveled under the radar,” Frank Antenori, a former Republican state senator who is a close friend of Mr. Gowan’s, said in an interview. “He’s got a real folksy personality, people just don’t see him as being as aggressive. That’s a big mistake. ” Mr. Gowan hails from conservative Cochise County, a land of cattle ranchers that takes in Fort Huachuca — once home to the storied Buffalo Soldiers, these days a sprawling base that is host to the armed forces’ intelligence training program. He earned a living as a magazine distributor — stacking periodicals and paperback novels on the shelves of supermarkets and drugstores — and teaching martial arts on the side he is a black belt in karate. Mr. Gowan turned his political ambitions into action methodically and patiently. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination to the Arizona House twice, in 2004 and 2006, focusing his campaign on a single issue: illegal immigration, a major point of contention in the border district he wanted to represent. An editorial in The Tucson Citizen, a newspaper that has since ceased publication, called his command of other topics “fuzzy at best. ” Jonathan Paton, who defeated him twice in primaries, said determination is what got Mr. Gowan where he is. “He does not quit,” said Mr. Paton, a Republican who served in both the Arizona House and Senate. “He does not accept that he shouldn’t be in office, that he shouldn’t be speaker of the House, that he shouldn’t be in Congress. ” Mr. Gowan is one of seven Republicans running for Arizona’s First Congressional District, whose jagged borders encompass nine counties in full or in part in eastern, northern and central Arizona. The area has traditionally leaned Republican, but the district itself has been competitive since it was realigned in 2010. In 2014, Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat, narrowly defeated her Republican opponent, Andy Tobin, a former Arizona House speaker. She is leaving her congressional seat to run against John McCain, the Republican senator and former presidential candidate. One of Mr. Gowan’s rivals for the Republican nomination is Sheriff Paul Babeu of Pinal County, one of the most vociferous proponents of more border security. His county, an expanse of desert and rugged mountains near the border, is a major route for drug cartels bringing contraband to Phoenix and Tucson. “In a crowded Republican field like this, each of the candidates is trying to move to the right of the other,” said Matthew Benson, a political consultant and senior aide to former Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican. “Nobody is running as a moderate. ” “They’re all trying to prove they’re the most conservative and go to Washington to shake things up,” he added. Mr. Antenori said Mr. Gowan got into politics “to make sure that our basic liberties were protected,” in particular “our religious freedoms, the Second Amendment, our property rights. ” At the Capitol, Mr. Gowan is reserved, a man who has a tendency to mumble his words. While his predecessor, Mr. Tobin, was known for his “backslapping, more public, more accessible” ways, Mr. Gowan has “a quiet, more style, but he has been just as effective,” said Glenn Hamer, the president of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce, an influential group. Mr. Gowan rarely gives interviews and declined to comment for this article. Lobbyists often meet with him over lunch. In 2013, Mr. Gowan ranked No. 3 on a list of expenditures reported by lobbyists, according to an analysis of such records by The Arizona Capitol Times. (“I’m looking for free food,” he told the newspaper.) For his part, Representative Bruce Wheeler, a leader of the Democratic minority, was unreservedly blunt in his criticism: “The leadership under Gowan has been disastrous,” he said. But to Republicans and Democrats alike, the storm over the banning of reporters from the House floor became a source of embarrassment. Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, told reporters he felt “pretty safe around you. ” On April 8, the day Mr. Gowan issued his ban, The Capitol Times suggested in an online article that the move may have been motivated by the fact that one of its reporters, Hank Stephenson, has written about the improper reimbursements and the lobbyists’ expenses. Mr. Gowan rescinded his ban on Tuesday, maintaining nonetheless that his motivation had been to protect the chamber. | 0fake |
BREAKING: Putin Tramples Obama’s Imaginary Red Line With Airstrikes In Syria | We have a weak leader in our White House who s willing to be pushed around after leaving a vacuum in the Middle East for chaos. Putin has decided he s in it for the long term and wants to have his presence strengthened in the Middle East since the U.S. has been so absent in the area. Remember THE RED LINE? That was a big turning point in our President s effectiveness in the area. Obama has done NOTHING and continues to let Putin bring in his military mite to take over dominance. So it s a win for Russia and Putin s desire to be the dominant big gun in the Middle East. Obama has officially surrendered influence in the Middle East and Assad is staying. Checkmate! FOX NEWS: Russian warplanes have begun bombarding Syrian opposition targets in the war torn nation s north, working on behalf of dictator Bashar al Assad, according to a senior military official.The official said airstrikes targeted fighters in the vicinity of Homs, located roughly 60 miles east of a Russian naval facility in Tartus, and were carried out by a couple of Russian bombers. It was not clear if the strikes targeted ISIS, Al Qaeda or other forces opposed to Assad, who Moscow is aiding. According to a Twitter handle belonging to the Syrian government, the Russian strikes were initiated at the request of Assad.The development came after Pentagon officials brushed aside an official request from Russia to clear air space over northern Syria, where Moscow intends to conduct airstrikes against ISIS on behalf of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, according to sources who spoke to Fox News.The request was made by a Russian three-star general who spoke with U.S. officials at the American embassy in Baghdad, sources said. The general, who was not identified, used the word please when delivering the verbal request, known as a demarche, according to the written transcript of the exchange. | 1real |
BREAKING: Wikileaks Email Release Exposes TWO-FACED HILLARY Admitting She Needs To Have A Private AND Public Position On Policy | Huh? This could be one of the most damning emails yet, as it reveals the true character of a woman who will say whatever is necessary to get elected Is it any wonder before these leaks even came out, that over 70% of Americans said they don t trust her?BOMBSHELL Hillary Clinton Caught Saying Ther Needs 2B Public Policies(4us idiots) & Private Policies! #PodestaEmails pic.twitter.com/gDfJwBqbdq STOCK MONSTER (@StockMonsterUSA) October 7, 2016 | 1real |
HILLARY SHARES PRO-ILLEGAL MANIFESTO: Plans To Open Borders, Create Taxpayer Funded Agency To Give ILLEGALS Amnesty | To hell with the common sense voter, Hillary believes she only needs Americans who are okay with living in a lawless nation to lock down the Presidency. It seems to have worked pretty well for her predecessor why not?Hillary Clinton wrote an op/ed piece for the Arizona Republic and boy is it insane. It s sort of an anti-Trump/pro-illegal alien manifesto that lays out her immigration policy if she becomes president. Two noteworthy things are that she intends to open our borders completely and establish a government agency that will spend taxpayer money to help illegal aliens become citizens.Hillary starts out with a folksy story about an illegal alien who would be deported if Donald Trump was in charge and then lashed out at the Supreme Court for ruling against Obama s amnesty executive order, calling it, heartbreaking and unacceptable. And while our system fails to provide certainty to immigrant families, political figures like Donald Trump turn them into scapegoats for many of the challenges facing American families today. His bigotry and fear-mongering may be an attempt to divide our country and distract from his lack of real solutions to raise incomes and create good paying jobs but it s not going to work.Let s be clear: When Trump talks about forming a deportation force to round up and expel 11 million immigrants he s talking about ripping apart families Isn t that cute? Hillary wants you to think there is no difference between legal immigrants and illegal aliens. Trump has never once said he plans to round up and deport legal immigrants, just that he wants to enforce existing immigration laws.When he praises local figures like Gov. Jan Brewer and Sheriff Joe Arpaio, he s endorsing their heartless and divisive policies.How is enforcing the law a heartless policy as Hillary says? The only way our immigration laws are divisive is because illegal aliens don t like them.Instead of building walls, we ought to be breaking down barriers. Our country has always been stronger when we lift each other up, not tear each other down. We re stronger together.Here Hillary is obviously saying that she wants open borders, which essentially would nullify our status as an autonomous country, but there s even more garbage contained within that last statement. Illegal aliens are not Americans and therefore not part of us. They are citizens of another country, which makes them not us. They don t stand with us, they don t lift us up, and they sure as shit don t make us stronger.After proving that Hillary plans to be the leader of the third world rather than the President of the United States, she outlined ways she will make that happen.First up, amnesty beyond Obama s bullshit:That s why, as president, I ll fight for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to full and equal citizenship, starting in my first 100 days in office. We should do everything we can to keep families together, better integrate immigrants into their communities, and help those eligible for naturalization take the last step to citizenship.Then another bloated bureaucracy and massive waste of funds:Second, we need to increase our focus on integration and make sure that immigrants are able to thrive in American society. Let s provide more federal resources to help immigrants learn the English language skills they need to be successful. And because this issue cuts across all levels of government local, state and federal I ll create the first-ever Office of Immigrant Affairs at the White House to help coordinate these policies across the nation.And finally, some more government handouts designed to make instant democrats:Third, let s help the 9 million people in our country who are currently eligible for naturalization become full citizens. They work and pay taxes yet they cannot vote or serve on juries. Let s expand fee waivers so that those seeking naturalization can get a break on the costs. And let s step up our outreach and education, because no one should miss out on the chance to be a citizen.Hillary claims that her plans will strengthen our economy by flooding the country with unskilled uneducated people who will drive down wages. I m not sure how that works and Hillary certainly didn t try to explain it.No matter what Donald Trump says, we have always been a nation of immigrants And it is long past time we helped millions of hard-working people step out of the shadows and onto a path to a brighter future.When has Trump ever denied that America was formed by immigrants? All he wants is the fairness that comes with upholding the law.If Hillary Clinton becomes president, we can pretty much kiss our country goodbye. With no border security and zero immigration enforcement, America as we know it will cease to exist. Downtrend | 1real |
SUNDAY SCREENING: CIA Secret Experiments (2008) | 21st Century Wire says Every Sunday, our editorial team curates another documentary film for 21WIRE readers.This week: Although this is a mainstream and at times, a somewhat sensational depiction of CIA history, the film contains some extremely interesting information and insights regarding the US Central Intelligence Agency s covert program targeting members of the general public which employed the use of Class A and hallucinogenic narcotics in order to develop an array applied behavior science applications to be used in the manipulation of people and the extraction of information under duress. The film also introduces the prospect of RFK assassin, Sirhan Sirhan as a Manchurian candidate. These classified drug-based programs were developed during the height of the Cold War, and who knows how many other similar programs there were, and which one are still running today. Watch: SEE MORE SUNDAY SCREENINGS HERE | 1real |
Queen Elizabeth II owns every dolphin in Britain and doesn't need a driving licence and doesn't pay tax — here are the incredible powers you didn't know the monarchy has | Email
Queen Elizabeth II is not like you and me.
Did you know she is immune from prosecution? That she has her own personal poet, paid in Sherry wine? Or that she holds dominion over British swans and can fire the entire Australian government?
It's true that her role as the British head of state is largely ceremonial, and the Monarch no longer holds any serious power from day to day. The historic "prerogative powers" of the Sovereign have been devolved largely to government ministers. But this still means that when the British government declares war, or regulates the civil service, or signs a treaty, it is doing so only on her authority.
And she still wields some of these prerogative powers herself — as well as numerous other unique powers, ranging from the surprising to the utterly bizarre.
Most famously, she owns all swans in the River Thames.
Technically, all unmarked swans in open water belong to the Queen, though the Crown "exercises her ownership" only "on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries," according to the official website of the Royal Family.
Today this tradition is observed during the annual "Swan Upping," in which swans in the River Thames are caught, ringed, and set free again as part of census of the swan population.
It's a highly ceremonial affair, taking place over five days. "Swan uppers" wear traditional uniforms and row upriver in six skiffs accompanied by the Queen's Swan Marker.
"The swans are also given a health check and ringed with individual identification numbers by The Queen's Swan Warden, a Professor of Ornithology at the University of Oxford's Department of Zoology," according to the Royal Family website.
"Rule, Britannia, Britannia rules the waves," goes a classic British song — and this rule extends beneath the waves, too. The sovereign has dominion over a variety of aquatic animals in British waters.
The Queen still technically owns all the sturgeons, whales, and dolphins in the waters around England and Wales, in a rule that dates back to a statute from 1324, during the reign of King Edward II, according to Time.
According to the article: "This statute is still valid today, and sturgeons, porpoises, whales, and dolphins are recognised as 'fishes royal': when they are captured within 3 miles (about 5 km) of UK shores or wash ashore, they may be claimed on behalf of the Crown. Generally, when brought into port, a sturgeon is sold in the usual way, and the purchaser, as a gesture of loyalty, requests the honour of its being accepted by Elizabeth."
The law is still observed: In 2004, a Welsh fisherman was investigated by the police after catching a 10-foot sturgeon, the BBC reported at the time. The Scottish government also issued guidance on the law in 2007, writing that "the right to claim Royal Fish in Scotland allows the Scottish Government (on behalf of the Crown) to claim stranded whales which are too large to be drawn to land by a 'wain pulled by six oxen.'"
The Queen can drive without a licence.
Driving licenses are issued in the Queen's name, yet she is the only person in the United Kingdom who doesn't legally need a license to drive or a number plate on her cars, according to Time.
Despite not being required to have a license, the Queen is comfortable behind the wheel, having learned to drive during World War II when she operated a first-aid truck for the Women's Auxillary Territorial Service. (As a result of the Queen's training, she can also change a spark plug, Time notes).
Queen Elizabeth II isn't afraid to show off her driving skills, either. In 1998, she surprised King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (then still a prince) by driving him around in her country seat of Balmoral.
Former British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles recounted the meeting in the Sunday Times: "As instructed, the crown prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover, with his interpreter in the seat behind. To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off. Women are not — yet — allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, and Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a queen."
Cowper-Coles continued: "His nervousness only increased as the Queen, an army driver in wartime, accelerated the Land Rover along the narrow Scottish estate roads, talking all the time. Through his interpreter, the crown prince implored the Queen to slow down and concentrate on the road ahead."
Unlike other members of the Royal family, the Queen does not require a passport, as they are issued in her name. Despite this lack of travel documents, she has been abroad many times.
She has two birthdays.
When you're the British head of state, one birthday just isn't enough. The Queen's official birthday is celebrated on a Saturday in June, though her actual birthday is on April 21.
"Official celebrations to mark a sovereign's birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer," according to the Royal Mint.
Both birthdays are celebrated in suitable style, too. Her actual birthday "is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday," according to the official website of the British Monarchy. This includes "a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21-gun salute in Windsor Great Park, and a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London. In 2006, Her Majesty celebrated her 80th Birthday in 2006 with a walkabout in the streets outside of Windsor Castle to meet well-wishers."
For her "official" birthday celebrations, meanwhile, she "is joined by other members of the Royal Family at the spectacular Trooping the Colour parade, which moves between Buckingham Palace, The Mall, and Horseguards' Parade."
