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ILLEGAL ALIENS DEMAND NEW BILL OF RIGHTS: To Include Citizenship, End Arrests And Free Health Care | Sounds great how about a new car?An immigrant-rights group proposed a Bill of Rights for illegal immigrants Thursday, demanding that Americans recognize there are millions already in the country who deserve health care, in-state tuition rates for college and a guarantee of citizenship in the long term.The list of demands runs 10 items long the same as the U.S. Constitution s Bill of Rights and also calls for an end to arrests and deportations for all law-abiding undocumented Americans. The document was circulated by United We Stay, which is a group of illegal immigrants, first generation Americans and human rights activists pushing for changes to immigration law. We know we have human rights, even though our very presence is deemed illegal and our existence alien. Now we have our own Bill of Rights and we want it to be the framework for every immigration decision going forward from the local to the national level, the group said in a statement announcing their demands.The 10 points include a demand that they be accorded respect; calls for citizenship rights and an immediate deferment of deportations; in-state tuition at public colleges; wage equality ; medical care; and protection against deportation if illegal immigrants report a crime as a witness.The list also includes a specific demand for compelled authorization of birth certificates for our U.S.-born children. That appears to be pushback against the state of Texas, where officials have ruled that parents must present valid ID to get children s birth certificates and have deemed the Mexican government s Matricula Consular ID card not to be acceptable as primary identification.A federal court has allowed that Texas policy to go into effect, ruling that there are questions about the reliability of the Mexican cards and that state officials have an interest in making sure only authorized relatives are able to get birth certificates.The list of rights begins with a protest against the terms illegal and alien. Immigrant-rights advocates say both terms are dehumanizing, and have offered undocumented workers or, in the case of United We Stand, Undocumented Americans, as their preferred term.The document is meant to serve as a goalpost for the ongoing immigration debate. Immigrant-rights groups had been gaining ground in recent years, with polls suggesting Americans were increasingly open to legalization.A legalization bill even passed the Senate in 2013 but Democrats, who controlled the chamber, never sent it to the GOP-run House for action.The issue then stalled last year after President Obama took unilateral action to grant a deportation amnesty to as many as 5 million of the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the U.S. Federal courts have put that amnesty on hold, but Mr. Obama s other policies stopping deportations for most illegal immigrants remain in place, which has effectively checked off one of the list of rights demands. Via: Washington Times | 1real |
Breakthrough Listen Project to Focus on 'Alien Megastructure' | Get short URL 0 16 0 0 As the mystery around Tabby’s Star continues, the Breakthrough Initiative is preparing to commit massive resources to the settle the "alien megastructure" debate.
Astronomers first detected an anomaly around star KIC 8462852 last October. Nicknamed Tabby’s star, the celestial object features an odd dimming pattern. While some early potential explanations included comets, distortion, and space debris, none have provided a completely satisfactory solution. Astronomers Launch Search for Extraterrestrials in Potential 'Alien Megastructure'
The more fanciful answer is that KIC 8462852 is surrounded by a Dyson sphere, an alien megastructure built by an advanced civilization to harness the sun’s energy. The Breakthrough Listen initiative, founded by Russian tycoon Yuri Milner, plans to spend over $100 million to investigate the star over the next ten years.
"The Green Bank Telescope is the largest fully steerable radio telescope on the planet, and it’s the largest, most sensitive telescope that’s capable of looking at Tabby’s Star given its position in the sky," Breakthrough Listen co-director Andrew Siemion said in a statement, according to Space.com .
"We’ve deployed a fantastic new SETI instrument that connects to that telescope, that can look at many gigahertz of bandwidth simultaneously and many, many billions of different radio channels all at the same time so we can explore the radio spectrum very, very quickly."
The telescope’s observations began Wednesday night, and will continue for eight hours each night, for three nights over the next two-month period.
Other organizations have launched independent investigations into Tabby’s Star, including a Kickstarter campaign launched by the Yale astronomer Tabby Boyajian, who penned an initial study into the strange celestial object. Having raised over $100,000, that project plans to spend a year analyzing the star’s luminosity with the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. NASA Earth-Like, Water-Rich Planets Could Be Common to Red Dwarfs
As to whether new observations will uncover aliens, most scientists remain skeptical. "I don’t think it’s very likely – a one-in-a-billion chance or something like that – but nevertheless, we’re going to check it out," Dan Werthimer, chief scientists at Berkeley SETI, said in the same statement.
"But I think that ET, if it’s ever discovered, it might be something like that. It’ll be some bizarre thing that somebody finds by accident…that nobody expected, and then we look more carefully and we say, 'Hey, that’s a civilization.'"
Of course, even if the Dyson sphere theory turns out to be true, that does not necessarily indicate life. Given the distance of the star, it will have taken 1,500 years for its light to reach Earth, meaning that we can only observe the star as it was 1,500 years ago.
The civilization could be long gone. ... | 1real |
Former U.S. Vice President Biden leaves open door to 2020 run | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday left the door open to a presidential run to challenge Republican President Donald Trump in the 2020 election and said he is focused now on boosting Democrats in the 2018 midterm races. Biden, who will turn 75 on Nov. 20, declined to seek the Democratic nomination for last year’s presidential election in the wake of his son’s death. He told NBC’s “Today” show in an interview that he was not yet ready to enter a political contest. “I honest to God haven’t made up my mind about that,” said Biden, who is promoting his memoir on Beau Biden, who died in 2015 from brain cancer. “Right now I want to focus on the book and I want to focus on winning the off-year elections. “I’m not closing the door,” said Biden, who added that he was in good health. But if he had to act right now, “I would say no because I am just working through a whole lot, I’m getting there and I want to focus on the book.” Biden served as vice president under Democratic former President Barack Obama for two terms but stood aside as the party nominated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump last year. Biden had sought the Democratic presidential nomination for the 1988 and 2008 elections. Biden, who represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years, has long given voice to the working class. Although he campaigned for Clinton, he also has been critical after the Democrats’ loss in 2016, which gave Republicans control of the White House in addition to their hold Congress. Biden has criticized Trump in recent weeks, saying he “does not understand governance” and did not take a strong stand against white supremacists after a deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August. | 0fake |
President-elect Trump thanks Putin, gives him Alaska & Hawaii, throws in Chris Christie! | Written by b kenneth mcgee Monday, 14 November 2016
President-elect Donald Trump announced today that in appreciation of Vladimir Putin's help in his election that he will, after his inauguration, give Russia the states of Alaska and Hawaii. "I am throwing in Christie," said Trump, "for shits and giggles. I have many others now to get my McDonalds."
Trump also announced several other appointments in his new administration including that of Larry the Cable Guy to the post of UN Ambassador and David Duke to be the new head of Health and Human Services. I have also promised diversity in my new administration and to this end I am appointing my friend and loyal supporter Ben Carson to the post of receptionist at the front desk at the White House."
In related news, Trump has informed Fox News he would not be living at the White House. An anonymous source has told Fox that Melania Trump told close confidantes after her visit there, "I do not live in such a place! Don't come this far to live like trailer trash!" Make b kenneth mcgee's day - give this story five thumbs-up (there's no need to register , the thumbs are just down there!) | 1real |
Highlights: The Trump presidency on March 24 at 5:31 p.m. EDT | (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday: Trump suffers a stunning political setback in a Congress controlled by his own party when Republican leaders pull legislation to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system, a major 2016 election campaign promise of the president and his allies. Trump says the healthcare legislation he supported had been “very, very close” to getting enough support in the House of Representatives and that now he probably will move on to tax reform. Wall Street’s predilection for a glass-half-full view of Trump is on full display as investors back off fears that a failure to repeal Obamacare would endanger his entire agenda in favor of optimism that he will simply get on with tax cuts and infrastructure spending. Nearly half of American adults say the Republican healthcare reform measure that was pulled from consideration by the House is “not an improvement” over Obamacare, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The partisan divide over the House Intelligence Committee’s probe of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election deepens when the committee’s top Democrat suggested its Republican chairman canceled a public hearing after pressure from the White House. A third of Democratic senators have so far announced they will vote against confirming Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, adding to a chorus of opposition from the left, but leaving questions over whether there will be a concerted effort to block a vote in the Senate. Trump’s administration approves TransCanada Corp’s Keystone XL pipeline, cheering the oil industry and angering environmentalists even as further hurdles for the controversial project loom. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says financial markets could improve “significantly” once they fully reflect the potential for economic growth from Trump’s policies. A federal judge in Virginia rules that Trump’s travel ban was justified, increasing the likelihood the measure will go before the Supreme Court as the decision takes an opposing view to courts in Maryland and Hawaii that have halted the order. California approves vehicle pollution targets that the Trump administration last week put on hold, setting up a potential face-off between federal and state regulators that could be expensive for automakers and a headache for consumers. Trump touts Charter Communications Inc’s decision to invest $25 billion in the United States and its previously disclosed plan to hire 20,000 workers over four years. | 0fake |
Hillary Clinton Mocks Donald Trump With An AMAZING Tweetstorm At 3 AM | This is hilariously perfect.Hillary Clinton has already responded to Republican nominee Donald Trump s 3am temper tantrum on Twitter but decided to double down early Saturday morning by mocking him with a 3am Twitter barrage of her very own. Except whereas Trump focused on hurling sexist insults, Hillary focused on touting public service and threw in some characteristic Trump-speak.It s 3:20am. As good a time as any to tweet about national service. https://t.co/6hRCC16UiV Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 1, 2016There are hundreds of thousands more @AmeriCorps applications than spots. Horrible! Let s expand it from 75,000 annual members to 250,000. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 1, 2016Too many talented young people pass up on programs like @Peacecorps because of student loans. Let s use GOOD JUDGMENT & lighten that burden. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 1, 2016Remember, don t believe the haters who describe America as hopeless and broken. We should lift each other up, not tear each other down. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 1, 2016For those few people knocking public service, hope you ll reconsider answering the call to help others. Because we re stronger together. Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 1, 2016Prior to Hillary s tweets, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren absolutely humiliated Trump on her Twitter feed as well.Warren pointed out that Trump never tweets about truly important things at 3am such as helping students and workers. Then she landed this knock-out punch.A thin-skinned bully who thinks humiliating women at 3am qualifies him to be President does not understand America & is not fit to lead. Elizabeth Warren (@elizabethforma) September 30, 2016While Trump acts like a petulant child, Hillary Clinton is demonstrating that she is the adult in the 2016 race.Trump s Twitter tantrum early Friday morning was disgraceful and proved that he does not have the temperament necessary to be President of the United States.Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is the only candidate in this race who has the experience, dedication to public service, and, yes, the perfect temperament to be an effective commander-in-chief. This is how a presidential candidate is supposed to act.Featured image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images | 1real |
Every Asset Class Will Collapse: ‘You Need To Be Looking At Your Wealth In Terms Of How Many Chickens And How Much Gas You Can Buy’ |
There’s no other way to put it.
The system as we know it will collapse. This, argues Karl Denninger of the Market Ticker , is a mathematical certainty.
In a recent interview with Future Money Trends Denninger touches on the various dire challenges facing America. From the Presidential election to the rampant corruption in our financial, political and healthcare systems, he pulls no punches and warns that the worst is yet to come unless real action is taken immediately. Failure to do so, says Denninger, will lead to a collapse of everything we consider to be a part of our current way of life.
If we do not start locking people up our government, our way of life and every asset class… the price of all of them… is going to collapse. This is not a maybe. This is arithmetic. It’s not politics. The problem here is that nobody in the political sphere from either party is talking about this. This is where the problem lies.
…At the same time, this is what is bankrupting all of the public sector pensions… If you’re a policeman, a firefighter, a teacher in any of the states you’re not going to get your money . At best you’ll get half. I’ve run the numbers… the best systems in the country right now will be able to pay half of those benefits… many of them are worse than that. You’re going to also see the collapse of all the state budgets for the same reason because they’ve got those embedded liabilities. Law or no law, I don’t care what your state Constitution says you have. If you can’t collect the money you’re not going to get the check.
( Watch at Youtube )
What’s worse is the fact that not only can we not stop what’s coming, Denninger says that there is really no way to prepare for it from a wealth preservation aspect because anything that doesn’t get wiped out in a crash will probably be stolen by the government. Thus, when we think preparedness, we’d better be thinking in terms of survival essentials:
You can’t [protect your wealth]. You need to be looking at your wealth in terms of how many chickens are you going to be able to buy or how many gallons of gasoline… or how many kilowatt hours of electricity because the number of dollars you have or how many ounces of gold is utterly immaterial… The only thing that matters is what they buy.
… The problem is and the aspect that people take on this …. and I get these questions all the time whenever I post an article showing the math… The first thing that comes up in the comments is ‘ what do I do as an investor to protect myself from this? ‘…. The answer is there isn’t a way to do it… remember, the government will steal everything that’s not nailed down and not protected with your life… so, unless you’re willing to die, at which point you don’t care how much money you have because you’re dead, there is no personal protection method that works.
If the picture Denninger paints of the future of America is accurate – and we can’t really argue with the mathematical evidence he has put forth at The Market Ticker over the last decade – then when this system does collapse it is going to lead to widespread chaos as every asset class out there is going to be worth significantly less than it is today.
In such a scenario we need to consider what will have value and what will take the form of money when dollars are no longer a feasible mechanism for exchange.
As Denninger points out, the only thing of importance will be how much the”assets” in your posession will be able to buy.
Dollars may be worthless in this instance. Gold and silver may have fallen or risen in price, but their purchasing power is what will matter, and as Denninger notes, they may be illegal to own so trade would have to take place on black markets. Food, medicine, toilet paper, soap, and other essentials will sky rocket in value, as has been evidenced by the hyperinflationary collapse currently taking place in Venezuela.
So when we look at protecting ourselves from the coming crash of our entire way of life, it’s the essential goods and services that people can’t live without that will become the assets of choice.
The math is clear. It is coming. Prepare for it now.
Karl Denninger posts regular commentary and news at hsi web site The Market Ticker . He is the author of Leverage: How Cheap Money Will Destroy the World
Watch more interviews like this one at Future Money Trends .
Related Reading:
The Prepper’s Blueprint: A Step-By-Step Guide To Prepare For Any Disaster
What is Money When the System Collapses?
Mark Levin: Government Is “Simulating the Collapse of Our Financial System, the Collapse of Our Society and the Potential for Widespread Violence”
Venezuelans Facing Severe Food Shortages and Malnutrition Turn to Urban Farming
| 1real |
JUST IN: DISGRACED DEMOCRAT HARRY REID Funneled MASSIVE Taxpayer Funds To Donor For UFO Research Through SECRET Defense Department Program | The Defense Department secretly set up a program ten years ago to investigate unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, at the urging of then-Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, according to new reports.Both The New York Times and the website Politico published stories Saturday revealing the existence of the Pentagon s now-defunct Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program.The New York Times said the UFO program began in 2007, while Politico reported in began in 2009.According to the reports, Reid, a Nevada Democrat, helped steer money under the program to a donor s aerospace research company.A Pentagon spokesman said the UFO program ended in 2012, though The New York Times said the Defense Department still investigates potential episodes of unidentified flying objects. The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program ended in the 2012 timeframe, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White told Politico. It was determined that there were other, higher-priority issues that merited funding and it was in the best interest of the DoD to make a change. White added: The DoD takes seriously all threats and potential threats to our people, our assets, and our mission and takes action whenever credible information is developed. Politico said the program was not classified but few officials knew about it. Reid secured the funding for the program in 2009 with the help of former Hawaii Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye and former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, who have both since died.Both outlets said Reid s interest in UFOs was the result of friend, and donor Bob Bigelow, who owns Bigelow Aerospace and has said before he is absolutely convinced aliens exist and UFOs have visited Earth.The New York Times said the program had a $22 million annual budget and most of the money went to Bigelow s research company, which hired subcontractors and solicited research for the program. I m not embarrassed or ashamed or sorry I got this thing going, Reid told the newspaper. I think it s one of the good things I did in my congressional service. I ve done something that no one has done before. Both outlets said the person who ran the program, Luis Elizondo, resigned in October and complained about a lack of interest from top officials about it. FOX News | 1real |
USTR Lighthizer: Trump challenging China's industrial policies - radio interview | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. trade negotiator said late on Tuesday that President Donald Trump is determined to challenge China’s use of unfair subsidies and “non-economic” industrial policy to build up export industries that are costing American jobs. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, in a rare media interview, said that the Trump administration would work to hold China’s practices to the rules of the World Trade Organization, an organization that he has criticized for being ineffective in enforcing fair trade. Speaking on the syndicated “Kevin McCullough Radio” conservative talk show, Lighthizer said there was “no question that China has an industrial policy that is designed to create jobs and wealth in China.” “Our objective is not to let that go on in an unfair way.” Lighthizer, a longtime steel industry trade lawyer who served as deputy USTR in the 1980s, said there were many examples of China’s WTO violations, including dumping of products below cost, unfair subsidies for state firms and other “non-economic” policies. “You have to take on their industrial policy one way or another,” Lighthizer said. “For example, they will develop an industry behind a closed market in China. When that industry is developed with subsidies and with protection, they’ll then let it loose on the world.” He said this has happened in steel, aluminum and other products. “If it’s unfair the president’s going to go after it.” Lighthizer’s comments come about a week after senior Trump administration officials at bilateral economic talks failed to secure any concrete commitments from their Chinese counterparts to eliminate excess steel production capacity or to further open the Chinese services industry to foreign competition. News conferences at the conclusion of the U.S.-China Comprehensive Economic Dialogue talks were canceled and there was no joint statement for the first time since the summer bilateral economic meetings were launched in 2006. China later sought to put a more positive spin on the meeting, saying the two sides had agreed to take “active and effective measures” to tackle the global steel overcapacity problem. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump said in a Wall Street Journal interview that his administration would take its time in deciding on whether to enact steel tariffs or quotas on national security grounds, saying “we don’t want to do it at this moment.” Trump added that the steel decision could come after debates in Congress on health care, taxes and infrastructure spending Regarding negotiations starting in August to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, Lighthizer said that Trump wanted to change the 23-year-old trade pact to stop a “basic unfairness” that has allowed U.S. factories and manufacturing jobs to migrate to Mexico. Asked by radio host McCullough if Trump still wanted to scrap NAFTA, Lighthizer said: “Scrapped is too strong but the president wants very substantial changes,” Lighthizer said. | 0fake |
ANTI-GUN Zealot KATIE COURIC Hit With $12 MILLION Defamation Lawsuit By 2nd Amendment Group [VIDEO] | Little Miss Sunshine has fooled a lot of people over the years into believing her she was just some innocuous, peppy little host with everyone s best intentions as her primary concern. Unfortunately, Katie Couric may have just ironically shot herself in the foot when she and her director Stephanie Soechtig edited their anti-gun documentary Under the Gun in order to make a gun rights group in Virginia look as if they couldn t answer a simple question.Here s Rush Limbaugh explaining how Katie Couric deceived her viewers with her anti-gun documentary : They re now facing a $12 million defamation lawsuit, according to documents provided to Bearing Arms.Second Amendment rights advocacy organization the Virginia Citizens Defense League (VCDL), along with two of its members, today filed a $12 million defamation lawsuit against Katie Couric, director Stephanie Soechtig, Atlas Films, and Studio 3 Partners LLC d/b/a Epix for false and defamatory footage featured in the 2016 documentary film Under the Gun. The film portrays a fictional exchange in which members of the VCDL appear silent, stumped, and avoiding eye contact for nearly nine seconds after Katie Couric asks a question about background checks. An unedited audio recording of the interview reveals that contrary to the portrayal in the film the VCDL members had immediately begun responding to Couric s question.In the filing, the VCDL, Daniel L. Hawes, Esq., and Patricia Webb allege that the filmmakers knowingly and maliciously manufactured the fictional exchange by splicing in footage that the filmmakers took surreptitiously after telling the interviewees to be silent for ten seconds so that recording equipment could be calibrated. The filing also contains side-by-side screenshots of the film s footage of the VCDL members and anti-gun advocates, alleging that the filmmakers manipulated lighting to cast shadows on the VCDL members and to make them appear sinister and untrustworthy. We were horrified to see how Couric and her team manipulated us and the video footage to make us look like fools who didn t stand up for the Second Amendment, said Mr. Philip Van Cleave, President of the VCDL. We want to set the record straight and hold them accountable for what they ve done. You shouldn t intentionally misrepresent someone s views just because you disagree with them. The lawsuit, filed in federal court (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Richmond Division), seeks $12 million in compensatory damages, plus punitive damages. The VCDL, Mr. Hawes, and Ms. Webb are represented by Tom Clare, Libby Locke, and Megan Meier of Clare Locke LLP, a boutique law firm specializing in defamation litigation. The fraud committed by Couric and Soechtig should be a career ender for both women, who have been unashamed of their behavior.What is not yet known is if Couric, Soetchtig, and one of their producers will face federal gun crimes criminal charges for obvious felonies they committed in Arizona while making the anti-gun film. Soechtig has now twice confessed (on video and in writing) to committing federal felony crimes that should lead to criminal charges against at least her and the Colorado producer (believed to be Kanau), along with any other Under the Gun staff/producers who took part in the conspiracy to make these clearly illegal interstate sales.ATF Phoenix Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Thomas Atteberry and Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) Mickey D. Leadingham have little recourse other than to start an investigation into the confessed crimes.You can read the defamation case against Couric here (PDF).Among other things, the complaint alleges that, The Defendants manipulated the footage in service of an agenda: they wanted to establish that there is no basis for opposing universal background checks by fooling viewers into believing that even a panel of pro-Second Amendment advocates could not provide one. The Defendants intentionally disregarded the truth of the actual exchange that had taken place and took at least six intentional steps to manufacture a fictional exchange to support their agenda. In addition to editing footage of VCDL members, the suit alleges that Soechtig s film crew used lighting tricks to make VCDL members look shadowed and sinister, while favoring gun control supporters with much more flattering lighting.For entire story: Bearing ArmsHere is a clip showing how Katie Couric edited Under the Gun to make gun owners look like they don t have an answer to what she has framed as an unanswerable question: | 1real |
Donna Brazile DESTROYS Palin For Blaming Her Woman-Beating Son’s Arrest On Obama (VIDEO) | Sarah Palin did something entirely expected of her, yet so irrationally stupid that it is almost baffling following the arrest of her son for drunkenly beating his girlfriend and making threats with a semiautomatic weapon: She found a way to blame President Obama.At a Trump rally, where nonsensical bullshit is accepted as fact without question by the vapid, racist buffoons that make up the billionaire s base, Palin said that PTSD and Obama were the true culprits in her son s woman-brutalizing, ammosexual ways: I can talk personally about this, I guess it s kind of the elephant in the room. My son like so many others, they come back a bit different, they come back hardened, they come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen and every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country. And that starts from the top. It s a shame that our military personnel even have to wonder, if they have to question, if they re respected anymore. It starts from the top. The question though that comes from our own president where they have to look at him and wonder, do you know what we go through? Do you know what we re trying to do to secure America and to secure the freedoms that have been bequeathed us? I can certainly relate with other families who kind of feel these ramifications of some PTSD and some of the woundedness that our soldiers do return with, Palin said. And it makes me realize more than ever it is now or never for the sake of Americas finest that we have that commander in chief that will respect them and honor them. Track Palin served with the Alaska-based 25th Infantry Division s 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team for a single year in 2008, while George W. Bush was still President.Palin s nonsensical claim didn t sit well with veterans or with CNN political commentator Donna Brazile, who put Palin on blast Wednesday. You have known me for a long time, so I m just gonna say it: she s a liar, Brazile told Anderson Cooper. That s a damn lie. She pointed out that House Republicans slashed $1.4 billion (with a b ) from President Obama s requested budget for veterans services, which included a $690 million reduction for medical care the sort of thing that would help veterans with PTSD: I care for all veterans I am the daughter of a veteran. And to go out there and to insinuate that the president of the United States is trying to hurt veterans when in fact he is trying to put more resources so that we can give our young and old veterans the care we need, that s just a damn lie. You can say Donna Brazile said it. I approve this message. Of course [Track Palin] should be held responsible for his own personal behavior, Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord contended when asked if Palin was right to blame Obama. But we have been told time and time and time again that there is a serious problem within the VA treating veterans. And I think that s the point she s trying to make. He did not explain how in the world blaming Obama brought attention to any issues with the VA. Drink the water, Jeff, Brazile shot back. Drink the water. Watch Brazile smack Caribou Barbie down below:[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctVqhpQXQeI&w=640&h=360]Featured image via Wikimedia Commons | 1real |
Why Trump may be winning the war on ‘political correctness’ | Cathy Cuthbertson once worked at what might be thought of as a command post of political correctness — the campus of a prestigious liberal arts college in Ohio.
“You know, I couldn’t say ‘Merry Christmas.’ And when we wrote things, we couldn’t even say ‘he’ or ‘she,’ because we had transgender. People of color. I mean, we had to watch every word that came out of our mouth, because we were afraid of offending someone, but nobody’s afraid of offending me,” the former administrator said.
All of which helps explain why the 63-year-old grandmother showed up at a recent Donald Trump rally in Hilton Head Island, S.C., where she moved when she retired a year ago.
The Republican front-runner is “saying what a lot of Americans are thinking but are afraid to say because they don’t think that it’s politically correct,” she said. “But we’re tired of just standing back and letting everyone else dictate what we’re supposed to think and do.”
In the 2016 Republican presidential primary season, “political correctness” has become the all-purpose enemy. The candidates have suggested that it is the explanation for seemingly every threat that confronts the country: terrorism, illegal immigration, an economic recovery that is leaving many behind, to name just a few.
Others argue that growing antipathy to the notion of political correctness has become an all-purpose excuse for the inexcusable. They say it has emboldened too many to express racism, sexism and intolerance, which endure even as the country grows more diverse.
“Driving powerful sentiments underground is not the same as expunging them,” said William A. Galston, a Brookings Institution scholar who advised President Bill Clinton. “What we’re learning from Trump is that a lot of people have been biting their lips, but not changing their minds.”
[Donald Trump’s provocative first TV ad raises the temperature of GOP race]
One thing is clear: Trump is channeling a very mainstream frustration.
In an October poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University, 68 percent agreed with the proposition that “a big problem this country has is being politically correct.”
It was a sentiment felt strongly across the political spectrum, by 62 percent of Democrats, 68 percent of independents and 81 percent of Republicans. Among whites, 72 percent said they felt that way, but so did 61 percent of nonwhites.
“People feel tremendous cultural condescension directed at them,” and that their values are being “smirked at, laughed at” by the political and media elite, said GOP strategist Steve Schmidt.
“ ‘Political correctness’ are the two words that best respond to everything that a conservative feels put upon,” added pollster Frank Luntz, who has advised Republicans. The label is, he said, a validation that what many on the right see as legitimate policy and cultural differences are not the same as racism, sexism or heartlessness.
“Allegations of racism and sexism have turned into powerful silencing devices,” Galston agreed. “You can be opposed to affirmative action without being a racist.”
The PC backlash does not necessarily mean that people support the kinds of things that Trump is saying, or the way he says them.
When the Fairleigh Dickinson pollsters added his name to the same question — prefacing it with “Donald Trump said recently . . . ” — the numbers dropped sharply. Only 53 percent said they agree that political correctness is a major problem.
This is not a new debate. It has raged since at least the early 1990s, when college campuses began adopting speech codes. Some went well beyond obvious slurs — with animal rights activists contending, for instance, that the word “pet”was disrespectful and should be changed to “companion animal.”
More recently, the PC wars have flared again in academia, where there is an ongoing argument over whether campuses should be a “safe space” where students are protected from upsetting ideas, and receive “trigger warnings” when course material contains distressing information.
Few would argue that it is wrong to confront and eliminate prejudice. But even some liberals have called political correctness a form of McCarthyism aimed at stifling free expression.
Trump has brought the question from the university quad to the political arena in a way that no leading candidate has in the past.
For many, “it’s satisfying to have a loud tribune like Trump,” said David Axelrod, who was President Obama’s top campaign adviser. “But I don’t think the hunger for authentic plain speech is Trump-specific. One of the appeals of [Democratic presidential candidate] Bernie Sanders is that people think he says exactly what he thinks and is not passing it through a filter. There is a fundamental yearning for authenticity that is probably felt more broadly.”
The edgy liberal comedian Bill Maher, who for nearly a decade hosted a talk show called “Politically Incorrect,” has said that Trump’s ideas sound “a little Hitler-adjacent.”
But he has also noted a yearning for “somebody to say, ‘You know what, I just don’t bend to your bull----.’ And Donald Trump, I’ve got to say, I don’t agree with him on a lot, but I kind of get him. We’ve been doing the same thing.”
Trump sounded the anti-PC clarion call at the first Republican debate in August, when moderator Megyn Kelly of Fox News challenged him on comments that he had made disparaging women.
“I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct,” he said. “I’ve been challenged by so many people, and I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn’t have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don’t win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico both in trade and at the border. We lose to everybody.”
[Donald Trump says we’re all too politically correct. But is that also a way to limit speech?]
It is hard to follow the logic of an argument that insulting women could somehow make the country stronger overseas. But the sentiment behind it came through clearly.
And it has been picked up by other GOP contenders.
“Political correctness is killing people,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.), because it prevents the Obama administration from focusing on the communications and activities of potential terrorists who are Muslims.
“Political correctness is ruining our country,” said former neurosurgeon Ben Carson, after he was criticized for saying a Muslim should not be president.
It is corrosive, Carson said in an interview, because “many people will not say what they believe because someone will look askance at them, call them a name. Somebody will mess with their job, their family. This was not supposed to be the way it was in America.”
Last month’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., carried out by a Muslim couple who appear to have been inspired by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has become a case in point for many conservatives.
They say political correctness has made the Obama administration too timid in calling it what it is — which is why Cruz and other Republicans taunt the president for not uttering the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism.”
“What animates ISIS is an apocalyptic religious philosophy. People look at that and don’t understand the unwillingness to say red is red and blue is blue,” Schmidt said. “We live in a post-fact America, where the facts are subordinate to the advancement of an ideology.”
Political strategists and others say a number of other forces are behind the backlash. It has both a cultural and an economic component, and it also reflects the continuing polarization that has grown deeper during Obama’s presidency.
“For many of these people, they played the game by the rules, and essentially, they got shafted,” Democratic pollster Peter Hart said.
Trump is “the voice of an aggrieved cohort in our society — lower-middle-income working whites who have taken the hit from the big changes in the economy, and are angry about it,” Axelrod said. “He creates a permission structure for others.”
Cuthbertson, for instance, made a connection between her frustrations over political correctness and the other things she sees going on around her.
“I look at what I get every month — and thank God, I was financially savvy and saved. I can’t live off Social Security. And you look at these people who have never worked and they’re having babies and they’re getting free rent and free food stamps and free medical care,” she said. “I couldn’t afford what they have on my Social Security, and I worked 50 years.”
“Something has to be done because we’re shrinking, we’re being taken over by people that want to change what America is,” she added. “You can’t say it nicely.” | 0fake |
Trump Meeting Privately With Putin, Asked Aides For Gifts To Give Him | It looks like Vladimir Putin is going to walk away with quite the goody bag after he leaves next week s G20 summit. According to The Guardian, Trump will be meeting privately with the Russian dictator and has asked White House aides to figure out everything he can possibly hand over to Putin.According to two officials, national security council staff have been asked to propose deliverables and one idea floating around is to hand Putin control of two diplomatic compounds Obama took away because of that FAKE NEWS Russian attack on our country people in the Trump administration keep leaking stuff about.The Obama administration says the compounds, which housed 35 spies, were used for Kremlin intelligence gathering operations. It has not been stated what, if anything, Putin would be asked to give us in return.One of Trump s first acts in office was to loosen some of the sanctions imposed by the Obama administration in response to the attack on our election. Now, it appears that he will further undo them at G20. They have been asked for deliverables, but there is resistance to offering anything up without anything back in return, said one official who seems worried that Trump will just give Russia something for nothing.Trump initially considered giving the compounds back in exchange for a new U.S. consulate in St. Petersberg, but that plan fell through after Russian officials met with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.Numerous members of Trump s administration including The Donald himself for obstruction are being investigated for their connections to the Kremlin.Just putting that out there, since Republicans don t seem to care.Featured image via Getty Images | 1real |
CLUELESS ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTERS Asked Why They Oppose Trump [Video] | Is anyone else getting sick and tired of hearing all of the baseless lies being told about Trump? There is zero evidence that Trump is a racist, yet the Left continues to spew that horrible label every chance they get. If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. Joseph Goebbels, Hitler s public relations mastermind | 1real |
Ann Coulter: All We Need Is Love ... and Deportations - Breitbart | In Britain, as in the U. S. when an Islamic terrorist is said to be, “known to law enforcement,” the translation is: “He is being actively ignored by law enforcement. ”[After the latest terrorist attack in Britain — at least as of this writing — Prime Minister Theresa May bravely announced, “Enough is enough!” What is the point of these macho proclamations after every terrorist attack? Nothing will be done to stop the next attack. Political correctness prohibits us from doing anything that might stop it. Poland doesn’t admit Muslims: It has no terrorism. Japan doesn’t admit Muslims: It has no terrorism. The United Kingdom and the United States used to have very few Muslims: They used to have almost no terrorism. (One notable exception was chosen as the National Freedom Hero in this year’s Puerto Rican parade in New York!) Notwithstanding the lovely Muslim shopkeeper who wouldn’t hurt a fly, everyone knows that with every tranche of Muslims we bring in, we’re also getting some number of killers. Former Prime Minister Tony Blair dumped millions of Third World Muslims on Britain to force “multiculturalism” on the country. Now Britons are living with the result. Since the attack, every U. S. president has done the same. President Bush admitted Muslim immigrants at a faster pace after than we had been doing before . Whatever the attackers intended to accomplish, I bet they didn’t expect that. Now we can’t get rid of them. Under the rules of political correctness, Western countries are prohibited from even pausing our breakneck importation of Muslims, much less sending the recent arrivals home. In defense of the poor saps responding to every terrorist attack with flowers, candles and hashtags, these are people who have no ability to do anything else. Western leaders are in full possession of the tools to end Islamic terrorism in their own countries, just as their forebears once ended Nazi Stormtroopers. Unable to summon the backbone to defeat the current enemy, the West is stuck constantly reliving that glorious time when they whipped the Nazis. In almost every Western country — except the one with an increasingly beleaguered First Amendment — it’s against the law to deny the Holocaust. Are we really worried about a resurgence of Nazism? Isn’t Islamic terrorism a little higher on our “immediate problems” list? How about making it illegal to make statements in support of ISIS, female genital mutilation, Sharia law or any act of terrorism? The country with a First Amendment can’t do that — the most that amendment allows us to do is ban conservative speakers from every college campus in the nation. But if our elected representatives really cared about stopping the next terrorist attack, instead of merely “watching” those on the “watch” list, they’d deport them. To this day, we have a whole office at the Department of Justice dedicated to finding and deporting Nazis even without proof they personally committed crimes against Jews. But we can’t manage to deport hearty young Muslims who post love notes to ISIS on their Facebook pages. If the Clinton administration had merely enforced laws on the books against an Afghani immigrant, Mir Seddique Mateen, and excluded him based on his list of terrorist affiliations, his son Omar wouldn’t have been around to slaughter 49 people at an Orlando nightclub last year. If Secretary of State John Kerry, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson or anyone else in our vaunted immigration vetting system had done his job, Pakistani Tashfeen Malik never would have been admitted to this country to commit mass murder in San Bernardino a year after she arrived. Before being warmly welcomed by the U. S. Malik’s social media posts were bristling with hatred of America and enthusiasm for jihad. We’re already paying a battery of FBI agents to follow every Muslim refugee around the country. When they find out that one of them lists his hobby as “jihad,” we need them to stop watching and start deporting. Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, the rest of the useless GOP — and obviously every Democrat — have the blood of the next terrorist attack on their hands if they don’t make crystal clear that admiring remarks about Islamic terrorism is a deportable act. But they won’t do it. That’s “not who we are,” as Ryan famously said. True, most Muslims are peaceful. Guess what? Most Nazis were peaceful! We didn’t knock ourselves out to admit as many of them as we could, screening out only the Nazis convicted of mass murder. Before we were even formally involved in World War II, the FBI was all over the German American Bund. No one worried about upsetting our German neighbors. (Perhaps because they knew these were Germans and wouldn’t start bombing things and shooting people.) But today, our official position is: Let’s choose love so as not to scare our Muslim neighbors. Isn’t that precisely what we want to do? Facing an immobile government, two British men — by which I mean British men — were sentenced to PRISON for putting bacon on a mosque in Bristol last year. One died in prison just after Christmas, an ancient religious holiday recently replaced by Ramadan. If we can’t look askance at Muslims without committing a hate crime, can’t we at least stop admitting ever more “refugees,” some percentage of whom are going to be terrorists and 100 percent of whom will consume massive amounts of government resources? No, that’s “not who we are. ” Until any Western leader is willing to reduce the number of Muslims in our midst, could they spare us the big talk? “We surrender” would at least have the virtue of honesty. | 0fake |
HUGE PILE OF MANURE DUMPED IN FRONT OF DEM HQ | Home › POLITICS › HUGE PILE OF MANURE DUMPED IN FRONT OF DEM HQ HUGE PILE OF MANURE DUMPED IN FRONT OF DEM HQ 0 SHARES
[10/31/16] While Hillary Clinton’s team is working to dig the Democratic presidential candidate out from under a barrage of leaked emails exposing corruption and collusion, staffers at the Democratic headquarters in Warren, County Ohio were stuck in a similar situation over the weekend.
