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2,800 | The new risk for Europe: an inward-looking Germany | BERLIN (Reuters) - In 2008, in a fit of pique over Angela Merkel s cautious response to the global financial crisis, the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, lashed out at his German counterpart. While France is acting, Germany is just thinking about it, Sarkozy seethed. Nearly a decade later, after an election that has weakened Merkel and vaulted a new far-right party into the German parliament, European fears of a risk-averse, inward-looking Germany are back. If you are sitting in other European capitals, you are watching nervously, said Robin Niblett, director of the Chatham House think tank in London. Merkel s room to take conciliatory positions, to play a leadership role and to move Europe forward has narrowed. Back in 2008, the complexity of the fast-moving financial crisis and an aversion to big stimulus measures made Merkel cautious. This time, domestic politics is the driver. At a time when new French President Emmanuel Macron is pressing Merkel to work with him to reshape Europe and Brexit negotiations with Britain are nearing crunch time, the German chancellor faces months of difficult coalition negotiations that could lead to a dead-end. If she is able to cobble together a three-way coalition with the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP) and environmentalist Greens her only option for now it would almost surely be a less stable construction than her current government. This new coalition would have to cope with a more confrontational opposition in the Bundestag, led by Merkel s bitter outgoing partner, the Social Democrats (SPD), and the disruptive Alternative for Germany (AfD), the first far-right party to sit in parliament in over half a century. The weakness of Merkel s conservative bloc its score of 32.9 percent was the lowest since 1949 and the strength of the AfD is a result of her decision in 2015 to allow hundreds of thousands of refugees into Germany. That has hurt her standing within her own party and spooked her Bavarian allies, the Christian Social Union (CSU), who bled support to the AfD in Sunday s vote. The CSU is likely to be an even more difficult partner for Merkel than the FDP and Greens. Merkel presided over the entry into the Bundestag of an extreme right wing party and that is an indictment of sorts. It has weakened her, without a doubt, said Niblett. Europe s political establishment entered 2017 concerned that the populist tsunami that led to Brexit in Britain and Donald Trump s election win in United States would sweep over the continent. Instead, the Dutch backed liberal incumbent Mark Rutte over far-right firebrand Geert Wilders and the French chose the unabashedly pro-European centrist Macron over Marine Le Pen. In Germany on Sunday, the political center also held. Parties of the center-right and center-left won over 73 percent against roughly 22 percent for the far-right AfD and hard-left Linke. But the vote was also a reminder to Europe that the populists are not going away. And it exposed cracks in the pillar of stability that Germany and Merkel have come to represent in perhaps the most challenging decade for Europe since World War Two. The German election was a double blow from a European perspective, said Pascal Lamy, the former head of the World Trade Organization (WTO). On the one hand, Merkel who has come to exemplify stability, has emerged politically weakened. On the other, anti-European forces have gained. Some people in Berlin and other capitals are describing the result as the beginning of the end of the Merkel era. Although she pledged on Monday to serve a full four-year term, many expect her to hand over to a successor in two to three years. Carsten Brzeski, chief economist for Germany at ING, said on Monday that the election result could turn Merkel into a lame duck much faster than anyone anticipated. Officials in Paris and other capitals suggested the next big European reform may have to be done without her. Others expressed concern about the direction Germany could take in the post-Merkel era. Those fears are probably overdone. Merkel is a survivor who is at her best when mediating between different camps, as she will have to do over the coming months if she wants to convince disparate parties like the CSU, Greens and FDP to work together. While agreeing a reform of the euro zone with Macron has become more challenging because of the FDP s hardline views, other priorities, such as European defense cooperation, may become easier with the Social Democrats (SPD) out of government, advisers to the French president note. Senior officials at the European Commission say months of German coalition talks could actually provide the space needed for Macron s ideas to gain traction. Still, the negotiations carry risks. After twelve years in power, Merkel has gained a reputation for smothering her coalition partners. The CSU and the SPD were the victims in Sunday s election. Four years ago it was the FDP, which was booted out of parliament for the first time in the post-war era after serving as her junior partner. This will lead all of her potential partners to push a hard bargain. Failing to form a stable majority government would probably spell the end of (Merkel s) chancellorship. And, more broadly, it could usher in a new period of political chaos, former German foreign minister Joschka Fischer said in a Project Syndicate commentary on Tuesday. No one should wish that on Germany or on Europe. | 1 |
2,801 | Despite showman reputation, Trump inauguration shaping up as low-key | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump made his name with opulent hotels and a dramatic reality TV show, but his inauguration on Friday as the 45th U.S. president is shaping up as a more understated affair, with big names in entertainment staying away. Like those who came before him, Trump will take his oath on the steps of the U.S. Capitol building and lead a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue, but there will be fewer official balls and less glitz and celebrity talent to welcome in the new president. Inaugurations have been star-studded affairs since 1941, when President Franklin Roosevelt held a gala with actors Charlie Chaplin, Mickey Rooney and other stars of the era, said Jim Bendat, a historian who has written a book on U.S. inaugurations. But this year, several singers – including Elton John and Charlotte Church – declined invitations to perform at inaugural events. Trump, a New York businessman and former star of “The Apprentice” TV show, won with a populist platform that included promises to build a wall along the Mexican border, restrict immigration from Muslim countries and dismantle Obamacare. Broadway star Jennifer Holliday said yes to performing, but backed down after a backlash from fans. “You can’t really find precedent for that,” Bendat said in an interview. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, singer Jackie Evancho and the Rockettes dancing troupe are among those slated to perform, although individual Rockettes will be allowed to opt out of performing if they so choose. Trump’s inaugural committee has said it is intentionally avoiding top entertainers. “We’re fortunate in that we have the greatest celebrity in the world, which is the president-elect,” Tom Barrack, inaugural committee chairman, told reporters at Trump Tower in New York last week. “So what we’ve done, instead of trying to surround him with what people consider A-listers, is we are going to surround him with the soft sensuality of the place,” Barrack said. Trump is slated to attend three official galas. Other modern inaugurations have had around 10 official balls, which the president and first lady would attend in rapid succession, typically dancing during each appearance. Then-President Bill Clinton held a record 14 balls during his 1997 inauguration, Bendat said. On Thursday, a series of choirs and marching bands will perform at the Lincoln Memorial, followed by a concert featuring country music star Toby Keith. Trump, who is entering office with unusually low approval ratings, has repeatedly pushed back against reports that his inauguration may be lacking in star power or have low attendance. “People are pouring into Washington in record numbers,” Trump said on Twitter on Tuesday. “Bikers for Trump are on their way. It will be a great Thursday, Friday and Saturday!” Officials expect about 800,000 spectators for the events – down from the estimated 1.8 million who flocked to Washington for Obama’s 2009 inauguration. Just 40 percent of Americans said they had a favorable view of Trump versus 55 percent who had an unfavorable view, according to a Gallup poll taken from Jan. 4 to Jan. 8. At a similar point before he took office in 2009, Obama was viewed favorably by 78 percent of Americans. Before taking office in 2001, President George W. Bush had a 62 percent favorable rating, according to the Gallup data. “What is most likely to distinguish Trump’s inauguration is the number of protesters,” said Brian Balogh, co-host of American history radio show BackStory. The National Parks Service has granted permits to protest for 27 groups. On Saturday, the National Mall will draw what organizers estimate will be about 200,000 people to a Women’s March to protest Trump. The Women’s March, which is expected to be the largest protest, is aimed at bringing attention to human and civil rights issues. Honorary co-chairs of the protest include activist Gloria Steinem and actor Harry Belafonte. | 1 |
2,802 | newt gingrich defends donald trump against sexual predator accusations | what difference does it make when most americans military and civilians do not unite to do anything about it | 1 |
2,803 | Trump's expected VP pick: coal advocate who defied Obama's climate agenda | WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Republican Donald Trump’s selection of Indiana Governor Mike Pence as his running mate cheered the U.S. energy industry and dismayed green advocates, with both sides citing Pence’s support for coal mining and defiance of President Barack Obama’s climate-change agenda. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has called climate change a hoax and promised to gut U.S. environmental regulations in order to help the ailing oil and coal sectors. A Trump-Pence ticket will quash any expectation that the New York businessman might soften that stance heading into the Nov. 8 election. “Governor Pence has been a vocal opponent of the administration’s Clean Power Plan,” said Laura Sheehan, spokeswoman for the Washington-based lobby group American Council on Clean Coal Electricity. “We would hope to see a continuation,” she said. Trump announced Pence as his running mate in a Twitter post on Friday morning, ending days of speculation over the choice ahead of the party’s national convention in Cleveland next week. [nL1N1A10HR] Pence, 57, is listed on Obama’s “call out the climate change deniers” website for arguing that the science behind climate change has not yet been resolved. In June 2015, Pence wrote to Obama saying that Indiana, America’s eighth largest coal-producing state, would not comply with the Clean Power Plan regulating power plant emissions, calling it “ill-advised.” Indiana is one of more than 25 states that have challenged the centerpiece of the Democratic president’s environmental agenda. In 2014, Pence alarmed local environmental groups by overturning an energy efficiency program enacted by his Republican predecessor, Mitch Daniels, saying it was too expensive for the state’s manufacturers. The Indiana Public Utility Commission had estimated the program would create more than 18,600 jobs. “The choice of Pence shows Trump has little interest in appealing to anyone outside of his extremist base and Big Polluters,” said Clay Schroers, a director at the League of Conservation Voters environmental group. Trump has long signaled his support of traditional energy production - part of his broader appeal to blue-collar American voters. He outlined plans in May to sweep away environmental regulations ushered in by Obama, scrap the Paris Climate Accord, and revive the Keystone XL pipeline proposal – moves that would reverse years of gains by the green movement. Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, in contrast, has promised more stringent regulation of the energy sector, efforts to boost renewable fuels use, and a commitment to join other nations to combat global climate change. Pence ran for governor in 2012 after serving in the U.S. Congress. His campaign for governor received more than $850,000 from the energy sector, about 3 percent of the total, according to campaign finance disclosures. More than $300,000 of that came from the billionaire Koch brothers, strong advocates of small government and fiscal conservatism who took a liking to Pence. Both David and Charles Koch have said they will not support the Trump ticket. Trump has alarmed many Republican establishment figures with his fiery rhetoric on immigration and trade. But a former high-ranking operative in the Koch political organization who is close to both brothers said Pence could help make the donor network more receptive to Trump’s campaign. | 1 |
2,804 | Trump Said America ‘Never’ Wins, But Obama Just Took Out A Major Terrorist | On Friday, Donald Trump gave a speech to the NRA after picking up their endorsement ahead of the general election (they don t care if he has a week record on guns, as long as he s a Republican), and in his speech Trump made an insane claim about the country he hopes to lead. Trump proclaimed, We don t win anymore. We never win. This is, of course, absurd. You can check out the hashtag #WeWinDonald for examples of America winning over the last 240 years (disclosure: I started it).But before the ink on the NRA s endorsement was even dry, along came news of another American victory. This time against the Taliban, who once harbored Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks (his death, another win for America).The Pentagon says it launched an airstrike in Afghanistan Saturday targeting Mullah Akhtar Mansur, the Taliban s overall leader. Though the Pentagon is still assessing the results of the airstrike a U.S. official said Mansur was likely killed in the airstrike personally authorized by President Obama. Today, the Department of Defense conducted an airstrike that targeted Taliban leader Mullah Mansur in a remote area of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, said Peter Cook, the Pentagon s Press Secretary in a statement released Saturday.The Pentagon press secretary also explained that Mansur has been actively involved with planning attacks against facilities in Kabul and across Afghanistan, presenting a threat to Afghan civilians and security forces, our personnel, and Coalition partners. President Obama authorized the drone strike that appears to have killed the Taliban leader while en route to Vietnam on Air Force One.You may remember that President Obama s epic correspondent s dinner roast of Donald Trump came at the same time the Bin Laden raid was about to be executed. Perhaps it s time to start panicking if you re in Al Qaeda or the Taliban or ISIS when Trump s buffoonery is in the news.Featured image via Flickr | 0 |
2,805 | Justices hostile to Virginia Republicans in black voters case | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Supreme Court justices on Monday signaled they are likely to leave in place a lower-court’s ruling that Virginia’s Republican-led legislature unlawfully considered race when drawing U.S. congressional districts by packing black voters into one of them. The court heard oral arguments in the case at a time when Democrats are accusing Republicans in various states of taking actions to reduce the influence of black, Hispanic and other voters who often favor Democrats. The focus of the case is on the composition of the majority-black U.S. House of Representatives district held by Democrat Bobby Scott, the only black member of Virginia’s congressional delegation. The eight justices, down one following the Feb. 13 death of conservative Antonin Scalia, heard an appeal by current and former Republican House members challenging the June 2015 lower court ruling that threw out the district. Following that ruling, some black voters from Scott’s district were moved to an adjoining district, which is currently represented by white Republican Randy Forbes, one of the challengers in the case. This is likely to make the district a possible Democratic pickup in the Nov. 8 election. Without Scalia, the court could split 4-4 with its four liberals on one side and four conservatives on the other, which would leave intact the lower-court decision. None of the court’s liberals indicated they are likely to back the Republican challengers. The court may not even decide the merits of the case. The justices could instead rule that House members from adjoining districts do not have legal standing to challenge new boundary lines that imperil their re-election prospects. Some of the justices signaled hostility to the idea that elected House members should receive legal protection when their ability to win re-election is put in doubt. “This is now an incumbency-protection standing rule,” liberal Sonia Sotomayor said of the challengers’ legal argument. Liberal Elena Kagan said even if lawmakers suffered an injury, the question remains whether they have a “legally recognized interest” in their re-election prospects. Several voters in Scott’s district challenged the redistricting plan, approved by the Republican-led legislature in 2012, saying it minimized minority voting power in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. The voters who brought the case in 2013 argued that the district that Scott represents, stretching from Richmond to Norfolk, was racially “gerrymandered,” cramming black voters into it and reducing black influence in neighboring districts. A ruling is due by the end of June. The case is Wittman v. Personhuballah, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 14-1504. | 1 |
2,806 | Truck bomb in northern Iraq kills at least 23 | KIRKUK, Iraq (Reuters) - At least 23 people were killed and 60 wounded when a suicide bomber set off a truck bomb near a crowded marketplace in the northern Iraqi town of Tuz Khurmatu, police and medical sources said on Tuesday. An interior ministry spokesman said a violent explosion took place near a vegetable market in the town, south of Kirkuk, but did not immediately provide casualty figures. Military authorities said 17 were killed and 36 injured, according to a statement. Most of the casualties were civilians, the police and medical sources told Reuters. The death toll was expected to rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition. The bombing took place in a mainly Shi ite Turkmen area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Suicide bombings are a trademark of Islamic State, and Iraqi security officials have said the group was likely to wage an insurgency after its self-proclaimed caliphate collapsed and its militants were dislodged from territories they held in the country. | 1 |
2,807 | These Two FANTASTIC Tweets Perfectly Show The Main Difference Between Hillary And Trump | Last night, NBC hosted the Commander-in-Chief Forum in New York, where host Matt Lauer questioned Hillary and Trump for 30 minutes each (actually he put the screws to Hillary and lobbed puff balls at Trump, but that s beside the point). Hillary, as usual, was specific when answering questions, even those from veterans. Trump? Har de har har. His entire answer to every question boiled down to, I have a plan, and it will work. Obama and Hillary have screwed this up for you, but my plan will fix it. In fact, the following tweets actually show the difference between Hillary and Trump when it comes to anything to do with policy:One striking contrast: How will you improve vets mental health?Clinton: See my detailed plan, released last week Trump: The VA is corrupt Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 8, 2016 Clinton: Points to specific allies and her 4,700-word mental health planTrump: Says he ll create something great to fix corrupt system Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) September 8, 2016That s pretty much all Trump does. He makes grandiose but vague promises to take care of this, fix that, and more, and people believe him. He could say, The VA is corrupt. Trust me. I know corrupt enterprises. I can spot them a mile away. The VA is definitely a corrupt enterprise, but I will fix it. We ll have the best veterans system in the world. The best. It ll be great, and they ll just eat it up without question.That s why he s a demagogue.Meanwhile, we have Hillary Clinton in the other corner, who knows how to develop plans to handle things, and has actual, real ways to handle things, along with who will be enlisted to carry it out and/or help. She provides the specifics on her plans that Trump won t provide on his.That s the main difference between them now. Trump just says whatever he thinks people want to hear, and makes it vague enough that it ll be very easy for him to claim he never promised this, that or the other when, in fact, he did promise this, that or the other. Hillary actually tells people what they can expect.Photo of Hillary Clinton by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images. Photo of Donald Trump by Alex Wong/Getty Images | 0 |