She has her own private cash machine.
Less a "power" and more a perk of the job, a private cash machine for use by the royal family is installed in the basement of Buckingham Palace. It's provided by Coutts, one of Britain's most prestigious — and exclusive — banks.
The Queen has her own personal poet.
The poet laureate is an honorary position in British society appointed by the Monarch to a poet "whose work is of national significance," according to the official website of the British Monarchy. When first the role was introduced, the appointee was paid £200 per year plus a butt of canary wine. Today the poet laureate is given a barrel of Sherry.
Carol Ann Duffy will hold the position until 2019.
She has to sign laws.
The Queen's consent is necessary to turn any bill into an actual law. Once a proposed law has passed both houses of Parliament, it makes its way to the Palace for approval, which is called "Royal Assent." The most recent British Monarch to refuse to provide Royal Assent was Queen Anne, back in 1708.
Royal Assent is different than "Queen's consent," in which the Queen must consent to any law being debated in Parliament that affects the Monarchy's interests (such as reforming the prerogative or tax laws that might affect the Duchy of Cornwall, for example). Without consent, the bill cannot be debated in Parliament.
Queen's consent is exercised only on the advice of ministers, but its existence provides the government with a tool for blocking debate on certain subjects if bills are tabled by backbench rebels or the opposition.
It has been exercised at least 39 times, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information act, including "one instance [in which] the Queen completely vetoed the Military Actions Against Iraq Bill in 1999, a private member's bill that sought to transfer the power to authorise military strikes against Iraq from the monarch to parliament," The Guardian reported in 2013.
She can create Lords.
The Queen has the power to appoint Lords, who can then sit in Parliament, the upper house in Britain's legislative system. Like many other powers, this is exercised only "on the advice of" elected government ministers.
She doesn't have to pay tax (but she does anyway).
The Queen does not have to pay tax, but she has been voluntarily paying income tax and capital gains tax since 1992.
The Queen has the power to form governments.
Unlike the Queen, Prime Minister David Cameron doesn't literally sit on a throne. Rob Stothard/Getty Images/HBO/BI
The Queen previously wielded the power to dissolve Parliament and call a general election, but the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act put an end to that in 2011. Now a two-thirds vote in the commons is required to dissolve Parliament before a five-year fixed-term is up.
She does still play a part after an election, however, when she calls on the MP most able to form a government to do so.
This caused some worry ahead of this year's General Election. It once looked as if the Conservatives might not have a majority (but would be the largest party) and would try to form a government. Meanwhile, it was feasible that Labour could form a majority, despite having fewer seats, by entering into a coalition with multiple other parties.
In this situation, the Queen would have been stuck between a rock and a hard place. Every year, she opens Parliament with the Queen's speech, which lays out the government's plans. But to give David Cameron's speech would arguably be to tacitly endorse his government — while staying away would send the opposite message.
At one point, The Times was told by sources that she planned to "stay away" if Cameron failed to secure enough MPs, but the Palace later had an about-face. "Royal sources confirmed she would lead proceedings, even if there was a risk the speech would be overthrown the following week because the Tories had failed to muster enough backing from smaller parties," The Times subsequently reported.
She has knights.
Sure, they no longer ride around on horseback wooing maidens with their tales of valour, but Britain still retains knights. Like Lords, they are appointed by the Queen — and she knights them personally.
Knighthoods are typically given to figures who have made a particular contribution to British society — whether in business, the arts, the military, or elsewhere. After Terry Pratchett was knighted, the legendary fantasy author forged himself a special sword using pieces of a meteorite.
The individuals knighted are decided by ministers, the BBC reports, "who present her with a list of nominees each year for her approval."
She is exempt from Freedom Of Information requests.
All information about the royal family is exempt from Freedom of Information requests. The exemption was made after a legal battle between The Guardian and the government to have letters from Prince Charles sent to Whitehall ministers made public. The so-called black spider memos were recently released, but the change means the same can't happen in the future.
She can ignore or overrule ministerial advice in "grave constitutional crisis."
While the overwhelming majority of the Queen's prerogative powers are devolved to her ministers, there is one exception that allows her to wield power herself. Only "in grave constitutional crisis," the Sovereign can "act contrary to or without Ministerial advice." With no precedent in modern times, it's not clear what would actually constitute this, but the possibility remains.
The Queen holds the ability to fire the entire Australian government.
As the head of state in Australia, the Queen has certain powers over the government. In 1975, for example, the Queen's representative in the country at the time, Gov. Gen. Sir John Kerr, fired the prime minister in response to a government shutdown.
"[Kerr] appointed a replacement, who immediately passed the spending bill to fund the government, Max Fisher wrote in The Washington Post. "Three hours later, Kerr dismissed the rest of Parliament. Then Australia held elections to restart from scratch. And they haven't had another shutdown since."
In addition to the UK and Australia, the Queen is also the head of state in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
All the above are Commonwealth Realms, or former British colonies. The British sovereign retains the position she holds in the United Kingdom, that of head of state. As in Britain, this is largely a ceremonial role from day to day.
She's the head of a religion.
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Church of England, Britain's state religion first established after King Henry VIII split away from the Catholic Church in Rome in the 16th century.
Her formal title is defender of the faith and supreme governor of the Church of England, and she also has the power to appoint Bishops and Archbishops. As with many of her other powers, however, this is exercised only on the advice of the prime minister, who himself takes advice from a Church Commission.
An interesting side effect of this is that the Sovereign must be a confirmed member of Church of England. Catholics and those of other religions may not ascend to the British throne. If Prince Charles converted to Islam, for example, he would be unable to become king after Queen Elizabeth II dies.
She gets to give away special money to the elderly.
Maundy money is a special kind of silver coin the Queen gives away to pensioners every year at a UK cathedral every Easter in a special ceremony. The number of recipients corresponds with the Sovereign's age. This year, for example, she will be 89 when Easter rolls around, so she will give maundy money away to 89 pensioners.
The coins are technically legal tender, despite coming in unconventional 3-pence and 4-pence denominations. But given the coins' rare status, they tend not to enter general circulation.
She's also immune from prosecution.
All prosecutions are carried out in the name of the Sovereign, and she is both immune from prosecution and cannot be compelled to give evidence in court.
In theory, the Sovereign "is incapable of thinking or doing wrong," legal scholar John Kirkhope told Business Insider. However, barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy QC told the BBC in 2002 that "nowadays, that immunity is questionable."
"Although civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign as a person under UK law, the Queen is careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal capacity are carried out in strict accordance with the law," according to official site of the Monarchy.
If the monarch did commit a grievance offence, he or she would almost certainly be forced to abdicate. There is at least one precedent of the Courts' prosecuting the Sovereign. In the 17th Century, King Charles I was tried for treason following the English Civil War. He said "no earthly power can justly call me (who am your King) in question as a delinquent." The Court disagreed and had him executed.
The Queen has the right to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn her ministers.
Assuming no "grave constitutional crisis," the Queen's input into the legislative process is supposed to be limited in real terms to the right "to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn" her ministers — advice delivered via meetings with the prime minister.
The Queen also has certain historic rights and privileges. John Kirkhope, a lawyer who successfully campaigned to have details of "Queen's consent" made public, provided Business Insider with a list of some of the stranger rights the Queen still holds.
Hungerford has to present a red rose to the Sovereign in exchange for its fishing and grazing rights.The Duke of Atholl must pay by way of a rose whenever the Sovereign calls. This most recently happened during the reign of Queen Victoria, so it's unclear whether the rose has to be any particular colour.If the Sovereign passes near Kidwelly Castle in Wales, the tenant has to provide a bodyguard in full armour. This is complicated slightly by the fact the castle is a ruin.The Marquis of Ailesbury owns Savernake Forest and is required to produce a blast on a hunting horn should the Sovereign pass through the Forest. This last happened in 1943.Similarly, the owner of Dunlambert Castle in Northern Ireland has to produce a blast on an ancient bugle.And lastly, many landowners must also pay a "quit-rent" — a kind of tax on their property paid to the Monarch. Some are pretty unusual.
The owner of Sauchlemuir Castle must set out three glasses of port on New Year's Eve for the grandmother of James IV of Scotland. (For reference, James IV served from 1474 to 1513.)The owner of Fowlis must deliver — when required — a snowball in mid-summer.The City of Gloucester pays for its holdings of Crown Lands by providing an enormous eel pie.Great Yarmouth must provide a hundred herrings baked in 24 pasties to the Sheriff, who then sends them to the Lord of the Manor — who then sends them to the Sovereign.The Duke of Marlborough has to present a small satin flag with a Fleur de Lys on August 13, the anniversary of the Battle of Blenheim.The Duke of Wellington has to present a French Tricolour flag before noon on June 19 — the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. | 1real |
Trump win, Democratic setbacks cloud Pelosi's future as leader | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nancy Pelosi may face a challenge to her 14-year-old role as the leading Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives now that Republicans have captured the White House and maintained their grip on Congress. Representative Tim Ryan, 43, of Ohio, is weighing a run against Pelosi, 76, who is the House minority leader and former speaker of the House, said Ryan’s spokesman Michael Zetts. The party vote for minority leader is scheduled for Thursday. “He is concerned that if changes aren’t made we will be in the political wilderness for many years to come,” Zetts said. It was unclear how much support Ryan might have. He has been in the House since 2003. Voters who elected Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 also gave Democrats a few more seats in the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives and the 100-member Senate, but Republicans held on to their majorities in both. Democrats had expected to do much better; some had predicted double-digit wins in the House. Pelosi, of California, faced calls from Representative Seth Moulton and other Democrats, dismayed by the election results, to postpone the party’s leadership election until later in November while a reassessment is made. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, may have given some ammunition to Pelosi’s detractors on Monday when he said, “I kind of like Pelosi staying around. As long as she’s there, I think we stay in the majority.” The new Congress convenes on Jan. 3; Trump will succeed President Barack Obama, a Democrat, on Jan. 20. In the U.S. Senate, New York’s Chuck Schumer is expected to replace the retiring fellow Democrat Harry Reid as minority leader. In the Republican party, no one is challenging Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Republicans are expected on Tuesday to nominate Paul Ryan to remain House speaker. Ryan would face an election in January, when all members of the new House, both Democrats and Republicans, vote on a new speaker. Before Trump’s win, some Republican conservatives angered by Ryan’s tepid support for Trump were talking about trying to block his re-election. Those threats have subsided but not vanished. An aide to New York Republican Representative Chris Collins said, “Congressman Collins fully believes Speaker Ryan is a slam dunk to be re-elected as speaker, and looks forward to working with him in the next Congress.” Collins was Trump’s first supporter in the House. Some conservative Republicans still have doubts. “Presently Speaker Ryan does not have my vote, but I will listen to his message tomorrow,” Representative Tom Massie of Kentucky said in a statement. | 0fake |
TRUMP MIC DROP MOMENT From 60 Minutes Interview: “I’m very good at this, it’s called construction” | The best part of the 60 Minutes interview was when Trump told the dumb@@ Leslie Stall this when asked if he would build the wall: What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records, gang members, drug dealers, where a lot of these people, probably 2 million, it could be even 3 million, we are getting them out of our country or we are going to incarcerate, he said in the interview, to air on 60 Minutes But we re getting them out of our country; they re here illegally. Only then, Trump said, will he figure out a plan to deal with the terrific people who are in the U.S. illegally but have otherwise clean criminal histories. Securing the border, he said, is a prerequisite for any other action on immigration One unchanged part of his immigration platform has been his plan for the construction of a wall along America s southern border with Mexico, something he said he would force the Mexican government to pay for by threatening to cut off the flow of money from immigrants to their families south of the border. Trump said Sunday that while an actual wall will be necessary along some portions of the border, a mere fence will suffice in others. I m very good at this; it s called construction, he said.President-elect Donald Trump says the wall on the Mexican border may have fence segments, tonight on #60Minutes: https://t.co/n4ZKu8f3mk pic.twitter.com/bCmtXgcyFh 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) November 13, 2016 | 1real |
“FAIR SHARE” FAIL: Trump’s Taxes Show He Paid Almost TWICE The Rate Of Socialist Bernie Sanders Who Owns 3 Homes, Preaches Equality [VIDEO] | Watch Tucker Carlson point out that Trump paid a 25% tax rate while socialist fair share Bernie only paid a 13% tax rate: | 1real |
United States, China to meet on North Korea on Wednesday | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. and Chinese diplomatic and defense chiefs will meet Wednesday for a security dialogue that Washington says will focus on curbing North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. The talks in Washington will involve U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis as well as China’s top diplomat, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, and General Fang Fenghui, chief of state of the People’s Liberation Army, the U.S. State Department said. It will be the inaugural session of the U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue, a framework launched by President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a summit in Florida in April. The State Department said the aim was “to expand areas of cooperation while narrowing differences on key diplomatic and security issues.” U.S.-China ties have warmed since the April summit, in spite of continued U.S. concerns about China’s pursuit of territory in the South China Sea and a large trade imbalance. Tillerson has said North Korea will top the agenda next week and made clear that Washington wanted more help from China in pressing Pyongyang to abandon its weapons programs, calling Chinese efforts so far “notable” but “uneven.” The focus on North Korea has been sharpened by dozens of North Korean missile launches and two nuclear bomb tests since the beginning of last year. North Korea says it is working to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States, and this week Mattis called it the “most urgent” threat to U.S. national security. China is party to U.N. economic sanctions on North Korea. But it remains the country’s main ally and trading partner and has been reluctant to impose the sort of punishing measures experts say are needed to get Pyongyang to abandon its weapons programs. In Beijing, asked about the talks, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Lu Kang, said, “The two sides are in close communication about the schedule, but the issues discussed will be those that both countries are concerned about and that involve China-U.S. relations.” He did not elaborate. On Tuesday, Tillerson said Washington was considering imposing “secondary sanctions” on foreign firms doing business with North Korea and had been in discussions with Beijing about the activities of entities inside China. A Washington think tank said this week that North Korea’s effort to circumvent sanctions was complex but could be defeated by targeting relatively few Chinese firms. The U.N. Security Council expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea this month in the first such resolution agreed by the United States and China since Trump took office. Washington has been pushing for even tougher steps, including an oil embargo, bans of North Korea’s airline and overseas workers and interception of its cargo ships. | 0fake |
