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“THE WORST OF THE WORST” GITMO Terrorists To Be Released By Obama | Obama does it again he put his potical agenda before the American people! He s determined to fulfill his promise to close GITMO by releasing the worst of the worst of the terrorists currently jailed.The Obama administration has quietly seeded the diplomatic bed for its next push to transfer detainees out of Guant namo Bay, the Guardian has learned, as Barack Obama aims to reduce the prison s population before leaving office.According to US officials, the administration has deals in place to send approximately two dozen longtime Guant namo detainees to about half a dozen countries.While it is unclear if the transfers will occur in one wave, as with the April transfer of nine detainees to Saudi Arabia, there is an expectation that the departure of 22 or 23 men will occur by the end of July. There are currently 80 men detained at Guant namo, the lowest number since the US opened the wartime prison in 2002.All the detainees for whom US diplomats have secured arrangements to leave Guant namo have been officially approved for transfer, either by a 2010 internal review process or through quasi-parole hearings known as Periodic Review Boards.The US holds 28 detainees approved for transfer, so the men s departure would nearly empty Guant namo of such designated detainees, substantially clearing a backlog that has lasted years.Officials spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity, as not all of the foreign destination countries are ready to be identified. Furthermore, some of the transfer approvals have yet to receive certification by Ashton Carter, the defense secretary, as required by law, ahead of a notification to Congress.The State Department s envoy for closing Guant namo, Lee Wolosky, pledged in January after a transfer of 10 detainees to Oman that the US would finish emptying Guant namo of transfer-eligible detainees by this summer .If the current deals go through, the US would be left with 57 or 58 Guant namo detainees, the vast majority of whom are either involved in the military tribunals process or subject to insufficient untainted evidence to charge, while thought too dangerous to release.Read more: The Guardian | 1real |
Bill Clinton confronts protesters who say his crime reforms hurt blacks | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former President Bill Clinton on Thursday faced down protesters angry at the impact his 1994 crime reforms have had on black Americans and defended the record of his wife, Hillary Clinton, who is relying on the support of black voters in her quest for the presidency. The former president spent more than 10 minutes confronting the protesters at a campaign rally in Philadelphia for his wife over criticisms that the crime bill he approved while president led to a surge in the imprisonment of black people. The Democratic race for the Nov. 8 election has become increasingly heated as Hillary Clinton, stung by a string of losses in state contests, has traded barbs with her rival for the party’s nomination, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, over who is better prepared for the White House. In Philadelphia, several protesters heckled the former president mid-speech and held up signs, including one that read: “CLINTON Crime Bill Destroyed Our Communities.” Video footage of Hillary Clinton defending the reforms in 1994 has been widely circulated during the campaign by activists in the Black Lives Matter protest movement. In the footage, she calls young people in gangs “super-predators” who need to “be brought to heel.” Hillary Clinton, 68, who also has faced protesters upset by her remarks, said in February she regretted her language. Bill Clinton, 69, who was president from 1993 to 2001, defended her 1994 remarks, which protesters say were racially insensitive, and suggested the protesters’ anger was misplaced. “I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped on crack and sent them out on the street to murder other African-American children,” he said, shaking his finger at a heckler as Clinton supporters cheered, according to video of the event. “Maybe you thought they were good citizens. She (Hillary Clinton) didn’t.” “You are defending the people who kill the lives you say matter,” he told a protester. “Tell the truth.” Hillary Clinton promised to end “mass incarceration” in the first major speech of her campaign last year. She has won the support of the majority of black voters in every state nominating contest so far, often by a landslide. Spokesmen for the campaign and Bill Clinton did not immediately respond on Thursday to a request for comment. The United States has more people in prison than any other country. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1.05 million prisoners were held in federal or state facilities in 1994. By 2014, it was 1.56 million. That year, 6 percent of all black men in their 30s were in prison, a rate six times higher than that of white men of the same age. Bill Clinton said last year that he regretted signing the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law because it contributed to the high incarceration rate of black people for nonviolent crimes. On Thursday, he did not explicitly recant those regrets, but appeared to be angry at any suggestion the bill was wholly bad. The legislation imposed tougher sentences, put thousands more police on the streets and helped fund the building of extra prisons. It was known for its federal “three strikes” provision that sent violent offenders to prison for life. The bill was backed by congressional Republicans and hailed at the time as a success for Clinton. Although Clinton is popular among Democrats who view him as a gifted orator and crowd pleaser, he has in the past veered from the carefully calibrated message put out by his wife’s campaign, causing problems for her representatives. During Hillary Clinton’s failed 2008 presidential bid, civil rights leaders and high-ranking Democrats in Congress criticized the former president for statements he made during a heated campaign against then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama. Bill Clinton said Obama’s campaign had “played the race card.” Obama became the first U.S. black president in November that year. Bill Clinton’s remarks on Thursday drew criticism online. Some saw him as dismissive of the Black Lives Matter movement, a national outgrowth of anger over a string of encounters in which police officers killed unarmed black people. Johnetta Elzie, a civil rights activist, wrote online that Clinton “can’t handle being confronted by his own record.” “This is like watching a robot malfunction,” she wrote. Earlier in Philadelphia, Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, assailed Clinton as unqualified to be president as the two campaigns became increasingly testy less than two weeks before New York’s nominating contest. “Are you qualified to be president of the United States when you’re raising millions of dollars from Wall Street, an entity whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior helped destroy our economy?” Sanders said at a news conference. Clinton this week sharply questioned Sanders’ credentials and ability to carry out a campaign pledge to break up the big banks. Spokesmen for Clinton noted she never said the word “unqualified” when she questioned his preparedness for the presidency, but they declined to say whether she believed in that characterization. Clinton aimed for a more magnanimous tone than her aides when speaking to reporters during a subway ride in New York City. “I don’t know why he’s saying that,” she said of Sanders calling her unqualified. “But I will take Bernie Sanders over Ted Cruz or Donald Trump any time,” she said of the two leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. Sanders returned the sentiment in an interview with the “CBS Evening News” later on Thursday. “I think the idea of a Donald Trump or a Ted Cruz presidency would be an unmitigated disaster for this country. I will do everything in my power and work as hard as I can to make sure that that does not happen, and if Secretary Clinton is the nominee, I will certainly support her,” he said. | 0fake |
After Sex Scandal Allegations, Ted Cruz Unleashes Colossally Pathetic Hissy Fit On Facebook | In the world of politics there are going to be scandals. It s just a fact. There s no way around it. They can be true or they can be false, but they are going to happen no matter who you are. What s important, however, is how one handles the scandals, and so far Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz has shown that he can t handle much of anything thrown his way.With The National Enquirer printing a story that alleges Cruz s involved with five different women other than his wife, #CruzSexScandal quickly started to take over social media and the national conversation. Is the story true? Who knows, really. But at this point it doesn t really matter, because it s out there.Now, Cruz could simply shrug off these allegations, or even laugh at them for how ridiculous they may be, but instead he chose to throw a ginormous hissy fit on Facebook and blames the entire thing on Donald Trump. And who knows, maybe Trump is to blame. However, how Cruz is handling all of this shows how he may handle times of trouble, and let s just say, it ain t pretty.Cruz wrote on Facebook: I want to be crystal clear: these attacks are garbage. For Donald J. Trump to enlist his friends at the National Enquirer and his political henchmen to do his bidding shows you that there is no low Donald won t go.These smears are completely false, they re offensive to Heidi and me, they re offensive to our daughters, and they re offensive to everyone Donald continues to personally attack.Donald Trump s consistently disgraceful behavior is beneath the office we are seeking and we are not going to follow. // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ // < ![CDATA[ (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); // ]]>I want to be crystal clear: these attacks are garbage. For Donald J. Trump to enlist his friends at the National Posted by Ted Cruz on Friday, March 25, 2016Listen, Ted, calm down. If the story from The National Enquirer is false, it will simply drift away over the course of the 24-hour news cycle. Drawing further attention to it, and acting SO defensive doesn t necessarily make you look guilty, but it also doesn t make you look good. It s a tabloid paper that will also talk about people giving birth to aliens and/ or maybe the Queen of England taking up heroin it s not like it was printed in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Simmer down now. Stuff like this is inevitably going to come up, true or not. For goodness sake, ask a Clinton.If this is how he handles ridiculous stories about himself, how the hell is he going to handle being Commander-in-Chief? Simple he won t be able to.No matter who, vote blue.Featured image via Gage Skidmore (flickr) | 1real |
Brexit-Supporting Politicians Are Like ’Jihadis’, Says Tory MP | Members of Parliament are like “jihadis” a MP has said. [Claire Perry, a Conservative who represents Devizes, launched the broadside against her colleagues while at the same time lamenting “hysterical” language on Brexit. Comparing fellow Conservatives to Islamic extremists, Ms Perry said: “I have to say that the tone of this debate — and we’ve heard a little bit, although it’s starting to calm down — sometimes borders on the hysterical. “I feel sometimes I am sitting along with colleagues who are like jihadis in their support for a hard Brexit. ” She went on to say: “No Brexit is hard enough — ‘begone you evil Europeans, we never want you to darken our doors again’. People say: ‘Steady on, Claire’ but I am afraid I heard speeches last week exactly making that point. “The point of this is, the more we get this out in the open, the more we are not led by some of the most hysterical tabloid newspapers out there, but actually have an open and frank conversation with each other about what we want to do, the better. ” Ms Perry, speaking as the House of Commons, spent a second day deliberating amendments to the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which will grant Prime Minister Theresa May the power to trigger the process of leaving the EU. She was one of seven Conservative MPs to rebel against the government and back an opposition amendment forcing the government to give Parliament a bigger say on the final Brexit deal. The amendment was nonetheless defeated after the government announced they intended to do that anyway. MPs will finish debating the bill on Wednesday evening before holding a final vote. If it is passed, it will then go to the heavily House of Lords for further deliberation. | 0fake |
Pakistani peace activist reported missing, police say | Karachi, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani peace activist has been reported missing over the weekend from eastern city of Lahore, police and one of his friends said on Tuesday. Raza Mehmood Khan, 40, a member of Aghaz-i-Dosti (Start of Friendship), a group that works on peace building between arch-rivals Pakistan and India, hasn t been heard from since he left home on Sunday, said Rahim-ul-Haq, a friend and an associate. He said the group has offices in both countries. Police official Shehzad Raza said Khan s family reported he had been missing since Saturday. No one has been accused in the report, he said. We re investigating. Several social media activists critical of the army and the country s extremists and militant groups have gone missing in Pakistan in recent months. Four of them were released nearly a month after they disappeared early this year. Two of them - Ahmad Waqas Goraya and Asim Saeed _ later alleged in interviews with BBC and their social media posts that Pakistani intelligence abducted and tortured them in custody. Pakistan s army has denied the accusations. Haq said Khan spoke at a discussion on Saturday on the topic of extremism. Everyone discussed their views and, of course, Raza was very critical, he said. He said that Raza s recent Facebook posts were critical of Pakistani military, especially in view of a recent sit-in protest by hard-liners that paralyzed Islamabad for over two weeks. The extremists won almost all of their demands, including resignation of a minister they accused of blasphemy, in an agreement brokered by the army. | 0fake |
A Judge Just Gave Sarah Palin Some Very, Very Bad News | Remember how Sarah Palin sued the New York Times for mistakenly saying that a concrete link had been established between her Facebook post that featured crosshairs over former Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords district and Jared Loughner s decision to open fire on her? Well, that didn t work out so well. Don t retreat. RELOAD, Palin famously posted on Facebook along with an image depicting gun sights over various states whose legislators she was targeting. Shortly after, Loughner shot Giffords in the head and pumped bullets into numerous others, killing six and wounding thirteen others.No concrete link between the two has been established though it is reasonable to assume Palin s encouragement played a role in the shooting.Speaking of shooting, District Judge Jed Rakoff shot down Palin s frivolous lawsuit against the Times on Tuesday. Nowhere is political journalism so free, so robust or, perhaps, so rowdy as in the United States, Judge Rakoff wrote in his 26-page decision. But if political journalism is to achieve its constitutionally endorsed role of challenging the powerful, legal redress by a public figure must be limited to those cases where the public figure has a plausible factual basis for complaining that the mistake was made maliciously. What we have here is an editorial, written and rewritten rapidly in order to voice an opinion on an immediate event of importance, in which are included a few factual inaccuracies somewhat pertaining to Mrs. Palin that are very rapidly corrected, Rakoff wrote. Negligence this may be; but defamation of a public figure it plainly is not. Judge Rakoff s opinion is an important reminder of the country s deep commitment to a free press and the important role that journalism plays in our democracy, a spokeswoman for the Times said. We regret the errors we made in the editorial. But we were pleased to see that the court acknowledged the importance of the prompt correction we made once we learned of the mistakes. This is, of course, bad news for Palin and her ally Donald Trump, who wants to open up libel laws to make it easier to people like Palin to file frivolous lawsuits against journalistic institutions for every little mistake even if a correction has been made.Lately, the Right has been practically masturbating over the idea of bullying anyone who reports something they don t like with expensive lawsuits as an attempt to keep criticism to a minimum.This is bad news for anyone who has recently filed a frivolous lawsuit against journalists, including alt-Right (a term employed by Nazis as a form of rebranding) journalist Cassandra Fairbanks, who sued a Fusion reporter for correctly reporting that she had made a hand gesture that had been adopted by the white power movement during a visit to the White House.Fortunately, Judge Rakoff refused to allow Palin s farcical lawsuit to get off the ground. Hopefully, this sends a message to the Right that bullying journalists with lawsuits will not go well for them.Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
U.S. Senator Flake concerned about tax plan impact on debt | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican Senator Jeff Flake on Thursday expressed concern about the Senate Republican tax proposal’s impact on the national debt. In a statement, Flake did not say how he might vote on the proposal unveiled earlier Thursday. “I remain concerned over how the current tax reform proposals will grow the already staggering national debt by opting for short-term fixes while ignoring long-term problems for taxpayers and the economy,” he said. Both the Senate and House tax cut plans would add about $1.5 trillion to the U.S. national debt over 10 years. Lawmakers should achieve tax reform in a fiscally responsible manner, Flake said, adding that he looked forward to working with his colleagues “to deliver on that goal.” | 0fake |
For Obama, Syria Chemical Attack Shows Risk of ‘Deals With Dictators’ - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — When it came time to make his case for the judgment of history, President Barack Obama had a ready rebuttal to one of the most cutting critiques of his time in office. Although friends and foes alike faulted him for not following through on his threat to retaliate when Syria gassed its own people in 2013, Mr. Obama would counter that he had actually achieved a better result through an agreement with President Bashar to surrender all of his chemical weapons. After last week, even former Obama aides assume that he will have to rethink that passage in his memoir. More than 80 civilians were killed in what Western analysts called a sarin attack by Syrian forces — a chilling demonstration that the agreement did not succeed. In recent days, former aides have lamented what they considered one of the worst moments of the Obama presidency and privately conceded that his legacy would suffer. “If the Syrian government carried out the attack and the agent was sarin, then clearly the 2013 agreement didn’t succeed in its objective of eliminating Bashar’s C. W.,” or chemical weapons, said Robert Einhorn, who was the State Department special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control under Mr. Obama before the agreement. “Either he didn’t declare all his C. W. and kept some hidden in reserve, or he illegally produced some sarin after his stock was eliminated — most likely the former. ” Other former Obama advisers questioned the wisdom of negotiating with Mr. Assad and said last week’s attack illustrated the flaws in the deal, which was brokered by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as a way to prevent the United States from using force. “For me, this tragedy underscores the dangers of trying to do deals with dictators without a comprehensive, invasive and permanent inspection regime,” said Michael McFaul, who was Mr. Obama’s ambassador to Russia. “It also shows the limits of doing deals with Putin. Surely, the Russians must have known about these C. W. ” Putting the best face on it, former Obama advisers said it was better to have removed 1, 300 tons of chemical weapons from Syria even if Mr. Assad cheated and kept some, or later developed more. “Imagine what Syria would look like without that deal,” said Antony J. Blinken, a former deputy secretary of state. “It would be awash in chemical weapons, which would fall into the hands of ISIS, Al Nusra or other groups. ” Still, the administration knew all along that it had probably not gotten all of the chemical weapons, and tried to get Russia to help press Syria, without success. “We always knew we had not gotten everything, that the Syrians had not been fully forthcoming in their declaration,” Mr. Blinken said. Even before last week’s chemical attack, many veterans of Mr. Obama’s team considered his handling of Syria his biggest failing and expressed regret that their administration did not stop a war that has left more than 400, 000 dead and millions displaced. Many of them even praised President Trump for taking the very action that Mr. Obama refused to take four years ago, by ordering a cruise missile strike against Syria. “Donald Trump has done the right thing on Syria,” Slaughter, the director of policy planning in Mr. Obama’s State Department, wrote on Twitter. “Finally!! After years of useless handwringing in the face of hideous atrocities. ” Tom Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state for human rights for Mr. Obama, wrote in The Atlantic, “The lesson I would draw from that experience is that when dealing with mass killing by unconventional or conventional means, deterrence is more effective than disarmament. ” Mr. Obama grappled with Syria for much of his tenure but resisted being directly drawn in, for fear of thrusting America into another Middle East quagmire without solving the problem. The most searing moment came in 2013, when Mr. Assad’s forces killed 1, 400 civilians with chemical weapons, brazenly crossing what Mr. Obama had said would be his “red line. ” Mr. Obama prepared a military strike to retaliate, but hesitated amid domestic opposition in both parties and asked Congress to decide whether to proceed. When it became clear that Congress would not give its approval, he grabbed onto a political lifeline from Mr. Putin, who proposed a deal in which Mr. Assad would give up his chemical weapons arsenal. Under the deal, Syria joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, and over the next nine months, vast stores of lethal poisons were removed and ultimately destroyed. In June 2014, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons certified that all of Syria’s declared weapons had been removed. Two months later, when the last chemicals were destroyed, Mr. Obama celebrated. “Today we mark an important achievement in our ongoing effort to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction by eliminating Syria’s declared chemical weapons stockpile,” he said in a statement. In the months to come, Mr. Obama and his aides pointed to that agreement in response to criticism that he had failed to enforce his red line. “Well, it turns out we’re getting chemical weapons out of Syria without having initiated a strike,” Mr. Obama said in April 2014. “So what else are you talking about?” Three months later, Secretary of State John Kerry said, “With respect to Syria, we struck a deal where we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out. ” And three months after that, Mr. Kerry said Mr. Obama’s threat of force had made it possible to “cut the deal that got 100 percent of the declared chemical weapons out of Syria, and people nevertheless have been critical — one day of bombing versus the virtue of getting 100 percent of the chemical weapons out of Syria. ” As late as this January, Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, said on NPR: “We were able to find a solution that didn’t necessitate the use of force that actually removed the chemical weapons that were known from Syria in a way that the use of force would never have accomplished. We were able to get the Syrian government to voluntarily and verifiably give up its chemical weapons stockpile. ” Publicly, Mr. Obama’s advisers sometimes referred to “known” or “declared” stockpiles to qualify their claims, and sometimes did not. But from the start of the deal, there were discrepancies in Mr. Assad’s weapons declarations. In February 2016, James R. Clapper Jr. the national intelligence director, told Congress that “we assess that Syria has not declared all the elements of its chemical weapons program. ” Moreover, Mr. Assad’s forces resorted to makeshift chlorine bombs, using a chemical that was not covered by the agreement and is not barred by international law, though its use as a weapon of war is. Mr. Blinken said the Obama administration had pressed the United Nations to respond, but Russia blocked such efforts. Critics say Mr. Obama oversold the agreement with Russia. “The defense was that he got all the C. W. out, and now that defense is shown to be plain false,” said Elliott Abrams, a deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush. “If Obama administration officials knew that at the time, they were deliberately misstating the facts. I think Obama will never live this down, nor should he. ” Frederic C. Hof, who worked on Syria policy at the State Department under Mr. Obama before leaving and becoming a sharp critic of the administration, said the agreement remained defensible because it took weapons out of Mr. Assad’s hands. But Mr. Hof noted that Mr. Assad was still left “free to perform mass homicide by other means,” and that neither Mr. Obama’s deal nor Mr. Trump’s missile strike would stop him. “He now counts on the West again to leave him free to kill as long as he does so without chemicals,” Mr. Hof said. “If this is what happens, the U. S. airstrikes of April 7 will go down in history as a gesture that did nothing to counter violent extremism, stop mass homicide or restore the reputation of the U. S. ” | 0fake |
3 Priceless Zen Teachings on Fear | 3 Priceless Zen Teachings on Fear Nov 4, 2016 21 2
If the ego had an engine, its fuel would be fear. Trepidation isn’t all bad, but it certainly has its time and place. Fear can render us quivering and useless, or motivate us toward change. In the study of Zen, we learn how to not only overcome our fears, but to become fearless. This is called the Lion’s Roar of Zazen .
The lion is the living embodiment of self-possessed power. This animal has dominion over all he sees as well as the courage, speed, and might to attain all he desires. His deportment is regal and calm, though, never bullying and neither shrinking. The metaphor of the lion is used to describe how one overcomes fear in the Majjhima Nikaya , a Collection of Middle Length Discourses on Buddha’s teachings, and they are immaculate at describing the fears most of us face. Many Zen teachers describe how to become regal and fearless in their discourses as well. Fear of the Loss of Life
Zen master, D.T. Suzuki says that fear of the loss of body is usually what we must overcome first. Following this, an internal consciousness becomes aware that we are threatening the slated, well-accepted notion of being merely corporeal, and we ‘think’ we are frightened. Suzuki says we needn’t look any further than the bodily sensations that arise when we simply ponder fearfulness. An empty feeling in the lower abdomen ensues, there is an immobility at the base of the tongue, and our breathing becomes restricted. If we were to remove these sensations, though, fear becomes a meaningless thing.
Szkuki attests that according to Zazen, we aim to keep a lower abdomen full of power , the breathing always uniform, the heart beat tranquil, and the muscles of the whole body resilient so that if emotions like fear arise, they can easily be encountered and dismissed. Fear of the Loss of ‘Self’
Some fear is understandable, even – such as when we realize we must face a spiritual death in order to progress on our path. Although we may long to richer higher levels of consciousness, we aren’t always so keen to let go of the habits and crutches that have propped up our current level of awareness. As the Sufi poet Rumi once said , “No one will find his way to the Court of Magnificence until he is annihilated.”
Other types of fear make us meek and fallible. Our consciousness easily wavers, and we cannot attain Mu , or a state of Zen , let alone get on with our daily activities. It is only by cultivating the 4 Zen States of Mind that we can ‘fill our abdomens’ with power and roar like a lion with fearlessness. 4 Zen States of Mind Shoshin or “Beginner’s Mind” ( 初心 ) is the first stage in cultivating fearlessness. Think of a time when you were excited, and eager to start a new endeavor. There might have been unknowns, but you were brimming with glee over trying something new. This is the type of mind we want to cultivate with all aspects of life. Instead of begin nervous or fearful, we can aim to be eager and open, accepting all that comes our way. In order to approach life from the beginner’s mind we need to let of preconceived notions, and be optimistic. If you’ve been able to have this feeling with one thing you’ve done in life, you can translate that feeling to other areas also. Fudoushin ( 不動心 ) means you have an “Immovable Mind .” It doesn’t mean you are stubborn, but fudoushin does translate to being determined in the face of obstacles. Does a lion run away from present danger? Hardly. The animal doesn’t get angry or judgmental about obstacles either. He is peaceful like the eye of the storm until he is upon his prey. If you can develop fudoushin when you are under stress, you will be unstoppable in life. Mushin (無心) or “Without Mind.” This is a similar philosophy to the Chinese Taoist idea of wei wuwei. When we are ‘in the zone’ working on a great masterpiece or doing something we love, we’ve likely already experienced the state of mushin. When we are empty of thoughts, yet moving and acting purely in the present moment, without fear, anger, ego, or other emotion, we are a force to be reckoned with. By developing equanimity and learning how to focus to the point of no-thought, we can cultivate mushin. The last of the four states of Zen Mind is called Zanshin ( 残心 ) which literally translates to “Remaining Mind.” This state of mind contains two precise elements. It means you are both relaxed and keenly aware of your surroundings. This is the state that marital artists aim to be in so that they can react at any moment to anything that comes their way. By maintaining relaxed alertness fear cannot sway you, even in the face of a frightening opponent. Fear of Suffering
The Buddha taught that self-grasping and ignorance are the root of all remaining fears. Healthy fears aside , our tendency to try to avoid suffering – the fear of failure, heartbreak, being trapped, being lost, etc. are all caused by a single root – and arise from the mind. In Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life , is is said that the Buddha articulated, “The source of all our fear comes from our own uncontrolled minds or “delusions.””
In order to overcome this root cause of fear, the Buddha, and Zen masters alike, teach to strive for no-self or emptiness. This doesn’t mean a nihilistic view for life is adopted. Friedrich Nietzsche accused Buddhism of being existentialist , but the Buddha taught us to seek the Middle Way between the mundane and the spiritual, seeing objects as real but dependently originated, not-self and unsatisfactory. Instead of seeing all things as pointless and empty, we see mundane life as meaningless but recognize spiritual goals as meaningful.
As the Zen master, Sojo has said , “Heaven and earth and I are of the same root, the ten-thousand things and I are of one substance.”
After all, even once the Buddha gave up all his worldly possessions he realized he was no closer to achieving Nirvana. He discovered that exaggerated asceticism was not required to attain enlightenment.
By learning how to work through these fears, we can achieve the ‘lion’s roar’ of full realization. | 1real |
BREAKING: OBAMA Regime Announces Federal Takeover Of Elections [VIDEO] | In a stunning last minute power grab by the Obama administration with just 14 days left in his Presidency, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement this evening officially declaring state election systems to be critical infrastructure. The statement from DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson defines election infrastructure as storage facilities, polling places, centralized vote tabulations locations, voter registration databases, voting machines and all other systems to manage the election process so pretty much everything.I have reached this determination so that election infrastructure will, on a more formal and enduring basis, be a priority for cybersecurity assistance and protections that the Department of Homeland Security provides to a range of private and public sector entities. By election infrastructure, we mean storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote tabulations locations used to support the election process, and information and communications technology to include voter registration databases, voting machines, and other systems to manage the election process and report and display results on behalf of state and local governments. Given the vital role elections play in this country, it is clear that certain systems and assets of election infrastructure meet the definition of critical infrastructure, in fact and in law, Johnson stated. Particularly in these times, this designation is simply the right and obvious thing to do. The designation allows for information to be withheld from the public when state, local and private partners meet to discuss election infrastructure security potentially injecting secrecy into an election process that s traditionally and expressly a transparent process, according to the AP. U.S. officials say such closed door conversations allow for frank discussion that would prevent bad actors from learning about vulnerabilities. DHS would also be able to grant security clearances when appropriate and provide more detailed threat information to states. The announcement of a federal takeover of the electoral process follows a report from several intelligence agencies also released Friday which purports the Russian government worked to influence the outcome of the 2016 US election.The AP reports several states in recent months opposed the move fearing the designation would lead to increased federal regulation or oversight on the many decentralized and locally run voting systems across the country. At least one member of the US Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group, Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp, stated he opposed the measure claiming more federal oversight could make systems more vulnerable and could make protected records more accessible, the AP writes.Kemp reportedly called the move a federal overreach into a sphere constitutionally reserved for the states on a conference call with Johnson Thursday, and said the designation smacks of partisan politics. Examples of election infrastructure include storage facilities, voter registration databases, voting locations, voting machines and other systems designed to manage the election process, the AP notes. For entire story: InfowarsDecember 18, 2016 Georgia s secretary of state has claimed the Department of Homeland Security tried to breach his office s firewall and has issued a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson asking for an explanation.Brian Kemp issued a letter to Johnson on Thursday after the state s third-party cybersecurity provider detected an IP address from the agency s Southwest D.C. office trying to penetrate the state s firewall. According to the letter, the attempt was unsuccessful.And now, Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Aaron Diamond has learned two more states election agencies have confirmed suspected cyberattacks linked to the same U.S. Department of Homeland Security IP address as last month s massive attack in Georgia.Watch here:Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp recently told Politico it is nothing more than an attempt to subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security. During an earlier interview with the site Nextgov, Kemp warned: The question remains whether the federal government will subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security. Kemp told POLITICO he sees a clear motivation from this White House to expand federal control, citing Obama s health care law, the Dodd-Frank financial-reform legislation and the increased role of the Education Department in local schools.To some election officials, this sounds like the first stage of a more intrusive plan. I think it s kind of the nose under the tent, said Vermont Secretary of State Jim Condos, a Democrat. What I think a lot of folks get concerned about [is] when the federal government says, Well, look, we re not really interested in doing that, but we just want to give you this, and then all of a sudden this leads to something else. Meanwhile, Kemp continued on by noting that this administration only has 15 days left in its term and to make such a critical decision during the 11th hour smacks of partisan politics. But we re sure it s nothing, Obama doesn t really strike us as the type to play the partisan politics game. Zero Hedge | 1real |
Unlocking iPhone would leave millions exposed, Apple to tell Congress | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unlocking an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino shooters would leave hundreds of millions of Apple Inc (AAPL.O) device owners vulnerable to cybercriminals and other hackers, the company’s top lawyer is expected to tell U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday. In written testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee released on Monday, Apple General Counsel Bruce Sewell reiterated the tech giant’s stance that the FBI’s request to help access the phone “would set a dangerous precedent for government intrusion on the privacy and safety of its citizens.” | 0fake |
MARK STEYN’S HYSTERICAL Take On Hillary’s “Back Up You Creep” Comment In Her New Book [Video] | Steyn: Now Hillary knows how Bill s victims feel Haha! Mark Steyn was awesome tonight on Tucker Carlson:Oh my gosh! We can t stop laughing at Steyn s account of Hillary on pretty much everything. The best had to be how Clinton lied about how she was named. Too funny!HERE S OUR PREVIOUS REPORT ON THE BIG WHOPPER HILLARY TOLD ABOUT HER NAME: This story is from 2006 and is the first in a long series of Hillary s lies that we ll be exposing over the next couple of months For more than a decade, one piece of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton s informal biography has been that she was named for Sir Edmund Hillary, the conqueror of Mount Everest. The story was even recounted in Bill Clinton s autobiography.But yesterday, Mrs. Clinton s campaign said she was not named for Sir Edmund after all. It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add, said Jennifer Hanley, a spokeswoman for the campaign.In May 1953, Sir Edmund and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest. In 1995, shortly after meeting Sir Edmund, Mrs. Clinton said that her mother, Dorothy Rodham, had long told her she was named for the famous mountaineer. It had two l s, which is how she thought she was supposed to spell Hillary, Mrs. Clinton said at the time, after meeting Sir Edmund. So when I was born, she called me Hillary, and she always told me it s because of Sir Edmund Hillary. Even though Bill Clinton repeated the story in his 2004 autobiography, My Life, Hillary Clinton did not mention it in her own autobiography, Living History, which was published in 2003.But one big hole has been poked in the story over the years, both in cyberspace and elsewhere: Sir Edmund became famous only after climbing Everest in 1953. Mrs. Clinton, as it happens, was born in 1947. Via: NYT | 1real |
null | You're our enemy yet we will play in manufacturing with you, just make sure to make parts that go bad so people have to keep buying new things, we'll tell you all and expect you to keep the secrets. Didn't work so well. | 1real |
BCRP: ¿economistas mudos ante ejercicio ilegal de la profesión?, por Julio César Alba Bravo | Páginas Libres
BCRP: ¿economistas mudos ante ejercicio ilegal de la profesión? por Julio César Alba Bravo Socios | 2 de noviembre de 2016 BCRP: ¿economistas mudos ante ejercicio ilegal de la profesión? ¡Qué pintoresco nuestro Congreso! Las prácticas del franeleo, el reino de la informalidad, el descalabro del sistema jurídico, la dictadura de la necedad. En fin, el paraíso del subdesarrollo.
Los irresponsables congresistas que llenaron el BCR de mediocridad quizá no sabían que:
1. En cuanto los señores Chlimper y Rey se sienten en una butaca del BCR, tendrán altas posibilidades de ser acusados de “Ejercicio Ilegal de la Profesión”. Expliquemos:
2. Existe un mandato constitucional (Art. 20) que prescribe la Colegiatura para ejercer determinada actividad profesional. Por su parte, el Código Penal (Art.363) castiga con severas sanciones el “Ejercicio Ilegal de la Profesión” (léase prácticas profesionales sin contar con título y/o sin colegiatura). Las penalidades se hacen extensivas a quienes nombran al ciudadano bendecido por la simpatía del poderoso.