2,808 | donald trump begs hillary clinton early voters to change their votes | this handout picture released by the venezuelan presidency shows supporters of venezuelan president nicolas maduro cheering during a gathering in caracas on october photo by afp
tens of thousands of pro and antigovernment protesters have gathered on the streets of venezuelas capital caracas
during wednesdays mass rallies in which over people were injured and were detained the opponents accused president nicolas maduro of violating the constitutional order and blocking a recall referendum aimed at removing him from power
they also called for his immediate resignation opposition supporters take part in a rally against venezuelas president nicolas maduro next to a poster of him in caracas venezuela october photo by reuters
this is a way of pressuring maduro so he understands that he has to go said one protester being passive is no use anymore we have to apply more pressure another one added
meanwhile large numbers of progovernment protesters gathered near the miraflores presidential palace in a show of support for maduro
as the protests were being held maduro engaged in crisis security talks in reaction to the demonstrators demands in a televised speech after the talks he called for political dialogue and peace in venezuela this handout picture released by the venezuelan presidency shows venezuelan president nicolas maduro delivering a speech to supporters during a gathering in caracas on october photo by afp
maduro is adamant about washingtons role in his countrys political and economic woes and has accused the opposition of conspiring with the us against the south american country
they are desperate they have received the order from the north to destroy the venezuelan revolution he added
on tuesday maduro accused the opposition of attempting a parliamentary coup by voting to launch an impeachment process against him
there has never been a parliamentary coup in venezuela and we shall not allow anything like this to happen the rightwing here and there should know this maduro said during a massive rally by his supporters outside the presidential palace opposition supporters take part in a rally against president nicolas maduros government in caracas venezuela october photo by reuters
the oppositioncontrolled national assembly agreed to initiate the impeachment process against maduro earlier on tuesday in reaction to blocking a bid to recall maduro last week
the political standoff in venezuela has worsened since the october suspension of the opposition push to hold a referendum to try to recall maduro back then four state courts said the signaturegathering process for the referendum had been fraudulent effectively blocking it loading | 1 |
2,809 | Japan's Abe says time for talk is over on North Korea | NEW YORK (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday that countries need to unite to enforce sanctions and apply pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs. Now is not the time for dialogue. Now is the time to apply pressure, Abe told a gathering of investors at the New York Stock Exchange, remarks he later reiterated in an address to the annual United Nations General Assembly. On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump warned North Korea in his speech to the U.N. that the United States would totally destroy the country if threatened. In contrast, Japan s Asian rival China, and Russia, have called repeatedly for a return to international diplomacy and talks with North Korea to resolve the crisis over Pyongyang s weapons programs. We can t be satisfied that the U.N. has approved new sanctions against North Korea, Abe said. What s crucial now is to put sanctions into effect without lapses and that requires close cooperation with China and Russia. In his U.N. speech, Abe said North Korean nuclear weapons either already were, or were on the verge of becoming, hydrogen bombs, presenting an unprecedented threat. It is indisputably a matter of urgency, Abe said. We must prevent the goods, funds, people, and technology necessary for nuclear and missile development from heading to North Korea, he said. Whether or not we can put an end to the provocations by North Korea is dependent upon the solidarity of the international community. There is not much time left. Abe said Japan, a treaty ally of the United States, consistently supported the U.S. stance that all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea. On Sept. 11, the U.N. Security Council unanimously stepped up sanctions against North Korea over its sixth and most powerful nuclear test, imposing a ban on the isolated nation s textile exports and capping imports of crude oil. North Korea fired a missile on Friday that flew over Hokkaido in northern Japan and landed far out into the Pacific Ocean, according to Japanese and South Korean officials, further ratcheting up tensions in the region. Abe said diplomatic attempts to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear aspirations have failed over two decades. Dialogue for the purpose of having dialogue is meaningless, Abe said at the New York Stock Exchange. | 1 |
2,810 | Senate kills family-planning rule; Pence breaks tie | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Mike Pence took the rare step of breaking a tie in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, casting the deciding vote to roll back protections for reproductive health funds. Using the Congressional Review Act, which allows lawmakers to repeal recently minted regulations, senators killed a rule intended to keep federal grants flowing to clinics that provide contraception and other services in states that want to block the funding. The rule was enacted in the final weeks of former President Barack Obama’s administration, giving lawmakers the opening to nullify it under the review law. In recent years states such as Texas have kept some healthcare providers from receiving the grants as part of the country’s longstanding fight over abortion. It was the second time on Thursday that Pence used his role as the chamber’s president to end a deadlock. He was called to the capitol earlier to carry the resolution through a procedural vote. Saying the rule usurps states’ rights, Republicans argued local lawmakers should decide how healthcare money is distributed. Their main concern is that federal money is being used to provide abortions, although the grants are specifically barred from funding those procedures. Republicans, including President Donald Trump, generally oppose abortion. “This regulation is an unnecessary restriction on states that know their residents’ own needs best,” said Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Democrats said the resolution was an attack on women’s health, contending the rollback will make it harder for low-income and rural women to obtain screenings for cancer and other diseases, as well as contraception. Most resolutions killing recent Obama-era regulations have sailed through the Republican-controlled Congress. They need to win only simple majorities in both chambers to go to the president for signing. The congressional review law was used only once successfully until this year. The family-planning resolution marked the 13th time it has been deployed effectively since the beginning of February, as well as the first time a resolution has come within a hair’s breadth of failing. “Republicans didn’t listen to us,” said Senator Patty Murray of Washington, the senior Democrat on the health committee. “They didn’t listen to women across the country who made it clear that restricting women’s access to the full range of reproductive care is unacceptable.” The nonprofit Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions and many other health and contraception services, receives some of the federal funding. Noting the recent collapse of the Republican healthcare bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said Thursday’s votes were close because “people are sick and tired of politicians making it even harder for them to access healthcare.” | 1 |
2,811 | Pakistan orders George Soros foundation, other aid groups to close | ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan has told at least 10 foreign-funded aid groups to close, an umbrella agency said on Wednesday, including a charity founded by hedge fund billionaire and philanthropist George Soros, the group said. Pakistan has toughened its stance towards domestic and international non-governmental groups in recent years, accusing some of using their work as a cover for espionage. In January, it ordered about a dozen groups working on women s issues and human rights to halt their operations. A representative of the Pakistan Humanitarian Forum (PHF), which represents 63 international aid groups, said the Ministry of Interior had issued 10 of its members letters of rejection , meaning their applications to register had been rejected. The forum did not identify the 10 groups but two international groups, the Pakistani branch of the Soros charity the Open Society Foundations, and ActionAid, said they had been told they had to close. We obviously find what has happened both disappointing and surprising, and are urgently seeking clarification, the executive director of the Open Society s Pakistani office, Saba Khattak, said in a statement. The group had spent $37 million on grants and relief assistance in Pakistan since 2005, she said. The interior ministry did not respond to requests for comment. However, the ministry, in a letter to one of the 10 groups and seen by Reuters, said its registration application had been denied. Wind up operations/activities of above said INGO within 60 days, the ministry said in the letter. It did give a reason why the group had to stop its work. The ministry lists 139 international non-governmental organizations (INGO) on its website that have submitted registration applications, of which 72 are still being processed. There is no list of those whose applications have been denied. During the lengthy INGO registration process we provided all the information and documents required and are confident we comply with all necessary rules and regulations, ActionAid country director Iftikhar Nizami said in a statement. This year, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres was ordered to stop work at three facilities in violence-plagued ethnic Pashtun areas bordering Afghanistan, although the interior ministry lists the group as an approved INGO. The Save the Children aid group fell afoul of the government in 2011, when it was linked to a Pakistani doctor recruited by the CIA to help in the hunt that led to the killing of al Qaeda militant leader Osama bin Laden in the town of Abbottabad. Save the Children s foreign staff were expelled from Pakistan soon after the accusations surfaced, but more than 1,000 local staff continued to operate. The charity denied any links with the doctor or the CIA. | 1 |
2,812 | GOP Convention Chaos Ensues As Reince Priebus Meets With #NeverTrump Delegates | Anyone with a brain knows that Donald Trump is an embarrassment to the United States on the world stage at best, and dangerously unqualified to hold the office of the presidency at worst. Despite these facts, many in the GOP establishment have lined up behind the billionaire who unexpectedly became their presumptive nominee. However, there is a problem. There are GOP delegates who are doing all they can to deny Trump the nomination at the GOP convention in Cleveland, which is just days away.Because of the apparently inevitable convention floor fight, the Rules Committee meeting that began at 8:00 AM as scheduled was suddenly halted once a delegate put forth the idea of a rule that would disallow lobbyists from joining the Republican National Committee (RNC). After that, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus scuttled away into a private meeting with Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and some of the #NeverTrump delegates. Also present was Colorado delegate and Free the Delegates leader Kendal Unruh, who wants the RNC Rules Committee to unbind the delegates and allow them to vote against Trump, no matter what the voters in their state decided.There were surely clashes in this meeting, as fierce #NeverTrump types like Unruh were in that impromptu secret meeting with people such as Platform Committee member Jim Bopp, who vehemently opposes any and all efforts to stop Trump. There was also former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who seems to wish to dismantle the amount of power the RNC has altogether.In other words, just days before the GOP Convention, the event that is supposed to be the party s big coming out, there is utter chaos, and it is all because of Donald Trump. The illustration of just how chaotic it all has become is all in the excuse that was given to the press for the abrupt disruption of the Rules Committee session: a printer had jammed and they were making sure that got fixed first. Absolutely hilarious, to Democrats, at least.Featured image via Mark Wilson/Getty Images | 0 |
2,813 | U.S. plans to curb tax 'inversions' could hit foreign companies | LONDON (Reuters) - Planned changes that President Barack Obama says are aimed at ensuring American companies do not avoid tax by shifting their headquarters overseas could also force foreign companies to adopt more conservative U.S. tax-planning strategies. One of the measures restricts the ability of U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies to deduct the interest they pay on loans from their parent firms from their taxable income. It aims to stop a redomiciled American firm from reducing its U.S. tax bill by piling inter-group debt on its U.S. operations, and effectively shifting profits overseas. But it could also affect European companies that use similar strategies to reduce their tax bills in the United States after buying U.S. firms. The new rules announced by the Treasury department this week aim to curb so-called ‘inversions’ - where a U.S. group acquires a smaller overseas company and shifts its domicile to a lower-tax jurisdiction. Drugmaker Pfizer’s plan to buy rival Allergan and move to Ireland was one of the planned inversions that prompted the Obama administration to act. The $160 billion deal fell apart last week as a result of other aspects of the Treasury reforms. Under the new rule regarding debt, if a U.S. subsidiary transfers money to its overseas parent within three years before or after borrowing money from it, by paying a dividend or buying shares in the parent, then U.S. tax authorities could potentially treat the loan as if it was equity. This means the interest on the debt would not be deductible for U.S. income tax purposes. Experts said that European companies would still be able to shift profits via inter-group debt, but may have to do so gradually over a longer period of time. “It, without doubt, significantly changes the rules of the game,” said Stephen Shay, professor of law at Harvard University. “In the old days you bought and then you levered up as much as you can and that is not going to happen in the same way, but how much of a constraint that becomes is unclear,” he added. Nancy McLernon, president of the Organization for International Investment, a trade group for the U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies, denied non-U.S. groups were routinely shifting profit overseas through debt. “Where’s the problem they (U.S. authorities) are trying to fix? It feels more like a tax grab,” she said. She said the complexity of the issue and uncertainty over how the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. tax authority, would seek to use their new powers would make investing in new U.S. projects less attractive. “It will have a chilling effect on foreign direct investment in the United States,” McLernon added. The Treasury says it is targeting situations where large debts are incurred to fund dividends shortly after an inversion or foreign acquisition, rather than the most common way U.S. subsidiaries accumulate inter-group debt. That is by having the subsidiary gradually pay all its profit to its parent as dividends and then borrow money from its parent for new investment. “The proposed regulations generally do not apply to related-party debt that is incurred to fund actual business investment, such as building or equipping a factory,” a Treasury factsheet released last week said. Providing the money a foreign company takes out of its U.S. subsidiary is in line with the U.S. company’s profits, the transactions should escape IRS scrutiny, Shay said. Companies don’t usually publish details of their inter-group financing so it’s impossible to put a figure on how much profit foreign companies shelter from U.S. tax through inter-group loans. Richard Murphy, professor of practice in international political economy at City University London, estimates the IRS could lose tens of billions of dollars in taxes each year in this way. Companies that have reduced their U.S. tax bills via inter-group lending include drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, education group Pearson, utility Scottish Power and telecoms group Vodafone. All said their lending to U.S. subsidiaries had been unwound and that they complied with all tax rules. Details of their lending arrangements came to public attention following data leaks or legal action with tax authorities. A 2013 Reuters examination of tax planning by Europe’s largest software group, SAP AG, showed how the German company shifted profits from the United States, which has a corporate tax rate of at least 35 percent, to Ireland whose headline rate is 12.5 percent. here HIGH-INTEREST LOANS According to Reuters calculations based on 2015 corporate filings, SAP America Inc reduces its U.S. tax bill by around $200 million a year by borrowing $7.4 billion from SAP Ireland US Financial Services Ltd at an interest rate of at least 7 percent. The debt, which helped fund the acquisition of U.S. software groups, cuts its taxable income by around $600 million a year. A spokesman for SAP group declined to comment on the Reuters calculations but said the company followed all tax rules and that its funding structure was driven by business rather than tax reasons. Some measures previously proposed by Obama and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which advises developed nations on tax policy, would have limited interest deductions to the extent that they reflected an operating unit’s share of total group interest costs. Since SAP group’s total net interest expense was just 5 million euros last year, most of its U.S. subsidiary’s deduction may have been disallowed under such proposals. But the Treasury plan is far more limited than these proposals. SAP filings suggest that it has not taken large amounts of cash from its acquired U.S. subsidiaries and recapitalized them with debt. Debts accumulated as SAP has done – by acquiring and expanding U.S. companies - should not be captured by the new measures, even if that debt is out of proportion to the parent’s overall debt burden. But it’s hard to be certain. Inter-group debts usually run for a period of a few years, and each time they extend them, there is an opportunity for the IRS to re-examine the arrangement. “There is certainly is a risk when they roll over that instrument, that it is going to be recharacterised as equity,” said Victor Fleischer, professor of law at the University of San Diego, said of the SAP loans. | 1 |
