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21,600 | BREAKING: Trump’s Worst Nightmare Realized As Hot Mic Destroys His White House Chances (VIDEO) | Donald Trump is a misogynist. We all know that. He has demonstrated it many times, and anyone with access to cable or the internet has seen the numerous advertisements from Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton s campaign using Trump s own words as we see images of young girls and women with body image issues. That s to say nothing of the week-long weight-shaming episode he engaged in with the winner of Miss Universe 1996, Alicia Machado, who revealed that Trump publicly humiliated her during her reign for putting on a few pounds, and even referred to her as Miss Piggy. As horrific as all of those examples are, though, that s nothing compared to what has just been released. It is a 2005 conversation between Trump and Billy Bush, who worked for Access Hollywood at the time. Trump and Bush were on a bus, and they were discussing women s bodies. Trump had only been married to Melania for eight months at the time, but he was going on and on about some married woman he had been attempting to sleep with. On the audio, Trump s clearly recognizable voice can be heard saying: I moved on her actually, she was down in Palm Beach and I failed. I ll admit it. I did try to fuck her, she was married and I moved on her very heavily. I took her out furniture shopping. She wanted to get some furniture and I told her I ll show you where you can get some nice furniture, Trump is heard saying. I moved on her like a bitch, and I could not get there, and she was married. And all the sudden I see her and she s got the big phony tits, she s totally changed her look.' He says of women he finds attractive in general: I m automatically attracted to beautiful women I just start kissing them, it s like a magnet. I don t even wait. And when you re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything Grab em by the pussy. Trump then goes on to talk about a pretty woman who was to greet them at the bus: Woah, woah. I gotta use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. Of course, the Trump campaign is brushing it aside. Trump himself says in a statement: This was locker room banter, a private conversation that took place many years ago. Bill Clinton has said far worse to me on the golf course not even close. I apologize if anyone was offended. No, this is most certainly NOT just locker room banter at this point. This is just another chapter in a lifetime of misogyny, of objectifying, bullying, and mistreating women. If this doesn t show that Donald Trump is a clear sexist who engages in regular bouts of disgusting lewdness and belongs nowhere near the White House, I don t know what will.Listen to his disgusting words below (warning: explicit language):Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
21,601 | Kremlin says report that Putin will meet Trump in May is 'wishful thinking' | (Reuters) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that a media report that President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump were to meet in May was “wishful thinking”. Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that the two leaders were set to meet for the first time in May, citing two government sources, one in Russia and one in the United States. | 1 |
21,602 | NAILS IT! POLLSTER PAT CADDELL Blasts The Obamas For Lacking ONE KEY THING In Their Departure | Caddell s remarks came after hearing Michelle Obama s now infamous comments to Oprah Winfrey:The First Lady was asked by Oprah Winfrey whether she thinks that her husband s administration had achieved his promise of hope for America. Yes. I do, she said. Because we feel the difference now. See, now, we are feeling what not having hope feels like. You know. Hope is necessary. It s a necessary concept and Barack didn t just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. He and I and so many believe, what else do you have when you do not have hope? Caddell continued, The Bush people, they had a certain conduct. George W. Bush kept his mouth shut about Obama forever. What s Obama doing saying, I m going to be back here right after vacation. I need to be in Washington. I need to comment ? Where s the part where you gracefully leave the stage? Via: Breitbart | 0 |
21,603 | Bulgaria asks Russia to overhaul MiG fighter jets | SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria has asked Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG to overhaul and maintain its 15 aged MiG-29 fighter jets in a four-year deal worth up to 81.3 million levs ($49 million), the country s defense ministry said on Monday. NATO and EU member Bulgaria needs to keep its Soviet-era aircraft operational after plans to buy eight new fighter jets hit another snag. The defense ministry will have to virtually restart the process and is yet to send requests for proposals to aircraft makers. Main contenders remain Swedish manufacturer Saab s Gripen jets, Portugal and the United States with secondhand F-16s and Italy with secondhand Eurofighter Typhoons. Defence Minister Krasimir Karakachanov has said Bulgaria may also send a request to Boeing for F-18 aircraft. ($1 = 1.6586 leva) | 1 |
21,604 | Michael Bloomberg may launch independent U.S. presidential bid: source | (Reuters) - Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire former mayor of New York City, has told his aides to draw up plans for an independent campaign for the U.S. presidency, according to a source familiar with the situation. Bloomberg has advised friends and associates that he would be willing to spend at least $1 billion of his own money on a campaign for the November 2016 election, according to the source, who spoke on condition on anonymity to discuss the former mayor’s thinking. News of Bloomberg mulling a presidential run was first reported Saturday by the New York Times. Bloomberg, 73, has given himself an early March deadline for entering the race, the source said, after commissioning a poll in December to see how he would fare against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Republican and Democratic frontrunners. No third-party candidate has ever won a U.S. presidential election. But Bloomberg, who has close Wall Street ties and liberal social views, sees an opening for his candidacy if Republicans nominate Trump or Texas Senator Ted Cruz and the Democrats nominate Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the source said. Bloomberg, who has long privately flirted with the idea of mounting a presidential run, served as mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. He switched his party affiliation from Republican to independent in 2007 and in recent years has spent millions on national campaigns to tighten U.S. gun laws and reform immigration. One unnamed Bloomberg adviser told the Times the former mayor believes voters want “a non-ideological, bipartisan, results-oriented vision” that has not been offered in the 2016 election cycle by either political party. A well-financed presidential run by Bloomberg would likely disrupt the dynamics of the election, but the billionaire would face significant hurdles in a race that has been in full swing for nearly a year. Though no third-party candidate has ever claimed the White House, several previous bids have affected the overall makeup of the race. In 1992 Texas businessman Ross Perot ran as an independent, a decision that some believe helped Democrat Bill Clinton defeat incumbent Republican George H. W. Bush. Bloomberg earned 13 percent support when facing a hypothetical three-way race against Clinton and Trump, according to a poll of 4,060 registered voters conducted January 14-17 by Morning Consult. Trump and Clinton were virtually tied at 37 and 36 percent, respectively, the survey found. Part of Bloomberg’s motivation to enter the race stems from a frustration with Clinton’s campaign, the source said. Clinton has been dogged by questions about her honesty amid an ongoing investigation into her use of a private email server as secretary of state. Sanders, Clinton’s chief rival, has recently surged in polling in key early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire. That development has made Bloomberg increasingly worried about a general election between Sanders, a self-described socialist, and Trump or Cruz, both of whom have staked out far-right positions on issues like immigration. At the New Hampshire Republican Party “First in the Nation Presidential Town Hall” in Nashua, Senator Rand Paul, who is lagging badly in opinion polls, seemed unfazed by the possibility of a Bloomberg third-party run. He even saw a bright side for his party. “If he splits the Democrat vote - those for gun control - that might be good for Republicans,” Paul told reporters. Representatives for Bloomberg declined to comment on the former mayor’s plans for the presidential race. (Additional reporting by Alana Wise in New Hampshire; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Mary Milliken) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency. | 1 |
21,605 | BRUTAL Meme Shows EXACTLY What A Hillary Presidency Would Look Like | This cartoon is one of our all-time favorites. You ve gotta love the note from Bill on the pillow, and the Bernie Sanders voodoo doll on her nightstand is priceless | 0 |
21,606 | SUNDAY SCREENING: Operation Hollywood (2004) | Our weekly documentary film curated by our editorial team at 21WIRE.How many of your favorite movies have been shaped and directed by the Pentagon? Since the 1970 s, a number of successful Hollywood blockbuster hits, including Patton, Apocalypse Now, Top Gun, Three Kings, Saving Private Ryan, Blackhawk Down and others have had their productions and budgets augmented by the US military machine including the use military bases, heavy weaponry, submarines aircraft and aircraft carriers generously made available to the studios but at a price. The quid pro quo is that Pentagon s experts are then allowed to vet hundreds of screenplays each year, and even have direct input into the story lines.Operation Hollywood explores the cozy relationship between the big entertainment studios and the military industrial complex, and asks why Americans, and the world, accept that the Pentagon will use movies to promote its own brand of propaganda in the furtherance of a US-centric global agenda of militarization. Watch:. Run time: 52 min Director: Emilio Pacull Distributor Arte France and Les Films d Ici (2004)For additional background on this topic, listen to author Jay Dyer s highly informative lecture on the subject.SEE MORE SUNDAY SCREENINGS HERESUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @ 21WIRE.TV | 0 |
21,607 | White House says existing sanctions against Russia are effective | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Existing sanctions against Russia are already effective, the White House said on Thursday, after the U.S. Senate voted nearly unanimously for legislation to impose new sanctions on Moscow. | 1 |
21,608 | Stephen King’s New Metaphor For Trump Is Going VIRAL; Trump Will Be FURIOUS (TWEET) | If there s one thing Donald Trump hates, it s being criticized and told he s not good at his job. He has a very fragile ego which, in turn, prevents him from leading properly, because if you re not able to accept criticism or advice and grow from it, you re never going to be able to efficiently lead. Being president needs to be about what s best for the people, not what s best for the current mood of the man in charge.Pointing out how damaging Trump is already being to the United States is none other than the legendary author Stephen King. In a viral tweet, he describes Trump with a perfect metaphor.King tweeted out: Imagine a hooligan pouring sugar into the gas tank of an expensive and well-maintained car. Trump is that hooligan. America is that car. Imagine a hooligan pouring sugar into the gas tank of an expensive and well-maintained car. Trump is that hooligan. America is that car. Stephen King (@StephenKing) January 29, 2017And he s exactly right. In fact, describing Trump as merely a hooligan may be far too kind. Trump s destructive and bigoted behavior is going to lead the United States down a very dark path. Just like pouring sugar in a gas tank will destroy a car, Trump s plans for the nation will subsequently destroy everything that has made America great.Undoubtedly, Trump will be furious that King made such a criticism of his behavior. Who knows, maybe King will even get an infantile tweet storm thrown directly at him.Hopefully, Congress, SCOTUS, the ACLU, the media, etc. will hold Trump accountable for all the horrendous things he has already done and plans to do.Featured Photo by This Robinson, Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images | 0 |
21,609 | Women Are Punished Every Day For Abortion, But Trump Didn’t Say That On Fox News Sunday (VIDEO) | Donald Trump is still struggling to wriggle out from under his abortion blunder as evidenced by this interview on Fox News Sunday.Unable to phone it in thanks to host Chris Wallace refusing to choose ratings over holding on to the last shred of journalistic integrity Fox has left, Trump was asked point-blank if he is blowing his campaign because of offensive remarks he made last week when he said women should be punished for getting an abortion which has drawn outrage from pro-choice groups and faux outrage from anti-choice groups who only pretend that they don t want to punish women in some way for making the choice they disagree with.The outrage forced Trump to backtrack and he continued to spin his comments after telling Wallace that he thinks his campaign is still going strong despite them.Trump slammed anti-choice groups for not being conservative enough, a charge that these groups often use to justify defeating Republican incumbents in primaries, which only makes Congress more extreme resulting in the obstruction and cruel anti-women legislation we see today. Look, it was asked as a hypothetical, and talked about if it s illegal and it was hypothetically asked, Trump claimed. A very strong conservative group would have said that was the appropriate answer. I m not saying it was the appropriate answer, I say it s the doctor s fault or whoever performs the act, it s their fault. But there was a time when that would have been. After being asked why he singled out women for punishment, Trump again claimed that it was a hypothetical question. Because it was asked hypothetically, Trump said. I said the woman because it was asked hypothetically. I also corrected it, and I made it very much so that I think everybody it s acceptable now to everybody. Here s the video via YouTube.Trump has explained his remarks in other ways besides claiming that it was a hypothetical question. He has accused both MSNBC and CBS of editing his remarks and taking them out of context. He has also taken five positions on abortion in the last three days.The bottom line is abortion rights are protected by the 14th Amendment and is a legal and necessary medical procedure. So women and their doctors should not have to face any punishment at all.Anti-abortion groups can claim they don t want to punish women all they want but the fact of the matter is that just by outlawing abortion alone they would be punishing women by forcing them to seek dangerous methods to end their pregnancies in absence of a safe procedure in an equipped medical environment. Women would also be punished because conservatives would also ban many forms of contraception they wrongly believe cause abortions. Clinic closures have also left thousands of women without services such as cancer screenings and STD treatments.And let s not pretend anti-abortion groups haven t threatened, stalked, or harassed women who go to clinics to end their unwanted pregnancies. And forcing women to carry an unwanted pregnancy alone would be a punishment because many women who seek an abortion do so because they cannot afford to bring another child into the world. Basically, conservatives would be punishing women financially. And then there are women who got pregnant as a result of rape. Banning abortion would punish these women by forcing them to give birth to their rapist s baby, sentencing them to many years of having to deal with their rapist, especially in states where rapists can seek parental rights.In addition, Republicans have passed laws ranging from mandatory invasive ultrasounds to waiting periods to fetal homicide laws, which punish women every day. Some are even investigated and have been sent to jail just because of a miscarriage.So, yes, anti-abortion groups want to punish women. To believe otherwise is foolish. Donald Trump was simply repeating their real stance out loud. Featured image via Screenshot | 0 |
21,610 | BUSTED! CALIFORNIA MAN Dressed As Woman Arrested After Women Noticed Something Strange In The Bathroom Stall | Here we go again! We just reported on a man who was caught in Walmart videotaping women and using a mirror to look into stalls:IT BEGINS: Man Dressed As Woman Arrested In Women s Bathroom You Won t Believe What He Was Doing!This guy was caught at Macy s with a video camera in his purse containing hours of video of women using the bathroom. Women noticed the camera light from the video camera and reported it to police. This guy is just one of so many we ve reported on who will have even more rights to enter the women s bathroom or locker room and women will have no right to say a word. A Palmdale, California, man wearing women s clothing was arrested in a Lancaster Macy s store after he was seen in a women s bathroom. The man was allegedly videotaping women in the bathroom.Jason Pomare, 33, was arrested over the weekend after mall security officers learned he had been hanging out in a Macy s department store women s bathroom. The security guards contacted a Los Angeles County Sheriff s Department (LASD) deputy who found the cross-dressing man in a mall storage area, NBC Los Angeles reported.When Pomare was contacted, he was wearing a wig and women s clothing, including a bra, a statement from the LASD revealed. The deputy noticed he was wearing a wig and appeared to have breasts, LASD Sergeant Brian Hudson told the Los Angeles news outlet.While searching the suspect, the deputy discovered a video camera in his purse. The camera allegedly contained hours of women using the bathroom inside the store.Witnesses told police that Pomare would conceal the camera in bathroom stalls. The woman who contacted store security noticed the recording light on the camera. It appears Pomare was in the bathroom for around two hours, Hudson told the reporter.Read more: Breitbart | 0 |
21,611 | President Obama Ends His Presidency With 75 Straight Months Of Job Creation | As President Obama prepares to leave office, he leaves behind a stunning, historical legacy: 75 months of continuous job growth, a record not seen since 1939.That s right, President Obama has overseen a feat not matched since at least 78 years ago. While the Bush Administration lost millions of jobs (800k a month in 2008), the Obama Administration has created over 2 million in 2016 alone, and a whopping 11.3 million over the course of his presidency.Because of the hard work and dedication of this man, 11.3 million more Americans can rest easier at night knowing they have employment in a recovering economy.The unemployment rate, which peaked at 10 percent in October 2009, has slipped down to 4.7 percent, as of December 2016.Not only have millions of Americans been put back to work, the average American saw their earnings rise almost three percent in the last year alone, the largest increase since President Obama took office in 2009.As the final weeks come to a close, the President can look back and know that he built this and never wavered in that promise.While the Republicans called his signature achievements Obamacare, the auto bailout, Wall Street reform job killing programs, the facts speak for themselves. Rhetoric v. results.It s amazing, really. The only President s that have managed this kind of economic growth to this magnitude are Presidents Obama and Roosevelt, both of whom are Democrats.After listening, for 7 years, to John Boehner and Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell exclaim Where are the jobs!? we can finally lay it out of them, in black and white: 11.3 million. Thanks for your help. Barack Obama, the job-creating president, will be handing over the keys to Donald Trump. The facts laid out above should not be forgotten. After years of unprecedented obstruction, nothing would be more unjust than to give credit, no matter how slight, to Donald Trump.Featured image via Winn McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
21,612 | Trump a 'monster' spawned by Republicans: Senate Democratic leader | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans have only themselves to blame for Donald Trump, a “monster” spawned by their constant partisan opposition to all major Obama administration initiatives, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said on Wednesday. “Republicans created him (Trump) by spending seven years appealing to some of the darkest forces in America,” said Reid. He spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate a day after presidential candidate Trump won a string of primary contests and consolidated his status as front-runner to be the Republican nominee in the November election. Trump’s rise has alarmed many establishment Republicans, who are both critical of his positions and skeptical he can win the White House. Reid, known for occasionally delivering controversial statements on the Senate floor, said Trump was now the Republican standard-bearer, but he could destroy the party. “The reality is that Republican leaders are reaping what they’ve sown,” Reid said, recounting seven years’ worth of staunch Republican opposition to Obama’s initiatives. Republicans had decided from the start of Obama’s presidency in 2009 that he was an “illegitimate” president, said Reid, who is retiring at the end of this year. Democrat Obama, the first African-American president, is in the final year of his second four-year term. His presidency has been marked by bitter battles with Republicans over fiscal affairs, a landmark law to expand healthcare coverage for the uninsured, immigration, banking reform and policies to tackle climate change. Republicans have controlled the House of Representatives since 2011. And while they took control of the Senate in 2015, they previously used their minority status deftly to challenge Obama. Some Republicans, such as Senator Lindsey Graham, have been outspoken in their opposition to Trump as the prospective party nominee, saying the New York billionaire’ s inflammatory rhetoric will lead to defeat in the general election. Nonetheless, Trump, 69, now looks near unstoppable to be the Republican running against the eventual Democratic presidential candidate - most likely Hillary Clinton. Among Trump’s more controversial proposals have been his call for a wall along the entire southwestern U.S. border to keep out Mexican immigrants. When Congress was attempting to pass a comprehensive immigration bill in 2013 and 2014, many Republican lawmakers put the brakes on the measure, instead calling for tough border enforcement only. “Now it’s time for Republicans to undo what they’ve done by denouncing Donald Trump,” Reid said. “Trump is the GOP’s Frankenstein monster. If the Republicans fail to stop Donald Trump, he’ll tear the party apart even more than it is now.” (Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Eric Beech and Frances Kerry) 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. | 1 |
21,613 | WOW! DEMOCRATS Offer Tips On How To Convince Friends Christians Are More Likely To Commit Acts Of Terrorism Than Muslims | When we found this insane article on the Occupy Democrats website, it had over 500,000 shares. Obviously, making the case against Christians being more likely to commit terrorism while defending terrorism by Muslims is of utmost interest to the Democrat party. We have gone through each and every example of Christian terrorism they have given and dispelled every single one of them. Please make sure you share this article with everyone you know. We are in an emotional propaganda war with the Left and we will not win if we don t fight back with the facts. The outpouring of blatant Islamophobia and barely disguised racism coming from the right-wing in the wake of the Paris attacks is utterly despicable. Every time one of these attacks happen, conservatives insist on blaming the world s 1.6 billion Muslims for their complicity, even though the majority of terrorist attacks are carried out against Muslim. American far right-wingers like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are calling for religious profiling of incoming refugees, because somehow being a Christian automatically removes the risk of terrorism even though Christian right-wing terrorists in America have killed more people since 9/11 than Muslim terrorists have.Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee even had the sheer gall to tell conservative blowhard Joe Scarborough that I don t know of any other group of people uniquely that are targeting innocent civilians and committing these acts of mayhem. Warmonger (from the party who has kept us at war with the same countries we were fighting with, and added a few since Obama took office) and avowed (avowed?) bigot (bigot?) Ted Cruz said that there is no meaningful risk of Christians committing acts of terror. If there were a group of radical Christians pledging to murder anyone who had a different religious view than they, we would have a different national security situation. Since both grifters seem to have severe selective memory problems, let s take a look at the worst Christian terrorist attacks that our own citizens have perpetrated within our borders.1. The Knoxville Unitarian Universalist Church ShootingOne of Adkisson s former wives was a member of the church he attacked. Following his heinous attack of the church members, he had this to say about the attack in his manifesto (Please note, there is never any mention of RELIGION in his reasoning for the attack. His attack was about punishing Democrats (liberals) for destroying America: Adkisson stated that he had targeted the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country s hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of major media outlets. Adkisson made statements that because he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them into office. Adkisson stated that he had held these beliefs for about the last ten years. Adkisson s manifesto[10] also cited the inability to find a job, and that his food stamps were being cut. Here is a screen shot of his manifesto listing all 3 reasons he committed this horrible crime against innocent people. We are not condoning his behavior, we are simply exposing the lies of this Democrat publication who would attempt to frame this act of violence as being motivated by Christianity:Jim David Adkisson, a devout Christian and anti-abortion right-winger, walked into a Knoxville church on July 27th, 2008, and began firing a shotgun at children who were performing Annie Jr. He killed two and wounded seven, targeting the church because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country. 2. The Campaign of Terror Against Abortion DoctorsThis article references the well-known case of abortionist killer, Scott Roeder. We d like to set the record straight about how desire to take the life of abortionist, George Tiller was really about workplace violence and had NOTHING to do with Christianity.Abortion lovers were clearly salivating when word got out that a man walked into George Tiller The Killer s former abortion facility with a bomb in his backpack earlier this week. It turns out that, in fact, the guy was looking for a job, like so many Americans under Obamistake. He wanted to be a canvasser for Live Fetal Organ Dispensary Inc., otherwise known as Planned Parenthood.The media-reported bomb was, in fact, a pill bottle-sized firework. No one was harmed, thank God, but the incident is just one of a too-long string of MSM bigotry against conservatives.In 1993, Dr. Richard Gunn was shot dead by an anti-abortion protester. In 1994, Drs. John Britton and James Barrett were shot to death by Reverend Paul Jennings. In 1998, Dr. Barnett Sleipan was shot dead in his home by a Christian terrorist. In 2009, Dr. George Tiller was shot by Scott Roeder in a church. The ability for Christian right-wingers to justify cold-blooded murder in the name of their pro-life beliefs is a colossal hypocrisy worthy of a terrorist group like ISIS. According to the National Abortion Federation, there have been 17 attempted murders, 383 death threats, 153 incidents of assault or battery, 13 wounded, 100 butyric acid attacks, 373 physical invasions, 41 bombings, 655 anthrax threats, and 3 kidnappings committed against abortion providers since 1977. Terrorist groups like the Taliban and ISIS are very fond of acid attacks and chemical weapons like anthrax; apparently Christian right-wing terrorists share that same preference.3. The 1995 Oklahoma City Bombings(Note, there is no mention of Christianity in McVeigh s explanation of why he bombed the Murrah Fed Building.)In Timothy McVeigh s own words:I explain herein why I bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. I explain this not for publicity, nor seeking to win and argument of right or wrong. I explain so that the record is clear as to my thinking and motivations in bombing a government installation. I chose to bomb a federal building because such an action served more purposes than other options. Foremost, the bombing was a retaliatory strike; a counter attack, for the cumulative raids (and subsequent violence and damage) that federal agents had participated in over the preceding years (including, but not limited to, Waco.) From the formation of such units as the FBI s Hostage Rescue and other assault teams amongst federal agencies during the 80 s; culminating in the Waco incident, federal actions grew increasingly militaristic and violent, to the point where at Waco, our government like the Chinese was deploying tanks against its own citizens.Knowledge of these multiple and ever-more aggressive raids across the country constituted an identifiable pattern of conduct within and by the federal government and amongst its various agencies. (see enclosed) For all intents and purposes, federal agents had become soldiers (using military training, tactics, techniques, equipment, language, dress, organization, and mindset) and they were escalating their behavior. Therefore, this bombing was also meant as a pre-emptive (or pro-active) strike against these forces and their command and control centers within the federal building. When an aggressor force continually launches attacks from a particular base of operation, it is sound military strategy to take the fight to the enemy.Additionally, borrowing a page from U.S. foreign policy, I decided to send a message to a government that was becoming increasingly hostile, by bombing a government building and the government employees within that building who represent that government. Bombing the Murrah Federal Building was morally and strategically equivalent to the U.S. hitting a government building in Serbia, Iraq, or other nations. (see enclosed) Based on observations of the policies of my own government, I viewed this action as an acceptable option. From this perspective, what occurred in Oklahoma City was no different than what Americans rain on the heads of others all the time, and subsequently, my mindset was and is one of the clinical detachment. (the bombing of the Murrah building was not personal , no more than when Air Force, Army, Navy, or Marine personnel bomb or launch cruise missiles against government installations and their personnel.)I hope that this clarification amply addresses your question.Sincerely, Timothy J. McVeigh USP Terre Haute (IN)Timothy McVeigh, America s most notorious domestic terrorist, was obsessed with the Seventh-Day Aventist splinter group known as the Branch Davidians, who resisted an ATF raid on their citadel at Mount Carmel in 1993. He travelled to Waco, Texas during the Waco Siege and heavily supported the religious extremists within it. Two years later, he detonated a fertilizer bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing a hundred and sixty-eight people, including nineteen children, and wounded 648 others. This Christian specifically targeted innocent civilians and committed horrific acts of violence to make his political point heard something Mr. Huckabee believes he should be incapable of, since he s not a Muslim.4. Everything The Ku Klux Klan Has Ever Done(The KKK was not founded on Christian principles and actually changed their focus in the second wave of the KKK to addressing the supposed threat of the Catholic Church, using anti-Catholicism and nativism. Its appeal was directed exclusively at white Protestants; it opposed Jews, blacks, Catholics, and newly arriving Southern European groups such as Italians.)Since its creation after the American Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan has been terrorizing Americans in the name of Protestantism and racial purity. Known for their terrifying costumes and hoods, they wrought have fear and violence against blacks, Jews, immigrants, gays, and Catholics for hundreds of years, responsible for countless massacres, lynchings, rapes, and bombings that have killed thousands. In the modern day, it still has a membership of 5,000 to 8,000 terrorists that operate in individual chapters. Just two weeks ago, Frazier Glenn Cross, the leader of the Carolina Knights of the KKK, was sentenced to death by lethal injection for murdering a fourteen year old girl and two seniors outside the Overland Park Jewish Community Center in Kansas City. The man gave the Hitler salute during his trial and declared that Jews are destroying the white race. None of his victims were Jewish.5. The Massacre At Zion Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C.(Maybe we missed it, but as far as we can tell, this attack had nothing to do with the attacker being a Christian. Liberal logic however, makes it okay to blame this heinous act on Christianity even though the VICTIMS were the CHRISTIANS in this case.)On Wednesday, June 17th of this year, a man rose from a pew in the historically black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, and opened fire with a .45 caliber pistol, killing nine worshipers, including pastor and State Senator Clementa Pickiney. The shooter has been photographed wearing patches representing the racist apartheid regimes in Southwest Africa, had a Confederate license plate on his vehicle. All signs points to this being a hate crime- not only is it the oldest black church in the South, it was a symbol of resistance against slavery, and a survivor reported that the shooter yelled I have to do it. You rape our women and you re taking over our country. And you have to go. Roof was a member of a local Lutheran church, yet somehow his baptism didn t prevent him from gunning down innocent people in a house of worship, defiling a sacred place with hate and murder.So the next time one of your conservative friends tries to school you on the evils of Islam, just name a couple items from this list. The rampant xenophobia that has taken hold of the Republican Party is an affront to everything this nation stands for. Terrorism spawns from the desperation of humankind, and for that, we are all guilty.The original article was published by Occupy Democrats on November 17, 2015 and is titled: The Top Five Attacks On America Committed By Christian Terrorists, Not Muslims | 0 |