3. Ahora bien, para acceder a la colegiatura y desempeñar determinados cargos de evidente especialidad, las leyes 15488 y 24531 señalan con claridad meridiana las condiciones obligatorias que deben satisfacer quienes se desempeñan en la conducción económica del país. Esto en añadidura a lo que especifica la Ley Orgánica del BCR, que en los casos de Chlimper y Rey ha sido groseramente violentada.
4. Los defensores de la pareja fujimorista alegan que anteriormente han desempeñado cargos similares otros funcionarios sin especialidad titulada y, por tanto, sin colegiatura profesional. Citan varios personajes que supieron acomodarse a las circunstancias, y cerraron los ojos a la informalidad que cometían con la complicidad de politicastros de turno. Aceptar estos peregrinos argumentos significaría convivir cómodamente con la más grosera ilegalidad y admitir que la costumbre genera derecho por encima de la Constitución, las leyes y demás ornamentos inútiles que exhibe nuestra inefable República.
Ignoran que la economía monetaria es una disciplina que los jóvenes aspirantes a economistas califican como “muy tranca”, como para que amateurs como Rey digan que aprenderán rápido. En el caso del otro fujimorista, conviene remarcar que un desempeño impecable en el BCR va mucho mas allá de asistir a un Directorio y firmar sin leer ni entender. Una buena performance es mucho más que un lobbysmo puro y duro.
Ante tamaños antecedentes, el que escribe, un modesto economista, voy a intentar sanar enfermos y construir edificios sin preocuparme de leyes, especialidades, colegiaturas y demás sandeces. Como en Perú la ilegalidad es entusiastamente recompensada, y la informalidad es nuestro lema, no importará qué les suceda a mis clientes y pacientes. Firmaré planos e intentaré sanar el cáncer, sacándoles la lengua a los decanos de los Colegios de Ingenieros y de Médicos.
A propósito, ¿qué hace el relajado decano de los economistas? No hace nada y su pasividad seguramente la justificará diciendo que hace más de 40 años y mil funcionarios la ley no se aplicó para nada, así que “no jodan”.
Julio César Alba Bravo Fuente
Senal de Alerta (Peru) | 1real |
WHY IS THE MEDIA HIDING This Endorsement?…KKK Klan Leader On Hillary: “She’s A Democrat, The Klan Has ALWAYS Been A Democratic Organization”[VIDEO] | It s time for the media to start doing their job. Instead of making baseless claims about Trump to fulfill their insatiable desire to label him a racist, perhaps they should be questioning Hillary about her DOCUMENTED racist history Dolly Kyle, a long-time friend of the Clinton s, wrote a scathing tell all book exposing the sickening hidden truth about Bill and Hillary Clinton. Hillary s war on just about anyone who is beneath her, or who would dare to get in the way of her ascent to the White House.Kyle claims that when the Clinton s were behind closed doors they were a very different couple than the public sees. Behind the Reverend Jesse Jackson s back, the Clinton duo called him, That G**damned n****r .When will the media do their job and report the truth about this horrible opportunist? | 1real |
Early French Presidential Polls Show Macron in Double Digit Lead | Polls released since the first round of the French presidential election show Emmanuel Macron leading migration candidate Marine Le Pen by double digits. [The poll, conducted by Elabe, was published Monday and shows Macron with a commanding lead in the second round vote with 64 per cent of the vote while Le Pen has 36 per cent. The En Marche leader beats Le Pen in most age demographics according to the poll, but some are sceptical that the race is already over as one out of five French voters have yet to express a choice, L’Express reports. One demographic that Le Pen is winning over is the working class. According to the poll, a majority of French workers, or 54 per cent, support the migration candidate. Macron, who is often seen as the candidate of globalism and France’s elite class, predictably scores 81 per cent of the vote from executives and those in academia. The strong showing for Macron comes from the left wing vote 93 per cent of those who backed Socialist party candidate Benoit Hamon and 77 per cent of those who voted for Mélenchon have thrown their support behind Macron. On the right of the political spectrum, 63 per cent of supporters of Republican François Fillon said they would vote for Macron and 37 said they would vote for Le Pen. Of all those asked about their voting intentions, close to or 17 per cent, had not decided who they would vote for. Many of these undecided voters are supporters of Fillon and Mélenchon. Le Pen’s platform, which combines some of the and policies of Fillon and some of the protectionist policies of Mélenchon, could appeal to voters — though it remains to be seen to what extent. Many experts are cautious about celebrating a Macron victory two weeks ahead of the election. U. S. broadcaster CNN has cast doubt on the accuracy of the polling, though many first round polls were mostly accurate. In her victory speech on Sunday evening, Le Pen framed the second round race as a debate on globalism and said the survival of France is at stake. Shocking many in France and abroad earlier this week, she temporarily stepped down as leader of the Front National to, in her words, “feel more free, and above partisan considerations. ” Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson@breitbart. com | 0fake |
Anonymous: World War 3 Is On The Horizon (In 2016) | It has been said a number of times over the past year, that WWIII could be on the horizon. Recent events and statements between Russia and the United States have people believing it’s closer than ever. But is this really the case? Should we be worried?
Since almost everything real and important taking place is kept from the masses while we are distracted by mainstream media and pop culture, it’s tough to say what is really going on. But if we begin to look at the various things going on in the world, we can piece together some interesting things.
In this case, anonymous is hinting that WWIII is inching closer. Some people even believe it has already begun. But you know what? I’m not sure we need to move into fear. First check out the video, then read on.
Not All Bad News Right off the bat many start worrying about nuclear bombs, and that’s fair. But there is also an interesting fact to consider: UFOs have been shooting down nuclear threats over the last few decades.
Dozens of foreign governments have released thousands of pages of UFO related documents –here is an example of the latest batch released from the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense in June 2013. Other country’s governments who have done the same include Mexico, France, Argentina, Russia and Belgium, just to name a few.
The fact that governments have released and documented information that detail UFO encounters with the military, as well as supposed extraterrestrial encounters with people, tells us that they’ve had and do have a high level of interest when it comes to the topic of UFOs and extraterrestrials. Had this information remained classified, nobody would officially be able to say that governments have allocated resources to investigate this phenomenon, and it would have remained in the “conspiracy” realm. At the same time, it’s important to remember that this issue goes far beyond and well above government control.
“It is ironic that the U.S. should be fighting monstrously expensive wars allegedly to bring democracy to those countries, when it itself can no longer claim to be called a democracy when trillions, and I mean thousands of billions of dollars have been spent on projects which both congress and the commander in chief know nothing about.” – Paul Hellyer, Former Canadian Defense Minister (source)
“Everything is in a process of investigation both in the United States and in Spain, as well as the rest of the world. The nations of the world are currently working together in the investigation of the UFO phenomenon. There is an international exchange of data.” – General Carlos Castro Cavero (1979). From “UFOs and the National Security State, Volume 2″, Written by Richard Dolan
“Behind the scenes, high ranking Air Force officers are soberly concerned about UFOs. But through official secrecy and ridicule, many citizens are led to believe the unknown flying objects are nonsense.” Former head of CIA, Roscoe Hillenkoetter, 1960 (source)
Just last year at the Citizens Hearing on Disclosure , a United States congresswoman voiced her opinion that the US government should disclose this existence, pointing to the fact that a number of foreign governments have already done so -you can read more about that story here.
War is something none of us want I’m sure we could agree on, and just because UFO’s may be shooting down nukes doesn’t mean we are OK with war. But what can we do when it comes to such large worldly events? There must be something… Consciousness!
What you focus on, what your thoughts are each day, how you feel and how you treat one another is important. It has a huge impact on what plays out in our world. This has been proven numerous times when studies examine the impact of people meditating or focusing on something specific. Collective consciousness is real and it can be impacted.
Here is an example of meditation helping in war zones.
You are not small, you can impact millions, we can impact billions because we are all connected. Focus on the world you want and share that with others.
As for physical action, again what you choose to do to be in alignment with your purpose is powerful. But we can also continue to raise awareness about what is going on in our world and make decisions and choices that opt out of the things we no longer want to see and support.
Meditation, intention, being a good person, aligning with your soul purpose, being of service to others and doing things like voting with your dollar is no passive, it is powerful when you understand how our reality works.
Transcript of video:
Greetings World, We are Anonymous.
For the last two months, we have been consistently reporting on a possible global conflict, World War 3 between the United States and its allies in the West, and Russia and its allies in the East.
The dispute on the South China Sea has severely damaged the United States relations with the Peoples Republic of China. After the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China’s nine-dash-line claim in the South China Sea, and its land reclamation activities on islets are invalid and unlawful, the United States has been preparing to sail in the area under a so-called Freedom of Navigation principle.
This has angered the Chinese. In August, the Chinese Defense Minister, Chang Wanquan told his country’s citizens to prepare for, what he described as the peoples war at sea. Mr Wanquan was referring directly to the United States planned provocation under the pretext of Freedom of Navigation. China has since vowed to take all necessary measures available to protect its sovereignty over the South China Sea, revealing that it had the right to set up an air defense zone on the sea.
China has also since been positioning and testing its nuclear weapons, and planning military drills on its waters with Russia. Even the United States has confirmed that China has tested an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile, which is capable of striking everywhere in the world within half an hour.
Moving away from the South China Sea, we arrive in Syria. It is an open secret that the civil war in Syria is a proxy war between the United States and Russia. Russia has even intervened physically on the request of the Syrian government. The United States, unable to get any invitation, has been openly and secretly arming many rebel groups in the country, with open plans to overthrow the Syrian government.
Of course, since Russia honored the invitation of the Syrian government last year, the war has been turning in favor of the Syrian government, which was falling before Russia’s intervention.
As we speak now, tension is mounting between the United States and Russia. Nerves are at their highest since the Cold War era. The United States, at the moment, is sitting on tenterhooks. Many officials in the president Obama administration are frustrated and confused regarding the situation in Syria.
The United States has announced that it has ended all contacts with Russia in Syria. This announcement by the United States comes as Russia, beginning on September. 22nd, intensified its military operations in Syria, with the intentions to capture the city of Aleppo for the Syrian government. Diplomatic efforts to put an end to the fighting in Syria, have collapsed.
As the Aleppo operation continues, Russia has given the United States a stern warning not to take any action against the Syrian government forces. In fact, there are many Russian jet fighters stationed in Syria, ready to shoot down any United States jet fighter that attempts to strike on the Syrian government forces.
These developments from Moscow are not going down easily with the United States. The United States Secretary of State, John Kerry, is said to have urged president Obama to intervene and face the consequences from Russia. He is said to have even favored a nuclear deterrent against Russia.
However, it appears that before Kerry could even make this suggestion to president Obama, the Russians had already gathered intelligence on the happenings within the White House. According to Zvezda, a Russian defense ministry Television channel, the country has started preparing its citizens for a possible nuclear war with the United States – because of the mounting tensions in Syria. Russia has since moved to deploy nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in its western-most region, Kaliningrad, which borders on NATO members of Poland and Lithuania.
Due to how the situation has become, some top officials at the United States defense headquarters have finally spoken. These Pentagon officials have admitted that World War 3 is imminent, and that its going to be deadly and fast. The military generals were speaking on a future-of-the-army panel in Washington.
“A conventional conflict in the near future will be extremely lethal and fast, and we will not own the stopwatch,” Major General William Hix said.
General Hix also stated that China and Russia’s armies are becoming increasingly technological, and that the Pentagon was getting ready for violence on the scale that the United States Army has not seen since Korea.
His comments were also echoed by lieutenant Gen Joseph Anderson and Chief of Staff, Gen Mark A. Milley, who described war between nation states as almost guaranteed.
The generals also said apart from the conventional battle, cyber battle, too, has become a reality against the United States, revealing that even smaller nations are launching it against the country.
We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us.
| 1real |
News: Democracy Win: Volunteers Across The Country Are Oiling Up The Sidewalks To Help Voters Slide Uncontrollably To Their Polling Place | Email
Despite the fact that voting is the cornerstone of our democracy, only 60 percent of eligible voters turn out in a presidential election. But this year we may see that number spike, because groups of incredible volunteers are doing everything they can to get out the vote: They’re hitting the road and oiling up the sidewalks to help voters slide uncontrollably to their polling places.
Democracy FTW!
You might not know their names, but these hardworking men and women are out there in the trenches from Maine to California, slathering thick, black oil on the ground so every American can skid down the road, windmilling their arms wildly to try and stay upright, and careen straight through the doors of a voting booth. Republican or Democrat, these patriotic volunteers want every American to have access to a frictionless slick of oil that leads right to a polling place.
Yes! These incredible volunteers are absolutely killing it!
Rather than letting our election be decided by a select few, people from across the nation are volunteering their time to make sidewalks well-lubricated and slippery for as many voters as possible. As of this morning, footpaths have been oiled in all 50 states, giving people who would not otherwise have the time or desire to vote the opportunity to lose their balance and slide forward at alarming speeds with their arms flailing and legs kicking, until they crash face-first into a registered polling location.
We might live in a democracy, but we wouldn’t have a truly representative election without the help of a select few everyday heroes. So when the polling stations close and every last slippery, oil-covered voter has put their ballot in the box and slid back out the door, remember those brave volunteers, because we couldn’t do it without them. | 1real |
After ditching Taiwan, China says Panama will get the help it needs | BEIJING (Reuters) - China will provide Panama with whatever help it needs after the Central American country ditched long-standing ties with self-ruled Taiwan in June, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Friday after talks between the two countries presidents. Panama s decision to end ties with Taiwan was a major victory for Beijing, as it lures away the dwindling number of countries that have formal relations with the island China claims as its own. Taiwan s government said at the time it was sorry and angry over the decision, and it would not compete with China in what it described as a diplomatic money game . Speaking to reporters after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela signed 19 deals, including a feasibility study on a free trade agreement, Zhao Bentang, who heads the Chinese foreign ministry s Latin America department, said their ties were not based on money. China and Panama establishing ties is a political decision made by both sides on the basis of political principles and looking at long term benefits. There were no economic or financial strings attached, Zhao said. If our Panamanian friends need, in the spirit of friendship and South-South cooperation the Chinese side is willing to assist Panama s economic and social development to the best of our capacity. China and Taiwan have tried to poach each other s allies for years, often dangling generous aid packages in front of developing nations, though Taipei now struggles to compete with an increasingly powerful Beijing. Beijing says Taiwan has no right to diplomatic recognition because it is part of China. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan at the end of China s civil war in 1949. Varela told Chinese state television in September the decision to switch recognition to China had nothing to do with chequebook diplomacy . Xi said Varela had shown strategic vision and political courage in recognizing China and that China wanted to draw up a fine blueprint for the development of relations. This sends an important message to the world, which is that a brand new page has been opened in China-Panama relations, Xi told Varela in Beijing s Great Hall of the People. The development of ties has been delayed for many years, but that history has passed, Xi added. Last month, a group including China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) began building a $165 million port in Panama for cruise ships, the first project announced between China and Panama since they established diplomatic ties. China is deeply suspicious of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, who it thinks wants to push for the island s formal independence, although she says she wants to maintain peace with Beijing. | 0fake |
Exclusive: Trump administration reduces support for prisoner halfway houses | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The administration of President Donald Trump has been quietly cutting support for halfway houses for federal prisoners, severing contracts with as many as 16 facilities in recent months, prompting concern that some inmates are being forced to stay behind bars longer than necessary. The Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Justin Long confirmed the cuts in response to an email inquiry from Reuters, and said they only affect areas with small populations or underutilized centers. “The Bureau remains firmly committed to these practices, but has had to make some modifications to our programs due to our fiscal environment,” Long said. Halfway houses have been a part of the justice system since the 1960s, with thousands of people moving through them each year. For-profit prison companies such as Geo Group Inc have moved into the halfway house market, though many houses are run directly by government agencies or non-profit organizations. A Geo spokeswoman declined to comment for this article. The bureau, which falls under the U.S. Department of Justice, last year had about 180 competitive contracts with “residential reentry centers” run by non-profit and for-profit companies, such as Geo. The International Community Corrections Association says on its website there were about 249 separate halfway houses in communities nationwide that are covered by the 180 contracts. Federal judges who spoke to Reuters said the cuts are having an impact in their districts, particularly in states with fewer facilities or larger geographic areas where the nearest center might be several hundred miles away. Judge Edmund Sargus of the Southern District of Ohio said it was a real “stumper” when in July the government ended its contract with the Alvis facility serving the Dayton area. Long said that the cuts have not reduced referral rates or placements, and only impact “about 1% of the total number of beds under contract.” However, the changes coincide with other major criminal justice policy shifts by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who has pushed for more aggressive prosecutions of drug offenses and a crackdown on illegal immigrants who commit crimes. In May, Sessions ordered prosecutors to charge defendants with the highest provable offense, a move that is likely to trigger lengthy prison sentences. In 2016, of the 43,000 inmates released from federal prison, 79 percent were released into a halfway house or home confinement, according to the trade association. “We need to improve re-entry services ... This move flies in the face of that consensus,” said Kevin Ring, whose non-profit Families Against Mandatory Minimums has recently launched a Twitter campaign to raise awareness of the problem. Sessions is scheduled to testify next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Ring said he hopes lawmakers will ask Sessions about the changes underway for halfway houses. “Is cutting re-entry opportunities really going to make us safer? Congress needs to ask the Justice Department if this is part of their strategy,” he said. For Kymjetta Carr, the cuts have had a personal impact. The 30-year-old from Cincinnati said she had expected her fiance Anthony Lamar to get out of prison and go to a halfway house in November, after serving seven years on a drug charge. But she now has to tell their 10-year-old son his father won’t be out for Christmas or his birthday because Lamar’s release to a halfway house will not come until late July. “It seems like the rug has been pulled out from under us,” she said, in an interview arranged through Families Against Mandatory Minimums, a nonprofit advocacy group. Halfway houses are low-security residences for thousands of convicted prisoners serving alternative sentences or on release from prison into partial freedom programs on the outside. The facilities are meant to help prisoners reenter their communities, find a job and get their lives back on track. A study commissioned last year by the Justice Department found that centers have come under greater strain in recent years, as more people have been released from prison. Blair Campmier, executive director of Reality House in Columbia, Missouri, said he was notified in early June that the center’s eight-year-old contract would be terminated. Some of his clients were sent to halfway houses in Kansas City and Springfield, more than two hours away. “They were not happy, and their families were not happy,” said Campmier. Ricardo Martinez, the Chief U.S. District Judge in the Western District of Washington and Chairman of the Committee on Criminal Law of the Judicial Conference of the United States, told Reuters he has sent a letter to the Bureau of Prisons’ new Director Mark Inch requesting discussions. “From our perspective, these facilities are not only useful - they are essential,” Martinez said. | 0fake |
BOOM! WATCH TED CRUZ School Pro-Gun Control Liberal On The 2nd Amendment | Just another reason conservatives love Ted Cruz .Share this with everyone | 1real |
5 Things You Should Know About George Pataki | 5 Things You Should Know About George Pataki
This post has been updated to reflect that Pataki is officially running.
George Pataki announced his presidential candidacy in Exeter, N.H., on Thursday. He's the eighth official Republican entrant in the 2016 race for the White House. The field is expected to double over the next couple of months. Pataki has made numerous visits and a few friends in recent months in the Granite State, home of the first primary in 2016. Still, the mention of his name in most of the country might prompt questions of, "Who?" and possibly, "Why?"
That is remarkable, considering that Pataki served three four-year terms as governor of New York, which at the time of his election was still the second-most populous state in the nation. And while he has been out of office since 2007, he is the last Republican to win a major statewide election in New York in more than 20 years.
Pataki may have had more momentum had he entered the presidential sweepstakes of 2008, when he had just completed a dozen years as governor and was better known. But the 2008 field also included Rudolph Giuliani, whose time as mayor of New York City had largely coincided with Pataki's tenure in Albany. At the time, Giuliani was regarded as formidable, perhaps even the front-runner. And though he ultimately won no primaries, he consigned Pataki to second place in the hearts of New York funders and in the lenses of the New York-based media.
This time around, Pataki hopes to break out of the pack in New Hampshire, where his political action committee has already been running ads. This is a purple state, where Republicans may value his record as a fiscal conservative and accept his relatively liberal positions on abortion, gun control and environmental protection. These latter views will not be espoused by Pataki's rivals in the GOP primaries, but he is counting on finding a market for them among GOP primary voters.
He's a long shot, but here are five things to know about George Pataki:
1. He defeated the liberal icon Mario Cuomo to win the governorship in 1994.
It was a big midterm sweep for the GOP that fall, with the House going Republican for the first time in 40 years and bringing the Senate along on the tide. But just as stunning were the outcomes in the states, where many incumbent Democratic governors went down. Pataki bagged the biggest prize that day, shocking the political world by defeating three-term incumbent Mario Cuomo, the man who had symbolized liberal resistance to Ronald Reagan's conservatism. Pataki piled up 2-1 margins in the Upstate counties and won enough in New York City's outer boroughs and suburbs to prevail by 4 percentage points. Cuomo, once a leading Democratic prospect for president, never ran for office again, although his son, Andrew, was elected governor in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
2. He was governor during the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The nation's shock and anger over the destruction of the World Trade Center's twin towers by al-Qaida terrorists afforded many moments of political opportunity, but most of these benefited President George W. Bush and Mayor Giuliani. Pataki was on the scene and involved in much of the difficult aftermath. But he never cut the sort of media figure his fellow Republicans did, and neither did he receive the same boost in national renown.
3. His background combines mainly elements of New York's historic and political mix.
Pataki's father was a Hungarian immigrant and his mother a mix of Italian and Irish stock, a combination typical in New York City's always changing demographics. But the Patakis settled in Peekskill, an hour north of the megalopolis of New York City up the Hudson River. There, they started as farmers, and it gave the young Pataki a touch of Upstate in his upbringing. A promising student, the young Pataki went to Yale, then Columbia Law School. After a stint on Wall Street, he went back up the Hudson Valley to practice law in the suburbs and then to run for office.
4. He has never lost an election for public office.
In his late 30s, Pataki ran for mayor of Peekskill on a reform platform and won. Two years later, in 1984, he took on an incumbent Democratic state legislator and won. (It was the last presidential year in which New York went Republican.) In 1992, he challenged an incumbent state senator in the Republican primary and won. Then he made the huge leap from first-termer in the state Senate to GOP nominee for governor, and then, despite Giuliani endorsing his opponent and despite the third-party presence of a conservative businessman, Pataki ousted Cuomo in 1994. He was re-elected in 1998 and 2002 and has not run since.
5. He's the oldest of the presidential prospects on the Republican side and the only one of the major contenders who is older than Hillary Clinton. If elected, he would be the oldest person to take the oath as president.
The former governor of New York was born in June of 1945, so he will be 71 on Election Day 2016. It is rare for American politicians to make a first bid for the presidency in their 70s (although Independent Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders is four years Pataki's senior and prospective candidate Jim Webb is 69). Ronald Reagan was the oldest president to assume office, two weeks shy of his 70th birthday. The rest of the 2016 White House field is younger, although some are in their 60s. Hillary Clinton was born in October 1947, so she would still be 69 on Election Day 2016. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry would be 66, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson 65, Ohio Gov. John Kasich 64, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush 63, former CEO Carly Fiorina 62, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Sen. Lindsey Graham would be 61. | 0fake |
GREAT NEWS! Thanks To New York’s Socialist Mayor And Leftist City Council…You Can Now Pee In The Streets! | The social rot continues in a city that was miraculously cleaned up on Mayor Giuliani s watch. All of the hard work Rudy did to fight crime and make tourists as well as residents feel safe again will all be undone by one Socialist mayor Scofflaws of New York, rejoice the City Council has cleared the way for you to litter, loiter and pee in the street to your heart s content.Watch here:New legislation dubbed the Criminal Justice Reform Act was passed by lawmakers Wednesday, giving miscreants a get-out-of-jail-free card by eliminating the criminal penalties on a raft of quality-of-life crimes.The disgusting and disturbing acts that the council voted to decriminalize include drinking alcohol out of a paper bag, lurking in parks after hours, urinating in the street and making enough of a racket to violate the noise code.Under the legislation, which Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to sign, offenders will face only civil summonses instead of criminal citations.The main part of the reform act sponsored by Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito deals with reducing the penalty for public urination and other quality-of-life offenses. It passed by a 40-9 vote in the liberal-leaning council.It aims to keep offenders from getting a permanent criminal record and requires the NYPD to develop guidance for cops on when to issue criminal instead of civil summonses. | 1real |
Poland's new PM voices backing for nuclear, green energy in future | WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland will remain reliant on coal for power generation for now but in future should consider turning to nuclear energy and renewable sources, the new prime minister said on Tuesday in his first policy speech. Mateusz Morawiecki, a Western-educated former banker fluent in German and English, was sworn in on Monday, replacing Beata Szydlo, a coalminer s daughter, who had promised to keep mining jobs when the industry struggled to survive in 2015. Morawiecki s did not signal a major departure for now from the pro-coal policies of his ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), but his comments did suggest the government could give a push to a much-delayed plan to build Poland s first nuclear power plant. Today coal is the basis of our energy industry and we cannot and do not want to give it up, Morawiecki said. For our future generations, I would also like alternative energy sources to develop freely in Poland. Our task is to guarantee Poland the energy independence at low carbon emissions and this is why we look favorably at nuclear energy, he said. He also said the nation should consider renewable power sources. A project to build a nuclear power plant was announced in 2009, but has been hit by several delays, with financing posing one of the main obstacles. Energy Minister Krzysztof Tchorzewski has been pushing to build the nuclear plant but needs cabinet approval for a renewed push. Morawiecki may have given those plans a boost. PiS has long championed Poland s use of coal, a fuel that is falling out of favor in a global push to cut greenhouse gases. But global pressures to shift away from coal and Poland s shrinking deposits are encouraging the country to consider its future plans for power generation, analysts say. | 0fake |
TED CRUZ: Vilification of Law Enforcement Coming From Top…All The Way To President Of United States | Ferguson was the a launching pad for Obama s war against law enforcement Following the shooting of a sheriff in Houston, Texas by a black man as well as chants from Black Lives Matter protesters advocating violence against police, GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) issued a statement saying he is proud to stand with law enforcement.While campaigning in New Hampshire, Cruz addressed the attacks. both physical and verbal, which have been made against police officers across America.Cruz is calling for leadership to act against this assault on all law enforcement officers, in light of the killing of Harris Country deputy sheriff Darren Goforth, which took place in Cruz s hometown. We stand with our police officers, we stand with our fire fighters, with our EMS, with our first responders, Cruz s statement began. These are brave humans who risk their lives keeping us safe. We are seeing a manifestation of the rhetoric and vilification of law enforcement that is coming form the top all the way to the President of the United States and senior administration officials. Cruz continued:Cops across this country are feeling the assault. They re feeling the assault from the President, from the top on down as we see, whether it s in Ferguson or Baltimore, the response of senior officials of the President, of the Attorney General, is to vilify law enforcement. That is fundamentally wrong, and it is endangering the safety and security of us all.I m proud to stand with law enforcement, to stand with the police and fire fighters and first responders. They are American heroes. And they need a President who doesn t attack and vilify them and who doesn t seek to tear us apart along racial lines to inflame racial divisions. Instead we need a President who works to bring us together and unify us behind shared American values. Via: Breitbart News | 1real |
FLORIDA GOVERNOR GOES OFF ON OBAMA: “The Second Amendment Didn’t Kill Any Of These Individuals…Radical Islam Killed Them” [VIDEO] | Florida Governor Rick Scott is not holding anything back. He is angry that Obama has made the Second Amendment the enemy while ignoring ISIS. We need a President who says my number one job right now is, on top of turning the economy around is to destroy ISIS. | 1real |
Russia probe should focus on Trump financial ties: senator | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate investigation into Russia’s meddling during the U.S. election should include a thorough review of any financial ties between Russia and President Donald Trump and his associates, Democratic senator Ron Wyden said Wednesday. In a formal written request made to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, Wyden said financial relationships between Trump, a real estate developer with properties around the world, and Russia are deserving of scrutiny because of resistance by Trump and some in his orbit have not been forthcoming about their finances. “Efforts to understand these relationships and to separate fact from speculation have been hampered by the opacity of the finances of President Trump and his associates,” Wyden, who also sits on the intelligence panel, wrote to Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Mark Warner. The letter, though devoid of new details, is the latest piece of evidence suggesting Trump’s business dealings are attracting expanded interest from investigators amid a raft of new reports scrutinizing potential financial entanglements between the president and Russia. Trump has declined to release his tax returns, bucking decades of precedent for presidents and presidential candidates. The letter followed new disclosures in recent weeks of previously unknown meetings and financial arrangements between Trump’s associates and wealthy Russians, and came as Democrats attempt to focus public attention on questions about Trump’s connections to Russia. On Monday, the state development bank Vnesheconombank disclosed that its executives had met Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a top White House adviser, in December. And last week Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, admitted he had done business work for Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska. Trump has repeatedly insisted allegations that he or members of his administration have an untoward relationship with Russia as “fake news.” He has also said that he has no business deals in Russia. A Reuters investigation published earlier this month found that dozens of members of the Russian elite have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida, according to public documents, interviews and corporate records. Wyden has repeatedly tried to push into public light more information about U.S. investigations into Russia’s role in the 2016 election. He organized a two-sentence letter from seven senators to the White House last November asking the outgoing Obama administration to declassify additional information about Russia’s interference in the election. Then-president Barack Obama announced a review of Russia’s activities soon after. U.S. intelligence agencies later released a review of its assessment of Russia’s multi-pronged influence campaign, concluding Moscow’s actions were intended to help Trump win and discredit his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton. Russia has denied the allegations. Wyden in January also asked Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey if his agency was investigating links between Russia and associates of Trump. Comey declined to answer, but last week confirmed the FBI was probing possible ties. Examining finances has long been within the purview of the oversight role of the intelligence panel, Wyden wrote, citing a recent committee report said that “financial intelligence has emerged as a significant area of (intelligence community) activity, aiming to ‘follow the money’ of adversaries.” | 0fake |
Rejecting TPP Deal Would Hinder US to Advance Objectives in Asia Pacific | Get short URL 0 16 0 0 Rejecting the Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement would be a gigantic self-inflicted wound for the United States as it would slow growth and prevent fully advancing US interests in the Asia Pacific region, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Kerry called on the US Congress to approve the TPP agreement and said rejection of the agreement would be a conscious turning of our backs on the Asia Pacific at the very moment the United States ought to be linking arms. © AFP 2016/ NICHOLAS KAMM Obama to Advocate TPP Deal in Peru Summit of Asia-Pacific Leaders "[It would be an] act that would hurt American workers, slow the economy, hinder our ability to advance the full range of US objectives in a region that is by common sense with five of the fastest growing nations in the world," Kerry at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in the state of Illinois on Wednesday. © Flickr/ Backbone Campaign China Developing Two Free Trade Deals for Asia-Pacific as US-Backed TPP Losing Momentum The TPP would link the US with the economies of 11 other Pacific Rim nations in a trade zone with lower tariffs and fewer import restrictions. Critics of the TPP agreement claim it undermines domestic companies, laws, regulations and institutions through an extra-judicial process that stacks the deck in favor of multinational corporations.
Kerry explained one of the main benefits of the TPP deal lies in mandating a level playing field between private sector and state-owned companies in addition to abolishing 18,000 foreign taxes on American goods and services.
To maintain a growing economy, Kerry added, the United States has be able to sell its goods to places where 95 percent of the world’s customers live.