2,814 | European Parliament urges EU probe of Malta after journalist killed | STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - EU lawmakers urged the European Commission on Wednesday to investigate Malta s adherence to the rule of law, in a move that could lead to sanctions following the murder of a campaigning journalist that has rocked the tiny Mediterranean island. The European Parliament s non-binding resolution, backed by an overwhelming majority of deputies but criticised by the Maltese government, also voiced serious concerns about police independence and international money-laundering on the island. The move follows the murder on Oct. 16 of Daphne Caruana Galizia, a Maltese investigative journalist who had accused senior figures in both the government and opposition of corruption and involvement in international money-laundering. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, leader of the ruling Labour Party, denies the allegations of corruption and says everything will be done to find the journalist s killers. The European Parliament calls on the Commission to establish a dialogue with the Maltese Government regarding the functioning of the rule of law in Malta and to ensure respect for European values, the text of the resolution said. This would be the first step in an oversight procedure that could trigger sanctions, including the suspension of Malta s voting rights in the EU, if systemic threats to the rule of law were confirmed and not addressed. No EU member has been subject to these penalties, but Poland is currently under supervision over the independence of its judiciary, and lawmakers have also called for the activation of the procedure for Hungary. The Commission, which monitors member states application of EU rules, has so far avoided commenting on the state of the rule of law in Malta, the EU s smallest member state with a population of just 420,000 people. The EU executive s vice president Frans Timmermans told deputies on Tuesday there were no general concerns at this stage on the application of anti-money laundering rules in Malta. But in their text adopted on Wednesday the lawmakers cited several high-profile cases of alleged corruption and risks of money laundering involving government members, as well as the island s flourishing online gaming industry and a Maltese scheme to sell citizenship to wealthy individuals. The Maltese government said in a statement the EU text contained factual inaccuracies and partisan political bias . It is clear enough for the Maltese Government that most of this misinformation was led by highly politicised local actors, and can be read in a situation where some groups in the European Parliament are trying to gain leverage in negotiations on situations in their Member States, the Maltese government said. In the resolution, backed by 466 lawmakers and opposed by 49 while 167 abstained, the deputies also accused Maltese police of failing to investigate several serious allegations of corruption and breach of anti-money laundering and banking supervision obligations . The text also regretted that there has been no police investigation to date in Malta of the revelations regarding the Panama Papers , despite the appearance of 714 companies linked to Malta and high-ranking officials in the leaked documents about tax schemes in offshore jurisdictions. Sources familiar with the work of Maltese authorities and a Reuters review of Maltese and EU data show possible shortcomings in Malta s efforts to prevent money laundering. Muscat told Reuters last month Malta s financial services sector was as transparent, solid and compliant as any other European jurisdiction . | 1 |
2,815 | About 20 demonstrators arrested outside of Trump rally in California | (Reuters) - Some 20 demonstrators were arrested on Thursday outside a Donald Trump campaign rally in southern California, where the Republican presidential front-runner vowed to his supporters to get tough on illegal immigration if elected. Demonstrators smashed the window of a police squad car, marched in protest and blocked traffic as police in riot gear tried to disperse the crowd outside of the county fair grounds in Costa Mesa, California, according to local media and the Twitter account of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The department said on its Twitter account that about 20 arrests were made and that no major injuries were reported. Trump visited Costa Mesa, a city of more than 100,000 people, a third of whom are Hispanic or Latino, hoping to garner support in California where voters will go to the polls during the state’s Republican primary on June 7. A strong primary win in California for the billionaire could thrust him above the delegate count needed to secure the Republican nomination for president and avoid a contested party convention in July. During the campaign stop on Thursday, Trump promised to get tough on illegal immigration by building a wall on the border between Mexico and the United States, a popular theme of his presidential campaign, suggesting that a wall would stop drugs from coming into this country. “The drugs are poisoning our youth and a lot of other people and we are going to get it stopped,” he said, telling the crowd that he would force Mexico to pay for the wall. After the event, local news showed hundreds of demonstrators surrounding vehicles, waving Mexican flags and holding signs in protest of Trump outside of the Orange County Fair and Event Center. At least one demonstrator was shown jumping on the top of a police car while other demonstrators were seen shaking a police vehicle. A Los Angeles Times reporter posted a photo on Twitter of a man wearing a Trump T-shirt with a bloodied face. Trump has come under fire from rivals for fueling unrest with his rhetoric as several of his rallies around the country have been met by protests during the last several months. | 1 |
2,816 | RICK SANTORUM INFURIATES LIBERALS After He Tells ILLEGAL ALIEN To Go Home And Apply For Citizenship [VIDEO] | What do you think? Do you agree with Rick Santorum, or should we allow illegal aliens to enjoy all of the same benefits as American citizens simply because they or their parents made it across our US border without getting caught?Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) can t speak to whether President-elect Donald Trump plans to deport undocumented immigrants en masse beginning next year, but he has made one thing clear: People who came to the U.S. illegally as children, also known as Dreamers, should just leave the U.S. if they re worried about their immigration status.Elizabeth Vilchis, a mechanical engineer who said she came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 7 years old, asked Santorum about Trump s immigration plans on Tuesday night during a town hall event with CNN s Van Jones. She asked Santorum how he would advise her to plan for her future.He began his reply by talking about his father, who left Mussolini s Italy to come to the U.S. when he was 7 years old even though, Santorum said, he wasn t allowed to come because of the immigration laws at the time. Then he began to address Vilchis specifically. What most people in America feel is that you ve been given a tremendous benefit by being here in this country, Santorum said, adding that he imagined she wouldn t have had to opportunities to accomplish what you have in her country of origin. My final point is that you have the ability to go to any other country right now and apply those wares, and be successful, and reapply to come back to America, Santorum added. Go and make the world a better place. CNN contributor Ana Navarro butted in. First of all, this is your country, she said. No matter what he says, no matter what anybody else says, this is your country. That s not what the law says, Santorum replied. As much as I m sympathetic to you, you should recognize the gift that America has given you and that you can give to the world. HP@Jorgesays @RickSantorum I'll chip in good money to send Santorum to another country. Any country. Cindy Hargest (@CindyHargest) December 7, 2016No decent country would take him. Lyle (@lyledal) December 7, 2016This broke my heart. "You got your education, now get out." This woman is as American as you Rick. Dave Harrell (@daveharrell16) December 7, 2016Send disgusting @RickSantorum back to Italy. iburl (@iburl) December 7, 2016 | 0 |
2,817 | Trump recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital, reversing longtime U.S. policy | WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday reversed decades of U.S. policy and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, imperiling Middle East peace efforts and upsetting the Arab world and Western allies alike. Trump announced his administration would begin a process of moving the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step expected to take years and one that his predecessors opted not to take to avoid inflaming tensions. The status of Jerusalem - home to sites holy to the Muslim, Jewish and Christian religions - is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Trump s announcement as a historic landmark, but other close Western allies of Washington such as Britain and France were critical. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the United States abdicated its role as a mediator in peace efforts, and Palestinian secular and Islamist factions called for a general strike and rallies on Thursday to protest. The international community does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over the entire city, believing its status should be resolved in negotiations. No other country has its embassy in Jerusalem. Trump s decision fulfills a campaign promise and will please Republican conservatives and evangelicals who make up a sizeable portion of his domestic support. I have determined that it is time to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, Trump said in a speech at the White House. While previous presidents have made this a major campaign promise, they failed to deliver. Today, I am delivering. Trump s decision risks further inflaming a region already grappling with conflict in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Protests broke out in areas of Jordan s capital, Amman, inhabited by Palestinian refugees, and several hundred protesters gathered outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. The United States is asking Israel to temper its response to Trump s announcement because Washington expects a backlash and is weighing the potential threat to U.S. facilities and people, according to a State Department document seen by Reuters. Israel considers Jerusalem its eternal and indivisible capital and wants all embassies based there. Palestinians want the capital of an independent state of theirs to be in the city s eastern sector, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move never recognized internationally. Netanyahu said any peace deal with Palestinians must include Jerusalem as Israel s capital. That would be a non-starter for Palestinians in any negotiations if it meant the entire city would be under Israeli control. For a graphic on possible Jerusalem U.S. Embassy sites, click tmsnrt.rs/2jIXIoq Abbas on Wednesday called the city the eternal capital of the state of Palestine. He said Trump s decision was tantamount to the United States abdicating its peace mediator role. Jordan said Trump s decision was legally null. I think it s pretty catastrophic, frankly, said Hussein Ibish at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, adding that Trump did not distinguish in any meaningful sense between West Jerusalem and occupied East Jerusalem. Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused Trump of a flagrant aggression against the Palestinian people. Palestinians switched off Christmas lights at Jesus traditional birthplace in Bethlehem on Wednesday night to protest Trump s move. Trump has tilted U.S. policy toward Israel since taking office in January. He cannot expect to side entirely with Israel on the most sensitive and complex issues in the process, and yet expect the Palestinians to see the United States as an honest broker, said former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer. Pope Francis called for Jerusalem s status quo to be respected. China and Russia expressed concern the move could aggravate Middle East hostilities. A statement from the Saudi Royal Court said the Saudi government had expressed condemnation and deep regret about the move. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Theresa May called the U.S. decision unhelpful in terms of prospects for peace in the region. The United Nations Security Council is likely to meet on Friday over Trump s decision, diplomats said on Wednesday. Trump said his move was not intended to tip the scale in favor of Israel and that any deal involving the future of Jerusalem would have to be negotiated by the parties. He insisted he was not taking a position on any final status issues, including the specific boundaries of the Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem, or the resolution of contested borders. Other key disputes between the two sides include the fate of Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlements built on occupied land. Trump made no mention of settlements. He said he remained committed to the two-state solution if the parties want one. The president called on the region to take his message calmly. There will of course be disagreement and dissent regarding this announcement but we are confident that ultimately, as we work through these disagreements, we will arrive at a place of greater understanding and cooperation, Trump said. U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, a pro-Israel Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee who is often critical of Trump s foreign policy, said: This decision is long overdue and helps correct a decades-long indignity. Trump acted under a 1995 law that requires the United States to move its embassy to Jerusalem. His predecessors, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, consistently put off that decision. Trump ordered a delay to any embassy move from Tel Aviv since the United States does not have an embassy in Jerusalem to move into. A senior administration official said it could take three to four years to build one. The Jerusalem decision has raised doubts about the Trump administration s ability to follow through on a peace effort that Trump s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, has led for months aimed at reviving long-stalled negotiations. There was no indication Trump asked Netanyahu for anything in return when he notified the Israeli leader of his Jerusalem decision on Tuesday, a person familiar with the matter said. But Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator for Republican and Democratic administrations, said Trump, who has long touted himself as a master negotiator, might be setting the stage for seeking Israeli concessions later. This might be the case where Trump applies a little honey now to show the Israelis he s the most pro-Israel president ever, and then applies a little vinegar later, he said. | 1 |
2,818 | U.S. House passes bill requiring warrants to search old emails | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Monday to require law enforcement authorities to obtain a search warrant before seeking old emails from technology companies, a win for privacy advocates fearful the Trump administration may work to expand government surveillance powers. The House passed the measure by a voice vote. But the legislation was expected to encounter resistance in the Senate, where it failed to advance last year amid opposition by a handful of Republican lawmakers after the House passed it unanimously. Technology companies such as Microsoft (MSFT.O) have lobbied Congress for years to pass the Email Privacy Act, which updates a decades-old law to force authorities to first get a warrant to access emails or other digital communications that are at least 180 days old. MORE FROM REUTERSChanneling Steve Jobs, Apple seeks design perfection at new 'spaceship' campusFrom disputes to a breakup: wounds still raw after U.S. electionIslamic State sees chance to revive fortunes in Trump presidency Currently, agencies such as the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission only need a subpoena, which is subject to less judicial oversight than a warrant, to seek such data from a service provider - a standard that has existed since the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) was adopted in 1986. Supporters of the bill passed Monday say it is needed to update an out of date law conceived and written before the rise of the commercial internet. Richard Salgado, director of law enforcement and information security at Google (GOOGL.O), said in a statement the measure would “fix a constitutional flaw” in the ECPA. “While there are disagreements about other aspects of surveillance reform, there is no disagreement that emails and electronic content deserve Fourth Amendment protections,” he said. But some senators, including No. 2 Republican John Cornyn, last year sought to use the legislation as a vehicle for amendments that would expand the FBI’s domestic surveillance capabilities, effectively killing the bill. Debate over law enforcement access to Americans’ electronic communications intensified last year when the FBI sought a court order to make Apple help unlock an encrypted iPhone linked to one of the shooters behind a deadly attack in San Bernardino, California. Privacy advocates have expressed alarm at President Donald Trump’s ability to expand government spying. The Republican campaigned on a “law and order” platform that included suggestions he may want to place some mosques in the United States under surveillance and maintain a national database on Muslims. Microsoft last year filed a federal lawsuit against the Justice Department over ECPA, alleging that the government’s use of the law violated the U.S. constitution. It argued that ECPA is too often used to prevent companies from notifying its users, sometimes indefinitely, when investigators pry into emails and other data stored on remote servers. | 1 |
2,819 | No comment on Trump's Jerusalem move from Netanyahu in first speech | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment on the planned U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel s capital on Wednesday during his first public remarks since the White House confirmed the new policy. In his 21-minute speech to a Jerusalem diplomatic conference, Netanyahu outlined Israel s economic strengths and international outreach, emphasising the importance of ties with the United States. But he did not mention the U.S. President Donald Trump s Jerusalem announcement, due later on Wednesday. | 1 |
2,820 | Senator talks all night as Democrats fight Trump court nominee | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A Democratic senator delivered a 15-1/2-hour, all-night speech denouncing President Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee on Wednesday, joining an effort to block Senate confirmation of Neil Gorsuch in a heated political showdown with Republicans. Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon began his speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday evening and wrapped up mid-morning on Wednesday. The Senate was expected to vote on Thursday at 11 a.m. to try to end a Democratic procedural effort called a filibuster aimed at blocking Gorsuch’s confirmation to a lifetime post on the court. Republicans were expected to fall short of being able to halt the filibuster, but said they had the votes needed to then immediately change the Senate rules to prohibit filibusters against Supreme Court nominees. Republicans said Gorsuch would be confirmed on Friday one way or the other. Senate confirmation of Gorsuch, 49, would reinstate the court’s conservative majority, allow Trump to leave an indelible mark on America’s highest judicial body and fulfill a top campaign promise by the Republican president. Toward the end of his marathon speech, Merkley looked weary, his suit jacket unbuttoned and his yellow tie billowing out. He stood beside an easel holding graphics that an aide would periodically adjust. “For the first time in U.S. history, a seat has been stolen from one president and delivered to another in a court-packing scheme. If that were to succeed, it would set a precedent that will haunt the court for decades to come,” Merkley said. He noted that the Republicans who control the Senate refused last year to consider former Democratic President Barack Obama’s nomination of appellate judge Merrick Garland to replace Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016, the same seat Gorsuch now has been named to fill. Later on the Senate floor, Republican Senator Cory Gardner countered that such an argument amounted to advocating that “two wrongs must make a right.” Merkley criticized Gorsuch’s legal opinions and said Gorsuch would become a conservative legal activist on the court. At one point, Merkley read a 1998 speech by one of the past giants of the Senate, Democrat Robert Byrd, decrying partisanship in Congress. “I believe that the American people are more than tired of partisan warfare. I believe they wish for less of it from Congress, especially in the Senate, where more statesmanship and a longer view are expected,” Merkley said, quoting Byrd. The Senate has a lengthy history of long speeches, including notable ones in recent years by Senators Ted Cruz, Chris Murphy and Rand Paul. The Senate Historical Office listed Merkley’s speech at 15 hours and 26 minutes, the eighth longest in Senate history. The longest came in 1957 when segregationist Senator Strom Thurmond spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes against legislation, later enacted, protecting black voting rights. On the second day of formal Senate debate on Gorsuch’s nomination, various Republicans called the conservative Colorado-based federal appeals court judge “incredibly qualified,” an “intellectual heavyweight” and “always true to the law.” “Democrats are bowing to hard-left special interests that can’t get over the results of the election and thus are demanding complete Democratic opposition to everything this president touches,” Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. Democrats accuse Gorsuch of being so conservative as to be outside the judicial mainstream, favoring corporate interests over ordinary Americans in legal opinions, and displaying insufficient independence from Trump. Republicans control the Senate 52-48. The rule change, which requires a simple majority, has been dubbed the “nuclear option,” and Trump has urged McConnell to “go nuclear.” A filibuster requires a super-majority of 60 votes in the 100-seat Senate in order to proceed to a simple majority vote on a Supreme Court nominee or legislation. The 60-vote super-majority threshold empowers the minority party to hold up the majority party and has forced the Senate over the decades to try to achieve bipartisanship on legislation and presidential appointments. Republican Senator John McCain, known as a defender of Senate traditions, offered reluctant support for the rule change, but said it likely would lead to judicial nominees “from the extremes of both left and right.” “What we are about to do at the end of this week will have tremendous consequences, and I fear that some day we will regret what we’re about to do. In fact, I’m confident we will,” McCain said on the Senate floor. The White House denied on Wednesday that Gorsuch had engaged in plagiarism after media reports accused him of copying some language and failing to cite relevant sources in his 2006 book about assisted suicide and euthanasia. “There is only one explanation for this baseless, last-second smear of Judge Gorsuch: those desperate to justify the unprecedented filibuster of a well-qualified and mainstream nominee to the Supreme Court,” White House spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement. | 1 |
