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Remember Those Rumors Megyn Kelly is Leaving Fox News? Well, Her Contract Just Went Public | Getty - Jemall Countess/Stringer The Wildfire is an opinion platform and any opinions or information put forth by contributors are exclusive to them and do not represent the views of IJR.
Megyn Kelly is a bit of a hot commodity nowadays, though one might not be able to tell that from the ire she is drawing from Trump fans.
The Week, and other publications, kicked up a media frenzy this summer by speculating that Megyn Kelly was leaving Fox News, much to the delight of her Trump-supporting detractors:
Megyn Kelly's contract at Fox News will expire after the election, and the star anchor has publicly confessed that she doesn't know what's going to happen after that. “I've had a great 12 years here, and I really like working for Roger Ailes. I really like my show, and I love my team. But, you know, there's a lot of brain damage that comes from the job,” she told Variety this spring. Image Credit: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for People.com
In an “exclusive” report from Breitbart, the bigwigs at the network were purportedly forming an alliance to “block” her, and in an eye-opening bit of potential foreshadowing for TrumpTV , the website wrote:
At least one top talent inside Fox News has confirmed to Breitbart News that a major talent meeting among various different hosts is scheduled, and they are considering leaving with Roger Ailes to form a new network to compete with Fox.
“Everyone here hates Gretchen and Megyn,” the anonymous source reportedly told the website. Gretchen Carlson would later leave Fox News .
Of course, Roger Ailes was to be forced out after he was blitzed by sexual harassment accusations from a number of female employees, including a claim by Megyn Kelly. New York Magazine reported :
According to two sources briefed on parent company 21st Century Fox’s outside probe of the Fox News executive, led by New York–based law firm Paul, Weiss, Kelly has told investigators that Ailes made unwanted sexual advances toward her about ten years ago when she was a young correspondent at Fox. Kelly, according to the sources, has described her harassment by Ailes in detail. Image Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images
Ailes would find safe harbor with the Trump campaign , whose presidential nominee Donald Trump later found himself under siege from sexual assault accusations . Recently, Vanity Fair published a story that the two media potentates had a “ falling out .”
In August, Fox News appointed two executives to attempt filling Ailes' shoes: Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy, who were named as co-presidents. Due to a colossal media merger of AT&T and Time Warner, CNN executive Jeff Zucker is believed by some to have the inside track on taking over at Fox News. The Hollywood Reporter writes :
CNN’s Jeff Zucker who, having worked for GE when he ran NBC, might be considered a more logical bridge to AT&T and, if rebuffed, might likely be open to the Murdoch sons' interest in having him come to run Fox News.
The Murdoch brothers are not believed to share their father's conservative sensibilities, and thus there are concerns that the two would reshape the network into a much less conservative one. Image Credit: Paul Zimmerman/Getty Images
With Sean Hannity riding high as a conservative pundit on the strength of his vocal Trump support, his ratings have even eclipsed Kelly's... at least for now. There is a strong belief by many that the host's unwavering support is an audition for TrumpTV, should The Donald lose the election.
It's in this tumultuous environment — filled with intrigue at the network and turmoil across the media landscape — that Megyn Kelly's future has become uncertain. A leaked discussion of her contract negotiations sheds more light.
As reported by Politico:
Contract negotiations between Megyn Kelly and Fox News Channel have spilled into the media, with Fox News interim CEO Rupert Murdoch talking on the record to The Wall Street Journal (which he also owns via his other company, News Corp.) about the matter.
According to the Journal's Joe Flint, “Mr. Murdoch said in an interview that she is important to the network and he hopes to get a contract signed 'very soon,' but noted, 'it’s up to her.'”
Then Murdoch hinted, not unsubtly, “We have a deep bench of talent, many of whom would give their right arm for her spot.”
As noted by the publication, Kelly is shopping around her talents as well, booking an expected appearance as co-host of ABC's “Live with Kelly!” Image Credit: Paul Morigi/Getty Images
Megyn Kelly is also seeking a more lucrative contract:
Flint reports that Kelly, who will make around $15 million this year, is aiming to get north of $20 million per year with her new contract. He also said he wants to keep Bill O'Reilly on as the channel's 8 PM host. O'Reilly's contract is also up next year.
Murdoch also attempted to put rumors of a less conservative Fox News outlet to rest in the Wall Street Journal interview:
“We’re not changing direction…that would be business suicide.”
If TrumpTV indeed becomes a reality, the winds of change may shift again. Fox News will have a very different look — with or without Megyn Kelly — as a feud looms over who is the real “conservative” leader in cable news. | 1real |
Dr. Squier Wins Appeal but Banned from Telling the Truth in Court about Shaken Baby Syndrome | Print This Post Dr. Squier Wins Appeal but Banned from Telling the Truth in Court about Shaken Baby Syndrome “…any professional who is prepared to speak the truth and go against the medical establishment in a shaken baby case should also be prepared to lose their career as a consequence.” Image via The Telegraph .
by Christina England Health Impact News Dr. Waney Squier Wins Her Appeal but Banned from Telling the Truth in Court
In March 2016, after being publicly humiliated and having her career torn to shreds by the General Medical Council (GMC), pediatric neuropathologist and expert defense witness Dr. Waney Squier was found guilty of “misleading her peers, being irresponsible, dishonest and bringing the reputation of the medical profession into disrepute.”
However, if the GMC thought that that was the end of the matter, then they were mistaken, because less than eight months later, Dr. Squier was back to appeal their decision, and this time, she was not alone. Over Three Hundred Doctors, Scientists and Lawyers Write Letter of Protest
After she had been discredited months earlier, 350 doctors, scientists and lawyers rallied together in her support, and in an unprecedented move had written a letter of protest to the British Medical Journal (BMJ) , questioning the GMC’s decision.
The BBC , reporting on the story, wrote:
Her supporters believe it is unprecedented to have so many distinguished scientists writing to the BMJ in support of a struck-off doctor.
Signatories include Prof Peter Fleming, the doctor who cut cot deaths; Sir Iain Chalmers, the pioneer of evidence-based medicine; and Prof Liliane Boccon-Gibod, an internationally renowned paediatric pathologist.
Professionals were not the only ones demanding answers, because since their decision, the GMC have been bombarded with petitions and letters from parents and supporters from all over the world.
One extremely powerful letter, written by Protecting Innocent Families , opened:
We are writing in the defense of Dr. Waney Squier, a pediatric neuropathologist who was struck off the medical register this week for practicing outside her area of expertise, ignoring the opinions of her peers, and bringing the reputation of the medical profession into disrepute with her testimony and written opinions in a series of shaken baby cases she helped defend between 2007 and 2010.
We know from personal experience that the prevailing model of shaken baby syndrome is flawed, a fact that is also supported by peer-reviewed literature. Although shaking an infant can cause serious injury and death, the presence of the intracranial and retinal findings now associated with shaken baby syndrome does not prove abuse, which is the vital message Dr. Squier brings to the debate. We are dismayed that the Council is sanctioning her for having the courage and intellectual honesty to express her own views, which are not popular but which are founded on solid scientific thinking and the best available evidence. Many of these diagnoses are based on the presence of non-specific findings (thin subdural hematoma, retinal hemorrhages, and encephalopathy) that can be associated with a number of medical conditions and accidental trauma as well as inflicted injury. It is a logical error to conclude that because abuse can cause the findings, the presence of the findings proves abuse.
After writing several more equally powerful paragraphs, the authors continued by adding that:
The declaration also scolds Dr. Squier unfairly for her citations of the medical research. In one example, she cited the early biomechanical research of Dr. Anne-Christine Duhaime and colleagues (‘The shaken baby syndrome: A clinical, pathological, and biomechanical study,’ Journal of Neurosurgery 1987 66:409–415) to support her observation that shaking without impact has not been shown to generate sufficient forces to cause brain injury. The panel wrote that Dr. Squier had ‘completely misinterpreted what Duhaime had actually said,’ a conclusion that baffles us. The Duhaime paper was a landmark in the field, because it was the first attempt to test shaking theory scientifically, and the results surprised even the authors, who wrote:
‘It was concluded that severe head injuries commonly diagnosed as shaking injuries require impact to occur and that shaking alone in an otherwise normal baby is unlikely to cause the shaken baby syndrome.’
The letter, signed by a total of 24 outraged parents and professionals, ended with this final paragraph:
Dr. Squier is a brilliant physician whose work is internationally known and respected by the scientific community, with the exception of child abuse experts. Her professional writing is founded in science and the scientific method. Her acumen, professionalism, and probity are beyond reproach.
It appears that the overwhelming support for this professional has had the desired effect, because in October 2016, Dr. Waney Squier won her appeal. Dr. Squiers’ Win Tinged with Sadness
However, despite winning her appeal, as expected, there was a catch, and although Dr. Squier’s name was returned to the medical register, she has been prevented from giving evidence as an expert witness for another three years, which many believe was her punishment for standing up to the establishment.
In a statement to the Daily Mail , Dr. Squier stated:
I have been through hell for nearly seven years and I am so grateful to my colleagues, fellow professionals, friends and family for their understanding and forbearance during this long and difficult period.
I am relieved that my honesty is no longer questioned and that I can put my name back on the medical register, but I feel very resentful about what has happened.
I have been targeted and singled out by the Metropolitan Police because I have challenged the accuracy of shaken baby syndrome.
Civil rights lawyer Clifford Stafford-Smith described Dr. Squier’s case as “a witch hunt” and told the Daily Mail that:
She is still not being allowed to contest the underlying lack of evidence for shaken baby syndrome. This eliminates true science from the courtroom.
His words are spot on; however, it is a shame that he did not mention the fact that when Dr. Squier had previously given evidence for the prosecution , years earlier, her evidence had always been readily accepted, without question. It was only when she decided to examine the SBS theory in more detail that her problems began. Never Question Authority
In an article written in 2005, the website Justice Denied stated that in the early part of her career, Dr. Waney Squire had accepted the validity of the SBS theory.
They wrote:
Dr. Squier accepted the validity of SBS and testified during a number of trials as a prosecution witness that the existence of the triad of signs supported that the baby had been injured or died as a result of abusive treatment. Lorraine Harris’ trial in 2000 for manslaughter in the death of her four-month-old baby son Patrick was one of the trials during which Dr. Squier testified the triad of SBS signs were present. Harris was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison.
After Harris’ conviction Dr. Squier learned that the research of British neuropathologist Dr. Jennian Geddes resulted in the discovery that injuries associated with the SBS triad can occur naturally, including that bleeding is triggered in some babies from a lack of oxygen. Dr. Geddes suggested that there should be physical evidence that a baby suffered physical trauma before determining that abuse (SBS) occurred.
In fact, it was only after studying Dr. Geddes evidence and reading his papers in full that Dr. Squier began to question the validity of the SBS theory. She told Justice Denied:
A light went on in my head. I became concerned that the whole basis for shaking was poor.
Dr. Squier decided to re-examine the evidence that she had presented to the court in reference to Lorraine Harris and began to question her decisions. In an unprecedented move, she decided to prepare a report for Harris, explaining how she now believed that her trial testimony was incorrect because her baby had no physical injury and it was possible that the baby had died from natural causes.
Justice Denied stated:
Based on the new evidence in Dr. Squier’s report that the jury had not had available, England’s Court of Appeals quashed Harris’ conviction on July 21, 2005.
Until this point, no one had questioned Dr. Squier and she was thought to be a leading professional in the field of SBS. However, the moment that she began to question the theory and speak out on behalf of parents, things began to change. Three Leading Pathologists Accuse Police of Smear Campaign
For many years, Dr. Squier has been one of the many professionals who believed that the Metropolitan Police are deliberately discrediting any expert witness who dares to speak out on behalf of the parent in SBS cases.
In 2011, BBC Today wrote:
Three leading pathologists have accused the Metropolitan Police of attempting to discredit them as expert witnesses in so-called Shaken Baby court cases.
About 250 Non-Accidental Head Injury (NAHI) cases go to court every year, with the outcome often relying on a expert testimony from pathologists.
The Royal College of Pathologists has called for an inquiry into the claims.
The three professionals, Dr. Waney Squier, Dr. Irene Scheimberg and Dr. Marta Cohen, stated that their evidence was based on a speech given in 2010, by a lead investigator with the Met’s Child Abuse Investigation Command, Detective Inspector Colin Welsh.
BBC Today stated that:
The BBC has obtained a version of the speech made at the 11th International Shaken Baby conference in Atlanta, September 2010.
In this speech, DI Welsh referred to a meeting in 2008 attended by representatives of the police, medical experts and CPS officials at which the ‘impact and effect of contradictory expert evidence’ was discussed. The Met has confirmed the meeting took place but said it was standard procedure following an acquittal in a court case.
And continued:
According to a note by a Seattle-based lawyer called Heather Kirkwood, DI Welsh talked about the failure of a number of high profile Shaken Baby prosecutions and stated the number one problem as ‘ defence expert testimony.’
He suggested as tactics to question everything about them qualifications, employment history, testimony research papers presented by these experts, and even going to their expert bodies ‘to see if we turn up anything.’
To listen to the report in full go to BBC Radio 4, File on Four .
It certainly appears that Dr. Squier was right to be concerned because ever since that meeting took place, she and her colleagues have faced a barrage of complaints to their governing bodies.
Sadly, Dr. Irene Scheimberg and Dr. Marta Cohen, have decided to no longer give evidence in SBS cases and in an interview with BBC’s John Sweeney , Dr. Scheimberg explained why. She told the BBC news team that the reason why she no longer gives evidence in the criminal and family court is because she is afraid of the possible consequences.
This proves only one thing, that any professional who is prepared to speak the truth and go against the medical establishment in a shaken baby case should also be prepared to lose their career as a consequence.
Comment on this article at MedicalKidnap.com.
Also read: World Renowned Neuropathologist has Career Destroyed for Disproving Shaken Baby Syndrome Leaving a lucrative career as a nephrologist (kidney doctor), Dr. Suzanne Humphries is now free to actually help cure people. In this autobiography she explains why good doctors are constrained within the current corrupt medical system from practicing real, ethical medicine. FREE Shipping Available! Order here . Medical Doctors Opposed to Forced Vaccinations – Should Their Views be Silenced? eBook – Available for immediate download.
One of the biggest myths being propagated in the compliant mainstream media today is that doctors are either pro-vaccine or anti-vaccine, and that the anti-vaccine doctors are all “quacks.”
However, nothing could be further from the truth in the vaccine debate. Doctors are not unified at all on their positions regarding “the science” of vaccines, nor are they unified in the position of removing informed consent to a medical procedure like vaccines.
The two most extreme positions are those doctors who are 100% against vaccines and do not administer them at all, and those doctors that believe that ALL vaccines are safe and effective for ALL people, ALL the time, by force if necessary.
Very few doctors fall into either of these two extremist positions, and yet it is the extreme pro-vaccine position that is presented by the U.S. Government and mainstream media as being the dominant position of the medical field.
In between these two extreme views, however, is where the vast majority of doctors practicing today would probably categorize their position. Many doctors who consider themselves “pro-vaccine,” for example, do not believe that every single vaccine is appropriate for every single individual.
Many doctors recommend a “delayed” vaccine schedule for some patients, and not always the recommended one-size-fits-all CDC childhood schedule. Other doctors choose to recommend vaccines based on the actual science and merit of each vaccine, recommending some, while determining that others are not worth the risk for children, such as the suspect seasonal flu shot.
These doctors who do not hold extreme positions would be opposed to government-mandated vaccinations and the removal of all parental exemptions.
In this eBook, I am going to summarize the many doctors today who do not take the most extremist pro-vaccine position, which is probably not held by very many doctors at all, in spite of what the pharmaceutical industry, the federal government, and the mainstream media would like the public to believe. Read : Medical Doctors Opposed to Forced Vaccinations – Should Their Views be Silenced? on your mobile device! Dr. Andrew Moulden: Every Vaccine Produces Harm eBook – Available for immediate download. Canadian physician Dr. Andrew Moulden provided clear scientific evidence to prove that every dose of vaccine given to a child or an adult produces harm. The truth that he uncovered was rejected by the conventional medical system and the pharmaceutical industry. Nevertheless, his warning and his message to America remains as a solid legacy of the man who stood up against big pharma and their program to vaccinate every person on the Earth. Dr. Moulden died unexpectedly in November of 2013 at age 49. Because of the strong opposition from big pharma concerning Dr. Moulden’s research, we became concerned that the name of this brilliant researcher and his life’s work had nearly been deleted from the internet. His reputation was being disparaged, and his message of warning and hope was being distorted and buried without a tombstone. This book summarizes his teaching and is a must-read for everyone who wants to learn the “other-side” of the vaccine debate that the mainstream media routinely censors. Read: Read Dr. Andrew Moulden: Every Vaccine Produces Harm on your mobile device! on your mobile device!
Support the cause of Medical Kidnapping by purchasing our new book! If you know people who are skeptical and cannot believe that medical kidnapping happens in the U.S. today, this is the book for them! Backed with solid references and real life examples, they will not be able to deny the plain evidence before them, and will become better educated on this topic that is destroying the American family. 1 Book – 228 pages | 1real |
8,000 Colorado Inmates Given Computer Tablets with Games, Books, Music - Breitbart | 8, 000 prison inmates in Colorado have been given computer tablets with the ability to call loved ones from the inside, play games, read books, and listen to music. [“Until February, Andrew Stiern could only speak with his girlfriend on a phone in a prison day hall while 10 other inmates listened in and waited impatiently in line behind him,” reported The Denver Post . “Now the inmate can kick back in the limited privacy of his cell at Four Mile Correctional Center in Cañon City and call his girl on a new computer tablet anytime between 6 a. m. and 10 p. m. He can also use the same device to listen to his favorite tunes from a streaming cache of 12 million songs, read books or play video games to his heart’s content. ” GTL Corp’s Inspire pilot program seeks to distribute tablets to over 18, 000 prison inmates, and eventually to every prisoner in the United States, according to The Denver Post. It is reportedly “designed to give inmates access to a wide range of media, including educational programming, but also creates a new revenue stream for GTL, which specializes in inmate telecommunications and payment systems. ” “It’s great. I’m kind of the tablet rep guy,” said inmate Andrew Stiern to The Post. “When you are in prison, you are cut off from the outside world. You want your mind to be focused on positive things. It’s kind of an escape from this world. These tabs have become a new piece of life in here. ” Though some believe that the tablets could help deflate friction between prison gangs over prison phone use, other correctional officers and victims group representatives are skeptical of the program. “I’m a little stunned. They are not there to be catered to and offered all the comforts of home,” said Rob Wells, the president of Families of Victims of Homicide and Missing Persons. “I’m not pleased with it. Some of them are gang members and have been involved in some pretty nasty stuff. They shouldn’t be given something that will give them an opportunity to continue their criminal enterprises in prison. How are they going to monitor this?” “All of us had our reservations at first. Are we going to be more vulnerable because of this technology?” asked corrections officer Ryan Flores. “There was a lot of old school mentality. ” Though GTL are giving out the tablets to prisoners, there is a potential profit to be made through their use. A subscription for one prisoner to access a database of music and games costs $6. 59, while text messages are 25 cents each. A phone call costs around $2 to $3. As well as entertainment and education, the tablets can also be used to file complaints, order snacks, contact medical staff, and sign up for prison programs. Despite their ability to contact others outside of the prison, the tablets are not connected to the internet, and inmates are unable to contact others in the prison through the devices. There are also no violent video games available. “These are games I allow my to play,” said one inmate to The Post. “The most violent game is, like, ‘Angry Birds. ’” Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook. | 0fake |
In Beijing, Trump presses China on North Korea and trade | BEIJING (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump pressed China to do more to rein in North Korea on Thursday and said bilateral trade had been unfair to the United States, but praised President Xi Jinping s pledge that China would be more open to foreign firms. On North Korea s nuclear and missile programs, Trump said China can fix this problem quickly and easily , urging Beijing to cut financial links with North Korea and also calling on Russia to help. Trump was speaking alongside Xi in the Chinese capital to announce the signing of about $250 billion in commercial deals between U.S. and Chinese firms, a display that some in the U.S. business community worry detracts from tackling deep-seated complaints about market access in China. Xi said the Chinese economy would become increasingly open and transparent to foreign firms, including those from the United States, and welcomed U.S. companies to participate in his ambitious Belt and Road infrastructure-led initiative. Trump made clear that he blamed his predecessors, not China, for the trade imbalance, and repeatedly praised Xi, calling him a very special man . But we will make it fair and it will be tremendous for both of us, Trump said. Xi smiled widely when Trump said he does not blame China for the deficit and also when Trump said Xi gets things done. Of course there are some frictions, but on the basis of win-win cooperation and fair competition, we hope we can solve all these issues in a frank and consultative way, Xi said. Keeping opening up is our long-term strategy. We will never narrow or close our doors. We will further widen them, he said. China would also offer a more fair and transparent environment for foreign firms, including U.S. ones, Xi said. Trump is pressing China to tighten the screws further on North Korea and its development of nuclear weapons in defiance of U.N. sanctions. At least modest progress is hoped for, although there are no immediate signs of a major breakthrough, a U.S. official said earlier. Referring to Xi, Trump said: I do believe there s a solution to that, as do you. Xi reiterated that China would strive for the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula but offered no hint that China would change tack on North Korea, with which it fought side-by-side in the 1950-53 Korean war against U.S.-led forces. We are devoted to reaching a resolution to the Korean peninsula issue through dialogue and consultations, Xi said. Briefing reporters after the talks, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump told Xi: You re a strong man, I m sure you can solve this for me. Tillerson said both leaders agreed they could not accept a nuclear-armed North Korea but he acknowledged they had some differences over tactics and timing. Tillerson pointed out that Trump, in a speech in Seoul, had invited the North Koreans to come to the table, in line with the Chinese desire for a negotiated solution. He added, however, that Trump was prepared for a military response if he deemed the threat serious enough, but that s not his first choice . We are going to work hard on diplomatic efforts as well, he said, but did not elaborate. In a show of the importance China puts on Trump s first official visit, Thursday s welcoming ceremony outside Beijing s Great Hall of the People overlooking Tiananmen Square was broadcast live on state television - unprecedented treatment for a visiting leader. Earlier on Thursday, Xi said he had a deep exchange of views with Trump and reached consensus on numerous issues of mutual concern. For China, cooperation is the only real choice, only win-win can lead to an even better future, he said. Xi said China and the United States strengthened high-level dialogue on all fronts over the past year and boosted coordination on major international issues, such as the Korean peninsula and Afghanistan. Relations between China and the United States are now on a new historical starting point, Xi said. Trump and Xi hit it off at their first meeting in April at Trump s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and continued their bromance on Wednesday with an afternoon of sightseeing together with their wives. However, divisions persist over trade and North Korea. And while Xi is riding high after consolidating power at a twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress last month, Trump comes to China saddled with low public approval ratings and dogged by investigations into Russian links to his election campaign. Trump has ratcheted up his criticism of China s massive trade surplus with the United States - calling it embarrassing and horrible last week - and has accused Beijing of unfair trade practices. For its part, China says U.S. restrictions on Chinese investment in the United States and on high-tech exports need to be addressed. Several corporate chief executives were in Beijing as part of a delegation led by U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, with General Electric and semiconductor maker Qualcomm Inc among those announcing billions of dollars in sales to China. [L3N1NF2IA] But Qualcomm s agreement to sell $12 billion worth of components to three Chinese mobile phone makers over three years is non-binding, and critics say such public announcements are sometimes more show than substance. This shows that we have a strong, vibrant bilateral economic relationship, and yet we still need to focus on leveling the playing field because U.S. companies continue to be disadvantaged doing business in China, said William Zarit, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. Trump railed against China s trade practices during the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and threatened to take action once in office. But he has since held back on any major trade penalties, making clear he was doing so to give Beijing time to make progress reining in North Korea. A U.S. official said both sides were in sync about wanting to minimize friction during the visit and recreate the positive tone of the April summit. Trump was not expected to put much emphasis in his talks with Xi on thorny issues such as the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan, claimed by China as its own, although the leaders aides may deal with those matters privately, the official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. China has repeatedly pushed back at suggestions it should be doing more to rein in North Korea, which does about 90 percent of its trade with China, saying it is fully enforcing U.N. sanctions and that everyone has a responsibility to lower tension and get talks back on track. (This story was refiled to restore dropped word in paragraph 16.) | 0fake |
Comprehensive international resolve key to terror fight: Iran FM | Politics Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a news conference after a meeting with his counterparts Walid al-Muallem from Syria and Sergei Lavrov from Russia in Moscow, Russia, on October 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says comprehensive international determination is necessary to fight and uproot terrorism in the Middle East.
The Iranian foreign minister made the remarks at the end of a three-way meeting among him and his Russian and Syrian counterparts, Sergei Lavrov and Walid al-Muallem respectively, in Moscow on Friday on the latest situation in Syria.
Zarif said Tehran, Moscow and Damascus should reinforce their cooperation in the campaign against terrorism.
He stressed the importance of adopting strategies to stop the delivery of weapons and military equipment to the foreign-backed Takfiri militants wreaking havoc in Syria.
“The political settlement of the crisis in Syria will be possible through negotiations between the sides in order to put an end to this crisis,” Zarif said.
The three foreign ministers agreed to intensify the fight against terrorism and said their countries have a common stance on the anti-terror campaign in the region, particularly in Syria.
Lavrov said Iran, Russia and Syria have determined necessary frameworks for fighting terrorism and expressed their readiness to take measures that will play a key role in the campaign against the malicious phenomenon.
The Russian foreign minister added that the Moscow meeting highlighted the significance of a firm and efficient battle against terrorism in the Middle East, particularly in Syria.
He said the meeting’s participants also discussed ways to send humanitarian aid to civilians in Syria and stop the flow of weapons into the hands of terrorists operating in the war-hit country.
Muallem, for his part, said the US is making no effort to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.
The Syrian foreign minister added that a recent agreement between Washington and Moscow, signed in the Swiss city of Geneva in September, failed to bear any fruit.
After marathon talks in Geneva, US Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart reached an agreement on September 10 to impose a ceasefire in the Syrian city of Aleppo and to coordinate military operations against terrorist groups in the country.
Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, remains divided between government forces in the west and foreign-backed terrorists in the east, making it a frontline battleground.
Russia, which has been conducting an aerial military campaign against extremist militants in Syria, has repeatedly voiced its readiness for a ceasefire. Russia has been insisting, however, that any such lull in fighting should be accompanied with a meticulous separation of terrorists from less extremist militants fighting against the Syrian government.
The Syrian foreign minister said Washington is not interested in solving the crisis in Damascus and takes measures only to serve the its own interests and those of its regional allies.
Since March 2011, Syria has been hit by militancy it blames on some Western states and their regional allies. Backed by the Russian air cover, the Syrian military is engaged in an operation to rid the country of Daesh and other terrorist groups.
The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura have put the death toll from the Syria conflict at more than 300,000 and 400,000, respectively.
This is while the UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.
Over the past few weeks, the Syrian forces have wrested control of several areas across the war-torn country as they press ahead with their counter-terrorism operations.
Iran, Russia share strong anti-terror stance: Zarif
Meanwhile, in a meeting with his Russian counterpart earlier on Friday, the Iranian foreign minister said Tehran and Moscow have “tough stances in the fight against terrorism in the region through common strategies.”
“Tehran and Moscow have broad cooperation on regional issues such as the campaign against terrorism and extremism and we share views [on these matters],” Zarif added. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) speaks with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on October 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)
He also noted that Iran and Russia have succeeded in making considerable progress in all fields including in economic and political sectors as well as regional and international developments.
"I am pleased that in recent years relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation, as two good neighbors and two key players, have made many positive developments,” Zarif said.
Lavrov, for his part, said Tehran and Moscow urged cooperation on an unrelenting approach to terrorists operating against the Syrian government.
Iran and Russia have similar stances on the ongoing deadly crisis in Syria. Moscow and Tehran reject any foreign interference in the affairs of the war-hit country, stressing that only the Syrians are entitled to decide their own fate.
Iran has been providing military advisory assistance to the Syrian government in its campaign against terrorism. Loading ... | 1real |
Donald Trump’s TRILLION Dollar Bombshell | 21st Century Wire says Is this the biggest new nugget to be found in Trump s joint address from last night?In the following video, Stuart J. Hooper examines Trump s promise to ask Congress for a one trillion dollar fund to rebuild America s infrastructure.Is it possible that this will create millions of jobs? But what of the potential problems that might emerge from the fact that it will be a public-private partnership? Let us know in the comments below.Watch the video here: READ MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
Hillary Is 70 Days Away From Controlling All Food and Water | Hillary Is 70 Days Away From Controlling All Food and Water
If Clinton is elected, Obama will hand her the power of a dictator.
Upon Inauguration Day, Clinton will have the power to to the following:
As President, Hillary Clinton Would Have the Power to Enact Slave Labor
According to EO 13603, the President, or the head of any federal agency that he shall designate, can conscript “persons of outstanding experience and ability without compensation,” in both “peacetime and times of national emergency.” I can hear the Obama supporters now as they will write to me and say, “Obama would never do that, you are drinking from the Kool-Aid”. Well, here it is, you can read it for yourself.
Sec. 502. Consultants. The head of each agency otherwise delegated functions under this order is delegated the authority of the President under sections 710(b) and (c) of the Act, 50 U.S.C. App. 2160(b), (c), to employ persons of outstanding experience and ability without compensation and to employ experts, consultants, or organizations. The authority delegated by this section may not be redelegated. Hillary Will Have the Power to Nationalize All American Food and Food Production
Through Executive Order 13603, Obama has granted himself the authority control all food and now has the unique ability to starve America into submission as it relates to his handing the country off to the bankers in the name of perpetuating the New World Order and ridding the planet of the weak and those who will not willingly go along with the intentional destruction of America. Here are some of the key provisions of EO 13603 and its impact on the control of the American food supply.
With the stroke of his pen, Obama has total and absolute control over all food where his EO 13603 states: e) “Food resources” means all commodities and products, (simple, mixed, or compound), or complements to such commodities or products, that are capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals, irrespective of other uses to which such commodities or products may be put, at all stages of processing from the raw commodity to the products thereof in vendible form for human or animal consumption. “Food resources” also means potable water packaged in commercially marketable containers, all starches, sugars, vegetable and animal or marine fats and oils, seed, cotton, hemp, and flax fiber, but does not mean any such material after it loses its identity as an agricultural commodity or agricultural product.
(f) “Food resource facilities” means plants, machinery, vehicles (including on farm), and other facilities required for the production, processing, distribution, and storage (including cold storage) of food resources, and for the domestic distribution of farm equipment and fertilizer…”
This unconstitutional EO is particularly disturbing in that it clearly states that the government has control over anything that is “capable of being ingested by either human beings or animals…” If you thought that you and Fido were going to get through the coming food crisis by storing and consuming dog food, think again.