The Warren County Democratic Party headquarters on Route 42 was the target of an unexpected dump of its own late Friday night, but instead of embarrassing emails the office received several tons of manure, dumped at the front door, WCPO reports.
A volunteer found the pile of poo the next morning.
Bethe Goldenfield, county party chairman, downplayed the dump as a “minor blip on the radar,” and contends it’s only inspired local volunteers to get people to the polls.
“People are very motivated,” she said.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper sent out a picture of the pile to his Twitter followers around 9 a.m. Saturday.
“When they dump manure, we go high! One of our best performing offices, generating strong D early vote,” he wrote. “Lesson: keep organizing while they bs.”
WPCO reports the incident was a repeat from the 2012 election, when the local campaign office received the exact same donation. The party has since installed video cameras, however, and are hoping the investment pays off.
“We have cameras, so the perps will hopefully be responsible for their actions,” the party posted to its Facebook page, WHIO reports. Post navigation | 1real |
WOW! FBI SUED Over Andrew Breitbart Records Request…What Are They Withholding? | The speech he gave to a sold out crowd on Saturday is epic. We often listen to it to get fired up about bringing down the commies currently trying to destroy America. It s truly epic! THE SPEECH THAT BREITBART IS BEST KNOWN FOR IS HIS CPAC SPEECH:The complaint, filed Friday in federal court in California, says that Leopold filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI for all records related to Andrew Breitbart on Aug. 7, 2012, a few months after Breitbart died at age 43.According to the suit, the FBI responded to the request on Sept. 4, but said that the bureau only searched it main file records, claiming that no records were located.The complaint says that Leopold appealed the FBI s response but was denied by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Information in 2013. In its appeal decision, OIP claimed that the FBI is not required to perform cross-reference searches unless the requester provides information sufficient to enable the FBI to determine with certainty that any cross-references it locates are identifiable to the subject of [the] request, including, for example, the dates and locations of contacts between the subject of the request and the FBI, the subject s social security number, or other such information, the suit reads.However, BuzzFeed and Leopold contend in the complaint, Nothing in the FOIA statute requires a requester to provide this information before a cross-reference search must be conducted. As FBI and OIP are certainly aware, Andrew Breitbart was a well-known public figure and is easily identifiable by the FBI in conducting a cross-reference search, the suit reads. As the FBI and OIP are also aware, cross-reference searches frequently turn up records not located in main file searches. Via: THE WRAP | 1real |
Sailing Couple Seized by Somali Pirates in 2008 Are Apparently Abducted Off Philippines - The New York Times | BERLIN — A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for, the old maritime saying goes. A German sailing couple, seized and held for ransom eight years ago by Somali pirates, apparently lived by that rule. A German yachting website reported Monday that the couple appeared to have been abducted again, this time while cruising a dangerous area of the Philippines, by militants of Abu Sayyaf, an insurgent group known for kidnapping and ransoming foreigners. The woman was said to have been killed. The couple, Jürgen Kantner, 70, and his partner, Sabine Merz, have been sailing the oceans for many years aboard their the Rockall. They were held for 52 days in Somalia in 2008 before their captors freed them, reportedly after a ransom had been paid. The Philippine media on Monday reported that a German couple had been attacked while sailing in an area of the southern Philippines under the control of Abu Sayyaf. The woman was shot and the man abducted, the reports said. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted a spokesman for Abu Sayyaf as saying via telephone that the woman had fired upon them. “Our men shot back and killed her,” he said. The newspaper said that the spokesman had made a man come to the phone and that he had identified himself as Jürgen Kantner. The account quoted him as saying: “Pirates took our boat and they took us. ” In Berlin, the foreign ministry said it was working with Philippine authorities to clarify the situation. “As always in such cases, I would like to be very ” said the ministry spokesman, Martin Schäfer. He stressed that there was no confirmation of the reported killing or the abduction. Uwe Janssen, editor in chief of the German yachting website, Yacht. de, noted the lack of official confirmation but wrote that a photograph released by the Philippine military authorities “is clear: the attacked vessel indeed belongs to Jürgen Kantner. ” The sailboat in the photo is marked Rockall, the same name that was on the vessel captured by the Somalis eight years ago. Mr. Janssen said, “Everything suggests that the two victims” were Mr. Kantner and Ms. Merz. In May 2009, Agence reported that Mr. Kantner had returned to Somalia after the couple’s abduction and release, and quoted him as vowing to get the Rockall seaworthy once more and to set off for Asia. “Why should I return to Germany, where I have nobody?” he was quoted as saying. “After 32 years on my boat, I have lost all contact with them. ” He acknowledged “that it is a little bit like suicide,” and said he prayed that he would not get captured a second time. In a lengthy interview with the German magazine Yacht after the 2008 abduction, Mr. Kantner and Ms. Merz said they had been captured then while sailing close to the coast of Yemen, and that they had no warning of special danger. They dismissed suggestions that they had courted danger, citing cases of vessels robbed in calmer regions, like the Canary Islands or Corsica. | 0fake |
Bill Clinton Gives The Rundown on Obamacare We Have Been Looking For (VIDEO) | Bill Clinton Gives The Rundown on Obamacare We Have Been Looking For (VIDEO) By Natalie Dailey on October 27, 2016 Subscribe
Ever since President Barack Obama passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) aka Obamacare, Republicans have been fighting against it.
The insurance companies are no longer allowed to discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions. It also set up a system of federal insurance marketplaces. The local media can sometimes make it sound more confusing without meaning to.
President Bill Clinton helped explain it during a recent speech. He said : “All the headlines are full of the stories that average premiums are going up 22 percent. But the subheadline is, if you’re in the healthcare program, your subsidies are going up too so the increase won’t be as much.”
Also, 70 percent of people buying insurance on the Marketplace will be able to get a plan for under $75 per month.
He further said : “So you’ve got one proposal, her opponent, just repeal it and go back to the way it used to be.” “That’s a terrible idea. More than 20 million people would lose their health insurance. Families that can now insure their kids up to age 26 wouldn’t be able to do it anymore and 100 percent of Americans would be worse off because you today cannot deny someone coverage based on a preexisting condition. We do not want to get rid of that.”
He did talk about some of the disadvantages of the law, but it is still better than Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s non-plan .
Clinton said : “The people who are getting killed in this deal are the small business people and individuals who make just a little too much to get in on these subsidies.”
Yes, the co-pays and drug prices are high. However, the Marketplace is the only way some people can get insurance. If your employer doesn’t offer healthcare or if you are self-employed, you would be screwed under the old rules. We need to fix this system, not throw it away.
Here is a video of the Young Turks talking about Bill Clinton’s Obamacare speech:
Featured image is a YouTube screengrab. About Natalie Dailey
Hi, I'm from Huntsville, AL. I'm a Liberal living in the Bible Belt, which can be quite challenging at times. I'm passionate about many issues including mental health, women's rights, gay rights, and many others. Check out my blog abravealabamaatheist.com. Check out my other blog weneedtotalkaboutmentalhealth.com Connect | 1real |
New Play Vicuña Portrays Trump in “Emperor’s New Clothes” Tale | “Vicuña,” the new play that opened Sunday at Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, Calif., portrays a Donald Trump-like candidate in an “Emperor’s New Clothes” tale. The satire about a real estate tycoon and reality TV star turned presidential candidate could be perceived as a hatchet job. However, it offers an entertaining topical comedy on the surface, with glimpses into the climate of fear and xenophobia that has spread across America.
The improbable, uncontrollable Republican candidate here, Kurt Seaman (a name that results in sophomoric jokes that take away from the effort), bears an obvious resemblance to Trump. The mogul “wants to add the White House to his list of properties,” as one character notes. The Trumpisms include the well- respected daughter (called Srilanka here), ex-wives with names that evoke Trump’s, negative attitudes toward immigrants and even an uncomfortable feeling in his party that he will hurt them on Election Day.
“Vicuña” clearly evolved with the election since the Jon Robin Baitz play (his fourth world premiere for the Center Theatre Group) was drafted earlier this year. It takes place as preparations are under way for the third debate between Seaman (played by Harry Groener) and his unseen female opponent, who clearly did better in the first two debates.
Directed by Robert Egan, most of the play’s action takes place in a posh tailor’s atelier, where the character Anselm Kassar (played by Brian George), an Iranian Jewish immigrant, designs garments for presidents and world leaders that create the illusion of power and confidence. The character is based on an actual Washington, D.C., tailor named Georges de Paris, a Greek immigrant who crafted suits for presidents for decades.
Seaman decides that for his last debate he needs a magical, powerful suit made out of the finest vicuña (hence the name) for him by the great presidential tailor. “Clothing conveys credibility,” is the premise. He believes the polls are lying: “People are afraid to admit they are on my side.” However, just in case, this emperor wants new clothes.
The tailor decides, ignoring his personal feelings, to make a suit for a candidate that he finds repellent and make him more. He cannot resist the reflected glory of his powerful suits on the wannabe or truly powerful.
Seaman is at first delighted to meet the tailor’s apprentice, Amir Masoud (played by Ramiz Monsef), who is the son of immigrants. He tells him “Apprenticeship is good. It’s my thing.” But the candidate’s world view collides profoundly with this young Muslim man’s concepts of justice and America. The candidate actually comments that if people cannot make it in their own country and flee, “what kind of people are we letting in?”
Amir serves as the play’s conscience and challenges the candidate (and his daughter). He points out, “A suit can’t stand in for actual goodness and vision.” Amir’s character (like others in the play) is uneven and his actions do not always convey his feelings (like taking advantage of his prep school and Harvard University scholarships before flaunting his Marxist leanings.)
Srilanka (played by Samantha Sloyan) is tired defending her dad against his inappropriate comments. Initially, she tells Amir, “His message is lost when he is not ‘disciplined.’” The dutiful daughter even boasts that “when he’s elected he will be far more human than he’s being painted.” However, once he speaks positively about woman at her alma mater and then does a disparaging sexist interview, she can no longer ignore his inappropriate comments.
The Republican party leadership cannot ignore his “pitchfork campaign” and questionable opinions either. They offer Seaman billions to throw the debate and not become president. The real estate tycoon is now engaged in negotiations “to buy and sell the presidency.”
The final scene is the debate, with the candidate and his exquisite vicuña suit. The final act of the real election is yet to be played. But this play’s final act is veers into darker territory and an “emperor has no clothes” type moment.
The Vicuña cast is excellent. Groener avoids the obvious parody, but conveys the appropriate pomposity. Sloyan does a great job displaying early confidence crumbling to vulnerability of Srilanka’s campaign life. However, the key character is Monsef’s Amir, and the actor is up to the task of carrying the audience on his journey challenging the candidate’s beliefs and actions.
“Vicuña” portrays Trump in an “Emperor’s New Clothes” type tale, opening one week before the election. Baitz’ new play may not have a long shelf life now. However, it raises some serious issues that are not going away on Nov. 9. Maybe the play will be dusted off years from now and presented as a dramedy based on actual people. But, in the meantime, the reality is a little too real as election day looms.
Written and Edited by Dyanne Weiss
Sources:
Performance Oct. 30
Center Theatre Group : Vicuña
Los Angeles Times: Q&A The timely new play ‘Vicuña’ is, and isn’t, about Donald Trump
Photos of Groener (top) and Monsef and Sloyan by Craig Schwartz. courtesy of Center Theatre Group. baitz , Center Theatre Group , Kirk Douglas , vicuña | 1real |
Skype sex scam – a fortune built on shame | Skype sex scam – a fortune built on shame Moroccan boomtown getting rich from men tricked on Internet Published: 46 mins ago
(BBC News) One night a young Palestinian man living abroad fell victim to an online scam, involving a web camera and a beautiful woman. Here Samir (not his real name) tells the story of how he was trapped – and below the BBC’s Reda el Mawy visits the Moroccan boomtown where many of the scammers are based.
WARNING: this story contains descriptions of sexual acts
It happened when I was home alone. This girl added me on Facebook. I didn’t think it was anything strange – I often get friend requests from old school friends who I don’t know well.
The next day she sends me a message: “Hi, how are you? I saw your profile and I liked you.” So I looked at her profile and, I mean, she was really hot. | 1real |
ALMOST 100 YEARS LATER…Donald Trump Sounds A Lot Like Theodore Roosevelt On Immigration…And What It Means To Be An American [VIDEO] | 1real | |
Morning Sickness May Protect Mother and Child | Morning Sickness May Protect Mother and Child VN:F [1.9.22_1171] Close Transcript Transcript: Morning Sickness May Protect Mother and Child
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.
“Since the beginning of time, pregnant women have been [known] to suffer…nausea and vomiting [during pregnancy].”“The term ‘morning sickness’ is [actually] misleading,” since women can feel sick all day long. And sometimes, it can get so serious women have to be hospitalized.
Researchers at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that saturated fat seemed to be a primary dietary risk factor for severe sickness. Five times the odds for each 15 grams’ intake of saturated fat, like a quarter-pound cheeseburger’s worth. The reason saturated fat intake may be such a strong risk factor could be through its effect on estrogen, as “[s]aturated fat has been shown to increase circulating levels of estrogen.”
Why would we evolve to have such a negative reaction to saturated fat? Why would we evolve to get sick at all? “Pregnancy sickness is a universal phenomenon, [with nausea and vomiting] affecting 70 to 85% of all pregnant women.” If you include food aversions in the definition, then the incidence is more like 100%. “Because pregnancy sickness is such a common phenomenon, one must question why this is so. Is there a purpose for such a potentially devastating condition?” Well, in the past, pregnancy sickness was dismissed as all just in women’s heads, but “recent…studies have reconsidered pregnancy sickness as an embryo-protective mechanism, an evolutionary adaptation to protect the [baby].”
Protect the baby from what? Maybe from meat. “Meat is the principal source of pathogens for humans. Meat is also the most common type of food avoided by pregnant women.” So, the development of an aversion to meat during pregnancy could be protective, as “meat may have toxins that are mutagenic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic”—meaning birth defect-causing. Tainted meat may also be contaminated by pathogens, and “[p]regnancy is a time of relative immunosuppression.” Normally, we can fend off most meat pathogens; however, by design, pregnant women are immunosuppressed to not reject the developing embryo, since half the baby—from the father’s side—is foreign.
So, maybe morning sickness evolved as a way to get us to stay away from meat during this vulnerable time. This would be consistent with a “profound overrepresentation” of taboos against meat eating during pregnancy in sample societies around the world.
If this theory is true, then we should be able to make five predictions. If nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is there to be protective, then women who have it should have better pregnancy outcomes. And, indeed, women who experience nausea and vomiting are significantly less likely to miscarry, or suffer a stillbirth.
Prediction #2 would be that the triggering foods contain things that can be particularly harmful to the baby. And, indeed, “[o]f all food types, animal protein (including meat, poultry, eggs, and seafood…) is the most dangerous. Meat is the source of a wide range of pathogens that pose a grave threat to pregnant women and [their developing babies].”
Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy should also coincide with when the embryo is most vulnerable. That’s between like, you know, weeks 5 and 15, when all the critical organ structures are being formed—which is right when nausea and vomiting is peaking, which is right when pregnant women find meats, fish, poultry, and eggs most aversive.
And, finally, if this theory is true, one would expect a lower frequency of morning sickness among plant-based populations. And, yes, the few societies where you don’t see such morning sickness problems are the ones that tend to have only plants as dietary staples, rather than meat. Please consider volunteering to help out on the site. Close Sources Video Sources Doctor's Note
If you do suffer from morning sickness, what can you do? See Natural Treatments for Morning Sickness .
What other effects can diet have on a healthy pregnancy? See, for example : Maternal Diet May Affect Stress Responses in Children
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. Julie
So nice to have a video without pop-ins!! :) In early pregnancy my food aversion wasn’t to meat (which I didn’t eat anyway). However I did have a major aversion to peanut butter–couldn’t even take a whiff of the stuff! Maybe protection from aflatoxin? Secondary aversion was to oatmeal which had been my go-to breakfast for years. Didn’t touch either throughout pregnancy. WFPBRunner
Something that is also curious is I had morning sickness the minute I got up but was fine for the rest of the day. If meat was the culprit wouldn’t I have been sick when the food was still in my stomach? What good would vomiting up nothing do? Julie
Yeah, doesn’t make much sense, does it? I’ve never really thought there’s much rhyme or reason to the idiosyncrasies of pregnancy like morning sickness, food aversions and cravings.. Many of them don’t make much sense, although it would be interesting if they did. WFPBRunner
Hormones Nick Presidente
I wonder if our evolution is the culprit on things like this. Where we might have evolved the morning sickness as a reponse to toxins, when toxins were almost entirely from our diet. Today we wear make up, and touch chemicals among other things, who knows, maybe make up makes us throw up? It’d be interesting to see a more detailed breakdown of that. Foroogh – NF Moderator
Yes, I think this is very interesting topic for further research. The bodies response to toxin to protect the fetus that his or her immune systems is not developed yet. Yes, our bodies are very complex system and we learn a lot from it. plant_this_thought
Our bodies are equipped to tell us so many things, when we stop to listen. Tom Goff
Symptoms often aren’t just messages. They are the body’s first line defences against infection and injury. Coughing expels noxious organisms, fevers kill pathogens etc etc. Suppressing symptoms may actually be counterproductive in some circumstances. plant_this_thought
Disease, then, is not the body misbehaving, but working as designed. Darryl
This paper offers a similar hypothesis that the reason saturated fat intake induces inflammation (in the nonpregnant as well) is that it’s an adaptive response to gut pathogens that meat promotes.
Embyronic implantation “ resembles an open wound that requires a strong inflammatory response ” where the uterine lining is broken and endometrial tissue invaded, and this enhanced immune response is partly responsible for morning sickness. Terry
We had 4 children and my wife got morning sickness with each one. I am not a doc and of course can’t give medical advise. But we used B-6 and the morning sickness was gone. With all 4 children. Others tried my suggestion and it worked for them too. B-6 is supposed to work for sea sickness too. Darryl
They used 25 mg every 8 h for 3 d. nc54
Eat a banana every 8 hours. Good source of B6. Joyce
At the time I became pregnant with my son, my diet consisted mainly of vegetables with very occasional meals of chicken or fish. I did not experience morning sickness. However, as the pregnancy progressed, i began to crave red meat. Since I had not had any for more than 15 years, it was difficult to contemplate following through on this need. Eventually, the craving became so powerful, I purchased and ate an entire steak. I was surprised that the need persisted for the remainder of the pregnancy. Once my son was born, I reverted to a predominantly vegetarian diet. But clearly my usual diet was lacking in something required for the pregnangy lemonhead
Same thing happened to me re: red meat. I did get morning sickness in my first trimester, though. Julie
Same thing happened to a friend of mine. She normally hated red meat, but while pregnant she craved it like crazy! Bobbi
I just love the pop-in images and the picture videos! what a nice way to change things up- thank you Nutritionfacts.
This video is so interesting to me since I vomited for almost 7 months of my pregnancy and thus never had another child after my wonderfu Sebastian. I know this rationale is fact for me. It was always fried smells of any time and I literally lived on peanut butter and toast while fearing my son would then be allergic to peanuts after my high consumption, but he is 24 now and no signs of it. Our bodies are so wise! Bobbi
Sorry, meant to write, “smells of frying or cooking meat” that made me have to literally walk quickly past restaurants and decline dinner invitations. I think the reason it turned on early in the morning and stayed all day and night for me was because that is when it needed to alert me; when I was awake. Foroogh – NF Moderator
http://www.babycenter.com/morning-sickness?page=2 Maria
uhg… baby center is full of pop info that aims to please everyone and anyone- not a great scientific resource….. Maria
Oh my goodness- I love Dr. Gregor and my plant based diet but I get really upset at stuff like this… 6 weeks to the day (after eating pounds of asparagus and beans) I got debilitating nausea with my second pregnancy (that PS was quelled for awhile when I ate a high calorie/ high fat meal like…. meat. Which I wouldn’t touch until I was pregnant.) For all of you watching please don’t go around promising women they will not have morning sickness if they are plant based because it’s simply not true. I think it has more to do with changes in hormones (this is all from experience totally non scientific…). I am super sensitive to changes in hormones to the point where I get extremely nauseous at milk let down when I’m nursing (even after intercourse- which is a similar hormone “rush” if I’m not mistaken). I have searched all over for information about this but I feel like all of it is anecdotal. My biggest aversions during pregnancy were to rice, oatmeal, and whole beans (smashed was fine haha)- and it sounds stupid but I hated drinking water. I simply couldn’t eat enough calories to support myself because of the nausea.
I didn’t try ginger or B6 but I just want to fix the cause of the nausea not put a bandaid on it….
As a side note I totally avoided heartburn because of the PB Diet. It was amazing!!! Had it horrible with my first but not with my second! Oil, meat, and anything processed (even a little) gave me horrible heartburn- greens and fruit rock! nire81
I’ve had three pregnancies with severe morning sickness. The first pregnancy I was a vegetarian (for over a decade) and I threw up so much I lost weight for 7 months. The second pregnancy I was still a vegetarian and was also very sick, but threw up a little less. My third pregnancy I was vegan (for two years) and I couldn’t stand up without needing to puke, and I had issues with dehydration. I was having blood work done yearly because of my Hashimoto’s, and my nutrient levels were fine. All three times the sickness lasted the entire pregnancy and went away right after delivery. Maybe meat is one cause of morning sickness, but based on my experience I think there must be other causes as well. NutritionistMia
I am 17 weeks pregnant with twins. I have suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) throughout my pregnancy and have been hospitalized due to dehydration before. I also am a primarily plant-based eater. While I think this theory could hold some merit since so many pregnant women experience aversions to meat and poultry, it really doesn’t begin to explain the range of nausea triggers for those of us with HG. For example, a simple car ride or a whiff of certain vegetables (especially ones that I used to love!) can induce excessive vomiting, and neither of these examples appear harmful for the fetuses. My point is I think this theory is a bit oversimplified and dismissive of a condition that is much more complex and mysterious than this video would suggest. Maria
YES! I think pregnant women are just so widely misunderstood. It’s not JUST what you eat (maybe a factor)- maybe it’s even stress! I wonder if those other countries that are more plant based also see pregnancy as a normal part of life (not a disease like in the US) and have families who support the pregnant women (not have demanding work days and isolation from families as a normal part of the culture- not to mention a a negative view of pregnancy and children) NutritionistMia
Agreed. Really limiting stress has been key for me, in addition to medication and monitoring by my medical team. Also in developing countries (even plant based societies in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia), women can and do die of HG due to dehydration and inability to access health services. Removing meat from one’s diet is not a cure for severe morning sickness, the same way that meat is not the cause of morning sickness. It is much more complicated than that! Foroogh – NF Moderator
Hi, I think this is great video and we can learn a lot from it and it is a subject for further research as I can understand from reading the comments different pregnancy has different issues associated with morning sickness. Vege-tater
Interesting irony…though I never liked meat and liver gagged me, when I was pregnant I craved it nearly raw! Can make me gag now just thinking about it! I had wicked morning sickness early on and barely could hold anything down, but by the craving stage it was history. The following pregnancy was uneventful. Odd. DashnMe
Ok, this one is way off for me. I was ill enough to be hospitalized with my first pregnancy. I was kept in for 2weeks on I’ve fluids no food the entire time and when I was released, I couldn’t eat enough hamburgers to satisfy me…and I had been a vegetarian for the previous 5 or more years!! The smell of coffee or even the smell of boiling water made me ill, the taste of water, eating lettuce made me violently ill…I hated how my taste buds changed but there it is. With my second child, I was no lo get a vegetarian but felt just as sick but managed to stay out of the hospital. And for me, it was a 24/7 illness not just morning.
Lol, humans didn’t evolve. Keri Hanson
Two pregnancies, two healthy sons, no morning sickness. I was vegan prior to my first, ate some chicken and fish at my Midwife’s advice during my first pregnancy, and are no meat my second. Jen
Hello Dr. Greger – I don’t mean to be nit-picky, but its quite unclear to me (and I would guess others as well by the nature of the comments we are seeing) whether you are speaking about this subject as a hypothesis or a theory. A couple of times you stated “If this theory is true . . . “.
As a scientist, you know that a “theory” is generally regarded as accepted fact due to a plethora of information sufficient to fully support it. A “hypothesis” is still questioned as fact and is still in the “accepting information as to its validity” stage. So I’m a little unclear as to how you are representing this set of information: as hypothesis or as theory? I think it has added to some confusion in the discussions below.
My sense of it is that this is a hypothesis at this point but you are using the word “theory” loosely as many of us do. I wouldn’t make a point of it except that this is a fact-based site and we are seeing lots of diverse perspectives and some confusion. So I’m wondering if you could clarify for us. Love your work however! broccoli
This is bogus info from Dr Greger under the disguise to be against meat eaters. Morning sickness has to do with hormone imbalance in pregnant women but has nothing to do with vomiting to expel meat “poisons” from the body as a “protective mechanism”. And the saturated fat theory is even more laughable.