"If we’re going to live up to our responsibilities in Asia… if we’re going to do what’s necessary to protect our interests, we have to maintain a steady and reliable presence in that region," Kerry maintained. ... | 1real |
BOOM! REPUBLICAN Wins Montana Election After “Body-Slamming” Reporter: ‘I’m sick and tired of this!’ | This is just too rich! The Democrats threw tons of money into this race and then the Republican candidate body-slammed an obnoxious reporter. It seemed like the Dems really couldn t lose this one. Bernie s socialist candidate would win in Montana. The Democrats were sure they could run leftists and win in red states NOT SO FAST!Republican businessman Greg Gianforte won Montana s sole House district in a special election Thursday, keeping a seat in Republican hands despite facing assault charges for allegedly attacking a reporter who d asked him about the GOP s health-care bill:The best ever quote from the body-slamming incident is when Gianforte spoke for all Americans: I m sick and tired of this! After he won he commented on the incident in his victory speech I shouldn t have treated that reporter that way, he told supporters at his rally here.Please check out Gianforte s twitter page! It s full of great photos of things he s done. He makes his own sausage and even gave his wife a sausage maker for Christmas. He posts photos of his wild game dinners that look amazing. This guy is a blast! | 1real |
China Suggests It Has Placed Weapons on Disputed Spratly Islands in South China Sea - The New York Times | BEIJING — China signaled on Thursday that it had installed weapons on disputed South China Sea islands and would use them like a “slingshot” to repel threats, compounding tensions with the incoming Trump administration. The Chinese message, in a Defense Ministry statement, suggested that China was further watering down a pledge made by its president, Xi Jinping, to not militarize the islands. The comments left little doubt that such installations were part of China’s plan to deepen its territorial claim over the islands, which has raised tensions with its neighbors over their rival claims and with Washington over freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, one of the world’s busiest commercial waterways. They were also likely to further complicate China’s already testy relations with Donald J. Trump. China’s rapid creation of artificial islands in the South China Sea, expanding former reefs and outcrops into guarded permanent outposts, has already become a major source of tension with Washington. Repeatedly this year, the Chinese have accused the United States of making “provocative” moves by sending warships near some of these islands, known as the Spratlys. The Chinese have been creating harbors, runways and reinforced hangars big enough for military aircraft on the islands. But new satellite images made public this week appeared to reveal weapons emplacements for the first time. The Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, which released the images through its Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, said they showed “large antiaircraft guns and probable weapons systems,” which can theoretically thwart cruise missile attacks. The Defense Ministry statement, posted on its website in response to the images, did not specify what kinds of weapons the images showed but said any military hardware on the islands was reasonable. It repeated China’s contention that its construction on the islands is mainly for civilian purposes. “As for necessary military facilities, they are primarily for defense and and this is proper and legitimate,” the Defense Ministry said. “For instance, if someone was at the door of your home, cocky and swaggering, how could it be that you wouldn’t prepare a slingshot?” There was no immediate comment from Mr. Trump or his transition team. Mr. Trump recently angered Chinese officials by holding a phone conversation with Tsai the president of Taiwan, an island that Beijing deems a breakaway province of China. It had been nearly four decades since a United States president or had such direct contact with a Taiwanese leader. In an interview broadcast on Sunday, Mr. Trump also criticized China over its trade imbalance with America, its military activities in the South China Sea and its ties to North Korea. China was “building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn’t be doing,” he said in the interview on Fox News. During his campaign, Mr. Trump dwelled on accusations that China had systematically sapped American industrial might, and he has indicated that trade issues will be a priority in dealings with Beijing. But the latest disclosures suggest how seemingly remote islands in the South China Sea could become a source of serious tensions, even military strife. The Spratlys, which China calls the Nansha Islands, are the subject of an especially volatile mix of competing claims. Parts of the archipelago are also claimed by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. And the possibility of undersea oil and gas deposits has exacerbated the rivalries. President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines has moved in recent months to ease tensions with China, and to distance his country from Washington. Even so, the Philippines keeps defense treaties with the United States. But China, with the world’s economy and a swelling military budget, has established an intimidating dominance across much of the South China Sea. And the latest satellite images appeared to confirm its deepening military grip on the Spratlys. The steps “show that Beijing is serious about defense of its artificial islands in case of an armed contingency in the South China Sea,” the Asia Maritime Defense Initiative said in its report about the images. “Among other things, they would be the last line of defense against cruise missiles launched by the United States or others” against air bases that may soon go into operation on the islands, it said. The images showed that the facilities were in place before Mr. Trump’s comments. The Obama administration sought to play down both the images and the Chinese Defense Ministry’s response. “We watch Chinese naval developments very carefully, and we urge all parties in the South China Sea to avoid actions that raise tensions,” said Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The images elicited a far more contentious response from hawkish Republicans, who do not necessarily share Mr. Trump’s views on China trade policy but see Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea as an aggressive challenge to the United States. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the images confirmed “what has long been evident: China is militarizing the South China Sea, its leaders continue to lie about that fact, and Beijing is paying little to no price for its behavior. ” Some American military officials suggested privately that the antiaircraft emplacements were purely defensive in nature, with a limited range, useful only if the outposts were under attack. Of greater concern, they said, was the possibility that China could one day install more advanced antiaircraft missile systems on the islands, which can fire at targets hundreds of miles away. Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. head of the United States Pacific Command, said on Wednesday that America would not abandon its military presence across the region. He indicated that American naval ships would continue passing through the South China Sea to show that the United States “will not allow the shared domains to be closed down unilaterally, no matter how many bases are built on artificial features in the South China Sea. ” The Chinese government has said it respects freedom of civilian passage in the South China Sea but also called American naval “freedom of navigation operations” dangerous meddling. The Chinese navy has not tried to block the operations. The latest images raised new doubts about the intent of comments made by China’s president, Mr. Xi, after he met President Obama in the White House in September last year. With Mr. Obama at his side, Mr. Xi told reporters that “China does not intend to pursue militarization” of the islands. Previous satellite pictures of the islands, released by the Asia Maritime Defense Initiative in August, already indicated that China was building military facilities there. Those images appeared to show reinforced aircraft hangars at the Fiery Cross, Subi and Mischief Reefs, all part of the disputed parts of the archipelago. A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Thursday that his government had been entitled to take such steps and said they did not count as “militarization. ” The spokesman, Geng Shuang, said he could not confirm the precise findings from the latest satellite images but disputed they indicated any change on China’s part. “If China constructing normal facilities on its own islands and deploying necessary territorial defense facilities counts as ‘militarization,’” he said, “then what about sending fleets through the South China Sea?” | 0fake |
Ohio delegation blasts Mount McKinley name change | WASHINGTON — When it comes to getting around Congress, President Obama may not be able to move mountains — but he can rename them.
The Obama administration's decision to rename North America's tallest peak to its original native name of Denali is drawing protests from Republican lawmakers in Ohio.
That's because the mountain's previous namesake, President William McKinley, was also a Republican from Ohio.
"This decision by the administration is yet another example of the President going around Congress," Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said, noting that Congress had been debating the name for years.
Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, went even further, calling it another example of Obama's "constitutional overreach."
"President Obama has decided to ignore an act of Congress in unilaterally renaming Mount McKinley in order to promote his job-killing war on energy," Gibbs said in a tweeted statement Sunday. "This political stunt is insulting to all Ohioans."
Obama timed the announcement to coincide with a three-day trip to Alaska to highlight the problem of climate change in the Arctic. But the dispute over the name goes back decades.
The 20,237-foot mountain was originally known as Denali, which means "the great one" in the Athabascan language of the original Alaskans. But that began to change when European-American prospectors and explorers arrived. A Seattle man, William Dickey,rediscovered the mountain in 1896 while prospecting for gold.
"We named our great peak Mount McKinley, after William McKinley of Ohio, who had been nominated for the presidency,and that fact was the first news we received on our way out of that wonderful wilderness," he wrote in a dispatch to the New York Sun.
McKinley was not yet president then, and the naming may have been a political stunt in itself: McKinley, in running against the populist Democrat William Jennings Bryan, favored the gold standard to back U.S. dollars.
That name was formalized in 1917 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act, which required the park to be "dedicated and set apart as a public park for the benefit and enjoyment of the people under the name of the Mount McKinley National Park."
But another law passed in 1947 gives the Secretary of the Interior and the Board on Geographic Names the power to "provide for uniformity in geographic nomenclature and orthography throughout the federal government."
The Alaska government first petitioned the Interior Department to change the name to Denali in 1975. But because the Board on Geographic Names deferred to Congress if a name was under consideration by lawmakers, the Ohio delegation was able to prevent a name change for four decades simply by introducing bills to keep the McKinley name — even if those bills never passed.
Friday, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said that impasse had gone on long enough. In her order issued Friday, she noted that McKinley never stepped foot in Alaska.
Still, House Speaker John Boehner, who hails from the opposite corner of Ohio, said he was "disappointed" in the decision.
"There is a reason President McKinley’s name has served atop the highest peak in North America for more than 100 years, and that is because it is a testament to his great legacy," Boehner said in a statement.
He recited McKinley's record, which included service in the Union Army in the Civil War, elections to the House of Representatives and to the Ohio governorship. "And he led this nation to prosperity and victory in the Spanish-American War as the 25th President of the United States," Boehner said.
It's unclear what the Ohioans can do about the decision. Gibbs said he would would work to overturn the decision legislatively; Portman said he would ask the National Park Service to find a way to "preserve McKinley's legacy somewhere else in the national park that once bore his name."
The issue is not strictly a partisan one. Ohio Democrats, too, have introduced bills over the years to retain the McKinley name.
And Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska — while critical of Obama on energy policy — praised the decision to rename the mountain. “For centuries, Alaskans have known this majestic mountain as the ‘great one,’" she said in a statement Sunday. "I’d like to thank the President for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honor, respect, and gratitude to the Athabascan people of Alaska." | 0fake |
FIRST LADY MELANIA TRUMP Just Set Alec Baldwin Straight On His Lie About Her | MELANIA TRUMP never hesitates to call someone on the carpet for lying about her Alec Baldwin knows now that he can t mess with the First Lady!A spokesperson for the first lady fired back at the actor after he claimed that she loves my impersonation of President Donald Trump. That is not true, which is why Mr. Baldwin has no actual names to go with his bizarre assertion, the spokeswoman told The Hill on Monday.The Saturday Night Live star had made the remarks on WYNC s The Brian Lehrer Show Monday.The 59 year-old actor claimed the first lady told this person, very high up in the White House brass there, that, That s exactly what he s like. Baldwin has been doing his impersonation of Trump for well over a year now on NBC s late-night sketch comedy show and won an Emmy Award in September for his portrayal of Trump.The president is not a fan, however, tweeting last year that the impression just can t get any worse and calling the show unwatchable. in a tweet from December of last year:Just tried watching Saturday Night Live unwatchable! Totally biased, not funny and the Baldwin impersonation just can't get any worse. Sad Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 4, 2016THE BIG LIE FROM BALDWIN: Apparently, Trump is horrified and beside himself that his wife actually thinks it s funny, Baldwin claimed Monday.The 30 Rock star was promoting his new book, You Can t Spell America Without Me: The Really Tremendous Inside Story of my Fantastic First Year as President Donald J. Trump. (A So-Called Parody). READ MORE: BPR | 1real |
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: MULTIPLE ATTACKS Against Olympic Tourists By Brazen Thugs In Broad Daylight In RIO DI JANEIRO | No wonder the stands are mostly empty at the Olympic events in the violent city of Rio Di Janeiro.As Rio de Janeiro rings in its tenure as host city to the Summer Olympics with street violence, deadly pollution, jihadist threats, incomplete facilities, and a plague, many around the world are wondering: who thought the embattled Brazilian city would be a good host for anything of this magnitude?The Summer Olympics is the second major global sporting event Brazil clinched hosting duties for under the rule of the socialist Workers Party (PT) and its founder, President Luiz In cio Lula da Silva two years after its surprisingly uneventful run as hosts of the FIFA World Cup. Brazil winning World Cup hosting duties made sense; it was the only candidate. The Olympic bid, however, was a competitive one, with highly developed cities like Madrid and Chicago making the case that they were safer, better-prepared venues for such an event.Hey Hillary supporters here is a preview of what socialism really looks like:https://youtu.be/BFDHd3UCyaUAt the time of Rio s winning Olympic bid, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said of Brazil, There was absolutely no flaw in the bid. IOC Evaluation Commission chair Nawal El Moutawakel implied this was false, but refused to speak ill of Rio de Janeiro. There is a vision between now and many years yet to come, these Olympic Games come right in the middle of a global vision led by President Lula and the entire government, she concluded.Lula, meanwhile, reveled in the significance of hosting the Games for his socialist movement. For us, it will be an opportunity to be equal. It will increase self-esteem for Brazilians, will consolidate recent conquests and stimulate new advances, he said in a speech following the IOC announcement.Lula, an ally of the continent s worst tyrants, from Hugo Chavez to Fidel Castro, did have a vision for Brazil: to use it as a personal piggy bank for himself and his cronies while exploiting the desperation of the poor. Under Lula, officials used the state-run oil company Petrobras to line their pockets with hundreds of millions of dollars by overcharging on contract projects. For years, investigators believed the Petrobras corruption scheme known by its investigative name, Operation Car Wash operated without Lula s knowledge.Judge Sergio Moro, who has become a folk hero for his role in exposing the corruption, found evidence that Lula used Petrobras money to buy himself a beachfront home. Moro opened an investigation into Lula, which immediately prompted President Dilma Rousseff to appoint Lula her chief of staff, granting him immunity.Moro posted audio of Rousseff, the nation s Minister of Energy during the Petrobras scandal, assuring Lula she would appoint him to a government position for immunity purposes if police got too close to uncovering his role in the scandal. Rousseff accused Moro of trying to foment a coup against her.Rousseff has since been impeached. Breitbart News | 1real |
Infrastructure would be popular bipartisan step for Clinton: Hennessey | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton as president will have no policy mandate, even if elected by a wide margin, and would be wise to court Congress for an easy win on a big-dollar infrastructure bill, an economic aide to former Republican President George W. Bush said. Keith Hennessey, a former director of the White House National Economic Council and now professor at the Stanford Graduate Business School, joined the Global Markets Forum on Tuesday as Americans voted on a new president for the next four years. Clinton led Republican candidate Donald Trump, 44 percent to 39 percent, in the last Reuters/Ipsos national tracking poll before Election Day. Here are excerpts from the conversation with Hennessey. Question: You see Hillary Clinton possibly scoring an outsized victory over Donald Trump in Electoral College votes. So why wouldn’t that be a mandate for her policies? Answer: I’m sure her team will want to claim a mandate, especially if the (Electoral College vote) is high. But this has been a near-zero policy election, so it’s super hard to make that case with a straight face. Q: There is wide agreement America needs to spend much more on highways, transport, airports and other fundamentals of modern society. How should a President Clinton go about securing that? A: She makes phone calls to (Congressional Republican leaders Paul) Ryan and (Mitch) McConnell. She invites our members to the White House to meet her. She engages with them, asks them what’s important to them, and listens. She could do an infrastructure bill first. That has potential to be an easy bipartisan win. Q: What do you expect Clinton’s economic agenda to look like? A: She has taken an Obama-like position on debt: I’m not prioritizing decreasing it, I’m not prioritizing slowing the growth of it. But I’m going to “pay for” all my new spending so my new proposals won’t make the current policy path worse. If Clinton wins the White House, I expect at most only relative modest moves on fiscal policy (probably +/- <= 1% of GDP in the short run). Nothing like the 2009 initial Obama fiscal stimulus. If that’s right, I assume the Fed stays on its current track on monetary policy. | 0fake |
Trump says tax reform will include big cuts for middle class | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a tax reform plan being discussed with lawmakers will cut taxes “tremendously” for the middle class, nearly double the standard deduction and try to make the tax code simple and fair. Trump, who was meeting with members of the House Ways and Means committee, told reporters: “I look forward to working with the members of Congress gathered here today to pass the reform and the massive tax cuts that our country desperately needs to thrive, to grow, to prosper.” He added that his administration was “very disappointed” in a couple of Republican senators who failed to support a Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. | 0fake |
WHOA! MELANIA TRUMP BREAKS HER SILENCE…Fires Back At Trump Accusers [VIDEO] | Melanie Trump is more than just a pretty face. She is brilliant and is not likely someone who is pushed around. In her interview on Fox & Friends that will air on Tuesday between 6-9 am EST, Melania talks about her husband s accusers with Fox and Friends host Ainsley Earhardt. She makes a great point about the timing of Trump s accusers and suggests the correct way for them to handle their accusations I was not surprised in one way, because as I said before, everything was organized. It is 3 weeks before the elections, all these women coming out. These are allegations that are not true. Why now? Why 3 weeks before the election? Why they are accusing my husband that is not the man I know. They want to damage the presidency of my husband Class act | 1real |
BREAKING: US SUPREME COURT RULES King Obama Overstepped Authority…Executive Amnesty For 5 MILLION ILLEGAL ALIENS/ Democrat Voters Not Going To Happen | Don t let the door hit ya B..b..but who will beat up innocent Trump supporters? The assertion of presidential power was remarkable in scale. With the flick of a pen just before Thanksgiving in 2014, President Obama ordered that nearly five million illegal immigrants be allowed to come out of the shadows and work legally in the United States.Standing at the same lectern where he had announced the death of Osama bin Laden three years earlier, Mr. Obama insisted in a speech to the nation that his plan for immigrants was a fully legal response to a Republican-controlled Congress that had refused his plea for an overhaul of the nation s immigration laws.But on Thursday, the Supreme Court disagreed. In a 4-to-4 decision, the justices let stand a lower court ruling that Mr. Obama had overstepped his authority. The decision freezes the president s actions for the balance of his term, leaving the future of the program and millions of undocumented workers in limbo.Mr. Obama campaigned vowing to win passage of comprehensive immigration legislation in his first year in office, but the Supreme Court defeat will force him to finish his term without securing the major progress he had promised to millions of Latino immigrants living under the threat of deportation.Instead, one of the president s chief immigration legacies will be the years of increased enforcement he ordered at the border with Mexico and in immigrant communities, hoping it would lead to a compromise with Republicans. The aggressive actions of immigration agents and local law enforcement, especially during Mr. Obama s first term, angered many family members separated by raids and deportations.Mr. Obama did earn praise from Hispanics for taking action in 2012 to help the so-called Dreamers, young undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the United States as small children. Under the president s program, more than 730,000 of them received documents allowing them to work legally without constant fear that they might be sent home.Hillary Clinton, who embraced the president s executive action programs, has said she would expand them. The court s actions could complicate her ability to do that if she is elected president in the fall.But the successful legal assault on Mr. Obama s actions may also yield some political benefits for Mrs. Clinton and Democrats by helping to motivate and energize Hispanic voters who are angry with the court s decision. Activists have promised to punish Donald J. Trump and other Republicans who opposed the president s actions by registering more Hispanic voters and getting them to vote. Mr. Trump s rhetorical assault on immigrants, especially Mexicans, is also likely to help energize Hispanic activists on behalf of Mrs. Clinton and other Democratic candidates.The court s action comes after nearly eight years of largely futile attempts by the president to make good on his promise.Mr. Obama had resorted to executive actions in 2014 after years of fighting to get Congress to act. In 2013, the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration overhaul that the White House said the president could support. But House Republicans blocked any consideration of the legislation, accusing the Senate and Mr. Obama of supporting amnesty for the millions of illegal immigrants already in the United States.For most of his presidency, even Mr. Obama said he did not have the power to act unilaterally. He repeatedly told Hispanic activists that he could not use the Dreamers program as a model to expand similar protections to a much larger pool of illegal immigrants. If we start broadening that, then essentially I ll be ignoring the law in a way that I think would be very difficult to defend legally, Mr. Obama told Jose Diaz-Balart in an interview in September 2013, after it was clear that House Republicans were blocking the Senate s immigration measure. So that s not an option. NYT | 1real |
Trump swept to victory by fans of poor quality 80s action films | Trump swept to victory by fans of poor quality 80s action films 09-11-16 MEN who love the films of Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal are responsible for Trump’s election victory, it has emerged. An unusually high voter turnout among people whose favourite films are Missing in Action , Death Wish 2 or Lone Wolf McQuade is believed to have sealed America’s fate. Trump voter Wayne Hayes said: “I believe masculine 80s action films, featuring a foreign baddie and one sex scene shot in silhouette, are the pinnacle of cinema and a template for how to live. “I particularly like it if they have a paranoid theme, like Invasion USA . I’ve even written a script called Blood Hunter II: Midnight Revenge Attack about a former POW killing gang members with his metal hand. “He has a dog called Maverick that wears an eye patch.” He added: “They should show Under Siege in schools, because if you’re a chef on a big boat and it’s attacked by terrorists, you need to be able to save the sexy woman.”
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Tomb Opened Where ‘Jesus was Resurrected After Crucifixion For The First Time…’ | Via TruthAndAction SPONSORED LINKS
The location of the tomb is inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The tomb has been sealed since at least 1555 A.D. and was opened briefly as work progressed in restoring the site.
It’s the location where the body of Jesus is said to have been placed after his crucifixion 2000 years ago. This tomb within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was opened for only 60 hours as renovation work progressed on this site that is holy to Christians. And a remarkable discovery was made.
After removing the marble slab that encased the tomb, scientists at the University of Athens and National Geographic were stunned to find a limestone burial shelf intact and a second marble slab with a cross carved into its surface. Researchers were given the unprecedented access as part of restoration work.
The team were shocked to find portions of the tomb are still intact today, having survived centuries of damage. The original surface was exposed during the restoration work being done at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem, according to National Geographic.
Until then, marble had encased the slab since at least 1555 AD, and likely centuries earlier. When work first began the conservation team from the National Technical University of Athens showed only a layer of material underneath the marble slab.
But as researchers continued their work over the course of 60 hours – and with just a few hours left before the tomb was to be resealed, another marble slab with a cross carved into its surface was exposed. Highlighting the sensitivity of the tomb, scientists were given only 60 hours to view the site before it was sealed again.
‘This is the Holy Rock that has been revered for centuries, but only now can actually be seen,’ said Antonia Moropoulou of the National Technical University of Athens, who is leading the restoration of the Edicule.
The burial slab was enclosed in an 18th century shrine structure known as the Edicule – a word derived from the Latin term aedicule meaning ‘little house’. The team cut a window into the southern interior wall of the Edicule, exposing one of the cave walls.
The tomb has now been resealed and will probably not be opened again for hundreds, possibly even thousands, of years. But before it was resealed, the surface of the rock was extensively cataloged.
There is considerable support for this being the actual place where Jesus’ body was placed, although that cannot be known for certain. The evidence for this is not definitive, however, according to Dan Bahat, a former district archaeologist in Jerusalem and in Galilee.
‘We may not be absolutely certain that the site of the Holy Sepulchre Church is the site of Jesus burial, but we certainly have no other site that can lay a claim nearly as weighty, and we really have no reason to reject the authenticity of the site,’ Bahat said.
Given that the site might not be reopened for hundreds or thousands of years, this 60-hour window into the ancient past has given researchers as well as Christian believers an unprecedented opportunity to study the origins of the faith. | 1real |
Dear Liberal, Why I’m So Hostile…And How “Your political beliefs are a threat to liberty – not just for me, but for my three boys” | WOW! This is a powerful, must read letter that should be shared with every American Lately, I must admit that my hostility towards your political ilk has ramped up, pretty dramatically. No, it s not because we, at this point in my life, have a half-black president in the White House, and I m some closet racist who is becoming increasingly frustrated at the prospects of the White Man s power slipping through my fingers. I know that you ve accused our side of such nonsense, and the thought keeps you warm at night, but I can assure you that it is a comfortable fiction of which you should probably divest yourself.Now before I waste too much of your time, let s establish who I m talking to. If you believe that we live in an evil, imperialist nation from its founding, and you believe that it should be fundamentally transformed , lend me your ears. If you believe that the free market is the source of the vast majority of society s ills and wish to have more government intervention into it, I m talking to you. If you believe that health care is a basic human right and that government should provide it to everyone, you re the guy I m screaming at. If you think minorities cannot possibly survive in this inherently racist country without handouts and government mandated diversity quotas, you re my guy. If you believe that rich people are that way because they ve exploited their workers and acquired wealth on the backs of the poor, keep reading. Pretty much, if you trust government more than your fellow American, this post is for you.First of all, let me say that we probably agree on more things than you think. Even between Tea Party Patriots and Occupy Wall-Streeters, I ve observed a common hatred of the insidious alliance between big business and big government. As Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) so correctly noted, government should never be in the business of picking winners and losers in corporate America, and no person, organization, union, or corporation should have their own key to the back door of our government.Second, contrary to popular belief, conservatives really are concerned with the plight of the poor in this nation. You accuse us of being uncompassionate, hateful, racist, and greedy, but studies have shown that when it comes to charitable giving, conservatives are at least (if not more, depending on the study you read) as generous as liberals in caring for the poor. The difference between us is not in our attitude towards the problem it s our attitude towards the solution. We believe that the government does practically nothing well (since without competition or a profit motive there is no incentive to do well) and has made the plight of the poor far worse than it would have ever been had government never gotten involved. For a stark example of this, look no farther than the condition of the black family in America since the War on Poverty began. You believe that more government is the answer, and that if we only throw more money at the problem, the problem will go away. We believe, as Reagan so aptly stated,Government is not the solution to our problems; government is the problem.Third, as people who might actually have to avail ourselves of a doctor s services at some point in our lives, we are just as concerned with the condition of America s healthcare system as you are. While we believe that America has the world s most capable physicians, has the world s most innovative pharmaceutical industry, and is on the cutting edge of medical technology, we also understand that the delivery system is far from perfect. However, unlike you, we see a grave danger in turning the administration of that delivery system over to the same entity that is responsible for giving us the United States Postal Service. There are private sector solutions that should certainly be explored before we kill the system, altogether, by giving it to the government to run.Now that we ve touched on a couple of points of common ground, allow me to explain my aggressiveness towards your efforts to implement your progressive agenda. First, let s talk about the word progressive , since you now seem to prefer that word to liberal . In order to label something as progressive or regressive, one must have some idea as to what constitutes progress. What is the ideal towards which you are striving? An idea is considered progressive if it moves us closer to the ideal and regressive if it moves us further away. So, what is your ideal society?Though I can t begin to discern the thoughts of every liberal who may read this, nor can I assume that every liberal has the same notion of an ideal society, in my arguments with liberals over the years, I couldn t help but notice the influence that FDR s Second Bill of Rights has had in shaping the beliefs of the modern liberal with regards to domestic policy. The rights that FDR cited are: The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation; The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad; The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education.At this point, you re probably screaming, Right on!! , and who can blame you? What sane person in the world doesn t want everyone to be gainfully employed, adequately fed, smartly clothed, appropriately sheltered, and properly educated? These are the goals of every moral society on the planet, however we cannot ignore the fundamental question of, At what cost? I m not sure whether FDR was a shallow thinker or simply a shrewd, Machiavellian politician, but the fact that he framed each of these ideals as a human right should be troubling to every freedom-loving person in America. After all, what does it mean for something to be a human right? Doesn t it mean that it s something to which you are entitled simply by virtue of your being human? Let s think about some of the basic rights that the real Bill of Rights delineates: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to petition the government, freedom to bear arms, freedom from illegal search and seizure, etc.If you re moderately intelligent and intellectually honest, you ll quickly see what separates the rights laid out in the real Bill of Rights from those laid out in FDR s misguided list none of the rights listed above require the time, treasure, or talents of another human being.Your right to speak requires nothing from anyone else. Your right to practice your religion requires nothing from any of your fellow citizens. Your right to bear arms means that you are allowed to possess weapons to defend yourself and your family, but it makes no demand that a weapon be provided to you by anyone. A true human right is one that you possess, even if you re the only person on the entire planet and it is unconditional.FDR s list is no Bill of Rights . It s a list of demands. If I have a right to a job, doesn t that mean that one must be provided to me? If I have a right to adequate food, clothing, and recreation, doesn t that mean that I am entitled to those things, and someone should provide them to me? If I have an inherent right to a decent home, once again, doesn t that mean it should be provided to me, regardless of my ability to afford one or build one for myself?You might protest that FDR only meant that we have the right to pursue those things, but that s not what he said, and why would he? If we live in a free society, our right to pursue those things is self-evident, is it not? Besides, if he only believed in our right to pursue those things, he would not have felt the need to implement the New Deal.You may be getting anxious, now, wondering what FDR s Second Bill of Rights has to do with my antipathy towards your political philosophy. It s quite simple your political beliefs are a threat to liberty not just for me, but for my three boys and their children as well. I care much less about the America that I m living in at this very moment than I do about the one that I m leaving Nathaniel, Charlie, and Jackson.How does your political bent threaten my and my sons personal liberty, you ask? In your irrational attempt to classify things such as clothing, shelter, health care, employment, and income as basic human rights, you are placing a demand upon my time, my treasure, and my talents. If you believe that you have a right to health care, and you are successful in persuading enough shallow thinkers to think as you do, then it will place a demand upon me to provide it to you. If you believe that you have a right to a job, and more than half of America agrees with you, as a business owner, I am obligated to provide one to you, even if it means making my business less profitable.The fact is, you can rail against my conservatism all you wish. You can make fun of my Tea Party gatherings, and you can ridicule patriots in tri-corner hats until you wet yourself from mirth, but one thing is for certain: my political philosophy will NEVER be a threat to your freedom. If you feel a burning responsibility to the poor, conservatism will never prevent you from working 80 hours per week and donating all of your income to charity. If you feel a strong sense of pity for a family who cannot afford health insurance, my political philosophy will never prevent you from purchasing health insurance for this family or raising money to do so, if you cannot afford it, personally. If you are moved with compassion for a family who is homeless, a conservative will never use the police power of government to prevent you from taking that family in to your own home or mobilizing your community to build one for them.However, you cannot say the same for liberalism. If I choose not to give to the poor for whatever reason, you won t simply try to persuade me on the merits of the idea you will seek to use the government as an instrument of plunder to force me to give to the poor. If we are walking down the street together and we spot a homeless person, using this logic, you would not simply be content with giving him $20 from your own pocket you would hold a gun to my head and force me to give him $20, as well.Everything that modern liberalism accomplishes is accomplished at the barrel of a government rifle. You do not trust in the generosity of the American people to provide, through private charity, things such as clothing, food, shelter, and health care, so you empower the government to take from them and spend the money on wasteful, inefficient, and inadequate government entitlement programs. You do not trust in the personal responsibility of the average American to wield firearms in defense of themselves and their families, so you seek to empower the government to criminalize the use and possession of firearms by private citizens. Everytime you empower the government, you lose more of your personal liberty it s an axiomatic truth.What angers me the most about you is the eagerness with which you allow the incremental enslavement to occur. You are the cliched and proverbial frog in the pot who has actually convinced himself that he s discovered a big, silver jacuzzi. Somehow, you re naive enough to believe that one more degree of heat won t really matter that much.I have the utmost respect for a slave who is continuously seeking a path to freedom. What I cannot stomach is a free man who is continuous seeking a path to servitude by willingly trading his freedom for the false sense of security that government will provide.I am reminded of Samuel Adams impassioned speech where he stated: If ye love wealth (or security) better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen! Servitude can exist in a free society, but freedom cannot exist in a slave nation. In a free country, you have the liberty to join with others of your political ilk and realize whatever collectivist ideals you can dream up. You can start your own little commune where the sign at the front gate says, From each according to his ability; to each according to his need , and everyone can work for the mutual benefit of everyone else. In my society, you have the freedom to do that.In your society, I don t have the same freedom. If your collectivism offends me, I am not free to start my own free society within its borders. In order for collectivism to work, everyone must be on board, even those who oppose it why do you think there was a Berlin Wall?In conclusion, just know that the harder you push to enact your agenda, the more hostile I will become the harder I will fight you. It s nothing personal, necessarily. If you want to become a slave to an all-powerful central government, be my guest. But if you are planning to take me and my family down with you, as we say down here in the South, I will stomp a mud-hole in your chest and walk it dry.Bring it.Jeremy N. Choateh/t Zero Hedge | 1real |
Clinton debate performance enough to keep Biden on sidelines? | Hillary Clinton was seen to help stabilize her faltering campaign Tuesday night with a debate performance that left little doubt she has a solid grip on the Democratic presidential race -- and may have sent a strong message to Joe Biden that time is running out if he envisions jumping in.
The Democratic front-runner and her closest competitor, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, dominated the debate stage in Las Vegas, relegating the other low-polling candidates to footnote status. But with the most to lose Tuesday night, the Clinton camp seemed to come out of the debate revitalized, with aides calling it the "best day" of their campaign.
"I think things have stabilized," Clinton pollster Joel Benenson said.
That claim will be put to the test in the coming weeks. The vice president continues to mull a 2016 bid, and the debate had been viewed by analysts as a significant factor in that ultimate decision.
Biden watched the debate Tuesday night from afar, at the Naval Observatory residence -- and time will tell whether he thinks there's still room for him. On Wednesday, Biden said only that all the candidates did a good job and he's "proud of all of them."
In comparison with the Donald Trump-dominated GOP debates, the lead-off showdown in Las Vegas Tuesday night was a relatively cordial affair for the Democrats, with the lively disputes centering on policy differences and not personal put-downs. But Clinton was the clear lightning rod, challenged early and often on her shifting positions - while also hitting back and trying to position herself as a practical progressive with every bit as much credibility with the base as candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders.