It is important to assess how devastating this Executive Order could prove to be to the American people though a brief assessment of America’s food vulnerability.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Listen to Dave Hodges describe just how dangerous Clinton could be if elected. | 1real |
Spicer to Reporter: ’We’re Going to Raise Our Hands Like Big Boys and Girls’ - Breitbart | Thursday at the White House press briefing, press secretary Sean Spicer rebuked New York Times reporter Glenn Thrush for yelling out a question. When Thrush tried to shout out a question Spicer said, “Glenn, this isn’t a TV program … OK? You don’t get to just yell out questions. We’re going to raise our hands like big boys and girls. Because it’s not your job to just yell out questions. ” Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN | 0fake |
Inside Kasich's long-shot strategy to beat Trump to the GOP nomination | HEATH, Ohio (Reuters) - Microphone in hand, Republican John Kasich promised the crowd inside a high-tech Ohio factory Saturday that he’ll never be beholden to Washington insiders if he wins the White House in November. But as he zigzags across the state before Ohio’s GOP primary on Tuesday - emboldened by polls showing him edging ahead of rival Donald Trump - Kasich may soon need all the Washington insiders he can get. Behind the scenes, strategists for Kasich, the Ohio governor, are studying arcane party rules that they believe could offer a path to the Republican nomination if he wins his home state, his aides said. It is a long-shot strategy, both for Kasich and the anti-Trump forces inside the party. But if fellow GOP candidate Marco Rubio loses his own state of Florida on Tuesday - as polls predict - a surge by Kasich may be the only viable strategy for Republicans looking to stop Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. A loss by Rubio, a senator, will almost certainly end his struggling candidacy. If Trump wins both Ohio and Florida, the New York real estate mogul’s march to the nomination will be all but assured. The Kasich camp sees a Rubio loss in Florida opening up a different possibility – the first contested convention held by either party since 1952. “The plan is to win Ohio, and some other states, and if that happens, nobody is going to have enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot,” said John Weaver, Kasich’s chief campaign strategist, who also worked on Republican Senator John McCain’s losing presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008. Kasich supporters are betting that an Ohio win will give his candidacy its first real momentum, attracting donors and endorsements. From there, he could score more victories in upcoming primaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut and California, states where Kasich polls favorably. He has almost no hope of winning enough delegates to secure the nomination outright. But if he can succeed in blocking Trump from getting a majority, Kasich can make a case to convention delegates that he is more electable than Trump or Ted Cruz, the conservative evangelical from Texas and, to date, Trump’s most successful Republican rival. To become the nominee who faces Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders — the two leading Democrat candidates — a Republican needs to win a majority of the 2,472 Republican delegates. Trump is leading, with 460, followed by Cruz with 370, Rubio at 163 and Kasich at 63. If no candidate reaches that threshold by the close of the last primary on June 7, then the convention will almost certainly be contested — a historical rarity that would signal deep party rifts. 1940 CONVENTIONKasich’s aides are looking to history as a guide, particularly Wendell Willkie’s path to 1940 Republican nomination. That year, three leading candidates – Robert Taft, Thomas Dewey and Arthur Vandenberg – each arrived at the convention without enough delegates to win. Willkie - a businessman and former Democrat who had never before run for public office - opposed the Republican Party’s isolationists and was a supporter of Great Britain’s war efforts. His cause gained momentum after the Nazi blitzkrieg in Europe in May 1940. At the convention, after six ballots, delegates in Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan deserted other candidates and switched to Willkie, giving him victory. Trump, Cruz and Kasich could face the same scenario this year, which would force to them to lobby delegates on the convention floor until one emerged with a majority. The Kasich campaign and Republican elites – many of whom have a distaste for both Trump and Cruz – are planning for just such a scenario, Weaver said. But because it has been more than a half century since the last brokered convention, he said, “Nobody knows exactly how this works.” Despite 18 years as a Republican congressman, and now six as Ohio governor, Kasich has cast himself as a Washington outsider in hopes of tapping the anti-establishment mood that has fueled Trump’s once-improbable front-runner status. “Guess what? The establishment is afraid of me because I don’t take orders from anybody over there,” Kasich said in a recent television interview. At other times, he appears to revel in his Washington experience. “I took on Washington and I won. I actually got the budget balanced when I was a member of the Congress,” he said in a March 11 debate. The Republican establishment is watching Kasich and Ohio’s Tuesday primary closely, said Charlie Black, a Republican strategist and a former adviser to Mitt Romney, the Republican 2012 presidential nominee, who recently blasted Trump’s campaign. “A lot of people who do not want Trump have been sitting back to see how Kasich and Rubio do in their home states on Tuesday,” he said. “If Kasich wins, I think he’ll see a pick-up in donors, and in help from members of the party.” Ford O’Connell, a Republican strategist not affiliated with any presidential candidate, expects Kasich to face a tough battle even if he wins Ohio. “But for some of these anti-Trump voters, if they can get Kasich to a contested convention, they see that as their best hope of blocking Trump.” Until now, the relationship between Kasich and party elites has been prickly. On Feb. 21, the Rubio campaign had released a memo calling for Kasich to quit the race, while a string of party insiders endorsed Rubio as the “establishment” candidate most likely to defeat Trump. That’s changing. After the Republican presidential debate in Florida last week, Kasich flew on Friday morning to Lima, Ohio, for an event with voters. As he landed, he and aides switched on their phones and saw emails telling them that Rubio adviser Alex Conant had just publicly urged voters in Ohio who wanted to stop Trump to vote for Kasich instead of Rubio, according to several aides. “We were not expecting them to do that,” said a Kasich campaign spokesman, Chris Schrimpf. | 0fake |
Man Without Shirt Was Shivering On Train, What Happens Next Restores Faith In Humanity (VIDEO) | Sometimes in life, with all the negativity that seems to saturate our media outlets, it s important to be reminded that there are still extraordinarily kind human beings still out there. One great example of this could be found in a recently taken video on a New York City subway train.NYC in the winter can be brutal. It s even more brutal if you re homeless and don t have much of anything to your name, including the necessary items of clothing to stay warm. On one subway train a man was without a shirt and visibly shivering as he sat by himself. However, what happened next was absolutely breathtaking.Another subway passenger strips down and takes off his shirt. At this point you can see this is where the video recording of the event begins. The man walks over to the man without a shirt, and not only offers him the shirt off his back, but also helps him put it on. And he didn t stop there. He went back and got his warm stocking cap and placed it on the downtrodden man s head.This good samaritan s name is Joey Resto, and according to ABC news: [He] was taking the downtown A train to his home in Brooklyn after work this past Friday when he noticed a homeless man without a shirt shivering from the cold. At the time, temperatures in the city were hovering around 45 degrees. Resto said: He looked cold, hungry like he had just gotten beat up He looked so weak and frail. I had to help him, or he would not put it on. It just came from the heart. I don t know how anyone could have walked past him and had extra clothing and not given it to him. On top of everything he did, Resto still wishes he could have done more, and maybe had something warmer to offer him.Not everyone is the type of person to do what seems so innately right. Many stand by and watch as others suffer, but then there are people like Joey Resto who did what he could, no matter how big or little, to make someone else s existence just a little bit better. Well done. // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ <span class="mceItemHidden" data-mce-bogus="1"><span></span>(function(d, s, id) { var js, <span class="mceItemHidden" data-mce-bogus="1"><span class="hiddenSpellError" pre="" data-mce-bogus="1">fjs</span></span> = 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"; <span class="hiddenSpellError" pre="" data-mce-bogus="1">fjs</span>.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', '<span class="hiddenSpellError" pre="" data-mce-bogus="1">facebook-jssdk</span>')); // ]]>WATCH: Good samaritan gives shirt off his back to shivering homeless man on NYC train: abcn.ws/22Xc9pLPosted by Good Morning America on Tuesday, January 12, 2016Video/Featured image: Facebook | 1real |
Boy Scouts of America apologizes for Trump's 'political rhetoric' | NEW YORK (Reuters) - The head of the Boy Scouts of America apologized to members of the youth organization on Thursday for the “political rhetoric that was inserted” into its national gathering this week by U.S. President Donald Trump. “I want to extend my sincere apologies to those in our Scouting family who were offended by the political rhetoric that was inserted into the jamboree,” Michael Surbaugh wrote in an open letter published on the Scouts’ website. “That was never our intent.” He said that every U.S. president, who serves as the Scouts’ honorary president, has been invited to speak at the national jamborees held every four years since 1937, but that the Scouts were nonetheless “steadfastly” non-partisan. “We sincerely regret that politics were inserted into the Scouting program,” Surbaugh wrote. He said there were 40,000 participants, including Boy Scouts, volunteers, staff and visitors. Trump, a Republican, started his speech before thousands of boys aged 12 to 18 in a West Virginia field on Monday evening lauding hard work and perseverance, then quickly turned to partisan attacks and ridicule of “fake media”. He attacked Democratic rivals, lambasted the current healthcare law and reminisced about a cocktail party he went to decades ago filled with “the hottest people in New York.” Trump’s speech drew intense criticism from former Scouts, parents of Scouts and others, with many saying the speech was not in keeping with Scout values and inappropriate. While many Scouting families expressed outrage, a few said the reaction was overblown, arguing that exposure to political speech in all forms was an important part of a Scout’s development. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said she had not seen Surbaugh’s letter of apology, and said she attended the event. “I saw nothing but roughly 40,000 to 45,000 Boy Scouts cheering the president on throughout his remarks and I think they were pretty excited that he was there,” Sanders said. | 0fake |
OBAMA FAN CLUB PRESIDENT GEORGE CLOONEY Tells France: “There’s Not Going To Be A President Trump” [VIDEO] | There s nothing quite like an arrogant actor who lives in Europe, supports Hillary, blames the press for making Trump popular, and for not properly vetting him, while hanging out at the White House with the least vetted President in American history.George Clooney is making his disdain for Donald Trump known not just here in the United States but also overseas.The actor was interviewed by members of the international press at the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday afternoon, and took some time to share with them his opinion of Trump. There s not going to be a President Donald Trump, said Clooney, who held a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton last month in Los Angeles where tickets reportedly went for $353,400 per couple. That s not going to happen. Fear is not going to be something that drives our country. We re not going to be scared of Muslims or immigrants or women. We re not actually afraid of anything. That whole We re not afraid of Muslims thing ought to go over pretty well with the victims and families of victims who have been attacked in Paris twice over the past couple of years. Tell that to French residents who live in or near no-go-zones George. Of course, you wouldn t know, because you have the best security detail money can buy hypocrite!Clooney, who was on the Croisette to promote his film Money Monster, went on to say; Trump is actually a result in many ways of the fact that much of the news programs didn t follow up and ask tough questions. Via: Daily Mail | 1real |
JUST IN: JUDICIAL WATCH Claims Comey’s FBI Hid and “Blacked Out” Records Of Secret Loretta Lynch Meeting With Bill Clinton On Tarmac | Remember when President Barack Obama s Attorney General Loretta Lynch just happened to get a surprise visit in Phoenix, while on the tarmac at the airport, from the husband of the Democrat candidate for President, former President Bill Clinton? Have Americans already forgotten, that the secret meeting between Lynch and Bill Clinton took place only hours before the DOJ was about to release their report on Benghazi? Remember when Loretta Lynch told the media that their secret meeting was primarily social and was mostly about grandchildren and golf? Primarily? Watch:As previously reported by Gateway Pundit, Judicial Watch forced the FBI to admit it has 30 new documents related to the infamous Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting in mid-October.This is after the FBI originally told Judicial Watch they couldn t locate any records related to the tarmac meeting.Fitton blasted the FBI! The FBI is out of control. It is stunning that the FBI found these Clinton-Lynch tarmac records only after we caught the agency hiding them in another lawsuit. Judicial Watch will continue to press for answers about the FBI s document games in court. In the meantime, the FBI should stop the stonewall and release these new records immediately. Previous tarmac meeting documents released were redacted by the DOJ not Obama s DOJ, Trump s DOJ under Jeff Sessions! The talking points are completely blacked out you heard that right. They re blacked out. Again, they weren t blacked out by Attorney General Lynch, they weren t blacked out by James Comey, they weren t blacked out by Barack Obama. They were blacked out by the Justice Department run by Attorney General Sessions, an appointee of President Trump. Isn t that outrageous? Today, Judicial Watch president, Tom Fitton blasted James Comey, and the FBI for lying about the documents they were hiding about the Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting on Twitter:FBI Hid Clinton/Lynch Tarmac Meeting Records. But the cover-up begins to end thanks to @JudicialWatch the day after tomorrow. @RealDonaldTrump needs to clean house at FBI/DOJ. https://t.co/tytBp28sYL Tom Fitton (@TomFitton) November 28, 2017 | 1real |
Ted Nugent Reveals The Most Anti-American Thing There Is – Prepare To Laugh Hysterically (AUDIO) | What s the most anti-American thing someone can do besides vote for Donald Trump in November? Apparently, right-wing freak Ted Nugent has the answer to that question, and it s something every American should hear. Speaking with conservative radio host Joe Pags, he tells us: There is nothing more anti-American than the freaks that hate me, and when MoveOn.org, Media Matters, Southern Poverty Law Center, Rachel Maddow and MSNBC lie and spew their hate towards me, it s because I stand with the best families in America. The man certainly thinks a lot of himself, doesn t he? One might have thought there was no more room in this country for egos, what with Donald Trump s ego growing miles by the minute after officially locking up the GOP nomination, but one would be wrong. It takes a lot of ego and chutzpah for Ted Nugent to say that the most anti-American thing imaginable is hating him.He says that the NRA is not a gun lobby during this interview, too. What is it, then? Nugent says it s mom-and-pop family America, and is standing up for the most fundamental instinct and God-given individual right that self-defense (i.e. owning guns) is good. Har de har har. Only Nugent can fit this much nonsense into one interview.He also rages against Hillary Clinton and Bernie Mao Tse Tung Sanders about wanting to push gun owners down, and he talks about how he s right all the time if so many people have to hate on him so much. Listen to him toss a major word salad below:[soundcloud url= https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/266047509 params= color=ff5500 width= 100% height= 166 iframe= true /]Let s look at Nugent for a moment. He s incredibly ammosexual in fact, he was just re-elected as a board member of the NRA, despite the fact that many of the NRA s members aren t nearly as crazy as Nugent is. Nugent thinks that anybody who even criticizes the NRA just wants to help criminals.Before President Obama was elected, he said that he would either be dead or imprisoned within two weeks of winning the election. That hasn t happened yet, but the Secret Service took it as a threat against Obama and investigated it. He also referred to a lawmaker of mixed-race heritage as a subhuman mongrel. We must acknowledge, however, that Ted Nugent is a patriot among patriots a word that s been usurped and twisted by the far right to only apply to white supremacists who love guns, fetuses and the Bible. They hate the poor, along with starving children and anyone who thinks helping others is a good thing. He s a true patriot, except for that time he dodged the Vietnam draft by pooping in his pants every day. Or so he said.But to say that the most anti-American thing out there is to hate Ted Nugent is over the top, even for him. This man suffers from delusions of grandeur that we don t even see in Donald Trump for the most part.Featured image by Jeff Swensen/Stringer/Getty Images | 1real |
WATCH: Black Vanderbilt Professor Exposes The REAL RACISTS In “The Inconvenient Truth About The Democrat Party” | Why is the media not asking why Democrats are so hell-bent on vandalizing, protesting and destroying Confederate monuments, when they themselves, are the political party responsible for slavery in America? They so passionately believed in enslaving blacks, that they were willing to send their fathers and sons to war to ensure that blacks would remain slaves in the South.Americans need to ask themselves why the media never mentions that the Democrats are the party responsible for slavery when they make them out to be some sort of heroes for attempting to whitewash (pun intended) an important part of our American history. In the video below, Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain brilliantly lays out the truth about the Democrat Party and how they have fought for decades to keep blacks down in America. | 1real |
Syrian Air Base Trump Spent $80 Million Attacking Yesterday Already Up And On Bombing Raids Again | The Syrian air base Trump spent $80 million bombing yesterday is reportedly back in business. It s been less than 24 hours.According to Syrian human rights observers, warplanes were seen using the airbase as part of their attacks on anti-government forces near Homs.Reuters:Syrian warplanes took off from an air base which was hit by U.S. cruise missiles on Friday, and carried out air strikes on rebel-held areas in the eastern Homs countryside, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Trump received praise from right-wing politicians and media pundits giddy at the idea of another war for his decisive blow to the Syrian regime. Instead, it appears the attack did very little to undermine Assad s military.It did, however, escalate tensions in the region and inflame military posturing from Iran and Russia. According to Russian officials, the country will begin shipping anti-aircraft weapons into Syria in direct response to Trump s attack. A Russian war ship has also positioned itself near the two U.S. vessels responsible for firing the tomahawk missiles into Syria.Trump s attack on the Syrian air base had a staggering price tag. The guy who claimed America couldn t afford to pay for Meals on Wheels spent an estimated $60-80 million on the rockets alone. The entire cost for the military action is likely much higher.The attack itself was largely an empty gesture provocative but meaningless. Trump warned Russia ahead of time (in order to allow Russian soldiers to leave the battlefield). The Russians tipped off the Syrians, who also evacuated before the first missile touched down. One estimate put the death toll at eight. It s not entirely clear if the real number is even that high.As for Trump, his motivation seemed clear: Publicity. A few years ago, Trump even hinted that this might be his response to sagging approval numbers when he projected his own insecurities onto then president Obama.Now that Obama s poll numbers are in tailspin watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2012Trump, desperate and angry, suddenly thinks attacking Syria is an important military action. Surprise, surprise.Featured image via Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images | 1real |
OBAMA’S RACE WAR BACKFIRES: Shocking Number Of Students Chose NOT To Attend U Of Missouri After Black Lives Matter Tantrums | The University Of Missouri students, and many on the faculty joined Obama s race war in November, 2015. Together, they began a PR campaign to ensure black students were guaranteed special treatment on campus that would only be afforded to them. Of course white students who ve been ovewhelmed by White guilt, (thanks to professors and teachers who make it their business to shame students for being born white) joined the cause to help relieve them of the burden they carry, as a result of their ancestors crimes. As a side note, it makes no difference if you just became a citizen last year. If you re white and live in America you re guilty! We covered the Black Lives Matter protests at Mizzou extensively. We told you about Dr. Dale Brigham, a beloved University of Missouri professor, who resigned after he refused to cancel a school exam during the Mizzou hunger strike and athlete s boycott. We showed you a DISTURBING VIDEO of an innocent Asian reporter who was bullied by Black Lives Matter protestors while attempting to cover the hunger strike of a not-so-poor oppressed student, who we exposed as the son of a multi-millionaire railroad executive. We reported about the Mizzou teacher who assaulted a reporter. We exposed the spoiled and self-centered behavior of the students involved in this divisive movement, when they admonished the world for caring more about the Paris terror attacks than their plight for justice. And finally, we reported about a highly recruited football player who after watching the hateful, divisive rhetoric being spewed by the professors and students at Mizzou decided to decline their offer to play football. This was the first step in the unravelling of the University Of Missouri.Here are a few of the tweets we saw from protestors and supporters claiming victory in their fight for justice :Protest works y'all. Proof. We know where the power lies. #ConcernedStudent1950 Brian Kennedy II (@BrianEKennedy2) November 9, 2015The #ConcernedStudent1950 protest at @mucampusdining Plaza 900 earlier today. pic.twitter.com/ryEJ82uqSe Anurag Chandran( ) (@AnuragRC) November 7, 2015To have the university system president to resign, that's huge! Wow great work #ConcernedStudent1950 other schools are on notice! Antifa Jackson (@dthom24) November 9, 2015Jump to March, 2016, to see what the Black Lives Matter students and professors were able to accomplish for the good of the University:University of Missouri (MU) is losing about 1500 students and is facing a huge $32 million budget shortfall four months after it attracted national attention as the site of massive race-based campus protests. I am writing to you today to confirm that we project a very significant budget shortfall due to an unexpected sharp decline in first-year enrollments and student retention this coming fall. I wish I had better news, said MU interim chancellor Hank Foley in a Wednesday letter to school staff that was obtained by Fox Sports.According to Foley s letter, MU will have about 1500 fewer students in fall 2016 compared to last year, an unexpected drop that is in turn causing a big dip in the school s tuition income.Because of the abrupt and unexpected nature of the shortfall, Foley is taking immediate and severe steps to fix the situation: The school budget is being cut 5 percent across the board, all hiring is being frozen (barring exceptional circumstances), and annual raises have been canceled. | 1real |
Jeb Bush BLASTS Steve King’s Anti-Immigrant Racism In Awesome Twitter Burn | Representative Steve King ( R-Iowa) is a notorious racist. On Sunday, he came under fire for xenophobic comments suggesting that immigration is bad for America and western civilization, and on Monday, he doubled down on those comments. He has even said that non-white people have historically contributed nothing to the building of western civilization and values. Here is what King tweeted this weekend:Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies. https://t.co/4nxLipafWO Steve King (@SteveKingIA) March 12, 2017Well, there is condemnation of these comments coming from one surprising place a fellow Republican. Former presidential candidate, Florida Governor, and relative of two previous Republican presidents Jeb Bush seems to have had enough of Steve King s racist statements. Jeb took to Twitter on Monday and said that King s remarks in no way reflect our shared history or values. Here is the tweet:America is a nation of immigrants. The sentiment expressed by Steve King doesn't reflect our shared history or values. https://t.co/msydFudA7m Jeb Bush (@JebBush) March 13, 2017I never thought I d be saying this, but Jeb Bush is right. America is a nation of immigrants. We celebrate immigration and diversity. Our differences make us stronger, not weaker. Steve King is a stone cold racist, and should not be in the United States Congress. This is not the first time this man has come under fire for racist remarks, and surely it will not be the last. A person who holds such contempt for our fundamental American values does not belong in Congress. People of Iowa, please vote this racist yahoo out in the next election.Mr. Bush, thank you for speaking up for what is right. Now, how long will it take for Republicans in elected office to do the same? I m waiting.Featured image via Sean Rayford/Getty Images | 1real |
Dan Rather Blasts GOP For Protecting Trump, Gives Them A Tongue Lashing They’ll Never Forget (VIDEO) | Legendary journalist Dan Rather has become a major critic of Donald Trump and the GOP, and if there s anyone who should be commenting on the firing of FBI Director James Comey, it s him.On MSNBC s Hardball with Chris Matthews, Rather weighed in on Trump s shady behavior in firing Comey right as the Russia investigation was heating up. In his appearance, Rather said he wanted the Republican Party to take a good look at themselves and figure out why they refused to hold Trump accountable when it s blatantly obvious that this is a cover-up.In speaking with Matthews, Rather called Trump s termination of Comey a smoke screen and stated that the Russia scandal needs to be done by an independent commission with a special prosecutor, which many people are calling for. Rather said: [The Comey firing], it s smoke screen, it s cover. I ll be very surprised if it fools very many among the American people. What s needed here are some Republican leaders. Republicans have the White House, they have the Supreme Court, they have the Congress. This is going to require some Republican officeholders with guts who say to themselves, I want the Trump administration to succeed, I want my party to succeed, but more importantly, I want to do what s good for the country. And they know, in that secret place behind their hearts that what s good for the country is an independent, bipartisan commission with a special prosecutor. Rather has always nailed it when it comes to analyzing Trump, and he did it again. It s obvious that Comey s firing was meant to be a distraction, and everyone seems to acknowledge this except for the GOP. The Republican Party s tendency to look the other way and protect their own is hurting the country and will have serious consequences if something is not done immediately.The best thing Republicans can do now is act like grown ups and forget about getting one over on the Democrats so that Trump s issues can be dealt with. America s democracy cannot be played with, and should not be compromised because the GOP refuses to work with others. If they cannot, an independent commission is America s only hope for Trump to be held accountable.You can watch Rather tear the GOP to shreds below:Dan Rather to Republicans: Show some guts and hold Trump accountable for this cover-up pic.twitter.com/lcbgSMldV5 Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) May 10, 2017Featured image via Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images | 1real |
When the FBI Has a Phone It Can’t Crack, It Calls These Israeli Hackers | When the FBI Has a Phone It Can’t Crack, It Calls These Israeli Hackers Source: The Intercept
Earlier this year, at the height of a very public battle between the FBI and Apple over whether the computer maker would help decrypt a mass murderer’s locked iPhone, it appeared that a little-known, 17-year-old Israeli firm named Cellebrite Mobile Synchronization might finally get its moment in the spotlight.
After weeks of insisting that only Apple could help the feds unlock the phone of San Bernardino killer Syed Rizwan Farook, the Justice Department suddenly revealed that a third party had provided a way to get into the device. Speculation swirled around the identity of that party until an Israeli newspaper reported it was Cellebrite.
It turns out the company was not the third party that helped the FBI. A Cellebrite representative said as much during a panel discussion at a high-tech crimes conference in Minnesota this past April, according to a conference attendee who spoke with The Intercept. And sources who spoke with the Washington Post earlier this year also ruled out Cellebrite’s involvement, though Yossi Carmil, one of Cellebrite’s CEOs, declined to comment on the matter when asked by The Intercept.
But the attention around the false report obscured a bigger, more interesting truth: Cellebrite’s researchers have become, over the last decade, the FBI’s go-to hackers for mobile forensics. Many other federal agencies also rely on the company’s expertise to get into mobile devices. Cellebrite has contracts with the FBI going back to 2009, according to federal procurement records, but also with the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Secret Service, and DHS’s Customs and Border Protection. U.S. state and local law enforcement agencies use Cellebrite’s researchers and tools as well, as does the U.S. military, to extract data from phones seized from suspected terrorists and others in battle zones.
The company is poised to seize a prominent and somewhat ominous place in the public imagination; just as Apple has come to be seen as a warrior for digital protection and privacy against overreaching government surveillance, Cellebrite is emerging as its law-and-order counterpart, endeavoring to build tools to break through the barriers Apple and other phone makers erect to protect data.
“Vendors … are implementing more and more security features into their product, and that’s definitely challenging for us,” says Shahar Tal, director of research at Cellebrite. “But we’ve solved these challenges before [and] we continue to solve these challenges today.”
In July, months after the unknown third party provided the FBI with a method for getting into the San Bernardino phone — an iPhone 5C running iOS 9 — Cellebrite announced that it had developed its own technique for bypassing the phone’s password/encryption lock. And the company is confident that it will be able to deal successfully with future security changes Apple may make to its phones in the wake of the San Bernardino case. | 1real |
Joe Biden Unleashes On Donald Trump: He ‘Just Makes Me Sad’ | Republican front runner Donald Trump makes himself easy to hate. If he doesn t turn people off with his lack of policies, inexperience and complete lack of knowledge about how the world works, he ll steer Americans away with his racism, bigotry, misogyny and vulgar rhetoric. Most of the Republican party wants nothing to do with him, and Trump has been repeatedly called out by Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Even President Barack Obama can t help but speak against the candidate. Now, Vice President Joe Biden has joined the conversation, stating that listening to Trump makes him sad. In an interview published on Wednesday, Billboard asked Biden how he felt about Trump by posing the question, Do you ever hear Donald Trump speak and think, Boy, I would love to debate that guy ? Biden replied: When I listen to some of the stuff Donald Trump says it just makes me sad. It s never, never been wise to try and appeal to the darker side of human nature. Abraham Lincoln was right it s about appealing to our better angels. That s who Americans are and that s what they want. Billboard s interview with the Vice President was focused around his legacy of ending violence against women and sexual assaults on school campuses around the country. Biden, who (along with Obama) has been heavily involved in initiatives to bring awareness around this cause (such as the launch of the It s On Us campaign in 2014), and said he found it disconcerting to see Trump encouraging his supporters to be aggressive. Of Trump s habit of egging violent behavior on, Biden said: It not only undermines the work that President Obama and I have done it undermines the work a majority of Republicans and Democrats have done. It is the antithesis of everything this country is about. Biden s remarks on violence against women couldn t be better timed, as Trump s supporters have just made headlines for groping and pepper spraying a 15-year-old girl at a rally in Wisconsin. Trump s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was also arrested yesterday for physically assaulting a female reporter. They re obviously learning from the best Trump has made endless misogynistic attacks on women, and basically every minority in America.Biden has made his disapproval of Donald Trump known many times before. Last month, during an official visit to Mexico, Biden said that he almost felt obliged to apologize for Trump s anti-immigrant rhetoric, in which the front runner called immigrants rapists and drug dealers. At the American Israel Public Affairs Committee s policy conference earlier this month, Biden also took on Trump s anti-Israel comments and slammed the business mogul for targeting religious groups and minorities. He said: It is incumbent on all of us to stand up to those who would peddle in pernicious stereotypes, who seek to scare and divide us. The future belongs to the bridge builders, not the wall builders. Featured image via Getty Images / Drew Angerer | 1real |
Hariri says Gulf states not planning measures against Lebanon | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri said on Thursday Gulf Arab countries were planning no action against Lebanon after a political crisis last month thrust it onto the front line of rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Hariri has been a political ally of Saudi Arabia but his coalition government includes Lebanon s powerful Shi ite Muslim Hezbollah group, an ally of Shi ite Iran and sworn enemy of Sunni Muslim Riyadh. Last month s political crisis, sparked when Hariri announced his resignation while in Saudi Arabia, raised fear in Lebanon that Riyadh and its Gulf allies would take economic action against the tiny Mediterranean country. In an interview broadcast from Riyadh before he returned to Lebanon and rescinded his resignation, Hariri warned of possible Gulf sanctions on Lebanon and of a threat to the livelihood of Lebanese workers in Gulf states. His remarks on Thursday seemed aimed at reassuring that no such action was in the cards. This is not going to happen. I assure you we have the best relationship with Saudi Arabia, we have a very good relationship with the UAE, and most of the Gulf, he said at a business conference. The Gulf has a problem with one political party in Lebanon and does not have a problem with the whole of Lebanon, Hariri added, alluding to Hezbollah. | 0fake |
Fleeing Gangs, Central American Families Surge Toward U.S. - The New York Times | TAPACHULA, Mexico — Leaving El Salvador had never been in Alberto’s plans. He and his wife had stable jobs and supportive friends and relatives, and their five children were happy. But a local gang tried to recruit one of Alberto’s sons as a drug mule and beat him up when he resisted, the family said. A gang leader approached his daughter, then 10 years old, and told her that he was going to make her his girlfriend. Then Alberto and his family received a phone call threatening to kill them if they did not turn over the children for the gang’s use. The corpse of a boy even appeared on the street in front of their house. The family fled north, taking only what it could carry. “We can’t just hand them over to the gang,” Alberto said of his children, sitting with his family in a shelter in Tapachula, a small Mexican city near the Guatemalan border. (Like other migrants interviewed, Alberto and his family asked that their last name not be used, fearing their persecutors could find them.) Gang violence in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala has conspired with economic desperation to drive an unrelenting exodus of migrants, including entire families, seeking safety in other countries, mainly the United States. Despite efforts to tighten regional borders and address the root causes of the exodus, American and international officials say the migration numbers have soared in the past year. “It’s really a refugee crisis,” said Perrine Leclerc, the head of the field office for the United Nations refugee agency in Tapachula. In the 2016 fiscal year, which ended in September, nearly 409, 000 migrants were caught trying to cross the southwestern border of the United States illegally, a 23 percent increase over the previous fiscal year, according to statistics released by the Obama administration. Officials said the increase reflected the growing number of people heading north, not any sweeping changes in enforcement. The trend continued through October, according to figures released Thursday by American immigration officials: More than 46, 000 people were caught last month on the southwestern border, up from about 39, 500 in September. The recent flow has been particularly notable for the unusual number of Central American migrants traveling in family groups. In the most recent fiscal year, about 77, 700 migrants caught on the southwestern American border were traveling in families, nearly twice as many as were detained in families the previous year. About 91 percent of all those migrants were from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, a region known as the Northern Triangle. As part of his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump promised an unforgiving approach to illegal immigration, including building a wall along the border with Mexico and stepping up deportations beyond even President Obama’s record removal rates. Now, among the array of immigration challenges he will face upon taking office, Mr. Trump will have to contend with this surge of migrants, an issue that has overwhelmed not only American border officials but also governments throughout the region. Some American officials have floated the theory that families may be migrating together in the hope that adults will have a better chance of avoiding detention in the United States if they try to enter with children. But interviews with migrants and their advocates suggest that families are fleeing — sometimes in groups of as many as 15 people — because they have no alternative. Gangs in certain communities in the Northern Triangle have become so merciless, and their control so widespread, that a family is often left with a stark choice: Comply, flee or die. “Today the violence is widespread, and because it’s widespread, it’s affecting the whole family,” said Diego Lorente, the director of the Fray Matías de Córdova Human Rights Center in Tapachula. Almost all of the migrants said they had once had no intention of ever leaving their countries. Alberto said he had a thriving business breeding livestock and dogs. His wife ran a food stand. Their youngest children were on track to attend college, he said. They were active members of their church. The family first fled in 2013 to northern El Salvador, where Alberto rebuilt his business and the children returned to school. But the gang members tracked them down, forcing them to move two more times, he said. They finally fled the country in March. While staying at a migrant shelter run by the Catholic Church in southern Mexico, a nun told them about Mexico’s asylum program. They applied and are now waiting for their claim to be adjudicated. “What can I say?” Alberto said with a sigh. “This is the horrible reality that our country is living now. ” As the violence and impunity have soared in the Northern Triangle, so has the number of asylum claims from those countries, according to the United Nations. Nearly half of those asylum seekers this year have sought sanctuary in the United States. But migrants are increasingly viewing other countries in the region, including Belize, Costa Rica and especially Mexico, as asylum destinations. Under international pressure, the Mexican government has been expanding its capacity to receive refugees. Its acceptance rate for completed applications increased to about 62 percent in the first six months of this year, from about 45 percent in 2015. United Nations officials and migrants’ advocates here believe that of the hundreds of thousands of Central American migrants who crossed into Mexico last year, as many as half may have qualified for refugee protection. Yet only about 3, 400 people applied for asylum in Mexico, according to government figures. By comparison, nearly 177, 000 Central Americans were deported by Mexican immigration authorities last year. The migrant shelters here in Tapachula are full, and advocates are struggling to accommodate the growing number of families that find their way here, either as a pit stop on their journey to the United States or as a place to file for asylum. “Tapachula is the first place that they arrive where they have a perception of security,” Mr. Lorente said. The migrants tell of grisly murders, of how gangs have recruited boys as lookouts and drug runners and forced girls into becoming their brides. They speak of “war taxes,” sometimes amounting to half of their earnings. Noncompliance is met with death. “It’s butchery,” Ms. Leclerc said. Entire neighborhoods have fallen under the control of gangs, which are abetted by corrupt officials on their payrolls. Several migrants said they had not reported crimes to the police, fearing that the police would inform the gangs. Most said they had left their homes with no understanding, or even awareness, of asylum protections in other countries, only a determination to find a safer place to live. Fatima, 19, said she had fled El Salvador after gang members killed her husband, an apprentice auto mechanic, and threatened her, too. Traveling with her son and two close relatives, she was hoping to reach the home of her late husband’s parents in the Mexican state of Puebla. The women knew nothing about asylum protections in the region. So when immigration officials caught them, they did not know they could present their case, they said, and the immigration officials never asked why they were migrating. The women said they and their children had been deported back to El Salvador, but immediately headed back to Mexico. They were captured again. But this time, Fatima said, she spotted United Nations posters on the wall advertising the Mexican asylum program. “It was never in my thinking to leave my country,” she said at a migrant shelter in Mexico City. Fatima said she hoped to remain in Mexico and had not considered trying to move to the United States. But according to some migrants’ advocates, the goal for most Central American migrants is to eventually make it “farther north,” a phrase common among migrants. Even many of those applying for asylum in Mexico view refugee status as a stopgap allowing them to travel to the northern border without harassment by the Mexican authorities. “It’s the superbest country,” Juan, a Honduran migrant, said of the United States. He has applied for refugee status in Mexico, along with his wife and two small daughters, but he hopes to reach America. He said they had fled Honduras after gang members threatened to kill him if he did not join their operation. “You don’t migrate now in search of the American dream,” he said. “You go for your life. ” | 0fake |