2,821 | Ex-Georgian leader Saakashvili barges across Ukraine border | SHEHYNI, Ukraine (Reuters) - Former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili and a crowd of supporters barged past guards to enter Ukraine from the Polish border on Sunday after a prolonged standoff between Saakashvili and the Ukrainian authorities. Amid shouts of victory and glory to Ukraine , Saakashvili returned to Ukraine despite being stripped of Ukrainian citizenship by his one-time ally, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and facing possible arrest and deportation. Poroshenko invited Saakashvili to be a regional governor to help drive reforms after protests in 2014 ousted a pro-Russian president in Kiev. But Saakashvili quit as governor of Odessa in November, accusing Poroshenko of abetting corruption. Thousands of Saakashvili s supporters gathered on the border on Sunday while prominent lawmakers, including former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, traveled with him from Poland. Saakashvili had tried to cross the border by train but the train did not leave its station in the Polish town of Przemysl. The woman in charge of the Ukrainian train said she had been ordered by the authorities - she declined to specify whether Polish or Ukrainian - to stop the train leaving until Saakashvili got off. He then traveled by bus to the border and was stopped by guards who sealed off the area, causing a tailback of vehicles. Supporters pushed their way through and escorted him across. I came with my Ukrainian passport, I wanted to show my passport and make a statement, a triumphant Saakashvili told supporters after crossing. Instead, the authorities arranged this circus. Poroshenko s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. The crowd broke through the Shehyni checkpoint, Oleh Slobodyan, a spokesman for the Ukrainian border service, wrote on Facebook. The fight started. It s hard to predict the consequences of this situation. A statement by the border service said several police and border guards were injured during the clash and said a group of people, whom it did not name, had crossed the border illegally. Saakashvili took power in Georgia after a peaceful pro-Western uprising, known as the Rose Revolution, in 2003. The 49-year-old is now wanted on criminal charges in Georgia, which he says were trumped up for political reasons. Loathed by the Kremlin, Saakashvili was once a natural ally for Poroshenko after Moscow annexed Ukraine s Crimea region in 2014. But he has become one of the Ukrainian president s most vocal critics, casting doubt on the Western-backed authorities commitment to tackle entrenched corruption. Saakashvili has accused the Ukrainian authorities of using pressure tactics to deter him from returning to Kiev, where he has launched a campaign to unseat Poroshenko. Speaking to reporters earlier in the Polish city of Rzeszow, Saakashvili said Poroshenko viewed him as an existential threat . It looks like he is getting rid of a political opponent and no matter how many times he says that I am not a danger to him, every action of his shows exactly the opposite, that he regards me as a great and immediate danger, he said. | 1 |
2,822 | president putin russian federation supports jammu and kashmirs right of selfdetermination indian army acts as ruthless bandits | email
the day after hillary clinton testified in front of the house select committee on benghazi last october john podesta the democrats campaign chairman met for dinner with a small group of wellconnected friends including peter kadzik a top official at the justice department
the dinner arrangement revealed in hacked podesta emails released by wikileaks is just the latest example of an apparent conflict of interest between the clinton campaign and the federal agency charged with investigating the former secretary of states email practices
podesta and kadzik the assistant attorney general for legislative affairs were in frequent contact other emails show in one email from january kadzik and podesta who were classmates at georgetown law school in the s discussed plans to celebrate podestas birthday and in another sent last may kadziks son emailed podesta asking for a job on the clinton campaign
the postbenghazi dinner was attended by podesta kadzik superlobbyist vincent roberti and other wellplaced beltway fixtures
the exchanges are another example of the clinton campaigns cozy relationship with the obama justice department one former us attorney tells the daily caller | 0 |
2,823 | facebook lets advertisers exclude users by race | posted on october trump reaches out to blacks blacks riot in philadelphia jared taylor american renaissance october and doj prepares a politically motivated civil rights case in the death of eric garner
this episode is available for download here share this view all posts by jared taylor jared taylor is the editor of american renaissance and the author of white identity racial consciousness in the st century we welcome comments that add information or perspective and we encourage polite debate if you log in with a social media account your comment should appear immediately if you prefer to remain anonymous you may comment as a guest using a name and an email address of convenience your comment will be moderated commentary | 0 |
2,824 | Trump immigration order may require legislation: U.S. lawmakers | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - After days of chaos at airports and confusion over details of President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order, some of his fellow Republicans joined Democrats in saying Congress might need to consider legislation to address his new policies. Republican Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it was too early to know all the implications of Trump’s order banning travel into the United States by citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations, but lawmakers might eventually need to step in to modify it. “Seriously, we still don’t know all the implications of what happened. I don’t think they (the Trump administration) know all the implications of what happened,” he told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. “There may well need to be a legislative fix.” Under the executive order Trump released on Friday, travelers from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen may not enter the United States for at least 90 days while Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and others determine whether there is enough information available to screen them. Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives have introduced bills to rescind Trump’s order, but those measures are not expected to go anywhere in the Republican-led Congress. Senator John McCain, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has criticized the order, saying it could weaken U.S. counterterrorism efforts. He blasted barring Iraqis who risked their lives to work as interpreters for U.S. forces, who have already undergone extensive screening. McCain and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen led a push to pass legislation last year to provide visas to those Iraqis. McCain said he thought Iraq should not be on Trump’s list. He said it could invite retaliation by Baghdad and said that Iraq should not be lumped in with frequent U.S. nemesis Iran. “There’s no comparison. There’s thousands of Americans fighting in Iraq as we speak. And what if the Iraqis decided, OK, we’re not going to let all these contractors (working with U.S. forces) ... have visas to come into our country?” McCain asked. Iraq’s prime minister on Tuesday said the country would not retaliate to Trump’s travel ban against Iraqi nationals because it did not want to lose Washington’s cooperation in the war on Islamic State. McCain said whether legislation was needed would depend on how the executive order was implemented over time. “Let’s see what they do,” McCain said. “General Kelly today made some very significant changes to what was initially publicized. So let’s see what they do.” | 1 |
2,825 | #FakeNewsMorningShow GMA Compares President Trump To N. Korean’s Murderous Dictator Kim Jong Un [VIDEO] | Beyond the pale ABC reporter Matthew Dowd compared President Donald Trump with N. Korea s Kim Jong Un on Good Morning America Wednesday when having discussion with former Clinton White House communications director Anchor George Stephanopoulos.As for the objectivity and credibility of Clinton Foundation mega-donor George Stephanopoulos, prior to the 2016 presidential election, his wife, Ali Wentworth, claimed the couple would leave the country should Donald Trump become president of the United States. Of course they didn t leave the country. George Stephanopoulos chose instead, to remain in the US as a prominent voice on TV railing against our sitting President.The comments came following a report about N. Korea s intercontinental ballistic missile test and a discussion on the upcoming G20 summit where Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Well, George, I think there s real tension, Dowd replied. You take Vladimir Putin on one, but there s real tension with a lot of members of the G20. If you look at the recent polling in the international community, Donald Trump is not believed by most of the people in the European community to be trusted to do the right thing, and you take with that with Vladimir Putin, and now with what s happened in North Korea. The European community is worried about unpredictable erratic leaders, not only one in North Korea but one in the United States of America. MRCTVWatch:George Stephanopoulos has been initiating attacks on Donald Trump since he became a serious contender in the presidential race. The video below shows a heated exchange between George Stephanopoulos and President Trump s former Senior Campaign Advisor Kellyanne Conway only one month after Trump crushed Hillary in the election. (Notice how ABC starts out the interview between Stephanopoulos and Conway by flashing a screen shot of Hillary s popular vote numbers compared to Trump s when they have nothing to do with the context of the conversation. This is called subliminal messaging, proving the mainstream media has mastered the art of manipulation.) Watch the interview here: | 0 |
2,826 | Clinton targets Valeant price hikes in campaign appearance | (Reuters) - Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc (VRX.N) fell on Thursday after the campaign of Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton posted a blog from an Iowa event detailing exorbitant price hikes for a migraine drug made by the company. At an Iowa town hall over the weekend, Clinton read from a letter saying that the list price for 10 vials of migraine drug D.H.E. 45 had increased to more than $14,000 in December, compared with just over $3,000 in June of 2014. “This is predatory pricing. It is unjustified. It is wrong,” Clinton said, according to the post. Officials at Valeant did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shares of Valeant fell nearly 9 percent to close at $86.12 on the New York Stock Exchange. More than 3 million shares of Valeant traded in the last hour of trading; total volume on the day was 7.9 mln shares. Valeant, based in Canada, has been under pressure since last year as cracks appeared in its business model of acquiring older drugs, steeply increasing their U.S. price, and using aggressive methods to overcome insurer barriers to reimbursing its medicines. D.H.E. 45, or dihydroergotamine, is a generic, injectable analgesic. Clinton, fellow Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, and Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump have hammered away at drug costs in recent months, raising investor concerns that future price cuts could hurt pharmaceutical and biotech companies. “I’m going after them. We are going to stop this,” Clinton said at the Iowa town hall. Trump said earlier this week that Medicare, the government-run healthcare plan for the elderly, could reap huge savings by negotiating with drugmakers on price. Medicare by law cannot directly negotiate drug prices. A U.S. congressional committee last week subpoenaed former Turing Pharmaceuticals Chief Executive Officer Martin Shkreli to testify at a hearing about that company’s decision last year to raise by 5,000 percent the price of a decades-old treatment for a rare, but dangerous, parasitic infection. (Reporting By Deena Beasley; Editing by Tom Brown and Grant McCool) SAP is the sponsor of this coverage which is independently produced by the staff of Reuters News Agency. | 1 |
2,827 | Hilarious: Trevor Noah Has More Fun Than One Guy Should With Last Week’s Debates (VIDEO) | Another huge crowd of Americans tuned in last week as the Republicans held their latest fear-fest, also known as a debate. Refusing to acknowledge that so many people have been tuning in to watch them make fools of themselves and to see what Donald Trump will say next, the GOP field of freaks took the opportunity to once again go at each other s throats for at least half of the debate while invoking fear and bashing Hillary Clinton for the other half.On the flip side, the Democratic debate held at 9PM on a Sunday night after a long day of playoff football drew a tenth of the audience but had a thousand times the substance. As the GOP remains focused on having Americans clutch their guns while watching out the front window for ISIS to come knocking on their doors, the Democrats were firmly planted in the world of domestic policy, discussing things that the next president will have the pleasure of dealing with here at home.Both debates had desirable outcomes. The Republicans continued making fools of themselves, alienating more independent voters in the process, in two and a half hours of Clinton bashing, fear-mongering nonsense while the Democrats finally got to see the candidates bear their teeth while Martin O malley interrupted every so often to spread his vision of a world where tree-hugging liberals will stand next to Ammon Bundy for the betterment of humanity.No matter who you support, there was plenty of material from both debates to go around. As comedians and late-night show hosts get back to work, there will be plenty of laughs to be had. Trevor Noah and the team at Comedy Central s Daily Show were the first to hit an absolute home-run with a hilarious segment that includes brutal jabs at the GOP combined with some hilarious Democratic moments as well.Trevor Noah may be having trouble with ratings and people may still not be over the loss of Jon Stewart from their Daily Show fix, but he continues to show why he was Stewart s choice to move his beloved show forward. Here s the clip, courtesy of Comedy Central:The Daily Show with Trevor Noah Get More: The Daily Show Full Episodes,The Daily Show on Facebook,The Daily Show Video ArchiveFeatured image via screen capture | 0 |
2,828 | BUZZFEED’S EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Attempts Lame Explanation Of Why He Published Fake News On Trump: “This was absolutely the right thing to do” [Video] | Here s @chucktodd s interview with @BuzzFeedBen about BuzzFeed s decision to publish that dossier https://t.co/Oa7Fs6IVLT Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) January 11, 2017 | 0 |
2,829 | Factbox: Trump fills top jobs for his administration | (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump will nominate Republican U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney to be director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, a senior transition official said on Friday. The following is a list of Republican Trump’s selections for top jobs in his administration; all the posts but those of national security adviser, the White House chief of staff, White House director of the National Economic Council and White House strategist require Senate confirmation: Sessions, 69, was the first U.S. senator to endorse Trump’s presidential bid and has been a close ally since. Son of a country store owner, the Alabama senator and former federal prosecutor has long taken a tough stance on illegal immigration, opposing any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. U.S. Representative Pompeo, 52, is a third-term congressman from Kansas who serves on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which oversees the CIA, National Security Agency and cyber security. A retired Army officer and Harvard Law School graduate, Pompeo supports the U.S. government’s sweeping collection of Americans’ communications data and wants to scrap the nuclear deal with Iran. Ross, 79, heads the private equity firm W.L. Ross & Co. His net worth was pegged by Forbes at about $2.9 billion. A staunch supporter of Trump and an economic adviser, Ross helped shape the Trump campaign’s views on trade policy. He blames the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, which went into force in 1994, and the 2001 entry of China into the World Trade Organization, for causing massive U.S. factory job losses. Mattis is a retired Marine general known for his tough talk, distrust of Iran and battlefield experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. A former leader of Central Command, which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East and South Asia, Mattis, 66, is known by many U.S. forces by his nickname “Mad Dog.” He was once rebuked for saying in 2005: “It’s fun to shoot some people.” DeVos, 58, is a billionaire Republican donor, a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party and an advocate for the privatization of education. As chair of the American Federation for Children, she has pushed at the state level for vouchers that families can use to send their children to private schools and for the expansion of charter schools. Perry, 66, adds to the list of oil drilling advocates skeptical about climate change who have been picked for senior positions in Trump’s Cabinet. The selections have worried environmentalists but cheered an oil and gas industry eager for expansion. Perry, who also briefly ran in the 2016 presidential race, would have to be confirmed by the Senate to head the Energy Department, which is responsible for U.S. energy policy and oversees the nation’s nuclear weapons program. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR: SCOTT PRUITT An ardent opponent of President Barack Obama’s measures to stem climate change, Oklahoma Attorney General Pruitt, 48, has enraged environmental activists. But he fits with the president-elect’s promise to cut the agency back and eliminate regulation that he says is stifling oil and gas drilling. Pruitt became the top state prosecutor for Oklahoma, which has extensive oil reserves, in 2011, and has challenged the EPA multiple times since. U.S. Representative Price, 62, is an orthopedic surgeon who heads the House Budget Committee. A representative from Georgia since 2005, Price has criticized Obamacare and has championed a plan of tax credits, expanded health savings accounts and lawsuit reforms to replace it. He is opposed to abortion. The final leadership role of Kelly’s 45-year career was head of the U.S. Southern Command, responsible for U.S. military activities and relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean. The 66-year-old retired Marine general differed with Obama on key issues and has warned of vulnerabilities along the United States’ southern border with Mexico. Carson, 65, is a retired neurosurgeon who dropped out of the Republican presidential nominating race in March and threw his support to Trump. A popular writer and speaker in conservative circles, Carson previously indicated reluctance to take a position in the incoming administration because of his lack of experience in the federal government. Carson is the first African-American picked for a Cabinet spot by Trump. Zinke, 55, a first-term Republican representative and a member of the House subcommittee on natural resources, has voted for legislation that would weaken environmental safeguards on public lands. He has taken stances favoring coal, a fossil fuel that suffered during the Obama administration. The League of Conservation Voters, which ranks lawmakers on their environmental record, gave Zinke an extremely low lifetime score of 3 percent. Puzder, chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants Inc, which runs the Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s fast-food chains, has been a vociferous critic of government regulation of the workplace and the National Labor Relations Board. Puzder, 66, has argued that higher minimum wages would hurt workers by forcing restaurants to close, and praises the benefits of automation, so his appointment is likely to antagonize organized labor. Cohn, 56, president and chief operating officer of investment bank Goldman Sachs, had widely been considered heir apparent to Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of the Wall Street firm. Trump hammered Goldman and Blankfein during the presidential campaign, releasing a television ad that called Blankfein part of a “global power structure” that had robbed America’s working class. Retired Lieutenant General Flynn, 57, was an early Trump supporter and serves as vice chairman on his transition team. He began his Army career in 1981 and was deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Flynn became head of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2012 under President Barack Obama but retired a year earlier than expected, according to media reports, and became a fierce critic of Obama’s foreign policy. U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney, 49, a South Carolina Republican, is a fiscal conservative. He was an outspoken critic of former House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who resigned in 2015 amid opposition from fellow Republicans who were members of the House Freedom Caucus. Mulvaney was first elected to Congress in 2010. Tillerson, 64, has spent his entire career at Exxon Mobil Corp, where he rose to serve as its chairman and CEO in 2006. A civil engineer by training, the Texan joined the world’s largest energy company in 1975 and led several of its operations in the United States as well as in Yemen, Thailand and Russia. As Exxon’s chief executive, he maintained close ties with Moscow and opposed U.S. sanctions against Russia for its incursion into Crimea. McMahon, 68, is a co-founder and former chief executive of the professional wrestling franchise WWE, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut. She ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for a U.S. Senate seat in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012, and was an early supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign. Chao, 63, was labor secretary under President George W. Bush for eight years and the first Asian-American woman to hold a Cabinet position. She is a director at Ingersoll Rand, News Corp and Vulcan Materials Company. She is married to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky. Mnuchin, 53, is a successful private equity investor, hedge fund manager and Hollywood financier who spent 17 years at Goldman Sachs before leaving in 2002. He assembled an investor group to buy a failed California mortgage lender in 2009, rebranded it as OneWest Bank and built it into Southern California’s largest bank. Housing advocacy groups criticized the bank for its foreclosure practices, accusing it of being too quick to foreclose on struggling homeowners. Haley, 44, has been the Republican governor of South Carolina since 2011 and has little experience in foreign policy or the federal government. The daughter of Indian immigrants, she led a successful push last year to remove the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the South Carolina state capitol after the killing of nine black churchgoers in Charleston by a white gunman. Recently re-elected to serve as Republican National Committee chairman, Priebus will give up his party post to join Trump in the White House, where the low-key Washington operative could help forge ties with Congress to advance Trump’s agenda. The 44-year-old was a steadfast supporter of Trump during the presidential campaign even as the party fractured amid the choice. CHIEF WHITE HOUSE STRATEGIST, SENIOR COUNSELOR: STEVE BANNON The former head of the conservative website Breitbart News came aboard as Trump’s campaign chairman in August. A rabble-rousing conservative media figure, he helped shift Breitbart into a forum for the alt-right, a loose confederation of those who reject mainstream politics and includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites. His hiring signals Trump’s dedication to operating outside the norms of Washington. As White House chief of staff, Bannon, 63, will serve as Trump’s gatekeeper and agenda-setter. | 1 |
2,830 | For some Russian oligarchs, sanctions risk makes Putin awkward to know | MOSCOW (Reuters) - The threat of new U.S. sanctions has spread anxiety among Russia s wealthiest people that their association with President Vladimir Putin could land them on a U.S. government blacklist, members of the business elite say. The list, to be drawn up by early next year, is part of a sanctions bill passed overwhelmingly by Congress soon after Donald Trump became president and reluctantly signed by him on Aug. 2 despite his avowed wish to improve ties with Moscow. Although those included on the list would not automatically be sanctioned, six people who are part of the business elite or close to the Kremlin said it was a major concern because the criteria for inclusion and the consequences were unclear. People are on edge, said a senior figure in a major Russian company. If they classify you as close to Putin, just try proving it s not the case, the figure said. The Americans tactics are clear: they need to cause pain in all ways possible for those who support Putin. While most of the business elite remains loyal to Putin, the prospect of personal sanctions which can prevent travel abroad or access to foreign bank accounts and freeze foreign assets has prompted some to steer clear, the sources said. A billionaire businessman who has sat on panels of business leaders with Putin and in the front row of the audience when Putin addressed conferences has adjusted his diary to avoid such occasions, a source who works closely with him said. He s simply been trying lately to show up less next to Putin, said the source, who spoke on condition neither he nor his boss be identified because of the sensitivity of the topic. Because it s not clear on what basis there could be sanctions. You get the impression anyone could get hit. A source in the entourage of a second Russian billionaire said several oligarchs had chosen the tactic of keeping a low profile to avoid inclusion in the list. One billionaire businessman in the top 100 of wealthiest Russians spoke to Reuters in person. He said he could not get any clarity from his Russian political contacts about the threat. Asked what steps he could take to protect himself if he was included on a U.S. sanctions blacklist, he said: There s no way. You have to leave. He did not say where he would go. Unusually for one of Russia s billionaire class a group that presents itself as loyal to the Kremlin - he expressed frustration with senior officials, including Putin. The leadership (of the country) does not believe that the sanctions are going to follow the hard scenario, said the businessman, speaking on condition of anonymity. They live in a parallel reality. No one wants to listen to business. Dmitry Peskov, Kremlin spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that he was not aware of any frustration among the business elite from the new sanctions. We know nothing of such views. If they exist and appear, we are always open to discussion, he said. Asked whether he believed that sanctions were aimed at setting up elites against Putin, Peskov said: We are confident this is exactly the case. The Aug. 2 sanctions legislation expanded and toughened sanctions already in force since over Russia s 2014 annexation of Ukraine s Crimea region. The law is very bad, it s very broad, very incoherent, its application could have all sorts of consequences, Andrei Kostin, chief executive of VTB Russia s second biggest bank, said this week, referring to the legislation as a whole. The list, to be drawn up by the Treasury Department, is set to name the most significant Russian oligarchs as determined by their closeness to the Russian regime and their net worth . It is meant to be sent to Congress by the end of January, weeks before Russia is due to vote in a presidential election. Though he has not declared his intentions yet, most Kremlin-watchers expect Putin to run and polls show he would easily win. Sanctions lawyers say the list itself has no legal force and inclusion does not mean sanctions will follow. Other provisions of the Aug 2 law present a more immediate threat by raising the level of risk for firms that do business with entities already under sanctions. Nevertheless, Western banks have started making additional checks on people they deem to be associated with Putin, said an executive with a European bank that operates in Russia. The checks, said the executive, were prompted by the Aug. 2 sanctions law and included establishing whether the individuals, whom he did not name, had accounts with the banks concerned. The source did not say whether they were taking any action. Some people in Putin s innermost circle have already been on a U.S. sanctions blacklist since 2014. Gennady Timchenko, an oil mogul and one of Putin s closest friends, called his inclusion in 2014 an honor for me . Timchenko s wife, Elena, had her bank card rejected the same year when she tried to pay for treatment in a German clinic because her husband was under sanctions. The planned list of oligarchs is likely to include people outside that circle, who are not unquestioning Putin loyalists yet could still be punished for their association with him. Everyone s fearful for themselves, they re afraid of personal sanctions, said a source close to a fourth top 100 Russian billionaire. Because, what if the whole of the Russian establishment ends up under sanctions? No one knows, so everyone is afraid. A senior source who is close to the government and the Kremlin said the U.S. authorities were trying to turn Putin s allies against him, especially with the presidential election approaching. If all these threats become reality, in respect of other people as well, that will create powerful tension and discontent in the business elite, said the source. | 1 |
2,831 | Among Trump associates, concern and frustration over Donald Jr. crisis | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh off one foreign trip and preparing for another, Donald Trump was enjoying a period of relative calm - until the White House was rocked by a fresh controversy over contacts between the president’s campaign and Russia. For Trump, who has been swept up all year in crises of his own making, this time the target was his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., whose meeting with a Russian lawyer last year led to accusations that the president’s son entertained working with Russians to spread negative information about Democrat Hillary Clinton. Among Trump’s wide-ranging group of outside advisers and former campaign officials, Donald Jr.’s meeting with the lawyer on the expectation of gaining access to negative information on Clinton was seen as problematic, a demonstration of the son’s political inexperience, but not illegal. “You can’t shrug this off even though you know he’s very likely going to be okay,” said an outside Trump adviser, who asked to remain unidentified. “This is the president’s namesake and you have to circle the wagons in defense of the president’s son.” “There’s no question in my mind that every person in the White House has some level of concern about this. Otherwise it’s malpractice,” the adviser said. Inside the White House, the mood was one of heavy acceptance that another political problem had emerged but also of caution as to its significance for a wider probe into Russia’s meddling in the election and whether there was collusion with the Trump campaign. Benumbed by previous crises from the firing of then-FBI Director James Comey to the appointment of a special prosecutor, White House officials showed no signs of panic and said they were trying to advance the president’s agenda. The new incident erupted as Trump seemingly enjoyed a rare moment of calm. His trip to Warsaw and Hamburg last week went fairly smoothly, although critics accused him of not being tough enough in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Wednesday, he is to depart to Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and to participate in flag-waving Bastille Day ceremonies. Trump himself was described by the White House as frustrated by yet another distraction involving the Russia investigation. “He knows that he didn’t do anything and he really wants to focus on the good things that are happening and the things he was elected to do, and he doesn’t like it when things get in the way,” a senior White House official said. The president offered a restrained reaction, not resorting to Twitter to launch a tirade against his critics, but issuing a brief statement praising his “high-quality person” who showed “transparency” by releasing the email chain with the lawyer on Tuesday. There was a sense among former campaign advisers that Donald Trump Jr. had shown his political naivete by agreeing to the meeting. They noted that it took place at a time when Trump had a barebones staff and that his family members, initially reluctant to getting involved in his campaign, were searching to carve out space for themselves. “Besides proving that he was gullible and he got snookered, it’s still not a smoking gun,” said one former campaign adviser. Among even Republicans, there was dismay at the turn of events. Conservative author Quin Hillyer wrote in a blog post that Trump should step down for cozying up to Russia. (The blog link is here) “The American people absolutely cannot trust Trump’s objectivity about Russian intentions and Russian actions,” Hillyer wrote. “This is an utterly untenable situation. For the good of the country, Trump must lance the boil, and resign.” The outside Trump adviser said the Trump Jr. case “unfortunately supports the narrative” advanced by Trump’s Democratic opponents and propagated by what Trump world feels is a left-leaning news media. “Donald Jr. is the nicest of nice guys, genuinely authentic,” the adviser said. “A lot of us are disappointed that if it had to be somebody, why did it have to be Don Jr.?” | 1 |
2,832 | This Sheriff Has Threatened To Arrest The CEO Of Apple For Protecting Your Privacy (VIDEO) | Apple s fight against the FBI on behalf of the privacy rights of their customers has taken a chilling turn, with law enforcement officers openly threatening to arrest CEO Tim Cook personally if his company denies their requests.Grady Judd, Sheriff of Polk County Florida, issued a threat of arrest to Apple CEO Tim Cook during a press conference on Sunday. Asked how he would respond if Apple (or any other telecommunications company) ever declines a request to hack a phone on behalf of law enforcement agencies, Judd gave an angry response: I can tell you, the first time we do have trouble getting into a cellphone, we re going to seek a court order from Apple. And when they deny us, I m going to go lock the CEO of Apple up, he ranted. I ll lock the rascal up. Judd is not alone in attempting to apply this personal threat of arrest to the CEO simply for attempting to secure the privacy rights of his customers. As Newsweek reports:Judd s strong sentiments against encryption fall in line with those of other outspoken law enforcement officials in the United States. Many police departments and district attorney s offices have struggled with police investigations because of encrypted smartphones they cannot crack, Newsweek learned last month. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. testified before Congress regarding these frustrations alongside Apple s general counsel, Bruce Sewell, and FBI Director James Comey on March 1.Judd added: You cannot create a business model to go, We re not paying attention to the federal judge or the state judge. You see, we re above the law. The CEO of Apple needs to know he s not above the law, and neither is anybody else in the United States. Apple has stated that if they were to comply with the request of law enforcement, they would be creating a master key that would unlock any iPhone. Once created, this masterkey could then be used for nefarious reasons by law enforcement, government, criminal and terrorist organizations around the world.In an attempt to bully Apple into surrendering the privacy rights of their customers, senior officers in law enforcement, the security services, and even government, are applying pressure to Apple as a company, and the CEO Tim Cook personally. If this doesn t scare you, it should. | 0 |
2,833 | WOW! LOCAL OFFICIAL STUNNED When He Sees Name Written By A Parent On Halloween Tombstone For School Fundraiser | Liberalism is truly a mental disorder. Sadly, the children of these parents who are so consumed by hate, that they behave like schoolyard bullies, are going to be the ones who pay the price in the end Kids tossing bean bags at a mock tombstone for President Trump at a public school was a despicable display of dirty politics the adults forced on the unwitting children, a Gloucester Republican official said, as the furor continued to grow.School officials have apologized for a parent-teacher organization fundraiser last week at West Parish Elementary School but one GOP official fears the damage is already done. I don t think it s appropriate to put the sitting president s name on a tombstone. It s disrespectful to the office of the president, no matter who he is, said Amanda Kesterson, who heads the Gloucester Republican City Committee. Unfortunately, she told the Herald, in Massachusetts in particular, where Republicans are the minority party and the president is unpopular, I think there is a belief that joking about the president is acceptable and it s not. Boston Herald | 0 |
2,834 | trump calls for teaching patriotism in schools | email
according to a report by an emirati media website emarat alyoum saudi ambassador to the uae said in a press interview that any contact with iran iraq syria and lebanon and even making telephone conversations with these countries officials by the members of the gulf cooperation council gcc states should first be checked carefully and approved by the generalsecretariat of the organization in riyadh | 0 |
2,835 | Venezuela's Maduro defends disputed vote, opposition divided | CARACAS (Reuters) - President Nicolas Maduro defended Venezuela’s “secure” election system on Tuesday as opponents struggled to present a united front over allegations of fraud in a nationwide vote surprisingly won by the ruling socialists. Despite widespread anger over economic hardship, the Socialist Party confounded opinion polls to take 17 of 23 governorships in Sunday’s election. Stunned by the defeat that undermines their aim to win the presidency in 2018, the opposition Democratic Unity coalition refused to acknowledge the results and called the election rigged, as did the United States. Though the coalition has complained of an unfair playing field - from abuse of state resources to last-minute moving of vote centers away from opposition strongholds - it has not given detailed evidence of ballot-tampering. Some opposition figures have acknowledged abstention by their supporters - disillusioned by the failure of street protests to dislodge Maduro earlier this year - was a big factor. Two losing opposition candidates, Henri Falcon in Lara state and Alejandro Feo La Cruz in Carabobo, have conceded defeat, breaking with the official coalition position. Both criticized “irregularities” in the vote but also lamented many demoralized opposition supporters stayed at home. “We need courage to recognize truth in adversity,” said Falcon. The strongest criticism of Sunday’s vote came from Washington, which slammed Maduro’s “dictatorship.” Several European nations also expressed concern, while 12 countries in the Americas from the so-called Lima Group condemned “obstacles, intimidation, manipulation and irregularities”. Washington is considering further sanctions on Venezuela, after various measures against top officials and the economy earlier this year, while the European Union is mulling the same. Government leaders have smarted at fraud accusations. “Venezuela’s election system is the most secure and audited in the world,” Maduro said on Tuesday. “President Donald Trump, I am not a dictator; I am a humble worker ... I have a moustache and look like Stalin, but I’m not him.” The Venezuelan leader invited EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to visit or receive him in Brussels to “open their eyes,” and told “stupid” Canada to stop meddling. Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza later said on Twitter that Maduro had recalled Venezuela’s ambassador to Canada for talks. Heaping further humiliation on Venezuela’s opposition, the governors were due to be sworn in on Tuesday by a new legislative superbody elected controversially in July. The opposition boycotted that vote and has refused to recognize the entirely pro-government Constituent Assembly, which supersedes all institutions including the opposition-controlled congress. The opposition’s five governors-elect planned to boycott the swearing-in ceremony, defying Maduro’s threat to bar them from office for failing to accept the assembly as a higher authority. “We will not kneel to anyone,” said Juan Pablo Guanipa, who won the oil-rich western Zulia state. Despite food shortages, runaway inflation and a tanking currency, Venezuela’s government retains significant bastions of support, especially in poorer, rural parts of the country. In his news conference, Maduro said the socialists also won Bolivar state, which would take its total to 18 governorships versus five for the opposition. The government won a total of 54 percent of the votes overall, he added. The election board has not confirmed the Bolivar result or the overall vote figures. With the opposition coalition’s dozens of parties arguing over whether there was fraud, what went wrong, and where to go next, it will need to regroup and map strategy quickly heading into the 2018 presidential campaign. Its very future may even be in doubt, since many young activists who took to the streets for four straight months of protests and pitched battles with security forces earlier this year feel betrayed by their leaders. The unrest killed at least 125 people. Maduro has long accused opposition leaders of being behind violence, and on Tuesday called the new opposition governor of Zulia state a “fascist” while accusing his counterpart in Tachira of links to Colombian “paramilitaries.” The election aftermath appears to have sunk a government-opposition mediation effort that began last month in the Dominican Republic. Even though Maduro wants to resuscitate the talks, the opposition coalition has ruled that out. “We are the majority, the dictatorship is more-and-more illegitimate, popular and global condemnation grows daily against this regime,” it said in a communique late on Monday. | 1 |
