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NBC Will Bring Back ‘Will & Grace’ - The New York Times | In an era of revivals and reboots, this may have been inevitable. NBC announced on Wednesday that it was bringing back its celebrated comedy “Will Grace” for 10 episodes during the TV season. The show’s original cast — Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally — will all return, as will the show’s director, James Burrows, and the show’s creators, Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. TV is going through a 1990s and early 2000s nostalgia craze, and “Will Grace” is far from the first show to make a comeback. Netflix’s “Full House” revival, “Fuller House,” has already had two seasons. The streaming service also brought back “Gilmore Girls” in November. Fox brought back “The ” with its original cast, and it was a ratings hit for the network last year. “Twin Peaks” will return in May, with many of the original cast members. “Will Grace,” which ran from 1998 to 2006, was a hit and a critical darling — each of the lead cast members won an Emmy for their roles, and the show won the best comedy Emmy in its second season. NBC is having the strongest year among the big four networks in the most important audience to advertisers: adults under 50. But it is still in the midst of retooling its comedy slate, and “Will Grace” could give it a shot in the arm whenever the show winds up running in the next season. Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, said in a statement, “This groundbreaking series for everything from gay rights to social and political commentary — all disguised as a train of witty pop culture — is coming back where it belongs. ” | 0fake |
Baseball’s Too Slow. Here’s How You Fix It. - The New York Times | Major League Baseball officials are finally addressing something that many fans have complained about for years: the length of games. The average game last season took three hours. Playoff games are even more trying, now often stretching beyond three and a half hours. So what should be done? We invited our reporters and readers to submit proposals. Here’s a selection (add your ideas in the comments section): Major League Baseball wants more action and less downtime during games. That’s probably asking too much, because hitters are paid to work deep counts while pitchers throw harder, with better movement, than ever before. It’s no accident that the number of strikeouts rises every year. The larger issue, of course, is expanding the business, which means attracting more fans. And baseball won’t touch the biggest impediments to that effort, because it would mean less money now. Want to make the game move more quickly? Cut every commercial break by 30 seconds. Want more people to watch in the postseason? Insist that Fox show the League Championship Series on its regular network, not on the Fox Sports 1. This is most important: Make the World Series appointment viewing, as it was a generation ago. October will mark the 30th anniversary of the last World Series game held in the afternoon. If you want to appeal to young fans in all areas of the country, let them watch at least one World Series game every year before bedtime. They’ll repay that gesture when they grow up, if baseball can wait that long for the payoff. — TYLER KEPNER Boredom is the whole point of baseball, an antidote to the accelerated hysteria of modern life. But if you want to speed it up, why not make the experience as unpleasant as possible, as they do in English soccer games? Make the fans enter through tiny turnstiles surrounded by armed police officers. Make the seats really uncomfortable and humiliate anyone who leaves in the middle of play to get food or go to the bathroom. Encourage people to shout abuses at one another and to chuck garbage onto the field. No kiss cams. No stretch. You want to sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” or, worse, “Sweet Caroline”? Do it on your own time. Anyone who attempts to propose to his or her partner via the Jumbotron will be ejected from the game and banned for life. As for the players: No relaxing. No chatting. No being nice to your opponents. No doing that thing where you waste time knocking the dirt out of your shoes with your bat for good luck, or whatever. You’re hit by a your from an open wound? Suck it up. Cap the games at five innings. Make sure at least 75 percent of the crowd is in a vile temper by the end of the game. If the score is tied, the winner should be determined by penalty kicks. — SARAH LYALL Ban all mound visits except when using one of three allotted timeouts per game. Imagine a basketball player has just entered the action. The buzzer sounds and she walks onto the court. But before play resumes, the coach strolls to midcourt to discuss strategy with her. A preposterous idea, of course, but that happens in baseball every time there is a pitching change, and often when there is not. The relief pitcher was just sitting in the bullpen spitting sunflower seeds for the last two hours with a telephone hookup to the dugout five feet away. Talk to him before he goes in. Now, picture a soccer goalie halting play to walk 30 yards upfield and chat about tactics with a teammate. Everyone waits until the discussion ends and play resumes. But two minutes later the goalie stops play again to walk upfield again and talk to the same teammate, and never has to ask for a timeout. That’s what catchers do with regularity. But there is no need for it. They have signs. If they can’t keep the signs straight, then practice more. That should be on them, and not on the fans who suffer through the endless mound visits. — DAVID WALDSTEIN O the interminable glory of ! O the joyous expectation that, for the willing surrender of a mere coin, we might see a match between the respective nines of New York and Chicago that could last to the End of Days! Imagine: Our sainted Christy Mathewson, “the Christian Gentleman,” twirling against those shifty triplets, Tinker and Evers and Chance — forever. Be still my sclerotic heart. Alas, this cannot be. Our children have been raised without proper discipline (I, for one, am grateful to my dear pater for having once tied me to a tree after my refusal to eat a tomato that mater had so lovingly stewed). As a result, our youth lack the necessary patience for so eager are they to return to their wireless devices and motorcars and . Now the august custodians of our national pastime are forced to consider changes to the game’s sacred text. To which I say: Bosh! Forgive me, dear readers of the female persuasion, for my coarse language. But this cannot stand. Your humble scribe suggests the following. Make the distracting billboards along the outfield walls smaller. Order dawdling batsmen to step into the box — like men! — or pay the consequences of a first pitch thrown in their absence. Prohibit the spitting, the tugging of nether regions and other unseemly habits that waste time and offend refined sensibilities. We must address these matters posthaste, before some contraption of illumination is invented that leads to this game of sunshine being played at night. Then all will be lost it truly will be the End of Days. — D. FRANCIS BARRY Part of baseball’s charm is the quirks: No two games are the same. But long ones can leave an unfavorable impression on at least some fans, so here are some ideas on how to shave off some time. First, instant replay needs refinement. The time it takes for a manager to signal for a review, or for the umpires to rule on a play, needs to be shortened. Second, games can turn painfully slow in September, when rosters expand from 25 players to as many as 40. With so many relievers suddenly at their disposal, managers start to change pitchers with every batter. But the game should not be played by one set of rules for five months and then a different set in the final month. Perhaps allow teams to choose up to, say, 28 active players per game in September, but not 38. Finally, a more radical idea: Cut down on television commercial breaks, especially when they are longer during national broadcasts. Keep the flow of the game constant, and make up for the lost revenue by putting advertisements on the jerseys, as they do in soccer and will next season in the N. B. A. — JAMES WAGNER Ban all armor and padding on batters — it’s an unfair advantage and wastes thousands of minutes as straps are adjusted between pitches. Prohibit any hitter from leaving the batter’s box once an commences, except for obvious, debilitating injury (feeling uncomfortable at the plate does not count). The penalty for stepping out: A strike is called. Do it twice in one ? Take a seat — automatic strikeout. Institute a pitch clock and strictly enforce it (a ball is called if the time expires). Any pitcher going over the clock more than five times is ejected, as with fouling out of a basketball game. Stipulate in the umpires’ union contract that each ump gets a $500 bonus for every game that ends in less than 2 hours 40 minutes. The bonus is $1, 000 for games ending in under 2 hours 25 minutes, and the entire umping crew gets the next weekend off, with pay, for games lasting less than two hours. — BILL PENNINGTON Enough about the idiosyncratic habits that obviously slow the game down, but are also part of the game’s natural appeal and help build drama. My advice is to shorten the game. No, I mean, really shorten the game. Reduce it to seven innings from nine. Beyond the time saved, think of the benefits in eliminating two innings. Starting pitchers would throw far fewer pitches, needing to only go four innings to record a victory. The scourge of serious arm and shoulder injuries would very likely diminish. Not having to rely on mediocrity before getting to the studs would also quicken the pace of games. Many games might take between two and two and a half hours, or the time it takes to play most soccer and basketball games. Games starting at 7 in the evening would be over by 9:30, making it easier for fans on work and school nights. After the seventh inning, everyone could get up, stretch and go home. — HARVEY ARATON Baseball is timeless, and often endless: enduring truths my friends and I came to appreciate as Mets fans in the empty upper decks of Shea Stadium in the early 1980s. Whenever those terribly played games got too long, copious inhalation helped along our Zen appreciation. Ah, the color schemes. … My mind is clearer now. So I’ll acknowledge that I like pitch and innings clocks. If batters haven’t adjusted gloves and cups, it’s too late to start once they step into the batter’s box. I’d limit coaching trips to the mound. Otherwise, leave the beautiful game alone. I don’t expect I will convince Commissioner Rob Manfred to put a sock in it. He is that neighbor puttering around his garage, tinkering with an old lawn mower. So here’s a thought: Forget putting a greased pig of a runner at second base in extra innings, and instead call the owners and general managers and urge them to hire blacks and Latinos and women. He’ll feel virtuous and his deeply white and male sport will benefit. — MICHAEL POWELL Enough of these suggested baby steps and timid tweaks to make baseball games shorter. It’s like trying to make a marathon markedly shorter by making it 26 miles, instead of 26. 2. Thanks for nothing. What baseball needs are a few spectacular changes to make it not only faster, but also more appealing to young fans whose attention spans have melted into the abyss of their iPads. Let’s get rid of the fourth ball, too. Let’s use a chain saw instead of a scalpel and say three strikes, three balls. Also, there should be no more free passes in this new world of speed baseball. Every foul ball would be counted as a strike. Make those changes, and the marathon becomes not much more than a 10K, just with hot dogs and beer, of course. — JULIET MACUR People keep looking for innovative ways to speed up the game, but baseball was played briskly for 100 years, so looking to the past may offer more answers. Specifically, we could look to April 16, 1993, when Mark Hirschbeck, a veteran umpire, decided there was someplace he would rather be than standing behind a catcher in San Francisco’s notoriously chilly Candlestick Park. With two outs in the ninth inning and one strike against him, Atlanta’s Ron Gant called for time and stepped out of the batter’s box. Unfortunately for Gant, Hirschbeck did not honor the request. Gant defiantly strode away from the plate and Hirschbeck, who perhaps had movie tickets or a late dinner engagement, ordered Rod Beck to start pitching. The Giants’ closer was happy to oblige, firing in another strike as Gant frantically raced back to the plate. There were plenty of words exchanged, but Beck ultimately retired Gant on a to preserve a victory. Laugh all you want about the thought of pitchers letting things rip regardless of whether the batter is in the box, but that game was over in 2 hours 16 minutes, and Gant probably thought twice for the rest of his career about calling a timeout. — BENJAMIN HOFFMAN I don’t want less baseball. I want less nonbaseball. Stepping out of the batter’s box to call a timeout, peer vaguely down the line or scratch or adjust oneself is not baseball. Stay in the box. Pitchers aren’t blameless, either. Fondling the rosin bag or chatting with your catcher is not baseball. Pitch the ball. A visit to the mound? Let’s not. If you want to make a pitching change, just sound an air horn or something, have the pitcher leave the mound and have the new one come in. And he gets three pitches, not eight. Come on, you’ve done this before! Vigilant and rigorous eradication of nonbaseball will give us the same dose of baseball in far less time. — VICTOR MATHER Several of our readers defended the game and its slow pace, claiming that the problem lay with the attention span of today’s viewers. Here are some of the best comments: Fix baseball? Fix baseball? I’ve got news for you. Baseball doesn’t need fixing! It is just about perfect the way it is. Oh, you in a hurry? Need to get back to the office? Well, then you don’t belong at a baseball game. What are you? From the MTV generation? Shorten the game? Please. You don’t go to a baseball game because you’re in a hurry. You go to a baseball game to relax and watch how it all unfolds. One of the great things about baseball is that there is no clock. You get to chill out, have a conversation or two, and take what amounts to a . The game doesn’t need shortening and those who think it does need to go to a basketball game. Or a football game. Or any other sport with a clock, so you can make sure not to miss your dental appointment. Now, leave it alone! — Bill Leeman, San Rafael, Calif. **** As a practicing Buddhist, I try to live in the present moment at every moment. A slow baseball game allows me the opportunity to meditate between pitches, compose my soul with the personnel changes on the field, calm my feelings with foul balls and intentional walks, and generally muse about life, its vicissitudes and joys, throughout a game. And how I miss the doubleheaders! May I suggest therapy for those sorry, frantic fans who have lost touch with their inner selves? Go to England and watch a cricket Test match. Go to Norway and watch their “Slow TV. ” Life is short. The calmer you are, the slower things are, the more life you have. Don’t fix baseball, FIX YOUR SOULS! Breathe! — David Glidden **** Why does baseball need fixing? Baseball isn’t checkers, it’s chess! It feasts on strategy. The visits to the mound the stepping out of the box the examination of the ball, the tosses — all of it gives us the chance to restart our thoughts about how the next half inning is going to play out. The pitcher’s toss to hold a man on base provides an opportunity for something exciting to happen that can change the game. The same is true for throwing four intentional balls from the mound to the catcher. One of those pitches can go astray, or possibly be close enough to the strike zone to allow a batter to swing — and hit the ball to an unprepared second baseman or left fielder or whomever. Baseball is a great game the way it started. Get rid of the d. h.! That was the biggest mistake — and took all the fun out of the American League. Otherwise, LEAVE BASEBALL ALONE! Not every game needs to be played for television viewing. — Barbara Ames, Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. The majority of our respondents agreed that baseball was too slow and offered their opinions on how to fix it. Here is a selection from the submissions we received: If you accept that the problem with M. L. B. is that it moves too slowly and that the exciting moments are too few and far between, and that it takes too long to play, then I would fix it by borrowing from other versions of the game and other leagues: 1. Shorten the game to seven innings (like various youth and scholastic leagues) 2. Start hitters with a count (like some recreational softball leagues) 3. Allow players to “foul out” with a count (like some recreational softball leagues) 4. Move the fences in (similar to the N. H. L. effectively making goals bigger by making goalie pads smaller) to have even more home runs, and 5. Reduce the number of players on the field (like the N. H. L. ’s overtime) to create more space for base hits. — Jacob Ritvo, Palo Alto, Calif. **** Fewer commercial breaks. I feel like this is easily the worst addition to baseball games and the worst contributor to wasted time and the No. 1 reason why I don’t watch baseball on TV and don’t love going to more than a few games a year. Commercials add another 45 minutes to an hour to a game! Alas, I feel that even if changes are made to the rules, nothing will change about ridiculous advertising time and thus games will still stay the same length. I’m there to watch baseball. That is why I bought a ticket — to view a live sporting event. I did not purchase a ticket to wait around for a commercial break on TV. And shorten pitcher changes and make the pitchers and batters go faster. — Mattie Vukmir, San Francisco **** Outlaw batting gloves, which slow down the game because of the ritualistic ripping and repositioning of the Velcro on them. They don’t loosen up that fast, dudes! This is also associated with the batters stepping out of the box after every pitch, a practice that should be prevented. — Gabriella Howard, Augusta, Me. **** Start every inning with a man at second base. Have that man be Bartolo Colon. — Howard Cole, Los Angeles **** You know how fans boo every time a pitcher throws over to first base in a halfhearted attempt to pick off a runner? Limit the number of times a pitcher can do that in any given with a runner on first or third base. Say, the pitcher can attempt a pickoff throw twice, but then must throw home. If a runner is stealing second, the catcher has the better vision and ability to throw him out than the pitcher does, and if he’s stealing home, well … he’s probably not Jackie Robinson. — Max Rettig, New York **** After 11 innings, the home team can send up their best slugger (even if he was in the game and taken out). The visiting team can send out the pitcher of their choice for a home run derby. If the home team hits a home run, they win the game. If they don’t, the visiting team wins the game. — Robert Azar, Brooklyn **** Every time there’s a pause in the game (a manager’s visit to the mound, a catcher’s visit to the mound, replay review, etc.) that’s long enough, the stadium plays music, and all players on the field not involved in the specifics of the incident must dance. I figure this will either result in fewer pauses because players don’t want to dance, or will make the pauses much more entertaining. — Rebecca Thorsness, Providence, R. I. **** Abolish the abominable rule in the majors and minors. — Nelson Hernandez, Austin, Tex. **** How is it that a baseball game used to take two hours to complete and now can take up to four hours? The easy answer is to blame the players. And certainly they deserve some of it. But I believe that before commercial TV got involved, the time between innings was a lot shorter than it is now. With 17 changeovers in a full game, that really lengthens a game. Of course, there is no such thing as a complete game for a pitcher anymore, and managers are prone to add to commercial timeouts with three pitching changes for each team. But before we add a clock on the players, let’s think about putting the clock on those who are off the field — managers and TV broadcasters. — Jeff Byron, Los Altos, Calif. **** If no one is on base, let the batter run in either direction — i. e. to first base or third. All batters and runners who follow have to go in the same direction until the bases are empty. This will bring an element of suspense and interest to the game. — Mark Flannery, Fullerton, Calif. **** To improve offense, eliminate radical shifts by fixing the locations of fielders within zones until the ball reaches the plate. Inspect photos so the zones match what Ted Williams faced in 1941. Violations are errors. — Robert LaRose, Taiwan **** Relegation! Adopt the global soccer system of sending down the worst teams and bringing up the best from the level right below. This would inspire teams to compete with the larger markets rather than muddle along for decades in third or fourth place. In addition, it would bring pro baseball to smaller markets and give those cities a taste of major league talent. — Kurt Gardner, Brooklyn **** Some of us like watching professional soccer in part because we know it will be a game. You can count on it. Not so with M. L. B. Isn’t it ironic (moronic?) that M. L. B. officials are quoted as saying that they can’t shorten the breaks between innings because of the ad revenue that would be lost. So if I understand this, they’d rather have the dollars than the fans. What a strategy. How about this strategy — put the customers first by shortening the game, and that in turn would increase viewership and attendance and eventually maybe even increase revenues. . This should be all about improving the customer experience. Once you do that, the data shows, you increase your revenues. — Dennis Stern, Lyme, N. H. **** Award multiple runs for gigantic home runs, much as the basketball shot. This wouldn’t speed up the game, but it would add some excitement. — Steven Sherwood, San Francisco **** What if the batting order were eliminated? What if a manager could send up a particular player to bat as many times as he wanted in a game in whatever order he wanted? A batter could even get up consecutive times if he didn’t reach base. Presumably the team’s best hitters would get up over and over — maybe the best six would only see and the other players on the team would be defensive specialists. — Alan Stricoff **** Legalize the use of certain drugs, to be monitored by medical professionals. The drugs to be legalized should focus on maintaining health and recovering from injury. Sure, we’d have to consider stats and records from prior eras as distinct from current player accomplishments. But today, it appears we are at the point where “ drugs” is almost synonymous with “medical advancement. ” These guys play a lot of baseball. Healthier, better players spread across the league would be great for the game. And, yeah, keep the hitters in the box between pitches, too. It’s ridiculous already. — Dan Davidow, New Jersey **** Baseball is the sport where superstars have the least impact at the most crucial times. In every other sport the star can hit the big shot, throw the touchdown pass or score the goal when it counts. Here is my idea, and it’s radical for sure. In the eighth or ninth inning, the team at bat, if losing or tied, can advance the batting order back to the top of the order (one time only). We need more offense. More excitement. Let the best players put the bat in their hands against the best relievers at the most important times. — Doug Tumen, Woodstock, N. Y. **** Basically, I have only one problem with baseball that stops me from viewing a game at certain times, and that’s while I’m eating. And that problem is SPITTING! SPITTING! SPITTING! I don’t enjoy watching grown men, nor anyone for that matter SPITTING! It’s not pleasant, it’s not cool as most players and think it is and it’s certainly not . TV producers have an affinity for showing it but it needs to stop. — William McGrady, Piscataway, N. J. **** Easy fix: have one lineup for offense and one for defense (like the N. F. L. ). M. L. B. will get more hitting, more base running, more scoring … more excitement! — Larry Sternbach, Marlboro, N. J. **** One sure (and radical) way to speed up the game would be to make ALL foul balls be strikes no matter the count. If there are two strikes on the batter and he fouls a pitch off, he’s out. — Paul Morrison, Boston **** The biggest improvement M. L. B. could make is to institute an electronic strike zone. Aside from providing ultimate consistency and fairness to both pitchers and batters (and fans) the electronic strike zone would eliminate the hidden, gamesmanship practiced by pitchers, batters, catchers and bench jockeys as they try to influence the umpires’ calls. Statisticians at Stanford have determined that umpires are biased by game situations when calling balls and strikes (the same pitch with the bases loaded is more likely to be called a strike than ball four). — Andreas Lord, Brookline, Mass. **** Why don’t we enforce the rules that already exist? Batters are supposed to stay in the box, and mound visits are limited to 30 seconds. The umps and baseball need to actually, and consistently, enforce this. What’s the point of the rule if no one pays attention to it? — Erika Crawford, Washington **** 10 contemplated rule changes for 2017 that would revolutionize the sport (time saved is per game): 1. After a home run is hit, the batter just touches home plate without running the bases. Average time saved: 98 seconds. 2. A pitcher gets one free strike per inning. Thus, a count with the bases loaded and two outs becomes an inning ending with a wave of the hand. Average time saved: 21 minutes. 3. If a team is ahead by more than four runs in the seventh inning or beyond, they forfeit their right to bat. Average time saved: 36 minutes. 4. One batter on the opposing team can be designated as ineligible for any game. The same player cannot be chosen more than once per series. Average time saved: 38 minutes. 5. The third inning, and any extra inning, is three balls and two strikes instead of four and three. Average time saved: 39 minutes. 6. Managers are eliminated. Average time saved: 56 minutes. 7. Home teams get to call games two hours after the first pitch is thrown. The dilemma is the team must make this choice before the game starts. Average time saved: 58 minutes. 8. One fan, coming to the park with two screaming children, is chosen to decide when he has had enough and wants to leave. At that point, everyone, including the players, has to go home. Average time saved: 78 minutes. 9. There can be only one pitching change per inning, and none in the second, fifth and eighth innings. If a game lasts more than 10 innings, the opposing squad gets to designate the pitcher( s) for the 11th and 12th innings. Average time saved: 81 minutes. 10. The season is reduced to 12 games. Average time saved: infinity, as baseball dies. — Robert Nussbaum, Fort Lee, N. J. **** Limit visits to the mound by players and coaches a team must use them the same way football, basketball, hockey teams use timeouts. A batter must always have one foot in the batter’s box. Batters must learn to stop fidgeting around they are professionals, not kids. Shortstop and third baseman must be on the side of second base, second basemen and first basemen must be on the side of second base. Outfielders must stay in the outfield. This is before the pitch. Anything else is an illegal defense. Learn from basketball. This has nothing to do with the speed of the game but make “high socks” fashionable. — Vincent, Encinitas, Calif. **** Require all M. L. B. teams to designate a certain number of games (one per month, say) as “Youth Games. ” In a Youth Game, all tickets — and at least certain concessions — purchased by someone under a certain age (say, 16) would be STEEPLY discounted — say, by 90 percent or so. And, ALL tickets should be set aside for those games, so a box seat that might normally go for $150 would be only $15 and $20 seats would be $2. Teams might also consider ways to subsidize transportation to those games. — Ken Landau, Overland Park, Kan. **** One free pickoff attempt per after that, each pickoff attempt counts as a ball. This will speed up the game and increase excitement with more stolen bases and runs. — Rick Dorfman, Boca Raton, Fla. **** Nine innings, nine positions. The players rotate one position each inning, as in volleyball. Players would be better rounded and the disproportionate importance of pitchers would disappear. Then I would watch it with interest. — Tom Jones, Boulder, Colo. **** Drop the fourth inning. Nothing ever happens in the fourth so just go from the third to the fifth. You would still have the ninth inning, and we would be there at least 20 minutes sooner. — John Connolly, Rockville Centre, N. Y. **** We were a little surprised at how passionate people were about this subject and how much thought they put into it — we received nearly 3, 000 submissions. If you would like to see some more ideas about how to fix the game, or why it should be left alone, we’ve published the best of the rest. | 0fake |
Johnny Depp GOES OFF On Donald Trump: He’s ‘A BRAT!’ (VIDEO) | Johnny Depp will not be voting for Donald Trump, judging from the award-winning actor s comments during a recent sit-down Q&A at Arizona State University on Saturday.The Q&A was focused around the methods Depp uses in his acting, but the actor couldn t help but go off on a Trump rant while speaking with theoretical physicist and Arizona State University s Origins Project founder Lawrence Krauss about humanity in madness. Depp didn t mince his words as he railed against the GOPer, calling him a brat. Depp began by stating that he didn t think the candidate s offensive behavior was merely a result of him being a rich kid. Depp added, There s something creative about him in a sense of bullydom before ultimately coming to the conclusion that What he is, I believe, is a brat. Depp also commented on Trump s raunchy, brash language by stating how interesting it was to follow the absurdity of where his sentences might travel. Depp continued: Reagan back in the day, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall! Donald Trump, I m going to build a wall. And all of my billions are not going to have to pay for it. Because you know why? Mexico is going to pay for it.' What follows after those thoughts is one of the most amazing, dead-on Trump impressions by the actor, which the audience went absolutely wild for. You can watch Depp go in on Trump below:Depp has attacked Trump before, and seems to have his impression of him down pat. Last month, Depp impersonated the business mogul in a hilarious Funny Or Die video that was based on Trump s bestselling book The Art of the Deal.Depp is just the latest person to join the droves of celebrities speaking out against Trump. Just this weekend, singer John Legend also publicly railed against the Republican front runner when he called Trump out on Twitter. Trump has also recently been condemned by Louis C.K., Miley Cyrus, George Clooney, and Stephen King and we don t blame these celebrities for doing everything they can to wake Americans up. As long as Trump has a chance at the White House, America is in big trouble and we need everyone to speak up against him. Featured image via video screen capture | 1real |
Prep Schools Wrestle With Sex Abuse Accusations Against Teachers - The New York Times | BOSTON — Phillips Exeter Academy, an elite New Hampshire boarding school whose prominent graduates include Daniel Webster and Mark Zuckerberg, disclosed last month that it had forced out a popular teacher in 2011 because of sexual misconduct in the 1970s and ’80s. The school’s delayed announcement — officials said they had been protecting the victims’ privacy — brought forth allegations against other employees. And on Wednesday, Exeter announced that it had fired a second teacher who had admitted to sexual encounters with a student more than two decades ago. The revelations at Exeter are the latest to rock the insular, privileged world of American prep schools. In the past decade, sex abuse allegations have tarnished a litany of top private schools, including Horace Mann in the Bronx, Deerfield Academy in western Massachusetts and the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. Since December, more than 40 alumni of St. George’s School, an elite boarding school in Rhode Island, have reported several cases of molestation and rape, mostly in the 1970s and ’80s. Sexual misconduct is, of course, not limited to select private schools. Educators say that it occurs with alarming frequency across all types of educational institutions. But because boarding schools are usually institutions with powerful alumni, they receive intense public scrutiny when misconduct occurs on their manicured campuses. The rash of recent allegations and bad publicity has started to yield changes, some experts said, with some schools doing more now to try to prevent sexual abuse and be more receptive to students who report it. A 2004 analysis of the scant research on sex abuse estimated that 9. 6 percent of students in public schools experience some form of educator sexual misconduct, ranging from offensive comments to rape, between kindergarten and 12th grade. There appears to be no comparable data available about boarding schools, said Peter W. Upham, executive director of the Association of Boarding Schools, who calls sexual abuse by educators “a national scourge. ” Some researchers and lawyers involved with abuse cases say that while very few teachers take sexual advantage of students, some aspects of boarding school life can be conducive to abuse. “Boarding schools are fertile ground for predatory behavior, mostly because you’re with the kids all the time,” said Eric MacLeish, a lawyer representing several alumni who say they were sexually abused at St. George’s. “It is accepted that teachers will get very, very close to students as they become mentors,” he said. “They work out together, eat together, take trips together, go to Europe together with the school choir. Many live on campus and are dorm parents. ” Hawk Cramer, 48, an elementary school principal in Seattle who said he was molested by a faculty member at St. George’s when he was a student there in the early 1980s, agreed that the unfettered access to students at boarding schools can allow a pedophile to groom victims. “You can call kids into your home, you can be alone with them, and kids think you have control over their future,” he said. And students are loath to report the abuse, at least in real time. “Students are embarrassed and under huge pressure to perform,” Mr. Cramer said. “They don’t want anyone to think they aren’t measuring up or that they’re a victim. ” Dr. Eli Newberger, a Boston pediatrician and specialist in child protection, said these were places “where, for the most part, children are treated extremely well, with very high expectations for career accomplishment. ” As such, he said, abuse in such rarefied settings “may take decades to overcome. ” Until recently, he and others said, the schools were reluctant to acknowledge bad behavior, and victims had little confidence that their complaints would be taken seriously. Now, with so many cases coming to light, educators and analysts said that the schools are making greater efforts both to try to prevent misconduct from occurring, and to be more transparent in their reporting when it did. “I do think a lot of schools are grappling now in a way they haven’t before with what are the best practices in terms of providing safety and enough prevention, training and education,” said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire. He noted that by many measures, reports of current child sexual abuse, at least in public schools, were going down. For example, the Minnesota Student Survey, conducted every three years, said that in 2013, fewer than six percent of ninth graders reported being touched or forced to touch an adult sexually. This was a new low, down from 13 percent in 1992, the first year of the study. As for the boarding schools, many are conducting more rigorous background checks when hiring staff and are proactively training employees to recognize grooming behaviors among adults. They are also teaching students to identify when other students seem stressed and when adults might be crossing a boundary. A number of schools have developed anonymous tip lines and set aside confidential areas where students can air their concerns. “Now, we have schools sending out letters, even without any allegations, saying, ‘If you are ever harmed or abused, we’re here for you,’” Mr. Upham said. He and others attributed the changes in part to liability concerns stemming from the explosive Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal at Penn State in 2011. Mr. Sandusky, a coach who was convicted of abusing 10 boys over 15 years, has cost the university more than $92 million in settlement costs. More recently, the movie “Spotlight,” an account of The Boston Globe’s exposé of sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests and the subsequent may be spurring a new round of reporting. “ ‘Spotlight’ has given survivors the permission to come forward now because they see people siding with them and they see institutions being held accountable,” said Robert M. Hoatson, a former Catholic priest based in Livingston, N. J. and of Road to Recovery, an organization for survivors of sexual abuse. The Sandusky revelations appear to have been a motivating factor behind the report of sexual abuse at Exeter. According to police documents obtained by The Associated Press through a records request, an Exeter teacher cited the Sandusky case when she reported in 2011 that Rick Schubart, a popular history teacher, had been sexually involved with a student in the 1970s. The teacher, who had also been a student at Exeter at that time, said that a classmate had told her she had had sex with Mr. Schubart, according to The A. P. The classmate confirmed to the school that she had had a relationship with Mr. Schubart during her senior year in 1977, when she was 18, but said it was consensual. Mr. Schubart was forced to resign, and the school said at the time that he left for personal reasons. In 2015, a 1982 graduate reported that Mr. Schubart had sexually abused her when she was 17. Mr. Schubart told police it was consensual, The A. P. said, but the woman’s lawyer told the school she had to have extensive therapy and was seeking financial compensation. That second report prompted the school to strip Mr. Schubart of his emeritus status last year and bar him from campus. Mr. Schubart did not immediately respond to a request for comment. On March 30, school officials disclosed the situation to students, parents and alumni, saying Mr. Schubart had been forced out after admitting to sexual misconduct. The revelations shook the Exeter community and unleashed additional charges of sexual misconduct, which led to the firing last week of a second teacher, Steve Lewis, who admitted recently to abuse that happened decades ago, the school said. The police said this was the only report they received against a current teacher. Attempts to reach Mr. Lewis on Sunday were unsuccessful. Still, the charges set off an anguished debate, in conversations and online, among the alumni, many of whom had admired Mr. Schubart and were trying to reconcile the revelations with their own positive experiences. A few said they knew of the relationship at the time, and were now wrestling with whether they should have reported it and whether their view that it had appeared to be consensual made any difference. “We have entered a period of sincere reflection about our school’s history and culture,” Lisa MacFarlane, Exeter’s new principal, who has been on the job less than a year, and Eunice Panetta, the president of the board of trustees, wrote in a letter on Saturday to the school community. The letter announced that Exeter had retained a law firm to investigate additional allegations and review school policies. It also said outside experts would review how Exeter had handled the Schubart matter, which occurred during the tenure of the previous principal, Tom Hassan, who stepped down last year. Mr. Hassan, who has been censured by the Association of Boarding Schools, has apologized for what he called his “inadequate” response. He said he was trying to protect student privacy. It remains to be seen whether the episode will affect his wife, Gov. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, a Democrat, who is challenging Senator Kelly Ayotte. Ms. Hassan, who had received campaign contributions from Mr. Schubart, was living on the Exeter campus with her husband when Mr. Schubart resigned but has said she did not know why he left. | 0fake |
FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: FBI’s Comey Considered To Be “Dirty Cop” And Here’s Why [Video] | Former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova slammed FBI director James Comey s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton s private email server. DiGenova says people both currently in the FBI and with the FBI consider Comey to be a dirty cop. | 1real |
Michelle Obama Posed for A Photo, So Conservatives Called Her A ‘Gorilla’ And ‘Tranny’ (SCREENSHOTS) | Recently, Michelle Obama posed for InStyle magazine. The First Lady was stunning in a custom-made teal dress by Brandon Maxwell but of course conservatives had to sh*t all over it.A ridiculously named yet somehow moderately popular right-wing garbage fire of a Facebook page called The Resistance: The Last Line of Defense decided to give their take on the matter, posting the photo of our lovely First Lady with the following message: What do you think of the new portrait of Moochelle by InStyle Magazine? The numbskulls who visit the page are then instructed to like if they think it is Photoshopped and share the post if they are still not convinced he s a she. Naturally, the denizens of Stupidville flocked to the opportunity, calling her every name they can think of and, thanks to the power of stupidity and a third grade education, even managing to accidentally make some up in their pursuit to out-stupid one another. Many, of course, leaped at the opportunity to fantasize about the First Lady being a man, with some even demanding to see her penis. Others stuck to the tried-and-true let s just call her a monkey or ape and get it over with. The modern conservative, folks.It s important to remember that each and every one of these vapid f*cksticks will be voting in November.Make sure you re there to vote BLUE because you know these idiots are voting for Trump.Featured image via screengrab | 1real |
Migrant Thug Beats 87-Year-Old To Bloody Pulp For Making 1 Simple Request | Share This An 87-year-old man was beaten nearly to death after giving a ride to a migrant.