Even vegan pregnant women have morning sickness. | 1real |
DEMOCRATS CAUGHT Paying Halfway House Patients $300 To Vote For Hillary [VIDEO] | A lawless party whose end always justifies the means Why wouldn t everyone want another lawless President residing over our nation from a party with no morals or respect for the laws of our nation?https://twitter.com/WDFx2EU7/status/792465012585406464 | 1real |
Afghanistan Is in Chaos. Is That What Hamid Karzai Wants? - The New York Times | KABUL, Afghanistan — Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan president and current antagonist to his successor’s government, likes to describe Afghan politics as a marathon. To the long roll call of visitors he meets each day — regional power brokers and elders, government officials, religious leaders, who reminisce longingly about his years in power — the metaphor is clear. Mr. Karzai has never stopped running, never stopped maneuvering, and he won’t. Mr. Karzai’s critics, especially those close to President Ashraf Ghani, accuse him of working from the wings to destabilize the government and exploit a moment of national crisis to try to return to power — or at least to force some concessions. They say Mr. Karzai is actively undermining a vulnerable president, maintaining an alternate pole of political influence and patronage, and stoking protest movements that some fear could turn violent. So what is Mr. Karzai’s answer? He flatly denies that he is trying to harm the government. But then there’s the hint of a wry smile: “If there are some people running faster, those who are falling behind should not complain. ” Following Mr. Karzai through days of meetings — dozens of discussions, and interviews on and off camera — it becomes clear that he is still operating like a man in power. His many visitors come to seek his leverage in the government, and he is happy to pick up the telephone to call a minister, a governor or an ambassador. He still communicates with world leaders, signing letters to them on a weekly basis. Much of Mr. Karzai’s politics happens around noon, when a larger crowd gathers for a group prayer on the grass outside and then follows him upstairs to a sunlit dining table for lunch. On a given day, there are former and current government officials, generals, judges, bankers, tribal elders, former members of the Taliban and preachers from Kabul’s major mosques. A master storyteller and conversationalist, Mr. Karzai takes his seat at the head of the table. “Who is raising this question out there, that I am returning?” Mr. Karzai began one recent conversation over stuffed peppers, vegetable rice, and chicken cooked with carrots. “I have made it clear I don’t want to. ” But that was good enough to stir a spirited conversation, full of anecdotes about his days in power and how people do not trust the current government. One former cabinet minister, who still serves as an adviser to Mr. Ghani, insisted that Mr. Karzai was the only natural alternative, and a great hope to the 90 percent of the country disenchanted with the current government. Mr. Karzai listened attentively. He took another bite. He seems to invite the question hanging over him: If Mr. Karzai does not want to return to power, just what is he trying to achieve by increasing pressure on a government already on the brink? And it is on the brink. In private conversations, Afghan and Western officials alike worry that Mr. Ghani’s administration may be facing an existential crisis that could peak as soon as next month. The end of September is the deadline for the government to meet the commitments of a political deal brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry after the catastrophic 2014 election dispute. By then, Afghanistan is supposed to hold parliamentary elections, enact sweeping electoral reforms, and amend the Constitution to create the position of prime minister for Mr. Ghani’s election rival and current governing partner, Abdullah Abdullah. But staying on schedule was already impossible many months ago, and Mr. Kerry has publicly insisted that Mr. Ghani’s government will remain through the end of its term, regardless. That is just the beginning. The country’s security situation is worsening, despite the American military’s increased involvement in the fighting. The Taliban have seized many districts, and they threaten to take many more. Mr. Ghani, the constant technocrat, has been forced to focus on security, and his economic initiatives have stalled. And suddenly he has also been challenged by a street protest movement in which ethnic Hazaras are accusing his government of systematic discrimination. The most recent of the demonstrations was struck by a suicide bombing, claimed by the Islamic State, that left at least 80 people dead. Now the demonstrators accuse the government of purposely leaving them vulnerable to attack, and they have given Mr. Ghani an ultimatum to meet their demands — another September deadline, as it turns out. On top of all that, a new protest movement, potentially more dangerous, is growing just north of Kabul, the capital, calling for the government to rebury with dignity a northern bandit king who has been dead for nearly a century, shot by a firing squad. Among the people calling for the reburial, and threatening protests, are northern militia commanders who have long been skeptical of Mr. Ghani, and they have also given him a September ultimatum. Government officials accuse Mr. Karzai and his allies of having a hand in the recent protests. But he says he is after neither the collapse of the government nor a return to power. “I have absolutely no doubt about that,” he said. He just wants the government’s legitimacy affirmed after the September deadline, he said, and the only way left is to call a traditional loya jirga — a grand assembly of tribal elders from across the country. Mr. Karzai’s push for a loya jirga is the move most widely seen as a game plan for returning to power, or at least for negotiating more leverage. His strength is with the tribes and the power brokers he has maintained at his side, while Mr. Ghani has alienated many of them. It helps to understand that Mr. Karzai represents an entire network of power — national as well as local — accumulated over 13 years and beyond. That network feels that it is slowly being uprooted under Mr. Ghani’s presidency, and that it could be vastly weakened if the current government survives the September deadline intact. In Kandahar, powerful strongmen who owe their rise to Mr. Karzai’s protection have had standoffs recently with officials sent by Mr. Ghani over lucrative custom taxes and where the money goes. A northern lawmaker who stopped by to see Mr. Karzai complained that the government was cutting her off and working “so beautifully and systematically” to weaken their mutual support base. She might not return from vacation abroad, she said, if the situation continued and Mr. Karzai did not signal his plan clearly. If it came to an open political struggle, it is unclear whether Mr. Ghani would be able to score points with what would be perhaps his best case to make against Mr. Karzai: that the seeds of the current security and political crises were sown on Mr. Karzai’s watch, and that the former president left him a system suffocating in corruption and patronage. That is in part because Mr. Karzai has been busy using his social acumen to try to shed a more favorable light on his legacy after 13 years in power. Mr. Karzai, who lives a stone’s throw from the presidential palace, says his routine has changed little since he was president. He has more free time to relax in the afternoons, but his mornings are busier. He meets more people than he did when he was in power. On average, his office estimated, Mr. Karzai sees more than 400 people a month. Every Eid, Muslim celebrations that come twice a year, Mr. Karzai opens his gates to a flow of visitors, reaching up to 6, 000 people. From the moment he leaves his residence in the morning, his two young daughters tugging at his trousers, he is a man on the move, trailed by secret service agents. Mr. Karzai, 58, describes himself as hyperactive, and he is . He drinks four or five espressos a day. He still moves with ease among drastically different groups of people, from Oruzgan elders who interrupt him with passionate diatribes, to groups of youths coming to present him with their latest research. Mr. Karzai makes them laugh, and when they shed tears, as one group visiting from central Afghanistan did during a recent audience, he offers tissues. As for what he might be seeking from all of this, Western officials in Kabul acknowledge that Mr. Karzai, a masterful tactician and politician, does not necessarily need to have a clear concept of what he wants. He can mount pressure on the government in ways big and small, throw many irons in the fire, and perhaps force a critical blunder from Mr. Ghani. But Mr. Ghani is not without resources. Much will depend on how many opposition figures the president can to keep Mr. Karzai at least partly on the margins. Mr. Karzai reserves his sharpest criticism of the government for what he considers its biggest sin: cozying up, “immensely, sadly,” to the United States and relying on it for its survival. Mr. Karzai, who sent flowers to the American ambassador for the Fourth of July and then signed a note to the ambassador for thanking him, said in an interview with The New York Times last week that “the Americans, whose primary slogan is democracy, are making a sham of democracy in Afghanistan. ” He is not fundamentally against the American presence, he says: He just wants them to stop bombing his country and interfering in the political process, which he accused Mr. Kerry of doing in the spring when he insisted on a Ghani government. “This is a blatant interference to undermine the sovereignty of Afghanistan,” Mr. Karzai said in the interview. “Look at this country: What do we have other than our pride and sovereignty? Then someone comes — from a good place, America — stands here in our country to determine the duration of our government as he sees fit? That is an insult. ” Meanwhile, the streams of visitors continue, and Mr. Karzai regales them with parables that at times seem like bids for redemption, and at others like foresight. During one lunch, he told a story of a group of tired travelers in a desert who see a fire in the distance and hear drums. Men are dancing the called Attan. The travelers decide to spend the night there, and to make their hosts feel comfortable, they join in the dance. But the dance stretches on and on. “One of the travelers is wise, he realizes it is the devil’s dance and it will go on all night,” Mr. Karzai told the guests. “When the morning comes, there would be no sign of a dance or the devils. ” He paused, then drove the point home: “We are stuck in the dance of the devil,” he said, to chuckles. “When the sun rises, the devils will be gone, but we will be left in this dry land. ” | 0fake |
Trump, Japan's Abe toast 'bromance' as two-day summit wraps up | TOKYO (Reuters) - Every American president has a favorite foreign leader. For Donald Trump, it seems to be Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two leaders toasted their bromance on Monday as they wrapped up two days of golf, burgers and serious talks on trade and North Korea. The two men have met face-to-face six times since Trump was elected U.S. president a year ago and had 16 telephone conversations. They ve played golf twice, once at Trump s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and again on Sunday outside Tokyo. Abe recalled how his grandfather, then-premier Nobusuke Kishi, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower began the tradition of U.S.-Japan golf diplomacy 60 years ago. When you play golf not just once but two times, the person must be your favorite guy, Abe said ahead of a formal banquet with Trump on Monday. He added that never had two Japanese and American leaders forged such a close bond in just one year. Abe was the first foreign leader to meet Trump after his election last November, a win that caught Tokyo off guard after many had expected Democratic Party candidate Hillary Clinton to win and worried about Trump s America First rhetoric. Trump told the dinner guests that for protocol reasons, he shouldn t have met a foreign leader before his inauguration - but when he tried to call Abe to wave him off, the Japanese premier was already on a plane to New York. We have to spend more time together because I enjoyed every minute of it even though he (Abe) is a very tough negotiator, Trump said. We will be back soon. Trump and Abe are hardly the only U.S. and Japanese leaders to bond. Ronald Reagan and Yasuhiro Nakasone set the gold-standard for friendly ties between leaders of the two allies back in the 1980s, when they famously called each other by the nicknames Ron and Yasu . George W. Bush and Junichiro Koizumi also bonded during Koizumi s 2001-2006 term as Japanese premier, playing ball, eating BBQ at Bush s Texas ranch, and visiting Elvis Presley s Graceland mansion, where Koizumi crooned Elvis tunes. Diplomatic experts said the personal chemistry between Abe and Trump appeared real, but also noted that forging warm ties were in a way a diplomatic necessity for Japan, which ultimately relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for its security. | 0fake |
Many Insured Children Lack Essential Health Care, Study Finds - The New York Times | Margo Solomon has health insurance for herself and her four children. But actually getting treatment is another matter. Ms. Solomon, a mother from the Bronx, says she has struggled to find a doctor who accepts her insurance. And with three of her children coping with asthma, and one with more complicated medical problems, locating a specialist is even more challenging. And once in the door, she cannot afford the costs, including for deductibles and medications. “I feel like I am all alone out here,” Ms. Solomon said. She is not alone. A new study to be released on Monday by the Children’s Health Fund, a nonprofit based in New York City that expands access to health care for disadvantaged children, found that one in four children in the United States did not have access to essential health care, though a record number of young people now have health insurance. The report found that 20. 3 million people in the nation under the age of 18 lack “access to care that meets modern pediatric standards. ” Guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics say that all children should get health maintenance visits for immunizations and other preventive services management of acute and chronic medical conditions access to mental health support and dental care and have availability of emergency services and timely access to subspecialists. While Medicaid and many private insurance plans recommend or require that all of those services be provided, under the umbrella of what is known as the medical home, the study found that millions of insured children are not receiving many of the benefits. There are many children with insurance who cannot get primary care and those who do can often have problems getting specialty care. As Donald J. Trump, a Republican, vows to repeal some, if not all, of the Affordable Care Act, which extended health care coverage to an additional 20 million people, the report’s authors worry that even more children could have trouble receiving the care they need. “The fact that more than 20 million children in the U. S. experience insurance and noninsurance barriers to getting comprehensive and timely health care is a challenge that needs to get the attention from the new administration,” said the report’s lead author, Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of the nonprofit Children’s Health Fund and a professor of pediatrics and health policy and management at Columbia University. Over the past two decades, the number of children without health insurance has steadily decreased to 3. 3 million last year from around 10 million in 1997, according to an analysis of federal data and the federal government’s 2015 National Health Interview Survey. The effort to extend coverage began 50 years ago with the creation of Medicaid, which provides health insurance for the poor. It continued more recently with the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which offers coverage to those who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid and, under the Obama administration, with the Affordable Care Act, offering subsidized coverage and state exchanges. The study relied on census data and reports by federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prominent medical journals, as well as information extrapolated from the fund’s clinics and from its national network of programs that provide health care to underserved children across the country. The findings reveal a system in which getting quality care is often confusing and expensive, with even those who benefit from government programs often becoming deeply frustrated. For the insured, affordability is still an issue. The report noted that health insurance premiums for family coverage increased by 73 percent from 2003 to 2013. Employees’ contributions to the cost of the premiums climbed by 93 percent over that same period, though the rate of increase slowed after the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The average deductible for an individual with health insurance was 5 percent of median income in 2013, up from 2 percent in 2003, the report said. The study also cited a survey that found that 59 percent of pediatricians said they had a hard time collecting patients’ shares of deductibles and from families covered by private health plans. For those with Medicaid, like Ms. Solomon, difficulties in getting care have also grown. Many clinics and health systems do not accept patients with Medicaid, the study said, because of the low reimbursement rates. Ms. Solomon’s experience is typical. “When I was pregnant with my last child, I had such a hard time finding prenatal care,” she said. She called 15 to 20 doctors before finding one who took her insurance. “I mean, we would call places and they would be like, ‘We take it,’ but it turned out they didn’t,” she said. “It was so hard. ” Even something as simple as getting medicine recently for her son’s strep throat was not simple. Because of a with her insurance card, Ms. Solomon had to cover a $20 for a prescription that should have been free, she said. The report said experiences like hers were common, both with government programs and some private insurers. “The impacts of these barriers are significant,” the report said. “Parents faced with financial barriers might seek to save money by calling their doctor for advice, rather than seeing that doctor in person rather than fill expensive prescriptions, a parent might rely on a limited supply of pharmaceutical samples. The medical debt incurred by such costs has been linked to reduced access to care, creating a vicious cycle. ” Perhaps just as significant are the barriers caused by demographics. Dr. Michael Kappy, a pediatric endocrinologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado just outside Denver, has seen the problem firsthand. Since 1996, he has traveled in Colorado, Montana and Wyoming to reach children in areas that do not have large medical centers or specialists. “My focus has been strictly speaking to solving the geographic barrier,” Dr. Kappy said. The study estimates that around 14 million children live in areas with a shortage of health professionals. More than three million residents in New York live in federally designated shortage areas where, among other criteria, there is less than one primary care doctor for every 3, 000 people. The Affordable Care Act sought to address that problem by expanding the National Health Service Corps, but 65 percent of rural areas still have shortages of health professionals. Dr. Kappy said one encouraging trend was the use of telemedicine, allowing for patients to be evaluated over the internet, with a local physician assistant aiding with work. To expand and improve options, however, the programs need to be properly reimbursed, he said, adding that programs that fund the work of doctors doing outreach to isolated communities were critical. Dr. Redlener, the study’s chief author, warned that repealing the Affordable Care Act without an adequate replacement could result in more than three million children losing their insurance. “So far,” Dr. Redlener said, “none of the proposed replacements will do anything to mitigate what children would potentially lose if the A. C. A. is actually repealed. ” | 0fake |
Hillary Clinton's first test | “We obviously spoke about my passion and his passion, which [is] veterans and veterans issues,” he said. | 0fake |
Donald Trump Destroyed as Fact Checker Reveals Trump Lies 20 to 37 Times Per Day | By Hrafnkell Haraldsson on Mon, Oct 31st, 2016 at 7:59 am In Donald Trump "you have a candidate who is frequently saying 20 false things in a day, up to 37 on some days." Share on Twitter Print This Post
CNN’s Brian Stelter calls Donald Trump a “uniquely fact-challenged candidate,” which is a prelude to introducing Daniel Dale, Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star , who fact checks every single word Trump utters and tallies them up for his paper .
Dale says most fact-checkers look at two or three things Trump says, “meticulously fact-checks them and posts an article,” but “that doesn’t work when you have a candidate who is frequently saying 20 false things in a day, up to 37 on some days.”
For example, Dale tallied 35 Trump lies on Tuesday, October 25: Donald Trump said 35 false things yesterday. #TrumpCheck pic.twitter.com/EwfYFEDFx9
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) October 26, 2016
Which, as Dale pointed out , followed “his record-tying 37 false claims on Monday,” not coincidentally, a day on which Trump called fact checkers “scum.”
Watch courtesy of CNN’s Reliable Sources: "There is a massive imbalance in the frequency of dishonesty." @DDale8 says Trump lies a lot more than Clinton https://t.co/Kp6KvPNtmO
— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) October 30, 2016
The mainstream media likes to play the false equivalence game but there is no equivalence between Trump and Clinton. As Dale told Stelter, “There is a massive imbalance in the frequency of dishonesty.” Trump, says Dale, “is not a normal political liar.”
For example, look at the presidential debates , in which Dale found 104 Trump false statements as opposed to 13 by Clinton.
Dale’s judgment is that “there is no comparison in her level of accuracy with her opponent.”
Trump also lies “pointlessly,” argues Dale, explaining to Brian Stelter that,
“He gets things wrong where there is no political advantage to be gained and in those cases, it is not clear whether he’s lying or confused or unwilling to take the time to learn the facts.”
This was Mark Cuban’s complaint, of course, that Trump has no interest in learning.
In the end, it matters less why Trump lies than that he does, especially since he is busily convincing his base that Hillary Clinton is the dishonest candidate. And it is working. This is a trope frequently repeated by Trump’s supporters. You can correct them as often as you want; it will have no effect.
The lie has taken hold – one of many – many more than you likely expected, and observational bias takes care of the rest. The Trump base is effectively lost to our shared reality, and as Dale tweeted last night,
“If Trump loses, the Smart Republican Excavation is going to have to involve some long, hard base re-education.”
Given the GOP’s history with facts, good luck with that.
Image: Screen capture Twitter | 1real |
Election in Spain Gives Conservatives More Seats but No Mandate - The New York Times | MADRID — The conservative Popular Party of Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s caretaker prime minister, won the most votes in Spain’s repeat national elections on Sunday, as the Socialists held off a challenge from the Podemos Party to remain the largest formation. The fragmented result, however, did not settle who will form the country’s next government. Instead, Mr. Rajoy and the leaders of Spain’s other parties face another tricky round of coalition negotiations. National elections in December were also inconclusive. The Popular Party’s advance appeared to show that conservative voters responded to Mr. Rajoy’s warning against the kind of radical overhaul demanded by Podemos at a time of political crisis in the European Union. The Spanish elections took place three days after the British voted to leave the European Union, in a referendum that sent financial markets in Spain and throughout the world tumbling on Friday. With 99. 8 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Rajoy’s Popular Party had won 137 of 350 parliamentary seats, up from 123 seats in the December elections. The Socialists captured 85 seats, five fewer than in December. Podemos won 71 seats, effectively unchanged from December, after forming an election alliance with United Left, another radical party, which won two seats six months ago. Another emerging party, Ciudadanos, got 32 seats, down from 40 seats, according to the preliminary results. No party came close to winning a parliamentary majority on Sunday. Still, the results put Mr. Rajoy back in the driver’s seat, either to try to form a coalition or to pressure the Socialists into a broader coalition that could help preserve the dominance of Spain’s establishment parties, which Podemos would like to uproot. Addressing supporters outside his party’s headquarters just after midnight, Mr. Rajoy celebrated his victory, but did not shed light on how it might allow him to form a new government. “From tomorrow, we will have to talk with everybody, and we will do it,” he said, adding that Spain was “walking in the right direction. ” Even if Sunday’s result was the worst ever for the Socialists, it was sufficient to prevent the party from being leapfrogged by Podemos, an outcome that most polls had predicted. In December, Podemos and Ciudadanos entered Spain’s Parliament for the first time. On Sunday, both parties not only had lost the novelty factor but also disappointed some voters after six months of bruising and fruitless coalition negotiations. “Some parties promised to change the country and then showed us that they were just happy to join the shameful old game of just throwing dirt at each other,” Daniel Martín, a graphic designer, said as he prepared to vote in central Madrid earlier on Sunday. Podemos was hoping to mirror in Spain the success of Syriza, the party that took office in Greece in 2015. Formed less than two years ago, Podemos has garnered much of its support among a Spanish youth hit by high unemployment and angered by the endemic corruption among established parties, with rising economic inequality since the financial crisis of 2008. Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Podemos, said at a news conference on Sunday that the result was disappointing and surprising. He added, “The news today is unfortunately that the Popular Party has increased its support. ” Mr. Rajoy, 61, presented himself as the custodian of Spanish unity and continuity in the face of far younger opponents, as well as a challenge from secessionist politicians in Catalonia. About 70 percent of eligible voters participated in Sunday’s elections, which was in line with the turnout six months ago. Still, many of those who waited outside a polling station here expressed disillusionment at being forced back to the polls by Spain’s main parties. “I really believe that we need change and a clean, fair and transparent society, but there’s no question that people are pretty tired of our politicians and having to vote again now,” said Galia Martínez Matei, a interior designer who voted for Podemos. | 0fake |
Boiler Room EP #76 – Resign, Surrender, Confess! | Tune in to the Alternate Current Radio Network (ACR) for another LIVE broadcast of The Boiler Room starting at 6 PM PST | 9 PM EST for this special broadcast. Join us for uncensored, uninterruptible talk radio, custom-made for barfly philosophers, misguided moralists, masochists, street corner evangelists, media-maniacs, savants, political animals and otherwise lovable rascals.Join ACR host Hesher along with Daniel Spaulding from Soul of the East, Andy Nowicki from Alt Right Blogspot and Stewart Howe of 21Wire for the 76th episode of BOILER ROOM. Dim the lights, dawn the headphones and indulge in some Boiler Room with the crew. This week we re boiling up some media maniac conversation with topics like the new low tech facial recognition police squad coming soon to an insanely militarized police force near you, NPRs pathetic attempt to paint independent journalists like Vanessa Beeley as conspiracy theorists for pointing out simple truths from the ground in West Aleppo, Syria, Daniel Spaulding pleads with Glen Beck not to drown himself in a bucket of blood, Andy Nowicki analyzes the darkest hidden factors of Angelina Jolie s persona and Stewart Howe goes through readily available litmus tests to run on new acquaintances.Please like and share the program and visit our donate page to get involved!BOILER ROOM IS NOT A POLICTALLY CORRECT ZONE! LISTEN TO THE SHOW IN THE PLAYER BELOW ENJOY!Reference Links: | 1real |
Feds Indict 33 ’Thief-in-Law’ Members of Russian Syndicate | defendants associated with a Russian “ ” syndicate were arrested for a host of crimes. The arrests for alleged racketeering, extortion, robbery, fraud, conspiracy, narcotics, and firearms spanned from Brighton Beach to Las Vegas, NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill said. [The acting U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Joon H. Kim, and officials with the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) U. S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) announced three indictments and one complaint charging the 33 defendants. Acting Manhattan U. S. Attorney Joon Kim said in a statement: [W]e have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organized crime syndicate allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country. The indictments include charges against the alleged head of this national criminal enterprise, one of the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian ‘vor.’ The dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organized crime syndicate allegedly include a conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10, 000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices. FBI Assistant William F. Sweeney Jr. said, “The suspects in this case cast a wide net of criminal activity, aiming to make as much money as possible, all allegedly organized and run by a man who promised to protect them. But that protection didn’t include escaping justice and being arrested by the agents and detectives on the FBI New York Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force. ” Court documents obtained allege members of the “Shulaya Enterprise” operated a complicated conspiracy dealing in stolen cigarettes, the illegal sale of firearms to known felons, gambling activities, illegal debt collection, extortion, and other violent activities. “Most members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise were born in the former Soviet Union and many maintained substantial ties to Georgia, the Ukraine, and the Russian Federation, including regular travel to those countries, communication with associates in those countries, and the transfer of criminal proceeds to individuals in those countries,” prosecutors stated in a indictment. “The Shulaya Enterprise was led principally by two individuals, Razhden Shulaya, “Brother,” “Roma,” and Zurab Dzhanashvili, “Zura,” the defendants, who each coordinated and directed members and associates of the Shulaya Enterprise. ” Many of the counts in the indictment unsealed earlier this week dealt with trafficking stolen cigarettes and the operation of illegal gambling houses. In one count, suspects Shulaya, Dzhanashvili, and Akaki Ubilava ( “Ako”) met in one of the establishments to divide about $70, 000 in proceeds from a poker game. Other counts dealt with members of the syndicate dealing in stolen credit cards and bank account information. In an unusual case, defendant Dzhanashvili allegedly arranged for the transportation and sale of approximately 10, 000 pounds of stolen chocolate confections to a confidential informant working with law enforcement officials. The informant in this case also allegedly negotiated the purchase of multiple firearms from the defendants despite their knowledge he is a convicted felon, ineligible to legally purchase a pistol. Another count in the indictment alleges the suspects’ involvement in the trafficking of cocaine and heroin. Acting CBP New York Director Leon Hayward said, “U. S. Customs and Border Protection is extremely proud to have assisted our federal partners in this operation. It is through our interagency partnerships, and collaborative approaches like the one leading to today’s arrests, that law enforcement successfully combats modern criminal organizations. ” Acting U. S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York stated, “he dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organized crime syndicate allegedly include a conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10, 000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices. Thanks to the remarkable interagency partnership of FBI, CBP, and NYPD, we have charged and arrested 33 defendants allegedly involved in this criminal enterprise. ” The Shulaya Enterprise operated what is referred to as a “vor v zakonei” or “vor. ” These are Russian phrases which translate to “ ” or “thief. ” New York Police Department Commissioner James O’Neil referenced the translated Russian phrase, stating on Wednesday, “The allegedly established an extensive cross country criminal enterprise from Brighton Beach to Las Vegas that engaged in bribes, gambling, and murder for hire. Thanks to all whose work resulted in the arrest and indictment of 33 today. ” Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook. U. S. v. Shulaya Et Al Indictment on Scribd, Us v. Jikia and Complaint on Scribd, | 0fake |
WATCH: JUAN HERNANDEZ Tells How He Was CHASED And BEATEN By Anti-Trump COWARDS Who Sucker Punch People And Run In Packs | This is what happens when you cross the Left. Sadly, this is how unions have been operating for decades. Mainstream America is about to see the ugly truth about the violent tactics of the Left. Anyone who could vote for a party who represents itself in such a manner should be ashamed. By Juan Hernandez A Hispanic Trump supporter who lives in Santa Clara, CA.Last Thursday, I left work about 5 p.m. and drove to the San Jose Convention Center to hear Donald Trump speak.I ve been voting for conservative candidates for 15 years and a registered Republican since 2015. Now that the general election is underway, I believe Trump is the best candidate to fix our country s many problems, and I believe he s going to be the next commander in chief. So I was excited to hear him, and to show my support. Walking into the rally with a friend, I was a little wary: Trump s speech to the California Republican convention in Burlingame had been disrupted by protesters, and I wasn t sure whether to expect a similar scene in San Jose. But we got to the event early, and we must have been inside already by the time a crowd of protesters gathered in the streets near the convention center.The speech really got me energized. I got a new sense of appreciation and respect for Trump after a Bernie Sanders supporter interrupted him with a sign. Trump didn t blink: Darling, there s no way he can win, but keep your sign high, he said. That is the president that I want. It was great being around so many Republicans in the Bay Area, we don t have a lot of that, so it was great to feel the camaraderie of being part of the GOP.My trouble began once the rally was over.My friend and I joined a crowd of Trump supporters who had all left the convention center around the same time. The garage where we had parked our car was right next to the building, but police were directing everyone around the block to another garage entrance instead. The farther we walked, the fewer Trump fans were with us people began peeling off to go to restaurants or bars in the area, or to other garages nearby.And suddenly, there were protesters everywhere. Some were holding Mexican flags, or burning American ones. They were yelling F Trump! at us and cornering us. Some of them started grabbing Trump supporters they were going up and slugging people, sucker-punching people, just picking random people out. As much as we wanted to help, because our fellow Republicans were getting hit, I knew any moment that could be me. So my friend and I just kept walking sometimes, we d be running. We saw police standing nearby, but they didn t do anything. That scared me, because I thought, Okay, if I m next, there s going to be no cops. About a block from the garage entrance, we turned down the street and found a line of protesters standing in our way. To get back to our car, we d have to go through them. My friend and I were wearing Make America Great Again Trump hats. We were targets, and I was terrified. I could feel it coming they would look at me and start walking up to me.Before we could make it into the garage, four or five men surrounded me, and another four surrounded my friend. They just started swinging. We swung back as best as we could. My main thing was I didn t want to fall; I didn t want to be knocked down. I m not a big guy, but I can defend myself as best I can if it s one on one but not when they have so much anger against us.One of the blows caught my nose, and blood just started pouring out. That kind of stunned them, and they backed off a quick second. My adrenaline kicked in; I felt punches on my head, and I felt the punch that hit my nose, but I was in survival mode by then, and I didn t realize until later how much it hurt. I called my friend, Okay, let s go! We ran into the parking garage, and we thought we were safe, but there were another few dozen protesters there, too. We got in our car and headed toward the exit. Some protesters jumped on the cars in front of us, but we eventually made it out. My friend drove me to the emergency room because my nose was pouring blood. I had a broken nose, and because I was covered with scratches, I had to get a tetanus shot, too. It took a lot out of me, much more than I realized at first; my headaches and soreness didn t start to go away until a week later.WATCH HERE:I still can t believe how poorly the police handled the protests. I live by Levi s Stadium, where the Super Bowl was. They had every single cop out there. Yet knowing the violence that s been breaking out near Trump rallies, San Jose wasn t prepared for it last week? So the Los Angeles chapter of Log Cabin Republicans held a news conference back in San Jose on Wednesday, to get some answers from the city s mayor, Sam Liccardo, and its police department about why they let me and other people get attacked and only made a few arrests.The whole thing made me angry. Here in Northern California, I feel like I m a unicorn: I m a gay Hispanic who s a Republican. It was much harder to come out as a Trump supporter than it was to come out as gay the minute you say you re for Trump, everyone comes at you but this has pushed me out of the closet about it completely.I should be able to vote for whom I want, and I shouldn t have to deal with violence to go hear my candidate speak. If people really want to protest at rallies, they should do it peacefully. I have a young niece and nephew, and I don t want them to think this is how politics work in the United States. We can t let our freedom of speech and our freedom of assembly be tarnished by politicians like those in San Jose who do not have our safety at heart. Follow Juan Hernandez on Twitter: @mrjuanhernandezVia: Washington Post | 1real |
Tax-cut debate in U.S. Congress swings to Senate bill | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate tax-cut bill, differing from one in the House of Representatives, was expected to be unveiled on Thursday, complicating a Republican tax overhaul push and increasing skepticism on Wall Street about the effort. As the House tax committee worked on its bill, members of the Senate weighed new approaches to corporate taxes, deductions for state and local taxes and the estate tax on inherited assets, senators said, providing few details. John Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters that senators would be briefed on the bill on Thursday before its release. House and Senate Republicans are working on separate plans for the biggest overhaul of the U.S. tax code since the 1980s. President Donald Trump and his House allies have proposed slashing the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, one of the costliest features of the wide-ranging House plan. The tax overhaul is a priority for Trump, who says it will boost economic growth and create jobs. Republicans have yet to score a major legislative win since he took office in January, although they control Congress as well as the White House. Democrats have blasted the proposals in the Republican tax legislation as giveaways to large corporations and the rich. Senator Orrin Hatch, chairman of the tax-writing finance committee, told reporters he would prefer not to delay a corporate tax cut by a year, which some lawmakers said was a possibility. “I’d prefer to get it done,” he said. Financial markets have rallied since Trump’s stunning election victory in November 2016, partly on expectations that he and Congress would slash taxes on businesses. Stock markets closed little changed on Wednesday, with investors focused on chances for a tax bill becoming law. “I do think there’s disappointment with Republicans kicking the tax bill around. ... Some of the things leaking out are not encouraging,” said Bucky Hellwig, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama. The latest version of the House bill would add $1.7 trillion to the federal deficit over 10 years, said the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which tallies the costs of legislation. That would violate a rule requiring the legislation to add no more than $1.5 trillion to the deficit. But Representative Kevin Brady, Republican chairman of the House tax committee, said he would revise the legislation on Thursday to bring it into compliance. A report from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center think tank said the biggest tax cuts would go to high-income households under the current bill, which would raise taxes on more than one in four taxpayers by 2027 because of the expiration of certain benefits including a $300 family credit, Top earners with incomes of more than $730,000 would get 21 percent of the benefits in 2018 and nearly 50 percent in a decade, the report said. The House bill would repeal a tax deduction Americans can now take for state and local income and sales taxes, but preserve it for business owners. It would cap the deduction for state and local property tax paid at $10,000. Republican Senator David Perdue told reporters the Senate bill could repeal the entire state and local tax (SALT) deduction, a concern for people in heavily Democratic high-tax states such as California, New York and New Jersey. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said victories for Democrats in state elections on Tuesday should be a warning to Republicans. “The Republicans should look at the elections last night, and it should be a giant stop sign for their tax bill,” Schumer said. There are enough Republicans from high-tax states in the House to torpedo the tax bill, given that Democrats broadly oppose it. Republicans, who have a slim 52-48 majority in the Senate, also may need support from Democrats to pass their version. The House and Senate must agree on a single version before it can be sent to the president. Republican Senator Susan Collins, whose vote is crucial, declined to say if the Senate bill would duplicate the House’s proposed estate tax repeal. But she told reporters: “It’s certainly true that I expressed reservations about having complete repeal.” A Washington tax expert raised concern about a House provision to create a 25 percent tax rate for “pass-through” businesses, saying it would do little to help small business and be vulnerable to abuse. Pass-through businesses, which include mom-and-pop enterprises and large private companies, are not organized as publicly traded corporations. Profits are passed through to their owners as individual income and taxed at rates as high as 39.6 percent. Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, said the new pass-through rate “would add great complexity” and “provide plenty of opportunity for clever investors and business owners ... to game the system.” In addition, a proposed 20 percent excise tax meant to discourage foreign companies from shifting U.S. profits offshore “appears dead,” said Chris Krueger, an analyst at financial firm Cowen’s Washington Research Group. The tax was amended by the House committee after complaints from multinational companies. “Now, the one real safeguard in the plan ... is all but gone,” said Clark Gascoigne, deputy director of the FACT Coalition, a liberal tax activist group in Washington. | 0fake |
ITT Educational Services Closes Campuses - The New York Times | Just days before the start of a new school term, ITT Educational Services, one of the nation’s largest educational companies, closed nearly all its campuses on Tuesday. The company cited the Education Department’s recent decision to bar the chain of colleges from using federal financial aid to enroll new students as the reason for the sudden shutdown. Except for a small school that operates under a different name, the move puts an end to an operation that has been accused of widespread fraud and abuse, leaving roughly 35, 000 students and 8, 000 employees in the lurch. ITT Educational Services, whose recruitment, lending practices and educational quality have been under scrutiny by federal regulators and state prosecutors for years, said in a news release that it had “exhausted the exploration of alternatives, including transfer of the schools to a nonprofit or public institution. ” It denounced the Education Department’s decision to restrict the use of federal funds, calling it “inappropriate and unconstitutional” and “taken without proving a single allegation. ” Nicole Elam, an ITT spokeswoman, declined to make any further comment. Ted Mitchell, the under secretary for the Education Department, denied assertions that ITT was being targeted for political reasons, saying that the issues surrounding its educational programs and financial stability gave the federal government little choice. “The risk presented by ITT to both students and taxpayers made it irresponsible for us to allow them to enroll new students and not have additional oversight,” Mr. Mitchell said. He also noted ITT’s independent accreditor had concluded that the schools were unlikely to be able to comply with the accreditor’s standards. Current ITT students and those who withdrew in the last 120 days essentially have two options, neither of them particularly appealing, Mr. Mitchell said. Students can try to transfer their credits to another school in a bid to finish their education. Few quality schools may be willing to accept those credits, but Mr. Mitchell said education officials were encouraging community colleges to reach out to former ITT students and to be flexible in transferring credits. Students who are successful in continuing their studies would still be obligated to pay off their student loans. The other alternative would be for students to apply for a loan discharge. That would essentially wipe out their federal student debt, but also deny the students any of their educational credits. If everyone at ITT who was eligible took that route, the cost could run as high as $500 million, Mr. Mitchell said, though about $90 million of the final bill to taxpayers is expected to be defrayed by a surety bond ITT had to post with the government. Any borrowers who believe they have been defrauded can also apply under a separate loan forgiveness program. Chris Blank, a former Marine who used the G. I. Bill to complete three years of a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at ITT’s Vista campus in California, said he did not know what he was going to do. “I’m still trying to take it all in,” said Mr. Blank, who attended school at night while working full time as an engineering aide at an aeronautical company. “I can’t get promoted until I get my bachelor’s degree. ” He worried not only about the lost time and possibly useless credits, but also the potential exhaustion of his veteran’s educational benefits. “This is something I worked so hard on, and it’s basically all gone,” Mr. Blank said. The department has set up a website, studentaid. and a telephone number, ( ) for ITT students to obtain more information. After Corinthian Colleges, a giant educational company accused of widespread fraud, was suspended from the federal student aid program in 2014, education officials helped broker the sale of dozens of its campuses and online programs to the Zenith Education Group, a nonprofit. Corinthian later filed for bankruptcy. Since then, Zenith has lost money, students and staff members. Mr. Mitchell said that the circumstances surrounding ITT were different. Despite informal conversations with company officials and potential buyers, he said, the Education Department “never saw a path forward. ” The actions against Corinthian and ITT are part of a wider push by education officials to hold the education industry more accountable after growing complaints about unwieldy student debt, deceptive advertising and feeble graduation and job placement rates. The Obama administration has adopted a series of regulations aimed at protecting students as well as taxpayers, who will end up being stuck with the bill for unpaid student loans. The crackdown has elicited protests from the industry and its supporters, who say the government has overreached. Last week, the owner of a chain of colleges, the Center for Excellence in Higher Education, filed a lawsuit in federal court, accusing the Education Department of pursuing a political agenda and trying to put the chain of formerly colleges out of business. Student and consumer advocates said they were encouraged by the end of ITT Technical Institutes. (Daniel Webster College in New Hampshire, also owned by the ITT parent company, is still open and enrolling students, according to a receptionist who answered the phone there. The college’s president did not respond to repeated messages.) At the same time, critics of the industry expressed concern that some unscrupulous colleges would be working hard to persuade former ITT students to enroll, enlarging their student debt and offering poor training. “There’s nothing to celebrate,” Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, said of the closings. “It’s a good thing in the sense that it was a real terrible performer and it won’t be around to victimize others,” Mr. Nassirian said. But he noted that many faculty members and employees were going to lose their jobs and many former students were stuck with unmanageable debts. “It would have been better to have better oversight and decent gatekeeping,” he said, “so that we don’t reach the point where you have to wish for an operation to go under. ” | 0fake |
Hillary CAUGHT ON TAPE Paying Halfway House Patients $300 to Vote for Her | 0 comments
More and more evidence is surfacing that Hillary Clinton and her cronies in the Democratic Party are trying to rig the election. They know they cannot win fair and square with the level of enthusiasm Donald Trump has earned from his supporters, and so they have resorted to illegal measures.