CNN HOSTS PANIC When Congressman, Lawyer Says Feds Need To Investigate Seth Rich Murder During Russia-Trump Collusion Discussion [VIDEO] | Caller-Times: Speaking on CNN Wednesday, the fourth-term congressman refuted a widely believed conclusion that the Russian government interfered with the U.S. presidential election to aid President Donald Trump s campaign and instead indicated a conspiracy theory about a slain Democratic National Committee staffer could be true. My fear is our constant focusing on the Russians is deflecting away for some other things that we need to be investigating, Farenthold said on the network. There s still some question as to whether the intrusion of the DNC server was an insider job or whether or not it was the Russians. Later Wednesday, Farenthold elaborated on his opinion of how the investigation should be handled in a phone interview with the Caller-Times. The death should be investigated in the same manner Russian interference has been reviewed, he said. That should be a part of the ongoing investigation into alleged Russian interference in the election, because that s an alternative theory that deserves being looked at, Farenthold said.Watch how quickly CNN hosts John Berman and Poppy Harlow attack Congressman Farenthold when he even suggests there s something suspicious about the supposed robbery gone bad (where no valuables were stolen) that lead to the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich. JUST NOW @farenthold on @CNN suggests the DNC hack was an insider job," sources stuff circulating on the internet https://t.co/97zytNWHVR Haley Draznin (@haleydraz) May 24, 2017While he has not formed an opinion on the nature of Rich s death, Farenthold said the theory that it was a retaliatory killing for leaking committee information is as credible as the anonymous sources being cited in the (Former-FBI Director James) Comey and Russian stories against President Trump. Farenthold said the Russian conclusion is premature until there s a review of Democratic committee s computer system by an independent investigator. We re relying only on the report of somebody that the DNC contracted to examine their computer rather than having federal officials, Farenthold said. To me, we need to let the feds look at it. Watch: | 1real |
Trump rallies gun owners with fiery anti-Clinton speech | LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump assured gun owners on Friday he would protect their constitutional right to bear arms and eliminate gun-free zones if elected, accusing Democrat Hillary Clinton of wanting to weaken gun rights. Trump, who will almost certainly be the Republican presidential nominee, picked up the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, a politically powerful lobbying group which claims more than 4 million members. Trump’s remarks at the NRA’s national convention in Louisville, Kentucky, were not a surprise, but they could solidify his status among conservatives who see protecting the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment as a top priority. Trump also planned to meet on Monday with U.S. Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, a source close to the Trump campaign said. The two are expected to consult on foreign policy. The source said Corker remains on Trump’s list of potential vice presidential running mates. Clinton, who is close to clinching the Democratic Party’s nomination for the Nov. 8 election, has vowed to take on the gun lobby and expand gun control measures to include comprehensive background checks for gun buyers, including at open-air gun shows and online. Trump, who is trying to unite the Republican Party behind him after a brutal primary battle, accused Clinton, a former secretary of state to President Barack Obama, of wanting to end the 2nd Amendment, which says in part that the people’s right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.” “Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment, not change it; she wants to abolish it,” Trump said. Clinton campaign senior policy adviser Maya Harris said Trump is peddling falsehoods and denounced “Donald Trump’s conspiracy theories.” She said Clinton believes there are “common-sense steps we can take at the federal level to keep guns out of the hands of criminals” while protecting the Second Amendment. Trump told the NRA he would eliminate gun-free zones imposed in some areas, noting that the 2015 shooting deaths of four U.S. Marines at an armed forces recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, took place in a gun-free zone. “The Second Amendment is on the ballot in November,” he said. “The only way to save our Second Amendment is to vote for a person you know: Donald Trump.” The NRA’s convention took place on the same day that a man brandished a gun at a checkpoint near the White House in Washington and was shot and wounded by a law enforcement officer. The New York billionaire’s NRA speech was another step in his drive to make more conservatives comfortable with his candidacy. Earlier this week, he released a list of 11 potential Supreme Court nominees who are conservative jurists, a step well-received on the right. Many conservatives, who had backed other Republican candidates in the 2016 race, worry that Trump is a closet liberal on many issues. But Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, said it was time for them to get over their qualms about the 69-year-old candidate. “If your preferred candidate is out of the race, it’s time to get over it,” Cox told the NRA audience. “Are there valid arguments in favor of some over others? Sure. Will any of it matter if Hillary wins in November? Not one bit.” In another step toward trying to unify the party, Cox has invited members of Congress to a “small roundtable discussion” with one of Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr., on Wednesday at the Capitol Hill Club near the U.S. Capitol, a copy of the invitation said. | 0fake |
Orlando Mass Shooting & The Accelerated Police State – UK Column – June 13, 2016 | 21st Century Wire says UK Column anchor Brian Gerrish and guest co-presenter, Patrick Henningsen with breaking international news and analysis including the record-breaking mass shooting event in Orlando, Florida an event which reported 50 dead nightclub patrons. This event took place in the early hours of Sunday morning EST, and not surprisingly, this story is one of the most bizarre and anomaly-ridden mass shooting events seen yet. UK Column breaks this story down in detail, along with the overriding political implications, both domestically in the US and internationally. SEE MORE NEWS AT: UKCOLUMN.ORGSUPPORT 21WIRE BECOME AT MEMBER AT: 21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Moscow culture department to offer lecture series for expats | Moscow culture department to offer lecture series for expats October 28, 2016 RBTH Prominent critics and scholars will teach sessions of the month-long course. Facebook moscow "Exploring Russian Culture" course will have four units. Source: Courtesy of Digital October
The Department of Culture of the city of Moscow is introducing a month-long lecture series in English aimed at foreign residents of the Russian capital. Entitled “Exploring Russian Culture,” the program is for those who want to immerse themselves in Russia’s strong tradition of cultural excellence. Each lecture will focus on one area — such as literature, theater, music, cinema and etiquette — and will be given by a top-ranking expert in the particular field.
Twelve lectures by Moscow’s most prominent creative minds will take place from Nov. 14-Dec.14. The speakers include: literary critic Konstantin Milchin, director of the Moscow Design Museum Alexandra Sankova, Academic Leader and Associate Professor in Cultural Studies at the Higher School of Economics Olga Roginskaya, and many more.
The complete list of lecturers and schedule is available here .
The cost of the entire course (36 hours, 12 lectures) is 14,900 rubles ($238). The cost for all lectures on a single theme (9 hours, 3 lectures) is 4,000 rubles ($64). The cost to attend one lecture is 1,500 rubles ($24).
Applications are available here .
Russia Beyond The Headlines is a media partner of the initiative. Subscribe to get the hand picked best stories every week Subscribe to our mailing list | 1real |
LEAKED E-MAIL: CLINTON CAMPAIGN Compliments Dem Pundit On How Well He Lied On The ‘Today Show’ | Podesta writes: Good idea. Was your nose growing long today? That was rough. | 1real |
Bill O’Reilly Thrives at Fox News, Even as Harassment Settlements Add Up - The New York Times | For nearly two decades, Bill O’Reilly has been Fox News’s top asset, building the No. 1 program in cable news for a network that has pulled in billions of dollars in revenues for its parent company, 21st Century Fox. Behind the scenes, the company has repeatedly stood by Mr. O’Reilly as he faced a series of allegations of sexual harassment or other inappropriate behavior. An investigation by The New York Times has found a total of five women who have received payouts from either Mr. O’Reilly or the company in exchange for agreeing to not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations against him. The agreements totaled about $13 million. Two settlements came after the network’s former chairman, Roger Ailes, was dismissed last summer in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal, when the company said it did not tolerate behavior that “disrespects women or contributes to an uncomfortable work environment. ” The women who made allegations against Mr. O’Reilly either worked for him or appeared on his show. They have complained about a wide range of behavior, including verbal abuse, lewd comments, unwanted advances and phone calls in which it sounded as if Mr. O’Reilly was masturbating, according to documents and interviews. The reporting suggests a pattern: As an influential figure in the newsroom, Mr. O’Reilly would create a bond with some women by offering advice and promising to help them professionally. He then would pursue sexual relationships with them, causing some to fear that if they rebuffed him, their careers would stall. Of the five settlements, two were previously known — one for about $9 million in 2004 with a producer, and another struck last year with a former personality, which The Times reported on in January. The Times has learned new details related to those cases. The three other settlements were uncovered by The Times. Two involved sexual harassment claims against Mr. O’Reilly, and the other was for verbal abuse related to an episode in which he berated a young producer in front of newsroom colleagues. Besides the women who reached settlements, two other women have spoken of inappropriate behavior by the host. A former regular guest on his show, Wendy Walsh, told The Times that after she rebuffed an advance from him he didn’t follow through on a verbal offer to secure her a lucrative position at the network. And a former Fox News host named Andrea Tantaros said Mr. O’Reilly sexually harassed her in a lawsuit she filed last summer against the network and Mr. Ailes. Representatives for 21st Century Fox would not discuss specific accusations against Mr. O’Reilly, but in a written statement to The Times the company acknowledged it had addressed the issue with him. “21st Century Fox takes matters of workplace behavior very seriously,” the statement said. “Notwithstanding the fact that no current or former Fox News employee ever took advantage of the 21st Century Fox hotline to raise a concern about Bill O’Reilly, even anonymously, we have looked into these matters over the last few months and discussed them with Mr. O’Reilly. While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. O’Reilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility. Mr. O’Reilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News. ” According to legal experts, companies occasionally settle disputes that they believe have little merit because it is less risky than taking the matters to trial, which can be costly and create a string of embarrassing headlines. The revelations about Mr. O’Reilly, 67, come after sexual harassment accusations against Mr. Ailes led to an internal investigation that found women at Fox News faced harassment. Current and former Fox News employees told The Times that they feared making complaints to network executives or the human resources department. Mr. Ailes, who has denied the allegations against him, received $40 million as part of his exit package. The company has reached settlements with at least six women who accused Mr. Ailes of sexual harassment, according to a person briefed on the agreements. At the time of Mr. Ailes’s departure, 21st Century Fox’s top executives, James and Lachlan Murdoch, the sons of the executive chairman, Rupert Murdoch, said the company was committed to “maintaining a work environment based on trust and respect. ” Since then, the company has struck two settlements involving Mr. O’Reilly, and learned of one Mr. O’Reilly reached secretly in 2011. The company declined to answer questions about whether Mr. O’Reilly had ever been disciplined. Mr. O’Reilly has thrived since joining Fox News in 1996. He earns an annual salary of about $18 million as the host of “The O’Reilly Factor. ” Every weeknight at 8 p. m. he presents a pugnacious, viewpoint and a fervent strain of patriotism that appeals to conservative viewers. His value to the company is enormous. From 2014 through 2016, the show generated more than $446 million in advertising revenues, according to the research firm Kantar Media. This is a sensitive time for Fox News as it continues to deal with the fallout of the Ailes scandal. The network is facing an investigation by the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan, which is looking into how the company structured settlements. Fox News has said that neither it nor 21st Century Fox has received a subpoena but that they have “been in communication with the U. S. attorney’s office for months. ” Details on the allegations against Mr. O’Reilly and the company’s handling of them are based on more than five dozen interviews with current and former employees of Fox News and its former and current parent companies, News Corporation and 21st Century Fox representatives for the network and people close to Mr. O’Reilly and the women. Most spoke on the condition of anonymity, citing confidentiality agreements and fear of retaliation. The Times also examined more than 100 pages of documents and court filings related to the complaints. Ms. Walsh, the former guest on Mr. O’Reilly’s show, said his offer to make her a contributor never materialized after she declined an invitation to go to his hotel suite after a dinner in 2013. “I feel bad that some of these old guys are using mating strategies that were acceptable in the 1950s and are not acceptable now,” she said. “I hope young men can learn from this. ” She said romantic relationships at the workplace “should never happen when there is an imbalance of power and colleagues shouldn’t unwittingly be manipulated into obtaining sex for somebody. ” Just over a week ago, Mr. O’Reilly hired the crisis communications expert Mark Fabiani — who worked in the Clinton White House — to respond to The Times. In a statement, Mr. O’Reilly suggested that his prominence made him a target. “Just like other prominent and controversial people,” the statement read, “I’m vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity. In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline. “But most importantly, I’m a father who cares deeply for my children and who would do anything to avoid hurting them in any way. And so I have put to rest any controversies to spare my children. “The worst part of my job is being a target for those who would harm me and my employer, the Fox News Channel. Those of us in the arena are constantly at risk, as are our families and children. My primary efforts will continue to be to put forth an honest TV program and to protect those close to me. ” Fredric S. Newman, a lawyer for Mr. O’Reilly, said in a statement Friday evening, “We are now seriously considering legal action to defend Mr. O’Reilly’s reputation. ” Fox News has been aware of complaints about inappropriate behavior by Mr. O’Reilly since at least 2002, when Mr. O’Reilly stormed into the newsroom and screamed at a young producer, according to current and former employees, some of whom witnessed the incident. Shortly thereafter, the woman, Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, left the network with a payout and bound by a confidentiality agreement, people familiar with the deal said. The exact amount she was paid is not known, but it was far less than the other settlements. The case did not involve sexual harassment. Two years later, allegations about Mr. O’Reilly entered the public arena in lurid fashion when a producer on his show, Andrea Mackris, then 33, filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. In the suit, she said he had told her to buy a vibrator, called her at times when it sounded as if he was masturbating and described sexual fantasies involving her. Ms. Mackris had recorded some of the conversations, people familiar with the case said. Ms. Mackris also said in the suit that Mr. O’Reilly, who was married at the time (he and his wife divorced in 2011) threatened her, saying he would make any woman who complained about his behavior “pay so dearly that she’ll wish she’d never been born. ” Fox News and Mr. O’Reilly adopted an aggressive strategy that served as a stark warning of what could happen to women if they came forward with complaints, current and former employees told The Times. Before Ms. Mackris even filed suit, Fox News and Mr. O’Reilly surprised her with a suit of their own, asserting she was seeking to extort $60 million in return for not going public with “scandalous and scurrilous” claims about him. “This is the single most evil thing I have ever experienced, and I have seen a lot,” he said on his show the day both suits were filed. “But these people picked the wrong guy. ” A public relations firm was hired to help shape the narrative in Mr. O’Reilly’s favor, and the private investigator Bo Dietl was retained to dig up information on Ms. Mackris. The goal was to depict her as a promiscuous woman, deeply in debt, who was trying to shake down Mr. O’Reilly, according to people briefed on the strategy. Several unflattering stories about her appeared in the tabloids. After two weeks of sensational headlines, the two sides settled, and Mr. O’Reilly agreed to pay Ms. Mackris about $9 million, according to people briefed on the agreement. The parties agreed to issue a public statement that “no wrongdoing whatsoever” had occurred. In the years that followed, Mr. O’Reilly and Fox News dealt with sexual harassment allegations in private, striking agreements with three more women. In 2011, Rebecca Gomez Diamond, who had hosted a show on the Fox Business Network — also supervised by Mr. Ailes — was told the network was not renewing her contract. Similar to Ms. Mackris, she had recorded conversations with Mr. O’Reilly, according to people familiar with the case. Armed with the recordings, her lawyers went to the company and outlined her complaints against him. Ms. Diamond left the network, bound by a confidentiality agreement, and Mr. O’Reilly paid the settlement, two of the people said. The exact amount of the payout is not known. Although that deal was made nearly six years ago, Fox News’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, learned of it only in late 2016 when it conducted an investigation into Fox News under Mr. Ailes’s tenure, according to another person familiar with the matter. In the aftermath of Mr. Ailes’s ouster last summer, as 21st Century Fox was completing settlements and trying to put the scandal behind it, it reached deals with two women who had complained about sexual harassment by Mr. O’Reilly. One was Laurie Dhue, a Fox News anchor from 2000 to 2008. Though Ms. Dhue had not raised sexual harassment issues during her tenure or upon her departure, her lawyers went to the company to outline her harassment claims against Mr. O’Reilly and Mr. Ailes, according to people briefed on the complaints. In response, 21st Century Fox reached a settlement with her for over $1 million, according to a person briefed on the agreement. In September, 21st Century Fox reached a settlement worth $1. 