A sweet 87-year-old man offered a young migrant a ride to the train station, hoping to show him a small act of kindness. However, as soon as they pulled up to his stop, the migrant thug attacked the elderly man, beating him to a bloody pulp and punching a hole in his eye after he made one simple request.
An elderly Swede saw just how far tolerance and open-mindedness reaches with other cultures after giving a 27-year-old Colombian migrant a ride from Gnosjö to Gislaved. Graciously obliging the Hispanic migrant, the old man and his wife took him 20 minutes away to the local train station. Unfortunately, the pensioner made a nearly fatal mistake when they arrived at their destination.
According to Fria Tider , the 87-year-old unnamed man pulled up to the station and politely told the migrant that they had arrived at his destination. Simply informing the foreigner that it was time to exit the vehicle apparently sent him into a rage, causing him to brutally beat the driver almost to death.
Repeatedly punching him in the torso and head at least a dozen times, the migrant beat the old man so badly that he broke his rib and punched a hole in his right eye, damage that was so extensive that doctors worried he would go completely blind even after 3 weeks in the hospital.
“He can no longer read newspapers or see on television,” according to the court report. “It is unclear if he will ever see again. Before the beating, he was alert and active in the community. Now, he needs the help of four times a day.”
When police arrested the migrant, whose identity is protected by the liberal Swedish government, he told authorities that his victim had sparked the beating by calling him “little” and a “negro.” It wasn’t long before the thug admitted that he lied about the accusations and simply beat the sweet old man because he knew he’d get away with it.
The convict laughed during his interrogation, telling police that he was amused that a man just over 5 feet tall could take down a feeble, elderly man a foot taller. “It is what it is,” the migrant heckled. “A man of 6 feet getting knocked out — me leveling a man of 6-feet is really laughable. I cut him down like a tree,” he added, telling police that it doesn’t matter if he’s convicted because “I’ll be on the loose. I will come out soon again. You can’t lock me up for very long,” according to Expressen . Left-leaning Swedish authorities protect the identity of the migrant thug, forcing the media to censor his face and the Colombian flag patch on his jacket.
Sickeningly enough, the migrant thug was right. Thanks to the politically correct justice system, he received just over 2 years in prison for aggravated assault, a sentence that will likely either be appealed, overturned, or reduced with good behavior. In fact, his appeal is currently being heard by a higher court, which is considering reducing his sentence based because he was located on social media and forced to go into hiding because of his brutal crime.
Unfortunately, this type of racially-motivated violence is nothing new to Europe. Just over a week ago, Mad World News reported that a group of 5 white men, 3 U.S. citizens and 2 Danes, were approached by 8 to 10 Muslim migrants who asked if they were Americans. When the 3 admitted that they are, the asylum seekers attacked all 5 of them, brutally beating and threatening to kill them with a knife.
The victims received no help from the Danish government and have been ignored by local authorities. Even the central investigating police headquarters refused to take the case.
As the elderly Swedish man discovered, it doesn’t matter if you extend tolerance and respect, many of these migrants see Westerners as inferior humans who must be forced to submit. This is exactly what a bleeding-heart liberal found out after volunteering at the Calais “Jungle” camp.
Last week, Mad World News reported that a 38-year-old female interpreter was helping a male journalist make a documentary about the plight of migrants when a group of 3 Afghan asylum seekers attacked them at knifepoint. One of the migrants raped her while the others restrained the journalist and stole his equipment.
Those who despise our culture, values, and laws won’t have a change of heart when we show them just how progressive and open-minded our society is. They know this, and it’s the very reason they hate us. In fact, they see our kindness as an opportunity to impose their oppressive and violent values on us without fear of being opposed. After all, we wouldn’t want to be considered racist, would we? | 1real |
Putin: restriction on Russian media is attack on free speech | DANANG, Vietnam (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Russia would respond in kind to what he said were Washington s measures to restrict the freedom of speech of Russian media organizations operating on U.S. soil. Putin said however that possible plans to retaliate by declaring U.S. media operating in Russia as foreign agents may be a little too harsh, and that the Kremlin was still formulating its exact response. Kremlin-backed broadcaster Russia Today has been told to register in the United States as a foreign agent. U.S. intelligence officials say the broadcaster tried to influence the U.S. presidential election on the Kremlin s behalf, an allegation the broadcaster and the Kremlin deny. On Friday, the pro-Kremlin speaker of the lower house of Russia s parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said legislation could be introduced next week designating U.S. and some other foreign media operating in Russia as foreign agents. Speaking to reporters at the end of an Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Vietnam, Putin said: An attack on our media in the United States is an attack on freedom of speech, without a doubt. We re disappointed. What is being discussed in the State Duma (lower house of parliament), I saw it yesterday, it might be a little too harsh but it s natural because at the level of the legislative arm you often hear extreme views, harsh judgment and tough proposals. But we will have to formulate some kind of response and it will mirror, the measures adopted by U.S. authorities towards Russian media in the United States, Putin said. I want to draw your attention to the fact that there is no and there can t be confirmation that Russian media meddled in election campaigns, Putin said. Being designated as foreign agents in Russia would oblige foreign media to submit regular reports to the authorities about their staffing and their sources of funding. | 0fake |
Australia MPs rush to disclose parentage amid citizenship crisis | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Several lawmakers filed family history documents in Australia s parliament to meet a government deadline on Tuesday to try to prove their citizenship and stem a crisis that has so far claimed nine MPs and cost the government its majority. Australia s 116-year-old constitution bans dual citizens from holding national office and the High Court adopted a strict interpretation of it in October in a country where half the population were either born overseas or have a parent who was. The crisis may yet plunge Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull s Liberal-National coalition into minority rule, should it lose another lawmaker, or a crucial by-election set for Dec. 19. The ruling center-right pairing lost its one-seat lower-house majority when the High Court found Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce to be a New Zealander and therefore ineligible for office. He has since rescinded his New Zealand citizenship and regained his seat in parliament. But another member has since quit his place and now as many as a dozen more now face referral to the court after the deadline to disclose the birthplace of parents and grandparents passed on Tuesday. The disclosures show that nearly every lawmaker has at least one foreign parent or grandparent. While some provide citizenship records dating back to the 19th century, others give few details or documents, prompting calls for the High Court to consider their cases. There are a few grey areas, there s no doubt about that, MP Christopher Pyne said on Perth radio station 6PR, adding that parliament would decide on Thursday which cases to send to the court. One opposition Labor Party member has already told parliament it remains unclear whether he is British, after the Home Office could not find the paperwork to prove he renounced his citizenship a decade ago. Labor argues that seven government lawmakers filed unconvincing or incomplete disclosures, while the government raised doubts over four opposition MPs, and there is a cloud over another independent lawmaker. Although Joyce easily regained his seat at a by-election on Saturday, the crisis still has the government precariously clinging to power and has already dented its ability to pursue its political agenda. If it loses a by-election in Sydney on Dec. 19, or the court ousts another lower-house MP, it would be forced to depend on a handful of independent lawmakers to retain power and pass laws. | 0fake |
Actually, ‘Nobody’ Won the 2016 Presidential Election — and It Was a Landslide | . Actually, ‘Nobody’ Won the 2016 Presidential Election — and It Was a Landslide “Nobody for President, that’s my campaign slogan,” Nick Cannon asserted in “ Too Broke to Vote ,” hi... Print Email http://humansarefree.com/2016/11/actually-nobody-won-2016-presidential.html “Nobody for President, that’s my campaign slogan,” Nick Cannon asserted in “ Too Broke to Vote ,” his viral criticism of the American electoral process from March of this year. Now, it turns out nobody for president won the 2016 election in a landslide.According to new voter turnout statistics from the 2016 election, 47 percent of Americans voted for nobody, far outweighing the votes cast for Trump (25.5 percent) and Hillary (25.6 percent) by eligible voters.And the “I voted for nobody” group is actually much larger than the 47 percent reported because that number only includes eligible voters.How many millions of Americans under the legal voting age — not to mention the countless millions who have lost their voting rights — voted for nobody, as well? Factoring in those individuals, around 193 million people did not vote for Trump or Clinton. That’s nearly two-thirds of the population of the United States.Nobody also seemingly won the presidential primaries, with only 9 percent of Americans casting their votes for either Trump or Clinton. So when does nobody take office? Nobody won the majority of votes in the primaries or the general election, and the two main candidates who were running didn’t “win” the popular vote — they simply slightly outcompeted each other considering neither garnered over 50 percent of the eligible voters’ ballots.That’s where the real debate begins.As I wrote back in August when the primary voter turnout rates came in, one could argue that Trump (and Obama ) do not have a legitimate mandate to rule over the people of the United States. Trump did not win the majority of Americans’ votes — not even close. When all Americans are included, Trump only garnered the votes of about 19 percent of us. This means the United States will be ruled over by a small minority of voters who elected someone to continually impose their political positions on the other 81 percent of us. Ron Paul: ' US Elections Are Rigged & Voting is Used to Pacify the Public ' Of course, as is the case with Democrats looking to assign blame for Hillary’s loss, pundits and political pontificators argue the people who didn’t vote have no right to complain about the outcome. After all, a non-vote or a vote for a third-party candidate was, in actuality, a vote for Trump. But that logic is flawed. The majority of Americans don’t vote anymore because the political system no longer represents them . We’ve been disenfranchised by decades of corrupt, unrepresentative politicians.The United States, according to a highly-cited academic study, is effectively an oligarchy “elected” by a minority of voters ruled by a smaller minority of disliked politicians who represent an even smaller minority of billionaires and special interests. You know it, I know it, hell, even former U.S. President Jimmy Carter knows it . The majority of Americans voted for nobody not because they don’t care or because they are apathetic — they voted no confidence in a political system that forgot about them a long time ago. By Nick Bernabe Dear Friends, HumansAreFree is and will always be free to access and use. If you appreciate my work, please help me continue.
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‘Go Back to Where You Claim Home,’ Kansas Lawmaker Tells Protester | ‘Go Back to Where You Claim Home,’ Kansas Lawmaker Tells Protester Dion Lefler, Wichita Eagle, October 25, 2016
Kansas state Rep. Joe Seiwert commented on Facebook that an African-American singer who knelt while performing “The Star Spangled Banner” at a Miami Heat game should “go back” to where she claims as home.
Seiwert, R-Pretty Prairie, posted that comment and a longer follow-up on an anti-black meme that was originally posted to a pro-Donald Trump Facebook group and then shared by one of Seiwert’s constituents.
Seiwert confirmed the comments were his and said he was exercising his First Amendment right to free speech, as he says the woman in the meme did when she wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and knelt while singing the anthem.
{snip}
The photo in the meme is of Denasia Lawrence, a Miami social worker and, according to the Miami Sun-Sentinel, a part-time game-night employee of the Heat professional basketball team. The team has issued a statement saying team officials were unaware that Lawrence planned to protest when they asked her to sing the anthem at Friday’s preseason game with the Philadelphia 76ers.
{snip}
To which Seiwert responded: “I am where I claim home and like it, they want to claim it and it is their right to go where ever they like, so if they don’t like it here, I believe that their freedom completely allows them to go wherever they believe is more free and non racist if that’s what they believe.”
Seiwert said he didn’t see the profanity in the meme when he commented and didn’t do anything wrong.
“I have a personal life besides a legislative life,” he said. “Maybe it was inappropriate; I don’t believe so, because I said nothing derogatory. And I believe that (if) people are that upset with the national anthem, they can do whatever they want to on their own time, but when they’re using it on national TV to make a statement, that’s not right.
“I said if she (Lawrence) doesn’t like it here, then go where she would like it. What’s wrong with that?” he said.
Asked why a person should leave rather than try to change things where they are, Seiwert responded: “Because maybe there’s other people who don’t want their place changed.”
He also said he did not think his comments had anything to do with race.
“It don’t make any difference if they’re black, white or green, it’s the disrespect to our country,” he said. “And why does everybody put the color to it?”
{snip}
The person who made the meme took a photo of Lawrence from the web and added, in capital letters, “KNEELING WHILE SINGING THE NATIONAL ANTHEM . . . I’M SO SICK OF THESE ANTI-AMERICAN BLACKS . . . (Expletive) BLACK LIVES MATTER.”
Seiwert’s comment, directed at Lawrence, was: “Go back to where you claim home than (sic).”
{snip} | 1real |
U.S. accuses Iran, Venezuela of human trafficking failings | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Saturday it had ordered that Iran, Venezuela and four African nations be added to a U.S. list of countries accused of failing to crack down on human trafficking, a step that further isolates them from the United States. The White House said it also was increasing restrictions on North Korea, Eritrea, Russia and Syria, which already were on the list, by constraining them from engaging in educational or cultural exchange programs with the United States. In addition, President Donald Trump s administration instructed the U.S. executive director of the International Monetary Fund and U.S. executive directors at other multilateral development banks to vote against extending loans or other funds to North Korea, Russia and Iran for fiscal year 2018, which begins on Sunday. Under a 2000 U.S. law called the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the United States does not provide non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance to any country that fails to comply with minimum standards for eliminating trafficking and is not making efforts to do so. The White House said in a notice that Iran, Venezuela, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, South Sudan and Sudan had been added to the list of countries subject to these restrictions for the new fiscal year. The move came six days after Trump included Venezuela and Iran on a list of eight countries targeted for travel restrictions to the United States. The restrictions on Venezuela focused on government officials who the Trump administration blamed for the country s slide into economic disarray. The travel ban on Iranians was broader. That travel ban list lifted previous restrictions on citizens from Sudan. | 0fake |
The Vacationer-In-Chief Was Asked To Grade His First Month In Office, And It’s RIDICULOUS | Amateur president Donald Trump s first thirty days in office have been chaotic, ill-prepared and downright embarrassing. A list of polls released this past week shows a mostly negative view of Trump s behavior as an alleged president so far, and given his actions, it s only going to get worse. One poll shows that a majority of Americans are embarrassed by Trump s behavior. Another poll by Quinnipiac University found a majority of voters say that he does not act level-headed. Still, Trump thinks he s doing a fantastic job.When he was asked how he would grade his administration through its first four-plus weeks, Trump suggested that he has been a high achiever. The former reality show star-turned-alleged president said he would give himself an A for effort and achievement, but just a C or a C+ on his ability to communicate his successes to the American people, according to Politico. In terms of achievement, I think I d give myself an A. Because I think I ve done great things I and my people, but I don t think we ve explained it well enough to the American public, Trump said in an interview on Fox and Friends Tuesday. I think I give myself an A in terms of what I ve actually done, Trump added.But Trump seemed to think he s just been an average messenger. In terms of messaging, I would give myself a C or a C+, he said.Trump also gave himself an A+ for effort. But results are more important (than effort), he added.As for the protests that have erupted nationwide, Trump blamed hurt feelings from the results of the 2016 presidential election. Trump added that he intends to bring the country together. The way you do that is through success, he said, vowing to boost jobs and replace the Affordable Care Act.About Obamacare: Angry constituents have shown up at town hall meetings across the country. When you take someone s healthcare away, they re not happy and it s not a unifying moment. The GOP replacement is so bad that even the number three Republican in the House vowed not to sign off on it. Trump may indeed be bringing the country together against him. And for the fake president who vowed to work hard and never vacation as president, he has taken weekends off and repeatedly gone golfing. On weekends, he hangs out at his Mar-a-Lago resort surrounded by his rich guests.According to the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch, former President Barack Obama s travel costs during his eight years in office totaled about $97 million. If Trump maintains his current pace, he ll outspend Obama in less than one year. After winning the election, Trump went on a thank you tour, then held a rally in Florida.We ll leave you with this 2011 tweet of Trump s criticizing President Obama.Why is @BarackObama always campaigning or on vacation? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 17, 2011Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images. | 1real |
Zimbabwe's Tsvangirai 'out of danger' in South African hospital | JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is out of danger in hospital in South Africa after being airlifted from Harare at the weekend following the sudden onset of severe vomiting, a party source said on Tuesday. Tsvangirai, who is due to challenge President Robert Mugabe in elections next year, was recovering well but had been told by doctors to avoid stress and strain until at least the weekend, the source said. The 65-year-old s symptoms came on suddenly at a meeting of his opposition coalition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), on Thursday evening in Kadoma, a city around 160 km (100 miles) southwest of the Zimbabwe capital. The MDC sought to play down Tsvangirai s hospitalization, describing it as routine and denying local media reports that he was on life support after being airlifted to Johannesburg in the early hours of Saturday morning. Tsvangirai has been receiving treatment for colon cancer since last year but says he is in good health. His sudden illness was not thought to be related to his cancer or cancer treatment, two party sources told Reuters. It comes a month after Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, a favorite to succeed 93-year-old Mugabe, was rushed to South Africa for emergency medical care. Mnangagwa, who has since returned, denied local media reports he had been poisoned. | 0fake |
Republican tax plan would let churches enter political fray | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. religious entities would be allowed to engage in political activity without the risk of losing their tax-exempt status under a Republican proposal to overhaul the tax code unveiled on Thursday, a move that could give influential community leaders more latitude to try to influence voters. The plan would eliminate a provision in the tax code known as the “Johnson Amendment,” which prohibits churches from using church resources to encourage voting for or against a candidate. A religious leader can currently endorse a candidate in their personal capacity, but they cannot do so within the confines of their church, mosque or synagogue or use their staff to help a candidate. Supporters say it will increase religious liberty. Opponents say it will allow political leaders to pressure churches and allow some churches to be turned into political operations. The change would apply to all religious groups that register as non-profits, including places of worship for Christians, Muslims and Jews. But it is evangelical Christians - who have become increasingly more engaged in the political process in the past 25 years - who have clamored the most loudly for the change. President Donald Trump, who is popular with evangelical voters, vowed on the campaign trail to scrap the Johnson Amendment, arguing that it kept evangelical churches from helping his campaign. Critics of the Johnson Amendment have long argued that it violates the First Amendment’s separation of church and state because it imposes restrictions on what religious leaders can say. But supporters of the Johnson Amendment say it does just the opposite and instead protects the separation of church and state, arguing that it will allow political leaders to pressure churches to give them endorsements. The announced change was part of a proposed cut in the corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent is the centerpiece of the tax proposal unveiled by House of Representatives Republicans. The plan would also reduce tax rates on some individuals and families. Many analysts have raised doubts about the likelihood that Congress will be able to pass a comprehensive tax package, including whether they will have enough support for several provisions including the change in religious rules. Allowing churches to engage in political activity might provide some tactical help for Republicans in the 2018 U.S. congressional elections. Republicans have long argued that the Johnson Amendment places them at a disadvantage because churches are a central organizing mechanism for their voters while labor unions, which favor Democrats, are allowed to engage in political activity and operate as tax-exempt. (This version of the story corrects the third paragraph to say supporters, not supports) | 0fake |
Women march through desert for Israeli-Palestinian peace | JORDAN RIVER, West Bank (Reuters) - Thousands of Israeli and Palestinian women trekked through a biblical desert landscape on Sunday, converging on the shores of the Jordan River in a march for peace. The women, many of them dressed in white, descended through the arid hills leading to the river, where they erected a peace tent named for Hagar and Sarah, scriptural mothers of Ishmael and Isaac, the half-brother patriarchs of Muslims and Jews. We are women from the right, the left, Jews and Arabs, from the cities and the periphery and we have decided that we will stop the next war, said Marilyn Smadja, one of the founders of the organizing group, Women Wage Peace. The organization was established after the 50-day Gaza war of 2014 when more than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed. Israel put the number of its dead at 67 soldiers and six civilians. Some 5,000 women participated in Sunday s march, organizers said. It began last month at several locations across Israel and will culminate in a rally later in the day outside the Jerusalem residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. | 0fake |
Republicans Tried To Kill The Clean Water Rule, But Obama’s Veto Pen Said ‘Hell No’ | On Tuesday, President Obama s Veto Pen got some exercise when he dashed Republicans hopes of gutting clean water rules a curious mission, given the fact that Republicans in Michigan literally murdered 10 people and poisoned hundreds of kids with the state s disgusting water supply water their Governor assured them was safe to drink.The resolution, introduced by hog-castrating waste of flesh Joni Ernst, had one goal: to block the EPA s enforcement of the Clean Water Rule and to prevent similar measures from being taken to protect our nation s water in the future. Fortunately, President Obama stepped up to kill the GOP s dream of unregulated waterways teeming with dangerous bacteria and other nasty stuff. In his veto message, the President explained:I am returning herewith without my approval S.J. Res. 22, a resolution that would nullify a rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Army to clarify the jurisdictional boundaries of the Clean Water Act. The rule, which is a product of extensive public involvement and years of work, is critical to our efforts to protect the Nation s waters and keep them clean; is responsive to calls for rulemaking from the Congress, industry, and community stakeholders; and is consistent with decisions of the United States Supreme Court.We must protect the waters that are vital for the health of our communities and the success of our businesses, agriculture, and energy development. As I have noted before, too many of our waters have been left vulnerable. Pollution from upstream sources ends up in the rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and coastal waters near which most Americans live and on which they depend for their drinking water, recreation, and economic development. Clarifying the scope of the Clean Water Act helps to protect these resources and safeguard public health. Because this resolution seeks to block the progress represented by this rule and deny businesses and communities the regulatory certainty and clarity needed to invest in projects that rely on clean water, I cannot support it. I am therefore vetoing this resolution.Republicans attempted to use a rarely invoked law known as the Congressional Review Act to overturn the rule, but the President s veto ended all that, as they lack the votes to overturn the President s decision. Ernst says that she intends to find other ways to curtail the EPA s ability to regulate our waterways. We all want clean water, Ernst said in a statement following the veto. This rule is not about clean water. Rather, it is about how much authority the federal government and unelected bureaucrats should have to regulate what is done on private land. This is exactly why we need to vote BLUE in November do you think a Republican President would have protected America s water?Featured image via White House | 1real |
Mulvaney says U.S. tax bill votes could be Tuesday, Wednesday: CNBC | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said on Thursday he believed votes on tax overhaul legislation could occur in the Senate and House of Representatives as early as Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. “We’re very cautiously optimistic with some great news coming out of the Hill in the last 12, 24 hours,” Mulvaney said in an interview with CNBC. While the compromise bill has not been finalized, he said, “If they stay on that schedule we could have a vote in the Senate as early as Tuesday of next week and in the House as early as Wednesday.” | 0fake |
Trump Gets Called Out: Khizr Khan And Harry Reid Dare Him To Take His Own Naturalization Test | In a speech on Monday, Donald Trump proposed an absurd idealogical test to gauge the American values of immigrants seeking to become naturalized citizens of the United States. Khizr Khan and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid are calling out the billionaire bigot and daring him to take the test himself without failing.Khan made headlines when Trump attacked him after he spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Khan talked about his son, who gave his while serving with the U.S. military in Iraq, and asked if Trump had ever even read the Constitution before offering to lend him his copy. In response to Trump s proposed test for immigrants, Khan slammed his bigoted rhetoric and challenged the Republican nominee to take the test along with him.This is my country too. We must make it safe as Muslim Americans it is our obligation to keep our country safe. We reject all violence. We support better immigration policies. We stand as a testament to assimilation and being part of patriotic America as anyone else.I challenge Trump to take the naturalization test with me any day. His is demagoguery and pandering for vote. A divider like Trump can never be the steward of this country.Reid also responded to Trump s naturalization test by daring him to step up and take the test himself. He said in no uncertain terms that he didn t have any reason to believe that Trump would be able to pass and would almost certainly fail. Since Donald Trump wants to impose new tests on immigrants, he should take the one test every immigrant has to pass to become a United States citizen. He would almost certainly fail, given his general ignorance and weak grasp of basic facts about American history, principles and functioning of our government.The Senate minority leader added that unlike immigrants, Donald Trump represents none of the qualities that make America great, and then proceeded to list a multitude of ways in which immigrants do just that.Trump claimed that extreme, extreme vetting is absolutely necessary to screen out any who have hostile attitudes toward our country or its principles. He insisted that this test would include questions to gain an understanding of an applicant s stances on gender equality, gay rights, religious freedom and the rule of American law. Anyone who fails the test would not be allowed to become a U.S. citizen and this will keep us all safe, because ISIS.Despite Trump s arguments otherwise, it was glaringly obvious that he wasn t trying to screen out just any immigrants and this was just another way he had come up with to keep Muslims out of the United States. Ironically, Trump and most of his followers would fail the test themselves.Featured image via Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 1real |
UK police making urgent inquiries to find who was behind metro incident | LONDON (Reuters) - London police said on Friday they were making urgent inquiries to track down who was responsible for an explosion at a metro station, which officers are treating as a terrorist incident. Counter Terrorism detectives are making fast-time inquiries to establish who was responsible for the incident at Parsons Green tube station, London s Metropolitan police tweeted on Friday. | 0fake |
FORMER OBAMA SPOKESLIAR To Join NBC As Paid Fake News Host…We’ve Got A Few Clips Of His Best Lies To The Press [VIDEO] | President Obama s White House press secretary spokes liar Josh Earnest has joined NBC News as a political analyst.NBC announced the addition of Obama s spokesliar to their lineup in a memo form NBC News president Noah Oppenheim and MSNBC president Phil Griffin:We are pleased to announce that Josh Earnest will join NBC News and MSNBC as a Political Analyst. As you may have seen, he made his debut this morning on TODAY and Morning Joe.Josh recently completed a ten-year run with President Obama, most recently serving as White House Press Secretary from 2014-2017.Josh joined the Obama presidential campaign in March 2007 as the Iowa communications director, and went on to serve as deputy communications director during the 2008 general election. Josh has also worked on numerous national, statewide and local campaigns over the course of his twenty years in politics.A native of Kansas City, Josh graduated from Rice University with a degree in political science and policy studies.With his wealth of experience and insight, Josh will be a great addition to our roster of contributors and will be an asset for our two networks as we continue to cover the White House, Congress and politics beyond the Beltway.Please join us in welcoming Josh.Noah and PhilHere s Obama s spokesliar Josh Earnest lying about the time Obama clearly identified ISIS as a JV team Watch Josh Earnest refer to lies being told by the Obama regime about Iran deal, cross-talk. Cross talk? What the heck is cross-talk? Isn t that just cross-talk for LYING?Here s Josh Earnest lying to reporters, where he states clearly that Obama didn t pay ransom to Iran for the release of American hostages. Watch him as he tries to turn the conversation to right-wingers in US working with right wingers in Iran. Really? | 1real |
Mexicans' positive view of the U.S. collapses in Trump era: poll | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicans positive image of the United States has fallen to its lowest level since at least 2002, with about two-thirds of people viewing the country led by President Donald Trump unfavorably, according to a poll released on Thursday. The U.S.-based Pew Research Center s findings reveal a drastic about-face in Mexicans views of their northern neighbor. In 2015, 66 percent had a positive view of the United States. By 2017, 65 percent of people disapproved of the world s top economy, Pew said. Unsurprisingly, few Mexicans approve of Trump s proposed border wall, with 94 percent of people opposing it. But Mexicans also fret about Trump s international footprint. Only 5 percent have confidence in him to do the right thing regarding world affairs, Trump s lowest rating among 37 nations polled in 2017, according to the poll. The survey is also grim reading for Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, his ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the rest of Mexico s political class, less than a year before voters pick a new president in July. Mexicans favorable view of Pena Nieto has steadily fallen since Pew began measuring it in 2011, dropping from 61 percent six years ago to his current level of 28 percent. An often-large majority disapproves of how Pena Nieto has handled issues like the economy, graft, crime and U.S. relations, Pew said. The PRI was the most unfavorably viewed of the parties polled by Pew, with the conservative National Action Party enjoying the most positive views, albeit with relatively high negative perceptions. The leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), led by current presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, was the second most positively viewed party, and also the least badly perceived. The vast majority - 85 percent - of Mexicans are unhappy with the way things are going in their country. Seventy percent of Mexicans believe the economy is going badly, with 35 percent saying the economy is going very badly. Mexicans main concerns are crime, political graft and drug violence, Pew found. Anxieties over those three issues had all risen compared with the finding in 2015. Although Mexicans harbor increasingly negative views of the United States, 55 percent said those that move north enjoy a better life, up from 2015. However, only 13 percent of people said they would live and work in the United States illegally, down from 20 percent in 2015. The survey was based on 1,000 face-to-face interviews in Mexico between March 2 and April 17, with a margin of error of 4.4 percent. | 0fake |
Trump Goes COMPLETELY Off The Rails Over Hillary’s Emails And Takes All His Followers With Him | The right wing is still harping on the FBI s discovery of new emails that supposedly relate to the probe into Hillary Clinton. As expected, Trump has seized on this news as an opportunity to continue trying to smear her all over the pavement. This time, though, his statements about her emails go totally off into the ether: Can you imagine Anthony Weiner has probably every classified email ever sent? Probably studied every single one in between using his machine for other purposes.Including some brand new emails not previously turned over to authorities. Likely including some very, very classified information. Because he totally knows what s going on better than anyone else. But he s probably getting desperate RealClearPolitics has Hillary ahead in most major polls despite this latest piece of a non-scandal that Republicans keep trying to use to crush her.It s still not yet clear what the FBI is seeing in these emails, so Trump s conclusions are even more questionable. However, of the 650,000 emails found, it s likely that only a small number might be relevant to the original investigation. Also, investigators would still have to find evidence that she knowingly broke the law, because Comey previously decided not to charge her.Earlier, Trump claimed that these emails were worse than Watergate, and one of the prosecutors for Watergate promptly destroyed him for that. There is no evidence of any violation of law, he said. For Trump to reach that conclusion based on a total lack of evidence is reminiscent of the innuendo spread by Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950s. For Trump to continue firing up his loyal subjects by claiming that Anthony Weiner must have closely studied all these emails is just as bad, because he s still not presenting evidence. Just ridiculous suspicions. He hears the word emails in association with Hillary, and he jumps on it like a fly to feces because that s all he knows how to do.His supporters chanted, Lock her up! as they usually do, while the FBI remains busy tearing itself apart over this. Trump will say anything to get elected, no matter how far-fetched, ridiculous, and just plain stupid it is.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 1real |
Kremlin calls U.S. allegations of subversive activity 'groundless' | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that U.S. allegations it was involved in a new generation of warfare, including internal political subversion, against the United States, were groundless and not backed by facts. White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster made the allegations on Tuesday. | 0fake |
Promote peace, China's Xi tells soldiers at first overseas base | BEIJING (Reuters) - Troops serving at China s first overseas military base, in the Horn of Africa country of Djibouti, should help promote peace and stability, President Xi Jinping told them in a video chat, encouraging them to promote a good image. China formally opened the base in August on the same day as the People s Liberation Army marked its 90th birthday. It is China s first overseas naval base, although Beijing officially describes it as a logistics facility. Djibouti s position on the northwestern edge of the Indian Ocean has fueled worry in India that it would become another of China s string of pearls military alliances and assets ringing India, including Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. Speaking to China s Djibouti-based forces during a visit to a joint battle command center in Beijing, Xi got a good understanding of the base s operations and the lives of the soldiers there, China s Defence Ministry said late on Friday. Xi encouraged them to establish a good image for China s military and promote international and regional peace and stability , the ministry said. The soldiers responded that they would not let Xi or China down, it said. China began construction of the base in Djibouti last year. It will be used to resupply navy ships taking part in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia, in particular. Chinese President Xi Jinping is overseeing an ambitious military modernization program, including developing capabilities for China s forces to operate far from home. During his visit to the command center, Xi also instructed the armed forces to improve their combat capability and readiness for war, the ministry said. Xi said progress in joint operation command systems, especially in efficiency at the regional level, was needed and troops must conduct training under combat conditions. Djibouti, which is about the size of Wales, is at the southern entrance to the Red Sea on the route to the Suez Canal. The tiny, barren nation sandwiched between Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia also hosts U.S., Japanese and French bases. There has been persistent speculation in diplomatic circles that China would build other such bases, in Pakistan for example, but the government has dismissed this. | 0fake |
HILLARY CLINTON Gives Lame Excuse For Why She Lied To The Families Of Benghazi Victims [Video] | You will not believe this whopper! Hillary Clinton is dealing in vague answers that are really downright lies. She claims in an interview that it was the fog of war that made her lie to the families of the Benghazi victims. I say it was cover your a@@ time and that s what they came up with. These people are sickening! Sunday on ABC s This Week, while discussing the uncovered email showing Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had told the Egyptian prime minister that we know the attack in Libya had nothing to do with the film, prior to telling them it was a YouTube video that caused the terror attack, Clinton said she did not lie to them but instead was caught up in the fog of war. When confronted by video clips of family members of Benghazi victims, Clinton said, I understand the continuing grief at the loss that parents experienced with the loss of these four brave Americans. I did testify as you know for 11 hours and I answered all of these questions. Now, I can t I can t help it that people think there has to be something else there, I said very clearly, there had been a terrorist group that had taken responsibility on Facebook, between the time that I, you know, when I talked to my daughter, that was the latest information, we were giving it credibility, and then we learned the next day, it wasn t true. In fact, they retracted it. This was a fast-moving series of events in the fog of war. I think most Americans understand. | 1real |
Rabbis Cancel Annual Call With President Over Trump’s Open Support Of White Supremacists | Rabbis representing four prominent Jewish organizations have decided that they will not hold their annual conference call with the President because the man currently holding that office openly supports white supremacists.Following Trump s atrocious response to the tragic events in Charlottesville, the rabbis issued a statement explaining that they simply cannot organize such a call this year. They said that this decision was made because Trump s reaction to Nazis marching in the streets and the death of Heather Heyer was lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred. We have concluded that President Trump s statements during and after the tragic events in Charlottesville are so lacking in moral leadership and empathy for the victims of racial and religious hatred that we cannot organize such a call this year, the rabbis wrote. The President s words have given succor to those who advocate anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia, they wrote. Responsibility for the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, including the death of Heather Heyer, does not lie with many sides but with one side: the Nazis, alt-right and white supremacists who brought their hate to a peaceful community. They must be roundly condemned at all levels. In the days following the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that left three people dead, Trump insisted that many sides were to blame for the violence. The rabbis concluded by saying that they would pray that President Trump will recognize and remedy the grave error he has made in abetting the voices of hatred. They added that they will also pray that those who traffic in anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia will see that there is no place for such pernicious philosophies in a civilized society. The statement was signed by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, The Rabbinical Assembly, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.Featured image via Bill Pugliano/Getty Images | 1real |
Democrat wins by one vote in Virginia legislative election recount | (Corrects spelling of Virginia House of Delegates member David Yancey throughout in this Dec. 19 story.) By Sharon Bernstein (Reuters) - Virginia Democrat Shelly Simonds won a seat in the House of Delegates by one vote, changing the power balance in the state legislature and extending a tide of Democratic victories beginning with November’s capture of the governorship and several legislative seats. Simonds beat incumbent David Yancey in a recount held Tuesday, both parties said in statements released after the unofficial vote recount was completed by officials in Newport News. “Never, ever forget how very much your vote counts,” House of Delegates member David Toscano said on Twitter, one of many Democrats rejoicing that a single vote handed them the seat. “I want to thank the voters who came out on Nov. 7,” Simonds said in a news release. “It wouldn’t have happened without their participation.” Republican leaders in the House of Delegates welcomed Simonds and thanked Yancey for his service, but the chairman of the state party vowed to fight on. “Today, our opponents carried the day,” Republican Party of Virginia Chairman John Whitbeck said in a statement emailed to Reuters. “Tomorrow, we begin again.” Simonds’ election, which still must be affirmed by a panel of three judges, means that the 100-member House of Delegates will have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans. That could lead to more moderate policies by forcing the parties to share power. Before the Nov. 7 general election, Republicans held 66 seats to Democrats’ 34, along with a majority in the state senate, according to the election information website Ballotpedia. The GOP still holds a slim margin in the senate. Also on Nov. 7, the state elected Democrat Ralph Northam in a bitter race for governor, dealing a setback to President Donald Trump with a decisive victory over a Republican who had adopted some of the president’s combative tactics and issues. Democrats also picked up a hotly contested Senate seat in Alabama this month, after Democrat Doug Jones narrowly defeated Republican Roy Moore in a special election to replace former Senator Jeff Sessions, now President Trump’s Attorney General. Democratic Party activists hope their candidates can ride to victories in the 2018 Congressional elections on a wave of voter disenchantment with Trump and his Republicans. Four legislative races, including the Simonds-Yancey battle in the 94th District, were slated for recounts. Going into the 94th District recount, Yancey was ahead by just 10 votes. On Tuesday, that changed, and Simonds clinched with a margin of one. | 0fake |
Court says Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin was unconstitutional | MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - Republicans in Wisconsin tilted district maps in their favor in order to hamper Democrats and ultimately win state elections in 2012 and 2014, a federal court said on Monday in a case that could influence future rulings on gerrymandering. The United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin decided 2-1 that Act 43, a redrawing of districts approved by the state’s Republican-led legislature in 2012, violated the U.S. Constitution, court documents showed. “We find that the discriminatory effect is not explained by the political geography of Wisconsin nor is it justified by a legitimate state interest,” the court wrote in its ruling. The case has no bearing on Donald Trump’s victory in Wisconsin in the presidential election on Nov. 8, in which he defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a statement that he planned to appeal, which would send the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. A ruling there on gerrymandering - the practice of manipulating electoral boundaries for political advantage - could have wide implications across the country as similar cases in Maryland and North Carolina work their way through lower courts. “This is a big victory for those who want to see courts rein in partisan gerrymandering. But it is anybody’s guess what happens to this when it gets to the Supreme Court,” wrote Richard Hasen, an elections law expert at the University of California, Irvine, on his blog. Since 2010, Republicans have more than doubled their control of state legislatures. They now control both legislative chambers in a record 32 states, the New York Times reported. “Republicans win elections because we have better candidates and a better message that continues to resonate with the voters,” said Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in a statement. Twelve Wisconsin voters argued in their lawsuit that Republicans redrew maps in 2011 to divide Democratic voters so they fall short of a majority in districts and to concentrate Democratic voters into districts so they win by overwhelming margins and dilute votes of Democrats statewide, according to the ruling. Despite receiving 51 percent of the votes statewide in 2012, Democrats won only 39 of 99 Assembly seats. In 2014, Republicans won roughly the same percentage of votes statewide, but won 63 seats, a 24-seat disparity, judges wrote. The Wisconsin case hinged on a new way to measure the discriminatory effect of gerrymandering. The “efficiency gap” measure found the redistricting in Wisconsin caused Democrats to waste more votes than Republicans. The measure gives judges “a clear threshold for deciding what is acceptable”, Barry Burden, the director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told the New York Times. | 0fake |
Trump Draws Fire from GOP Leaders over Attacks on Latino Judge | Republican leaders are taking presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump to task for his attacks on a Latino judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University.