"I'm not taking a backseat to anybody on my values, my principles and the results that I get," Clinton said, describing herself as a "progressive who likes to get things done."
The front-runner, who has faced an insurgent challenge from her left in Sanders' campaign, was visibly ready to tangle Tuesday with him and the three other candidates on stage at the CNN-Facebook debate.
While Sanders railed against a "casino capitalist process," Clinton warned against abandoning the system that built America's middle class. And Clinton sparred with Sanders and others as they questioned her call for a no-fly zone in Syria, and criticized her 2002 support, as a senator, for use of force in Iraq, a decision she's since called a mistake.
Former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee called it a "poor decision" and said he did his "homework" when he opposed that measure.
Clinton, in her defense, noted that President Obama asked her to be secretary of state because "he valued my judgment."
When former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley suggested lawmakers were overtaken by "war fever," Clinton quipped: "I am in the middle here - lots of things coming from all directions." She then tweaked O'Malley by thanking him for endorsing her in 2008.
While Clinton and Sanders sparred at times, the Vermont senator mostly avoided aggressively attacking Clinton on stage.
When Clinton was pressed on her personal email scandal, Sanders even jumped to her defense.
In one of the more memorable moments of the night, Sanders said: "I think the secretary is right. ... The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails."
Clinton said, "Me too." She thanked him and shook his hand.
Chafee, though, added that "credibility is an issue."
The exchange came after Clinton responded to a question on the email scandal by saying she's taken responsibility for it and acknowledged it was a mistake.
She quickly pivoted to challenging the work of the congressional Benghazi committee, calling it "basically an arm of the Republican National Committee."
The former secretary of state was also challenged on her policy flips by moderator Anderson Cooper, who asked if she will say anything to get elected.
"I've been very consistent over the course of my entire life," Clinton responded. But she said "like most human beings," she has absorbed new information.
Clinton was specifically challenged for opposing the Pacific-nation trade deal she once supported as secretary of state. Though she once called it the "gold standard," she said Tuesday the deal "didn't meet my standard." She said she couldn't tell voters it would raise their wages.
Clinton, though, tried to turn the tables on her rivals, and took a crack at Sanders' record on gun control.
Asked if the Vermont senator is tough enough on gun violence, Clinton said, "No, not at all" and urged the country to stand up against the NRA.
She criticized him for voting for a 2005 bill giving gun manufacturers immunity from lawsuits. After Sanders described that bill as complicated, she said, "It wasn't that complicated to me."
Sanders responded, "All the shouting in the world" is not going to end the violence. He said the country needs to reach a consensus, and stressed that rural states view gun laws differently than other states.
Throughout the debate, former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, the fifth candidate on stage, struggled to elbow his way into the conversation. He stressed his military experience and push for criminal justice reform and other issues while in the Senate.
Toward the end of the debate, Webb challenged Sanders for his big-spending proposals
"Bernie, I don't think the revolution's gonna come," he said, adding he doesn't think Congress would pay for a lot of his plans.
Webb, Chafee and O'Malley are all averaging at or below 1 percent in the polls nationally, according to RealClearPolitics. | 0fake |
UK aid minister to resign rather than be sacked: BBC cites source | LONDON (Reuters) - British aid minister Priti Patel will resign rather than be sacked by Prime Minister Theresa May, the BBC s political editor quoted an unnamed source as saying on Wednesday. Patel was meeting May on Wednesday to answer questions over undisclosed meetings with Israeli officials. | 0fake |
Trump Jobs Boom: IBM to Hire 2,000 Vets After Meeting with Prez - Breitbart | The Trump jobs boom continues, with computer giant IBM announcing that it is set to hire 2, 000 veterans of the U. S. Military after a meeting with President Donald J. Trump. [IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, who serves on Trump’s business advisory board, is to announce the new plans on Friday. The company intends to open 20 new schools in the U. S. and will retrain and certify the veterans over a period, Axios reported. Many of the veterans will be trained in the use of IBM’s software programs used by law enforcement, cybersecurity, and national security agencies. IBM joins a growing list of companies announcing major expansion in the age of Trump. The list includes 45, 000 jobs announced by Exxon Mobil, 10, 000 new jobs at Kroger, 10, 000 jobs at Walmart, another 10, 000 jobs to be offered by U. S. Steel, and 50, 000 by SoftBank Telecommunications, among many others. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0fake |
More fake 'pro-Trump' attacks: Ohio student charged for falsifying report of attack by Trump fans - Russia News Now | This post was originally published on this site
sott.net/news
A black, female Bowling Green State University student allegedly fabricated a hate crime story about white, male President-Elect Donald Trump supporters attacking her on campus and is now being charged for faking a police report.
The day after Trump’s presidential victory, Eleesha Long told Bowling Green police that she had been attacked by three men wearing Trump gear who “began to throw rocks” at her , according to ABC13.
Long took to her Facebook page to share the story, describing in detail what each Trump supporter was wearing and giving a description of as to where the alleged hate crime had occurred, but never actually called the police.
Long’s Facebook post went viral and her father notified law enforcement after he said he was not able to get in touch with her . Local detectives took Long into police headquarters and asked her to share details of the described hate crime.
Long reportedly began telling police multiple stories about the incident, to include changing the location of the alleged incident.
“Several times the complainant changed her story about what happened, where it happened, and when it happened,” Lt. Dan Mancuso told ABC13.
Afterward, the police got a warrant for Long’s Facebook and Verizon cell phone history, proving that she was not where she claimed she was at the time of the alleged attack .
“Based on that information, it proved that she was not in the location that of when she said it occurred,” Lt. Mancuso said.
Police investigators said Long’s cell phone history included discriminatory remarks towards Trump supporters that she had sent to her boyfriend and mother.
In one text message, Long said about Trump supporters “should take an IQ test to vote,” while a couple other messages said “I hope they all get AIDS” and “I haven’t met a decent Trump supporter yet.”
Long is now being charged for falsifying a police report and obstructing official business, which she will have to appear in court for. Related | 1real |
Dem Senator Calls Out Mike Pence For Telling A HUGE Lie About Trumpcare | Donald Trump and his vice-president are eager to pass the GOP/Trumpcare bill even though it will harm millions of Americans. It s not even a health care bill; it s more of a death care bill. Democratic and Republican governors agree that it s a bad proposal. According to a report presented at the National Governors Association, the Senate s Obamacare repeal bill would result in reductions in federal Medicaid funding to states ranging from 27 percent to 39 percent by 2036. Politico reports that fifteen states would see their federal Medicaid funding decline by more than 35 percent by 2036.Vice President Mike Pence tweeted, Let me be clear: The Senate health-care bill strengthens and secures Medicaid for the neediest in our society. #BetterCare. Watch Mike Pence lie:Let me be clear: The Senate health-care bill strengthens and secures Medicaid for the neediest in our society. #BetterCare pic.twitter.com/rThIZtB9zi Vice President Pence (@VP) July 14, 2017Pence said that the GOP plan would ensure that every state in America has the resources you need to take care of your most vulnerable. The fifteen states that would be most affected by this travesty of a bill include California, Nevada, Kentucky, Washington, North Dakota, Oregon and New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah, Ohio, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. We suppose those states don t count.Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) ripped Pence on Saturday in a tweet . I m going to say it there is real evil in the epidemic rate of lying that is going on right now, Murphy tweeted in response to Trump s tweet which included the video above. This is not normal, Murphy added.I'm going to say it there is real evil in the epidemic rate of lying that is going on right now. This is not normal. https://t.co/ifkV1GWAUH Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) July 15, 2017Pence has nearly 4 million followers and his tweet was liked only 2,902 times. In contrast, Murphy has 281,000 followers and his tweet was liked nearly 14,000 times. Perhaps, just maybe, Trump supporters are waking up to the fact that they will be largely affected by Obamacare being repealed and replaced with a shit sandwich.Kasich isn t happy with Pence either:Ohio Gov. John Kasich s (R) office rejected Pence s claim that 60,000 disabled Ohioans are on waiting lists for Medicaid s home and community-based services.Kasich s spokesperson called Pence s claim not accurate and said that suggesting Medicaid expansion hurt the developmentally disabled system is false, as it is just the opposite of what actually happened. A Pence spokesman defended the vice president s comments.On top of that, insurers ripped into Ted Cruz s provision saying that it s unworkable and added that millions of more individuals will become uninsured and it will affect those with pre-existing conditions.Photo by Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images | 1real |
Re: If Donald Trump Wins, He Will Be 70 Years, 7 Months And 7 Days Old On His First Full Day In Office | Archives Michael On Television If Donald Trump Wins, He Will Be 70 Years, 7 Months And 7 Days Old On His First Full Day In Office By Michael Snyder, on November 1st, 2016
A couple of weeks ago, it looked like Hillary Clinton was all set to cruise to victory , but now the FBI has delivered an election miracle in the nick of time. A few of my readers had criticized me for suggesting that Trump might lose, but I don’t know who is going to win the election, and so all I had to go on was the cold, hard numbers. And a couple of weeks ago the cold, hard numbers were telling me that Hillary Clinton was going to win. Of course it is entirely possible that the national polls might have been seriously wrong, but even the state polls in the most important battleground states consistently had bad news for Trump. So things didn’t look good for Trump at the time, but now that the FBI has renewed their investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails the poll numbers have shifted dramatically in Trump’s favor .
As I write this article, the national polls have really tightened up. In fact, the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll puts Trump 1 point ahead of Clinton. Trump has all of the momentum at the moment, but that does not mean that he is going to win. As we have seen already in this race, one day can literally change everything.
And as I noted yesterday , more than 23 million Americans have already voted, and most of that voting was done during a period of time when Hillary Clinton was doing very well in the polls.
So we shall see what happens. But if Trump does win on November 8th, there is a fact about his birthday which will start to get a lot of attention.
Donald Trump was born on June 14th, 1946. If you move ahead 70 years from that date, that brings you to June 14th, 2016. Moving forward another 7 months brings you to January 14th, 2017, and moving forward another 7 days brings you to January 21st, 2017.
And if Donald Trump wins the election, January 21st will be his first full day in office.
Of course Trump would be inaugurated on January 20th, but he would only be president for part of that day.
So that means that Donald Trump would be 70 years, 7 months and 7 days old on his first full day as president of the United States.
And this would happen during year 5777 on the Hebrew calendar.
These amazing “coincidences” were first pointed out on Facebook by a user named Alyson Kelly. Some may take these numbers as a sign that Donald Trump is supposed to become the next president, but I want to make it exceedingly clear that I do not know what is going to happen, nor am I making any sort of prediction about what is going to happen.
I just thought that this information was “interesting” and so I thought that I would share it.
Someone that does believe that Trump is going to win is Glenn Beck. He was been virulently anti-Trump throughout this campaign, but now he is convinced that Clinton will be unable to overcome this new email scandal, and he is calling this renewed investigation by the FBI “the greatest gift given to any candidate of all time in the history of America.”
Beck also says that if Clinton wins now it will be evidence that “magic exists”, and he is currently projecting that Trump should win the national vote by 5 points …
“Let’s just say he was 8 points, that was fair to say, 8 points behind last week,” Beck said, according to a transcript posted on his website . “He should win by 5 points.”
Beck later added: “How can the next president face a possible collapsing economy, possible war with Russia, and a current war with ISIS? Oh, and also, be under FBI investigation and indictment? Can’t. Can’t.”
The conservative personality called the latest FBI revelation “the greatest gift given to any candidate of all time in the history of America” and added that if Clinton still managed to win, it would be akin to proof “magic exists.”
Hopefully Glenn Beck is right, because none of us should want to see Hillary Clinton in the White House.
She is the most evil, corrupt and scandal-ridden politician of this generation, and I can’t understand how any American in their right mind could possibly vote for her.
And the hits just keep on coming. Wikileaks has just released an email in which John Podesta told Clinton “fixer” Cheryl Mills that they were “going to have to dump all those emails so better to do so sooner than later” …
It was not entirely clear what Podesta meant by that phrase, but it could potentially be smoking gun evidence of obstruction of justice .
Back in 2008, Barack Obama was new, intriguing and mysterious. We didn’t know a lot about him, and so one can almost understand how the American people could have been fooled by him.
But in 2016, Americans know more about Hillary Clinton than they have ever known about any candidate in modern American history.
The Clintons have a history of crimes and scandals that goes all the way back to the 1980s, but about half the country is choosing to ignore all of that history and vote for her anyway.
I believe that this election is America’s final exam. Originally there were 17 Republicans and 5 Democrats running for the presidency. When you throw in the major third party candidates, that brings us to a total of approximately 25 people that the American public could have chosen from.
If the American people willingly choose the most wicked candidate out of all of them after everything that has been revealed, I don’t think that anyone will be able to say that we don’t deserve the bitter consequences that follow that decision.
The time for talking is almost over, and shortly we shall find out which path the American people have chosen.
If that choice turns out to be Hillary Clinton after everything that we have seen during this election cycle, I truly believe that we will have reached the point of no return as a nation. | 1real |
WATCH DINESH D’SOUZA Totally Embarrass Liberal Caller On C-SPAN: “First of all…” [Video] | If you want to try to dispute Dinesh D Souza s arguments, you should probably start by actually reading his book This is a classic because the woman is so clueless about Obama 2016 and projects what the left does onto the right.Available nationwide, Dinesh D Souza s new book The Big Lie exposes the Left s biggest lie yet: their orchestrated campaign to paint conservatives as Nazis to cover up their own fascism.To cover up their insidious fascist agenda, Democrats loudly accuse President Trump and other Republicans of being Nazis an obvious lie, considering the GOP has been fighting the Democrats over slavery, genocide, racism and fascism from the beginning. | 1real |
Biden urges U.S. business in Davos to lean on anti-gay states | DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden urged executives in Davos to use their influence to drive change in countries where lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people face repression, putting gay rights at the heart of this year’s meeting. The issue is on the official agenda for the first time at the World Economic Forum, where political leaders from countries that discriminate against gay people, such as Nigeria and Russia, schmooze business leaders and billionaire investors. Biden told U.S. executives including Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of apartment-sharing firm Airbnb, Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca Cola Company, and Anthony Scaramucci, founder of hedge fund SkyBridge Capital, to push for change. “You can change the terms of debate,” he said. “You actually put governments on notice.” He said he and President Barack Obama privately raise the issue of repression of the LGBT community when they meet political leaders. “I have had some run-ins with at least four heads of state already on this,” said Biden. Banging his fist on the table, Biden said there was no national cultural justification to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. “People used to be cannibals as part of their culture, people used to do terrible things as part of their culture,” he said. Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the United States’ largest LGBT civil rights organization, said business leaders should take the opportunity in Davos to confront the leaders of countries with “hateful laws”. Big business has been key to lobbying for change on gay marriage around the world. Some leading companies, including Google, Twitter and eBay, released videos of their employees voicing their support for marriage equality ahead of a country-wide vote on the issue in Ireland. Apple CEO (AAPL.O) Tim Cook came out last year, but according to the U.S.-based Center for Talent Innovation, 41 percent of LGBT people do not feel comfortable disclosing their sexuality at work. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide last year but it is still legal in many U.S. states to fire someone based on their sexual orientation. | 0fake |
Somalia's capital restricts movement of trucks, tankers after attacks | MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Somali authorities imposed a daytime ban on Monday on the movement of large trucks and road tankers inside the capital Mogadishu in an attempt to improve security following a wave of devastating attacks by militants. The move followed twin truck bombings on Oct. 15 that killed more than 350 people in the city, in the deadliest attack in the history of the Horn of Africa nation. Though the Islamist militant group al Shabaab did not claim responsibility for that attack, the method is one it has often used. Trucks and tankers cannot pass ... from 7:00 am to 8:00 pm. This is to ensure security and (to offer) a solution to the complaints of the public, Tabid Abdi, the capital s mayor, said in a statement. Any truck or tanker driver who does not comply will be fined $1,000. Further underlining the Somali capital s security woes, at least 29 people were killed on Sunday during a 12-hour siege at a Mogadishu hotel, in an attack claimed by al Shabaab. The government sacked two top security officials. They had the uniforms of security forces, even though they did not have ID cards, Information Minister Abdirahman Omar Osman told Reuters. Al Shabaab said 40 people had been killed, including three of its fighters who stormed the hotel. Al Shabaab aims to topple the government in Mogadishu and impose its own strict interpretation of Islam. The country has been at war since 1991, when clan-based warlords overthrew dictator Siad Barre and then turned on each other. Though it has lost large swathes of territory to African Union peacekeepers, the group s attacks have grown in frequency and size, as a 22,000-strong peacekeeping force prepares to begin withdrawing. | 0fake |
Is the National Anthem Racist? Beyond the Debate Over Colin Kaepernick - The New York Times | The continuing refusal by the San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to stand during the playing of “The Banner” before games has set off a debate about patriotism, protest and professional sports. But it has also raised another fraught question: Is our national anthem itself racist? The journalist Jon Schwarz, writing in The Intercept, argued yes, denouncing the lyrics, written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812, as “a celebration of slavery. ” How could black players, Mr. Schwarz asked, be expected to stand for a song whose rarely sung third stanza — which includes the lines “No refuge could save the hireling and the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave” — “literally celebrates the murder of ”? That argument drew outrage from some conservative news outlets, as well as a more scholarly rebuttal from Mark Clague, a musicologist at the University of Michigan and the founding board chairman of the Star Spangled Music Foundation. We spoke with Mr. Clague, who is writing a book about the song, about the anthem’s history and shifting meanings. The interview has been edited for clarity and length. Why do you think those who call the song racist are wrong? The social context of the song comes from the age of slavery, but the song itself isn’t about slavery, and it doesn’t treat whites differently from blacks. The reference to slaves is about the use, and in some sense the manipulation, of black Americans to fight for the British, with the promise of freedom. The American forces included as well as whites. The term “freemen,” whose heroism is celebrated in the fourth stanza, would have encompassed both. Few people know “The Banner” has a third verse, since it was often left out of sheet music publications. Why? I don’t think people were afraid of offending but of offending the British. It was their blood that “has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution,” as the third verse puts it. But when we became allies in World War I, we really started reversing course. Part of the difficulty of parsing the anthem seems to that Americans know so little about the War of 1812. Why is public understanding so murky? It’s something in our history we would probably rather skip over. Nobody won, nobody lost. The British burned down the White House. We invaded Canada. It was sort of a bizarre war. But while it didn’t really change much, it was pivotal as far as American identity went. The naval buildup really created the modern American national state. That’s part of the reason why “The Banner” seems so natural and true and permanent and sacred to us today. It didn’t really describe America in 1814, when Key wrote his lyrics, but it was a vision of the unified power the country would become. For your project “Poets Patriots,” you tracked down around 100 different sets of lyrics written by others. How do these alternate versions help us understand the meaning of the song? There are versions that talk about temperance, about women’s suffrage, about presidential campaigns, including Abraham Lincoln’s. The one I wish everyone knew about was one about abolition from 1844, beginning “Oh say, do you hear … ” It repeats Key’s phrase “the land of the free” but as an ironic statement. I wish teachers would contrast that version with Key’s, as a way of showing how singing the anthem isn’t a mindless, rote ritual, but part of a long history of exploration of what the country is about. Does that same kind of revision go on today? By the 20th century, we were treating the anthem as a religious hymn, and it became counterproductive to alter the lyrics as social commentary since changes to the anthem tend to make people so upset. In the 20th century, commentary became less about the lyrics than about the performance. Take Jimi Hendrix’s version. It was a combination of patriotism and protest. Here you have an man, speaking largely to white youth but really to all youth, about their own potential to create the country at a moment when they were old enough to be drafted, but not necessarily old enough to vote. What do you see as the most important part of the anthem? For me, it’s the punctuation that ends the part we sing. After “land of the free,” we have a question mark, not an exclamation point. Is the flag and what it represents still there? Are we winning the battle for freedom that this country was founded on? That’s where Colin Kaepernick has started a productive conversation. If there are people who don’t feel the song represents them, we need to pay attention to that. But if we just reject the song as racist, or declare that it isn’t our anthem anymore, we don’t fix the problem. | 0fake |
UPDATE: OBAMA APPOINTED U.S. ATTORNEY INTERVENES…Threatens Media And Residents Of Community With Federal Prosecution If Caught Spreading False Or Inflammatory Information About Refugees Boys Who Raped 5 Yr Old Girl | MEDIA SILENT! Twin Falls, Idaho Police Investigating Videotaped Sexual Assault Of 5 Yr Old Girl At By 3 Immigrant Boys NO Arrests [VIDEO]UPDATE: The Obama-appointed U.S. attorney for Idaho has taken the highly unusual step of intervening in a local criminal case involving an alleged sexual assault by juvenile Muslim migrants and threatened the community and media with federal prosecution if they spread false information or inflammatory statements about the perpetrators. The following is a news release issued late Friday from the office of United States Attorney Wendy J. Olson. BOISE The United States Attorney s Office extends its support to the five-year-old victim of assault, and her family, at the Fawnbrook Apartments in Twin Falls. The United States Attorney s Office further encourages community members in Twin Falls and throughout Idaho to remain calm and supportive, to pay close attention to the facts that have been released by law enforcement and the prosecuting attorney, and to avoid spreading false rumors and inaccuracies. Grant Loebs is an experienced prosecutor, and Chief Craig Kingsbury is an experienced law enforcement officer. They are moving fairly and thoughtfully in this case, said Wendy J. Olson, U.S. Attorney for Idaho. As Mr. Loebs and Chief Kingsbury informed the public, the subjects in this case are juveniles, ages 14, 10 and 7. The criminal justice system, whether at the state or federal level, requires that juveniles be afforded a specific process with significant restrictions on the information that can be released. The fact that the subjects are juveniles in no way lessens the harm to or impact on the victim and her family. Olson continued, saying: The spread of false information or inflammatory or threatening statements about the perpetrators or the crime itself reduces public safety and may violate federal law. We have seen time and again that the spread of falsehoods about refugees divides our communities. I urge all citizens and residents to allow Mr. Loebs and Chief Kingsbury and their teams to do their jobs. As one of 93 U.S. attorneys, Olson represents the federal government in all civil and criminal cases within her state.Olson was appointed to her post in 2010 by President Obama and has a history of taking strong stands against anti-Muslim bias. Via: WNDORIGINAL STORY: Thanks to the generosity of Chobani Yogurt, Twin Falls, ID has been inundated with Syrian refugees. Big businesses including BIG MEAT, Chobani Yogurt, and other manufacturing companies are looking for cheap immigrant labor and the federal resettlement contractors act as head hunters for them.With more awareness of the effort to bring in Muslim refugees and deposit them all over America, more communities are fighting back. It s already been said by the FBI and DHS that these so-called refugees can t be properly screened but they also are a heavy financial burden to taxpaying Americans. It is true that once they arrive, they receive all of the entitlements provided a legal citizen.Here are the details of a horrific crime that was reportedly committed by 3 young Muslim Syrian refugee boys, as reported by a Twin Falls resident:The little girl being born very premature she is less developed for her age.The little girl was at the FAWNBROOK apartment buildings where both her parents and grandmother reside. She was playing in between those two apartment units when 3 boys (ages 8, 10, 13) pulled a knife on her, held it to her throat, forced her into the laundry unit, stripped her naked, raped, and urinated on her. The 13 year old coached the younger boys as he videoed. Due to age restraint the boys could not ejaculate but did urinate on her.THE VICTIM S GRANDMOTHER DISCOVERED THE SITUATION AND IMMEDIATELY CALLED THE VICTIM S MOTHER WHO CALLED TWIN FALLS POLICE DEPARTMENT.The victim s mother took the video/phone from the 13 year old. Witnessed by the victims mother:The 13 year olds father arrived on the scene and hi-fived his son. A mother of the perps arrived and knew only enough English to repeatedly say, No police .2 AND A HALF HOURS LATER THE TWIN FALLS POLICE ARRIVED. MOTHER OF VICTIM GAVE PD THE VIDEO. POLICE DID NOT (STILL HAVE NOT) MADE ANY ARRESTS, REPORTEDLY BECAUSE OF THE LANGUAGE BARRIER .BOTH PERP REFUGEE FAMILIES ARE STILL IN THE APARTMENT COMPLEX, LANDLORD IS UNABLE TO EVICT. THE MOTHER OF VICTIM ESTIMATES 50+ REFUGEES ARE IN THE COMPLEX. PROSECUTING ATTORNEY GRANT LOEBS (OR HIS OFFICE) SUGGESTED THAT THE VICTIM S FAMILY MAY NOT WISH TO PROSECUTE.We believe this family ought to file a lawsuit against CSI, perhaps TFPD.VIDEO LINK FROM TF CITY COUNCIL AS ACT MEMBERS QUESTION AND CHALLENGE CITY COUNCIL. IF YOU LISTEN YOU WILL SEE THAT THEY HAVE NO ANSWER, DIDN T KNOW ANYTHING WAS GOING ON.Listen close to Don Hall name a young lady as the victim in response to Mr. Edwards calling the victim a youth.KMVT has confirmed that a reported sexual assault that possibly occurred near the Fawnbrook Apartments is being investigated by the Twin Falls Police Department. The incident allegedly occurred on June 2.Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs has confirmed the investigation to Idaho s First News, but he says there will be no charges filed in the case until the police investigation is complete.Several unconfirmed reports concerning the case are circulating on social media. Both the Twin Falls Police Department and the prosecutor s office have declined to comment publicly on the case while it is still under investigation.WATCH HERE: | 1real |
Brazil Suspends Sales of Tear Gas to Venezuela amid Increasing Police Violence - Breitbart | The Brazilian government has suspended sales of tear gas to Venezuela amid increasing police violence, Reuters has reported. [In a move that will further isolate Venezuela’s socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro, Brazil’s Defense Ministry and Ministry of Foreign Relations reached the decision to halt sales after appeals from the country’s opposition. On Friday, the Brazilian Defense Ministry confirmed it had canceled a shipment of gas canisters in April intended for the Venezuelan military, produced by the weaponry company Condor Tecnologias although it did not provide a reason for the decision. Condor has since confirmed it still has two ongoing contracts with the Venezuelan military but would not discuss their status. The company, which has previously received criticism for arming the militaries of Turkey and Bahrain, claimed that it did not consider the political leanings of their customers and warned that blocking their exports could “have dramatic consequences, since there may be no alternative for security forces other than using firearms. ” However, sources close to the decision told Reuters that “the (Brazilian) government decided to accept the opposition’s request because there’s a massacre in Venezuela,” while another government official said that the exporting of any other crowd control equipment would also be suspended. “(Brazil) did absolutely the correct thing in denying permission for the shipment,” said opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who still serves as the governor of Miranda. “We’re working on the others, the only (holdout) seems to be China. ” Meanwhile, opposition politician Jorge Millán also celebrated the decision, confirming that leaders had made multiple requests to stop Brazil providing “tools for repression. ” “We discovered that there were advanced negotiations for the purchase of material in Brazil and made a specific complaint,” Millán told O Globo. The decision comes amidst increasing police and military violence across Venezuela, as protesters ratchet up the size and scale of their demonstrations calling for an election and as Maduro seeks to tighten his grip on power by rewriting the countries constitution. On Monday, Latin American leaders met for a summit in Cancun, Mexico, to discuss the escalating crisis, although they have yet to reach a consensus on the next steps to take. So far, an estimated 90 protesters have been killed since daily protests began in late March, as police use water cannons, rubber bullets, and smoke bombs to contain protesters. Images from inside the country have shown increasing police brutality. Last week, a boy was “run over and tortured” by an armored vehicle driven by the Venezuelan National Guard in the city of Mérida. An audio recording obtained by the Miami Herald revealed a military general suggesting that police should start using sniper rifles to contain the protests. As many as eight Latin American countries have now signed a letter condemning an “excessive use of force by Venezuelan authorities against civilians who are protesting government measures that affect democratic stability and cause the loss of human life. ” You can follow Ben Kew on Facebook, on Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart. com. | 0fake |
HILLARY LIES THROUGH HER TEETH: Defends Paying for Fake Trump Dossier During Campaign [video] | Hillary Clinton told Trevor Noah on the Daily Show that of course there is a difference between paying for that information and colluding with Russia to influence the 2016 election WHAT A LOAD OF BS! She s trying to say that it s a forgone conclusion that Trump colluded with Russia. Clinton said the dossier was simply opposition research and pointed to the fact that it was not public knowledge during the election MORE BS! THE DOSSIER WAS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE DURING THE ELECTION: The NYT even states that, The document, a dossier prepared by a former British intelligence officer hired by Mr. Trump s political opponents, had been circulating among high-ranking politicians and some journalists since last fall. Mother Jones, a left-leaning publication, published an article in late October about the existence of the information. Newsweek also published some of the allegations.It s what she doesn t say that s more important Tonight at 11/10c, Trevor and Hillary Clinton discuss the Steele dossier and Trump's ties to Russia. pic.twitter.com/dxJoAPTj8D The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) November 1, 2017What she didn t talk about is the fact that this dossier is totally fabricated and was never confirmed to be true but they shopped it around to the media anyway! She funneled millions into the payment for this dossier instead of using it for legal services . She faces an investigation from the Federal elections commission for misusing funds.Clinton said: It was research that started by a Republican donor during the primary, and then when Trump got the nomination for the Republican Party, the people doing it came to my campaign lawyer and said, would you like us to continue it? He said yes. He s an experienced lawyer, he knows what the law is, he knows what opposition research is.DIRTY DOSSIER:The dossier circulated in Washington last year and was turned over to the FBI for its review. It contends that Russia was engaged in a long-standing effort to aid Trump and had amassed compromising information about the Republican.Among its wild claims was that Russian officials have videos of the president cavorting with prostitutes, filmed during Trump s 2013 visit to a luxury Moscow hotel for the Miss Universe contest It also contains a highly unusual and unsubstantiated report that the call girls performed a golden shower routine that involved them urinating on a hotel bed as a sign of disgust for then-president Barack Obama.It is claimed that Barack Obama s campaign organization, Obama For America, paid Perkins Coie almost $1million to fund the research. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the disgraced former DNC chair, has also denied any knowledge of how the dossier was put together.Read more: Daily Mail | 1real |
South Korea's Moon says North Korean provocations complicate situation on Korean peninsula | VLADIVOSTOK, Russia (Reuters) - South Korean President Moon Jae-in told his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday that the situation on the Korean peninsula was complicated because of provocations by North Korea. The leaders met on the sidelines of an economic summit in the Russian far eastern city of Vladivostok as international concerns grow over Pyongyang s powerful nuclear test at the weekend. Moon added that the situation could become unpredictable if North Korea did not halt its provocative actions, according to a Russian translation of his comments in Korean to Putin. | 0fake |
For Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, a history of ambition fuels a possible 2016 collision | Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney have much in common. Both were pragmatic as governors, mild-mannered as candidates and more comfortable balancing budgets at their desks than clinking glasses at a political dinner.
The two Republican leaders’ personal rapport is cordial. But they are hardly chummy — and at moments their relationship has been strained, with each man’s intertwined political network carrying some grievances with the other’s.
As Bush, 61, and Romney, 67, explore presidential campaigns in 2016, they are like boxers warming up for what could become a brutal bout, sizing each other up and mulling whether or when to step into the ring.
Their early maneuvering reveals a level of competitiveness and snippiness that stems from a long history following similar career paths in business and politics prescribed by their dynastic families.
“We’re seeing the first shots of the war between clan Romney and clan Bush,” said Alex Castellanos, a Republican strategist who has worked for both men. “Both bring to the battle incredibly powerful fan clubs as well as wounds they have to heal. How ugly could it get? You’re only competing to lead the free world.”
Bush has been trying to consolidate support among establishment donors, leaders and operatives since announcing in December that he would begin laying the groundwork for a likely campaign.
“The Bush connection is a centrifugal force, and it’s drawing back a whole generation of public servants and politicos,” said former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, one of Romney’s 2012 opponents.
But on Friday, Romney sought to slam the brakes on Bush, telling about 30 powerful donors that he, too, was seriously considering a 2016 bid. “I want to be president,” he said, adding that his wife, Ann, was supportive.
Romney has begun methodically calling donors, staff members and endorsers from his two prior campaigns to measure how deep his reservoir of support would be if he runs for a third time, his advisers said. He also has scheduled a series of public speeches, including a Jan. 28 address at Mississippi State University.
The entry of both Bush and Romney is far from certain, and Romney’s dalliance is preliminary. But the prospect of two center-right heavyweights entering a 2016 field likely to be fluid, crowded and diverse forces other contenders and the party’s stable of donors to adjust their thinking.