21,614 | BLACK HARVARD STUDENTS Host Separate Segregated Graduation Ceremony | According to the Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, this year marks Harvard s highest percentage of accepted black students to date. Almost 12 percent of the total applicants who were offered admission next fall are black. Based off Harvard s average student yield of 70 percent, the journal predicts that approximately 170 black students will join the class of 2018. It goes on to stress the fact that American colleges most known for their selectiveness tend to average only 5 to 10 percent black students. -HPBlack students at Harvard University will be hosting their own, separate black-only graduation ceremony.The Root reports more than 125 Harvard graduate students have registered to participate in the separate black graduation ceremony scheduled for May 23.According to The Root, the point of the event is to acknowledge the struggles and resilience that black students have had to possess in order to thrive in higher education, an environment where minorities are typically underrepresented. Courtney Woods, who is graduating with a master s degree in education policy and management, claimed the event is a way to reclaim Harvard s alleged history of slavery, epistemic racism and colonization. Woods told The Root, Harvard s institutional foundation is in direct conflict with the needs of black students. There is a legacy of slavery, epistemic racism and colonization at Harvard, which was an institution founded to train rising imperialist leaders, she said. This is a history that we are reclaiming. Woods added, It speaks volumes that there has never been a black graduation ceremony until now. For entire story: MRCtvHere s another example of self-imposed black segregation at Harvard University. By alienating themselves from the white students and suggesting they kill themselves there will never be a chance for black and white students to overcome racism at Harvard. In case you missed it, in March, 2015, we published a story about students at Harvard University who held a debate where black Harvard students argued that white people should kill themselves for having white privilege . | 0 |
21,615 | Emirates, Etihad, Qatar to let barred passengers on U.S. flights | DUBAI (Reuters) - Emirates [EMIRA.UL], Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways said on Saturday they will allow passengers barred by President Donald Trump’s executive order to board U.S.-bound flights after a federal judge blocked the move. U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) has advised them they can board travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries and all refugees who had been banned under the order, the airlines said. “Acceptance will naturally be subject to checks completed by U.S. authorities as existed prior to the issuance of the Executive Order on 27 January,” an Etihad spokesman told Reuters in emailed comments. Emirates and Qatar Airways spokeswomen confirmed the airlines were again accepting all passengers with valid travel documents. Air France, Spain’s Iberia and Germany’s Lufthansa also followed suit after the federal judge’s ruling, which the White House said it planned to appeal as soon as possible. Trump’s suspension on the entry of nationals from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, and all refugees caught airlines off guard, with some carriers forced to re-roster flight crew in order to abide by the order. | 1 |
21,616 | Jeb Bush Blames Bad Parenting For Black Crime: Says His Own Kids’ Crimes ‘Not His Fault’ (VIDEO) | Earlier this year, Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush was asked a question regarding domestic protests in Baltimore and Ferguson, which were tied to predatory policing of African-Americans that led to murder-by-cop.Via Think Progress:During a Q & A with employees of the pharmaceutical company Nephron, his response to a question about teachers unions veered into his thoughts on the origins of the mass protests in Ferguson and Baltimore. Kids in this country are aimlessly wandering around in their lives because they ve never been told they were capable of learning, Bush said. They ve never been challenged to achieve far better. They ve never really had the kind of mentoring and nurturing that gives them the sense their lives could be better. You see what happens in Baltimore and Ferguson. You see the tragedies play out. You see people becoming so despondent they take actions that are horrific. Jeb is with a slightly softer wording than some using the same old white privilege-ridden Republican response to criminal issues that are a part of the African-American community blame the parents.Fast forward 7 months later:During an interview with CBS Miami, the topic of Jeb s daughter Noelle came up. Jeb was asked by the interviewer about his daughter s criminal past and multiple issues with drugs. The interviewer specifically asked if Jeb felt that during his time away from home campaigning and during his tenure as Governor, if he didn t have enough time for his family and if that made him feel personally responsible for his daughter s problems.Listen to Jeb s incredibly hypocritical response in the video below via CBS Miami: I can t blame myself. That s not gonna solve any problems, and you just can t do that. Jeb can t blame himself for choosing not to be around for his family when his daughter was engaging in criminal drug activity. However, as you saw above, if you are black and live in a city that means it s YOUR family s fault if you engage in any immoral or illegal activity.Here is some history on Jeb s daughter. In 2002, Noelle was arrested when she tried to forge a Xanax prescription in Tallahassee. A judge sentenced her to rehab. In July 2002, she was jailed for three days for violating her probation by breaking the rules of her rehab program. In October 2002, Noelle was jailed again for 10 more days when she was found in possession of crack cocaine while in the rehab center. In 2003, she finally completed the program and has had a cushy job at one of daddy s companies ever since.These are 3 crimes that were drug related in less than one year. She spent less thantwo weeks in jail total for all of it.It s relevant to know that during Jeb s first year as Florida governor he signed a law increasing mandatory minimums for drug offenses and for minors, including a 3-year minimum for as little as 4 grams of heroin. He also blocked the implementation of treatment instead of jail for nonviolent drug offenses. Bush also opposed a ballot measure that would have allowed 10,000 drug offenders to leave jail and enroll in treatment programs. Somehow Jeb s daughter avoided this mandatory minimum sentencing minefield.One final bit of annoyance Jeb s son George P. Bush was also arrested for breaking and entering his ex-girlfriend s home while drunk when he was 18 years old. He walked when charges were not pressed.What an elitist Republican jerk Jeb Bush really showed his capacity for hypocrisy and contempt for other people by excusing himself for his families problems, while laying ALL the problems African-American people encounter in life squarely on their parents shoulders.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
21,617 | Bill Clinton defends wife's 'super predator' comment to protesters | (Reuters) - Bill Clinton faced down protesters for 10 minutes at a presidential campaign rally in Philadelphia for his wife, Hillary Clinton, over their criticisms that a 1994 crime bill he approved while president led to a surge in black people being imprisoned. Several protesters heckled him and held signs, including one that read “CLINTON Crime Bill Destroyed Our Communities.” Video footage of Hillary Clinton defending the bill in 1994 by calling young people in gangs “super predators” who need to “be brought to heel” have been widely circulated during the campaign by activists in the Black Lives Matter protest movement. Bill Clinton defended her 1994 remarks, which protesters say were racially insensitive. “I don’t know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped on crack and sent them out on the street to murder other African-American children,” he said, shaking his finger at a heckler as Clinton supporters cheered, according to video of the event. “Maybe you thought they were good citizens. She didn’t.” Hillary Clinton, who also has faced protesters upset by her remarks, has said she regrets using the term. Bill Clinton said last year that he regrets signing the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law because it contributed to the country’s high incarceration rate of black people for nonviolent crimes. | 1 |
21,618 | Obama does victory lap for car industry but it is different from what he hoped | DETROIT (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, facing Republican criticism over the state of the economy, did a Detroit victory lap on Wednesday to showcase the auto companies his administration helped save, but the industry has not turned out the way he hoped in 2009. Obama has held out his bailout of General Motors (GM.N) and Chrysler during the U.S. recession as examples of tough decisions he made that paid off both for the economy and the environment. “The auto industry here in the United States has figured out that we can make more fuel-efficient cars that reduce the carbon pollution that is causing climate change, and make a profit - and put more people to work,” Obama told a crowd at a United Auto Workers Union center for workers at GM. But car companies are still churning out gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles to meet consumer demand, going against Obama’s hope that higher fuel-economy models would win the day. Sales of SUVs rose 16 percent in 2015, while car sales fell 2 percent. Although new SUVs are more efficient than prior models, they still burn more gasoline than cars. About 59 percent of U.S. vehicle sales last year were sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or other big vehicles, up from 54 percent in 2014. Low gas prices have boosted the trend. A Ford Motor Co (F.N) plant in Michigan that Obama visited a year ago is ending production of small cars in 2018 and is expected to switch to SUVs to help meet soaring demand. The White House noted the industry was on track to double fuel efficiency and cut emissions by half by 2025. During a stop at the North American International Auto Show, Obama sought to give a push to electric cars. Obama joked that he was in town to browse for a new car himself because he had to give up his limo, affectionately known as “The Beast,” when he leaves office next year. He sat in the driver’s seat of a 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV, an all-electric car the White House said could travel about 200 miles (320 km) on a single charge. The president declared it a nice-looking car. Electric vehicle sales fell last year by 6 percent to 115,000, and the administration has said it would not meet its goal of getting 1 million plug-in cars on U.S. roads by 2015. To date, about 400,000 electric vehicles have been sold. Without naming names, the president pounded Republicans for opposing the bailout and trying to outdo each other by “peddling fiction” about the state of the U.S. economy. “When one says our economy is terrible, the next says it’s terrible, and on fire, and covered in bees!” he said. “These are the same folks who would have let this industry go under,” he said. Obama’s visit to Detroit did not include a stop in nearby Flint, which is in the throes of a water contamination crisis that has forced the state’s Republican governor to apologize. Obama pledged his support to the community. “If I were a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kid’s health could be at risk,” he said. | 1 |
21,619 | NAACP PRESIDENT Shocks Locals with Stance on Confederate Statues and Protests Against Them | I think it s all senseless. All senseless. Bethlehem, PA NAACP President Esther Lee Bethlehem, PA NAACP President Esther Lee brought some common sense to the craziness going on all around America right now. Leave it to the wise elderly lady to set everyone straight We love what she had to say!Esther Lee doesn t agree with the vandalism of Confederate monuments in Baltimore or condone the actions of those who tore down the statue in North Carolina, either. You know that s history. That was in that point in time. You can t eliminate what history is. So I disapprove with young people pulling down those statues, she says.Lee then adds, A young woman died. Two officers were murdered in a plane crash and all for what? Because somebody in their mind decided, we don t need to look at that anymore. It shouldn t be, she says softly.President Trump weighed in on the question about taking Confederate statues down by saying, This week, it s Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder is it George Washington next week? Is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you do really have to ask yourself where does it stop? While Lee doesn t agree with President Trump on everything, she does think that history should be left to stand and advises others to join her in praying for the president. I would pray that he would gain the strength to do what s necessary in the job, at least for these four years, she says.Lee says maybe things aren t what they should be. But that doesn t mean hate and hurt need to win.She says, instead, what we should do, is widen our circle of compassion.A spokeswoman for Gettysburg National Military Park says they haven t received any complaints about their hundreds of monuments and markers and she says they have no plans to remove anything memorializing Confederates leaders or soldiers.Read more: WFMZ | 0 |
21,620 | an eight point brief for voting to avoid corporate evil | gruesome video shows turkish soldiers execute female kurdish pkk fighters by shooting in their heads shares
amateur footage emerged on saturday showing what appears to be turkish soldiers executing two female pkk insurgents at pointblank range
almasdar news that released the footage says they are not able to independently verify it
a ceasefire between turkey and the pkk ended last year and clashes have since claimed hundreds of lives on both sides
the pkk operates primarily in the mountanious terrain of southeastern turkey and often uploads footage of its kurdish fighters ambushing turkish government troops more erdogan vows heavy price for coup plotters
the tension between kurdish fighters and turkish government have always been high in past years in yet one of the most recent cases a turkish court banned the coleader of turkeys prokurdish opposition from traveling abroad as part of a court case in which she has been accused of being a member of an armed terrorist group hurriyet daily reported on saturday reuters reported
figen yuksekdag cochair of peoples democratic party hdp is facing jail time up to years over comments she made last year in the southeastern border town of suruc the prosecutor of the case requested the ban
hdp described the courts decision to bar yuksekdag from foreign travel as political and arbitrary saying in a statement that it will make a formal appeal for its overturn
the move comes days after the comayors of diyarbakir the largest city in the southeast were detained as part of a security crackdown turkeys largely kurdish southeast has been rocked by violence following the collapse of a ceasefire between the state and the kurdistan workers party pkk last year
president tayyip erdogan has accused the hdp of being a political extension of the outlawed pkk and repeatedly called for the prosecution of its members he has also said the removal of elected officials and civil servants accused of links to the pkk was a vital part of the battle against it
several other hdp lawmakers including cochair selahattin demirtas are also being prosecuted largely over terrorism charges after the parliament earlier this year lifted the immunity of hdp deputies along with the immunity of mps from other parties
meanwhile three turkish soldiers were killed and five others were wounded by mortar fire from pkk militants near the southeastern town of cukurca security sources said
soldiers who were on an operation in cukurca in hakkari province bordering iraq and iraq returned the fire sources said operations were under way to hunt down the militants
the autonomyseeking pkk took up arms in and more than people have died in the conflict it is considered a terrorist group by turkey the united states and the european union | 0 |
21,621 | Arab League to hold emergency meeting on Jerusalem on Saturday | CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab League is to hold an emergency meeting on Saturday on U.S. plans to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the head of the Palestinian delegation to the body said on Wednesday. The Palestinians and Jordan had requested the meeting which will take place at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT), Ambassador Diab al-Louh told Reuters by phone. | 1 |
21,622 | Iraqi government asks Kurdistan regional government to hand over border posts, airports in referendum dispute | ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The Iraqi government asked the autonomous Kurdish region on Sunday to hand over international border posts and its international airports, retaliating to a Kurdish independence referendum to be held on Monday in northern Iraq. It also asked the foreign countries to stop oil trading with the Kurdish region and to deal with the central government in regards to airports and borders, said a statement published by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi s office. | 1 |
21,623 | Watchdog to depart DHS after tensions over U.S. travel ban report | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s top internal watchdog told Reuters on Tuesday he will retire, after he complained about a delay in the release of a report critical of the department’s handling of President Donald Trump’s travel ban. Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth, nominated by former Democratic President Barack Obama in late 2013, said in an interview on Tuesday that his last day will be Thursday. He announced his plans to his staff early last week. Roth said his decision to step down was unrelated to concerns he raised in a seven-page, Nov. 20 letter to members of Congress that revealed for the first time the findings from his office’s inquiry into how U.S. Customs and Border Protection implemented Trump’s initial travel ban in January. In the letter, Roth said he was “troubled” that senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) leaders had taken more than six weeks to decide which parts of the report should be made public, and had given it to the Justice Department to decide whether to redact some sections on internal deliberations. The 87-page report has yet to be released. In a statement, a DHS spokesman said its employees “conducted themselves professionally, and in a legal manner” in implementing the travel ban. Roth said that after he leaves, the inspector general office’s deputy, John V. Kelly, will take over temporarily until the president nominates a permanent replacement. “It was a good run,” Roth said, noting that he has worked in the government since the Reagan era. “It is now time to do other things. This has been coming for awhile.” Trump’s travel ban of January 2017, restricting U.S. entry by people from certain Muslim majority countries, has been the target of multiple legal challenges. Its initial implementation led to chaos at airports across the United States. The January ban was blocked by federal courts. Trump later issued two revised versions in March and September. The U.S. Supreme Court is now weighing whether to let the latest version go into full effect after it was partially blocked by lower courts. In his letter to Congress, Roth said his office did not substantiate any claims of misconduct by customs agents, but that there was little warning before the ban took effect and the department violated court orders in two different instances. Roth told Reuters he had not heard any updates since he wrote to Congress. “I still remain very concerned,” he said, adding other inspectors general have told him they too were “surprised” by DHS’ handling of the matter. Presidentially appointed inspectors general serve at the pleasure of the president, although they typically do not step down with a change in administration. Roth has worked in government since 1987, including as a prosecutor in the Justice Department and more recently as head of the Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Criminal Investigations. | 1 |
21,624 | (VIDEO) HUCKSTER AL SHARPTON: CLIMATE CHANGE IS A ‘CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE’…BLACKS SUFFER MOST | The global warming hucksterism in the Obama administration has been going on since the beginning. The former EPA director was big on the environmental justice for minorities. It s a made up term just like environmental racism. I can t tell you just how important it is for Americans to pay attention and follow the money on this. Here s a video from the last EPA director that s full of pretty alarming lingo and propaganda: It [climate change] is an issue of justice, and it is an issue of human rights. African-Americans are at a higher risk of being close, or predisposed to areas of carbon, as well as other poisonous pollution in the air. And we have a disproportionate interest because we suffer disproportionately, Sharpton continued. You cannot, not deal with climate change as a health issue, as a moral issue, and as a civil rights issue. Aka: federally subsidize black communities because they are victim of geo-racism. | 0 |
21,625 | U.S., Turkey restart issuing visas but tensions over detentions fester | ANKARA (Reuters) - The United States partially resumed issuing visas in Turkey on Monday after getting what it said were assurances about the safety of staff at its missions following a number of detentions. The Turkish embassy in Washington said almost immediately it would match the move, although it denied there had been any assurances. It called the U.S. move a positive development, noting it was announced on the eve of a visit to the United States by Turkey s Prime Minister Binali Yildirim. The U.S. embassy said that despite its move it remained deeply concerned over the detention of two of its locally employed staff at diplomatic missions in Turkey, and the fate of U.S. citizens arrested under a state of emergency in force since a failed coup last year. The arrest of a veteran employee at the U.S. consulate in Istanbul a month ago led the United States to suspend all non-immigrant visa services while it assessed the security of its staff in Turkey. Within hours of the U.S. announcement on Oct. 8, Turkey said it was implementing reciprocal measures and President Tayyip Erdogan later angrily accused Washington of sacrificing a longstanding alliance with Ankara. We have received initial high-level assurances from the government of Turkey that there are no additional local employees of our mission in Turkey under investigation, the U.S. embassy said in a statement. We have also received initial assurances from the government of Turkey that our local staff will not be detained or arrested for performing their official duties. Hours later, however, the Turkish embassy said it had not given the United States any assurances, and that any decision regarding legal procedures on U.S. mission workers would be left to Turkey s judiciary. The personnel in question employed by the U.S. has been the subject of a judicial process not because of his official duties, but because of very serious charges against him, it said in a statement. It also said a reference to the security conditions of U.S. missions in Turkey in the U.S. embassy s statement was considered odd and did not reflect the truth. News of the partial resumption, reported by Reuters earlier, had helped the lira TRYTOM=D3 strengthen to 3.8356 to the dollar from 3.8708 beforehand. In May, a translator at the U.S. consulate in the southern province of Adana was arrested and, more recently, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) worker was detained in Istanbul. Both are accused of links to last year failed coup. The U.S. embassy has said the accusations are baseless. Turkish officials have said police want to question a third worker based in Istanbul. His wife and daughter were detained over alleged links to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, blamed by Ankara for orchestrating the abortive putsch. They were later released. Turkey has been angered by what it sees as U.S. reluctance to hand over Gulen, who has lived in Pennsylvania since 1999. U.S. officials have said courts require sufficient evidence to order his extradition. Gulen denies any involvement in the failed coup. Erdogan has also lashed out at the United States after prosecutors there charged a former Turkish economy minister and the ex-head of a state-owned bank with conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran by illegally moving hundreds of millions of dollars through the U.S. financial system on Tehran s behalf. The charges stem from an ongoing case against Reza Zarrab, a wealthy Turkish-Iranian gold trader who was arrested in the United States over sanctions evasion last year. Zarrab, who is due to go on trial this month, has pleaded not guilty. Erdogan has said U.S. prosecutors have ulterior motives in that case, by including references to him and his wife in court papers. In their statement, the Turkish embassy said Turkey had serious concerns about legal cases concerning its citizens in the United States, and added that Turkish and U.S. officials would continue to hold meetings to resolve the cases in a satisfactory manner. | 1 |
21,626 | Victims of South Sudan attack on aid workers start testifying from U.S. | KAMPALA (Reuters) - Foreign victims of an attack on aid workers in South Sudan began giving testimony via video link from the United States on Wednesday in the trial of government soldiers accused of murder and gang rape. The assault on the Terrain Hotel in the South Sudan capital Juba in July 2016, at the end of a battle between government and rebel forces, left a South Sudanese aid worker dead and at least five foreign women raped. We had testimony from one of the victims through a video conference, prosecution lawyer Philips Anyang told Reuters, without giving details. He added that a second victim was scheduled to testify on Thursday. Six witnesses are to testify from the United States, with the assistance of the FBI. The military trial in Juba is not open to the media. U.N. investigators and rights groups have frequently accused both the South Sudanese army and rebels of murder, torture and rape, and say such crimes almost always go unpunished. The civil war, which has killed tens of thousands, broke out in 2013 between the army of President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and rebels of former vice president Riek Machar, a Nuer. The trial of 12 suspects in the hotel attack is the first prosecution in South Sudan of soldiers accused of committing atrocities. It had been stalled due to a lack of witness evidence. Previously, the court in Juba demanded witnesses travel to South Sudan to testify, but most were unwilling to do so out of safety and confidentiality concerns. The court has now dropped that requirement. For [the court] to concede that point was a sign that they were willing to accept victims concerns and victims wishes to be a lot more sensitive, one woman who was raped in the attack told Reuters before the trial began. Another woman told Reuters before the trial that she had been gang-raped by 15 men in the hotel incident. She said she wanted to testify because most victims of such crimes in South Sudan did not get justice. To stand up and put it on the record that these atrocities are being committed by forces ... is an amazing opportunity that I had to take, she said. Also testifying will be at least one eyewitness to the murder of the South Sudanese aid worker, John Gatluak, a Nuer who had worked for U.S.-funded organization Internews, Anyang told Reuters. | 1 |
21,627 | FOUL-MOUTHED Celebrities For HILLARY Sing Vulgar Song With Baby In Arms: ‘Jesus F*cking Christ,’ Please Vote [VIDEO] | Celebrities are making a final, profanity-filled plea to Americans to vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with just a few days remaining until Election Day.Actresses Rachel Bloom, Elizabeth Banks, Mayim Bialik, Jane Lynch, Adam Scott and Jesse Tyler Ferguson and musicians Moby and Patti LuPone star in a pro-Clinton music video released by liberal comedy website Funny or Die Friday called Holy Sh*t (You ve Got to Vote), in which the group urges Americans to vote against orange talking STD Donald Trump. Holy f*cking sh*t, you ve got to vote, the group sings over a piano-based melody in the video, one of many anti-Trump projects released on the Funny or Die website in recent weeks. Breitbart NewsIs this rank performance is supposed to get people to vote for Hillary? | 0 |
21,628 | Britain will honour commitments made to EU - May's spokesman | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will honour its commitments made while a member of the European Union, but specific figures on how much the country will pay for Brexit are subject to negotiations, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Tuesday. All I can point you to is the PM s position as set out many times in terms of the fact that the UK will honour commitments we ve made during the period of our membership. No EU member state will need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan, he told reporters. In terms of specific figures or scenarios, they are all subject to negotiation. | 1 |
21,629 | JESSE WATTERS PANEL Goes Off Rails While Debating If Clinton Should Be Charged: “Your boy Trump” [Video] | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCr0qvehJIk | 0 |