Trump is refusing to back down from his contention that U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel could not preside over a fair trial in a fraud case against Trump University because Curiel's parents were born in Mexico.
"He's member of a club or society very strongly pro-Mexican, which is all fine. But I say he's got bias," Trump said of Curiel on CBS' "Face The Nation." "I want to build a wall. I'm going to build a wall."
And Trump went further when pressed on whether he thinks a Muslim judge would also be biased against him.
"It's possible, yes. Yes. That would be possible, absolutely," the billionaire said.
CBS' John Dickerson then asked Trump, "Isn't there sort of a tradition though in America that we don't judge people by who their parents were and where they came from?"
"I'm not talking about tradition," Trump replied. "I'm talking about common sense, okay?"
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump supporter and widely considered a possible running mate, severely criticized his remarks.
"This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made," said Gingrich. "I think it's inexcusable. This judge was born in Indiana. He is an American, period."
But Gingrich added that that he considers Trump a remarkable leader who learns very quickly.
Meanwhile, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton grabbed the chance to aim her fire at Trump.
"What Trump is doing is trying to divert attention from the very serious fraud charges against Trump University," she said on ABC's "This Week."
And on NBC's "Meet the Press," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also criticized Trump, but would not say if he thought what Trump said was racist.
"I couldn't disagree more with a statement like that," McConnell told NBC's Chuck Todd.
"But is it a racist statement?" Todd pressed.
"I couldn't disagree more with what he said," McConnell reiterated.
In the meantime, Republican leaders are urging Trump to start unifying the party and start acting like "a potential leader of the United States." | 0fake |
Apple Kindly Offer Full-Time Jobs To Remaining 1,500 Calais Refugee Children | 0 Add Comment
TECH giant Apple has today kindly offered to relocate over 1,500 refugee children who were left behind at a Calais campsite, and to give them full-time work as general operatives in their many factories littered across the world.
The opportunity will help clear the remaining refugees from the ‘Calais Jungle’, while French authorities continue to demolish it from existence, like a red wine stain from a woollen rug.
It is understood the children will begin a series of in-house training courses before taking to the Apple floor to make phones, iPads and MacBook computers.
“I have always loved Apple’s sleek product design,” 9-year-old Hafez Mohammed, who was born in the same week as the first ever iPhone release, “I cannot wait to start work making such cool products with them as my father and mother are missing and I have no idea where they are”.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said he was more than happy to offer the children this fantastic opportunity as founder Steve Jobs was also Syrian, and believes he would have only been delighted to help out his fellow countrymen and women get through this difficult period of their lives.
“Who knows, we may have the next Jobs in one of the 1,500 new employees,” Cook told WWN.
The Apple offer could not have come at a better time as British Prime Minister May rejected a personal demand from Francois Hollande for Britain to accept 1,500 child migrants yesterday, leaving only child sex traffickers to pick up the tab. | 1real |
House Republicans propose to scrap $7,500 electric vehicle credit | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Republicans are proposing to eliminate the $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles, which could hurt automakers like General Motors Co, Tesla Inc and Nissan Motor Co, according to the bill made public on Thursday. Current law allows automakers to use the credit, which phases out after an automaker hits 200,000 plug-in vehicles sold. Electric vehicles have expensive batteries that make them pricier than gasoline-powered vehicles. Environmental groups and an auto industry trade group blasted the proposal, which would kick in at the end of this year. GM vowed to fight, saying the credits are “an important customer benefit that can help accelerate the acceptance of electric vehicles.” Tesla declined to comment. Nissan said it supports continuing the tax credit and noted it has “made significant investments in the development of market-leading electric vehicles.” Critics of the credit say electric vehicle buyers tend to be wealthier than average and do not need subsidies. Gloria Bergquist, a spokeswoman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing GM, Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and others, said the change could hurt electric vehicle sales. “The potential elimination of the federal electric vehicle tax credit will impact the choices of prospective buyers and make the electric vehicle mandate in 10 states - about a third of the market - even more difficult to meet,” Bergquist said. “The EV tax credit repeal would cede U.S. leadership in clean vehicles, putting our companies at a competitive disadvantage and threatening jobs while costing drivers more at the pump and increasing pollution,” said Luke Tonachel, director of the National Resources Defense Council’s Clean Vehicles and Fuels Project. Automakers have invested billions in electric vehicles and announced plans to shift significant production to plug-in models. Former President Barack Obama unsuccessfully proposed hiking the tax credit for electric vehicles to $10,000 and converting it to a point-of-sale rebate. GM shares fell 1.2 percent in late trading, while Tesla was down 7 percent after reporting earnings. The House GOP plan also calls for repealing and phasing out other energy tax credits, including production and investment tax credit for solar, geothermal, fuel cell, wind energy and other clean energy projects. Automakers face mandates from California and a dozen other states to produce a rising number of zero-emission vehicles and have said the credits are essential to meeting requirements. GM’s electric Chevrolet Bolt starts around $30,000 including the tax credit but rises to $37,500 without it. | 0fake |
Fewer than One in Five Foreign Rapists Deported from Sweden | Only 19 per cent of foreign rapists registered as Swedish residents were deported from the troubled Scandinavian country between 2010 and 2014, according to government figures. [The Dail Mail reports that deportations of those convicted of child rape were even lower, at 13 per cent. The figure for migrants convicted of aggravated child rape was not significantly higher, at just 17 per cent. Leniency towards foreign nationals convicted of rape and aggravated rape of adults was somewhat less common, although 37 per cent and 28 per cent of migrants convicted of those crimes respectively avoided expulsion. Deportation rates for foreign nationals who had not been registered as Swedish residents were higher. Nonetheless, some 48 per cent of illegal migrants convicted of child rape were allowed to remain in the country. In cases of aggravated child rape committed by persons, deportations were more likely, but 33 per cent of convicts were still able to stay. According to the report, the “ statistics” break down as follows: The figures emerge shortly after five “child migrants” from Afghanistan were convicted of beating and raping a boy at knifepoint after dragging him into the woods in Gottsunda, Uppsala, posting a recording of the attack on social media. The court denied the prosecution’s request to deport, deciding the rapists “would be hit very hard by the expulsion”. They were handed custodial terms of between 12 and 15 months. Rapes and gang rapes of young boys and teenagers in Sweden, often by men with Afghan roots, is a topic the mainstream media in Sweden has recently become willing to discuss. ”New phenomena” in Sweden. Gang rapes commited by Afghani men towards minor boys. Swedish MSM discusses the issue. https: . pic. twitter. — PeterSweden (@PeterSweden7) March 11, 2017, Institutional abuse of young boys in Afghanistan — by members of the Afghan National Police in particular — was exposed as an intractable cultural problem for Western forces tasked with in This Is What Winning Looks Like, a 2013 documentary by British journalist Ben Anderson. | 0fake |
Blame Government, Not Markets for Monopoly | Written by Ron Paul
When Time-Warner announced it planned to merge with another major communications firm, many feared the new company would exercise near-total monopoly power. These concerns led some to call for government action to block the merger in order to protect both Time-Warner's competitors and consumers. No, I am not talking about Time-Warner’s recent announced plan to merge with AT&T, but the reaction to Time-Warner’s merger with (then) Internet giant AOL in 2000. Far from creating an untouchable leviathan crushing all competitors, the AOL-Time-Warner merger fell apart in under a decade. The failure of AOL-Time-Warner demonstrates that even the biggest companies are vulnerable to competition if there is open entry into the marketplace. AOL-Time-Warner failed because consumers left them for competitors offering lower prices and/or better quality. Corporate mergers and “hostile” takeovers can promote economic efficiency by removing inefficient management and boards of directors. These managers and board members often work together to promote their own interests instead of generating maximum returns for investors by providing consumers with affordable, quality products. Thus, laws making it difficult to launch a "hostile" takeover promote inefficient use of resources and harm investors, workers, and consumers. Monopolies and cartels are creations of government, not markets. For example, the reason the media is dominated by a few large companies is that no one can operate a television or radio station unless they obtain federal approval and pay federal licensing fees. Similarly, anyone wishing to operate a cable company must not only comply with federal regulations, they must sign a “franchise” agreement with their local government. Fortunately, the Internet has given Americans greater access to news and ideas shut out by the government-licensed lapdogs of the "mainstream" media. This may be why so many politicians are anxious to regulate the web. Government taxes and regulations are effective means of limiting competition in an industry. Large companies can afford the costs of complying with government regulations, costs which cripple their smaller competitors. Big business can also afford to hire lobbyists to ensure that new laws and regulations favor big business. Examples of regulations that benefit large corporations include the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) regulations that raise costs of developing a new drug, as well as limit consumers ability to learn about natural alternatives to pharmaceuticals. Another example is the Dodd-Frank legislation, which has strengthened large financial intuitions while harming their weaker competitors. Legislation forcing consumers to pay out-of-state sales tax on their online purchases is a classic case of business seeking to use government to harm less politically-powerful competitors. This legislation is being pushed by large brick-and-mortar stores and Internet retailers who are seeking a government-granted advantage over smaller competitors. Many failed mergers and acquisitions result from the distorted signals sent to business and investors by the Federal Reserve’s inflationary monetary policy. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the AOL-Time-Warner fiasco, which was a direct result of the Fed-created dot.com bubble. In a free market, mergers between businesses enable consumers to benefit from new products and reduced prices. Any businesses that charge high prices or offer substandard products will soon face competition from businesses offering consumers lower prices and/or higher quality. Monopolies only exist when government tilts the playing field in favor of well-connected crony capitalists. Therefore those concerned about excessive corporate power should join supporters of the free market in repudiating the regulations, taxes, and subsides that benefit politically-powerful businesses. The most important step is to end the boom-bust business cycle by ending the Federal Reserve. Copyright © 2016 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given. | 1real |
Trumps says expects 2012 Republican nominee Romney to back Rubio | FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Friday he expects his party’s 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney, to back his rival Senator Marco Rubio, and that he would not even accept Romney’s support if offered. “If he wanted to support me, I probably would not accept his support,” Trump told a rally of supporters. (Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Writing by Tim Ahmann; Editing by Mohammad Zargham) 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 |
EU's diplomatic back channel in Pyongyang goes cold | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - While European powers France and Britain are lobbying Washington to cool tensions since North Korea s most powerful nuclear test a month ago, EU nations with embassies in Pyongyang are directly pressing the North Koreans. A group of seven European Union countries - the Czech Republic, Sweden, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Britain and Germany - held at least two formal meetings with North Korean officials in Pyongyang in September, three EU diplomats said. But they felt frustrated because the higher-level access that they had obtained in Pyongyang last year had fallen away, with only medium-ranking foreign ministry officials now attending the meetings, the diplomats said. There was a sense that we weren t really getting anywhere because they sent these department heads, said a Brussels-based diplomat who had been briefed on the meetings, which were described as very serious in atmosphere and tone. They want to talk to the United States. The White House has ruled out such talks, with President Donald Trump telling Secretary of State Rex Tillerson he would be wasting his time negotiating with the North Koreans. The United States has no embassy in Pyongyang and relies on Sweden, the so-called U.S. protecting power there, to do consular work, especially when Westerners get into trouble. In contrast to recent meetings, when North Korean officials met EU envoys in the Czech Republic s embassy in 2016 to discuss issues including cultural programs and regional security, a deputy foreign minister would attend, one EU diplomat said. For the small club of European Union governments with embassies in North Korea, that reflects Pyongyang s anger at the EU s gradually expanding sanctions that go beyond those agreed by the United Nations Security Council. It could have repercussions for broader EU efforts to help mediate in the nuclear crisis, according to the EU diplomats briefed by their colleagues in Pyongyang, as the bloc prepares more measures against North Korea. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who chaired talks on the historic 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, says the bloc is ready to mediate in any talks aimed at freezing North Korea s missile and nuclear weapons programs. But at the same time, the European Union wants an oil embargo on Pyongyang that it hopes other countries will follow. Some EU governments are pushing to cancel North Korean work permits in Poland and other eastern European countries because EU officials believe workers salaries are deposited in bank accounts controlled by the regime in Pyongyang. The North Koreans are starting to see the EU as a U.S. puppet, but we stress that we are an honest broker, said a second EU diplomat. Links with the EU embassies go back years. Communist Czechoslovakia was a leading supplier of heavy machinery to North Korea. As a Soviet satellite, Czechoslovakia established diplomatic ties with North Korea in 1948, along with Poland and Romania. The seven European embassies in Pyongyang are among only 24 foreign missions there, including Russia, China and Cuba. The EU s status as a potential broker relies, in part, on Sweden, which was the first Western European nation to establish diplomatic relations with the North in 1973. Sweden is a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, which was set up to oversee the 1953 armistice between North and South Korea, undertake inspections, observe military exercises and promote trust between the two sides. Czechoslovakia was also a member of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission until the early 1990s. Sweden played a key role in the release of Canadian pastor Hyeon Soo Lim and of U.S. student Otto Warmbier earlier this year. But Sweden has strongly backed the EU sanctions. The seven European embassies are limited in what they can say because North Korean staff, required by the government to work at the EU embassies, are expected to double as informants for Pyongyang, the diplomats said. Sanctions and pressure ... Sadly, we don t have anything else, said an EU diplomat in Brussels. The joint meetings with the North Koreans, usually held at a single European mission, have been focused on the release of imprisoned Westerners, not big diplomatic initiatives. But as efforts intensify to calm U.S. and North Korean threats of war, they could still prove an important channel to pass messages between Pyongyang and Washington. In the best case, we could perhaps facilitate an opening of a diplomatic track between the North Koreans and the United States, said Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister and foreign minister from 2006 to 2014. Bildt said anything the EU does must be kept secret. If the EU does something along these lines, the first thing the EU should do is not to talk about it. Talking about it is a pretty good way to ensure that one can t do it, he said. Mathieu Duchatel, a North Korea expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think-tank that Bildt also now helps oversee, said the European Union could chair talks between China and the United States. Washington and Pyongyang have no hotlines to prevent crises from spinning out of control and it is not clear what Beijing s reaction would be if the United States intercepted a North Korean missile test, Duchatel said. For now, Paris is in contact with White House National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, diplomats said, noting French President Emmanuel Macron s budding relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump. Lieutenant General McMaster and Kelly, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, have a soft spot for France born of their admiration for the French military, the diplomats said. It is unclear if that translates into a direct impact on Trump s thinking on North Korea, European diplomats said. They are trying to normalize Trump, but I don t think Trump can be normalized, said a senior French diplomat. To get him to listen, heads of state need to speak to him directly. Macron, who has ruled out a military option, has said he believes he could convince Trump to avoid armed intervention. Macron s position is to keep repeating the mantra of patience and dialogue to Trump, diplomats said. | 0fake |
Trump’s Treasury Pick Moves in Secretive Hedge Fund Circles - The New York Times | As a hedge fund manager, Goldman Sachs trader and bank chief executive, Steven T. Mnuchin has long been a member of the financial elite. Yet even on Wall Street he was not widely known before Donald J. Trump chose him to be his campaign last spring. Now, Mr. Mnuchin is on a path to become the first hedge fund manager to head the Treasury. As befitting that world of finance, Mr. Mnuchin’s record shows a willingness to take on risks and a penchant for secrecy that members of both parties expect will be a focus of his Senate confirmation hearing. A case in point is a Delaware company that he owns, Steven T. Mnuchin Inc. whose existence has not been reported outside of official records. Mr. Mnuchin set up the company months before Goldman went public in May 1999. It had a Goldman mailing address and at least one Goldman director. It stayed that way years after he left the Wall Street bank in 2002 to start his hedge fund career. Its purpose is a mystery. The only clue is in a description on corporate filings in Delaware calling the entity an “investment in partnerships. ” Barney Keller, a representative for Mr. Mnuchin, said the company “held small legacy Goldman Sachs investments” and “hasn’t made any new investments since 2002. ” Over the course of his career, Mr. Mnuchin, 53, has kept a low profile and has rarely granted interviews. His one previous spell in the limelight was when he ran OneWest Bank. He and other investors cobbled together the California bank out of the wreckage of IndyMac, a lender that the federal government seized in 2008 as the financial crisis grabbed hold of the nation. His tenure at OneWest spurred controversy because tens of thousands of borrowers — many of them older people — were foreclosed on. When a group of protesters gathered outside his Los Angeles house in October 2011 to voice their anger at OneWest’s foreclosure practices, police officers were called to disperse the crowd. He responded later by periodically scrubbing the internet of any reference to his home address to protect the privacy of his three young children, according to a filing Mr. Mnuchin made in a 2014 divorce proceeding. He is more comfortable in his own element — wealthy hedge fund managers like himself. Days after being tapped by Mr. Trump to be his finance chairman in May, Mr. Mnuchin flew out to a hedge fund conference at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. There, in a swirl of rock concerts, pool parties and casino nights, he schmoozed with billionaires. Mr. Mnuchin dined with Kenneth C. Griffin, the Chicago hedge fund titan, and government veterans like David H. Petraeus, the former C. I. A. director and retired general, and John A. Boehner, the former House speaker. He shook hands with Leon Cooperman, a pioneer in the industry and another Goldman Sachs alumnus. The courting paid off: Not long after the hedge fund conference, Mr. Mnuchin helped bring the billionaire investor John A. Paulson on as a donor, as well as Wilbur L. Ross Jr. now Mr. Trump’s commerce secretary nominee. It is these ties, however, that are expected to be fertile ground of investigation for senators who must confirm his selection as Treasury secretary. “I think he would be controversial — former Treasury secretaries have been top bankers and businessmen or lawyers and they were top leaders in their professions,” said Prof. Richard Sylla at the Stern School of Business of New York University, whose research focuses on financial history and economics. “But Mnuchin wasn’t that famous as a Goldman Sachs guy, and probably not even as a hedge fund guy, so why is he there? Well, he took the job of raising money for Trump. ” Mr. Mnuchin shares a network with some of the biggest names in the $3 trillion hedge fund industry, but his work with Mr. Paulson is of particular interest. An adviser to Mr. Trump, Mr. Paulson, who is best known for making a $15 billion wager that the housing market would collapse, has managed some money for the . The day after Mr. Trump formally selected him, Mr. Mnuchin said that the government should get out of the business of running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant mortgage finance firms that the federal government bailed out in 2008. The shares of the two companies soared in response to his words — some of the sharpest gains for the stocks since the government conservatorship began. The seemingly declaration was cheered by hedge fund managers and others who have bet big on the privatization of Fannie and Freddie. One of Mr. Paulson’s bigger bets is that the federal government will return Fannie and Freddie to private investors largely unfettered. And Mr. Mnuchin’s remark may have benefited someone else: Mr. Trump has invested $3 million to $15 million with Mr. Paulson’s hedge fund, according to the financial disclosure statement filed during his run for president. To date, the Trump transition team has not commented on whether Mr. Trump continues to own stakes in Mr. Paulson’s firm and other hedge funds listed on the disclosure statement. “We’re not sharing any additional information at this time,” said Jason Miller, a Trump representative. The has said that he will announce a plan for separating himself from his many business interests before his inauguration on Jan. 20. Similarly, Mr. Mnuchin will have to file financial disclosures with the Senate Finance Committee before his confirmation hearing. On Monday, he began the process by filing three years of tax returns. Mr. Mnuchin’s time at his hedge fund, Dune Capital Management, which he formed with two former Goldman colleagues in 2004, is one area that the Senate Finance Committee is expected to examine more closely. At its peak, the firm had roughly $2 billion and was backed by the billionaire investor George Soros. It had a taste for real estate, movie financing deals and exotic investments including life insurance policies, which Dune bought through a third party at discounted prices from older Americans. Dune had plans to package the insurance policies — called life settlements — into bonds that could be sold to investors. Life settlements represent one of the most macabre actuarial bets that Wall Street has dreamed up. It’s a wager that the elderly person selling the policy will die sooner rather than later, meaning the hedge fund does not have to make many premium payments to keep the insurance policy in force and collect the payout upon that person’s death. But the market for life settlements largely collapsed during the financial crisis. Eventually, Dune, like many hedge funds during the worst of the crisis, faced investor withdrawals. Mr. Mnuchin and one of his partners, Chip Seelig, decided to wind down the operation. The real estate arm of Dune was spun off into a firm led by Dune’s third Daniel M. Neidich. After the split, Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Seelig set up shop in Southern California. Both became big players in movie financing, lending money to hits like “Avatar” and “Gravity” along with flops like “In the Heart of the Sea. ” But it was the deal for a failed California bank, IndyMac, that contributed mightily to Mr. Mnuchin’s personal fortune and the one deal that has created the most political heat. On Friday, Senate Democrats, in a sign that they intend to go hard after Mr. Mnuchin, set up a website that calls him the “foreclosure king,” and asked customers of OneWest to submit complaints in advance of the confirmation hearing. In late 2008, Mr. Mnuchin joined with Mr. Paulson to put together the OneWest deal. They were part of the initial round of bidding for the assets of IndyMac, which the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation had seized that summer. The group, which also included Mr. Soros and other investors, won the deal with a $1. 55 billion bid. One of the competing bids was put together by J. Tomilson Hill, head of the Blackstone Group’s hedge fund and asset management group, and Goldman. “As a deal person, I had nothing but admiration for how entrepreneurial he was and how quickly he adapted to the circumstances,” Mr. Hill said in a recent interview. He was one of the first to call Mr. Mnuchin to congratulate him on his new job as campaign finance chairman. The remnants of IndyMac reopened under the name OneWest with Mr. Mnuchin as chairman and chief executive. But controversy followed, including complaints over foreclosures on soured mortgages that IndyMac had written before the crisis. In particular, it drew scrutiny for its business in reverse mortgages — products pitched to older people who had paid off their initial mortgages but needed cash. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is investigating complaints about the foreclosure practices of OneWest’s reverse mortgage business, which resulted in 16, 000 foreclosures alone. CIT Group, which merged with OneWest last year in a $3. 4 billion deal that provided a hefty payout for Mr. Mnuchin and his has said it is trying to resolve the HUD inquiry. It is also dealing with a $230 million charge the company said in July it had to take in connection with accounting issues from the reverse mortgage business. An analysis in 2015 presented by the California Reinvestment Coalition, which lobbied against the merger, found that 68 percent of the 36, 000 foreclosures in California by OneWest, including those on reverse mortgages, occurred in communities that were primarily nonwhite. A government filing shows OneWest offered to modify about 101, 000 mortgages for its customers. Mr. Mnuchin stepped down from the helm of OneWest in March, not long before he became among the first in finance to come out for Mr. Trump and against Hillary Clinton. Mr. Keller said Mr. Mnuchin was “proud of his record at OneWest. ” Still, the worlds of finance and politics can be small ones, and Mr. Mnuchin even has a connection to Mrs. Clinton. The accountant at Goldman who prepared a tax filing for Steven T. Mnuchin Inc. many years ago has among her clients, at her current accounting firm, the former Democratic presidential candidate. | 0fake |
Can Libertarian Rand Paul Win A Republican Primary? | Rand Paul is not like other potential presidential candidates.
The Kentucky senator, who announced his candidacy for the White House on Tuesday morning, doesn't fit neatly into the molds of either party.
Socially liberal on issues of crime and punishment — especially when it comes to drug sentencing — against a federal ban on same-sex marriage, and no foreign policy hawk, he's not your prototypical Republican.
As a fiscal conservative and an opponent of abortion rights, though, he's certainly no Democrat either.
"It's time for a new way, a new set of ideas and a new leader," Paul says in a Web video, with a heavy metal soundtrack, previewing his presidential campaign.
Paul fits more with libertarians. And, though he is the scion of the last carrier of the torch of "liberty," he's also not quite his father's libertarian.
Paul's father, the former Rep. Ron, ran for president three times before retiring. The elder Paul, 79, was always regarded as something of a gadfly, an outspoken fresh voice in the Republican primary with a passionate following of young libertarians.
Though Paul did not win a single state in 2008 or 2012, when measured by Election Day voting percentage, he routinely finished in the top three. In fact, he finished a solid second behind Romney in the critical early state of New Hampshire.
But his band of young, engaged and determined Paul-ites proved one thing — they could organize. Ron Paul not only won straw poll after straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference and elsewhere, he also won the most delegates in several states, including Iowa. Though Paul finished third in vote total in the Hawkeye State, his campaign engineered what amounted to a takeover of the state Republican Party apparatus.
"He has a number of assets," said Stu Rothenberg, founder of the Rothenberg Political Report. "He has terrific fundraising potential. He has an army of supporters who will run into a burning building to vote for him."
Rand Paul has tried to use those supporters to help build on his father's foundation, reaching out to minority voters with an emphasis on criminal justice reform and to young audiences — like one in New Hampshire last year — with an appeal based on privacy and civil liberties.
"How many people here have a cellphone?" Paul asked. "How many people think it's none of the government's damn business what you do on your cell phone?"
"If I had to fill a large lecture room at my campus, I would bet a lot that Rand Paul could fill that room with young libertarian-minded conservatives," said Dante Scala, a political scientist at the University of New Hampshire. "Of that I have little doubt."
Though Rand Paul can fill a room with young libertarians in similar ways that his father could, he isn't a carbon copy of his dad. Paul has adjusted some of his policies to fit the mainstream of the GOP a bit better.
Paul has emphasized where he agrees with evangelical Christians on gay marriage, telling a group of pastors last month that the First Amendment says to keep government out of religion, not religion out of government. And, in moves that show he understands the GOP has returned to its hawkish roots since the rise of the self-declared Islamic State militant group, he has changed his tune on defense spending, proposing $190 billion more for the Pentagon. And the second day of his presidential rollout finds him in South Carolina — in front of the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Yorktown.
Those moves toward the mainstream of the party may lose Paul some diehard libertarians, but, says David Boaz of the Cato Institute, most libertarians are thrilled.
"I think Rand Paul is the most libertarian major presidential candidate that I can remember seeing," said Boaz, who's new book is called The Libertarian Mind, "so it tells you that there is a constituency that wants this more libertarian approach."
Boaz sees Paul's adjustments as necessary and practical.
"Rand Paul is trying to find a balance that reflects his own views and appeals to a plurality and eventually the majority of the party," Boaz said. "To the extent that there is that constituency — skeptical of foreign intervention, skeptical of the surveillance state — he has that market in the Republican Party all to himself. Is it a big enough market? Well, that's what he's about to find out."
Paul's anti-establishmentarian campaign slogan for 2016 will be "Defeat the Washington Machine; Unleash the American Dream."
That little slant rhyme invokes the memory of Paul crusading against the "security state" on the floor of the U.S. Senate in an old-fashioned, 13-hour filibuster two years ago. But if the goal for Rand Paul in 2016 is to emerge as the anti-establishment alternative to, say, Jeb Bush, Paul has to become more than just the libertarian candidate, Scala said.
"He has to find a way to be more appealing to the mainstream of New Hampshire Republicans while keeping his appeal to his core vote, which I would describe right now as people who voted for his dad three years ago," Scala said. "That's the trick for Rand Paul."
Paul, just as his father did with online "money bombs," will likely be able to raise enough money to stick around for quite some time in the GOP primary. Analysts like Rothenberg are skeptical he will be able to pull off the improbable and become the Republican nominee, but Rothenberg wonders if Paul is laying the groundwork for a sea change within the party.
"He may be starting a process that, down the road, will change the Republican Party, will start to bring in some new kind of faces into the Republican Party," Rothenberg said. "And I wouldn't be surprised if in six or 10 years, this is a more libertarian party." | 0fake |
Fighter jets drop training bombs on northern Michigan | We Are Change
This graphic, courtesy of The Atlantic, highlights the disparity in flight hour costs for various aircraft in the US fleet.
LUZERNE, Mich. – Officials say a mechanical failure is believed to have caused the release of six training bombs and a training missile from a military plane over Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula.
No one was injured due to the release, which WWTV and WPBN report happened Oct. 25 over Oscoda County.
The training weapons were on a plane heading to Camp Grayling from Selfridge Air National Guard Base in suburban Detroit when they fell off.
Lt. Col. Matthew Trumble, director of the Camp Grayling Air Gunnery Range, says it’s a “rare” situation.
The Guard says the missile was non-explosive and the six training bombs can release smoke so that pilots can see where they land.
In a bizarre end to a military exercise, that ended with training bombs accidentally falling from the sky, as a group of fighter jets heading to Camp Grayling from Selfridge were forced to turn around when they realized a rack of training munitions on one had reportedly accidently fell off.