A new video released Saturday shows just how far Hillary and the DNC are willing to go to get her elected. Watch as a California man admits he was offered $300 to vote for the Democratic nominee… DEMS caught paying patients from a halfway house $300 rebate to vote for HRC in CA! pic.twitter.com/qpxgNt6KgR | 1real |
DEATH AND TAXES: Over Half Of Prince’s Estate Will Go To The Government! | The irony in this situation is pretty huge. Prince didn t like meddling in his music or business but now the government will be taking over half of his life s earnings in taxes. The problem is that Prince wasn t married if he d been married the estate would have gone to his wife. Pretty sad scenario of death and then taxes .If Prince were married, he could have passed on the entirety of his estate to his spouse tax free. However, without a spouse, only $1.6 million of Prince s estate will be free from Minnesota s death tax and only $5.45 million will escape the federal death tax. Prince, the iconic pop star who once was The Artist Formerly Known As Prince in protest of the record labels, unexpectedly died last week and he didn t have a will. He also wasn t married, so the government will get most of the proceeds of his massive estate.Since his death I ve read that he was a closet conservative, and I ve read that he was a big liberal. So I don t know what his political leanings were, but what does seem clear is that he wasn t a fan of others profiting off of his musical genius. So it s kind of sad that the government will take more than fifty percent of his life s work.Both the federal government and Minnesota s state government will assess so-called death taxes or estate taxes on Prince s assets, taking away more than half his estate. Between his physical assets cash, investments, home, etc. and his future royalties, Prince s estate has been estimated to be between $300 and $500 million. If Prince were married, he could have passed on the entirety of his estate to his spouse tax free. However, without a spouse, only $1.6 million of Prince s estate will be free from Minnesota s death tax and only $5.45 million will escape the federal death tax.The combination of Minnesota s top death tax rate of 16 percent, plus the federal government s 40 percent rate, means that over 50 percent of Prince s estate will go to the government.Read more: Lonely Conservative | 1real |
Senate Republicans signal strong support for SEC nominee Clayton | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The confirmation process for Republican President Donald Trump’s choice to chair the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appears to be moving forward without any hiccups. Jay Clayton, a lawyer whose specialties include mergers and acquisitions, met privately with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Michael Crapo on Tuesday. They discussed the SEC’s role in facilitating capital formation and ways to reduce “unnecessary burdens” for small companies, Crapo said in a statement that he posted on Twitter. “Had a great conversation,” Crapo added. In recent days, he and other Senate Republicans have issued glowing statements about Clayton’s qualifications and plans to help companies raise capital. While Democrats will probably raise questions about Clayton’s ties to Wall Street at his confirmation hearing, they will not be able to block him without some support from Republicans. Clayton’s hearing has not yet been scheduled but could come as early as the week of Feb. 6, according to several people familiar with the committee’s plans. Private meetings with senators are typically held in advance of confirmation hearings so that the lawmakers can get a chance to vet the candidate and ask questions. Last week, Clayton met with three other Republican lawmakers on the panel - Senators Richard Shelby of Alabama, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania. He also met separately on Tuesday with Senator David Perdue of Georgia, who wrote on Twitter: “Jay knows capital formation. He wants to create a level playing field & make things fair and efficient. I fully support his nomination.” Clayton is expected to have one-on-one meetings with some of the panel’s Democrats sometime next week, according to one of the sources. Some Democrats on the committee, including Sherrod Brown, the committee’s senior Democrat and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, have already expressed reservations about Clayton because of his legal work at Sullivan & Cromwell representing major Wall Street clients such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc, where his wife works as a wealth manager. Before Clayton accepted Trump’s nomination, his family decided his wife would step down from her post at the investment bank if he is confirmed, one of the people familiar with the matter said. In the meantime, the SEC’s lone Republican commissioner, Michael Piwowar, is acting as chairman, according to people familiar with the matter. The SEC, typically a five-member commission, is down to two members until Clayton is confirmed. | 0fake |
Tancredo: Thanks Mr. President and Mitch McConnell, the GOP Is My Political Home Again - Breitbart | Donald Trump kept his word, Mitch McConnell played hardball, and together they triumphed over Chuck Schumer and the liberal establishment. April 7 should be marked on every patriot’s calendar as a turning point in history. [How long has it been since we had a policy victory of this magnitude? America now has a chance to return to constitutional government. If you think I am exaggerating the importance of having a true originalist in the Scalia chair on the Supreme Court, consider this question: If Neil Gorsuch had been writing the majority opinion in the 2012 NFIB v. Sebelius challenge to Obamacare, would we still have Obamacare? No way, Jose. Adding Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is a historic turning point for three reasons besides the obvious one of having a strong conservative in Scalia’s chair. The Republican Party should heed the lessons taught by this victory if they want to actually govern the country instead of merely taking over the command of a doomed Titanic. First, the U. S. Senate Republicans showed unusual courage and uncharacteristic stamina. When Justice Scalia died suddenly in early 2016, President Obama moved swiftly to fill the vacancy. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley decided the vacancy on the court should be filled by the winner of the 2016 presidential election and not by a lame duck incumbent. Indeed, no less an authority on Supreme Court vacancies than Democrat leader Chuck Schumer had proposed the same thing back in 2008 when George Bush was the lame duck. McConnell and the Senate Republicans held their ground despite the onslaught of criticism from the new power trilogy of the mainstream media, Hollywood comedians, and Obama Legacy stockholders. Then, in the middle of his campaign in 2016, candidate Donald Trump drew up a list of 21 conservative judges, made it public, and promised to select his first Supreme Court nominee from that list. Publishing that list was in itself radically unconventional and a bold gamble. But then he did a really unconventional thing and kept that promise by selecting Neil Gorsuch, a 10th Circuit Court judge who was probably among the two or three most conservative judges on that list of . Golly, Batman, what next? !! And then came the coup de gras — not just ending opposition to Gorsuch but also giving Trump’s next Supreme Court nominee much better odds for confirmation. Democrats announced they would filibuster to block a full Senate vote on the Gorsuch appointment since it takes 60 votes to end a filibuster, not a simple majority of 51. Senate Republicans rose to the occasion by pulling the “nuclear trigger” ending the filibuster rule altogether, thereby not just stopping the filibuster against Gorsuch but also ending the filibuster threat against all future court nominees as well. Mitch McConnell had his finest hour as Senate Republican leader by holding that gang of 52 Republicans together and delivering on his promise to President Trump. All three elements of this miracle are worthy of praise — Trump’s courage in publishing the list, his wisdom in selecting Gorsuch, and McConnell’s stellar leadership and political craftsmanship in delivering the victory despite universal, virulent Democrat opposition. Why is this victory so pivotal and so monumental? The answer is simple: a conservative majority on the U. S. Supreme Court is absolutely central to the survival of our Republic. The rule of law has become the rule of judges, and the Supreme Court is the final check on the rule of bad judges — which we have a few hundred in our federal courts thanks to decades of poor judicial appointments. Let us recall that the infamous 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was written by a Republican nominee, Harry Blackman. More recently, Obamacare survived a court challenge because of the linguistic creativity of a Republican chief justice. The lessons to be learned from the Gorsuch victory are many, but this is the main one: We can restore the rule of law and true constitutionalism to the Supreme Court only if we have all three elements of the winning formula: a President with the wisdom to appoint the right judges, a Senate Republican leadership with the courage to fulfill its constitutional obligations, and a nation with a majority willing to support those choices. The Gorsuch appointment dwarfs in importance anything else Trump can or will do in the next four years and more than balances the inevitable disappointments and missteps he will send our way. Some people will think I am enthusiastic about Gorsuch only because he is likely to uphold Trump’s Executive Orders on immigration, but they are mistaken. I earnestly hope he will have the opportunity in the next few years to overturn bad precedents in Kelo (2005) Chevron (1984) and Roe (1973) decisions and many others. We can and will disagree with President Trump on some issues, such as trade policy, infrastructure boondoggles, and foreign policy mistakes like military involvement in Syria’s civil war. In fact, I may not agree with Trump’s every proposal or action on immigration and border security. But no matter: gaining conservative control of the Supreme Court makes the Trump presidency a success no matter what happens tomorrow. The Republican success in delivering the Gorsuch confirmation greatly overshadow the Republican Party’s many warts and weaknesses. I have decided to rejoin the Republican party as the best available vehicle for defending and sustaining our constitutional Republic. | 0fake |
THIS’LL MAKE YOUR DAY! Two Dems Leave To Jump On The Trump Train…Here’s Why! | VP Candidate Mike Pence was in Norfolk, VA holding a rally for Donald Trump. The shocking make-up of the crowd was hundreds of Democrat union voters who have decided to support Donald Trump. Two of the attendees made a great case for why they believe Trump will be a much better choice in 2016:Vice Presidential candidate Mike Pence made the case for Donald Trump to a largely working class, veteran population in the Virginia shipbuilding community of Norfolk on Thursday. The crowd showed real enthusiasm, even after a turbulent week for the campaign which saw a cratering of poll numbers.The audience cheering Pence was not made up of your standard conservative demographics. Many shirts with local Union decals and a fair amount of young people made up the crowd. Enter Cheryl and Rick in their US Postal Service shirts. They represent an anomaly that has been seen in force in 2016: Lifelong Union Democrats who are voting for Trump.What has animated you to leave the party that has been your home for decades, to vote Trump?CHERYL: I ve voted Democrat my whole life.RICK: My Union is lock stock and barrel Democrat.CHERYL: I worked for the Clintons in Virginia to elect Bill Clinton. I was invited to the inauguration. We got a Christmas card every year from the Clintons.RICK: We liked Hillary in 2008. We liked her over Obama. I went out and bought Hillary for President t-shirts.CHERYL: But we re fed up. We ve worked our whole life. Last year we lost our healthcare. We learned that our insurance of 27 years is no longer available because of Obamacare. So we had to get on a different plan. We had three months to choose a more expensive plan with more expensive deductibles. And we are now counted as the newly insured just because we have a new plan. But we had insurance already. They are playing the numbers and it s our health at stake.RICK: It s also the dishonesty.CHERYL: Yes. I remember in 2008 when Obama said: You can t listen to Hillary. She will say anything to get elected? And now all of the sudden, eight years later, she is the most qualified for the job? It s the email scandal too, where I think she was dishonest, and also the Clinton Foundation.RICK: 30 years in the union and 9 years in the Navy. How can these Democrats possibly vote for Hillary and Obama. The union wants us to vote Democrat but we have our choice.CHERYL: I turned against her years ago when those women came out against Bill Clinton. Hillary humiliated them, degraded them and destroyed them. They say Republicans have a War on Women? What about Hillary s real war on women?RICK: She is very arrogant.CHERYL: All lives matter, not just black lives. Look at the shootings that happened last week alone? Police Officers are being targeted.RICK: I served. I would not trust her to be commander-in-chief. Not after Benghazi. When she turned her back on those soldiers.CHERYL: Nobody is better off than they were 8 years ago. The middle class has shrunk.RICK: We worked all our lives, we are worried about what we leave to our grandchildren.CHERYL: Everything they promised we did not get. My nephew is a Navy SEAL. Obama promised to end the wars in 18 months. Did not happen. Promised healthcare prices would decrease. It did not happen. We used to vote for Hope and Change. Now all we can do is hope for change.Via: IJR | 1real |
Porous Texas border fence foreshadows challenges for Trump's wall | BROWNSVILLE, Texas (Reuters) - The rust-colored border security fence starts in a dusty field on the Loop family farm in South Texas - about 15 miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and a mile north of the southern U.S. border. From there, near Brownsville, it stretches about 60 miles west, but with plenty of gaps to drive or walk through. Where it exists, the fence doesn’t always stop illegal immigrants. “It takes them about a minute and a half to climb the wall,” said farmer Ray Loop, noting the muddy footprints on several sections of the fence crossing his property. The porous South Texas border fence, authorized in 2006, underscores how topography, treaty obligations, legal fights and high costs could frustrate efforts to stretch an “impenetrable” wall over the 2,000-mile border - the signature campaign promise of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. The South Texas barrier is “more holes than it is fence,” said Denise Gilman, a law professor and director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin. The gaps reflect local political opposition, land rights battles and strategic decisions about where a fence would be most cost-effective, according to internal U.S. government emails obtained by Gilman through a court order and viewed by Reuters. Trump transition team spokesman Jason Miller declined to comment on the challenges of border wall construction, saying the president-elect would have “plenty of time to discuss policy specifics” after he takes office in January. In an interview with CBS’ “60 minutes” last month, Trump said for the first time that he would accept fencing in some areas of the border. “But some areas, a wall is more appropriate,” Trump said. “I’m very good at this. It’s called construction. There could be some fencing.” Loop, 51, is a Trump supporter who supports stricter immigration controls, but he has little faith in fences or walls. “That is not going to work,” Loop said from his pickup last month as he passed border patrol cars on his property. “There are places where it makes sense logistically, but all the way from Texas to California? No.” The Rio Grande Valley in South Texas has become a focal point for immigration enforcement because it has been a main artery for crossing. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that fencing is part of an integrated strategy that includes agents on the ground, motion sensors, cameras and airborne monitoring. The Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, which supports strong border security, said Trump should look beyond his proposed wall for a comprehensive policy. “Fencing can be very effective in making life difficult for those attempting to clandestinely cross our southern border, but it is not a one-stop measure,” said Jon Feere, legal policy analyst for the center. The Secure Fence Act of 2006, signed by Republican President George W. Bush, underestimated the cost of building a planned 670 miles of fencing at various places between California and Texas. By the time Democratic President Barack Obama declared construction essentially complete in 2011, the allocated $2.4 billion had paid for fencing over only about half that distance, according to a U.S. Government Accounting Office report. Obama voted for the border fence construction when he was a U.S. Senator, as did Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. In South Texas, original plans for two layers of reinforced fencing over about 200 miles between Laredo and Brownsville were scaled down to a gap-toothed, single-layer barrier of about a third that length. Border terrain caused a host of land rights issues that added cost and time to the construction. About 1,200 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border are in Texas, along the meandering Rio Grande river, which makes it impossible to build a border wall on the actual border. The International Boundary and Water Commission, set up between the two countries in 1889, prevents any disruption to the flow of the Rio Grande, effectively requiring any wall to be built on levees in flood plains. That pushed the South Texas fence up to two miles north into U.S. territory - putting property on the Mexico-facing side of in into a kind of no man’s land, and requiring the government to compensate owners for lost land value. Loop’s home, and almost all of his farm, are in U.S. territory but on the Mexico-facing side of the fence. He settled the U.S. government’s eminent domain case on terms that were not disclosed. Another eminent domain case filed by the U.S. government stretched out for seven years and 140 court filings, as Eloisa Tamez fought attempts to put a few acres of family land - awarded in a grant from the King of Spain in 1767 - on the Mexico-facing side of the wall. The government settled for an undisclosed sum and agreed to construct several access points in the fence on the property. Another telling example of economic loss: The Fort Brown Memorial Golf Course in Brownsville, also behind the wall, closed in 2015 after losing business from customers who mistakenly believed they had to leave the U.S. to play a round. Trump would have little trouble obtaining land through eminent domain to build a wall for national security purposes, legal experts said. But land owners may now have stronger claims for higher compensation because previous rounds of construction have established concrete examples of lost property value. Some property rights and compensation cases filed in the Bush years now may carry over into Trump’s term, legal experts said. Trump’s wall, if constructed, could bring a flood of new court challenges, they said. “The court disputes are going to delay any building for months and years,” said Efren Olivares, regional legal director with the South Texas office of the nonprofit Texas Civil Rights Project, which has represented landowners in border fence disputes. Local political and economic concerns also pose obstacles. One of the large gaps in the fence is just west of Brownsville, near an affluent area where residents successfully fought off construction. The government avoided areas with higher land values, according to the internal emails from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “They will not build any fence in any area (urban) where real estate costs are too high,” wrote Jeffrey Self, a Customs and Border Protection divisional bureau chief, in a situational report in March 2007. Across the southwest border, apprehensions have shot up in recent months as Trump made border security a central issue in the campaign. In the year through September, U.S. authorities have apprehended 408,870 immigrants trying to cross, a jump of 23 percent from a year ago, according to Customs and Border Protection data. In McCallen, about 55 miles west of Brownsville, Mayor Jim Darling said human traffickers are drumming up business by telling people to cross before the Trump wall goes up. “Now we have a bigger immigration problem,” said Darling, who holds a nonpartisan office but endorsed Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott in his 2014 campaign. If the current fencing in south Texas is extended to the west, it would likely end up in Rio Grande City, where Mayor Joel Villarreal, a political independent, sees it as a waste of government money and a potential windfall for Mexican criminal cartels trafficking immigrants. “They will have the means to take people across,” he said in an interview, “and people will have to pay their cut to those cartels.” | 0fake |
Donald Trump Promotes Shooting Muslims With Bullets Dipped In Pig’s Blood, Gets An Ovation (VIDEO) | During a rally in California, GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump praised a bogus historical incident where Muslims were shot by bullets dipped in pig s blood to rapturous applause.It appears that neither Donald Trump, nor the crowd in Costa Mesa, are aware that there is no evidence this historical incident actually happened. Given the campaign s focus on rhetoric over fact to date, t s unlikely anyone would care either. But for the record, Trump was praising the vile actions of U.S. General John Joseph Pershing. The story goes that the General cracked down on Islamic terrorism in the early 20th century with a single act of terror of his own. As Trump delights in telling the crowd, reciting it as if historical fact, the General dipped bullets in pigs blood, then shot 49 Muslims letting the 50th off to act as a cautionary tale.Trump s point? That only the most brutal measures will make America safe from Islamic terrorism that any and all means of persecution and punishment are justified. Even, apparently, mass murder. And the crowd went wild, erupting into applause some breaking out into a standing ovation.It s not even the first time Trump has wheeled out the story either. Despite the fact that this complete and morbid fantasy was taken to pieces when just two months ago when he last road-tested it. Trump came back for more last night in California.What makes the matter all the more galling, is this is pure fairytale. As Mediaite s Josh Feldman has written previously:There has been a persistent rumor for years that United States General John Pershing cracked down on Islamic terrorism in the early 1900s by dipping bullets in pig s blood and shooting Muslim prisoners with them. This is a hoax. It has never been proven.In addition, the popular fact-checking site Politifact undertook their own investigation in the tale, and they ended up rating it as Pants on Fire. This means they could find literally no truth whatsoever in the claims.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWcinTg9K98Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you the potential future President of the United States.Featured Image via Screengrab | 1real |
Parents of Terror Victim Sue Chicago-Area Palestinian Groups to Collect Jury Award | (AP) CHICAGO — The parents of a yeshiva student fatally shot in the West Bank by Hamas terrorists in 1996 filed a federal lawsuit Friday against two groups to collect on a legal judgment stemming from the death. [Stanley and Joyce Boim filed the lawsuit in Chicago against American Muslims for Palestine and Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation. The Chicago Tribune reports the couple alleges the organizations are “alter egos” of three Islamic fundraising groups held liable several years ago for the death of their son, David, who was killed in a shooting in Beit El. The Boims initially filed a lawsuit in 2000, alleging the American Muslim Society, the Islamic Association for and the Quranic Literacy Institute gave to Palestinian charities that ultimately helped fund terrorism. A federal jury entered a $52 million judgment against the charities in 2004, and the trial judge tripled the amount to $156 million. A federal appeals court upheld the judgment in 2008. The Boims’ attorney, Stephen Landes, said the family received only a fraction of the award because the defendants said they had no money to pay the judgment and shut down. He said the successor groups named in Friday’s lawsuit formed later with many of the same men in similar leadership roles. “What we ended up finding is they just tried to rebrand themselves, and they set up down the street,” Landes said. If the groups are allowed to move on without paying the judgment, Landes said, “it makes a mockery” of federal laws. Messages left with American Muslims for Palestine by the Tribune were not returned. Friday’s lawsuit also names three individuals identified as leaders of the group, including Abdelbasset Hamayel, identified as its executive director and the of the defunct Islamic Association for Palestine. Hamayel told the Tribune he was unaware of the lawsuit and declined to comment. He didn’t immediately return a message left at his office by The Associated Press. It is unclear if Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation is still operating it doesn’t have a separate website or a publicly listed phone number. | 0fake |
Скандал вокруг Пак Кын Хе и Чхве Сун Силь – давление оппозиции продолжается | Новое восточное обозрение | Страна: Южная Корея Главным событием последней недели был состоявшийся 12 ноября 2016 г. массовый митинг, на котором, если верить оппозиции, собралось около миллиона человек. Полиция называет меньшее число, но дело в иных методиках подсчета: организаторы учитывают всех, кто участвовал в митинге во все время с его начала до завершения, а власти – максимальное количество митингующих, присутствующих одновременно. Однако, даже если взять данные полиции про 260 тысяч, фотографии показывают центр города, практически полностью забитый демонстрантами с плакатами «Пак Кын Хе – в отставку». Это самое масштабное мероприятие как минимум с 2000 года, – а некоторые вспоминали протесты против военной диктатуры в 1987 г., когда на улицах тоже было до миллиона протестующих. Как сообщает международное радио Кореи, рекорд лета 2008 года, когда против импорта в Южную Корею американской мясной продукции протестовали порядка 700 тыс. человек, точно был побит. Главные организаторы действа – три оппозиционных партии (руководство которых приняло участие в демонстрации) и 1500 гражданских организаций, возглавляющих движение за уход президента. Кроме того, до начала основного митинга в Сеуле прошли отдельные выступления гражданских организаций, представляющих различные круги общества: крестьяне требовали ухода нынешнего политического руководства и обеспечения стабильных цен на рис, прошли выступления профсоюзов. Гулянье обошлось без серьезных эксцессов – оппозиция подчеркивала мирный характер требований, а вице-премьер по социальным вопросам, министр образования Ли Чжун Сик за день до того выступил с обращением к народу и призвал участников митинга сохранять спокойный формат мероприятия, придерживаясь мирных принципов Конституции: так как страна переживает большие трудности в сфере экономики и безопасности, народ должен объединить усилия для нормализации государственного управления. Большой митинг прошел с пяти до десяти часов вечера, хотя около тысячи митингующих оставалось в районе станции метро Кёнбоккун до двух ночи, после чего полиция все-таки вытеснила их, и к четырем движение было восстановлено. Полиция задержала 24 человека, проявивших чрезмерную агрессивность в отношении сотрудников правоохранительных органов. Еще 28 человек попали в больницы из-за проблем со здоровьем. По этой же причине были госпитализированы двое полицейских. Для такого мероприятия – это очень мало, особенно если учесть, что колонне демонстрантов разрешили пройти практически рядом с Голубым домом, «дабы президент услышала мнение народа». Отсутствие провокаций – хороший знак, но перейдем к другим релевантным событиям недели. Главный вопрос в том, найдет ли следствие убедительные улики против Чхве Сун Силь, способные ударить и по президенту. Второй вопрос – сможет ли оппозиция, играя на массовых эмоциях, добиться своих целей и без предъявления улик. Именно это сейчас – основная тема парламентских дебатов. 9 ноября лидер парламентской фракции Сэнури Чон Чжин Сок потребовал от оппозиции содействия в нормализации политической ситуации в стране. По словам Чон Чжин Сока, как только будет сформировано правительство национального единства, Пак Кын Хе рассмотрит вопрос выхода из состава правящей партии Сэнури. Одновременно лидер партии Ли Чжон Хён раскритиковал требование бывшего лидера оппозиционной Демократической партии Мун Чжэ Ина о передаче полномочий верховного главнокомандующего и права введения военного положения премьер-министру и указал, что это походит на стремление прекратить действие Конституции. В ответ лидер оппозиционной Демократической партии Тобуро Чху Мэ Э заявила, что нужно сосредоточиться на выяснении правды и наказании виновных и в очередной раз потребовала от президента отойти от дел государственного управления. В тот же день лидеры трёх оппозиционных партий провели встречу, на которой потребовали от главы государства обеспечить широкие полномочия премьер-министру и отказаться от участия в решении важных политических вопросов. 11 ноября слушания продолжились. Чху Ми Э подчеркнула, что необходимость отказа Пак Кын Хе от полномочий верховного главнокомандующего даже не обсуждается, и подвергла критике действия правящей партии Сэнури, которая, по её мнению, лишь пытается защитить президента. Председатель временного комитета Народной партии Пак Чи Вон тем более призвал начать движение за отставку главы государства. Однако министр юстиции Ким Хён Ун выразил недовольство тем, что против Чхве Сун Силь выдвигают обвинения, не подкреплённые доказательствами. Он подчеркнул, что если в ходе следствия в отношении Чхве Сун Силь будут выявлены факты незаконного получения капитала или имущества, то вопрос будет решаться в соответствии с законом. В этой связи лидер фракции Сэнури Чон Чжин Сок выразил сожаление по поводу того, что оппозиция даже не пытается сотрудничать. Прокуратура тем временем намерена выяснить подробности связей Чхве Сун Силь и президента, а также — планирует проверить показания бывшего советника президента РК по вопросам государственной политики Ан Чжон Бома, согласно которым Пак Кын Хе поощряла учреждение фондов MIR и K-Sports, а также сбор средств в них с частных компаний. Ан подозревается в причастности к процессу сбора средств в пользу фондов MIR и K-Sports с крупных компаний, в том числе Lotte и SK Group. На это, в частности, указывал бывший глава фонда K-Sports Чон Хён Сик. Eсли ранее Ан все отрицал, то 10 ноября, как сообщила прокуратура, Ан сказал, что по приказу Пак занимался «выдаиванием» пожертвований но не знал, что за всем этим стоит Чхве . Выяснилось также, что у Ана был дневник, в котором имеются записи приватных встреч президента с руководством таких компаний, как LG, Самсон/Samsung или Хёндэ/ Hyundai . Записи встреч, правда, относятся к июлю 2015 года, но компании как раз те, что делали пожертвования в фонды из которых Чхве предположительно выкачивала деньги. Дневник этот передал прокуратуре не сам Ан, а один из сотрудников Голубого дома, что на самом деле не менее любопытно, чем история про оставленный в заброшенном доме планшетный компьютер с главным компроматом против Чхве. Ведущая консервативная газета РК Чосон Ильбо на этом фоне пишет, что ее источники в бизнесе говорят, что на таких встречах один на один лидеры корпораций вручали президенту «списки пожеланий» и что это можно рассматривать как взятки. Как кажется автору, так можно трактовать иную ситуацию – подарки или пожертвования в обмен на «пожелания» от президента. Также Ан рассказал следствию, что Пак приказала ему помочь Ча Ын Тхэку, человеку из близкого круга Чхве, прибрать к рукам некую рекламную компанию. Это подтверждает историю, в которой Ча добился своего, бравируя связями на самом верху. Чон Хо Сон, бывший секретарь президента, также подтвердил, что по приказу Пак передавал Чхве Сун Силь документы с грифом ДСП, и у него есть записи телефонных разговоров, которые это подтверждают. Последнее, однако, вызывает удивление – выходит, что секретарь президента записывал служебные переговоры первого лица для того, чтобы потом предъявить их следствию. Или для чего-то еще? Сама Пак при этом тоже готова сотрудничать со следствием. Как сообщил 12 ноября секретарь президента по гражданским делам Чхве Чжэ Гён, прокуратура может допросить действующего президента. Если Пак Кын Хе будет допрошена, это станет первым подобным случаем в истории страны. И хотя в соответствии с Конституцией против президента не может быть возбуждено уголовное дело, юристы считают, что допрос в рамках антикоррупционного расследования допустим. В остальном поддержка президента РК Пак Кын Хе вторую неделю остаётся рекордно низким – 5%. Об этом свидетельствуют результаты опроса 1003 респондентов, опубликованные 11 ноября агентством Gallup Korea. Число недовольных её деятельностью граждан достигло 90%, и самый высокий уровень ее поддержки в родном регионе (город Тэгу и провинция Кёнсан-Пукто) составляет 9%, что на 1% ниже, чем неделю назад. В ряде регионов (провинция Чолла, основная база оппозиции) или среди молодёжи до 30 лет вообще отмечена нулевая поддержка. Выполнять свои функции главе государства при этом тяжело, и работа президентского аппарата фактически парализована. 8 ноября представитель МИД РК Чо Чжун Хёк заявил, что Пак Кын Хе приняла решение отменить своё участие в саммите АТЭС, который состоится 19-20 ноября в Лиме. Президент РК впервые пропустит такое мероприятие, и хотя по протоколу вместо главы государства в саммите может принять участие премьер-министр, утверждение такового тоже пока проходит в обстановке парламентской борьбы. Под вопросом и участие Пак Кын Хе в предстоящем трёхстороннем южнокорейско-китайско-японском саммите. Константин Асмолов, кандидат исторических наук, ведущий научный сотрудник Центра корейских исследований Института Дальнего Востока РАН, специально для интернет-журнала «Новое Восточное Обозрение». Популярные статьи | 1real |
Report: Trump Moves to Own Tax Reform Plan Without Speaker Paul Ryan - Breitbart | Politico reported Thursday that President Donald Trump, chastened by his experience pushing for the failed Ryancare bill, is moving forward on tax reform with is own economic team in the lead — not Speaker Paul Ryan ( ):[Just on Thursday, President Donald Trump huddled with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, senior strategist Steve Bannon, and consigliere Jared Kushner and staffers from the National Economic Council and Treasury to delve into the various policy and ways to structure a plan. The key takeaway: The White House is not outsourcing these details to anyone, including the speaker of the House. The report said White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed this new dynamic at Friday’s news briefing: “The president will put out principles, I’m sure, in terms of what his goals are and drive this as the process moves forward. ” A paper, obtained by Politico and developed during the presidential transition, is the central blueprint for the president’s tax reform program — and it would push Ryan’s own Border Adjustment Tax off the table. The president is expected to propose cutting the corporate tax rate to 15 percent combined with a wiping out of the tax code’s catalog of tax loopholes and deductions Congress created to ameliorate the 35 percent rate for business profits. Another part of the plan is to simply the individual tax rates, again by lowering the rates and removing specialized deductions. Trump’s corporate and individual tax reforms are significant, but no way near the revolutionary changes contained in Ryan’s Border Adjustment Tax, which shifts $1 trillion in annual tax burden onto exported goods and exporters. That fight has already been going on behind the scenes, as domestic manufacturers and retailers line up allies and resources as they contest for who will be on the hook for of the federal government’s annual revenues. Ryan read Capitol Hill Republicans into his schedule that would carry on through Labor Day at the GOP lawmakers’ policy retreat held in Philadelphia in the last week of January. The schedule called for the House to focus on overturning President Barack Obama’s regulations through the Congressional Review Act, while the Senate focused on confirming the first wave of Trump administration appointees. March was dedicated to the of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. In April, the Senate would confirm the president’s choice to fill the Supreme Court seat made vacant by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, and the House would tackle reforming the tax code — a process coupled with the approval of the fiscal year 2018 budget that would consume both chambers. In Philadelphia, Ryan had not yet revealed that he would hijack the of Obamacare with his own bill that fell short of what Republicans had expected and had promised voters in every political cycle since Obamacare became law in 2010. The Ryancare bill alienated conservatives and frightened moderate Republicans hesitant to cast a politically risky vote for a bill that might not pass the Senate. In the end, the speaker pulled the Ryancare bill from the House floor March 24, nearly 15 minutes from the roll call that would have meant its certain defeat. If Ryan had a working majority in the House, he would be the man driving the agenda, he but does not have that majority, so the White House is moving forward with its own agenda and its own ideas. The aborted American Health Care Act has been portrayed as a defeat for the president, who rallied for the bill in events outside of Washington and behind closed doors at the White House and on Capitol Hill. Now that things have settled, it appears that instead of a setback for the president, the failure of the speaker’s health care legislation was really Trump’s liberation. During the 2016 presidential cycle, Ryan created “The Better Way” agenda as a parallel campaign platform, so that he and his allies could campaign for themselves without mentioning the president’s name nor offer him support. Now, Trump has found his own better way. | 0fake |
White | 0 44
To be white and from money is to live a life of largely unrecognized privilege, bequeathed as it is from one’s first wet, howling breath. In the affluent socio-economically partitioned town of Saratoga Springs, NY where I’m from there was actually a railroad track serving as the demarcation line between affluent whites residing on one side and the other side of which nothing was known because you just didn’t go there, ever. It was literally the “wrong side of the tracks”.
Raised in that remarkable state of incurious joy and suffering within narrow undiluted lines of stratified suburban sameness, I could not know or question the things kept from sight. Thus racial determinism was assumed passively, an acquired naivete fueled with the aspirational angst of middle class parenting that served as an omniscient narcotic fog, like carbon monoxide – not enough to be lethal, but just enough to render the critical faculties permanently dull until finally the things kept from sight could no longer be seen even upon close observation.
To be white is to watch but not see while being seen but never watched. It is to know that for whatever law enforcement is or is not, they are something that will never have anything to do with me. It is to know that on those rare occasions I am pulled over, it really is about a busted tail light.
To be white is to know that when a retail clerk approaches me, it’s about customer service and not the smothering sea of smiles… | 1real |
WOW! CATHOLIC PRIEST Delivers Message From Bishop: Voting For Hillary “Jeopardizes Your Spiritual Well-Being” You “Should Not Receive Holy Communion” [VIDEO] | One Party Favors Open Borders, The Other Party Favors Law And Order A priest is not only protected by the First Amendment, at least for now, he is also bound by the 5th Commandment, Thou shalt not kill. If a priest doesn t speak up for the most vulnerable in our society and if the Catholic faithful don t actively protect the most vulnerable in our society by refusing to enable their deliberate destruction with their vote, then such Catholics, the priest and the laity are condoning their acts with their cowardice. Part of every Catholic s share in the hardship of the gospel, including your priests, is that we must repent of our actions that are offensive to God and destructive to our brothers and sisters. We must oppose the threats to innocent life that are the most real and the most urgent. Make no mistake, there is no single issue that threatens innocent human life more directly, consistently, imminently and urgently than the deliberate killing of baby girls and baby boys in their mother s womb No issue! We have a serious obligation to protect human life, and especially the lives of the most innocent and vulnerable among us. Whoever fails to do this, whenever otherwise able to do so, commits a serious sin of omission. They jeopardize their own spiritual well being and are a source of scandal for others. Should they be Catholics they should NOT receive holy communion. Now I hope you realize that it takes a lot of courage for a priest to communicate such challenging words as these, reminding his people that some actions are so greatly sinful, that they render a Catholic unworthy of holy communion until there is complete repentance. A priest who is more concerned about the state of his peoples souls than they are themselves, deserves the esteem of his people for his willingness to speak such difficult truth with genuine love. To put the welfare of his people s souls ahead of his own reputation, popularity or comfort. Such a priest should receive respect, admiration and support, rather than resistance or criticism. So please pray for, thank and encourage the spiritual Father that God has appointed for you, and who loves you enough to tell you the truth with those challenging words. Because the priest who said those particular words is your Bishop and my Bishop. | 1real |
Prime Minster John Key caught channeling millions of dollars of taxpayer's money to 'ethically compromised' Clinton Foundation | Source: Seemorerocks
November 1, 2016
John Key channels NZ taxpayers' money to Clinton Foundation
This is information that every taxpayer (or those that care) should know about but our journalists are not doing their job.
What with warships in our harbour and troops in Iraq this government of John Key is in lockstep with the most corrupt and warmongering part of the US government.
No doubt Key would approve of the Clinton's defrauding the people of Haiti. It's his style.
The Cannabis Party is calling on John Key to explain why he gave over $7 million of New Zealand tax-payer's money to the Clinton Foundation.
Legalise Cannibis Party
31 October, 2016
Wikileaks raised serious ethical concerns about the Clinton Foundation when it published a hacked email, send to Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, revealing blurred lines between the foundation and the personal financial interests of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Cannabis Party leader Julian Crawford said if John Key was serious about HIV prevention, one of the Clinton Foundation's supposed goals, he should legalise medical cannabis in New Zealand.