6 million with Juliet Huddy, who had made regular appearances on Mr. O’Reilly’s show, according to people familiar with the matter. Ms. Huddy’s lawyers had told the company that Mr. O’Reilly pursued a sexual relationship in 2011, at a time he exerted significant influence over her airtime. Among Ms. Huddy’s complaints was that he made inappropriate phone calls, the lawyers said in correspondence obtained by The Times. The letter said that when he tried to kiss her, she pulled away and fell to the ground and he didn’t help her up. When she rebuffed him, he tried to blunt her career prospects, the letter said. Ms. Huddy was eventually moved to an early morning show on WNYW, an affiliate station, where she worked until she left the company in September. Before Ms. Huddy reached an agreement with 21st Century Fox, Mr. Newman, Mr. O’Reilly’s lawyer, sent a letter to her lawyer outlining some embarrassing personal issues he said Ms. Huddy had. He stated that she would “face significant credibility concerns if she tries to pursue a claim against Mr. O’Reilly. ” The letter, which was obtained by The Times, said that if she were to follow through with a claim against Mr. O’Reilly, he would pursue legal action “to hold Ms. Huddy, and all who have assisted her, personally liable for any damage suffered by him or his family. ” In January, when The Times and others reported on Ms. Huddy’s settlement, representatives for Fox News and Mr. O’Reilly dismissed the allegations. Fox News is now in a legal battle with Ms. Tantaros, the former personality who is suing the network and Mr. Ailes after turning down a settlement offer of nearly $1 million. Mr. O’Reilly is not a defendant, but in the suit Ms. Tantaros said that in early 2016 Mr. O’Reilly had asked “her to come to stay with him on Long Island where it would be ‘very private,’” and told her “on more than one occasion that he could ‘see [her] as a wild girl,’” according to court documents. In an affidavit filed under oath, Ms. Tantaros’s psychologist, Michele Berdy, who treated her from 2013 to 2016, said she recalled “a number of occasions when Andrea complained to me about recurring unwanted advances from Bill O’Reilly. ” Fox News said it investigated Ms. Tantaros’s claims and found them baseless. The company explained her departure by saying she published a book that violated company policy. In court papers, the network said that she “is not a victim she is an opportunist” and that her allegations bore “all the hallmarks of the wannabe. ” Ms. Walsh, the former guest on “The O’Reilly Factor,” told The Times she was propositioned by Mr. O’Reilly in 2013 but did not lodge a complaint because she did not want to harm her career prospects. Ms. Walsh said that she met Mr. O’Reilly for a dinner, arranged by his secretary, at the restaurant in the Hotel in Los Angeles. During the dinner, she said, he told her he was friends with Mr. Ailes, and promised to make her a network contributor — a job that can pay several hundred thousand dollars a year. After dinner, she said, Mr. O’Reilly invited her to his hotel suite. Ms. Walsh said she declined. Trying to remain cordial, she suggested that they go to the hotel bar instead. Once there, she said, he became hostile, telling her that she could forget any career advice he had given her and that she was on her own. He also told her that her black leather purse was ugly. Ms. Walsh continued to appear on his show for about four months, but she said she sensed that he had become cold toward her on camera. Then, a producer for “The O’Reilly Factor” told Ms. Walsh that she would no longer appear on the show. She was never made a contributor. “I knew my hopes of a career at Fox News were in jeopardy after that evening,” said Ms. Walsh, now an adjunct professor of psychology at California State University, Channel Islands, and a radio host at KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles. A person briefed on the network’s decision said that Ms. Walsh was removed from the broadcast because the program’s ratings declined during her segments. Ms. Mackris, the producer who sued Mr. O’Reilly in 2004, never worked in television news again. In the years after the dispute, she suffered from stress and spent years seeing a therapist, struggling to figure out how to create a new life, according to interviews with people close to her at the time. Ms. Mackris’s settlement prevents her from talking about Fox News and her dispute with Mr. O’Reilly, according to people briefed on the deal. But she is allowed to talk about her life now. Today, Ms. Mackris lives with her cats in an condo in her hometown, St. Louis, where she keeps bowls of colorful gumballs on tabletops. Her family is close by. She has traveled the world, volunteered, returned to school, discovered prayer and meditation, and started writing. She is working on a book she researched and wrote over the past four years about a woman who fled Romania during World War II. “A few years ago, I heard about a pair of natural pearl earrings forgotten in a drawer for 35 years that had just sold for millions at auction,” Ms. Mackris said. “They’d been given to a woman named Elena Lupescu by the king of Romania who ruled up until World War II, and I was immediately and completely taken by her story. ” “She lived in exile,” Ms. Mackris continued. “She lived in silence. And I got really curious about three things: How did she live with it all? Did she forgive them? And was she free?” At Fox News, Mr. O’Reilly has continued his dominance. In the months since the presidential election, as the network has pulled in record ratings, his show has averaged 3. 9 million viewers a night, according to Nielsen. Since September, he has released three books, including one for children, adding to his growing publishing empire. And in February, Mr. O’Reilly landed a coveted interview with President Trump before the Super Bowl. Mr. O’Reilly was an early defender of Mr. Ailes and Fox News during that sexual harassment scandal last summer. His support remained resolute into the fall, after the company had reached agreements to settle the harassment claims from Ms. Huddy and Ms. Dhue. In November, he chided Megyn Kelly, his colleague at the time, after she described being sexually harassed by Mr. Ailes in her memoir. “If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance,” he said on his nightly show, without mentioning Ms. Kelly by name. “You don’t like what’s happening in the workplace, go to human resources or leave. ” | 0fake |
Nico Rosberg Takes Formula One Drivers’ Title Despite Lewis Hamilton’s Win in Abu Dhabi - The New York Times | ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Lewis Hamilton may have won the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday, and he may have won 10 races this season compared to nine victories for his Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg. But Rosberg, who finished the race in second place, not only won the 2016 world drivers’ championship, having earned 5 points more than Hamilton this year, but he also proved that he deserved that title, and above all, that it is still possible in the cutthroat world of modern Formula One to win with the style and grace of a gentleman. After conceding the drivers’ title to Hamilton during the past two seasons, and even losing when they were teammates in as children, Rosberg finally beat his nemesis. “It feels like I’ve been racing him forever,” Rosberg said of Hamilton. “He has always managed to just edge me out and get the title, even when we were small in . He’s an amazing driver and one of the best in history, so it’s unbelievably special to beat him because the level is so high. ” It was not just the manner in which Rosberg succeeded, and his generosity in praising his teammate, but also the contrasting style with which Hamilton lost the title, that defined this final duel of the 2016 season. With just 12 points between them before the race, and Rosberg leading the series, Hamilton, who started from the pole position — with Rosberg starting second — had to win the race and hope that Rosberg failed to finish second or third. There was widespread speculation before the race that Hamilton would use dirty tactics by trying to hold his lead to the first corner, and then drive slowly in order to force Rosberg into a battle with the drivers who were behind him — notably those from Red Bull and Ferrari, who started from third to sixth. “That’s not really ever been my thought process,” Hamilton said before the race, adding that it “wouldn’t be very easy or wise to do so. ” But it was exactly what Hamilton did, driving at one point as much as nine seconds slower per lap than he had in qualifying for the pole, and despite his Mercedes engineer regularly telling him to speed up as the team feared it could lose the victory. But even before that point, Rosberg had also fallen victim early in the race to another similar tactic from a competing team, after Max Verstappen in one of the Red Bull cars moved ahead of him after his pit stop, and Verstappen slowed to block Rosberg and help the other Red Bull driver, Daniel Ricciardo, to catch up from behind Rosberg. At that point, Rosberg had to contemplate that he might end up behind both of the Red Bull drivers, with Hamilton winning the race and the title. “The feelings out there in the battle with Max, unreal,” said Rosberg, looking both emotionally and physically exhausted. “I hope I don’t experience that many times again. ” He then proved what a gutsy and precise driver he is when his engineer told him that he absolutely had to pass Verstappen as soon as possible. He did so with a brilliant and brave move on Lap 20 of the race, despite the knowledge that Verstappen has been criticized all season as a dangerous and unpredictable driver to pass. Rosberg then set several fastest laps of the race and caught up to Hamilton again, showing that he was in full control of his car and himself. But a bigger trial lay ahead in the final laps of the race: As predicted, with Rosberg less than a second behind him, Hamilton drove as slowly as he could in order to push Rosberg into Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari, who was catching him, and Verstappen. Hamilton’s engineer continuously requested he speed up. But Hamilton kept his car as slow as possible, even answering, for an employee of a racing team, insubordinately. “Right now, I’m losing the world championship,” Hamilton said with two laps remaining. “So I’m not bothered if I’m going to lose the race. ” Rosberg had a card of his own to play, of course, had he decided to act like drivers such as Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher in similar situations in the 1980s and 1990s, who all settled titles with knockout crashes into their own teammates. But before the race, Rosberg had said he would only do everything within the rules to win. And after the race, he said he never considered trying to pass in unrealistic circumstances. There was a certain justice that dawned after the race about Hamilton’s tactic, as Vettel repeated twice that he could not have made an attempt to pass Rosberg because Hamilton was actually too close in front of Rosberg, and any leap past Rosberg might send Vettel into a collision with Hamilton’s car. Under immense pressure throughout the season, Rosberg did everything he had to do to hold his advantage — Hamilton led the series for a period of only four midseason races — and Rosberg did so despite Hamilton’s efforts, both in words and on the track, to impose his will. Paddy Lowe, the technical director of the Mercedes team, explained why he felt there was no question that Rosberg deserved to win the title. “For me, it’s about not just winning races, it’s about sustaining that energy, sustaining that commitment, sustaining that nerve throughout a championship,” Lowe said. “And it all came down to this race today, and he did it, and that is the mark of a real world champion. ” But it was Rosberg’s own contrasting, and worthy, behavior that impressed the most. Despite Hamilton’s tactics on Sunday, and the media grilling them both over its ethical merits, Rosberg refused to say a bad word against Hamilton. “You can understand the team’s perspective, and you can understand Lewis’s perspective — so that’s it,” said Rosberg, closing the debate. Hamilton, however, was unrepentant. “I don’t think what I did was dangerous, so I don’t think I did anything unfair,” Hamilton said. “We are fighting for a championship, so I controlled the pace. That’s the rules. ” It was all a stark contrast to the early years of the series, when it was possible for one driver to hand his car to another driver of the same team, as Peter Collins did for Juan Manuel Fangio in 1956 in the final race, handing his own chance at winning his first title to Fangio, who ended up claiming his fourth. But Rosberg has perhaps learned his lessons from a driver from another age as well, as he became only the second son of a Formula One world champion — after Graham and Damon Hill — to win the title himself. His father, Kéké, won the title while driving for the Williams team in 1982, and after only a single victory that season. “I hope my dad survived that race,” Rosberg said of his victory. “I haven’t seen him yet. I’m sure it was pretty intense for him, so I hope he’s O. K. ” | 0fake |
WATCH: Trump Displays Wide Smirk As Heckler Calls Him ‘Putin’s B*tch’ During Rally | This truth doesn t hurt Donald Trump, it amuses him.That s probably why he flashed a smile after a heckler at a Kissimmee, Florida campaign rally on Thursday called the Republican nominee Putin s b*tch over his ties to Russian oligarchs.Trump paused during his speech after someone in the audience drew his attention and yelled You love Russia. You re Putin s b*tch, before being escorted out of the building by security as Trump said goodbye to the unidentified man several times.A few seconds later Trump asked, Where the hell did he come from? Here s the video via YouTube:I don t know where the heckler came from but I know why he called Trump Putin s b*tch. Donald Trump has borrowed a lot of money from his Russian business pals and they just so happen to be close with Russian President Vladamir Putin. So, let s just say Trump owes them and if he can t pay them back with money, becoming president would give him the power to pay them back in other ways. You know, like lifting sanctions placed on the Russians after they attacked Ukraine, like Trump advisor Carter Page suggested earlier this year, or weakening NATO so that Russia can continue their aggressive stance, or softening the Republican Party s condemnation of Russia s attack on Ukraine which Trump actually fought to make part of the GOP platform.In short, Trump would essentially be Putin s puppet. And it s not like Russia and Putin have not been enthusiastic about this prospect seeing as how Putin directed state media to tout Trump s campaign and Russian hackers broke into the DNC in what amounts to a cyber-Watergate in an effort to hurt Democrats by giving Trump fodder to use to attack Democrats.So the heckler at Trump s rally was absolutely right to call him Putin s b*tch. And Trump could only smirk because deep down he knows it s true.Featured Image: Screenshot | 1real |
John Anderson, liberal Republican who challenged Reagan, dies at 95 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - John Anderson, a former Republican congressman who challenged the party’s conservative drift by taking on its chief symbol, Ronald Reagan, and ran for president as an independent in 1980, died on Sunday. He was 95. Anderson had been ill for some time, family friend Dan Johnson told Reuters in a telephone interview. Anderson’s wife, Keke, and his daughter Diane were at his side when he died in Washington, Diane Anderson said by phone. Anderson finished a distant third with almost 7 percent of the vote in the 1980 presidential election but gave almost 6 million voters an alternative to the conservative Reagan - who won the election - and the unpopular Democratic president, Jimmy Carter. But Anderson did not win a single precinct and political analysts said he ultimately may have contributed to Reagan’s electoral landslide by taking votes from Carter. Anderson’s first venture into politics came in 1956 when he was elected as a state attorney in Illinois. In 1960, he won the first of 10 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives running as a conservative. He later moved to the left, breaking with conservatives in 1968 by voting for a bill to outlaw racial discrimination in housing. Anderson served as chairman of the House Republican Conference for the next 10 years even as he became more critical of Republican President Richard Nixon, especially on his handling of the Vietnam War. He was one of the first Republican House members to call for Nixon’s resignation over the Watergate scandal. “He’s the smartest guy in Congress, but he insists on voting his conscience instead of party,” Republican U.S. Representative Gerald Ford, who later become president, said of Anderson in 1973. In 1980, with Carter low in the opinion polls and his administration mired in the Iran hostage crisis, many Republicans, including Anderson, jumped into the party’s presidential primaries for a chance to oppose the Democrat in the November election. Reagan, who had come close to winning the Republican presidential nomination in 1976, quickly moved to the front of the race, with his main opponent being former U.N. Ambassador George H.W. Bush. Anderson dropped out of the Republican primaries in the spring of 1980 and announced he was running as an independent. When he entered the race, he was enthusiastically greeted as an alternative to the major parties, getting around 25 percent support in at least one poll. But his poll numbers began sliding, even though he was seen as having bested Reagan in surveys after a televised debate with the Republican presidential nominee. Carter boycotted that debate and refused to face Reagan if Anderson was included. Carter finally agreed to a debate with Reagan shortly before the election, when the sponsoring League of Women Voters agreed not to invite Anderson. Four years later, Anderson’s break with conservative Republicans was complete and he supported Democratic presidential nominee Walter Mondale, who lost to Reagan in a landslide. Born in Rockford, Illinois, on Feb. 15, 1922, Anderson was educated at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Harvard Law School. He served in the Second World War and joined the foreign service, stationed in Germany, his family said in a statement. After his presidential defeat, Anderson became a visiting professor at various universities, wrote extensively and served on many boards including FairVote, a voting rights organization formerly known as the Center for Voting and Democracy. In the 2000 presidential election, Anderson was seen as a possible presidential candidate for the Reform Party founded by Texas billionaire Ross Perot, but he ended up endorsing Ralph Nader. Diane Anderson said her father believed the two-party system was broken and was appalled by what happened with the Republican Party. “Everything he wanted to prevent unfortunately came to pass,” she said. | 0fake |
Nordic Genius and the Central Heat Theorem | Nordic Genius and the Central Heat Theorem Adventures in Genetics Email This Page to Someone Your Name
Today I will explain how civilization happened, to the extent that there has been any civilization to happen, or that it can be explained, and where stuff comes from, and who done what, and why. Afterward there will be no more to say on the subject. You will hear doors slamming across the nation as university departments shut down.