“Awkward,” was the reaction from several past Romney supporters when they learned he was weighing a 2016 campaign. If both he and Bush run, they would occupy similar space as favorites of the party brass and business community.
“The abundance of great candidates developing on the Republican side is making life very tough for me because I’m going to have to choose amongst friends,” said former New Hampshire governor John H. Sununu, who was White House chief of staff under Bush’s father but a top campaign surrogate for Romney.
But, Sununu added, “it’s applesauce right now. Let’s not try to pick up applesauce and move it to the other side of the plate.”
The two candidates would invite comparisons to each other, which could be tense for Bush, who was sharply critical of Romney’s 2012 campaign — in particular, his lack of outreach to minorities — and has pledged to run a more inclusive and transparent campaign.
“A Romney-Bush race could end up being nastier than Jeb against someone like Ted Cruz or Rand Paul,” Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, said of the Texas and Kentucky senators. “A Cruz-Bush race is pretty straightforward and ideological. A Romney-Bush race would be more personal — about whose turn it is and who is owed it.”
Associates of both men insist there is no animosity between them and that each will make his decision about a 2016 run irrespective of the other.
“Governor Bush respects Governor Romney,” said Bush spokeswoman Kristy Campbell, who worked on Romney’s 2012 campaign. “His process moving forward won’t be impacted by Governor Romney’s decision to explore a run — and I would assume it is the same on the reverse side.”
Beth Myers, a longtime adviser to Romney, said he and Bush have been friends since 2002, when Romney was elected to his first term as Massachusetts governor and Bush to his second as Florida governor.
“Mitt has great respect for Jeb’s ability and integrity, and they’ve worked together many times over the years to promote conservative principles,” Myers said. “At the end of the day, whatever decision Mitt makes about running for president, I’m 100 percent certain he will still value and maintain his friendship with Jeb.”
Mitt and Ann Romney also have nurtured a friendship with Bush’s parents, former president George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara. In 2007, when Romney gave a personal speech on his Mormon faith, which had become a touchy issue with evangelical Christian voters, he did so at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Tex., where he was warmly introduced by the 41st president.
Working on Romney’s 2008 primary campaign were several Jeb Bush lieutenants: Sally Bradshaw, Bush’s longtime political adviser; Ann Herberger, a Miami-based fundraiser; and Al Cardenas, a fixture in Florida Republican politics. All three stayed out of Romney’s 2012 campaign, although Cardenas, then the chairman of the American Conservative Union, endorsed him as the primaries were ending.
The Bush-Romney family dynamic has been one of intrigue and ambition, dating at least to the 1950s, when Romney’s father, George Romney, then president of American Motors, was striving to make political connections as he eyed a run for office.
In 1957, Romney wrote a letter to Prescott Bush, Jeb’s grandfather then serving in the Senate from Connecticut, urging him to test-drive a Rambler or a Metropolitan. Both were popular AMC models, and Romney told Bush the latter got 40 miles to the gallon, according to car-industry historian Patrick R. Foster’s book “The Metropolitan Story.” But, Foster writes, it remains unknown whether the efforts resulted in a sale — or even if Romney’s solicitation drew any notice in Bush’s office.
In recent weeks, Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush have been quietly trying to ascertain the other’s motives and playbook. Bush has asked Romney’s former donors about what Romney is up to, while Romney met shortly before Christmas with Bush strategist Mike Murphy and inquired about Bush’s preparations, according to political consultants who know Romney and Bush.
Romney has said little publicly about Bush, but in exchanges with intimates, he has focused on Bush’s past advisory work for Lehman Brothers and Barclays, two major financial institutions. He argued that it makes Bush vulnerable to the same kind of Democratic attacks that he faced in 2012 over his career as Bain Capital co-founder and chief executive. He also has voiced doubts about Bush’s political skills and ability to beat likely Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Ana Navarro, a GOP operative and Bush confidant, said: “I’m not going to get worked up over comments Romney has allegedly made to donors behind closed doors — yet. We all know he sometimes misspeaks.”
Bush has vowed to more vigorously defend his business record than Romney did. Comparing their careers is like “comparing an apple to a peanut,” Bush said in a December interview with a Miami television station.
Those comments irritated Romney’s family and loyalists, who took them as a slight against his career managing a complicated enterprise on a scale far larger than Bush’s business dealings, according to Romney associates.
Bush also is considering releasing a decade or more of his tax returns after Romney faced heat for only reluctantly releasing two years of his returns. And Bush has advocated a more welcoming message on immigration reform than Romney’s hard-right position, which he criticized in 2012.
“He got sucked into other people’s agendas, and I think it hurt him a little bit,” Bush said in the TV interview. He added, “Winning with purpose, winning with meaning, winning with your integrity is what I’m trying to talk about.”
Before announcing his 2012 campaign, Romney, sensing that immigration policy would be a contentious issue in the primaries, sought Bush’s advice.
“I went to see Jeb, I flew down to see him, and said: ‘I’d like to take immigration off the issue list for the primaries. And wouldn’t it be great if Republicans could come up with an immigration plan that all of the contenders could say, yeah, I agree. And then we could sweep that aside,’ ” Romney told The Washington Post’s Dan Balz in an interview for his book “Collision 2012.”
“We were unable to get there,” Romney continued. “I mean, there just wasn’t enough consensus among Republicans generally.”
As Bush and Romney explore a run, whispering into their ears are two political professionals with big egos, eccentric personalities and a long-simmering rivalry: Romney’s Stuart Stevens and Bush’s Murphy. They are fierce competitors with roots in each other’s turf. Stevens worked on George W. Bush’s presidential campaigns, while Murphy worked on Romney’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign.
Members of Bush’s team have not forgotten Stevens’s role in Bush’s 1994 gubernatorial race, which became Bush’s lowest point politically. Stevens advised one of Bush’s primary opponents, Jim Smith, who waged a bruising TV ad assault against Bush over his business experience and character.
“This begins the destruction of Jeb Bush,” Stevens told the New York Times as the ads began. Bush won the primary, but he didn’t win the governorship until four years later.
During the 2012 campaign, Murphy mocked Stevens on Twitter as Romney struggled in the primaries against relatively weak opponents. More recently, Romney backers have been murmuring fresh questions about Murphy’s work for the political action committee of former New York mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), who is anathema to the conservative base.
Some Romney allies are bitter that Bush was slow to endorse Romney in 2012. In the run-up to the Florida primary, with Romney fighting to beat back a surge from Newt Gingrich, Bush sat on the sidelines when Romney’s team thought he could have made a difference. Romney called, e-mailed and met privately with Bush to try to win him over, but he could not be convinced.
“I voted absentee,” Bush said on CNN. “And thank God it’s a secret ballot.”
Romney won Florida nevertheless, and by the time Bush announced his endorsement, on March 21, the day after Romney’s decisive victory in the Illinois primary, the nomination was all but officially his.
Bush called Romney on his cellphone, with no tip-off from an emissary, and their talk was brief, according to aides. Back at headquarters, advisers were pleased by the news, but grumbling still, wondering why it had taken so long. | 0fake |
Sessions’s Potential Deputy Faces a Stern Test on Russia Inquiries - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — Known as a prosecutor, Rod J. Rosenstein was expected to sail through Senate confirmation to be the Justice Department’s . But that process has become enmeshed in the drama surrounding questions about President Trump’s campaign ties to Russia. Mr. Rosenstein faces the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as the president’s nominee for deputy attorney general. In that post, he would oversee investigations into Mr. Trump’s campaign and Russia, because Attorney General Jeff Sessions removed himself from any such cases after the disclosure last week that he had misled Congress about meeting twice with the Russian ambassador. Democrats who have otherwise expressed confidence in Mr. Rosenstein’s prosecutorial skills said they were skeptical that he — or anyone besides an independent outside counsel — would not be subject to political pressure while overseeing such an investigation. “Rosenstein has a good reputation as a career prosecutor, but this is going to test him, and I worry about the integrity of the Justice Department,” Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a Vermont Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a telephone interview Monday. Through his office, Mr. Rosenstein declined to comment. The F. B. I. which is overseen by the Justice Department, is known to have examined possible contacts between Russia and Trump advisers. The House Intelligence Committee has also opened an inquiry into whether Russia tried to influence the election. Mr. Rosenstein, who received his law degree from Harvard, is nothing if not a survivor after nearly 12 years as the United States attorney for Maryland under both Republican and Democratic presidents. He was one of only three United States attorneys appointed by the administration of President George W. Bush to be kept in the job by President Barack Obama in 2009 — and the only one to last all eight years of Mr. Obama’s administration. His supporters say he has been willing to take on politically charged cases throughout his career. Two decades ago, Mr. Rosenstein worked on Kenneth Starr’s independent counsel investigation into the Whitewater affair, earning three convictions related to President Bill Clinton’s business dealings in Arkansas. In a leak case last year, Mr. Rosenstein extracted a guilty plea from James E. “Hoss” Cartwright, a retired Marine general and a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. had asked Mr. Rosenstein and another prosecutor to handle the investigation after accusations the Obama administration was behind leaks related to a cyberattack and drone strikes. Just last week, Mr. Rosenstein announced the indictments of seven Baltimore police officers on conspiracy and racketeering charges. “He has a reputation for being a straight shooter who plays it right down the middle, and those are important qualities for a deputy attorney general,” said Matthew S. Axelrod, who was the top aide to former Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates and is now in private practice in Washington at the Linklaters law firm. Mr. Trump fired Ms. Yates as the acting attorney general five weeks ago after she refused to defend the initial version of his travel ban in court because she said she was uncertain it was legal. Mr. Leahy, the Vermont senator, said that her firing made the debate over Mr. Rosenstein’s nomination even more important, with “that kind of precedent” hanging over him. Douglas F. Gansler, a former Maryland attorney general, said on Monday, “Rod is about as apolitical a person as you can imagine, which is why he could survive eight years in a Democratic administration after being named by a Republican. ” “Would he stand up to the political winds of President Trump?” he said. “I’d think yes. ” The Justice Department said Monday that if Mr. Rosenstein was confirmed, he would oversee any investigations related not only to the Trump campaign, but also to the president’s transition after the Nov. 8 election. In announcing on Thursday that he would remove himself from such a case, Mr. Sessions had left open the possibility that he might still oversee matters related to the transition period. But in a letter to leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee late on Monday, he said that his recusal “would include any such matters,” as well. That question is important because Michael T. Flynn, who served as Mr. Trump’s national security adviser for less than a month, admitted that he had contacts with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, during the transition. Some Democrats have said that those contacts — which helped force Mr. Flynn’s resignation — might have been illegal. Mr. Sessions also spoke at least twice with Mr. Kislyak: once at the Republican National Convention in July, and again at his Senate office in September, two months before the election. When asked at his confirmation hearing in January about a news article about contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian officials, Mr. Sessions responded, “I didn’t have, did not have communications with the Russians. ” Democrats accused him of lying to the committee by not disclosing his conversations with the ambassador, and they called for the Justice Department to open a perjury investigation. In his letter on Monday, Mr. Sessions said that “my answer was correct,” because he said his conversations with the ambassador were not political in nature. In answering the question, Mr. Sessions wrote, “I did not mention communications I had had with the Russian ambassador over the years, because the question did not ask about them. ” Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who leads the Judiciary Committee, said he was satisfied with the attorney general’s explanation. “I appreciate Attorney General Sessions’s quick action to clear up confusion about his statement,” Mr. Grassley said Monday. | 0fake |
North Carolina 'bathroom bill' replacement could doom similar bills in other states | AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - North Carolina’s replacement on Thursday of a law prohibiting transgender people from using restrooms in accordance with their gender identity could be the death knell for similar restrictions still being considered in about a dozen other states. Measures similar to North Carolina’s House Bill 2, the so-called bathroom bill, were filed in 16 states this legislative session. Momentum had already slowed for most of the bills and some of them had failed. “Republicans in the state that was in vanguard, North Carolina, are now signaling that this legislation was not, in the end, in the best interest for their state, either for its economy or its reputation,” said Mark Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University in Houston. North Carolina lawmakers said they acted to replace the law in hopes of ending boycotts by businesses and sports leagues that considered the year-old measure discriminatory. The boycotts cost the Southern state’s economy hundreds of millions of dollars. Supporters of the restrictions have said the measures offer common-sense solutions that will help keep sexual predators out of bathrooms and changing facilities. Opponents say the measures are unenforceable and promote discrimination against an already marginalized group of people. None of the states that proposed similar legislation this session has enacted a version into law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks statehouses. Proposals introduced in South Dakota, Virginia, Montana and Wyoming failed to pass, according to the organization and news reports. In Tennessee, a bathroom bill died in a Senate committee without a debate. The state’s Republican lieutenant governor questioned the need after Republican President Donald Trump’s administration in February revoked the former Obama administration’s landmark guidance to public schools letting transgender students use the bathrooms of their choice. On Wednesday, Arkansas state Senator Linda Collins-Smith, a Republican, withdrew the bathroom bill she had proposed in that state. She instead recommended the issue for study in committee after facing pressure from the state’s pro-business governor and business groups to drop it. After North Carolina, a similar measure proposed in Texas, the most populous Republican-controlled state, has drawn the closest attention. It has already cleared the Texas Senate and moved further than the similar legislation proposed this session in the other states, the National Conference of State Legislatures said. A key backer of Texas’ bathroom measure that restricts bathroom access for transgender people and is known as Senate Bill 6, was undeterred by North Carolina’s change of course. “The actions in North Carolina do not affect what we have done in Texas,” Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said in a statement. He previously said the law would have no economic impact on the state. But the Republican speaker of the Texas House of Representatives said last week the bill would face a tough time in that chamber because of worries over economic fallout. Alabama Republican state Senator Phil Williams said North Carolina’s action would not affect similar restrictions he proposed for his state. Bathroom bills will remain on the legislative landscape this year in many states, analysts said. “There are people for whom this is part of their constituency and their agenda and they campaigned on it,” said Sherri Greenberg, a clinical professor at the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. | 0fake |
WATCH: Republican Rep Tells Poor Americans To Use Emergency Room As Their Healthcare ‘Coverage’ | Can somebody tell this piece of shit congressman that the emergency room is is NOT healthcare coverage?On Tuesday, GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz told low-income Americans that if they want healthcare they should stop buying iPhones, even though an iPhone is ten times cheaper per year than the average health insurance premium. You know what, Americans have choices, and they ve got to make a choice, Chaffetz said. And so maybe, rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and want to go spend hundreds of dollars on, maybe they should invest in their own health care. A monthly payment plan for an iPhone is under $30 while health insurance costs over $200 a month. Far more than millions of Americans can afford, even if they didn t buy an iPhone. In fact, it would take approximately ten months to save up for just one month of health insurance coverage.And now another Republican lawmaker has an idea that is just as asinine and just as heartless, and it s one of the reasons why the Affordable Care Act was passed in the first place.Emergency room care has bankrupted many Americans over the years. That s because many people can t afford health insurance to pay for check-ups and annual physicals or get preventive care. So minor health issues become emergency health crises. The average price of a single emergency room visit is $2,168. And that means such visits can cost more than that, even if all you have is indigestion that causes chest pains.These costs can cripple people financially, and that s why the Affordable Care Act was passed, so that low income Americans would finally have access to affordable health insurance they can use to visit their doctors regularly.Republicans like North Carolina Rep. Mark Meadows, however, think emergency room care is perfect coverage.First, Meadows told CNN host Alisyn Camerota that he agrees with Chaffetz s remark about iPhones. Well, they re already making choices now for those kind of things, Meadows said. I ve talked to a number of people having to make choices between, you know, do they put food on the table or pay for the health care? Right, so repealing the Affordable Care Act would mean millions of Americans would have to once again choose between feeding themselves and their families or paying for healthcare.Then Meadows spewed a bunch of bullshit about how Republicans are going to cover more people at less cost. We re all in to help to make sure we get more people covered at less cost. And so that s a choice that I don t want any American to make. I certainly don t want my family to make. As we look at that health care coverage, and certainly health care in general, it s something we need to make sure it s something everybody has access to. Again, by repealing the Affordable Care Act, Republicans are stripping 30 million Americans of their healthcare and will actually make healthcare costs skyrocket after the law slowed down the rising costs by reducing the number of emergency room bills that hospitals usually have to eat because patients can t afford to pay.Furthermore, Meadows went on to claim that emergency room care is the same as having health insurance. Well, we ve got 318 million people. The goal is to allow access to all. There s a federal law right now that if you show up at a hospital, you get coverage, Alisyn. And so, it s a false narrative to suggest we have people who can t go in and get coverage. It s a federal law. Here s the video via YouTube:That law is there to guarantee that anyone who needs emergency care will not be turned away. It s not meant as an umbrella insurance coverage program and could never actually be one.If Republicans seriously believe the emergency room is a suitable substitute for universal healthcare then it is clear they don t care about the health of the American people at all.It should also be pointed out that Meadows and his family do not have to worry about choosing between food and healthcare because his healthcare is covered by the government and paid for by taxpayers.Basically, Republicans think it s okay for them to have government-provided healthcare, but everyone else should be forced to rely on overcrowded emergency rooms. It s time to change that, and we can start by taking healthcare away from Republicans like Meadows. Because if America can t have universal healthcare paid for by the government, our elected officials shouldn t get it either.Featured image via sreenshot | 1real |
NYT Mag: Silicon Valley Has Been ‘Transformed’ into ‘Center of Anti-Trump Resistance’ - Breitbart | The New York Times Magazine recently ran a story declaring Silicon Valley to be the “center of resistance. ”[The article, written by Farhad Manjoo, is titled “Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?” and poses the question: “Mark Zuckerberg now acknowledges the dangerous side of the social revolution he helped start. But is the most powerful tool for connection in human history capable of adapting to the world it created?” The article discusses the mood in Silicon Valley days before Donald Trump’s inauguration, describing the general mood as “grim. ” But Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was reportedly quite positive about the future, describing 2016 as an “interesting year for us [Facebook]. ” The article later describes Silicon Valley’s detachment from real world events, saying, “In Silicon Valley, current events tend to fade into the background. The Sept. 11 attacks, the Iraq war, the financial crisis and every recent presidential election occurred, for the tech industry, on some parallel but distant timeline divorced from the everyday business of digitizing the world. ” But the election of Donald Trump caused many in Silicon Valley to suddenly take notice of the political world, “Then Donald Trump won. In the 17 years I’ve spent covering Silicon Valley, I’ve never seen anything shake the place like his victory,” Manjoo writes. “In the span of a few months, the Valley has been transformed from a politically disengaged company town into a center of resistance and fear. ” “A week after the election, one founder sent me a private message on Twitter: ‘I think it’s worse than I thought,’ he wrote. ‘Originally I thought 18 months. I’ve cut that in half,’” Manjoo recalls. “Until what? ‘Apocalypse. End of the world. ’” The description of Silicon Valley as the “center of resistance” is unsurprising, Google employees and executives previously held rallies at Google offices across the United States in protest of President Trump’s temporary travel halt from nations associated with terrorism. yo Breitbart, stop being racist, sexist, and xenophobic. #NoBanNoWall, A post shared by JLR II (@jimmyramirez) on Jan 30, 2017 at 7:13pm PST, Google CEO Sunar Pichai spoke to the crowd about the difficulties that the company faces when attempting to deal with visa complications that many of their foreign employees encountered. “Every step, I felt the support of 65, 000 people behind me,” he said. “There are some values that you should never be compromising on, we need to stand together. The fight will continue. ” In documents released by WikiLeaks, Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google parent company Alphabet, expressed interest in acting as “head outside advisor” to the Clinton campaign during the presidential election. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange previously characterized Google as “directly engaged” in the campaign. Specifically, Assange claimed, “The chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt, set up a company to run the digital component of Hillary Clinton’s campaign. ” Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart. com | 0fake |
At Carnegie Deli in Manhattan, Just 3 Months of Pastramis to Go - The New York Times | Live in New York long enough and you will lose somewhere you love. Good things die here. It’s what keeps the place alive. But every now and then a big one goes, as it did on Friday morning, when the owner of the Carnegie Deli suddenly announced that the Manhattan sandwich place would be shutting down at the end of the year. The famous Jewish restaurant on Seventh Avenue and 55th Street, down the block from Carnegie Hall, has been putting out cardiologically perilous fare since 1937. When it closes its doors on Dec. 31, the city will lose not only an irreplaceably iconic pastrami sandwich, but also a small piece of itself. News of the restaurant’s demise emerged at 7 a. m. on Friday when, at a meeting in the dining room, the owner, Marian Harper, told about 25 employees that she could no longer bear the stressful challenges of restaurant life. “The restaurant business is one of the hardest jobs in New York City,” Ms. Harper later said in a formal statement issued by her publicist. “At this stage in my life, the early morning to late night days have taken a toll, along with my sleepless nights and grueling hours. ” The shock waves quickly followed. Eater, the culinary website, reported on the closing with a mournful article with the headline: “Pastrami Bombshell. ” Twitter was full of photographs of deli meat and melancholy posts: “How’s a Jew like me supposed to suffer a heart attack at age 37 in this city anymore? !” And “It’s pastrami on cry. ” The restaurant had seen its share of turmoil in the last few years. In April 2015, it was closed for almost 10 months by Consolidated Edison, which was investigating its misappropriation of natural gas, an impropriety that the utility said had gone on for six years and resulted in a backdated bill of more than $40, 000. One year earlier, Ms. Harper and her husband of 22 years, Sandy Levine, went through a contentious divorce. According to her spokeswoman, Ms. Harper, 65, would not go quietly into retirement, but rather planned to devote herself — as awful as it sounds — to “licensing the iconic Carnegie Deli brand” by selling a line of wholesale products. Though the flagship restaurant would soon go the way of New York institutions such as Elaine’s and CBGB, satellite Carnegies would remain in operation at Madison Square Garden, the Mirage Hotel Casino in Las Vegas and the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pa. the spokeswoman said. The somewhat catty truth about the Carnegie Deli is that it is one of those New York destinations that actual New Yorkers visit once or twice and then frequently decide they have had enough of. Its 64 seats are usually filled with tourists. This was proved true by a quick poll of the people standing in line outside the restaurant on Friday afternoon. When asked where they were from, they provided a long list of locations that were not New York: Arkansas, Louisiana, Arizona, San Francisco, Miami, Dallas, Switzerland. “We came up on a bus trip from Baltimore, and I read the place was shutting down on my iPhone,” said Ruthann Smith, a retired high school teacher who was enjoying the pastrami with her husband, Dennis, a former financier. “We were trying to figure out where to go for lunch and I said, ‘We better go to the Carnegie Deli while we still have a chance. ’” With its linoleum floors and animal protein odors, the Carnegie Deli was never fine dining, but the seedy lighting and eclectic checkerboard of celebrity photos (from the quarterback Y. A. Tittle to the Fonz, Henry Winkler) gave the place a homey sort of charm. “I served Denzel Washington and James Brown and Bill Clinton,” said Desmarine Redwood, who has worked there as a waitress for 26 years. “It gave me peace of mind. I loved working at this place. I’m going to miss it. ” Once the deli closes, devotees of the sandwich will begin their hunt for other options — perhaps like the one at Katz’s on the Lower East Side. That, at least, was a possibility for Otis Allen, a credit manager and one of the few New Yorkers having lunch at the Carnegie on Friday. “I’ll miss the place — I’ve been coming here for years,” Mr. Allen said. “I haven’t figured out yet where my next place will be. ” | 0fake |
Breaking: We Have Proof That Hillary Clinton Rigged Half the Voting Machines In America! | This is really, really bad guys. Hillary Clinton has found a guaranteed way to rig the vote, and America is completely clueless.
Via AlternativeNews
Now, we at Liberty Writers have come across indisputable proof that Dominion Voting Systems, the biggest voting machine owner in the US, has been rigged by Hillary Clinton!
Scroll Down For Video Below! So let’s start off with a little fact from Wikipedia. Back in 2010, just in time to help Obama get elected again, Dominion Voting Machines bought out the right to own the machines in 22 different states.
The same company has also been caught red-handed donating enough money to the Clinton Foundation to make it to the top of their online donor list. Just take a look at the Clinton Foundation’s website itself.
Wow. That is just such a strange coincidence, don’t you think? Right around the same time Hillary Clinton was deciding to retire as Secretary of State and focus on her campaign, this company bought out half the voting machines in the country.
And if that is not bad enough, one of the top owners of Dominion Voting is none other than the king of corruption himself, George Soros. So if you think this is as important of information as I do, then share this out immediately! Time is of the essence…
| 1real |
OH MY! ANOTHER GIANT FLY Lands On Hillary Clinton’s Face Mid-Speech [Video] | 1real | |
Former CIA Director Blames Millennials For WikiLeaks Documents - Breitbart | Michael Hayden, the former director of the CIA, has claimed that millennials are more likely to leak information due to “cultural differences. ”[Speaking to the BBC following the publishing of WikiLeaks Vault 7 documents, former CIA director Michael Hayden stated that he believes millennials employed by the American security services are likely to leak classified information due to “cultural differences. ” “I don’t mean to judge them at all, but this group of millennials and related groups simply have different understandings of the words loyalty, secrecy, and transparency than certainly my generation did,” said Hayden speaking to the BBC. “So we bring these folks into the agency — good Americans, all, I assume — but culturally they have different instincts than the people who made the decision to hire them. ” Hayden continued, “We may be running into this different cultural approach that we saw with Chelsea Manning, with Edward Snowden and now, perhaps, with a third actor. ” Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart. com | 0fake |
Politico Tries to Destroy Trump, But It Backfires IMMEDIATELY | You are here: Home / US / Politico Tries to Destroy Trump, But It Backfires IMMEDIATELY Politico Tries to Destroy Trump, But It Backfires IMMEDIATELY October 28, 2016
Sometimes you want so desperately for something to be true, you print it in an article and dispense it for public viewing.
Wait. That’s not a saying at all. Hmmm…
Well, that is what Politico must think and that’s certainly what they did.
You wonder why we can’t trust liberal news media …
According to The Blaze :
Politico ran a story Thursday night that suggested that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s “Trump Victory” fund had transferred no money to the Republican National Committee in the month of October. The actual truth is that Trump has transferred about $2.2 million so far this month, along with several hundred thousand dollars to various state committees. It is not clear what caused the error, but Politico’s site now reads:
This story has been corrected. An earlier version said the RNC did not receive any money directly from Trump Victory. POLITICO regrets the error.
Of course, even that “small” amount of money would seem shocking to Politico considering their candidate of choice flies around the world in a Boeing on charitable donations, kowtows to the wealthy for donations to the slush-fund, and only wears the finest of all pantsuits.
Trump’s funds may be small because, unlike the Hillz, he is not a part of the political establishment.
Although the donations are “anemic” this year, and come nowhere near the monstrous amount of dollars the Clintons are using to dupe Americans into standing with her, Donald Trump has a real chance at winning this election.
Despite the attempts by the liberal media to silence real stories of Clinton corruption, despite the smoke and mirrors the Clinton campaign created to make Trump look like a monster, he’s still in the fight.
Let’s take a lesson from Politico and continue to raise suspicions over liberal media sources.
It is pretty bad that a press is so incredibly desperate to cast Trump in a poor light that they resort to flat out lies.