COMRADES IN LIBERAL MI College Town Filled With Medical Marijuana Stores IGNORE State Law To Punish LEGAL Tobacco Users [VIDEO] | University of Michigan is located in Ann Arbor, MI, and is home to over 43,000 students. Students at U of M and residents of Ann Arbor can purchase legal marijuana on just about every corner. But purchasing legal cigarettes just became a problem for anyone under the age of 21, despite a state law that allows anyone 18 years of age or older to purchase legal tobacco products in the state of Michigan. Why, and how can a city council make these kinds of emotional decisions that supersede state law? Because liberals always know what s best for you There is no room for discussion. Decisions made by progressive government officials don t have to be based on logic, or in this case, on state law; they just have to have enough emotion behind them to sway their comrades on the city council. This story is a perfect example of why Americans need to know who is running for city council in their hometowns and major cities when election time comes around The Ann Arbor City Council last week voted for an ordinance that will ban the sale of tobacco products to people under 21, making it the first city in Michigan to raise the legal purchasing age from 18.Kai Petainen, an Ann Arbor resident who attended the city council meeting, said he recently went to a funeral of a 23-year-old who died from a drug overdose. That friend used tobacco as a gateway drug, he said. It s a funeral of a person who died at only 23 and it was from an overdose. That person began using tobacco at a young age, and eventually they were using other drugs as well, he said. Tobacco use can lead to other drugs and it can and does destroy lives. Tobacco shops in Ann Arbor have said the ordinance will drive customers out of the city.The Council voted 9-2 on Aug. 4 for an ordinance sponsored by Council Member Julie Grand, a Democrat representing the city s 3rd Ward.Ann Arbor officials were explicit about their lack of concern with whether the ordinance conflicts with state law, and that they hope the rest of the state follows the city s lead. The tobacco lobby has inflicted enough misery on this country and I m happy to do anything we can to play a leadership role on this effort in Michigan, Kirk Westphal, a Democratic council member from the 2nd Ward said, according to The Ann Arbor News. It s particularly important to me, said Council Member Chip Smith, a Democrat from the 5th Ward. But really what compels me to support this is the fact that Ann Arbor is a leader in things, and this is exactly the type of thing we should be leading on, and I m very happy to support this. In addition to the apparent conflict with a state law preempting local regulations, critics of the ordinance are concerned that its effect would be to send people under 21 to neighboring cities like Ypsilanti or Canton to buy tobacco products.Jack Eaton, a Democrat from the 4th Ward, and Jane Lumm, an independent from the 2nd Ward, voted against the ordinance. According to The Ann Arbor News, they cited Michigan s Tobacco Products Tax Act of 1993 as the cause for their concern.The act says municipalities shall not impose any new requirement or prohibition pertaining to the sale or licensure of tobacco products for distribution purposes. MICapConThis new ordinance that will prohibit the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 21 years, goes hand-in-hand with the University of Michigan s NO SMOKING ANYWHERE ON CAMPUS law that went into effect on July 1, 2011.Watch the idiocy of this intrusive campus law explained here:Meanwhile, Michigan State University just made it ILLEGAL to SMOKE TOBACCO IN YOUR OWN PRIVATE VEHICLE as long as you are on campus property!Beginning on Aug. 15, a new tobacco-free policy at Michigan State University will make drivers subject to a $150 fine for choosing to smoke or chew tobacco while traveling on public roads that cross the school s East Lansing campus.The ordinance was passed by the board of trustees on June 17, 2015. Its effective date was set for more than a year later on Aug. 15, 2016. A new policy is an effective, cost-efficient way to protect the health of the campus community and encourage tobacco users to reduce or eliminate consumption, thus increasing life, longevity and vitality, the MSU tobacco-free website states. Most tobacco users want to quit, and tobacco-free environments encourage users to quit and help them maintain a tobacco and nicotine free status. Students and MSU employees could face additional sanctions. Students who continually violate the ordinance could face sanction through the student judicial system, and employees could face repercussions via Human Resources (just as students and employees could for violating any MSU ordinance), Cody said.The ban also extends to the use of e-cigarettes and smokeless tobacco on campus, including inside a private vehicle. | 1real |
May hails new optimism in Brexit talks after deal | LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May hailed a new sense of optimism in Brexit talks, telling parliament on Monday an agreement to move negotiations on to future trade ties is progress and will reassure those concerned Britain may leave with no deal. May, weakened after losing her Conservatives majority at a June election, rescued an agreement last week to move the talks to unravel more than 40 years of union on to a second phase after easing the concerns of her Northern Irish allies over the future role of the border with EU member Ireland. But the discussion of Britain s trade relationship with the EU after Brexit contains many pitfalls and could widen differences among her top team of ministers, or cabinet, over how Britain should look after it leaves the bloc. In a statement to parliament, May took to task those who doubted that she could move the talks beyond the initial stage of agreeing terms on how much Britain should pay, citizens rights and the border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. This is good news for people who voted leave who were worried we were so bogged down in the tortuous negotiations it was never going to happen, she told parliament. It is good news for people who voted remain who were worried were going to crash out without a deal. May will head to Brussels on Thursday for a summit meeting at which she expects the leaders of the other 27 EU states to approve an assessment by negotiators that the sides have made sufficient progress to move on to phase two. But she warned that the government will only pay a financial settlement if Britain and the EU secure a future trade deal. The deal to launch further talks looked in jeopardy a week ago when May was forced to abandon a choreographed meeting in Brussels intended to seal the deal after her allies in Northern Ireland expressed fears she was proposing a special status for the region - out of sync with the rest of the United Kingdom. After days of diplomacy, there was a compromise - if no overall Brexit deal is secured, Britain will keep full alignment with those rules of the EU s single market that help cooperation between Ireland s north and south. But those words have reverberated in both London and Belfast, with Brexit minister David Davis saying they were more a statement of intent than a legally binding move. On Monday, Davis told LBC radio his words had been taken out of context and denied he was backing away from the commitment, which the EU described as a deal between gentlemen . And it is the clear understanding that it is fully backed and endorsed by the UK government, the European Commission s chief spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters in Brussels. Davis comments may have been aimed at members of the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party, which props up May s Conservative minority government in parliament after the party expressed concerns about how alignment could work without Britain staying in the EU s single market and customs union. Or he may have wanted to ease the fears of some campaigners for Britain to leave the EU, who say the possibility of having to follow the bloc s rules would mean that they would have Brexit in name only. But May said the commitments made in the first round of talks which includes a payment of 35-39 billion pounds over many years to meet EU obligations were necessary to sever ties with the bloc. In doing so we can move on to building the bold new economic and security relationships that can underpin the new deep and special partnership we all want to see, she said. A partnership between the European Union and a sovereign United Kingdom that has taken control of its borders, money and laws once again. | 0fake |
Former Trump adviser Papadopoulos pleads guilty to lying to FBI | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An obscure Trump campaign adviser pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents about contacts with people who claimed to have ties to top Russian officials, in the first criminal charges alleging links between the campaign and Moscow, said court documents released on Monday. George Papadopoulos, who joined the Trump presidential campaign in March 2016, lied in January about communicating with those individuals to arrange a meeting between then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Special Counsel Robert Mueller said in the documents. The documents said an unidentified campaign official advised Papadopoulos around May 2016 that Trump himself “is not doing these trips” but that “it should be someone low-level in the campaign so as not to send any signal.” While not mentioned in the documents, top Trump campaign advisers, including Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.; his son-in-law, Jared Kushner; and Campaign Manager Paul Manafort met at Trump Tower in New York in June 2016 with Russians claiming to have derogatory information on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. It was not known whether that meeting resulted from Papadopoulos’ efforts. The special counsel said Papadopoulos - a Chicago-based international energy lawyer - lied to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents about when he learned from an unnamed foreign professor that Russia claimed to have “dirt” in the form of “thousands of emails” on Clinton. Prosecutors said Papadopoulos told agents he had been in contact with the professor before he joined Trump’s campaign. In fact, they said, Papadopoulos met with the professor after joining the campaign. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Monday played down Papadopoulos’ campaign role, saying it was “extremely limited” and that he was a volunteer. “He asked to do things (and) he was basically pushed back or not responded to in any way,” she told a news briefing. “Any actions that he took would have been on his own.” Papadopoulos’ lawyers said in a statement it was “in the best interest of our client .... that we refrain from commenting on George’s case.” The documents were released just after indictments charging Manafort and business associate Rick Gates with multiple offenses, including money laundering, conspiracy against the United States and failing to register as foreign agents. None of the charges against Manafort and Gates, however, directly relate to Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and what U.S. intelligence agencies concluded was a Russian bid to boost Trump’s candidacy. The prosecutors said Papadopoulos had been emailing with a “Campaign Supervisor,” “Senior Policy Adviser” and a “High-Ranking Campaign Official.” An official familiar with congressional investigations into alleged contacts between the campaign and Russia said the Senate Intelligence Committee already had copies of an extensive file of Trump campaign emails that included emails between Papadopoulos and the campaign. One email shows Manafort had been discussing Papadopoulos’ efforts to arrange a Trump visit to Russia with at least one other campaign official. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty on Oct. 5, according to a court statement by Mueller’s office. As part of a plea deal, Papadopoulos agreed to plead guilty to making a “materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement” to FBI agents. “Through his false statements and omissions, defendant Papadopoulos impeded the FBI’s ongoing investigation into the existence of any links or coordination between individuals associated with the Campaign and the Russian government’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 presidential election,” a court document said. The FBI arrested Papadopoulos on July 27 after he arrived at Dulles International Airport near Washington. In an Oct. 5 letter to the Chicago man’s lawyer, Mueller and his team noted that Papadopoulos faced up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $9,500. But they agreed “to bring to the court’s attention at sentencing the defendant’s efforts to cooperate with the government” on condition that he continued providing information on to prosecutors, the document said. Court documents said Papadopoulos lied to the FBI shortly after Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, when the law enforcement agency had an open investigation into the alleged Russian government efforts to interfere in the 2016 campaign. In addition to lying about the timing of his contacts with the professor, prosecutors said Papadopoulos mischaracterized his contacts with that individual as “inconsequential.” “In truth and in fact, however, defendant Papadopoulos understood the professor to have substantial connections to high-level Russian government officials and that the professor spoke with some of those officials in Moscow” before telling Papadopoulos about the “dirt” on Clinton, said the prosecutors. The prosecutors said Papadopoulos also lied to the FBI in saying that a meeting the professor arranged for him in London with an unidentified Russian woman with ties to senior Russian officials occurred before the Chicago man joined the campaign. The meeting took place on or about March 24, 2016, and the Russian woman was introduced to Papadopoulos as a relative of Putin, although it turned out that she was not related to the Russian leader, according to the documents. Papadopoulos then worked with the professor and the Russian woman to set up the Putin meeting, and kept other Trump foreign policy advisers appraised of his contacts, they said. In one email, the documents said, the Russian woman told Papadopoulos that “The Russian Federation would love to welcome him (Trump) once his candidature would be officially announced.” The prosecutors said that on or about March 31 Papadopoulos attended a “national security meeting” in Washington with then-candidate Trump and other campaign foreign policy advisers. When he introduced himself to the group, the prosecutors said, “he stated, in sum and substance, that he had connections that could help arrange a meeting between then candidate Trump and President Putin.” In mid-April, the professor introduced Papadopoulos via an email to an individual in Moscow who the documents dubbed the Russian MFA Connection - MFA being the initials for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The pair had multiple conversations over the proceeding weeks about setting the “groundwork” for a Trump-Putin meeting. | 0fake |
How Functional Medicine Can Cure Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease | by Paul Fassa Health Impact News
An episode of Dr. Mark Hyman’s “ Fat Summit ” featured the work of Dr. Dale Bredesen, who specializes in researching and clinically applying his research on those afflicted with dementia, including Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia are considered incurable by modern pharmaceutical dominated mainstream medicine.
Fortunately, Dr. Bredesen is a practitioner of functional medicine , which approaches the underlying cause of any disease then focuses on treatments usually involving systems of holistic or alternative medicine instead of pharmaceutical drugs.
His research has been ongoing for 27 years to determine what really causes dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). It was fun witnessing Dr. Hyman’s energetic, fascinating interview of Dr. Bredesen. Some of what was revealed about Alzheimer’s was quite surprising, and his research went beyond the lab to confirm his team’s findings clinically.
They were actually diagnosing root causes and curing the incurable with natural holistic means. What Dr. Bredesen Discovered About Amyloid Plaque
Amyloid plaque, the sticky substance that interferes with neuron transmission and destroys brain cells, is commonly considered the cause of Alzheimer’s without knowing how it accumulates to begin with.
Dr. Bredesen has discovered it is actually a protective measure created by the brain. This is similar to how cholesterol rushes to patch up arterial lesions, yet is considered the root cause by modern mainstream medicine for heart disease.
Instead of reducing cholesterol with statin drugs for heart disease symptoms, it’s wiser to get to the root cause of the arterial inflammation damage that the cholesterol is trying patch up. Both Bredesen and Hyman agreed on how important cholesterol is to the body in general and the brain in particular.
It is the major building material for brain tissue and the protective myelin sheath, which promotes rapid transmission of nerve signals to all parts of the body from the central nervous system.
Various independent researchers, functional medicine practitioners, rogue cardiologists, and naturopathic doctors have determined that most arterial inflammation is caused by excess refined sugar intake, which includes artificially synthesized high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
Dr. Bredesen and his team have discovered the same holds true for amyloid plaque. Instead of attempting to create chemicals for removing the plaque, which thus far has proven disastrous, why not discover what the plaque is attempting to protect against and treat that? What Invites Amyloid Plaque to Build Up in the Brain?
Here’s where modern medical technology combines with integrative medicine. Dr. Bredsen considers it a “perfect fit.” State of the art neurology and biochemical technology is used to determine which of the following basic issues exist, then natural holistic nutritional sources, environmental, and lifestyle changes are used to eliminate them.
Here are some of the basic areas discovered that can be remedied without pharmaceutical drugs:
Inflammation: This can be caused by infectious pathogens but more often by environmental toxins such as: Mercury – dental amalgams and other sources Sleep issues – good sleep is needed for the brain’s glymp h atic action to purge itself of toxins Indoor building materials and mold from interior dampness in homes and work spaces Chronic sinus issues – this opens up the potential for “nasal probiotics” Excess simple carbohydrate consumption – refined starches and sugars Chronic stress – a common denominator for many inflammatory conditions Aspartame – commonly used neurotoxin in diet sodas and other processed foods as a sugar substitute Excess alcohol consumption Insulin resistance – some consider dementia/Alzheimer’s diabetes 3, this is where coconut oil comes to the rescue ( Source )
Insufficient Brain Nutrients: Lacking these nutrients needed for optimum brain and memory function, among them are: Vitamin D – the aversion to sunshine helps create this very common deficiency Vitamin C Vitamin B12 – methylcobil a ba n without folic acid is the preferred supplement source for B12 (Source) Sex hormones – oestrogen and progesterone for women and testosterone for men that need to be sufficient and balanced Omega 3 fatty acids – sourced from pure fish oils or flaxseed oil or ground flax seeds, our processed foods are top heavy with transfat omega-6 fatty acids Low cholesterol – often caused by statins (Source)
Toxins: Some are already listed here, but amyloid plaque’s network of protein parts is also an attempt to remove those toxins and others. Detoxing with known items that can cross the blood brain barrier was proven helpful.
A perfect example is aluminum from vaccines, common underarm deodorants, and other environmental sources. There are mineral waters high in ionic suspended silicon that penetrate the blood brain barrier to bind with and remove aluminum. The most recent pervasive environmental toxin in the food supply is glyphosate, which also adversely affects the brain. Conclusion
Remember hearing how destroyed brain cells never come back, the brain loses that portion forever, once a brain shrinks that’s it? It has been medical “common knowledge.” Dr. Bredesen told about ordering another CT scan of a patient who had been under the clinic’s care.
The radiologist thought it was a waste of time, but did it anyway. He was shocked to realize that patient’s shrunken hippocampus and other parts of his brain’s memory storage had grown since his first brain scan at the start of treatments. Another medical myth shattered.
Dr. Hyman asked Dr. Bredesen to provide dramatic clinical success using their resources of modern technology’s discovery techniques for holistic non-pharmaceutical solutions.
So Dr. Bredesen told of a man who had turned 70 and was so bad off he couldn’t remember with whom he had lunch that very same day. Friends and family were encouraging him to sell his business. His cognitive and memory test scores were among the bottom five percentile.
After holistic treatments, his test scores went into the 90 percentile group, higher than most younger people in good health. Instead of selling his business, he added another store. All this success without pharmaceutical drugs.
Going directly from animal (mouse) and lab culture studies to human clinical testing would have been impossible if Dr. Bredesen were attempting to create a new drug. Because there was nothing used that had any potential dangers requiring expensive human trials over a longer time, he was able to put his discoveries to the test without FDA oversight.
Since Dr. Bredesen is a neurological expert and well versed in biochemistry, he tended to rattle off lines of technical terms that would confuse most of us, but not Dr. Hyman, who would spontaneously and congenially intervene with relaxed layman language.
This made that interview go smoothly in a light-hearted manner without confusion, yet be packed with information, not all of which I’ve included here. And since this interview was part of the “Fat Summit,” some time was spent on discussing the role of fats for brain health. Coconut oil with its high percentage of medium chain lauric fatty acid was agreed upon as an ideal dietary fat for brain health. (Source)
Note: The Fat Summit is completed, but the entire week of presentations is available for purchase here .
Source links for more information: | 1real |
Stakes Rise for Prosecutors Trying Officer in Freddie Gray Case for Murder - The New York Times | BALTIMORE — After two prosecutions without a conviction since the fatal arrest of Freddie Gray, opening arguments are set to begin Thursday in the trial of Caesar R. Goodson Jr. the only officer charged with murder in connection with the death and the driver of the police wagon in which Mr. Gray suffered the spinal injury that killed him. The combination of the two unsuccessful prosecutions and the murder charge has raised the stakes substantially in the trial of the third of six officers charged in the death of Mr. Gray, 25, a black man whose death spurred riots, looting and arson. “These are the most serious charges,” said Warren S. Alperstein, a defense lawyer here who has represented police officers and has been closely following the cases but is not directly involved in them. “This is, arguably, the case for the state. It would be a devastating blow if the state was unable to secure a conviction. ” The trial comes as prosecutors aim to shift the narrative away from the mistrial of one officer involved in the case and, just over two weeks ago, another one’s acquittal on all charges. But legal experts say it will be exceedingly difficult for prosecutors to secure a conviction for murder. Some activists in Baltimore say their faith in the judicial process is already worn. “The average person doesn’t really expect anything,” said Dayvon Love, the director of public policy for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle, an advocacy organization. “They expect the officers to get acquitted. They don’t expect any accountability. ” In addition to the failed prosecutions, the trials have left lingering questions about how Mr. Gray ended up with a functionally severed spine, critics say. “The world wants to know what happened to Freddie Gray,” said Darlene Cain, a nurse’s assistant whose son was shot and killed by a Baltimore police officer in 2008, and who has urged greater accountability from officers who use force. “How did a young person, healthy, talking and standing at one moment, and then at the next time, he’s not living?” Officer Goodson, 47, a Baltimore police veteran who, like Mr. Gray, is black, faces seven charges in total, including three charges of manslaughter, and a charge of depraved heart murder — a rare charge for a police officer, even as scrutiny of law enforcement grows. “We’re seeing a huge increase in trials for officers for any criminal offense, but I’ve never seen a murder trial for an officer without video or eyewitness testimony,” said Geoffrey P. Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina who has focused on the use of force by the police. He added, “It’s been an uphill battle in the other two trials, and this is going to be the toughest. ” The case will be decided not by a jury, but by Judge Barry G. Williams, who acquitted another officer, Edward M. Nero, late last month. Judge Williams, once an attorney in the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, is also black, and he won accolades from members of the legal community — including Billy Murphy, the lawyer for Mr. Gray’s family — for not bowing to public pressure in deciding Officer Nero’s case. But he has been accused in some quarters of making a narrow ruling that did not reckon with the larger questions of the case. Officer Goodson’s side of the story has never been officially told he is the only charged officer who did not give a statement to police investigators. Court filings have hinted that the prosecution may suggest Mr. Gray was taken for a rough ride, with Officer Goodson intentionally driving the van in a dangerous fashion. They have indicated plans to call a witness who can discuss the practice. But legal observers say it is not yet clear what, if any, evidence they have to prove that is what happened on April 12, 2015, when Mr. Gray was arrested. “The open question with regard to the Goodson trial is, will we hear more about the practice of giving rough rides?” said David Jaros, a professor of law at the University of Baltimore, who said that such a theory could explain why prosecutors chose to charge Officer Goodson with murder. “Absent a rough ride,” Mr. Jaros said, “it is much harder to understand the prosecution’s decision to pursue that particular charge, which requires a wanton and reckless disregard for human life that is so significant that it is akin to intentional murder. ” What is known is that Officer Goodson responded to the arrest of Mr. Gray on a bright morning last April. Mr. Gray had fled, apparently unprompted, from police officers in the Sandtown neighborhood of West Baltimore. Mr. Gray was eventually placed — in handcuffs and leg shackles but no seatbelt — in Officer Goodson’s transport wagon, which made several stops in the neighborhood before arriving at the Western District police station. There, Mr. Gray was found unresponsive. He died of a spinal injury a week later. Protests here grew so violent that Gov. Larry Hogan called in the National Guard. With armored trucks still rolling through the city, the state’s top prosecutor, Marilyn J. Mosby, announced charges against six police officers — three black, three white. Late last month, Officer Nero was acquitted on charges of assault, reckless endangerment and two counts of misconduct connected to his role in Mr. Gray’s arrest. And in December, a jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of Officer William G. Porter, who faced charges including manslaughter and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors eventually secured an unusual ruling from the state’s highest court — a procedure that caused delays in all of the trials — to let Officer Porter testify against Officer Goodson while his own retrial is pending. “Officer Porter’s testimony will be crucial,” said Douglas Colbert, a professor of law at the University of Maryland, who has been supportive of the prosecution, adding, “He minimally suggested going to the hospital. ” Regardless of the role of a rough ride, the case may turn on what prosecutors can show about Officer Goodson’s state of mind while he drove Mr. Gray through West Baltimore. They are expected to argue that he had custody of Mr. Gray, and was responsible to keep him safe by using the seatbelt and obtaining medical help when he needed it — and knew he could be putting Mr. Gray in danger by not doing so. Defense lawyers are expected to paint Officer Goodson as a veteran with a clean record who acted in line with accepted departmental practice when he did not buckle Mr. Gray in. “There’s an irony that the officer’s best defense is really an indictment of how people are generally treated in the system,” Mr. Jaros said. | 0fake |
IT BEGINS: Man Dressed As Woman Arrested In Women’s Bathroom…You Won’t Believe What He Was Doing! | We told you so a man was having a blast peeping into stalls in the restroom AND filming women! Not one but three times this year! This man was basically given a slap on the hand and let go. This is yet another reason to keep bathrooms the way they are. With new laws, more men like this can say they identify as a woman so they can get into locker rooms or bathrooms legally. A man dressed as a woman was arrested in Virginia on Monday after police say he was caught peeping into restroom stalls three times in the past year. Richard Rodriguez, 30, filmed a woman in a bathroom stall at the Potomac Mills Mall, Prince William County Police said on Tuesday. A 35-year-old woman was in the stall when she saw a bag moved toward her under the stall divider. Rodriguez apparently had been filming her, police said. The victim rushed out of the stall to confront the man and saw him hurry to another stall, next to another woman. The victim alerted the woman and then contacted mall security of the shopping center on 2700 block of Potomac Mills Circle in Woodbridge, Virginia.Mall security detained Rodriguez until police arrived. Police then determined that he matches the description of a man who is accused of using a mirror to see into a women s restroom stall on May 15 at a nearby Walmart and also at the Potomac Mills Mall on Oct. 11. The suspect in the May 15 incident allegedly spied on a 53-year-old woman, police said. The suspect in the Oct. 11 incident believed to be the same man looked in on a 35-year-old woman and her 5-year-old daughter. Rodriguez, of Fredericksburg, was charged with three counts of unlawful filming of a non-consenting person and three counts of peeping.Via: NBC | 1real |
South Africa's Zuma says influence-peddling in his government to be investigated | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday allegations of private businesses wielding undue influence in his government will be investigated by a judicial commission of inquiry. The country s High Court ruled on Wednesday that Zuma must set up a judicial inquiry into state influence-peddling within 30 days, upholding the findings of a graft watchdog report entitled State of Capture . The report focused on allegations that Zuma s friends, the businessmen and brothers Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta, had influenced the appointment of ministers. Zuma and the Guptas have denied all accusations of wrongdoing. Zuma was speaking on Saturday at the start of a weekend conference of his African National Congress that will vote on a new party leader. | 0fake |
BREAKING: Trump VP Plane Slides Off Runway at LaGuardia Airport in NYC! | 0 comments GOP VP candidate Mike Pence’s Trump plane slid off the runway at LaGuardia airport Thursday evening, landing in the mud not far from the East River.
The Trump plane stopped in the mud. It broke through a thin veneer of concrete designed to give way to keep planes from sliding into the river.
No one was injured in the incident. Authorities say there could have been fatalities had the plane ended up in the water.
KTLA 5 reports :
Rescue crews were responding to the scene. The incident took place during a rainy night in the city.
The press pool in the back of the aircraft could feel the plane fishtailing as it touched down and sliding off the runway before coming to a very sharp halt in the grass off the side of the runway.
“We could feel the plane moving, and it was just not a natural landing that you experience,” CNN’s Elizabeth Landers, who was on the plane, told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront.”
Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for Donald Trump’s campaign, said the businessman called Pence shortly after the incident, adding that Trump “is very glad everyone on-board the plane is safe.”
There was some noticeable damage to the runway. A campaign spokesperson told reporters there was no structural damage to the plane.
Landers said the Indiana governor’s trip to New York had initially been delayed due to inclement weather. His plane was kept in a ground hold at the airport in Fort Dodge, Iowa, earlier in the day.
Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation, explained to CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the weather likely prevented the plane from getting “good traction.” There were 37 people on board at the time of the accident, including Pence.
This could have been tragic. It is exponentially safer to fly in a plane than it is to ride in a car, but accidents still happen. Thank God all are safe. | 1real |
Drudge goes all in for Trump | Trump will also meet with retiring Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, former Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue and Linda McMahon, a prolific Republican donor, two-time Senate... | 0fake |
U.S. Senate finance panel unlikely to support import tax: chairman | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A 20 percent import tax, backed by Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, is unlikely to win enough support from the Senate Finance Committee to be part of any Senate tax reform bill, the panel’s Republican chairman said on Tuesday. The comment by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah is the strongest sign yet of the daunting legislative challenge that lies ahead for the border adjustment tax, or BAT, a controversial House Republican proposal that has already divided the business community and Republicans in Congress. Hatch’s finance committee, which consists of 14 Republicans and 12 Democrats, has oversight authority for tax policy and would need to approve any tax reform legislation considered in the Senate. “It’s going to be tough to pass. I don’t think we can move it through the Finance Committee,” the Utah Republican told reporters after discussing the BAT proposal at a meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Hatch said the administration also opposes BAT: “They’re against that ... if I interpret it correctly.” The proposal, which would exempt U.S. export revenues from federal taxation but impose a flat 20 percent tax on imports, is strongly backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady. Neither Ryan’s office nor Brady’s had an immediate comment on Hatch’s remarks. If the House approved BAT but the Senate excluded it from legislation, House Republicans would need to use bicameral negotiations to get it included in final legislation for President Donald Trump’s signature. House Republicans have billed border adjustment as a way to meet Trump’s pledge to create jobs at home while preventing American companies from moving manufacturing jobs and production facilities overseas. But it has divided U.S. business by drawing enthusiastic support from exporters and fierce opposition from import-dependent industries, leaving many Republican lawmakers wary of the proposal. Republican supporters say BAT is needed to pay for steep business tax cuts, citing independent analyses that estimate it would raise more than $1 trillion over a decade. Administration officials have called for financing tax cuts with future economic growth. Some lawmakers have suggested deficit-financed tax cuts instead. “We have to raise revenue,” Hatch said. “There’s no question about that. And we will. We know where it all is anyway.” | 0fake |
Neil deGrasse Tyson SCHOOLED Right-Wing Columnist So Hard He Quit His Job In Shame | A right-wing radio host has called it quits after he got owned by famous scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson.Last week, Neal Larson learned the hard way that there are humiliating consequences for spreading satire as a fact when the famous scientist fact-checked him into oblivion. I ve listened to Neil deGrasse Tyson before, Larson wrote in the Twin Falls Times-News criticizing the astrophysicist for performing some interesting mathematics in relation to the Olympic medal count.But Larson went beyond that by accusing Tyson of mocking a little girl for wanting to live on Jupiter. And what I observe is a smart guy who consistently enjoys asserting his intellectual supremacy over others more than he actually likes educating. In one of his worse moments, Tyson mocked a 12-year-old girl who suggested she d like to live on Jupiter. He ridiculed her in the midst of a crowd, then later, several times, on Twitter. That told me everything I needed to know about Neil deGrasse Tyson.For that moment he was just a horse s astrophysicist. Naturally, Tyson did a little research and then responded to Larson with some bad news. The incident with a 9yr old girl never happened. It looks to be a hoax. No such tweets ever existed on November 29th, 2015, or on any other day. So you abrogated your journalistic integrity by not verifying what you read in somebody else s article, before using it as a foundational pillar in yours. Tyson s response went viral and humiliated the hell out of Larson to the point where he is now throwing in the towel to end his stint as a columnist.In what is now his final column, Larson admitted that he was checkmated by Tyson in one move. The instant it was picked up nationally, I was checkmated, Larson wrote before playing the victim. I had no recourse, no comparable media platform at my disposal. It was as terrible and as helpless as you can imagine. Even more disappointing, a few people that I honestly thought were friends, shared online my unfortunate story with glee. Seriously? How about practicing what you conservatives constantly preach to the rest of us and take some damn personal responsibility for once? After all, you re the one who printed satire as if it were fact, Mr. Larson. A simple look at the original source of the story would have been enough to figure out that it was fake. And you fell for it because you lack journalistic skills and integrity, which makes me wonder why the hell the Twin Falls Times-News let you get anywhere near their newspaper.But despite apologizing to Tyson for the blunder and the slander, Larson continued playing the victim throughout his last foray in print news. For those in the national spotlight, this is probably old hat, but I wasn t equipped to handle the influx, logistically or emotionally, Larson wrote. If anyone had sent a kind word or more gentle and constructive criticism, I apologize because I probably missed it in the onslaught of hate. Again, you slandered a man in an attempt to tarnish his reputation, Mr. Larson. You re lucky he didn t sue your ass on the spot because he damn sure has a bulletproof case against you, and yet you think you re the victim here?Neil deGrasse Tyson is an internationally recognized celebrity scientist. Did you honestly think your accusation would not become national news, especially once your target debunked your claim with facts?Neal Larson brought this humiliation on himself and he has no one to blame but himself for negative feedback he received.Now if only Tyson would monitor Larson s radio show and debunk the bullshit he spews on the airwaves. Perhaps Larson would be embarrassed enough to quit that job and go into hiding permanently.Featured image via Addicting Info | 1real |
Buildings evacuated in Moscow after bomb threats: RIA | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian authorities evacuated people from dozens of buildings in Moscow on Wednesday after a flurry of anonymous phone calls asserting the locations had been mined, RIA news agency reported. Three of Moscow s main train stations were being checked on Wednesday, along with the city s famous GUM department store near Red Square, and more than 20 other buildings, the news agency said. GUM said on its website it was temporarily closed for technical reasons. A Reuters TV cameraman said he saw police with sniffer dogs checking the building. Russia has this week experienced a wave of hoax bomb threats. Citing an unnamed source in the emergency services, RIA said the hoaxes had so far affected more than 20 Russian towns and cities. All of the calls had so far turned out to be false alarms. When asked about the matter, a Kremlin spokesman referred reporters to the police. RIA cited its source as saying that many of the hoax calls may have been made from Ukraine. Relations between Moscow and Kiev are at a low after Russia annexed Ukraine s Crimea in 2014 and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine rebelled against Kiev s rule. | 0fake |
WALL STREET JOURNAL JUST EXPOSED EXACTLY HOW & HOW MUCH IT COST HILLARY To BRIBE The FBI to AVOID CHARGES! | November 2015 Ads WALL STREET JOURNAL JUST EXPOSED EXACTLY HOW & HOW MUCH IT COST HILLARY To BRIBE The FBI to AVOID CHARGES! Oct 27, 2016 Previous post ELDER PATRIOT – There are no limits to the Clinton’s web of corruption. Even the FBI’s vaunted reputation for integrity has fallen victim to reach of this evil witch with a capital B. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Hillary Clinton bagman Terry McAuliffe contributed in excess of $675,500 to the Senate candidacy of the wife of FBI agent Deputy Director Andrew McCabe who oversaw the investigation into her use of an illegal homebrew server that exposed our national secrets to Russian hackers. McAuliffe has been a Democrat operative whose willingness to do the Clinton’s dirty work over a long number of years saw him rewarded with the governorship of Virginia. As governor, McAuliffe recruited the wife of the FBI’s lead investigator to be his party’s senate nominee at the behest of Hillary Clinton who was already being investigated by the FBI.