The Michigan National Guard says the bombs and missile were found near Luzerne.
Learn More:
http://www.9and10news.com/story/33576…
http://www.local10.com/news/training-weapons-inadvertently-fall-from-plane-in-michigan
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Ukrainian police clash with Saakashvili supporters in Kiev | KIEV (Reuters) - Ukrainian police clashed with backers of opposition leader Mikheil Saakashvili on Sunday and prevented them from forcing their way into Kiev s October Palace after a rally against President Petro Poroshenko. The confrontation, which included the firing of tear gas canisters, was the latest chapter in the former Georgian president s stand-off with Ukrainian authorities that led to his detention and release from custody last week. The October Palace, a cultural center, became a symbol of revolt when it was a key location in the 2013-14 pro-European uprising that ousted a Moscow-backed president and installed Poroshenko, who promised to eliminate widespread corruption. Saakashvili, president of his native Georgia in 2004-2013, moved to Ukraine after an uprising there and served as a regional governor in 2015-16 before falling out with Poroshenko, whom he accuses of failing to stamp out endemic graft and being corrupt himself. Poroshenko denies the accusations. Sunday s scuffles at the October Palace were an offshoot of a larger, peaceful opposition rally in which several thousand people marched through central Kiev earlier in the day, calling for Poroshenko s impeachment. The situation was relatively calm at the Palace after darkness fell with a large number of riot police blocking the entrance to the center, whose doors protesters had earlier tried to break through, some throwing stones and other objects. We have to be calm, keep the peace, Saakashvili told a few hundred of his supporters, who remained outside the building. No serious injuries were reported in the clashes. Saakashvili accused the authorities of engineering the situation to provoke violence. Earlier, he had called on protesters to set up a headquarters in the building. But later, he condemned any attempt to seize administration buildings. Interior ministry adviser Anton Gerashchenko held Saakashvili responsible for the clashes. Despite all the provocations as a result of which Mikheil Saakashvili wants to spill the blood of Ukrainians, he has not succeeded, he said in a post on Facebook. The comments continue a long-running blame game that has included prosecutor s accusing Saakashvili of assisting a criminal organization, charges he says are trumped up to undermine his campaign to unseat Poroshenko. Police said the attempt to charge into the October Palace occurred while a children s concert was going on inside. Ukrainian lawmaker Serhiy Leshchenko, who attended the rally, joined other opposition MPs in condemning Saakashvili s actions. This behavior could destroy the remnants of trust among like-minded political associates and alienate society, he said on Facebook. | 0fake |
AWKWARD! Nancy Pelosi Slurs ‘Lyndon Baines Johnson’…Tells Audience to Clap [Video] | Nancy Pelosi spoke for less than 8 minutes to the LBJ Foundation on Wednesday, but some attendees may have left the event wondering what is wrong with the House Minority Leader. She was seen repeating words, having trouble speaking and botched Lyndon Baines Johnson twice.OUR PREVIOUS REPORTS ON PELOSI S ANTICS: es, another brain freeze moment from Nancy Pelosi Why does she do this to herself? She continues to be the poster child for term limits!Comedian James Corden challenged Pelosi to say something nice about several prominent Republicans but he asked last about Trump Say one nice thing about Paul Ryan, Corden said, holding up a picture of the Speaker of the House.After some awkward silence, Pelosi acknowledged that Ryan is a gentleman. Corden followed up with Ted Cruz. Memorized the Constitution, Pelosi said. That s a good thing. It s a good thing, it s not a nice thing about him, Corden persisted. Ok, Ted Cruz, good father, Pelosi replied. Ok, time for the big dog, Corden said, pulling out a picture of Trump. Is there one nice thing you can say about Donald Trump? Flag pin, Pelosi said, pointing to the pin on Trump s lapel. I don t know that that counts, Corden said, That s not about Donald Trump, he probably didn t even put that on himself. Is there one nice thing you can say about Donald Trump? he repeated.Several seconds later, Pelosi replied: I hope so. I hope I can. But not today? Corden said. President, Pelosi said after another long pause. He s president. You can t think of one nice thing to say about him? Corden prodded. He s nice to me, Pelosi said. Is he? Is he respectful? Corden said. Yeah, respectful, Pelosi said. Read more: American Mirror | 1real |
Trump at Inaugural Balls: ’Now the Work Begins ... We Are Not Playing Games’ - Breitbart | Donald Trump appeared at three inaugural balls to celebrate his supporters’ victory, and to promise a determined push for their shared campaign goals. [“Well, we did it,” he told a cheering crowd at his first speech, given at the Liberty Ball. He continued: Now the work begins. There are no game, no games, right? We’re not playing games. I want to thank everybody. We love you. We’re going to be working for you, and we’re going to be producing results. “Now the work begins,” he said at his second speech, given at the Freedom Ball. “We did a good job together … there has never been a movement like this anywhere in the world,” he told his enthusiastic supporters. “We will not be taken advantage of anymore. We’re going to have those great companies come pouring back in,” Trump said. “We are not going to let you down. Remember the theme: Make America Great Again … greater than ever before — it will happen,” he said. Trump also promised to keep Tweeting, saying: Should I keep the Twitter going or not? Should I keep it going? … You know, the enemies keep saying ‘Oh no, that’s terrible.’ But it is a way of bypassing dishonest media, right? The White House pool report said thousands of people attended both rallies. | 0fake |
Clinton's 'deplorables' slip: 2012 campaign hints it's not a game-changer (+video) | Past perceived gaffes, such as Romney's '47 percent' comment in 2012, have drawn far more attention from the media than from voters, who may make up their minds about candidates in other ways.
Darcy Butkus, from left, Becky Love, and Kathy Potts make a political statement at a town hall gathering hosted by Trump supporter and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich at Kennesaw State University on Monday, Sept. 12, 2016, in Kennesaw, Ga.
Hillary Clinton’s weekend comment that “half” of Donald Trump’s supporters are a racist and sexist “basket of deplorables” is still roiling the presidential race as the workweek begins. Lots of pundits are comparing it to Mitt Romney’s famous “47 percent” statement, in which he said nearly half of American voters can be written off as welfare moochers.
Lost in most of the discussion of this comparison is the fact that Romney’s “47 percent” words, revealed when a secret source leaked the tape of a fundraiser to Mother Jones magazine, didn’t much affect the 2012 outcome, and probably did not even move the polls that much.
That’s the political reality behind such moments as Mrs. Clinton’s “deplorables” or Romney’s “47 percent”: Voters usually don’t make up their minds from a few days of news coverage.
It’s true that many voters saw Romney’s perceived gaffe in negative terms. And it sure seemed like something that would have serious negative repercussions: harsh words, seemingly delivered in secret, about an opponent’s supporters. That made it seem more important than a typical political slip of the tongue.
But in terms of who people planned to vote for, “there was no consistent evidence that much changed” in the wake of the tape’s release, wrote political scientists John Sides of George Washington University and Lynn Vavreck of UCLA in their history of the 2012 election, “The Gamble.”
Gallup poll data showed President Obama’s lead over Romney actually shrank from 3 to 2 percentage points the week after “47 percent” became public. Rasmussen polls stayed the same. The average of all public polls was “stable” in the wake of the controversy, according to Sides and Vavreck.
In other words, peoples’ opinions about the race did not really alter, on either side.
In contrast, the first 2012 debate, held on Oct. 3, did move the polls. The media roundly declared Romney the victor over a flat Obama. Some surveys even put Romney in the lead. (Spoiler alert: He lost. The fallout of subsequent debates reversed those gains.)
What’s the takeaway from this? Maybe that lots of things the media says are game-changers, aren’t.
It’s certainly possible that Clinton’s “deplorables” comment could hurt her. Insulting ordinary voters is not something campaign consultants generally urge. But in general presidential races are not unstable. Leads shrink or widen slowly, driven by fundamentals such as the state of the economy, or predictable dynamics such as Republican voters rallying around Trump. At this point in the cycle, many people’s minds are set, and it takes a lot to change them.
There are break points, but they tend to be set news events that draw massive coverage. The conventions are one – Clinton jumped out to a big lead following the close of the Democratic National Convention. The debates might be another. Thus the first direct clash between Clinton and Trump, set for Sept. 26, is likely to be more consequential than Clinton’s insult. | 0fake |
China Holds Military Drills With US Ally Saudi Arabia | Edmondo Burr in Middle East , News , World // 0 Comments For the first time ever China and U.S. ally Saudi Arabia have held joint military drills.
In an effort to expand security ties and combat international terrorism, China and Saudi Arabia have held their first joint military drills, Chinese state media reported Thursday.
Anti Media reports:
“ Special forces from China and Saudi Arabia have held their first joint anti-terrorism drills, state media reported on Thursday, ” Reuters writes , in what amounts to “ China’s latest effort to expand security ties with countries in the Middle East and its Muslim neighbors. ”
While this may be the first time special forces from the two countries have worked together to fight terrorism, it isn’t the first time such elite troops have coordinated. In fact, it isn’t even the first time this month.
From an October 14 report by Arab News :
“ Saudi and Chinese armed forces began the ‘Exploration 2016’ joint military exercise on Wednesday.
“Special Forces of the Royal Saudi Land Forces and their counterparts in the Red Army were involved in the war games in the Chinese city of Chengdu. ”
In a speech given during the drill’s launching ceremony, Lieutenant Colonel Walid Ettalhi “ stressed that the two countries’ relationship is based on ties of brotherhood, friendship and the great history, ” according to Arab News .
“ The exercises aim to exchange experiences between the two sides in specialized areas. This comes within the framework of military cooperation between the two countries, and is an extension of the strong relationship between the Kingdom and the People’s Republic of China, ” the Lt. Col. said.
October’s joint military drills come after China and Saudi Arabia inked 17 cooperative agreements at the tail end of August. According to China’s Xinhua news agency, deals covered a wide range of areas, including “ politics, energy, finance, investment, housing, water resources, quality inspection, science, technology and culture. ”
The news of China buddying up with Saudi Arabia in such ways may be jarring to some, as it doesn’t conform to the mainstream narrative of Saudi Arabia as an unwavering U.S. outpost in the Middle East — one that could never work with the likes of China, the principle ally of the big bad Russians.
But then, neither does the idea that the Russians would be willing to work with U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. And yet, it appears this is precisely what’s about to happen.
On Sunday, it was reported that Saudi Arabia is now ready to cooperate with Russia in an effort to stabilize global oil prices. Russia, it seems, is receptive to the idea, with its energy minister viewing the invitation as a “ clear indication of a sincere desire to continue cooperation and coordination with the oil producing and exporting countries for more stability in the market. ”
Earlier this week, Anti-Media put forth the idea that the Russian fleet now steaming toward the Mediterranean Sea may have designs far beyond the fighting in Syria. It may, in fact, be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first military step toward securing the long-desired Turkish Stream pipeline.
That report was followed up by an article on Underground Reporter that explored the notion further. Citing recent deals with India, Pakistan, and Vietnam — not to mention those with formerly staunch U.S. allies such as Turkey, Egypt and the Philippines — that piece concluded that Putin, in coordination with China, may be making a play for the coastline of the entire northern Indian Ocean.
Whether or not this is true, certain things are becoming clear. Most apparent, though, is that the mainstream narratives are breaking down. If this weren’t the case, Saudi Arabia wouldn’t be extending an olive branch to Russia — and Chinese special forces wouldn’t now training with those of the Saudis in an atmosphere of “ brotherhood, friendship and the great history. ” | 1real |
EPIC! BLACK CONSERVATIVE Calls Out CNN Anchor On Trash Talking Trump: “You sit here and attack the President!” [Video] | Wow! This is really epic! Paris Dennard nails Paul Begala on Begala s trash talking of Trump. You won t believe the response from David Gergen! How can Trump let someone down when they never believed in his policies to begin with? We love Paris Dennard s effort to call out the liberal pundits this is not just good it s great that he said what every American is thinking about CNN and MSNBC:Strategist @David_Gergen clashes w/ @PARISDENNARD: "You respect the office not the man but he is letting me down"https://t.co/PWncWEoyzx CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) April 30, 2017PRIOR TO THE DENNARD COMMENTS, BEGALA CALLED THE PRESIDENT A MENTAL MIDGET AND A NEEDY LITTLE BABY :More GREAT TAKEDOWNS from Paris Dennard:THE EXCHANGE BETWEEN THESE TWO PUNDITS IS SO CLASSIC BECAUSE THE LIBERAL IS SUCH AN ELITIST Charles Blow didn t want to listen to the truth and had a major hissy fit when confronted with facts. It s pretty epic On CNN s New Day Friday morning, Chris Cuomo interviewed two black guests from opposing parties about Donald Trump s outreach to minorities. The anti-Trump guest, New York Times op-ed columnist Charles Blow grew visibly irritated with Cuomo and the pro-Trump guest, GOP commentator Paris Dennard, when Dennard said things Blow didn t agree with. After a heated back and forth discussion, Blow finally exploded at Cuomo, saying CNN was committing media malpractice for letting Dennard come on the show.Read more: Newsbusters | 1real |
THE SECRET BEHIND AMERICA’S LOVE AFFAIR WITH TRUMP [Video] | Every GOP Presidential candidate is racing to align themselves with Reagan. Is it possible they just don t really understand why America loved Reagan? Maybe it s just as simple as the fact that he genuinely loved America and was passionate about fixing what had been broken by the previous feckless administration. There are a few candidates in the GOP field who we believe truly love their country and have the same convictions and objectives as Trump. The question is, do any of them have the backbone to do what s needed to fix it? (By the way, we believe there are finally a few candidates in the GOP field besides Trump who do.) (Reuters photo credit)Beneath all the bluster of Trump, there is a very sincere idea that may explain why so many primary voters are flocking to him. And to understand it, we need to look back a few years to his amazing speech at CPAC in 2011:If I remember correctly, the typical conservative pitch one year before Obama s successful reelection campaign was: Obamacare is terrible, the economy is terrible, etc. Conservative principles will fix that. I enthusiastically retweeted a lot of that white noise.With Trump, however, he spent exactly one sentence on ObamaCare, and his economic critique instead fixated on the idea of our wounded national pride:The reason I m thinking about [running for office] is that the United States has become a whipping post for the rest of the world. The world is treating us without respect America today is missing quality leadership, and foreign countries have quickly realized this. It s for this reason that The United States is becoming the laughingstock of the world I deal with people from China, I deal with people from Mexico. They cannot believe what they re getting away with. I ve said on numerous occasions that countries like China, like India, South Korea, Mexico, and the OPEC nations view our leaders as weak and ineffective and have repeatedly taken advantage of them to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars a year.He focused his ire mostly on China for manipulating currency and OPEC for gouging prices at every opportunity (he did incorrectly predict $7-9 per gallon gasoline maybe he wasn t in the know on the fracking boom yet). The argument boiled down to two appeals: 1) Foreign countries are making out better than us, and 2) We look weak.In his signoff, Trump delivered a prototype of his current slogan: if I run and if I win, this country will be respected again Our country will be great again. That vow didn t come from some overblown promise to get possessed by Ronald Reagan s ghost. Trump simply stated he s had a lot of success in negotiations and business deals because he cares about and relentlessly fights to get the best outcome for his interests. Therefore, he would take that same relentless fight to get the best outcome for America s interests. That might mean screwing over China, Saudi Arabia, or Mexico home to plenty more poor citizens than ours but their leaders care nothing about poverty, and it s a screw-or-be-screwed world.Re-watching that speech, his message and pet issue haven t changed much in four years and I doubt many of us could honestly claim the same feat.As he s officially thrown his hat (and what a hat) into the ring, the Donald has expanded on that message. Not only is his approach the best to fix America s problems, he s saying, but none of his rivals can do it not because they re not competent enough (though, in time, he ll surely call them all dummy losers) but because they re not rich enough.In Thursday night s debate, Trump hammered on a theme of his budding campaign: big-money donations have strings attached take it from a guy who pulled them. I ll tell you what, with Hillary Clinton, I said, Be at my wedding, and she came to my wedding, he said. You know why? She had no choice because I gave. And, of course, very few big donors pull strings for favors as benign as a wedding RSVP (see: Peter Schweizer s Clinton Cash). The big business types with enough disposable income to donate so much cash to politicians, like Trump himself, have operations around the world and they re not quite as concerned with America s pride as DJT.Indeed, as the Chamber of Commerce crowd has proven with support of a wage-depressing immigration law, they re concerned with growth above all else. And the fastest path to their businesses growth does not include the step of More Money for America s Workers. There s a reason we don t allow foreign nationals to donate to U.S. political campaigns. Trump is sounding the alarm on U.S. citizens whose interests and income can be effectively the same.This issue has been made all the more salient from two major stories coinciding with the start of the Republican primary: Obamatrade and the Iran nuclear deal. Part of a President s job, in a world more connected than ever, is negotiation with other world powers on economic and defense agreements. Over the past 7 years and beyond (most notably, the push for immigration paydirt during Bush 43 s tenure), globalists fueled by left-wing ideology or corporate cronyism have been representing America, while nationalists have been representing our greatest rivals.Obama s failures in defense are seemingly endless Trump s reminder of the Bergdahl prisoner swap seems like an eternity ago, followed by so much more but warnings on donor influence resonate most deeply after the GOP s handling of Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) for the White House.Indeed, even Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) darling of the purest conservatives, inexplicably stood with the Republican establishment on TPA a massive globalist power grab until a last-minute blink, likely thanks to intense grassroots anger at his support. Over a month before Cruz s change of heart, Trump was riffing on a familiar theme:The trade deal is a disaster for many reasons. Number one, we don t have any good negotiators in our government. That s possibly the single greatest reason we don t have our best and our brightest negotiating for us. That s a real problem What happens is all of these countries get the best of everything and we get the worst of everything.And one day before Cruz announced his opposition, Trump took to Twitter, saying, Any Senator who votes for it is disqualified for being POTUS. And he didn t forget his primary objection to the deal: Protect the American worker and manufacturer! Through all of Trump s controversial life, I see plenty of reasons why reasonable people would balk at his run. I can see why conservatives want detailed policies from him and pledges of allegiance. But I don t see any reason to doubt his love for America.When he s talking about making America great again, I know he s not thinking some WASPy suburban paradise. He s thinking about Manhattan in the 1970s, where he first made a name for himself. He s talking about Weird America where flash and excess rule, where you can run for president after getting a WWE bio page.I like that America, where people file $500 million lawsuits over beauty pageants Spanish-language broadcasts. I d like an America that makes 7 Fast & Furious movies without making concessions to Ayatollah Khamenei. I d like an America that humiliates the likes of Vladimir Putin, not vice-versa. An America that punches back eight times as hard over a tiny offense. An America that everyone might laugh at but ultimately stop attacking because it can only end poorly for them.And if I trust that Trump likes America almost as much as he likes Donald Trump, then I trust that he will defend America s pride almost as much as does Donald Trump s. The rest of the GOP/Democrat field up to their necks in donors they ll need to mount a national campaign? Not so much.Via: Ezra Dulis Breitbart News | 1real |
WOW! DONNA BRAZILE Tells Critics Of Her Book On DNC To ‘Go To Hell’ In Exclusive Interview [Video] | Donna Brazile might want to watch her back! She shot back at critics (the Hillary camp) of her new book that alleges proof of a rigged Democratic 2016 primary, saying they can go to hell. This is a lesson of 2016, Brazile said on ABC s This Week. If I released it next year, they would say, Donna, you re impacting our 2018 races For those who are telling me to shut up, they told Hillary that a couple of months ago. You know what I tell them? Go to hell. I m going to tell my story. In an exclusive interview with ABC s Stephanopoulos, Brazile angrily defended her description of events in the book Hacks: The Inside Story of the Break-ins and Breakdowns that Put Donald Trump in the White House. In the book, she describes a dysfunctional, debt-ridden DNC she took over after the ouster of Debbie Wasserman Schultz.Brazile has sharp words for her and President Barack Obama for their financial mismanagement of the DNC, and she also rips the Clinton campaign for treating her poorly and having stupid and stiff messages.RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA?More than 100 Clinton staffers, including campaign manager Robby Mook and top aide Huma Abedin, signed a scathing letter about Brazile s book, accusing her of buying into Russian propaganda about Clinton s health and painting a picture of the campaign that wasn t true. If they don t like my book, don t buy it, Brazile said of the letter. I ve gotten emails from Democrats, passionate Democrats, who say they feel betrayed by all of this. Any regrets? Stephanopoulos asked. Do I regret taking on the job cleaning up everybody s mess? Brazile asked. Taking all of the incoming? Being unable to spend funds that I raised? Do I regret being on the road 100 percent of the time? Being hacked by the Russians? Being harassed? Getting death threats? Do I regret any of that? Brazile said this was worse than Hurricane Katrina in terms of the emotional toll for her.Brazile was asked if she mentioned dropping Clinton for Biden to top Clinton staffer Charlie Baker, Brazile snapped, I kept my own counsel. I was the chair of the party, George! This interview along with the other interviews Brazile has given are all very eyeopening to the fact that the Clinton machine totally took over the DNC. It s ugly!Brazile even says she felt like she was treated like a slave CHECK OUT ROBBY MOOK AT THE 2:00 POINT WHERE HE TAKES OUT HIS EARPIECE NOT A CNN EARPIECE!Mook is clearly a deer in the headlights I don t know I, I, I Via: WFB | 1real |
How Donald Trump Blew Up the ‘Gaffe’ - The New York Times | When a politician says something stupid, reporters are traditionally expected to mask their glee with a veneer of shock and disappointment. It was in this mode, more or less, that the NBC News political director, Chuck Todd, and his colleague Carrie Dann began the Aug. 3 edition of First Read, the network’s daily political tip sheet, warning that Donald Trump’s campaign had gone “from ‘unraveling’ to ‘break glass’ mode. ” They began with a heroic attempt to catalog all the previously things Trump said and did in the preceding 24 hours, a long list that included the candidate’s displaying to a rally audience the Purple Heart medal he had been given by a retired U. S. Army lieutenant colonel who was wounded in Iraq. “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart,” said Trump, who received draft deferments during the Vietnam War for, among other things, bone spurs that had miraculously little impact on his youthful athletic career. “This was much easier. ” “Put those words into the mouth of any past presidential candidate, Republican or Democrat, and that comment almost certainly would have been labeled a near gaffe,” Todd and Dann wrote. In 2016, however, “it wasn’t even the most blockbuster Trump news of the afternoon. ” This prompted them to consider something that, coming from a pair of political journalists, bordered on heresy: Maybe, they mused, we were looking at “the end of the gaffe. ” The “gaffe,” in its old, prepolitical usage, was essentially a faux pas: a breach of etiquette or — in the diplomatic context, where it often appeared — local custom. In 1922, an anonymous British military officer’s wife recounted in Blackwood’s Magazine how, at a party, she had breezily remarked to a Belgian government minister how happy she had been living in Bonn, Germany, during the postwar occupation. The minister recoiled and informed her that he had spent 10 months in solitary confinement there. “I had obviously said the wrong thing,” she wrote, “committed a gaffe. ” “Saying the wrong thing” is the most straightforward definition of a political gaffe, too. The question, of course, is what precisely we mean by “wrong. ” Reporters typically mean it in the strategic sense — something a politician seeking office, or occupying one, should know better than to say. And because strategy is amoral, the media’s preoccupation with gaffes has always been an easy target for critics. It’s emblematic, they argue, of campaign reporting at its hollow, worst — representing little more than, as Jason Linkins of The Huffington Post wrote earlier this year, “the inability of politicians to be perfect at all times, and the media’s ability to monetize these momentary lapses. ” But there is another way of thinking about the gaffe: as an inevitable expression of the paradoxes of scrupulously objective political reporting, pressures that have held reporters hostage for decades. Until Trump, of all people, set us free. The journalistic ritual of dates approximately to the Vietnam era, but it blossomed into a obsession during the 1980 candidacy of Ronald Reagan, whose malapropisms were well noted even before he won the Republican nomination. Before the summer was out, reporters were fulminating over his description of the Vietnam War as a “noble cause” and his suggestion that the United States should pursue official relations with Taiwan — a move that contradicted the terms of normalization previously negotiated between the United States and China. Both statements were within the spectrum of conservative opinion, but reporters took them as blunders. By early September, press reports routinely described Reagan’s campaign, in The Times’s words, as on “the political defensive after a string of admittedly costly verbal gaffes. ” Two months later, Reagan trounced Carter, winning 44 states. During his administration, verbal pratfalls became enough of a running joke that David Gergen, then his director of communications, commissioned a large plaster foot with a bullet hole in it to be passed around. The Washington Post’s Lou Cannon diligently cataloged the “Reaganism of the Week” Dinesh D’Souza, who worked in the White House during Reagan’s second term, wrote later that “Reagan had no objection and frequently turned to the column to discover his own gaffes. Reagan’s advisers soon discovered what the boss already knew: that Americans didn’t mind his gaffes and were even entertained by them. ” What Reagan understood, in D’Souza’s telling, was that a gaffe revealed at least as much about the journalists who called attention to it as it did about the politician who uttered it. It reflected their own preoccupations and biases, which voters did not necessarily share. Ever since the late 1960s, when reporters began to take a more active role in scrutinizing presidential candidates, they had operated on the assumption that the way a candidate managed the challenges and humiliations of the campaign trail was in some way reflective of how they would perform in the White House itself — that a candidacy was a meaningful simulation of a presidency. By the 1980s, this vision of campaign reporting was toppling into solipsism. Journalists were, effectively, grading politicians on their ability to perform what everyone understood to be a largely artificial version of themselves — practicing a kind of theater criticism as much as political reporting. This reached its magnificent zenith in 2012, when a Washington Post reporter shouted at Mitt Romney during a photo op in Warsaw, “What about your gaffes?” What about his gaffes? The George Washington University political scientist John Sides reviewed data from the 2012 race and found that none of the slips of the campaign — not even the surreptitiously filmed video of Romney’s “47 percent” comments — had any appreciable effect on either candidate’s support. In imagined service of the interests of voters, reporters had lost track of what actually mattered to them. Still, criticism of the media’s gaffe fixation — like Michael Kinsley’s famous observation that “a ‘gaffe’ is the opposite of a ‘lie’: it’s when a politician inadvertently tells the truth” — has often been a bit too clever, reflecting the same blend of cynicism and forced naïveté as the trail reporters it maligns. The critics tend to miss something important: the way in which is, ultimately, a logical and sometimes deliberate way of tackling the impossible task the press has assigned itself. For avowedly nonpartisan and nonideological reporters, examining the substance of a politician’s beliefs and policy views is a professional minefield: The more deeply they venture into it, the more open they are to accusations of bias. The benefits of this dilemma mostly accrue to politicians. If reporters spent too much time on the comfortably nonpartisan foibles of Reagan’s “Reaganisms,” they spent too little looking closely at his advisers’ devotion to economics. The gaffe, then, is a safety mechanism. It moves a statement from the realm of substance to the realm of performance and strategy — allowing the reporters to critique it without incriminating themselves professionally. To say that Trump’s views on immigration are inhumane, or from the standpoint of the economy or national security, might hint at a subjective opinion on the part of the reporter. An easier problem to identify is that, spoken aloud, those views may hurt him with electorally important constituencies, or reflect poorly on his ability to stay “on message” in the manner expected of politicians. A rational candidate would not deliberately do something that unnecessarily jeopardizes his chances of victory, so it follows that the outburst must have been a mistake — a gaffe. This of course bears little resemblance to how actual voters, or assess his words. In that sense, Trump really does have more in common with voters than he does with political elites. His inability to apologize or back down has opened the door to a politics, stripping away the convenient fiction of missteps and errors that journalists turn to when they are uncomfortable confronting a statement on its merits. “This isn’t a situation where you have an episodic gaffe,” Obama said on Aug. 2, needling the many Republicans who had recently denounced Trump’s words without rescinding their endorsements. “This is daily, and weekly, where they are distancing themselves from statements he’s making. ” He’s right at this point, to treat Trump’s statements as anything other than intentional is to uphold convention at the expense of common sense. Trump has laid bare journalism’s contradictions — reporters’ desire to be critical of politicians without criticizing anything they stand for — to the point where we have no choice but to examine them. This may be the least expected outcome of 2016: The most flagrantly dishonest candidate in recent memory is forcing us to have the most honest political discussion we’ve had in years. | 0fake |
NY PROFESSOR Who’s Correctly Chosen President For 100 Years Explains Why Trump Will Win | We ve been telling you all week to ignore the manufactured polls and lies being told by mainstream journalists (of which 65 have been found to be in collusion with Hillary s camp)designed to discourage and deflate Donald Trump supporters. The crowds, the enthusiasm and the fundraising for Trump is on fire, while Hillary and Tim Kaine can barely fill a phone booth with supporters. This SUNY professor has a model that s been working for over 100 years of elections and he s giving the race to Trump The most important thing Trump supporters can do right now, is to reach out to their friends and family and convince them to get out to the polls for Trump. There will undoubtedly be a lot of voter fraud committed by Democrats and it s up to us to help make up that difference with actual voters for Trump. Donald Trump may be behind in most polls, but one veteran New York prognosticator still predicts he will win come Election Day. I think he was the strongest candidate in the primaries and that he will prevail, Helmut North, a political science professor at SUNY Stony Brook, told The Post on Monday, even as the RealClearPolitics average shows the Republican candidate trailing Democrat Hillary Clinton by 6.1 percentage points.The sale of halloween masks have also always been correct in predicting the winner of the presidential election. Check out who s winning in sales: Norpoth developed a model that, applied retroactively in earlier races, would have correctly predicted the winner of every presidential election since 1912 with the exception of 2000, when predicted winner Al Gore barely lost to George W. Bush.The model looks at which of the candidates performed better in the primaries and caucuses and concludes that the stronger performer there will enter the White House. NYP | 1real |
Republican plan to repeal Obamacare would leave millions uninsured: report | (In March 13 item, corrects paragraph 7 to show uninsured rising) By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fourteen million Americans would lose medical insurance by next year under a Republican plan to dismantle Obamacare that would also reduce the budget deficit, a nonpartisan congressional research office said on Monday, throwing President Donald Trump and Republicans on the defensive as they press forward with replacement legislation. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office forecast that 24 million more people would be uninsured in 2026 if the plan being considered by the House of Representatives to replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act were adopted. Obamacare, as President Barack Obama's signature piece of domestic policy is commonly called, expanded insurance to about 20 million Americans. (bit.ly/2mkdeYA) Hours after the CBO report was released, the House Budget Committee postponed its consideration of the Republican bill to Thursday from Wednesday. Prior to the report, Republicans had been planning to vote soon on the bill in the House, where it is likely to pass, and send it to the Senate, where its outlook is uncertain. The CBO projected that 52 million people would be uninsured by 2026 if the bill became law, compared with 28 million who would not have coverage that year if the law remained unchanged. Two House of Representatives committees have approved the legislation to dismantle Obamacare that was unveiled by Republican leaders a week ago, but it faces opposition from not only Democrats but also medical providers including doctors and hospitals and many conservatives. The CBO report’s findings could make the Republican plan a harder sell for lawmakers, particularly in the U.S. Senate. The CBO, however, said federal deficits would fall by $337 billion between 2017 and 2026 under the Republican bill. Some health policy experts and Wall Street analysts said the report was more draconian than expected, with the uninsured rate rising more quickly than foreseen. Doctors groups and patient advocates said the bill must be abandoned. The AARP, a nonprofit advocacy group for aging Americans, said Monday that the CBO analysis showed the financial burden of the Republican plan would fall “disproportionately” on Americans 50 to 64 years old. In a five-page letter to House members last week, the AARP has also criticized a tax cut it said would threaten the solvency of Medicare, the government health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, cuts to Medicaid and said the bill does nothing to lower drug costs. Some Republicans worry a misfire on the Republican healthcare legislation could hobble Trump’s presidency and set the stage for losses for the party in the 2018 congressional elections. The Trump administration defended the healthcare plan, which they say will have a second and third phase that will entice consumers. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price said at the White House that Trump’s plan would cover more individuals at a lower cost and it was “virtually impossible” to envision that 14 million people would lose insurance coverage by next year. Democratic leaders in Congress said the bill could result in elderly people being kicked out of nursing homes as it simultaneously gives tax cuts for the richest Americans. “How can they look their constituents in the eye when they say 24 million of you no longer have coverage and those of you who do have it, will have less coverage at more cost to you,” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said. Trump himself made no comment on the report. The Affordable Care Act aimed to help restrain U.S. healthcare spending, which is about 17 percent of the nation’s economy, but it has continued to grow faster than inflation. The proposal would end the Obamacare expansion of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor and would replace Obamacare’s income-based subsidies with fixed tax credits for the purchase of private insurance. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center on Monday said the Republican plan would benefit the wealthiest U.S. households far more than middle-income families. A family making $51,600 to $89,400 a year, including fringe benefits like employer-provided health insurance, would get a tax cut averaging $300. The top 0.1 percent of earners with incomes of at least $3.9 million would get a tax cut of about $207,000, the study said. The CBO estimated that insurance premiums would rise 15 percent to 20 percent in both 2018 and 2019 because fewer healthy people would sign up after the repeal of the Obamacare penalty for declining to obtain insurance. But it said the hikes would be offset after 2020 by a $100 billion fund allocated to states in the bill and deregulation in the insurance market. By 2026, average premiums for single policyholders in the nongroup market under the legislation would be roughly 10 percent lower than the estimates under current law, in part because insurers will be able to offer plans that cover a lower share of healthcare costs. While the federal government would lose revenues through the repeal of Obamacare’s individual and employer mandates’ tax penalties, CBO said the loss would be surpassed by savings on insurance subsidies and Medicaid payments that Washington would no longer have to provide for people who lost coverage. At the same time, CBO said the repeal of the individual mandate’s tax penalties would mean higher health insurance premiums for those who retained coverage, because insurers would still have to cover any applicant without being free to raise premiums for older, sicker people, despite lower numbers of younger, healthier customers who are cheaper to insure. Craig Garthwaite, director of the healthcare program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said the CBO estimates made it harder for Republicans to sell their proposal. “Overall, this is a really bad number for the AHCA. Far more people are predicted to lose coverage than many estimated - and these losses are going to happen more quickly than we would have thought,” he said. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, a key backer of the plan called the American Health Care Act, said the CBO estimates showed it would ultimately lower premiums. “Our plan is not about forcing people to buy expensive, one-size-fits-all coverage. It is about giving people more choices and better access to a plan they want and can afford. When people have more choices, costs go down,” Ryan said. Vishnu Lekraj, an equity analyst at Morningstar, said the bill is a net negative for insurers, who would be helped by the elimination of a tax, but hurt by the shrinking individual insurance business. “The headline number will be viewed as a shock to the system tomorrow,” Brian Tanquilut, a stock analyst at Jefferies said of the 14 million losing insurance next year. “The reality of this is that the number being big makes it harder for the bill to pass in its current form.” | 0fake |