21,630 | Rohingya Muslims flee as more than 2,600 houses burned in Myanmar's Rakhine | COX S BAZAR, Bangladesh (Reuters) - More than 2,600 houses have been burned down in Rohingya-majority areas of Myanmar s northwest in the last week, the government said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest bouts of violence involving the Muslim minority in decades. About 58,600 Rohingya have fled into neighbouring Bangladesh from Myanmar, according to U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, as aid workers there struggle to cope. Myanmar officials blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) for the burning of the homes. The group claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks on security posts last week that prompted clashes and a large army counter-offensive. But Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh say a campaign of arson and killings by the Myanmar army is aimed at trying to force them out. The treatment of Myanmar s roughly 1.1 million Rohingya is the biggest challenge facing leader Aung San Suu Kyi, accused by Western critics of not speaking out for the Muslim minority that has long complained of persecution. Former colonial power Britain said on Saturday it hoped Suu Kyi would use her remarkable qualities to end the violence. Aung San Suu Kyi is rightly regarded as one of the most inspiring figures of our age, but the treatment of the Rohingya is, alas, besmirching the reputation of Burma, foreign minister Boris Johnson said in a statement. The clashes and army crackdown have killed nearly 400 people and more than 11,700 ethnic residents have been evacuated from the area, the government said, referring to the non-Muslim residents. It marks a dramatic escalation of a conflict that has simmered since October, when a smaller Rohingya attack on security posts prompted a military response dogged by allegations of rights abuses. A total of 2,625 houses from Kotankauk, Myinlut and Kyikanpyin villages and two wards in Maungtaw were burned down by the ARSA extremist terrorists, the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said. The group has been declared a terrorist organisation by the government. But Human Rights Watch, which analysed satellite imagery and accounts from Rohingya fleeing to Bangladesh, said the Myanmar security forces deliberately set the fires. New satellite imagery shows the total destruction of a Muslim village, and prompts serious concerns that the level of devastation in northern Rakhine state may be far worse than originally thought, said the group s deputy Asia director, Phil Robertson. Near the Naf river separating Myanmar and Bangladesh, new arrivals in Bangladesh carrying their belongings in sacks set up crude tents or tried to squeeze into available shelters or homes of locals. The existing camps are near full capacity and numbers are swelling fast. In the coming days there needs to be more space, said UNHCR regional spokeswoman Vivian Tan, adding more refugees were expected. The Rohingya are denied citizenship in Myanmar and regarded as illegal immigrants, despite claiming roots that date back centuries. Bangladesh is also growing increasingly hostile to Rohingya, more than 400,000 of whom live in the poor South Asian country after fleeing Myanmar since the early 1990s. Jalal Ahmed, 60, who arrived in Bangladesh on Friday with a group of about 3,000 after walking from Kyikanpyin for almost a week, said he believed the Rohingya were being pushed out of Myanmar. The military came with 200 people to the village and started fires...All the houses in my village are already destroyed. If we go back there and the army sees us, they will shoot, he said. Reuters could not independently verify these accounts as access for independent journalists to northern Rakhine has been restricted since security forces locked down the area in October. Speaking to soldiers, government staff and Rakhine Buddhists affected by the conflict on Friday, army chief Min Aung Hlaing said there is no oppression or intimidation against the Muslim minority and everything is within the framework of the law . The Bengali problem was a long-standing one which has become an unfinished job, he said, using a term used by many in Myanmar to refer to the Rohingya that suggests they come from Bangladesh. Many aid programmes running in northern Rakhine prior to the outbreak of violence, including life-saving food assistance by the World Food Programme (WFP), have been suspended since the fighting broke out. Food security indicators and child malnutrition rates in Maungdaw were already above emergency thresholds before the violence broke out, and it is likely that they will now deteriorate even further, said Pierre Peron, spokesman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Myanmar. More than 80,000 children may need treatment for malnutrition in northern Rakhine and many of them reported extreme food insecurity, WFP said in July. In Bangladesh, Tan of UNHCR said more shelters and medical care were needed. There s a lot of pregnant women and lactating mothers and really young children, some of them born during the flight. They all need medical attention, she said. Among new arrivals, 22-year-old Tahara Begum gave birth to her second child in a forest on the way to Bangladesh. It was the hardest thing I ve ever done, she said. | 1 |
21,631 | CSX resumes normal train operations into parts of Georgia: statement | (Reuters) - Csx Corp said on Wednesday it has resumed normal train operations into Waycross and Savannah, in Georgia, and limited service into Jacksonville, Florida, where it has also reopened intermodal facilities. The No. 3 U.S. railroad also said engineering crews worked through the night to restore service in Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama but that customers should expect delays as backlogs are worked down. The railroad said intermodal terminals in Jacksonville, central Florida, and Tampa have reopened, though train service delays are still expected. | 1 |
21,632 | putin condemns europes handling of migrants and says the child rape in austria shows a dilution of national values | posted on november how hillary courts the black vote ethnomasochism reaches a new low
the democratic presidential primary was one of unprecedented pandering for the nonwhite vote as the guardian summed up one of the debates hillary clinton and bernie sanders made a conspicuous play for latino and african american voters mrs clinton won the conspicuous play hands down and with it the nomination the failure of senator sanders to win the necessary quotient of nonwhite votes was repeatedly pointed out by the chattering class up until the time he dropped out
in february one black commenter pointedly wrote that sen sanders has many miles to go to convince black voters that he can fight for our interests by may black commenter steven thrasher wrote a piece titled bernie sanders isnt winning minority votes and its his own fault mr thrasher identified sen sanderss problem as failing to talk about racism at every turn
this accusation may seem ludicrous since sen sanders surrendered his stage to black lives matter activists several times but in comparison to mrs clinton mr thrasher was right about sen sanders no mainstream candidate in the history of the united states has more thoroughly debased himself in the quest for the black vote than mrs clinton since this helped her win the democratic nomination she has continued the strategy in the few days remaining before november th lets take a look at hillary clintons most ethnomasochistic moments
in january of mrs clinton was at something called the iowa brown and black forum with none other than jorge ramos where she was asked can you tell us what the term white privilege means to you and can you give me an example from your life or career when you think you have benefitted from it this is how she began her answer
where do i start i think it is hard when you are swimming in the ocean to know exactly what is happening around you so much as it is when youre standing on the shore perhaps watching i was born white middleclass in the middle of america
early in the democratic nomination mrs clintons campaign released a memo aimed at stifling the rising momentum of bernie sanders
whereas the electorates in iowa and new hampshire are largely ruralsuburban and predominantly white the march primary states better reflect the true diversity of the democratic party and the nation it will be very difficult if not impossible for a democrat to win the nomination without strong levels of support among african american and hispanic voters we believe thats how it should be emphasis added
shortly before the south carolina primary at schomburg center for research in black culture in harlem mrs clinton explained how to break down barriers for african americans
ending systemic racism requires contributions from all of usespecially those of us who havent experienced it ourselves white americans need to do a better job of listening when african americans talk about the seen and unseen barriers that you face every day
we need to recognize our privilege and practice humility rather than assume that our experiences are everyones experiences all of us need to bring our skills to bearand especially young people coming up today who have a passion for social justice and are helping to create new ways to solve intractable problems
in april of while on a back radio show mrs clinton was asked what she always carries in her bag she immediately answered hot sauce when one of the black hosts noted that she would be accused of pandering to black people for giving that answer she asked hopeully is it working
just a few weeks after a black lives matter supporter murdered five police officers the democratic national convention that convened to nominate mrs clinton passed a resolution no doubt with her approval supporting black lives matter
the dnc joins with americans across the country in affirming black lives matter and the say her name efforts to make visible the pain of our fellow and sister americans as they condemn extrajudicial killings of unarmed african american men women and children
white politicians have tried to win elections through public displays of ethnomasochism for decades but this election has set a new low and if mrs clinton loses her pandering could live on in another form as the black lives matter activist tef poe explained if mr trump wins young niggas such as myself are fully hell bent on inciting riots everywhere we go aint no more rules weve been too nice as is | 0 |
21,633 | BOOM! JUDGE NAPOLITANO: The ONLY Crime Committed “Senators were under surveillance by Obama administration” [Video] | This is one of the best accounts we ve seen of who REALLY committed a crime in all of this craziness. Judge Napolitano is dead on with his assessment of the unmasking for political reasons: Were senators under surveillance by Obama administration? Rand Paul and other Senators were under surveillance for political purposes according to Senator Paul. The unmasking using the name that was unmasked for political reasons is a FELONY. The principal unmasker is Susan Rice so Susan Rice needs to be dealt with. Did she unmask illegally and for political purposes?Senator Rand Paul talks about FBI Director James Comey being fired by President Donald Trump. Paul believes Comey should have been fired a long time ago for some major missteps during his tenure including the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida. Paul also talks about Susan Rice unmasking Innocent Americans and spying on them, the Obama administration spying on Donald Trump and other Republicans. | 0 |
21,634 | Talk of shifting funds away from Trump premature: Republican official | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior official with the Republican National Committee on Sunday played down the prospect that the party would cut off cash and logistical support to White House nominee Donald Trump in order to shift resources toward congressional races. Last week 70 Republicans wrote a letter urging the RNC to stop helping Trump and to focus instead on candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. The letter, signed by former members both of Congress and RNC staff, said Trump’s actions were “divisive and dangerous” and posed a threat to the party and the country. Sean Spicer, RNC communications director, said in a telephone interview that abandoning Trump with nearly three months to go to the Nov. 8 election “doesn’t make logical sense.” In October 1996 the RNC moved money from the presidential race to congressional candidates after Republican nominee Bob Dole fell far behind Democratic President Bill Clinton in opinion polls. But Spicer said giving up on Trump could be harmful to other Republican candidates and there was still time for him to rebound in opinion polls against Democrat Hillary Clinton. “Number one, you need a strong top of the ticket. That’s number one. Number two, we’re only six points down,” Spicer said, referring to the gap that Clinton has opened up against Trump in some national polls. Clinton led Trump by more than five percentage points in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday. Clinton has strong leads in hotly contested states such as Pennsylvania and New Hampshire and some polls show her within a few percentage points of Trump in some states such as Georgia that normally lean strongly Republican. Any discussions of cutting off funds to Trump in August would be “ridiculous,” Spicer said. Trump has polarized the party with his vow to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and his plan to impose a temporary ban on Muslims seeking to enter the country. Trump has been criticized by both Republicans and Democrats for a prolonged feud with the Muslim family of a fallen U.S. Army captain and his assertion last week that President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had co-founded the Islamic State militant group. | 1 |
21,635 | Palestinians to snub Pence during visit over Jerusalem move | CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not meet U.S. Vice President Mike Pence during Pence s visit to the region this month in a snub over the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital, the Palestinian foreign minister said on Saturday. Violence erupted for a third day in Gaza in response to President Donald Trump s announcement on Wednesday, which overturned decades of U.S. policy towards the Middle East. Israeli air strikes killed two Palestinian gunmen on Saturday after militants fired rockets from the enclave into Israel on Friday, which had been declared a day of rage by Palestinian factions. Trump s recognition of Jerusalem has infuriated the Arab world and upset Western allies, who say it is a blow to peace efforts and risks sparking more violence in the region. Late on Saturday, Arab foreign ministers urged the United States to abandon its decision and said the move would spur violence throughout the region. The Arab League, in a statement issued after an emergency session in Cairo, called Trump s announcement a dangerous violation of international law which had no legal impact and was void. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to critics in a statement before meetings in Paris on Sunday with French President Emmanuel Macron to be followed by a meeting with European foreign ministers in Brussels. I hear (from Europe) voices of condemnation over President Trump s historic announcement but I have not heard any condemnation for the rocket firing against Israel that has come (after the announcement) and the awful incitement against us, Netanyahu said. Israel maintains that all of Jerusalem is its capital. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. Most countries consider East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed after capturing it in a 1967 war, to be occupied territory, and say the status of the city should be left to be decided at future Israeli-Palestinian talks. The Trump administration says it is still committed to Palestinian-Israeli talks, that Israel s capital would be in Jerusalem under any serious peace plan, and that it has not taken a position on the city s borders. It says the moribund negotiations can be revived only by ditching outdated policies. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinians will be looking for a new peace talks broker instead of the United States and would seek a United Nations Security Council resolution over Trump s decision. We will seek a new mediator from our Arab brothers and the international community, Maliki told reporters in Cairo before the Arab League meeting on Trump s Jerusalem decision. A Turkish presidential source said Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and French President Emmanuel Macron will work together to try to persuade the United States to reconsider the move. A possible meeting with Pence has also been turned down by Egypt s Coptic Church, MENA state news agency reported. White House and U.S. State Department officials did not respond to requests for comment. Palestinian officials said Pence had been due to meet Abbas on Dec. 19. Trump s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is leading efforts to restart negotiations, though his bid has shown little public progress so far. Palestinian militants launched at least three rockets towards Israeli towns from Gaza after dark on Friday and Israel said it responded with air strikes that targeted a weapons depot, a military compound and two weapons manufacturing facilities. Hamas, which controls Gaza, confirmed the two men killed in the pre-dawn strikes belonged to the group, which has urged Palestinians to keep up the confrontation with Israeli forces. However, Palestinian protests on Saturday were less intense than on the previous two days. About 60 Palestinian youths threw stones at Israeli soldiers across the Gaza-Israel border and the health ministry said at least 10 were wounded by Israeli fire. In the occupied West Bank, Palestinians set fire to tires and threw stones and firebombs at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and, in a few instances, live fire. The Israeli military said one protester was arrested. In East Jerusalem about 60 people demonstrated near the walled Old City, where paramilitary border police and officers on horseback tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas. Thirteen demonstrators were arrested and four officers were lightly injured by stones, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. On Friday, thousands of Palestinians took to the streets in protest and two Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops on the Gaza border. Scores more were wounded there and in the West Bank. Across the Arab and Muslim worlds, thousands more protesters had gathered to express solidarity. The Turkish presidential source said Erdogan and Macron agreed during a phone call that Trump s move was worrying for the region and that Turkey and France would make a joint effort to try to reverse the U.S. decision. Erdogan also spoke to the presidents of Kazakhstan, Lebanon and Azerbaijan on Saturday, the source said. On Wednesday, he called an urgent meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Turkey next week. A senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official said on Saturday that Trump s move was a gift to radicalism . Radicals and extremists will use that to fan the language of hate, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said at the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain. | 1 |
21,636 | REPORTER SHOCKS HILLARY BY SHOWING UP: Watch The Change From Unsteady To Alert [Video] | Clinton just left Apple Seeds kids center in Flatiron. Feeling good about debate? Getting ready, getting ready! Clinton just left Apple Seeds kids center in Flatiron. Feeling good about debate? Getting ready, getting ready! pic.twitter.com/mXxBbMiVcu Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) September 25, 2016 | 0 |
21,637 | Trump to nominate Rod Rosenstein to be deputy U.S. attorney general | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will nominate U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein to be deputy attorney general, the White House said on Tuesday, one day after Trump fired the acting attorney general for refusing to enforce an immigration order. The White House also said Trump will nominate Rachel Brand to be associate attorney general and Steven Engel to be an assistant attorney general, filling senior positions as the Justice Department awaits Senate confirmation of Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. | 1 |
21,638 | Democratic state attorneys general decry student loan rework by Republicans | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been reworking student lending since her appointment in February, raising concerns among Democrats that she will undo former President Barack Obama’s overhaul of college financial aid. On Monday, 21 state attorneys general, all Democrats, wrote to Republican DeVos decrying her decision to end the Education Department’s work on reforming loan servicing, steps intended to ensure that borrowers understand their outstanding debt and repayment options. “We should be looking for ways to ease the burden of student debt, not enabling the student loan servicing industry to manipulate and exploit students,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement. Under Democrat Obama, much of the $1.3 trillion business of student lending was moved from banks and other companies to the federal government. Four companies still handle servicing the loans. Last year the department began working on restrictions as well as incentives to ensure those servicers follow the law. In March, the Consumer Federation of America reported that $137 billion in student loans were in default. In an April 11 memo announcing she was stopping reform efforts, DeVos, appointed by President Donald Trump, wrote the process had been riddled with “moving deadlines, changing requirements and a lack of consistent objectives.” “We now find ourselves in a situation where we must promptly address not only these shortcomings but also any other issues that may impede our ability to ensure borrowers do not experience deficiencies in service,” DeVos wrote, according to a version published on the department website. The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter from the attorneys general. The head of the Democratic National Committee, former Labor Secretary Tom Perez, said DeVos’ decision was intended to boost the profits of big corporations and counteract Obama’s reforms. Republicans say the U.S. government should get out of the business of making student loans. In January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued the largest loan servicer, Navient Corp, over allegations it cheated borrowers by deceiving them about repayment options and their rights. Illinois and Washington also sued the company, which was spun off of Sallie Mae in 2014. Navient said the bureau, created under Obama to protect people from fraud, sued because it would not settle a CFPB investigation right before Trump took office. The U.S. Department of Justice sanctioned Navient in 2014 for giving military members wrong information about their loans. | 1 |
21,639 | Thai junta leader, backers fuel suspicions of plans to stay in power | BANGKOK (Reuters) - In his dark suit, Thai junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha cut an incongruous figure guiding a rice tractor across a muddy paddy field in front of cameras and watching villagers. The prime minister s latest photo opportunity won applause from farmers watching in straw hats and his visit to Suphan Buri on Monday brought a call from a local political bigwig for him to stay in power for another decade. Political activities in Thailand have been suspended since Prayuth s 2014 coup, but Thai politicians are asking whether what looks like campaigning is exactly what it seems. The trips to the countryside, a new Facebook account and a chorus of political groups offering support are raising suspicions of a plan to keep Prayuth in power even if long-promised elections happen next year. It s not beyond expectations that he is out campaigning in the provinces to prepare to become prime minister again, said Chaturon Chaisang, a leader of the Pheu Thai party, which under various names has won every election for a generation. Since August, Prayuth has visited six provinces, including places traditionally considered important battlegrounds for elections. Such trips with his cabinet will now be monthly. In the previous three years, he had only taken two such trips outside Bangkok. I am not here to make people love me, but I want everyone to love the country, Prayuth, 63, told farmers in Suphan Buri, 100 km (60 miles) north of Bangkok. Said 60-year-old farmer Samruay Tongpratet: If the prime minister can truly help the poor then he can stay as long as he wants. Prayuth s office declined to comment on any plan to keep him in power. Politics will not resume until well after the cremation next month of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died last October, and the subsequent coronation of his son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn. In the meantime, Prayuth has the field to himself. That s why he needed to hold these mobile cabinet meetings in the provinces, act more like a politician, hold rallies, and meet the people, said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University, noting the signs that Prayuth wants to stay longer. Last month, Prayuth set up a Facebook page with pictures of him walking with his arm around a farmer s shoulder and giving alms to monks. It now has nearly 11,000 likes. A poll in June showed that 53 percent of Thais would like Prayuth to serve another term. Although Thailand s economic growth lags other countries in Southeast Asia and dissent is strongly repressed, surveys show that Prayuth s backers welcome the stability since the coup. Whether that calm survives electioneering is another question after over a decade of turmoil between colour-coded factions that Prayuth said he sought to end with his coup. On one side is the yellow Democrat Party, which is popular with middle-class voters and has strong support in Bangkok and parts of the south. On the other side is the red movement of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose parties appeal to poorer voters, particularly in the populous northeast. Thaksin s sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, was overthrown by Prayuth in the 2014 coup and last month fled Thailand ahead of a verdict in a corruption trial - eliminating a charismatic party figurehead who might also have rallied opposition to Prayuth. Although he cannot technically stand for election because he would have needed to resign by July, a new constitution drawn up at the junta s behest does offer him a route. He could be chosen as an outside prime minister - foreseen under the constitution if the winning party fails to get enough votes for its candidate in the 500-member lower house of parliament. In such a case, the upper house would also have a say - its 250 members will be picked by the military. Prayuth would still need support from at least half the lower house, however. Although neither of Thailand s two main political parties has said it would endorse him, smaller players are mobilizing. Paiboon Nititawan, a former member of a now-defunct reform council, has set up an office for a new People s Reform Party to back Prayuth. Suchart Chantharachotikul, a classmate of Prayuth from military school, told Reuters he is coordinating smaller parties to form a grouping to back the junta leader. Prayuth s military government isn t perfect, but they took care of problems like unrest. It wouldn t be so strange if he stays on for another four years, Suchart said. A composer of sentimental ballads, Prayuth has dropped hints in his music of a longer term political future. His latest song, Bridge , repeats a message that he will stay as long as it takes to steer Thailand through troubled waters. My two hands won t let you go, says one refrain. | 1 |
21,640 | Opponents sharpen knives over impending U.S. payday loan rule | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lobbyists and Republican lawmakers are gearing up for battle over a new U.S. regulation that is likely to dent profits in the $6 billion short-term, high-interest “payday” loan industry. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is expected in coming days to release a long-anticipated rule curbing payday lending, now that a final review by other regulatory agencies has concluded, three people familiar with the matter said. The rule pits the country’s consumer financial watchdog against payday lenders who say the new regulation will wipe out much of their established industry, currently overseen by the states, and push poor and rural customers to use illegal loan sharks. “We are likely, on our part, to take the appropriate actions that we can to see this rule never becomes effective, and that includes a possible lawsuit,” said Dennis Shaul, chief executive of the Community Financial Services Association of America (CFSA), a payday lending trade group. The group says the rule-drafting process was flawed because the agency did not listen to borrowers or properly process comment letters - an argument that could form the basis of potential litigation. The CFPB has declined to comment on its procedure or on the final rule, but public records show it closely followed the law throughout the rulemaking process. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump’s Republican party, which says the CFPB goes too far in its regulations, wants to undo the rule through legislation. Recently, Republicans in the House of Representatives added a “rider,” or amendment, to a spending bill banning the CFPB from regulating the payday loan industry. They are also poised to repeal the rule under the Congressional Review Act and bar the CFPB from ever drafting a similar regulation, according to aides and lobbyists. Borrowers take out the small, short-term loans to cover emergencies and traditionally repay them with their next paychecks. Because the loans can carry interest rates as high as 390 percent, borrowers can become trapped in devastating cycles of taking out new loans to pay outstanding ones, the CFPB said. The agency began drafting the rule last summer to end this “debt trap,” by requiring lenders to conduct background checks showing borrowers can afford the loans and to limit the number of loans made to a single borrower. “The rule that we’re expecting will do a lot to combat the debt cycle,” said Karl Frisch, head of Allied Progress, a consumer advocacy group. | 1 |
21,641 | Immunity to State Dept staffer who set up Clinton email server: WashPost | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department has given immunity from prosecution to a State Department employee who helped set up and manage the private email server Hillary Clinton used for her work as secretary of state, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday. A senior U.S. law enforcement official said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had secured the cooperation of Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign before joining the State Department with her and setting up the server in her New York home in 2009, the newspaper reported. (wapo.st/1RqkIk2) The Post described the investigation as a criminal inquiry, a label Clinton and her staff have resisted as they seek to reassure voters that the frontrunner to become the Democratic Party’s nominee in November’s presidential election is not in legal jeopardy. Clinton has said she did nothing wrong and that she believes the U.S. government will vindicate her. She has also apologized for what she said was poor judgment. In 2014, Clinton returned about 30,000 emails to the State Department, but said she “chose not to keep” thousands of others her staff deemed not to be work-related. Her staff have acknowledged that other work emails were not handed over, without explaining why. More than 2,000 of Clinton’s work emails contain classified information that could harm national security if exposed, according the State Department, including 22 classified as ‘top secret’, the highest level. The government forbids sending or storing classified emails through unsecured, non-government channels, and has prosecuted people for breaches. Brian Fallon, a Clinton spokesman, said in a statement that Clinton’s campaign was “pleased” that Pagliano was cooperating. The Justice Department and FBI declined to comment on whether Pagliano had been granted immunity, and his lawyer did not respond to questions. Last month, a federal judge overseeing a civil lawsuit against the State Department ruled that department officials and aides to Clinton could be questioned under oath about whether her use of a private email system was an effort to skirt open records laws. The FBI is likely to ask Clinton and her aides in coming months how the server was set up and whether they knew they were sending classified information in emails, the Post reported. Pagliano has declined to testify to lawmakers, citing a constitutional right against self-incrimination. Republicans have called for Clinton’s prosecution. “This terrible error in judgment coupled with Clinton’s arrogant and dishonest claims shows she can’t be trusted with the presidency,” Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee’s chairman, said in a statement. (Reporting by Eric Walsh and Mark Hosenball in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Sandra Maler and Richard Borsuk) 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. | 1 |