"Hundreds of researchers have reported that THC was able to destroy the RIV virus in monkeys. That virus is nearly identical to the HIV virus found in humans," he said.
"John Key has a lot of explaining to do if the Wikileaks revelations about the Clinton Foundation are true."
Former Assistant Director of the FBI Thomas Fuentes confirmed that "the FBI has an intensive investigation ongoing into the Clinton Foundation".
New Zealand's National Business Review has reported that John Key will continue giving millions of dollars of taxpayer's money to the foundation in the future, despite the criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton.
"I've met her on lots of occasions, had dinner with her at Premier House a few times," John Key said.
"As Secretary of State she was great, very engaged with New Zealand." Broadcaster Duncan Garner yesterday raised serious concerns about the ongoing payments to the Clinton Foundation, known as "pay-to-play".
"We also give money to the Clinton Foundation? Yes, we did. Gosh, who didn't get a handout?" Garner said.
"We've been feeding all these guys at the trough for years"
"pay-to-play" refers to operations where Bill and Hillary Clinton rewarded big donors to their foundation with preferential access to the US government.
The original article was in the neo-liberal NBR, behind a paywall
NZ taxpayers will continue funding Clinton Foundation's flagship
| 1real |
China calls for restraint when asked about North Korea hydrogen bomb threat | BEIJING (Reuters) - China called on all parties on Friday to exercise restraint after North Korea s foreign minister was quoted as saying he believes the North could consider conducting a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific Ocean. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang also told a daily news briefing in Beijing that China opposes unilateral sanctions outside the United Nations framework. His comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions against North Korea on Thursday over its nuclear and missile programs. | 0fake |
Lebanon's Aoun tells Saudi envoy Hariri must return | BEIRUT (Reuters) - President Michel Aoun told Saudi Arabia s envoy to Lebanon on Friday that Saad al-Hariri must return to the country, Lebanese media reported. Aoun also told the Saudi Charge d Affaires Walid al-Bukhari that the circumstances of Hariri s resignation were unacceptable, the reports said. Hariri resigned while in Saudi Arabia last Saturday. | 0fake |
A British Divorce From Europe? Henry VIII Blazed the Trail - The New York Times | LONDON — Across the English Channel, a great and unyielding power holds sway, denying London’s rights. The sovereign state is not sovereign at all. Days before a referendum on leaving the European Union, those are the images of Britain’s plight advanced by the Brexiteers, who are campaigning for their nation to signal a muscular new era of independence by leaving the bloc. But the English have been there before. Five centuries ago, King Henry VIII, chafing at the theological and financial clout of the papacy, broke with Rome and led his subjects into the new pastures of the Church of England, with himself as its supreme overlord. It was a step that changed Christendom, molding faith and identity to this day among the world’s roughly 85 million Anglicans. In the process, “England ceased to be part of a huge, medieval, European empire and instead became an independent sovereign free from ‘the authority of any foreign potentate’ — above all the Pope,” Adrian Pabst, a lecturer in politics at the University of Kent, wrote in The Guardian in 2009. “If you ever wondered about the origins of English euroskepticism, look no further than the Protestant Reformation. ” Historical parallels can be facile if not misleading, and the differences between the two eras are profound, not least in the democratic nature of Britain’s decision this time. But the echoes are strong enough to resonate at a moment when Britain is looking to its past for lessons that would apply to its future. Henry’s pique was rooted in Rome’s refusal to annul his first marriage, to Catherine of Aragon. He went on to take five more wives in his quest for a male heir, in direct contradiction of Catholic orthodoxy. The Brexiteers’ campaign is also about divorce — of nations and economies, perhaps, but certainly just as permanent, and with potentially consequences. When Britons vote on Thursday, they may do so at the same polling stations used during national elections. Yet for the side that loses the ballot, “there is no no consoling thought in defeat that, at least, there’s always next season,” the columnist Alex Massie wrote on The Spectator’s website. “No, defeat is permanent and for keeps. ” By coincidence, perhaps, the campaign has gathered pace at a time when the national imagination has been caught by the blockbuster success of Hilary Mantel’s novels “Wolf Hall” and “Bring Up the Bodies,” set during Henry VIII’s reign and reviving the issue of how the elite relate to adversaries at home and foes abroad. Ms. Mantel was among almost 300 cultural figures — actors and writers among them — who signed a public letter last month urging a vote to remain part of the European Union. “What kind of nation do we want to be?” the letter asked. “Are we and open to working with others to achieve more? Or do we close ourselves off from our friends and neighbors at a time of increasing global uncertainty?” The goes beyond that. Over centuries, England, and then Britain, has strutted the global stage as an imperial overlord whose people sometimes seem more comfortable in the guise of underdogs. The national psyche rests on a history of invasion, submission, conquest and — from the Romans and the through the Normans and on to dynasties entwined with the royal houses of Europe. In more recent years, waves of immigration — Jamaicans in the 1950s, then Pakistanis, Indians and other Asians in the 1960s — have reshaped the country’s demographics. Christianity, prevalent in Henry’s day, is professed by less than half the population. The loss of an empire and the rise of a complex, interconnected global economy has rekindled the notion that, in times of flux, the English define themselves by their opposition to a bigger outside power — the papacy in the 16th century the European Union in the 21st. This theme suffused Churchill’s speeches during World War II as Hitler’s armies spread across Europe to the Continent’s coastline. “We shall never surrender,” Churchill declared in 1940, albeit with the caveat that Britain would fight on until “the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. ” Today’s political leaders can barely resist the Churchillian mantra. Facing hostile questioning from a television audience on Sunday, a rattled Prime Minister David Cameron pointed out that “at my office I sit two yards from” where Churchill “resolved to fight on against Hitler. ” Churchill did not wish to be alone, Mr. Cameron said. “But he didn’t quit,” the prime minister added. “He didn’t quit on democracy, he didn’t quit on freedom. We want to fight for those things today. ” It was also Churchill, who, in 1930, foreshadowed one of the Brexiteers’ arguments in an article in the Saturday Evening Post. “We see nothing but good and hope in a richer, freer, more contented European commonalty,” he said. “But we have our own dream and our own task. We are with Europe, but not of it. We are linked, but not comprised. We are interested and associated, but not absorbed. ” David Starkey, a Cambridge historian critical of the European Union, has drawn a direct parallel with the modern battle for the nation’s soul. “England’s semidetached relationship with continental Europe is neither new nor an aberration,” he wrote in 2012. “Instead, it is deeply rooted in the political development of the past 500 years. ” The debate “was couched in strikingly ‘modern’ terms,” Dr. Starkey wrote, with Henry’s opponents arguing the case for papal authority “like a contemporary europhile,” maintaining that England was “subordinate to the laws and values of a Christendom. ” “Henry VIII’s judges replied, on the contrary, that statute was binding and Parliament sovereign,” Dr. Starkey said. Then, as now, the notion of sovereignty was central to the discussion, and the implications were enormous. By breaking with Rome, some historians argue, the English came to see themselves a nation apart — a magnified by the Act of Union with Scotland in 1707 and by centuries of colonial expansion. “Imperial Britain was isolationist, xenophobic, and nationalist,” the historian Edwin Jones wrote in 1998, and a combination of these elements “helped to sustain the of the British” in the early 18th century, he added. In 1848, Lord Palmerston, then the foreign secretary, told Parliament: “I may say without any vainglorious boast or without great offense to anyone that we stand at the head of moral, social and political civilization. Our task is to lead the way and direct the march of other nations. ” But the British always seem to qualify global ambition with the kind of parochial preoccupations that persuaded Adam Smith in 1776 to coin the phrase “a nation of shopkeepers. ” As the empire grew, indeed, a group known as the Little Englanders advocated a retreat from headlong colonial expansion, particularly in southern Africa. These days, the term endures as a derogatory epithet for the Brexiteers, who prefer to claim the mantle of a reawakened Britannia ruling newer waves — this time through a web of trade deals and alliances beyond the perceived narrow constraints and petty regulation of Brussels. Some argue that the dominant strand of the Brexiteers’ DNA lies in what A. A. Gill, a columnist for The Sunday Times, called “the most pernicious and debilitating Little English drug, nostalgia. ” | 0fake |
Austria's conservative-far right cabinet likely sworn in Dec. 20: source | VIENNA (Reuters) - Austria s new conservative-far right ruling coalition is likely to be sworn in on Dec. 20, an informed source said on Friday, marking a victory for nationalists so far shut out of government elsewhere in western Europe. Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, whose mainstream conservative People s Party (OVP) won a parliamentary election on Oct. 15 but not a majority, has been in coalition talks with Heinz-Christian Strache s Freedom Party (FPO). Both sides have described the discussions as friendly and constructive but so far failed to disclose the kind of sweeping tax, immigration and administrative reforms they had called for in their campaigns. Kurz, 31, who has taken a tough stance on immigration and Muslim parallel societies , tilting towards the FPO line as the far right surged in popularity, is tipped to become chancellor and the youngest head of government in the European Union. There has been no confirmation on who might get which portfolio in the new cabinet, but the anti-immigration FPO has said it would aim for about half of the ministries. The OVP gained 31.5 percent and the FPO 26 percent of votes in the Alpine republic s October election. (Dec. 20) is certainly a possible date (for the swearing-in), OVP Chairwoman Elisabeth Koestinger said on Oe1 radio, adding they would put quality before speed even if that meant a deal only after Christmas. FPO deputy leader Norbert Hofer told Oe1 that no deal had been sealed yet, repeating previous statements that both parties aimed to finish before Christmas. The Austrian national news agency APA also cited Dec. 20 as the most likely date for the swearing-in of the new government by President Alexander Van der Bellen, but listed Jan. 8 as an alternative date. The FPO, which came within a whisker of winning the 2015 presidential election, is allied with France s National Front and Germany s AfD, which in a September election became the third strongest party in Germany s parliament. The populist far right last entered an Austrian federal government in 2000 and currently rules in coalition with centrists in two of the country s provinces. | 0fake |
WOW! Dem Rep Keith Ellison BLAMES Obama For Huge Democrat Losses: He’s “Put His Legacy In Jeopardy” [VIDEO] | Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) said that President Obama bore some of the blame for Democrats spectacular collapse in the 2016 election at an event at the University of Minnesota Wednesday.Ellison was quick to say that he voted for every radical piece of legislature that Barack Obama pushed for, but when it comes to uniting the party, it appears that the most narcissistic, self-serving president in history may have been much of a team player. Barack Obama could have been a better party leader, and I think that the fact that he wasn t has put his legacy in jeopardy, Ellison said. Given that we lost a lot of state house seats, governorships, secretaries of states, his true legacy is in danger, Ellison continued. And I don t think he can say that he wasn t part of those losses. NTKNetworkBarack Obama s not exactly a team player unless of course you re talking about the times that he worked with Al Sharpton and Eric Holder to divide our nation. When it came to promoting other Democrats however, Obama didn t have such a great track record. If you don t believe us, just ask Hillary These numbers don t lie:Republican strategist Rory Cooper pointed out in this blistering tweet that under President Obama, Democrats lost over 900 state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, 13 Senate seats.Under President Obama, Democrats have lost 900+ state legislature seats, 12 governors, 69 House seats, 13 Senate seats. That's some legacy. Rory Cooper (@rorycooper) November 4, 2015 | 1real |
Baseball Is Practically a Water Sport to the Mets’ Curtis Granderson - The New York Times | PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Even for 10 minutes, Curtis Granderson can’t restrain himself. On a recent morning here in spring training, before the start of his 12th full major league season, he was talking about how, at age 36, he will handle the rigors of chasing down balls in center field. As he talked, he asked for a brief timeout and reached for the water bottle he had left on the floor beside his locker. This was his sixth bottle of the day, and it wasn’t yet noon. There would likely be another six before the day was done. “You always see him just crushing water,” said his fellow outfielder Michael Conforto, who is 12 years younger than Granderson. Granderson drinks by the sip. He values that over chugging because he believes it gives his body a constant flow of essential fluids. He is also a firm believer in water, because he can’t drink as much when the water is cold. Thus, a of bottles is always adjacent to his locker. “There are always massive amounts of bottles of water everywhere,” said third baseman David Wright, whose spring training locker is next to Granderson’s. There’s also expansive territory to cover in center field. Granderson may not be ideal as the Mets’ primary player at that position, but he is the best option on a roster with numerous corner outfielders. And despite an uneven 2016 season, when he hit . 237, he clobbered 30 home runs, second only to Yoenis Cespedes on the Mets, and drew a 74 walks. Since signing a $60 million deal with the Mets before the 2014 season, Granderson has primarily played in right. But with another right fielder, Jay Bruce, back for 2017 and Conforto in the mix, Granderson will be asked to man center — with some help from outfielder Juan Lagares, who suffered a strained left oblique on Saturday. The last time Granderson played more than 100 games in center field was 2012, when he was with the Yankees. “He does keep himself in great shape, but the wear and tear of playing center field is going to be tough on his legs at times,” said the Mets’ manager, Terry Collins. Which is where the water comes in. Granderson’s recent track record is proof of how much care he puts into staying healthy. With the Mets, over the last three years, he has averaged 154 games a season — as many as he did in his when he played center for the Detroit Tigers. “I’m the oldest guy here with the Mets,” he said. “I never thought I’d be saying that with any team I’d be on. ” He probably never thought he would be drinking as much water as he now does, either, although he maintains it isn’t water alone that has helped him stay on the field. With experience, he said, he has learned how to give his body a break. “Before, if I wasn’t starting, I felt like I needed to do something, whether it be lift or hit or do something,” he said. “Now, I can shut it down and get back to where I need to after. ” That mentality now applies to the too. He had tried everything from boxing to Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing) for fitness in past winters, but eventually stopped because it wasn’t worth the risk of overtraining or injury. Instead, four years ago, Granderson added swimming to his workouts, doing his sessions at his alma mater, the University of Illinois at Chicago. And while he still lifts weights, he has cut back because he didn’t think the extra lifting was necessary. In addition, although some athletes who are Granderson’s age significantly change their diets, Granderson has not done so — except for the water, that is. “When people ask me about my diet, it’s hard to explain because I’ll literally eat everything,” he said. “I like vegetables. I like fruits. I like fried stuff. I like sweets. So if you tell me to cut stuff out, that’s no problem because there’s so much other stuff I like. ” In the his breakfasts are usually oatmeal, fruit and, well, you already know his drink of choice. Often busy with charity work, Granderson packs a lunch of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, nuts, fruit and chocolate milk. Dinner varies daily. “My biggest thing is to maintain weight,” he said. “If I don’t eat, I lose it by nature. ” During the season, Granderson always eats breakfast, checking what time the hotel or nearby restaurants will finish serving it so he can get there in time. During spring training, he often eats in the Mets’ clubhouse. He also loves napping, if only for 10 minutes, and he uses the many plane rides during the season to get still more sleep. “A lot of guys don’t like flying,” he said. “I’m like a baby in a car. ” But or regular season, the common thread for Granderson is water, and then more water. A routine sight in the Mets’ clubhouse is Granderson stuffing water bottles into his glove, back pockets or backpack before practice or when leaving for the team hotel. “I always have it by me,” he said. Granderson changed how much water he consumed after a game on May 1, 2010, when he was 29 and playing for the Yankees. In the sixth inning against the Chicago White Sox, he was running from first base to third on a single when he felt a twinge in his groin area. He left the game and was placed on the disabled list. He was already dealing with a sore throat and a fever, and the Yankees sent him to a hospital to get intravenous fluids. “There they told me: ‘Man, even your veins are dehydrated. You just haven’t been drinking that much water,’” Granderson said. He returned to the Yankees’ lineup after four weeks of rehabilitation, but he made a vow to drink more water. Since then, Granderson has not completely avoided injuries — he sustained a fractured right forearm and broken left pinkie after being hit by pitches in 2013 and has had minor calf ailments that have lasted a few days. But a lack of hydration has not been an issue. “It takes a while to get used to,” he said about all the water. “You wake up a lot a night to go to the bathroom when you first start. ” Granderson now has his water consumption down to a science. Before he arrives at the stadium during spring training, he has already consumed two bottles. Then he has 12 ounces with breakfast. He carries three bottles out to batting practice with him. He’ll have another one with lunch, often with electrolyte powder mixed in. His postgame protein shake is followed by another bottle of water on the way home, and then several more before he goes to sleep. Granderson also drinks decaffeinated tea but doesn’t consume soda, juice or coffee. Those were pushed aside when his water consumption shot up. Asked about Granderson’s water intake, Dr. Melissa Leber, an assistant professor of orthopedics at the Icahn School of Medicine medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York, put it in a larger context. The average sweat rate of an adult while running is about two liters an hour, she said. So an active adult in a warm climate should consume up to six liters of water a day. That is in the general vicinity of how much water Granderson takes in daily, although baseball can be a stationary sport at times, which means Granderson isn’t always running around. But he is always looking to take another sip, amazing his teammates in the process. “I’d just feel full all the time drinking that much,” said Conforto, who estimated he drank perhaps six bottles a day. “But it’s clearly working for him. ” | 0fake |
THE LEFT LOSES AGAIN: Third Quarter Economic Estimate Explodes! | The news that the forecast for the third quarter GDP is set to expand to 4.0 will be bad news for the Democrats who are trying to take down President Trump. It will be ignored by the mainstream media who are focused on statues and protests.This should be great news for Trump s economic team of brilliant and successful businessmen but even greater news for ALL Americans! MAGA!REUTERS REPORTED: The U.S. economy is on track to expand at a 4.0 percent annualized pace in the third quarter with inventory investment contributing 1.12 percentage points to growth, the Atlanta Federal Reserve s GDP Now forecast model showed on Thursday.Last Friday, the government said its first reading on the gross domestic product in the second quarter was a 2.6 percent growth pace, which was 0.2 point below Atlanta Fed s final estimate.A PRO-GROWTH PRESIDENT FINALLY!President Trump has unleashed the beast ! Pro-growth and less regulation within industry in America has allowed our economy to nearly double the GDP within the president s first year Amazing!The coal industry is back along with the steel industry. Ripping away unnecessary regulations is the key to growth. Trump knows how to get America back to work and how to help industry do that.WHILE THE LEFT PROTESTS PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING TRUMP WINS!When President Trump was campaigning to Make America Great Again, so many of us understood that this meant bringing back growth to our economy. A successful America is great for everyone! Those who don t have a political agenda understand this is a win-win no matter who you are.THIS IS EXACTLY WHY TRUMP WON! | 1real |
Liberal Group Trolls Trump At Roy Moore Rally In The Best Possible Way (VIDEO) | Donald Trump held a rally for Alabama Senate candidate and alleged pedophile Roy Moore in Pensacola, Florida on Friday night which he later claimed was packed to the rafters but the venue was barely half-filled with supporters. Outside of the rally, a liberal group targeted the former reality show star and Moore by using Ivanka Trump s own words.American Bridge used a mobile billboard featuring Ivanka Trump s criticism of Moore. The truck displayed, There s a special place in hell for people who prey on children along with Trump s daughter s picture emblazoned across it.Happening now at @realDonaldTrump s rally: we re driving a mobile billboard promoting @IvankaTrump s condemnation of Roy Moore. https://t.co/XpDJYFZjzn #alsen pic.twitter.com/exQIAjZJ05 American Bridge (@American_Bridge) December 9, 2017The group s site says that the quote above and I have no reason to doubt the victims accounts by Ivanka were blasted over a loudspeaker outside of the rally.Watch:We re in Pensacola promoting @IvankaTrump s comments on Roy Moore pic.twitter.com/NJ3evTw0mw American Bridge (@American_Bridge) December 9, 2017 There is a special place in hell for people who prey on children, Ivanka Trump told the Associated Press after Moore s scandal became public. I ve yet to see a valid explanation, and I have no reason to doubt the victims accounts. Trump has given Moore his full support despite the Alabama Senate candidate being accused by multilple women of targeting them when they were teenagers and he was in this thirties and working as a district attorney.The truck was reportedly parked across the street from the rally, and was eventually driven around the crowd by American Bridge staffers, The Hill reports.Donald Trump has been accused of sexual harassment or assault by 19 women and yet, conservatives rewarded him by electing him to the highest seat in the land. Right-wing Alabama evangelicals seem to take no issue with Moore s scandalous past, which includes hating Muslims, the LGBTQ community, and allegedly creeping up on young girls.Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images. | 1real |
Illegal Immigrants Could Elect Hillary | Illegal immigrants—along with other noncitizens without the right to vote—may pick the 2016 presidential winner. Thanks to the unique math undergirding the Electoral College, the mere presence of 11-12 million illegal immigrants and other noncitizens here legally may enable them to swing the election from Republicans to Democrats.
The right to vote is intended to be a singular privilege of citizenship. But the 1787 Constitutional Convention rejected allowing the people to directly elect their President. The delegates chose instead our Electoral College system, under which 538 electoral votes distributed amongst the states determine the presidential victor. The Electoral College awards one elector for each U.S. Senator, thus 100 of the total, and D.C. gets three electors pursuant to the 23rd Amendment. Those electoral numbers are unaffected by the size of the noncitizen population. The same cannot be said for the remaining 435, more than 80 percent of the total, which represent the members elected to the House.
The distribution of these 435 seats is not static: they are reapportioned every ten years to reflect the population changes found in the census. That reallocation math is based on the relative “whole number of persons in each state,” as the formulation in the 14th Amendment has it. When this language was inserted into the U.S. Constitution, the concept of an “illegal immigrant,” as the term is defined today, had no meaning. Thus the census counts illegal immigrants and other noncitizens equally with citizens. Since the census is used to determine the number of House seats apportioned to each state, those states with large populations of illegal immigrants and other noncitizens gain extra seats in the House at the expense of states with fewer such “whole number of persons.”
This math gives strongly Democratic states an unfair edge in the Electoral College. Using citizen-only population statistics, American University scholar Leonard Steinhorn projects California would lose five House seats and therefore five electoral votes. New York and Washington would lose one seat, and thus one electoral vote apiece. These three states, which have voted overwhelming for Democrats over the latest six presidential elections, would lose seven electoral votes altogether. The GOP’s path to victory, by contrast, depends on states that would lose a mere three electoral votes in total. Republican stronghold Texas would lose two House seats and therefore two electoral votes. Florida, which Republicans must win to reclaim the presidency, loses one seat and thus one electoral vote.
But that leaves the electoral math only half done. The 10 House seats taken away from these states would then need to be reallocated to states with relatively small numbers of noncitizens. The following ten states, the bulk of which lean Republican, would likely gain one House seat and thus one additional electoral vote: Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.
Iowa has gone Democratic six out of the last seven times. Michigan and Pennsylvania have both gone comfortably Democratic in every election since 1992. But five states—Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana and Oklahoma—all went by double-digit margins to GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney in 2012. And Romney carried North Carolina by two percent while losing nationally by nearly four percent, a large difference. Likewise, despite solidly beating 2008 GOP nominee John McCain by seven percent nationally, President Obama eked out a bare 0.3 percent win in the Tar Heel State. The current Ohio polls also look promising for the right GOP nominee, and no Republican has ever won the Presidency without carrying the Buckeye State. There is no plausible statistical path for the Republican Party’s nominee to win an electoral majority without these states.
Accordingly, for analytic purposes, three of the states that would gain electoral votes are Democratic. The remaining seven are fairly put in the GOP column. Combining the two halves of the citizen-only population reapportionment, states likely in the Democratic column suffer a net loss of four electoral votes. Conversely the must-win Republican leaning states total a net gain of four electoral votes. These are the four electoral votes statistically cast by noncitizens.
U.S. elections have been decided by far narrower margins. One electoral vote decided the 1876 presidential election. A swing of three electoral votes in 2000 would have elected Al Gore. A glitch in the Electoral College system enabled Aaron Burr to come within one vote of winning the presidency over Thomas Jefferson in 1800. Though they can’t cast an actual ballot, we effectively allow noncitizens to have an indirect, and possibly decisive, say in choosing the President.
Three years ago, President Obama became the first Democrat in 76 years to win a second term with a repeat majority vote. Yet Romney still won two-dozen states with a total of 206 electoral votes. Based on current polling and historical trends, a credible GOP ticket right now must be considered likely to carry all the 24 Romney states and their 206 electoral votes. The key to Republican hopes to win 270 electoral votes next year therefore revolves around the three biggest swing states: Florida, Ohio and Virginia.
Yet a credible future GOP nominee has reason to be hopeful. Obama carried Florida last time by only 0.9 percent. Hillary Clinton suffers from an upside down image among Sunshine State voters, 37 percent having a favorable opinion but 57 percent holding a negative one in a recent poll. She is in a statistical tie with highly unpopular GOP hopeful Donald Trump and loses by 11 percent to former Governor Jeb Bush. Florida statistically should be the easiest of these key swing states for the GOP to win. | 0fake |
WATCH: Republican Army Colonel Hammers Gun Nut On Real Time With Bill Maher | This is one of the most epic smack downs of a gun nut you ll ever see.During Real Time on Friday night, host Bill Maher was joined on his panel by guests Lawrence Wilkerson and Emily Miller to discuss the Orlando mass shooting and the role guns played. This tragedy was brought to you by guns and religion, Maher said to kick off the discussion.Maher and conservative reporter Emily Miller agreed that only followers of Islam commit acts of terrorism, forgetting mass shootings that were perpetrated by white Christian males such as Dylann Roof, who killed nine black people at a church in Charleston. Or Timothy McVeigh, who committed the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995. He grew up a Roman Catholic and took the Last Rites prior to his execution. And there are so many other examples that they could literally fill this article and more. And here s a list of violence against the LGBT community, some of which were committed by anti-gay Christians with guns.But it was Republican retired Army Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson who stole the show when he buried Miller and her gun nut views, much to Maher s amusement. We need some kind of control on the weapons in this country, Wilkerson said. We do not need large capacity magazines, semi-automatic weapons in the hands of anybody in this country, other than possibly law enforcement. Wilkerson admitted that he owns 14 guns at home because he inherited many them from relatives who passed away, but he only uses them for hunting and is very selective about who he sells a gun to if he wants to let one go.Miller immediately volunteered to buy some guns from Wilkerson and he quickly rejected her. I wouldn t sell them to you, he said.Wilkerson went on to hold Republicans responsible for the shooting to some degree because they have refused to pass a law banning people on the terrorism watch list from buying and owning guns.Miller then attempted to defend guns as a necessary tool for home defense but Wilkerson, who served in the Vietnam War, didn t buy that malarkey either, saying that he doesn t own guns to shoot people and pointing out that we have law enforcement to deal with home invasions. When Miller attempted to discuss law enforcement response time, Wilkerson shut her down. I m 71-years-old. I ve lived in this country for seventy-one years, except for the years I was deployed fighting for this country when I did need my guns, and nobody has ever entered my house and tried to kill me! After that, Miller was stunned into silence.Here s the video via YouTube.Featured image via screen capture | 1real |
BAIL DENIED: CONVICTED MUSLIM RAPIST Refuses Mandatory Sex Offender Course Because It “conflicts with [his] Islamic faith” | Apparently, keeping a slave and repeatedly raping her is not against his Islamic faith From International Business Times:A Saudi national who was convicted of keeping his Indonesian maid as a sex slave has refused to attend a mandatory sex offender s course, arguing that his Muslim beliefs do not allow him to look at pictures of scantily-clad women.Homaidan al-Turki, 45, was jailed for 28 years in 2006 after his maid claimed she had been forced to work 12 hour days with no break and then locked in a cellar and abused regularly by the Saudi, who was in the US on an academic scholarship with his wife and five children.Al-Turki s sentence was reduced in 2011 to eight years-to-life but his parole applications have been repeatedly denied because of his refusal to attend a sex offenders course.Al-Turki told prison officials in 2013 that the sex offender treatment programme conflicts with [his] Islamic faith , according to a letter by the then executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections, Tom Clements.Eight years for keeping a slave in America. Shameful.Via: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
White House Now Planting Fake Stories To Discredit Reporters Who Expose Trump’s Bullsh*t | Apparently, the White House is not pleased that the story of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer furiously confiscating cell phones as he looks for the source of leaks leaked. In fact, the Trump Team is so displeased that the decided to get a little payback against one of the reporters who exposed it.Six hours after the story broke the Washington Examiner published a report claiming that the Alex Isenstadt, co-author of Politico s report on Spicer s leak hunt, laughed at the Navy SEAL Donald Trump s stupidity killed in Yemen.Isenstadt had asked Spicer about one of the leaks a revelation Spicer had berated a junior spokesperson, Jessica Ditto, in the middle of a staff meeting, causing her to cry. The only time Jessica recalls almost getting emotional is when we had to relay the information on the death of Chief Ryan Owens, Spicer said, referring to the SEAL. The Examiner then reports:Unsaid, according to White House officials, is that Isenstadt appeared dismissive and laughed at Spicer s answer. He started laughing about that SEAL, said one informed official, also upset at Politico s insulting description of Ditto in the story as a more junior spokesperson. In reality, Isenstadt chuckled at Spicer s cartoonish reaction to the question. It didn t take long for people to see what was going on:My goodness, this is obvious what's going on here. https://t.co/c8nF0oYigB Steven Ginsberg (@stevenjay) February 27, 2017Reporter writes story WH doesn't like/disputes. WH anonymously plants false story about reporter. https://t.co/2ZGue3uxfz Carrie Budoff Brown (@cbudoffbrown) February 27, 2017@cbudoffbrown @TheDailyEdge My favorite part is that it's anonymously sourced. ??? El Franch se (@dannyboi965) February 27, 2017@stevenjay @maggieNYT Understand that these people will do whatever it takes to get what they want. Bannon is driving this train wreck. OttolineMorrell (@OttolineMorrell) February 27, 2017@stevenjay @dcexaminer They claim media fabricates facts & engineers stories, yet they're doing precisely that. Totally Hitler-esque. TheSheepleResistance (@SheepleResist) February 27, 2017@stevenjay @dcexaminer So the plan here is to plant fake anonymous sources to discredit all anonymous sourcing? Nicole (@skilledscribe) February 27, 2017As some noted, it is particularly hilarious that this was anonymously sourced the exact kind of sourcing Trump says cannot be trusted. Apparently, we can expect to see more of this FAKE NEWS (am I doing that right?) anytime someone makes the Trump administration uncomfortable. Then, of course, there are the dossiers a Trump staffer says the administration has compiled to blackmail non-compliant reporters So, journalists keep reporting everything you can about this corrupt administration until all of you are involved in the Pizzagate coverup. It means you have done your job well.Featured image via Getty Images (John W. Adkisson) | 1real |
NFL Wildcard Preview - Two National Anthem Kneelers Left Standing - Breitbart | The NFL’s second season is here with the Wild Round Playoff Weekend upon us. [For you patriots out there, only two national anthem kneelers remain, Miami’s Michael Thomas and wide receiver Kenny Still. So if the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Dolphins on Sunday, you won’t have to deal with this anymore. Of the four games this weekend, the best one might be the last one, the New York Giants battling the Green Bay Packers at 4:40 PM on Sunday. Here is a breakdown of the Wildcard . . . Oakland Raiders ( ) at Houston Texans ( ) Saturday, January 7, 4:35 PM on ESPN NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas, With their top two quarterbacks (Derek Carr and Matt McGloin) injured, the Raiders have to start rookie Connor Cook. Watch Cook for great theater in his first ever NFL start. Nobody really knows what to expect. He certainly looks the part at 230 with a rocket arm, and is used to playing in situations as a starter for Michigan State in the Big Ten Conference. Playing road games at places like Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State has certainly thickened his skin. And the Raiders don’t have the only intriguing QB situation entering this game. The Texans will start Brock Osweiler, who they signed to last but then benched late in the regular season due to ineffectiveness. Now he’s back in the saddle after his replacement, Tom Savage, got concussed in Week 17. Perhaps Osweiler put too much pressure on himself trying to live up to his $72 million contract, so this time around, he’s just going to enjoy himself. “I told myself, ‘If you get an opportunity to go back in, just go have fun,’” Osweiler said “Get back to the joy of football. Get back to what drew you into this sport at such a young age.’ I think when you’re able to play for the fun of the game, for the love of the game, passion comes with that. ” Anybody who thinks they can pick this game is nuts. Nobody knows what to expect from either quarterback. So this game has to be considered a . Detroit Lions ( ) at Seattle Seahawks ( ) Saturday, January 7, 8:15 PM on NBC CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington, The Lions enter the playoffs losers of three straight. The Seahawks have proved wildly inconsistent, and their vaunted defense certainly misses superstar safety Earl Thomas. Before his season ended in Week 13 with a broken leg, Seattle was giving up 15. 6 points per game. In the games that followed the injury, they’re yielding 24. 5. And facing Lions QB Matt Stafford will be no easy chore for the secondary. The Lions also have secondary issues, coming off a torching at the hands of Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers. In early December, Deroit lost slot cornerback Quadre Diggs, and last week they lost his replacement Asa Jackson, so expect Seahawks QB Russell Wilson to target whoever is playing nickel back for Detroit. The Seahawks, with perhaps the loudest NFL stadium, are at home this season, and should make that . Miami Dolphins ( ) at Pittsburgh Steelers ( ) Sunday, January 8, 1:05 PM on CBS Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, In Week Six, the Dolphins beat the Steelers . Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger hurt his knee and had to leave the game for a stretch, so that certainly hurt Pittsburgh a great deal. But “Big Ben’s” injury had nothing to do with the Steelers’ run defense that day, which surrendered 204 yards to British tailback Jay Ajayi. While the Steelers defense has improved since then, Ajayi could still be a problem for them. First of all, standout Steelers defensive end Cam Heyward is on injured reserve, and his replacement, Ricardo Mathews, is sidelined with ankle injury. Combine the Steelers issues with Miami having one the NFL’s best offensive lines, Ajayi could be poised for another big day. But while the Dolphins should be able to run on Pittsburgh, what could lead to their downfall is their pass defense. Led by Roethlisberger, the Steelers finished the regular season as the NFL’s passing attack, and the Dolphins have major secondary issues. They gave up six touchdown passes in the last two weeks, and will be without starting cornerback Byron Maxwell. Led by Roetlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown and their potent passing attack, the Steelers should win this game. New York Giants ( ) at Green Bay Packers ( ) Sunday, January 8, 4:40 PM on FOX Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is coming off a remarkable season, tossing an 40 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. He is the NFL’s best QB at extending plays to create extra throwing time. “It’s almost like a second play during the play,” said Jets linebacker Jonathan Casillas. The Giants’ defense might be the best equipped in the NFL to deal with Rodgers, because they’re loaded at cornerback with Janoris Jenkins, Dominique and Eli Apple, three cover guys. Speaking of cornerbacks, the Packers are painfully thin at the position with starter Quinten Rollins out, and two other key corners on injured reserves, so Giants QB Eli Manning should be able to have success throwing at Lambeau Field. This should be a great game, but the Packers will probably win a close game since they’re at home, and Rodgers is playing much better than Manning right now. | 0fake |
CT Gov. Malloy Instructs School Superintendents to Follow Obama’s Transgender Bathroom Policy - Breitbart | Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy ( ) issued an executive order Thursday instructing the state department of education to develop policies with local school districts that allow gender confused children to use the school bathrooms and locker rooms of whichever gender they identify with at any given time. [According to a press release from Malloy’s office, the governor and state department of education Commissioner Dianna R. Wentzell issued a memo to all Connecticut public school superintendents, referring them to former President Barack Obama’s 2016 transgender bathroom policy for guidance until more “formal guidance” is developed within the state. Malloy’s executive order is in response to President Donald Trump’s decision to abandon Obama’s May 2016 directive, which effectively asserts that children can change their sex by simply announcing they have the “gender identity” of the other sex. Trump essentially returned the issue of school bathrooms to the states. Obama’s transgender bathroom policy was actually halted in August of 2016 by a U. S. district judge who said the former president had overstepped his authority in issuing the directive. The order comes “in light of an action yesterday by the Trump Administration to roll back federal guidelines that protected transgender students in public school,” states the press release from the governor’s office. The governor said in a statement: Discrimination, harassment, and bullying have no place in our classrooms or at our schools. Despite the actions taken by the federal government yesterday, the State of Connecticut remains committed to ensuring that every student has access to a education in a safe, supportive and welcoming school environment. Every child, no matter their gender identity or expression, should be treated equally and fairly in a safe, supportive environment. Connecticut will remain a state of inclusiveness because we strongly believe that diversity makes us stronger. Malloy, who served as a surrogate for Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential race, signed legislation in 2011 that added yet another category of a special protected class — gender identity and expression — into Connecticut’s statutes. Less than of Americans support the “ ” ideology pushed by gay activists and by Obama. Policies associated with the ideology would allow transgender activists to sue institutions — such as sports leagues, public and women’s shelters — until both biological sexes are viewed as interchangeable. Since the presidential election, Obama has twice admitted that his unpopular transgender policy helped to defeat Trump’s rival, Hillary Clinton. In an email statement, Family Institute of Connecticut (FIC) says, “[T]he governor’s statement of opposition is a farce, just the typical grandstanding to his base for which he is prone. ” FIC continues: As White House spokesman Sean Spicer explained in his daily briefing, President Trump rescinded President Obama’s transgender imposition on the nation’s schools because “He just believes this is a state issue that needs to be addressed by the states. ” In other words, President Trump could care less whether Gov. Malloy reaffirms transgender impositions on Connecticut’s schools. Trump rescinded Obama’s “guidelines” for reasons of states’ rights, the very idea Malloy appeals to in resisting Trump’s immigration policies. On Wednesday, the Connecticut governor also ordered his state’s law enforcement officers to refuse to comply with Trump’s immigration orders and policies, urging them to bar federal immigration officials from having access to illegal immigrants. Additionally, Malloy’s order encouraged schools to develop their own plans to bar access to schools by federal immigration officials. In June of 2016, Quinnipiac University released a survey that found Malloy’s approval ratings had plummeted to 24 percent — his lowest since taking office in 2011, and “one of the lowest approval ratings ever recorded for a governor in any of the nine states surveyed by the Quinnipiac University Poll,” reports the school. In the same month, a study from George Mason University’s Mercatus Center found that Connecticut ranked as the state in the worst fiscal condition — second only to Puerto Rico. | 0fake |
Freedom Rider: Dump the Democrats for Good | 2016 presidential campaign by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Donald Trump, the white nationalist that claimed to oppose the corporate establishment, appears to have won the U.S. presidency. But, “even the victory of the openly bigoted Trump poses an opportunity to right our political ship.” The Democrats were not “our” party, but the party that thought they owned us. Their “rejection must be complete and blame must be laid squarely at their feet” for raising those chickens that have come home to roost. Freedom Rider: Dump the Democrats for Good by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
“The Democrats were so entrenched in their corruption and self-dealing that they didn’t see the Bernie Sanders campaign for modest reform as the savior it might have been.”