Silly Politico , that’s what Hillary does! | 1real |
BUSTED: The IRS Finally Just Yanked A Trump-Supporting Nazi Group’s Non-Profit Status | It s time for the IRS to end non-profit status for all conservative organizations.But at least they did the right thing by taking away the non-profit status of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist organization run by obnoxious Trump Nazi Richard Spencer.For years, the Nazi organization got away with being classified as a non-profit. You know, because the IRS apparently doesn t vet these organizations to make sure they legitimately should get such status.That s why conservatives have created a ton of non-profits over the years. It s a Trump-like scam designed to fleece people of their money and not pay taxes on it.But Spencer s little scheme got busted for failing to file tax returns for more the three years starting after 2012.According to the Los Angeles Times,The IRS had apparently misclassified the National Policy Institute and publicly listed the group as not being required to file such forms. The IRS fixed the error in February, and on Monday it updated its records to say that the National Policy Institute s tax-exempt status had been stripped retroactively as of May 15, 2016, when the group s 2015 tax return would have been due.Of course, Spencer is trying to pin the blame on the IRS instead of taking personal responsibility.On Monday, Spencer said an IRS error led him to believe his group was not required to file federal tax returns, and said he would appeal the loss of his tax-exempt status. I don t know what to say. I don t want to make a comment because I don t understand this stuff, Spencer said in a telephone interview. It s a bit embarrassing, but it s not good. We ll figure it out. Tax experts, however, countered Spencer s bullshit by pointing out that ignorance of the tax code is not an acceptable excuse.They should have known that they should have been filing, said Philip T. Hackney, a law professor at Louisiana State University who formerly worked for the IRS, specializing in nonprofits. It s very clear under the law that if you don t file for three years, you lose your status. Chuck McLean, a senior research fellow at Guidestar, a site that monitors and publishes records of nonprofits, agreed. Ignorance is no excuse, McLean said.But the National Policy Institute should also lose non-profit status because the organization openly endorsed Donald Trump. Non-profits are barred by federal law from supporting political candidates.At one event held in November, Spencer received Nazi salutes after telling the crowd Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory! If anything, Nazis should be punched in the United States, not given non-profit status so they can spread their evil agenda.Featured Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images | 1real |
Keith Olbermann Begs Foreign Intel Agencies To Save Us From Trump (VIDEO) | Keith Olbermann has been speaking out against Donald Trump for months via his show on GQ, The Resistance. He has continuously warned us about how dangerous this man is to our democracy. But on Thursday, he did something that was both unexpected and yet arguably necessary at this point: He pleaded with foreign intelligence agencies from around the world to help save the citizens of the U.S. from this coup by releasing any damning information they may have on the Trump administration.Olbermann begged these intel agencies, from all across the globe, to make the information they are rumored to have available to the American public. He urged them not to wait, to act now. Give the information to a reporter, leak it, put it on the internet, leave it outside someone s back door, he pleaded in desperation.Trump has fired the man investigating him, crippling our own intelligence agencies in the process, Olbermann continued. American citizens have lost their democracy as a result of this coup, and Republicans, the very people who have the power to stop him today, are choosing to do nothing. In a last ditch effort to save the U.S. from Trump, Olbermann has turned to the only people left that can help us: the intelligence agencies of other countries.Whether or not Olbermann s call to action will move someone to release damaging information remains to be seen. In the meantime, we can only cross our fingers and wait.You can watch Olbermann s passionate plea here:NEW: I appeal to the Intel Agencies of the world. Trump has enacted a coup here. We need what you have on him pic.twitter.com/E0KbP8TUul Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 12, 2017Featured image via viceo screen capture | 1real |
DeBlasio: OK to Shield Illegal Alien DUIs from Deportation | New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio told CNN that he approves of the idea of shielding from deportation any illegal alien arrested for drunk driving. [During an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, host Jake Tapper pointed out to Mayor DeBlasio that the City of New York refuses to cooperate with the federal government to deport illegal aliens who have been convicted of drunk driving and grand larceny. Tapper went on to ask why the city is so quick to shield such dangerous criminals from deportation. Tapper also asked DeBlasio for a response to the recent order President Donald Trump signed stating that federal grant money will be stripped “from the sanctuary states and cities that harbor illegal immigrants. ” DeBlasio decried the move and insisted he opposes “tearing families apart” over a “small offense” such as drunk driving. DeBlasio claimed these “small” crimes don’t merit deportation, but for “any serious and violent crime, we’re going to work with” the federal government. Still, DeBlasio claimed that drunk driving could easily be seen as a lesser offense. “Drunk driving that does not lead to any other negative outcome, I could define as that,” DeBlasio said before going on to say, “Someone commits a minor offense … let’s say someone went through a stop sign, they could be deported for that and their family could be torn apart and you could have children left behind where the breadwinner in the family is sent back to a home country, that is not good for anyone. ” Of course, if someone is picked up and scheduled for deportation after being detained during a traffic stop, it isn’t the running of a stop sign that gets him deported it’s being in the country illegally. Drunk driving is not generally seen as a “small offense. ” Nearly 10, 000 Americans are killed by drunk drivers every year, according to The Hill newspaper. Indeed, for years many activists have criticized what they feel are chronically lax drunk driving laws in many states in the U. S. Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail. com. | 0fake |
Russia Finds No Signs of Explosion in Black Sea Plane Crash - The New York Times | MOSCOW — Russian investigators said on Thursday that they had found no evidence that an explosion occurred aboard a Russian military plane that crashed into the Black Sea, killing all 92 passengers and crew, but that they had not ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack. “It was obvious that the equipment worked abnormally,” the Russian transportation minister, Maxim Sokolov said, adding that it would be “up to experts to find out” why that happened. The plane crashed Sunday en route to Syria after a refueling stop in the Russian resort city of Sochi. In the aftermath, the Russian authorities stressed that they believed it was unlikely that an attack had brought down the jet, a Tupolev 154, but they made clear at the news conference on Thursday that they were leaving open the possibility. “We have come to conclusion that there was no explosion on board,” said Lt. Gen. Sergei D. Bainetov, the leader of the investigation. “Apart from an explosion on board, there could be some mechanical impact of any kind. A terrorist act is not necessarily connected with an explosion. ” Both flight data recorders have been recovered, and General Bainetov said it would take at least a month to draw final conclusions about what caused the crash. Although General Bainetov said the data had revealed “no obvious technical failures,” he said the military’s use of the Tupolev 154 — a workhorse of the Soviet air transportation system that has been phased out by most civilian airlines but which is still used by government agencies — had been suspended until the investigation was completed. The plane was carrying performers and staff members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, a famed orchestra and choir known for renditions of classical Russian songs and folk tunes. The performers on the plane were scheduled to appear at a celebratory concert for Russian service members at the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. Nine journalists were also on board, as was Yelizaveta P. Glinka, a prominent philanthropist and aid worker. President Vladimir V. Putin sent army troops, but mostly aircraft, to Syria, contending that Russia needed to address the terrorist threat before it arrived in his country, but it is widely believed that his primary goal was to keep President Bashar a top ally, in power. On Thursday, Mr. Putin announced that the Syrian government had reached a agreement with rebels. At the news conference in Moscow, General Bainetov said that the plane began its descent into the Black Sea after reaching an altitude of 820 feet, traveling at 230 miles per hour. The plane crashed into the water just 70 seconds after takeoff, and the emergency “situation” lasted only 10 seconds. Mr. Sokolov, the transportation minister, said that the plane fell apart after hitting the water and the seabed. The search operation was mostly concluded, he said. Nineteen bodies and 230 human fragments were lifted from the sea, as were 13 big, and almost 2, 000 small, parts of the plane. One of the dead has been identified and buried at a military cemetery near Moscow. Others will be identified with the help of genetic analysis, officials said. | 0fake |
A Catholic Reader Writes In Defense of “Nativism”–Contra Catholic Bishops And Their Immigration Fantasy | 1real | |
Jared Kushner’s Excuse For The Russian Meeting Would Get Most People Fired | Imagine your boss or a client sends you an email informing you of a meeting. What do you do? Do you read the entire email so you ll be prepared or do just guess and wing it? You d probably read the email so you re prepared. Jared Kushner, though, who is supposedly a very successful businessman, apparently just wings it at least according to his defense in regards to the Russian meetings.Kushner wasn t the original recipients of the emails that arranged the meeting at Trump tower with the very clear agenda of getting dirt on Hillary Clinton, but he was forwarded the emails. Now a source is saying he didn t read the part about the Russians, despite the fact that the subject line read: Re: Russia Clinton private and confidential. In the emails, the contact, a former tabloid reporter called Rob Goldstone, said the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was a Russian government attorney who could provide very high level and sensitive information as part of Russia and its government s support for Mr Trump. But a source close to the situation told BuzzFeed that Mr Kushner did not read to the bottom of the email, missing out key words like Russian government and therefore did not realise what the meeting was about.Source: IndependentOh, and the defense gets worse. According to the source, Kushner only attended the meeting to talk about Russian adoptions. There was no mention of Russian adoptions at all in the email chain.Not coincidentally, Donald Trump s campaign manager at the time, Paul Manafort, also claimed that he was innocent because he didn t read the whole thing.What makes it even more difficult to believe Kushner is that he s already proven himself a consummate liar. He lied on his security clearance application, which is a federal crime.Featured image via Pool/Getty Images | 1real |
China, South Korea agree to mend ties after THAAD standoff | SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - Seoul and Beijing on Tuesday agreed to move beyond a year-long stand-off over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea, a dispute that has been devastating to South Korean businesses that rely on Chinese consumers. The unexpected detente comes just days before U.S. President Donald Trump begins a trip to Asia, where the North Korean nuclear crisis will take center stage, and helped propel South Korean stocks to a record high. The installation of the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system had angered China, with South Korea s tourism, cosmetics and entertainment industries bearing the brunt of a Chinese backlash, although Beijing has never specifically linked that to the THAAD deployment. Beijing worries the THAAD system s powerful radar can penetrate into Chinese territory. Both sides shared the view that the strengthening of exchange and cooperation between Korea and China serves their common interests and agreed to expeditiously bring exchange and cooperation in all areas back on a normal development track, South Korea s foreign ministry said in a statement. Before the THAAD dispute, bilateral relations flourished, despite Beijing s historic alliance with North Korea and Seoul s close ties with Washington, which includes hosting 28,500 U.S. troops. China is South Korea s biggest trading partner. At this critical moment all stakeholders should be working together to address the North Korea nuclear challenge instead of creating problems for others, said Wang Dong, associate professor of international studies at China s Peking University. This sends a very positive signal that Beijing and Seoul are determined to improve their relations. As part of the agreement, South Korean President Moon Jae-in will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries in Vietnam on Nov. 10-11. South Korea recognized China s concerns over THAAD and made it clear the deployment was not aimed at any third country and did not harm China s strategic security interests, China s foreign ministry said. China reiterated its opposition to the deployment of THAAD, but noted South Korea s position and hoped South Korea could appropriately handle the issue, it added. China s position on the THAAD issue is clear, consistent and has not changed, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily briefing in Beijing. The thaw is a big relief for South Korean tourism and retail firms as well as K-pop stars and makers of films and soap operas, which had found themselves unofficially unwelcome in China over the past year. In South Korea, a halving of inbound Chinese tourists in the first nine months of the year cost the economy $6.5 billion in lost revenue based on the average spending of Chinese visitors in 2016, data from the Korea Tourism Organization shows. The spat knocked about 0.4 percentage points off this year s expected economic growth, according to the Bank of Korea, which now forecasts an expansion of 3 percent. The sprawling Lotte Group, which provided the land where the THAAD battery was installed and is a major operator of hotels and duty free stores, has been hardest hit. It faces a costly overhaul and is expected to sell its Chinese hypermarket stores for a fraction of what it invested. A spokesman for holding company Lotte Corp expressed hope that South Korean firms activity in China would improve following the announcement. An official at Seoul s presidential Blue House, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the matter, said improvements for South Korean companies would come slowly. Shares in South Korean tourism and retail companies rallied nonetheless, with Asiana Airlines gaining 3.6 percent and Lotte Shopping up 7.14 percent. The benchmark Kospi index hit a record for a third straight day, gaining 0.9 percent. China has grown increasingly angry with North Korea s ongoing pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles in defiance of United Nations sanctions, even as it chafes at U.S. pressure to rein in its isolated ally. The recent deterioration in ties between China and North Korea may have contributed to Tuesday s agreement, the Blue House official said. Pyongyang has undertaken an unprecedented missile testing program in recent months, as well as its biggest nuclear test yet in early September, as it seeks to develop a powerful nuclear weapon capable of reaching the United States. The head of NATO on Tuesday urged all United Nations members to fully and transparently implement sanctions against North Korea. North Korea s ballistic and nuclear tests are an affront to the United Nations Security Council, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Tokyo, where he met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Separately, a South Korean lawmaker said North Korea probably stole South Korean warship blueprints after hacking into a local shipbuilder s database last April. Expectations had been growing for a warming in the frosty bilateral ties following this month s conclave of China s Communist Party, during which Xi cemented his status as China s most powerful leader after Mao Zedong. Earlier this month, South Korea and China agreed to renew a $56 billion currency swap agreement, while Chinese airlines are reportedly planning to restore flight routes to South Korea that had been cut during the spat. Tuesday s agreement came after high-level talks led by Nam Gwan-pyo, deputy director of national security of the Blue House, and Kong Xuanyou, assistant foreign minister of China and the country s special envoy for North Korea-related matters. | 0fake |
Ted Cruz Lies About Tithing In Interview With Christian Journalist (VIDEO) | The Book of Leviticus is often cited by conservative Christians as examples of biblical law the nation must obey. Ted Cruz, however, doesn t practice what he preaches.According to Leviticus 19:11: Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. But that is exactly what the Texas Tea Party Senator did during a face to face interview with David Brody on the Christian Broadcasting Network.The interview addressed Cruz s past failure to tithe, an obligation important to the evangelical community in which Christians are required to give at least ten percent of their income to the church as set by the Bible. It s especially important to the pastors in the movement who need those hard-earned dollars to enrich themselves.And if Cruz wants the support of evangelical voters, you would think he would be honest and explain himself satisfactorily, or at the very least, beg for forgiveness. But not only did Cruz tell a fabricated story to cover his ass, he did so right in the face of a Christian journalist and all the Christians watching. Listen on the question of tithing, all of us are on a faith journey, and I will readily admit that I have not been as faithful in this aspect of my walk as I should have been, Cruz said. That article focuses on ten years ago. We don t have the ability to go back and change what occurred ten years ago when Heidi and I were newly married and we d just started a family. But at the end of the day, being a Christian is not about holding yourself out as righteous. It s about beginning with the understanding that we are flawed sinners and we are saved not by deeds but by Christ s redemption. I am grateful that God is a patient and forgiving God and this area, as in many areas of my life I am working to do a better job walking in my faith. Here s the video via CBN.Mediaite s Tommy Christopher, who grew up in a fundamentalist household, fact-checked Cruz s story and discovered that it is nothing more than a tall tale.The story he references, first of all, doesn t focus on ten years ago, it covers Ted s tax returns for a five-year period that ended five years ago. From 2006 to 2010, Ted Cruz made $5,064,248.00 and gave $44,000.00 to charity. That s 0.86% of his income, or about 8.6% of a tithe. In 2006, when Cruz made only $350 grand, he and Heidi weren t newly married, they d been married for five years, and they weren t starting a family, they didn t have kids until 2008.In other words, the story Ted Cruz gave about he and his wife being something of a struggling couple with mouths to feed is bullshit. He made more money in five years than most Americans do in a lifetime, yet he couldn t be bothered to share his wealth with the church community he has been aggressively pandering to over the years. If Cruz had followed the general rule, his tithing would have totaled $500,000 over those five years.Once again, Ted Cruz gets caught being a liar and a total hypocrite.Featured Image: Nation of Change | 1real |
Second Powerful Earthquake Strikes Japan - The New York Times | TOKYO — A powerful earthquake and multiple aftershocks rattled the southwestern Japanese island of Kyushu on Saturday, killing at least 23 people, according to media reports, two days after another strong quake killed nine people on the same island. The largest of the new earthquakes had a magnitude of 7. 0, according to the United States Geological Survey, making it even more powerful than the .2 quake on Thursday night. The Japan Meteorological Agency assessed the new quake at magnitude 7. 3. Saturday’s quake, which struck just before 1:30 a. m. toppled houses and apartment buildings, buckled roads and caused numerous landslides. Aftershocks shook the area throughout Saturday, more than 70 of them strong enough to cause damage to buildings, the Meteorological Agency reported. NHK, the national public broadcaster, said 23 deaths were confirmed Saturday as a result of the quake and the aftershocks, bringing the toll since Thursday to 32. Most of those killed were elderly some were trapped under collapsed buildings, while several died in fires and landslides in the mountainous region. Yoshihide Suga, the government’s chief cabinet secretary, said rescue units were working to free people from more than 50 collapsed buildings. About 900 people were treated for injuries, NHK reported. Thousands fled their homes and spent the night outdoors or in temporary shelters. Power failures left about 160, 000 homes without electricity, the news media reported, citing local electric utilities. About 90, 000 people had left their homes for shelters by Saturday evening, the authorities said. Television footage showed dark smoke rising from Mount Aso, a large volcano about 20 miles east of the town of Mashiki, where the epicenters of the strongest of the recent quakes have been clustered. Earthquakes and volcanic activity are closely associated, but the authorities said the eruption at Mount Aso, the biggest active volcano in Japan, was minor and did not pose an immediate threat. Sections of a stone wall, centuries old, around Kumamoto Castle collapsed into the castle’s moat on Saturday morning. The castle had already sustained damage in the earthquake on Thursday. Several buildings at Aso Shrine, an ancient Shinto shrine on the north slope of Mount Aso that is considered a national treasure, also collapsed. The Meteorological Agency classified the quake that set the disaster in motion on Thursday as a “foreshock” of the even larger one on Saturday. It warned that strong earthquakes could continue for days until the seismic fault line under the area settled. Heavy rain was expected in the area starting Saturday night, which would increase the risk of landslides. In the town of east of Mashiki, landslides tore the moorings from a suspension bridge, causing it to plunge into a valley, and buried more than a dozen homes, NHK said. Two students in a university agricultural program died after a dormitory building in the town collapsed, the network said. The government said it was sending units from the army, known in Japan as the Forces, and from police departments around the country to help with rescue efforts. The earthquakes since Thursday have been concentrated along a cluster of fault lines that bisect the island of Kyushu at its center, from southwest to northeast. The island, somewhat larger than the state of Maryland, is home to 13 million people, though most of it is rural and sparsely populated. The quake Saturday was the strongest to strike Japan since a massive, 9. offshore earthquake in 2011, which unleashed a tsunami that killed 18, 000 people in the country’s northeast and triggered meltdowns at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Kyushu is home to the only Japanese nuclear power station currently in operation, the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant, about 75 miles southwest of Mashiki. Ground vibrations at Sendai were comparatively mild and were not threatening enough to trigger an automatic emergency shutdown, the Kyushu Electric Power Company said. The plant continued to operate normally on Saturday, the utility said. | 0fake |
It Is Happening Again! Voting Machines Are Switching Votes From Donald Trump To Hillary Clinton | in: Politics , Sleuth Journal , Special Interests (image credit: AP/Alex Brandon) Is the 2016 election in the process of being stolen? Just a few weeks ago I issued a major alert warning that this exact sort of thing might happen. Early voting has already begun in many states, and a number of voters in Texas are reporting that the voting machines switched their votes from Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton. The odd thing is that none of the other choices were affected when these individuals attempted to vote for a straight Republican ticket. If Hillary Clinton is declared the winner of the state of Texas on election night, a full investigation of these voting machines should be conducted, because there is no way that Donald Trump should lose that state. I have said that it will be the greatest miracle in U.S. political history if Donald Trump wins this election, but without the state of Texas Donald Trump has exactly zero chance of winning. So those living down in Texas need to keep reporting anything unusual that they see or hear when they go to vote. Most Americans don’t realize this, but the exact same thing was happening during the last presidential election. The state of Ohio was considered to be the key to Mitt Romney’s chances of winning in 2012, and right up to election day the Romney campaign actually believed that they were going to win the state. Unfortunately for Romney, something funny was going on with the voting machines. In a previous article , I included a quote from an Ohio voter that had her vote switched from Mitt Romney to Barack Obama three times … “I don’t know if it happened to anybody else or not, but this is the first time in all the years that we voted that this has ever happened to me,” said Marion, Ohio, voter Joan Stevens. Stevens said that when she voted, it took her three tries before the machine accepted her choice to vote for Romney . “I went to vote and I got right in the middle of Romney’s name,” Stevens told Fox News, saying that she was certain to put her finger directly on her choice for the White House. She said that the first time she pushed “Romney,” the machine marked “Obama.” So she pushed Romney again. Obama came up again. Then it happened a third time. “Maybe you make a mistake once, but not three times,” she told Fox News. And we did see some very, very strange numbers come out of certain areas of Ohio four years ago. For example, there were more than 100 precincts in Cuyahoga County in which Barack Obama got at least 99 percent of the vote in 2012. If that happened in just one precinct that would be odd enough. But the odds of it happening in more than 100 precincts in just one county by random chance are so low that they aren’t even worth mentioning. And of course this didn’t just happen in Ohio. Similar things were happening all over the country . The reason why I bring all of this up is to show that there is a pattern. If a fair vote had been conducted, Romney may have indeed won in 2012, and now it appears that voting machines are being rigged again. In Wichita County, Texas so many people were reporting that their votes were being switched from Trump to Clinton that it made the local newspaper … Shortly after early voting booths opened Monday in Wichita County, rumors swirled online about possible errors in the process. Several online posts claimed a friend or family member had attempted to vote straight party Republican ticket, but their presidential nomination was switched to the Democratic nominee, Hilary Clinton. None of the local reports were from people who experienced the situation first hand. A Bowie woman posted that a relative who lives in Arlington saw her votes “switched.” The post was shared more than 100,000 times Monday. And Paul Joseph Watson has written about some specific individuals that are making allegations that their votes for president were switched by the machines. One of the examples that he cited was a Facebook post by Lisa Houlette of Amarillo, Texas … Gary and I went to early vote today…I voted a straight Republican ticket and as I scrolled to submit my ballot I noticed that the Republican Straight ticket was highlighted, however, the clinton/kaine box was also highlighted! I tried to go back and change and could not get it to work. I asked for help from one of the workers and she couldn’t get it to go back either. It took a second election person to get the machine to where I could correct the vote to a straight ticket. Be careful and double check your selections before you cast your vote! Don’t hesitate to ask for help. I had to have help to get mine changed. I don’t know about you, but major alarm bells went off in my head when I read that. A similar incident was reported on Facebook by Shandy Clark of Arlington, Texas … Hey everyone, just a heads up! I had a family member that voted this morning and she voted straight Republican. She checked before she submitted and the vote had changed to Clinton! She reported it and made sure her vote was changed back. They commented that It had been happening. She is trying to get the word out and asked that we post and share. Just want everyone’s vote to be accurate and count. Check your vote before you submit! And of course they weren’t the only ones reporting vote switching. It turns out that lots of other Texans have also experienced this phenomenon … So is there a serious problem with the voting machines? According to Breitbart , one county in Texas has already removed all electronic voting machines and has made an emergency switch to paper ballots… Chambers County election officials have executed an emergency protocol to remove all electronic voting machines available during early voting until a software update can be completed to correct problems experienced by straight-ticket voters . Chambers County Clerk Heather Hawthorne told Breitbart Texas Tuesday morning that all electronic voting was temporarily halted until her office completes a “software update” on ES&S machines that otherwise “omit one race” when a straight ticket option is selected for either major party. The Texas 14 th Court of Appeals race was reported to be the contest in which voters commonly experienced the glitch. Let’s keep a very close eye on this. If the state of Texas ends up in Trump’s column on election night, perhaps no harm has been done. But if Trump loses Texas there is no possible way that he will be able to make up those 38 electoral votes somewhere else. Despite what the mainstream media is saying, the truth is that election fraud is very real. Just the other day, WND published an article that contained a list of documented cases of election fraud in 23 different states . And Devvy Kidd just authored a piece that pointed out that there are 24 million voter registrations in this country that are “no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate“… In 2012 the highly respected Pew Research Center exposed the sickening state of voter rolls in this country: Nearly 2 million deceased registered to vote Close to 3 million registered in multiples states Approximately 24 million—one of every eight—voter registrations in the United States are no longer valid or are significantly inaccurate More than 1.8 million deceased individuals are listed as voters Approximately 2.75 million people have registrations in more than one state But despite everything you just read, the mainstream media is trying very hard to prop up faith in the integrity of the process. In fact, just today CNN came out with an article entitled “ Poll: Most see a Hillary Clinton victory and a fair count ahead “… Almost 7 in 10 voters nationwide say they think Hillary Clinton will win the presidency next month, but most say that if that happens, Donald Trump will not accept the results and concede, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. Americans overall are more confident that the nation’s votes for president will be cast and counted accurately this year than they were in 2008. Whatever the outcome, however, nearly 8 in 10 say that once all the states have certified their vote counts, the losing candidate has an obligation to accept the results and concede to the winner. Unfortunately, CNN does not have much credibility left at this point, and it is getting harder and harder to believe the polls that are being put out by the mainstream media. And the mainstream media would also have us believe that if evidence of election fraud does emerge that it will be because the Russians have made it up … U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials are warning that hackers with ties to Russia’s intelligence services could try to undermine the credibility of the presidential election by posting documents online purporting to show evidence of voter fraud. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said however, that the U.S. election system is so large, diffuse and antiquated that hackers would not be able to change the outcome of the Nov. 8 election. But hackers could post documents, some of which might be falsified, that are designed to create public perceptions of widespread voter fraud, the officials said. Now that is a real “conspiracy theory”, and it would be incredibly funny if all of this wasn’t so serious. During this election season, if you see or hear anything unusual about voting in your area, please report it. The American people should be allowed to make a free and fair choice, and anyone that attempts to alter an election is committing a crime against all of us. And let’s watch the state of Texas very carefully. If it goes blue, you will know that something has gone terribly, terribly wrong. Submit your review | 1real |
Clinton ramps up Asian outreach in three closely fought states | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Democrat Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign is focusing an effort to win over Asian American voters on three states where it believes the small but rapidly growing group could make the difference in her race against Republican Donald Trump. The push in closely fought Nevada, Virginia and Pennsylvania follows a broader national effort by Clinton’s campaign to court minorities who are critical to her chances of winning the White House in the Nov. 8 election. Asians make up less than 3.5 percent of the U.S. population, but are the fastest-growing racial group in the country, according to the U.S. Census, due largely to net migration, making them more important than ever in an election. “Secretary Clinton understands the importance of the AAPI community and has launched a program that reflects that, reaching AAPI voters in unprecedented ways,” said Jason Tengco, the Clinton campaign’s outreach director for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI). The three states were targeted because Asian voters could swing the outcome in the tight races between Trump and Clinton there. The effort will include print, digital and broadcast advertising in a handful of Asian languages and more coordination among volunteer groups representing ethnic communities within the Asian American and Pacific Islander group, according to the campaign. Among the recent hires for the effort was Philip Kim, a Los Angeles native who previously worked with Senator Tim Kaine, Clinton’s running mate, as outreach director for Asian American and Pacific Islander voters in Nevada. The campaign did not say how much the three-state push would cost. While small, the Asian population could eclipse the margin of victory in each of the states Clinton is targeting. Asians make up some 2.1 percent of eligible voters in Pennsylvania, 5 percent in Virginia and 9 percent in Nevada, according to APIAVote, a nonpartisan group. Polling from Reuters/Ipsos shows Clinton with a mere 1 point lead over Trump in Pennsylvania, a 6 point lead in Virginia, and a 2 point lead in Nevada. The challenge will be to get Asian Americans to the polls. Asian American voters have tended to lean Democrat but register to vote much less frequently than whites and blacks. Asian registration was about 56.3 percent in 2012, according to the Census, versus 73.1 percent for black voters and 71.9 percent for white voters. The number of Asian Americans voting in presidential elections rose from 2008 to 2012, according to the Census, which showed 4.3 million Asian voters in 2012 and a turnout of 47.9 percent. “A big part of what we’re doing is voter registration,” said Xochitl Hinojosa, a Clinton spokeswoman. Clinton’s campaign has already done significant Asian outreach. It launched the “AAPI for Hillary” campaign to engage Asian voters in January and has done phone calling in a range of languages for months. But the campaign said the latest push was the first with state-specific programs. The Clinton campaign is considering advertisements in Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Chinese. A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment about its Asian outreach. The Trump campaign has, however, recently made some efforts to appeal to black and Latino voters to undercut Clinton, including a meeting on Thursday with Latino and black Republicans in New York. Trump has had problems with minorities in the past and has angered some with his hardline anti-immigration rhetoric. He has accused Mexico of sending rapists and drug dealers over the border, vowed to build a wall to stop them and called for a temporary ban on Muslim immigration to shore up U.S. national security. Clinton leads Trump by 12 percentage points nationally among likely voters, bolstered by minority support, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. | 0fake |
Trudeau confronts Canada's failure of indigenous people in U.N. speech | OTTAWA (Reuters) - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday admitted Canada had failed its indigenous people and told the United Nations his government would do better to improve the lives of aboriginals and achieve reconciliation. Trudeau used his speech to the U.N. General Assembly to frankly acknowledge the dark history of Canada s colonization as one of humiliation, neglect and abuse and promised to do more to help the nation s 1.4 million indigenous people. We have been working hard ... to correct past injustices and bring about a better quality of life for indigenous peoples in Canada, he said. Though this path is uncharted, I am confident that we will reach a place of reconciliation, Trudeau later added. While Trudeau used his U.N. speech last year to highlight Canada s strengths, a discourse the New York Times summed up as We re Canadian and we re here to help, the prime minister took office in 2015 pledging to fix its relationship with aboriginals. Two years in, many say he is not doing enough to help indigenous Canadians, who make up about 4 percent of the population and face higher levels of poverty and violence and shorter life expectancies. Canada s national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women has been hit by resignations and complaints it is progressing too slowly. Pamela Palmater, a Mi kmaq lawyer and professor, said she would rather see action than a speech. Some of his words were exceptionally powerful (and) would give a lot of hope to a lot of people in Canada, but he falls down every time when it comes to substantive action, Palmater said. Many aboriginal communities do not have access to safe drinking water, and suicides have plagued several isolated communities. Acknowledging Canada s attempt to force assimilation through residential schooling and other repressive policies, Trudeau called the living conditions aboriginals face the legacy of colonialism in Canada. Trudeau promised to move forward with a review of federal laws and policy, and to support indigenous self-determination. Asked by reporters why he used an international stage to discuss a domestic issue, Trudeau said he wanted to highlight what can be done without telling other leaders how to tackle their own mistakes. This is something that is universal and important, Trudeau said. Trudeau recently reshuffled his Cabinet to put more emphasis on helping aboriginal people, splitting the federal indigenous and northern affairs ministry in two. | 0fake |
Queen Elizabeth II owns every dolphin in Britain and doesn't need a driving licence and doesn't pay tax — here are the incredible powers you didn't know the monarchy has | Email
Queen Elizabeth II is not like you and me.
Did you know she is immune from prosecution? That she has her own personal poet, paid in Sherry wine? Or that she holds dominion over British swans and can fire the entire Australian government?
It's true that her role as the British head of state is largely ceremonial, and the Monarch no longer holds any serious power from day to day. The historic "prerogative powers" of the Sovereign have been devolved largely to government ministers. But this still means that when the British government declares war, or regulates the civil service, or signs a treaty, it is doing so only on her authority.
And she still wields some of these prerogative powers herself — as well as numerous other unique powers, ranging from the surprising to the utterly bizarre.
Most famously, she owns all swans in the River Thames.
Technically, all unmarked swans in open water belong to the Queen, though the Crown "exercises her ownership" only "on certain stretches of the Thames and its surrounding tributaries," according to the official website of the Royal Family.
Today this tradition is observed during the annual "Swan Upping," in which swans in the River Thames are caught, ringed, and set free again as part of census of the swan population.
It's a highly ceremonial affair, taking place over five days. "Swan uppers" wear traditional uniforms and row upriver in six skiffs accompanied by the Queen's Swan Marker.
"The swans are also given a health check and ringed with individual identification numbers by The Queen's Swan Warden, a Professor of Ornithology at the University of Oxford's Department of Zoology," according to the Royal Family website.
"Rule, Britannia, Britannia rules the waves," goes a classic British song — and this rule extends beneath the waves, too. The sovereign has dominion over a variety of aquatic animals in British waters.
The Queen still technically owns all the sturgeons, whales, and dolphins in the waters around England and Wales, in a rule that dates back to a statute from 1324, during the reign of King Edward II, according to Time.
According to the article: "This statute is still valid today, and sturgeons, porpoises, whales, and dolphins are recognised as 'fishes royal': when they are captured within 3 miles (about 5 km) of UK shores or wash ashore, they may be claimed on behalf of the Crown. Generally, when brought into port, a sturgeon is sold in the usual way, and the purchaser, as a gesture of loyalty, requests the honour of its being accepted by Elizabeth."
The law is still observed: In 2004, a Welsh fisherman was investigated by the police after catching a 10-foot sturgeon, the BBC reported at the time. The Scottish government also issued guidance on the law in 2007, writing that "the right to claim Royal Fish in Scotland allows the Scottish Government (on behalf of the Crown) to claim stranded whales which are too large to be drawn to land by a 'wain pulled by six oxen.'"
The Queen can drive without a licence.
Driving licenses are issued in the Queen's name, yet she is the only person in the United Kingdom who doesn't legally need a license to drive or a number plate on her cars, according to Time.
Despite not being required to have a license, the Queen is comfortable behind the wheel, having learned to drive during World War II when she operated a first-aid truck for the Women's Auxillary Territorial Service. (As a result of the Queen's training, she can also change a spark plug, Time notes).
Queen Elizabeth II isn't afraid to show off her driving skills, either. In 1998, she surprised King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (then still a prince) by driving him around in her country seat of Balmoral.
Former British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles recounted the meeting in the Sunday Times: "As instructed, the crown prince climbed into the front seat of the front Land Rover, with his interpreter in the seat behind. To his surprise, the Queen climbed into the driving seat, turned the ignition and drove off. Women are not — yet — allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia, and Abdullah was not used to being driven by a woman, let alone a queen."
Cowper-Coles continued: "His nervousness only increased as the Queen, an army driver in wartime, accelerated the Land Rover along the narrow Scottish estate roads, talking all the time. Through his interpreter, the crown prince implored the Queen to slow down and concentrate on the road ahead."
Unlike other members of the Royal family, the Queen does not require a passport, as they are issued in her name. Despite this lack of travel documents, she has been abroad many times.
She has two birthdays.
When you're the British head of state, one birthday just isn't enough. The Queen's official birthday is celebrated on a Saturday in June, though her actual birthday is on April 21.
"Official celebrations to mark a sovereign's birthday have often been held on a day other than the actual birthday, particularly when the actual birthday has not been in the summer," according to the Royal Mint.
Both birthdays are celebrated in suitable style, too. Her actual birthday "is marked publicly by gun salutes in central London at midday," according to the official website of the British Monarchy. This includes "a 41-gun salute in Hyde Park, a 21-gun salute in Windsor Great Park, and a 62-gun salute at the Tower of London. In 2006, Her Majesty celebrated her 80th Birthday in 2006 with a walkabout in the streets outside of Windsor Castle to meet well-wishers."
For her "official" birthday celebrations, meanwhile, she "is joined by other members of the Royal Family at the spectacular Trooping the Colour parade, which moves between Buckingham Palace, The Mall, and Horseguards' Parade."
She has her own private cash machine.
Less a "power" and more a perk of the job, a private cash machine for use by the royal family is installed in the basement of Buckingham Palace. It's provided by Coutts, one of Britain's most prestigious — and exclusive — banks.
The Queen has her own personal poet.
The poet laureate is an honorary position in British society appointed by the Monarch to a poet "whose work is of national significance," according to the official website of the British Monarchy. When first the role was introduced, the appointee was paid £200 per year plus a butt of canary wine. Today the poet laureate is given a barrel of Sherry.
Carol Ann Duffy will hold the position until 2019.
She has to sign laws.
The Queen's consent is necessary to turn any bill into an actual law. Once a proposed law has passed both houses of Parliament, it makes its way to the Palace for approval, which is called "Royal Assent." The most recent British Monarch to refuse to provide Royal Assent was Queen Anne, back in 1708.
Royal Assent is different than "Queen's consent," in which the Queen must consent to any law being debated in Parliament that affects the Monarchy's interests (such as reforming the prerogative or tax laws that might affect the Duchy of Cornwall, for example). Without consent, the bill cannot be debated in Parliament.
Queen's consent is exercised only on the advice of ministers, but its existence provides the government with a tool for blocking debate on certain subjects if bills are tabled by backbench rebels or the opposition.
It has been exercised at least 39 times, according to documents released under the Freedom of Information act, including "one instance [in which] the Queen completely vetoed the Military Actions Against Iraq Bill in 1999, a private member's bill that sought to transfer the power to authorise military strikes against Iraq from the monarch to parliament," The Guardian reported in 2013.
She can create Lords.
The Queen has the power to appoint Lords, who can then sit in Parliament, the upper house in Britain's legislative system. Like many other powers, this is exercised only "on the advice of" elected government ministers.
She doesn't have to pay tax (but she does anyway).
The Queen does not have to pay tax, but she has been voluntarily paying income tax and capital gains tax since 1992.
The Queen has the power to form governments.
Unlike the Queen, Prime Minister David Cameron doesn't literally sit on a throne. Rob Stothard/Getty Images/HBO/BI
The Queen previously wielded the power to dissolve Parliament and call a general election, but the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act put an end to that in 2011. Now a two-thirds vote in the commons is required to dissolve Parliament before a five-year fixed-term is up.