Now, history is littered knee-deep with literature, and art, and inventions, like gum on the underside of a theater seat. Inventions are pretty important for civilization. Where did these inventions come from? Well, there’s a group of people who clutter up the web and say that it was North Europeans. Yes. See, it’s genetic. These pale people invented everything. Nobody else did, especially Latins. It’s because northerners have creativity, and nobody else else can. The Chinese copy stuff pretty fair, and make little paper umbrellas for expensive drinks, but can’t invent. Latins can’t either. Only North Europeans.
This seemed a bit smug since, curiously, most who believed this seemed to be North Europeans. A coincidence, doubtless. Anyway, being as I am a self-appointed defender of things Latin and tired of unending nonsense on the matter, I set out to investigate. Has anybody else, I asked, ever contributed to the dim world of the mind? Even, perish forbid, Latins?
No.
After many months of arduous research, I had to concede: Damn! It was true! North Europeans really did own intellectual history. Nobody had ever approached their creativity. It was undeniable. The pattern went back a long, long way. To wit:
In the mid-Fourth Millennium BC, North Europeans in Sumeria–widely believed to be Finns, but the evidence is inconclusive–invented writing. Yes. It was later invented independently by other North Europeans, notably the Chinese and Mesoamerican Indians.
Latin peoples in particular have no creativity. The evidence supports this: Four thousand years after the Finns in Sumeria, the Latin peoples of Denmark finally succeeded, sort of 750 AD, in writing down Beowulf (real name: Beowulf Gonzalez) though in crude language and using a script stolen from North European Phoenicians. Such are Latins.
Northern Europeans of the Fifth Century BC in Athens produced Archimedes Jones and Aristotle Schwartz. This Nordic flowering continued. North Europeans of the Roman Empire invented engineering, or at least greatly improved on what the Finns of Sumeria had done. After this, Northern European Italians produced the Renaissance. Latin peoples could not have done it, because they lack creativity.
There is no need here to recapitulate the intellectual achievements of Michelangelo Hofstedter, Da Vinci Frankfurter, or Benvenuto Cellini Thor.
Perseus, by Cellini Thor, a Florentine North European born 1500 and apparent misogynist. The Nordic genius is evident in the…in the…the derivation is left as an exercise for the reader.
Now we ask, why did North Europe produce Teutonic geniuses like Galileo Schwartz? What makes one civilization flourish while another remains covered in snow? After profound thought I concluded that to have a civilization one chiefly needs heat and moisture. This is true also of the more interesting tropical plants, such as orchids.
Consider: The Sumerians got a head start on everybody because they lived in a tremendously hot climate with two big two rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. They didn’t have to spend all their time looking for firewood and shoveling snow. Compare this with, say, Norway. While the North Europeans of sweltering, rainy India were writing the Gita, the Norwegians huddled around fires and shivered.
It can be shown that as you go north in Europe, the rise of intellectual achievement closely tracks the spread of central heating. This is the Central Heat Theorem. (Not to be confused with the Central Limit Theorem, which I thought says that if you throw enough coins enough times, the bar graph converges to a Gaussian. But it may say something else.)
An article of faith among the North European claque is that peoples in colder climes are smarter than sun dwellers because. See, they had to evolve enough intelligence to remember that it got cold in the winter and they should put food somewhere. (I suspect that a cocker spaniel could do this, but never mind.) Anyway, the dumb ones froze because they couldn’t remember to come in where the fire was and it was warm. The rest bred hard because there was nothing else to do and evolved to be smart.
Another way of looking at the question: anyone witless enough to live where it snows would start with a large IQ deficit to evolve against.
In reality we see that human advance follows the Central Heat Theorem. The Esquimaux, good Asians all, have water, when they can melt it, but not heat, so they never contrived a civilization. Amerindians in places like Montana had water and some heat in the summers, but they froze in winter which discouraged them–it would me. Indians of the southern deserts had heat, heaven knows, but no water. No civilization to speak of.
But the Indians of Mesoamerica, both warm and moist, built elaborate civilizations, invented writing, and number systems. See? It’s like orchid botany.
After the Nordic Renaissance in Italy, civilization of the European variety moved to France. (You can tell that France is a Northern European culture, not an inferior Latin one, because the French speak German.)
At this point the North Europe of today, for practical purposes meaning Germany and England, kicked in. These two counties and the United States finally did produce a tremendous amount of civilization, including most math and literature and the singing commercial, though they can’t dance, and pretty much run the show today. Better late than never. Much is owed to such northern mathematicians as Fibonacci, Galois, Laplace, Lagrange, and Fermat.
I know that if I suggested that Latins had contributed anything to the arts and sciences, I would be called wrong-headed, racist, or a reverse-racist, or didn’t understand genetics, or something. Perish forbid. (From the Merriam-Fredster Dictionary: “racist”: observant, truthful, characterized by reason.) Yet, even though the evidence is against me–such monumental Germanic writers as Virgil, Dante, Machiavelli, Juvenal, and Cellini Thor himself cannot be denied–I stubbornly insist that Latins must have contributed something to civilization. The ablative absolute maybe, or tomato paste.
Fred is reachable at jetpossum-readers@yahoo.com. Put “pdq” in the subject line of your email will be heartlessly autodeleted. Lack of response usually due to volume, not bad manners. (Reprinted from Fred on Everything by permission of author or representative) | 1real |
Republican Senator Corker says he will support tax bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator Bob Corker, a staunch fiscal hawk who has been a critic of emerging tax legislation, said on Friday he will support the sweeping tax overhaul that Republicans hope to approve next week. “I have decided to support the tax reform package we will vote on next week,” Corker, who had expressed concerned about the bill’s impact on the federal deficit, said in a statement released on Twitter. The details of the legislation are expected to be released later on Friday, with votes expected in the Senate and House of Representatives next Tuesday. | 0fake |
Pope Francis: ‘Let Us Pray for Babies in Danger of Being Aborted’ | On Italy’s annual Day for Life, Pope Francis pledged his support for the movement, urging Christians to pray for unborn children in danger of being aborted. [After his weekly Angelus prayer Sunday in Saint Peter’s Square, the pontiff said that he joined the Italian Bishops in “supporting bold educational action in favor of human life. Every life is sacred!” “Let us promote the culture of life in response to the logic of disposability and a declining population,” he said. “Let us join together and pray for babies who are in danger of being aborted, as well as for people who are at the end of life. All life is sacred!” he said. “Let no one be left alone and may love defend the meaning of life. ” Pope Francis has been a vocal critic of abortion, calling it a “horrendous crime,” similar to Mafia murders and the slaughter of the innocents by King Herod 2000 years ago. The Pope also quoted Mother Teresa on Sunday, whom he declared to be a saint last September: “Life is beauty, admire it life is life, defend it!” before adding, “both for the child about to be born, and the person who is close to death: all life is sacred!” In last fall’s canonization ceremony, Pope Francis stressed Mother Teresa’s commitment to the poorest of the poor, especially unborn children threatened by abortion. “Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy,” the Pope said in his homily before the more than 100, 000 people overflowing Saint Peter’s Square, “making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded. ” “She was committed to defending life, ceaselessly proclaiming that ‘the unborn are the weakest, the smallest, the most vulnerable,’” he added. On Sunday, Francis sent a special greeting to all who work for causes, with his wish “that they may be capable of building a society that is welcoming and worthy for every person. ” Follow Thomas D. Williams on Twitter Follow @tdwilliamsrome | 0fake |
Even Doctors Are Surprised: This Recipe Renews The Knees And Joints! | Share on Facebook Experts claim that the improper body posture is the major cause of problems and pain in the joints, legs, and back. Such issues may cause even more complications, so they need to be treated on time. This natural remedy restores the proper function of knees and joints and enhances the structure of bones and ameliorates their consistency. This is how to prepare this gelatin treatment: Ingredients: 2 tablespoons of unflavoured gelatin (40 grams) 8 teaspoons flaxseeds | 1real |
Insider Leaks Bill’s 2-Word Nickname For Hillary, Exposes Dirty Bad Habits | Email
No wonder Bill went elsewhere to fulfill his “sexual addiction,” as Dolly referred to it. After all, what else can you do when you’re married to a stinky woman who doesn’t shower and isn’t attracted to men anyways? Although an affair is never justified, it’s easy to sympathize with Bill on this one. But, I digress.
The bigger point here is what the two are willing to do in order to remain in power. Most people know that you can’t trust Hillary as far as you can throw her – which isn’t very far – so the fact that she has any supporters is beyond baffling at this point. This woman is corrupt and fake to the core. Let’s just hope all of America wakes up to this reality before it’s too late and she can do any more damage than she already has.
Bill and Hillary Clinton just can’t stay out of the spotlight these days, and the most recent leak about them could be the most damaging yet. As it turns out, someone once close to the duo just came forward to share Bill’s revealing nickname for his wife — but the worse comes as their dirty bedroom habits were exposed.
It’s no mystery that Bill Clinton is a sexual deviant, but the most recent account given by the woman who had a 3-decade affair with the man is damning, to say the least. According to an exclusive interview given to Mail Online, Dolly Kyle was behind the scene’s long enough to not only know the two’s darkest secrets but even their dirty sexual habits – and now, she’s telling everyone.
The connection between Dolly and Bill began when she was just 11-years-old. He was about 13-years-old at the time, but Dolly states that there was an immediate attraction, even then. As the years progressed, the two became romantically involved and stayed that way through several of their marriages over the next 30 years.
The real affair began in 1974 just after Dolly divorced her first husband, and although Bill wasn’t married yet, he would be within the year. Although she was never interested in sharing the intimate details of the relationship, she states that she snapped when she heard Hillary recently say that all sexual assault victims have the “right to be believed.”
Knowing full well just what Hillary had done – between the threats and the lies – to the many women who either had an affair with or were sexually assaulted by her husband Bill, Dolly knew she had to do something about it. Unfortunately for Hillary, Dolly is now coming forward with the dirty 2-word nickname Bill husband once called Hillary, among other things.
According to Mail Online, Bill approached Dolly at their high school’s 35-year reunion to talk about “ the warden” – a.k.a. Hillary. Saying he was unhappy with his life and marriage, this was the least significant account Dolly had to share.
In fact, Dolly recalls that Bill mentioned something about having a baby to her. Although she thought he was saying he wanted to have one with her, he was actually talking about Hillary. He wanted to put to bed the rumors that Hillary was a lesbian, even though everyone in their hometown already knew it to be true.
Dolly states that the worst came when she met Hillary for the first time. “In that moment I noticed that the woman emitted an overpowering [body] odor of perspiration and greasy hair. I hoped that I wouldn’t gag when she got in my car,” she said. “The sandal-shod woman with lank, smelly hair stood off to the side and glared at everyone.”
No wonder Bill went elsewhere to fulfill his “sexual addiction,” as Dolly referred to it. After all, what else can you do when you’re married to a stinky woman who doesn’t shower and isn’t attracted to men anyways? Although an affair is never justified, it’s easy to sympathize with Bill on this one. But, I digress.