MAN MAKES VIRAL VIDEO: Demonstrates How Obama Made Himself Cry During Gun Control Speech | (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'));Obama Tears Share thisPosted by Dave Sayen on Thursday, January 7, 2016Don t take our word for it, watch Obama s speech on gun control in December, 2012. Pay close attention to the 1:01 mark, where he rubs his left index finger into the corner of his eye (exactly like he did last week) pauses, (like he did last week) puts his head down and pauses a bit longer (waiting for the menthol to work) and then (exactly like last week) he lifts his head and exposes the tears flowing, but only from the eye he put his finger in before tears ever began flowing:This is a character issue. Whether you disagree or agree with his gun control agenda is not the issue here. The point is, if the elected leader of the greatest nation on earth is willing to stand in front of millions and place menthol in his eye in order to make himself cry fake tears, to persuade Americans we need gun control, why should Americans believe ANYTHING he has to say? | 1real |
ILLEGAL ALIEN ARRESTED FOR SHOOTING Teen Girlfriend and 3 Yr Old Son And Lighting Them On Fire While Boy Was Still Alive Was Previously Deported [VIDEO] | Since when did future Democrat voters take precedent over enforcing the law? Family members suspect jealousy may have led to the gruesome slayings of an Othello teen and her 3-year-old son found shot and severely burned in a remote part of Franklin County.Maria G. Cruiz-Calvillo, 18, and Luis F. Lopez-Cruz were identified Monday as the bodies found last week inside a vehicle that was set on fire in a ravine near the intersection of Scootney and Ridge roads.Luis likely was still alive when the car went up in flames, according to Dan Blasdel, Franklin County coroner.Luis would have turned four years old on Thursday. She was a really good person. She was always smiling, said Karen Rodriguez, a sister-in-law of Cruiz-Calvillo who spoke for the family. He was a happy kid. He was really playful and loved to be outside. Prudencio Juan Fragos-Ramirez, 25, of Connell, reportedly had recently started dating Cruiz-Calvillo and is suspected of killing the pair.Fragos-Ramirez was arrested hours into the investigation at his home less than a mile from where the bodies were found. He appeared Monday in Franklin County Superior Court, where Judge Carrie Runge set bail at $1 million.Runge ordered Fragos-Ramirez, who has previous convictions for DUI and driving while suspended, held for up to 72 hours while prosecutors determine what charges to file. Prosecutors say Fragos-Ramirez was deported in 2014 and got back into the country illegally.https://youtu.be/lsBOZqGQ1fcThe sheriff s office initially spelled his name Flagos-Ramirez, but court records show it s spelled Fragos-Ramirez.Family members had never met Fragos-Ramirez, though Cruiz-Calvillo talked to her mother about a guy she was seeing, whom she apparently referred to by the nickname Loco, Rodriguez said. (The family) thinks she never wanted a serious relationship with him, Rodriguez said. It s jealousy. Cruiz-Calvillo and Luis had gunshot wounds, Blasdel said. Tests to confirm whether they were still alive when the fire started have been requested.Firefighters found the bodies July 2 as they battled the car fire near a large orchard, court documents said. Franklin County deputies discovered the license plates were registered to an Othello man, who told investigators his niece, Cruiz-Calvillo, drove the vehicle.Family members last saw Cruiz-Calvillo the afternoon of her death as she was leaving Othello with Luis for Pasco to make a car payment, court documents said. She routinely went to Pasco to make car payments. We checked with the bank, Rodriguez said. She made the payment at 3:43 (p.m.). Two neighbors saw Cruiz-Calvillo and Luis arrive at Fragos-Ramirez s home about 4:40 p.m., court documents said. The neighbors recognized the mother and son because they frequent the house on Hogback Road.Between 10 and 20 minutes later, the neighbors saw the pair and Fragos-Ramirez walking towards Cruiz-Calvillo s car, court documents said. They didn t see Fragos-Ramirez return to the house and didn t see him again until about 7 p.m.Smoke was spotted coming from the ravine where the bodies were found about 20 to 30 minutes after the trio was seen leaving the home. It took detectives eight minutes to drive from the home to the spot where the bodies were found.Detectives were able to track down Fragos-Ramirez for an interview after Cruiz-Calvillo s brother, Arturo Calvillo, remembered meeting a man who matched the description of Fragos-Ramirez while at a house on church business, court documents said. Calvillo took Detective Jason Nunez to the house, and Nunez contacted a woman there.The woman told Nunez she had a brother who was at the house when Calvillo came over, court documents said. She called Fragos-Ramirez and handed the phone to Nunez, who then set up an interview.Via: Tri City Herald | 1real |
U.S. military can withstand the sage grouse, lawmakers say | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Efforts to protect the greater sage grouse, a bird found in the western United States, do not pose a threat to the U.S. military, two senior Democratic House of Representatives lawmakers said on Tuesday. Debate over the bird was intense a year ago when the House Armed Services Committee was finalizing its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, the $600 billion annual bill setting out U.S. defense policy. Arguing that protecting the sage grouse would put large swaths of the western United States off limits for military training, House Republicans included a ban on making the bird an endangered species in the House version of the 2016 NDAA. The measure was stripped out as the bill was considered by the Senate and not in the legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama. But it is again in the House version of the 2017 NDAA, which the House armed services panel will debate on Wednesday. Representatives Adam Smith, the top Armed Services Democrat, and Raul Grijalva, his counterpart on the Natural Resources Committee, released letters from Department of Defense officials saying that land use plans intended to protect the bird will not affect military training, operations or readiness to any significant degree. “These letters put to bed once and for all the silly speculation that a few birds could hamstring the greatest fighting force in the history of the world,” Grijalva said in a statement. | 0fake |
BUSTED: Trump’s Senior WH Staff Have Email Accounts On A Private Server (DETAILS) | When Donald Trump was a running for office, he and his conservative followers repeatedly called for locking up Hillary Clinton for handling government work with a private server while secretary of state. Hypocrisy, thy name is GOP. Newsweek is reporting that senior Trump administration staffers have active accounts on a Republican National Committee email system. Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon are among those who are using the system (rnchq.org) the same one the George W. Bush administration was accused of using in order to evade transparency rules after claiming to have lost 22 million emails.What they re doing is not illegal but it is ironic.But after then-candidate Donald Trump and the Republicans repeatedly called for locking up Hillary Clinton for handling government work with a private server while secretary of state, the new White House staff risks repeating the same mistake that dogged the Democrat s presidential campaign. They also face a security challenge: The RNC email system, according to U.S. intelligence, was hacked during the 2016 race. They better be careful after making such a huge ruckus over the private email over at the State Department, says former Bush administration lawyer Richard Painter.And by the way, Hillary Clinton s server use did not violate the law. Still yet, last July, an informal adviser to Donald Trump s presidential campaign called for Hillary Clinton s execution. Al Baldasaro said that Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason because of her use of private email server.It s not known yet how the Trump staffers are using the RNC email addresses, however, if they are actively using them then they are subject to the Disclosure Requirement For Official Business Conducted Using Electronic Messaging Accounts. If White House staffers have already used the RNC emails system for White House work, they must copy or forward those communications into the government system within 20 days.But wait, there s more!The New York Times is reporting that Trump is still using his old, unsecured Android phone to take calls and tweet despite protests from some of his aides. Last night when Trump tweeted that he would send in the Feds to Chicago, he was using his Android. As for the White House phones, Trump said they are the world s most secure system, adding, The words just explode in the air. Notably, this is the same RNC server that multiple intelligence agencies and officials claim was hacked during the 2016 race.Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images. | 1real |
San Diego School District Pushes CAIR-Assisted ‘Anti-Islamophobia’ Plan - Breitbart | The San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) has been working with the Council on Relations (CAIR) on “ ” plans, including adding lessons on Islam in social studies classes and adding Muslim “safe spaces” to campuses. [The plan is to be implemented in the fall with the start of the new school year. CAIR has been declared a terrorist organization by the United Arab Emirates, and was named by federal prosecutors as an unindicted in a Hamas operation. The school district’s board voted recently to approve the Islamophobia plan it set in motion last summer after a November 2015 recognition of CAIR’s educational work. The April 4 vote was with one member missing from the meeting, according to the San Diego . More details are expected to be released before the end of the school year. Staff members and parents will receive letters directing them to resources to learn about Islam and fight discrimination. District executive director of Family and Community Engagement Stan Anjan stated that social studies lessons may feature more on prominent Muslims in history, and how to promote a positive image of Islam according to the Tribune. Discipline for perceived bullying of Muslims is also set to be amended. Executive Director of the San Diego chapter of CAIR, Hanif Mohebi, said upon the recent vote, “If we do this right, San Diego Unified School District would be the leading school district in the nation to come up with a robust and beautiful and program” according to the Tribune report. Last July, San Diego Unified approved creation of an and plan with urging from CAIR San Diego. More than 200 members and supporters of the Muslim community were present and cheered upon board members’ passage of the initiative, according to KPBS. Executive director Mohebi used a CAIR study that said it asked students and 55 percent claimed to have been bullied. San Diego Unified School District posted in an online QA on the forthcoming plan: Regarding all students, we work hard to protect students from bullying and discrimination. That is why we recently implemented an online bullying reporting mechanism to allow students to make their voices heard without fear. The closest model for our Islamophobia work is the work we have done within the LGBTQIA community in recent years. That program has assigned staff and serves students and other departments through trainings, curriculum review and other activities. In addition, they help students organize and maintain Alliance Clubs in many of our schools. Again, our LGBTQIA work is simply a model for the Islamophobia work, and there will obviously be unique situations to address in each community. “CAIR has been very generous with their time, providing advice and guidance to the district on ways to prevent bullying against Muslim students. They have not been paid, nor are they under contract with the district,” the school district website states. The district specifically addressed whether it is implementing Sharia Law, claiming that they are not. The district goes on to state that it is not violating separation of church and state and is not endorsing Islam. In regards to creating safe spaces for Muslim students, the district states: “Schools with large Muslim communities may choose to make areas available for prayer, if that is requested by their parents and students. ” In 2007, the reported on allegations that a school aide at Carver Elementary led Muslim students in prayer, according to an online post on Michelle Malkin’s website. (A link to the original Tribune article went to the paper’s website, but the article appears to no longer be at that web address.) The school had recently added Arabic to its curriculum to accommodate in influx of Somali Muslim students. In March 2016, San Diego Unified highlighted the creation of halal meals at Crawford High School, “according to Islamic law and traditions,” and with the input of students. The school is located in an area of San Diego heavily populated with Muslim refugees. CAIR has previously promoted plans for the halal meals. In an interview with PRI, the San Diego school district’s head of food services cited the success of halal options in Dearborn, Michigan schools, home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the U. S. The report noted that almost all of the students at the City Heights school, at least a decade ago, were recipients of free school lunch. The report added that five local elementary schools had also recently adopted similar halal meal programs. CAIR San Diego lauded SDUSD’s initiative to “combat Islamophobia” in an announcement that noted, “Some 150 members of San Diego’s Muslim community were present” during the early April passage of the initiative. The group also stated that SDUSD collaborated with Diego, in line with California’s AB 2845, the Safe Place to Learn Act. Diego Executive Director Hanif Mohebi said, “Other school districts should follow this lead, and we will be happy to work with them to provide resources and trainings. ” Photo: File, Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana | 0fake |
Factbox: Trump on Twitter (Dec 28) - Vanity Fair, Hillary Clinton | The following statements were posted to the verified Twitter accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS. The opinions expressed are his own. Reuters has not edited the statements or confirmed their accuracy. @realDonaldTrump : - Vanity Fair, which looks like it is on its last legs, is bending over backwards in apologizing for the minor hit they took at Crooked H. Anna Wintour, who was all set to be Amb to Court of St James’s & a big fundraiser for CH, is beside herself in grief & begging for forgiveness! [1024 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) | 0fake |
Trump Rally In Austin TX – Protesters Largely Outnumbered by Trump Supporters | 21st Century Wire says Trump supporters gathered at a rally in Austin TX on a rainy March 4th to participate in the nationwide gathering of citizens in support of President Trump, marching to state capitals to promote peaceful unity, as described by the call to the gathering:This is a nationwide event in states across the country!Let s support our President and stop the hate! Please join us in this effort to unite the citizens of this great country. Bring your signs and flags to support our President and his administration wear your Trump gear! We are also supporting our military, veterans and law enforcement. Please bring donations for homeless/veterans such as canned goods, clothing, blankets and hygiene products.Disclaimer: This is a peaceful assembly. Please do not impede traffic, litter, vandalize, or do anything else illegal and unbefitting. Act worthy of yourselves. Any violators will be asked to leave and turned over to authorities when appropriate. If your intentions are other than peaceful this event is not for you.We welcome your participation & sharing/inviting/spreading the word!Trump supporters of all creeds, colors and backgrounds showed up, in the rain, to be there for the event.Trump supporters march on Texas Capitol, Austin TX 3/4/17 . We Americans must learn not to be so quick to jump to conclusions about others! pic.twitter.com/sqsYS2Ktke Jeff DeRiso (@JeffDeRiso) March 4, 2017With all the talk of reactionary Anti-Trump demonstration being hyped on mainstream media, one would expected throngs of protesters at the event, but if the image below represents the size of the protest group. Despite the rain and high winds, they were greatly outnumbered by the March4Trump rally.There was one brief scuffle between protesters and Trump supporters when a masked protester tried to take the American flag from a rally goer, which you can see in the embedded highlights video below.Videographer, Jeff DeRiso, captured a highlights video of the event.READ MORE TRUMP NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Trump FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
North Korea dismisses report that sixth nuclear test killed many people | Seoul (Reuters) - North Korea s state media on Thursday dismissed as misinformation a recent media report that the North s sixth nuclear test killed many people. Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the issue, that North Korea s nuclear test site collapsed after Pyongyang s sixth atomic test in September, possibly killing more than 200 people. The North s official KCNA said it was a false report intended to slander the country and its advances in nuclear development. | 0fake |
WATCH: Joy Reid Shuts Down Trump Supporter For Peddling Lie After Lie About Hillary Clinton | Once again, a mouthpiece for Donald Trump gets their ass handed to them for blatantly lying on the air.During her show on Saturday morning, MSNBC host Joy Reid had to frustratingly correct Trump supporter David Malpass for making false claims about Hillary Clinton.It began with Reid talking about the alleged pay-to-play scandal Republicans have been accusing the former Secretary of State of conducting in conjunction with the Clinton Foundation during her years in the post.Reid explained that if Donald Trump gave $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation which then went to fighting AIDS in Africa, which benefits those who get treatment. Reid pointed out that getting a phone call from Clinton aide Huma Abedin is not proof of pay-to-play.However, Donald Trump giving $25,000 to Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi s campaign in exchange for getting the investigation against Trump University dropped in that state is the very definition of pay-to-play.Malpass tried to claim that there were $10 million contributions but when challenged to provide proof of that claim Malpass could not do so. Reid called out Malpass for lying and went on to explain that the Associated Press found that only 85 of the meetings that Clinton had with people who were donors but not one of those meetings occurred after a donation was made.The AP story was pilloried, Reid said, because they attempted to find pay-to-play and found nothing. Huma Abedin emailing you back is not getting something, Reid continued. It s Huma Abedin emailing you back. Malpass, however, desperately tried to pin something on Hillary Clinton and brought up her emails, which have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Reid called Malpass out again, but he continued to claim that the emails brought out the information about the Clinton Foundation. Malpass also claimed that Hillary Clinton has not held any press conferences but Reid corrected him again by pointing out that she held two last week.As Reid repeatedly shamed Malpass for conflating press conferences, emails and foundations, her other guest Kurt Eichenwald broke out in laughter because Malpass was clearly making false claims.By the end of the segment, a frustrated Reid admitted that her head hurts after having to debunk so much bullshit from Trump s minions.Here s the video via YouTube.Trump and his team are desperate to make anything Clinton does into a scandal. And that s why any claims they make that they are somehow winning this election are complete bullshit. A winning campaign does not have to stoop to telling outright lies to the media every day. But that is what Trump is doing because his poll numbers have imploded and his campaign has fallen off a cliff.Republicans have waged countless witch hunts using taxpayer money in an effort to sabotage the woman who stands in their way of absolute power and they have failed miserably because the investigations have always cleared Hillary Clinton of wrongdoing. Rather than admit that, Trump and his minions would rather repeat lies because it s all they have left.Featured image via screenshot | 1real |
Chinese fans prepare to welcome rich, powerful, 'free-spirit' Trump | BEIJING (Reuters) - He may be a divisive figure back home, but U.S. President Donald Trump will be landing in friendly territory when he arrives in Beijing on Wednesday, judging by Chinese social media. On platforms such as the Twitter-like Sina Weibo, Trump s Chinese supporters, who admire his business success and a free-wheeling style unconstrained by political correctness, are far more prominent than detractors. While no comprehensive survey has been done to assess the size and intensity of Trump s popularity in China, several pundits suggest he has broad and vocal support. Chinese people are impressed that he is extremely rich, he loves things splendid and magnificent, and he loves to show off. Not every billionaire is like that, said Yin Hao, who translates American news and comedy clips for his nearly one million followers on Weibo. Yin said his translated Trump-related video clips sometimes attract thousands of comments, where some supporters engage in name-calling and invective in defending the president. They will keep posting comments to defend Trump, mock his opponents under all news clips that involve Trump, and rebuke any comments that are not in favor of Trump, Yin said. Chen Jibing, a Shanghai-based political commentator, said Trump s Chinese fan base is different than that for previous foreign leaders such as his predecessor, Barack Obama, and for British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who enjoyed widespread but tepid support. Chinese Trump fans are seriously and truly invested, and you had better not make light of offending them, Chen wrote in a social media post to his millions of followers. While Trump encountered protests during his visits to Japan and South Korea on the first two legs of his 12-day Asian tour, such scenes are unlikely in China, which tightly controls public gatherings, with media and the internet subject to censorship. China s ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, said Trump will receive a state visit-plus experience in Beijing. He is expected to go to the Forbidden City and participate in an inspection of Chinese troops, though China has released few other details. Trump s popularity in China largely comes from his disdain for political correctness and defiance of traditional liberal western views, which many Chinese consider elitist and unrealistic, Chen said. His criticism of the U.S. trade deficit with China, for example, is seen by many in the country as standard U.S. political talk, some pundits say. In China, realists hold a deep-rooted belief that the rule of the jungle means the strong prey on the weak, Chen said. For them, the world is not split into right and wrong, good or evil, it is only success or failure, the powerful and the weak. Factual errors or gaffes by Trump tend to be ignored by his Chinese fans or explained away as harmless mistakes made by a leader who writes his own rules. In Japan on Monday, Trump told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the Japanese economy was not performing as well as the United States and appeared to mistakenly say that Japan s economy was the world s second-largest. It is actually third, after China s. An editor at a major state publication told Reuters was inclined to be forgiving about Trump s remark to Abe: He s a free spirit. No one can tell him what to do. Many on Chinese social media see Trump as a figure of fun. Rather than being a president, Trump is more like a comedian! one Weibo user wrote. In a country where parents are traditionally judged by the success of their children, Trump scores extra points for his daughter Ivanka, a businesswoman and currently advisor to President Trump, and her Mandarin-speaking children. One Chinese state publication said that all five of Trump s children are a testament to his character. You can tell what parents are like through their childrens success. Trump s five children are all excellent, it means he is a very successful father, the China Education Daily said on its social media account. Ivanka Trump is sometimes referred to as goddess on Chinese social media, where some were upset that the first daughter would not be accompanying her father to Beijing. SAD! Ivanka is not coming to China, said Jiang Xiaofeng, a journalist with Phoenix TV on Sina Weibo, appropriating one of Donald Trump s favorite Twitter exclamations. | 0fake |
Turkey may follow suit after U.S. partially eases visa restrictions: Turkish government source | ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey may reciprocate a move by Washington and partially ease issuance of visas for U.S. citizens after the U.S. embassy said it had resumed visa processing on a limited basis, a Turkish government source said on Monday. The U.S. embassy in Ankara announced its decision in an email on Monday, in what could signal a tentative improvement in the ongoing diplomatic crisis between the two countries. | 0fake |
Social Media Is Censoring FBI’s Re-Opened Clinton Email Investigation | Posted on October 30, 2016 by WashingtonsBlog
Zero Hedge reports that Twitter, Facebook, Buzzfeed and Snapchat appear to be censoring the biggest bombshell of this election cycle … that the FBI re-opened its investigation of Clinton’s emails 11 days before the election.
I can add that I’ve been checking Reddit’s front page – the top 25 stories – every day, and there hasn’t been a single reference to the FBI, Clinton or emails since the FBI made its announcement.
As we’ve documented for years , social media is manipulated by the powers-that-be to prevent news that challenges the status quo from going viral. | 1real |
HEY CNN…REMEMBER OBAMA’S Notorious “Friday Night News Dumps” and When He REFUSED To Interrupt Golf On Martha’s Vineyard To Assess Historic Louisiana Floods? | Republican Rep. Steve King: The base is going to behind President Trump's decision to pardon Joe Arpaio https://t.co/17fLpkPgcf CNN (@CNN) August 26, 2017CNN was apoplectic about having to cover the hurricane when they had so many opportunities to manufacture news about President Trump. They published this story tonight as Hurricane Harvey was hitting the coast of Texas:3 headlines the White House hopes you ll miss as Hurricane Harvey hitsAs the strongest hurricane to make landfall in the US in more than a decade took aim at Texas, President Donald Trump s White House engaged in an age-old Washington tradition: the Friday news dump.Transgender individuals? Banned from joining the military. Convicted Sheriff Joe Arpaio? Officially pardoned. Controversial White House adviser Sebastian Gorka? Out of a white House job.All three headlines popped after 6 p.m. Friday as TV news broadcasts and websites turned their attention to Texas, where Hurricane Harvey was preparing to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane the most powerful to hit the US since 2004.CNN probably forgot about Barack Obama s notorious Friday night news dumps Here are a few of Obama s greatest hits:From Hot Air:Isn t it funny what you can find out on Friday evening about what our executive branch does? For instance, Agence France-Presse reported last night that Barack Obama bypassed Congress to send $192 million to the Palestinian Authority, claiming that national security required the US to put money into Mahmoud Abbas pocket.Congress deliberately froze those funds, and not just because of the statehood demand through UNESCO. Hamas, a terrorist organization, reconciled with Fatah and has rejoined the PA, which means we re putting almost $200 million into the hands of a terrorist organization. The language of the Palestinian Accountability Act could not be clearer: [N]o funds available to any United States Government department or agency may be obligated or expended with respect to providing funds to the Palestinian Authority. Obama literally waived that statutory language off yesterday afternoon. From Politico:Reporters and Capitol Hill staff tracking the Solyndra saga know better than to make plans for Friday nights: That s when the Obama administration likes to dump documents requested by Congress.At least five times since last fall s bankruptcy filing and FBI raid of the California solar company, the White House and other agencies have chosen to release embarrassing emails and other materials late in the afternoon as the workweek ends a time almost guaranteed to garner the least media attention possible.From Townhall:The Obama administration Friday pulled the plug on a major program in the president s signature health overhaul law a long-term care insurance plan dogged from the beginning by doubts over its financial solvency. Targeted by congressional Republicans for repeal, the long-term care plan became the first casualty in the political and policy wars over the health care law. The program had been expected to launch in 2013. This is a victory for the American taxpayer and future generations, said Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., spearheading opposition in the Senate. The administration is finally admitting (the long-term care plan) is unsustainable and cannot be implemented. While President Trump has had a very busy day today, he s clearly not so busy that he hasn t been focused on, and assessing what the federal government can do to help the victims of the hurricane this evening. Here is his latest tweet:We will remain fully engaged w/ open lines of communication as #HurricaneHarvey makes landfall. America is w/ you! @GovAbbott @FEMA @DHSgov pic.twitter.com/PryIqRxgLr Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2017Here s President Trump s tweet as the hurricane was hitting land in Texas:At the request of the Governor of Texas, I have signed the Disaster Proclamation, which unleashes the full force of government help! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2017 Where was President Obama when the most serious natural disaster happened during his 8 years in office? He was golfing on Martha s Vineyard, and refused to leave his golfing vacation to assess the situation.President Obama is stirring resentment over his refusal to interrupt his Martha s Vineyard vacation to survey the Louisiana flood the worst U.S. natural disaster since 2012 while drawing comparisons to President George W. Bush s hotly criticized response to Hurricane Katrina in the same state.Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson defended Mr. Obama at a press conference Thursday, insisting that the president is closely monitoring the situation but that he will not cut short his two-week breather in the tony Massachusetts resort. The president can t be everywhere, Mr. Johnson told reporters in Denham Springs, Louisiana.Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, backed him up, saying at the press conference that he is not complaining in any way about our federal partnership. Even so, Mr. Obama s lack of urgency is drawing unflattering parallels to the federal response in 2005, when Mr. Bush was branded as uncaring and even racist for not touching down during a flyover two days after Hurricane Katrina. Washington Times | 1real |
Transgender members in U.S. military may serve until study completed: Mattis | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday current policy regarding transgender personnel serving in the military would remain in place until he advises President Donald Trump on how to implement his directive on a transgender ban. Mattis said in a statement he would set up a panel of experts serving in the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to provide recommendations on implementing the ban. He said he would advise the president after the panel reports it recommendations, and “in the interim, current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place.” Trump signed a memorandum on Friday directing the U.S. military not to accept transgender men and women as recruits and halting the use of government funds for sex-reassignment surgeries for active personnel unless the process is already under way. A White House official who briefed reporters about the memo on Friday declined to specify whether transgender men and women who are currently active in the military could continue to serve based on such criteria. The memo called on Mattis to submit a plan to Trump by Feb. 21, on how to implement the changes. Mattis said he expects to issue other guidance “including any necessary interim adjustments to procedures, to ensure the continued combat readiness of the force until our final policy on this subject is issued.” Trump’s directive created uncertainty for thousands of transgender service members, many of whom came out after the Pentagon said in 2016 it would allow transgender people to serve openly. The decision appealed to some in Trump’s conservative political base while drawing criticism from advocates of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. Civil rights groups filed two new lawsuits on Monday challenging Trump’s ban. | 0fake |
NOT-IMPARTIAL DEBATE MODERATOR Martha Raddatz Sat On Whistleblower Story That Could’ve Ended Obama’s Chances in 2008 [VIDEO] | Impartial is not a word most people who know debate moderator Martha Raddatz would use to describe her. Here is a stunning story Breitbart News broke with amazing former liberal Anita Moncrief:One of the co-moderators of the presidential debate in St. Louis, ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz, sat through the 2008 election on a major political corruption story that could have changed the trajectory of the election.Raddatz, Breitbart News has learned, refused to publish a story on the alleged improper collusion and coordination between then Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and the national headquarters of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, also known as ACORN despite having enough evidence to do so.Radiate, along with CNN s Anderson Cooper, was a co-moderater at last night s presidential debate between GOP presidential nominee Donald J. Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.After she and her producer received a tip about ACORN corruption and Obama s connection to it and evidence backing up the eventual whistleblower s claims, they showed initial interest in pursuing the story. Anita Moncrief, the eventual ACORN whistleblower told Breitbart News exclusively that she met with Raddatz s producer Avni Patel in 2008.Here is former liberal Anita Moncrief s stunning story:Both Patel and Raddatz were given documents that they covered up and refused to report on until after the election. Raddatz, who was then the White House correspondent for ABC News, and her producer Patel were also provided with personal accounts of the collusion between ACORN and the Obama campaign in October 2008, Moncrief told Breitbart News.Moncrief, who worked in ACORN s Washington, D.C., headquarters, would later expose the organization when she turned into a full-blown whistleblower after the election. But if Raddatz ran the story, the election may have turned out differently, especially had the public known the depths to which this scandal went.Moncrief told Breitbart News that she met with Raddatz s producer Patel in Washington after initially having made contact with Raddatz herself through a representative. The meeting lasted almost an hour in a coffee shop in Washington, D.C.After meeting with Patel, Moncrief received an email from the producer:Anita, It was good talking to you today. I look forward to learning more, and taking a look at those documents you mentioned. It sounds like the easiest way to get those from you would be to directly download the files from your web-transfer site. If that doesn t work, you can try to send them to my gmail account.Patel gave Moncrief every indication that ABC News was going to broadcast the report, she said. They were very excited. They said they were willing to run the story, she said.Using the user name and password given to her by Patel, Moncrief sent documents on Oct. 14, 2008 to Patel using the company s file transfer protocol line, ftp1.abc.com. There was another transfer of another dozen documents by email to Patel on Oct. 26, 2008.Moncrief told Breitbart News that ABC News received and acknowledged receipt of the documents that spelled out specific instances of collusion between the Obama campaign and named individuals at ACORN and Project Vote. Among the documents were internal correspondences with Moncrief s name, which she said she included to prove that she was who she said she was.Moncrief told Breitbart News the Obama campaign passed to ACORN and by extension to its sister entity Project Vote the campaign s full donor list, which included all donors and fuller descriptions. This list was different from the limited list of contributors the campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission, which for example did not include small-dollar donors. Because of their non-profit status, ACORN and Project Vote were prohibited from coordinating with a candidate s committee.The problem was that Moncrief was a left-wing activist and she wanted to go through a left-leaning media outlet, so he suggested ABC News and Martha Raddatz, he said.Gaynor said he met Raddatz through email because he she sent him proof that he had repeated a false claim about her suppressing the number of soldiers in Iraq supporting Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for president.With that awkwardness between them, Gaynor said he reached out to Raddatz and explained to her the whole story of collusion between ACORN and Project Vote and the Obama campaign. After the initial conversation, Raddatz told Gaynor that she was interested. Moncrief said she then emailed Raddatz and attached her resume, so that Raddatz would appreciate her background. Raddatz emailed back and told her that Patel would would follow up.Raddatz has a troubled history of undisclosed associations with Democrats that arguably affect her ability to be impartial.She was the moderator for the 2012 vice presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden and now House Speaker then GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan. But Raddatz did not disclose to viewers that Biden s running mate, President Barack Obama, attended her 1991 wedding when she married now former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Julius Genachowski.For entire story: Breitbart News | 1real |
Pope Francis Slams The United States For Its “Brazen” Gun Obsession | Pope Francis, while appearing at the United Nation s World Food summit, slammed the United States (and the rest of the world) over its obsession with guns after the terrorist attack in Orlando left 50 people dead and another 53 wounded. Calling the obsession brazen, the Pope chided world leaders for their strange paradox over the politics of food and international aid, but not guns:It makes no difference where arms come from they circulate with brazen and virtually absolute freedom in many parts of the world.The Pope also chastised the world for numbing itself to people s pain, saying We are bombarded by so many images that we see pain, but do not touch it; we hear weeping, but do not comfort it; we see thirst but do not satisfy it. Hours after the brutal attack, the Holy See released a strongly worded condemnation of the attacks, calling his homicidal folly and denouncing those responsible:The terrible massacre that has taken place in Orlando, with its dreadfully high number of innocent victims, has caused in Pope Francis, and in all of us, the deepest feelings of horror and condemnation, of pain and turmoil before this new manifestation of homicidal folly and senseless hatred We all hope that ways may be found, as soon as possible, to effectively identify and contrast the causes of such terrible and absurd violence which so deeply upsets the desire for peace of the American people and of the whole of humanity.The condemnation is exactly what the United States deserves, especially when some right wing politicians (the same one who do nothing about gun violence) proclaim that we are a Christian nation. But how can we claim to be when we allow ourselves to become so numb to the epidemic that is gun violence?Perhaps the faux-Christians should listen to the Pope (yet again) and lead by example.Featured image via Flickr | 1real |
Donald Trump: ‘Perhaps’ Both Angela Merkel and I Were Wiretapped by Obama Administration - Breitbart | President Donald Trump reacted to questions about his claims that the Obama administration had “wiretapped” Trump Tower. [After a German reporter asked if Trump regretted his tweets, he replied, “Very seldom. ” “As far as wiretapping, I guess, by this past administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps,” Trump said as some of the media and the president’s staff laughed. Merkel looked at the president and then shuffled her note cards while looking at her podium. Merkel’s reaction when Trump suggested they were both victims of Obama wiretapping > pic. twitter. — Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) March 17, 2017, Trump was referring to the reports that President Obama allowed tapping of Merkel’s phone in 2010, as part of an ongoing NSA surveillance operation. Arrival of Vice President Mike Pence and White House senior staff, A post shared by Charlie Spiering (@charliespiering) on Mar 17, 2017 at 12:30pm PDT, | 0fake |
With a bullet: Oil prices headed to the basement | Oil prices continued their fall Tuesday, as traders worried about a deal with Iran, which could increase supplies. In the meantime, U.S. oil production in 2014 was the highest since records began in 1900, according to the Energy Information Administration. West Texas light, sweet crude dropped 2.24% to $47.61 a barrel, says FactSet.