Acting on the direction of Hillary Clinton, McAuliffe’s PAC contributed $467,500 directly to the Senate Campaign of D. Jill McCabe according to campaign finance records. But, that wasn’t even the extent of the financial support he extended to Jill McCabe. McAuliffe directed the Virginia Democratic Party to support McCabe’s by assuming the costs of her campaign mailers to the tune of another $207,788.
While there are no laws preventing anyone from making or accepting political contributions to the
FOR ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK LINK | 1real |
Exclusive: U.S. labor powerhouse to launch anti-Trump ad campaign | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. federation of labor unions, will launch digital attack ads targeting Republican front-runner Donald Trump next week as part of a multi-pronged effort to derail the New York billionaire’s bid for the White House and dampen union workers’ enthusiasm for him. Officials at the AFL-CIO, an umbrella group of 56 unions representing 12.5 million workers, told Reuters the ads will depict Trump as anti-union, and will appear on Facebook and Twitter. The officials said the anti-Trump advertising effort would likely expand over the coming months. At the same time, an AFL-CIO affiliate organization will ramp up a door-to-door campaign to undermine the candidate in Ohio and Pennsylvania, key battleground states in the Nov. 8 presidential election. “Donald Trump has tapped into the very real and understandable anger of working people. But while he says he’s with America’s working people, when you look close, it’s just hot air,” AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka told Reuters. “Donald Trump is nothing but a house of cards, and once we educate people, the house of cards comes crashing down,” he said. Union leaders are increasingly concerned about Trump’s appeal to labor, typically a stronghold of the Democratic Party, because of his promises to scrap free trade deals that have led to manufacturing job losses in the United States. The AFL-CIO is entering the political fray several months earlier than in past elections, given the “unique cycle” created by Trump’s candidacy, spokesman Josh Goldstein said. The initial ads will be modeled after a text message blast that began Thursday featuring an image of Trump with a statement he made supporting “right-to-work” laws, which weaken organized labor by limiting their ability to collect membership dues. Several states have passed such laws, and the U.S. Congress has considered a similar measure. “I like right to work. My position on right to work is 100 percent,” Trump said in a radio interview in South Carolina last month. The text campaign on which the ads will be modeled featured a quote from Trumka, hitting Trump on right-to-work, and characterizing him as racist: “Donald Trump’s bigoted comments are bad enough. Now, he supports right to work. Tell him right to work is wrong for working people.” Trump has been widely criticized for describing Mexican illegal immigrants as rapists and criminals, and for proposing a temporary ban on Muslims seeking to come to the United States. The AFL-CIO declined to say how much the initial digital ads would cost, but the federation spent nearly $9 million in the 2012 election cycle on outside spending in addition to money given directly to candidates, according to Open Secrets data. The AFL-CIO typically waits to endorse a presidential candidate until there is a de facto Democratic nominee. But Trumka, a former coal miner and leader of that union, has made clear he believes Trump in particular would be a disastrous candidate for workers. In a speech last week he called him a “bigot” and “anti-American.” An official representing Trump’s campaign was not immediately available to comment, but Trump has said repeatedly that he has support within unions. National unions nearly always endorse Democratic presidential candidates but Trump has built his insurgent campaign in part on a mission that many unions share: scrapping international trade deals. There are some signs Trump’s message is resonating beyond the 20 to 30 percent of rank-and-file union members that vote Republican, attracting political independents and even some frustrated Democrats. At a recent picket outside a steel plant near Canton, Ohio, workers cited former President Bill Clinton’s support of the North American Free Trade Agreement more than 20 years ago as a reason why they may support Trump over Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in a general election. “For a lot of us, it’s ABC - Anybody But Clinton,” Mike Newbold told Reuters. Clinton has said she evaluates every trade deal to make sure it protects workers and that she opposes one being finalized by the Obama administration. Her campaign said they are confident her plan to help struggling manufacturing areas will earn her support from union members. AFL-CIO’s affiliate, Working America, has noticed Trump’s inroads with working-class Americans, and recently sent canvassers to talk to 1,689 likely voters with household incomes of $75,000 or less in Cleveland, Ohio, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to learn more about Trump’s appeal. “Working-class voters are up for grabs this time in a really significant way. These folks need good information, and we’ll fill that gap,” said Karen Nussbaum, executive director of Working America. According to Nussbaum, workers said they were frustrated with politics and worried about the economy. Of those who had already settled on a candidate, 38 percent chose Trump. But more than half were still undecided. She said the results of that initial canvas would be used to guide a massive door-to-door campaign to have more than half a million one-on-one conversations with Ohio voters during 2016, to help them “make decisions that actually solve their problems as opposed to phony solutions.” Working America is adding staff to its offices in Columbus and Cleveland to support the operation, and will open another soon in Cincinnati, she said. Labor strategist Steve Rosenthal said that in every presidential election there is a sense that white, working-class union men could desert the Democratic Party. “But I think when all is said and done, when unions put their programs into gear, in person and one-on-one in homes and in their communities, union members will vote overwhelmingly for the Democratic nominee,” Rosenthal said. “Trump might have some appeal right now, but once you start to peel away his record - his manufacturing in China, his relationships with unions - he’s a pretty good target.” (Additional reporting by Tim Reid in Ohio; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Alistair Bell) 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 |
Exclusive: Trump to approve Keystone XL at meeting with TransCanada CEO - official | (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will announce the approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline at the White House on Friday, alongside the chief executive officer of builder TransCanada Corp, according to a senior administration official. The pipeline linking Canadian oil sands to U.S. refiners had been blocked by former President Barack Obama, who said the pipeline would do nothing to reduce fuel prices for U.S. motorists and would contribute emissions linked to global warming. Trump signed an executive order to advance the project soon after taking office in January, saying it would create thousands of jobs. The administration official said that among those scheduled to be at the White House for the 10:15 a.m. EDT announcement are TransCanada Chief Executive Russell Girling and Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions. Expedited approval of projects is part of Trump’s approach for a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure package he promised on the campaign trail. The White House is looking for ways to speed up approvals and permits for infrastructure projects, which can sometimes take years to go through the maze of regulatory requirements. “It does fit into the overall strategy the president has for infrastructure,” the official said. The multibillion-dollar Keystone pipeline would bring more than 800,000 barrels per day of heavy crude from Canada’s oil sands in Alberta into Nebraska, linking to an existing pipeline network feeding U.S. refineries and ports along the Gulf of Mexico. Approvals are still needed from state regulators, and the pipeline could face legal challenges. Conservatives have said they support quick approval. Nick Loris, an energy and environment researcher at the Heritage Foundation, said on Thursday that approval would “re-establish some certainty and sanity to a permitting process that was hijacked by political pandering.” Environmental groups that have opposed the pipeline have said they will continue the fight with petitions, political pressure and mass protests. | 0fake |
Some Of The White House Leaks May Be Coming From The MOST Unexpected Place | The Donald Trump administration is beginning to represent an 80s horror film the leak is coming from inside the (White) House and at least one is coming from one of Trump s most trusted people, Kellyanne Conway.According to CNN as told to them by trusted sources, Conway is trying to throw White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer under the bus.Spicer, who, more than even Conway, is the public face of the Trump administration, has become a national laughing stock, especially after being played (far too accurately) by Melissa McCarthy on Saturday Night Live.The narrative is that Trump is unhappy with Spicer and that the fact that he was so easily played by a woman shows him as weak. Of course, there s also the fact that the media absolutely hates the guy who often berates them and pretty much always lies. Could it be, though, that the rumors of Spicer s demise are premature and that it s all a plot by Conway to rid her of at least one of the people she s always having to defend.So where is the narrative coming from? Spicer declined to comment on the record for this article, but Bannon and Priebus dismissed the leaks about his fate as scuttlebutt from lower level staff. Or maybe the media, the opposition party was just making it up, Bannon said.Many people sympathetic to Spicer in and out of the White House believe otherwise. Five of these sources think the person behind the leaks is Kellyanne Conway, Trump s ever-visible White House counselor. Though they offer no hard evidence, they say Conway is trying to offload blame for administration setbacks on Spicer to prove she is the more effective public advocate and earn a lasting place in the President s inner circle. She s clearly guiding a press narrative that he s not up for the job, and that they re reviewing other candidates, one GOP strategist said. It s becoming abundantly clear that Kellyanne is making Sean s job impossible. Source: CNNConway denies all of this, saying that Sean has my full support. The White House says the same of Spicer.Of course, the Trump administration would be far from the first to put a public happy face on a tumultuous situation, but there are several reasons to believe that Spicer might be on the way out, but the only one that really matters is that Spicer is embarrassing an already teetering on the edge presidency. In other words, it s likely that the leaks are right Spicer s days are numbered. Whether or not that comes from Conway is another question. However, if she s leaking this, it means the loyalty is eroding and bigger leaks could be in her future.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images | 1real |
Tiny Homes Banned in U.S. at Increasing Rate as Govt Criminalizes Sustainable Living | . Tiny Homes Banned in U.S. at Increasing Rate as Govt Criminalizes Sustainable Living As the corporatocracy tightens its grip on the masses – finding ever more ways to funnel wealth to t... Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/tiny-homes-banned-in-us-at-increasing.html As the corporatocracy tightens its grip on the masses – finding ever more ways to funnel wealth to the top – humanity responds in a number of ways, including the rising popularity of tiny houses. These dwellings, typically defined as less than 500 square feet, are a way for people to break free of mortgages, taxes, utility bills and the general trappings of “stuff.” They’re especially attractive to millennials and retirees, or those seeking to live off-grid. But government and corporations depend on rampant consumerism and people being connected to the grid.Seeking actual freedom through minimalist living should seem like a natural fit for the American dream, but the reality is that many governments around the country either ban tiny homes or force them to be connected to the utility grid.“As of now, few cities allow stand-alone tiny houses. Most communities have minimum square footage requirements for single-family homes mandating that smaller dwellings be an “accessory” to a larger, traditional house. “Many also have rules requiring that dwellings be hooked up to utilities, which is a problem for tiny-house enthusiasts who want to live off the grid by using alternative energy sources such as solar panels and rainwater catchment systems.” Some of the more recent examples of explicit bans include Etowah, TN and Wasilla, AK , which don’t allow homes less than 600 square feet and 700 square feet, respectively. Boise, ID doesn’t allow homes less than a few hundred square feet, as Shaun Wheeler of Wheeler Homes found when he built a perfectly good and safe 310 sq. ft. home. Lawmakers spout slippery slope fallacies, saying that allowing tiny homes will lead to decay and “unsightly little cabins plunked down next to traditional homes.” Using government force to stamp out societal change in response to financial factors is this councilman’s idea of conservatism. Granted, some cities are actually encouraging tiny homes as a means of freedom or as a solution to homelessness, as in Detroit, MI . Some Los Angeles lawmakers don’t see it that way , calling tiny homes for the homeless “a threat in many ways to our public safety.” Wasilla residents are baffled by the tiny home ban, which seems to run contrary to Alaska’s wild and free nature. Tundra Tiny Houses is leading a new market of small home construction using renewable energy, and now they’ll have to tell customers Wasilla is not an option, in addition to Anchorage to Eagle River. A big priority for tiny home dwellers is their reduced environmental impact. Many are capable of producing all their own energy from solar and wind, collecting rainwater and reusing graywater. Not depending on utility inputs naturally makes a lot of sense, especially for a tiny home on wheels. Even those who put their tiny home on a piece of land away from crowded spaces – with the intention of living off-grid through renewable inputs – are considered outlaws if they don’t hook to the utility grid. This of course ensures that utility companies, which are big donors to political campaigns and profit immensely from government-enabled monopolies, will always get their cut from every household. In January we reported that sunny Nevada essentially killed its solar industry by increasing their tax on solar customers by 40 percent, causing solar providers to leave the state. The only beneficiary was NV Energy, whose energy monopoly was protected. Spur, TX was the first city to advertise being “tiny house friendly” as a “town that welcomes new pioneers”– proudly supporting “reducing costs and gaining freedom to operate according to your own plan, unfettered by onerous and unnecessary costs.” To have this “freedom,” you must secure your properly permitted tiny home to an approved foundation and be connected to city utilities. The property must always be mowed and the prime responsibility is “of course, paying your taxes!” “When cities require the same permitting for tiny houses on foundations as they do for traditional houses, it often doesn’t make financial sense to build tiny. “At that point it’s really more of a lifestyle choice than an economic choice,” said Nick Krautter, a real estate agent in Portland, Oregon, who abandoned plans for a tiny house development. 23-year-old college graduate, Sarah Hastings, built a 190-square-foot home on three acres of farmland in Hadley, MA, complete with a garden next to it. But the town found she was not in compliance with zoning ordinances, and now her home is in storage. Hastings proposed a change to the town’s laws to allow for her tiny home, but the measure was vote down “because some residents were afraid the town would be overrun with them.” There will be no minimalist, environmentally friendly living in Hadley. Clearly, the emergence of tiny homes is being met with fear, and the resulting banishment of freedom, by too many towns and cities across America that can’t quite fathom this shift in the way people think about living. It’s one thing to be concerned about safety issues, but the imposition of minimum square footage requirements and mandatory connections to city utilities is mindless authoritarianism. Let’s hope places like Fresno, CA and Rockledge, FL, which are specifically allowing tiny homes on wheels, can help their more “traditional” counterparts embrace the future. Reference: http://thefreethoughtproject.com Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.
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Colorado voters reject measure to create universal healthcare | (Reuters) - Colorado voters rejected a ballot measure on Tuesday to create the nation’s first statewide universal health insurance program, according to local NBC News affiliate 9News. The proposition, called Amendment 69, would have created one of the most dramatic overhauls to a public healthcare system in U.S. history. Colorado’s 9News reported that the amendment was defeated on Tuesday night, after early results showed an overwhelming defeat. Dubbed ColoradoCare, the program would have been funded largely through a new 10 percent payroll tax increase intended to raise $25 billion in 2019, the first year the program could launch, according to the Colorado Health Institute. ColoradoCare was intended to greatly reduce the number of uninsured residents in the state, but opponents feared the tax hike and sweeping changes to public policy would ripple through the state’s economy. James Merilatt, 43, an unaffiliated voter who supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s election, said he opposed the single-payer healthcare measure. “It’s way too complicated and would have opened up a Pandora’s Box,” said Merilatt, who works in the publishing industry. | 0fake |
Trump's tax cut proposal shines light on MLPs | NEW YORK/HOUSTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration’s proposal to slash tax rates on so-called pass-through businesses would deliver a windfall to investors in master limited partnerships and could offer a much-needed lift to this niche segment of the energy market. The tax plan outline released on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump would sharply slash business taxes and discount the rate on overseas corporate profits brought back into the United States. The proposed changes include a cut to the top tax rate on pass-through businesses to 15 percent from the current rate of up to 36.9 percent. Pass-throughs get that name because taxes are not paid by the business itself but pass through to their owners’ individual taxes, at that rate. The change would largely benefit owners of private businesses, but U.S. stock market investors holding shares of master limited partnerships, or MLPs, would receive the same treatment. MLPs build the pipelines and storage tanks and are a common corporate structure in the oil and gas infrastructure sector. “If the average rate (for MLP investors) is in the 30s, reducing it to 15 percent would be tremendously attractive,” Robert Willens, president of tax and accounting advisory firm Robert Willens LLC, said on Wednesday. He said if the cuts come through they would make MLPs “the most attractive investment from a tax point of view.” Mike Bresson, a tax partner with the law firm Baker Botts in Houston said Trump’s proposed change would enhance an already-superior tax structure enjoyed by MLPs. “They’re talking about giving MLPs the same 15 percent tax rate that corporations get, so that would actually expand the benefits of MLPs over corporations,” Bresson said. “The devil is in the details and we haven’t seen them.” MLPs have broadly underperformed the wider stock market over the past several years, largely due to the weakness in oil prices. The energy sector was pummeled as crude prices tumbled from above $100 per barrel in mid 2014 to below $30 early last year. They only recently stabilized at around $50 for U.S. oil. “There has been a gradual improvement in MLPs now that energy prices have stabilized. It’s still a decent place to invest even without the tax cut,” said Bryant Evans, portfolio manager at Cozad Asset Management in Champaign, Illinois. “There should be an almost immediate bounce (in price) once the proposal is solid. It should create more demand for MLP stock in general. But beyond an immediate bounce, it all goes back to how their businesses are doing.” Even with their above-average dividend yields, MLPs have lagged the S&P 500’s total return in the last year by around 240 basis points. MLP stocks - more specifically, units - are up as a group so far this year, with the Alerian MLP ETF up 1 percent, though they have fallen 2.1 percent since Trump took office - even as his administration has been more friendly to sector projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline. The ETF rose 0.8 percent Tuesday as details of the tax proposal were reported first by the Wall Street Journal. It was the largest gain for the fund in six weeks. Among the best performers in the sector this year are Shell Midstream Partners and Tallgrass Energy Partners, both up by more than 11 percent in 2017, while Plains All American Pipeline and Genesis Energy are down 5 percent and 9 percent year to date, respectively. | 0fake |
After vowing to end two wars, Obama may leave three behind | President Obama’s decision to expand the U.S. war effort in Iraq and Syria is a reflection of the conflicting pressures on a commander in chief who doubts that military force alone can end the conflicts in those countries, but who also feels compelled to act in the face of a humanitarian catastrophe and a growing threat to the United States.
The president on Friday said that he was sending about 50 Special Operations troops to northern Syria to work with Kurdish and Arab fighters battling the Islamic State. The deployment, though small, marks the first full-time deployment of U.S. forces to the dangerous and chaotic country.
The troops will be accompanied by more U.S. attack planes, based across the border in Turkey, and plans for more joint raids — led by Iraqi counterterrorism forces — to capture and kill Islamic State leaders.
The troops, planes and plans for more raids represent an “intensification” of the president’s existing strategy, said senior administration officials. Few of those officials, however, suggested that the moves would be enough to break open the stalemated conflict or produce sudden battlefield gains.
“This is a very complex battle space, and we’re not directly involved in the way we’ve been in the past,” said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
Without a clear overarching strategy to resolve the conflict, “we’re looking at things in a granular way,” the official said. The goal, for now, is simply to incrementally reinforce those areas that are working and abandon initiatives that are not.
Obama began his second term having brought one war in Iraq to an end and pledging to bring home America’s ground troops from a second in Afghanistan. To that end he set hard limits on U.S. deployments and firm time frames for the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
Before deploying forces, Obama would regularly demand that his commanders explain the “theory of the case” behind the moves. The phrase is evocative of the president’s legal training and his deep skepticism that U.S. military power can bring lasting change to broken societies. He wanted assurances that the operations would work as intended as well as coherent explanations of how and when they would end.
As he nears the end of his presidency, Obama faces the prospect that he will leave office with ground forces deployed to three combat zones.
Last month, the president said he would keep 5,500 ground troops in Afghanistan to advise struggling Afghan army and to pursue the remnants of al-Qaeda. In Iraq and Syria, the president has incrementally boosted the U.S. force, beginning an initial deployment of several hundred troops to Iraq in 2014, after Iraqi army forces in Mosul were overrun by Islamic State fighters. The president sent 450 more American trainers and advisers after Iraqi forces were routed at Ramadi by a much smaller Islamic State force in the spring.
Those forces were supposed to work with the Iraqi army and local tribal fighters to plan an offensive on Ramadi that has largely stalled. “We have four axes converging on Ramadi, and on any given day, none of them makes any movement at all,” said a senior U.S. official involved in the war planning.
Frustrated with the lack of progress, Obama in July made a rare visit to the Pentagon to push Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and his top commanders for options to increase the intensity of U.S. military operations without putting U.S. troops in a direct combat role.
More ambitious and costly measures such as no-fly zones or buffer zones that would require tens of thousands of ground troops to effectively protect civilians were rejected. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that she favors a no-fly zone in Syria. Other riskier proposals, such as the introduction of Apache helicopters or combat advisers who would move closer to the front lines and call in airstrikes or bolster the Iraqi attack on Ramadi, weren’t explicitly rejected but were deemed unnecessary for now.
The president’s final decision balanced his desire for the United States do more with his determination to keep American forces from being pulled too deeply into conflicts in which U.S. effectiveness was limited or where there were no clear military solutions.
The 50 Special Operations troops and the new attack planes heading to Syria and Turkey will bolster Kurdish and Syrian Arab forces that were able to make surprising gains over the summer with the backing of U.S. warplanes.
“The success in northern Syria wasn’t the result of any strategic planning,” said a senior defense official who tracks operations in the region. “Really, it was an opportunity that fell into our laps.”
Syrian Arab and Kurdish forces have fought to within 30 miles of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s de facto capital. With additional American help, U.S. officials said the fighters could isolate the city, cutting its supply lines running up to the Syrian border.
Over the longer term, U.S. officials said that a loose coalition of Syrian Arab, Turkmen and Kurdish fighters might be able to dislodge the Islamic State from a 68-mile stretch of the border, creating a space where refugees can find haven. The hope is that the coalition can also begin to provide some level of governance and take part in diplomatic negotiations to replace Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
But even the most optimistic U.S. officials said such an outcome could take years.
In the near term, administration officials expressed cautious optimism that the combination of more U.S. air power, a bigger Iraqi push against Islamic State forces in Ramadi along with Kurdish and Syrian Arab efforts in Raqqa and along the border could shift the momentum on the battlefield.
“If you get all these things in motion, you put a lot of pressure on the Islamic State to move and communicate,” a senior U.S. official said. “As they do, they become targets.”
So far, it’s a strategy that hasn’t draw much support in Washington. Republicans and some Democrats, who have been pressing Obama to do more, criticized the president’s caution.
“His incremental step-by-step approach is an effort to manage risk and keep tight reins on the mission, but ultimately it could mean that the whole is less than the sum of its parts,” said Michele Flournoy, the chief executive officer of the Center for a New American Security, who was among Obama’s top choices to be defense secretary last year before Carter was selected.
Flournoy said the addition of U.S. air controllers to call in airstrikes, a more robust bombing campaign and more support to moderate rebels, combined with the measures the president is already taking, could accelerate gains on the battlefield.
“If he took these actions all at once, it could have a greater impact,” she said.
Some liberal Democrats described the president’s moves as a slippery slope to a deeper U.S. commitment. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) called the president’s announcement last week the “latest in a series of alarming signs that the U.S. war against ISIS will continue to accelerate in the absence of congressional action.”
White House officials, meanwhile, described the president’s moves as the product of hard lessons learned on a complicated and chaotic battlefield. “We always envisioned this as a three-year campaign,” the senior U.S. official said. “In year one we learned some of our local partners did well and others didn’t. So we are doubling down on those who did well.” | 0fake |
NYPD Source: Weiner Laptop Has Enough Evidence “to Put Hillary ... Away for Life” | Email
Sex crimes with children, child exploitation, money laundering, perjury, and pay to play, reads the partial list of crimes that, say New York City Police Department sources, could “put Hillary and her crew away for life.”
Shocking evidence of such criminality has been found on ex-congressman Anthony Weiner’s laptop computer, say the sources, which was seized from him by NYC officials investigating his allegedly having sent sexually explicit texts to a 15-year-old girl. Moreover, Hillary Clinton’s “crew” supposedly includes not just close aide and confidante Huma Abedin and her husband, Weiner, but other aides and insiders — and even members of Congress. Reports True Pundit : NYPD sources said these new emails include evidence linking Clinton herself and associates to: • Money laundering • Sex crimes with minors (children) • Perjury • Pay to play through Clinton Foundation • Obstruction of justice • Other felony crimes NYPD detectives and a [sic] NYPD Chief, the department’s highest rank under Commissioner, said openly that if the FBI and Justice Department fail to garner timely indictments against Clinton and co- conspirators, NYPD will go public with the damaging emails now in the hands of FBI Director James Comey and many FBI field offices. “What’s in the emails is staggering and as a father, it turned my stomach,” the NYPD Chief said. “There is not going to be any Houdini-like escape from what we found. We have copies of everything. We will ship them to Wikileaks or I will personally hold my own press conference if it comes to that.”
These revelations would explain why Director Comey reopened the investigation into Clinton’s mishandling of classified information, a move that shook the political world and caused Comey to come under fire. As the NYPD chief put it, the new e-mails contents truly are “alarming.”
True Pundit also reports FBI sources as stating that Abedin and Weiner are both trying to cut immunity deals with federal officials and that, if they didn’t cooperate, they’d face long prison sentences. Abedin’s turning state’s evidence would no doubt be devastating for Clinton, as the two women have for years been joined at the hip. Abedin has at times been like Clinton’s shadow, has been called her “body woman,” and has even been rumored to be Clinton’s lesbian lover. So Abedin likely knows where, as is said, the bodies are buried.
Of particular note, the new e-mails allegedly contain information revealing that Hillary, Bill Clinton, Weiner, and numerous congressmen took trips to convicted billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein’s private island, where he is said to pimp out underage minors of both sexes to prominent people. The trips were taken aboard Epstein’s Boeing 747, dubbed the “Lolita Express”; the pedophile’s island, in the US Virgin Islands, has been called “ Sex Slave Island .”
These revelations would also explain why Clinton used powerful software called BleachBit to scrub damning information from her private server. According to BleachBit’s website, its program gives criminals and others the ability to “shred files to hide their contents and prevent data recovery.”
Yet it can’t scrub bumbling perverts from your personal life, and Weiner’s laptop also contains incriminating e-mails revealing the mishandling of classified information by Abedin and Clinton, say the sources. Both women “sent and received thousands of classified and top secret documents to personal email accounts,” and this information could have been “accessed, printed, discussed, leaked, or distributed by untold numbers ... of unknown individuals,” writes True Pundit .
Consequently, FBI sources say the new Clinton investigation has been broadened and now includes matters such as how, informs True Pundit : • Abedin forwarded classified and top secret State Department emails to Weiner’s email • Abedin stored emails, containing government secrets, in a special folder shared with Weiner warehousing over 500,000 archived State Department emails. • Weiner had access to these classified and top secret documents without proper security clearance to view the records • Abedin also used a personal yahoo address and her Clintonemail.com address to send/receive/store classified and top secret documents • [a] private consultant managed Weiner’s site for the last six years, including three years when Clinton was secretary of state, and therefore, had full access to all emails as the domain’s listed registrant and administrator via Whois email contacts.
This story just adds more intrigue to a presidential campaign that is truly unprecedented, with a torrent of WikiLeaks and Project Veritas revelations and now Clinton’s Weiner woes. From vote fraud to inciting violence to child sex abuse to pay-for-play to perjury, it’s becoming clear to many that the Democratic Party — and the Clintons in particular — are essentially a criminal syndicate. As former assistant FBI director James Kallstrom said in a Sunday interview, “The Clintons, that’s a crime family, basically. It’s like organized crime. I mean the Clinton Foundation is a cesspool.... God forbid we put someone like that [Clinton] in the White House.” And now we know better why, as I wrote Sunday, this “appears standard FBI sentiment. I personally know of an ex-agent — someone with knowledge of Clinton ‘crime family’ dealings — who I’m told is having trouble sleeping at night due to the prospect of a Clinton presidency.”
All these revelations raise important questions: How could Hillary Clinton and her cohorts have bumbled so badly that they appear a cross between Inspector Clouseau and Boss Tweed ?
And if Clinton is so careless with her own personal survival, how can she be trusted with national survival?
Part of the explanation is general incompetence, yet there’s another factor: Both Clintons have engaged in continual criminality over the decades — and have been allowed to skate at every turn. This lack of accountability has led to complacency and ever-increasing brazenness, just as with a child never punished for wrongdoing.