This columnist did not see a Donald Trump victory coming. The degree of disgust directed at an awful candidate was more than I had predicted. Neither the corporate media, nor Wall Street nor the pundits nor the pollsters saw this coming either. Their defeat and proof of their uselessness is total. Those of us who rejected the elite consensus and didn’t support Hillary Clinton should be proud.
Black people are now in fear and in shock when we ought to be spoiling for a fight. All is not lost. Even the victory of the openly bigoted Trump poses an opportunity to right our political ship. Not the electoral ship, the political one. For decades black Americans have been voting for people who have done them wrong. Bill Clinton got rid of public assistance as a right, and undid regulations that kept Wall Street in check. He put black people in jail and yet black people didn’t turn on him until he and his wife tried to defeat Obama. But Obama gave us more of the same. Bailouts of Wall Street, interventions and death for people all over the world, and a beat down of black people who still loved him. Despite the fear of Republican victory we end up losing whenever a Democratic presidential candidate wins.
“Obama bailed out banks, insurance companies, Big Pharma and even Ukraine.”
Victory is ours if we dump the Democrat Party and their black misleaders. The Democrats were so entrenched in their corruption and self-dealing that they didn’t see the Bernie Sanders campaign for modest reform as the savior it might have been. Instead they marched in lock step with a woman who was heartily disliked. Sanders went along as the sheep dog who led his flock straight over the cliff. The Democrats inadvertently galvanized people who had stopped participating in the system and who want change from top to bottom.
One of our biggest problems lies not in facts but in perceptions. What did Democrats do for black people? The Democrats ship living wage jobs off shore in corrupt trade deals like NAFTA and TTP. They don’t prosecute killer cops or raise the minimum wage. Trump will be hard pressed to deport more people than Obama did. The list of treachery is very long.
When Donald Trump asked black people, “What have you got to lose?” his words were met with derision. But in reality he posed a good question. What do we have to show for years of Democratic votes? Obama bailed out banks, insurance companies, Big Pharma and even Ukraine. But he didn’t rebuild Detroit or New Orleans. The water in Flint, Michigan is still poisoned and the prisons are still full.
“There may be opportunity in this crisis if we dare to seize it.”
The outpouring of love for Barack Obama was purely symbolic. In state after state, black people who gave him victory in 2008 and 2012 stayed home. They loved seeing him and his wife dressed up at state dinners but they were never fully engaged in politics because that is not what Democrats want. The love was phony and void of any political intent. Donald Trump will be president because of that veneer of political activism.
As for white people who voted for Trump, of course many of them are racists. However they are not without valid complaints. They don’t want neoliberalism but black people don’t either. They don’t want wars around the world and neither do black people. We corrupt our own heritage of radicalism in favor of shallow symbolism. While we slept walk in foolish nostalgia for Obama and cried at the thought of him leaving office, white people kept their hatred of Hillary to themselves or lied to pollsters. They want America to be great again, great for them. White nostalgic yearnings are dangerous for black people, and we must be vigilant. But there may be opportunity in this crisis if we dare to seize it.
Republicans have been the white people’s party for nearly 50 years. Trump just made it more obvious. He didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know. We don’t have to be the losers in this election. Let us remember what we have achieved in our history. Half of black Americans didn’t even have the right to vote in the 1960s yet made earth shattering progress in a short time. But we must understand the source of that progress. It came from struggle and daring to create the crises that always bring about change.
“The dread of redneck celebration should not be our primary motivation right now.”
Yes white people will strut for president Trump but that doesn’t mean we must submit as if we are in the Jim Crow days of old. We have ourselves to rely on and we can reclaim our history of fighting for self-determination. The dread of redneck celebration should not be our primary motivation right now. Before we quake in fear at white America we must send the scoundrels packing.
The black politicians and the Democratic National Committee and the civil rights organizations that don’t help the masses must all be kicked to the proverbial curb. The rejection must be complete and blame must be laid squarely at their feet.
Those of us who voted for the green party ticket of Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka must stand firmly and proudly for our choice. We must strategize on building a progressive party to replace the Democrats who never help us. We must applaud Julian Assange and Wikileaks for exposing their corruption. There should be no back tracking on the fight to build left wing political power.
“We must strategize on building a progressive party to replace the Democrats who never help us.”
The black people who didn’t return to the polls shouldn’t be blamed either. Those individuals must have personal introspection that is meaningful and political. Their lack of enthusiasm speaks to Democratic Party and black misleadership incompetence. We should refrain from personal blame and help one another in this process as we fight for justice and peace.
The end of the duopoly is the first step in liberation. Staying with a party that literally did nothing was a slow and agonizing death. Sometimes shock therapy is needed to improve one’s condition. If we don’t take the necessary steps to free ourselves this election outcome will be a disaster. Instead, why not bring the disaster to the people who made it happen? The destruction of the Democratic Party and creation of a truly progressive political movement is the only hope for black America. Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com. | 1real |
New Trump immigration order will remove Iraq from list of banned countries: AP | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s new immigration order will remove Iraq from the list of countries whose citizens face a temporary U.S. travel ban, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials. Four officials say the decision follows pressure from the Pentagon and State Department, the AP reported. They had urged the White House to reconsider Iraq’s inclusion given its key role in fighting the Islamic State group, it added. Trump is expected to sign the new order on Wednesday. An earlier order was blocked by federal courts. | 0fake |
WATCH: NEWS CAMERAS CATCH Drug Smugglers Scale Border Fence To Arizona [Video] | Cameras catch two drug smugglers crossing the fence from Mexico into Arizona does anyone else out there think we need the National Guard pronto! | 1real |
Founder Of Bush Institute Endorses Hillary Clinton – Even He’s With Her Now | Former President George W. Bush s Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy joined the ranks of an ever-growing list of Republicans who find themselves backing the Democratic nominee when he announced on Monday that he is endorsing Hillary Clinton for president.Speaking with MSNBC on Monday night, James Glassman, who also happens to be the founding director of the George W. Bush Institute at the former president s library in Dallas, officially announced he was backing Clinton and hailed her as by far the superior candidate. She has the experience. She s got the character. She has the values, Glassman said. She is the kind of candidate I support and that, as I say, millions of republicans are supporting. Glassman may be the highest ranking Republican to decide that he would have to be batshit crazy to support Donald Trump, but he is far from alone. He joins a growing number of other Bush administration officials who have endorsed Clinton and denounced Trump s bid for the presidency. Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, former aide to President Bush Lezlee Westine, and former Bush State Dept. and NSC official Kori Schake have all said that they are backing Clinton over Trump.Sally Bradshaw, who managed two campaigns for Jeb Bush when he was running for governor, has said that because she lives in a swing state, she will cast her vote for Clinton if the race in Florida is close in November. Other former Bush officials, including former CIA and NSA director Michael Hayden, have strongly criticized the GOP nominee but have stopped just short of officially announcing their support for Clinton over Trump.Republican Rep. Richard Hanna, who decided a while ago that he would retire when his term is up, is currently the only elected Republican to officially declare that he is endorsing Clinton. However, there are many prominent conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill who have said that they refuse to vote for Trump even though they have not officially come out in support of Clinton.Featured image via YouTube | 1real |
Lawrence O’Donnell Is Trolling Bill O’Reilly Over His Sexual Harassment Scandals; It’s BRILLIANT (TWEET) | In the age of Donald Trump, it seems that Twitter is ground zero for public spats, public shaming, and all sorts of back and forth exchanges. That is why this is the platform Lawrence O Donnell, host MSNBC s The Last Word, is using to troll Bill O Reilly s reprehensible behavior when it comes to what appears to be years and years of sexually harassing women from his throne over at Fox News.It seems that O Reilly is choosing to actually sue one of his accusers for speaking out, and O Donnell is determined to gin up as much public support as possible for this woman in her most vulnerable hour. He tweeted:O Reilly threatens to sue Wendy Walsh for "defamation of Mr O'Reilly's character." Sue me too because I believe her. https://t.co/jQ3y3mUvbM Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) April 4, 2017That isn t all O Donnell did, either. He tweeted that challenge to O Reilly while he was live on the air Tuesday night, and asked all of his viewers to retweet it, thus showing Bill O Reilly that the game is up, that we know what he did to those women, and that we know that he is bullying, threatening, and intimidating the accuser who is speaking publicly, Wendy Walsh, so that she will shut up.This is what using a public platform for good looks like. Thank you, Lawrence O Donnell, for standing up to the disgusting, misogynistic goon that is Bill O Reilly, and continuing to expose the culture of sexual harassment that is so prevalent at Fox News. | 1real |
VIDEO: Mexican Cartel Offers Rewards For Rivals’ Heads -- Border City Issues Red Alert | REYNOSA, Tamaulipas — Mexico’s Gulf Cartel took to social media to announce a $500, 000 reward for the heads of their rivals. The cartel made the offer on various social media platforms as cartel gunmen unleashed another wave of violence in this city. [On Friday afternoon, rival factions of the Gulf Cartel clashed in the streets of this city unleashing a barrage of machine gun fire and grenade explosions that spread terror. The intensity of the fighting led to the city government issuing a red alert notice on social media. Officials pushed out the social media notification as a way to warn citizens to stay indoors because of battles spreading throughout the city. Rival factions of the Gulf Cartel began a bloody war for control of this border city on Tuesday, Breitbart Texas reported. The fighting follows the demise of former regional cartel boss Juan Manuel “Comandante Toro ” Loiza Salinas. Since then, various commanders loyal to him have been fighting the rest of the cartel in an effort to stop them from taking over the city. On Friday afternoon, the Gulf Cartel disseminated a video where they offered a reward of up to $500, 000 for one of the commanders loyal to the late Toro. The video also offered descending amounts for other key commanders. In the video, the masked gunman claims that the Gulf Cartel does not kidnap or extort innocent civilians like the faction loyal to El Toro. He claimed their only interest is in trafficking drugs, not violent crime. The Tamaulipas government confirmed that 14 people died in the clashes since Tuesday night. Local residents claim the body count is actually 19 individuals killed including innocent bystanders and several others injured. According to government officials on Friday afternoon, the rival factions clashed and also attacked Mexican authorities on two separate occasions. The fighting led to two gunmen dying and two individuals being injured. The fighting has led to an increase in carjackings as cartel gunmen continue to use SUVs in order to load up teams on gunmen for their battles. Authorities have recovered more than a dozen vehicles that cartel gunmen have left behind. Cartel members spray painted some of those vehicles with the call sign pointing to that faction being loyal to El Toro. 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 “A. C. Del Angel” from Reynosa, Tamaulipas and Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz. | 0fake |
CLINTON EMAIL INVESTIGATION HAS SHIFTED THE POLLS SIGNIFICANTLY IN TRUMP’S FAVOR | Home › POLITICS › CLINTON EMAIL INVESTIGATION HAS SHIFTED THE POLLS SIGNIFICANTLY IN TRUMP’S FAVOR CLINTON EMAIL INVESTIGATION HAS SHIFTED THE POLLS SIGNIFICANTLY IN TRUMP’S FAVOR 4 SHARES
[11/1/16] MICHAEL SNYDER -Donald Trump has all the momentum now. Will it be enough to propel him to victory on election day? Trump’s poll numbers were improving even before we learned that the FBI had renewed its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails, and the new survey results that came out over the weekend and on Monday make it clear that Clinton’s “certain victory” is not so certain after all. Unless something changes, Americans are going to go to the polls on November 8th with an FBI criminal investigation hanging over the Clinton campaign like an ominous cloud, and that is very good news for Trump.
The Clinton campaign was hoping that this renewed investigation would not “move the needle”, but unfortunately for them that appears not to be the case. Hillary’s unfavorable rating just hit an all-time high , a whopping 45 percent of all Americans believe that this scandal is “worse than Watergate”, and a Rasmussen survey has found that 40 percent of all undecided voters that are leaning toward voting for Hillary Clinton are still open to changing their minds before election day.
And even before this story broke on Friday, Clinton was having a difficult time getting her voters to the polls. According to the New York Times , early voting among young adults and African-American voters is significantly down compared to 2012, and those are demographic groups that Clinton desperately needs to turn out in large numbers.
But of course the key to winning the election is getting to 270 electoral votes, and poll numbers appear to be shifting in the key swing states that Trump and Clinton both desperately need. For a moment, I would like to examine what the numbers currently look like in some of the most important states…
Florida
Without Florida, Donald Trump has absolutely no chance of winning. This is something that even the Trump campaign has admitted. That is why it was so alarming that most of the polls in October had Hillary Clinton leading in the state.
Fortunately for Trump, a new survey that was conducted on Sunday shows him leading in Florida by four points .
Georgia
Georgia wasn’t supposed to be a problem. Georgia has traditionally been a deep red state, but polling throughout this election season had shown a very tight race. This had Republicans deeply concerned and the Clinton camp very happy.
But now the momentum has seemingly shifted and the latest poll has Trump up by seven points .
North Carolina
Mitt Romney won North Carolina in 2012, and Donald Trump very much needs to win it if he hopes to be triumphant on November 8th. Hillary Clinton was shown to be leading in the eight most recent polls before the email story broke, but in the first major survey conducted afterwards she is now down by two points .
Ohio
No Republican has ever won the presidency without Ohio, and Trump knows how important it is to his chances. The three most recent polls conducted before the FBI renewed the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails all showed a tie, but now the very first survey conducted afterwards shows Trump up by five points .
Colorado
Hillary Clinton has consistently been in the lead in Colorado throughout this campaign, and most experts didn’t give Trump much of a chance in the state, but the latest survey shows that Clinton’s lead has been whittled down to just one point .
Arizona
A survey that was conducted in mid-October showed Clinton having a five point lead in John McCain’s home state, but now the latest major poll has Trump up by two points .
Nevada
One of the most important swing states out west is Nevada, and most surveys showed Hillary Clinton with a strong lead throughout the month of October. Unfortunately for her, a poll that was conducted on Sunday shows Donald Trump with a four point lead .
Clearly Trump has the momentum at this point, and it will be very interesting to see how the numbers change over the next few days.
And as we learn more about what is in these newly discovered emails, will her fellow Democrats stick with her? Already, some are publicly wavering. The following example comes from WND …
Longtime Clinton confidante and former Democratic pollster Doug Schoen told Fox News the newly renewed FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server is forcing him to “reassess” his support for the Democratic nominee for president.
Schoen, a Fox News contributor, made the comments to host Harris Faulkner during a live television appearance Sunday night on “Fox Report Weekend.”
Public opinion is shifting quickly, but the bad news for Trump is that more than 23 million Americans have already voted. So millions upon millions of Americans cast their votes before they even learned of this new FBI investigation. If the race is very close, that could end up making the difference.
And of course the race could dramatically change once again if the FBI comes to some sort of resolution about these new emails prior to November 8th. On Monday, CNN reported that a resolution before election day did not appear to be likely…
FBI officials are unlikely to finish their review of new emails potentially related to its investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private server before the November 8 election.
The initial work of cataloging top Clinton aide Huma Abedin’s emails found on her estranged husband Anthony Weiner’s laptop could be done in the next few days, US law enforcement officials told CNN.
But the investigators are expected to spend more time doing other work, including likely working with other federal agencies to determine what — if any — classified materials are in the emails. This makes it unlikely there will be a resolution prior to the election.
However, late on Monday evening the Drudge Report reported that the L.A. Times has learned that investigators may have a “preliminary assessment” completed “in coming days”…
LA TIMES TUESDAY: FBI Investigators had planned to conduct new email review over several weeks. It now hopes to complete ‘preliminary assessment’ in coming days, but agency officials have not decided how, or whether, they will disclose results publicly… Developing…
Whether good or bad, I do believe that the American people deserve to hear something conclusive about these emails before November 8th.
If nothing is found to implicate Clinton, the American people should be told that.
And if evidence of very serious crimes is discovered, there is no way in the world that should be held back until after the election.
Even if it throws the election into complete and utter chaos , the American people deserve to know the truth.
But will we get it?
Stay tuned, because I think that this is going to be a crazy week. Post navigation | 1real |
U.S. Sen. Warren predicts appeal in legal battle over consumer agency | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Tuesday she has “no doubt” the legal fight over who is the proper leader of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will continue to a U.S. appeals court after a district court judge renders a verdict. “It’s too important to everyone to let it rest at the district court. The parties are entitled to take an appeal to the Court of Appeals, and I have no doubt they will,” Warren, who helped establish the CFPB, said in a brief interview with Reuters. Leandra English, the agency’s deputy director, is suing the Trump administration over who is the proper acting director. She is seeking a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from filling that job, and the case is pending before a U.S. district court in Washington. | 0fake |
Trump Says Obama’s Presidency Is ‘Worst Thing To Ever Happen To Israel’ (VIDEO) | While appearing on the CNN presidential town hall, Donald Trump likely made the most asinine statement ever uttered. After being asked about Israel, Trump proceeds to tell Wolf Blitzer that President Obama has been the worst thing to ever happen to Israel. He said: President Obama the worst president that Israel has ever probably one of the worst things that s ever happened to Israel. Yeah, that damn Obama ensuring diplomacy and trying to disarm a nuclear Iran all while still making sure Israel gets $8.6 million per day from US taxpayers. Totally awful for Israel. (sense the sarcasm)Donald Trump clearly has no clue what he s talking about, because if he did, those words would have never been uttered out of his mouth.You know what would be terrible for Israel, the entire Middle East and the world? Something that could very likely render a third world war because of leadership that doesn t know how to careful maneuver foreign diplomacy and policy? A Republican presidency. In particular, a Trump presidency.Trump is all talk, and this talk is just outright wrong.// < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>Featured image: Addicting Info Archives via Gage Skidmore (Flickr) | 1real |
New Study Claims Life DOES Exist On Mars And It Was Found By The Viking Lander in 1976 | Leaked Audio Of Hillary Clinton Proposing ‘Rigging Election’ Ξ [October 29, 2016] BLOG New Study Claims Life DOES Exist On Mars And It Was Found By The Viking Lander in 1976 posted by Eddie A new study published in the Journal Astrobiology suggests that the 1976 Viking (LR) experiment found evidence to support microbial life on the surface of Mars. Forty years ago, before we had any idea there was liquid water on Mars, and that the red planet was the closest thing to Earth within our solar system, the 1976 Viking (KR) experiment found conclusive evidence to support the existence of life on Mars, a new study claims. Strangely, forty years ago ‘traces of life’ on Mars were dismissed as an error, but scientists today beg to differ. The question whether or not Mars is inhabited has captured the interest and imagination of millions around the globe. In 1976, an experiment known as the Viking Labeled Released returned POSITIVE results for traces of LIFE on Mars. Both Viking Landers, which touched down over 6,000 kilometers apart returned ver similar results which led many researchers to conclude Martian life had been detected. However, as skeptics, as we are in our nature, the discovery was dismissed and labeled as non-biological. Soil material that supports this explanation remained a mystery. Now forty years after the Viking Labeled Released experiment, and with a new database of fresh knowledge; water on the surface in liquid form, complex organic molecules and METHANE on Mars, experts around the globe indicate we cannot RULE OUT the possibility there is life on the surface of Mars. Astrobiologists argue that there is enough evidence to support the theory Mars is inhabited. A recently published article in the Journal Astrobiology has researchers from Arizona State University, Tempe, and the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda discussing the idea there is life on Mars. Experts argue that evidence is ‘consistent with a biological explanation,’ which means that it is very probable that some sort of microorganisms on Mars managed to adapt and evolve enough to become resistant to the harsh and dangerous environmental conditions that rule on the surface of the red planet. What experts did was dig into the LR experiments from the 1976 Viking Labeled Release and evaluate the ‘non-biological hypothesis. In the LR tests, researchers subjected samples from Martian soil from both lenders to nutrient injection, pre-heating and were left to ‘lay it off’ in a dark room for nearly two months. Researchers found that there were similarities to responses seen in terrestrial soil, including data from samples collected in California, Alaska, and Antarctica. The authors of the study wrote: “Each of these characteristics is reminiscent of responses by a compendium of terrestrial microorganism species, including the initial positive responses, the 160C and 50C heat controls, the reabsorption of evolved gas upon second injection of nutrient, and death from isolated long-term storage.” Since Mars has been the subject of debate for over half a century, numerous explanations and theories have been proposed to address certain discoveries. Researchers had to consider all possibilities, including those which suggested that the results obtained from the LR experiments were ‘most likely caused by a non-biological soil oxidant.’ However, no such oxidation, that can satisfy all of the discoveries has ever been found, and experts didn’t perform any further metabolic experiments on the surface of Mars. All of this could change in the near future as experts warn we must adequately prepare for a manned mission to the surface of the red planet. Since such missions are obviously inevitable, it is imperative for health, safety, and biology to explain the results the Viking landers came across in 1976. The authors write in the study: “Plans for any Mars sample return mission should also take into account that such a sample may contain viable, even if dormant, alien life.” “We cannot rule out the biological explanation. This has implications for plans for sample return from Mars and future human missions.” Source: | 1real |
BREAKING: HERE’S WHY HILLARY’S “Khan Man” Just Deleted His Law Firm Website…Backtracking To Hide True Agenda | Hillary s pawn in the 2016 election is a controversial Muslim who chose to use his son s memory to bash Donald Trump. It would be one thing if Khizr Khan really had a true reason to go after Trump but he doesn t. Donald Trump has said he would like to take a look at our refugee program and see what the hell is going on . Trump couldn t be more right on this and is even backed up by our own FBI Director who says it s a big risk to bring Syrian refugees into America right now. Let s face it, no other religion is blowing people up or chopping heads off. Terrorism is much more likely to come our way if we import it ya think? The bottom line is that Trump is putting AMERICANS FIRST but Mr. Khan just can t seem to see that through the fog of political correctness. It s now panic time for the globalists and double agents like Paul Ryan who thought the American people and new media would just accept Khan for who he is on the surface No, the new media digs and we dig deep. What s journalism without the truth? Well, it appears that Mr. Khan decided to delete his law website that promotes Muslim immigration Khizr Khan, the Muslim Gold Star father that Democrats and their allies media wide have been using to hammer GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump, has deleted his law firm s website from the Internet. This development is significant, as his website proved as Breitbart News and others have reported that he financially benefits from unfettered pay-to-play Muslim migration into America.A snapshot of his now deleted website, as captured by the Wayback Machine which takes snapshots archiving various websites on the Internet, shows that as a lawyer he engages in procurement of EB5 immigration visas and other Related Immigration Services. The website is completely removed from the Internet, and instead directs visitors to the URL at which it once was to a page parking the URL run by GoDaddy.The EB5 program, which helps wealthy foreigners usually from the Middle East essentially buy their way into America, is fraught with corruption. U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) has detailed such corruption over the past several months, and in February issued a blistering statement about it. Maybe it is only here on Capitol Hill on this island surrounded by reality that we can choose to plug our ears and refuse to listen to commonly accepted facts, Grassley said in a statement earlier this year. The Government Accountability Office, the media, industry experts, members of congress, and federal agency officials, have concurred that the program is a serious problem with serious vulnerabilities. Allow me to mention a few of the flaws. Grassley s statement even noted that the program Khan celebrated on his website has posed national security risks.PLEASE NOTE:Khan brought out a pocket Constitution, claiming inaccurately that Trump s plans were unconstitutional. That s not true, as Congress has already granted such power to the president under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 allowing the president to bar migration of any alien or class of aliens the president sees as a threat to the United States for any reason at any time. Such a class of aliens could be Muslims, or it could be people from a specific region of the world, or any other class such as someone s race, weight, height, age, national origin, religion, or anything else.Read more: Breitbart | 1real |
SYRIAN REFUGEE Family LIED About BED BUG Infestation To Get Better Housing | The entitled refugee mentality is becoming the norm in bleeding heart nations around the world. We recently reported about complaints from Italian citizens that refugees were dumping garbage in the streets of Italy to protest poor wi-fi. In Germany, an Afghan family refused to get off the bus at their new government funded flat, after complaining they were promised a home.Immigrant Services Association of Nova Scotia says staff thoroughly inspected an apartment to ensure it was bedbug-free before moving in a family of six Syrian refugees on Feb. 1.Director of operations Gerry Mills said families are moved into safe and appropriate housing, and ISANS staff keep the health and well-being of refugees in mind. Our staff know what bedbugs look like and since Friday we ve had staff there every day in different apartments, honestly trying to look for bedbugs. We have found not one bedbug, she said.On Tuesday, Ziad Zeina told CBC News through an interpreter that he wanted to get his family out of their two-bedroom apartment on Gerrish Street because the bedbug problem is non-stop and it s not going to change and there s no solution at this moment. But Mills said one of the first steps workers take is to inquire with building managers whether the biting pests are a problem on site.In the case of Harbour View Apartments where the Zeinas live, Mills said building managers took the preventive step of fumigating their unit even though it did not have bedbugs. You can actually tell because there s still kind of an actual vague smell in them [apartments], Mills said.Or was it a pre-existing skin condition?Wafaa Al Safadi holds her 10-month-old son, Rayan Zeina. She says he is covered in bed bug bites. (Elizabeth Chiu/CBC)The Zeinas are government-assisted refugees who stayed briefly in Charlottetown and decided to settle in Halifax at the end of January.The family insists there s a bedbug issue and Wafaa Al Safadi lifted her baby s shirt to reveal his chest and back covered in scabs and red rashes.But Mills said the baby has a pre-existing skin condition. The marks were on the child even before they moved into that apartment. When they were in the hotel, we spoke with the family then about taking the child to the doctor to get some medication. ISANS said there are 16 families of Syrian refugees living in the same building and no other families have complained about the blood-sucking insects. Via: CBC | 1real |
EMBARRASSING: Anti-Trump “THE HILL” Gets SLAMMED For Publishing Article Claiming MTV’s “Jersey Shore” Reality Star “Schooled” Trump On Global Warming | #JokeNewsAfter record, cold temperatures were reported across the United States, President Trump took to Twitter to mock the Global Warming scam supported by shyster politicians like Al Gore and Barack Obama, who were poised to extort trillions of US taxpayer dollars to fund their global climate change scam.Trump tweeted: In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up! In the East, it could be the COLDEST New Year s Eve on record. Perhaps we could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming that our Country, but not other countries, was going to pay TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS to protect against. Bundle up! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 29, 2017Accuweather backed up President Trump s tweet with this report:Cold air rivaling that of the past 100 years for late December and early January will make it painful to be outdoors and may lead to damage in the central and the northeastern United States.AccuWeather RealFeel Temperatures are projected to be below zero over much of the Northeast and well below zero in much of the Midwest.In the coming days, RealFeel temperatures 5 to 20 degrees below zero will be common. in the northern tier, RealFeel temperatures may dip as low as 30 to 40 degrees below zero.From The Hill:Former Jersey Shore cast member Vinny Guadagnino shot back at President Trump on Thursday after Trump said the United States could use some good old global warming to heat up cold states. I think climate change is more complex than global warming will make it hotter, Guadagnino tweeted to Trump. It has to do with disruptions of atmospheric conditions, ocean patterns, jet streams and s t like that. "Jersey Shore" cast member schools Trump on climate change https://t.co/Vlfl6hskeT pic.twitter.com/URSHWTqgw0 The Hill (@thehill) December 29, 2017The former MTV reality star later responded to Twitter users who mocked him for replying to Trump, asking why does having a summer shore house automatically make [you] stupid? Per my last tweet about global warming and ppl saying it s bad when someone from jersey shore educates the president etc.I get the joke but why does having a summer shore house automatically make u stupid?No smart ppl ever partied with friends on weekends? Vinny Guadagnino (@VINNYGUADAGNINO) December 29, 2017The Hill then attempted to prove how smart Vinny Guadagnino s was because other Democrats also mocked President Trump s tweet:Democratic lawmakers also slammed Trump following the tweet.Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted that the U.S. has a moral obligation to combat climate change, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) blasted the tweet as embarrassing. Trump has denied that global warming exists in the past, claiming it was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive. Here s a closer look at the guy who The Hill claims schooled President Trump on phony Global Warming on Twitter: The energizer bunny ! Follow me on vinguadagnino for more inspiration in a chipmunk voice pic.twitter.com/JWj3OmKhf5 Vinny Guadagnino (@VINNYGUADAGNINO) December 6, 2017Here s how Twitter users responded to The Hill s tweet:Mueller Day mocked The Hill for using a guy who coined the phrase GTL (gym, tan, laundry) for suggesting he schooled our President.Ok, the dude who was instrumental in coining the phrase "GTL" (gym, tan, laundry) has just schooled the "president" on the science behind global warming. The world can end now. We've come full circle and there's nothing left to do. Mueller day (@TiersOfLove) December 29, 2017This Twitter user mocked The Hill for using a reality MTV show cast member s tweet to disproved President Trump s belief about phony global warming science:Yikes! You're scraping the bottom of the barrel, aren't ya? Who's next? Mama June on foreign affairs (@EuroRaver) December 30, 2017nea sportsfan reminds The Hill that the Founder of the Weather Channel says climate change is bull Founder of weather channel says climate change is bull nea sportsfan (@sportsfanNEA) December 30, 2017twentyman also mocked The Hill for using the reality MTV star s tweet, calling them #FakeNews: Jet streams and shit like that what school are you referring to, you #FakeNews propagator?"Jet streams and shit like that" what 'school' are you referring to, you #FakeNews propagator? twentyman (@tirbagofah) December 29, 2017Justin hilariously reminded The Hill of a 2015 tweet by Bernie Sanders:Maybe Vinny can "school" Bernie too.https://t.co/wW9qEuhykH Justin (@JustCrum79) December 29, 2017Here s the tweet from Bernie Sanders where he blames a 65-degree day on Christmas Eve in 2015 on climate change :Nobody can recall a Christmas Eve where the temperature was 65 degrees. Why is it that we're not effectively addressing climate change? Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) December 28, 2015 | 1real |
Pakistanis worry that President Trump may favor rival India | ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s surprise election as U.S. president has Pakistanis wary that he may accelerate what they see as a shift in American policy to favor arch-foe India in the long rivalry between nuclear-armed neighbors, analysts said on Wednesday. Historical allies in the region, Islamabad and Washington have seen relations sour over U.S. accusations that Pakistan shelters Islamist militants, a charge Pakistan denies. They hit new lows in May when a U.S. drone killed the leader of the Afghan Taliban movement on Pakistani territory. At the same time, Pakistan’s ties with traditional rival India have also deteriorated this year, with India saying Pakistan-based militants killed 19 of its soldiers in a September attack on an army base in the disputed Kashmir region. To many Pakistanis, Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric - he once proposed banning Muslims entering the United States - and business ties to India are signs that his administration could shift further toward New Delhi. “America will not abandon Pakistan, but definitely, Trump will be a tougher president than Hillary Clinton for Pakistan,” said Hasan Askari Rizvi, Lahore-based foreign policy analyst. “I think India will have a better and smoother interaction compared to Pakistan.” Trump has yet to lay out a detailed policy for South Asia, although he recently offered to mediate between India and Pakistan in their dispute over the divided territory of Kashmir. He also told Fox News in May he would favor keeping nearly 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan “because it’s adjacent and right next to Pakistan which has nuclear weapons.” On Wednesday, a U.S. diplomat in Pakistan sought to assure the country that Trump’s election did not signal a drastic policy change. “Our foreign policy is based on national interest and they don’t change when the government changes,” Grace Shelton, U.S. Consul General in Karachi, told Geo News television. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif congratulated Trump. “Your election is indeed the triumph of the American people and their enduring faith in the ideals of democracy, freedom, human rights and free enterprise,” Sharif said in a statement. Still, the uncertainty of a Trump presidency has many Pakistanis on edge, even if the country has leaned towards China in recent years for investment and diplomatic support. “Trump is a bit of a wild card,” said Sherry Rehman, a Pakistani senator and former ambassador to the United States. “Pakistan obviously cannot rule out engaging with whomever America elects, but his anti-Muslim rhetoric may cast a shadow on relations in times of uncertainty.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also congratulated Trump on Wednesday. “We look forward to working with you closely to take India-US bilateral ties to a new height,” Modi said in a tweet. Trump has partnered with Indian businessmen on a handful of real estate ventures, but apart from courting the Indian-American vote he has not articulated how he would develop the bilateral relationship. India-U.S. ties have flourished under President Barack Obama and Modi, who came to power in 2014, with the two countries striking key defense agreements this year. Modi’s government has also waged a campaign to isolate Pakistan diplomatically. Shaurya Doval, director of the India Foundation, a think-tank close to Modi’s government, called Trump’s election “a very positive development”, but added that India and the United States would have continued to grow closer under a Hillary Clinton presidency as well. “My sense is that India-U.S. relations are not dependent on individuals – there are strong institutions and processes there,” he said. One fringe Hindu nationalist group in India held a victory gathering at New Delhi’s speakers’ corner on Wednesday. “He’s an American nationalist. We are Indian nationalists. Only he can understand us,” Rashmi Gupta of the Hindu Sena, or Hindu Army, told Reuters. “We expect him to support us when it comes to terrorist attacks on India from Pakistan.” Trump will also have to decide whether to maintain the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan or change the scope of the mission, 15 years after a U.S.-led campaign toppled the hardline Islamist Taliban government. The United States has spent some $115 billion in aid for Afghanistan since 2002, but the country is still caught in conflict, with a third of the country out of government control and thousands of Afghan civilians, soldiers and police dying every year. Afghan officials have voiced concern that the conflict is being forgotten in Washington, and warned privately that the West will pay a huge price if that continues. “The people of Afghanistan are tired of war. We want (Trump) to invest heavily in bringing peace to war-torn Afghanistan and stabilize our region,” said Umer Daudzai, former Afghan minister of interior. Obama’s original aim of pulling out of Afghanistan entirely has been put on hold in the face of mounting gains by Taliban militants, with U.S. air power and special forces still regularly involved in combat. As recently as last week, two U.S. Green Berets were killed near the northern city of Kunduz. Although Afghan security forces have been fighting largely alone since the end of the main NATO-led combat mission in 2014, their performance has been patchy and they continue to rely heavily on U.S. air power. The Taliban on Wednesday urged Trump to withdraw all U.S. troops. “They should not cause damage to their economy and their military in this failed war,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said of the American government in a statement. | 0fake |