The bigger point here is what the two are willing to do in order to remain in power. Most people know that you can’t trust Hillary as far as you can throw her – which isn’t very far – so the fact that she has any supporters is beyond baffling at this point. This woman is corrupt and fake to the core. Let’s just hope all of America wakes up to this reality before it’s too late and she can do any more damage than she already has. | 1real |
Kellyanne Conway Just Earned ‘Leaker’ Label, And She May Have Thrown Trump To The Wolves (TWEETS) | The entire Trump White House is all about cracking down on leaks that make them look bad, but perhaps Kellyanne Conway didn t get that memo. At a party on Friday night, Politico reports that she was overheard making a series of less-than-savory comments about a few things to reporters, including something Trump told her about James Comey and whether tapes of his conversations in the White House exist. Someone at the party overheard and created a Twitter account to document the exchanges.The account is called @KellyanneLeaks, and the conversations took place at the British Embassy during their election night party. One of the things she said, according to @KellyanneLeaks, was this:She said Trump told her to say Jim Comey will have to wait and see about the tapes ; she added I chose to convert that to no comment' 3/ Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017It sounds like Trump was trying to get her to intimidate Comey on his behalf, because apparently he hasn t already tried that enough already. I chose to convert that to no comment, refers to her actual statement that she could not comment on the tapes, and that Trump wouldn t comment any further, either.The White House was not exactly pleased about what Comey said to the Senate on Thursday, and Trump himself wasted little time in calling Comey a liar while also saying his testimony was vindicating. His lawyer has sent a complaint to the Department of Justice over Comey s leaked memo, which just makes their whole position worse. And here s Kellyanne Conway, admittedly speaking to reporters off the record, but still discussing with members of the press something Trump told her that she ultimately refused to say. She and her big mouth may still have gotten Trump in more trouble than he s already in.She also took aim at White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, making fun of the way he talks and what he chooses to be upset about:She had a good/cruel riff mocking @Reince45 in WH staff meetings. No leaks guuuys she said, mimicking him in a dopey voice. Seriously 5/ Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017 He should just be honest: I m upset because there s someone working on a story who pronounces it RAYNSE instead of REINCE.' 6/ Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017The funny thing is, @KellyanneLeaks points out something quite obvious. If Trump & Co. are serious about cracking down on leaks, they should look a little closer to home than James Comey:Trump/Pence people are a bit sloppy and fratricidal; what else is new. But if 45 wonders who the leakers are https://t.co/TkUmw3EzTR Kellyanne Leaks (@KellyanneLeaks) June 9, 2017Of course, after this came out, Sean Spicer came to Conway s defense and says she denied everything. She wasn t making fun of Reince Priebus, for instance, she was making fun of reporters and the news media about how wrong they tend to get things. Yet, according to Politico, two other sources confirmed @KellyanneLeaks version of events.So she may well have just thrown her boss under the wheels of a bus.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
Jupiter's stripes go deep, and other surprises from NASA's Juno probe | Thu, 20 Oct 2016 20:46 UTC © NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/GSFC This composite image depicts Jupiter's cloud formations as seen through the eyes of Juno's microwave radiometer (MWR) instrument as compared to the top layer, a Cassini imaging science subsystem image of the planet. The MWR can see a couple of hundred miles into Jupiter's atmosphere with the instrument's largest antenna. The belts and bands visible on the surface are also visible in modified form in each layer below. Jupiter's stripes are more than skin deep, according to observations by NASA's Juno probe, which has revealed many new surprises about the Jovian giant. Juno arrived at the Jupiter system in July. On Aug. 27, the probe made a close flyby of the planet, during which, the science team was supposed to calibrate Juno's instruments and get familiar with the intense environment around Jupiter, according to Juno principal investigator Scott Bolton. But the encounter proved more fruitful than expected. Jupiter's bold, colorful stripes are clouds, and optical light can't penetrate them to see what's underneath. However, Juno is carrying microwave instruments that can each probe those clouds to different depths; together, these instruments can effectively peel back the clouds like layers of an onion. An artist's impression based on the microwave data reveals a striking feature: Some of the stripes are visible deep into the cloud layers. "The structure of the zones and belts still exists deep down," Bolton said during a news conference at the 2016 meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Division for Planetary Sciences. "So whatever's making those colors, whatever's making those stripes, is still existing pretty far down into Jupiter. That came as a surprise to many of the scientists. We didn't know if this was [just] skin-deep." The new images penetrate to depths of about 200 to 250 miles (350 to 400 kilometers) below the surface cloud layer, Bolton said. He noted that the bands seen on the cloud tops are not identical to the bands seen in the subsequent layers, although there is clearly a strong similarity. "They're evolving. They're not staying the same," Bolton said. The finding "hints [at] the deep dynamics and the chemistry of Jupiter's atmosphere. And this is the first time we've seen any giant planet atmosphere underneath its layers. So we're learning about atmospheric dynamics at a very basic level." Another breathtaking result came from the JunoCam , a visible-light camera that is being used for public outreach. The instrument took a snapshot of Jupiter's terminator line, or the place where night turns to day. As is the case with viewing the moon's terminator line, the change in light casts shadows, allowing viewers to see many features in three dimensions (like being able to see the depth of craters on the moon). In the Juno photo, scientists spotted a cyclone rising above the main atmospheric layer. The storm appears to be about 52 miles (85 km) tall and about 4,300 miles (7,000 km) wide, which is more than half the width of the Earth. © NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Alex Mai The sunlit part of Jupiter was created by a citizen scientist (Alex Mai) using data from Juno's JunoCam instrument. JunoCam's raw images are available at www.missionjuno.swri.edu/junocam for the public to peruse and process into image products. The first flyby also demonstrated that scientists have a lot to learn about what's happening inside Jupiter, the researchers said. The Juno team discovered that very close to the planet, Jupiter's magnetic field, its auroras and its gravitational field (that is, the characteristics of the planet's gravity at different points in space) all provided surprises. The auroras on Jupiter, which were first spotted by the Hubble Space Telescope, are not unlike the northern and southern lights that flash in the polar skies on Earth. But the data collected by Juno on Aug. 27 has thrown into question the models scientists had for Jupiter's auroras. "Nothing about the aurora that we measured on Aug. 27 was as expected," Bolton said during a talk at the meeting. The probe flew over the auroras with multiple instruments turned on, but "the things we expected to see weren't there, and things we didn't expect were there. "We're sort of sorting it out," Bolton said. "We've certainly got a mission of discovery [with regard to] the aurora and understanding that complex system." In addition, measurements of the planet's magnetic field matched planetary models fairly well as Juno sped toward Jupiter. But in the last few minutes before the probe reached its closest point of approach to the planet, the data drastically diverged from the predictions, showing that the magnetic field was much stronger than expected, Bolton said. That implies that the internal magnetic field is "much more complex than people thought" he said. But, of course, Bolton noted, no probe has ever come this close to Jupiter before, and the purpose of the Juno mission is to gather data that will put models like those to the test. More surprises came from preliminary measurements of Jupiter's gravitational field (that is, the strength and direction of the planet's gravity at different points in space). Bolton said the Juno team members who made initial models of the planet's internal gravity field "are already having to redo the field model" based on those early measurements. "The internal gravity field also holds a lot of guarded secrets that are going to help us understand Jupiter," he said. © NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRAM An infrared image of the southern aurora of Jupiter, captured by NASA's Juno spacecraft on Aug. 27, 2016. More science to come Juno's orbit around Jupiter isn't circular. Instead, the probe makes a loop that takes it right up next to the planet — to within 3,100 miles (5,000 km) of the cloud tops — and then far out into space, before looping back in for another close pass. Jupiter is surrounded by a donut-shaped ring of very intense radiation that could easily destroy most electronic equipment. Juno, with its unique orbit, does a thread-the-needle maneuver, slipping between the planet and the radiation ring. Right now, Juno makes one orbit every 53 days. Juno was scheduled to fire its engines on Oct. 19 and reduce its orbit to every 14 days. Because of a problem with the engine valves, the Juno team has delayed that engine firing until the issue can be diagnosed. Juno is still able to complete its science mission if it stays in the 53-day orbit, Bolton said. | 1real |
MILO Announces New Media Venture - Breitbart | Former Breitbart Senior Editor MILO has announced the founding of his new $12 million dollar media company, MILO, Inc. [In a Facebook post, MILO outlined his new business plan and the $12 million investment funding that it has received from undisclosed investors. He has reportedly hired a seasoned media executive to lead the new team that will be based out of Miami, Florida. The new company will manage MILO‘s books, tours, merchandise and radio and TV opportunities. In a statement, MILO said, “This isn’t some vanity nameplate on a personal blog. This is a fully talent factory and management company dedicated to the destruction of political correctness and the progressive left. I will spend every waking moment of the rest of my life making the lives of journalists, professors, politicians, feminists, Black Lives Matter activists and other professional victims a living hell. Free speech is back — and it is fabulous. ” The statement also outlined MILO’s plans for free speech week at Berkeley, “MILO will release more details about Free Speech Week, his book, DANGEROUS, his new tour and the media company at a “Cinco de Milo” party in Florida on May 5, with occasional updates between now and then on how fans and enemies can see, hear, and read his work. ” MILO also clarified the current status of the Privilege Grant, “MILO‘s charity, the Yiannopoulos Privilege Grant, recently announced the 10 recipients of its pilot grant program. Each recipient will receive $2, 500 towards his higher education. A second grant will occur in the second half of 2017. Please visit privilegegrant. for more information. ” MILO said, “MILO, Inc. will bring laughter and war to every corner of America in dozens of different formats. I will fight harder and look hotter than anyone else on the political right. And I will do more damage to the political left than anyone else in American culture. ” Read the full Facebook post here. Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart. com | 0fake |
Someone Added Up The Money The Rich Have In Offshore Accounts — Prepare To Vomit | You ve heard about those offshore accounts the wealthy use as tax shelters, right? The Cayman Islands, Switzerland, the Bank of Evil from Despicable Me The super-rich have been funneling their assets away from their respective countries and into these havens for decades, avoiding paying their fair share while the middle and working class watch recessions happen and markets crash, powerless to save even their retirement funds.While it s impossible to know exactly to the dime how much money the greedy feel they need to hide, a study was conducted by James Henry, former chief economist at the consultancy McKinsey and a leading authority on tax havens and offshoring. It was commissioned by Tax Justice Network, a British activist group.Buckle up, you re about to hit a wall of are you f*cking kidding me?!? According to the study, one-thousandth of the world s population are hiding $21 trillion from being taxed, an amount equal to the gross domestic product of the United States and Japan combined. Those numbers have almost certainly increased, as the study was performed in 2012. Henry estimated that if the sum of those accounts earned a simple 3 percent interest rate, they are saving the wealthy nearly $200 billion per year in taxes just on that interest income.What s more disturbing is that the cash itself is enough to rid the world of debt. The problem here is that the assets of these countries are held by a small number of wealthy individuals while the debts are shouldered by the ordinary people of these countries through their governments, said the report. 92,000 people hold the bulk of the wealth for all 7.4 billion of us, and they aren t going to be sharing anytime soon.Their wealth is, as Henry states, protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy. Featured image from Tumblr | 1real |
How well-meaning political reformers are helping to elect President Trump | Each week, In Theory takes on a big idea in the news and explores it from a range of perspectives. This week, we’re talking about polarization in politics. Need a primer? Catch up here.
David Broockman is an assistant professor of political economy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Academic hand-wringing rarely changes political institutions. But political science researchers’ recent obsession with political polarization seems to be having some impact. These researchers argue that polarization has “put the nation at risk” and are championing reforms meant to stem it.
The remedies proposed are many — from reforming campaign finance to changing the primary system — and all share a common theme: By shifting more political power to everyday people, academics believe that extreme politicians would be encouraged to heed the public’s centrist demands.
The widespread view that citizens are more centrist than politicians seems obvious, but it’s actually misleading at best. And worse, it’s endangering our democracy.
Voters Are Not All Centrists
Most voters support some liberal policies and some conservative policies. Academics have long taken this as evidence of voters’ underlying centrism.
But just because voters are ideologically mixed does not mean they are centrists at heart. Many voters support a mix of extreme liberal policies (like taxing the rich at 90 percent) and extreme conservative policies (like deporting all undocumented immigrants). These voters only appear “centrist” on the whole by averaging their extreme views together into a single point on a liberal-conservative spectrum.
This makes those who celebrate voter centrism rather like the fabled statistician who drowned in a river that was 2 feet deep on average. Even if voters are centrist on average, they can be quite extreme on many particular issues.
The result? Reforms that empower voters may not push politicians further to the center — instead, they may encourage politicians to pander to extreme views popular among voters. Indeed, where they have been enacted, many changes that reformers favor — like public funding of elections and top-two primaries — have resulted in politicians doing just this. By seeking to further empower voters in the name of reducing polarization, well-meaning reformers may actually be encouraging dangerous extremism.
Political scientists and pundits alike argue that it would improve governance to devolve political power from the political elites who know the most about politics and policy to the voters who know the least. Polarization scholars hold these uninformed voters in the highest esteem because they look the most centrist on a left-right spectrum. They are also Donald Trump’s base.
Yes, you read that right. Political scientists have long exalted the centrist wisdom of those who now constitute some of Trump’s strongest supporters — the poorly educated authoritarian xenophobes who are attracted to a platform suffused with white supremacy, indulge in unapologetic nationalism and use violence to silence opponents. As commentator Jacob Weisberg has written, these extreme voters’ views are a mix of “wacko left and wacko right” — the key credential one needs to qualify as centrist by scholars’ most popular definition.
Trump’s popularity among these voters should have been no surprise. Their penchant for extremism on many issues has been visible in public polling for years. Indeed, it has been visible for decades: Modern public opinion research itself was founded scholars who had just witnessed World War II and had good reason to be fearful of mass publics’ extremist tendencies.
Yet despite our own country’s populist past, many scholars today resist acknowledging public extremism is even possible. (Reviewers of my research, for example, dismissed as simply too “doubtful” the idea that voters might have some views more extreme than those of elected officials.) A simple conceptual error has blinded them to the true character of the Trump coalition.
Dismissing the public’s susceptibility to extremism is not only naive — it is dangerous. With anti-majoritarian institutions like six-year terms for senators, the Founding Fathers empowered elites to serve as a check on unwise popular passions.
Reformers may find the Founding Fathers’ ideas outmoded. After all, if the public is a homogenous centrist mass, why be afraid of unchecked popular control?
Trump’s rise brings the founders’ wisdom into sharp focus. However, reformers have by now already eliminated nearly every institutional safeguard that would once have stood in Trump’s way to the Oval Office. In previous eras, party elites would be able to more easily foil his nomination at the Republican convention; financial contributions to his competitors would be less limited; and state legislators could have refused to pledge their state’s electoral votes to him. As with insurance plans canceled right before a catastrophe, the upside of these safeguards is only fully apparent when a demagogue like Trump is already doing damage.
This is not to say that elites always have innocent or correct intentions. Outright oligarchy is no better than outright direct democracy, and conservative elites may even have inadvertently abetted Trump’s rise. The point is that the Founding Fathers were right to allow elites and voters to serve as checks and balances on each other. Today’s reformers have altogether forgotten the merits of one side of this equation.
One reason scholars play down the benefits of allowing elites to serve the function the Founding Fathers envisioned is that they characterize today’s political elites as highly extreme. The empirical evidence for this view is also much flimsier than many realize. Today’s politicians strategically exaggerate their disagreements, but on many issues these disagreements are substantively small by historical standards. Indeed, where yawning disagreements existed 50 years ago around issues of trade, regulation, race, taxation, redistribution and foreign policy, there is now a Washington consensus on such matters to which both parties largely subscribe.