So, finally, perhaps, Clinton corruption has reached critical mass. And with Donald Trump ahead 10 points (according to one respected poll) among the 88 percent of voters who have definitely made up their minds, maybe, come late Tuesday evening, some tossing and turning FBI agents will finally be able to enjoy a good night’s rest. | 1real |
TAKE A NUMBER, YOU’RE GONNA BE HERE A WHILE…Remember When Barack Promised Number Of Emergency Room Visits Would Decrease With Obamacare? | Add another lie to an exhaustive list of Obama lies Emergency-room visits continue to rise in the second year of Obamacare, the Wall Street Journal reports.The visits are up despite claims by President Obama that the law would reduce emergency-room visits because Obamacare would increase access to other kinds of care. There was a grand theory the law would reduce ER visits, Dr. Howard Mell, a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians, told the Journal. Well, guess what, it hasn t happened. Visits are going up despite the ACA, and in a lot of cases because of it. Emergency-room visits continued to climb in the second year of the Affordable Care Act, contradicting the law s supporters who had predicted a decline in traffic as more people gained access to doctors and other health-care providers.A survey of 2,098 emergency-room doctors conducted in March showed about three-quarters said visits had risen since January 2014. That was a significant uptick from a year earlier, when less than half of doctors surveyed reported an increase. The survey by the American College of Emergency Physicians is scheduled to be published Monday.Medicaid recipients newly insured under the health law are struggling to get appointments or find doctors who will accept their coverage, and consequently wind up in the ER, ACEP said. Volume might also be increasing due to hospital and emergency-department closures a long-standing trend.Via: Washington Free Beacon | 1real |
SHOCKING POLL RESULTS In Primary Victories Tonight | There are no surprises with the results on the Republican side tonight. Michigan and Mississippi went for Trump.BUT the Democrat results coming in tonight are surprising for many reasons. The most shocking is that Bernie Sanders is leading Hillary Clinton in Michigan by a little over 3%:Clinton has maintained a double-digit lead in nearly all polls of Michigan, the party s second-biggest state in terms of delegates to vote so far. But Sanders has visited the state repeatedly in recent weeks, believing its economically hard-hit areas should be receptive to his message of combating economic inequality. If he can pull out a surprise victory, his campaign team believes, it will quiet the naysayers questioning his viability after Clinton s sweeping wins in last week s Super Tuesday contests. It would also allow him to argue that he s a truly national candidate, while most of Clinton s big victory s have been in the south.Another shocking item is that exit polls in Michigan said 60% of Democrats believe Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy Wow! That s a crazy exit poll!Michigan Presidential Primaries ResultsOverall Michigan Presidential Primaries Results Democratic 36.7% Reporting B. Sanders 51.7% 217,424 H. Clinton 46.5% 195,306 10Republican 36.3% Reporting Winner D. Trump 37.2% 200,388 J. Kasich 25.6% 137,866 T. Cruz 23.6% 127,403 M. Rubio 9.1% 48,905 One of the inside baseball items that s interesting is that we re hearing many Democrats in Michigan crossed over to vote for Kasich to try and defeat Trump. Interesting because Hillary is losing to Bernie right now. Could those crossover votes been the demise of Hillary in Michigan?DETROIT Hillary Clinton swept to a widely-expected early victory in Mississippi on Tuesday, but all eyes were on Michigan as polls started to close there at 8 p.m. and Bernie Sanders jumped to a small early lead.The Vermont senator whose campaign has long seen Michigan as a strategically important state held a tight margin over the former secretary of state, but very few results were in from Wayne County, the home of Detroit, where Clinton is likely to perform well. Clinton s victory in Mississippi, a heavily African-American southern state, was called as soon as polls closed, following the pattern set by her easy wins across the south starting with South Carolina in February. Bernie Sanders barely competed in Mississippi, choosing to focus on the other state voting on Tuesday.Neither Clinton nor Sanders were in Michigan Tuesday night, but their absence doesn t imply indifference. Both candidates have campaigned hard in the state Sanders for the chance to gain ground on the former secretary of state, and Clinton to close the door on his candidacy with a win in a competitive, delegate-rich state.Initial exit polling in Michigan showed just over three-fifths of Democratic voters believed both candidates policies are about right on the ideological scale, according to ABC News. About 60 percent of voters said Clinton was honest and trustworthy, versus about 80 percent who said the same of Sanders. And around 60 percent said honesty or empathy was the most important attribute for a candidate slightly more than the four-in-10 who said electability or experience was most important.Read more: Politico | 1real |
Cannabis Aficionados Develop THC-A Crystalline: The Strongest Hash in The World at 99.99% THC | posted by Eddie While the sky-high potency may scare some away, Crystalline provides a surprisingly clean, focused, and inspired high. There’s a new kid on the block; her name is Crystalline, and she’s from the Hash Family. Crystalline hash is the latest craze in the hash community, and everyone wants a taste. The demand is so high that THC-A Crystalline is going for $200 a gram in southern California dispensaries . Testing in at an astonishing 99.9% THC, Crystalline is officially the strongest hash on the market. Other concentrates such as ice hash , rosin , and BHO range from 50-80% THC. Macro image of THC Crystalline. Photo courtesy of Allie Beckett. Cannabis concentrates are known for their variety of textures and forms, from shatter to wax to crumble, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. What many extract lovers don’t realize is that these various textures develop from the solvent used to make the concentrate and the methods of purging the solvent out of the final product. However, when THC is reduced to its purest state, it crystallizes, creating crystal ‘rocks’ which look very different than any other marijuana concentrate on the market. Crystalline turns many people off just because of its looks. The internet is filled with scornful reviews of its meth-like appearance, and this criticism is entirely valid. But don’t judge a book by its cover because cannabis crystalline is the purest form of THC and provides sufficient relief for many patients suffering from debilitating and fatal illnesses. And hey, it’s not THC’s fault that it’s a compound with a crystal structure. Guild Extracts, a Southern California extraction company, is the current leader of crystalline production. Their crystallizing process is kept under lock and key, but they claim the ability to make THC-A Crystalline out of any starting material ranging from hydrocarbon extract, CO2 extract, and ice water concentrate. One thing Guild Extracts has made clear is that they are not using a solvent to create this hash, rather, they are extracting pure THC from their starting materials. You may be wondering, what exactly is THC-A Crystalline? Well, before THC is combusted (lit on fire or vaporized) it sits in its raw acidic form, also known as THC-A. THC-A by itself is completely inactive, meaning if it is ingested it will not get you high (but it does have an extraordinary amount of medicinal benefits). When THC-A is activated through heat in a process called decarboxylation, the acidic carbon atom (the “A” in THC-A) is removed leaving behind the psychoactive THC that so many of us know and love. Macro image of THC Crystalline produced by Atom Labs. Photo courtesy of Allie Beckett. Now remember, this pure THC does not contain terpenes (the magical compounds that give cannabis strains their distinctive aroma and flavor profiles while contributing to their therapeutic effects). To make up for the lack of flavor, Guild Extracts has become famous for the “dip n dab,” dipping the crystalline concentrate into terpenes extracted from strains like Goji OG, Tangie, and Sherbert. While the sky-high potency may scare some away, Crystalline provides a surprisingly clean, focused, and inspired high. Plus, health nuts can rest easy knowing that THC-A Crystalline is completely free of any chemical inputs (think butane). source: | 1real |
New York vows to sue Trump over immigrant children protections | (Reuters) - New York and Washington state on Monday vowed to sue President Donald Trump if he scraps a program shielding from deportation immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children. The Trump administration is expected to announce on Tuesday that he will end the so-called Dreamers program but give the U.S. Congress six months to craft legislation to replace it, according to sources familiar with the situation. [nL2N1LL01P] U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will announce plans for ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program at 11 a.m. (1500 GMT) on Tuesday, but will not take questions, the Justice Department said on Monday. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a joint statement with the state’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, said, “The president’s action would upend the lives of hundreds of thousands of young people who have only ever called America their home.” The attorney general of Washington state, Bob Ferguson, also threatened legal action. “I will use all the legal tools at my disposal to defend the thousands of Dreamers in Washington state,” he said in a statement. Ferguson and Schneiderman were among 20 attorneys general who wrote to Trump in July to say that if he ended the program, they would defend it “by all appropriate means.” Nine Republican state attorneys general have said they would file suit on Tuesday if Trump did not end the program. The White House declined to comment on Monday. DACA is a policy created by former President Barack Obama that protects nearly 800,000 young people, often called “Dreamers,” from deportation and allows them to work legally. Under the shift Trump is considering, any Dreamer with a valid work permit would be able to remain in the United States until the permit expires, in the absence of congressional action, sources familiar with the matter said. At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security would not target Dreamers for deportation, one of the sources said. Dreamers are a fraction of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of them Hispanic. Trump as a candidate promised to deport all of them, but many Americans have rallied to support the young adults, who have spent large parts of their lives in the United States. While Republicans in Congress have generally taken a hard line on illegal immigration and are sympathetic to the argument that Obama overstepped his bounds in creating DACA, several have stepped forward to call for action to protect the Dreamers. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top elected Republican official, on Friday urged Trump not to rescind the program, as did Senator Orrin Hatch. Senator James Lankford said on Monday it was not appropriate to “hold children legally accountable for the actions of their parents.” Another Republican, Senator Tom Cotton, who has been particularly outspoken on reforming immigration laws, told the Washington Examiner he supports legislation that would protect dreamers and take legal steps to reduce illegal immigration. Many prominent business leaders, including the chief executive officers of Microsoft (MSFT.O), General Motors (GM.N) and Facebook Inc (FB.O) — Satya Nadella, Mary Barra and Mark Zuckerberg, respectively — have also urged Trump not to reverse the Dreamer program. | 0fake |
Officials Caught Falsifying Records To Deny Food Stamps To Families With Less Than $100 (VIDEO) | Poverty is a problem in America. While most of us are not filthy rich or anything, we also generally don t have to worry about not having enough to buy even the basic essentials, including food. This is the horrifying reality for many people, though. That s why we have programs to combat hunger, such as food stamps. However, some human services workers in New Mexico have been doing something despicable in order to meet deadlines: falsifying documents in order to deny aid to families in need.Reports indicate that at least five workers in the New Mexico Human Services department confessed to fudging records and saying families had more than $100 in assets, and used that as an excuse to deny them aid for food. Now, anyone living in today s world knows that $100 is nothing, especially if you have a family with children.New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty s Sovereign Hager revealed the following to local station KTRK: It makes the state s numbers appear artificially high, as if they were processing things according to law. When in fact, they aren t. This disgusting processing falsification apparently was a result of the inability of workers to meet a deadline of seven days for expediting emergency food stamp applications. So, in other words, these people let babies go hungry in order to save their own asses at work. While we all know that social services in America is a mess, this is utterly unacceptable.Hager further revealed to the local station that she and other authorities were unaware of this tactic to skip out on deadlines: This is something we ve never heard before, but according to workers, has been going on for quite some time. Really now? I wonder how many people are literally starving because of what these workers did. No matter the reasoning, there is simply no excuse. Hopefully, those responsible face criminal charges, and that becomes a warning to social services workers around the nation.Watch a video news report on this story below:Featured image via Pixabay | 1real |
Trump, Obama dominate Twitter year, but chicken nuggets prevail | (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump continued to dominate Twitter in 2017 even though former President Barack Obama’s tweets were more liked and both were blown away by one man’s quest for free chicken nuggets. Twitter revealed the year’s most liked and retweeted tweets on Tuesday, reflecting how a nation bitterly divided between Republicans and Democrats is likewise split on social media. Trump, whose 44 million followers of @realDonaldTrump rank him 21st on Twitter, was the most tweeted about world leader and U.S. elected official. Likewise @FoxNews, the conservative cable news channel, was the top tweeted news outlet, led by @SeanHannity, the host who is a friend and ally of the president. Obama was also well-represented. The former president, whose @BarackObama ranked as the third-most-followed Twitter account behind @katyperry and @justinbieber, posted the most popular tweet: nearly 4.6 million likes for the Nelson Mandela quote, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion,” with a picture of Obama greeting a diverse group of babies through a window. That was also the second most retweeted item at 1.7 million times. No president could compete with free nuggets, however. A 16-year-old named Carter Wilkerson, @carterjwm, garnered 3.6 million retweets in his campaign for a year’s supply of nuggets from Wendy’s. He came up short of Wendy’s target of 18 million retweets, but Wendy’s still gave him the nuggets and a $100,000 donation in his name to the Wendy’s-linked Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. The top four new U.S. political accounts were some of Trump’s most forceful critics, led by @PreetBharara, the former federal prosecutor he fired. Next came @SallyQYates, the former acting attorney general who was also fired by Trump. Third was former Obama adviser Ben Rhodes, @brhodes, followed by Obama’s former official photographer, @PeteSouza, who has tweeted flattering pictures of Obama during some of Trump most criticized moments. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, @SHSanders45, rounded out the top five. Other results underscored the punch and counterpunch of politics. Right behind @FoxNews on the top tweeted news outlet list was @CNN, which Trump derides as fake news. The most tweeted activist hashtag was #Resist, as in resist Trump, followed by #MAGA for Trump’s slogan Make America Great Again. Among national leaders, Trump was followed by @narendramodi of India, @NicolasMaduro of Venezuela and @RT_Erdogan of Turkey. (This story corrects paragraphs 8 and 9 to show request was for one year of free nuggets instead of lifetime supply) | 0fake |
Profitable Companies, No Taxes: Here’s How They Did It - The New York Times | Complaining that the United States has one of the world’s highest corporate tax levels, President Trump and congressional Republicans have repeatedly vowed to shrink it. Yet if the level is so high, why have so many companies’ income tax bills added up to zero? That’s what a new analysis of 258 profitable Fortune 500 companies that earned more than $3. 8 trillion in profits showed. Although the top corporate rate is 35 percent, hardly any company actually pays that. The report, by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a research group in Washington, found that 100 of them — nearly 40 percent — paid no taxes in at least one year between 2008 and 2015. Eighteen, including General Electric, International Paper, Priceline. com and PGE, incurred a total federal income tax bill of less than zero over the entire period — meaning they received rebates. The institute used the companies’ own regulatory filings to compute their tax rates. Companies take advantage of an array of tax loopholes and aggressive strategies that enable them to legally avoid paying what they owe. The institute’s report cites these examples: Multinational corporations like Apple, Microsoft, Abbott Laboratories and have ways of booking profits overseas, out of the reach of the Internal Revenue Service. (Those companies were not among the 258 whose rates were calculated by the institute, which said it could not verify the breakdown of their profits between the United States and other countries.) Citing evidence in the report, Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, and Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, introduced a bill on Thursday to eliminate tax loopholes that encourage companies to shift activities offshore. “The truth is that we have a rigged tax code that has essentially legalized tax dodging for large corporations,” Senator Sanders said. “Offshore tax haven abuse has become so absurd that one office building in the Cayman Islands is now the ‘home’ to more than 18, 000 corporations. ” Others, like American Electric Power, Con Ed and Comcast, qualified for accelerated depreciation, enabling them to write off most of the cost of equipment and machinery before it wore out. Facebook, Aetna and Exxon Mobil, among others, saved billions in taxes by giving options to top executives to buy stock in the future at a discount. The companies then get to deduct their huge payouts as a loss. Facebook used excess tax benefits from stock options to reduce its federal and state taxes by $5. 78 billion from 2010 to 2015, the institute found. Individual industries have successfully lobbied for specific tax breaks that function as subsidies: for instance, drilling for gas and oil, building Nascar racetracks or railroad tracks, roasting coffee, undertaking certain kinds of research, producing ethanol or making movies (which saved the Walt Disney Company $1. 48 billion over eight years, the report says). These subsidies mean that the goodies were not evenly distributed. Utilities logged an effective tax rate of just 3. 1 percent over the period. Industrial machinery, telecommunications and oil, gas and pipeline companies paid roughly 11. 5 percent. Internet services paid 15. 6 percent. In just two sectors — health care and retail — companies paid more than 30 percent of their profits in federal income tax. “One of the things that jumps out pretty starkly is there’s a real gap between the tax rates paid by different industries,” said Matthew Gardner, a senior fellow at the institute and a of the study. “When the biggest companies aren’t paying their fair share, that means the rest of us are left to pick up the slack. It means small business and families are paying more. ” But Tara DiJulio, a spokeswoman for General Electric, called the report “deeply flawed and misleading. ” “G. E. is one of the largest payers of corporate income taxes,” she said. “Over the last decade, G. E. paid $32. 9 billion in cash income taxes worldwide, including in the U. S. and pays more than $1 billion annually in other U. S. state, local and federal taxes. ” She added: “The tax code is complex and outdated, which is exactly why tax reform must happen this year. G. E. has long been advocating to simplify and modernize the tax system — even if it means we pay more in taxes. ” Tax reformers have long argued that the nominal 35 percent federal rate on corporate profits more often than not functions like a price — an artificially inflated number that sounds high but rarely applies. Thanks to a variety of loopholes and methods, those 258 corporations paid an average rate of 21. 2 percent. (Other studies, including a new one by the Congressional Budget Office that compares corporate income tax rates in various countries, have found that average and effective rates in the United States are lower than the nominal rate.) Companies with the biggest tax subsidies over the eight years, the institute’s report said, included: Some of the tax incentives, including those enacted during the recession, were meant to increase economic growth and hiring, but the institute’s report said they often didn’t work that way. Republicans say their tax overhaul will eliminate some of the biggest loopholes, although critics counter that the substitute will end up further reducing companies’ tax bills. | 0fake |
DELINGPOLE: Michael Mann Vs the Truth at Congressional Climate Hearing | Apart from being a tetchy, hotheaded, rude, bullying, cackhanded, ignorant, malevolent and embarrassingly useless excuse for a scientist, Professor Michael Mann — the guy behind the Hockey Stick — is also the most outrageous liar. [Mann used often to claim that he was a Nobel Prizewinner — till someone unhelpfully pointed out that he was but one of hundreds of scientists who contributed to Assessment Reports by the IPCC (which did win the Nobel Prize in 2007) This week the shyster was up to his old tricks again, telling a string of porkie pies at a climate science hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Given how litigious the mendacious, bloviating poltroon can be — he’s currently engaged in at least two defamation suits: one against Tim Ball, the other against Mark Steyn — I obviously have to tread very carefully here. So I’d just like to say, as delicately and politely as I can to the Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State University: “Liar, liar. Your pants on fire. ” Here’s the evidence: Porkie Number One, Mann told the Congressional hearing he had no association or affiliation with the Climate Accountability Institute (one of the numerous ad hoc organisations formed in order to give the harassment of climate sceptics an air of scientific credibility). Yet according to his CV he sits on the Climate Accountability Institute’s advisory board and has done since 2014. Porkie Number Two, Mann denied having called his fellow climate scientist and special witness, former Georgia Tech Judith Curry, a “denier”. “A number of statements have been attributed to me. I don’t believe I’ve called anybody a denier,” he solemnly told the hearing. To which Judith Curry, sitting next to him, replied: “It’s in your written testimony. Go read it again. ” You can watch the moment where Curry smacks him down below: Mann then proceeded indignantly to quibble that though he might have called Curry a “climate science denier” he hadn’t called her a “climate change denier”. [As if there’s any meaningful distinction between the two slurs]. But this claim — as Stephen McIntyre notes — was also a lie. confronted with written evidence that he called Curry “climate science denier” Mann said he hadnt called her “climate CHANGE denier”. #FAKE pic. twitter. — Stephen McIntyre (@ClimateAudit) March 29, 2017, Porkie Number Three, Mann — busily trying to develop the case that climate scientists like himself are the innocent victims of vicious slurs — was asked whether he’d ever dismissed another of the expert witnesses on the panel, Roger Pielke Jr with the phrase “carnival barker” “You’d have to provide me with the context. I don’t remember everything I have said or done,” said Mann. Here’s one example: Mann said that he didn’t remember calling @RogerPielkeJr a “carnival barker”. But https: . pic. twitter. — Stephen McIntyre (@ClimateAudit) March 29, 2017, And here’s Mann again using the insult — clearly a personal favourite — on Judith Curry: Mann also called @curryja a “carnival barker” pic. twitter. — Stephen McIntyre (@ClimateAudit) March 29, 2017, Porkie Number Four, Mann, in yet another bid to present himself as a persecuted martyr of Republicans, claimed that Joe Barton — the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee — had demanded all his “personal emails and correspondence with other scientists. ” This, again, was a lie. Barton had asked for Mann’s funding sources — which Mann, in his congressional testimony, said was fair game — but not for his personal emails. Here, once again, Steve McIntyre has the evidence. Mann: #fake claim tht Barton demanded “all of my personal emails and correspondence”. Barton: funding info, which Mann said “fair game” pic. twitter. — Stephen McIntyre (@ClimateAudit) March 29, 2017, Michael Mann claims to be an expert on climate change and is frequently called on by official panels like this Congressional committee to speak on behalf of the scientific establishment. Is there anyone who still takes this guy seriously? | 0fake |
Facebook Partners With Snopes & Other So-Called ‘Fact Checking’ Sites to Burry ‘Fake News’ | 21st Century Wire says Facebook is partnering with Snopes.com and other sites which have apparently been unofficially deemed the new ministries of truth to decide what is and what is not Fake News. Do we trust these agencies more than we trust the intelligence of 21WIRE Facebook followers to discern, on their own, what is Fake News and what is credible Absolutely not.You decide: Is Facebook really cracking down on fake news or is it making it easier for the establishment to burry stories from one of the most widely used sources of news link sharing on the internet? Alex Heath Business InsiderFacebook is going to start fact checking, labeling, and burying fake news and hoaxes in the News Feed, the company announced on Thursday.The decision comes after Facebook received heated criticism for its role in spreading a deluge of political misinformation during the U.S. presidential election, like one story that falsely said the Pope had endorsed Donald Trump.To combat fake news, Facebook has partnered with a shortlist of media organizations, including Snopes and ABC News, that are part of an international fact-checking network led by Poynter, a nonprofit school for journalism located in St. Petersburg, Florida.Starting as a test with a small percentage of its users in the United States, Facebook will make it easier to report news stories that are fake or misleading. Once third-party fact checkers have confirmed that the story is fake, it will be labeled as such and demoted in the News Feed.A company spokesperson told Business Insider that the social network will also use other signals, like algorithms that detect whether a story that appears fake is going viral, to determine if it should label the story as fake and bury it in peoples feeds. We ve focused our efforts on the worst of the worst, on the clear hoaxes spread by spammers for their own gain, and on engaging both our community and third party organizations, Facebook News Feed chief Adam Mosseri said in a company blog post on Thursday.A team of Facebook researchers will also review website domains and send sites that appear to be fake or spoofed (like washingtonpost.co ) to third-party fact checkers, a Facebook spokesperson said. Of the 42 news organizations that have committed to Poynter s fact-checking code of ethics, Facebook is starting out with the following four Snopes, Factcheck.org, ABC News, and PolitiFact. We are only involved to the extent that Facebook relies on the list of signatories to our code of principles as a starting point for the organizations it chooses to verify, a Poynter spokesperson told Business Insider. Facebook is the only organization certifying third party fact-checkers on its platform. Facebook has given its four initial fact-checking partners access to a tool that will let them label stories in the News Feed as fake, a Facebook spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that Facebook is not paying the organizations to fact check Continue the story at Business InsiderREAD MORE MSM LIES AT: 21st Century Wire MSM Watch Files | 1real |
Democrats need to learn to defend Obama's record on foreign policy | It feels like a million years ago today, but Democrats swept to electoral victory in 2006 and 2008 largely as part of a backlash to the miserable foreign policy failures stemming from the 2003 invasion of Iraq. And relative to that context, President Obama's record in office has been good and avails itself of an obvious defense — yes, the Middle East is still a messed-up place, but American soldiers are no longer dying there by the dozen. Meanwhile, America's relationship with the rest of the world is vastly improved, global cooperation on climate and nuclear proliferation is delivering tangible results, and — oh yeah — Osama bin Laden is dead and America has been safe from terrorist attacks.
Against a Republican field that seems stuck in the Rumsfeld era, it should be a winning argument, but judging by Saturday night's debate Democrats seem ready to blow it. Rather than sell the full range of Obama-era achievements, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, and, most importantly, Hillary Clinton got bogged down parrying with the (excellent) moderators over the toughest elements of Obama's record in office rather than turning to the good stuff.
But there's more to the world than ISIS and the Arab Spring, and a great deal of the point of Obama's foreign policy has been to prevent chaos in the Middle East from soaking up all the bandwidth of American foreign policy. To win, Democrats need to learn to contextualize problems and talk about successes.
Consider, for example, the crowd-pleasing high points of Obama on national security. Unlike George W. Bush he really has "kept us safe" and avoided any terrorist attacks on the US homeland. And while Bush let bin Laden get away in Afghanistan in order to free up resources to launch a pointless and unsuccessful invasion of Iraq, Obama found bin Laden and had special forces kill him. You'd think this would be something Democrats would want to mention as frequently and as quickly as possible in a discussion of counterterrorism.
But on Saturday, Democrats went through extended discussions of ISIS, "radical Islam," and everything under the sun without mentioning it. Osama finally came up once, briefly, near the end in the context of a personal question addressed to Clinton:
John Dickerson: Begin the final segment of this debate with something none of you saw coming. Something quite unexpected. Soon after your inauguration, you will face a crisis. All presidents do. What crisis have you experienced in your life that suggests you've been tested and can face that inevitable challenge? Secretary Clinton, you first. Hillary Clinton: Well, there are so many. I don't know where to start. (LAUGHTER) I guess the one I would pick is the fact that I was part of a very small group that had to advice the president about whether or not to go after bin Laden. I spent a lot of time in the situation room — as secretary of State and there were many very difficult — choices presented to us. But probably that was the most challenging. Because there was no certainty attached to it. The intelligence was by no means absolute. We had all kinds of questions that we discussed. And, you know, at the end I recommended to the president that we take the chance to do what we could to find out whether that was bin Laden and to finally bring him to justice.
This is not much of a brag. But at least it got a token mention.
Here are some other things that nobody brought up:
This good stuff does not, of course, undo the problems in the Middle East. But then again, the Middle East was a violent and chaotic place when Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were in office. Obama has not managed to solve the problems of the region, but he has defended America's core interests — including, crucially, the absence of terrorist attacks at home — without incurring the thousands of American military casualties than we saw under his predecessor.
It is, all things considered, a pretty good record.
But it's bound to look terrible if — as happened Saturday night — Democrats are reluctant to talk about it except under duress. Journalists (and Republicans) like to pick at the scabs and weak spots of a politician's record. Competent politicians learn to talk about successes and broader context. The Obama economic record isn't perfect, either, but Democrats are more than happy to defend it as broadly successful and superior to the alternatives. The lesson we learned Saturday is that the party, including the woman who served as secretary of state for half his administration, isn't yet ready to do that on national security. | 0fake |
Iraqi forces breach Islamic State stronghold Tal Afar: statement | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi forces breached on Tuesday the city limits of Tal Afar, an Islamic State stronghold west of Mosul, military authorities said. Army and counter terrorism units broke into the city from the eastern and southern sides, according to statements from the Iraqi joint operations command. Security forces launched an offensive to take back the city on Sunday, their latest objective in a U.S.-backed campaign to defeat the Sunni Muslim jihadists, who remain in control of territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria. | 0fake |
Bristol Palin Throws MASSIVE Hissy Fit Because A-List Singers Won’t Perform At Trump’s Inauguration | Apparently, Bristol Palin thinks musicians have no right to have their own opinions or choices.Ever since Election Day, Donald Trump and his team have been desperately trying to find an A-list artist to perform at his inauguration in January. But none of them want anything to do with him.In response, Trump posted a pathetic tweet claiming that all A-list celebrities are asking him for tickets to the inauguration and that he s the one rejecting THEM.The so-called A list celebrities are all wanting tixs to the inauguration, but look what they did for Hillary, NOTHING. I want the PEOPLE! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016Trump is making it sound like he s insanely popular among relevant celebrities even though it s been clear for over a month that they despise him.And Sarah Palin s hypocritical abstinence-only crusader daughter decided to throw a temper tantrum about it on her blog.If Donald Trump were still just a regular old billionaire and threw a party at Trump Tower in New York City, celebrities would be lined up out the door, and the most famous artists would be pining for a chance to perform. But because he will be inaugurated as the next Republican president in January, these same mega-celebrities, who would normally drool over an invitation to sing for the president, want no part of it.Trump s inauguration team sought out some of the world s greatest musicians, but nearly all of them have refused for fear of backlash or to stand against him politically.Isn t it amazing how not cool it is to be conservative in the public eye? Either Hollywood is that far off or we have so many sissies we have in the spot light too scared to stand for what they believe in!Except Trump isn t just a reality TV star with a big mouth anymore. Throughout his campaign, he used divisive hateful racist sexist language and called for policies that go completely against what many celebrities stand for. So by refusing to attend and perform at his inauguration, these celebrities are making it clear that Trump will not be able to use them to claim that they somehow support him.When Trump threw parties in the past, things were different. He was just a businessman with money. But now he is threatening everything America stands for. Also, just because certain celebrities clamored to sing at President Obama s inauguration doesn t mean they ll automatically perform for Trump. Bristol Palin is acting like Trump is entitled to be adored and admired by everyone and that celebrities should just kiss his ass.But that s not the way the world works. In fact, Republicans made that clear by the way they have treated President Obama over the last eight years. The level of disrespect was unbelievable and no conservative crybaby can honestly say that any right-wing celebrity like Ted Nugent would have respectfully performed at one of Obama s inaugurations if they had been asked, especially since they said so many nasty things about the Obama family.But Bristol went even further by listing the names of celebrities who have refused or allegedly refused to perform for Trump. It appears she wants them to be punished. The problem is that these top entertainers have fan bases so large that they can easily say good riddance to conservative fans and not see much change in their star power and revenue stream.Speaking of revenue streams, clicking through the rest of Bristol s rant means you will be bombarded with pleas to buy her books and her mommy s books. Because being grifters is the Palin family profession and there are a lot of gullible conservatives out there to fleece.The bottom line is that Bristol Palin doesn t matter and she never will. She s just the spoiled brat of America s village idiot who refuses to let go of the fact that America rejected her ignorant unqualified mom eight years ago.Featured image via Inquisitr | 1real |
Exclusive: Crowded Bangladesh revives plan to settle Rohingya on isolated island | DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh, one of the world s poorest and most crowded nations, plans to go ahead with work to develop an isolated, flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal to temporarily house tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing violence in neighboring Myanmar, officials say. Dhaka says the Rohingya are not welcome, and has told border guards to push back those trying to enter the country illegally. But close to 125,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh in just 10 days, joining more than 400,000 others already living there in cramped makeshift camps. (For a graphic on Bangladesh's refugee relocation plan click tmsnrt.rs/2k7ZAZy) We are stopping them wherever we can, but there are areas where we can t stop them because of the nature of the border; forests, hills, said H.T. Imam, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina s political adviser. We have requested international agencies for help for shifting the Rohingya temporarily into a place where they can live - an island called Thengar Char. Developing Thengar Char should be given serious consideration, he said. Leonard Doyle, chief spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration, said the idea of moving refugees to the island has been talked about for years, but he hadn t heard anything new in the past few days. The island, which only emerged from the silt off Bangladesh s delta coast 11 years ago, is two hours by boat from the nearest settlement. It regularly floods during June-September monsoons and, when seas are calm, pirates roam the nearby waters to kidnap fishermen for ransom. Flat and featureless, Thengar Char has no roads or buildings. When Reuters visited in February, a few buffalo grazing along its shores were the only sign of life. (For a graphic on Thengar Char click tmsnrt.rs/2wE9Tcu) The plan to develop the island and use it to house refugees was criticized by humanitarian workers when it was proposed in 2015 and revived last year. Bangladesh, though, insists it alone has the right to decide where to shelter the growing numbers of refugees. The honorable prime minister wants to resettle them in Thengar Char, though some people say that island will not be a suitable place for them, said another Hasina aide, who declined to be named. But there are many such areas in Bangladesh, where Bangladeshis live. It s our country, and we decide. Officials say no one could have foreseen just how many refugees would arrive so swiftly after violence in northern Myanmar last year sent more than 75,000 Rohingya fleeing across the border. The latest unrest in Myanmar s northwestern Rakhine state began on Aug. 25, when Rohingya insurgents attacked dozens of police posts and an army base, prompting an army counter-offensive that has killed at least 400 people and forced entire villages to flee. Myanmar says its security forces are fighting a legitimate campaign against terrorists . The country s leader and Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, has come under international pressure for not speaking out against the persecution of roughly 1.1 million Muslim Rohingya in the Buddhist-majority country. Makeshift camps in Cox s Bazar, in southeast Bangladesh, have grown so rapidly they have run out of space - even for the tiny tarpaulin and bamboo shacks the Rohingya refugees typically throw together. With hundreds of new refugees streaming in every day, Kutupalong and Nayapara camps are at breaking point, Duniya Aslam Khan, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said in a statement. Imam, the adviser to Hasina, said a lack of space was the biggest concern right now, adding Bangladesh could not continue to house refugees in its schools and madrassas indefinitely. We are waiting for Thengar Char to be developed. Once that s done we will shift them, he told Reuters, reflecting a growing sense of hostility towards the Rohingya even in a Muslim-majority country. The islands gradually come up because of silting. That s continuing, and that s how Bangladesh has been created. If there are people there, why can t the Rohingya live there? he said. Some officials in Bangladesh s interior ministry are concerned that settling the refugees on the island would give them a sense of permanent residency, making it harder to send them back to Myanmar. Residents of Sandwip, the nearest island to Thengar Char, say the Rohingya are not welcome. Mizanur Rahman, the administrator of Might Bangha village, the closest settlement to Thengar Char, said local residents who have lost their land to erosion should be relocated first, ahead of the Rohingya. The UNHCR s local office did not respond to an email seeking comment about the relocation plan. Rohingya camped out in Cox s Bazar said they don t want to move to the island, fearing they could die there during the monsoon season and there won t be any work. The violence and refugee exodus have ratcheted up tensions between the two neighbors, and Bangladeshi officials said fighter jets were scrambled last week in response to several Myanmar defense helicopters violating its air space. | 0fake |