Ted Cruz Awkwardly Tries To Say Trump’s Not A Liar, But Fails Miserably (VIDEO) | During the Republican primaries, the biggest feud (if you don t include Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly) seemed to be between Ted Cruz and the man who is now the President Elect. Now, Cruz is one of Trump s strongest supporters. Well, he seems to be one of Trump s strongest supporters, except for the fact that Cruz can t seem to make himself say that Trump isn t a liar.In May, Cruz went on a rant calling Trump a pathological liar, after Trump accused Cruz father of being involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Yes, that a how insane the election of 2016 got. (Trump) doesn t know the difference between truth and lies, he lies practically every word that comes out of his mouth. Here s that somewhat surreal exchange between Cruz and the media from May:Just to recap: Trump insults not just his rival, but his rival s family. Cruz calls Trump a pathological liar, and now Cruz is a Trump supporter. Well, they do say politics makes strange bedfellows.Still, it appears Cruz hasn t quite let it go. On Sunday s This Week, Cruz was asked, Do you still think Donald Trump is a liar? Cruz had no answer, other than to say, You know, I m not going to re-litigate the past. I m going to focus on the future. I m going to focus on what s in front of us. Here s the video:While it s become the stereotype that politicians lack principles, it s apparent that for many in the Republican party, principles sell for cheap. Cruz has long been among Trump s most vocal critics, and suddenly, none of that matters because with Trump a.) Cruz sees an opportunity for a cabinet position, and b.) Cruz thinks his dream of a theocratic government will finally come true under Trump. Cruz might be right on both counts.Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
HYSTERICAL! PRO-COP Billboard Causes Controversy And Offends Liberals…But You’ll Love It! | People are offended by just about everything so it s really no surprise that people in Muncie, Indiana would be offended by a billboard that reads: Hate cops? The next time you need help call a crackhead. It gets the point across! A billboard in Indiana has caused some controversy in the wake of the high-profile police killings and officer-involved shooting deaths of African-American men.The electronic billboard in Muncie caught the eyes of plenty of people around the town Saturday and one person described it as vulgar and discriminatory. It read Hate cops? The next time you need help call a crackhead. Megan Thomas told The Star Press on Sunday that she noticed the sign while walking with her niece. She said she was offended by the message, which she alleged was vulgar, discriminatory to many different classes of people in our city. She said it also seemed to have been up ahead of a police brutality protest. I was very ashamed that something so dividing was present in Muncie, she added. Via: Law Officer | 1real |
House Democrats mull Pelosi leadership future | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi agreed on Tuesday to postpone the party’s leadership elections until Nov. 30 amid discontent among some rank-and-file Democrats over her leadership style, according to sources familiar with closed-door discussions. Democrats in the House of Representatives now are scheduled to vote on Nov. 30 on whether to renew Pelosi’s long-held position as Democratic leader for another two years. Other Democratic house leadership jobs also will be up for a vote. No other Democrat has come forward to challenge Pelosi, although at least one is weighing what likely would be an uphill bid to dethrone the liberal California Democrat. House Democrats gathered behind closed doors to assess what went wrong in the Nov. 8 elections that swept Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump into power and allowed Republicans to retain their majorities in both houses, although slightly smaller ones than in the past two years. One senior House Democratic aide described Tuesday’s meeting as being unusually contentious as members grappled with how the Democratic Party should rebuild following last week’s election losses, with some wanting new blood in leadership. “After every single election cycle, she (Pelosi) says things are going to change” in how she interacts with the caucus, the aide said characterizing lawmakers’ concerns. “But then, she doesn’t do anything different. It’s the same inside circle” surrounding her. Democratic aides and a lawmaker said Pelosi made the announcement on the new date for party elections “after protracted discussion” in the meeting. The elections had been expected to take place on Thursday in preparation for Congress convening on Jan. 3. “We’ve been through hell,” Pelosi told lawmakers, according to a Democratic aide who was in the room but spoke on condition of anonymity. “And it’s only going to get worse as he (Trump) makes his appointments and we have this fight. But we have to see it as an opportunity.” Pelosi, who has been the House Democrats’ leader for 14 years and speaker of the House part of that time, said she did not care when the election was. “I do care that we have the strongest possible leadership at the table, whoever that may be,” she said. Representative Seth Moulton and other Democrats dismayed by the national election results had urged Pelosi to postpone the leadership vote. “As we begin the 115th Congress, House Democrats must take the time to reflect on the message the American people sent us last Tuesday,” Moulton said in a statement after the caucus. “Delaying the vote on leadership positions is the necessary first step to have that conversation,” he said. “The American people cried out last week and we’ve got to listen.” Representative Tim Ryan, 43, is weighing a run against Pelosi, 76, Ryan’s spokesman Michael Zetts said on Monday. “He is concerned that if changes aren’t made we will be in the political wilderness for many years to come,” Zetts said. Ryan has been in the House since 2003. A Democratic lawmaker who declined to be named said Ryan would represent a new generation. “I think a lot of us feel the landscape has changed,” he said. “We need people who can learn new tricks and not do things the way they have been done that last 20 or 30 years.” But Representative Steve Israel, a member of House Democratic leadership and who is retiring from Congress at year’s end, said: “There is nobody who could have led House Democrats who would have had a different outcome” in last week’s presidential and congressional elections. “This was not about Nancy Pelosi,” Israel told MSNBC. “This was about a national Democratic strategy and message that simply did not tap into the unprecedented anxieties of middle-class voters.” | 0fake |
ABC Shuts Down Conservative Tim Allen’s “Last Man Standing”…Viewers Furious When They See How Highly Show Was Rated | Tim Allen s hit sitcom Last Man Standing has seen its final days.ABC announced it has canceled Allen s show after six seasons. This was a scheduling decision, wrote Jori Arancio, senior vice president of ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios, in an email sent to Fox News on Friday.According to Deadline, ABC and its production partner for the show 20th Century Fox TV typically negotiate licensing fees prior to each season, however the network simply decided to pull the plug.A rep for 20th Century Fox TV told us cancellation decisions are made by ABC. FOX NewsIn December, 2016, Tim Allen is took on microagressions in one of the episodes of ABC sitcom Last Man Standing. In an installment entitled Precious Snowflake, Allen, who plays conservative family man Mike Baxter, goes head-to-head with his daughter Mandy over the issue on college campuses:The cancellation came as a shock for many fans considering the show s high ratings. Deadline reports the sitcom was the network s second-highest comedy this season and averaged 8.1 million viewers, just behind Modern Family, which averaged 8.7 million viewers this season and was recently renewed for two more seasons. It was also ABC s third highest watched scripted series behind Grey s Anatomy and Modern Family. I am so upset that #ABC has decided to cancel Last Man Standing because Tim Allen is conservative. It's funny. #nomoreABC Linda Smith (@LindaMcRaeSmith) May 12, 2017Wow ABC good job showing free speech by ending a conservative tv show cause you don't agree with it. #lastmanstanding #TimAllen best show! Mary Popish (@maypop36) May 11, 2017Infuriated that @ABCNetwork is cancelling #lastmanstanding despite high ratings and viewership! I can find entertainment on other networks. Natalie Richoux (@NatalieRichoux) May 12, 2017Tim Allen recently told Jimmy Kimmel that he had to be careful around intolerant liberals in Hollywood: | 1real |
Trump Comes Unglued, Continues Miss Universe Feud With INSANE Early Morning Twitter Rant | Donald Trump s team keeps trying to make the public think that he is somehow not a total toddler that they want to give the nuclear codes to. However, he is making their job very hard. That continued Friday morning, as he began airing his grievances regarding Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe who he publicly shamed for gaining weight after winning (and still has done all week as she tried to warn Americans just what Donald Trump is like).Never one to be able to let anything go, Trump got up early Friday morning before most people were even awake, and went on an unhinged rant on Twitter. You d think by now that his team would know to take his phone each night at bedtime so he can t do this, but I digress. Without further ado, here is the madness:Anytime you see a story about me or my campaign saying "sources said," DO NOT believe it. There are no sources, they are just made up lies! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Wow, Crooked Hillary was duped and used by my worst Miss U. Hillary floated her as an "angel" without checking her past, which is terrible! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from BAD JUDGEMENT! Hillary was set up by a con. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016So, we have a presidential candidate who has so little self control that he has spent a week now shrieking over a beauty queen s weight. Further, he is literally tweeting about her sex tape (which doesn t exist) in the middle of the night. He literally can t help himself.If you think this will help you with women, Donny, you got another thought coming. Women HATE this kind of stuff. Further, the more you keep this up, the more people who realize what an absolutely disgusting, sexist pig you are.Go ahead, pick up the shovel and keep digging.Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 1real |
Trump's defense chief sees no military collaboration with Russia | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s defense secretary on Thursday said he did not see possible military collaboration with Russia now, in a blow to Moscow’s hopes to mend ties with Washington after Trump’s election. The remarks are perhaps the strongest indication yet from the Trump administration that prospects for any significant cooperation between the U.S. and Russian militaries against Islamic State in Syria is unlikely anytime soon. They came despite repeated suggestions by Trump during his election campaign of the possibility of joint action against Islamic State militants. “We are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level. But our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground,” Jim Mattis told reporters after talks at NATO headquarters in Brussels, also mentioning U.S. concerns about Russian interference in democratic elections. Just hours before Mattis spoke, Russian President Vladimir Putin said it was in the interests of both nations to restore communications between their intelligence agencies. “It’s absolutely clear that in the area of counter-terrorism all relevant governments and international groups should work together,” he told Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). U.S. intelligence agencies, however, are among the most powerful voice of caution in Washington on Russia, concluding that Moscow hacked and leaked Democratic Party emails during the presidential campaign as part of efforts to tilt the vote in the Nov. 8 election in Trump’s favor. Monday’s resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn, who was seen in Moscow as a leading advocate of warmer ties with Russia, has underscored for the Kremlin the difficulties of reaching a settlement. Flynn resigned after disclosures he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump took office, and that he later misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. Asked whether he believed that Russia interfered in U.S. presidential elections, Mattis said: “Right now, I would just say there’s very little doubt that they have either interfered or they have attempted to interfere in a number of elections in the democracies.” He did not explicitly cite the U.S. election. A Kremlin aide said there had been no progress on a potential meeting between Trump and Putin. “There is no agreement on a meeting nor a clear understanding yet,” Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov as saying. BACK-AND-FORTH Mattis, who has previously accused Russia of trying to break the NATO alliance, told a closed-door session of NATO on Wednesday that it needed to be realistic about the chances of restoring a cooperative relationship with Moscow. He cited Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, which plunged U.S.-Russia relations to a post-Cold War low. Mattis said NATO needed “negotiate from a position of strength” as he called for stepped up military spending. That prompted a terse reply from Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. “Attempts to build a dialogue with Russia from a position of strength would be futile,” he was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. Mattis shot back: “I have no need to respond to the Russian statement at all. NATO has always stood for military strength and protection of the democracies and the freedoms we intend to pass on to our children.” The back-and-forth came even as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Germany, and U.S. Marine General Joseph Dunford, the top U.S. military officer, met Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov in Azerbaijan. Lavrov dismissed the uproar over the U.S. election. “You should know we do not interfere in the domestic matters of other countries,” he said. Congressional inquiries into alleged Russian interference in the U.S. elections are gaining momentum as Capitol Hill investigators press intelligence and law enforcement agencies for access to classified documents. The FBI and several U.S. intelligence agencies are investigating Russian espionage operations in the United States. They are also looking at contacts in Russia between Russian intelligence officers or others with ties to Putin’s government and people connected to Trump or his campaign. | 0fake |
BBC loses circling hippos to National Geographic | October 26, 2016
In a further blow to the BBC, the hippos swimming in a circle who appear before the BBC news today confirmed they had signed a deal with the National Geographic channel.
“I know some will see this as a betrayal,” said Edna, spokeshippo for the group. “But you have to realise, the career of a performing hippo isn’t long, and we have to think of our futures.”
It’s thought their new role will focus less on synchronised swimming and more on traditional hippo behaviours, such as wallowing in mud and gaping angrily at each other in disputes over mating rights and territory.
“It’s all a bit vulgar, really,” Edna continued. “We’re the best of friends in real life. But it’s what the public want, so what can you do?”
Meanwhile Rex, spokesdog for the sheepdogs who run round a circular slalom course before the news, shifted uneasily when asked if he could ever be tempted away from the BBC by people offering him biscuits or telling him he was a good boy.
“Look, it’s not up to us, is it? The shepherds whistle and point, we just go where we’re told,” he added, before running off after a squirrel. YaBasta | 1real |
For Brazil’s Zika Families, a Life of Struggle and Scares - The New York Times | ESCADA, Brazil — Not a soul was in sight on the narrow dusty street, except for a cat skittering under a moon. It was 2:30 a. m. and in a small pink house up 29 steps carved jaggedly into a red clay embankment, Vera Lúcia da Silva was readying her baby for a journey to the city of Recife, two and a half hours away. Cradling Sophia Valentina, she walked through the town, then climbed into a government van for the jostling ride, arriving just after sunrise. They make the arduous trip several times a week. It is the only way to get the treatment and therapy Sophia needs for an ominous array of problems caused by the Zika virus. Now more than a year old, Sophia is a child of the Zika epidemic, one of nearly 2, 500 babies in Brazil born to infected mothers, with brain damage so profound the consequences are only beginning to be understood. Thirteen months after the World Health Organization declared Zika a global health emergency, some of the public alarm over the virus that swept through Latin America is receding. In November, the W. H. O. lifted its emergency designation, but Zika has hardly disappeared. Thousands of new Zika infections continue to be reported throughout Latin America, and W. H. O. officials said that their action simply signals that, like malaria or yellow fever, Zika is a continuing threat in the region rather than an urgent pandemic. For families of Zika babies, however, the disastrous effects are only deepening. That is especially true in the impoverished cities and villages of northeastern Brazil, where the connection between the mysterious virus and infants born with tiny misshapen heads was first detected and where hundreds of families are struggling to give these babies the best lives possible. Family relationships have been upended, precarious livelihoods shattered. Some parents have had to leave jobs to devote themselves to their child’s care. High rates of teenage pregnancy in Brazil add another layer of hardship, as adolescents with braces on their teeth and homework to finish find themselves the mothers of afflicted infants. And doctors and researchers are just starting to grasp the medical consequences of Zika. Besides the alarmingly small heads characteristic of microcephaly, many babies have a long list of varied symptoms, leading experts to rename their condition “congenital Zika syndrome. ” They can have seizures, breathing problems, trouble swallowing, weakness and stiffness in muscles and joints preventing them from even lifting their heads, clubbed feet, vision and hearing problems, and ferocious irritability. Some have passed their first birthdays, but have neurological development closer to that of infants, doctors say. Some microcephaly cases appear so dire that experts liken them to a previously rare variant called “fetal brain disruption sequence. ” And new issues keep cropping up, including hydrocephalus, excess fluid in the brain. Now, new waves of impaired children, who appeared normal at birth, are being identified. For some, microcephaly and other symptoms are emerging months later, as their brains, with malformations or debilitated or destroyed cells, fail to develop enough to match their physical growth. Experts predict there will be more children who still seem unaffected, but whose problems will surface in toddlerhood or their school years. Doctors don’t yet know the extent of the disease, said Dr. Vanessa Van der Linden, a neuropediatrician in Recife who helped discover the link between Zika and microcephaly. “We only know what’s easy to see. ” Dr. Van der Linden is one of scores of devoted doctors and therapists helping families at public and nonprofit hospitals and clinics. Brazil’s government is drawing on its overstretched resources, including providing modest disability payments to poor families. Many families are on waiting lists for services. Therapy programs sometimes drop children because their development is too stunted for therapy to help any further. For older babies who still cannot make eye contact or interact, Dr. Van der Linden said, “if you did physical therapy every day, it doesn’t mean they will be better. ” For Zika families, the difficulties are only beginning. The children are still small enough to be held, fed and carried. But ultimately, many may be unable to walk, attend regular schools, or live on their own as adults. “These babies, most of them or all of them, they’re going to live very long lives, you can keep them alive a long time, and they will need assistance from someone 24 hours a day,” said Dr. Ernesto Marques, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pittsburgh and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Recife. “The consequences to the society are huge. ” These are the stories of three families: a couple persevering with ingenuity and grit despite their baby’s frequent medical setbacks a girl who became a Zika mother at 14, forcing her to mature well beyond her years newlyweds whose relationship could not withstand the pressures of caring for their disabled baby. “Grave risk of aspiration,” read the piece of paper near the bed where Ms. da Silva was wrapping Sophia in a pink hooded fleece for their walk to the van. A doctor had explained what that medical report meant. “She is going to choke,” Ms. da Silva said, twisting her fingers anxiously. “Food is going to go to her lungs. ” Sophia had serious dysphagia, swallowing problems afflicting older Zika babies whose brains cannot coordinate skills for eating. Doctors advised adding thickener to her formula, but if unsuccessful, she would need a feeding tube threaded through her nose. A previous feeding tube had caused Sophia to vomit black blood. “I am asking God that she will not have to use the feeding tube,” Ms. da Silva, 32, implored, as outside, roosters crowed in the darkness and dogs barked like town criers. Her husband, Ronaldo, 34, tried to reassure her. “God,” he said, “would never give us 100 kilos if we could only carry 50 kilos. ” But the weight keeps piling on. After another van ride to Recife and hours of waiting on hard plastic chairs, Sophia, in a ruffled top with pink hearts and “Love” spelled in rhinestones, was placed on an elevated mat at the Altino Ventura Foundation clinic. Five therapists examined her. One shook a yellow rattle by her ear. Another removed Sophia’s tiny lavender eyeglasses, waved a shiny silver pompom and flickered a flashlight, but her eyes seemed barely able to follow the stimuli. “Sophia is a child with very compromised visual, auditory and motor skills,” concluded Kyrla Melo, a physical therapist. “She has no head control, she does not roll over, she does not sit. ” Already, another clinic had discharged Sophia from its physical therapy group. “The doctor said Sophia was not developing,” Ms. da Silva said. “Children who are not developing are getting dropped from the therapies. ” She was upset. “I think it is very wrong. Their duty was to work so our babies would develop. ” Sophia’s parents provide any support they can. They fashioned homemade versions of the physical therapy equipment clinics use: They made rattles of Coke bottles filled with beans they placed colorful plastic balls in a tiny inflatable pool they stuffed a pair of Mr. da Silva’s jeans with plastic foam, to prop Sophia into a sitting position. A doctor told them bright colors might stimulate Sophia’s vision, so they painted their gray door and shutters pumpkin orange, changed curtains and sofa covers to cherry red, and draped sunny yellow fabric in the kitchen. Resourcefulness is second nature to them. Before they married, Mr. da Silva, who works painting oil refinery pipes, spent a year of evenings and leveling a plot atop a cliff strewn with scraggly plants, preparing ground for their house, with its corrugated red tile roof and laundry lines spangling the sides. The cliff borders one side of a narrow cobblestone street. On the other side, houses are at or below ground level, with barred windows to deter thieves and drug dealers. After their first child, Richarlisson, was born, Ms. da Silva, a former teacher, tried five years for another pregnancy, losing one to miscarriage. At three months pregnant with Sophia, near a neighbor’s well, a mosquito bit her arm. She developed diarrhea and a rash on her arm, belly and face. A doctor said it could be chikungunya, a illness that seldom has lasting effects and is not transmitted to a fetus. Zika, carried by the same mosquito, was barely known in Brazil then. Things seemed fine until a ultrasound. “Your daughter has microcephaly,” a doctor told Ms. da Silva. “A smaller head, and the child’s brain has not developed. ” Ms. da Silva despaired. Still, two weeks later, when a doctor said, “If you don’t want a child with microcephaly, you are not obligated to have it,” she rejected abortion. “No, even if she has microcephaly, I am going to love her the way she comes,” she said. At birth, Sophia’s left leg hooked across her body and a doctor announced, “Sophia Valentina is not going to walk. ” Ms. da Silva got angry. “You think you know more than God, huh?” she chastised the doctor. “My daughter is not even 24 hours old. ” Using baths to relax the leg and gently manipulating it in a cloth diaper sling, Ms. da Silva and her sister coaxed it into normal position. Another doctor said Sophia’s hands were “not going to hold anything” the da Silvas trained her fingers to grasp lollipops and shake rattles. When neighbors gossiped, one saying Sophia had “a deformed head and a crippled leg,” Mr. da Silva talked his wife out of confronting them. Some people are kind, he said, like his boss, who kept him on when difficulties forced the company to lay off all but seven of 300 employees. Still, Ms. da Silva spent five months arguing with city officials who kept denying her government van rides to Recife. She called one employee “Satan,” and finally landed a seat after threatening to alert a newspaper and embarrass the mayor in an election year. But whenever Sophia’s doctors schedule new appointments, Ms. da Silva must walk 40 minutes to reserve a van seat in person with the health department during certain hours. They sometimes miss previously scheduled appointments to reserve a van for another appointment. One morning, Sophia stopped moving. She was breathing, her eyes were open, but her body seemed frozen. Ms. da Silva wept, “afraid of losing my little doll. ” Sophia was weak and undernourished because she had not adapted to the nasal feeding tube inserted two weeks earlier. Doctors said she would need a new tube every 15 days. The next month, November, Sophia was hospitalized for 10 days for pneumonia. In December, a shunt was inserted in her brain, which had filled with excess fluid, causing 32 seizures in one day. January brought another hospitalization for pneumonia. Sophia, now 14 months old, is on a waiting list for an abdominal feeding tube. “My daughter is a warrior,” Mr. da Silva said. On the red sofa behind the orange shutters, Ms. da Silva gazed in anguished wonder at her baby girl. “Sophia Valentina,” she murmured. “She is going to surprise me. ” Alícia Isabela do Nascimento Martins was born two months premature, delivered by emergency cesarean section. She was hospitalized for 70 days, until her lungs could breathe on their own, her heart could beat steadily, and her body no longer needed a feeding tube. But doctors could not fix the brain damage she suffered when her mother was infected with Zika during pregnancy. Alícia, now nearly 18 months old, has microcephaly, rigid muscles, seizures, and problems with vision, breathing and swallowing. Raising such a baby would challenge anyone, but Alícia’s mother, Íris Adriane do Nascimento Santos, is practically a child herself. She gave birth at 14. Nearly 450 teenagers have given birth to babies with microcephaly in Brazil’s epidemic, Health Ministry officials said. Some juggle school with caring for these infants. Some rely on their parents. “I never imagined that situation,” Íris said, braces on her teeth glinting as she struggled to quiet Alícia with one of her only successful methods, repeatedly playing a musical cartoon on her cellphone. “This feeling, this reality,” she said, voice strained. “It was devastating. ” Her pregnancy so young angered her mother, who nonetheless rushed Íris to the hospital at seven months, rather than let her lose the baby. From the beginning, Íris endured scare after scare. Once, Alícia’s heart stopped “in front of me,” she said. She cried because Alícia had “such a little head,” but doctors waited a month to tell her Alícia had microcephaly and brain calcifications, confirmed by a brain scan. When Alícia was finally discharged from the hospital, Íris sank into a deep depression, enveloped, she said, by “a feeling of rejection” toward her baby. “I did not have that ‘daughter love. ’” They moved in with Alícia’s father, Túlio Martins de Cristo, 20, in the house where his mother lived. He and his mother fed, diapered and did almost everything for Alícia. “Íris would sleep,” said her mother, Enilsa José do Nascimento, 45, a nurse technician. “And her baby would be next to her bed, crying, screaming. ” Íris didn’t even go to the hospital when, twice, Alícia stopped breathing from apnea. Íris was “unlit to life,” her mother said. Without her boyfriend and his mother, “I think her baby would have died. ” Her mother brought Íris salads and juices, urging her to eat. “You have a baby that depends on you,” she said. “Look, she is not ugly, your baby is so pretty. ” Finally, her boyfriend’s mother urged Íris to attend a meeting of the Union of Mothers of Angels (U. M. A.) a group of around 350 Zika mothers. “There were mothers in the same situation as me and even others in worse situations,” Íris marveled. Suddenly, Íris was overcome with urgency to improve Alícia’s chances. “Jeez, get up, Íris!” she told herself. “My God, I am losing time!” She told her mother: “I have to make my daughter walk. If she cannot walk, she is going to be able to see. ” Everything changed. Through rigorous exams, she had qualified for a competitive school, but she switched to a night school. She now takes Alícia to at least two therapy and doctors’ appointments daily, usually in Recife, two hours and at least two bus rides from her hometown, Paulista. She moved in with her mother and sister, who watch Alícia while Íris attends classes from 7 p. m. to 10 p. m. Afterward, she does homework, then rises when Alícia wakes, often at 4 a. m. On Alícia’s first birthday, Íris had planned visits to three clinics for vision, touch and physical therapy. They also visited Dr. Cristiane Marcela Santos, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Agamenon Magalhães Hospital. “Fifteen?” Dr. Santos exclaimed, stunned that Íris was so knowledgeable. “You are 15 years old?” Everywhere, Íris said, “I ask a lot of questions. ” In pink shorts and lavender top, Alícia’s body resembled a ’s, but her head was 36 centimeters in circumference, well below normal. Her good hearing and diminished irritability are positive developments, but other symptoms include tight muscles. To keep her hands unclenched, her fingers were splayed open with bright pink tape, which is sometimes also applied to relax her back and chin. Dr. Santos asked about Alícia’s early brain scans. “Calcification in almost all of her brain,” Íris replied. “Has she ever gotten so suffocated that she turned purple and you had to tap her back?” “It happens a lot,” Íris said. “Very serious,” Dr. Santos said. As a mother, Íris seemed “very secure and mature,” Dr. Santos said. “Life made her like this. They stop their own lives so they can live their children’s lives. ” Now just past her 16th birthday, Íris has no time for angst. “I changed my life for Alícia,” she said. “It was me for her and her for me. ” Benches were filling with Zika mothers outside the Association for the Assistance of Disabled Children in Recife when Jaqueline Vieira arrived, cradling her son Daniel, his head too small for his body, his fingers folded into fists. Blue eyeglasses were strapped to his head, and blue braces decorated with pictures of Mickey Mouse were strapped to his legs. The braces were supposed to be worn all day to fix his “ballerina feet,” Ms. Vieira knew. But the metal scratched her and made cuddling Daniel uncomfortable, so she mostly put them on for public outings. It was the kind of balancing act she’d become used to. Raising Zika babies is hard enough for families with stable marriages and incomes. But Zika has ripped some marriages apart and torn economic safety nets. Since Daniel’s birth 16 months ago, Ms. Vieira has separated from her husband, lost monthly government assistance, relinquished a job and now patches together a livelihood with other government help. On the bench that Monday, Ms. Vieira barely registered that it was her 26th birthday. Over the weekend in Olinda, their hometown up the coast from Recife, Daniel had convulsed in seizures for three hours straight, his lips purple. Ms. Vieira feared he would stop breathing, but couldn’t get to a hospital with doctors on duty from her downtrodden neighborhood at that late hour, when rats scurry on the rutted roads but no buses were running. She and the other mothers compared notes. One said she briefly couldn’t find her baby that morning, then noticed he’d rolled off the bed. “That’s good,” another said. “He moved. I wish I had a baby like that. ” Suddenly, a van appeared, transporting them to a beauty parlor for pampering paid for by a local singer. At the Velvet Salon, the air was gauzy with mist. Mothers rested their babies on settees. Ms. Vieira left Daniel with a cousin because being inside too long agitated him. She chose a manicure: “She Said Yes” as a base coat, “Kitty White” on top. A hairstylist turned her unruly dark curls straight and shiny. Gazing into a mirror, she snapped a selfie. “Look at me!” she crowed. The respite was . That afternoon, Daniel’s medicine ran out and Ms. Vieira had no money for more. Daniel’s very conception defied the odds. Ms. Vieira developed uterine cancer when her other child was a toddler. She had resisted doctors’ advice to have her uterus removed, even though they said her chances of having another child were slim. While undergoing chemotherapy, she began dating Dalton Douglas de Oliveira, five years her junior, who attended her evangelical church. They rushed marriage so their church wouldn’t learn of their premarital sex. A month after the wedding, she learned she was three months pregnant. “It was the biggest joy of my life,” she said. Her husband was excited, too. “We wanted to have our child,” he said. Still, “the belly condemned us,” he said, causing stress because what had clearly been a conception prompted the church to bar them from communion for months. Five months into pregnancy, Ms. Vieira became distraught when a doctor said that an ultrasound showed hydrocephalus, a brain, and that the baby might die, she recalled. But at seven months, another doctor disagreed, saying, “Look, your son is special, he has a small problem, but what he has is microcephaly,” Ms. Vieira said. “It was good news. ” Her relief evaporated after Daniel’s birth. “I thought it was God’s punishment because I got pregnant even though I was not supposed to,” she said. Caring for a sick child strained the couple’s relationship. Daniel cried so inconsolably that “I thought my life would end,” Ms. Vieira said. Mr. de Oliveira said his wife would not ask him for help and admitted he was too angry at her to offer. “My problem was direct with her and not with the baby,” he said. At two months, Daniel awoke laboring for breath. At the hospital, Ms. Vieira recalled, doctors suspected mold or dust at home was aggravating his lungs, and recommended improving their home’s air quality or moving. Mr. de Oliveira thought his wife, long embarrassed by their home, was exaggerating. She found another house he declined to move. Things exploded after that. Ms. Vieira gave television interviews claiming her husband “would not give attention to the boy,” she said, adding that the publicity prompted donations from abroad. He retaliated, posting a video insulting her. She began dating and told him, “You are not going to see your son,” he said. After technical disputes about child support, he stopped paying. And when he ignored her on the street, she told people he was really shunning Daniel’s illness. Ms. Vieira, a former supermarket bakery worker receiving government assistance for cancer, struggled to afford Daniel’s seizure medicine, Sabril, about 300 reais ($97) a month. To help, a group of police officers began buying it, and she and other mothers sometimes shared pills. But Daniel’s seizures worsened, seemingly weakening his ability to support his head. She made a cellphone video documenting one episode. “Do you see his little shoes shaking?” she asked. Ms. Vieira started giving Daniel more Sabril — three daily instead of the prescribed two. After his seizure crisis, she gave him four. Then she ran out. “I had this crazy feeling,” she said. “He had to take the medication, no matter how. ” She called the police officers, but they couldn’t gather enough money. She texted 319 U. M. A. members on WhatsApp. Hours passed. Nobody had extra Sabril. Desperate, she called her estranged husband at his plaster business, demanding the unpaid child support. “If I had it, I would have given it to you,” he said. Borrowing his mother’s credit card, he visited five pharmacies before finding Sabril. Ms. Vieira, in a turquoise U. M. A. that said “Microcephaly, it’s not the end,” made him pass the medicine through the window bars of her mint green, house. Soon after, the government stopped Ms. Vieira’s cancer assistance, concluding that she could work. But she felt unable to handle a job, and now collects unemployment and will apply for government Zika benefits. Mr. de Oliveira, 21, resumed paying child support, and increased the amount. Ms. Vieira now allows him to see Daniel. “I still pray to God so that he can be a healthy and perfect child,” he said. “I keep asking, keep asking, keep asking. ” The afternoon after the medication crisis, Ms. Vieira, sifting among pregnancy ultrasounds showing Daniel’s underdeveloped head, found a photo of him smiling. “I love this smile,” she said. Because of Daniel, “I am a better human being,” she said, adding that “if I had had a normal baby, I would not have given as much attention. ” She worries about being inattentive to her João Pedro. Even while walking him home from school, she carries Daniel, shielding him from sun with a turquoise umbrella. One day, João Pedro playfully covered Daniel’s face with his hand, chanting, “Are you smiling?” When Daniel didn’t respond, João Pedro scampered to a rusty playground, near weathered horses nibbling meager grass. Later, when his neurologist, Dr. Maria Durce Costa Gomes Carvalho, squeezed Daniel into her packed schedule, his rare smile was still absent. He cried and cried. “Look at this tantrum, Daniel, oh my God!” Dr. Gomes exclaimed. “He did not used to be like this,” Ms. Vieira said. Dr. Gomes asked if Daniel looked at things. “Not a lot,” Ms. Vieira said. “Even with glasses?” “No. ” Daniel’s medication was adjusted, reducing his seizures. Dr. Gomes couldn’t predict if he would walk or talk. “What matters — right, Jaqueline? — is their every achievement. ” Ms. Vieira sighed. “I cannot wait,” she said, “until he falls out of bed. ” Fluffy clouds fluttered over Maria Farinha Beach one Sunday morning and vendors traipsed through the coconut palms selling quail eggs. The sand was soft, and Ms. Vieira brushed Daniel’s hand through it, trying to awaken his sense of touch, supporting his stiff torso while his head slumped forward. Just days after the salon outing, her hair had reverted to springy curls. She looked tired. She took Daniel to the water, filled with romping children. She dipped him in the ocean, jumped him over a wave, swung him high, and dipped him again. | 0fake |