2,836 | BUSTED: Trump’s Education Nominee Plagiarized, Which Students Are Taught Not To Do | How can we expect our kids to do their homework when the nominee for the top education post in the nation won t even bother doing her own homework?A Senate questionnaire is not exactly difficult to fill out. You provide your own answers to the questions asked and then your answers are evaluated by the committee tasked with considering your nomination.It s easy for anyone who is intelligent and hard-working.But rather than present her own work, Secretary of Education nominee Betsy DeVos chose to just copy and paste her answers verbatim from other sources without citations.According to the Washington Post,In answering a set of questions from Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) on how she would address bullying of LGBT students, DeVos wrote: Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive, and grow. That sentence is almost identical to language used by Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department s civil rights division under President Barack Obama, in a news release announcing the administration s controversial guidance to schools on how to accommodate transgender students. Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow, Gupta said in the May 2016 release.Oh, and that s not all. DeVos also copied directly from the the department she wants to destroy.In one response, to a question about whether she would continue the practice of publishing a list of schools under Title IX civil rights investigations, DeVos said, Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made a determination about the merits of the complaint. That language mirrors an Education Department website: Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to the merits of the complaint. DeVos committed plagiarism throughout the 62-page questionnaire. Apparently, she was too lazy to make a real effort. It s either that or she s just not smart enough to answer easy questions. Either way, plagiarism is something students are taught not to do in school and when they get caught they get punished for it by getting a failing grade on the assignment or even expulsion.But DeVos is not a student in school. She s an adult who is up for the top education post in the country. And frankly, that makes her plagiarism much worse and more embarrassing.She should immediately withdraw her name from the nomination or the Senate should reject her. It would be entirely inappropriate for the Secretary of Education to be someone who refuses to do their own homework in their own words. Surely, we want our Secretary of Education to be someone with integrity and real intelligence. Betsy DeVos has neither.Featured image via Drew Angerer/Getty Images | 0 |
2,837 | Trump backs Middle East peace, even if not tied to two-state solution | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump supports the goal of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, even if it does not involve the two-state solution, a senior White House official said on Tuesday. Speaking a day before Trump holds a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said peace was the ultimate goal. “Whether that comes in the form of a two–state solution if that’s what the parties want, or something else,” the official said, adding that Trump would not try to “dictate” a solution. Failure by a U.S. president to explicitly back a two-state solution would upend decades of U.S. policy embraced by Republican and Democratic administrations. It has long been the bedrock U.S. position for resolving the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and has been at the core of international peace efforts. Any sign of a softening of U.S. support for eventual Palestinian statehood could also anger the Muslim world, including Sunni Arab allies, which the Trump administration needs in the fight against Islamic State and to back efforts against Shi’ite Iran. Trump considers Middle East peace a “high priority,” the White House official said. The president has given his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the job of negotiating a peace deal. “We would want to work on it very quickly,” the official said. Trump’s choice for U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, who has not yet been confirmed by the Senate, will not be involved in the president’s discussions with Netanyahu on Wednesday, the official said. Friedman advocates settlement building and has questioned the two-state solution. The White House said earlier this month that Israel’s building of new settlements or expansion of existing ones in occupied territories may not be helpful in achieving peace. The statement was a shift in tone for Trump, who signaled during the campaign that he could be more accommodating toward settlement projects than his predecessor, Barack Obama. | 1 |
2,838 | French raid last month killed hostage Malian soldiers | BAMAKO (Reuters) - A French military strike on armed militants in northern Mali last month inadvertently killed Malian soldiers who were being held hostage by the Islamist group, the West African nation s Defence Ministry said on Monday. The French army has previously said that 15 members of the Islamist militant group Ansar Dine were taken out of action in the Oct. 23 operation in the Abeibara region, which involved Mirage jets, attack helicopters and ground forces. In the week following the raid however, Malian media reported that 11 soldiers had also been killed. French and Malian military and government officials initially declined to comment on the deaths. In a statement dated Oct. 31 but only distributed on Monday, the Defence Ministry said that Malian soldiers, detained by the terrorists, died in the attack without giving a death toll. It was not immediately clear why the distribution of the statement, which was drafted following a meeting between the defense minister, France s ambassador to Mali and a French military official, appeared to have been delayed. Paris has maintained that military intelligence had identified the site as a militant camp and French army spokesman Colonel Patrik Steiger declined to comment on the Malian statement. Work is under way with the Malian authorities to determine the identities of individuals killed. It s up to Mali, a sovereign country, to communicate on this subject, not the French forces, he said. France intervened in 2013 against Islamist militants that seized northern Mali a year earlier. Around 4,000 of its troops remain in West Africa s Sahel region as part of Operation Barkhane, a cross-border anti-terrorism operation. | 1 |
2,839 | Trump believes Obama was born in the United States: campaign | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, one of the leaders of the “birther” movement that questioned President Barack Obama’s U.S. citizenship, believes Obama was born in the United States, the Trump campaign said in a statement on Thursday. In an interview with the Washington Post released earlier in the day, Trump declined to say whether he believed Obama was born in Hawaii. “I’ll answer that question at the right time. I just don’t want to answer it yet,” Trump told the newspaper. Those comments drew criticism from Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who expressed dismay at Trump’s response during remarks to a gathering of Hispanic leaders in Washington. “He still wouldn’t say Hawaii. He still wouldn’t say America. This man wants to be our next president?” Clinton said. “When will he stop this ugliness, this bigotry? Now he’s tried to reset himself and his campaign many times. This is the best he can do. This is who he is,” she said. A few years into his presidency, Obama, the first African American to win the White House, released a longer version of his birth certificate to answer those who suggested he was not U.S. born. “In 2011, Mr. Trump was finally able to bring this ugly incident to its conclusion by successfully compelling President Obama to release his birth certificate,” Trump senior communications advisor Jason Miller said in a statement late on Thursday. “Having successfully obtained President Obama’s birth certificate when others could not, Mr. Trump believes that President Obama was born in the United States,” he said. Trump has been trying to drum up support among black voters, who overwhelmingly supported Obama in his 2008 and 2012 elections. Many African Americans object to Trump’s involvement in the “birther” movement and the implication that Obama’s presidency was illegitimate. | 1 |
2,840 | 'Expats go home': Amsterdam's visitor boom angers locals | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch politicians gave each other high-fives when they won a contest to host the European Medicines Agency last month, but not everyone in the capital is celebrating the expected influx of highly-paid pharmaceutical experts. Amsterdam s residents and media, already sick of the numbers of tourists searching out stag-do strip joints on their streets, are increasingly vexed about another group of visitors - white-collar, expatriate workers. A Nice Brexit Trophy, But Can The City Handle It? newspaper NRC Handelsblad said in a headline, referring to the decision to move the regulatory agency from London to Amsterdam after Britain leaves the EU. The EMA will come with around 900 staff - a wonderful economic boost, according to supporters of the move. Detractors say it s just another group of foreigners with big pay packets driving up rents and property prices. Home Buyers Will Pay The Price For Drugs Agency In Amsterdam, said national broadcaster NOS. On social media, many also mourned the death of the city s free-wheeling and edgy spirit, killed off, they said, by the likes of the EMA s army of bureaucrats. The sanitation of Amsterdam has been going on for more than a decade. Advertising campaigns have focused on the city s canals, the Anne Frank House, the museums packed with Van Gogh and Rembrandt s greatest works. Legislators have helped the re-branding by shuttering a third of the city s brothels in 2008 and starting a program to close marijuana cafes near schools in 2011. The number of overnight tourists nearly doubled from 2011 to 2016, according to Amsterdam Marketing. Amsterdam and its 850,000 residents now welcome more than 6 million foreign tourists a year. That has all coincided with a surge in the number of well-heeled expatriates - numbers have also doubled to 77,000 in 2015 from 39,000 in 2009, according to the city s statistics office. Amsterdam has always been an open city, said Reinier van Dantzig, leader of the largest faction in city parliament from the centrist D-66 party. Immigrants were an integral part of the city s 17th-Century golden age and were continuing to contribute to the current economic boom, he added. That s why I have such difficulty with people who say that people from outside who want to become Amsterdammers would be some kind of danger - I think they re an addition. The city, he said, was building housing for 70,000 more people, with extra space allotted to apartments for low and medium-income families. Too little, too late for Danielle van Diemen, a 5th-generation Amsterdammer. The city is being defined by a mix of Western foreigners who think that Amsterdam is edgy but that s no longer true, she said, pointing to a ban on squatting that went into effect in 2010. The gap between wealthy expats who don t speak Dutch and locals is all but unbridgeable, she added. So: expats go home and leave the city to us. I am like a visitor in my own neighborhood, said Bert Nap, who lives near the center. We have lost all our bakers and other shops to tourism-orientated shops, he added, echoing complaints across Europe s holiday hotspots. A survey by apartment-searching website Nestpick in April ranked Amsterdam #1 on its global list of best cities for millennials, citing its tolerance, night life and thriving startup scene. These people have qualifications, they have skills, they are networked, and so the fact is that they compete for houses and jobs with people who don t have those qualifications, said Jan Rath, a sociology professor at the University of Amsterdam. You could argue that what s happening ... is actually a replacement of the population he said. Real estate prices have soared, leading to a squeeze on unskilled workers, whether they are native Dutch or Turkish and Moroccan immigrants. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), 40 percent of young couples leave the city within four years of having their first child, driven out by the lack of affordable housing. Resentment also stems from a policy that allows skilled immigrants to receive 30 percent of their income tax-free. On a salary of 100,000 euros that amounts to 15,000 euros in extra take-home pay for an expat over a Dutch person doing the same job. Property prices rose 13 percent in the third quarter of 2017 from the same period a year earlier, according to the CBS, above their 2008 highs. Listings have dried up. As one real estate agent put it, the market has boiled dry . Michiel van Hemert, a kitchen assistant, said government priorities were wrong. Imagine the economic boom that would come from retraining 40 and 50-year-olds, which is clearly needed, he said. He recommended more funding for educators, police, nurses and other public servants. I speak for myself and two or three generations before me. | 1 |
2,841 | COMMIE GEORGE SOROS AND CLINTON LAWYER MAKE A PUSH TO OVERTURN VOTER ID LAWS IN SEVERAL STATES | George Soros is sticking his nose into voter ID laws and throwing money into lawsuits in several states to get the law overturned. Is this a true effort to overturn the laws or just an effort to gin the base up to vote? There s absolutely nothing wrong with having voter ID! Soros needs to slither away .Hillary Clinton s top campaign lawyer is behind a multi-state push challenging voter identification laws implemented in recent years, efforts that are expected to reach numerous other states ahead of the 2016 elections.Marc Elias, a top campaign lawyer for Hillary Clinton and a partner at the Washington, D.C., law firm Perkins Coie, has filed lawsuits in three states thus far. The nationwide campaign is being fueled with money from the liberal billionaire George Soros.Elias first began exploring the possible challenges back in January 2014. Soros then became involved, vowing to throw his weight behind the effort in collaboration with Elias. We hope to see these unfair laws, which often disproportionately affect the most vulnerable in our society, repealed, Soros told the New York Times. It is disingenuous to suggest that these laws are meant to protect against voter fraud, which is nearly nonexistent, Soros political adviser Michael Vachon added. Clearly they are meant to give Republicans a political advantage on Election Day. Soros has pledged $5 million to propel the campaign. Elias did not return a request for comment concerning his dealings with Soros or the total number of lawsuits they plan on bringing forward. A request for comment from George Soros s press office was also not returned by press time.Democrats ramped up their efforts last month to challenge voter ID laws implemented by Republican legislatures and governors, claiming that the laws disenfranchise minority voters.The first in the series of lawsuits was filed in Ohio on May 8. Three weeks later, on June 1, a second suit was filed in Wisconsin. On June 11, a third lawsuit was filed in Virginia. Further suits are expected to follow in other states.Elias is working independently on behalf of his firm, Perkins Coie, though the Clinton camp supports the effort. Perkins Coie has pulled in more than $40 million from Democratic clients since 2000.The suits came as Hillary Clinton made comments about voting in a number of public speeches.During a speech in Houston on June 4 at historically black Texas Southern University, Hillary Clinton called for a universal, automatic voter registration for 18-year-olds along with early voting up to 20 days before an election. I call on Republicans at all levels of government with all manner of ambition to stop fear-mongering about a phantom epidemic of election fraud and start explaining why they re so scared of letting citizens have their say, Clinton said during the speech.True the Vote, a right-leaning vote-monitoring organization, sees the campaign as a political stunt to rile up apathetic voters who may not have the same excitement for Clinton as they did for Obama.Read more: WFB | 0 |
2,842 | Russia condemns North Korea nuclear tests: agencies | MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow condemns North Korea s nuclear tests and calls on North Korea and the international community to comply with all U.N. resolutions, Russian news agencies quoted the speaker of the Russian parliament s upper house as saying on Monday. Valentina Matvienko s comments came at a meeting with a South Korean parliamentary delegation in St Petersburg. Russia has been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to persuade the delegations of North and South Korea to hold direct talks. | 1 |
2,843 | White House says Tillerson still in charge at State Department | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House said on Thursday that Rex Tillerson remains the U.S. secretary of state despite reports of his upcoming departure, and that there are no changes at this time. “As the President just said, ‘Rex is here.’ There are no personnel announcements at this time. Secretary Tillerson continues to lead the State Department and the entire cabinet is focused on completing this incredibly successful first year of President Trump’s administration,” said White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders in a statement. | 1 |