21,642 | ‘GAME TIME’ FBI MANHUNT ON FOR Heavily Armed Deranged Anti-Trump Nut-Job [Video] | Wisconsin police were widening their hunt Saturday for a 32-year-old man who allegedly burglarized a gun store after mailing an anti-government manifesto to President Donald Trump.Joseph Jakubowski has been on the run since Tuesday, when police say he broke into the Armageddon Gun Shop in Janesville, south of Madison, and stole 16 high-caliber rifles and handguns. He is believed to be armed and dangerous, and traveling with a bulletproof vest and helmet, according to authorities.At a news conference Friday, Rock County Sheriff Robert Spoden said Jakubowski had been highly agitated by national politics recently and had confessed to friends that he had plans to steal guns and conduct an unspecified attack. Janesville Police Chief David Moore said his department has also had multiple run-ins with Jakubowski over the years. There was one specific case where he attempted to disarm a police officer, Moore told reporters. Were it not for the very secure holster of this police officer, he would have certainly disarmed that police officer. And for that crime, (he) was sent to prison. Police released a video Jakubowski allegedly posted to Facebook that shows a man mailing a large envelope clearly addressed to Trump and the White House.Authorities say the package contained a 160-page manifesto that featured anti-government rants and personal angst against anything other than natural law or rule. | 0 |
21,643 | Most American voters support limited travel ban: poll | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Six in 10 American voters support the new ban on people from six predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States unless they can show they have a close relative here, according to opinion poll results released on Wednesday. The Politico-Morning Consult poll found 37 percent of voters said they “strongly supported” the new U.S. State Department guidelines that would deny visas to citizens of Iran, Libya, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen who do not have close relatives in the United States. Another 23 percent of voters said they “somewhat support” the guidelines. The poll was conducted online on Thursday and Friday following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that partly upheld the ban, with 1,989 registered voters taking part. The poll results' margin of error was 2 percentage points, meaning results could vary that much either way. (Link to the poll: politi.co/2uJLfoO) The survey asked respondents whether they support or oppose the State Department’s new guidelines, “which say visa applicants from six predominately Muslim countries must prove a close family relationship with a U.S. resident in order to enter the country.” It did not mention U.S. President Donald Trump, nor the president’s executive orders on immigration. The Supreme Court ruled on June 26 that the temporary travel ban could proceed so long as visa applicants with a “bona fide relationship” with a person or entity in the United States were exempted. A year before his election, Trump promised voters he would seek a temporary “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States. Trump said it was necessary to prevent attacks by Islamist militants, while critics said it was a needlessly discriminatory policy that could inflame prejudice against Muslims in the United States and abroad. The partial ban, which took effect on Thursday, was most strongly supported by Trump’s fellow Republicans, 83 percent of whom approved. Even among Democratic voters, only 46 percent said they were opposed. Forty-one percent of Democrats said they support it, and the remaining 13 percent said they “don’t know.” The Supreme Court allowed the ban, which bars people from the designated six countries for 90 days and refugees from any country for 120 days, to take effect until it can take up the case during its next term starting in October. | 1 |
21,644 | 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. | 1 |
21,645 | video female college students protesting because trump is a rapist | november by shawn helton leave a comment
shawn helton st century wire
antitrump street protests linked to the soros funded organization moveonorg have cascaded across the nation for the third day following the presidential election result
mainstream media outlets like cnn and msnbc have given the protests aroundtheclock media coverage drowning out all other news stories including a successful transition meeting between the president elect and president barack obama
outsider vs insider manufactured social unrest incited after announcement of trump presidency photo illustration wires shawn helton
the free thought project weighed in on the new developments concerning a series of centrally coordinated antitrump protests organized in part by by the george soros ngo moveon
washington dc billionaire globalist financier george soros moveonorg has been revealed to be a driving force behind the organizing of nationwide protests against the election of donald trump exposing the protests to largely be an organized topdown operation and not an organic movement of concerned americans taking to the streets as reported by the mainstream media
wednesday saw protests in the streets of at least major us cities chicago new york los angeles philadelphia boston washington dc portland ore st paul minn seattle and several other cities saw protests according to usa today
in light of the protests and rioting that have transpired since the election of trump a closer analysis of the dynamic at play is warranted to gauge whether its an organic grassroots movement or something much more organized sophisticated and potentially dangerous
soros affiliated organization moveonorg released the following press release yesterday afternoon
americans to come together in hundreds peaceful gatherings of solidarity resistance and resolve following election results
hundreds of americans dozens of organizations to gather peacefully outside the white house and in cities and towns nationwide to take a continued stand against misogyny racism islamophobia and xenophobia
tonight thousands of americans will come together at hundreds of peaceful gatherings in cities and towns across the nation including outside the white house following the results of tuesdays presidential election
the gatherings organized by moveonorg and allies will affirm a continued rejection of donald trumps bigotry xenophobia islamophobia and misogyny and demonstrate our resolve to fight together for the america we still believe is possible
within two hours of the calltoaction moveon members had created more than gatherings nationwide with the number continuing to grow on wednesday afternoon
soros agitprop empire
last year during the ongoing european migrant crisis startling claims were levied by hungarian pm victor orban left photo concerning the role played by soros
pm orban contended that the founder and chair of open society foundations open society institute was entrenched in a circle of activists that inadvertently become part of this international humansmuggling network
the stunning declaration by orban recalled the misguided machinations of the occupy movement aka ows in as well as the soros funded protests in ferguson missouri in along with other black lives matter protests this past year all of which were uniquely designed to push naive participants along with paid provocateurs into violent action and social unrest
back in january moveon publicly endorsed the bernie sanders campaign in what appeared to be a call to action for blm associated groups seen backing sanders its worth mentioning that moveon also supported the obama campaign in and according to the website sanders was the only other candidate to reach the threshold for an endorsement
as we said back in march professional political agitator flash mobs had been mobilized at future trump campaign events making it very difficult to run a normal campaign as activists attempted to take away trumps strength in numbers at his rallies this was confirmed at events in both ohio and at a trump primary campaign event the university of illinois chicago earlier this year where hundreds of blm activists and sanders supporters triggered voilent clashes inside the venue and even stormed the stage shortly after trump started speaking then again at reno he was birddogged just prior to his election forcing secret service to escort trump away
in a politico article in early entitled major donors consider funding black lives matter we gained deeper insight into the political funding for blm and the soros linked democratic alliance
major donors are usually not as radical or confrontational as activists most in touch with the pain of oppression said steve phillips a democracy alliance member and significant contributor to democratic candidates and causes he donated to a st louis nonprofit group called the organization for black struggle that helped organize black lives matterrelated protests in ferguson missouri over the police killing of a black teenager named michael brown and phillips and his wife democracy alliance board member susan sandler are in discussions about funding other groups involved in the movement
it worth noting how soros a long time contributor to hillary clinton donated million in pac money in and january of soros reportedly gave million to boost clintons campaign soros also recently funded million to latino groups looking to stop trumps rise towards a potential gop nomination and beyond
look for these political engineers to pit choreographed conservative and liberal groups against each other across the country as all of these hostile uprisings are designer engineered by party linked alliances
social engineering political memes and staged political flash mobs have been sparked by media ngos and social media image source abc news
during the last month it was revealed how investigative nonprofit project veritas found evidence that the dnc paid participants to incite violence at trump rallies during the course of the election
if those reports are accurate reports which have gone unchallenged so far this would be in violation of both election bylaws and also us criminal law
paid protest social justice warriors incite antitrump violence across the us image source youtube
usa color revolutions
both the purpose of these types of agitation activities seems to be to first cause a public disruption and also to foment are a form of modern class warfare these political protests are designed in such a way as to disguise its true intentions ultimately a radical globalist and cultural marxist progressive agenda is at play eroding the legitimacy of a democratically elected government through a series of artificial color upheavals and where possible weakening a countrys national sovereignty through forced dependency on multilateral globalist institutions like the un or imf while presenting shock and awe imagery in order to manipulate the publics political perspective
this is how the us and its cia conduct their destablization color revolution campaigns overseas and now astute observers will be able to see these exact same methods being deployed here inside the us
overseas washington tends to use the same cast of ngo fronts to buildup prous political opposition groups as well as plan and generate civil unrest they include the albert einstein institute aei national endowment for democracy ned international republican institute iri national democratic institute ndi freedom house and later the international center for nonviolent conflict icnc and the us agency for international development usaid the financial and contractor arm of the department of state
inside the us deep state actors in washington generally work through democratic party affiliated organizations like moveonorg as well as through labor union organizations like aflcio and unite here these along with many other similar organizations have been involved in organizing this weeks protests
it still remains to be seen if trumps stated dynamic political vision for america can unite an embattled nation by restoring international relations throughout the world in addition to helping economic woes at home or will it simply push the country further into authoritarianism this remains to be seen
certainly judging by president obama and hillary clintons total silence over their own partys role in fomenting this weeks unrest one can only conclude that both party leaders approve of the protests and riots the political motivation is undeniable to help delegitimize a new trump presidency
but one thing is for sure theres no doubt now that a systematic design is in place to unsettle the th president and the public should question why
legal action against soros groups
in a recent report featured at rt news we learn that george soros and blm activists will be sued for the deaths of slain police officers in dallas and baton rouge the father of the dallas police officer who was killed by a lone gunman during a black lives matter protest is suing the organizations activists and george soros for million in a separate suit a baton rouge police officer is suing for injuries sustained during a blm protest
the father of patrick zamarripa filed a lawsuit against black lives matter and other groups for allegedly inciting a war on police that led to the death of his son
the lawsuit filed in us district court in dallas on monday seeks million in damages
while defendant black lives matter claims to combat antiblack racism the lawsuit said according to the fort worth star telegram the movement has in fact incited and committed further violence severe bodily injury and death against police officers of all races and ethnicities jews and caucasians defendant black lives matter is in fact a violent and revolutionary criminal gang
the misguided machinations behind the antitrump protests have dominated any peaceful transition into power for the presidentelect will these protest groups be a reboot of the ows movement occupying the masses with their own hateful rhetoric as we move into and beyond
more from the duran below
neo black bloc black bloc provocateurs have violently escalated protest movements since the s all the way through s occupy wall street movement and beyond the riotous scene above is from the antitrump protests in portland image source willamette week
george soros begins his color revolution in america as moveon activists march against trump
by alex christoforou the duran
antitrump protesters march through the streets of new york shouting not my president
moveonorg is a george soros ngoand george soros ngos have nothing to do with charity or justice and everything to do with political leverage and in extreme cases government insurrection
we have seen soros begin destructive movements to remove those he deems unsuitable to govern in a variety of countries most recently in ukraine with the soros sponsored maidan coup
now it looks like soros may be setting his sights on sabotaging the forthcoming trump presidency
we do know thanks to wikileaks that george soros was a huge supporter of hillary clinton as hillary clinton was always looking out of george soros best interests
we are certain trumps victory is a bitter pill for globalist soros to swallow between putin and trump soros may finally be starting to feel his power on the world stage falter
more from duran here
read more election news at st century wire files
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21,646 | Brazil's Lula, Bolsonaro well positioned for 2018 elections: poll | RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian Former President Luiz In cio Lula da Silva and right-wing congressman Jair Bolsonaro would make it to a second round of voting in the 2018 presidential elections if they were held today, an Ibope poll showed on Sunday. The poll, published in the O Globo newspaper, showed center-left Lula winning 35 to 36 percent of the vote in the October 2018 race regardless of the candidates he theoretically runs against. Law-and-order congressman Bolsonaro, whose popularity has been spurred by rising violence in cities like Rio de Janeiro that were hard-hit by the country s troubled economy, would win 15 percent if he faced off against Lula. Marina Silva, Former Environmental Minister for Lula, would take third placed in any voting field that included Lula as a candidate with 8 to 11 percent of the vote. Silva would tie with Bolsonaro for first place if Lula were out of the picture. Despite Lula s popularity, his political future hangs in the balance after he was convicted in July of receiving bribes from a construction firm in return for help winning government contracts. In August, he said his Workers Party might have to run a different candidate. Ibope s poll of 2,000 people in all of Brazil s states was conducted between Oct. 18 and 22. It has a margin of error of two percentage points. | 1 |
21,647 | Rome's 5-Star mayor launches bid to save ailing city transport firm | ROME (Reuters) - Rome s mayor on Friday launched an attempt to save the city s ailing public transport company from bankruptcy, asking creditors to support a restructuring of its 1.3 billion euros ($1.54 billion) of debt. Virginia Raggi, a prominent face of Italy s anti-establishment 5-Star Movement, said she would ask magistrates to approve the plan for a total renewal of the company to keep it operating as a public body. Atac s workforce, of around 12,000 people, has been criticized as bloated and its fleet of buses, trams and metros as old and badly maintained. Calls have grown for it to be privatized. Raggi, who was elected in June last year, rejects this solution and on Friday the company s board approved the restructuring plan, which will require the backing of her city government and its suppliers. Atac must remain public, Raggi wrote in a Facebook post. We are beginning a revolution that will transform the biggest public transport company in Europe into an efficient one. Several city transport unions, fearing lay-offs, immediately announced they would hold a one-day strike this month. Turning Atac around is a daunting task. Its former chief quit in July after just three months in the job, saying he was unable to salvage the firm and feared possible legal action tied to any eventual collapse. Raggi has had a torrid time since becoming Rome s first ever woman mayor. She has lost several close aides due to political infighting or legal scandals and has so far made little tangible progress in fixing the heavily-indebted city s chronic problems, from road maintenance to refuse collection. Despite her difficulties, 5-Star remains Italy s most popular party, according to many opinion polls, and Raggi s fortunes in attempting to clean up Atac could have significant repercussions nationally. With a general election due by May next year, 5-Star can ill afford the bad publicity of extended strikes and legal disputes over the capital s transport company. | 1 |
21,648 | U.S. follows Mexico in backing disputed Honduran vote result | WASHINGTON/TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday followed Mexico in signaling that Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez had won a heavily disputed presidential election last month, lending weight to his legitimacy in spite of ongoing opposition protests. The Honduran electoral tribunal at the weekend declared U.S. ally Hernandez the winner of the Nov. 26 election in spite of widespread misgivings about the count, which turned in favor of the incumbent after suddenly halting with the opposition ahead. Violent protests have broken out in Honduras over the vote, and the Organization of American States (OAS) urged the country to hold new elections to resolve the dispute. That proposal has, however, been rejected by senior Honduran officials. Hernandez s rival Salvador Nasralla traveled to Washington this week to urge the United States not to recognize the vote, but a senior U.S. State Department official said that his government had no evidence that would alter the results. At this point ... we have not seen anything that alters the final result, the official told reporters, saying Washington may wait to make a definitive judgment in case the opposition presents additional evidence of fraud in the election. Mexico on Tuesday congratulated Hernandez for being declared victor. Mexico s step, which followed the recognition of Hernandez by Colombia and Guatemala, strengthened the incumbent s hand and could tilt other countries in his favor. The Mexican statement, and its review, indicates that a call for a new election is a pretty dramatic outcome in this case, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Washington may hold off on making a final judgment until the end of a five-day period when the opposition can produce further evidence to contest the results, the official added. He said a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state met with Nasralla, who has accused Hernandez of stealing the election. He did not have any new (allegations of) fraud (or) evidence to present to us, and I think we are going to work through this quickly to get to a definitive U.S. statement, he added. The Mexican statement is going to have a strong influence on whether we think we can move forward sooner. The Mexicans seem pretty certain in their statement. Hernandez on Wednesday named a new head of the armed forces, Rene Orlando Ponce, who quickly indicated on local radio that solving the impasse would be for Honduras alone. We re not going to accept any interference beyond Honduran law, he said. | 1 |
21,649 | BOOM! CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SOARS To Level Americans Haven’t Seen Since Another Republican Was President…MEDIA SILENT | Prior to the 2016 election (Oct 16) consumer confidence measured by the University of Michigan was indexed at 87.2 Today that same confidence rating is 101.1 A stunning 15.9% increase. Similarly, consumer expectations were indexing 76.8 in October 2016 and now stand at 91.3, an increase of 18.9%. Conservative TreehouseBusiness Insider US consumers haven t been this optimistic about the economy since the start of 2004, according to a survey conducted by the University of Michigan.The consumer-sentiment index registered a preliminary October reading of 101.1, a monthly report showed Friday.The data suggest that consumer spending will likely continue to support the economy through at least mid-2018, at which time this economic expansion would become the second-longest since the 19th century. US economic growth in the second quarter rose to a two-year high on stronger consumer and business spending, a late-September report showed.The surge in optimism reflects an unmistakable sense among consumers that economic prospects are now about as good as could be expected, said Richard Curtin, the chief economist of the survey. This as good as it gets outlook is supported by a moderation in the expected pace of growth in both personal finances and the overall economy, accompanied by a growing sense that, even with this moderation, it would still mean the continuation of good economic times. | 0 |
21,650 | Britain steps up battle against money laundering | LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Monday it would create a new national economic crime center to crack down harder on money laundering by drug dealers and people traffickers who are expected to net 90 billion pounds ($120.3 billion) this year. As a unit of the existing National Crime Agency (NCA), the center will be tasked with coordinating a national response among the agencies that tackle money laundering and fraud and with increasing the confiscation of crime proceeds. Britain s interior minister, Amber Rudd, said the new initiative was part of a package of measures in response to a review of the country s economic crime agencies. The measures we have announced today will significantly improve our ability to tackle the most serious cases of economic crime by ensuring our agencies have the tools and investment they need to investigate, prosecute and confiscate criminal assets, Rudd said in a statement. Britain s plan to exit the European Union in 2019 has raised fears of a bonfire of regulation that could occur thereafter and result in the City of London losing its top global financial center ranking. Strengthening the integrity of Britain as a financial center will be a top priority under the package, which also includes proposed new laws. These would allow the new center to directly task the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to investigate the worst offenders in a step that will buttress the SFO, whose future as a standalone entity has been in doubt. SFO Director David Green is due to step down next year. Separately on Monday, the Attorney General s Office, a government department, said the SFO would continue to act as an independent organization, supporting the multi-agency response led by the NCA. We will begin recruitment for the SFO s next director very soon, the AGO said in a statement. The government estimates that financial fraud costs the country 6.8 billion pounds a year, or more than 100 pounds per person. Rudd will chair a new economic crime strategic board to ensure the right resources are allocated across law enforcement agencies to tackle economic crime, the interior ministry statement said. With only a modest portion of criminal proceeds confiscated, the package announced on Monday makes further commitments to seizing criminal assets through greater use of existing powers by the SFO, the NCA and tax authorities. There will also be a review of existing rules on confiscating proceeds of crime in order to improve the process by which confiscation orders are made and applied. ($1 = 0.7479 pounds) | 1 |
21,651 | Senate advances nomination of Trump pick Pruitt to head EPA | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to advance the nomination of President Donald Trump’s pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency and a final vote could occur on Friday. The Senate voted 54 to 46 to advance Scott Pruitt, the attorney general of oil and gas producing Oklahoma. Pruitt has come under criticism from many lawmakers for suing the agency he intends to run 14 times on behalf of Oklahoma. One Republican, Senator Sue Collins, said this week she would not vote for Pruitt in the final vote. | 1 |
21,652 | Tears in rain as Thais gather for late king's funeral | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Somber crowds began gathering to pay final respects to Thailand s late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, braving a tropical downpour to camp out along the funeral procession route for a monarch who died last year and was revered by some as a demi-god. The five-day Buddhist ceremony, which begins on Wednesday, has taken nearly a year to prepare and 3 billion baht ($90 million) has been set aside to pay for the funeral. Arriving a day early to guarantee their place for a funeral that is expected to draw 250,000 people, mourners pitched flimsy tents in the middle of Bangkok s old quarter to provide some protection from the torrential rain. Hotels in the old town neighborhood have been booked up weeks in advance, and a national holiday has been declared for Oct. 26, the day of the cremation. Although he was a constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been credited with reviving the prestige of the monarchy. Aged 88 when he died, the king was viewed by many people a pillar of stability in the politically turbulent Southeast Asian country, where a military junta currently holds power. The king s cremation site, which features gold-tipped pavilions built for the occasion, is a stone s throw from the Grand Palace, popular with foreign tourists. Even though the funeral had yet to begin, many of the people gathering had tears in their eyes and were visibly emotional. Hunched beneath a makeshift tent made of cloth and string, Chalermporn Paebutr, a 72-year-old woman from northern Thailand, described her determination to bid farewell to a much-loved monarch. I traveled here two days ago so that I could be the first to get a good spot, she told Reuters. We only have to brave the rain for a few days. This is worth it if we can be near him one last time. Around 1,000 people had camped overnight in the downpour, police said on Tuesday. Some only had their plastic raincoats for protection. Thailand has suffered floods since Oct. 10. Nine people have died, and 19 of the country s 77 provinces have been hit affected. The floods will not affect the cremation ceremony in any way, interior minister Anupong Paochinda told reporters. New King Maha Vajiralongkorn, the late king s only son, will lead the cremation ceremony. Thailand has a harsh law, known as Article 112, against insulting the monarchy, and prosecutions have skyrocketed since the junta came to power following a coup in 2014. The United Nations has voiced concern over the use of the law to clamp down on free speech and has repeatedly called on Thailand to amend it. | 1 |
21,653 | WAY TO GO! PRESIDENT TRUMP Called Husband Of Fallen Police Officer Debra Clayton [Video] | Orlando, FL The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, made a point during the busy inauguration time to call the husband of fallen Orlando Lieutenant Debra Clayton. Lt. Clayton was violently gunned down after making contact with wanted murderer, Markeith Loyd. After a week-long manhunt Loyd was taken into custody.According to WKMG, Lt. Debra Clayton s husband received a phone call from President-elect Donald Trump in the days after her death. Florida State Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Wednesday that Trump and Seth (Clayton s husband) had a brief, very touching, private conversation between two husbands. Lt. Debra Clayton left behind a devoted family and many relationships in the Orlando community.Lt. Debra Clayton was laid to rest during a three-hour funeral service, at the First Baptist Church of Orlando. Orlando Police Chief John Mina posthumously promoted (Master Sergeant) Clayton to the rank of Lieutenant. The crowd stood to its feet in applause.Read more: Blue Lives Matter | 0 |
21,654 | Catholic Sister Rips ‘Pro-Life’ Republicans Over Devastating Medicaid Cuts | Republicans who call themselves pro-life are presenting a health care plan that would literally kill tens of thousands of people by implementing devastating cuts to Medicaid and Sister Simone Campbell, leader of the advocacy group Nuns on a Bus, is wondering how GOPers can give themselves that moniker while putting our most needy, including the elderly and children, at risk.Campbell called the Affordable Care Act a life-saving bill and in an op-ed for The Hill she said she wants to call their bluff on their proclaimed pro-life stance. I am outraged to see allegedly pro-life Republicans put forward a healthcare bill that will strip millions of people of their healthcare. Not only that, but this bill preys on the most vulnerable! This is antithetical to any faith, she writes. The House and Senate healthcare proposals are the antithesis of a pro-life stance and needs to be named as such. People will lose their lives if this bill becomes law. Then the Sister hit Republicans where it hurts: with facts. It used to be very difficult for women to find insurance coverage for pre-natal and maternity care. Under current law, maternal health (pregnancy and postpartum services) is an essential benefit, which insurers must offer without charging extra, she continued. This is a pro-life benefit but the GOP is set to eliminate the essential health benefits, including maternity care, for millions of expecting mothers. Campbell noted that Trumpcare would bring us back to a time when maternity riders forced women to pay more than many could afford just to bring a child into the world. This is not pro-life. She pointed to the Republicans proposing to cut and cap Medicaid funding for people with disabilities and those living below the poverty level in our nation and she goes on to say that 45 percent of births in the United States are paid for by Medicaid! Campbell writes that pro-life members of Congress are actually dismissing the needs of mothers and their newborn children. Supporting Medicaid funding is a pro-life stance, she says. Campbell also notes that Medicaid benefits senior citizens who live in nursing homes, including many Catholic Sisters who have served their entire lives tending to the most vulnerable. She points to Medicaid helping those with disabilities and says that Republican efforts to cut Medicaid funding arbitrarily will jeopardize their lives and wellbeing. Taking money away from seniors, people in poverty and people with disabilities is wrong, she writes. Everyone has a right to live in dignity. The Sister says Republicans are only concerned with lining the pockets of the wealthiest and are doing so at the expense of Medicaid and our most vulnerable people. Indeed, the cuts to Medicaid will afford the wealthy a nice tax break while lower-income Americans die and/or suffer. If Republicans are truly pro-life, she writes, then they will place people, not corporate interests, at the center of their decision-making. And, when people are healthier, we all do better. She called out her pro-life colleagues :So my pro-life colleagues: Listen up. To be pro-life requires us to care about ALL of life, not just birth or death. Mothers and their infants need medical coverage. The disabled and the elderly need the promise that they can live in dignity for their entire natural life. This means that we must not cap individual or state expenditures for Medicaid or remove services from the defined benefits. It also means that we must not block grant Medicaid to the states or institute a per capita cap.She concluded her op-ed by calling on Senators to reject Trump/Republicare and requested to have a real conversation that doesn t include 23 million Americans losing their healthcare. Amen, Sister!Image via screen capture. | 0 |