Christian Pastor Calls Orlando Massacre ‘Good News’ Because 50 ‘F*ggots’ Died (VIDEO) | Pastor Stephen L. Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona, is a terrible human being. In 2014, he made the case that AIDS can be eliminated if we just wiped all the f*ggots off the face of the planet. Naturally, given his many unhinged ravings about the LGBT community, a group he calls (without cause) pedophiles, and a wide array of other offensive language, Anderson was quite pleased after learning that 50 sodomites died, and another 50 were injured, in a targeted terrorist attack against the gay community in Orlando.Anderson says that this is good news because there s 50 less pedophiles in the world. The Christian pastor praised the shooter for eliminating his victims because they we just disgusting homosexuals at a gay bar. While he says he would never advocate violence (except for the time he prayed that President Obama would die and go to hell and his statement that all gay people should be murdered, of course), Anderson is clear that the Muslim man who killed all those people was simply following the Bible (what?):Now let me just be real clear: I ve never advocated for violence. I don t believe in, you know, taking the law into our own hands. I would never go in and shoot up a gay bar so-called. I don t believe it s right for us to just be a vigilante But I will say this: The Bible says that homosexuals should be put to death, in Leviticus 20:13. Obviously, it s not right for somebody to just, you know, shoot up the place, because that s not going through the proper channels. But these people all should have been killed, anyway, but they should have been killed through the proper channels, as in they should have been executed by a righteous government that would have tried them, convicted them, and saw them executed. Because, in Leviticus 20:13, God s perfect law, he put the death penalty on murder, and he also put the death penalty on homosexuality. That s what the Bible says, plain and simple.While he is happy that fifty people were murdered in the name of his god (though many Christians would dispute that they share a god with Muslims) after an extremist saw two men kissing and flew off the rails, Anderson says that there are some drawbacks like those awful liberals who think that this attack is one of the many examples that we need reasonable firearm regulations, and those who will denounce hate speech:But the bad news is that this is now gonna be used, I m sure, to push for gun control, where, you know, law-abiding normal Americans are not gonna be allowed to have guns for self-defense. And then I m sure it s also gonna be used to push an agenda against so-called hate speech. So Bible-believing Christian preachers who preach what the Bible actually says about homosexuality that it s vile, that it s disgusting, that they re reprobates you know, we re gonna be blamed.Like, It s all extremism! It s not just the Muslims, it s the Christians! I m sure that that s coming. I m sure that people are gonna start attacking, you know, Bible-believing Christians now, because of what this guy did. I m not sad about it, I m not gonna cry about it. Because these 50 people in a gay bar that got shot up, they were gonna die of AIDS, and syphilis, and whatever else. They were all gonna die early, anyway, because homosexuals have a 20-year shorter life-span than normal people, anyway, Anderson says. At least these dangerous predators, these dangerous filthy pedophiles at this gay bar, at least they re off the streets. I m just trying to look at the bright side, he concluded before wishing God s blessings on viewers.If there was any justice in this world, God would have spared the victims and taken Anderson instead. F*ck him.[Update: Anderson s video has been removed from YouTube for violating the platform s hate speech policy. A copy is below]Watch Anderson s disgusting rant below:Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
VIDEO: CROWD Chants “LOCK HER UP!” As Crooked Hillary Is Introduced At #Inauguration | Boos and chants of Lock her up! were heard in the crowd assembled at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Friday morning when defeated Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was introduced at the inaugural ceremony for President-elect Donald Trump.#InaugurationDay Lock her up pic.twitter.com/APVtyyYote Bill Simms (@Mittens1245) January 20, 2017The crowd on the mall booed when the jumbotron showed a close-up shot of Hillary Clinton at #Inauguration https://t.co/1dvY5lxdKo gpbnews (@gpbnews) January 20, 2017Some in crowd chanting LOCK HER UP as Hillary Clinton arrives Jamie Dupree (@jamiedupree) January 20, 2017Via: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
Puerto Rico, creditors trade barbs over debt freeze bill | SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Puerto Rico’s House of Representatives on Tuesday debated a bill to halt debt payments, while a government official fired back at creditors who suggested the U.S. territory was shirking efforts to hold restructuring talks. Burdened by a $70 billion debt load it says it cannot pay and a 45 percent poverty rate that has led to a steady exodus of its American citizens to the mainland, Puerto Rico faces economic collapse without a solution that either changes laws and/or involves an agreement with creditors. The next key date is May 1 when the Government Development Bank, the island’s primary fiscal agent, is due to pay creditors $422 million. The island’s Senate passed an emergency bill early on Tuesday that would alter GDB’s structure, as well as allow Governor Alejandro Garcia Padilla to declare a moratorium on any debt payment he deems necessary. The House was expected to vote on the bill on Tuesday. A group of Puerto Rico’s general obligation bondholders criticized the bill. “It is no coincidence that the governor has abruptly sought overnight adoption of debt moratorium legislation at the very moment large general obligation bondholders were arriving on the island to pursue a consensual restructuring,” the creditors said in a statement on Tuesday. That group, holding about $5 billion debt, then released a proposed restructuring plan that would defer principal repayments and offer new debt, a plan they say would save Puerto Rico from default. GDB President Melba Acosta disputed the notion that officials were blowing off creditors, saying Puerto Rico held meetings with creditors in March, presenting updated restructuring proposals. “We have not received an actionable, binding financing commitment from anyone, and we have received no offers that would lead Puerto Rico towards a stable and prosperous economy for years to come,” Acosta said in a statement to Reuters. “We sincerely hope that the ‘proposals’ that the advisers to our GO holders speak of are not a public relations stunt that attempts to mislead the public and distract leaders in Congress from the real work at hand,” she added. GDB is also holding consensual restructuring talks with its own creditors. Legislative efforts in the U.S. Congress to fix Puerto Rico’s debt problem are not likely to come to fruition before the GDB’s May 1 debt payment. On Monday, some GDB creditors sued to try to prevent a run on the bank as negotiations play out, asking a court to bar the GDB from paying certain creditors and preventing depositors from withdrawing money. A source close to the matter told Reuters some government agencies were planning to open new accounts at other banks, but denied those agencies were removing money from the GDB. | 0fake |
Trump Doubles Down Via The Law, Moves To Protect White Supremacists From Law Enforcement | Donald Trump is a racist. We ve always known that. He has been repeatedly sued by the Department of Justice for refusing to rent apartments to black and brown tenets, and he ran an openly racist campaign in his bid for the White House, regularly retweeting and playing footsie with the Alt-Right, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, and other various assorted bigots. Now that he is squatting in the Oval Office, this man is more dangerous than ever in this direction.We all watched his disgraceful and terrifying defense of neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and Klan members on Tuesday. Now, Trump is prepared to take his sympathy for Nazis and other white supremacists a step further and shield them from prosecution for their domestic terrorism. John Cohn, a former Homeland Security terrorism analyst, says of the situation: When you are a white supremacist and you hear the language coming out of the current administration, you sit back and you say, Those people believe in what we believe in; they have my back. That s what concerns law enforcement the most right now. This is especially concerning, considering that the Department of Justice is explicitly focusing not on homegrown white supremacists, according to Vice News, but on ISIS-like groups instead. In fact, the Trump Department of Justice is not concerned with white supremacists at all. Cohn goes on to say: As it relates to preventing mass-casualty attacks, we know what we need to do. This guy in Charlottesville [James Alex Fields Jr.] fits the behavior profile. His family had called the police before. Of course, James Alex Fields Jr. is the young neo-Nazi who rammed a car into a crowd of protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and wounding many others. He was known to idolize Adolf Hitler and was pretty much an out-front Nazi.The racist Trump Administration is literally endangering lives. This refusal to go after white supremacists, and indeed their open support of them, is beyond dangerous. It also means local law enforcement is on their own when dealing with this escalating threat because there will be no help to be had from the federal government. All of these fascists and racists need to be removed from office before more people die at the hands of Trump s Nazi followers.You can read the entire disturbing report here, at Vice News.Featured image via screen capture from Twitter | 1real |
Republicans Look To Shut Down The Government Over Coal Miner Pensions And Healthcare | Republicans won the 2016 presidential election. Why? Well, besides an avalanche of racial demagoguery, they appealed the white working class in Rust Belt America. They became the unsung heroes of the middle-class struggle to survive. Economic anxiety, as they called it, ran rampant.Well, their commitment to the white working class lasted roughly three weeks, and now it s back to square one. And the first victims of the Republicans newfound power? Coal miners.Yes, coal miners, the very people that represent the backbone of manual labor in the United States. From the hills of West Virginia all the way down to Kentucky, coal miners are what keeps America s energy bills under control and our electricity efficient. Democrats (like Hillary Clinton) lost big in coal country because of a failure to connect with them (even though she was the only candidate to offer them alternative programs to the dying industry). Trump and the Republicans pounced, promising them revitalization and a basket of goodies to make them great again.And now the United States may face a looming shutdown because of them. Why? Republicans don t want to pay their healthcare and pension plans.That s right, the same people who promised to be their champions are now turning their backs.Labeling the plan a bailout, Republicans are stonewalling Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, who offered an amendment to the chief funding bill of the United States government that will revitalize the United Mine Workers health and pension system, which went broke because of the 2007-2008 financial crisis.If Republicans continue to block the legislation which would lead to a shutdown over 16,000 retired coal miners and their families will lose their healthcare and pension plans. Manchin s amendment would offer temporary assistance until April 28 when another budget would have to be considered. Working with Manchin is West Virginia s other Senator, Republican Shelly Moore-Capito and Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also supports the amendment being added but blocked it from consideration last year.McConnell, however, has asked that Democrats step aside and not block the continuing resolution over the miner s benefits.Aside from Moore-Capito and Mitch McConnell, no Republicans have expressed support for the measure, and the opponents have called it a government bailout that sets a precedent to bail out other troubled pension systems and healthcare benefits.If Republicans want to see what a precedent looks like, they should ask Trump about his Carrier deal.So Democrats are accused of turning their backs on the working class. Meanwhile, Democrats Joe Manchin and Sherrod Brown are spearheading an amendment that helps that very class of workers, and Republicans are slamming it as a government bailout. If Republicans don t get Manchin, Moore-Capito and Brown on board with a continuing resolution, it won t pass.So bankers can get a trillion dollars in tax payer bailouts, but coal miners, who were promised their pensions and healthcare and who power our country, get squat and demonized?Democrats have been, are, and will be for the working class. They may not be as theatrical and slick as Republicans, but let today s example show who really has the back of the working class. Only one party is instilling economic anxiety in them and it isn t the Democrats.Every pundit better be reassessing this issue.Watch Senator Manchin deliver remarks:Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images | 1real |
Chris Christie Knew About Bridge Lane Closings as They Happened, Prosecutors Say - The New York Times | NEWARK — Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey knew that three of his top officials were involved in a plan to shut down lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge as it was happening and that the closings were intended to punish a local mayor for declining to support him, federal prosecutors said on Monday. The assertion was an unexpected and startling beginning to the trial of two former Christie administration officials charged with closing the lanes in 2013 and then covering it up. And it was a surprising claim because of the side of the courtroom it came from, as lawyers made opening statements. Defense lawyers have long argued that Mr. Christie, a Republican, and his top advisers were well aware of the lane closings and that they directed the as they tried to protect the governor’s political aspirations — saying their clients were “thrown under the presidential bus,” as one lawyer argued on Monday. But this was the first time a prosecutor had pointed a finger at Mr. Christie. And it directly contradicts the governor’s statements in the three years since the lanes were mysteriously closed, paralyzing the borough of Fort Lee, N. J. Mr. Christie, a former top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, has consistently denied that he knew about the lane closings as they unfolded, and argued that the United States attorney’s office had “exonerated” him when it declined to indict him along with the defendants now standing trial. The prosecutor, speaking for the United States attorney’s office, said that two of the alleged in the case, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, had “bragged” to the governor about the lane closings at a memorial service for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, on the third day of the closings, and that they had been done to “mess” with Mayor Mark Sokolich of Fort Lee, a Democrat, because he had declined entreaties to endorse the governor’s . Mr. Baroni and Bridget Anne Kelly, who were close allies of Mr. Christie, are the two defendants in the trial. Mr. Wildstein and Mr. Baroni boasted to Mr. Christie that panicked phone calls from Mr. Sokolich, pleading that the lane closings were a “public safety emergency,” were deliberately being ignored, the prosecutor said. The prosecutor, Vikas Khanna, quickly moved to quell any curiosity the jury might have about why Mr. Christie was not charged in the plot. “The evidence may show that others could have, should have, perhaps known certain aspects of what was going on in Fort Lee,” he said. “Perhaps you will even wonder what happened to those people. But at the end of this case the only issue for you to decide is whether Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni are guilty of the crimes with which they are charged beyond a reasonable doubt. That’s it. ” Defense lawyers quickly seized on his comments in their own opening statements. Michael Critchley, a lawyer for Ms. Kelly, a former deputy chief of staff to Mr. Christie, said: “We know who they’re talking about. They’re talking about Governor Christie. They’re talking about Kevin O’Dowd. ” (Mr. O’Dowd was the governor’s chief of staff at the time of the closings.) A spokesman for Mr. Christie, Brian Murray, responding to the prosecutor’s assertion, referred reporters on Monday to statements the governor made in 2014, in which he said he had not known about the plan to close the lanes. Mr. Murray declined to address whether the governor knew about the closings while they were happening. The office of the United States attorney, Paul J. Fishman, declined to comment on why the governor was not charged, but Mr. Fishman has said in the past that merely knowing is not a federal crime. Mr. Christie was intimately woven into the story both sides told in the packed courtroom on Monday. Prosecutors and defense lawyers alike described an administration tightly controlled by the governor, one that worked with his campaign to trade favors for endorsements. The governor was trying to win a big and broad margin of victory, and to win over Democratic mayors like Mr. Sokolich, so he could make the case that he was the Republican best able to win the White House. Mr. Khanna said Mr. Baroni covered up the lane closings because “this was something that was important to Trenton. ” He added, “Trenton: the governor’s office. ” Mr. Baroni’s lawyer, Michael Baldassare, later told the jury it would be hearing a lot about Trenton. “Trenton, Trenton, Trenton Trenton is the governor,” he said. “Let’s make no mistake. Open a dictionary: Trenton, the governor. ” The details of the plot that Mr. Khanna laid out are largely familiar by now — that Ms. Kelly sent an email in August 2013 saying “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” after confirming that the mayor of that borough would not endorse Mr. Christie. A month later, two of three access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were shut down. Mr. Baroni, then the official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge, studiously ignored the mayor as he pleaded by text, email and a handwritten letter for the agency to reopen the lanes. Mr. Critchley, Ms. Kelly’s lawyer, said Mr. Christie and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York developed a strategy to cover up the lane closings as soon as they ended, and executed it through official statements over the next several weeks, lying that the closings had been a “traffic study. ” Mr. Critchley characterized their strategy as one that sought not to “inflame the issue. ” “The idea that they — the governors of New Jersey and New York — they’re going to let a single mother of four control the future is also crazy,” he added, referring to Ms. Kelly. A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo flatly denied that he had any involvement. “The governor did not have any role — direct or indirect — in any press statements regarding the purported traffic study,” he said. The case will hinge on the government’s star witness, Mr. Wildstein, a former political blogger hired to a position created specially for him at the Port Authority, who has admitted, in a guilty plea as part of a deal to cooperate with the government, that he conceived the idea to close the lanes. Defense lawyers characterized him as crazy, a liar described even by witnesses for the prosecution as “a vicious guy,” “maniacal” and “a horrible person. ” And it was Mr. Christie, they said, who installed Mr. Wildstein at the agency to be his enforcer. Mr. Baldassare, Mr. Baroni’s lawyer, said the governor referred to Mr. Wildstein as his “fixer,” or “Mr. Wolf,” after the Harvey Keitel character in the movie “Pulp Fiction,” the guy who cleans up the dead bodies. And everyone — Mr. Baroni included — feared crossing him. “At the Port Authority at the time, when David Wildstein spoke, Governor Christie’s voice came out and everybody knew it,” Mr. Baldassare said. “It wasn’t just Bill. David Wildstein, based on this evidence, looks like a ventriloquist’s doll sitting on Christopher J. Christie’s lap. ” Mr. Christie, defense lawyers said, was United States attorney when he began talking to Mr. Wildstein, then the author of an anonymous and gossipy political blog in New Jersey the governor hired him after seeing his ability to work in the shadows as a virtue. Mr. Wildstein was a political operative so wily, Mr. Baldassare said, that he once stole Senator Frank R. Lautenberg’s jacket before a debate so that Mr. Lautenberg would have to borrow someone else’s jacket and be uncomfortable during a debate with Mr. Wildstein’s candidate, Representative Millicent H. Fenwick. At the Port Authority, Mr. Baldassare said, he operated on “one constituent rule,” wanting to please only Mr. Christie. He and the governor played a “red light, green light” game, Mr. Critchley said, going down a list and firing people they did not like, greenlighting those who remained in their favor. Mr. Wildstein’s goal, Mr. Critchley said, was to run Mr. Christie’s presidential campaign in one of the important early states — Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina. As the bridge scandal threatened to take down those presidential hopes, Mr. Critchley said, Mr. Christie pinned the blame on Ms. Kelly. “This case is not only about traffic, it’s about a presidential campaign for the United States of America,” he said. “What she knew could be fatal to an embryonic presidential campaign. ” She was scapegoated, he argued, by a “coterie of cowards. ” “Cowards who were addicted to power,” he said. “Cowards who despite all their titles, when it became time to speak the truth, they showed they were nothing more than opportunists, ambitious opportunists. ” | 0fake |
MELANIA Thanks Troops For Sacrifices At Easter Egg Roll…FLASHBACK To 2016: “Peanut Crew” Had To Remind Michelle Obama To Mention Troops, After Using Easter Speech To Brag About All Of Their Accomplishments [VIDEO] | During the annual White House Easter Egg Hunt, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stood with their son Baron on the White House balcony and addressed the crowd. President Trump spoke briefly and then announced that as soon as they were finished with the activities, he and Melania, and their son Baron would be heading downstairs to sign cards they planned to send to our troops. It was very touching to see Melania go out of her way to thank the military band and all of the staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to make sure everyone had memorable experience. Melania then delivered a sincere and heartfelt message of gratitude to our troops, I want to thank all of the military with us today, and all of the great military in this nation and service men and service women all around the world who is keeping us safe. Compare Melania s speech to this video of Michelle and Barack s final speech at the Easter Egg Roll in 2016: Today is a little bit bittersweet for us, because this is the Obama administration s last Easter Egg Roll (pauses for reaction from crowd) yeah. Michelle continued, And if we think about what we ve accomplished over the past 7 years, it s pretty incredible. Because when Barack and I first got here, one of the goals that we had was to open up the White House to as many people from as many backgrounds as possible. To open it up to our kids to our musicians, to explore our culture, to expose families to healthy living and to just to have fun. Because what s more fun than being a kid and going to the White House for an Easter Egg roll and hearing the First Lady drone on about healthy living? After several minutes of listening to Michelle drone on about all of her and Barack s achievements in diversity and bringing their culture to the White House, Barack had to interrupt her to remind her to mention the troops. He can be seen at least 2 times saying, military families behind her before Michelle finally responded, And also to our military families I ve got the peanut gallery back here remaining me of stuff. Laughs Our theme this year, in our final year is pretty simple, it s Let s celebrate. Let s celebrate all the good work that we ve done, all the great messaging that we ve had, all the amazing change that we ve seen in this country. | 1real |
Gay man finds it in himself to tolerate religious person | Gay man finds it in himself to tolerate religious person 01-11-16 A GAY man has met a Christian who appears civilised and could even be described as nice. Tom Booker met church-goer Wayne Hayes when he started working in his office, and has expressed his surprise that he ‘really couldn’t tell’. Booker said: “We often end up in the kitchen at the same time to make a cup of tea, so we started exchanging pleasantries and worked up to longer conversations. “He was always nice enough and talked about his family and allotment and stuff, so I presumed he was just a normal person. However, a few weeks later he mentioned something about believing in God. “I was really shocked, but he seemed very cool about it. I asked if he thought it was just a phase and he said no, he’d been feeling this way since he was about nine. “I wanted to ask him what Christians actually do in church, but I got worried that he might think I’m secretly into it and try to recruit me. He hasn’t mentioned it since. “It’s almost as if it’s a perfectly acceptable way to live your life, which has really given me pause for thought. “Just because you expect someone to be a massively judgemental dickhead, it doesn’t mean they will be.”
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New Mexico Is Erasing Actual Science From Their Science Standards | Education standards, it seems, is now a term fraught with intent. By and large, standards are set by the states that uphold them, with localities left to decide how best to implement those standards through lesson plans, specialized curriculum, and testing. But if you re a voter, you have at some point checked a box on a ballot for someone on a school board, or at the very least a school superintendent. That means that in a time like now, when the phrase all politics is local has taken on the most literal meaning you can imagine, local politics can sometimes determine what your children learn.To make matters worse, textbook manufacturers are as subject to political winds and capitalism as the next industry. That means they want to produce their books in markets where they can sell the most, which gives big states like California and Texas, whose student populations vastly outmatch those of other states, huge influence over education standards even outside their borders.When a state is reliably blue, as California is, that can shake out favorably for proponents of science, history, civics basically everything where facts are involved. But when a state is more often red, as in the case of Texas, it can be bad for those same things.What happens, though, when a state is more purple, like New Mexico?We re finding out now. The new science education standards for the southwestern state are raising eyebrows, and that s saying something for a state in which the long-serving Public Education Secretary resigned after 7 years on the job. Hanna Skandera, who was appointed by Republican governor Susana Martinez, had faced intense scrutiny from both Democratic lawmakers and from teachers in the state over previously proposed education reforms. A through F grading for young elementary students and a variety of other changes Skandera had sought while serving in the same capacity in Florida under governor Jeb! Bush made her a target of teachers unions and parent groups across the state.Martinez was very unhappy about the pressure that caused Skandera to resign.But the proposed changes to science in New Mexico were initially based on the Next Generation Science Standards, guidelines released back in 2013 and eventually passed by both chambers of the New Mexico legislature. It was when the proposed changes made it to Governor Martinez desk that issues arose. She vetoed the bill, citing her authority to properly vet the new standards.Now those standards look considerably different than what the legislature passed.Mother Jones outlined some of the changes:Two Democrats in the state, representing Districts 10 and 33, have pointed squarely at Governor Martinez in an op-ed in the Las Cruces Sun-News:During one of the committee hearings, a former member of her staff admitted the reason for the governor s decision. Toward the end of my tenure at the Public Education Department, I was tasked to edit and change some of the language in the standards to make them politically sanitized. No matter whether changes come from school boards, legislatures, or directly from a governor s office, changes to education standards should never be politicized. Unless this is stopped, New Mexico is just setting a new standard for how other states might politicize them in the future.Featured image via Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images | 1real |
Croatian PM Plenkovic regrets Praljak's death in The Hague | ZAGREB (Reuters) - Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said on Wednesday he regretted the death of Slobodan Praljak, the wartime commander of Bosnian Croat forces who died after he drank poison in The Hague. His act, which we regrettably saw today, mostly speaks about a deep moral injustice towards six Croats from Bosnia and the Croatian people ... We voice dissatisfaction and regret about the verdict, Plenkovic said. Praljak drank poison seconds after a United Nations judges turned down his appeal against a 20-year sentence for war crimes against Bosnian Muslims. | 0fake |
FBI still does not have warrant to review new Clinton emails | Yahoo News FBI Director James Comey wrote his bombshell letter to Congress on Friday about newly discovered emails that were potentially “pertinent” to the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email server before agents were able to review any of the material because the bureau had not yet gotten a search warrant to read them, three government officials who have been briefed on the probe told Yahoo News.
When Comey wrote the letter, “he had no idea what was in the content of the emails,” one of the officials said, referring to recently discovered emails that were found on the laptop of disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner , the estranged husband of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin. Weiner is under investigation for allegedly sending illicit text messages to a 15-year-old girl.
As of Saturday night, the FBI had still not gotten approval from the Justice Department for a warrant that would allow them to read any of the newly discovered Abedin emails, and therefore are still in the dark about whether they include any classified material that the bureau has not already seen.
“We do not have a warrant,” a senior law enforcement official said. “Discussions are underway [between the FBI and the Justice Department] as to the best way to move forward.”
That Comey and other senior FBI officials were unaware of what was in the emails — and whether they contained any material the FBI had not already obtained — is important because the campaign of Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have suggested that the FBI director would not have written his letter unless he had been made aware of significant new emails that might justify reopening the investigation into the Clinton server.
But a message that Comey wrote to all FBI agents Friday seeking to explain his decision to write the controversial letter strongly hinted that investigators did not not yet have legal authority establishing “probable cause” to review the content of Abedin’s emails on Weiner’s electronic devices.
In that message, Comey told agents that he had only been briefed on Thursday about the matter and that the “recommendation” of investigators was “with respect to seeking access to emails that have recently been found in an unrelated case.”
Comey approved the recommendation to seek judicial access to the material that day, he wrote.
“Because those emails appear to be pertinent to our investigation, I agreed that we should take appropriate steps to obtain and review them,” he told agents. Comey’s letter to Congress has brought the FBI director under withering criticism. Top Justice Department officials were described by a government source as “apoplectic” over the letter. Senior officials “strongly discouraged” Comey from sending it, telling FBI officials last week it would violate longstanding department policy against taking actions in the days before an election that might influence the outcome, a U.S official familiar with the matter told Yahoo News. “He was acting independently of the guidance given to him,” said the U.S. official.
Comey insisted in his message to agents that he felt he had “an obligation” to inform Congress about the new material because he had previously testified that the bureau’s investigation into the Clinton email server was completed. He said it would be “misleading to the American people were we not to supplement the record.” He added, “Given that we don’t know the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails, I don’t want to create a misleading impression.”
The decision to send the letter “wasn’t easy,” said the senior law enforcement official. Comey and top FBI officials debated what course to take once they learned about the discovery on Weiner’s laptop –– said to include thousands of Abedin’s emails. In the end, the official said, Comey feared that if he chose to move forward and seek access to the emails and didn’t immediately alert Congress, the FBI’s efforts would leak to the media and the director would be accused of concealing information.
“This was the least bad choice,” the senior official said.
But Comey’s letter to Congress — suggesting that the FBI might now revisit the Clinton email probe — may have been even more misleading, some critics charged Saturday.
“This letter is troubling because it is vaguely worded and leaves so many questions unanswered,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and three other Democrats on the panel wrote Comey and Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
“It is not clear whether the emails identified by the FBI are even in the custody of the FBI, whether any of the emails have already been reviewed, whether Secretary Clinton sent or received them, or whether they even have any significance to the FBI’s previous investigation,” the senators wrote. A Yahoo News review of Abedin’s interview with FBI agents last April — when the Clinton email probe was in full swing — shows that the longtime Clinton aide hinted that there might be relevant material on her husband’s personal devices. But agents do not appear to have followed up on the clues.
Abedin, who served as Clinton’s deputy chief of staff and held a top-secret security clearance, disclosed she had access to four email accounts while working at the State Department.
These accounts, Abedin said, included an official State Department email account, but also an account on Clinton’s private email server that Abedin used to communicate with Clinton and her top aides, as well as a personal Yahoo account. She used both the Clinton email account and the Yahoo account to “routinely” forward State Department emails and documents so she could more easily print them, she said. In addition, she told the agents, she had a separate email account that she had previously used “to support her husband’s political activities.”
Abedin’s interview — conducted by agents at the FBI’s Washington field office last April 5 — was the first tip-off that the longtime Clinton aide might have circulated official State Department material among her multiple accounts. At one point, agents even confronted Abedin on one apparently sensitive email about U.S. policy towards Pakistan that had been forwarded to her State Department account from an aide to the late Richard Holbrooke, then a special State Department envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Abedin had forwarded the email to her Yahoo account in order to print it, but told agents she was “unaware of the classification of the document and stated that she did not make judgments on the classification of material she received. Instead, she relied on the sender to make that assessment and to properly make and transmit the document.” There is no indication from the eight-page FBI report on the interview, however, that the agents ever pressed her on what has now turned into an explosive issue in the final days of the 2016 campaign: Did Weiner have access to any classified government documents on his laptop and iPhone — devices that, he apparently used to exchange sexually charged messages with women he met online, including in one alleged case, an underage teenager in North Carolina?
The fact that FBI agents failed to do so shows that the original probe into the Clinton email server was “not thorough” and was “fatally flawed,” said Joseph DiGenova, a former U.S. attorney and independent counsel who has been a strong critic of Comey and the FBI probe. “The first thing they should have done was gotten a sworn affidavit about all her accounts and devices,” he said, adding that agents should have immediately followed up to obtain the devices, including Weiner’s.
But it is still far from clear which State Department emails might be on the devices that Weiner had access to. In a separate civil lawsuit brought by a conservative group, Judicial Watch, Abedin gave testimony in June that appeared to differ in some respects from what she told the FBI. Asked in that case about her email accounts, Abedin told Judicial Watch lawyers that she rarely used the personal Yahoo account, and that when she did, she only used it to forward State Department “press clips” so she could print them. | 1real |
Show biz: Business and breakthroughs | Show biz: Business and breakthroughs Exclusive: Vanessa Frank learns what makes or breaks members of film industry Published: 29 mins ago About | | Archive Vanessa Frank has been involved in the film industry first as an actress and then in production, distribution and international sales. At 31, she directed her first film, “Let The Lion Roar,” starring Oscar nominated Eric Roberts, Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Sorbo and Grammy nominated singers Jaci Velasquez, Tim Rushlow and Jamie Grace. The film was an indie distribution success, with sales in 52 nations. Print
About Film Talk
Film Talk podcasts takes you inside the minds of some of the brightest filmmakers in the world. Learn from award-winning filmmakers as they teach the secrets to their success – the daily habits, routines and practices they employ to be the best in their industry. Guests include Oscar winners, Emmy Award winners, and Golden Globe winners. You can access the archive of all Film Talk podcasts here .
Making independent films happen with Atit Shah
Atit Shah is a film producer with five films releasing within the next 12 months, including “Jekyll Island” starring Oscar-nominated Minnie Driver, Emmy Award-winner John Leguizamo, AnnaSophia Robb and Ed Westwick, and “Money” starring Kellan Lutz.
He is the CEO of Create Entertainment, and is represented by UTA.
Breaking through as a female director with Melanie Aitkenhead
Melanie Aitkenhead is the director of the reboot of “Mother, May I Sleep With Danger?”, Oscar-nominated James Franco’s retelling of the 1996 classic film of the same name. The film stars Tori Spelling, with a cameo by Franco and premiered on Lifetime.
She’s also the director of the film adaption of James Franco’s popular novel “Actors Anonymous,” which explores the lives of young actors in Hollywood and stars Franco alongside Oscar-nominated Eric Roberts, Keegan Allen and Scott Haze.
Building the franchise with Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
Scott Mitchell Rosenberg is the CEO of Platinum Studios, one of the world’s largest independent libraries of comic book characters. Scott has played an integral role in creating one of the largest bibles in comic book history: the Platinum Studios “Macroverse,” which includes anchor titles such as “Cowboys & Aliens.”
A constant innovator, Scott established Platinum in 1997, following a successful career as the founder of Malibu Comics, which sold to Marvel in 1994. At Malibu, Scott led many successful comic spinoffs into toys, television and feature films, including the billion-dollar film and television mega-hit, “Men in Black.”
The art of entrepreneurship with Kent Speakman
Kent Speakman is a producer and entrepreneur at the intersection of entertainment and technology. Examiner.com has called him “one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry.” He has won the iMedia Entertainment Marketing award for “Best Digital Campaign” and “Best Mobile Entertainment Startup,” and he was awarded Evan Carmichael’s “Top 100 Entrepreneurs to Follow” in 2013 preceded by the “iMedia Top Ten Digital Marketers” in 2009.
Kent founded KONNECT – a digital, mobile and experiential agency that works with startups, brands and entertainment properties – before he co-founded FAMEUS, a new social network that connects members of the entertainment industry in innovative ways with a unique technology and that was listed on the Huffington Post’s “Top 10 Startups in LA” in 2015.
Kent has an international network of professionals and influencers, having orchestrated a variety of film and technology projects in Canada, the US, the United Kingdom, Asia and India. He has produced hundreds of events across Canada and the US, whilst working with clientele ranging from A-list celebrities, to tech mobile startups.
The Legal Aspect of Filmmaking with Dan Satorius
Dan Satorius is a world-class entertainment lawyer, with a practice that focuses principally on transactions, intellectual property, business structuring and financing. Furthermore, he is a nationally regarded attorney on clearance issues including Fair Use. His clients include Academy Award, Emmy Award, Independent Spirit Award, and Peabody Award-winning independent producers, writers and broadcasters in the film and television industry.
After graduating from film school and law school, Dan produced award-winning documentaries and short dramatic films. His graduate thesis film was selected as a finalist for a student Academy Award. In addition to practicing entertainment law for more than 25 years, Dan has been an adjunct professor at William Mitchell School of Law where he taught Entertainment Law.