2,844 | Trump seen more moderate on criminal justice, law enforcement | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Criminal justice reform advocates said they expect Donald Trump will embrace moderate change once he is in the White House, toning down the punitive but undefined “law and order” image he projected on the campaign trail. In another instance of experts trying to pin down Trump on an issue he used on the stump without offering much detail, two groups that have met recently with his staff said they expect him to back mainstream sentencing and corrections reforms. A Trump spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment. In a meeting a few weeks ago, Trump’s staff was “very receptive” to arguments that crime rates have dropped in states that have reduced prison populations through sentencing reform, said Holly Harris, executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network, a bipartisan coalition that spearheads legislative efforts to lower sentences for nonviolent offenders. Democratic President Barack Obama, many Republicans in Congress and several of Trump’s conservative mentors have embraced changing sentencing standards and better prisons. During the campaign, Trump denounced Obama as being too soft on inner-city violence and for extremist plots against the United States and attacks on police officers. For instance, in the Oct. 19 presidential debate with Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton, Trump said: “We need law and order, but we need justice, too. Our inner cities are a disaster. You get shot walking to the store. They have no education. They have no jobs.” But in the same month, Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, said he was proud that Indiana approved criminal justice reform during his tenure as governor. “We have got to do a better job recognizing and correcting the errors in the system that do reflect an institutional bias in criminal justice,” he said. Tim Head, executive director of the conservative Christian Faith and Freedom Coalition, said his group has held advisory talks with the president-elect’s staff in recent days. Head said Trump’s Justice Department is likely to emphasize greater “support for law enforcement, maybe deference for law enforcement” than Obama did. But Head and Harris also both noted that Republicans close to Trump, such as former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie have advocated for reforms such as lowering sentences for some nonviolent crimes, improving prison conditions and helping former prisoners find jobs and housing. Christie and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani are reportedly on a short list of conservatives whom Trump is considering for U.S. attorney general. Inimai Chettiar, director of justice programs at the Brennan Center for Justice of New York University, said Trump made some “troubling” campaign-trail claims. One, she said, was arguing that rising crime justifies stop-and-frisk tactics and other police methods that critics say unfairly target minorities. However, she said, she also hoped the president-elect would fall in line with members of the Republican Party who support bipartisan criminal justice reform. | 1 |
2,845 | Turkey issues arrest warrants for 25 soldiers in post-coup probe - sources | DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - Turkish authorities have issued arrest warrants for 25 soldiers across Turkey and the breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in northern Cyprus, security sources said, as part of a widening crackdown following last year s failed military coup. The soldiers, on active duty and of varying ranks in Turkey s military, are being sought across 13 provinces and Turkish northern Cyprus, the sources said. Prosecutors in the southeastern province of Mardin ordered the arrest of the soldiers over the secret military structuring of the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, the sources said. Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the United States since 1999, is accused by Ankara of masterminding the July 15 coup attempt. He has denied involvement. Since the coup, more than 50,000 people have been jailed pending trial over links to Gulen, while 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the military, public and private sectors. Rights groups and some of Turkey s Western allies have voiced concern about the crackdown, fearing the government is using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent. The government says only such a purge could neutralize the threat represented by Gulen s network, which it says deeply infiltrated institutions such as the army, schools and courts. | 1 |
2,846 | Bali airport may stay closed longer than 24 hours amid Agung eruption: governor | DENPASAR, Indonesia (Reuters) - Bali Governor Made Mangku Pastika said the closure of I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport could last longer than 24 hours amid an eruption of Mount Agung. We don t know how long it will be closed for, Pastika told reporters, referring to the Bali airport. Sure, it s been closed for 24 hours until tomorrow, but that doesn t rule out the possibility the (closure) could be extended, he said. At least 5,000 foreign and 15,000-20,000 domestic tourists pass through the airport each day, according to Pastika. Ngurah Rai is Bali s main international gateway and a hub for tourists traveling to Indonesian islands further east. | 1 |
2,847 | a tale of two cities mosul and aleppo | by everett numbers the pentagon and congress are both promising quick fixes to the scandal surrounding excessive national guard bonus payments to soldiers however the | 0 |
2,848 | Ranks of world's refugees swell as asylum space shrinks: U.N. | GENEVA (Reuters) - More than 2 million people fleeing wars or persecution have joined the ranks of the world s refugees this year, but often face more restrictive asylum policies, including in Europe and the United States, the top U.N. refugee official said on Monday. They include 650,000 from South Sudan and 500,000 Muslim Rohingya who have escaped violence in Myanmar for Bangladesh over the past five weeks, many of the latter stateless, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said. So far in 2017, more than 2 million people have fled their countries as refugees, Grandi told the UNHCR Executive Committee which opened a week-long meeting in Geneva. They often arrive sick, traumatized and hungry, in remote border locations, in communities affected by poverty and underdevelopment. Many have urgent protection needs children separated from their families, men, women, girls and boys exposed to sexual and gender-based violence, he said. At the end of last year, 17.2 million refugees fell under UNHCR s mandate, but some of them have returned and others have been resettled, and there is no updated total. An additional 5 million Palestinian refugees are cared for by UNRWA. Grandi voiced concern that the refugee issue has been increasingly instrumentalized in local and national policies. International cooperation has been replaced by fragmented responses, resulting in restrictive immigration and asylum measures, even in countries with their own histories of exile and migration, and a proud tradition of welcome, he said. Border closures, measures to limit entry, restrictive asylum procedures, indefinite detention in appalling conditions, and offshore processing had regrettably increased, he said, decrying rising xenophobia . We have observed the protection environment deteriorate in many parts of the world, including in industrialized countries - in Europe, in the United States, in Australia, Grandi said. Nearly 1.2 million refugees need resettling globally to third countries, he said. It is therefore an issue of major concern that fewer than 100,000 resettlement places are expected to be available this year a drop of 43 per cent from 2016, he said. Traditionally, the United States has taken the largest number of refugees deemed most vulnerable under UNHCR s resettlement program involving about 10 Western receiving countries. Syrian and Congolese refugees led those resettled last year. The Trump administration last week proposed admitting a maximum of 45,000 refugees next year, the lowest cap in decades, which officials said was necessary to ensure U.S. security, although Democrats and humanitarian groups blasted the decision. The report also projected slashing funding to the refugee resettlement program by 25 percent. | 1 |
2,849 | DEMOCRATS AREN’T AFRAID Trump Will Be A Terrible President, They’re Worried About This… [VIDEO] | The brilliant, outspoken and beautiful Tomi Lahren nails it again The man could walk on water and the naysayers would say it s because he can t swim! | 0 |
2,850 | Factbox - What's next for Catalonia's exiled separatist leader? | MADRID (Reuters) - Exiled Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont looks set to regain power after regional elections on Thursday, but what comes next is unlikely to be an easy ride. - CAN HE GO BACK TO CATALONIA? Puigdemont is targeted by an arrest warrant for his role in organizing an illegal independence referendum on Oct. 1 and leading the secession bid. He is now in Brussels but he faces arrest the minute he steps foot in Spain. Seven of the 70 separatists elected on Sunday are either in jail or in exile on allegations of sedition and rebellion. Unless they are released or they return home, they cannot vote in parliament to form a workable majority. They could hope to be freed or have arrest warrants dropped if they swore no to pursue independence unilaterally. But that in turn could jeopardize support for a Puigdemont government from Catalonia s most vehement pro-independence party, the CUP. Another option would be for these leaders to forfeit their seats and hand them to the next candidates on the list. Puigdemont cannot take absolutely for granted that he will be Catalonia s next president because the other two separatist parties, the CUP and ERC, have shown some reluctance to put him back at the helm. His party got more votes than the other two. - WHAT S ON THE AGENDA? Negotiations to form a government are likely to start following a holiday break, after Jan. 6. Around the same date, conservative Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will say when regional parliament will begin preliminary proceedings ahead of its first sitting. That process must start no later than Jan. 23. Parliament must then vote by Feb. 8 on putting a new government into place. By then, Puigdemont should also clarify whether he will put himself forward as Catalonia president. If no leader can command an absolute majority of the 135-seat regional assembly, a second vote will be held where a leader only needs a majority of votes cast in the chamber. If that does not work, talks can go on for another two months. If they fail, parliament is dissolved and new elections are held. | 1 |
2,851 | Are You A Conservative, Progressive Or Muslim? | Funny but sadly very true!Match A, B and C with Conservative, Progressive or Muslim.Your favorite scent is:A. GunpowderB. PatchouliC. Fresh bloodWhen your sister is raped, you:A. Hunt down the bastard and drag him to the cops.B. Hope the rapist isn t your boyfriend.C. Kill your sister.When a Jewish person steps in front of you, you say:A. Excuse me, sir? B. Typical Zionist! C. Death to Israel! When a Christian steps in front of you, you say:A. After you, brother. B. Typical Christo-fascist! C. Death to infidels! As a concerned parent, you make sure your kids know how to:A. Punch a bully.B. Blame the patriarchal hetero-normative Zionist hegemony for all their problems.C. Stab a Jew or infidel.Your favorite prayer isA. Our FatherB. Oh God, I hope I m not pregnant!C. Allahu akbar!(For guys)When you see an attractive woman on the street, you:A. WhistleB. Wonder if she s a transgenderC. Take her home as a sex slave(For gals)When you see a handsome man at work, you:A. Bring him cookiesB. Bring him up on false sex harassment chargesC. What is work?CAN YOU ADD TO OUR QUIZ? VIA: IOTW | 0 |
2,852 | Roy Moore Wants To Be Alabama’s Senator, But He Can’t Stop Being A Giant Racist | The name sounds familiar, right? Here s why: He used to be Judge Roy Moore, that one guy from The Dukes of Hazzard. Roscoe, you get them Duke Boys in here now! No, wait.Oh, that s right He was Chief Justice Roy Moore, of the Alabama Supreme Court. Remember the dude back in 2003 who refused to remove the monument of the Ten Commandments from the grounds of the courthouse? That s him. He s one of just a handful of judges who have ever been removed from office in this country by a judicial panel. Funny enough, he got re-elected to the position a decade later, but got smacked down again, this time because he told Alabama judges to ignore the Supreme Court and continue turning away same-sex marriage license applicants.Now Ol Roy wants to serve in the Yoo-nited States Senate, taking the place of Trump s Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who vacated his Senate seat after his appointment to the Department of Justice.The problem is, like the guy before him (who shares a namesake with that guy in the white hat), Roy Moore is an unrepentant racist. I m pretty sure when Roy kicks the proverbial bucket, his headstone is going to read Jesus Christ Was A White Man. So it was with no small amount of suppressed horror that the world watched the Formerly-Honorable Roy Moore call Native Americans and Asians reds and yellows at a campaign event on Sunday: We know that we were torn apart in the Civil War. Brother against brother, North against South, party against party. What s changed? Now we got blacks and whites fighting. Reds and yellows fighting. Democrats and Republicans fighting. Men and women fighting. What s gonna unite us? What s gonna bring us back together? A president? A Congress? No, it s gonna be God. We assume he means the white, Republican, male God.Watch the video here:Featured image via Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images | 0 |
2,853 | Texas Gun Nuts Open Fire On Democratic Office Of Gun Control-Supporting Senator | The Houston Police Department and Texas Rangers are investigating after a gun nut opened fire on the office of Democratic state Senator John Whitmire a day before President Obama is scheduled to speak in Austin.Early Thursday morning around 12:30am, a shooter fired several rounds into the two-story office. There are bullet slugs everywhere, Whitmire said. One lodged in a framed picture. It s pretty amazing. Whitemire, a gun control advocate, surmised that the weapon used in the attack was an AR-15 because the bullets were .223 caliber. No one was harmed in the shooting but Whitmire and his staff along with law enforcement officials are taking the incident seriously. We ll take precautions. But it s part of the job, unfortunately, in this day and time, Whitmire said. They are checking in this general area to see if anyone else received any gunfire. We don t know yet. I don t know yet. The targeting of Whitmire s office occurred the day before President Obama is scheduled to appear at the South by Southwest tech and music festival on Friday where he is delivered a keynote address.Upon hearing of Obama s schedule, Texas open carry gun nuts stated their desire to attend the event with their guns to hand out pro-law literature. But one of the gun nuts had a different idea for what his buddies should do. If you get a clear shot, please fire for effect! conservative gun nut Kriss Elliot wrote on Facebook.So not only has the Texas open carry obsession resulted in violence against a Democratic office, it has resulted in gun nuts actually wanting to assassinate President Obama, and now it s much easier for them to do this because they are legally allowed to carry deadly firearms in public view.Make no mistake, these people belong in jail or at the very least an FBI watch list, but as long as Republicans control the state it will remain an exaggerated and embarrassing version of the Wild West.Featured Image: OnlyInYourState.com | 0 |
2,854 | China hopes U.S. will not allow transit by Taiwan president | BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it hoped the United States would not allow transit by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen when she visits Guatemala next month. China hopes the United States “does not allow her transit, and does not send any wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”, the ministry said in a statement sent to Reuters. | 1 |
2,855 | Brazilian minister quits in sign of rift in Temer's coalition | BRASILIA (Reuters) - One of four ministers representing a centrist Brazilian party in President Michel Temer s government resigned on Monday, underscoring a rift between the embattled leader and one of his most powerful coalition partners. Bruno Araujo said in a resignation letter that while he respected the autonomy Temer had given him as head of the Ministry of Cities, his Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB) no longer supported him remaining in the position. An intense internal debate within the PSDB is playing out, with younger lawmakers urging it to abandon the scandal-plagued Temer government and elders countering that support should be maintained to provide the stability for the nation. In late October, however, government sources told Reuters that Temer planned to shuffle his cabinet and to push out PSDB members after a majority of its lawmakers in the lower house of Congress voted to put him on trial on allegations of corruption. Temer managed to avoid a trial. Members of the PSDB have said that while they support the economic reforms of the Temer government, they now consider him to be too fragile a leader to attempt an overhaul of the country s pension system, a move that is viewed as key to plugging the government s budget deficit. The PSDB also plans to stand its own candidate for the presidential election next October, and many of its members want to distance themselves from the deeply unpopular Temer government to better their chances at the polls. | 1 |
2,856 | U.S. nuclear arsenal to cost $1.2 trillion over next 30 years: CBO | (Reuters) - Modernizing and maintaining the U.S. nuclear arsenal over the next 30 years will cost more than $1.2 trillion, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office. The report said current plans for the modernization of the aging planes, ships and missile silos that make up the U.S. nuclear arsenal would cost 50 percent more than if the U.S. only operated and maintained its current equipment in the field. The CBO study reviewed the Obama’s Administration’s plans for modernization of the nuclear arsenal. President Donald Trump in January directed Secretary of Defense James Mattis to conduct his own review the U.S. nuclear forces. The results could be published in the coming months. U.S. House Armed Services Committee member Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, said of the Obama-era plan: “Congress still doesn’t seem to have any answers as to how we will pay for this effort, or what the trade-offs with other national security efforts will be.” The report said costs would rise from $29 billion in 2017 to $47 billion in 2027, before peaking at around $50 billion a year through the early 2030s. Trump has said he wants to ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is at the “top of the pack,” saying the United States has fallen behind in its weapons capacity. U.S. officials have noted that America’s nuclear modernization is lagging behind Russia’s upgrade of its own nuclear triad. General Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress in August he believed Moscow was already two-thirds of the way through its nuclear modernization process. In August, the U.S. Air Force awarded Boeing Co and Northrop Grumman Corp separate contracts to continue development work on the replacement of the aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile system one leg of the nuclear triad. Days later the Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co separate $900 million contracts to continue work on a replacement for the AGM-86B air-launched nuclear cruise missile. That detailed development contract allows the companies to continue work on the long range standoff weapon yet another leg of the triad. | 1 |
2,857 | 86 YR OLD BARBARA WALTERS Tells 40 Yr Old ‘American Sniper’ Star Bradley Cooper: “I find you very screwable.’ | Real journalism ended a long time ago, but this is a new low even for leftist Barbara Walters. Just embarrassing He was named People s Sexiest Man Alive back in 2011. And Bradley Cooper proved just why he had that honour as women of all different ages desire him.The 40-year-old actor may have received a bit more attention than he was expecting from Barbara Walters recently during her 10 Most Fascinating People of 2015 special.Bradley seemed to be the apple of the 86-year-old journalist s eye, as according to People, she told him during the interview: I could just sit and stare at you but that would take too much time. But I, I find you very screwable. After making the surprising admission, the television host commented on his looks as she said: I think you re handsome, I think you re sexy. The Silver Linings Playbook star definitely seemed to be bashful as he was grateful for the compliments and says: I think that I ve grown to stop thinking about it. But sometimes I feel better than others. Yeah, I think it has a lot to do with feeling comfortable with yourself. Bradley definitely seems to be very comfortable in his own skin as he added: And I know that I m more comfortable with myself than I ve ever been in my life, so maybe that makes me more attractive. Via: UK Daily Mail | 0 |