21,655 | Donald Trump On Accusations Of Sexual Assault: Mexico Did It | Donald Trump is backed into a corner. After he was caught on tape admitting to sexually assaulting women, surprise! several women have come out saying Trump sexually assaulted them. He s running out of defenses, so Trump turned to one of his old hits. He s blaming the accusations on the Mexicans. Well, one Mexican in particular: billionaire Carlos Slim.As early as Friday, Mr. Trump is planning to claim that Mr. Slim, as a shareholder of New York Times Co. and donor to the Clinton Foundation, has an interest in helping Hillary Clinton s campaign, according to a Trump adviser.Attacking the Mexican billionaire would allow Mr. Trump to hit several targets. He could slam the failing New York Times, which he says had to be rescued by a foreigner Mr. Slim, the adviser said.Source: VoxUnfortunately, this is how Trump sees the world. People are either with him or against him. Not surprisingly for the controversial land developer, Trump has made a lot of enemies, and it appears those enemies are spread throughout the world. That alone should disqualify him for the position that is in large part, diplomacy.Beyond that, though, this is a man who refuses to take responsibility for his own actions. He admitted on tape the he grabs women by the pussy. Why should it surprise anyone that he actually grabbed some? Here s a list of all the women who (so far) have accused Trump. Even if Trump is right that it s some sort of personal vendetta by the New York Times (he s not), reports have come out in the Daily Beast, from CBS News, from a People Magazine reporter, from the Palm Beach Post, from Rolling Stone, from BuzzFeed, from the Guardian, from Vanity Fair, from USA Today, from Jezebel, from the New Yorker and from the Washington Post.Gotta wonder how he s going to blame the Mexicans (or perhaps the Chinese) on all of these.Featured image via Ty Wright/Getty Images. | 0 |
21,656 | Obama says new ties with Cuba made 'wet-foot, dry-foot' policy obsolete | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Wednesday he decided to eliminate the so-called “wet-foot, dry-foot” policy for Cuban immigrants because it no longer made since given growing U.S. engagement with Havana and the opening of travel between the two countries. The White House announced the policy change last week. It had enabled Cubans who fled to the United States to pursue residency if they reached the mainland, but not if they were picked up at sea before reaching land. | 1 |
21,657 | Tennessee bill would allow counselors to deny service based on religion | (Reuters) - The Tennessee House passed a bill on Wednesday allowing mental health counselors to refuse service to patients on religious grounds, the latest in a list of U.S. state measures that gay rights activists have criticized as discriminating against the LGBT community. A vote by the state House of Representatives protects therapists and counselors from civil lawsuits and criminal action if they deny services to clients whose religious beliefs conflict with their own. The bill passed by a 68-22 vote and sent to Gov. Bill Haslam for his signature. The state Senate passed the bill earlier this year. Supporters of the bill say it protects the rights of counselors who object on religious grounds to the adopted code of ethics of the American Counseling Association. But opponents say it is an attempt to deny service to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, a vulnerable population often in need of counseling services. The House bill, which was sponsored by Republican Rep. Dan Howell, is one of many that are being challenged by human rights organizations claiming the legislation is anti-LGBT. Howell was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon. The Tennessee Equality Project, which supports gay rights, condemned the House passage of the bill even though it does not specifically refer to the LGBT issue. The group called on the governor to veto the legislation. Haslam told Nashville Public Radio he has not decided whether to sign or veto the counseling legislation, but he was considering the impact it may have on the state and its citizens. “They (state lawmakers) need to obviously always vote their conscience,” he told the radio station. “One of the things, though, that we should be mindful of is, is there a broader impact?” On Tuesday, PayPal Holdings Inc canceled plans to open a global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina and invest $3.6 million in the area after the state passed a law requiring people to use bathrooms or locker rooms in schools and other public facilities that match the gender on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity. Tennessee is considering similar legislation related to school bathrooms, and civil rights groups are watching a Missouri measure seen as discriminatory. Last week, the governors of Georgia and Virginia vetoed “religious liberty” bills. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed a far-reaching law allowing people with religious objections to deny wedding services to same-sex couples and protecting other actions considered discriminatory by gay rights activists. | 1 |
21,658 | Trump Ignores Constitution, Suggests INSANE Punishment For Burning American Flag (TWEETS) | Donald Trump has been going off on his infamous psychotic Twitter rants again, and they just keep getting more and more terrifying as the days go on.On Tuesday morning, Trump suggested that Americans who burn the American flag should lose their citizenship or alternatively be forced to spend a year in jail: Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag if they do, there must be consequences perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail! TwitterThis is yet another instance where Trump has displayed how little he knows about how the actual Constitution works. Burning the American flag is completely legal, unlike what Trump is suggesting. Trump s proposed punishment for flag burning also goes against the landmark 1989 Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson, where burning the flag was protected under the First Amendment. It should also be noted that one of Trump s idols, the late Justice Antonin Scalia, ruled in favor of that case.Revoking citizenship is a very serious concept to play with. According to the Huffington Post, an American citizen can only lose their nationality by pledging allegiance to another country, committing treason, or voluntarily giving it up .Anand Giridharadas didn t hesitate to call Trump out, bringing attention to the fact that Trump is more of a fascist than anything else. He summed up Trump s threat perfectly when he said the explicit articulation that doing legal things could cost you citizenship. TwitterThen, Giridharadas gave us some historical context:TwitterThat s terrifying, and unfortunately it s only the tip of the iceberg. Trump s flag burning tweet came after he went on a troubling Twitter rant last night, in which he attacked the free press for debunking his voter fraud lies. When you put all of Trump s threats together, it becomes clear that he s more interested in being a dictator than a President.Featured image via Maddie McGarvey /Getty Images | 0 |
21,659 | SHOWBOATING DEMOCRAT Walks Out of Moment of Silence for Texas Massacre Victims: ‘Screw the NRA’ | You have to believe this junior Democratic Congressman is a bit unhinged and immature when you read what he did during a moment of silence for the Texas victims. He walked out of the moment of silence Monday night for victims of this weekend s mass shooting at a Texas church. The Democrats have politicized the shooting in Texas from day one This showboating politician thought of politics before honoring the victims of the shooting in Texas (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 = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.10'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));Posted by Ted Lieu on Monday, November 6, 2017FOX NEWS REPORTED:California s Ted Lieu said that he would not join his colleagues who were observing the moment of silence in the chambers of the House of Representatives: I can t do this again I ve been to too many moments of silences. In just my short period in Congress, three of the worst mass shootings in us history have occurred. I will not be silent. I urge us to pass reasonable gun safety legislation, including a universal background check law supported by 80 percent of Americans, a ban on assault rifles and a ban on bump stocks. WHAT LIEU FAILED TO REVEAL:The shooter should not have been able to purchase guns! The Air Force made an error and did not report the shooter so he would be flagged. The laws are in place Mr. Lieu! SCREW THE NRA My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families affected by the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, he posted on Twitter Sunday.But just two hours later, after some of his followers objected to the measured nature of the tweet, Lieu unloaded on the NRA:I agree my prior tweet could be better. So here: I pray for the victims in TX. Also, screw the @NRA & can you help Dems take back the House. Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) November 5, 2017 | 0 |
21,660 | Tillerson calls on Saudis to be 'more thoughtful' in Middle East | PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday questioned some of Saudi Arabia s recent moves in the Middle East, suggesting it should consider its actions more carefully, a rare rebuke when Washington s own policies in the region are under fire. Publicly, U.S. President Donald Trump, his top aides and senior Saudi officials have hailed what they say is a major improvement in U.S.-Saudi ties compared with relations under former President Barack Obama, who upset the Saudis by sealing a nuclear deal with their arch-foe Iran. However, U.S. diplomats and intelligence analysts privately express anxiety over some of the more hawkish actions by Saudi Arabia s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, especially towards Yemen, Qatar and Lebanon, as Saudi Arabia seeks to contain Iranian influence. With respect to Saudi Arabia s engagement with Qatar, how they re handling the Yemen war that they re engaged in, the Lebanon situation, we would encourage them to be a bit more measured and a bit more thoughtful in those actions to, I think, fully consider the consequences, Tillerson told a news conference alongside his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian. In Yemen, Riyadh is leading an Arab military coalition against the Houthi movement that controls the capital. In recent weeks it imposed a blockade of ports, threatening to worsen what the United Nations says could become one of the worst famines in modern times. Saudi Arabia has also led neighboring Gulf Arab countries this year in cutting off trade and diplomatic ties with their neighbor Qatar, which Riyadh says supports terrorism. Qatar is an important American ally and home to a big U.S. air base. A month ago, the prime minister of Lebanon announced he was resigning while on a visit to Saudi Arabia. He returned home two weeks later and withdrew his resignation last week, drawing a line under the episode. Tillerson s comments were the latest sign of U.S. concern over aspects of the kingdom s foreign policy after Trump on Wednesday issued a one-paragraph statement demanding the Saudis allow immediate humanitarian aid to reach the Yemeni people. Although the blockade showed signs of breaking this week, Yemen s situation remains dire. About 8 million people are on the brink of famine with outbreaks of cholera and diphtheria. We have called for a complete end of the blockade in Yemen and the opening of all ports. We are asking Saudi Arabia to allow that access, Tillerson said. Tillerson s comments appear to be the first time the United States had publicly linked Saudi Arabia to the political crisis that broke out in Lebanon after Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri announced his resignation last month in Riyadh. I think as to Lebanon, things have worked out in a very positive way, Tillerson said. Perhaps even more positive than before, because there have been very strong statements of affirmation for Lebanon, which will only be helpful. Tillerson s rebuke comes at a time when Washington needs support from its major Arab ally, after Trump s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel earlier this week. When asked whether there was room for Palestinians also to achieve their goal of having part of Jerusalem as their capital, Tillerson emphasized that Trump s move was not intended to shut down their demands over the city. In fact, he was very clear, I think, the final status of Jerusalem, including the borders, would be left to the parties to negotiate and decide, Tillerson said. | 1 |
21,661 | Iraqi-backed Yazidi group takes over Sinjar after Kurdish pullout: residents | BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An Iraqi Yazidi group affiliated with a Shi ite-led armed faction took control on Tuesday of Sinjar, said residents of the northwestern city that is claimed by both Kurdish and central Iraqi authorities. The Yazidi group, called Lalesh, extended control over all of Sinjar after the withdrawal late on Monday of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters who were deployed there, the residents said. There was no violence, the Lalesh group moved after the Peshmerga pulled out, said a resident by phone. Responding to a Kurdish referendum on independence held last month, Iraqi government forces on Monday captured the Kurdish-held oil city of Kirkuk, transforming the country s balance of power. That was part of lightning strike ordered by Minister Haider al-Abadi to retake all disputed areas, including Sinjar, occupied by the Kurdistan Regional Government s Peshmerga force in the course of the war on Islamic State. Lalesh is affiliated with Popular Mobilisation, an armed group formed mainly of Iran-trained Shi ite paramilitaries, with the participation of smaller forces from other communities including Sunnis, Christians and Yazidis. It is officially under Abadi s authority. | 1 |
21,662 | Mitch McConnell Just Got BEAT DOWN With His Own Words In Brilliant Move By Dems | Donald Trump has chosen the worst of the worst to serve in his cabinet and Republicans are trying to rush his nominees through before they have even been properly vetted. Four of the nine nominees with confirmation hearings scheduled for this week have yet to complete the ethics review.Last week, the Office of Government Ethics warned that several of Trump s cabinet picks have yet to complete the vetting process, leaving the door wide open for potentially unknown or unresolved ethics issues. But Republicans don t give a damn. At least not now. A few years ago, though, they cared a lot.Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, in particular, used to have very strong feelings about the process nominees are to go through to be confirmed. In 2009, when he was just a senator, he wrote a letter to then-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid which included a list of certain standards that must be met before a confirmation hearing could even be scheduled.Go figure, number three on this list dealt with financial disclosures, the very issue Trump s picks are having such a hard time with. Taxes are examined because they reveal potential conflicts of interest, but following Trump s lead, his nominees don t want to come up off their financial records.When it was Obama s nominees in question, McConnell wanted them vetted to the fullest. However, now that Trump is the one making the nominations, he is ready to push them through without question.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer knew just how to deal with McConnell s jaw-dropping hypocrisy. Schumer read McConnell s letter on the Senate floor Monday afternoon. I only ask, respectfully, that the Republican majority follow the same set of standards they had in 2009 when the shoe was on the other foot, Schumer said on the floor.Schumer presented McConnell with a copy of the letter, but with a few minor changes, and successfully smacked him down with his very own words. While the original was addressed to Reid, Schumer scratched out his name and replaced it with McConnell s. He also scratched out McConnell s original signature and signed his own name instead. You can see the changes below.Image via Huffington PostRepublicans think they can change the rules whenever it suits them. Way to go Schumer. I can t think of a more fitting response to this hypocritical bullsh*t.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
21,663 | BILL CLINTON CAUGHT GROPING Flight Attendant On Plane Until He Realized Camera Was Recording Him [VIDEO] | Here s a video posted on The Donald Reddit earlier on Tuesday of Bill Clinton putting his hand in between the legs of a flight attendant or campaign assistant. The woman then removes Bill s hand.We re not sure exactly when this video of Bill Clinton (likely early 90 s) being caught groping this flight attendant took place, but one thing is clear she didn t want him sticking his hands between her legs. Watch as she pushes him away:Uncovered ABC footage shows Bill Clinton groping an assistant before realizing the camera is on.#RapistBillClinton#HillaryTheEnabler pic.twitter.com/CKLCdPmg5P Patriots LOVE Trump! (@HilLIARy_Lies) October 2, 2016 | 0 |
21,664 | Trump to announce review of vehicle emissions rules: sources | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump is set to formally announce a review of vehicle fuel efficiency rules locked in at the end of the Obama administration when he meets with automaker chiefs this week, according to two sources briefed on the matter. The move by Trump would be a victory for automakers after months of pushing the new administration to reconsider the rules, which they say would be too expensive, could cost jobs and are out of step with vehicles consumers want to buy. Trump will visit an autonomous vehicle testing facility in a Detroit suburb on Wednesday and meet there with chief executives of several U.S. automakers. His administration has decided to review the feasibility of the vehicle emissions rules, which apply to the years 2022 through 2025, sources told Reuters last week. Former President Barack Obama moved to keep them in the final days of his administration. Reuters reported on the planned announcement on March 3. A formal notice by U.S. regulators to restart the review is expected to be made public on Wednesday. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said on Monday the trip is focused on “job creation and automobile manufacturing... highlighting the need to eliminate burdensome regulations that needlessly hinder meaningful job growth.” The chief executives of General Motors Co (GM.N), Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) will meet with the president in Ypsilanti Township, Michigan, along with senior officials from Japanese and German automakers, including Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) and Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE). Trump will hold a roundtable with CEOs and then make a speech to autoworkers and others. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had until April 2018 to decide whether the standards were feasible under a “midterm review,” but moved up its decision to a week before Obama left office in January. Automakers argue the vehicle emissions rules, which would raise the fleet average fuel efficiency to more than 50 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2025 from 27.5 mpg in 2010, will impose significant costs and are out of step with consumer preferences. They argue they need more flexibility to meet the rules amid low gas prices. Environmentalists, who favor the standards, say the rules will reduce fuel costs and greenhouse gases and have vowed to sue if the Trump administration weakens them. Trade groups representing automakers, including General Motors, Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) and Toyota, have asked the EPA to withdraw the determination finalizing the rules, which stem from a 2011 deal the industry reached with the U.S. government. Changing the 2022-2025 fuel rules will require a lengthy regulatory process and environmentalists and Democratic state attorneys general are likely to sue if the Trump administration significantly weakens the requirements. The Obama administration said in 2011 the changes would boost fuel efficiency to a fleet-wide average of 54.5 mpg, save motorists $1.7 trillion in total fuel costs over the life of the vehicles and cost the auto industry about $200 billion over 13 years. The fuel standards were a central part of Obama’s legacy on addressing climate change. In July, the EPA estimated the fleet would average only 50.8 mpg to 52.6 mpg in 2025 under the rules because Americans were buying more sport utility vehicles and trucks and fewer cars. Automakers briefed on the meeting do not expect the EPA to take action this week to attempt to prevent California from setting its own vehicle emissions rules. A Trump administration official confirmed it does not intend to address California’s authority this week. Reuters reported last week the EPA is considering taking steps to reverse California’s waiver under the Clean Air Act that allows it to set its own vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards. Trump has repeatedly met with automaker CEOs since taking office and made boosting employment, especially in the auto sector, a top priority. | 1 |
21,665 | Factbox: Trump on Twitter (December 12) - Democrats, Kirsten Gillibrand, Chuck Schumer | 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 : - Despite thousands of hours wasted and many millions of dollars spent, the Democrats have been unable to show any collusion with Russia - so now they are moving on to the false accusations and fabricated stories of women who I don’t know and/or have never met. FAKE NEWS! [710 EST] - Lightweight Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a total flunky for Chuck Schumer and someone who would come to my office “begging” for campaign contributions not so long ago (and would do anything for them), is now in the ring fighting against Trump. Very disloyal to Bill & Crooked-USED![803 EST] - Wishing all of those celebrating #Hanukkah around the world a happy and healthy eight nights in the company of those they love. 45.wh.gov/XpFsZu [1713 EST] -- Source link: (bit.ly/2jBh4LU) (bit.ly/2jpEXYR) | 1 |
21,666 | Rand Paul’s Solution For Healthcare Is Only Half Horrible (VIDEO) | Rand Paul is a self-described libertarian, but his idea for how to fix our healthcare system sounds awfully socialist. On the right, Paul has been one of the biggest critics of Trumpcare, calling it Obamacare lite. What we think is being hidden from conservatives is there s a lot of Obamacare Lite in their bill, the Kentucky Republican said on CNN s New Day Friday. There s a new entitlement program. There is also a Cadillac tax or something similar to the Cadillac tax that was in Obamacare. And there s also an individual mandate, believe it or not. Instead of paying the mandate to the government, they re going to tell you you have to pay the mandate, by law, to an insurance company. Paul, speaking at a Freedom Works rally, had his own proposal, which might as well have been an advertisement for the National Rifle Association. His suggestion is that people should be able to buy health insurance through the NRA.Here s the video: You see what he did there?The truth is, this isn t the worst idea in the world. The NRA is a sizable membership organization, but it s far from the biggest. The fact is, large groups people have a lot more clout than individuals. AAA has 40 million members, as compared to the NRA s 4.5. The AARP would probably be happy to negotiate with insurance companies and sell policies to their members.Inadvertently, though, the rabidly anti-union (but pro-gun) Republican, made the case for unions. Individuals don t have much if any negotiating power with insurance companies, or really, anyone. Still, Republicans want to leave individuals on their own, with the imagined idea that somehow, shopping is equivalent to negotiating. It s not. If you have the option to buy from six overpriced plans, you re still paying too much, but hey, you got a choice.The third largest membership organization in the world is a union. Unfortunately, you have to work for them to get the benefits of their negotiations, but if more people had access to unions, prices would drop across the board.But, there is one major problem with Paul s idea. Most employers, including most union employers, pick up at least part of the monthly tab. That s where the government subsidies that Republicans hate would come in. If an organization like AAA or even the NRA were to offer health insurance, it would still cost a lot more money than a decent employer plan, at least without some government help.Sorry, Republicans, but unions aren t synonymous with corruption anymore than the corporations that supply the paychecks, but they do give workers a voice, and in the case of goods and services, they give workers negotiating power. All free market Republicans should be behind more negotiating power, but the truth is, Republicans only want the market to be free for large corporations. All the rest of us should be at their mercy.Still, even at half bad, it s better than Trumpcare.Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
21,667 | Exclusive: Returning Rohingya may lose land, crops under Myanmar plans | SITTWE, Myanmar (Reuters) - Rohingya Muslims who return to Myanmar after fleeing to Bangladesh are unlikely to be able to reclaim their land, and may find their crops have been harvested and sold by the government, according to officials and plans seen by Reuters. Nearly 600,000 Rohingya have crossed the border since Aug. 25, when coordinated Rohingya insurgent attacks on security posts sparked a ferocious counteroffensive by the Myanmar army. The United Nations says killings, arson and rape carried out by troops and ethnic Rakhine Buddhist mobs since late August amount to a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya. Civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has no control over the military, has pledged that anyone sheltering in Bangladesh who can prove they were Myanmar residents can return. Reuters has interviewed six Myanmar officials involved with repatriation and resettlement plans. While the plans are not yet finalised, their comments reflect the government s thinking on how Suu Kyi s repatriation pledge will be implemented. Jamil Ahmed, who spoke to Reuters at a refugee camp in Bangladesh, is one of many Rohingya who hope to go back. Describing how he fled his home in northern Rakhine state in late August, Ahmed said one of the few things he grabbed was a stack of papers - land contracts and receipts - that might prove ownership of the fields and crops he was leaving behind. I didn t carry any ornaments or jewels, said the 35-year-old. I ve only got these documents. In Myanmar, you need to present documents to prove everything. The stack of papers, browning and torn at the edges, may not be enough, however, to regain the land in Kyauk Pan Du village, where he grew potatoes, chilli plants, almonds and rice. It depends on them. There is no land ownership for those who don t have citizenship, said Kyaw Lwin, agriculture minister in Rakhine state, when asked in an interview whether refugees who returned to Myanmar could reclaim land and crops. Despite his land holdings, Myanmar does not recognize Ahmed as a citizen. Nearly all the more than 1 million Rohingya who lived in Myanmar before the recent exodus are stateless, despite many tracing their families in the country for generations. Officials have made plans to harvest, and possibly sell, thousands of acres of crops left behind by the fleeing Rohingya, according to state government documents reviewed by Reuters. Myanmar also intends to settle most refugees who return to Rakhine state in new model villages , rather than on the land they previously occupied, an approach criticized in the past by the United Nations as effectively creating permanent camps. The government has not asked for help from any international agencies, who are calling for any repatriation to be voluntary and to the refugees place of origin. The exodus of 589,000 Rohingya - and about 30,000 non-Muslims - from the conflict zone in northern Rakhine has left some 71,500 acres of planted rice paddy abandoned and in need of harvesting by January, according to plans drawn up by state officials. Tables in the documents, reviewed by Reuters, divide the land into paddy sown by national races - meaning Myanmar citizens - or Bengalis, a term widely used in Myanmar to refer to the Rohingya, but which they reject as implying they are illegal migrants from Bangladesh. Kyaw Lwin, the state minister, confirmed the plans, and said there was a total of 45,000 acres of ownerless Bengali land . Two dozen combine harvesters operated by officials from the agriculture ministry will begin cutting stalks this month in areas under military control. The machines will be able to harvest about 14,400 acres according to official calculations contained in the plans. It is unclear what will become of the remaining crop, but officials told Reuters they would try to harvest all the paddy, recruiting additional labor to harvest manually if necessary. An acre of paddy in Myanmar typically makes more than $300 at market, meaning the state will gain millions of dollars worth of rice. The harvested rice will be transported to government stores, where it would either be donated to those displaced by the conflict or sold, Rakhine state secretary Tin Maung Swe told Reuters by phone. The land was abandoned. There is no one to reap that, so the government ordered to harvest it, he said. Human Rights Watch (HRW) deputy Asia director Phil Robertson, said the government should at least guarantee that the rice would be used for humanitarian support and not for profit. You can t call a rice crop ownerless just because you used violence and arson to drive the owners out of the country, he said. Many refugees are fearful to return and are skeptical of Myanmar s guarantees. Those who do decide to cross back into Myanmar will first be received at one of two centers, according to government plans reviewed by Reuters, before mostly being relocated to model villages. International donors, who have fed and cared for more than 120,000 mostly Rohingya internally displaced persons (IDPs) in supposedly temporary camps in Rakhine since violence in 2012, have told Myanmar that they will not support more camps, according to aid workers and diplomats. The establishment of new temporary camps or camp-like settlements carries many risks, including that the returnees and IDPs could end up being confined to these camps for a long time, said U.N. spokesman Stanislav Saling in an emailed response. Satellite imagery shows 288 villages, mostly Rohingya settlements, have been fully or partially razed by fires since Aug. 25, according to HRW. Refugees say the army and Buddhist mobs were responsible for most of the arson. The government says Rohingya militants and even residents themselves burned the homes for propaganda. The hamlets where Rohingya farmers lived were not systematic , and so should be rebuilt in smaller settlements of 1,000 households set out in straight rows to enable development, said Soe Aung, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. In some villages there are three houses here, four houses over there. For example, there s no road for fire engines when fire burns the villages, Soe Aung said. Those who decide to cross back into Myanmar will first be received at one of two centers, according to government plans reviewed by Reuters. At the centers, officials said, the returnees will fill out a 16-point form that will be cross-checked with local authorities records. Immigration officials have for years visited Rohingya households at least annually for checks, photographing family members. For refugees who lost all their documents, the government would compare their photos to those that immigration authorities have on file, said Myint Kyaing, the permanent secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population. Officials will accept as evidence national verification cards handed out in an ongoing government effort to register Rohingya that falls short of offering them citizenship. The card has been widely rejected by Rohingya community leaders, who say they treat life-long residents like new immigrants. We are not going to go back like this, said Mushtaq Ahmed, 57, a farmer from Myin Hlut village now living in the Tenkhali refugee camp in Bangladesh, where Jamil Ahmed is also staying. If I can go back to my house, and get my land back, only then I will go. We invested all our money into those paddy fields. They are killing so many of us with swords and bullets, and killing the rest of us like this. | 1 |