She does still play a part after an election, however, when she calls on the MP most able to form a government to do so.
This caused some worry ahead of this year's General Election. It once looked as if the Conservatives might not have a majority (but would be the largest party) and would try to form a government. Meanwhile, it was feasible that Labour could form a majority, despite having fewer seats, by entering into a coalition with multiple other parties.
In this situation, the Queen would have been stuck between a rock and a hard place. Every year, she opens Parliament with the Queen's speech, which lays out the government's plans. But to give David Cameron's speech would arguably be to tacitly endorse his government — while staying away would send the opposite message.
At one point, The Times was told by sources that she planned to "stay away" if Cameron failed to secure enough MPs, but the Palace later had an about-face. "Royal sources confirmed she would lead proceedings, even if there was a risk the speech would be overthrown the following week because the Tories had failed to muster enough backing from smaller parties," The Times subsequently reported.
She has knights.
Sure, they no longer ride around on horseback wooing maidens with their tales of valour, but Britain still retains knights. Like Lords, they are appointed by the Queen — and she knights them personally.
Knighthoods are typically given to figures who have made a particular contribution to British society — whether in business, the arts, the military, or elsewhere. After Terry Pratchett was knighted, the legendary fantasy author forged himself a special sword using pieces of a meteorite.
The individuals knighted are decided by ministers, the BBC reports, "who present her with a list of nominees each year for her approval."
She is exempt from Freedom Of Information requests.
All information about the royal family is exempt from Freedom of Information requests. The exemption was made after a legal battle between The Guardian and the government to have letters from Prince Charles sent to Whitehall ministers made public. The so-called black spider memos were recently released, but the change means the same can't happen in the future.
She can ignore or overrule ministerial advice in "grave constitutional crisis."
While the overwhelming majority of the Queen's prerogative powers are devolved to her ministers, there is one exception that allows her to wield power herself. Only "in grave constitutional crisis," the Sovereign can "act contrary to or without Ministerial advice." With no precedent in modern times, it's not clear what would actually constitute this, but the possibility remains.
The Queen holds the ability to fire the entire Australian government.
As the head of state in Australia, the Queen has certain powers over the government. In 1975, for example, the Queen's representative in the country at the time, Gov. Gen. Sir John Kerr, fired the prime minister in response to a government shutdown.
"[Kerr] appointed a replacement, who immediately passed the spending bill to fund the government, Max Fisher wrote in The Washington Post. "Three hours later, Kerr dismissed the rest of Parliament. Then Australia held elections to restart from scratch. And they haven't had another shutdown since."
In addition to the UK and Australia, the Queen is also the head of state in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.
All the above are Commonwealth Realms, or former British colonies. The British sovereign retains the position she holds in the United Kingdom, that of head of state. As in Britain, this is largely a ceremonial role from day to day.
She's the head of a religion.
Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Church of England, Britain's state religion first established after King Henry VIII split away from the Catholic Church in Rome in the 16th century.
Her formal title is defender of the faith and supreme governor of the Church of England, and she also has the power to appoint Bishops and Archbishops. As with many of her other powers, however, this is exercised only on the advice of the prime minister, who himself takes advice from a Church Commission.
An interesting side effect of this is that the Sovereign must be a confirmed member of Church of England. Catholics and those of other religions may not ascend to the British throne. If Prince Charles converted to Islam, for example, he would be unable to become king after Queen Elizabeth II dies.
She gets to give away special money to the elderly.
Maundy money is a special kind of silver coin the Queen gives away to pensioners every year at a UK cathedral every Easter in a special ceremony. The number of recipients corresponds with the Sovereign's age. This year, for example, she will be 89 when Easter rolls around, so she will give maundy money away to 89 pensioners.
The coins are technically legal tender, despite coming in unconventional 3-pence and 4-pence denominations. But given the coins' rare status, they tend not to enter general circulation.
She's also immune from prosecution.
All prosecutions are carried out in the name of the Sovereign, and she is both immune from prosecution and cannot be compelled to give evidence in court.
In theory, the Sovereign "is incapable of thinking or doing wrong," legal scholar John Kirkhope told Business Insider. However, barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy QC told the BBC in 2002 that "nowadays, that immunity is questionable."
"Although civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign as a person under UK law, the Queen is careful to ensure that all her activities in her personal capacity are carried out in strict accordance with the law," according to official site of the Monarchy.
If the monarch did commit a grievance offence, he or she would almost certainly be forced to abdicate. There is at least one precedent of the Courts' prosecuting the Sovereign. In the 17th Century, King Charles I was tried for treason following the English Civil War. He said "no earthly power can justly call me (who am your King) in question as a delinquent." The Court disagreed and had him executed.
The Queen has the right to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn her ministers.
Assuming no "grave constitutional crisis," the Queen's input into the legislative process is supposed to be limited in real terms to the right "to be consulted, to encourage, and to warn" her ministers — advice delivered via meetings with the prime minister.
The Queen also has certain historic rights and privileges. John Kirkhope, a lawyer who successfully campaigned to have details of "Queen's consent" made public, provided Business Insider with a list of some of the stranger rights the Queen still holds.
Hungerford has to present a red rose to the Sovereign in exchange for its fishing and grazing rights.The Duke of Atholl must pay by way of a rose whenever the Sovereign calls. This most recently happened during the reign of Queen Victoria, so it's unclear whether the rose has to be any particular colour.If the Sovereign passes near Kidwelly Castle in Wales, the tenant has to provide a bodyguard in full armour. This is complicated slightly by the fact the castle is a ruin.The Marquis of Ailesbury owns Savernake Forest and is required to produce a blast on a hunting horn should the Sovereign pass through the Forest. This last happened in 1943.Similarly, the owner of Dunlambert Castle in Northern Ireland has to produce a blast on an ancient bugle.And lastly, many landowners must also pay a "quit-rent" — a kind of tax on their property paid to the Monarch. Some are pretty unusual.
The owner of Sauchlemuir Castle must set out three glasses of port on New Year's Eve for the grandmother of James IV of Scotland. (For reference, James IV served from 1474 to 1513.)The owner of Fowlis must deliver — when required — a snowball in mid-summer.The City of Gloucester pays for its holdings of Crown Lands by providing an enormous eel pie.Great Yarmouth must provide a hundred herrings baked in 24 pasties to the Sheriff, who then sends them to the Lord of the Manor — who then sends them to the Sovereign.The Duke of Marlborough has to present a small satin flag with a Fleur de Lys on August 13, the anniversary of the Battle of Blenheim.The Duke of Wellington has to present a French Tricolour flag before noon on June 19 — the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo. | 1real |
The Trump presidency on Feb. 14 at 4:02 P.M. EST/2102 GMT | (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday: Trump knew for weeks that national security adviser Michael Flynn had misled the White House about his contacts with Russia but did not immediately force him out, an administration spokesman says. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is playing down any impact that Flynn’s resignation might have on Mattis’ debut trip this week to Europe to meet NATO allies. RUSSIA-UKRAINE Trump has said he expects Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine and reduce violence in Ukraine, White House spokesman Sean Spicer says. Russia’s prospects for better relations with Washington appear to have suffered another setback with the resignation of Trump’s national security adviser being the biggest blow yet. The most consequential legal challenge to Trump’s travel ban will proceed on two tracks in the next few days. Congressional Democrats fail to pressure Republicans into seeking Trump’s tax returns after saying the Flynn scandal made it imperative to find out whether the president has business ties to Russia. The Office of Government Ethics says the White House should investigate a public endorsement of Ivanka Trump products by Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway and consider disciplinary action. Four Republican senators have yet to say if they will support Trump’s nominee to head the Labor Department, Andrew Puzder, creating suspense about whether he will survive an initial confirmation hearing this week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, preparing for a White House meeting with Trump on Wednesday, will work with advisers to align Israeli and U.S. thinking on the Middle East and ensure “no gaps” remain. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, in response to a warning from a congressman to halt international negotiations in the early stages of Trump’s presidency, says the U.S. central bank has the authority to consult with foreign counterparts and does so to benefit the United States. Canadian officials and trade experts say that although Trump says he only wants to tweak trade ties with Canada, his pledge to renegotiate NAFTA to focus on Mexico is almost impossible. Trump will meet on Wednesday with the chief executive officers of eight large retailers, including Target Corp (TGT.N), Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) and J.C. Penney Company Inc (JCP.N), to discuss tax reform and infrastructure improvements, sources say. | 0fake |
College Students Protest, Alumni’s Fondness Fades and Checks Shrink - The New York Times | Scott MacConnell cherishes the memory of his years at Amherst College, where he discovered his future métier as a theatrical designer. But protests on campus over cultural and racial sensitivities last year soured his feelings. Now Mr. MacConnell, who graduated in 1960, is expressing his discontent through his wallet. In June, he cut the college out of his will. “As an alumnus of the college, I feel that I have been lied to, patronized and basically dismissed as an old, white bigot who is insensitive to the needs and feelings of the current college community,” Mr. MacConnell, 77, wrote in a letter to the college’s alumni fund in December, when he first warned that he was reducing his support to the college to a token $5. A backlash from alumni is an unexpected aftershock of the campus disruptions of the last academic year. Although are still gauging the extent of the effect on philanthropy, some colleges — particularly small, elite liberal arts institutions — have reported a decline in donations, accompanied by a laundry list of complaints. Alumni from a range of generations say they are baffled by today’s college culture. Among their laments: Students are too wrapped up in racial and identity politics. They are allowed to take too many frivolous courses. They have repudiated the heroes and traditions of the past by judging them by today’s standards rather than in the context of their times. Fraternities are being unfairly maligned, and men are being demonized by sexual assault investigations. And university administrations have been too meek in addressing protesters whose messages have seemed to fly in the face of free speech. Scott C. Johnston, who graduated from Yale in 1982, said he was on campus last fall when activists tried to shut down a free speech conference, “because apparently they missed irony class that day. ” He recalled the Yale student who was videotaped screaming at a professor, Nicholas Christakis, that he had failed “to create a place of comfort and home” for students in his capacity as the head of a residential college. “I don’t think anything has damaged Yale’s brand quite like that,” said Mr. Johnston, a founder of an internet and a former hedge fund manager. “This is not your daddy’s liberalism. ” “The worst part,” he continued, “is that campus administrators are wilting before the activists like flowers. ” Yale College’s alumni fund was flat between this year and last, according to Karen Peart, a university spokeswoman. Among about 35 small, selective liberal arts colleges belonging to the organization Staff, or Sharing the Annual Fund Fundamentals, that recently reported their initial annual fund results for the 2016 fiscal year, 29 percent were behind 2015 in dollars, and 64 percent were behind in donors, according to a steering committee member, Scott Kleinheksel of Claremont McKenna College in California. His school, which was also the site of protests, had a decline in donor participation but a rise in giving. At Amherst, the amount of money given by alumni dropped 6. 5 percent for the fiscal year that ended June 30, and participation in the alumni fund dropped 1. 9 percentage points, to 50. 6 percent, the lowest participation rate since 1975, when the college began admitting women, according to the college. The amount raised from big donors decreased significantly. Some of the decline was because of a falloff after two large reunion gifts last year, according to Pete Mackey, a spokesman for Amherst. At Princeton, where protesters unsuccessfully demanded the removal of Woodrow Wilson’s name from university buildings and programs, undergraduate alumni donations dropped 6. 6 percent from a record high the year before, and participation dropped 1. 9 percentage points, according to the university’s website. A Princeton spokesman, John Cramer, said there was no evidence the drop was connected to campus protests. Carolyn A. Martin, Amherst’s president, said she was not surprised that student protests had contributed to the decline in . “I think colleges are places where complicated societywide issues are always thrashed out, sometimes across generations,” Dr. Martin, known as Biddy, said in an interview. Dr. Martin defended Amherst as a place where free speech and high standards still held sway, and said she had pushed back against protesters when necessary. Much of the alumni unrest at Amherst crystallized around the college’s decision to renounce its unofficial mascot, Lord Jeffery Amherst, known as Lord Jeff, an British commander in the French and Indian War who gave his name to the town and, by extension, the college. A new generation of students has criticized his attitude toward Native Americans he endorsed the idea of spreading smallpox among enemy tribes by giving them infected blankets. “He hated the Indians, because any general in his position would have,” said Gordon Hall III, class of ’52, a commercial real estate investor. He and Don MacNaughton, class of ’65, a retired lawyer and a history buff, wrote a booklet concluding that Lord Jeff had been unfairly maligned. Mr. MacNaughton paid for his share of its publication and promotion online with thousands of dollars he would have otherwise given to the college. “I feel that money is going to the benefit of Amherst College, in any event,” Mr. MacNaughton said. The older generation remembers Lord Amherst not as a genocidal warmonger, but as the inspiration for a beloved college fight song, written by a member of the class of 1906. The song, which Mr. Hall, 86, can still sing by heart, winks knowingly at Lord Amherst’s misdeeds with the line, “To the Frenchman and the Indians, he didn’t do a thing. ” Mr. Hall, whose grandfather, father, uncles and son went to Amherst, archly calls himself “a powerhouse of nepotism. ” But he has endowed a scholarship and says he welcomes students whose backgrounds are different from his. “I get letters every year about the recipient of my scholarship fund,” he said. “The name will always be a name that is ethnically or racially — you can tell — not like Hall. And so be it. You’ve got to go with the flow to some degree. ” But, he wonders, “where did this supercorrectness thing come from?” In the category of supercorrectness, some alumni note that in March, a new director of the Women’s and Gender Center asked to be addressed as “they,” rather than “he” or “she. ” “This is not a joke,” Paul Ruxin, who identified himself as “Old Curmudgeon class of ’65,” wrote to his classmates shortly before he died in April. David Pennock, class of ’60, one of four generations of his family to have gone to Amherst, is so invested in the college that he bridles at incorrect pronunciations of the name. “Our Amherst is pronounced without the H,” he said. His Amherst was tough but paternalistic, he said. When he fell behind in classes, the admissions dean, Eugene Wilson, class of ’29 and his father’s fraternity roommate, took him trout fishing on the Deerfield River and warned that he was headed for the “underachiever program,” a forced leave of absence. As class agent, Mr. Pennock did not reduce his giving, but he is one of a group of alumni pushing for the return of a core curriculum. Robert Longsworth, class of ’99, the seventh in his family to have attended Amherst, has been the president of the New York City alumni association and a class agent. But he has withdrawn, he said, because of his sense that the college has become “so wrapped up in this politically charged mission rather than staying in its lane and being an institution of higher education. ” Mr. Longsworth, 39, who works in the financial industry, said he thought erasing history only made people more vulnerable to racism. “When the administration and faculty and ultimately a lot of the student body spends a great deal of time on witch hunts, I think that a lot of that intellectual rigor is forgone,” he said. Mr. Longsworth said he had heard from “friends who went to Hamilton, Trinity, Williams, Bates, Middlebury, Hobart, who are not pleased at what’s happened on campus, and they’ve kind of stepped away. ” For these alumni, he said, refusing to write a check “seems to be the only lever that can make a difference. ” | 0fake |
Chelsea’s $3M Wedding Paid By Foundation? Emails: Tax-Free Funds Floated a “Decade of Her Life” | Read by 1,225 people
This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge .
Editor’s Comment: Would anything the Clinton’s allegedly did be enough to constitute a “scandal”? It is questionable whether even (rumored) video of Bill Clinton engaged in sex acts with minors would raise media eyebrows. It isn’t a question of what “is” is anymore, it is a question of what the supposed ‘watchdogs’ of the political scene (in all their official and self-appointed capacities) are willing to put on the table. For Alt-Right supporters of Trump, anything and everything is fair game, and there is plenty of detritus to bring to the surface; but for CNN and even FOX, many of these bombshell scandals may well not even exist.
The establishment is in the battle of its life to spin the great political realignment and rebuke of its powers into a new mandate for control. Whether that plays out in Hillary, or in some bastardized control of Trump’s administration after the fact, it is quite clear that the “Teflon” candidate is being allowed to sweep everything under the carpet. No matter what Wikileaks emails, Guccifer 2.0 hacks, whistleblowers and witnesses reveal, it is smooth sailing for Big H.
For any other politician, a mere fraction of the dirt piled up on this family would have ended careers, stirred media scrutiny and ended in prosecution, even if it is all just formality ending in suspended sentences. Instead, Hillary only becomes more inevitable in spite of, or possible even because of, the scandals that have emerged (both inside and outside the White House, the federal government, the State Department and the rigged DNC process). It is entirely possible that the electoral college is so locked-up that literally nothing could block her path. Let’s see how they tally the score come Tuesday night…
Doug Band Accuses Chelsea Of Using Clinton Foundation Money To Pay For Her Wedding
by Tyler Durden
A couple of days ago we shared a Podesta email from Doug Band about Chelsea talking openly in public about her “internal investigation” into the Clinton Foundation.
As with many of the Doug Band email chains , the rabbit hole just got a little deeper today with Band accusing of Chelsea of “using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade” among other accusations. He also concludes with another veiled threat on the consequences “once we go down this road….”
The investigation into her getting paid for campaigning, using foundation resources for her wedding and life for a decade, taxes on money from her parents….
I hope that you will speak to her and end this
Once we go down this road….
The implications are troubling: as our friends from the Southern Investigative Reporting Foundation point out, “* If true* people (then) worth well into 8 figures used 501c3 $ to pay for a wedding. ” *If true* people (then) worth well into 8 figures used 501c3 $ to pay for a wedding. #PodestaEmails32 @wikileaks https://t.co/xpYZbDN4C0
— SIRF (@SIRF_Report) November 6, 2016
The latest Band email comes after he previously accused Chelsea of talking about her “internal investigation” in the Clinton Foundation with “one of the bush 43 kids.”
I just received a call from a close friend of wjcs who said that cvc told one of the bush 43 kids that she is conducting an internal investigation of money within the foundation from cgi to the foundation
The bush kid then told someone else who then told an operative within the republican party
I have heard more and more chatter of cvc and bari talking about lots of what is going on internally to people
Not smart
Something tells us that Chelsea and Doug may not be on speaking terms for a while after all the WikiLeaks revelations.
This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge . Click here to subscribe : Join over one million monthly readers and receive breaking news, strategies, ideas and commentary. Please Spread The Word And Share This Post
Author: Tyler Durden Views: Read by 1,225 people Date: November 7th, 2016 Website: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-06/doug-band-accuses-chelsea-using-clinton-foundation-money-pay-her-wedding
Copyright Information: This content has been contributed to SHTFplan by a third-party or has been republished with permission from the author. Please contact the author directly for republishing information. | 1real |
“LIE” WITNESS NEWS: JIMMY KIMMEL SHOW Asks People What They Thought Of Debate…DAY BEFORE Debates Happened [VIDEOS] | It s hard to imagine so many people would lie to the this reporter about a debate they never saw. But we are living in the Age of Hillary where lying is perfectly acceptable if you re attempting to reach a lifelong goal of breaking a glass ceiling (or 13 cellphones) with a hammer!Not that we re keeping score, but only one of these liars was a Trump supporter.Enjoy! | 1real |
How the internet is making even Ukrainian Nazis into Russians... | November 3, 2016 - Fort Russ - Yurasumy, PolitRussia - translated by J. Arnoldski -
On October 27th, 2016, the heads of the Verkhovna Rada committee on culture and freedom of speech, Ruslan Knyazhnitsky and Viktoriya Syumar, put forth a bill which, besides guaranteeing new preferences for the Ukrainian language, proposes to ban Russian-language print products. It’s not difficult to understand this Russophobia. For 25 years, they have been struggling to oust the Russian language from official usage in the country, but the last decade has shown the futility of their attempts. The Russian language is becoming the language of communication among the youth of Ukrainian cities, even those who earlier spoke Ukrainian.
Language is the beginning of everything
When in the middle of the 19th century the construction of Ukrainian self-identity began, its foundation was largely based on the language principle. It was then that scholars of the Russian Empire began to create a map of the Russian language with its division into dialects. For theorists, the geographical distribution of the Malorossiyan dialect (in the terminology of the late 19th-early 20th centuries) was the first wave of the construction of the Ukrainian ‘nation’, the place where experiments in creating the “Ukraine is not Russia” theory began.
It was in this time that a literary language and grammar were created. Literature and community began to take shape around them. This process coincided with another process: the mass exodus of villagers to the city.
From the village to the city
In this article, we will not consider the economic causes of this displacement, but note that it was this relocation that allowed the Ukrainian intelligentsia to very quickly find followers and consistently maintain their number. The mass exodus of Ukrainian-speaking masses of people to the cities allowed for the formation of an interlayer very easily subjected to “Ukrainianization.”
This was largely a poor mass of people, only recently serfs, who saw in Russian-speaking city-dwellers some kind of other, alien group of people. Naturally, they felt a kind of alienation towards this group. Language became their main criterion of “us vs. the other.” Circles and communities appeared, the ultimate result of which was the emergence of the idea “Ukraine is not Russia.”
The first to systematize this in a globally historic work was Mikhail Grushevsky, who before 1917 started to write his History of Ukraine-Rus . No one should be deceived by the title of this book. Its main leitmotif was that Ukraine is not Russia and that the two have always been antagonistic ever since the time of princely quarrels.
The city wins
During the second half of the 19th century, masses of peasants poured into the cities. Their children went to schools and colleges, became workers and civil servants, and many even rose higher up the social ladder of the empire. But the vast majority of them in their first and at least second generations became Russian-speaking.
New and new masses of peasants came to replace them. The melting pot of the empire worked fine until the empire itself ceased to exist. 1917 destroyed many of the state’s institutions, including integration ones. The resulting ideological gap was quickly filled with doctrines telling yesterday’s and today's Ukrainian peasants why they live so badly and who is to blame. Seventy years later, the supporters of the new theory “quickly found answers” to all the current issues of society and brought the country to ruin. The outbreak of bloody civil strife and more of the same ruin in the West did not allow the problem to drag on for decades, and was quickly resolved…
Even taking into account the early USSR’s acceleration of the process of Ukrainianization, strong resistance to this process in the cities was evident. The youth gradually Russified and the ongoing process of industrialization contributed to the rapid movement of the labor force and its linguistic unification, which was possible only on the basis of the Russian language. Nevertheless, in the 1950’s-1960’s, the problem of reteaching “Ukrainian” students in Soviet universities still existed. This was uncomfortable, so in the 1970’s the Ukrainian language was finally put on the back burner in the schools of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
At the time, it was normal in Ukrainian city families, in which the parents had left for the city from the countryside, to speak in Ukrainian or Surzhyk (in Eastern Ukraine). But at work and in schools, children grew up and communicated in Russian. Usually, the children of parents who moved to the city gradually moved on to communicating in Russian and it turned out that the melting pot of the USSR worked exactly like the Russian Empire did 100 years before, when Malorossiyan villagers were quickly made into Russians in the cities.
But history went down another roundabout...
Attempt #2
The collapse of the USSR, like the collapse of the Russian Empire, offered a second chance to the apologists of the idea of “Ukraine is not Russia.” They long and carefully planned “pedagogical” plans and, as soon as the iron curtain fell, the first wave of “teachers” came to Ukraine from the West. There is no point in dwelling in detail on the technicalities of the work of this and all other “reformer” groups, but their successes by the mid-2010’s were impressive.
Preschool, school, and higher education in Ukraine became almost entirely held in the Ukrainian language. Russian culture and language were driven off of TV and the radio. Russian speaking print was not only discouraged, but often persecuted. It would seem like this was the last nail in the coffin, but this time the Ukrainian “patriotic” intelligentsia began to all the more strongly demand that authorities fight for the purity of the Ukrainian logic because “all was lost.”
So what’s the deal? What do these “fighters” for the Ukrainian language lack today?
The 21st century against Ukrainianization
The point is that what has repeatedly happened in the history of Ukraine happened again. With each passing year, its territory began to feel the work of the empire’s melting pot. But where did this come from without an existing empire? Every child in Ukraine received their first mobile phone in elementary school and then their smartphone. Today, it is easy to imagine a student in school without textbooks or notebooks, but they never forget their smartphone.
The mobile phone was a window to a larger world, the world of social networking. And it just so happened that there were no popular Ukrainian-language social networks, but there were Russian-language ones. Just like there were English-language ones. The age-old affinity between the peoples of Ukraine and Russia played its role here. A child in elementary school doesn’t know foreign languages, but Russian is habitual and almost native for him.
Around 80% of Ukrainian children are on VKontakte, which is by and large in Russian. Thus, it turns out that in many provincial Ukrainian cities which logically should have long since been finally Ukrainianized, children spoke Ukrainian in elementary school only to speak Surzhyk in middle school, and then, in upper classes to a significant degree outside of their families, became Russians-speakers.
I studied this phenomenon in my own children and their friends and relatives….There are exceptions, but relatively few.
Children’s interests take their toll, and this is why the advocates of total Ukrainianization are in panic today. They see that they are losing and and cannot offer anything in return. They demand and demand, bringing the situation to insanity, and then still lose….
Consequences
Thus, the information revolution has struck the bottom of the ship of “Ukraine is not Russia.” Youth are very quickly Russifying and there is no chance of stopping this process. Even people moving from the village, the eternal saviors of “patriots,” are drying up. Moreover, children from the cities have stopped going back to the villages and absorb the customs and culture of their ancestors, of whom there are none left alive. They have no one to go to.