Today’s elites certainly take some extreme positions. But the prospect of President Trump does put the allegedly wholesale extremism of today’s elites in perspective. Trump seeks to shatter countless tenets of the Washington consensus in the name of shameless nationalism and overt xenophobia. If he gets his way, the United States would be plunged into a deep recession and millions of lives would be thrown into disarray. That is real extremism.
Students of polarization and pundits alike bemoan a “disconnect” between extreme elites and centrist voters, arguing that voters must urgently be empowered to resolve it. But what if voters would actually like to see today’s politicians become more extreme on many issues? What if many voters actually do, at the end of the day, agree with Trump? In that case, reforms that empower voters may have less appealing effects than supporters argue.
Advocates of reforms would be wise to consider this possibility as they upend centuries-old institutions in the name of democracy. Faithful representation of public opinion is scarcely the sole standard to which representative democracy aspires.
Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein: Republicans created dysfunction. Now they’re paying for it.
Dana Nelson: The growth of executive power has turned politics into war
Jim Marshall: Congress could reduce polarization. It has chosen not to.
Thomas Petri: Our government is messy — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t working
Alan I. Abramowitz: America today is two different countries. They don’t get along.
Jane Mansbridge: Three reasons political polarization is here to stay | 0fake |
As campaigns launch, poll finds GOP field stays tight | The recent formal entries into the Republican race by Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have stirred up the GOP field somewhat, but still, no clear leader has emerged. The new poll finds Jeb Bush has held on to the top spot among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, but Bush's edge is slight and there are multiple contenders for the nomination who could overtake him with just a small increase in support at the same time that some previously strong contenders have faded.
Overall, 17% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents back Bush for the GOP nomination, while 12% support Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Paul and Rubio stand at 11% each, with former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee at 9% and Cruz at 7%. Former neurosurgeon Ben Carson and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, both of whom placed second in CNN/ORC polls as recently as last fall, are now well behind the leader at 4% each.
Bush's edge in the nomination contest extends across several attributes viewed as key to winning the presidency. He is most often named as the candidate with the right experience to be president (27%), as the one with the best chance of beating the Democratic nominee in the general election next November (26%) and as the strongest leader in the large field of GOP contenders (21%). He is also more often seen as the candidate with the clearest vision for the country's future (19%), who cares the most about people like you (18%), and who most closely shares your values (19%).
On one metric, however, Bush has an emerging challenger. While 18% see Bush as the candidate who best represents the future of the Republican Party, the same share say fellow Floridian Rubio is the best representation of the GOP's future. Paul, at 10%, is the only other candidate in double digits on this question.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has said his decision to run for the Republican nomination will be based on two things: his family and whether he can lift America's spirit. His father and brother are former Presidents. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has created a political committee that will help him travel and raise money while he considers a 2016 bid. Additionally, billionaire businessman David Koch said in a private gathering in Manhattan this month that he wants Walker to be the next president, but he doesn't plan to back anyone in the primaries. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is establishing a committee to formally explore a White House bid. "If I run, my candidacy will be based on the idea that the American people are ready to try a dramatically different direction," he said in a news release provided to CNN on Monday, May 18 , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans looking to take back control of the government from billionaires. He first announced the run in an email to supporters early on the morning of Thursday, April 30. Sen. Bernie Sanders , an independent from Vermont who caucuses with Democrats, has said the United States needs a "political revolution" of working-class Americans looking to take back control of the government from billionaires. He first announced the run in an email to supporters early on the morning of Thursday, April 30. On March 2, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced the launch of an exploratory committee. The move will allow him to raise money that could eventually be transferred to an official presidential campaign and indicates he is on track with stated plans to formally announce a bid in May. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has said he'll make a decision about a presidential run sometime soon. A potential bid could focus on Graham's foreign policy stance. Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid Sunday, April 12, through a video message on social media. She continues to be considered the overwhelming front-runner among possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidates. Sen. Marco Rubio announced his bid for the 2016 presidency on Monday, April 13, a day after Hillary Clinton, with a rally in Florida. He's a Republican rising star from Florida who swept into office in 2010 on the back of tea party fervor. But his support of comprehensive immigration reform, which passed the Senate but has stalled in the House, has led some in his party to sour on his prospects. Lincoln Chafee, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat former governor and senator of Rhode Island, said he's running for president on Thursday, April 16, as a Democrat, but his spokeswoman said the campaign is still in the presidential exploratory committee stages. Jim Webb, the former Democratic senator from Virginia, is entertaining a 2016 presidential run. In January, he told NPR that his party has not focused on white, working-class voters in past elections. Vice President Joe Biden has twice before made unsuccessful bids for the Oval Office -- in 1988 and 2008. A former senator known for his foreign policy and national security expertise, Biden made the rounds on the morning shows recently and said he thinks he'd "make a good President." New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has started a series of town halls in New Hampshire to test the presidential waters, becoming more comfortable talking about national issues and staking out positions on hot topic debates. Rep. Paul Ryan, a former 2012 vice presidential candidate and fiscally conservative budget hawk, says he's keeping his "options open" for a possible presidential run but is not focused on it. Sen. Rand Paul officially announced his presidential bid on Tuesday, April 7, at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky. The tea party favorite probably will have to address previous controversies that include comments on civil rights, a plagiarism allegation and his assertion that the top NSA official lied to Congress about surveillance. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced his 2016 presidential bid on Monday, March 23, in a speech at Liberty University. The first-term Republican and tea party darling is considered a gifted orator and smart politician. He is best known in the Senate for his marathon filibuster over defunding Obamacare. Democrat Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor, released a "buzzy" political video in November 2013 in tandem with visits to New Hampshire. He also headlined a Democratic Party event in South Carolina, which holds the first Southern primary. Republican Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, announced in 2013 that he would not be seeking re-election, leading to speculation that he might mount a second White House bid. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a social conservative, gave Mitt Romney his toughest challenge in the nomination fight last time out and has made trips recently to early voting states, including Iowa and South Carolina. Political observers expect New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to yield to Hillary Clinton's run in 2016, fearing there wouldn't be room in the race for two Democrats from the Empire State. The poll suggests Rubio's campaign rollout has helped raise his profile in the party, boosting him into the top five in the overall race for the GOP nomination. But sustaining that momentum through the many campaign rollouts to come could be a challenge. Cruz's announcement raised his numbers among Tea Party backers, but he has shown little improvement elsewhere. Among tea party supporters, Cruz and Walker tie for the top slot at 15%, Rubio follows at 14%, Paul 12%, and Bush 11% with the rest in single digits. In a March CNN/ORC poll, Cruz had just 6% among Tea Party backers, Walker had 22%. Cruz and Walker's tea party strength seems to rest on their credentials as strong leaders, perhaps burnished by their high-profile stands on Obama's health care overhaul in the Senate and labor issues in Wisconsin, respectively: 21% of tea party Republicans call Cruz the strongest leader in the field, 16% say Walker is. The poll finds little sign of an announcement bump for Paul. In general, Republicans see Bush as the best possible candidate to match up against the Democratic nominee in 2016, but in hypothetical general election matchups against Clinton, Bush trails by a large margin, as do each of the other seven Republicans tested. RELATED: Ready to run Hillary Clinton tries again Marco Rubio fares best against the former first lady, trailing Clinton by 14 points, 55% to 41%. Bush trails Clinton by 17 points, 56% to 39%. Christie and Paul fall 19 points behind Clinton, each putting up 39% to Clinton's 58%. Huckabee, Walker, Carson and Cruz each trail Clinton by more than 20 points. Clinton declared her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president with a web video and promptly hit the road to Iowa and New Hampshire. Her campaign begins in an extremely strong position among Democrats nationwide: nearly 7 in 10 Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents support her. Overall, 69% back the former secretary of state over Vice President Joe Biden (11%), Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders (5%), former Virginia senator Jim Webb (3%), former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee (1%) and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley (1%). Clinton is also the second choice of just over half of the Democrats who prefer someone else for the nomination. All told, Clinton is the first or second choice of 83% of the potential Democratic electorate. Jim Webb: "I look forward to listening and talking with more people in the coming months as I decide whether or not to run." Joe Biden: "That's a family personal decision that I'm going to make sometime at the end of the summer." Martin O'Malley: "I've been very encouraged as I travel around the country by a number of people who repeat again and again and again their desire for getting things done again as a country and also for new leadership to get those things done." Elizabeth Warren: "I'm not running for president....I don't get who writes these headlines or what they're about. I think there's just kind of a pundit world out there." Jerry Brown: "If no one runs and [everyone] says we'll have an absent Democratic nominee, would I rule that out? I mean, that would be a little silly, wouldn't it?" Former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee is a one-time Republican, turned independent, now Democrat and is exploring a run for the presidency. On Hillary Clinton, he told CNN "... anybody who voted for the Iraq War should not be president and certainly should not be leading the Democratic Party." Bernie Sanders: "I haven't made up my final decision and I've got to say a lot of my strongest supporters say, 'Bernie, you've gotta stay out of the damn Democratic Party, run as an Independent." Kirsten Gillibrand: The New York senator has said she'll support Hillary Clinton "110 percent." Andrew Cuomo (in 2014): "I'm focusing on running for governor. And then I'm going to focus on being the best governor I can be." Brian Schweitzer: When asked by Time if he would be a better candidate for president than Clinton: "Well, I think so, of course. I think I have a background and a resume that isn't just in government." Any possible Democratic competitors face a steep uphill battle in trying to draw support away from Clinton. Democrats are broadly enthusiastic about a Clinton candidacy, far more than they are for any other potential nominee. Overall, 58% of Democrats say they would be enthusiastic if she won the party's nomination. About a quarter say they would be enthusiastic about a Biden nomination (26%) while 11% say so about Sanders, 7% Webb, 6% O'Malley and 2% Chafee. One area where Clinton's numbers wilt: Only about half of Democratic men (49%) say they would be enthusiastic about having Clinton atop the Democratic ticket, compared with nearly two-thirds of Democratic women (65%). Democrats overwhelmingly see Clinton as holding several presidential characteristics. Nearly 9 in 10 Democrats see Clinton as a strong and decisive leader (88% say that description applies to her) and as having a vision for the country's future (88%). About 8 in 10 say she represents the future of the Democratic Party (82%) and cares about people like them (82%). Democrats are slightly less apt to say Clinton is honest and trustworthy, though three-quarters do view her as honest (75%, about the same as in March). The CNN/ORC International poll was conducted by telephone, April 16-19, among a random national sample of 1,018 adult Americans. Results for the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Among the 435 Republicans and independents who lean Republican, it is 4.5 points, and among the 458 Democrats and independents who lean Democratic, it is 4.5 points. | 0fake |
OBAMA GIVES UN Authority To Vet 9,000 “Refugees” From Latin America To U.S. | As Obama begins his campaign for UN General Secretary on the US taxpayer s dime, keep a close eye on the many responsibilities of our federal government he ll be ceding to a corrupt body of human rights violators and political whores. Remember when people used to laugh at Americans who talked about a one world order? It s not so funny anymore, is it? The Obama administration is turning to the United Nations to help screen migrants fleeing violence in Central America, senior administration officials said Tuesday, and to help set up processing centers in several Latin American countries in the hopes of stemming a flood of families crossing the southern border illegally.Designed to head off migrants from three violence-torn countries in the region before they start traveling to the United States, the new refugee resettlement program will be announced by Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday in Washington. Under the plan, the United Nations refugee agency will work with the United States to set up processing centers in several nearby countries, where migrants would be temporarily out of danger.As it does in other places, the United Nations will determine if the migrants could be eligible for refugee status. The administration officials said thousands perhaps as many as 9,000 migrants each year from the three countries, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, could eventually settle in the United States. But some refugees would also be sent to other countries in the hemisphere, officials said.For entire story: NYT | 1real |
TRUMP SLAMS THE GLOBALISTS: “There is no global anthem…We pledge allegiance to one flag” [Video] | 1real | |
TRUMP SUPPORTER FIGHTS BACK: Man Wearing “Make America Great Again” Hat Sues “The Happiest Hour” Bar For Refusing To Serve Him | Enough is enough. Americans need to start making business owners and their employees pay up for discriminating against them simply because they dare to show their support for our President. Good for this Trump supporter for fighting back against the intolerant left. A lot of Americans would be happy to contribute to his legal defense Bartenders at a West Village hot spot served up discrimination with a liberal twist refusing to serve a customer because he was wearing a Make America Great Again hat, according to a lawsuit.Greg Piatek, 30, an accountant from Philadelphia, claims he was snubbed and eventually 86 d by workers at The Happiest Hour on West 10th Street over his conservative fashion statement, popularized by Donald Trump on the campaign trail, he told The Post. Anyone who supports Trump or believes what you believe is not welcome here! And you need to leave right now because we won t serve you! Piatek claims he was told as he was shown the door by a manager.The shake-up started when Piatek and two pals, after a visit to the 9/11 Memorial, ordered drinks at the posh tavern around 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 28.A female bartender served Piatek a $15 jalape o margarita and his pals beers. But when he tried to order a second round, a male bartender noticed his hat and skipped them, he said.One of Piatek s pals pointed out it was their turn to be served, but the bartender scoffed. Is that hat a joke? the Manhattan Supreme Court suit claims. Ignoring me because I m wearing the hat is ridiculous, Piatek said. It s really sad. The flustered bartender got them a second round but allegedly slammed the drinks down. A third bartender also asked Piatek if his lid was a joke and shouted, I can t believe you would support someone so terrible and you must be as terrible a person! Piatek claimed. I wasn t even trying to order a drink and she said, Don t even try to order from me. I won t get you a drink, Piatek alleged.A manager said he spoke to the bar owner, and was told, Anyone who supports Trump or believes what you believe is not welcome here. And you need to leave right now because we won t serve you! according to the suit. For entire story: New York Post New York Post reporter Dean Balsamini had a similar experience when he wore a Trump hat around NYC. He recounts his day of scorn and discrimination after donning a Make America Great Again hat as he visited a few hot spots in the city: I may as well have been wearing a Red Sox hat at Yankee Stadium.The mere sight of my cap nearly caused a riot at the historic Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street site of the 1969 riots that launched the gay rights movement. You come into a gay bar THIS gay bar with THAT hat! one woman lectured as a large crowd gathered.At Soho s sceney La Esquina, where celebs like Julia Roberts nosh on $26 enchiladas, servers nearly lost their lunch when I showed up. Oh my God, do you see that? Is he serious? Is he kidding me? one waiter gasped.My companion and I were quickly shunted to an out of sight table near a back wall. Don t talk to him! a man instructed a street vendor as I browsed along 125th street near the Apollo Theater.Hipsters and trustafarians along Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg either did a double take, shot me a death stare or a snarky remark. Take off that stupid f ing hat! one skinny-jeans-wearer sneered.At high-end chapeau peddler Goorin Bros., I overheard a salesman tell his colleague, I m losing my sh ! as I walked in. When I asked him to hold my hat while I admired a fedora, he grimaced. I m surprised nobody s knocked that hat off your head! a mother of two scolded me as we crossed paths along Central Park West and 63rd Street. Make America Great Again right! | 1real |