21,668 | U.S. army probes fake evacuation orders sent to U.S. military, families in South Korea | SEOUL (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Saturday it has opened an investigation into fake mobile phone alerts and social media messages advising U.S. military personnel and their families to evacuate the Korean Peninsula. The phony messages, which were spread on Thursday, came at a sensitive time, with tensions high after North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 3. The test and a series of missile launches have triggered a war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea s leader Kim Jong Un. U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) was not yet aware of how many people received the hoax messages or who was behind them, a spokesman for the USFK told Reuters. The USFK posted a statement on its official Facebook page on Thursday making clear that the U.S. military did not issue any evacuation-related alerts. It has also instructed all U.S. Department of Defense personnel and their family to confirm any evacuation-related communications before acting. The USFK conducts regular biannual noncombatant evacuation operation (NEO) exercises in the spring and fall to rehearse for possible evacuation. The second NEO exercise of the year is scheduled to take place in October. | 1 |
21,669 | Turkish mayor says forced to quit in Erdogan purge of local government | (Refiles October 30th story to add dropped name in third paragraph) ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish mayor announced on Monday he had quit his post and left President Tayyip Erdogan s ruling AK Party after pressure and threats beyond unbearable , becoming the sixth mayor in recent weeks to fall victim of a purge of local government. Ahmet Edip Ugur, mayor of the northwestern province of Balikesir, became the first mayor to speak out against the purge, declaring at a news conference that democracy in Turkey was broken and at one point breaking into tears. There is no corruption, no irregularity, no failures on my side...but despite this, there are pressures and threats coming all the way into your home and to your family. This is beyond unbearable, Ugur said, adding that he had no ties to the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara accuses Gulen s network of engineering a failed military coup last year. Gulen denies involvement. Since that attempted putsch, Erdogan has carried out a wideranging purge of Turkish society, from the military and police to the judiciary and academia. More than 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial over alleged links to Gulen, while 150,000 have been sacked or suspended from jobs. Erdogan says the action is necessary to root out subversive elements loyal to Gulen and to maintian stability in Turkey. Ugur said he was sorry, hurt, but in peace , before breaking into tears. Ugur s resignation followed those of the high profile Istanbul and Ankara mayors. Melih Gokcek, a staunch Erdogan loyalist who has been mayor of Ankara for 23 years and won five consecutive elections, quit on Saturday. I leave my post of mayor upon orders from our leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Gokcek said in a televised speech. This is not because I think I m unsuccessful, tired or for some other reason. I am solely realising the request of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who I believe will make my country a leading nation. Four other AK mayors have stepped down since September, including Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas, on orders from Erdogan, who says he is seeking a renewal of the AK Party he founded and which has governed Turkey since 2002. | 1 |
21,670 | Indonesia holds cabinet meeting in Bali as volcano threatens tourism | JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian President Joko Widodo will on Friday hold his cabinet meeting on the holiday island of Bali in a bid to reassure visitors that there is nothing to worry about from the rumbling Mount Agung volcano. Authorities last month raised the alert status of Mount Agung in northeastern Bali to the highest level, imposing an exclusion zone of up to 10 km (6 miles) around its crater as it spewed clouds of ash, steam, and other volcanic material. Widodo will take the unusual step of gathering his cabinet in Bali as part of government efforts to assure visitors that the island is safe to come to and to stave off a major drop off in visitor numbers during the upcoming holiday season. For those who have plans to vacation in Bali, there s no need to doubt or be worried about the status of Mount Agung, Bali is very safe to visit, Energy Minister Ignasius Jonan said in a Twitter message after visiting an observatory overlooking the volcano, before the cabinet meeting. President Widodo is expected to make a statement after the cabinet meeting. The cabinet usually meets at the state palace in the capital Jakarta or on its outskirts in Bogor. The relatively small island of Bali, famous for its beaches and temples, has an outsized importance for Indonesian tourism. In January-September, Bali received 4.5 million foreign tourist arrivals, nearly half of the 10.5 million arrivals in Indonesia. Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said this week that Indonesia was expecting an estimated 15 trillion rupiah ($1.11 billion) in lost income and around 1 million fewer tourists because of the volcano, according to daily newspaper Kompas. Many business operators and hotels have seen cancellations since authorities first raised the alert in September, and most expect the holiday season to be slower than in previous years. Thousands of tourists were left stranded late last month when a volcanic ash cloud forced the closure of Bali s airport for several days. Countries like Australia and Singapore have advised their citizens to be cautious when traveling to Bali. | 1 |
21,671 | House panel to finish work on tax legislation Thursday: chairman | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican-controlled U.S. House Ways and Means Committee will wrap up work on Thursday on major tax overhaul legislation, Chairman Kevin Brady said, which could bring the measure to a vote by the full House as early as next week. Brady said that before the committee vote is held a change will be inserted into the bill to keep it in line with a requirement that the measure add no more than $1.5 trillion to the U.S. debt. | 1 |
21,672 | Anthony Anderson Burns Stacey Dash: She’s ‘Ann Coulter Dipped In Butterscotch’ | In an amazing take down of Fox News contributor Stacey Dash, comedian Anthony Anderson compared her to Ann Coulter.Dash has received heavy criticism ever since she called for ending BET and the NCAA Image Awards in her backwards solution to ending racism in response to the condemnation of the Oscars for the lack of diversity. We have to make up our minds, Dash said on Fox News. Either we want to have segregation or integration. If we don t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards, where you re only awarded if you re black. If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms. It s a double standard. There shouldn t be a Black History Month, the Clueless actress continued. We re Americans. Period. Well, the backlash was swift and merciless as BET and others responded by reminding Dash that she has made several appearances on television shows and music videos aired on the channel.But Anthony Anderson also chimed in on Friday while hosting the 47th Annual NAACP Image Awards and it s fair to say that Dash got totally roasted by the Black-ish star. Everybody give a round of applause for Stacey Dash! he began. What the hell is she doing here? Doesn t she know that the Fox network is using her? She s just an Ann Coulter dipped in butterscotch. That s all she is. Baby, don t let them use you! Come back to the black people and get back to work on some of those beautiful C-movies that you used to do! Anderson must have hit a nerve, because Dash responded with a weird post on Twitter.Well it s funny how woman who weighs 105 wet! Can get grown ass men to act like llittle girls! Haha Stacey Dash (@REALStaceyDash) February 6, 2016Stacey Dash deserves the criticism she has been getting lately and Anthony Anderson made a spectacular comparison.The fact is that without BET or the NAACP, African-Americans would be even more underrepresented in the entertainment industry than they are now. Perhaps one day, there won t be a need for the Image Awards or BET. But that s going to depend on whether or not mainstream awards show like the Oscars get their act together and start treating black actors and actresses with the respect they deserve. Featured image from Facebook | 0 |
21,673 | Pro-Trump groups take no prisoners in rush to help an embattled president | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Flush with cash, political groups outside the White House are aggressively coming to President Donald Trump’s aid as he battles low public approval numbers, questions about his election campaign’s ties to Russia and a stalled legislative agenda. Through television attack ads and online campaigns normally seen only during the tumult of an election, the groups are helping Trump to strike back against his perceived enemies and boost his agenda, adding to the firepower of his Twitter account and the bully pulpit of the White House. On Tuesday, one of the groups, America First Policies, launched an attack ad against a senator from Trump’s own Republican Party who had balked at a Senate plan to overhaul healthcare that would leave millions more Americans uninsured. The attack angered Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who is struggling to rustle up the votes for the plan. It is the first time that a U.S. president has had Super PACs - political action committees that can raise unlimited amounts of money and typically operate during elections - or political non-profits, which do not have to disclose their donors or where they spend their money, actively working to support him after the dust of campaigning has cleared. The pro-Trump groups are prohibited from coordinating with the White House, which declined to comment for this story. The New York Times reported that McConnell had complained to White House chief of staff Reince Priebus about America First Policies’ ad. The group later pulled the ad. America First Policies and the other pro-Trump groups were set up to promote Trump and his legislative agenda - healthcare reform, building a wall along the Mexican border, and pushing for lower taxation and deregulation. They are not allied to the Republican Party, which can pose a problem for Republican leaders as Tuesday’s attack ad showed. With Trump’s approval ratings sagging and his agenda now overshadowed by a federal investigation into his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia, the groups are pouring resources into protecting Trump’s image, demonizing his opponents and amplifying his message that he is the victim of a witch-hunt. “The establishment is shaken, angry, losing control,” begins another new ad by America First Policies, which says on its website that it is a non-profit organization “supporting key policy initiatives.” Images of the U.S. Capitol, Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and liberal MSNBC host Rachel Maddow flash in the background. “Desperately waging an all-out war to protect their interest,” the narrator continues. “They lie, they leak, they leech onto power.” America First Policies is comprised of more traditionally conservative Republicans and was founded after the election by a close ally of Vice President Mike Pence, Nick Ayers. The group said in a statement their mission was to promote Trump’s agenda and that they were not afraid to push House Republicans through grassroots and advertising to support the healthcare overhaul. The groups’ shift from policy promotion to attack mode, does not surprise Marjorie Hershey, a political science professor at Indiana University. “A lot of research tells us that negative ads tend to be more attention-getting than positive ads, and because Super PACs themselves aren’t on the ballot, they can afford to risk the unsavory reputation that negative advertisers often get,” Hershey said. Strategists and political scientists say it is hard to know if the groups are actually moving public opinion. But the groups point to their fundraising as evidence of their success – much of it raised not from millionaires, but in small donations from voters. “Great America Alliance” - which was set up as a sister organization to a Super PAC created by Trump supporters Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich - has spent $400,000 on an ad attacking former FBI Director James Comey, the group’s director, Eric Beach, told Reuters. The video tried to discredit Comey, who was fired by Trump over his handling of the Russia probe, the week he testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Just another DC insider in it for himself,” the ad concludes. The group launched a new ad this week featuring conservative media star Tomi Lahren attacking Robert Mueller, the special counsel now leading the Russia investigation. Mueller is investigating whether Trump may have attempted to obstruct justice by pressuring Comey to drop his inquiry. On its website the group says its mission is “to advocate for a stronger economy, a more secure nation, and a society with less government intrusion and more freedom for American citizens.” Asked to reconcile its stated mission with the attack ads, the group’s director, Eric Beach, said, “Our goal is to really get on the ground and fight back. Our supporters want to get out there and fight ... the mischaracterization of not just Donald Trump’s rhetoric but also his policies.” Alison Dagnes, a political science professor at Shippensburg University who specializes in Super PACS, said the well-resourced groups play a key role in spreading Trump’s message that what his supporters are reading or seeing in the media is false. “They’re saying we see what’s happening now and you shouldn’t believe it.” The Committee to Defend the President, another Super PAC, launched an ad calling on supporters to “defend” Trump. The group’s leader, Ted Harvey, said unfair attacks on Trump had forced his group to shift their focus to defending the president instead of promoting his policies. “Certainly, I would rather be talking about policies than talking about made-up lies that the Democrats and the mainstream media cabal have put together to discredit the administration from moving forward on its agenda,” said Harvey. (For a graphic on Super PAC spending for Trump versus Obama click tmsnrt.rs/2seIbj1) | 1 |
21,674 | BOMBSHELL REPORT: White House Counsel Preparing For Impeachment (DETAILS) | The investigation into Donald Trump and his associates possible collusion with the Russian government to fix the 2016 presidential election is moving at lightening speed now. With Trump s openly admitting that he fired FBI Director James Comey due to the Russia investigation hell, he even admitted it to the Russians it looks like we may have a pretty clear case of obstruction of justice on the part of this alleged president, and it seems that the White House Counsel s office knows it, too.According to CNN, the White House Counsel s Office, headed up by Don McGahn, is now actively consulting experts on what the impeachment of Donald Trump might look like. Apparently, it is simply in the internal research phase at this time, and the White House Counsel thinks that the GOP-controlled Congress will cushion the blows and cover for Trump.When pressed for comment on this development, the White House simply says, it s not true. That comes as no surprise, though, because that is what they always say when it comes to news stories that are unflattering to them or their orange leader whether said stories are true or not.I am personally more inclined to believe the reporting from CNN, which says:The legal discussions are part of a broader internal effort to bolster the president s legal defense, which has become more complicated with the Justice Department s appointment of a special counsel to pursue the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.In other words, they realize that the special counsel who has been appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the form of former FBI Director Robert Mueller will not be bullied, intimidated, or manipulated. They also realize what it would look like if Trump just up and fired Mueller the way he did James Comey, so that particular trick is off the table at this point.Trump and his cronies are in deep shit, and their days are numbered. If we re lucky, the whole treasonous, corrupt bunch will be chucked out of our White House and hauled off to jail by the time this is all said and done.Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images | 0 |
21,675 | wikileaks email hillary campaign struggles to reach fking dumb young people | clinton insider rigging only way hillary can win shes going to lose and she knows it he said jamie white infowarscom october comments
hillary clinton and the democrats have begun stealing the election using every underhanded tactic because its the only way she can win says clinton insider larry nichols
shes going to lose and she knows it nichols said on the alex jones show thursday unless she can amass and pull off the biggest amount of voter fraud in the history of this country
nichols explained that the establishment is already doing what it can to prevent an open and transparent election
the dnc filed a lawsuit to try to force the removal of poll watchers at the polls he said why would they do that if they know theres no cheating going on why would they fight the voter id if they dont plan to have massive voter fraud
the mainstream media and the clinton campaign are also doing everything they can up until election day to make everybody believe that the election is already over in hillarys favor nichols said
folks do not believe it he said the polling is a part of this game plan to destroy your confidence in your ability to win
i believe donald trump is winning nichols added youre winning youve just got to stay the course
nichols warned that voters must take extra steps to ensure their vote isnt being altered
youve got to make people at the precinct prove that your vote was recorded properly he said if they cant show you proof then demand a paper ballot
the damning videos provided by project veritas exposing highlevel democrat operatives discussing how they steal elections illustrate that worries about voter fraud arent unfounded with even the new york times acknowledging a recent survey showing that most voters fear their ballot wont count because they believe the political process is so dominated by corporate interests newsletter sign up get the latest breaking news specials from alex jones and the infowars crew related articles | 0 |
21,676 | Illinois governor enlists counterparts to attack Democrats in election ad | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois’ Republican governor has launched an unusual attack ad in his re-election campaign that features three neighboring governors crediting their states’ job gains to Illinois taxes crafted by a state House Democratic leader. Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, who kicked off his 2018 re-election campaign this week, saw his first term marred by a political impasse that left Illinois without a budget for two years before lawmakers overrode his veto this summer to raise taxes. Governors in the new ad include Missouri’s Eric Greitens, Wisconsin’s Scott Walker and Indiana’s Eric Holcomb - all Republicans like Rauner - thanking Rauner’s political foil, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, for blocking reforms, raising taxes and sending jobs to their states. “Hoosiers love you, Mike Madigan,” Holcomb said in the ad. Among the Democrats whom Rauner, a wealthy businessman, could face after a March primary are J.B. Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotels Corp fortune, and Chris Kennedy, son of the late U.S. Senator Robert Kennedy. The governor’s race in the fifth-largest state is expected to rank among the most expensive in the country. Experts who follow elections said the ad was unusual. “This is creative since it uses GOP governors from surrounding states to shift the blame for Illinois’ woes from Rauner to a Democratic leader,” University of Virginia political science professor Larry Sabato said. “Voters usually hold their governor responsible for the state of the state,” he added. While it is not unusual for governors to make appearances for other campaigns, they tend to take a more positive approach, highlighting an incumbent’s achievements, said Dick Simpson, a political science professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. While the ad may resonate with rural, conservative voters, it also comes as Illinois and other states seek to attract Amazon.com’s $5 billion second headquarters. Simpson said highlighting how Illinois policies hurt the state is “probably not helpful.” Madigan dismissed the ad in a statement, calling it a “race to the bottom being led by his role models from states where middle-class wages are a fraction of what they are in Illinois.” Rauner has feuded with Democrats, who control the state legislature, over his insistence a state budget be tied to policy demands that would weaken unions, impose legislative term limits and freeze property taxes. He also has angered conservatives by signing a bill to expand state-funded coverage of abortions. Political scientists said he faces a tough re-election bid in a state often carried by the Democratic candidate in presidential elections. Spending on the race could top $150 million, a rarity, said Sarah Brune, executive director of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform. | 1 |
21,677 | Democrats want strong response to intel report on 2016 election | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrats on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees said on Friday a report on Russian activity related to the 2016 U.S. election should inspire a strong response to prevent a repeat. “The strength of America’s democracy will be measured, in part, on how we respond, and the steps we take to develop a robust and proactive cyber strategy,” said Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate panel. Representative Adam Schiff, his counterpart on the House panel, said Congress must undertake “thorough investigations” to determine what happened and how, and how to protect the U.S. government. | 1 |
21,678 | WATCH: Al Sharpton Catches John McCain Acting Exactly Like Donald Trump Toward Immigrants | Senator John McCain just got outed as a hypocrite with a damning video that shows him acting just like Donald Trump even though he blames the presumptive GOP nominee for hurting him among Hispanic voters.Last week, the Arizona Republican complained to private donors that Donald Trump s rhetoric against Hispanics is making his re-election bid difficult. I do not take my primary opponent lightly, McCain said. He continued: But have no doubt that if it is Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, here in Arizona with over 30 percent of the vote being the Hispanic vote I have no doubt that this may be the race of my life. People are angry. They re upset. They feel that there s this disconnect and all of that and frankly there s an element of nativism in it as well, as you know. McCain is all of a sudden worried about the Hispanic vote because Trump has accused Hispanic immigrants of being rapists and murderers, all while promising to build an expensive wall along the entire southern border to keep immigrants out of the United States.But as it turns out, McCain is apparently pretending that he is totally different from Trump.Because in 2010, McCain used the exact same rhetoric in a campaign ad that makes it clear that he should blame himself for any troubles with Hispanic voters he will experience in November.MSNBC host Al Sharpton caught McCain being a hypocrite, so he played the video during an interview with McCain s Democratic challenger Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick.In the ad, McCain is walking along the border with a local sheriff. Drug and human smuggling, home invasions, murder, he says. The sheriff uses the term illegals to describe desperate undocumented immigrants fleeing violence in their countries of origin for a better life in America. John McCain then concludes by calling to complete the dang fence. Here s the video via YouTube. Blaming immigrants for murder, for home invasions, vowing to, quote, complete the fence. I mean, this is John NcCain, Sharpton said. Is there that much difference that you see there between what he s saying and what Trump is saying about building a wall? he asked Kirkpatrick.Kirkpatrick agreed, saying that John McCain changed his position again as he often does depending on who he is talking to. He s not a straight shooter, she continued. He s not a maverick. He doesn t stand for anything. Here s the video via YouTube.Looks like John McCain has some explaining to do.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
21,679 | Philippine president's son denies links to $125-million drug shipment | MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte s son on Thursday told a Senate inquiry he had no links to a seized shipment of $125 million worth of narcotics from China, dismissing as baseless the allegations of his involvement in the drugs trade. Opponents of the president, who has instigated a fierce crackdown on a trade he says is destroying the country, say they believe his son Paolo may have helped ease the entry of the drug shipment at the port in Manila, the capital. On Tuesday Duterte said he had told Paolo to attend the senate investigation if he had nothing to hide, besides advising him not to answer questions and invoke his right to keep silent. I cannot answer allegations based on hearsay, Paolo Duterte, the vice mayor of the southern city of Davao, told the Senate. My presence here is for the Filipino people and for my fellow Davaoe os whom I serve, he added, referring to the people of Davao, where his father served as mayor for more than two decades before being elected president in 2016. The Philippine leader has repeatedly said he would resign if critics could prove any members of his family were involved in corruption. Senator Antonio Trillanes, a staunch critic of the president, displayed to the Senate panel photographs of Paolo Duterte beside a businessman who was behind the shipment in which the alleged drugs were found. The president s son-in-law, Manases Carpio, who has also been accused of links to the May drug shipment from China, told the hearing he had no involvement. Duterte unleashed his bloody campaign the day he took office on June 30 last year, after promising Filipinos he would use deadly force to wipe out crime and drugs. Police records show more than 3,800 people have died in police operations since July last year, and more than 2,100 other reported murders are linked to drugs. Police reject activists allegations that they are executing suspected drug users and dealers and say officers shoot only in self-defense. Trillanes said he had intelligence information from an undisclosed foreign country that Paolo Duterte was a member of a criminal syndicate, citing as proof a dragon-like tattoo with secret digits on his back. Asked about the tattoo, Duterte said he had one, but declined to describe it, invoking his right to privacy. Asked by Trillanes if he would allow a photograph to be taken of the tattoo and sent to the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency to decode secret digits, Duterte said: No way . He refused to respond to questions about his bank accounts, calling them irrelevant . Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the attendance of Duterte and Carpio demonstrates that both gentlemen are willing and ready to face malicious allegations intended to impugn their character and credibility. ($1=51.0290 Philippine pesos) | 1 |
21,680 | Little prospect of Syria peace progress seen in Geneva talks | BEIRUT (Reuters) - A breakthrough in U.N.-backed Syria peace talks in Geneva this week seems hardly more likely than in seven failed earlier rounds as President Bashar al-Assad pushes for total military victory and his opponents stick by their demand he leave power. U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura said on Monday the Syrian government had not yet confirmed that it would attend the talks. A Syrian newspaper reported that the government delegation would delay its planned Tuesday arrival in Geneva because of the opposition s insistence Assad step down. The opposition s stance is seen by Damascus and its allies as divorced from reality after the government s steady march of victories since Russia entered the war in 2015. The rebels have been forced from all Syria s big cities and their hopes of toppling Assad by military means look finished. The opposition has also accused the government of refusing to seriously engage. The Assad regime must not be allowed to play for time while people are being besieged and bombed, Yahya al-Aridi, newly appointed head of the opposition s negotiating committee, said on Sunday. Aridi was chosen last week after the opposition rejigged its negotiations committee - jettisoning as its leader a more hardline opponent of Assad in what some speculated might be a move towards softening its position. But the statement it put out after meeting on Friday reiterated its demand that Assad go before the start of a political transition under any peace deal. Last week a senior Assad adviser said talks could succeed only if rebels laid down their arms. Over the weekend, air strikes on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta district near Damascus intensified, killing 41 people on Sunday and Monday, according to a war monitor. You cannot expect very much, said Nikolaos Van Dam, a former Dutch diplomat in Damascus and author of two books about Syria. The regime doesn t want to really negotiate. They want to reconquer every inch of Syrian territory and then negotiate. But then the opposition would have no bargaining chips, he said. The Syrian civil war, now in its seventh year, has killed hundreds of thousands of people and caused the world s worst refugee crisis, driving 11 million from their homes. All previous diplomatic initiatives have swiftly collapsed over the opposition demand that Assad leave power and his refusal to go. Troops from Russia, Iran, Turkey and the United States, as well as Shi ite militias from Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan, have all now joined arrived on the battlefield. Russia has pushed its own parallel track of diplomacy since early this year, bringing together Assad s other main ally Iran, and Turkey, which has been one of the biggest rebel supporters. Russia has elections next year and President Vladimir Putin wants to show progress towards a political deal after two years of fighting far from Russian soil. Moscow has already said it will bring many troops home from Syria by the end of the year. Putin may also seek to tout diplomatic progress as he angles for the West to take some of the burden of Syria s post-war reconstruction, now likely to fall on Russia, Iran and China. Western foreign ministers said in September their support hinges on a credible political process leading to a genuine political transition , a process they have said requires the involvement of the opposition. Russia wants the end of the war but it wants its ally intact. So what would be the compromise that is acceptable to the opposition or to the other countries? It s not clear to me, said Van Dam. Moscow now plans a Syrian Congress , bringing together the government and some opposition groups to write a new constitution leading to elections. The main opposition rejects the idea, saying all talks must come under the United Nations. But the government has said it backs the congress, as has Turkey, which has some sway over rebel groups in the northwest. There is an acceleration in the political solution on the basis of a unified Syria headed by Bashar al-Assad, with amendments to the constitution and in the election law, a senior, pro-Assad official in the region said. The Syrian government declared on Sunday it would support the formation of a committee that will discuss the constitution and is expected to be set up at the congress. It also said it would support U.N. participation in legislative elections to be held after that discussion. Ultimately Russia s objective is to dress up a limited military victory for the Assad regime and the Iranians in Syria as a diplomatic one, said Andrew Tabler, a Syria specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think-tank. Because the regime and the Iranians don t have the manpower to completely occupy all Syria, or to rebuild Syria, or the money to rebuild Syria, they need international buy-in, he said. I don t think it will be easy for them because the United States and others know what they are trying to do. This week s Geneva talks will focus on the issues of elections and a constitution, Ramzi Ramzi, the deputy United Nations special envoy for Syria said in Damascus on Saturday. De Mistura said on Monday negotiations should take place at Geneva and without any preconditions, and all other initiatives should support the U.N. mediation process. After recapturing the last major rebel urban stronghold in East Aleppo a year ago, and advancing across central and eastern Syria against Islamic State this year, the government now controls far more territory than any other force in the country. But rebels still hold a swathe of northwest Syria next to Turkey, and an enclave in the southwest near Israel and Jordan. They have other pockets near Damascus and Homs. Kurdish groups and allied Arab militia backed by the United States also hold the northeast and are holding elections there this week for local councils in an effort to cement autonomy. They have not been invited to the Geneva talks and are regarded by Syria s neighbor Turkey as enemies. Assad has sworn to recover all of his state, and visiting Iranian officials have indicated that new military campaigns may soon start against both the rebels and the Kurds. | 1 |