The internet is teaching Ukrainian children, making them largely stupid, but also Russians. Hence why today such ugly formations as Azov, the Azov Civil Corpus, and its latest incarnation in the National Corpus have been born out of the bosom of the Maidan. The vast majority of people in them are Russians trying to find a basis for how to become Ukrainian nationalists. It is clear that confrontation can no longer be built on the basis of language. They have to find new reasons to be non-Russians or, rather, Russians who want to build on the territory of the former USSR and beyond its borders a new integration project - Greater Eurasia…
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WHEN A GOVERNMENT PUTS IMMIGRANTS BEFORE CITIZENS: Swedish Citizens Have No Place To Live, No Jobs, Need To Carry Guns Everywhere They Go | Barack Obama and the Democrat party would like us to go the way of the Swedes. Do Americans have the fortitude to fight back against a government hell-bent on putting political correctness before national security?The Swedes see the welfare systems failing them. Swedes have had to get used to the government prioritizing refugees and migrants above native Swedes. There are no apartments, no jobs, we don t dare go shopping anymore [without a gun], but we re supposed to think everything s great. Women and girls are raped by these non-European men, who come here claiming they are unaccompanied children, even though they are grown men. You Cabinet Ministers live in your fancy residential neighborhoods, with only Swedish neighbors. It should be obligatory for all politicians to live for at least three months in an area consisting mostly of immigrants [and] have to use public transport. Laila, to the Prime Minister. Instead of torchlight processions against racism, we need a Prime Minister who speaks out against the violence Unite everyone. Do not make it a racism thing. Anders, to the Prime Minister. In all honesty, I don t even feel they [government ministers] see the problems There is no one in those meetings who can tell them what real life looks like. Laila, on the response she received from the government.The recent double murder at IKEA in V ster s, where a man from Eritrea who had been denied asylum grabbed some knives and stabbed Carola and Emil Herlin to death, letters and emails poured into the offices of Swedish Prime Minister (PM) Stefan L fven. Angry, despondent and desperate Swedes have pled with the Social Democratic PM to stop filling the country with criminal migrants from the Third World or, they write, there is a serious risk of hatred running rampant in Sweden. One woman suggested that because the Swedish media will not address these issues, L fven should start reading foreign newspapers, and wake up to the fact that Sweden is sinking fast.During the last few decades, Swedes have had to get used to the government (left and right wing parties alike) prioritizing refugees and migrants above native Swedes. The high tax level (the average worker pays 42% income tax) was been accepted in the past, because people knew that if they got sick, or when they retired or otherwise needed government aid, they would get it.Now, Swedes see the welfare system failing them. More and more senior citizens fall into the indigent category; close to 800,000 of Sweden s 2.1 million retirees, despite having worked their whole lives, are forced to live on between 4,500 and 5,500 kronor ($545 $665) a month. Meanwhile, seniors who immigrate to Sweden receive the so-called elderly support subsidy usually a higher amount even though they have never paid any taxes in Sweden.Worse, in 2013 the government decided that people staying in the country illegally have a right to virtually free health and dental care. So while the destitute Swedish senior citizen must choose between paying 100,000 kronor ($12,000) to get new teeth or living toothless, a person who does not even have the right to stay in Sweden can get his teeth fixed for 50 kronor ($6).The injustice, the housing shortage, the chaos surrounding refugee housing units and the sharp slide of Swedish students in PISA tests all these changes have caused the Swedes to become disillusioned. The last straw was that Prime Minister L fven had nothing to say about the murders at IKEA.Gatestone Institute contacted to the Swedish government, to obtain emails sent to the Prime Minister concerning the IKEA murders. According to the principle of public access to official documents, all Swedes have the right to study public documents kept by authorities with no questions asked about one s identity or purpose. The government, however, was clearly less than enthusiastic about sharing the emails: It took a full month of reminders and phone calls before they complied with the request.What follows are excerpts from emails sent from private citizens to Prime Minister Stefan L fven:From Mattias, a social worker and father of four, a dad who wants my kids to grow up in Sweden the way I had the good fortune of doing, without explosions, hand grenades, car fires, violence, rape and murder at IKEA : Hi Stefan. I am a 43-year-old father of four, who is trying to explain to my children, ages 6-16, what is going on in Sweden. I am sad to say that you and your party close your eyes to what is happening in Sweden. All the things that are happening [are] due to the unchecked influx from abroad. You are creating a hidden hatred in Sweden. We are dissatisfied with the way immigration is handled in Sweden, from asylum housing to school issues. And it takes so long to get a job, many people give up before they even get close. Mattias Marcus, 21, wrote: Hi Stefan, I am one of the people who voted for you. I live in Helsingborg, still with my parents because there are no apartments available. I can see where I live that as soon as an old person moves out, eight foreigners immediately move in: they just bypass us young, Swedish people in line. With all that is going on in Sweden rapes, robberies, the IKEA murders and so on why aren t non-Swedes sent back to their countries when they commit crimes? Of course we should help refugees, but they should be the right kind of refugees. I m sorry to say this, Stefan, but the Sweden Democrats should be allowed to rule for four years and remove the people who do not abide by the laws, and who murder or destroy young women s lives. It is horrible, I have a job that pays poorly because there are no jobs. Sweden has more people than jobs. Peter wrote: Esteemed Prime Minister. I am writing to you because I am very worried about the development in Swedish society. I am met daily by news of shootings, exploding hand grenades/bombs, beatings, rapes and murders. This is our Sweden, the country that, when you and I grew up, was considered one of the safest in the world. You, in your role as Prime Minister, have a responsibility to protect everyone in the land, regardless of whether they were born here or not. Unfortunately, I can see that you are not taking your responsibility seriously. I follow the news daily, and despite our now having suffered another act of madness, this time against a mother and son at IKEA, I do not see any commitment from you? You should emphatically condemn the violent developments we see in this country, allocate resources to the police, customs and district attorneys to slow and fight back (not just build levees and overlook) criminal activity. Sebastian wrote: Hi Stefan! After reading about the horrible deed at IKEA in V ster s, I am now wondering what you are going to do to make me feel safe going to stores and on the streets of Sweden. What changes will there be to make sure this never happens again? Will immigration really continue the same way? Benny wrote: Hi, I m wondering, why is the government quiet about such an awful incident? The whole summer has been characterized by extreme violence, shootings, knifings and explosions. The government needs to take vigorous action so we can feel safe. Laila s subject line reads: Is it supposed to be like this? Are we supposed to go outside without arming ourselves? Rape after rape occurs and no one is doing anything about it. I was born and raised in V rby G rd, but seven years ago, we had to move because we couldn t take the dogs out in the evenings due to the non-Europeans driving on the sidewalks. If you didn t move out of the way, they would jump out of the car and hit you. If you called the police, they do nothing in a suburb of Stockholm. When my brother told some of these men off, a rocket (the kind you use at New Year s) appeared in his mailbox. You can imagine how loud the blast was. Women and girls are raped by these non-European men, who come here claiming they are unaccompanied children, even though they are grown men . It is easy to get weapons today, I wonder if that is what we Swedes need to do, arm ourselves to dare to go shopping. Well, now I am getting to what happened at a major department store: Two people were killed and not just killed, there is talk online of beheading. The Prime Minister will not say a word, but resources are allocated to asylum housings, a slap in the face for the relatives who just had two of their kin slain. Swedish newspapers will not say a word, but fortunately, there are foreign newspapers that tell the truth. We Swedes can t change apartments, we live five people in three bedrooms. Two of us are unemployed, looking, looking and looking for work. The only option is employment agencies. I m 50 years old, on part-time sick leave because of two chronic illnesses, I cannot run around from one place to another. But more and more asylum seekers keep coming in. There are no apartments, no jobs, we don t dare go shopping anymore, but we re supposed to think everything s great. Unfortunately, I believe the Prime Minister needs to start reading foreign newspaper to find out that Sweden is going under. I found out that the mass immigration costs billions every year, and the only thing the immigrants do is smoke waterpipes in places like V rby G rd. This is happening in other places too, of course. Now it s starting to spread; you will see that in the opinion polls, next time they are published. Soon, all Swedes will vote for the Sweden Democrats. They are getting more and more supporters every day. You Cabinet Ministers do not live in the exposed areas, you live in your fancy residential neighborhoods, with only Swedish neighbors. It should be obligatory for all politicians to live for at least three months in an area consisting mostly of immigrants, the car should be taken from you so you d have to use public transport. After three months, you would see my point. I am scared stiff of what is happening in this country. What will the government do about this? Anders wrote: Hi Stefan, why don t you, as our Prime Minister, react more against all the violence that is escalating in our country? [Such as] the double murder at IKEA in V ster s. Add to that the bombings and other things happening in Malm . Instead of torchlight processions against racism, we need a Prime Minister who speaks out against the violence, who says that it s wrong no matter which ethnic group is behind it or at the receiving end of it. Because all the people living in Sweden are Swedish, right? A torchlight procession against racism only highlights the fact that it s immigrants committing these crimes. What we need now is a clear signal from our popularly elected [officials] that violence needs to stop now. Sweden is supposed to be a haven away from violence. I m asking you as our Prime Minister, take a stand against the violence. Unite everyone in Sweden into one group and do not make it a racism thing. Some of the people received a reply from Carl-Johan Friman, of the Government Offices Communications Unit; others have not received any reply at all. A typical response goes: Thank you for your email to Prime Minister Stefan L fven. I ve been asked to reply and confirm that your email has reached the Prime Minister s Office and is now available for the Prime Minister and his staff. It is of course not acceptable that people should be exposed to violence and criminal activities in their everyday life. Many efforts are made to counteract violence, and quite correctly, this needs to be done without pitting groups against each other. Thank you for taking the time to write and share your views, they are important in shaping government policies. Via: Zero Hedge | 1real |
German broadcasters won't promote ex-Pink Floyd frontman's concerts over anti-Semitism accusations | (This November 28 story has been corrected to clarify in headline, lead and third paragraph that the broadcasters will not promote the concerts, not that they had dropped plans to air the concerts) BERLIN (Reuters) - German public broadcasters have dropped plans to promote concerts next year by British ex-Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, citing what they call accusations of anti-Semitism against him . Waters, part of one of the world s most critically acclaimed and commercially successful rock bands from 1965-85 before going solo, is a member of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) that targets Israel over its occupation of territories where Palestinians seek statehood. Five state television and radio affiliates of the national ARD network have said they will not promote concerts by the 74-year-old Waters in Berlin and Cologne scheduled next summer in reaction to anti-Semitism accusations against him , Berlin and Brandenburg public radio (RBB) said. RBB, part of the ARD network, said it wanted to send a message to other artists who, heeding the BDS, refuse to perform in Israel. Waters joined the movement in 2011. Taking a clear position here is an important signal for RBB to the Jewish communities in Berlin and Brandenburg, RBB director Patricia Schlesinger said in a statement. The quick and decisive reaction by the broadcasters ...is an important signal that rampant anti-Semitism against Israel `has no place in Germany, said Josef Schuster, president of The Central Council of Jews in Germany. Marek Lieberberg, Waters tour director, said that German Jews were right to be concerned about clearly visible and growing anti-Semitism in Germany - alluding to the far right s surge in recent German elections - but that the broadcasters decision was absolutely ridiculous . Lieberberg, the son of Holocaust survivors, told the Mannheimer Morgen daily that while he rejected the BDS, he separates personal opinions from work. I cannot and do not want to deny (Waters) his right to freedom of opinion, he said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s right-wing government has long campaigned against the BDS, describing it as anti-Semitic and an attempt to erase Israel s legitimacy. The movement, launched in 2005 as a non-violent campaign to press Israel to heed international law and end its occupation of territory held since a 1967 war, has gathered momentum in recent years even if its economic impact remains negligible. Germany has long sought to distance itself from the horrors of the Nazi Holocaust and become one of Israel s closest allies. | 0fake |
Some Hispanic Republicans fear for party's future if Trump wins in Florida | HIALEAH, Florida (Reuters) - Conservative Hispanic activists fear a win by Republican frontrunner Donald Trump in Florida’s presidential nominating contest next week will deal a major setback to efforts to widen the party’s appeal beyond white voters, potentially dooming hopes of retaking the White House from Democrats in 2016. Some of the activists said in interviews they feared a Trump win could prompt many Latino Republicans, angry at his anti-immigrant rhetoric, to stay home on Nov. 8, Election Day, or worse, support the Democratic nominee. “Sadly, the damage is going to be felt by the Republican Party for years,” said Javier Palomarez, president and CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, of a possible Trump win in Florida on March 15. “This is a turning point,” he said. Trump has dominated opinion polls and early nominating contests, in large part because of his pledge to build a wall along the border with Mexico; his labeling of Mexicans as criminals and rapists; and his accusations that immigrant workers steal American jobs. That kind of talk is well received by many white Republican voters, but not by minorities, polls show. That's a problem for the party, because while the American electorate has become more diverse in the last three years, Republican support among Hispanic likely voters has shrunk, from 30.6 percent in 2012 to 26 percent in 2015, according to an analysis of Reuters/Ipsos polling data. Meanwhile, Hispanic Democrats grew by 6 percentage points to 59.6 percent. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/1Oj9SPi) Trump’s campaign declined to comment, but he has consistently argued he can win the Latino vote, in part because his companies have employed thousands of Hispanics. “They’re incredible people. They’re incredible workers. I love them. I love them,” he said at a debate in February. Much of the establishment wing of the Republican party has thrown its weight behind Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a first-generation Cuban American. Rubio, however, lags Trump by 15 points in polls in Florida and may be forced out of the race if the New York businessman bests him. For Mark Gomez, a 20-year-old Cuban-American student at the University of Miami and a Rubio volunteer, the differences between Rubio’s and Trump’s approaches hit home when earlier this month on Twitter, a Trump supporter called him an “anchor baby.” Gomez was born in the United States of Cuban refugee parents. Immigration critics sometimes use “anchor babies” to describe U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants, usually from Latin America. Immigration groups say the phrase is offensive. Trump, Gomez said, “is just playing into people’s fears.” Rubio has toured Florida’s Latino enclaves in recent weeks, switching easily between Spanish and English at his rallies, while his allied super PAC, or independent fundraising group, has outspent all rivals combined in ads to boost him and erase Trump’s polling lead. Among Rubio’s challenges in besting Trump, however, could be drawing in younger generations of Florida’s Hispanics. Unlike conservatives of the past, who could take the Cuban-American vote in Florida for granted if they aggressively criticized the Castro government in Cuba, candidates are dealing with a new generation that is leaning more heavily to the Democratic Party. A decade ago 64 percent of Cuban registered voters nationwide identified with the Republican party. That’s now down to 47 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. And among young Cubans, from 18 to 49, more than half now identify with or lean toward the Democrats. “A lot of those Cubans who come from the island, that resentment, that pain, that hurt has really driven how they’ve reacted politically. Our generation is a generation removed from that in a lot of ways,” said Gabriel Pendas, 33, of Miami. He called Rubio “so outdated from how a lot of people feel.” Following Mitt Romney’s defeat as the Republican party’s presidential nominee in 2012, in which he received just 27 percent of the Hispanic vote nationwide, the Republican National Committee underwent an extensive and painful self-examination to determine the root causes of its failure. One thing was clear from the autopsy: The party needed to expand a voter base skewing too white and too old. The hope among party leaders, like Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Preibus, was that a young, dynamic field of candidates like Rubio, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and others, would position the party well to reclaim some share of Latino vote from the Democrats. Rubio stood central to those hopes. Young, telegenic, bilingual, and armed with a compelling backstory, he seemed made-to-order. “Rubio’s tone, his aspirational message, his shared language and culture, makes him an ideal candidate,” said Daniel Garza, director of the LIBRE Institute in Miami, a conservative Hispanic advocacy group. But Trump, as he has done so often during this election season, took a wrecking ball to those plans. His hardline immigration stance forced many of his rivals - including Cruz - to adopt a harsher approach on immigration, while leaving others such as former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who has dropped out of the race, adrift. “We’ve lost an incredible opportunity,” said Alfonso Aguilar, president of the Latino Partnership for Conservative Principles, referring to Trump’s front-runner status. Addressing a rally on Wednesday night in Hialeah, home to the largest number of Cubans outside of Cuba, Rubio spoke in both English and Spanish and urged supporters to “come out and vote in massive numbers.” Awaiting Rubio at the rally, Cuban-born Ahmed Martel, 45, was asked what he would do if Trump, not Rubio, was the party’s nominee in the fall. “I won’t vote,” Martel said. “I can’t vote for him.” (Additional reporting by Grant Smith and Maurice Tamman; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Ross Colvin) 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 |
Trump: ‘There Is No Drought In California’ — Offers This Conspiracy Theory Instead (VIDEO) | Donald Trump told an audience in Fresno, California on Friday, that there is no drought in California. This has to be the most absurd claim that Trump has made during his campaign. During the event, Trump implied that the water shortage in California was created by the government and environmentalists. We re going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they re taking the water and shoving it out to sea, Trump told the crowd made up of mostly California farmers. They don t understand it. There is no drought, they turn the water out into the ocean. California has been in a state of drought for half a decade. In 2015, the drought was less severe than it has been in previous years. Though to claim that there is no drought and to imply that California s water shortage problem has been solely caused by poor water management systems is ridiculous.Trump pointed towards efforts to keep the Delta Smelt, or a three-inch fish as Trump referred to it in his speech, from going extinct as an example of environmentalists and the big-bad-government stealing water away from farmers. While water has been redirected in a last-ditch attempt to save the species from complete extinction, the idea that it has had any major impact on farmers is nothing more than a flimsy talking point.Trump is pandering to California farmers who are trying to get legislation passed to build new water infrastructure that would help farmers out. It s probably just due to the fact that he is Trump, that he has chosen to do so in such a ludicrous fashion. I m personally surprised that Trump is spending so much time trying to win over voters in California, a state that is certain to vote blue in November.You can watch the event below in full.Featured image via video screenshot | 1real |
Why Can't Hillary Clinton Stop Telling Stupid Lies? | Why Can't Hillary Clinton Stop Telling Stupid Lies? November 2,
The biggest mystery about Hillary Clinton isn't any of her scandals. Those are obvious. It's her lies. Not the usual kind of lies. The lies about corruption and greed. The pretense that she agrees with whomever she's talking to at any given time. It's the stupid lies. The ridiculous lies. The lies only a crazy person would tell.
This is a stupid lie that took all of 6 seconds to be exposed. Hillary's own book mentions that she wasn't in New York City. She was enough of a public figure that the lie would never hold up.
So why tell it?
This isn't the first time Hillary Clinton got caught senselessly telling stupid lies. There was the famous airport under fire incident. There was her name and Chelsea jogging on 9/11 and negotiating peace in Northern Ireland. Politicians often lie, but Hillary Clinton is unique in telling senseless lies that seem to have no rational purpose except to get caught. | 1real |
Obama Has A Powerful Message About 9/11 You Have To See (VIDEO) | President Obama used the platform of his weekly address from the White House to address the 15th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In his speech, the President sought to remind Americans of their best qualities as we saw in the response to the horrific attack.In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama said that while so much has changed in the years since 9/11 it s important to remember what has stayed the same. The core values that define us as Americans. The resilience that sustains us, he said on the eve of the 15th anniversary of one of the nation s darkest days.He said the terrorists goal is to frighten Americans into changing how they live, but Americans will never give in to fear. We re still the America of heroes who ran into harm s way, of ordinary folks who took down the hijackers, of families who turned their pain into hope, Obama said.The idea that America has to eye all Muslims with suspicion since 9/11 has unfortunately gone from a fringe belief to a central concern of the conservative movement. Current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has argued that Muslims should be barred from entry to the United States, and has even suggested that they be tracked somehow. He and other Republicans also claim that Muslims aren t helping America in the war against terrorism, but they have laid down their lives right alongside Christian patriots in the last decade and a half.President Obama s message is one of inclusion not exclusion, arguing that the American instinct was seen in its purest form after the attack, when so many were united in a common cause.The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 killed almost 3,000 people in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania. The assault was executed by the al Qaeda terrorist network and ordered by leader Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden was killed in a raid ordered by President Obama and executed by U.S. Navy Seal Team Six on May 2, 2011.Featured image via YouTube | 1real |
BREAKING: DNC STAFFERS May Have Sold Sensitive Info To “Hostile Foreign Governments”…”A Massive, Massive Scandal” | Well, well, well The DNC IT scandal could become the biggest yet with the new investigation by federal authorities into whether sensitive date was sold to foreign agents. Former DNC Chair and DNC IT staffers are all involved. Shady doesn t even begin to describe these staffers who would sell out their own mother.CLAIMS OF PROFILING DON T STAND A CHANCE The defense for this criminal behavior from both the lawyer (former Clinton associate) and former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz is that these staffers are being targeted for being Muslim. DWS said recently that scrutiny of her Muslim aide was motivated by racial and ethnic profiling. The lawyer for the ringleader in all of this said his client was only indicted for working while Muslim. The main stream media is ignoring this HUGE scandal because they care more about statues Here s the low down:IT STAFFERS HAD ACCESS TO MOST CONGRESSIONAL INFO IMRAN AWAN and the other four staffers under investigation had full and complete access to lawmakers e-mails, calendars, schedules, hearing notes, meeting notes and memos and other sensitive information.Federal authorities are investigating whether sensitive data was stolen from congressional offices by several Pakistani-American tech staffers and sold to Pakistani or Russian intelligence, knowledgeable sources say.WASSERMAN SHULTZ THREATENS CAPITOL POLICE TO HAND OVER COMPUTER What started out 16 months ago as a scandal involving the alleged theft of computer equipment from Congress has turned into a national-security investigation involving FBI surveillance of the suspects.Investigators now suspect that sensitive US government data possibly including classified information could have been compromised and may have been sold to hostile foreign governments that could use it to blackmail members of Congress or even put their lives at risk. This is a massive, massive scandal SENIOR US OFFICIALAlarm bells went off in April 2016 when computer security officials in the House reported irregularities in computer equipment purchasing. An internal investigation revealed the theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars in government property, and evidence pointed to five IT staffers and the Democratic Congress members offices that employed them. READ MORE: NYP | 1real |
Spain to make it easier for firms to move base from Catalonia as business alarm deepens | MADRID (Reuters) - Spain s government will issue a decree on Friday making it easier for firms to transfer their legal base out of Catalonia, two sources said, in a move that could deal a serious blow to the region s finances as it considers declaring independence. The decree is tailor-made for Spanish lender Caixabank, sources familiar with the matter said, as it would make it possible for the bank to transfer its legal and tax base to another location without having to hold a shareholders meeting as stated in its statutes. The government is working on changing the law so that it s no longer need to have a shareholders meeting, which would delay a change of the legal base in a case of emergency, one of the sources said. The government and Caixabank declined to comment. The board of Caixabank will meet on Friday to study a possible transfer of its legal base away from Catalonia due to the political uncertainty in the region, a source familiar with the situation said. Caixabank is Catalonia s biggest company by market value and accounts for around 50 percent of the region s banking sector. Another Catalonia-based bank, Sabadell, Spain s fifth-biggest lender, decided on Thursday to move its base from Catalonia to Alicante, on Spain s eastern coast. Catalonia s parliament was planning to declare independence on Monday, after a banned referendum marred by violence last weekend. That plan was cast into doubt on Thursday when Spain s Constitutional Court ordered that Monday s session of the Catalan parliament be suspended. The political crisis was generating uncertainty that is paralyzing all investment projects in Catalonia, Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos told Reuters on Thursday. I m convinced that, right now, not one international or national investor will take part in a new investment project until this is cleared up, he said. Shares in Sabadell and Caixabank have been pummeled this week. Reports they might move caused the stocks to surge on Thursday - Sabadell rose 6 percent and Caixabank 5 percent. Government plans to sell a stake in state-run lender Bankia have also been put off because of the uncertainty, de Guindos said. Madrid will look at the placement again once the Catalan situation had been resolved, he said. However, Catalonia s planned unilateral declaration of independence has not had any impact on Spain s overall economic output, de Guindos said, reiterating that he expected growth of more than 3 percent this year. Financial markets have been shaken this week by fears that secession would undermine the euro zone s fourth-biggest economy, dealing a heavy blow to Spain s finances and sending the Catalan economy into a tailspin. Catalonia is a center of industry and tourism that accounts for a fifth of Spain s economy, a production base for major multinationals from Volkswagen to Nestle, and home to Europe s fastest-growing sea port. News earlier this week that two small listed Catalan companies, Eurona Wireless Telecom and Oryzon Genomics, had decided to shift their head offices improved their share price. Both declined to say whether they were responding to Sunday s vote. Spain s bond and stock markets both staged a recovery on Thursday after the Constitutional Court s decision and a Bloomberg report that Catalan separatists were looking at putting off a declaration of independence to create room for a negotiated settlement with Spain. The nation s borrowing costs hit a seven-month high on Thursday, though investors showed solid interest in a government bond auction. Many Spanish business leaders and foreign companies with operations in Catalonia have expressed concern this week. As a businessman, as a Spaniard and as a person, I am very worried and I am scared by what s going on (in Catalonia), said Juan Roig, chairman of Spain s biggest food retailer, Mercadona. The influential Catalan business lobby Cercle d Economia said on Wednesday it was extremely worried by the prospect of Catalonia declaring independence from Spain and called for leaders from both sides to start talks. Dutch paint maker Akzo Nobel, which has several plants in Catalonia, said it was monitoring developments. From a business perspective, we are best served by a stable environment and will adapt when necessary, said Akzo Nobel spokeswoman Diana Abrahams. German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) was earlier this week forced to halt production briefly on one of three production lines at the Catalonia plant of its Spanish unit, SEAT, when protests disrupted parts supply. Stoppages also affected production at Nestle s instant coffee plant in Girona. SEAT said on Thursday it was operating its business as usual. It is too early to make an assessment on what could happen, a spokesman said. The company is closely monitoring how the current situation is evolving. | 0fake |
Peru says expelling North Korean ambassador over nuclear program | LIMA (Reuters) - Peru said on Monday that it was expelling North Korea s ambassador over the country s refusal to heed the world s constant calls to end its nuclear program. The ambassador, Kim Hak-Chol, has five days to leave Peru, the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. Earlier this month North Korea launched its biggest nuclear bomb test, prompting global condemnation as U.S. President Donald Trump said appeasement would not work. Peru stressed that it was committed to a peaceful solution to the dispute and strict compliance with resolutions passed by the United Nations Security Council. The UN Security Council is set to vote on Monday to impose new sanctions on North Korea after the United States watered down the text of a resolution to appease China and Russia. Peru said it would carry out all diplomatic efforts aimed at denuclearizing the North Korean peninsula. Peru s announcement follows a similar move by Mexico last week and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence s public call last month for Latin American nations to isolate Pyongyang. North Korea s embassy in Lima declined comment. | 0fake |
Mexican Man Arrested with Nearly $400K of Fentanyl | A Mexican national was busted attempting to smuggle highly lethal narcotics into the United States. [Tucson Sector Custom and Border Protection officers made a large seizure on Wednesday when they discovered 23 pounds of fentanyl. The Mexican man’s Chevrolet SUV was flagged for secondary inspection while traveling through the Dennis DeConcini crossing. A narcotics alerted officers to the drugs hidden in the vehicle’s dashboard. The 23 pounds of fentanyl recovered was estimated to be worth approximately $378, 000. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more than heroin. Some estimates suggest that as little as . 25 milligrams of fentanyl can kill a human, although most estimates consider a lethal dose to be in the range of 2 milligrams to 3 milligrams. The latest statistics from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) indicate that fentanyl is the largest drug threat in the United States, killing 44 people per day. Ryan Saavedra is a contributor for Breitbart Texas and can be found on Twitter at @RealSaavedra. | 0fake |
KARMA! AG JEFF SESSIONS FIRES OBAMA-APPOINTED DOJ LAWYER Who Targeted Dinesh D’Souza | Here s why we couldn t be happier! Preet Bharara was the same attorney who brought charges against conservative activist and author, Dinesh D Souza back in 2014. D Souza was sentenced to 5 years probation and 8 months in a community confinement center. It was clearly a witch hunt against D Souza after his revealing film, Obama s America 2016: The film was dead on in finally telling the truth about Obama and his radical political roots. Via: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
US-backed Forces Launch Raqqa Offensive as Terror Fears Grow in Europe | Here's something interesting from The Unz Review... Recipient Name Recipient Email =>
A Syrian Kurdish and Arab force backed by US air strikes has launched an offensive against the Islamic State’s de facto Syrian capital at Raqqa aimed at maximising pressure on Isis when it is already under attack in Mosul in Iraq. Anti-Isis forces advanced six miles in the first four hours of the attack, capturing many villages and farms.
The move against Raqqa, a city of 320,000 people on the Euphrates River, is by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which numbers about 30,000 fighters, of whom 20,000 are seasoned Kurdish fighters and 10,000 are drawn from the Sunni Arab population of northern Syria. The US is keen not to provoke Turkey which has denounced the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) as terrorists.
US officers say that one reason for seeking to isolate and capture Raqqa now is that it is at the centre of planning and execution of Isis terrorist operations against Europe, the US and the wider world and they fear such an operation is about to be launched. General Stephen Townsend, the US commander of Operation Inherent Resolve, which is aimed at eliminating Isis, said last week that “we know they’re up to something. And it’s an external plot; we don’t know exactly where; we don’t know exactly when.” He added that this uncertainty was creating “a sense of urgency.”
It would be keeping with Isis’ actions in the past that it seeks to counter-balance setbacks on the battlefield in Iraq and Syria by staging spectacular terrorist atrocities abroad that show that it is still to be feared and can strike when and where it wants. It carried out two suicide bombings in Iraq on Sunday killing 25 people and wounding 50 in the cities of Tikrit and Samarra.
The US-led war against the Caliphate declared after Isis captured Mosul in June 2014 has now reached a critical stage with Isis’s many enemies closing in on all sides. Iraqi troops, whose offensive against Mosul started on 17 October, are meeting strong resistance in the east of the city with one unit surrounded and cut off for a time when Isis fighters appeared behind it.
The assault on Isis in both Syria and Iraq is very much orchestrated by the US and dependent on US-led airstrikes to destroy Isis positions. This may be more difficult to do as Iraqi army units move into Mosul which may have as many as 1.5 million people still in it. Some are seeking refuge behind the advancing government troops, but the numbers on the main road east of Mosul did not seem very large on Sunday, possibly because it is too dangerous for people to leave their houses and the Iraqi Army has told them to stay there.
The opening of the Raqqa offensive brings with its political complications that may exceed the military difficulties because Turkey does not want Raqqa to fall to a force dominated by the YPG, which is the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that has been fighting a guerrilla war against the Turkey Army since 1984. The US has been trying to avoid an armed confrontation between the YPG and Turkey or Turkish backed forces, a possibility that has grown since Turkey had its local allies seize Jarabulus and a strip of territory along the Syrian-Turkish border in August.
The mainly Kurdish SDF will be moving into a fertile area north of Raqqa where the population is Sunni Arab. There are doubts among the Syrian Kurds about suffering casualties trying to take an Arab city, which they cannot keep, when they would prefer to move west and link up their present swathe of territory with the Kurdish enclave at Afrin further west, but this is being resisted by Turkey. The Syrian Kurds are doing what the US wants because their future is very dependent on US military and political support. The SDF said it had received weapons from the US, including anti-tank missiles, and some 50 US advisers are reported to be accompanying the advance to call in airstrikes.
The SDF spokesman Talal Sillo was quoted as saying that “we want to liberate the surrounding countryside, then encircle the city, then we will assault and liberate it,” he said. Asked about the possibility of intervention by Turkey or its local allies, he replied: “Of course, to begin the operation, we have made sure there will be no other forces but the SDF in the operation.”
Underlining the complexity of the present situation, an SDF official, Rezan Hiddo, said Turkey has been an “obstacle” to the Raqqa campaign all along. He said that if Turkey moves against Kurdish areas in northern Syria then the Kurds would stop their campaign directed at Raqqa, adding: “we cannot extinguish the fire in our neighbours’ house if our home is burning.”
Isis is using its traditional mixture of suicide car bombs, snipers, booby traps and Improvised Explosive Devices, but these no longer create the terror they once did. Counter-measures are more effective. Major General Maan al-Sadi told Iraqi state television that Isis fighters had launched more than 100 car bombs against his forces in east Mosul, which is only one of the fronts in the fighting. A Counter Terrorism unit came under attack from the rear after advancing into east Mosul, when Isis fighters emerged from houses behind them and isolated the convoy, preventing reinforcements from getting through. Surrounded and low on ammunition, they had to shelter in houses before they finally got out on Saturday. He Isis news agency Amaq released footage on Sunday of captured or destroyed military vehicles, including the burnt wreckage of a Humvee it said was taken in the eastern district of Mosul. Fighters shouted “Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest)” and unloaded ammunition and communications equipment. (Reprinted from The Independent by permission of author or representative) | 1real |
null | fair enough, i probably won't see it either, but we will both see the effects of it. | 1real |
Mexico president says Trump visit could have been done better | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Sunday defended his decision to host a visit by U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump to Mexico, but he said it could have been carried out “in a better way”. The hastily arranged meeting of Trump and Pena Nieto on Aug. 31 sparked outrage in Mexico because of Trump’s verbal attacks on Mexicans as well as his threats to build a border wall and tear up trade deals with Latin America’s No. 2 economy. “I faced a dilemma of ‘yes or no’ once I had made the proposal and he said ‘yes.’ Because, at the end of the day, its all about ensuring the best interests of Mexico, even if it could be very controversial, as it turned out to be,” Pena Nieto said in an interview on Mexico’s Canal 11 television. Pena Nieto had invited both Trump and his rival Hillary Clinton, who turned down the offer. “Could we have done things better? Maybe yes, admittedly. I think that this genuine interest to bring about a meeting to take care of Mexico’s interests, I think, could have been done in a better way,” he said. During his visit, Trump struck a collaborative tone with Mexico. But as soon as he was back in the United States, he told a crowd in Arizona that Mexico would pay for his massive border wall “100 percent.” Backlash from the visit forced the resignation of Pena Nieto’s finance minister and trusted aide Luis Videgaray, who had helped arrange the meeting. | 0fake |
Detentions and Travel Orders Coincide With Dip in Interest in Coming to America - The New York Times | It should have been a routine flight from Paris to Houston for Henry Rousso, a prominent French historian and a Holocaust scholar. Instead, it became another and unflattering incident for United States customs authorities who have been tasked with enforcing President Trump’s border security initiatives. Mr. Rousso, who is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University, had visited the United States many times over the past 30 years without much fuss. This time, he was on his way to a speaking engagement at Texas AM University, traveling with a tourist visa. “The experience wasn’t a good one,” Mr. Rousso, who was born in Egypt, said of his detention at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, which almost led to a flight back to Paris. Mr. Rousso said he was told by an ”inexperienced official” of Customs and Border Protection that he was violating immigration law by using a tourist visa to enter the country to attend the academic conference. (He delivered his speech.) He is one of many figures who have been detained or interrogated in recent weeks, including Muhammad Ali Jr. who was questioned on Friday in Washington after speaking with members of Congress about being detained last month at an airport in Florida, Mem Fox, a popular Australian author who was questioned at Los Angeles International Airport, and Sidd Bikkannavar, an NASA scientist. Other detentions have drawn notice because of the circumstances rather than the fame of the people involved, for example the Afghan family held for four days even though the father had worked for the American government in Afghanistan for 10 years. “Due to such a number of similar stories in the last weeks,” Mr. Rousso said, “I presume that some tourists will hesitate to fly to the U. S. for a while, especially if they are coming from ‘problematic’ countries or if they have children or elders with them. Why take such a risk to be treated like a criminal?” He may be right. President Trump’s first executive order on travel has coincided with a broad decline in interest among international travelers in booking flights to the United States, according to several travel companies. The original order suspended visa entry from seven predominantly Muslum countries — Syria, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Libya, Sudan and Yemen. A revised version of President Trump’s executive order limiting inbound travel, announced on March 6, dropped Iraq from the list of excluded countries and allows people who have visas or ar permanent residents to enter the United States. “It’s the message that’s gone out around the world, that the U. S. is potentially closing for business,” said David Scowsill, the chief executive of the World Travel Tourism Council. “Trump’s administration has made it clear that they will be to ‘Make America Great Again,’ and this has led to an sentiment in the country. ” In analyzing data from British travelers, the travel search engine Kayak found that searches for flights to key cities in the United States had “fallen off a cliff,” especially for 2017 holidays. A study from the farecasting app Hopper showed a significant drop in searches for travel to the United States from 122 origin countries from late December 2016 through Feb. 22. And further analysis through March 6, when the revised order took effect, showed flight searches remained down about 10 percent in comparison to the same period a year earlier. Hopper’s data also shows a correlation between news media reports on the travel ban and a decreased interest in booking travel to the United States. “It seems that as the travel ban becomes featured in the news cycle, regardless of whether it’s in favor or against the travel ban,” said Patrick Surry, the chief data scientist for Hopper, “it may be reminding travelers that there’s a lot of uncertainty around whether international travelers are welcome in the U. S. and flight search demand then drops. ” That means that steady news of detentions could continue to impact tourism — as could the fact that Hawaii, Washington and New York are challenging the revised ban. Mr. Surry said it was still too early to tell whether his study showed a reaction to the travel ban or whether it will affect tourism to the United States in the long run. “Travel is a multibillion dollar industry for the U. S.,” he said. “So even if tourism decreases just a few percentage points, it could have serious effects on the industry. ” Mr. Scowsill said he believed the revised order didn’t do enough to reverse the negative perception created by the original travel ban. “The only way of changing a negative perception is by doing some positive things,” Mr. Scowsill said. ”And positive things are: promoting the U. S. as a tourism destination and making it easier for people to come in. ” Expanding the use of electronic visa processing would help with the latter, he added. These reports come just as the United States tourism industry seemed to have finally regained the losses incurred after the attacks of Sept. 11, according to the U. S. Travel Association. The industry lost $600 billion in the decade after Sept. 11, 2001, according to the association. “A decade and a half of sound policy making from administrations and congresses controlled by both political parties has enabled America to rebound,” Roger Dow, the association’s president and chief executive, said in early February. But by early March, the association expressed concern, saying that Mr. Trump’s order “has had a broad chilling effect on demand for international travel to the United States. ” Mr. Scowsill said he is worried about what the Trump administration’s stricter immigration policies might mean for tourism in the United States going forward. “The United States is in danger of taking the same path it took after the terror attacks, which led to a decade of economic stagnation in the travel and tourism sector,” Mr. Scowsill said. Still, he said he is hopeful that Mr. Trump’s business sensibilities will win out in the end, adding that the United States’ travel and tourism sectors generate over 8 percent of the country’s GDP and support nearly 10 percent of the country’s employment. “President Trump, given his business background,” Mr. Scowsill said, ”with his leisure and hotel and golfing interests, he really does understand that more people coming into the country means more American jobs. ” | 0fake |
Senior Russian diplomat hails U.S. readiness to start talks with North Korea: Ifx | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia welcomes U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson s statement that Washington is ready to begin direct talks with North Korea, the Interfax news agency cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying on Wednesday. Tillerson said direct talks with Pyongyang might start without pre-conditions, backing away from a key U.S. demand that North Korea must first accept that giving up its nuclear arsenal would be part of any negotiations. | 0fake |
South Korean foreign minister says North Korea on 'reckless path' | SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Monday North Korea is on a reckless path with its continued nuclear and missile provocations in defiance of international condemnation. The price of its continued provocations in blatant disregard of the peace-loving members of the international community will be instability and economic hardship, Kang told a news conference. Her comments come hours before the U.N. Security Council was to vote on fresh a U.S.-drafted resolution imposing new sanctions to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear and missile programs. | 0fake |
null | Why in the world would she start a business at this time? | 1real |
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