Dan is an active member of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries, Co-Vice Chair of the Film and Television Division, and a member of the Governing Committee. | 1real |
TODAY: LIST OF U.S. CITIES Where “DAY OF RAGE” Is Reportedly Planned…Scott Air Force Base Posts Warning | Isn t it great when the day after a major terror attack in France, citizens can wake up in America, and fear more organized chaos and violence in cities across the nation? A group claiming to be the hacktivist group Anonymous, along with a number of other radical activist groups, is calling for a nationwide day of protesting on Friday, July 15th. Day of Rage protests are being planned by various groups in dozens of major cities throughout the country and police are gearing up for some major problems. Off Grid SurvivalScott Air Force Base has posted a warning to Facebook about a possible protest this Friday at the St. Louis Arch. The Day of Rage protests are planned at the same time in cities across the United States. A group calling itself part of Anonymous is planning protests on Friday, July 15th to stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. Other members of Anonymous say the planned protests are not going to happen.Scott Air Force Base origionally posted this message to Facebook at around 10am Thursday: Please be advised that the Air Force Office of Special Investigations has posted a safety warning not to be at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 15 due to potential protests and criminal activity. Please be safe and avoid this area during that time. They have updated the post since it went viral with this message:The potential protests are in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and the victims of police brutality. It is a reaction to last week s officer involved shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Anonymous posted a YouTube warning on Saturday: We are calling on a collective day of rage. A day of action centered around civil disobedience and the right to protest.To police departments across the United States. We are not your enemy. However, it is in your hands if you want us to stay that way or not. We will not be silenced and we will not be intimidated.To the St. Anthony and the Baton Rouge Police Departments, we ve already launched attacks on your virtual infrastructure. We are prepared to release every single piece of evidence that will expose your corruption and blatant disregard for human life.Once again we are calling upon the citizens of the United States, in conjunction with the Black Lives Matter movement as well as other civil rights activists, to participate in a day of action against the injustices of corrupt officers. On Friday, July 15th, we will all flood the streets at strategic locations in order to maximize our voice. The locations and times will be located in the description below. Tell your family, tell your friends. We will change the world together. Our freedom depends on it. Fox2NowHere is the list of cities where the #DayOfRage is supposedly planned:Please be careful if you live in these cities, and you may want to consider getting out of town on Friday:Phoenix: 5:00PM (EASTLAKE PARK, 1549 E Jefferson St , Phoenix, AZ 85034) Tuscon: 5:00PM (CATALINA PARK, 900 N 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705) Little Rock: 6:00PM (OUTSIDE STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Little Rock, AR 72201) San Francisco: 4:00PM (CIVIC CENTER PLAZA, 355 Mcallister St, San Francisco, California 94102) Oakland: 4:00PM (FRANK OGAWA PLAZA, 1 Frank H Ogawa Plaza, Oakland, CA 94612) Los Angeles: 4:00PM (LEIMERT PLAZA PARK, 4395 Leimert Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90008) Denver: 5:00PM (CIVIC CENTER PARK, 100 W 14th Ave Pkwy, Denver, Colorado 80204) Washington DC: 7:00PM (OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20500) Atlanta: 7:00PM (OLD DECATUR COURTHOUSE, 101 E Court Sq, Decatur, GA 30030) Tampa: 7:00PM (OUTSIDE HILLSBOROUGH COURTHOUSE, 800 E Twiggs St, Tampa, FL) Orlando: 7:00PM (LAKE EOLA PARK, 195 N Rosalind Ave, Orlando, Florida 32801) Miami: 7:00PM (GWEN CHERRY PARK, NW 71 St., Miami, Florida, 33147) Chicago: 6:00PM (RICHARD J DALEY CENTER, 50 W Washington St, Chicago, Illinois 60602) Des Moines: 6:00PM (IOWA STATE CAPITOL, 1007 E Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50319) New Orleans: 6:00PM (LAFAYETTE SQUARE, New Orleans, LA 70130) Baltimore: 7:00PM (201 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202) Boston: 7:00PM (MASSACHUSETTS STATE HOUSE, 24 Beacon St, Boston, MA 01233) Detroit: 7:00PM (Campus Martius Park, Detroit, Michigan 48226) Lansing: 7:00PM (STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, Capitol Avenue at Michigan Avenue, Lansing, MI 48933) Ann Arbor: 7:00PM (THE DIAG, Burns Park, Ann Arbor, MI 48109) Minneapolis: 6:00PM (MINNEAPOLIS URBAN LEAGUE, 2100 Plymouth Ave N, Minneapolis, MN 55411 St. Louis: 6:00PM (GATEWAY ARCH, St. Louis 63102) Carson City: 4:00PM (NEVADA STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, 101 N Carson St, Carson City, Nevada 89701) Manhattan, NY: 7:00PM (TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan, NY, 10036) Newark: 7:00PM (NEWARK CITY HALL, 920 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey 07102) Durham: 7:00PM (200 E. Main St. Durham, North Carolina) Columbus: 7:00PM (GOODALE PARK, Columbus, Ohio 43215) Cleveland: 7:00PM (CLEVELAND PUBLIC LIBRARY, 325 Superior Ave E, Cleveland, Ohio 44114) Portland: 4:00PM (PIONEER COURTHOUSE SQUARE, 701 SW 6th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97204) Philadelphia: 7:00PM (LOVE PARK, 1599 John F Kennedy Blvd, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19102) Pittsburgh: 7:00PM (PITTSBURGH CITY-COUNTY BUILDING, 414 Grant St, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219) Nashville: 6:00PM (801 Broadway Nashville, TN 37203 Estes Kefauver Federal Building) Memphis: 6:00PM (Health Sciences Park Memphis, TN) Austin: 6:00PM (TEXAS STATE CAPITOL, Outside South Gate-11th and Congress Ave.) Salt Lake City: 5:00PM (SALT LAKE CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE, 4600 S Redwood Rd, Salt Lake City, Utah 84123) Seattle: 4:00PM (QUEEN ANNE BAPTIST CHURCH, 2011 1st Ave N, Seattle, Washington 98109) Milwaukee: 5:00PM (DINEEN PARK, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)h/t Off Grid Survival | 1real |
EU's Juncker says assumes won't end up with 'no deal' on Brexit | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Friday he did not believe that Britain would crash out of the European Union with no Brexit deal. EU leaders will meet on Friday to discuss their response to British Prime Minister Theresa May s appeal to move to the next phase of Brexit negotiations and are expected to agree that there needs to be more progress in talks on the divorce terms. We have some details but we don t have all the details we need... It s not my working assumption that we ll have no deal, Juncker told reporters. | 0fake |
Fact Checkers Clear Hillary Of ‘Big Oil Bribes’ | Among the slew of baseless attacks launched against Hillary Clinton this election cycle has been the accusation that she s in the pocket of Big Oil because she s taken gobs of money from them. It feeds nicely into the Hillary is a corporate shill and totally evil narrative and is now currently gospel among anti-Hillary voters.Too bad it s not true.After Clinton was confronted by a Greenpeace activist demanding she answer for her ties to the fossil fuel industry, Clinton uncharacteristically blew a gasket: I have money from people who work for fossil-fuel companies. I am so sick I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me. This caught my attention because Clinton doesn t normally get that hostile. As a seasoned politician, she s not prone to outbursts. But, as it turns out, she had good reason to be frustrated:According to the Center for Responsive Politics, as of March 21, the Clinton campaign has received nearly $308,000 for individuals in the oil and gas industry. The Sanders campaign has received nearly $54,000.In [sic] you include contributions from outside groups supporting a candidate, Clinton s total increases slightly to $333,000, compared to Sanders $54,000.A $279,000 difference may sound like a lot to you and me buuuuuuuut .As our colleague Philip Bump noted, about 0.15 percent of Clinton s campaign and outside PAC money is from the oil and gas industry, compared to 0.04 percent of Sanders s contributions.Yes, you read that correctly: .15 percent. As in, less than percent. As in, a little more than one tenth of one percent. Now, you COULD still insist that $308,000 is a huge amount but you d still have to deal with that pesky fact that that money is from individuals that work in the industry, not the industry itself which, according to the Washington Post, has only given 2.3% of all the money it s donated this cycle to Democrats. Not just Clinton but ALL Democrats combined are part of that 2.3%.You know how some people say both parties are the same and in the pocket of Big Oil? Those people are idiots that should try living in the real world for a while.It s also been suggested by Greenpeace that any and all money donated to Clinton Super PACs is all from the fossil fuel industry if the lobbyist has a fossil fuel company as a client:Greenpeace counts all of the money raised or contributed by lobbyists as oil/gas industry funds, but these lobbyists have many other clients besides the oil industry. Ben Klein, one of the lobbyists highlighted in the Greenpeace report, also lobbies for American Airlines, Cigna, and Hearst, according to the lobbying disclosure database, so in theory his contributions to the Clinton campaign could also be labeled as funds for airline, insurance or media industry.It s a convenient fiction that, again, plays into the Hillary is evil narrative. And, again, this is now gospel to those who hate Clinton. But the fact checkers at the Washington Post say otherwise:The Sanders campaign is exaggerating the contributions that Clinton has received from the oil and gas industry. In the context of her overall campaign, the contributions are hardly significant. It s especially misleading to count all of the funds raised by lobbyists with multiple clients as money given by the fossil-fuel industry.This lands the Hillary is in bed with Big Oil story a whopping Three Pinocchios.In my opinion, the recent exaggerations and flat-out lies about Hillary Clinton stem from the fact that Republicans have spent 25 years and millions of dollar inventing scandal after scandal with nothing to show for it. None of the old stories have worked and despite Clinton supposedly being guilty of all kinds of crimes and corruption, no one can ever seem to prove anything. At all. This means that she is either the smartest criminal in the history of the world or that she s not the epitome of evil.We should probably leave lies and innuendo to Republicans. We re supposed to be better than this.Featured image via Washington Post | 1real |
Investigators ask White House for details on FBI director firing, Flynn ouster: NYT | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The special counsel investigating Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election has asked the White House for documents on a range of subjects including President Donald Trump’s firing of the FBI director and his son’s meeting with a Russian lawyer, the New York Times reported on Wednesday. The Times reported that special counsel Robert Mueller’s office had sent the White House a document outlining 13 areas of interest about which investigators were seeking additional documentation. Peter Carr, a spokesman for Mueller, declined a request by Reuters to comment on the matter. Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer handling requests from Mueller’s office, told Reuters, “Out of respect for the special counsel and its process, the White House does not comment on exchanges between the special counsel and the White House.” “The White House remains committed to cooperate fully with the special counsel,” Cobb said. The subjects in the request by Mueller’s office included the ouster of former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn and the firing of Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey, the Times reported. According to the report, the special counsel has also asked for documents on how the White House responded to questions about a June 2016 meeting involving Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer who had offered to provide damaging information about Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The 2016 meeting was also attended by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his former campaign manager Paul Manafort. Mueller’s investigation and two congressional panels are looking into conclusions by U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia worked to tilt last November’s election in Republican Trump’s favor. Moscow has repeatedly denied any meddling in the election and Trump has denied any collusion by his campaign. | 0fake |
WATCH: ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Relives The Third Debate, And It’s BEYOND Compare | Who doesn t love Weird Al Yankovic and his hilarious parodies of famous songs? This time, though, he teamed up with Songify to re-enact the third presidential debate, poking special fun at two of Donald Trump s many terrible moments. It also relives some of Hillary s most searing burns, and is just all-around perfect.The song is titled, Bad Hombres, Nasty Women, which are two of the quotes that the junkyard heap known as Donald Trump is most remembered for right now. The video not only features both Hillary and Trump autotuned to fit the music, but also features Weird Al himself in the role of the moderator.The first words of the song, in fact, are, Such a nasty woman, from Trump, and then Hillary joins in with: He choked. He choked. He goes around with crocodile tears, to which Trump can only say, Such a nasty woman. A little bit later on, Weird Al asks the candidates a very important question: To stop a Cold War, what should we be doin ? Would you go thumb-wrestle Vladimir Putin? We have so many adversaries overseas. Can we all agree to be frenemies? Finally, no song about the third debate would be complete without making fun of the Donald s ongoing use of the word, Bigly, and Weird Al works it in like the maestro he is. But, perhaps one of the best parts are the expressions on Weird Al s face as Hillary and King Cheeto answer his questions. Watch below:[ad3media campaign= 1209 ]Featured image via screen capture from embedded video | 1real |
FEC head under fire for women’s forum ‘stacked’ with Dems | The chairwoman of the supposedly nonpartisan Federal Election Commission is under fire for planning a forum next month on women in politics "stacked" with Democrat-leaning speakers and apparent Hillary Clinton supporters.
One conservative lawyer already is calling for an inspector general investigation; another group is urging Chairwoman Ann Ravel to call off the event.
To Ravel's detractors, the forum is yet another example of the allegedly partisan turn being taken by the FEC under her leadership.
"There are so many things wrong with this," Cleta Mitchell, a prominent conservative lawyer in Washington, D.C., told FoxNews.com.
The FEC is supposed to act as an independent regulatory arm to enforce campaign finance law. So it raised eyebrows when Ravel put out a notice on the May 12 forum at FEC headquarters in Washington, D.C. The event is described as an "open discussion" with scholars and others on why women are "significantly under-represented in politics."
Mitchell said this alone goes beyond what the FEC should be doing. She questioned how it would reflect on the agency's impartiality going forward -- in, for instance, a case involving a male and female candidate.
But the roster of invited participants raised more questions.
Ravel's office defended the planned forum in an email to FoxNews.com.
"We selected participants for the FEC's Women in Politics Forum because of their expertise and experience in this field with no regard to political affiliation, if any," her office said.
Ravel pointed out that "two distinguished Republican women, Christine Matthews and Rep. Mimi Walters, have agreed to be panelists at the event, as have international experts on women in politics."
Indeed, Walters is a Republican California congresswoman. And Matthews is a Republican campaign consultant.
But they appear to be outnumbered. The Daily Caller reported on the affiliations of other invited participants, including Marni Allen, once part of a group that backed former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich for Massachusetts governor.
Mitchell said she thinks the forum is an effort to boost Clinton's presidential candidacy.
She told FoxNews.com she wants to see an inspector general investigation, and is considering filing a formal complaint.
"It is a misuse of taxpayer money," she said.
Independent Women's Voice, a nonprofit tied to the conservative Independent Women's Forum, put out a statement saying the FEC event is "stacked" mostly with "women with one ideological view."
The group said the forum "seems outside the scope of the FEC's mandate" to begin with, and should either be overhauled or called off. | 0fake |
Kidnapped Border Patrol Agent Was Hacked with Machete, Suspects Caught | Suspects in the kidnapping and attack of a U. S. Border Patrol agent have been captured and an official statement from authorities reveals that the agent was hacked with a machete. Breitbart Texas first reported on the issue and first reported the identity of one of the suspects. In this case, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) first tried to keep the matter from the public and then downplayed aspects of the attack. [The first report on the June 9, 2017, kidnapping and attack, “Border Patrol Agent Found injured on Side of Roadway after Attack,” revealed that the issue had occurred and that CBP had not prioritized alerting the public or other Border Patrol agents. The second report, “Border Patrol Agent was Kidnapped, FBI Leads Investigation,” relied on Breitbart Texas sources who had provided the actual BOLO (Be On Lookout) that was sent to law enforcement officers and agents on the matter. The third report, “FBI’s Suspect in Kidnapping of Border Agent is Deported 3 Times Prior,” revealed all of the details of the BOLO, named the suspect, and source claims that the listed suspect had been deported three times prior to the attack. The recently released official statement directly confirms most of the information Breitbart sources provided. Other aspects, such as the immigration status of one of the suspects, is left unconfirmed by authorities though implied in the fact that one of the suspects’ residences is mentioned and the alleged illegal immigrant’s place of residence is omitted. The official statement from the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department is provided in full below: TWO MEN SUSPECTED IN ATTACK OF AGENT IN CUSTODY, Two men accused in the brutal attack of an U. S. Border Patrol agent on June 9 are in custody. On Tuesday, FBI agents in the El Paso Sector, with the assistance of Doña Ana County Sheriff’s detectives, arrested Sergio Ivan on an outstanding warrant of aggravated battery (great bodily harm) and aggravated assault. He is currently in custody at the El Paso County Detention Center awaiting extradition to Doña Ana County. Thursday, Fernando Puga of Las Cruces was taken into custody by Doña Ana County Sheriff’s detectives with the assistance of FBI agents. Puga is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder. He is currently being held at the Doña Ana County Detention Center on a $1 million cash bond. According to court documents filed by sheriff’s detectives, and Puga confronted an U. S. Border Patrol agent on Friday, June 9, as the agent was reportedly helping his mother at her tamale stand near the intersection of Stan Roberts and McCombs in northeast El Paso. The agent reportedly left in his vehicle with and Puga. At approximately 11:40 p. m. that same night, a sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to Paradise Lane, just off Shalem Colony Trail west of Las Cruces. Upon his arrival, the deputy reported finding a male subject who appeared to be suffering from multiple lacerations to his head and arms. The male subject was later identified as the agent who reportedly left with and Puga from northeast El Paso. The victim said the two men were armed with a gun and a machete. Detectives say the victim was struck repeatedly with the machete. The gun was later discovered to be a pellet gun. Sheriff’s detectives began to piece together details of the attack with an earlier call for service, one that happened just before 9 p. m. on the same night in the 100 block of Amparo Road in Chaparral. Deputies responded to that location on what was initially believed to be an unrelated domestic dispute. When they arrived, it was learned that had been at the house, demanding to see his . The woman’s sister told deputies threatened her with what appeared to be a handgun. The sister described the vehicle was in as an red Nissan — the same vehicle that sheriff’s deputies located on the side of McCombs Road, just south of the New state line. The vehicle matched the description provided by the victim on Amparo Road. Physical descriptions of the two suspects also matched between the victim on Amparo Road, the agent and his mother. The victim remains in critical condition at UMC. The incident is still an open investigation, in cooperation with the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, and the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Brandon Darby is managing director and of Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart. com. Ildefonso Ortiz is an journalist with Breitbart Texas. He the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. (Disclosure: Brandon Darby has spoken publicly about previously working undercover with the FBI and has testified in trials on their behalf. He continues to communicate with a variety of U. S. and foreign law enforcement agencies in connection with efforts to report on and expose transnational criminal organizations and to bring a voice to the victims of such groups.) | 0fake |
Melania Trump Plagiarized Her Speech AGAIN – And This Time From The Most Ridiculous Source Possible | Google Pinterest Digg Linkedin Reddit Stumbleupon Print Delicious Pocket Tumblr
The stakes were very high for Melania Trump’s big campaign speech, the only one she’s given since being very publicly mocked for stealing her best lines from the RNC from none other than First Lady Michelle Obama. Unfortunately for the Trump campaign, the pressure must have gotten to her.
She plagiarized again.
It took less than an hour for people to figure it out, but the source will have people scratching their heads for days. Melania, Trump’s third wife, seems to have lifted portions of her speech from Marla Maples, Trump’s second wife.
While speaking about her experiences as an immigrant, Melania said “America meant if you could dream it, you could become it.”
Tablet Magazine writer Yair Rosenberg, simply put the line into Google and saw what came up. It was a direct quote from Marla Maples given to a magazine in the 90s. Melania just plagiarized Trump's second wife Marla Maples. Here's the only Google results for "if you could dream it, you could become it": pic.twitter.com/ALeHuSZqEm
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) November 3, 2016
Is “If you could dream it, you could become it” a cliche? Sure. Is it weird that Melania would say the exact same phrase that Marla had? Definitely.
However, more damning is what else Rosenberg noticed. It's not just the one cliched line, it's that the entire section about parents/opportunities is a ripoff, just like it was by Michelle Obama https://t.co/IK15IXH7As
— (((Yair Rosenberg))) (@Yair_Rosenberg) November 3, 2016
It’s as if Melania typed what she wanted to say into Google, found the interview by Marla Maples, and simply made it her speech .
Educator and speechwriter Yoni Brander pointed out that the odd butchering of the truism “If you can dream it, you can be it” suggests Melania really did lift the section directly from Marla – the only other person on record as having screwed it up that way. 3. can dream it, you can become it." by William A. Ward. But the form used byMelania which cuts the beginning of the quote and changes
— yoni brander (@yonibrander) November 3, 2016 4. changes the tense to "if you dream it, you could become it” a variant that appears in only in one other place- Marla Maples interview
— yoni brander (@yonibrander) November 3, 2016
It is also in line with how Melania says she screwed up her RNC speech. She told reporters at the time that she accidentally plagiarized by harmlessly finding passages from other people that spoke to her and using them as her starting point. One of those passages, Michelle Obama’s speech, made its way into the final draft. In the same way, it appears Melania plagiarized her husband’s ex-wife.
To which one must conclude that Trump’s camp is run by an staggering assortment of incompetent buffoons. To screw up one major speech is a goof, to screw up two in a row… that’s a level of idiocy that is difficult to wrap one’s head around. And while Melania needs to stop using Google to write her speeches, Trump’s campaign needs to spend five minutes making sure she doesn’t steal lines from the candidate’s ex-wife. It’s not rocket science.
Featured image via Alex Wong/Getty Images Share this Article! | 1real |
Praying for Freedom: Why Is Israel Silencing the Call for Prayer in Jerusalem? | Ramzy Baroud | 1real |
Muckraking Marines Cards and Cannabis with Sheree Geo : Truth Frequency Radio | Muckraking Marines Cards and Cannabis with Sheree Geo >> EPISODE #30 AIRED: 11-10-2016
2 Marines walk into a bar. They go into the ladies room, no one blinks an eye. Happy 241st Marines! Your two favorite lady leathernecks, Luckee and Star, celebrate the Marine Corps Birthday. We discuss the real news of today and exhort everyone to stay on top of the elites, make sure that just because the election is over, our job is not. Some pretty dark and ugly things that the power brokers of D.C. have come to light and we have proof of it. We will continue reporting on that as evidence comes in. Sen. Nancy Shaefer exposed abuse and was later murdered. Cynthia McKinney grill Rumsfeld on awarding huge contracts to those who engage in child sex slave rings, and she didn’t get reelected. Those who expose this are tamped down, and those who engage in it are rewarded. It is high time we do more than just vote. We must act. It stops now. We also talked about Cannabis and how it has passed in states. In the 2nd hour Sheree Geo weighs in on the events of today. Sheree gave us an overview on the what the cards and charts read for the state of our country. She gives us a message of what is going on and what we all as individuals need to do to ensure a better outcome. We talked of the election of Trump and what that means in geopolitics. We also talked about what that means for U.S. Israeli relations and what THAT means for those in Gaza and the Middle East. | 1real |
Social Media Reacts to Kathy Griffin’s Shock Trump ’Beheading’ Photo | After comedian Kathy Griffin posed with a bludgeoned severed head of President Donald Trump, social media has exploded with reactions to the controversial photo. [The image of Griffin, obtained by TMZ, depicts a gory, severed version of Trump’s head, as the former Fashion Police host stands with a cold expression on her face. Now, social media users have gone online to express their disgust for the image: Of course CNN will probably keep Kathy Griffin on the payroll for their annual New Years Eve coverage, cuz they want Trump dead too. Sad. — Mark Dice (@MarkDice) May 30, 2017, ”Get over the Kathy Griffin picture you ❄️ what’s the matter? It’s just a photo” — people hysterical over a peeing dog statue this morning, — Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) May 30, 2017, Hey @CNN do you condone Kathy Griffin’s views? Will she be hosting New Year’s Eve Live again with @AC360? pic. twitter. — Nick Short (@PoliticalShort) May 30, 2017, NOT FUNNY: Kathy Griffin ’Beheads’ Trump … https: . — DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) May 30, 2017, When did Kathy Griffin join ISIS? https: . — Brittany Pettibone (@BrittPettibone) May 30, 2017, These people are Satanic. Does @andersoncooper perform death rituals with his good friend and Kathy Griffin? Or even sicker stuff? https: . — Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 30, 2017, Imagine the meltdown if a conservative celebrity had posed with a of Obama’s decapitated head. https: . — Paul Joseph Watson (@PrisonPlanet) May 30, 2017, Hey @andersoncooper and @cnn — why do you associate with a person who wants to behead Trump? https: . — toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) May 30, 2017, Feminists: ’Peeing pug’ is misogynist extremism, Same Feminists: ’Kathy Griffin beheading Trump is empowering, edgy art’ pic. twitter. — Chet Cannon (@Chet_Cannon) May 30, 2017, If you’re CNN, you announce immediately that Kathy Griffin will no longer be hosting your New Year’s Eve special right now hesitation. https: . — Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) May 30, 2017, . @maggieNYT, will you ask @kathygriffin to go easy on @realDonaldTrump because he has a young son? Or do you only do that for pedophiles? — John Cardillo (@johncardillo) May 30, 2017, Does @donlemon support this Satanism? What does he and his Kathy Griffin do? @andersoncooper pic. twitter. — Mike Cernovich (@Cernovich) May 30, 2017, Meanwhile, mainstream media reports downplayed the photo of Griffin, shifting the conversation to another topic: Trump is gonna tweet about kathy griffin isn’t he, — Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) May 30, 2017, No promises, but I’m hoping to keep @TheAtlantic free of news about both Chuck Woolery and Kathy Griffin. — Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) May 30, 2017, btw, here’s what one person from who is active on 4chan just sent me re: the Kathy Griffin photo and giving the right ammo : pic. twitter. — Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) May 30, 2017, Is Kathy Griffin the Leader of the Democratic Party? — Tim Dotcom (@timothypmurphy) May 30, 2017, ”Why don’t more libs condemn Kathy Griffin? !” Prob same reason more cons didn’t condemn Nugent? Bc they’re dumb fodder for dumb outrage. — Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) May 30, 2017, I’m already exhausted by the amount of disingenuous moral outrage this will drum up https: . — eve peyser (@evepeyser) May 30, 2017, Griffin has forced her way into the mainstream, hosting CNN’s New Year’s Eve special for the last few years with Anderson Cooper. The spokesperson also enjoyed a long run on Andy Cohen’s Bravo network as the star of the reality show My Life on The . Representatives for CNN and Griffin did not immediately respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment. | 0fake |
Former Trump Staffer Suing After Campaign Director Pulled Gun On Him (IMAGES) | A former staffer of Donald Trump s presidential campaign is currently suing the campaign for its disastrous handling (or lack of handling) a deadly situation involving a gun. This comes just two days after Trump called for Second Amendment people to shoot and kill Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.According to the suit filed yesterday by Vincent Bordini in Mecklenburg County Superior Court in North Carolina, Bordini is suing the campaign for its inaction over a situation in which former N.C. campaign director Earl Phillip produced a pistol, put his right index finger on the trigger, and drove the barrel into Vincent s knee cap while the two men were in Phillip s jeep.The incident happened on February 13, and the complaint reads: Phillip pushed the barrel into Vincent s knee. The barrel s pressure crinkled Vincent s blue jeans. Phillip ominously stared sidewise at Vincent while driving the Jeep down the road and the barrel into Vincent. Vincent froze. Phillip s gun was loaded and the safety was off. A bump in the road would likely result in a bullet hole, and worse, in Vincent s knee. After this incident, Bordini had gone straight to Trump s regional director to report the incident, and that s when the director told Bordini that he d also experienced similar threatening behavior from Phillip. Desperate for a solution to this terrifying situation, Bordini went even higher up the chain and tried to report the incident to Stuart Jolly, Trump s national field director. Despite all of the evidence against Phillip, nothing happened. Still determined to be heard, Bordini notified Trump s then-campaign manager Corey Lewandowski about this incident. Once again, no action was taken by the Trump campaign and Phillip continued to work on the campaign. Bordini decided to have faith that the matter would be straightened out with time. According to the suit, Bordini was a passionate Donald J. Trump supporter. He decided that putting his head down and soldiering on was the best thing he could do for Mr. Trump. He had faith the Trump campaign would handle the situation internally. But once again nothing came of Bordini s complaints and less than a month later, Bordini resigned on March 12. Bordini is suing for assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress in the suit.You can read the court document below:Featured image via Richard Ellis / Getty Images | 1real |
Swiss Vote to Ditch Nuclear Power In Favour Of Renewables - Breitbart | BERN (AP) — Swiss voters are supporting a referendum to withdraw the country from nuclear power in favour of renewable energy. [A projection from Sunday’s referendum shows a majority of cantons (states) voted for the plan. Under Switzerland’s direct democracy system, initiatives need a majority of both cantons and votes to pass. The projection for SRF public television showed 58 percent of voters in favor and 42 percent against the proposal. The Swiss government wants to ban the construction of new nuclear power plants and decommission the country’s five existing ones at the end of their technically safe operating lives. The plan would also boost renewable energies such as solar and wind and make cars and electronic devices more energy efficient. Opponents warned the initiative would significantly increase electricity bills. | 0fake |
Indonesia questions fireworks factory owner after deadly blaze | KOSAMBI, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesian police on Friday started questioning the owner of a fireworks factory destroyed in a series of explosions and a fire that killed 47 workers and injured dozens, leaving some with horrific burns covering up to 80 percent of their bodies. In one of Indonesia s worst industrial disasters, many workers were unable to escape the fire at the plant in Tangerang, an industrial and manufacturing hub near Jakarta, on Thursday. Police and residents broke holes in the walls to help trapped workers forced back by the intense heat from the blaze. On Friday, a pile of sacks was still smoldering as forensics experts searched for human remains. The disaster will throw a new focus on safety standards at workplaces in Indonesia, where rules are often poorly enforced. Police said the owner of the fireworks company, PT Panca Buana Cahaya Sukses, had returned to Indonesia to be questioned, along with seven witnesses, mostly administrative staff at the factory. When he heard about the incident at the factory he was in Malaysia and he flew back straight away and went straight to Tangerang Police, Jakarta police spokesman Argo Juwono told Metro TV. Earlier, Tangerang police chief Harry Kurniawan told Reuters the cause of the fire was still being investigated and denied reports that the factory gates were locked. Responding to a report that underage workers were employed at the plant, Kurniawan said investigations had not shown this to be the case. Hospital records seen by Reuters showed two of the injured were aged 15 and 16. Tangerang General Hospital is treating 12 patients, some for burns over 40 percent to 80 percent of their bodies, said a spokesman, Yudi Firmansyah. We are expecting treatment to take a long time, Firmansyah added. First there s the life-saving stage, then further treatment to prevent infections, and cosmetic procedures. Ayani, who goes by one name, wept when she saw her severely burnt daughter, Nuhayati, 35, lying on a hospital bed. Her skin has been burned off completely, she said, pointing to her forearms, torso and legs, and adding that her daughter had started working at the plant a month ago. She only had some hair on her head, but her skin is almost gone. Officials have warned that the death toll could rise, with police saying three people were still unaccounted for. There were some narrow escapes at the factory, staffed mainly by young women paid about $3 a day. Fitri, 18, told Kompas media she survived by submerging herself in a large tub of water used to clean equipment, along with four workers. If we stay here, we won t be safe, she eventually told her friends, before climbing a 3-metre (10-ft) wall beside the tub and breaking through the roof. Then residents used a ladder to help her descend.The report said the fire was thought to have started in a holding area next to the front gate where fireworks were stored. Victims in orange body bags were taken to a police hospital in East Jakarta for identification by families. Sugeng Priyanto, an official at the Ministry of Manpower, told Metro TV a team was investigating safety standards at the warehouse, which had been operating for a few months. Tangerang Regent Ahmed Zaki said the company had a permit to pack and wrap fireworks, though not produce them at the warehouse, which was close to a school and housing. Earlier he had said it had a manufacturing permit. The disaster illustrated the low safety awareness in Indonesia, Jakarta-based Concord Consulting said in a daily report. Regulations may be in place officially, but too often are simply ignored, resulting in high levels of complacency, it said. (For a graphic on 'Map locating the site of the fireworks factory' click tmsnrt.rs/2gK9thv) | 0fake |
Trudeau Elected Canada's Prime Minister As Liberals Assume Power | Canada's Liberal Party won a decisive majority of parliamentary seats Monday, ending nearly a decade of Conservative Party rule. Voters gave Liberals nearly 40 percent of the overall vote compared to the Conservatives' 32 percent. The left-leaning New Democrats had just over 19 percent of the vote.
Justin Trudeau, a 43-year-old former high school teacher and son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, assumes the office his father held from 1968 through 1984 with a short interruption.
The youthful Trudeau ran an election that was optimistic in tone, which he said led to his victory.
"We beat fear with hope," he said. "We beat cynicism with hard work. We beat negative divisive politics with a positive vision that brings Canadians together. Most of all we defeated the idea that Canadians should be satisfied with less."
The Associated Press notes the election results could strengthen ties between Canada and the U.S., at least for the remainder of the Obama administration:
Conservative Stephen Harper was one of the longest-serving Western leaders. Reporter Dan Karpenchuk in Toronto reports on his loss:
Trudeau's election gives Canada an approximation of a political dynasty. His father, also a Liberal, often drew comparisons with President John F. Kennedy. Justin Trudeau was born while his father was serving in office — in fact more than 40 years ago, then-President Richard Nixon predicted the 4-month-old Trudeau's future:
"Tonight we'll dispense with the formalities," he said at a state dinner in Ottawa. "I'd like to toast the future prime minister of Canada: to Justin Pierre Trudeau." | 0fake |
Spy agencies say Clinton emails closely matched top secret documents: sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. spy agencies have told Congress that Hillary Clinton’s home computer server contained some emails that should have been treated as “top secret” because their wording matched sections of some of the government’s most highly classified documents, four sources familiar with the agency reports said. The two reports are the first formal declarations by U.S. spy agencies detailing how they believe Clinton violated government rules when highly classified information in at least 22 email messages passed through her unsecured home server. The State Department has already acknowledged that the emails contained top secret intelligence, though it says they were not marked that way. It has not previously been clear if the emails contained full classified documents or only some information from them. The agencies did not find any top secret documents that passed through Clinton’s server in their full version, the sources from Congress and the government’s executive branch said. However, the agency reports found some emails included passages that closely tracked or mirrored communications marked “top secret,” according to the sources, who all requested anonymity. In some cases, additional classification markings meant access was supposed to be limited to small groups of specially cleared officials. Under the law and government rules, U.S. officials and contractors may not transmit any classified information - not only documents - outside secure, government-controlled channels. Such information should not be sent even through the government’s .gov email network. The front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president and former secretary of state has insisted she broke no rules. Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, did not respond to a request for comment. Clinton campaign spokespeople did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Two sources said some of the top secret material was related to the CIA’s campaign of drone strikes against Islamist militants in the Middle East and South Asia. That campaign has been widely reported by Reuters and other media outlets, but it officially is classified as a “Top Secret/Special Access Program” (SAP), meaning only a limited number of people whose names are on a special list are allowed to learn details about it. One source said the reports identified some information in messages on Clinton’s server that came from human sources, such as confidential CIA informants, and some from technical systems, such as spy satellites or electronic eavesdropping. The Clinton campaign criticized the State Department’s decision last month to withhold the 22 emails containing top secret information from the public, blaming it on “bureaucratic infighting” and “over-classification run amok.” “As we have previously made clear, we are not going to speak to the content of the emails,” a State Department official said on Wednesday when asked about the intelligence agency reports. Clinton’s use of a private server in her New York home for her government work is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the State Department’s and spy community’s internal watchdogs and several Republican-controlled congressional committees. Two of the sources told Reuters that one of the reports on the emails came from the CIA. Three sources said the other report came from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA), which analyzes U.S. spy satellite intelligence. A spokesman for NGA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CIA spokespeople declined to comment. The two spy agencies’ reports were sent to Congress in the past few weeks by the intelligence community inspector general, an official government watchdog for multiple spy agencies. The inspector general’s office has confirmed that it requested the reports from two intelligence agencies, but didn’t identify them. It was unclear what the congressional committees that received the classified reports, the House and Senate intelligence and foreign relations panels, will do with them. The contents cannot be discussed publicly. The committees requested intelligence reports in connection with their efforts to ensure that government secrets are appropriately protected. (Editing by Stuart Grudgings) 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 |
What's in Donald Trump's tax returns? | On 23 September 1952, vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon gave a speech laying out "everything I have earned, everything I have spent and everything I own".
He concluded by challenging the Democratic candidate for president, Illinois Governor Adlai Stevenson, to do the same. Governor Stevenson took the challenge one step further, releasing his personal tax returns - the clearest account of an individual's income for the year.
The move was not reciprocated by Nixon or his running mate for president, Dwight Eisenhower.
Two decades later though, at the height of the Watergate scandal and under audit by the US tax authority - the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - then-President Nixon made his tax returns public in hopes of clearing the air.
The move did not work, but it set a precedent for making tax filings public.
"It's proof you have nothing to hide," says Joe Thorndike, a tax historian at Tax Analyst.
Donald Trump says he needs no such proof.
Claiming to face his own audit the presumptive Republican nominee has refused to release his tax returns, even as public pressure mounts for him to do so.
Every US presidential candidate since 1976 has released their tax returns, but there is no law requiring it.
Mr Trump's refusal to release them has led to mounting speculation about what he could possibly be hiding.
"Tax returns are sort of black and white and you sign your name to say this is accurate. It's not open to interpretation," says Mr Thorndike.
The first thing the public would find is what tax rate Mr Trump pays. The candidate has bragged about paying a very low tax rate and taking advantage of the complex US tax code with its many loopholes.
"Mr Trump is proud to pay a lower tax rate, the lowest tax rate possible," one of his top aides has said.
An investigation by the Telegraph newspaper found Mr Trump was involved with a deal to evade $20m (£13.5m) in US taxes.
It's possible his returns may hold similar bombshells, but Mr Trump's admission that he does his best to avoid taxes will likely make these less explosive.
One line of thinking has it that the returns would give a better sense of how much Mr Trump is worth. The New York billionaire has given several different figures for his net worth, which have all been higher than estimates by financial experts and publications like Forbes magazine.
But discovering whether Mr Trump is inflating his net worth may not be as easy as some hope from his tax returns.
Tax forms focus on income for the year, not total worth.
It may be possible to tell how much income Donald Trump made in a given year, but the complex way his companies earn money will still make this difficult. US real estate professionals can take tax losses based on the depreciation and other expenses for their buildings. This could allow Mr Trump to report having less income and therefore place him in a lower tax bracket.
While we may not get an exact number for Mr Trump's wealth, it is likely the returns would give a more detailed picture of his businesses.
The forms would show how much profit and loss the companies he owns distributed to him in a year. It would not give a full account of the worth of those businesses because not all profit is distributed to the owners - some is put back in to grow the business - but it would give a sense of the activity.
One thing a tax return would definitely show is how much Mr Trump gives to charity.
Mr Trump claims to give millions to charitable causes and organisations; if true, his tax form would prove that. Americans are allowed to deduct charitable donations of over $250 (£170) from their tax bill. If the real estate mogul donated as much as he claimed, it should appear on his tax deductions form.
Mr Trump has said he will release the returns after the audit, but doing so before would hurt his interaction with the IRS.
A person is not prohibited from releasing their tax returns during an audit - President Nixon was facing an audit when he released his - but many tax professionals do advise against it.