Cablevision has bid $1 to buy the New York Daily News, archrival New York Post gleefully reports.
Stymied by the Federal Aviation Authority, Amazon is testing drone delivery at a secret site in Canada, according to The Guardian.
China will start deposit insurance on May 1, another step toward scrapping government controls on interest rates.
The term “bubble” gets tossed around a lot, often improperly. In China, though, there may really be a stock bubble.
Jay Z announced a streaming music company that will be owned by artists, who seem to feel they should be paid for their work.
Do mutual fund managers who invest heavily in their own funds outperform? Why, yes.
Losing a job is always terrible. For workers over 50, it’s worse.
More than a third of Americans have no emergency savings. | 0fake |
WOW! THIS LETTER FROM JULY 30TH PREDICTS OBAMA’S TOXIC SPILL INTO RIVER BY EPA TO SECURE SUPERFUND MONEY | Obama s war against America on every possible front Last Wednesday, a small EPA-supervised work crew inspecting the Gold King mine accidentally knocked a hole in a waste pit, releasing at least three million gallons of acidic liquid laden with toxic heavy metals. (ABC)This letter to editor, posted below, and written by Dave Taylor, from Farmington, New Mexico, was published in The Silverton Standard and The Miner local newspaper, authored by a retired geologist, one week before EPA mine spill. The letter detailed verbatim, how EPA officials would foul up the Animas River on purpose in order to secure superfund money. If the Gold King mine was declared a superfund site it would essentially kill future development for the mining industry in the area. The Obama EPA is vehemently opposed to mining and development.The EPA pushed for nearly 25 years, to apply its Superfund program to the Gold King mine. If a leak occurred the EPA would then receive superfund status. That is exactly what happened.The EPA today admitted they misjudged the pressure in the gold mine before the spill just as this editorial predicted.The letter was included in their print edition on July 30, 2015. The spill occurred one week later. Via: Gateway Pundit | 1real |
Saudi Prince Epically Burns Donald Trump: Remember Those Two Times I Bailed You Out Financially? | Donald Trump only has himself to blame for this one.Rather than watch what he says on Twitter, the billionaire Republican presidential candidate retweeted an obviously photoshopped image of Megyn Kelly posing with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns a stake in Fox News, and his sister. @BradCross4: @Drudge_Report_ @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/Ur1qgG291Z Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2016Trump has been acting like a petulant child ever since he learned Fox News would be including Megyn Kelly as a debate moderator once again, even though he didn t like her tough questions in a debate last year that touched off a bitter feud between the two.But Trump apparently never learned to not bite the hand that feeds him, because his tweet came back to bite him on the ass on Thursday prior to his rogue event running at the same time as the GOP Debate he declined to attend.In an epic response to Trump s tweet, Prince Alwaleed fired back with a revealing tweet of his own reminding Trump of those two times back in the 1990s when Trump needed a financial bailout and Alwaleed came to his rescue. Trump:You base your statements on photoshopped pics?I bailed you out twice;a 3rd time,maybe? https://t.co/Raco0mvusp https://t.co/jStBl7Ghia (@Alwaleed_Talal) January 28, 2016According to Buzzfeed, when Trump was $900 million in debt in 1991, it was Prince Alwaleed who purchased The Donald s Trump Princess yacht for $40 million.In 1995, Alwaleed would save Trump s ass again by purchasing New York City s Plaza Hotel from him for a whopping $325 million.In short, Donald Trump is an irresponsible businessman who has incurred massive debts and declared bankruptcy on multiple occasions. His decisions have been so bad that he needed to be bailed out by a Saudi national and you have to wonder how Trump would deal with America s debt. The last thing Americans need is to watch as their president sells the country off piece by piece to solve a debt that was created by Republican fiscal policies in the first place. And frankly, it s not hard to imagine that Trump would at least consider that option.Prince Alwaleed has previously called upon Trump to withdraw from the presidential race, and now he has given us even more reason to demand it as well.Featured Image: YouTube | 1real |
Trump’s FCC Makes Major Move To Put His Propaganda On Every American TV | Sinclair Broadcast Group, the media empire responsible for the vast majority of pro-Trump propaganda you ve seen on television for more than a year, is finally being rewarded by the Grifter-in-Chief. The FCC, now headed by Republican Trump-appointee Ajit Pai, has allowed the $3.9 billion purchase of Tribune Media by Sinclair. Along with the name, Sinclair now owns the 42 television stations Tribune had in its portfolio to add to Sinclair s own, which already numbered over 170 stations.But this isn t any ordinary merger of two large companies.Sinclair actually made a deal with Trump to give him favorable coverage in order for this purchase to be approved. And it was a win-win deal for everyone but consumers. Sinclair got to increase their stranglehold on American media, and in return, Trump gets to see his interests advanced on all of their stations.Sinclair has been forcing the stations it already owned to air must-run segments of commentary by Boris Epshteyn, a Russia-born former Trump official. In July, Sinclair increased the number of Epshteyn commentaries it would require its stations to air from three per week to nine, and added interviews with pro-Trump politicos in Washington. These are centrally-produced conservative editorials that, among other things, call mainstream coverage of events fake news and put out scaremongering terrorism alerts, which managers at Sinclair-owned stations are required to work into their broadcast schedules.Are you picking up what I m throwing down yet? This is straight-up state propaganda television, like you might see in Russia or China.If you don t think it can affect you with a paltry number like 223 total stations, consider this. One such station is my local ABC affiliate, KOMO. At 64 years old, the station is now owned since 2013 by Sinclair. Prior to its sale, KOMO was the last major locally-owned television station in the Seattle area. KOMO absolutely dominates viewership for both morning and mid-day news, and is the local station that carries the Emmy Awards. The complaints of reporters at the station that the must-run segments they were being forced to air looked like real news (and therefore made them look like they were endorsing it) fell on deaf ears.The stations themselves don t want this, and they can t stop it.Trump is creating a network of stations that promote him and his agenda, all while decrying anything Americans are used to as fake news. Who s fake now?Read more:Featured image via William Thomas Cain/Getty Images | 1real |
Japan's Aso says will seek U.S. understanding of TPP's benefits | TOKYO (Reuters) - Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Tuesday that Japan would seek the United States’ understanding of the strategic and economic benefits of joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, after President Donald Trump formally withdrew from the free-trade pact. Aso told reporters after a cabinet meeting that arrangements were being made for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to visit the United States and meet Trump, but that it was undecided who would accompany the premier. Fulfilling a campaign pledge to end American involvement in the 2015 pact, Trump signed an executive order in the Oval Office pulling the United States out of the 12-nation TPP, which includes Japan. | 0fake |
White House says Tillerson still in charge at State Department | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that Rex Tillerson remains the U.S. secretary of state despite reports of his upcoming departure, and that there are no changes at this time. “As the President just said, ‘Rex is here.’ There are no personnel announcements at this time. Secretary Tillerson continues to lead the State Department and the entire cabinet is focused on completing this incredibly successful first year of President Trump’s administration,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders in a statement. | 0fake |
TREY GOWDY Embarrasses Gun-Grabbing Obama Official In Brilliant “Gotcha” Moment [VIDEO] | Why is explaining our Constitution to liberals is like explaining algebra to a two year old? Shouldn t government officials who are being paid by We The Taxpayer have a basic understanding of how our Constitution and the basic rights it affords US citizens?The Left, from the White House on down, has scrambled to make the horrific Islamic terrorist attack on the LBGT community in Orlando, which left 49 innocents dead and injured 53 others, all about gun control and those evil Christians.Honing in on their indictment of the gun, the Left has exploited the tragedy in effort to pass anti-American gun legislation, much like Senator Dianne Feinstein s proposed (and failed) measure to ban those who have been named on the terror watchlist within the last five years from their Second Amendment right to purchase a firearm.No due process necessary; and not to mention, the terror watchlist is a train-wreck: naming journalists, politicians, cub scouts and right wing extremists to their list of suspects. In light of this push, South Carolina representative Trey Gowdy re-upped his complete domination of the issue to his Facebook page. Can you name another constitutional right that is chilled until we find out it is chilled, and then we have to petition the government to get it back? Is there another constitutional right we treat the same way for American citizens as we do the second amendment? wrote Gowdy, captioning the video.WATCH video Gowdy posted on his Facebook page here: What process is currently afforded an American citizen before they go on that list? asked Gowdy.After being told that there isn t one, but, rather, only a process to petition to get off the list after finding out that one has been put on it, Gowdy pushed back. Hard. I m actually talking about due process, which is a phrase we find in the Constitution. he quipped, that you cannot deprive people of certain things without due process. He continued hammering the liberal: Can you name another constitutional right that is chilled until we find out it is chilled, and then we have to petition the government to get it back? he asked. Is that true with the First Amendment? Without a coherent rejoinder to him, Gowdy persisted: If we re fine with doing it with the Second Amendment, how about the First? How about we not let them set up a website or a Goggle account? How about we not let them join a church until they can petition the government to get off the list. How about not getting a lawyer? How about the Sixth Amendment? How about you can t get a lawyer until you petition the government to get off the list? Or my favorite: How about the Eighth Amendment? We are going to subject you to cruel and unusual punishment until you petition the government to get off the list? Is there another constitutional right that we treat the same way, for American citizens, that we do for the Second Amendment? he asked. Via: Daily WireTrey Gowdy asks another brilliant question every one of our gun-grabbing legislators should have to answer: | 1real |
Networks Continue to Ignore Obamacare Collapse | November 2, 2016 Networks Continue to Ignore Obamacare Collapse
Bill Clinton’s startling description of Obamacare earlier this month as a “crazy system” yanked the Big Three broadcast networks out of the blackout of bad news about the health care reform law — but only a little.
According to a new study by the Media Research Center, which tracks left-wing bias in the news, the nightly news broadcasts and ABC, NBC, and CBS combined have devoted just 10 minutes and 21 seconds on the Affordable Care Act since the beginning of the year. Most of it has come since the former president made his controversial comments on Oct. 3.
Email (will not be published) (required) Website Sow a seed to help the Jewish people Follow Endtime Copyright © 2016 All Rights Reserved Endtime Ministries | End of the Age | Irvin Baxter Endtime Ministries, Inc. PO Box 940729 Plano, TX 75094 Toll Free: 1.800.363.8463 DON'T JUST READ THE NEWS... understand it from a biblical perspective. Your Information will never be shared with any third party. Get a 2-year subscription, normally $29, now just $20.15. ONLY 500 deals are still available. Offer available while supplies last or it expires on December 31, 2015. close We are a small non-profit that runs a high-traffic website, a daily TV and radio program, a bi-monthly magazine, the prophecy college in Jerusalem, and more. Although we only have 35 team members, we are able to serve tens of millions of people each month; and have costs like other world-wide organizations. We have very few third-party ads and we don’t receive government funding. We survive on the goodness of God, product sales, and donations from our wonderful partners. Dear Readers, X close We have experienced tremendous growth in our web presence over the last five years. In fact, in 2010 we averaged 228,000 pageviews per month. Last year we averaged just over 2,000,000 pageviews per month. That’s an increase of 777% in five years! However, our servers and software are outdated, which causes downtime on occasion for many of you and additional work hours and finances to maintain for us at Endtime. Updating our servers and software as well as maintaining service for a year will cost us $42,000. If each person reading this gave at least $10, our bill to provide FREE broadcasting and resources to the world via our website would be covered for over a year! Learn more - Click Here ► Dear Readers, | 1real |
Hillary Clinton And Bill Blasio’s Racist ‘Joke’ May Have Just Lost Her The Black Vote (VIDEO) | .New York City s Inner Circle Dinner is typically an event where politicians and journalists rub elbows to raise money for charity by participating in parody skits for the enjoyment of donors. People who go expect to see some famous faces, have some laughs and do some good for their city. What they don t expect is for things to turn racist, which is, sadly, what happened when Mayor Bill Blasio and Hillary Clinton took the stage to perform a skit about Blasio s endorsement of the former Secretary of State taking a little too long for her liking.That s when the unfortunate happened. Like most public appearances by politicians, these things are typically scripted by a speech-writing team. How this one slipped past the goalie without anyone realizing how incredibly derogatory it is is baffling. It s unclear which of the pair s team came up with the joke, but what is clear is that it was NOT funny. Clinton starts by razzing Blasio for taking too long to endorse her, to which Blasio responds, I was on C.P. time. Clinton jumps in and adds that it means cautious politician time. C.P. time is actually a slang term for colored people time, intended to make fun of black people for being late. It s a horrible stereotype by itself, but when you add the insult of colored people, you have a joke that was destined to fail from the get-go.Blasio, whose wife is black and whose children are mixed-race, has been known to make racially charged comments in the past, perhaps believing that his own family demographics give him a pass, but Secretary Clinton, who isn t known as a racist, most certainly should have known better than to take part in that skit. She will certainly struggle to explain it and the apology machine will have to move swiftly to make this right. With the Democratic primaries already devolving into a mudslinging match, the last thing Clinton or the party needs is to fuel the fires of Bernie supporters who already classify her as a Republican.It would be extremely hypocritical for us as Democrats and liberals to overlook the incident completely and attempt to brush it off as merely a joke, considering what we would do and say if it were Ted Cruz or Donald Trump on that stage. This was a massive gaffe that shows that no matter how progressive our leaders are, even they can be insensitive to the racial tensions we face as a nation.Here s the scene, courtesy of the New York Post:Featured image from screen capture | 1real |
Life: Finding Common Ground: This White Man And This Muslim Woman Both Have ‘Trump’ Painted On Their Garages | Email
Get ready for the most heartwarming story you’ll read all day.
If you met Paul Langdon or Ayesha Qamar on the street, you might think they have nothing in common. Paul is a retired firefighter, Ayesha is a law student. Paul has lived in the same suburb of Columbus for his entire life, Ayesha immigrated to Ohio from Pakistan when she was a teen. Paul is a devout Christian, Ayesha is Muslim. But if you dig a little deeper, you’ll find that they share a common bond: Both Paul and Ayesha have ‘Trump’ painted on their garages!
Beautiful! Take a look at the side-by-side pictures above to see just how similar these two really are.
When Donald Trump announced his campaign last summer, Paul knew he wanted to show his support by painting a large sign of the candidate’s name on his garage door. But Paul probably never would have guessed that one year later, just a few towns over from him, Ayesha’s own garage would be painted with literally the exact same word! Paul and Ayesha may be from totally different walks of life, but when it comes to the name currently painted on their garages, these two have more in common than they ever could have imagined.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter whether their skin is white or brown. It doesn’t matter whether they worship God or Allah. And it doesn’t matter whether the word ‘Trump’ has been carefully lettered or hastily scrawled across the garage in brusque spray paint. All that matters is the commonality they share in having the word ‘Trump’ painted on their homes for the entire neighborhood to see.
Amazing! It just goes to show, you should never judge a book by its cover.
At a time when our country feels so divided, stories like this one give us hope for humanity. On the surface, Paul and Ayesha couldn’t be more different, but the messages painted or spray-painted across their garages are one in the same. What an amazing reminder that we’re not so different after all! | 1real |
U.S. TV networks, amid strong ad sales, boost coverage for Trump's convention | (Reuters) - U.S. TV networks, buoyed by strong demand from advertisers, are adding hours of coverage for this week’s Republican National Convention compared to four years ago and planning to use social media to capture any unexpected moments, executives said. Presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump may be new to politics. But the former star of his own reality show “The Apprentice” is a TV veteran who has promised to throw out the traditional convention script and provide a “showbiz” feel. Adding to the programing uncertainty are protests outside the convention hall in Cleveland and the possibility of dissent among delegates. “It’s safe to say that there are going to be surprises,” said Sam Feist, Washington bureau chief for CNN, the cable news network owned by Time Warner Inc (TWX.N). The stakes are high for broadcast and cable networks. Media analysts predict viewership for Trump’s acceptance speech could surpass the record 38 million who watched Barack Obama address the Democratic convention in 2008. The potential for the unexpected at what is usually a meticulously staged event is driving strong advertiser demand, network executives said. CNN is pulling in between $40,000 and $100,000 for 30-second spots, a source familiar with the matter said. That is far above the typical cost of roughly $7,000 for a primetime ad on CNN. “We are 100 percent sold on primetime and about 95 percent sold on other slots,” said Katrina Cukaj, executive vice president of portfolio sales and client partnerships at CNN parent Turner Broadcasting. She declined to comment on rates. Quick service restaurants and movie studios are running more spots than in past conventions, Cukaj said. “The advertisers are a lot more diverse than I have ever seen,” Cukaj said. Broadcaster CBS (CBS.N) has seen strong ad sales for both conventions and has booked ads from the entertainment, packaged goods, travel and other industries, a network source said. In 2012, TV advertisers spent $5.8 million during both conventions, compared to $7.8 million in 2008, according to Kantar Media. Cable networks will provide coverage throughout each day and into the evening. Broadcast networks plan one hour of primetime coverage each of the four nights, plus online reports. In 2012, broadcasters aired an hour of only the last three nights. CNN will have hundreds of staff on the ground, more than any previous convention, Feist said. For the first time, the channel is anchoring every show from Cleveland through noon Friday. The network will face plenty of competition. Fox News Channel, owned by 21st Century Fox (FOXA.O), began its coverage from Cleveland on Thursday, four days before the start, compared to Sunday in years past. It also added staff outside to cover protests. Trump’s acceptance speech could attract more than 40 million viewers, said Kyle Roberts, president and chief executive of Smart Media Group, a media buyer that works with Republican candidates. Some brands will avoid the convention, said Barry Lowenthal, president of The Media Kitchen, a media buyer. “It’s just dangerous territory,” Lowenthal said. “It’s very unpredictable content. I’m not sure that convention is going to enhance any brand’s image. Why go there if you can go elsewhere?” Media outlets say they will rely more heavily this year on social media and live streams. MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff said he expects to broadcast live most of the week. When not on television, he plans to be on Snapchat, Twitter and possibly Facebook Live. “This is going to be a different kind of convention,” Soboroff said. “It doesn’t feel like business as usual because there is a lot of energy around that feels uncertain.” Walt Disney Co’s (DIS.N) ABC News will run up to six live streams simultaneously on its website and apps. Live coverage from CBS will appear on Twitter and the 24-hour CBSN mobile app. CBS is preparing for the possibility that Trump will appear in some role every night, another break from tradition, CBS News President David Rhodes said. | 0fake |
You Probably Have Never Eaten a Real Yam, Here’s Why | by ARIANA MARISOL
If you have ever been to a grocery store, you have probably mistaken sweet potatoes for yams. Surprisingly, many people have actually never had a real yam before. You can blame incorrect labeling for this mix-up.
The confusion stems from the names of yams and potatoes being used interchangeably in the U.S. market and in recipes even though sweet potatoes and yams are two distinctly different vegetables.
The Yam that is Not a Yam It is important to recognize that sweet potatoes are not yams and yams are not sweet potatoes. Although the two are tuberous root vegetables that come from a flowering plant, they are not related and do not have a lot in common.
A Sweet Potato Sweet potatoes comes from the morning glory family and have many varieties. They are normally elongated with tapered ends and their skin ranges from white and yellow, to purple and brown. The flesh of sweet potatoes ranges from white, yellow, orange, and even orange-red.
One (200 grams) baked sweet potato is 180 calories and contains 214% vitamin A, 52% vitamin C, 50% manganese, 36% copper, 34% vitamin B6, 29% biotin, 27% potassium, and 26% fiber.
The two major types of sweet potatoes grown in the U.S. are:
Soft sweet potatoes: copper skin and orange flesh
Firm sweet potatoes: golden skin and pale flesh
These two types of sweet potatoes are cooked differently. Firm sweet potatoes remain hard and slightly waxy after being cooked, while its softer variety becomes creamy and soft when cooked.
A Real Yam Native to Africa and Asia, yams are related to lilies, and range in size from as small as potatoes to as big as 5 feet long. Yams are cylindrical shaped with blackish or brown, bark-like skin and white, purple, or reddish flesh.
Yams have a dry, starchy consistency and are hard to find in the United States because they are mostly imported from Africa. Many local grocery stores do not carry true yams and your best chance of finding them would be at specialty markets.
A 1-cup serving of yam provides 20% of your daily needs of potassium and copper. Potassium helps produce healthy muscles and energy. Copper helps with the synthesis of collagen, hemoglobin, and melanin.
What is Labeled as a Yam in Grocery Stores? If real yams are hard to find, why do many grocery stores say that they sell “yams”? Normally, these “yams” are actually sweet potatoes. By knowing this, you will be able to shop smarter and actually find what you are looking for.
As mentioned above, there are two different types of sweet potatoes found in normal U.S. grocery stores — “soft” sweet potatoes, and “firm” sweet potatoes. The firm variety of the two was introduced to the United States first. When the softer version began to show itself in markets, there was a need to differentiate the two. These softer sweet potatoes slightly resemble yams so they were labeled as such.
Yam — Soft sweet potato with copper skin and orange flesh.
Sweet potato — Firm sweet potato with golden skin and light flesh.
If you want to cook a classic baked sweet potato with crispy skin and fluffy orange flesh, what you should buy will most likely be labeled as a yam. Remember what kind of sweet potato you want when going to the store and be aware of the yam/sweet potato labeling concept. Remember to keep an eye out for different coloration to better identify what you want.
Ariana Marisol is a contributing staff writer for REALfarmacy.com. She is an avid nature enthusiast, gardener, photographer, writer, hiker, dreamer, and lover of all things sustainable, wild, and free. Ariana strives to bring people closer to their true source, Mother Nature. She is currently finishing her last year at The Evergreen State College getting her undergraduate degree in Sustainable Design and Environmental Science. Follow her adventures on Instagram.
Photo Credits: | 1real |
This is what happens when you don’t have the Queen, Canada tells America | Wednesday 9 November 2016 by Davywavy This is what happens when you don’t have the Queen, Canada tells America
Canada has given a sad shake of its head and observed that this is what happens when you don’t have the Queen today.
Browsing the news over its breakfast of bacon, bacon and bacon, Canada met news from The USA with a mixture of incomprehension and pity.
Meanwhile, office conversations around baconcoolers across the country have been held in hushed, horrified tones about the fate which has befallen their neighbour to the south.
“I just called into Tim Hortons for a cup of bacon decaf and a bacon donut when I heard the news from America,” said Canadian Simoon Williams.
“Those poor, poor people. If only they’d kept the Queen as head of state, they’d have avoided all of this.
“Just think; if the American colonists hadn’t been armed in 1776, they’d all be speaking English now.” Get the best NewsThump stories in your mailbox every Friday, for FREE! There are currently | 1real |
Houses of Worship Poised to Serve as Trump-Era Immigrant Sanctuaries - The New York Times | PHILADELPHIA — Tucked one floor below the majestic Gothic sanctuary of Arch Street United Methodist Church, Javier Flores Garcia sleeps on a cot in a basement classroom that church members have outfitted with a microwave, a compact refrigerator and a television. Mr. Flores, an arborist, longs for the open air, but does not dare set foot outside. He was supposed to report to the immigration authorities last month to be deported to his homeland, Mexico, but one day before his report date, he took refuge in the church. His family is why he is fighting to remain, and when they visited him in the church recently, his son, Javier Jr. parked on his lap. The boy often refuses to leave his father’s side, and has ended up staying for days with him in the church. On Christmas Day, Mr. Flores had been there six weeks. This downtown church is one of 450 houses of worship in the United States that have offered to provide sanctuary or other assistance to undocumented immigrants, according to leaders of the Sanctuary Movement. (Few congregations have the space and fortitude to risk harboring immigrants indefinitely, so others are lining up to contribute money, legal aid, food, child care or transportation.) The congregations joining this network have more than doubled since the election of Donald J. Trump — a rapid rebuttal to Mr. Trump’s postelection promise to deport two million to three million unauthorized immigrants who he said have been convicted of crimes. Protecting immigrants is shaping up to be a priority of the religious left, an amorphous collection of people and groups reflecting many faiths and ethnicities. It has been jolted into action by Mr. Trump’s victory and his selection of an attorney general nominee who supports a crackdown on immigrants. “Jesus said we are to provide hospitality to the stranger,” said the Rev. Robin Hynicka, Arch Street’s pastor, citing Matthew 25, in which Jesus instructs his followers to feed, house and clothe “the least of these,” the poor and vulnerable. “That’s exactly what we were asked by Javier, to provide sanctuary. And of course, we said yes,” he added. Mr. Hynicka spoke in his chilly upstairs office at the church, which has 375 members. The heat worked better in the basement fellowship hall, where up to 30 homeless people take shelter on winter nights. This church is accustomed to mobilizing for social causes, from gay marriage to fights against casino gambling and for an increase in the minimum wage. Five years ago, the church joined the New Sanctuary Movement of Philadelphia, but Mr. Flores is the first person the church has taken in. On this night, his children excitedly brought Mr. Flores stray pieces of candy that volunteers were stuffing into piñatas for a party later. Mr. Flores and his longtime partner, Alma Lopez, have two children: Javier Jr. and Yael, age 2. He has also been a father to Ms. Lopez’s daughter, Adamaris, age 12, since she was abandoned as an infant by her birth father. All were born in the United States. The family’s home is two bus rides away from the church. Ms. Lopez, sucking on a lollipop, said having the family return to Mexico is not a solution: “We want a better future for our children. The situation in Mexico is very bad. There’s no work, no good school. Here, we have a future. ” The federal immigration authorities say Mr. Flores has a long history of violations: He was apprehended nine times between 1997 and 2002 trying to cross the border. He and was ordered removed by a judge in 2007. He twice in 2014 and served prison sentences for illegal a criminal felony conviction. Last year his children saw him taken away by the authorities, and it took a toll. While Mr. Flores was in detention this year, Adamaris attempted suicide in April, drinking a bottle of rubbing alcohol. She was hospitalized for nine days. Immigration officials released Mr. Flores for 90 days to prepare his family for deportation. Sanctuary was his last hope. “My only crime is coming back,” said Mr. Flores, who wears a ankle bracelet. The sanctuary movement in the United States is not new. American churches offered sanctuary to soldiers who refused to serve in the Vietnam War. And in the 1980s, congregations opened their doors to Central Americans fleeing wars in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The movement was revived in 2006 and grew during President Obama’s two terms, said the Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, a pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. At least 2. 5 million people were deported during Mr. Obama’s time in office, earning him the nickname “deporter in chief. ” One big change from the 1980s, Pastor Salvatierra said, is that now, thousands of Latino churches and their clergies are also involved in protecting immigrants — frequently their own members and often quietly. In the ’80s, mostly white, Protestant churches led the way. “We’re in a different universe now. We don’t need the white people to rescue us, thank you very much. We need to be in partnership,” she said in an interview, before heading off to train sanctuary workers at a multiethnic church in downtown Los Angeles. She expected 25 people, but 150 signed up. But some see sanctuary as misguided, or naïve. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which supports tighter controls on immigration, said she understood that churches had sympathy for people facing deportation. “But I find myself wishing that they had as much sympathy for other parishioners they have who are adversely affected by illegal immigration” because of jobs, higher taxes or crime. Churches, schools and hospitals are considered “sensitive locations,” according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Immigration officers are supposed to avoid those locations, unless they have advance approval from a supervisor or face “exigent circumstances” that require immediate action, said Jennifer Elzea, an agency spokeswoman. Religious leaders are preparing for the possibility that this could change under President Trump. Auburn Seminary in New York City, which trains religious leaders on the left, convened a postelection “Long Game Faith Summit” this month, and invited the Rev. Alison Harrington from Tucson to give workshops on sanctuary. “We can’t assume that churches and houses of worship will remain safe locations,” said Ms. Harrington, senior pastor at Southside Presbyterian Church, long a hub for sanctuary work. Sanctuary workers in the ’80s organized a sort of “underground railroad” to move immigrants from dangerous regions to safer ones, and that may have to be reactivated, she told her workshop. In considering whether to offer sanctuary, congregations look for immigrants with viable cases and sympathetic stories. Mr. Flores was the victim of a knife attack outside Philadelphia in 2004 and gave the police testimony that resulted in the attackers’ arrests. He has applied for a U Visa, given to crime victims, said his lawyer. In Denver this month, the Mountain View Friends Meeting, a Quaker church, took in a woman from Peru who worked for years in a nursing home using fake papers, pleaded to a felony, paid $12, 000 in back taxes and served four years on probation, said Jennifer Piper, interfaith organizer with the American Friends Service Committee and coordinator for the Metro Denver Sanctuary Coalition. The Peruvian woman has two children, ages 8 and 1, who are both American citizens. There are about 11 people in sanctuary in churches in New York now, said the Rev. Donna Schaper, senior minister of Judson Memorial Church, which is sheltering one of them. These immigrants did not commit violent crimes, she said, and many, like the woman in Denver, paid their penalties and now face double jeopardy. Ms. Schaper said that these are hardly the Mexican “rapists” whom Mr. Trump has said he will deport. “We are talking mostly about crime. Faking credit cards. Faking IDs. Many of these people are quite middle class and well educated,” she said, and they are not only Latinos, but also Chinese, Russians, Pakistanis and many others. For some churches, the immigrants at risk are their own parishioners. Robert W. McElroy, Roman Catholic bishop of San Diego, recently told a Catholic immigration conference, “It is unthinkable that we will stand by while more than 10 percent of our flock is ripped from our midst and deported. ” The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles recently declared itself a “sanctuary diocese” and called for “holy resistance” to Mr. Trump’s immigration plans. The Conference of the United Methodist Church also proclaimed support for sanctuary efforts. And when its rabbis convene in February, the Jewish group T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights will offer training on how to turn synagogues into sanctuary congregations. Before the piñata party at the Arch Street church, there was a ritual called Las Posadas, a of the search for shelter by Mary and Joseph. Visitors collected outside the sanctuary doors and sang verses pleading to be let in. Church members responded from inside. Mr. Flores and his family were inside, of course. “What better work for the church to do,” said the minister, Mr. Hynicka, his arm around them, “than to provide what we know God gives us, our heartfelt commitment to family, whether that family comes from Mexico, or from Philadelphia, or wherever. ’’ | 0fake |
EPIC NEWS CONFERENCE About Milwaukee Riots DEMOCRATS Won’t Want You To See: “Stop Trying To Fix The Police…Fix The Ghettos” | Bravo Sheriff Clarke! Registered Democrat Sheriff David Clarke is the only person in a position of authority in law enforcement who is brave enough to call the Black Lives Matter movement what it truly is. He is also one of the only black leaders in America who is willing to say why we are seeing a race war and war against cops in America today. He is truly a breath of fresh air and deserves to be applauded for his courage and dedication to truth. The idea that he s a Democrat is enough to make liberal heads explode!Watch his epic news conference here: | 1real |
Kerry: video cut 'clumsy and stupid and inappropriate' | PARIS/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It was stupid, clumsy and inappropriate for someone to edit the video of a State Department briefing in 2013, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday as two U.S. lawmakers demanded information about the incident. A Republican congressman asked the State Department inspector general to investigate why part of a public briefing that dealt with Iran nuclear talks was cut before it was posted online while another demanded documents about the incident. The excised portion of the Dec. 2, 2013, briefing included a question about whether an earlier spokeswoman for the department had misled reporters about whether the United States was holding secret direct nuclear talks with Iran. The spokeswoman had denied there were such talks, which were later made public. The State Department this week said she did not know about the secret talks when she denied their existence. Speaking to reporters in Paris, Kerry sounded chagrined about the episode, which has drawn Republican criticism. “Whatever happened was both clumsy and stupid and inappropriate,” Kerry said. Asked if he wanted people who tampered with the historical record working for him, he replied: “Of course not. I just said, it’s inappropriate.” The State Department initially said it believed a “glitch” caused the gap but on Wednesday said an internal inquiry found it was a deliberate omission. However, it said no rules were broken because none existed governing the integrity of the briefing video. Rules are now being put in place. U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the technician who excised part of the video told investigators she got a call asking her to do so, discussed the request with her supervisor and concluded it came from a “level of credibility and authority” high enough that they should act on the request. The State Department has said the technician does not remember who called her. On Friday the department said it cannot use internal phone records to trace who requested the cut to the briefing video because it keeps such data for only 24 hours. Top officials in the Bureau of Public Affairs in late 2013, including former Assistant Secretary Doug Frantz, former spokeswoman Jen Psaki, former deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf, and deputy assistant secretaries Dana Smith, Valerie Fowler and Moira Whelan have all denied asking for the video to be excised. “In tampering with this video, the Bureau of Public Affairs has undermined its mission to ‘communicate timely and accurate information with the goal of furthering U.S. foreign policy’,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said in a letter released by his office that asked the department’s inspector general, Steve Linick, to investigate the matter. Separately, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, also a Republican, on Tuesday wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry asking for documents related to the edited video to be turned over to his panel by Wednesday. | 0fake |
Sean Spicer Raises Outcry With Talk of Hitler, Assad and Poison Gas - The New York Times | WASHINGTON — The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, set off an intense backlash on Tuesday when he suggested that President Bashar of Syria was guilty of acts worse than Hitler and asserted that Hitler had not used chemical weapons, ignoring the use of gas chambers at concentration camps during the Holocaust. Mr. Spicer later apologized. During his daily briefing for reporters, Mr. Spicer was defending President Trump’s decision to order a missile strike on Syria by trying to lend gravity to the actions of Mr. Assad. American officials accuse the Syrian president of using sarin gas, a lethal chemical weapon, in an attack on a area of Idlib Province last week that killed dozens, many of them children. But in misconstruing the facts of the Holocaust — Nazi Germany’s brutally efficient, carefully orchestrated extermination of six million Jews and others — Mr. Spicer instead drew a torrent of criticism and added to the perception that the Trump White House lacks sensitivity and has a tenuous grasp of history. “We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War II,” Mr. Spicer said. “You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons. ” He continued, “So you have to, if you are Russia, ask yourself: Is this a country and a regime that you want to align yourself with?” The White House charged Tuesday that Russia had sought to cover up the Syrian government’s role in the chemical attack. Asked to clarify his remarks, Mr. Spicer then acknowledged that Hitler had used chemical agents, but maintained that there was a difference. “I think when you come to sarin gas, he was not using the gas on his own people the same way that Assad is doing,” Mr. Spicer said, incorrectly, before mentioning “Holocaust centers,” an apparent reference to Nazi death camps. 160, 000 to 180, 000 Jews killed by the Nazis were from Germany, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Mr. Spicer’s explanation drew gasps from reporters in the briefing room. The remarks almost immediately elicited outrage on social media and correctives from scholars of the Holocaust. “Historically, it’s just wrong,” said Deborah Lipstadt, a leading historian of the Holocaust and a professor at Emory University in Atlanta. Mr. Spicer “should not be making comparisons,” Dr. Lipstadt said. “It’s, at the best, not thought out, and at the worst, shows a latent . ” Shortly after his briefing, Mr. Spicer again tried to clarify his comments, saying in a statement that he was not “trying to lessen the horrendous nature of the Holocaust. ” “I was trying to draw a distinction of the tactic of using airplanes to drop chemical weapons on population centers,” he said. “Any attack on innocent people is reprehensible and inexcusable. ” But the clarification did not quiet calls from some corners, including from Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, for Mr. Trump to fire Mr. Spicer. By Tuesday evening, Mr. Spicer was on CNN, offering a contrite apology. “I was trying to draw a comparison for which there shouldn’t have been one,” he said. The Trump administration has a history of missteps on the Holocaust. Days after Mr. Trump took office, a White House statement marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day was sharply criticized for failing to directly mention Jews or . Nor was Tuesday the only time Mr. Spicer has shown a hazy understanding of world events or appeared not to understand the implications of his words. On Monday, he said that the president would retaliate against Syria not only if it used chemical weapons, but also barrel bombs. “If you gas a baby, if you put a barrel bomb into innocent people, I think you will see a response from this president,” Mr. Spicer said. Barrel bombs are the Assad government’s preferred tool of mass killing Syrian forces dropped more than 12, 000 of them in 2016, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights. Mr. Spicer’s comments, if taken literally, would signal a much broader American intervention in Syria’s civil war. Mr. Spicer also said twice on Tuesday that Iran was a “failed state,” lumping it in with North Korea and Syria. Iran, though an adversary of the United States with a history of repression, is a robust, functioning state. | 0fake |