21,681 | WATCH: CNN Host HUMILIATES Trump Supporter For Providing Laughable ‘Evidence’ Of Nationwide Voter Fraud | One of Trump s biggest supporters just got their ass handed to them for having zero evidence of voter fraud.Donald Trump s lies about voter fraud imploded on Monday as CNN tore apart Kris Kobach, the man Stephen Miller cited when asked if he had evidence to prove Trump s claims.Miller repeatedly claimed that millions of Americans voted illegally in November to explain how Trump lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton. Miller specifically talked about New Hampshire, claiming that thousands of people from Massachusetts bused in to vote a second time in that state. Go to New Hampshire, Miller said. Talk to anybody who s worked in politics there for a long time. Everybody s aware of the problem in New Hampshire. Except that many former and current New Hampshire politicians from both parties have criticized Trump s claim.And when ABC host George Stephanopoulos asked Miller for evidence, he merely referred the media to Kansas Secretary of State and Trump supporter Kris Kobach.On Monday, CNN host Kate Bolduan confronted Kobach about Miller s claims. Miller says, look to you, sir, for the evidence, Bolduan said. Where is it? On election day 2016, 6,000 people registered in New Hampshire using an out-of-state driver s license, Kobach claimed in response. Of those over 6,000, just under 3,000 so just under half used a Massachusetts driver s license. Now, some of those are going to be legit. They re going to be people who just moved to New Hampshire but many of those will be out-of-state residents who voted in the state. What Kobach just said is a mere prediction. In a courtroom, it would be called conjecture because Kobach is making an opinion based on incomplete information. You truly do believe that thousands of people came in from Massachusetts to vote in New Hampshire on election day? Bolduan continued in disbelief. We will have data at the end of the month [about] how many of those 6,000 people voted in both New Hampshire and in one of the other states, Kobach said, admitting that he actually doesn t have evidence. He is only promising that he will have evidence at a later time, probably when whatever right-wing organization he is associated with provides their fabricated statistics.With no real evidence to support his claims, Bolduan pounced and slammed Kobach with reality. Mr. Secretary, wait a second. Stephen Miller, over the weekend, said thousands did vote illegally. Definitively saying that this actually happened. You re saying that there s going to be more data coming at the end of the month. So, do you have the evidence? Voter registration does not equal fraudulent votes. Kobach claimed that 3 million Americans are registered to vote in two states, which isn t illegal. Of course, Trump adviser Steve Bannon is also registered to vote in two states.Kobach then offered proof of Trump s claim by whining about CNN not covering the nine cases of voter fraud Kansas is prosecuting. Bolduan easily picked that evidence apart. You have nine cases, Bolduan said. Six guilty pleas, one dismissed, two pending. That s as of January 25th. Nine cases does not rampant widespread voter fraud make. A small minority does not make millions and millions of widespread, rampant votes in this country, Bolduan continued. What Stephen Miller and the president said over the weekend is this is exactly why they lost in New Hampshire. Not saying they were prospective cases, they were illegal votes. At that point, Kobach stumbled his way through the remainder of the interview as Bolduan countered his bullshit with facts at every turn.Here s the full smack down via YouTube.Donald Trump s voter fraud claims are a pathetic attempt to stroke his own ego because he can t handle the fact that he lost to a woman and is not a legitimate president. If he is really so concerned about voter fraud, he should call for a new election immediately. But he won t because he is full of shit.Featured image via screenshot | 0 |
21,682 | Rep. Ted Lieu Has A Response To Sean Spicer’s Daily Lies; It’s GLORIOUS (TWEET) | Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) is one of the loudest and most steadfast members of #THERESISTANCE in Congress. He has called Donald Trump an evil man over the GOP s cruel approach to healthcare, and has even suggested that president #45 could use some mental health treatment. Now, Rep. Lieu has posted a video to Twitter in which he doesn t speak at all, but doesn t need to.Lieu s latest target is White House Lying Mouthpiece Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Of course, Spicer is in the limelight right now because of his treatment of veteran reporter April Ryan during Tuesday s press briefing. He was condescending, he lied to her face, and basically treated her like she was beneath him. Rep. Lieu s answer? To print out a sign and tape it to his office name plate that identifies the space as an #Alternativefacts Free Zone. In the two second video that he posted to Twitter, he simply shakes his head with regards to how he feels about anything Spicer has to say:This is my response to pretty much everything White House @PressSec @SeanSpicer says during his press briefings. cc: @AprilDRyan pic.twitter.com/OlnCbpvVs8 Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) March 29, 2017This is the only appropriate response to anything coming from Sean Spicer, or any of the other lying excuses for White House officials at this point. They repeatedly lie and spread propaganda to the American public all to keep from being fired by Lord Orange Marmalade.Keep resisting from Congress, Rep. Lieu, and we ll keep resisting from the streets.Featured image by Kris Connor via Getty Images for Food Chains | 0 |
21,683 | U.S. Senate panel advances Ross, Chao nominations on voice vote | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate committee swiftly approved Republican President Donald Trump’s nominees for commerce and transportation secretaries by voice vote on Tuesday, signaling that they will face little resistance to approval by the full Senate. Members of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voiced no objections to the nominations of billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, 79, as commerce secretary and veteran government administrator Elaine Chao, 63, as transportation secretary. Republicans control the Commerce committee by a single vote. The single voice vote for the two nominees marked a stark contrast from Monday’s 11-10 vote by the Senate Foreign Relations committee to advance the nomination of former Exxon Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson to be secretary of state. All Democrats on that panel voted against Tillerson. Ross, a corporate turnaround expert who made his fortune investing in distressed steel, textile, auto parts companies and banks, is expected to take a lead role in shaping Trump’s trade policies. These are aimed at protecting U.S. manufacturers from imports, renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and pursuing bilateral trade deals after Trump signed an order on Monday to cancel the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Chao would play a key role in Trump’s plan to significantly raise government spending on U.S. infrastructure, including roads and bridges, an initiative that has strong support from Democrats and many Republicans. | 1 |
21,684 | Attorney General Sessions has lukewarm praise for FBI after Trump attack | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who oversees the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on Friday offered a tepid endorsement of the nation’s leading law enforcement agency, which has been under attack by President Donald Trump and other Republicans. Trump said earlier this month that the FBI’s reputation was in “tatters” after news came to light that an FBI agent on a team investigating links between Russia and Trump’s election campaign had exchanged anti-Trump text messages with an FBI lawyer. Sessions on Friday defended the bureau, which is part of the Department of Justice that he leads, but it was not an enthusiastic endorsement. “I don’t share the view that the FBI is not functioning at a high level all over the country,” he told a news conference. Sessions’ comments came at a time when former FBI director Robert Mueller is leading an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. A sampling of texts between agent Peter Strzok and FBI lawyer Lisa Page was released to Congress and the media earlier this week. The two referred to Trump as an “idiot,” but also took aim at other politicians, including Democrat Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the 2016 election, and independent Bernie Sanders, who had sought the Democratic nomination for president. Strzok was transferred off Mueller’s team, but the texts provided fresh fodder for some Republicans who have fiercely criticized Mueller in a move that Democrats say is an effort to discredit his Russia investigation. Russia has denied meddling in the 2016 election, and Trump has repeatedly said his campaign did not collude with Russia. Sessions is the latest senior official to defend the FBI. His comments were much milder than those of FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in recent testimony to Congress. Sessions said Trump does support the FBI and noted that Trump spoke earlier on Friday to a class of domestic and international law enforcement managers graduating from an FBI training program in Quantico, Virginia. However, the audience did not consist of FBI agents, and Trump’s speech was to local and state police officers. Sessions also ducked a question about whether he will appoint a second special counsel to investigate some of the bias allegations against Mueller’s team, as some Republicans have demanded. | 1 |
21,685 | Catalan leader opens door to secession from Spain after vote | BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia s regional leader opened the door to a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain on Sunday after voters defied a violent police crackdown and, according to regional officials, voted 90 percent in favor of breaking away. Despite Spanish police using batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the banned referendum, which was declared unconstitutional by Madrid, the Catalan government said 2.26 million people had cast ballots, a turnout of about 42 percent. Carles Puigdemont s comments followed a television address by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who ruled out independence and accused separatists of trying to blackmail ... the whole nation . He offered all-party talks on the region s future. Catalan officials say more than 800 people were injured in clashes with Spanish riot police during the referendum, which has pitched the country into its deepest constitutional crisis in decades and deepened a rift between Madrid and Barcelona. On this day of hope and suffering, Catalonia s citizens have earned the right to have an independent state in the form of a republic, Puigdemont said in a televised address. My government, in the next few days will send the results of today s vote to the Catalan Parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum, he said. The law of the referendum, deemed unconstitutional by Madrid, foresees a unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament if the majority votes to leave Spain. The law does not set a minimum turnout for the outcome to be valid. The results announced early on Monday were not a surprise, given that many unionists were not expected to turn out to vote. Earlier in the day, the streets of Catalonia, an industrial and tourism powerhouse accounting for a fifth of Spain s economy, erupted into violence as national police burst into polling stations with batons, dragging voters away. The action drew criticism at home and abroad. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson voiced worries over the violence while backing Madrid s view that the vote was unconstitutional. Spain s deputy prime minister said force used by the police had been proportionate. The absolute irresponsibility of the regional government has had to be met by the security forces of the state, said Soraya Saenz de Santamaria. The euro lost about a third of a U.S. cent after the violence-marred vote before steadying. It touched a low of $1.1776 in thin Asian trade but soon steadied at $1.1801. In the run-up to the referendum, Puigdemont had said he would move to a declaration of independence within 48 hours of a yes vote. But the fragmented nature of the polling, with many voting stations closed, could complicate any move to a formal declaration. Puigdemont called on Europe to step in to make sure fundamental rights were fully respected. In another sign tensions would endure beyond the vote, secessionist groups and trade unions in Catalonia called a general strike for Tuesday, La Vanguardia newspaper said. Catalan officials said 844 people had been injured in the police crackdown and the Spanish Interior Ministry said 12 police officers had been hurt. I propose that all political parties with parliamentary representation meet and, together, reflect on the future we all face, Rajoy said in his televised address. Opinion polls had shown around 40 percent of the northeastern region wanted independence from Spain although a majority were in favor of a referendum on the issue. National police sent in to Catalonia for the referendum swept into polling stations, hitting people with batons, firing rubber bullets into crowds and forcibly removing would-be voters from polling stations, some dragged away by their hair. Regardless of views on independence, we should all condemn the scenes being witnessed and call on Spain to change course before someone is seriously hurt, Scotland s pro-independence leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said on Twitter. Despite the national police action, some polling stations remained open, especially in areas supervised by the Catalan police force which adopted much milder tactics. I m so pleased because despite all the hurdles they ve put up, I ve managed to vote, said Teresa, a 72-year-old pensioner in Barcelona who had stood in line for six hours to vote. The ballot will have no legal status as it has been blocked by Spain s Constitutional Court which ruled it at odds with the 1978 constitution that effectively restored democracy in Spain after the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco. | 1 |
21,686 | China is key to resolving North Korean nuclear issue: UK defense minister | LONDON (Reuters) - China holds the key to resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis and must do more to use all its influence and levers to deal with its neighbor, British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said on Wednesday. China holds the key, the oil to North Korea flows from China ... China has not just influence but has many of the levers that are needed to change behavior in North Korea, Fallon told BBC radio. (U.S. Defence) Secretary (Jim) Mattis and I and others across the administration are very clear that we have to absolutely exhaust every possible diplomatic avenue to get this situation under control now, that means working intensively in New York over the next few days to get a new (UN) resolution, it means looking at the existing sanctions and making sure they are properly enforced... Above all it means putting more pressure on China to deal with its neighbor. | 1 |
21,687 | Four Top Law Firms REFUSE To Represent Deadbeat Trump In Russia Probe | Donald Trump may want to hire the best and the brightest to represent him in his growing Russia scandal, but that s certainly not what he is going to get. Apparently, had as big a problem in finding competent legal representation as he is in filling the government with worthwhile people.Yahoo News reports that the White House sought help from Brendan Sullivan of Williams & Connolly, Ted Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Paul Clement and Mark Filip of Kirkland & Ellis, and Robert Giuffra of Sullivan & Cromwell, in dealing with the Russia investigation.All of them told him to f*ck the f*ck off.While he ultimately settled key word being settled on his chief lawyer, Marc E. Kasowitz, he was turned down by some of the biggest names in the legal profession because Trump wouldn t listen to their advice, and even if he did listen he would continue his long tradition of not paying people he hires:The lawyers and their firms cited a variety of factors in choosing not to take on the president as a client. Some, like Brendan Sullivan, said they had upcoming trials or existing commitments that would make it impossible for them to devote the necessary time and resources to Trump s defense.Others mentioned potential conflicts with clients of their firms, such as financial institutions that have already received subpoenas relating to potential money-laundering issues that are part of the investigation.But a consistent theme, the sources said, was the concern about whether the president would accept the advice of his lawyers and refrain from public statements and tweets that have consistently undercut his position. The concerns were, The guy won t pay and he won t listen, said one lawyer close to the White House who is familiar with some of the discussions between the firms and the administration, as well as deliberations within the firms themselves.In addition, there are fears that association with The Donald would kill recruitment because of the shame involved in serving Trump willingly. Do I want to be associated with this president and his policies? the lawyer said.Trump has representation, but it really says something that the top legal minds in the nation consider him and the Russia scandal a lost cause.Featured image via Getty Images/Win McNamee | 0 |
21,688 | Switzerland voters likely to weigh in on facial covering ban | ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland could become the latest country to ban facial coverings worn by some Muslim women after activists collected more than the 100,000 signatures required to put the proposal to a national vote. The group, called Yes to a Mask Ban delivered the petition on Friday, setting up a vote by 2020. Some of its leaders also spearheaded the 2009 Swiss ban on new minarets being built in the country. A delegation of leaders from the group delivered three boxes containing 106,600 signatures to the federal chancellery, part of the Swiss parliament building in Bern. Full-face coverings such as niqabs and burqas are a polarizing issue across Europe, with some arguing that they symbolize discrimination against women and should be outlawed. The clothing has already been banned in France. Facial coverings are a symbol of radical Islam that have nothing to do with religious freedom but are rather an expression of the oppression of women, said Anian Liebrand, a Swiss campaign leader. In Switzerland, we show our faces when we talk to each other. Others contend that bans unnecessarily intrude on religious freedom. How many people wear these burqas in Switzerland? said Oender Guene , a spokesman for the Federation Of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland, which represents more than 200 mosques. You can probably count those living in Switzerland on maybe one or two hands. The rest are usually rich tourists from the Gulf. Two thirds of Switzerland s 8.4 million residents identify as Christians. But its Muslim population has risen to 5 percent, largely because of immigrants from former Yugoslavia. One Swiss canton, Italian-speaking Ticino, already has a similar ban. At least two demonstrators who wore veils in defiance after the ban came into effect last July paid fines of 250 Swiss francs ($260), Swiss media have reported. The Switzerland-wide initiative foresees parliament deciding on penalties. Though the measure would also forbid protesters from concealing their faces during demonstrations, the main focus has been on burqas. France s ban was upheld in 2014 by the European Court of Human Rights. This year Germany s parliament backed a ban on full-face veils for civil servants, judges and soldiers, while Austria and the Netherlands have debated the issue. With signatures in hand, leaders of the Swiss initiative expect three years of wrangling in Switzerland s system of direct democracy before voters get the chance to register their view. Liebrand is optimistic his initiative s path will mirror the progress of the 2009 minaret ban. The minaret campaign started as underdogs and was something the big parties didn t want, he said. But I reckon the facial coverings ban will also resonate with the people. | 1 |
21,689 | German admits selling gun to Munich attack shooter | BERLIN (Reuters) - A 32-year-old German man admitted in court on Monday that he sold the weapon used by a teenage gunman who killed nine people in Munich last year, a court spokesman said, adding that the defendant told relatives he felt sorry for his actions. David Ali Sonboly, 18, killed nine people before shooting himself dead. Another 27 people were injured. Police concluded the German-born Sonboly was a deranged lone gunman obsessed with mass killings who drew no inspiration from Islamist militancy. The Munich public prosecutor s office has charged the accused, identified only as Philipp K., as is customary in German law, with selling weapons illegally and nine counts of negligent homicide as well as five counts of negligently causing grievous bodily harm. A written statement was read, acknowledging that the accused had traded with weapons. The defendant expressed his regret that one of these firearms was used in the rampage here in Munich, court spokesman Florian Gliwitzky said. He offered his apologies to the relatives and with this, he also expressed that he was regretting his actions. A spokeswoman for the public prosecutor said the suspect so far only had admitted to the charge of selling weapons illegally. She added that evidence revealed during the hearing showed that the suspect had far-right attitudes. A defense lawyer said his client would not give any more statements in the course of the trial. Authorities arrested the man in Marburg, about 100 km (65 miles) north of Frankfurt a year ago, after contacting him on the so-called dark net and posing as buyers for an automatic weapon and a Glock 17 pistol for 8,000 euros ($9,550). During a sting operation, the suspected arms dealer said he had sold the 18-year-old Iranian-German another Glock 17 pistol during a meeting in Marburg, followed by 350 rounds of ammunition during a second meeting. Authorities around Europe are concerned that secretive marketplaces make it too easy for criminals and militants to obtain weaponry that has traditionally been highly regulated across Europe. | 1 |
21,690 | un declares junk food a human rights issue | show biz business and breakthroughs exclusive vanessa frank learns what makes or breaks members of film industry published min ago vanessa frank about archive vanessa frank has been involved in the film industry first as an actress and then in production distribution and international sales at she directed her first film let the lion roar starring oscar nominated eric roberts stephen baldwin kevin sorbo and grammy nominated singers jaci velasquez tim rushlow and jamie grace the film was an indie distribution success with sales in nations print
about film talk
film talk podcasts takes you inside the minds of some of the brightest filmmakers in the world learn from awardwinning filmmakers as they teach the secrets to their success the daily habits routines and practices they employ to be the best in their industry guests include oscar winners emmy award winners and golden globe winners you can access the archive of all film talk podcasts here
making independent films happen with atit shah
atit shah is a film producer with five films releasing within the next months including jekyll island starring oscarnominated minnie driver emmy awardwinner john leguizamo annasophia robb and ed westwick and money starring kellan lutz
he is the ceo of create entertainment and is represented by uta
breaking through as a female director with melanie aitkenhead
melanie aitkenhead is the director of the reboot of mother may i sleep with danger oscarnominated james francos retelling of the classic film of the same name the film stars tori spelling with a cameo by franco and premiered on lifetime
shes also the director of the film adaption of james francos popular novel actors anonymous which explores the lives of young actors in hollywood and stars franco alongside oscarnominated eric roberts keegan allen and scott haze
building the franchise with scott mitchell rosenberg
scott mitchell rosenberg is the ceo of platinum studios one of the worlds largest independent libraries of comic book characters scott has played an integral role in creating one of the largest bibles in comic book history the platinum studios macroverse which includes anchor titles such as cowboys aliens
a constant innovator scott established platinum in following a successful career as the founder of malibu comics which sold to marvel in at malibu scott led many successful comic spinoffs into toys television and feature films including the billiondollar film and television megahit men in black
the art of entrepreneurship with kent speakman
kent speakman is a producer and entrepreneur at the intersection of entertainment and technology examinercom has called him one of the most influential entrepreneurs in the entertainment industry he has won the imedia entertainment marketing award for best digital campaign and best mobile entertainment startup and he was awarded evan carmichaels top entrepreneurs to follow in preceded by the imedia top ten digital marketers in
kent founded konnect a digital mobile and experiential agency that works with startups brands and entertainment properties before he cofounded fameus a new social network that connects members of the entertainment industry in innovative ways with a unique technology and that was listed on the huffington posts top startups in la in
kent has an international network of professionals and influencers having orchestrated a variety of film and technology projects in canada the us the united kingdom asia and india he has produced hundreds of events across canada and the us whilst working with clientele ranging from alist celebrities to tech mobile startups
the legal aspect of filmmaking with dan satorius
dan satorius is a worldclass entertainment lawyer with a practice that focuses principally on transactions intellectual property business structuring and financing furthermore he is a nationally regarded attorney on clearance issues including fair use his clients include academy award emmy award independent spirit award and peabody awardwinning independent producers writers and broadcasters in the film and television industry
after graduating from film school and law school dan produced awardwinning documentaries and short dramatic films his graduate thesis film was selected as a finalist for a student academy award in addition to practicing entertainment law for more than years dan has been an adjunct professor at william mitchell school of law where he taught entertainment law
dan is an active member of the american bar associations forum on the entertainment and sports industries covice chair of the film and television division and a member of the governing committee | 1 |
21,691 | RUSSIAN HACKERS? No, We Found What Lost The Election For Hillary [Video] | It wasn t a #russianhack that lost the election for Hillary. It was this. pic.twitter.com/yzT2Dzb1zp Rep. Steven Smith (@RepStevenSmith) December 12, 2016 | 0 |