"Everyone is going to look at them and find something suspicious. If the statute of limitations is open the IRS might feel pressured to do an audit," says Robert Kovacev, from the law firm Steptoe.
The IRS has three years in most cases to decide whether to audit a person. Mr Trump claims to have faced audits on a continuing basis for nearly a decade.
But others argue Mr Trump would have to be particularly unlucky or bad at filing his taxes to come under the IRS's microscope so often.
The IRS uses a computer program which scores tax filings. If there are a number of unusual signals on a particular form, it is then evaluated by a human who decides whether to do an audit.
Individuals who are audited are also typically given a pass in the following year if the same issues are flagged by the computer, because IRS officials have already looked into them.
As audits can take months, and even years, Mr Trump's tax returns may not be made public until after the election - if at all.
The bombastic candidate has bucked most political precedents until now, and it's possible releasing his tax returns could be yet another. | 0fake |
Will Bill Clinton's best effort be enough? | Ed Morrissey is senior editor at HotAir.com, a columnist for The Week and The Fiscal Times, and author of "Going Red: The Two Million Voters Who Will Elect the Next President -- and How Conservatives Can Win Them." The views expressed are his own.
Traditionally, the spouses of major-party nominees get a speaking slot at the national convention to humanize the candidate. Former presidents speak to remind the faithful of their history. Bill Clinton falls into both categories, but he had a far more difficult task in closing out the second night of the Democratic convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday night; he needed to find a way to knit the party back together again.
That's a tall order, and not just because the evening started with a walkout involving hundreds of Bernie Sanders delegates, according to one estimate . A generation has passed since the former president ascended to lead the Democratic Party as the first baby boomer major-party nominee, and then defeated the last of the World War II presidents.
Back then, Bill used his enormous natural political talent to fuse the New Left with working class Democrats, while "triangulating" on the Republican agenda to carve a centrist path in governance.
Twenty-four years later, it's not Bill Clinton's Democratic Party. It might not be Hillary Clinton's Democratic Party. If it hadn't been for the establishment-protecting superdelegates and the Democratic National Convention's efforts to tip the primary scales in her favor, it would likely have been Bernie Sanders' Democratic Party -- and on Tuesday in Philadelphia, with hundreds of empty seats staring back at the stage, it certainly looked as though it was.
Twenty-four years later, Bill Clinton isn't the same, youthful physical force, either. At times he seemed frail and at one point a bit distracted. However, Clinton proved that his political instincts haven't dimmed much at all. Rather than take on the task of unifying through direct debate, Clinton delivered a masterful soft-sell by walking through a personal history of his wife that tried to answer the divides in the party. | 0fake |
Chicago Daycare Opens for ADULTS to Wear Diapers, Act Like Babies | 21st Century Wire says It s called Tykables. A disturbing number of stories have been emerging of late documenting what can only be seen as our complete cultural and societal collapse A top feminist author has described the rise of transgender mania as a symptom of cultural collapse, a robotics professor has warned that sex robots will stop people forming relationships with normal people , and now we bring you news of a daycare opening in Chicago that is specifically for adults to attend who want to wear diapers and act like babies.The need for such a daycare is evidence of both the growing infantilization of adults and the widespread prevalence of severe psychological problems in Western populations.Instead of politically fighting against the ever increasing encroachment on our freedoms and constant drive to new wars, adults are spending their time cheering on sports teams and literally sitting around in diapers.Here is a somewhat disturbing promotional video from Tykables: MORE ON WESTERN CULTURE : 21st Century Wire Culture Files | 1real |
Pelosi says Democrats will not back short-term funding bill on Thursday | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday her party would not support a short-term funding bill being brought up for a vote later in the day because it did not include any key Democratic priorities. Pelosi said Democrats were seeking funding for fighting opioid addiction, veterans, the children’s health program, community health centers, disaster funding and a solution for young undocumented immigrants to the United States. Her statement suggested Republicans would have to find the votes they need to pass the bill among their own members. If a short-term funding measure is not approved by the Republican-led Congress and signed by Republican President Donald Trump, all but the most essential parts of the federal government will shut down. Pelosi told a news briefing that “Democrats are not willing to shut government down,” but she also said her members “will not leave here (for the holidays) without a ... fix” to the problem of illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, who are sometimes referred to as “Dreamers.” Pelosi said the temporary spending measure before the House on Thursday was a “waste of time.” “It has nothing about (the) opioid epidemic. There’s nothing about veterans’ funding, nothing about CHIP— CHIP — children’s health insurance, community health centers, nothing about, well, the DREAM Act, among other things,” she said. The short-term spending bill does provide some short-term help for states that are running out of money to finance the children’s health insurance program for lower-income children, but it stops short of renewing the program, which Congress allowed to expire at the end of September. Pelosi, discussing the immigration issue, said Democrats were willing to accept new funding for border security, but not for a border wall. “We’re not going to turn this country into a reign of terror of domestic enforcement and have the Dreamers pay that price,” she said. Republicans have a majority in both the House and Senate. But they will need some Democratic support to get the temporary spending bill past Senate procedural hurdles that require 60 votes, since there are only 52 Republicans in the 100-member chamber. | 0fake |
Update From The New Orleans Investment Conference | 63 GOLD , KWN King World News
Here is a timely update from the New Orleans Investment Conference .
Eric King: “Rick, I know you are at the New Orleans Investment Conference as we speak. For people around the world who were not able to attend this conference, give us an idea of what sentiment is like and what you are seeing there.”
Rick Rule: “To begin with, Eric, for 35 years this conference has been one of the most important conferences in the retail gold trade in the United States. So I would say the consequence of the move that we’ve had in gold and gold stocks over the last 12 months means that the conference is very buoyant generally. It is worthy to note, however that this conference has…To continue listening to Rick Rule’s timely audio interview CLICK HERE OR ON THE IMAGE BELOW.
***ALSO RELEASED: After Correctly Predicting GDP Would Beat Estimates, Former Soros Associate Now Says Gold Headed Above $2,000 CLICK HERE.
© 2015 by King World News®. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. However, linking directly to the articles is permitted and encouraged. About author | 1real |
Former Senator Webb rules out independent presidential bid | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, who dropped his bid for the Democratic Party presidential nomination last October, told a Texas foreign affairs group on Thursday that he had studied an independent bid for the White House and decided against it. “We looked at the possibility of an independent candidacy. Theoretically it could be done, but it is enormously costly and time sensitive, and I don’t see the fundraising trajectory where we could make a realistic run,” Webb told the World Affairs Council of Dallas, according to a statement from his spokesman. In his speech to the council, Webb called for a vigorous foreign policy debate in the presidential campaign and said neither political party appeared to be addressing the needs of most voters. “We have not had a clear statement of national security policy since the end of the Cold War,” he said. “And I see no one running for president today who has a firm understanding of the elements necessary to build a national strategy.” Webb is a decorated war veteran who served in the Vietnam War and was Navy secretary during the administration of Republican President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of 10 books and an Emmy award-making journalist and filmmaker. Webb ended his bid for the Democratic nomination in October after only four months, acknowledging his more conservative political views were out of sync with many of the party’s leaders and primary voters. He indicated at the time that he planned to review his options and talk to people and groups who have urged him to run for president as an independent candidate. “I’ve worked with both parties, including as an official in the Reagan administration and as a Democrat in the Senate. Both parties, in my view, have moved away from the major concerns of the average American,” he told the World Affairs Council of Dallas. For more on the 2016 presidential race, see the Reuters blog, “Tales from the Trail” (here). (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Grant McCool and Bernard Orr) SAP is the sponsor of this content. It was independently created by Reuters’ editorial staff and funded in part by SAP, which otherwise has no role in this coverage. | 0fake |
Under Trump travel ban, Syrian Christians still see no light | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Mixed messages from Washington have left Syrian Christians confused about the effect of U.S. restrictions on refugees and travelers from several Muslim-majority countries, with some seeing hope fading away. U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday that put a four-month hold on allowing refugees into the United States and temporarily barred travelers from Syria and six other countries. The order also seeks to prioritize refugees fleeing religious persecution, a move Trump separately said was aimed at helping Christians in Syria to leave. But hopes were dashed for at least one Syrian Christian Orthodox family, who were turned away at Philadelphia international airport and had to return to Lebanon. Christians in Damascus, where Syria’s conflict is still felt as fighting rages through much of the country, said pledges to prioritize minorities made little difference to them. “Getting U.S. visas has been the dream of all citizens in developing countries, no matter their religion,” said Youssef Touma, 34, attending a church service in Damascus on Sunday. “Syrians of all faiths were used to queueing at the U.S. embassy’s gates (to try to get visas). But it was almost impossible to get them, and has been harder since the war started. “What I heard is that there will be exceptions for Christians from the ban, but not the easing of Christians’ travel - so that means there are still the same difficulties getting a visa,” Touma said. Norma, a 30-year-old IT worker at the same church who declined to give her surname, said travel to the United States was a distant and impracticable dream. “I don’t know or have anyone in the U.S. If there was someone I knew, an aunt or uncle, then I’d think about going myself, of course. And it would be better to undertake a safe journey to America instead of a risky one by boat to get to Germany,” she said. Syrians in neighboring countries like Lebanon and Turkey have said they will primarily seek refuge in Europe, where some countries like Germany have taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees. Many have made dangerous crossings by boat from Turkey. Christians wishing to leave Syria said the U.S. preference for religious minorities could play into the hands of Islamist extremists. At the very least, it would have no real impact. “I think (Islamist) extremists here would love for us to leave, to be rid of us,” said Damascus resident Joseph Memari, reached by phone. Trump wrote on his Twitter account on Sunday: “Christians in the Middle-East have been executed in large numbers. We cannot allow this horror to continue!” Touma said statements made no difference. “Minorities are always targeted by extremists and Trump’s statements will not increase or decrease that,” he said. “They have been targeted since before Trump became president. The Christians of Maaloula (near Damascus) left the country before Trump was even considering the presidency. “Christians of the Damascus countryside, like Harasta and Douma, were forced to leave their homes five years ago,” he said. | 0fake |
Is the sky blue? Depends on what Donald Trump says | NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans generally agree that politicians should not enrich themselves while running the country. Yet most think it is okay for President Donald Trump to do so. Democrats largely support the idea of government-run healthcare. But their support plummets when they learn that Trump once backed the idea. At a time of already deep fissures among American voters on political, cultural and economic issues, Trump further polarizes the public as soon as he wades into the debate, according to the results of a Reuters/Ipsos poll. The poll suggests any effort to reach a consensus on key policy issues could be complicated simply by Trump’s involvement. The survey from Feb. 1 to March 15 of nearly 14,000 people asked respondents to consider a series of statements Trump has made on taxes, crime and the news media, among other issues. In many cases, the data showed that people will orient their opinions according to what they think of Trump. Republicans, for example, were more likely to criticize American exceptionalism – the notion that the United States holds a unique place in history - when told that Trump once said it was insulting to other countries. They were more likely to agree that the country should install more nuclear weapons, and they were more supportive of government spending for infrastructure, when they knew that Trump felt the same way. Democrats moved in the opposite direction. They were less supportive of infrastructure spending, less critical of the judiciary and less likely to agree that urban crime was on the rise when they knew that those concerns were shared by Trump. “I’m basically in disagreement with everything he says,” said Howard House, 58, a Democrat from Jacksonville, Florida, who took the poll. “I’ve almost closed my mind to the guy.” Trump is not the first president to polarize the public. A 1995 poll by the Washington Post found that Democrats appeared to favor legislative action when they thought it was then-President Bill Clinton’s idea, and a 2013 survey by Hart Research Associates showed that both positive and negative attitudes about the 2010 Affordable Care Act intensified when called by its other name, Obamacare. But previous presidents were more popular than Trump at this point, according to the Gallup polling service, and they may have been better positioned to address the public divide because of it. Gallup had Trump at a 42 percent approval rating on Tuesday. He was as low as 35 percent last week. That leaves Trump facing a largely disapproving electorate, even as the White House signals that in the coming months it wants to pass a sweeping tax-reform package, a large infrastructure plan, and perhaps try again to supplant the Affordable Care Act. The White House said that Trump has tried to reach out to those who did not support him during the campaign in an attempt to build political consensus. “The door to the White House has been open to a variety of people who are willing to come to the table and have honest discussions with the President about the ways we can make our country better,” a White House spokeswoman wrote in an email. THE HYPER-PARTISAN ERA OF TRUMP Poll respondents were split into two groups. Each received nearly identical questions about statements Trump has made in recent years. One group, however, was not told the statements came from Trump. The poll then asked if people agreed or disagreed with those statements. In a few cases, Trump made little to no impact on the answers. But most of the time the inclusion of his name changed the results. A series of questions about conflicts of interest produced the biggest swings. Some 33 percent of Republicans said it was okay if “an official” financially benefits from a government position. However, when a separate group was asked the same question with Trump’s name added in, more than twice as many Republicans – 70 percent – said it was okay. When interviewed afterward, some respondents said they knew they were making special exceptions for Trump. Susie Stewart, a 73-year-old healthcare worker from Fort Worth, Texas, said it came down to trust. While most politicians should be forbidden from mixing their personal fortunes with government business, Stewart, who voted for Trump, said the president had earned the right to do so. “He is a very intelligent man,” Stewart said. “He’s proved himself to be one hell of a manager. A builder. I think he has the business sense to do what’s best for the country.” On the other side of the political spectrum, House, the Democrat from Florida and a Hillary Clinton supporter, said he also made an exception for Trump. But in this instance it meant that House disagreed with everything Trump supported. If Trump said the sky was blue, “I’m going to go outside and check,” he said. It is impossible to say exactly what motivates people to answer a certain way in a political poll, said John Bullock, an expert in partisanship at the University of Texas at Austin. Some respondents may have looked past the question and answered in a way that they thought would support or oppose Trump, Bullock said. But he said it was also likely that others simply have not thought deeply about the issue and are looking to Trump as a guide for how to answer. “They think of him either as a man who shares their values or someone who manifestly does not,” Bullock said. | 0fake |
What To Watch For At Democrats' First Debate | What To Watch For At Democrats' First Debate
A bruised Hillary Clinton will have much to prove as she takes the debate stage Tuesday evening alongside four of her Democratic presidential challengers. The former secretary of state has been damaged by lingering questions about her private email server and doubts about her trustworthiness.
That has partly enabled Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders to ride a wave of progressive support to a lead over her in New Hampshire and an impressive $25 million fundraising haul last quarter.
Sanders, too, will need to impress in his most high-profile appearance so far. This will be the first chance for many voters to see him on stage, and they'll be watching to see if he's someone they want to be president.
"It's certainly not going to be as entertaining as some of the previous Republican debates, but it will be important, especially for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, to finally show the broader public what exactly they're made of," said Jim Manley, a longtime Democratic strategist and former top Senate aide.
Of course, there's also the elephant — or, rather, the donkey — in the room: Vice President Joe Biden. He's not yet announced his intentions, as he continues a public flirtation with a bid. CNN has left open the possibility of allowing Biden on stage, even if he were to decide as late as Tuesday. He has given no indication that he will do so.
But perhaps the most important thing for Democrats is that it's finally their turn in the political spotlight. After two rollicking GOP debates and a cycle that's largely been dominated by the outsiders in the Republican field, party loyalists have worried they are being overshadowed.
"This is the first real opportunity for a Democratic message to break through," said Mo Elleithee, a former Democratic National Committee communications director who now directs the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service. "The numbers game is working against us right now, and the Republican message is penetrating far more than the Democratic message."
Here's what to watch for from each candidate in the first Democratic debate. CNN's coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET, while the debate is expected to start at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday on CNN.
Need: Appear likable and straightforward, especially when talking about those emails and recent policy positions
She will be center stage and the center of attention. She's the most experienced campaign debater on stage — there were 25 primary debates in 2008 — and that will be an asset. But Clinton still has some of the same struggles she had eight years ago — trying to appear likable and not scripted to a public very skeptical of traditional politicians.
"In Hillary's case, she has to be more likable and come across as genuine and down to earth," said Dan Payne, a Democratic strategist and debate coach. "She is those things, from what people say who know her well. She can talk to day-to-day people about their lives and share experiences, but somehow it doesn't come across when she's on camera. She gets stiff and stern, and not likable."
She wasn't that way during her cameo on Saturday Night Live last week, Payne noted, and that should be an instance her team should draw from.
"She was self-aware," he added. "She was poking fun at herself and doing it with a laugh. If she can do that in the debate occasionally, it can help."
One of the first questions directed to her will likely be about her email server. She has yet to put to rest questions about why she had the private server and whether it was a security threat. Last month she finally apologized for the decision, but it may have been too little too late.
In an interview on 60 Minutes on Sunday, President Obama said the server was not a national-security threat. But he did not forcefully defend Clinton, instead directing questions back to her.
"I would hope that, if pressed, she would again apologize for allowing this to be an issue in the first place," said Manley, who is a Clinton supporter.
It's no mistake that in the run-up to the debate, Clinton came out against both the Keystone XL Pipeline and Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership, something she once called the "gold standard" of trade agreements. Clinton was trying to clean up messy policy positions ahead of the debate.
But Clinton will still likely have to answer whether the moves were politically calculated. Sanders and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley have been against both for some time; expect them to point out the disparity.
Need: Convince a national audience he's presidential material and that he can branch out beyond his core economic message
While Sanders may not have had much campaign debating experience — he has faced mostly safe elections in Vermont — he does have more than two decades of congressional experience to draw from. He brings skills debating on the House and Senate floor and in committees to Tuesday's event.
His challenge will be translating the considerable enthusiasm he's been generating on the campaign trail to the debate stage. Filling arenas is quite impressive, but facing questions from moderators and elbows from his rivals is another thing entirely.
"He can give a line or two or three and get a roar from the crowd," Payne said, "but you have much longer in a TV debate — you have to sustain your argument for 45 seconds to a minute."
Don't expect Sanders to go for the jugular against his chief rival, though. As much as the moderators might try to goad him into it, the Vermont senator has largely avoided direct attacks on Clinton, and his team has telegraphed to expect the same on Tuesday. Instead of focusing on lobbing hits, Politico reported, his somewhat limited debate prep has instead been policy-heavy.
Ultimately, Democrats say, they don't anticipate fireworks between the two top candidates.
"I suspect that neither one is really going to go after the other," predicted Elleithee, who worked on Clinton's 2008 campaign. "They may disagree, and they will point out where they disagree. That's normal, and that's fine. But I don't think you'll see either one come in and try to tear the other one down. That would be a bad strategy."
But Sanders will have to keep his cool throughout the debate, too. He's been testy with reporters when pressed in the past, and that type of reaction might not play well in front of a national TV audience.
"In Bernie's case, he has to be in control and not appear unpleasant — be a man who you could conceivably believe is president," said Payne, the debate coach. "If you're angry, it may come across as extremely harsh."
Need: Show he belongs in consideration as a top-tier candidate
Avoid: Debating about debates and getting on a high horse
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley has struggled to catch fire, but has also proven to be the most dogged Clinton attacker of the bunch — another element Clinton will have to manage.
Ultimately, O'Malley may have the most to gain and the most to lose during Tuesday's debate. Once seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, he was supposed to have been the top alternative to Clinton. Instead, that distinction has gone to Sanders (or possibly even Biden, if he does indeed run).
Now, O'Malley needs to give a rationale for his candidacy and prove he can be an able sparring partner with both Clinton and Sanders. O'Malley has vigorously pushed for more debates instead of the scheduled six face-offs, and he needs to show why that's a good idea for him.
"This could be his Scott Walker moment," Elleithee said, comparing O'Malley to the Wisconsin governor whose presidential campaign was doomed after a dismal performance in the second GOP debate.
"O'Malley can either break through and show he deserves to be considered as a top-tier candidate," he continued, "or if he doesn't break through, his advisers are going to have to circle up, re-calibrate, and figure out what they're going to say to donors. The rationale for his candidacy is not very evident."
That doesn't mean O'Malley should come in being a bomb-thrower, which could backfire on stage. Instead, he needs to draw well-reasoned contrasts with his opponents.
One top issue where he could do that is on gun control, which is back in the news after yet another mass shooting last week. O'Malley has, by far, the most progressive and far-reaching plan of any Democratic candidate. He also stands in contrast especially with Sanders, who has had a mixed record on the issue.
Need: A breakout moment to show they're serious candidates
Avoid: Getting left out of the conversation
The other two candidates on stage — former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee — have been almost entirely absent from the campaign trail and will simply need to explain why they're in the race. Both need to introduce themselves to voters, as expectations are already very low.
Webb, the only veteran on the stage, could bring a valuable voice in terms of foreign policy and national security.
"He needs to tell his story," Payne said. "He was a star in the making eight years ago, but once he left the Senate, his star has all but extinguished."
Chafee, a former GOP senator turned independent turned Democrat, could still have to explain his liberal bona fides and defend a controversial tenure as Rhode Island governor. Expect him to needle Clinton on her vote for the Iraq War — and to point out that even as a Republican, he opposed it from the start.
Both Webb and Chafee need a breakthrough moment. | 0fake |
Congressional race in Virginia shows Trump drag on Republicans | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Barbara Comstock is trying to untether herself from Donald Trump in her re-election bid for the U.S. Congress, but the Virginia Republican’s struggles show how difficult that can be. Comstock represents a wealthy House of Representatives district in northern Virginia where Trump has become a burden, one that her opponent is wrapping around Comstock’s neck. In local campaign ads, Democratic challenger LuAnn Bennett takes every opportunity to tie Comstock to the New York real estate developer and Republican presidential nominee. The strategy may be working. The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan election tipsheet, moved the Comstock-Bennett race from “lean Republican” to “toss up” on Wednesday, citing Trump’s unpopularity in much of the district. This is despite Comstock’s months-long effort to jettison Trump. In April, the former lobbyist and state legislator said Trump was actually a Democrat who knows “nothing” about the economy. She said in December that his plan to ban Muslim immigrants was “un-American” and “a silly idea.” In March, she gave campaign donations she got from Trump to charity. Earlier this month, she said Trump’s boasts about groping women, revealed in a video tape, were “vile.” She said she would not vote for him and urged Trump to drop out of the race against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But it may be too late to undo the damage, political analysts said, with just 19 days remaining until Election Day. “In a normal year, Comstock would be a clear favorite, but right now her front runner status is in question because of Trump,” said Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the Virginia Center for Politics. “He (Trump) was a gift” to her campaign, said Bennett, a 63-year-old real estate executive. Bennett said Comstock, 57, waited too late in her re-election campaign to announce she would not vote for Trump, and argued that Comstock’s views on immigration, abortion and climate change are “shockingly similar” to Trump’s. Asked on Wednesday about voters’ view of her repudiation of Trump, Comstock said Bennett, if elected to the House, would be a “rubber stamp” for Clinton. “I’m the only one of the two of us who ... has a record of speaking out against people, whether it’s in my own party or not,” Comstock, a Georgetown University-educated lawyer, told reporters after a debate with Bennett. “I’ve made clear that I’m going to be my own woman.” Stretching from suburban Washington to the Shenandoah valley and the West Virginia border, Comstock’s district is home to thousands of government workers, as well as many well-heeled lobbyists and what Trump might call the Washington “elites.” The area has been represented by a Republican in Congress since 1981, but has been a swing district in presidential years. Bennett said Democrats expect about 140,000 more voters to turn out in the district in this presidential election year than when Comstock was elected in a mid-term election two years ago. “We have a growing Latino community, we have a growing Asian community, and those communities are very unsettled by the rhetoric they’ve heard on the Republican side of the fence, and really worried about where this country is going,” she said. Kondik said, “This is one of the most highly educated districts in the country, and it’s filled with the kinds of Republicans that Trump could very well turn off.” A recent poll by the Wason Center for Public Policy in Newport News, Virginia, showed Clinton leading Trump by 55 percent to 21 percent in northern Virginia. That suggests that for Comstock to win, some Clinton backers will need to “split” their tickets to vote for Comstock, who made a name for herself in the 1990s as a congressional staffer dedicated to investigating members of the Clinton administration. Stephen Farnsworth, professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, said: “With the lewd tape, Trump went from being a drag on the Comstock campaign to an anchor.” | 0fake |
Former Director Of National Intelligence Says Russia Interference Casts Doubt On Trump’s Win | James Clapper, the Director of National Intelligence under President Barack Obama, appeared on CNN s Erin Burnett Out Front on Friday night, and he told Burnett just what many Americans have suspected since January. Speaking about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, Clapper told her that the intelligence community had met with Donald Trump prior to his inauguration. In that briefing, he and other intel chiefs discussed with Trump a joint assessment by the CIA, FBI, and NSA that concluded that the interference was significant enough to warrant concerns over the outcome of the election: Our intelligence community assessment did, I think, serve to cast doubt on the legitimacy of his victory in the election. Although Clapper didn t say it in the interview, the unspoken implication is that this message may have prompted Trump s ridiculous overreactions to his inaugural crowd size, the myth that millions of illegals voted in the election, and any number of other actions and statements that led to the creation of Trump s laughable Commission on Election Integrity, which has, thus far, served only as a vehicle for promoting voter suppression.Clapper s CNN appearance was timely. It came just a short while after Trump went back to his favorite outlet, Twitter, to vent his frustrations for the millionth time:The Russia hoax continues, now it's ads on Facebook. What about the totally biased and dishonest Media coverage in favor of Crooked Hillary? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 22, 2017Unfortunately for Trump, the fact is that the Facebook ads purchased by Russia weren t even part of that discussion with Clapper. Those weren t discovered until recently, after Facebook combed through their ad sales records and discovered hundreds of fake Russian profiles buying pro-Trump and pro-conservative ads on the social media platform during the campaign. That means that completely independent of any allegations about ad buying, the intelligence community had already concretely agreed that Russia helped Trump win the election.Even after the transition to Trump s administration and Cabinet, the investigation into Russian interference produced the same responses from different intel chiefs. When Senator Mark Warner, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked Trump s own CIA head and his new Director of National Intelligence whether they believed that Russian intelligence agencies were responsible for the hacks and leaks that led to the investigation, both Mike Pompeo and Dan Coats agreed.Clapper told Burnett that Trump s demeanor during the January briefing has been completely different than his behavior since he was inaugurated, calling the earlier Trump solicitous, courteous, [and] even complimentary when he sat down with the agencies.Trump is getting more than a little nervous now, and this interview with James Clapper sheds light on his renewed efforts to brush aside the Russia investigation.Watch:Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
LEFTIST BULLY ARTISTS Tell Ivanka Trump: “Get My Artwork Off Your Walls”…”I Am Embarrassed To Be Seen With You” | A growing group of artists is hitting back against Ivanka Trump, with some even demanding the president-elect s daughter take their work down off her walls.A collection of New York artists have banded together to protest Donald Trump through his daughter, with a campaign called Dear Ivanka .The colorful crusade was created by the Halt Action Group, which was founded by curator Alison Gingeras, dealer Bill Powers, Jonathan Horowitz, and a group of others associated with the art scene, Bloomberg reports. Dear Ivanka, we need to talk about your dad, the group s website reads. Racism, anti-Semitism, misogyny, and homophobia are not acceptable anywhere least of all in the White House. Steve Bannon has no place in the White House. Jeff Sessions has no place in the White House. Talk of a Muslim registry has no place in the White House. Hate has no place in the White House. We refuse to wait and see . We look to you as the voice of reason. Other artists, many of whom have pieces in Ivanka s lavish apartment, have also chimed in on the issue. Dear @Ivankatrump please get my work off of your walls. I am embarrassed to be seen with you, Philadelphia artist wrote on Instagram.Ivanka had posted a picture on her own social media of her standing next to a Da Corte piece.The Halt Action Group staged a rally on November 28 outside the Puck building in Manhattan where Ivanka and Jared Kushner live.Da Corte, who called for Ivanka to take his paintings down in her apartment, took part in a protests outside her home with these signsAbout 500 people marched in the demonstration outside Ivanka and Jared Kushner s home on November 28 For entire story: Daily Mail | 1real |
No Kidding! Hillary Clinton Campaign Funding The Broke Democratic National Committee | Isn t it a conflict of interest that Clinton is giving money to the DNC? Ya think!Thanks to Breitbart News for finding an email that exposes the money transfer from the Clinton Campaign to the DNC. The DNC hasn t responded so it would be a great idea to get a Freedom of Information request to see just how much is bring funded to the party since they re $8 million in debt. Yes, the DNC is asking taxpayers to fund their convention no kidding!The Hillary Clinton campaign is quietly making cash transfers to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to fund state party efforts in the South. Hillary Clinton s deputy national political director Brynne Craig, 30, sent money to a state party chairman. Craig assures the chairman that the Clinton campaign will be making another transfer to the DNC. Then Craig said she would follow up to let you know the amount that is transferred. The email sheds new light on the relationship between the financially insolvent DNC, led by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the Clinton campaign. The Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)16% camp is suing the DNC in federal court ahead of Saturday night s debate in Goffstown, New Hampshire after the DNC banned the Sanders camp from its voter targeting data after it accessed data on Hillary Clinton voters, which was originally supposed to be shared over all of the Democratic campaigns.The Clinton campaign is clearly gearing up for the Southern Democratic Party s vaunted SEC primary in March, where Hillary Clinton lost her lead for the nomination in 2008 to then-Senator Barack Obama.Asked to comment, the Clinton campaign did not immediately respond with an answer that provides information about how much money the Clinton campaign transfers to the DNC. The DNC also did not immediately provide that financial information.Here s the email:From: Brynne Craig <******@hillaryclinton.com> Date: November [], 2015 at **** PM CST (To: [] Cc: Richard McDaniel <*********@hillaryclinton.com>, Charles Olivier <********@hillaryclinton.com> Subject: Next Week {} I hope this email finds you well. Happy early Thanksgiving! I wanted to check in since December is quickly approaching. We are planning to do another transfer to the DNC on December 1st. We will follow up to let you know the amount that is transferred. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thanks, BrynneVia: Breitbart News | 1real |
TABLES TURNED! CONSERVATIVE GROUP FILES ETHICS COMPLAINT Against Dem Political Hack Adam Schiff [Video] | Klayman Discusses Complaint Against Rep. Adam Schiff for Obstruction of Justice & Ethics Violations Several leftwing activist groups have filed accusations against me with the Office of Congressional Ethics. Despite the baselessness of the charges, I believe it is in the best interests of the House Intelligence Committee and the Congress for me to have Representative Mike Conway, with assistance from Representatives Trey Gowdy and Tom Rooney, temporarily take charge of the Committee s Russia investigation. Remember when he came out and spoke to the press after speaking to the president? Well, the Democrats raised heck after that and have done everything they can to stop Nunes. Note that he has left his position only temporarily. Trey Gowdy and others will take his place FLASHBACK ON NUNES:1.) On numerous occasions the [Obama] intelligence community incidentally collected information about U.S. citizens involved in the Trump transition. 2.) Details about U.S. persons associated with the incoming administration; details with little or no apparent foreign intelligence value were widely disseminated in intelligence community reporting. 3.) Third, I have confirmed that additional names of Trump transition members were unmasked. 4.) Fourth and finally, I want to be clear; none of this surveillance was related to Russia, or the investigation of Russian activities, or of the Trump team. | 1real |
Kenya bans city-center protests as vote tension mounts | NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan authorities banned protests in central Nairobi and other hotspots as they tried to keep a lid on mounting political turmoil in the build-up to a repeat presidential vote. The order issued on Thursday covered business districts in Nairobi, the western city of Kisumu and the port of Mombasa - the scenes of repeated demonstrations since the Supreme Court annulled the last vote in August, citing irregularities. The main opposition, which has held rallies calling for electoral reforms and the sacking of vote officials, said it would take to the streets again on Friday, and on a daily basis from Monday, despite the ban. The protests are covered by the bill of rights in the constitution. We do not hold the protests as a favor by the State, Dennis Onyango, the spokesman for opposition leader Raila Odinga, said. Politicians and activists from all sides have traded insults and accusations since the court ruling, raising fears of a repeat of the ethnically charged violence that killed around 1,200 people after a contested 2007 vote. President Uhuru Kenyatta, whose August election victory was annulled by the court ruling, is due to stand again against Odinga on Oct. 26. But this week Odinga announced he was withdrawing from the race, because of failure to reform the election board. The board responded that the vote would go ahead anyway with the names of Odinga and the other original candidates on the ballot paper. At least 17 demonstrators were hospitalized on Wednesday with bullet wounds and other injuries, said medical workers in Kisumu, an opposition stronghold. The opposition has accused the police of using excessive force while the government has accused the protesters of destroying private property . Reuters saw footage of a crowd attacking a policeman with stones and sticks during protests in the western town of Homa Bay, near Kisumu. Marius Tum, the Homa Bay police boss, said 14 people had been arrested and would be charged with assault and participating in unlawful assembly. Odinga s spokesman Onyango did not immediately respond to a request for a comment on the incident. The standoff has spooked investors in the region s richest economy. The all share index on the Nairobi bourse was 0.43 percent lower at the close, amid low volumes, traders said. In August, only Odinga and Kenyatta polled more than one percent. Three of the other candidates - Abduba Dida, Japheth Kavinga and Ekuru Aukot - told Reuters they intended to stand again. The political battle in this country has been between the Odingas and the Kenyattas for the longest time, said Aukot. Voters will be looking for a neutral person who can pacify the country. A Kenyan rights group said this week that at least 37 people were killed in protests immediately following the Aug. 8 poll. The opposition did not call any protests on Thursday. | 0fake |
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