The xx Lets the Sunshine In - The New York Times | MARFA, Tex. — On a night, a few dozen people clustered near one end of the Lost Horse Saloon here: a small video crew, some Texas locals and tourists including visitors from New York City like me. Deer heads and skulls gazed down from the walls a sign announced “Open Mic Night. ” Seated in the tiny stage area were the two singers and lyricists of the xx — Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim — while Jamie Smith (a. k. a. Jamie xx) the band’s programmer, keyboardist and main producer, looked on from nearby. It was the first performance by the xx since 2014, and a Texas saloon made an unlikely comeback locale for a British band whose melancholy songs tend to conjure dark, lonely London flats or very late nights in club chill rooms. With downcast glances, as Ms. Madley Croft plucked an acoustic guitar, the duo sang the love song “Islands,” from the band’s 2009 debut album, and the clingy breakup song “On Hold,” the first single from its third album, “I See You,” due on Jan. 13. A stealthy, way return made sense for a band that grew out of whispery songs recorded at home but has gathered a worldwide following. From the beginning, the xx bridged the ethic of the electronic underpinnings of dance music and an intuitive sense of pop songwriting that’s succinct, emotionally open and general enough to feel universal. It has turned out to be a durable, expandable, widely admired hybrid: dark and arty yet grounded in the pop basics, eager to communicate. The xx has already sold out a week of British theater dates in March, is booked as a headliner at Lollapalooza festivals in Brazil, Chile and Argentina and was welcomed as a guest on “Saturday Night Live” almost immediately after “On Hold” was released in November. It was precisely the fragility and reticence of the xx, on the debut album they made as teenagers, that brought the band a rapidly expanding following — one that grew further with its more polished but still skeletal second album in 2012, “Coexist. ” Mr. Sim and Ms. Madley Croft, playing parts on bass and guitar backed by keyboard notes and samples from Mr. Smith, sang in smoky murmurs, like hushed dialogues or shared secrets: songs of isolation, longing and intimate tension. In the years between albums, the band’s signature sound — a moody voice in over just a few instruments, with the barest hint of a dance beat — made its way into big pop hits like Hailee Steinfeld’s “Love Myself” and the Chainsmokers’ “Don’t Let Me Down” (though the xx’s habitual restraint doesn’t extend to the choruses). Even in its absence, the xx had an impact. Yet it’s impossible for the xx to return to teenage naïveté. And sticking too closely to its established ways would have made it feel like a “parody band of ourselves,” Mr. Sim said. “What makes us sound like us has been a combination of mistakes and just our personalities and what’s part of us. That definitely was the case on the first one. So trying to hang onto that consciously just doesn’t work. ” The challenge for the new album was how a band with growing clout, influence and experience could still conjure private emotions. “The band came from such an unambitious place,” Mr. Sim said. “But it’s slowly become something where we do have a lot of drive — we do have a lot of ambition now. ” The band’s solution was both clear and complicated: Work on the sounds, unblock the feelings and abandon rules. “I See You” inevitably scales up the sound of the xx, openly courting a wider audience, but its songs still ring true. The video the band shot for “On Hold” in Marfa, where it did some of the first recording sessions for the new album at a cozy local studio, captured it in a new mode: clowning under the Texas sun, with band members riding shopping carts and skateboards, and Mr. Smith D. J. ing a house party for high schoolers. But the core of the xx — an endearing insecurity — hasn’t disappeared. Over a breakfast of huevos rancheros the morning after the show, the band admitted to renewed stage fright. “Last night — that felt scarier than Radio City,” Mr. Sim said. Together, the band members came across as thoughtful, courteous and unified. Ms. Madley Croft was relatively voluble, and Mr. Smith almost entirely Mr. Sim genially, patiently measured his words. They never interrupted one another. Ms. Madley Croft compared the saloon performance to the awkward club shows at the 2009 CMJ Music Marathon in New York that brought the xx its first buzz in the United States. Back then, they stood stiffly by their instruments in near darkness, barely acknowledging the audience. When the band started, the xx imposed its own strictures. To stay personal, Ms. Madley Croft and Mr. Sim would each sing only lyrics they had written themselves. They also avoided, as they still do, specifics like place names or gendered pronouns — using you and I, not he and she — “so you can fit it into your own life and imagine yourself within it,” Ms. Madley Croft said. And even on a recording, an xx song could only have the parts that could be played onstage. “We never set out to be a minimal band,” she said. “We just couldn’t play our instruments very well. ” But with “I See You,” the xx upended its old methods. They recorded outside the familiarity of London (though they eventually returned there) in Marfa, Los Angeles and Reykjavik, Iceland — places with sunshine and landscapes. And they fanned out for projects on their own. Mr. Sim appeared in fashion videos for Dior Homme. Mr. Smith stepped up his sideline as a D. J. remixer and producer, touring widely and releasing an album of his own in 2015, “In Colour,” that included the other xx members among many guest vocalists. He bought his first real synthesizer — a Oberheim that supplies many of the swooping sounds in “On Hold” — after using for so long cheap keyboards, samplers and software sounds. Making music outside the xx also put Mr. Smith in serious recording studios for the first time in a career of laptop recordings. “It made me realize that I love working in and I love working with my best friends — that is how I make the best music,” he said. “But also that I need to put myself out there to occasionally just me and to realize how lucky I am. ” In Los Angeles, where as an Englishwoman Ms. Madley Croft had the guilty pleasure of “sunny skies in November,” she got invited to songwriting camps: brief, intense, collaborations organized to generate hits. She was eager to learn the methods of pop pros. “I just was craving it. I knew it was going to be terrifying and quite outside of what I’ve done before, and I really enjoyed it,” she said. At one session, with the producers Ryan Tedder and Benny Blanco, she recorded a guitar part that came to define a song by OneRepublic, “Fingertips. ” A collaboration with the producer Rick Nowels led back to Jamie xx it yielded a song, “Ecstasy,” that ended up providing a verse for “Loud Places,” a track she sings on “In Colour. ” In an email, Mr. Nowels wrote: “Romy is a wonderful, natural singer and songwriter. She’s a strong intuitive musician which informs her songwriting. Her voice has a quiet intelligence. She writes lyrics from a personal and soulful place. She’s one of the few guitarists these days who has an instantly recognizable style — that’s almost impossible to achieve. She played through my little amp with some reverb, and there was that sound!” The camps, Ms. Madley Croft said, “taught me to trust my instincts. Everybody moves so quickly, works so quickly, that it’s kind of like oiling up your joints. But I was not quite pouring out my soul in that music. So I was really happy to come back with the boys and just get really cathartic again. ” But they were working differently this time. Mr. Sim and Ms. Madley Croft sometimes worked together, trading melodies and bits of lyrics, as in the songwriting camps, and no longer worrying who wrote what. Mr. Smith channeled some of his D. J. expertise into the new songs — although, he said, “It still sounds like there’s space compared to what you hear on the radio these days. ” And instead of staying cloistered, the band took some of its new songs on the road in 2014, playing small gigs around the South. The band’s early reticence was no pose. Mr. Sim and Ms. Madley Cross, both 27, met at the musically oriented Elliott School in the London suburb of Putney and wrote songs, at first, just for themselves. “We didn’t think anybody was going to hear them,” she said. “They were like a diary for us. But then people connected with that. ” They were so uncertain about their lyrics and singing, she added, that even while they were making their first album they exchanged lyrics by email, not in person. By then the xx also included two fellow students: Mr. Smith, 28, and the guitarist Baria Qureshi, who left after the xx’s first album. The band’s limitations gave the xx a distinct sound, full of spaces and silences that drew listeners in. The xx’s quiet desolation had precedents in British pop, like Everything But the Girl and Young Marble Giants, but the xx also had its own dynamic there was drama in each pause. It was possible to hear the songs as a couple’s questions, confessions, quarrels and reconciliations, but the two singers were not romantically involved both are gay. “I’ve always been really up for being quite raw and emotional in music,” Ms. Madley Croft said. “I guess that was my outlet before I could have the confidence to be like that in life. ” The band’s growing audience, particularly after its debut won the Mercury Prize as the best album of 2009, made them only more . When making “Coexist,” Mr. Sim recalled, “There was a lot of thinking of: ‘What do people like about us? What have people picked up on? What makes us us?’ We really tried to cling to that, and it was quite limiting. Our was: ‘We’re going to shut ourselves away. We’re not going to play anything to anybody.’ And it was really insular, and it was tough. ” The culmination of their 2014 tour was a series of performances at the Manchester Festival in England and then at the Park Avenue Armory in New York. The shows, two or three each day for just 45 people at a time, were as much about architectural proportion as about music. The staging started out closely confined, with stylized movements for the band eventually, walls fell away to expose a huge open space. The xx could have been summing up its career trajectory, from tiny rooms to cavernous ones. The songs on “I See You” no longer insist on the austere minimalism of the band’s first two albums. The sonic palette has vastly expanded there are a few solid dance beats, some plush echoes of the Beach Boys, some resonant and ghostly synthesizer tones, even a sample of Hall Oates in “On Hold. ” The frailty and tension of the xx’s past catalog remain “Here come my insecurities,” Ms. Madley Croft sings in “Say Something Loving,” which is far from the album’s only song to mention fear. But there are also new glimmers of confidence. At times, Mr. Sim said, the new album is “celebratory — it’s not all ‘Woe is me. ’” He paused — it is, after all, an xx album — and added, dryly, “Of course, given what we’ve done before, my version of celebratory is pretty different from somebody else’s. ” The album opens with “Dangerous,” which revels, tentatively but firmly, in taking a chance on a relationship it has a brisk, danceable beat, though a warning siren wails in the background. But there are also songs like “Performance,” a tearful ballad about putting a brave face on heartbreak, and “A Violent Noise,” an introvert’s nightmare of clubbing. The album concludes with “Test Me,” an eerie, drumless ballad about a relationship at a breaking point Ms. Madley Croft admitted that she wrote it about the friendships in the band. Over all, no one is likely to mistake “I See You” for a party album. After the new songs, the trio radically reconsidered them, rewriting and sometimes dismantling them almost completely. “We were definitely in the that we would just try everything, and we did,” Mr. Smith said. “And we made some terrible music in the process. I’ve got a hard drive full of stuff that’s never going to get heard. A lot of it was learning to realize that the first thing that you’ve done is by far the best, but having to take every possible route before you get back to that. ” Before leaving Marfa, the xx took me on a bicycle tour of the local landmarks, from the town center out to the Chinati Foundation, Donald Judd’s monument of minimalism. It was 80 degrees and cloudless under the desert sun. And it was easy to identify the pensive English rock band. They were, as usual, dressed entirely in black. | 0fake |
New Texas GOP Chair’s Twitter Feed Is Most INSANE Thing You Will Read All Year | There are a lot of crazy Republicans out there. Trump supporters, Alex Jones disciples, hell Alex Jones himself. But then there is the one who might be the pinnacle of clinically insane Republicans and that is Robert Morrow.Morrow is the brand new chair of the Republican Party in Travis County, Texas, where the state capitol of Austin is located. Sounds like an important guy. Right?You might think that he is some party insider with a track record of qualifications for such an important position in what is such a traditionally Republican state. That thought would be instantly destroyed once you read this guy s Twitter account.It s hard to explain how this individual won the election, with the stuff he says online. It isn t a troll account. It isn t some work of performance art or an impersonator that hacked his Twitter. It s REALLY him and it is, for Republicans, an embarrassment to say the least.Remember this is an elected Republican chairman of one of the most important counties in the largest Republican state in the country.The following tweets are not exactly safe for work. Much of the Bush family should be in Jail. Rick Perry is (was) a rampaging bisexual adulterer. https://t.co/Bn5y4puIJR Robert Morrow (@RobMorroLiberty) March 2, 2016GHW Bush, CIA drug smuggler 1980's. Homosexual pedophile involved with Franklin pedophile ring. October Surprise. https://t.co/k01SQjqLs2 Robert Morrow (@RobMorroLiberty) March 2, 2016So do all your sexual fantasies about Hillary Clinton involve "snuff films?" Probably not good for most of you Bill to answer that question Robert Morrow (@RobMorroLiberty) February 28, 2016The simply astronomical amount of fully insane conspiracy theories, vulgar references, homophobic, misogynistic, bigoted, racist and otherwise generally offensive things on his twitter are impossible to describe with mere words. If you are particularly brave and have some free time, you can entertain yourself by reading it HERE.Morrow goes on to say Hillary Clinton is a bull dyke, that she has had more female partners than Bill (an obvious dig at Bill s alleged history of affairs), and that Chelsea Clinton is actually some other man s daughter. Morrow is an equal opportunity offender, though, and accuses Marco Rubio of attending gay foam parties, and said he needs to be in gay underwear advertisements. In fact, he compared the entire Republican National Committee to a gay foam party. The RNC is a gay foam party https://t.co/xEhcnObTa0 Robert Morrow (@RobMorroLiberty) February 27, 2016Pretty sure George W. Bush can suck a dick better than Hillary Clinton https://t.co/sZFJdcujd2 Robert Morrow (@RobMorroLiberty) March 2, 2016For a totally heterosexual Republican, this guy thinks about gay stuff more than actual gay people. Morrow also had a now deleted Facebook page, where he posted many grossly offensive things about Hillary Clinton. Just one example is below:Hillary Clinton masturbation fantasy update. 3 HOURS 27 MINUTES 15 SECONDS. What is wrong with me? I am I getting old? Losing the passion? No matter how much I sniff Hillary s panties which I bought off of Ebay, I can NEVER seen to be able to last more than 4 hours choking the chicken while thinking about her. [Facebook, 11/13/13]Source: Media MattersI am not going to be adding more of the Facebook posts because the one above is probably the tamest out of all of them. If you really want to see more you can follow the link to Media Matters above. Remember, I warned you about them.Surprisingly, other Texas Republicans seem to be suddenly shocked by this and are now vowing to force Morrow out of office.Morrow s Vice Chairman, Matt Mackowiak, had this to say: We will explore every single option that exists, whether it be persuading him to resign, trying to force him to resign, constraining his power, removing his ability to spend money or resisting any attempt for him to access data or our social media account, Mackowiak told the Tribune. I m treating this as a coup and as a hostile takeover. Source: LatestMorrow s response to the Texas Tribune regarding the threat was tell them they can go f-ck themselves. Mackowiak commented further on the situation: We have someone who ran here who absolutely has no intention of serving the Republican Party with leadership and faithfulness, Mackowiak said. His social media account is something that no child should see. He is a total disaster. Source: Texas Star TribuneAll I have to say is this: Republicans asked for it. Ever since 2008 when Obama won his first election, the entire Republican party on every level from local to federal has embraced the worst of the worst of the worst of their ultra right-wing fringe lunatics. It guaranteed them an easily motivated and manipulated voting base. However, now they have to deal with the mess they ve wrought and in many cases, they are simply powerless to do so.Mackowiak has said he and other county legislators are even considering forming a Republican splinter cell in Travis County, to form a new organization to usurp the existing one if they have no options to force Morrow out of office.Morrow will assume his post in June. If you re a liberal in Travis County, tell a Republican friend Told ya so! Featured image via Youtube | 1real |
Will Barack Obama delay or suspend the election if Hillary is forced out by the new FBI email investigation? | VIDEOS Will Barack Obama delay or suspend the election if Hillary is forced out by the new FBI email investigation? An A.I. system that correctly predicted the last three U.S. presidential elections puts Republican nominee Donald Trump ahead of #Hillary By Michael Snyder - November 3, 2016
Just when it looked like Hillary Clinton was poised to win the 2016 election , the FBI has thrown a gamechanger into the mix. On Friday, FBI Director James Comey announced that his agency has discovered new emails related to Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified information that they had not previously seen. According to the Associated Press , the newly discovered emails “did not come from her private server”, but instead were found when the FBI started going through electronic devices that belonged to top Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her husband Anthony Weiner. The FBI has been looking into messages of a sexual nature that Weiner had exchanged with a 15-year-old girl in North Carolina, and that is why they originally seized those electronic devices. According to the Washington Post , the “emails were found on a computer used jointly by both Weiner and his wife, top Clinton aide Huma Abedin, according to a person with knowledge of the inquiry”, and according to some reports there may be “potentially thousands” of emails on the computer that the FBI did not have access to previously. Even though there are less than two weeks to go until election day, this scandal has the potential to possibly force Clinton out of the race, and if that happens could Barack Obama delay or suspend the election until a replacement candidate can be found?
Let’s take this one step at a time. On Friday, financial markets tanked when reports of these new Clinton emails hit the wires. The following comes from CNN … After recommending earlier this year that the Department of Justice not press charges against the former secretary of state, Comey said in a letter to eight congressional committee chairmen that investigators are examining newly discovered emails that “appear to be pertinent” to the email probe. “In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear pertinent to the investigation,” Comey wrote the chairmen. “I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation.”
At this point, we do not know what is contained in these emails. But without a doubt Huma Abedin is Hillary Clinton’s closest confidant, and I have always felt that she was Clinton’s Achilles heel. Journalist Carl Bernstein (of Watergate fame) is fully convinced that the FBI would have never made this move unless something significant had already been discovered … We don’t know what this means yet except that it’s a real bombshell. And it is unthinkable that the Director of the FBI would take this action lightly, that he would put this letter forth to the Congress of the United States saying there is more information out there about classified e-mails and call it to the attention of congress unless it was something requiring serious investigation. So that’s where we are… Is it a certainty that we won’t learn before the election? I’m not sure it’s a certainty we won’t learn before the election. One thing is, it’s possible that Hillary Clinton might want to on her own initiative talk to the FBI and find out what she can, and if she chooses to let the American people know what she thinks or knows is going on. People need to hear from her…
If the FBI has indeed found something explosive, would they actually charge her with a crime right before the election?
It is possible, but we also have to remember that government agencies (including the FBI) tend to move very, very slowly. If there are thousands of emails, it is going to take quite a while to sift through them all. And of course Barack Obama has lots of ways that he could influence, delay or even shut down the investigation.
So those that are counting on this to be the miracle that Donald Trump needs should not count their chickens before they hatch.
But if Hillary Clinton were to be forced out of the race by this FBI investigation, the Democrats would have to decide on a new candidate, and that would take time. The following is from a U.S. News & World Report article that examined what would happen if one of the candidates was forced out of the race for some reason… If Clinton were to fall off the ticket, Democratic National Committee members would gather to vote on a replacement. DNC members acted as superdelegates during this year’s primary and overwhelmingly backed Clinton over boat-rocking socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. DNC spokesman Mark Paustenbach says there currently are 445 committee members – a number that changes over time and is guided by the group’s bylaws, which give membership to specific officeholders and party leaders and hold 200 spots for selection by states, along with an optional 75 slots DNC members can choose to fill. But the party rules for replacing a presidential nominee merely specify that a majority of members must be present at a special meeting called by the committee chairman. The meeting would follow procedures set by the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee and proxy voting would not be allowed.
It would be extremely challenging to get a majority of the members of the Democratic National Committee together on such short notice. If Clinton were to drop out next week, it would be almost impossible for this to happen before election day.
In such a scenario, Barack Obama may attempt to invoke his emergency powers . Since the election would not be “fair” until the Democrats have a new candidate, he could try to delay or suspend the election. There would be a lot of controversy as to whether this is legal or not, but Barack Obama has not let the U.S. Constitution stop him in the past.
Meanwhile, new poll numbers show that the Trump campaign was already gaining momentum even before this story about the new emails broke. According to a brand new ABC News/Washington Post survey, Donald Trump is now only trailing Hillary Clinton by 4 points after trailing her by as much as 12 points last weekend.
And CNBC is reporting on a highly advanced artificial intelligence system that accurately predicted the outcomes of the presidential primaries and which is now indicating that Trump will be the winner in November… An artificial intelligence system that correctly predicted the last three U.S. presidential elections puts Republican nominee Donald Trump ahead of Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House. MogIA was developed by Sanjiv Rai, founder of Indian start-up Genic.ai. It takes in 20 million data points from public platforms including Google, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in the U.S. and then analyzes the information to create predictions. The AI system was created in 2004, so it has been getting smarter all the time. It had already correctly predicted the results of the Democratic and Republican Primaries.
Without Hillary at the top of the ticket, the odds of a Trump victory would go way, way up.
So if Hillary is forced out of the race by this investigation, Barack Obama and the Democrats will want to delay or suspend the election for as long as possible if they can.
At this point there is probably not a high probability that such a scenario will play out, but in this crazy election year we have already seen that just about anything can happen. | 1real |
Trump says picks Mulvaney to be White House budget director | WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump said on Saturday he has chosen U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina to be his White House budget director, turning to a fiscal conservative to help pursue his policy agenda. The nomination to be director of the White House Office of Budget and Management will require Senate confirmation. The announcement was made as Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, began his holiday vacation at Mar-a-Lago, his oceanfront club in nearby Palm Beach, Florida. Mulvaney, 49, was an outspoken critic of former House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who resigned in 2015 amid opposition from fellow Republicans who were members of the House Freedom Caucus. Mulvaney’s selection points to a strategy by Trump to cut government where he can. The president-elect in recent days has, for example, railed against what he has labeled a far too expensive new version of the Air Force One aircraft he will fly that Boeing is supposed to build. In a statement announcing his selection, Trump called Mulvaney a strong voice in Congress for “reining in out-of-control spending, fighting government waste and enacting tax policies that will allow working Americans to thrive.” “With Mick at the head of OMB, my administration is going to make smart choices about America’s budget, bring new accountability to our federal government, and renew the American taxpayer’s trust in how their money is spent,” Trump said. Mulvaney said the Trump administration “will restore budgetary and fiscal sanity back in Washington”. “Each day, families across our nation make disciplined choices about how to spend their hard-earned money, and the federal government should exercise the same discretion that hard-working Americans do every day,” Mulvaney said. Trump on Friday night vowed to seek approval from Congress to spend $1 trillion in new spending to rebuild America’s crumbling network of roads, bridges, airports and other infrastructure as a way to create jobs and make some needed repairs. “We are going to fix our country. It’s time. We have no choice. It’s time,” Trump said in Orlando, Florida. Democratic President Barack Obama had sought infrastructure spending but was thwarted by Republicans in Congress. | 0fake |
In China, Homeowners Find Themselves in a Land of Doubt - The New York Times | WENZHOU, China — Chen Furong and his wife bought their home 23 years ago for its proximity to the city center and for the canal just outside. Their dream was to pass it on to their children and grandchildren, a piece of wealth giving their family a share of China’s economic miracle. Then their neighbor tried to sell her place — and it was all thrown into doubt. Like every other homeowner in China, Mr. Chen and his neighbor own their homes but not the land underneath them. All land in China is owned by the government, which parcels it out to developers and homeowners through to leases. When the neighbor — whose surname is Wang — tried to sell her apartment, local officials told her that her lease on the land had expired. To sell her apartment, they told her, she would have to pay them of the sales value. Ms. Wang protested in a move that drew national attention. Suddenly millions of Chinese who had socked away billions — and possibly trillions — of dollars were worried as well. If the local authorities in other parts of China did the same thing, they thought, a big chunk of their own wealth could end up with the government as well. “What will happen after our land lease expires?” asked Mr. Chen, 69, who with his wife holds a lease. “I will be dead when the lease expires, but will I be able to give it to my son?” China’s erratic stock market and its strict limits on sending money overseas have prompted many Chinese families to invest in residential real estate. China’s families have put nearly of their wealth into housing, estimates Li Gan, a professor of economics at Texas AM University who runs a widely read survey of Chinese households. Some own two or more homes and buy or sell them the way American investors play the stock market. That pot of household wealth is crucial to China’s efforts to take its economy to the next level. As reliable sources of growth like exports and manufacturing falter, China is trying to turn its households into consumers. Faith in their home savings would make them more likely to open their wallets. But even as it has pushed for increased homeownership, the Chinese Communist Party has done little to loosen its grip on the nation’s land. The party attacked private landlords during its rise to power, and when it took control, it nationalized all land, following the Soviet model. Although the death of Mao Zedong led to reforms that allowed people to own their own homes, the central government continued to retain title to the land, giving it a major lever in China’s economy. Some experts say the central government cannot continue to serve as national landlord. “Our country still believes in an ideology that is already outdated,” said Mao Yushi, a prominent economist who previously directed the Unirule Institute of Economics, a Beijing research firm. “The patriarch of public ownership, the Soviet Union, has collapsed already, but we are still holding onto public ownership. ” Giving land to the people would not be easy. Local governments in China do not have the power to levy taxes, so leasing land is one of the few ways they have to raise money. Allowing Chinese to own land could also concentrate wealth in the hands of a few, Mr. Mao said. “So how would we tax those who end up owning the vast swath?” he asked. In 2007, China moved to reassure homeowners by requiring local governments to renew leases automatically. Yet the law was silent on whether homeowners would have to pay for the renewal and what would happen to those with shorter leases. China’s Legislature needs to resolve this issue, said Sun Yuhua, an associate researcher at the East China University of Political Science and Law. “Otherwise,” he said, “it will trigger huge disputes. ” Uncertainties about land leases come at a time of broader concerns about the affordability of housing in China. Some smaller cities have gluts of unoccupied apartments, but housing prices have risen steadily in wealthy cities like Shanghai and Beijing. As the Global Times said in a May 4 commentary, “For millions of home buyers, after paying an already exorbitant house price in the overheated market, another hit to their savings will be hard to accept. ” Beijing is keeping a close eye on events in Wenzhou, a coastal city of eight million people in eastern China that was one of the first to set up private enterprise after China opened up its economy in the late 1970s. The government’s land ministry sent an inspection team to Wenzhou in April, according to state media. National and local government officials declined to comment. At least three Wenzhou neighborhoods have been hit by government requests for money to renew land leases, including Henghe North, where Ms. Wang and Mr. Chen live. The Chens’ home is typical of the area’s modest dwellings. Nestled on the third floor of a building, the apartment crams two bedrooms into 580 square feet. A blocky complex of buildings, Henghe North is bordered by a busy avenue lined with noodle stands, vegetable markets and other small shops. Trees and flower beds grow along the canal that abuts the development. Mr. Chen said local people pooled their money to build a community center designed like a Chinese temple. The unassuming neighborhood was turned upside down by Ms. Wang’s discovery. Local apartment owners started checking their lease documents. Chinese reporters went door to door, especially in Ms. Wang’s building. “There were so many journalists here that she didn’t want to talk to anyone,” Mr. Chen said. Reached by telephone, a woman who identified herself as Ms. Wang said she was waiting to see how the government would resolve the problem. She declined to comment further. Property records in China are spotty, relatively new and unavailable to the public. According to her neighbors and local media, Ms. Wang and her family bought her apartment three years ago for 1. 4 million renminbi, or about $210, 000 at today’s exchange rates. Several blocks away, residents of another affected neighborhood, Shuixin, wondered what would happen when they tried to sell their apartments. “People don’t know what to do,” said Ge Qingchuan, a retired real estate agent who stopped his motor scooter to talk. “No one paid attention to land leases, but now there are problems. ” “For example,” he added, “if you are buying a new apartment and using your current apartment, with a lease, as collateral to borrow money, you won’t be able to do so. If the banks see your land lease is expiring, they won’t lend you money. ” | 0fake |
U.N. to vote Monday on call for U.S. Jerusalem decision to be withdrawn | UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations Security Council is due to vote on Monday on a draft resolution calling for the withdrawal of U.S. President Donald Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, diplomats said, a move likely to face a Washington veto. The one-page Egyptian-drafted text, seen by Reuters, does not specifically mention the United States or Trump. Diplomats say it has broad support among the 15-member council, and while it is unlikely to be adopted, the vote will further isolate Trump on the issue. To pass, a resolution needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the United States, France, Britain, Russia or China. Trump abruptly reversed decades of U.S. policy this month when he recognized Jerusalem as Israel s capital, generating outrage from Palestinians. Trump also plans to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has praised Trump s decision as the just and right thing to do. The U.S. mission to the United Nations was not immediately available to comment on Sunday. Arab foreign ministers agreed to seek a U.N. Security Council resolution on the issue. The draft U.N. text expresses deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem. It affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council. The draft also calls upon all countries to refrain from establishing diplomatic missions in Jerusalem. Israel considers the city its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. No vote or debate will change the clear reality that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, Danny Danon, Israel s ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement on Saturday. Palestinians want the capital of an independent Palestinian state to be in the city s eastern sector, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally. The draft council resolution demands that all states comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not to recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions. A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in December 2016 underlines that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the parties through negotiations. That resolution was approved with 14 votes in favor and an abstention by former U.S. President Barack Obama s administration, which defied heavy pressure from longtime ally Israel and Trump, who was then president-elect, for Washington to wield its veto. | 0fake |
Robert Parry: What to Do About ‘Fake News’ | Robert Parry Consortium NewsIn the wake of Donald Trump s victory, a hot new issue raised by President Obama in an international setting on Thursday and touted on The New York Times front page on Friday is the problem of fake news being disseminated on the Internet.Major Internet companies, such as Google and Facebook, are being urged to censor such articles and to punish alleged violators. Also, teams of supposedly responsible news providers and technology giants are being assembled to police this alleged problem and decide what is true and what is not.But therein lies the more serious problem: who gets to decide what is real and what is not real? And in an age when all sides propagate propaganda when does conformity in support of a mainstream truth become censorship of reasonable skepticism?As a journalist for more than four decades, I take seriously the profession s responsibility to verify information as much as possible before publishing it and as editor of Consortiumnews.com, I insist that our writers (and to the extent possible, outside commenters) back up what they say.I personally hate conspiracy theories in which people speculate about a topic without real evidence and often in defiance of actual evidence. I believe in traditional journalistic standards of cross-checking data and applying common sense.So, I am surely no fan of Internet hoaxes and baseless accusations. Yet, I also recognize that mainstream U.S. news outlets have made horrendous and wholesale factual errors, too, such as reporting in 2002-03 that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program (The New York Times) and was hiding stockpiles of WMD (many TV and print outlets, including The Washington Post).And, mainstream outlets getting such life-and-death stories wrong was not just a one-off affair around the Iraq invasion. At least since the 1980s, The New York Times has misreported or glossed over many international issues that put the United States and its allies in a negative light.For instance, the Times not only missed the Nicaraguan Contra cocaine scandal, but actively covered up the Reagan administration s role in the wrongdoing through the 1980s and much of the 1990s.The Times lagged badly, too, on investigating the secret operations that became known as the Iran-Contra Affair. The Times gullibility in the face of official denials was an obstacle for those of us digging into that constitutional crisis and other abuses by the Reagan administration. [For more on this topic, see Consortiumnews.com s New York Times: Apologist for Power. ]In that same era, The Washington Post performed no better. Leonard Downie, its executive editor at the time of the Contra-cocaine scandal, has continued to reject the reality of Ronald Reagan s beloved Contras trafficking in cocaine despite the 1998 findings of CIA Inspector General Frederick Hitz that, in fact, many Contras were neck-deep in the cocaine trade and the Reagan administration covered up their criminality for geopolitical reasons.More recently, during the mad dash to invade Iraq in 2002-03, the Post s editorial-page editor Fred Hiatt wrote repeatedly as flat fact that Iraq was hiding WMD and mocked the few dissenting voices that challenged the group think. Yet, Hiatt suffered no accountability for his falsehoods and is still the Post s editorial-page editor, still peddling dubious examples of Washington s conventional wisdom. Ministry of TruthSo, who are the responsible journalists who should be anointed to regulate what the world s public gets to see and hear? For that Orwellian task, a kind of Ministry of Truth has been set up by Google, called the First Draft Coalition, which touts itself as a collection of 30 major news and technology companies, including the Times and Post, tackling fake news and creating a platform to decide which stories are questionable and which ones aren t.Formed in June 2015 and funded by Google News Lab, the First Draft Coalition s founding members included Bellingcat, an online citizen journalism site that has gotten many of its highest profile stories wrong and is now associated with NATO s favorite think tank, the Atlantic Council.Despite Bellingcat s checkered record and its conflicts of interest through the Atlantic Council, major Western news outlets, including the Times and Post, have embraced Bellingcat, apparently because its articles always seem to mesh neatly with U.S. and European propaganda on Syria and Ukraine.Two of Bellingcat s (or its founder Eliot Higgins s) biggest errors were misplacing the firing location of the suspected Syrian rocket carrying sarin gas on Aug. 21, 2013, and directing an Australian news crew to the wrong site for the so-called getaway BUK [missile] video after the July 17, 2014 shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.( ) Power and RealityWhile it s undeniable that some false or dubious stories get pushed during the heat of a political campaign and in wartime and journalists have a role in fact-checking as best they can there is potentially a greater danger when media insiders arrogate to themselves the power to dismiss contrary evidence as unacceptable, especially given their own history of publishing stories that turned out to be dubious if not entirely false.It s even more dangerous when these self-appointed arbiters of truth combine forces with powerful Internet search engines and social media companies to essentially silence dissenting opinions and contrary facts by making them very difficult for the public to locate.( ) On Thursday, an impassioned President Obama voiced his annoyance with fake news twice in his joint news conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel because in an age where there s so much active misinformation and it s packaged very well and it looks the same when you see it on a Facebook page or you turn on your television. If everything seems to be the same and no distinctions are made, then we won t know what to protect. Let that phrase sink in for a moment: We won t know what to protect ? Is President Obama suggesting that it is the U.S. government s role to protect certain information and, by implication, leave contrary information unprotected, i.e. open to censorship? Continue this story at Consortium News SEE ALSO: Establishment Using Fake News Faux Crisis to Target Alternative MediaSUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 1real |
The EU Circus from the Hague to Kiev: Will Europe bow down to migration? | November 3, 2016 - By Eduard Popov for Fort Russ - translated by J. Arnoldski -
On November 1st, the news came from the Hague that the Netherlands, in exchange for ratifying the association agreement between Ukraine and the EU, could demand that the EU guarantee in writing that this agreement will not be the first step to making Ukraine a real member of the community. A bit earlier, the Dutch government stated that it had postponed the decision on agreeing to the EU-Ukraine association agreement. Moreover, in April, a referendum was held in which more than 60% of Dutch citizens voted against the EU-Ukraine agreement. All of the parliaments of the EU’s member countries have already ratified it, except the Netherlands.