How Smoking in 1956 is Like Eating in 2016 | VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Close Transcript Transcript:
Below is an approximation of this video’s audio content. To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. Most deaths in the United States are preventable, and related to nutrition. According to the most rigorous analysis of risk factors ever published, the Global Burden of Disease study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the number one cause of death in the United States, and the number one cause of disability in this country, is our diet—which has bumped tobacco smoking to number two. Smoking now only kills about a half million Americans every year, whereas our diet now kills hundreds of thousands more. So, if most death and disability is preventable, and related to nutrition, then obviously, nutrition is the number one thing taught in medical school; right? It’s the number one thing your doctor talks to you about. How could there be such a disconnect between the science, and the practice, of medicine? Let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine yourself a smoker back in the 1950s. The average per capita cigarette consumption was about 4,000 cigarettes a year. Think about that. In the 1950s, the average person walking around smoked a half pack a day. The media was telling you to smoke. Famous athletes agreed. Even Santa Claus cared enough about your throat to want you to smoke. I mean, you want to keep fit, and stay slender; so, you make sure to smoke. And eat lots of hot dogs to keep trim, and lots of sugar to stay slim and trim—a lot less fattening than that apple there. I mean, sheesh. Though apples do “connote goodness and freshness,” reads one internal tobacco industry memo, which brings up many possibilities for making “youth-oriented” cigarettes. They wanted to make apple-flavored cigarettes for kids. In addition to staying fit and slender, and soothing your throat, “For digestion’s sake,” you smoke. I mean, “No curative power is claimed for [by] Philip Morris—but [hey], an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Better be safe than sorry, and smoke. Like eating, smoking was a family affair. “Gee, Mommy, you sure enjoy your Marlboro! You’re darn tootin’. Just one question, Mom: can you afford not to smoke Marlboros?” In the 1950s, your kids were giving you cigarettes. Even your dog was giving you cigarettes. “Blow in her face and she’ll follow you anywhere.”“No woman ever says no.” They’re “so round, so firm, so fully packed.” After all, John Wayne smoked them (until he got lung cancer and died). Back then, even the Paleo folks were smoking, and so were the doctors. Now, this is not to say there wasn’t controversy within the medical profession. Yes, some doctors smoked Camels, but other physicians preferred Luckies. So, there was some disagreement. “Eminent doctors, on high and impartial medical authority, call for Philip Morris.” Even the specialists couldn’t agree which cigarette was better for your throat. So, best to stick to the science. And, more scientists smoke this brand. This should not be rocket science—but even the rocket scientists had their favorite: for “the man who thinks for himself.” We know why the AMA may have been sucking up to the tobacco industry, refusing to endorse the Surgeon General’s report on smoking, after they were handed a ten million dollar check from the tobacco industry. But, why weren’t more individual doctors speaking out? Well, there were a few gallant souls ahead of their time, writing in, as there are today, standing up against industries killing millions. But, why not more? Maybe, it’s because the majority of physicians themselves smoked cigarettes—just like the majority of physicians today continue to eat foods that are contributing to our epidemics of dietary diseases. What was the AMA’s rallying cry back then? Everything in moderation. Extensive scientific studies have proven “smoking in moderation”—oh, that’s fine. Sound familiar? Eating the Standard American Diet today is like being a smoker back in the 1950s. Most everyone you know eats this way. It’s normal—it’s what they feed people in hospitals, for gosh sake. But, you don’t have to wait until society catches up with the science again. Sometimes, it takes a whole generation for things to change in medicine. The old guard of smoking physicians and medical school professors die off, and a new generation takes its place. But how many patients need to die in the interim? Please consider volunteering to help out on the site. Close Sources Video Sources vegetarians Doctor's Note
In this video, I try to answer the question that surely must occur to anyone even dipping their toes into the lifestyle medicine literature: “Wait a second, if this were true, why didn’t my doctor tell me?” If, for example, our #1 killer can be reversed through diet, why isn’t it front page news, taught to every medical student, broadcast from every mountaintop by medical organizations and government dietary guidelines? Still confused? Check out my other videos that address these questions:
Is the risk of smoking and the Standard American Diet really comparable, though? See Animal Protein Compared to Cigarette Smoking .
If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here . To post comments or questions into our discussion board, first log into Disqus with your NutritionFacts.org account or with one of the accepted social media logins. Click on Login to choose a login method. Click here for help.
Wish I could take out a billboard for this one! schkorpio@hotmail.com
Kickstarter? :) I would chip in. Gatherer
When Dr Greger isn’t limited to a short video he can make his points even more obvious! For a longer version of the content in today’s video see the last part of “Food as Medicine: Preventing and Treating the Most Dreaded Diseases with Diet”. Start at 54:46 and go to 1:12:20. I love the quotes by Dr Neal Barnard and Dr Kim Williams near the end. Plantstrongdoc M.D.
The only thing I remember from medschool regarding nutrition was my professor in cardiology saying that it is impossible to bring down the cholesterol with diet alone, you need medication, and my professor in haematology saying that it is probably healthy to be a vegetarian, but you will surely develop anaemia, and them I remember a very skilled cardiologist who inhaled huge amounts of cake between the angiograms, not to mention the child oncologist who was a heavy smoker, wrinkled in his face like a raisin and his skin had a slightly yellow tone. When I was an intern, one of my collegues brought his own dinner – chips and coke. Regarding nutrition: DONT LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR! The chance that he or she on the field of nutrition is an ignorant is probably near 100% plant_this_thought
The interns at the hospital I used to work at were always boasting about how little sleep they got, how crappy their diet was, etc., competing to show how much they could abuse their own bodies, as if this somehow showed their commitment to the profession of helping others to get well. lemonhead
I’ve always wondered if, due to the harsh conditions of medical training, there’s selection for particularly physically robust people and that they would, perhaps, be less sympathetic to people prone to illness having not experienced such states themselves. Ryan
Even if they taught more nutrition in medical school it wouldn’t help much if they keep using the current batch of nutrition textbooks. I’m in college for nursing right now and they’re covering nutrition in my class *right now* and I’m having to tune it out to keep myself from interrupting class on how dangerous and outdated the information they’re teaching is.
Meat and dairy is being referenced as safe and nutritious food. There is hardly mention of how diet impacts health other than preventing deficiencies and obesity. Vegans are lumped in with vegetarians and are only mentioned because of the risk of b12 and vitamin D deficit. I can go on and on… it’s infuriating.
I don’t know whether it’s more frustrating that a whole generation of new nurses is being prejudiced against a whole plant foods diet or that the professors who say ‘evidence-based practice’ in every other breath won’t bother changing the curricula to match the science. Plantstrongdoc M.D.
Good point. Places where nutrition is taught, it is not exactly Greger, Esselstyn, McDougall, Klaper they refer to.“Meat and dairy is being referenced as safe and nutritious food”– OK there is still a long way.“nutritional deficiencies (probably referring to vitamin and minerals) – which century does the teachers come from? :-) Ryan
Well the one professor jokes that she used to work with Florence Nightingale… Betsy
I’ve been eating about 97% vegan for 8 years or so based on the writings of the docs you mentioned, but now I’m very confused because docs like Mark Hyman who is well respected in the functional medicine field and works at the Cleveland Clinic, studies showing to eat more fat – granted its fat like avocado/coconut oil and he says not to eat it with unhealthy carbs, but his talks with other professionals on his Fat Summits don’t seem to be in alignment with the docs you mentioned. In fact I know Dr. Esselstyn thinks all oils are a waste of calories. Mark said on one of the videos that his LDL has gone way up from eating so much coconut oil, but these folks are citing studies too. It’s very confusing. Thea
Betsy: . When all is said and done, Hyman is citing studies, but he is misleading people in various ways when he does it. VegCoach found the following 4 minute video about one of Mark Hyman’s claims that demonstrates my point. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovJRlTbsgw&feature=youtu.be . Also, the following post from Tom Goff looks into some of the other of Hyman’s claims. http://nutritionfacts.org/2016/03/22/the-effects-of-dietary-cholesterol-on-blood-cholesterol/#comment-2584872026 . I agree that it *is* terribly confusing for most people. It really frustrates me that a lack of integrity and basic human decency is affecting the very lives of so many people. Jean
Am I the only one that at 100% volume can barely hear this video? Thea
Jean: The volume is working fine for me and no one else has mentioned the volume as being an issue. . I’m not sure if this will be worth it to you or not, but you might narrow down the issue by trying other recent videos on this site to see if you experience the same problem and then try a video or two on a different browser. Maybe whatever you find out with these experiments will help you narrow down the problem??? . Sorry I don’t have anything more concrete for you. John
I did have to turn it up in order to hear all the words on a technical subject. John S docbeccy
I agree! When Dr. Hyman’s book on the sugar solution came out I got a free advance excerpt. I was stunned to see he recommended BACON!! I tried to engage in a dialogue as to why he thought a high fat, nitrate laden, version of cured meat belonged in anyone’s diet but I never got a response. When I visited the Canyon Ranch Spa this summer and spoke with their medical director he was very sad that one of their former medical directors was clearly less interested in patient health than other priorities. One needs to be judicious as we wade through the conflicting experts. Thea
docbeccy: Thank you for your reply. That’s some interesting insight. . re: “…wade through conflicting experts.” One of the biggest mistakes I see people making is along the lines of false equivalencies. I see it all the time here on NutritionFacts. “You say this, but these other people say something else and they have valid points too.” There are times when a “side” is not equally valid. If you give equal weight to all sides without having the ability to filter (as most people do not when it comes to nutrition), then you can end up confused and/or finding a balance between two view points which is not actually reasonable/balanced/based on the evidence. . I wish there was a way to help people see through this, but I don’t think there is at this time. People are just massively confused, often invested in that confusion, and I don’t judge them. It is tough! At some point, I think the situation will be like the smoking issue and everyone will just get it instinctively, because like the smoking issue at some point the science (and noticing the health of WFPB eaters long term) will win out. In the mean time, we can do our part to help by continuing to volunteer on NutritionFacts. :-) Plantstrongdoc M.D.
Well – I think it is important to look at the big lines, because there are small differences between what these great docs (and others) recommend. E.g. McDougall is very fond of starches and has nothing against a little salt, Furhmann is very fond of beans and vegetables, for some a little processed oil is OK, For Ornish small amounts of egg white is OK and so on. Common to them is they recommend a mostly vegan diet – I think that is the important point John
Hi Betsy, I have been saying this for a long time. You’ll never see this here, but other scientists critique Dr. Greger’s finding the same way as Thea does about Dr. Hyman below. I just try to listen to all of them that seem to have substance and sift them through my own filter. John S Thea
John S: Did you watch that 4 minute video? I’ve never seen Dr. Greger make a claim about a study where the study actually says the very opposite of Dr. Greger’s claim–not the way that Dr. Hyman did. I highly recommend watching that 4 minute video. John
Yes, I did watch the 4 minute video. I also saw the Klaper video. I was only allowed to see the viewpoint of the person making the video, and he wasn’t honest about what Dr. Hyman actually said. Hyman was talking about calories burned by people when they ate different things,and the video never addressed the issue that Hyman brought up. John S Thea
John: FYI: I looked into this video in the past. I went to Hyman’s site and I read his claims and then examined the claims in the video. I do not remember see any discrepancies. Anyway, glad you got to see the video. . Note, I did not reference a Dr. Klaper video in the above post. I don’t know what you are referring to. Kwarya
Was just telling MY nursing professor the same sort of thing today when our book and her lecture were touting certain foods, most if which fall in the “animal products” category! There is never a single reference in my nursing books to a healthier lifestyle other than going “low fat” (with the SAD). Misterimpatient
For the record, John Wayne died of stomach cancer (1979) not lung cancer. He had a lung removed in 1964 due to lung cancer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne Plantstrongdoc M.D.
Smokers also have an increased risk of stomach cancer. Misterimpatient
Thank you. I understand that. The video says he died of lung cancer, which is not correct. Rhombopterix
he got lung cancer: true and he died: true
how does your comment help us? Misterimpatient
If there is one thing we count on from nutritionfacts.org it is accurate information. Go to 3:10 in the video and consider the content “…until he got lung cancer and died.” An honest listener will hear this and think that lung cancer was the cause of death. In fact, stomach cancer was the cause of death in very source I found.
So how does my comment help? It attempts, without contempt for others, to correct verifiably incorrect information in the video. Thea
Misterimpatient: I will pass this onto staff. Todd
Good point. Attention to detail is important on a site like this. It’s possible, I suppose, that the stomach cancer that took John Wayne’s life was a metastasis of the original lung cancer, in which case the original cancer would be cited as the cause of death. But unless we know that for sure, it’s not a good idea to state that he died of lung cancer. Plantstrongdoc M.D.
Typically lung cancer spread to the brain, bone or liver. Tired of War
While Wayne’s 6 pack-a-day cigarette habit might have had something to do with his death, I’m pretty sure that the ultimate reason for his demise was his role as Genghis Khan, in the movie, “The Conqueror.” The film was shot downwind from active, above ground, nuclear bomb testing sites, in 1956, and quite a few of those involved in the filming succumbed to cancer in the years that followed. I fear that there are some historical personalities that one should portray, with great caution. Misterimpatient
Well played. Very well played indeed. George
I don’t know about you, but there is a certain amount of people for whom the truth is important. And also there are people (like our host) how ask others to point out eventual mistakes in their work. Unless you have a hostile relationship with the truth, Misterimpatient’s comment should help you, too. Colonel Forbin
Sick world we live in. Robbin
I think back then tobacco companies were paying off everyone now pharmaceutical companies are paying off everyone. Maybe a lot of doctors smoked back in the day, but I think a lot of doctors like their pills today. There is no money in gardening, but there is in pill popping. I think sometimes it would be easier just to eat like everyone else, then I remember I don’t want to feel like sh*t like everyone, or be on medications like everyone. Blair Rollin
It sure would be a lot easier. I do a whole lotta kitchen time since we switched to WFPB. But then again, I’m passing most people even 30 years younger than me out on the trail. And I can stand to look in the mirror. Ellen Mulcrone
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone knew how to treat Lichen Sclerosus with diet, and if anyone had found any scientific based evidence to support this? I can’t find anything on the site.
Thanks! | 1real |
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