Feds Warn Against Spring Break Travel to Mexico | As many high school and college students around the country plan their annual spring break vacations, the U. S. State Department warns against travel to Mexico. [Popular resort destinations like Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas, Guadalajara, La Paz, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and even Tijuana are among the locations the feds caution travel to because of violence attributed to the “activities of criminal organizations. ” As Breitbart Texas reported, the tourist hotspot of Acapulco, Guerrero, has become the scene of of a fierce turf war as rival drug cartels continue to fight for control of the region. In December, the State Department named Guerrero “the most violent state in Mexico in 2015 for a third year in a row, and groups operate independently of the government in many areas,” noting that armed members of these groups in Guerrero maintain roadblocks which “although not considered hostile to foreigners or tourists, are suspicious of outsiders and should be considered volatile and unpredictable. ” Officials also urge spring break travelers to exercise caution in Baja California Sur getaways like Cabo San Lucas and La Paz because of homicides, many of which happened in La Paz “where there have been ongoing public acts of violence between rival criminal organizations. ” Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta in Jalisco are subject to travel restrictions related to “continued instability” in the bordering states of Michoacán and Zacatecas. Baja California, home to Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, Tecate, and Mexicali, experienced increased homicide rates last year because of “targeted criminal organization assassinations” and “turf battles between criminal groups. ” This “spring break” alert stems from the State Department’s December 2016 Mexico Travel Warning. It classified Mexico as a country with a high potential for kidnapping, carjacking, homicide, robbery, and other crimes because of a lack of security measures in place for travelers. Fourteen of Mexico’s 31 states were flagged as dangerous after Americans became victims of these and other violent crimes. The State Department says there is “no evidence that criminal organizations have targeted U. S. citizens based on their nationality” and the Mexican government devotes “substantial resources” to keep tourists safe. Still, the department underscores “gun battles between rival criminal organizations or with Mexican authorities have taken place on streets and in public places during broad daylight” in areas where visiting Americans traverse. Mexican resorts and tourist attractions “do not see the level of violence and crime that are reported in the border region or in areas along major trafficking routes,” according to the advisory. Still, the State Department issued spring break safety tips online for students to traveling to Mexico and the Caribbean. They suggest remaining aware of one’s surroundings, leaving valuables at home, and not participating in political protests. They also advise students to hail licensed and regulated taxis only, warning “some illegitimate taxi drivers are, in fact, criminals in search of victims. ” The pamphlet points out some travelers who rode in unlicensed taxis were robbed, kidnapped, raped. Tamaulipas, which sits just across from the U. S. Border, and the nearby Coahuila are areas where “violence and criminal activity, including homicide, armed robbery, carjacking, kidnapping, extortion, and sexual assault, pose significant and continuing security concerns,” Breitbart Texas reported. Even though the State Department singled out this region among those with the highest kidnapping rate, Nuevo Progreso in Tamaulipas attracts another spring break demographic — retirees, according to KENS. They spoke to a group of Canadians who said they have been coming to the border town for 20 years. One of them said: “All of the negative reporting and fear reporting, and I guess these is something to some of it, but maybe too much. ” Breitbart Texas reported Playa Del Carmen and Cancun have largely avoided most of the violence that has taken hold in other Mexican tourist areas. Cozumel, Riviera Maya, and Tulum are other popular spots not under a travel warning. Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Twitter. | 0fake |
Kenya opposition leader: supporters should boycott polls, hold prayers | NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya opposition leader Raila Odinga urged supporters to boycott Thursday s repeat presidential election and persuade their friends to do the same, saying his opposition movement would be transformed into a resistance movement against the government. From today we are transforming the NASA coalition into a resistance movement, he told a cheering crowd of thousands of people in Uhuru Park in the capital of Nairobi. He wants new elections held within 90 days, he said. | 0fake |
Brazil's Meirelles to gauge odds before opting to run for President | BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian Finance Minister Henrique Meirelles said on Monday he would consider his chances of winning before deciding whether to run as a candidate in next year s presidential elections. Meirelles, who has spearheaded President Michel Temer s unpopular reform platform, has polled in low single digits in recent surveys. Still, he said current polls do not give a realistic picture of what would happen once the campaign debate unfolds. | 0fake |
Trump trade officials prefer tri-lateral NAFTA deal: U.S. senators | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration’s top trade officials hope to keep the North American Free Trade Agreement as a trilateral deal in negotiations with Canada and Mexico to revamp the 23-year-old pact, senators said on Tuesday. Several members of the Senate Finance Committee said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and new U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told them in a closed door meeting that they would prefer the current three-nation format but left open the possibility of parallel bilateral agreements with Canada and Mexico. “Their preference is trilateral,” Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow told reporters after the meeting. Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa said from the meeting it sounded to him as if a trilateral deal was more likely “unless there’s problems” with that approach. “If trilaterally you aren’t getting anyplace, I suppose then you do it bilaterally,” Grassley said. Ross, who has floated the idea of doing two bilateral trade deals with Canada and Mexico, declined to confirm the administration’s preference for a trilateral approach. “Right now it is a trilateral deal and we shall see what comes in the future but the important thing is to get to the substance,” Ross told reporters after leaving the meeting, adding that talks would be “long and complicated.” The meeting was one of several on Capitol Hill this week involving Lighthizer, who was sworn in as U.S. trade representative on Monday, that are required for the Trump administration to trigger the start of the NAFTA negotiating process with a 90-day consultation period. Farm state senators said they also warned Ross and Lighthizer not to take actions that would damage agricultural exports to Canada and Mexico. “We made it pretty clear that’s a priority, that we don’t want to see ag hurt,” said Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican. “NAFTA by and large has been good for agriculture, and we’re seeing some disruptions in the ag marketplace today because of uncertainty about where this is headed.” Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the Finance Committee’s top Democrat, said Ross and Lighthizer assured him they would push to drop NAFTA’s dispute-resolution mechanism. Trump has complained that the mechanism is biased against the United States. | 0fake |
Thousands of Mourners Celebrate Gwen Ifill’s Tenacity and Grace - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — When former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. learned he would be sitting down for an interview with Gwen Ifill, he prematurely breathed a sigh of relief, thinking about the woman he had befriended through house parties and family barbecues. “She wasn’t Gwen the national figure, but Gwen the sistah, ” he said. “The sistah with fascinating stories, with funny jokes and juicy observations better known as gossip. ” The two had bonded over their shared connection to Barbados and took to calling each other “cuz,” imagining they might be distant cousins through ancestors on the Caribbean island. But moments into their interview, Mr. Holder, still early in his tenure as attorney general, realized that the woman from the weekends had “transformed. ” “My dear Gwen, unexpectedly to me, went from ‘cuz’ to newsperson,” Mr. Holder said. “She was fair but she was piercing, serious but unfailingly nice, smiling the whole time as she forced me out of my prescribed talking points. ” Mr. Holder told his story and read a letter from President Obama in front of thousands of mourners who gathered for nearly three hours Saturday for Ms. Ifill’s funeral, which was held at Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, a former haven to runaway enslaved people where Ms. Ifill had worshiped since 1989. Ms. Ifill died on Monday from complications of uterine cancer. She was 61. On Saturday, some wept as they studied the long wooden pew in the seventh row in the center of the church where Ms. Ifill and her friends regularly sat, and where, after her death, the church placed a plaque with Ms. Ifill’s name. (The church has placed plaques on other pews for figures like Frederick Douglass.) The funeral became a reunion of Ms. Ifill’s large family and a gathering of luminaries. Michelle Obama, the first lady Valerie Jarrett, a senior adviser to Mr. Obama and Donna Brazile, the interim Democratic National Committee chairwoman, sat alongside a number of prominent journalists, including Dorothy Gilliam, Chuck Todd, Roland Martin and Charlayne . While many stood to speak about Ms. Ifill’s life, recordings of her own interviews and speeches that she gave were sprinkled throughout the service. Ms. Ifill was born on Sept. 29, 1955, in Jamaica, Queens. Her father was an A. M. E. minister and her family was deeply religious, as well as committed to watching the news to keep up with current affairs. She graduated in 1977 with a bachelor of arts degree from Simmons College in Boston, where she majored in communications. Her first job as a professional journalist was with The Boston . In between that job and her final one with PBS, Ms. Ifill worked for The Baltimore Evening Sun, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, where she was a White House correspondent and covered Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Her career in television began in 1994, when Tim Russert recruited her to cover Capitol Hill for NBC. She joined PBS in 1999. Her highest visibility came as the moderator and managing editor of the public affairs program “Washington Week” on PBS, where she was also and editor, with Judy Woodruff, of “NewsHour. ” They were the first team to anchor such a program. Under the church’s large stained glass windows, generations of people hugged, wept and shared their sadness about Ms. Ifill’s death. Many lamented that her voice would be especially missed as the nation prepared for Donald J. Trump to take office. The funeral began in silence as images of Ms. Ifill were projected onto the wall. A recording of Mr. Obama calling her an “extraordinary journalist” boomed throughout the church. Soon after, it was Ms. Ifill’s voice that filled the room, saying, “You can be the person who turns toward, not away from, the chance to rise above the fray. ” In another recording that was played later, Ms. Ifill said, “It’s important to be reminded how easily we can be denied simple, obvious opportunity, how low the ceilings can get and how much fortitude it takes to refuse to accept the limits that others place on you. ” Audio also played of PBS viewers, who thanked Ms. Ifill for explaining the world to them every night and expressed sorrow that she would no longer help the nation grapple with political changes. Transfixed in the moment, most of the mourners stayed silent as latecomers shuffled into squeaky pews and the choir members, dressed in purple and gold robes, began to sing “Now Thank We All Our God. ” Several of Ms. Ifill’s friends read from Scripture and spoke of her ability to connect with family and friends and to mentor young journalists. Athelia Knight, a former reporter for The Washington Post and a close friend who frequently sat next to Ms. Ifill at church, read from 1 Corinthians: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. ” Puncturing the sadness, Ms. Ifill’s voice was played again. This time, she joked about the satire that followed when she moderated debates. “And along the way, I have to say, there were some perks. I was played by Queen Latifah twice on ‘Saturday Night Live. ’” Yet the void left by Ms. Ifill’s death radiated through the morning. The sorrow seemed to reach its peak as her cousin Darlene sang “It Is Well With My Soul,” belting out the hymn as many raised their hands and cried. Ms. Ifill’s Ms. Woodruff, said in her reflections that the two had grown extremely close as they planned their program. “We didn’t look like other anchor pairs, and we loved that,” she said to loud applause, before adding that her heart was broken. Ms. Woodruff also said she could only imagine what Ms. Ifill might be doing in the afterlife. “A friend wrote, what a glorious scene is it to picture Gwen and Tim today, up in heaven, grilling James Madison and Alexander Hamilton about the Electoral College,” she said, referring to Mr. Russert, who died of a heart attack in 2008. Michele Norris, a friend and fellow journalist, said that she and Ms. Ifill were part of a circle of women who became as close as family and who supported one another through both struggles and successes. “Her ability to be a friend was epic,” Ms. Norris said, saying Ms. Ifill had nudged her at a party to talk to the man who later became her husband. Sherrilyn Ifill, Ms. Ifill’s cousin and the president and of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, shared memories of playing dominoes and Scrabble together and of spending Thanksgiving with families deeply interested in politics and justice. She pointed out that both her parents and Ms. Ifill’s had immigrated to the United States from Barbados. “At this particular moment in our country, I do want to note that Gwen represented the most American of success stories,” she said. | 0fake |
GREAT PICK! KT McFarland To Join Team Trump [Video] | In asking KT McFarland to become his Deputy National Security Advisor, President-elect Trump has brought to the top ranks of his Administration one of our country s most experienced, informed, and wise foreign policy and national security experts former Sen. Joe Lieberman said in a release. She is a woman of honor, compassion, and patriotism. | 1real |
Kleiner Vorgeschmack: Erdogan lässt Warnflüchtling in Richtung EU los | Freitag, 25. November 2016 Kleiner Vorgeschmack: Erdogan lässt Warnflüchtling in Richtung EU los Ankara (dpo) - Der Konflikt zwischen der EU und der Türkei spitzt sich zu: Zur Unterstreichung seiner jüngsten Drohung, den Flüchtlingsdeal platzen zu lassen und die Grenzen seines Landes zu öffnen , ließ der türkische Präsident Recep Erdogan heute einen ersten Warnflüchtling in Richtung EU los. "Dieser Flüchtling ist nur ein kleiner Vorgeschmack auf das, was der EU droht, wenn sie weiterhin mit dem Gedanken spielt, die Beitrittsgespräche mit der Türkei abzubrechen", erklärte Erdogan heute auf einer Pressekonferenz. "Wo der herkam, gibt's noch mehr. Jetzt kann jeder sehen, dass ich es ernst meine." Der Bürgerkriegsflüchtling aus Syrien befindet sich derzeit in einem kleinen Ruderboot zwischen der türkischen Küste und der griechischen Insel Kalymnos und kommt laut griechischer Küstenwache direkt auf die EU zu. Beobachter fürchten, dass er frühestens im Januar Mitteleuropa erreichen und die dortige Zivilbevölkerung und Politik in Angst und Schrecken versetzen wird. Die EU berät derzeit, wie auf den Warnflüchtling zu reagieren ist. Während einige Experten raten, umgehend einzulenken, fordern viele Hardliner, so schnell wie möglich einen EU-Flüchtling in die Gegenrichtung zu schicken. ssi, dan; Foto: Shutterstock | 1real |
U.S. negotiator says direct diplomacy needed on North Korea | BANGKOK (Reuters) - The chief U.S. negotiator for North Korea said on Friday the United States should engage in direct diplomacy with Pyongyang alongside sanctions imposed over its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered on Tuesday to begin direct talks with North Korea without pre-conditions, but the White House later said no negotiations could be held until North Korea improved its behaviour. We should exercise direct diplomacy as well as sanctions. That is our policy, which is based on pressure and engagement, and we do want to engage in pressure and diplomacy, Joseph Yun, U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy, told reporters in Bangkok. Yun travelled to Japan and Thailand this week to meet officials to discuss ways to build pressure on North Korea after its latest ballistic missile test. On Thursday, Yun met the head of Thailand s National Security Council, General Wallop Rohsanoh, and deputy foreign minister Weerasak Futrakul. We had very constructive, open-ended discussion, said Yun. The United States had no specific requests for Thailand, he said. Thailand s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Tuesday no trade takes place between Thailand and North Korea and that Thailand has abided by United Nations resolutions regarding North Korea. We had no specific requests ... It seems like, as the deputy foreign minister said, they are fully complying with United Nations resolutions, Yun told reporters. Thailand s ties with North Korea have been in the spotlight this year. Tillerson pressed Thailand, the United States oldest ally in Asia, for more action on North Korea during a visit to Bangkok in August. North Korea has an embassy in the Thai capital, Bangkok. Despite Tillerson s call for talks with Pyongyang without pre-conditions, the White House said now was not the right time and that any negotiations would have to be about giving up its nuclear arsenal. I think what Secretary Tillerson spoke two or three days ago ... is that we do want to have a dialogue with them. We are open to dialogue and we hope that they will agree to have a dialogue ... he made it clear that we were open, said Yun. The U.S. delegation said in August it believed North Korean companies operated in Thailand and urged the Thais to shut them. In response, Thailand s foreign ministry told reporters that trade with North Korea had dropped by as much as 94 percent over the previous year. It did not give specific details. | 0fake |
Water Protectors Face Off With Police #NoDAPL | By MintPressNews Mint Press News reporter Derrick Broze reports from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation during the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Broze was... | 1real |
Clinton ex-employee tells FBI no sign email server was hacked: NYT | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The technician who helped manage Hillary Clinton’s private email server for her work as secretary of state has given security logs to investigators that he said show no signs of foreign hacking, the New York Times reported on Thursday. Bryan Pagliano is cooperating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s criminal inquiry into the email setup in exchange for limited immunity by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to the Times, citing unnamed people who know about the investigation. With limited immunity, his testimony cannot be used in a prosecution against him, the Times said. The investigation has overshadowed Hillary Clinton’s campaign to become the Democratic Party’s candidate in the November presidential election. Clinton has apologized for the arrangement but says she did nothing wrong and that she believes the government will vindicate her. Pagliano, who helped set up and run the email system in Clinton’s New York home, told investigators that the logs he handed over indicated that no intrusion occurred, the Times said. The security logs show who accessed the server and when, though they may not capture more sophisticated hacking, the Times said. Pagliano was still working at the State Department’s Bureau of Information Resource Management as recently as last September, but has since left, a department spokesman said on Monday. The spokesman declined to say when he left or why. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is doing its own analysis of whether the server was attacked, according to media reports. FBI agents plan to seek interviews with Clinton’s aides in coming weeks and would like to interview Clinton herself as their investigation enters a new phase, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the inquiry. The interviews would look into how the server was set up and used and what precautions were taken to protect sensitive data, according to the people, who described the matter on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing, Bloomberg News said. Investigators were almost finished examining computers and other physical evidence as part of the inquiry, which is focused on whether Clinton’s use of private email while serving as the nation’s top diplomat led to the improper handling of classified information, according to the people. Pagliano previously worked on Clinton’s failed 2008 presidential campaign, and ended up joining her at the State Department in 2009 as a political appointee, working as a technology specialist and maintaining Clinton’s email server. His employment ended with Clinton in February 2013, but he stayed on as a contractor. More than 2,000 of Clinton’s emails contain classified information that could harm national security if leaked, according to the State Department. The government forbids sending or storing such information outside secure, government-controlled channels, and has prosecuted people for breaches. The FBI and the Justice Department have declined to comment on their investigation, including who might be its target, beyond confirming its existence. Pagliano’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. A Clinton spokesman said the campaign is pleased that Pagliano is cooperating, but declined to respond to questions. For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, “Tales from the Trail” (here). (Reporting by Jonathan Allen, additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by David Gregorio and Andrew Hay) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 0fake |
Mayor, city manager of Texas 'spinach capital' arrested for corruption | SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The mayor and city manager of a south Texas town that bills itself as the “spinach capital of the world,” were arrested on Thursday on charges including strong-arming contractors into paying bribes in exchange for doing business, authorities said. A federal indictment claims five current and former city officials of Crystal City demanded payments from contractors so they could pay off personal gambling bills, bar tabs, car loans, and other expenses. A businessman was also charged for running an illegal gambling operation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Texas Rangers padlocked the City Hall for Crystal City, with a population of about 7,500 people as part of a probe into corruption where city officials are also accused of dipping into city coffers for their own personal gain, law enforcement officials said. None of those arrested, who include Mayor Ricardo Lopez, made statements after being taken into custody. If convicted, each faces up to 10 years in a federal prison, prosecutors said. City Manager William Jonas, according to the indictment, was elevated to that position from city attorney to reward him for procuring bribes, the indictment said. Businessman Ngoc Tri Nguyen, known as “Mister T,” is charged with paying bribes in exchange for opening an illegal gambling room, and getting city officials to use their muscle to shut down a competing business, it said. Crystal City is known for a quirky tourist attraction of a large statue of the spinach-eating cartoon character Popeye in front of City Hall which celebrates the area’s history as a spinach producer. It holds an annual spinach festival. “Public corruption is one of the most insidious crimes confronting our communities today,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs said in a statement. “It contributes to the cynicism we are seeing from members of the public who often feel as though all politicians are corrupt.” The arrests took place without incident and the FBI also seized documents at a San Antonio office in San Antonio, which is leased to Jonas, said FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee. Jonas, a San Antonio attorney, is a former prominent Texas Republican lobbyist who is also facing state charges of assault after police said he is suspected of pushing a woman who attempted to enter the City Hall using the wrong entrance. | 0fake |
White House calls Trump's relationship with Republican lawmakers 'fine' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that there was no need to repair the relationship between President Donald Trump and Republican congressional leaders, despite some recent policy disputes. “I think the relationships are fine,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said during a White House briefing. “Certainly there are going to be some policy differences, but there are also a lot of shared goals and that’s what we’re focused on.” | 0fake |
Refugee Manhunt After Family Found in Freezer in Denmark | Refugee Manhunt After Family Found in Freezer in Denmark November 01, 2016 Refugee Manhunt After Family Found in Freezer in Denmark
(COPENHAGEN) - The bodies of a Syrian woman and her two daughters, aged 7 and 9, have been found in a freezer in a town in Denmark and the woman's husband and refugee father of the children was being sought, Danish police said on Tuesday. The discovery was made on Sunday night in Aabenraa in southern Denmark. The family came to Denmark in summer 2015 and obtained refugee status, police said. A court on Monday pronounced the Syrian father, Hamid Farid Mohammed, "imprisoned in absentia," meaning he should be detained immediately. Police said 33-year-old Mohammed fled Denmark on Friday into Germany and then flew to Turkey. Danish police said they were cooperating with the Turkish police to find him. | 1real |
WHOA! NEW EMAILS SHOW COMEY FBI LIED About Meeting Between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch On Tarmac…Proves Media Colluded With Obama’s DOJ To Kill Story About Tarmac Meeting [VIDEO] | A new email dump from the FBI via a FOIA request by the ACLJ reveals what appears to be collusion between the media and the DOJ to squash the story about the 2016 meeting between Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton on the tarmac in Phoenix, AZ.Also Comey reportedly said the FBI had no documents related to this meeting to fill a prior FOIA request. That apparently isn t true, given this new email dump. The Right ScoopWatch:From the ACLJ: We have just obtained hundreds of pages in our ongoing investigation and federal lawsuit on former Attorney General Loretta Lynch s tarmac meeting with former President Bill Clinton while the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI had an ongoing criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton s emails. The results are shocking.Watch Lynch s explanation of her meeting with Bill Clinton on the tarmac:First, the Comey FBI lied to us. Last July, we sent FOIA requests to both the Comey FBI and the Lynch DOJ asking for any documents related to the Clinton Lynch plane meeting. The FBI, under the then directorship of James Comey, replied that No records responsive to your request were located. The documents we received today from the Department of Justice include several emails from the FBI to DOJ officials concerning the meeting. One with the subject line FLAG was correspondence between FBI officials (Richard Quinn, FBI Media/Investigative Publicity, and Michael Kortan) and DOJ officials concerning flag[ing] a story . . . about a casual, unscheduled meeting between former president Bill Clinton and the AG. The DOJ official instructs the FBI to let me know if you get any questions about this and provides [o]ur talkers [DOJ talking points] on this . The talking points, however are redacted.Another email to the FBI contains the subject line security details coordinate between Loretta Lynch/Bill Clinton? On July 1, 2016 just days before our FOIA request a DOJ email chain under the subject line, FBI just called, indicates that the FBI . . . is looking for guidance in responding to media inquiries about news reports that the FBI had prevented the press from taking pictures of the Clinton Lynch meeting. The discussion then went off email to several phone calls (of which we are not able to obtain records). An hour later, Carolyn Pokomy of the Office of the Attorney General stated, I will let Rybicki know. Jim Rybicki was the Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to FBI Director Jim Comey. The information that was to be provided to Rybicki is redacted.Also of note several of the documents contain redactions that are requested per FBI. It is clear that there were multiple records within the FBI responsive to our request and that discussions regarding the surreptitious meeting between then AG Lynch and the husband of the subject of an ongoing FBI criminal investigation reached the highest levels of the FBI.However, on October 21, 2016, the Comey FBI replied to our legal demands that No records responsive to your request were located. This is in direct contravention to the law, and we are preparing further legal action to force the FBI to come clean and turn over ALL documents related to this matter to us in a timely manner.Second, the hundreds of pages of (heavily redacted more on that below) documents paint a clear picture of a DOJ in crisis mode as the news broke of Attorney General Lynch s meeting with former President Clinton. In fact, the records appear to indicate that the Attorney General s spin team immediately began preparing talking points for the Attorney General regarding the meeting BEFORE ever speaking with the AG about the matter.Third, there is clear evidence that the main stream media was colluding with the DOJ to bury the story. A Washington Post reporter, speaking of the Clinton Lynch meeting story, said, I m hoping I can put it to rest . The same Washington Post reporter, interacting with the DOJ spin team, implemented specific DOJ requests to change his story to make the Attorney General appear in a more favorable light. A New York Times reporter apologetically told the Obama DOJ that he was being pressed into service to have to cover the story. As the story was breaking, DOJ press officials stated, I also talked to the ABC producer, who noted that they aren t interested, even if Fox runs with it. Two days after the meeting, DOJ officials in a chain of emails that includes emails to Attorney General Lynch herself stated that the media coverage of the meeting looks like all or most are FOX and that CBS . . . just says a few lines about the meeting. Fourth, DOJ bureaucrats have redacted all the talking points, discussions of talking points, a statement on the meeting that was apparently never delivered because there was not enough media coverage on the meeting, and its substantive discussions with the FBI on the matter. They absurdly claim the deliberative process exemption to FOIA, which is only supposed to apply to agency rulemaking processes.The ACLJ won t stop until justice is served on this matter:Discussions about Attorney General Lynch s ethically questionable meeting with former President Clinton during her investigation into Hillary Clinton clearly has nothing to do with any rule making process. We will be taking these redactions back to federal court. The law is on our side. We will keep pressing on with our investigation of former Attorney General Lynch until we get to the bottom of this.To donate to the ACLJ and help to fund the important work they re doing, click HERE.Here s James Comey discussing the Lynch and Clinton meeting on the tarmac:Here is Loretta Lynch s testimony before Congress regarding her meeting with Bill Clinton: | 1real |
UK govt. accepts lawmakers' demands for scrutiny of Brexit law changes | LONDON (Reuters) - The British government will grant lawmakers more oversight of the process of severing ties with the European Union, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday. The concession, designed to head off a potential rebellion in parliament, will be incorporated into the EU withdrawal bill - the legislation that forms a central plank of May s Brexit strategy. Several lawmakers, including members of the governing Conservative Party, have challenged her administration over its plans to copy and paste EU rules into British legislation, saying they give ministers power to change laws without the agreement of parliament. To address these concerns, a committee of lawmakers has proposed adding an extra layer of parliamentary scrutiny of such changes. We have studied the Procedure Committee s report in detail and listened to the representations, and we are announcing today that we will be accepting this amendment, the spokesman told reporters. The plan is to create a sifting committee to look at each of the proposed changes as they are published by the government and recommend how they are then approved by parliament. Although all changes will receive parliamentary approval, some can be recommended for more detailed scrutiny. The transfer of EU law into British law is designed to give businesses legal certainty after Britain s departure in March 2019. Parliament has described is as one of the largest legislative projects ever undertaken in the UK. | 0fake |
‘Apprentice’ Producer Denounces Trump but Won’t Release Possibly Damning Tapes - The New York Times | There is some irony to the fact that Donald J. Trump’s journey to the threshold of the presidency has, in the closing weeks of the election, come back to the doorstep of the man who first catapulted him to national fame. But Mark Burnett, the creator of “The Apprentice,” does not seem amused. Mr. Burnett, one of television’s most powerful figures, is facing growing demands this week that he release footage from the “Apprentice” set that some former crew members say could reveal Mr. Trump acting in vulgar and offensive ways. The outcry has grown to the point where Mr. Burnett, who rarely comments on political matters, felt compelled on Wednesday evening to issue a forceful denunciation of Mr. Trump’s presidential bid, saying he rejected “the hatred, division and misogyny that has been a very unfortunate part of his campaign. ” Mr. Burnett issued his statement on the same night that several women came forward to say they had been groped or assaulted by Mr. Trump, a flood of accusations that continued on Thursday. Their accounts followed a video released last week from 2005 of Mr. Trump and the television host Billy Bush engaging in vulgar talk about women. Now, the clamor for potentially damning “Apprentice” footage has turned into a spectacle worthy of one of Mr. Burnett’s own creations — complete with cameos from personalities like the lawyer Gloria Allred, who led a protest against this week, and a distinctly Hollywood mixture of political intrigue and corporate . Mr. Burnett, who has not commented on whether such footage exists, said he did not have the legal right to release “Apprentice” tapes M. G. M. the global entertainment conglomerate that now owns Mr. Burnett’s production company and its archive, says the same. A person familiar with Mr. Trump’s “Apprentice” contract, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe confidential terms, said M. G. M. would have to obtain Mr. Trump’s permission before releasing unaired footage of him from the show, part of a clause granting Mr. Trump control over the use of his name and likeness. The clause in Mr. Trump’s contract is not unusual in reality television, and M. G. M. said on Wednesday that it intended to honor its agreements. Few Hollywood studios wish to be at the center of a fevered political dispute, and M. G. M. ’s statement did not mention Mr. Trump by name. Still, some critics have wondered if Mr. Burnett — whose other hits include “Survivor,” “Shark Tank” and “The Voice” — was simply trying to maintain cordial ties with Mr. Trump, who retains a financial interest in the “Apprentice” franchise and whose skills have generated tens of millions of dollars for Mr. Burnett. (“The Celebrity Apprentice” returns in January on NBC with Arnold Schwarzenegger taking over as host.) Entertainment lawyers interviewed this week wondered if Mr. Trump would have much of a legal case if “Apprentice” footage were released. The “name and likeness” clause is typically invoked if a celebrity’s image is used for profit — not as documentary evidence in a presidential campaign. Refusing to release footage “could mean that there are contractual restrictions,” said Jerry Glover, a lawyer in Chicago who has worked on disputes. “It could also mean Burnett doesn’t want to get on Donald Trump’s bad side,” Mr. Glover added. That is the suspicion of people like Ms. Allred, who marched outside M. G. M. headquarters and declared that Mr. Burnett had “a civic duty” to open his video vault. Online petitions are demanding that the footage be released UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group, planned to fly a plane over Los Angeles on Thursday with the banner, “M. G. M. NBC, Burnett: Release the Tapes. ” Mr. Burnett denied a report in BuzzFeed News that he had threatened “Apprentice” employees with litigation if any footage were leaked. In a sign that Mr. Burnett was wary of the effect on his public image — particularly in his entertainment milieu — his statement began with an emphatic phrase: “I am NOT . ” Defenders of Mr. Burnett said it was unfair to expect him to step into the role of a journalist, especially if releasing footage meant breaching a contract. There could also be reputational costs: An emergence of damning footage might blemish the valuable “Apprentice” brand. And the industry, with its susceptibility to spoilers and demands for authenticity, is particularly sensitive to issues of discretion and trust. In interviews this week with more than two dozen people who worked on “The Apprentice,” many expressed disgust at Mr. Trump’s vulgar conversation with Mr. Bush. But none would speak publicly about Mr. Trump’s behavior on the set of “The Apprentice,” citing nondisclosure agreements with steep financial penalties. One “Apprentice” contract from 2005 obtained by The New York Times included a $5 million penalty for contestants who made unauthorized leaks. Former “Apprentice” workers, more accustomed to talk of casting calls than campaign scandals, said they were stunned to find themselves thrust into supporting roles in a presidential election. Many said they were reluctant to discuss their experiences with Mr. Trump out of fear of losing work in an industry where just a whiff of untrustworthiness can persuade a potential employer to call someone else. They also noted a practical problem: There are thousands of hours of footage from “The Apprentice,” most likely stored in hundreds of boxes. Finding scenes with Mr. Trump — let alone footage of some kind of damning utterance — would be no small task. Mr. Burnett, who has donated to Democratic candidates, is an Englishman who, until now, has been reluctant to discuss Mr. Trump’s political rise. Last month, he was seen smiling awkwardly at the Emmy Awards when Jimmy Kimmel, the comedian, needled him about Mr. Trump from the stage. “Thanks to Mark Burnett, we don’t have to watch reality shows anymore,” Mr. Kimmel quipped. “We’re living in one. ” But Mr. Burnett’s eye for megahits might still soothe any political misgivings expressed by his peers. “Even if it turns out that Burnett’s sitting on Trump video that the public really ought to see, if he keeps on cranking out monster hits, this town won’t shun him,” said Martin Kaplan, who runs the Norman Lear Center for media and society at the University of Southern California. “In this industry,” Mr. Kaplan added, “ratings swing a bigger bat than civics. ” | 0fake |
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