The ruling circles of the Netherlands are trying to circumvent the results of the nationwide referendum that put a barrier in the way of Ukraine’s path to the EU. Figuratively speaking, this is to slide between the Scylla of the Eurobureaucracy’s pressure and the Charybdis of the Dutch people’s opinion.
Brussels is trying to pressure Russia by supporting Ukraine. Hence why the results of the Dutch referendum, which said “no” to Ukrainian Eurointegration, are of much more than mere local significance.
The opinion of this Dutch people is the opinion of all the peoples of Europe who do not want to see such a problematic country of 40 million people - with war on its territory and a history of downing planes - in the European Union. But the Eurobureaucracy and European politicians, if necessary, will wipe their feet on the results of the people’s self-expression as long as the free trade zone between Ukraine and the EU is operating and benefiting only one side - the European exporters of finished products and European importers of raw materials.
Even more recently, abolishing the anti-Russian sanctions was discussed in European capitals. However, the aggravation of antagonisms between the US and Russia in Syria has forced Europe’s Washington-dependent leaders to reconsider the fate of sanctions policy.
Back in early July, in an interview published on Fort Russ, the Italian columnist Max Bonelli expressed skepticism over the prospects of the anti-Russian sanctions being abolished. His words sounded a discordant note for the Russian reader, since the belief prevails in Russia that the sanctions will soon be lifted, or at most prolonged for only half a year. After a series of interviews with prominent European experts, I became convinced that Bonelli’s opinion is correct.
Alexander Gegalchiy, a well known activist of the Russian World in Czech Republic, even believes that European countries (especially Eastern European ones) could open the door for Ukrainian migration. In their opinion, this would be better than accepting refugees and pseudo-refugees from the Middle East. This dilemma calls for a different view on the possibility of a visa-free regime between Ukraine and the EU.
Earlier, I categorically denied this possibility. But now, following my European partners, I’ve come to the conclusion that Europe could opt for this step. And not for a better life, as we say in Russia, but in order to avoid the greater evil of uncontrolled migration from the countries of the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Turkey will probably not achieve its tactical goal of establishing a visa-free regime with the EU, as it has a population two times larger than Ukraine and is a strong power in political, military, and economic terms. And it is a country with a Muslim population. Europe, despite talk of tolerance, is afraid of Muslim migration and is not in a position to integrate even the Muslim community already living on its territory. Therefore, it is a paradox that weak Ukraine has greater chances of achieving a visa-free regime than strong Turkey.
A visa-free regime is, of course, not membership in the EU, but is a significant step in the direction of Europe. If it is introduced, then the leaders of the Ukrainian state will have a major argument for propagandizing the successes of the “path to Europe.” Millions of Ukrainians will go to the EU (specifically Eastern European countries) and take the place of Muslim migrants. The EU could create obstacles on the ground level, but even so, the doors to Ukrainian migration will be open. I’ll repeat: this will not be a victory of Ukraine’s Eurointegrationists, but a necessary concession in the face of unpleasantries considered graver than those posed by Ukrainian migration.
Relations between Russia and the EU are most likely to go downhill. The leader of the EU, Germany, in the face of Chancellor Angela Merkel, is literally coercing Europe to travel down the harmful path of anti-Russian sanctions and anti-Russian policies overall.
This situation can only be changed by a simultaneous victory in several countries of more sane political forces, not necessarily pro-Russian, but pro-European. Next year, 2017, is election year in the locomotive countries of the EU - France and Germany. Will we see a sensation in these elections? I’m not sure, but there will be surprises for sure.
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SAY WHAT? #BlackLivesMatter TEXTBOOKS TO BE USED AS PART OF COMMON CORE CURRICULUM IN GRADES 6-12 [Video] | When will American citizens stop being afraid to stand up and SPEAK OUT against the politically correct thugs of the left?A new Black Lives Matter textbook will soon be available to middle school and high school classrooms.According to the publisher s description, Black Lives Matter covers the shootings that touched off passionate protests, the work of activists to bring about a more just legal system, and the tensions in U.S. society that these events have brought to light. ABDO Publishing specifies that the book was written for sixth graders through high school students, and says the textbook is aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Until now, no authoritative text designed to teach non-black children about historical-structural inequalities productive of anti-black violence in U.S. law and society has been made available for commercial consumption, reads a review in The Feminist Wire. Parents as well as teachers eager to teach middle and/or high school students about the routine vulnerability and terror generative of the rejoined, Black Lives Matter, will find an invaluable resource in this special report. Conservative radio commentator Larry Elder weighed in on Fox and Friends over the weekend. [The textbook] is indoctrinating young kids, teaching them black people are victims, Elder said.He argued that the movement would be better off addressing black-on-black crime. If the Black Lives Matter people are really concerned, they ought to say something about the fact that last year 6,000 blacks shot other blacks, and far and away the number one cause of preventable death for young black men is homicide, he added. The textbook was co-authored by Missouri journalist Sue Bradford Edwards and Duchess Harris, a professor of American Studies at Macalester College in Minnesota. Harris is also the author of Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Obama and a co-editor of Racially Writing the Republic: Racists, Race Rebels, and Transformations of American Identity. Black Lives Matter is part of ABDO Publishing s Special Report series of books that aim to help readers develop an essential understanding of current events and encourage them to form their own opinions. There are a total of eight titles in the Special Report series, including Ebola Outbreak, ISIS, and Transgender Rights and Issues. Via: Red Alert Politics | 1real |
Pakistan official details car chase that freed kidnapped U.S.-Canadian family | (This version of the story corrects spelling of Caitlan Coleman throughout) By Asif Shahzad ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani troops shot out the tyres of a vehicle carrying a kidnapped U.S.-Canadian couple and their children in a raid that led to the family s release after five years of being held hostage, a Pakistani security official said on Friday. U.S. drones were hovering near the northwestern Pakistani area where American Caitlan Coleman, her Canadian husband Joshua Boyle and their three children, all born in captivity, were freed, another security official said. Coleman and Boyle were held by the Taliban-linked Haqqani network after being kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan, and their rescue marked a rare positive note in often-fraught U.S.-Pakistan relations. The family flew out of Pakistan on Friday, according to a Pakistani airport official who saw them. It was not clear whether they were bound for Canada or the United States. A senior Pakistani security source on Friday detailed how the family were freed following a car chase in the northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan. He said Pakistani troops and intelligence agents, acting on a U.S. intelligence tip, zeroed in on a vehicle holding the family as they were being moved into Kurram tribal agency near the town of Kohat, some 60 km (37 miles) inside Pakistan. Agents from Pakistan s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency and soldiers attempted to intercept the vehicle, but it sped away, according to the security source. Our troops fired at the vehicle and burst its tyres, he said, declining to be identified because he is not authorised to speak openly to the media. The kidnappers managed to escape, the security official added, saying the troops wouldn t fire at the fleeing captors for fear of harming the hostages. The army recovered the hostages safely from the car. Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told NBC News that the vehicle s driver and another militant had escaped to a nearby refugee camp. The family s rescue has been hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a positive moment for U.S.-Pakistan relations, which have frayed in recent years amid Washington s assertions that Islamabad has not been doing enough to tackle Haqqani militants who are believed to be on Pakistani soil. Trump, in a statement, said the release of the hostages showed Pakistan was acquiescing to America s wishes for it to do more to provide security in the region . A second Pakistani security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. drones on Wednesday had been seen circling Kohat, suggesting U.S. co-operation included sophisticated surveillance inside Pakistan. Kohat is deep inside Pakistani territory, next to the eastern edge of Kurram agency in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province - outside the Afghan frontier zone where U.S. drones have in the past been tolerated by Pakistan. The U.S. embassy and the Pakistani military did not comment on the drone report. However, a Taliban commander in Pakistan with knowledge of the hostage family said U.S. drones flying in the area prompted their captors to move them. We took care of this family like our own family members and special guests, but after frequent flying of U.S. drones on Kurram tribal region and its adjoining areas, it was decided to move them to a safer place, said the Taliban official on condition of anonymity. They were being shifted to a safer place when captured by the Pakistani forces. Pakistani officials bristle at U.S. claims Islamabad is not doing enough to tackle Islamist militants, particularly the Haqqanis. After the release of the family, they emphasised the importance of co-operation and intelligence sharing by Washington, which has threatened to cut military aid and other punitive measures against Pakistan. Pakistan s military indicated the family were rescued shortly after entering Pakistan from Afghanistan, and a government official repeated that assertion on Friday. We have been taking on the terrorists... So we have taken action based on the intelligence that was provided by the U.S. side, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria. He added that he had no other details on the operation maybe because they were abducted in Afghanistan, they were there in Afghanistan, and that could be the reason why you have not heard much about it . However, two Taliban sources with knowledge of the family s captivity said they had been kept in Pakistan in recent years. A U.S. government source in Washington also said there was no indication the family had been in Afghanistan. The Haqqani network operates on both sides of the porous Afghan-Pakistani border but senior militants have acknowledged they moved a major base of operations to Kurram agency in the tribal areas. The United States and Afghanistan say that safe havens inside Pakistan allow the Taliban, including the Haqqani network, to plan and launch attacks against the Western-backed Afghan government and U.S. and other foreign troops that support them. The Taliban have been fighting for 16 years to re-establish their ultra-Islamist regime that was toppled in a U.S.-backed military operation over sheltering the al Qaeda terrorist network that planned the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on U.S. cities. | 0fake |
21 Stuck 130 Feet Up for 6 Hours at Knott’s Berry Farm - Breitbart | children and adults got the ride they never planned on Friday night when a Knott’s Berry Farm ride malfunctioned, trapping the riders for six hours before a rescue could be accomplished. [Sky Cabin is no roller coaster, it is a slow moving ride that rises high which gives those on board a view of Buena Park. At its apex the ride reaches 180 feet, Knott’s Berry Farm first released a statement just after 6 p. m that informed the public that the ride first malfunctioned around 2 p. m. The statement continued, “The Sky Cabin is a fully enclosed revolving observation ride. After the Knott’s Berry Farm maintenance team made several attempts to bring the attraction down, we contacted the Orange County Fire Authority to assist. ” Approximately 36 firefighters arrived near 5 p. m. according to the Los Angeles Times. An Orange County Fire Authority assured not one of the trapped riders was hurt or in danger and that firefighters are trained for just such situations. It was about 7:30 p. m. when fire crews began lowering riders the 130 feet from where the structure came to a halt. The riders were brought to the ground using a safety harness. “All 20 guests and one ride operator were safely on the ground by 9:54 pm,” read an update from the park that came at 10:06 p. m.. “Each of Knott’s rides is inspected, and properly maintained daily. Sky Cabin will remain closed until the park’s investigation into the cause of the incident is completed. ” “Knott’s Berry Farm’s number one priority is the safety of all its guests and employees,” the park statement assured. Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana | 0fake |
Yemen's Saleh ready to turn new page if Saudi-led attacks end | DUBAI (Reuters) - Former Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday called on the Saudi-led coalition to pave the way for an end to nearly three years of war by ceasing attacks and lifting a siege. Saleh, whose call came as his supporters fought allied Houthi forces in the capital Sana a, said on television that he was ready to turn a new page if the coalition agreed to his demands. | 0fake |
Anonymous Hacker Fighting For Justina Pelletier Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ In Children’s Hospital DDoS Attack | We Are Change
Activist and alleged Anonymous hacker Martin Gottesfeld who has been accused of orchestrating an attack on the Boston Children’s Hospital pleaded “not guilty” to charges of conspiracy and intent to cause damage to protected computers.
After he was arraigned, Gottesfeld, who has been on a hunger strike for a month, rose from his chair and fainted in the courtroom.
Gottesfeld, 32, is a human rights advocate and Senior Systems Engineer who was born and raised in Andover, Massachusetts. He is being prosecuted under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) by Carmen Ortiz’s office . The same people who caused the death of Internet reddit founder pioneer and activist Aaron Swartz.
If convicted,Gottesfeld could face up to twenty-five years in prison and $380,000 in restitution to the tormentors of Justina Pelletier, the patient he was initially fighting to protect. His attorneys are mounting a vigorous defense on his behalf, and need your help.
The CFAA has been cited by digital rights group EFF as being overly broad and so that, “Creative prosecutors have taken advantage of this confusion to bring criminal charges that aren’t really about hacking a computer, but instead target other behavior prosecutors dislike… Compounding this problem is the CFAA’s disproportionately harsh penalty scheme . Even first-time offenses for accessing a protected computer without sufficient “authorization” can be punishable by up to five years in prison each (ten years for repeat offenses), plus fines. Violations of other parts of the CFAA are punishable by up to ten years, 20 years, and even life in prison.” The ACLU agrees and filed suit that it violates everyone’s first amendment rights.
“Marty has dedicated years of his life to fighting for the human rights of institutionalized children. He would often spend 8 hours at his job, come home, and spend another 8 hours campaigning against child abuse. He never profited from his activism,” according to a statement on FreeMartyG.org.
The statement goes on to say:
“In 2013, Marty began a campaign against troubled teen industry institution Logan River Academy. Dozens of survivors left heartwrenching petition comments and some created videos.
Marty’s story first hit main stream media after he and his wife experienced trouble with their boat and were rescued by a Disney Cruise Ship . Since the FBI left out Justina’s name and her suffering from its complaint against him, many outlets merely printed that he allegedly ‘cyber-attacked’ a hospital.
Marty’s family and friends have launched the #FreeMartyG campaign to set the record straight and call on the public to show their support for him.”
Justina Pelletier was tortured by the Boston Children’s Hospital and denied treatment for her mitochondrial disease and her medication, according to former BCH employees. Gottesfeld came to her aide in the form of cyber attacks on the hospitals website for awareness of the case.
Gottesfeld has said he will continue his hunger strike until the presidential candidates pledge to protect institutionalized children from abuse . He also said that he wants overzealous federal prosecutors to halt “political prosecutions” of people accused of crimes he considers harmless.
Gottesfeld also argues that he did not harm patients or expose any private information, so he did not break the CFAA and commit a crime.
Who is Justina Pelletier? That question is answered again by the statement on FreeMartyG.org :
“Justina Pelletier was 14 years old when she arrived at Boston Children’s Hospital E.R. with her mother. Both she and her older sister had been diagnosed with mitochondrial disease, a condition that is often genetic and runs in families. However, doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital felt her symptoms had psychological causes, and just 4 days after meeting her, wanted to stop successful mitochondrial disease treatments prescribed since 2011.
Fearful for her life, Justina’s parents refused to consent to such a radical departure from her well established treatment plan. They tried to discharge their daughter and bring her to previously scheduled appointments with her mitochondrial disease team.
What followed was any family’s nightmare. Unwilling to take “no” for an answer, Boston Children’s Hospital urged state officials to take custody of Justina and enforce their new treatment plan. This kind of thing happens more often than you might think. In fact, Boston Children’s Hospital even has a name for it. They call it a “parentectomy” (see the Wray and T. cases, as well as this open letter from a former federal prosecutor.)
Pelletier’s abuse did not end at the Boston Children’s Hospital. It expanded to a DCF facility in Framingham, Massachusetts when she was transferred to a troubled teen industry facility, Wayside Youth and Family. Her contact with her family was severely limited , it was only after she took to smuggling notes hidden in her art projects describing her suffering that her family figured out.
Jennifer Pelletier describes her little sister’s abuse in the video below, she goes on to say how a worker at DCF harassed her sister in the shower :
“It’s disgusting to harm a human being it’s in humane and these actions that they’ve done to my sister what they’ve been harming her for almost 15 months now all of them should be held accountable and they should almost be treated the same way that my sister has been treated to see how hurtful it’s been they should be all plucked out of their lives and told that people don’t believe in them and have them doubt their own. I don’t get how anybody can treat somebody so in humane this needs to end now and Justina needs to be home before May 24th on her 16th birthday and this needs to end now.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBgds6xVMBc
The case gained international attention and even congress’s attention when the hashtag “#FreeJustina” trended on Twitter. Jim Lyons spoke out on the floor of the House expressing his disdain for the case and presenting an amendment. Jim went on to say that Justina’s parents didn’t neglect their daughter and were innocent. He went on to say that “what we have here is the Department of Children and Family interfering with constitutionally protected parental rights to make medical decisions on behalf of their children.”
Justina Pelletier was eventually allowed to return home. She still hasn’t recovered from the torture though. She and her family have sued Boston Children’s Hospital and four of its doctors for gross negligence and civil rights violations. When the lawsuit was filed, Justina was quoted saying, “It was awful. Just imagine being a psych ward without needing to be in a psych ward.”
Now it’s time to bring Marty Gottesfeld home. He fought for Justina Pelletier and others in the troubled teen industry of private “treatment” centers for years, including fighting to expose Logan River if you can consider donating to my good friends at @FreeAnons to help Marty’s defense fund. Marty has written a book called “Parentectomy” if you wish to read that book and further your knowledge about the troubled teen industry of private treatment centers you can do purchase it on Amazon and support him or here for free in pdf format . You can also listen to Marty answer several questions about his case, his treatment in prison, his hunger strike and his actions in the YouTube playlist below.
It shouldn’t be a crime to expose institutional child abuse even a congressional hearing has acknowledged the abuse below in which parents and survivors testified about the abuse that goes on in these privatized centers. Even the U.S. Government Accountability Office investigated the industry in 2007 and again in 2008 finding these centers abusive. Urge your representatives to pass legislation to curb the worst abuses and demand that places that have multiple notable claims of abuse are investigated and in severe cases shutdown.
#FreeMartyG #ShutDownLoganRiver
MAIL MARTY A LETTER LET HIM KNOW HE’S NOT ALONE IN THIS FIGHT!
Marty Gottesfeld, Inmate #12982104
Donald D. Wyatt Detention Facility
950 High St.
Central Falls, RI 02863 The post Anonymous Hacker Fighting For Justina Pelletier Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ In Children’s Hospital DDoS Attack appeared first on We Are Change .
| 1real |
Hot-Air Balloon Crash in Texas Kills 16, Officials Say - The New York Times | LOCKHART, Tex. — A balloon carrying 16 people caught fire and crashed in Central Texas on Saturday, officials said, and the local authorities said no one had survived. The balloon crashed in a pasture near Lockhart, a town about 30 miles south of Austin, said Lynn Lunsford, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. Initial reports from officials said the balloon had plummeted after catching fire in the air, but at least one witness said it might have struck power lines before hitting the ground and bursting into flames. The accident occurred shortly after 7:40 a. m. Mr. Lunsford said. In a brief telephone interview, Mr. Lunsford said that officials were on their way to the site and that the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified. The agency will be in charge of the investigation. Mr. Lunsford said he did not know what had led to the crash or whether there had been a distress call. The Caldwell County sheriff, Daniel Law, said in a statement, “It does not appear at this time that there were any survivors. ” By late afternoon, investigators had yet to publicly identify any of the victims or their relations to one another. But local news reports, quoting unnamed sources, identified the pilot of the balloon as Alfred Nichols, known as Skip. He was listed as an owner and the chief pilot of Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides. Mr. Nichols’s Facebook page reflected two passions: balloons and dogs. In the past two weeks, he had posted a YouTube video about a Russian balloonist who set a speed record for traveling around the world in a balloon (11 days) and an alert about dog adoption days at the Austin Animal Center. On July 21, he posted aerial photos of a brilliant sunrise. “Another great flight in Houston,” he wrote. He had two dogs, named Elmo and Joplin, and on Thursday evening, less than two days before the crash, he posted a photo of one of them resting on him. “Goodnight to you too Elmo must you use me as your pillow?” he wrote. By Saturday afternoon, the comment sections for that photo and the Facebook page of the balloon company were filled with condolences and remembrances. “Skip, I shall for years to come be reminiscing about all of the awesome times we enjoyed at your Springdale Ln. Des Peres Missouri house and my Kirkwood Missouri house and tearing it up at all of the clubs my friend,” Mark Grundmann wrote. “You will be missed. ” Amid the outpouring were urgent requests for people who lived near Mr. Nichols to check on Elmo and Joplin. At 3:52 p. m. a woman, Wendy Bartch, posted on the company’s page that the dogs were “being cared for. ” Ms. Bartch, Mr. Grundmann and others who posted on Facebook and Twitter did not respond to private messages. Voice mail messages left late Saturday afternoon at two phone numbers listed for the balloon company were not returned. Margaret Wylie, 66, who lives a from the crash site, said she had seen the balloon explode into a fireball after it struck the ground on a neighbor’s property. She said she had been on her back porch when her dog “really started raising the roof. ” “When I looked over toward my neighbor’s property,” Ms. Wylie said, “that’s about the time I saw flames shooting out sideways, and then just a fireball. At 66, that’s not something I want to see again. ” The crash occurred in a rural area less than an hour from Austin, in a large field scorched from the summer heat. Several big power lines atop towers ran east and west at the field’s southern end. A few farmhouses were visible in the distance. Throngs of journalists arrived by late morning, but investigators had sealed off the perimeter and kept them from the spot where the balloon had fallen. Ms. Wylie said that based on what she had heard, she believed “the balloon hit the wires, and it caused the deflation of the balloon, and then it hit the ground. ” She initially heard a pop, she said, and then another that sounded like gunfire. “I figured that was the balloon hitting the power line,” she said. “By the time I looked that direction, it was on the ground, and I heard a whooshing sound and an explosion. ” Ms. Wylie said the balloon was so engulfed in flames that she did not see any passengers. She immediately called 911, she said. The red, white, blue and yellow balloon apparently separated from the basket and was stretched along the ground about a mile from the crash site. The power lines near the site belong to the Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corporation, The Austin reported. A spokeswoman for the utility told the newspaper that two circuits were down after the crash, although no customers were without power. But neither she nor investigators could confirm whether the power lines had been involved in the crash. Erik Grosof, an official with the National Transportation Safety Board, said the crash had been classified as a major accident because of the “significant loss of life. ” A full investigative team from the safety board was to arrive later Saturday, he said, and the F. B. I. had been asked to help look at the evidence, a normal request after major accidents. Asked to confirm reports that 16 people had been killed, Mr. Grosof said, “Right now, we have a number of fatalities. ” Sixteen deaths would make the accident one of the worst balloon crashes in history, surpassed only by a crash in Luxor, Egypt, that killed 19 people in February 2013. In that crash, the balloon was sailing over archaeological sites at dawn when a fire caused an explosion in a gas canister and the balloon plummeted more than 1, 000 feet to the ground. Two people survived — the pilot and a passenger, who jumped from the basket from about 30 feet. Nineteen tourists died, including the wife of the surviving passenger. Before Saturday, the worst balloon accident in the United States occurred in August 1993 in Woody Creek, Colo. near Aspen, when a wind gust blew a balloon into a power line complex. The basket was severed and fell more than 100 feet, killing all six people aboard. Replying to a question at a news conference, Mr. Grosof said it was his “understanding” that the balloon tour was run by Heart of Texas Hot Air Balloon Rides, based in New Braunfels. A person reached at its reservation service said the company offered flights in the Austin area coinciding with the sunrise. It also operates near San Antonio and in other areas. She declined to speak about the accident. The sheriff’s statement said that a call had come in to the local law enforcement authorities after 7:40 a. m. reporting a possible vehicle accident. When emergency responders arrived, “it was apparent that the reported fire was the basket portion of a balloon,” the statement said. Chris O’Neil, a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman, said investigators were expected to remain on the scene for a few days. Seven to 10 days after the field work is completed, he said, they will release a preliminary report. Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statement extending his condolences, calling the accident a “heartbreaking tragedy. ” “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families, as well as the Lockhart community,” he said. “The investigation into the cause of this tragic accident will continue, and I ask all of Texas to join us in praying for those lost. ” | 0fake |
Palme d’Or Goes to a Ken Loach Film at Cannes - The New York Times | CANNES, France — The 69th Cannes Film Festival, an event this year defined by peerless highs and embarrassing lows, ended on Sunday when the Palme d’Or was awarded to “I, Daniel Blake,” a film about a carpenter with a heart condition up against the heartlessness of bureaucracy, from the veteran British director Ken Loach. The award was presented by Mel Gibson. Mr. Loach, a previous winner for “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” accepted his prize first in French before switching to English. “We’re in the grip of a project of austerity,” he said, invoking the “catastrophe” of neoliberalism. He talked of cinema’s tradition of speaking to the “powerful and the mighty” and the need to show that “another world is possible and necessary. ” This year’s jury for the feature competition was led by George Miller (here in 2015 with “Mad Max: Fury Road”) who lauded “the feast of cinema,” and also included the directors Arnaud Desplechin and Laszlo Nemes (his “Son of Saul” won the Grand Prize last year) a producer, Katayoon Shahabi and a clutch of internationally recognizable names: Kirsten Dunst, Valeria Golino, Mads Mikkelsen, Vanessa Paradis and Donald Sutherland. The ceremony included a brief tribute to Léaud, the screen immortal who played Antoine Doinel for François Truffaut, beginning with “The 400 Blows” Mr. Léaud received an honorary Palme d’Or presented by a visibly moved Mr. Desplechin. The best actor award went to Shahab Hosseini, one of the stars of the Iranian movie “Forushande” (“The Salesman”) from the director Asghar Farhadi. This smooth, schematic drama turns on a married couple who are performing in a production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman” and whose lives are upended when the wife is attacked. Mr. Farhadi also won for best screenplay. The best actress prize was given to Jaclyn Jose, the star of “‘Ma’ Rosa,” a slice of naturalism from the Philippine director Brillante Mendoza. Ms. Jose plays a tough, drug dealer who peddles dope out of her small Manila store and, with her addict husband, is swept up in police corruption. The best director prize was, surprisingly, split between the Romanian director Cristian Mungiu, for “Graduation,” and to the French director Olivier Assayas, for “Personal Shopper. ” The Jury Prize (effectively third place) went to “American Honey,” from the British director Andrea Arnold. “When I’m happy, I want to dance,” Ms. Arnold said, swaying to the accompanying music. The Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan won the Grand Prix, second only to the Palme d’Or, for “It’s Only the End of the World,” a decision booed by the press, who watched the ceremony in a live feed from a theater in the same building. “Thank you for feeling the emotion of the film,” Mr. Dolan said, choking up as booing continued from critics across the hallway. “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki,” a movie about a boxer, from the Finnish director Juho Kuosmanen, was awarded the prize for Un Certain Regard, a section reserved for younger and sometimes more adventurous filmmakers. The Caméra d’Or, for best first feature, went to “Divines,” from the French director Houda Benyamina it screened in La Quinzaine des Realisateurs, a program that runs parallel with the official selection. The Palme for the best short film was presented to “Timecode,” from the Spanish director Juanjo Giménez. Information about other winners is at www. . . | 0fake |
Mike Pence won the debate by throwing Donald Trump under the bus | Republican Party elected officials in contested races around the country have been grappling with a basic but profound issue all year — how do you stand up for the GOP and conservative principles and against Hillary Clinton without getting sucked into defending every crazy, offensive, or weird thing Donald Trump has said? It can be a tough line to walk, as New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte learned this week.
Debating Tim Kaine Tuesday night, Mike Pence taught a master class in how it’s done. Every time Kaine attacked, Pence parried and deftly shifted the conversation to something else entirely.
When Kaine demanded that Pence defend Trump’s secrecy on his taxes, Pence ducked and talked about how low taxes are good for economic growth. When Kaine offered an extended list of Trump insults that he said he couldn’t believe Pence would defend, Pence didn’t defend them — he pivoted to complaining about Clinton and the “basket of deplorables.” Pence was tight, disciplined, and focused on his talking points. He never took the bait, never let himself get dragged into unfavorable terrain, and simply ignored subjects he didn’t want to discuss.
It was a genuinely bravura performance, one that a passel of GOP senators and Congress members running in tough races ought to study. The problem is Trump is at the top of the ticket.
The crowning moment of the debate came at around 9:45 pm, when Kaine launched into a devastating foreign policy attack on Donald Trump:
Donald Trump cannot start a Twitter war with Miss Universe without shooting himself in the foot. He does not have a plan. He said "I have a secret plan," and then he said, "I know more than all the generals about ISIL," and finally he said, "I am going to fire all the generals." He does not have a plan. He trash talks the military, John McCain is no hero, the generals need to be fired, I know more than them. NATO is obsolete. And third, he loves dictators. He has a personal Mount Rushmore of Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un, and Saddam Hussein. He believes — Donald Trump believes that the world will be safer if more nations have nuclear weapons. He said Saudi Arabia should get them, Japan should get them, and Korea should get them. When he was confronted with this, he said, "Go ahead, folks, enjoy yourselves." I would like Gov. Pence to say what is so enjoyable or comical about nuclear war.
Pence simply could not and would not defend any of this. Instead, he tried to deflect, saying, “That had a lot of creative lines in it.”
Kaine pressed again: “See if you can defend any of it?”
I want to give this president credit for bringing Osama bin Laden to justice, but the truth is, Osama bin Laden led al-Qaeda. The primary threat today is ISIS. Because Hillary Clinton failed to renegotiate a forces agreement that would have allowed some American combat troops to remain in Iraq and secure the hard-fought gains that the American soldier has won, ISIS was able to be literally conjured up out of the desert, and it has overrun vast areas. My heart breaks for the likes of Corporal Lebowski. He fought hard, through some of the most difficult days of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and paid the ultimate sacrifice to secure the nation. That nation was secured in 2009. Because Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama failed to provide a status of forces agreement and leave sufficient forces, we are back at war. We are back at war in Iraq. [...]
It was a deftly executed move. And while the substance of the critique is somewhat unfair, it’s not crazy. The Obama administration’s attempted withdrawal from Iraq pretty clearly has not worked out nearly as well as it hoped.
But Pence utterly failed to take up Kaine’s challenge to defend Trump’s affection for Putin, dislike of NATO, or willingness to entertain nuclear proliferation. Pence simply shrugged off the entire reality of Trump’s 2016 campaign and slammed Obama, Clinton, and Kaine as soft on Russia — a smooth extension of the foreign policy messages of John McCain in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012.
If Kaine and Pence had been debating for an Ohio Senate seat, any fair-minded person would have to conclude that Pence won in a landslide. He was focused on his key points, while Kaine was focused on dragging the conversation into personal attacks on a man who wasn’t even standing on the stage.
The problem, obviously, is that they aren’t running for an Ohio Senate seat.
They’re running for vice president. Or at least Tim Kaine is. That’s why he loyally defended Clinton when Pence hit the Clinton Foundation issue instead of pivoting away to his own talking points. He played the somewhat awkward role of loyal number two. Pence, by contrast, focused on making Mike Pence look good and happily left Trump’s eccentricities on the cutting board.
For Republicans sitting at home, Pence’s largely effective performance should serve as a powerful reminder that a generic Republican candidate would probably win the 2016 election. Trump, by contrast, is losing currently, has been losing from the beginning, and probably will lose in the end.
When he does, Republicans will be searching for their next nominee. When they do, they’ll see that Pence — the guy I used to think they would pick for 2016 — doesn’t quite have the pizzazz or superstar quality of a Donald Trump, but he’s also a much better, more focused, more disciplined, less crazy politician. The kind of guy who could actually win. | 0fake |
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