21,692 | Disillusionment, U.S.A. Where voters are just hoping for change. | ALGONAC, MICH.—Parker Fox drifted out of the Donald Trump rally in a sort of euphoric daze, along with the thousands emptying into the parking lot alongside him. “After leaving a Trump rally, you’re very pro-Trump,” he recalled a few weeks later, describing a noisy communion with people who understood that politics mattered, unlike some people he could name at his high school. “It was so enthusiastic and so energetic you could feel it in your body. It gave you chills.” He’d barely had time to calm down when he learned through Facebook that his other favorite presidential candidate would also be passing through his quiet corner of eastern Michigan—Bernie Sanders. In fact, the U.S. senator from Vermont would be at the same community college the very next day. This thrilled Fox: his first presidential election as a voter—he was 18—and the two most crowd-whipping, pundit-defying, establishment-bucking candidates in the entire race were practically paying him personal visits. As it turned out, the residents of this part of Michigan were especially fond of the two men who had done the most to upend the 2016 presidential race. Both Sanders and Trump won the state, with Sanders’ narrow win in the Democratic contest stupefying pollsters who had predicted a comfortable lead for Hillary Clinton. Both did especially well in St. Clair County, with double-digit victories over their rivals. And, down at the precinct level, they barnstormed Algonac, a town of about 4,056 people about an hour’s drive from Detroit on a curve of the St. Clair River in the county’s southern end corner, and neighboring Clay, home to another 9,066 or so, including Fox and his family. In some Algonac and Clay precincts, Sanders and Trump won more than two thirds of the votes. Residents have a needlessly unflattering nickname for Algonac: The Swamp, derived, apparently, from the reed marshes that engulf the town’s edges and which are prettily dive-bombed by feeding birds and buzz with hidden insects. If Sanders and Trump were the two insurgents of 2016, then the Algonac Swamp must be a sort of encampment of their guerrilla foot soldiers. What might such a place be like, down in the trenches? An editor’s working hypothesis was that a town full of Trump and Sanders fans might turn out to be the Angriest Town in America, and so that became our shorthand before my visit in April, only to be laughed at when I finally got the chance to broach the label with residents. Of course, no one can persist in a permanent state of anger, especially in an entire town. Contempt, on the other hand, can smolder indefinitely, and Algonac reeked of contempt: It would take longer than a week’s visit to find someone here who does not think Washington is, on the whole, a besmirched place of selfish politicians in thrall to the powerful moneyed interests who keep them in office. Clinton, fairly or otherwise, is generally seen here as the very embodiment of this; Sanders and Trump the only possible saviors, Trump because he’s never held elected office, and Sanders, despite his decades in Congress, because he is still viewed as a cranky outsider. Nonetheless, for a small minority, the idea of a President Trump sends them into a panic. Fox is young enough to have never had his heart broken by a politician, but he’s heard his father, Jerry, go off at the dinner table enough times to pick up some of his parents’ wariness. “He might get a lot of this because I work for the auto industry,” said Jerry, who has a job at a nearby Chrysler truck factory and is a competitive walleye fisherman on the side. Father and son were sitting on couches in the family’s comfy living room, with large windows looking out onto surrounding woods where deer and turkeys roam. Jerry had also been struggling over whether he preferred Trump or Sanders, and so had decided to let his politics-inhaling son make the call for him. “I’ve always heard dad saying, you know, ‘There goes another plant to Mexico,’” Fox said, doing an angry-dad voice, as Jerry gave a smiling “it’s true” nod of recognition. And so Fox marveled to hear Trump lambast companies for moving production abroad, or Sanders’ refrain that 60,000 factories have closed down in America since 2001. The rallies were like a Fox family dinner blown up to stadium size. COMPASSION VERSUS WALL-BUILDING Should either candidate want to make a movie adaptation of their campaign speeches, they could do worse than to set it in Algonac and Clay: A few strip-mall businesses and a scattering of mostly two-story, middle-class homes, none too far from the teal waters of the St. Clair River, along which massive freighters creep carrying goods to and from Canada. To wander around Algonac, a predominantly Republican place, is to encounter familiar stump-speech lines made manifest. There’s the town’s old Chris-Craft power boat factory that made Algonac a proud little manufacturing hub until it closed in 1960, a hole that’s never quite been filled or forgotten. Algonac falls within the gravitational pull of Detroit’s Big Three automobile companies; the factories of General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler are major employers, and families’ fortunes are tied to international trade deals that both Trump and Sanders deride. Ford, in particular, has come under attack from Trump for expanding its manufacturing in Mexico. The only other language besides English on the signs at the nearest major airport, Detroit Metropolitan, is Japanese, viewed by some residents as an unnecessary concession to visiting Japanese automobile executives. When talk turns to immigration—Sanders in terms of compassion, Trump in terms of wall-building—people here are reminded of the U.S. Border Patrol officers they see boating up and down the Canadian border, which floats somewhere halfway across the St. Clair River. Both candidates decry what they say is the undue influence of American billionaires on politics. In Algonac, they tend to picture Manuel Moroun, a Detroit businessman, in the local version of this role. He proposed building a bridge that was widely opposed here, connecting the mainland to Harsens Island, a peaceful outpost of Clay Township, home to about 1,200 people and a couple of bald eagles and currently accessible only by a small, 12-car ferry. Regulators denied the $45 million plan in June. In some ways, voters have changed little since the 1980s, when pollster Stan Greenberg first visited neighboring Macomb County and announced that he had discovered the Reagan Democrat. The belief persists that the system is so rigged that politicians’ largesse only flows to those much richer than you, or much poorer, leaving you to struggle unaided. The difference this time—and everyone agrees it’s different this time—is that there were two viable-seeming chances to send a man to Washington who would be the very personification of your contempt. Some were voting for Trump only in his capacity as a stink bomb. “You guys know the story, I’m sure, of Jesus Christ in the temple, when he goes into the temple and he turns everything upside down,” said Jay DeBoyer, the only person dressed in a suit on a weekday afternoon in Johnnie Lega’s, a popular riverside Algonac dive bar filled with nautical-themed clutter. He worked behind the bar years ago when he was a student before becoming a salesman for a company that made trusses and other lumber products for the home-building industry. Now DeBoyer is the county clerk, whose job includes running elections here. He has a close-shaved head and silver goatee, his suit fits well, and he speaks in neat paragraphs of political analysis. He was evoking a rare moment in the Gospels, in which the normally sanguine Christ appears to get angry at the corrupting quality of money, as he explained why the county’s primary results were more or less as he anticipated. “Now, we can argue from a Christian perspective, was that Christ-like? We can have that debate, that discussion. But for every circumstance there’s a reaction and there’s a resolution.” In his analogy, Christ was Trump, but Sanders, too, and also, in a sense, the voters themselves, newly awakened at the possibility of disruption. “In these non-engaged individuals who are becoming engaged, they want him to go into the temple and turn the tables upside down,” DeBoyer said. “That means we need to shake it up. We need to come back to the people in control.” In DeBoyer’s view, this may be the first election in which the so-called culture wars will not prove decisive. DeBoyer is a Republican, though he declined to say for whom he voted. He’s pro-gun and opposes abortion, but is unfazed, for example, by Trump’s difficulty in stating what his policy on abortion access would be. Most Trump voters he knows don’t care if they only agree with “two in 10 things” that Trump says, according to DeBoyer. They just want a change. He described his family’s finances to explain why. “I don’t have a bunch of debt. I have a mortgage and a couple of car payments. I don’t have a pension; I have to save in a 401k like everyone else. It’s impossible for me to save enough money to pay for my kids to go to college.” He has a 13-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter, who is applying to Duke. “Mathematically impossible. I live in a $125,000 house, I drive a Dodge pick-up truck and a Jeep, I don’t have any credit card debt. None of that. And it’s mathematically impossible for me to save enough for retirement and enough to send my kids to college. Household income of $100,000, with no debt. Do you understand how a person in my exact financial category gets sucked into that world, between those two? If I tend to lean to the left, I’m all in with Bernie Sanders. If I tend to lean right, I’m all in with Donald Trump. Frankly, even if he’s wrong, what he’s saying are the only options I have, the only hope I got.” Leaving Johnnie Lega’s to head into Algonac proper, you pass by the taxidermy store of Paul Burczycki—a Trump supporter with qualms. He is angry with the government not least because his insurance payments went up with the passage of the Affordable Care Act. “Trump’s a tough guy to vote for,” he said. “He’s a loose cannon. Maybe that’s all part of his master plan.” Further down the road, on the right, there’s Peter Beauregard’s Algonac Harbour Club on the right, a marina and restaurant on the spot of the old Chris-Craft factory. He’s a Trump fan, too. “I’m a lifetime Republican who has been disenchanted like, I guess, a lot of people in our town, so I’m definitely for the outsider,” Beauregard said, “and I’ve upset several of my local colleagues who are Republicans. If you’re a Republican you either love him or you hate him. There’s nobody on the fence.” Life here revolves around the water. Almost as many driveways are graced by boats as cars. Garfield Wood, a pioneering boat builder and racer who once lived in Algonac, broke the water speed record in 1932, tearing along the St. Clair in a boat powered by airplane engines at 124.86 miles per hour. Chris-Craft made a landing craft used by the U.S. military in the D-Day invasion at Normandy, as well as mahogany-hulled powerboats that are still cherished by nostalgic collectors. The Michigan Senate is contemplating a bill that would recognize Clay Township, Algonac’s neighbor, as “the sturgeon angling capital” of the state, and some residents think it will sail through committee. It’s beautiful in the summer, residents say, with people boating in the sunshine and the restaurants busy with seasonal visitors. Nevertheless, multiple residents liked to efface the town using the same little shorthand list, as if they’d all memorized it from the same source: Algonac? It’s three dollar stores, one grocery store, three pharmacies, and that’s about it. About 97 percent of the residents are white, according to the last census, compared to 74 percent for the United States as a whole. Both Trump and Sanders have found their most reliable support among those in this racial group. It is only after several days in Algonac, at the annual American Indian Festival at the local high school, that I find someone willing to say she is a Clinton supporter, if in a limited sense. Ringed by chairs in the school gym, dancers moved to throbbing drums; fox furs, tribal jewelry and dreamcatchers were for sale at stalls around the gym’s edge, many run by members of tribes from Walpole Island, just across the Canadian border. Susan Wrobel, the festival’s organizer and a lifelong Algonac resident, runs a weekly community meeting where she teaches children Anishinaabemowin, the language of her Ojibwe tribe. She said elders there have been “shaking their heads” in wonder and fear that Trump could become president. “I was very pleased whether it was Hillary or Bernie, I actually I like them both,” she said. She had just bought some new earrings, which danced as she spoke. “So I chose the Republican ticket to vote for my favorite Republican, and that was Kasich. I love Kasich. He’s the only one that talked about doing something about the national debt, and I loved that. So I thought, well, the Democratic ticket’s taken care of for me.” Michigan’s primaries are open to all voters regardless of party affiliation, and strategic voting is common. A few days after this conversation, John Kasich, the Ohio governor, would drop out of the race. Once again, it was time for the Algonac-Clay Historical Society’s monthly meeting. Some of the women at the society are particularly interested in the Victorian era and were making final arrangements for a forthcoming talk on Victorian hair fashions. “Hats and tea cups are encouraged,” noted the flyer. Trump struck them as unnecessarily crude. “I don’t like the name calling,” said Marilynn Genaw, who was in charge of ordering the strawberries they’d need for the tea. “It’s good manners not to say something derogatory about an individual.” She was still deciding on how to vote. Joan Bulley, a former Algonac bank teller and the town’s de facto historian-in-residence, could also do without Trump’s brusqueness, but wonders if it points to an underlying virtue. “One thing about Donald Trump is he tells it as it is,” she said. “I don’t care for his rudeness, his insults, but he gets things done.” Sanders, she said, is at least “a little bit more dignified” in his speeches. She dislikes Clinton. “She doesn’t tell the truth. I don’t like that.” Bulley’s grievance with the federal government is that she has never quite forgiven it for transforming the city’s waterfront under the “urban renewal” push of the 1960s and 1970s. “Urban renewal demolished our town” she said. She pointed to an exhibit in the society’s museum, a little hand-drawn map of the businesses that used to line a walkable, 19th-century main street on the riverfront: Koch’s Jewelry Store, the Starlight Dance Pavilion, the Algonac Theatre. For the most part, those buildings were demolished and replaced with a pleasant, if quiet, boardwalk backed by tidy lawns, and, on the other side, the sort of boxy, parking-lot-fringed architecture that lures chain stores and franchise restaurants. She kept pointing at the exhibits. “This was Henry’s on the corner,” she said, referring to one of her favorite restaurants. “It’s now a parking lot, which is stupid. If they would have saved some of these stores we would at least have something to attract people.” As the historical society meeting breaks up for homemade snacks and cake, I meet Bud Zeigler, 85, who spent 12 years sanding down Chris-Craft powerboats on the assembly line until the factory moved to Florida, taking some of his colleagues with it. Soon after, he ended up as a carpenter making Pontiacs at General Motors down the road, working there for 30 years until retirement. His complaint about the government is that it’s always the same old faces in charge, who never seem to get things done. “I voted for Bernie Sanders,” he said. “I just wanted to break it up a little bit. Because everybody figures this one is favored, that one is favored, well, give the other guy a chance.” He chuckles a bit at this. “Somewhere along the line you’ve got to get somebody in there that maybe can change things a bit with a new thought in their head, without having the same ones always running for office, families running, you know?” Even in late April, there was little doubt that it’d be Clinton versus Trump come November. Trump thinks he can flip Michigan, a state that has reliably gone with theDemocratic presidential candidate for years, to support him. At the Schoolhouse Grille, a buzzing restaurant on Harsens Island, two women stepped outside at the end of the Saturday night dinner rush. Sheltering from the drizzle in an outdoor bar area, the two friends discussed how they would approach the polling booths in November. Kristin Bane, who owns the restaurant and was seeking to escape the kitchen’s heat, is a Democrat who voted for Sanders. She likes Obama not least because she also spent part of her childhood in Hawaii, opposes fracking and thinks the government should spend more on education. Nancy Bryson, who came out for a smoke and whose family runs the island’s ferry service to the mainland, most admires the two presidents Bush. “I enjoy listening to Bernie,” Bryson said. “I do. And I think that there are so many things that he’s saying that I’m, ‘You know what? I agree with you wholeheartedly. But I don’t want the government to tell me that I have to do that. I don’t want to be taxed to do that.’” Bryson argued that Trump would help bring the country back to its founding principle. Bane was unconvinced. “How can we vote for a man who’s proposing to build a wall that we have spent so many years breaking down in other countries?” Bane said as Bryson lit a cigarette. “My grandfathers and my uncles have died because they were trying to break down walls in other countries so that we could live free—and we want to build one? That’s the wrong message.” “OK, I disagree with you there but I love you,” Bryson replied. Her mother was an immigrant, she explained, arriving at Ellis Island from Copenhagen as a 12-year-old girl. The barriers to immigration are higher than they were in the Ellis Island era, but Bryson said there was still no good reason to immigrate to the United States through anything but the legal channels. “I’ve been wanting to have this conversation for a long time,” Bane said, without backing down on her point. “It’s good that we can do this and not get angry and stomp our feet about it.” They found common ground in their dislike for Clinton. “And Benghazi?” Bryson said. “I mean it’s just unforgivable what happened there.” “I think she’s a professional liar,” Bane said.“I agree.” Still, for Bane, the idea of having to vote for someone other than Sanders in November left her anguished. “I could say, ‘Oh, you know, change, yes change, I want change, and so Trump is the quickest way to a change in government.’ I could tell myself that hopefully it’s going to work out for the best. But I can’t get past some of these issues like the wall, and I can’t get past some of these issues like abortion. ‘A woman should go to jail.’ What the fuck?” It became apparent that Bryson was not aware that Trump has said he now opposes abortions. This new information was absorbed quickly. “Oh, he’s going anti?” she said. “Well you know what, here’s the bottom line, he’s just trying to buy the Christian base.” Neither was surprised at how well Sanders and Trump had done in Michigan.”The common ground with them is change,” Bane said. “Anti-establishment,” Bryson said. “Here’s how I feel,” Bane said, in a sort of closing statement. ”I would hope that Bernie would get in at least to in to run against Trump. I have no time for Hillary Clinton. And when it comes down to it I more than likely will not vote for her. And if it comes down to her and Trump, even though I cringe and I think what’s going to happen, I at least will have some hope of some kind of change. Something’s going to shift if he gets in there. Something’s got to give. And at least there would be that hope still attached to him. With her, I almost fear her. I think she’s a dangerous woman. I think she’s an extremely dangerous woman.” Again, she worried about Trump’s wall and his position on abortion. “A painful change is still change.”The two women smiled at each other and hugged and then hurried through the drizzle back into the restaurant. Fox and his parents were approaching November with less trepidation. After attending the Trump and Sanders rallies in quick succession, he made up his mind and informed his parents, who were similarly torn between the two, of his decision. Fox thinks women should be allowed to have abortions and that same-sex couples should be able to marry, views he attributes to his age, and here he felt he parted company with Trump. “I couldn’t find anything with Bernie I disagree about. At all. And that’s the reason. As simple as it gets.” Also, he said, “it seemed like Trump didn’t need my help,” he said, which was part of his father’s thinking, too. They would vote for Trump in November instead. Fox’s mother, Tracy, came in from work and sat down in an armchair opposite her sons; her husband moved to sit at the floor by her feet. The family talked politics for another hour as the room darkened, illuminated only by a muted CNN flashing on the television. “Both of my guys won,” Fox said with satisfaction, “so that’s cool.” This report first appeared in “The American Voter,” Reuters’ special election issue. Download the full magazine from iTunes or Google Play. | 1 |
21,693 | WATCH: TWO TX SCHOOL WORKERS FIRED For Refusing To Call 6 Year Old Girl A “Boy” : “One day, she wanted to be a girl, the next day she wanted to be a boy” | Because 6 year old girls are consumed with their sexual identities right? The parents should be getting regular visits by social services and the fired school manager and teacher should be reinstated and given an award for the courage to do the right thing Two school staff members say they were fired for refusing to call a six-year-old girl a boy and addressing her by a new masculine name.According to Madeline Kirksey, a manager at the Children s Lighthouse Learning Center in Katy, Texas, her staff was told a six-year-old student is transgender after the child s parents cut her hair short, Fox26 reported. They were instructed to begin referring to the student as a boy and call her by a boy s name.School administrators reportedly gave staff a handout to refer to when addressing questions from other students. It caused confusion, Kirksey told Fox26. I don t think we should be talking to other people s children who are under the age of 18 about being transgender. She said the school fired her after she insisted the parents of other students be notified and allowed to address the issue with their children.Not only where the other students disoriented by the sudden change, but the transgender student seemed to be confused as well. One day, she wanted to be a girl, the next day she wanted to be a boy, Kirksey said. The other kids are confused as well, calling her a boy and she would start screaming, I m not a boy! Among the reasons stated in her termination letter was that Kirksey does not follow instructions when requested to call a transgender child by the child s new name. Another teacher says she was also fired for raising concerns about all the confusion, according to Fox26. Via: BPR | 0 |
21,694 | Baseball field shooting shakes American symbol of fair play | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The gunshots that ripped through a congressional Republican team practice early Wednesday on a Virginia baseball field not only shook the U.S. Capitol but also upended what many Americans consider a symbol of fair play and summer fun. Before he was killed, a gunman shot and wounded a senior Republican House leader and several others getting ready on an Alexandria, Virginia, field for a charity game between Republicans and Democrats on Thursday in nearby Washington, D.C. The annual Congressional Baseball Game charity event, where Senate and House members from both parties face off together, has raised $600,000 for the Boys and Girls Club, the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation and the Washington Literacy Center, according to several lawmakers and event organizers. The game at Nationals Park may be one of the last vestiges of cooperation between the two sides in the nation’s capital, where some believe partisan politics is at an all-time high. “There’s such a hatefulness in what we see in American politics and policy discussions right now ... this has got to stop,” Representative Rodney Davis, a Republican team member, told CNN in an interview while still wearing his baseball cleats and practice clothes. Davis said the congressional game was a great demonstration that Democrats and Republicans could still get along. “We have fun,” said a visibly upset Davis. “I never thought I’d play a baseball game for charity, got to practice at 6:30 in the morning and have to dodge bullets.” The gun violence early on Wednesday scarred what is for many almost sacred American ground - the baseball field. Considered America’s so-called national pastime, the game dates back to the 1800s even as it now competes heavily with other popular sports including football and basketball. “I’ve always felt safe on a baseball field, and now I don’t know if I’ll ever feel safe on a baseball field again,” Representative Chuck Fleischmann, also at the shooting scene, told CNN. The grassy field once known for roasted peanuts and hot dogs now instead conjures images of a battlefield, fellow Republican Brad Wenstrup, an Army Reserve officer, said on Twitter. “You never expect a baseball field in America to feel like being back in a combat zone in Iraq, but this morning it did,” wrote Wenstrup, a congressman from Ohio. When congressional members were told in a bipartisan briefing that Thursday’s baseball game would still be held despite the shooting, they leapt to their feet in a standing ovation, Republican Representative Martha McSally told Reuters. “Tomorrow we’ll go out on the field, we’ll root for our team,” U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi later told lawmakers from the chamber floor. “We will use this occasion as one that brings us together and not one that separates us further.” | 1 |
21,695 | LORD’S PRAYER AD BANNED…One Month Later Muslims Get “Praise Allah” Signs Approved | This will be America if we don t push back! London red buses will have a Muslim sign saying Praise Allah when Christian signs have been banned. Religious freedom is what America was founded on so it would be a great idea to watch for signs of censorship of Christianity here in America as it has totally changed the UK.BUS adverts are set to carry a slogan praising Allah just months after a clip featuring the Lord s prayer was banned from cinemas.The slogan reads Subhan Allah which translates as Glory be to God and will feature on hundreds of buses across the country as part of a campaign by the Islamic Relief.The group have targeted the ad campaign to raise money for victims of the Syrian Civil War during the holy month of Ramadan in June, when muslims traditionally fast and give to charity.But the campaign has caused anger among some Christian groups after an advert featuring the lords prayer was banned from UK cinemas in the run up to Christmas.The advert, which featured the Archbishop of Canterbury along with a variety of parishioners reciting the Lord s prayer, was banned from Odean, Cineworld and Vue cinema.Former Tory MP Ann Widdecombe said: If other religions are allowed to put their religious banners up, then so should Christians. Read more: Express | 0 |
21,696 | Male Republican Blames ‘Female Senators’ For GOP Failure To Pass Health Law | A Texas Republican congressman blamed female Republicans for the GOP s cruel health care bill, which would be more aptly named death care. Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX) suggested that if they were men, he would challenge them to a gunfight.To make matters worse, he singled out the female Republicans saying that it s absolutely repugnant that the GOP-led Senate hasn t had the ability to repeal the health care law even though they ve had seven years to come up with a viable alternative.Farenthold called out the female senators from the Northeast in reference to Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska (someone should point him to a map).On Friday, during a radio interview on a Corpus Christi station last Friday, Farenthold said he finds it absolutely repugnant that the Senate does not have the courage to do some of the things that every Republican in the Senate promised to do. Some of the people that are opposed to this [repealing Obamacare] there are some female senators from the northeast, Farenthold said. If it was a guy from south Texas I might ask them to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style. In 1804, Aaron Burr famously shot and killed his political adversary, Alexander Hamilton, in a New Jersey duel.Here s the audio:Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to push through an Obamacare repeal bill without a replacement, thus making the markets chaotic while leaving millions uninsured. After a few months, the three Republican women announced that they could not support repealing Obamacare. Sen. Collins called the Obamacare repeal bill unacceptable because it would leave millions of Americans without insurance. I have deep concerns and am opposed to the Senate bill, she said, then added that the bill would make sweeping changes to the Medicaid program, and would take out of the Medicaid program more than $700 billion dollars. You don t take a safety net program that has been operating for more than 50 years and change it in fundamental ways without having a single hearing to evaluate its impact, she said.Rep. Blake Farenthold really shouldn t challenge her to any kind of a fight. We re pretty sure he would lose.Image via Twitter. | 0 |
21,697 | Obama meets with security advisers on Islamic State threat | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama met on Monday with a team of national security advisers to discuss U.S. efforts to combat Islamic State following last week’s attacks on Brussels, the White House said. “The President was briefed that there is currently no specific, credible intelligence of any plot to conduct similar attacks here in the United States,” the White House said. Obama was told of expanded U.S. efforts to share threat information with international partners, and he directed his team to ensure the United States is doing everything possible to disrupt any plots by Islamic State, the White House said. | 1 |
21,698 | U.S. tax change proposals anger builders, realtors, charities | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - With U.S. Congress members focused during their August recess on finding ways to lower the corporate tax rate, industry groups and other sectors of society are gearing up to fight proposed changes to the personal income tax. While tax cuts for business have garnered the most headlines, lobbyists and lawmakers have conceded that rewriting the corporate tax code will be a long slog. Tackling personal tax rates will be easier, many argue. Looking for an easier legislative win ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, most lawmakers in the Republican majority want to cut individual incomes taxes. President Donald Trump has been pushing hard for tax changes this year. Still, proposed changes to the personal tax code have already stirred opposition from realtors, home builders, mortgage lenders and charities. These groups say proposed changes will hurt home sales and cut charitable contributions. The National Association of Realtors issued an “August Recess Talking Points” circular imploring members to remind lawmakers that “Homeowners must be treated fairly in tax reform” to avoid “another housing crash.” The group cited a report it commissioned from PwC that estimated home values could quickly dive more than 10 percent if the tax plan becomes law. To simplify the tax code, Republicans have proposed eliminating nearly all tax write-offs including those for state and local taxes, then doubling the standard deduction. This would eliminate the incentive to itemize and should drastically reduce the number of taxpayers who do so. Currently, many taxpayers use itemized deductions, claiming write-offs for things like charitable contributions, interest paid on a mortgage and state and local taxes. If the standard deduction becomes larger, fewer taxpayers will need to itemize, reducing the incentive to hold a mortgage or contribute to charity. Currently, about 30 million taxpayers claim the mortgage interest deduction, with about $70 billion in total claims, according to Robert Dietz, an economist with the National Association of Homebuilders. Estimates suggest more than half of taxpayers would stop itemizing under the proposed plan, Dietz said, warning that this would create a large ripple effect through the economy. He said people in early years of a mortgage would suffer most, along with prospective home buyers. Home builders are also fighting the proposed tax code changes. “I don’t think I would call that a cakewalk,” said Jerry Howard, the head of the National Home Builders Association, saying the proposal will face fierce resistance from his group, which represents 130,000 builders. He noted that members operate in every congressional district and employ more than 7 million people. Charitable organizations are not arguing against increasing the standard deduction. But they are asking members of Congress to consider creating a “universal deduction,” so taxpayers taking the standard deduction can get additional credit for donations without itemizing. Taxpayers claim an estimated $13 billion each year in charitable deductions. Charities fear giving would plummet if the standard deduction were doubled without creating a universal deduction. Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, said reducing charitable deductions would be “devastating.” If lobbyists defeat the reform effort, Congress could try to cut rates without structural tax code changes, said Charles Boustany, a former Republican member of the tax-code writing House Ways and Means Committee who left Congress in January. “The path of least resistance becomes an old-fashioned tax cut on the individual side,” said Boustany. “The pressure is just going to be relentless as we get later in the fall.” | 1 |
21,699 | South Korea paying for THAAD 'impossible': presidential frontrunner's aide | SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Seoul pay for the THAAD advanced U.S. missile defense system would be an “impossible option,” a top foreign policy adviser to South Korean presidential frontrunner Moon Jae-in said on Friday. Trump told Reuters in an interview on Thursday he wants South Korea to pay for the $1 billion Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. “Even if we purchase THAAD, its main operation would be in the hands of the United States,” said Kim Ki-jung, a foreign policy adviser to Moon and professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University. “So purchasing it would be an impossible option. That was our topic when we were considering the options,” Kim said. Moon is leading polls by a wide margin ahead of a May 9 election to replace impeached former President Park Geun-hye, whose government agreed last year to deploy THAAD. Lee Ji-soo, a spokesman for Moon, said campaign officials were aware of the reported comments by Trump and deliberating his demand that South Korea pay for THAAD but added that there was no official comment from Moon’s camp yet. Trump, in the interview as he prepared to mark 100 days in office on Saturday, also accused another ally, Saudi Arabia, of not paying enough for the U.S. defense umbrella. Trump’s comments harked back to his populist campaign rhetoric and Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies, said they betrayed a lack of strategic thinking. “Trump’s remarks reflect his persistent desire for allies to pay more for their defense,” she said. “As far as their impact on South Korea’s election, they will likely boost support for Moon, and if he wins, it will make it harder for the U.S. to sustain a hardline policy against North Korea. So Trump’s remarks don’t seem very strategic to me.” Trump’s comments provoked some consternation among Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress. Congressional aides noted the THAAD deployment came after years of discussions, in which South Korea took a great deal of convincing and then suffered economic retaliation from China. “It just seems completely tone deaf ... That system isn’t just good for South Korea, it’s also good for us,” one aide said, adding that it would also defend U.S. troops in South Korea and deter North Korea from targeting U.S. territory. The U.S. military started THAAD deployment in early March, despite strong opposition from China, which says the system’s radar can be used to spy into its territory. The deployment has also prompted a North Korean warning of retaliation. South Korea said on Wednesday major elements of the system were moved into the planned site in Seonjgu in the south of the country and would be fully operational by the end of this year. That system will have initial operational capability “very soon,” a Pentagon spokesman told reporters on Friday. The Pentagon has called THAAD a “critical measure” to defend South Koreans and U.S. forces and the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, Admiral Harry Harris, said the system would be operational “in coming days.” Seonjgu residents have protested, citing safety fears and its potential to be a wartime target. The United States currently has six THAAD batteries worldwide and a former U.S. State Department official, who estimated the cost of each at about $1.2 billion, said Washington would not want to sell THAAD to Seoul. “We want to retain THAAD in our arsenal, consistent with all other U.S. weapons systems deployed on the Korean peninsula. We own them. We retain them. We have the right to redeploy them,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. | 1 |
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