2,858 | Zimbabwe's Mugabe sacks VP seen as top succession candidate | HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe s President Robert Mugabe fired Emmerson Mnangagwa as vice president on Monday for showing traits of disloyalty , his information minister said, abruptly removing a favorite to succeed the 93-year-old leader. Mnangagwa s removal provides a boost for Mugabe s wife, Grace, who has been a vocal critic of the vice president and is also seen as a potential successor to her husband. The vice president has consistently and persistently exhibited traits of disloyalty, disrespect, deceitfulness and unreliability, Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo told reporters. It had become evident that his conduct in his discharge of his duties had become inconsistent with his official responsibilities. Mnangagwa s top aide Christopher Gwatidzo said he had not seen the statement by Khaya Moyo and declined to say whether the vice president had been at his office on Monday. Grace, 52, nicknamed Gucci Grace for her love of shopping, called Mnangagwa a coup plotter and a coward on Sunday in a speech that inflamed an already bad-tempered rift in the ruling Zanu-PF party. It followed a speech by Mugabe at a rally on Saturday where he publicly rebuked his deputy for the first time. The reaction of the military could be key. Some army generals backed Mnangagwa to succeed Mugabe and have publicly said they will not allow someone who did not fight in the 1970s independence war to rule. Grace did not fight in that war. Grace made international headlines in August when a South African model said the Zimbabwean first lady had whipped her with an electric cable in a Johannesburg hotel suite. Grace denied the allegations. The fight over the future control of ZANU-PF has overshadowed an economic crisis marked by chronic shortages of cash and spiraling prices of goods that has raised fears of a return to hyperinflation. Mnangagwa was Mugabe s protege and had been at his side through five decades of prison, guerrilla war and then post-liberation government, and questions are being raised about what caused the fallout between the two men. By firing Mnangagwa, Mugabe has removed one of his last remaining liberation war comrades who have stood by him since independence from Britain in 1980. However, Grace said on Sunday Mnangagwa had always been plotting against her husband, even months after independence. Mnangagwa s biggest undoing may well have been his vocal supporters, who kept prodding Mugabe to step down. Mugabe has a history of punishing ambition in ZANU-PF. Relations also cooled between the two men in August after suggestions by Mnangagwa s allies that he had been poisoned by ice cream from a dairy owned by the Mugabes. That Mnangagwa s expulsion was announced by a government minister and not the chief secretary to the president and cabinet also spoke to the deterioration in the relationship. Mugabe plans to contest elections due next year and will likely face a weakened and fractured opposition. His main rival Morgan Tsvangirai has been in and out of a South African hospital after announcing he had colon cancer in 2016. | 1 |
2,859 | Watch This Brutal New Ad Featuring Trump Mocking Disabled Person – Will Air In Swing States | As Trump begins his second try at softening his image, the progressive Super PAC Priorities USA has begun airing a damning hitting Donald Trump for making fun of a disabled New York Times reporter.The PAC, which is pro-Clinton, has been airing the ad in the swing states of Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa and New Hampshire.The ad, titled Grace, features two middle class parents, Chris and Laura Glaros from Columbus, whose child suffers from spina bifida. While chronicling their lives with Grace and how they deal with her disability, Laura turns the conversation to none other than Donald Trump:When I saw Donald Trump mock a disabled person, I was just shocked All the children at Grace s school know never to mock her. And so, for an adult to mock someone with a disability is shocking.Chris then hit the blowhard nominee, adding:When I saw Donald Trump mock somebody with a disability, it showed me his soul, it showed me his heart, and I didn t like what I saw.During Laura s segment, the ad cuts to footage of Trump making fun of Serge Kovaleski, who dared to challenge Trump s very false and very offensive claim of seeing Muslims in New Jersey celebrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.According to watchdog Open Secrets, Priorities USA has raised (for the 2016 election cycle) $76 million, and has spent $29 million, a big chunk being used for media advertisements like Grace. Never mind the fact Trump has insulted the integrity of those who have dared to questioned him, it takes a special kind of monster to attack a man based on his disability, not his reporting. And thanks to Priorities USA, the whole country (especially people living in crucial swing states), will be reminded of who Trump really is a monster.Watch the ad below, courtesy of Priorities USA:Featured image a screen caption | 0 |
2,860 | BREAKING NEWS: NYPD Cracking Down On Anti-Trump Terror Groups…WATCH Police ARREST Antifa Terrorists For Wearing Masks, Burning Flags [VIDEO] | Antifa terrorists have gathered in major cities across the world today to protest in solidarity against capitalism and free speech. In Paris, police officers were just lit on fire after being hit with petrol bombs by Antifa terrrorists. In LA, Antifa protesters were outnumbered by Trump supporters who showed up to rally on behalf of our president. In DC, Antifa thugs disrupted the streets with threats of violence. https://twitter.com/TEN_GOP/status/859159780233015297Paris is like a war-zone!France needs #LEPEN @TEN_GOPBREAKING: Paris is in total chaos again, looks like a war zone. #MayDay2017 IS CHAOSpic.twitter.com/J35tuhUZ20 @THETRUMPBUREAU (@THETRUMPBUREAU) May 1, 2017In New York City, police are doing their best to get the situation under control while Antifa terrorists ignore their commands: #MayDay2017 protesters (ANTIFA) are disobeying lawful commands by the NYPD. They are being arrested en masse. pic.twitter.com/h51va4sOdm Based Monitored (@BasedMonitored) May 1, 2017NYPD officers are demanding that cowardly Antifa terrorists unmask themselves or face being arrested:The NYPD is telling ANTIFA to unmask themselves or be subject to arrest. #MayDay2017 pic.twitter.com/iwn5smNpWq Based Monitored (@BasedMonitored) May 1, 2017More arrests were taking place on the streets of NYC after Antifa and communist protesters were unlawfully disrupting the safe flow of traffic . They were warned by the police on a loudspeaker, but continued to block pedestrians from moving safely along the sidewalk. This is potentially a very dangerous and threatening situation for visitors to NYC and residents trying to get to and from work in the city.https://twitter.com/Pamela_Moore13/status/859165166092656642NYPD show these Antifa terrorists they re not messing around in this video, as they arrest an Antifa coward burning an American flag. The Antifa terror group becomes angered after the arrest and start to close in on the officers. The police handle the situation perfectly and should be commended for addressing these terrorists in such a professional manner. OOPS! It looks like someone s going to be getting a little break from their parent s basement tonight: https://twitter.com/TEN_GOP/status/859177599435776000 | 0 |
2,861 | Madrid calls on Puigdemont to participate in Catalan elections | MADRID (Reuters) - The Spanish government said on Saturday it would welcome the participation of sacked Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in regional elections to be held in December. Government spokesman Inigo Mendez de Vigo told Reuters TV in an interview that if Puigdemont wanted to continue in politics, which is his right, I think he should prepare for next elections . Puigdemont had earlier on Saturday called for a democratic opposition to Madrid s takeover of the region following its declaration of independence. I m quite sure that if Puigdemont takes part in these elections, he can exercise this democratic opposition . After dissolving the regional parliament and sacking the regional government on Friday, Spain s Prime Minister Rajoy said a new regional election would be held in Catalonia on Dec. 21. Mendez de Vigo also said he was confident that the regional Catalan police would obey the law after the government had sacked regional officers. He said that if Puigdemont refused to abandon his office, the government would react with intelligence and with common sense . Asked what would happen if Puigdemont had to face prosecution in the courts, Mendez replied that in Spain judicial and political powers were separate and that no one is above the law. He did not commit himself further. | 1 |
2,862 | Australia's High Court to rule in new citizenship test case | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia faces a series of by-elections that could topple the government, which trails in opinion polls and has lost its slender majority, in a bizarre citizenship crisis that has engulfed both sides of parliament. Senator Katy Gallagher and lower-house member David Feeney, both from the opposition Labor party, were referred to the High Court on Wednesday to determine whether they hold British, as well as Australian, citizenship. Neither is a member of the government, but the outcome of Gallagher s case in particular, which rests on whether she made reasonable steps to renounce her British citizenship, will set a precedent that could later unseat government members. Dual citizens are ineligible for elected office under Australia s 116-year-old constitution. In a nation in which half the population were either born overseas or have parents who were, the rule has disqualified nine lawmakers, and left Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull s Liberal-National coalition clinging to a minority government. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce briefly lost his seat when it was found he also held New Zealand citizenship. But he won it back in a by-election last weekend. A by-election in former tennis star John Alexander s theoretically safe Sydney seat on Dec. 19 will determine whether the government regains its one-seat majority. However, a victory may not be lasting, since the citizenship status of another four lower-house government lawmakers was called into question after a deadline for politicians to disclose the birthplace of their parents and grandparents passed on Tuesday. There are many inadequate disclosures that ask more questions than provide answers, Labor leader Bill Shorten told reporters in Canberra. The government, behind in opinion polls and keen to avoid any more by-elections, voted down a Labor proposal to refer those lawmakers cases to the High Court and said it would not revisit the matter until after the Gallagher case was heard. Gallagher filed paperwork, and paid processing fees, to renounce her British citizenship more than two months before being elected in July 2016. But she did not get confirmation from the British Home Office that her renunciation had been processed until after she was voted in, her disclosure documents show. Several other lawmakers are in a similar bind. It will be a test case, constitutional law expert George Williams, dean of law at the University of New South Wales, told Reuters by telephone. But it leaves open the possibility that now this will go on for quite some time. There s large question marks over quite a number of people. Turnbull s government would have to rely on the support of a handful of independent MPs to retain power if Alexander loses his Dec. 19 by-election, or if the High Court ousts another coalition lawmaker from the lower house. It s uncertain territory, we still don t know for sure who is eligible and who s not, University of Queensland politics lecturer Chris Salisbury told Reuters. (Refiles to add dropped word loses in paragraph 17) | 1 |
2,863 | CONTROVERSY AT SCHOOL After Brave Student Wears ‘Fake News’ T-Shirt for Field Trip to CNN | Here s more proof that liberals don t like free speech unless it s THEIR speech It s no secret that CNN is anti-Trump with their coverage every single day. They ve also been caught telling some huge whoppers on air that social media calls them out on. Blatant lies about President Trump caused him to go after the network with the nickname of fake news . Well, it stuck and now they are known as FNN aka Fake News Network.Jaxon Jester wanted to boldly wear a FNN t-shirt for a field trip to Atlanta s CNN headquarters but his teacher made him take the shirt off His right to freedom of speech was violated and the entire incident has raised questions about who did the right thing: UNDER FIRE A Georgia family is under fire for allowing a seventh grader to wear a T-shirt that mocked liberal news network CNN on a school field trip to CNN s Atlanta headquarters but the boy s parents think the school violated the First Amendment by making their son take it off.Nancy and Stan Jester, of Dekalb, are both local elected officials, she a county commissioner and he is a member of the local school board. Their son, seventh-grader Jaxon, wore a shirt mocking the CNN logo as FNN with the caption, Fake News Network. A teacher asked him to remove it before the tour, but the school has since apologized to the Jesters. However, the parents want an apology for Jaxon because, they say, the whole thing was his idea and he has the right to free speech. This year when the CNN tour was announced, my 7th grade son Jaxon asked me if he could purchase an FNN-Fake News Network shirt to wear for his field trip, Stan Jester wrote in a blog post. As an advocate for the First Amendment, I agreed to his request. Jester continued: His mother cautioned him that he might cause a controversy and needed to be prepared for that. He was fully aware of the implications of his decision and made the affirmative choice to wear his shirt. The boy s father wrote that he is disappointed by the hypocrisy of the decision to make his son change his shirt. Some students are celebrated when they make a controversial display during the National Anthem. My student was forced to remove his shirt because someone didn t like it. I defend speech and expression, even if I disagree, or it makes me uncomfortable, he wrote.AJC S LIBERAL MAUREEN DOWNEY GIVES HER TWO CENTS WORTH:The Atlanta Journal-Constitution s Maureen Downey wrote a column asking, Was a Dekalb board member wrong to allow son to wear insulting T-shirt to CNN tour? At the end of her column, Downey declared that, As a parent who has chaperoned a lot of field trips, I would avoid sending my child off with an attitude or attire that could create problems not only for teachers, but parent chaperones, most of whom take off work to give their time. READ MORE: FOX NEWS | 0 |
2,864 | EXPOSED POPULATION CONTROL CAMPAIGN: Influential Billionaire Secretly Donates $21 Million Per Year To Planned Parenthood | The same guy who donated tens of millions of dollars to Obama s campaign (the first black president) is donation tens of millions to keep the black population in check via Planned Parenthood. How do these evil people sleep at night? Three weeks after I left my job at the clinic, Planned Parenthood took me to court. I am always asked, Why would they take you to court? Did they have something to hide? Well, yes. They absolutely had something to hide. They didn t want me sharing the information in this article. Let s expose the truth, shall we?Yes, I do realize that releasing this information puts me in a precarious situation. But it s always better for the truth to be out no matter the cost.It was life changing. I remember the first time we were able to make an appointment with our new funding it was called The Justice Fund. After we had given the woman all of the necessary information about her abortion appointment, we asked her if she wanted to apply for a funding program to help pay for her abortion. She of course said yes. We went through her income and expenses and determined she was eligible for funding. We informed her that she would only have to pay $100 of the $400 cost. The woman began to cry on the phone. So I began to cry. Wow. We were going to change so many lives with this money, this Justice Fund. When we were first told about The Justice Fund, we were told that the money had been given by an anonymous donor. Whoever this person was wanted to be kept totally anonymous. We, as clinic directors, weren t even given the information. The only people who knew were the board members of the National Abortion Federation (NAF). My boss happened to be on the board of NAF, and we were pretty close. Eventually, over some drinks at the annual NAF conference, she spilled the beans.For months, we had just known this person as the donor. At the annual Planned Parenthood conference, there was a woman there representing the donor. She never said her name to the crowd just said that she was so honored to be among all of us all of us who were protecting women s rights. She said that the donor was so proud to work with us. We knew that the donor was giving NAF up to $21 million dollars every year to help poor women pay for their abortions.Here s how the program worked. While scheduling a woman for an abortion, we would ask her if she would like financial assistance to help pay for her abortion. Um, of course they did. We would then go through a screening tool given to us by NAF. Pretty much everyone qualified and if they didn t we would rearrange the numbers so they did. Then, we would bill the amount owed to our clinic directly to NAF. They would then send the bill to the donor and then the donor would send our check to NAF. They would turn around and send the check to our clinic.During the first year of the Justice Fund, our abortion numbers grew by 100%. We literally doubled our abortion number. Abortion was much easier to sell when you didn t have the financial burden attached to it.About six months into the program, the rules changed. I guess we were billing too much, too fast. Now, the donor would only pay 40% of the cost, instead of 75%. That was fine. The women were still so grateful to have a huge chunk of money taken off of their bill. Now they were paying $240 for their $400 abortion. I remember our frequent flyers being angry when we told them that the rules of the program had changed. They wanted that 75% discount! Couldn t we make an exception for them since they had so many abortions at our clinic? Sometimes we would. Sometimes we would bill the donor for the entire amount. I mean, he didn t care. They weren t actually looking to see if we were implementing the program correctly. They just got the bill from us and sent the check. They knew we were trustworthy. Ha. Ha.So, my answer to why Planned Parenthood took me to court? Well, I think it was for two reasons.1). They wanted to make an example out of me. See workers, if you defect from us, you will find yourself in court, too. 2). Because I knew the ins and outs of the plan funded by the donor and, I knew his name. In 2003, there was a big scandal that broke out surrounding the company Pampered Chef. The majority of people selling this kitchenware were stay-at-home moms. Many of them were pro-life women. So imagine their surprise when they found out that the new owner of their company, Warren Buffett, had given millions to the abortion industry, primarily Planned Parenthood. Suddenly, there was a mass exodus from the company. Women were done selling their overpriced spatulas. You can see more about that story here.So, when Warren Buffett decided that he wanted to start this Justice Fund in order to donate $21 million a year to the abortion industry, you better believe that he wanted to remain anonymous. He tried to disguise the donations under the foundation started by him in the name of his wife, Susan Thompson Buffett. But the 990s are for public consumption. Anyone can see where they are spending their money. Here s the most up to date financials for his foundation. Click the year to view the 990 for that year.201120122013I encourage you to take the time to look through these 990s so you can see the organizations that he funds. He gave a boatload of money to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). It s no wonder they have so diligently fought legislation like banning partial-birth abortions. He gave 2 million dollars to the group called Catholics for Choice. Of course, they are not recognized by the Roman Catholic Church and in fact have essentially excommunicated themselves from the Church.Warren Buffett is single-handedly influencing many universities and medical institutions with his money. My advice is this. Read through the list. Find organizations to write letters to. Let them know that you will no longer be a supporter until they stop applying for grants to the Buffett Foundation. Maybe invite your friends over and have a letter-writing get-together. Send stacks of letters to these organizations. Make your voices heard! You may think that your small voice doesn t matter. But if your voice is paired with hundreds of other voices, these organizations will take notice.Paying for low income women to have abortions is all part of Buffett s population control campaign. After all, as Planned Parenthood s founder Margaret Sanger said, minorities are reckless breeders who should be eliminated from the human garden. The population control campaign is inherently racist as is the pro-choice position. I wish I had a dollar for every pro-choicer who told me that abortion has to be accessible for poor women as if being poor makes you an unfit mother.It seems that Warren Buffett and his beloved Planned Parenthood are two peas in a pod trying to eliminate the poor, one life at a time. Via: Life Site News | 0 |
2,865 | Literally NOBODY Is More Upset About Trump’s Defeat In Iowa Than Ann Coulter (TWEETS) | Christian Conservative extremist and blowhard Ann Coulter took to Twitter after Donald Trump s surprise defeat in Iowa on Monday night, with a lengthy and hysterical rant that suggest literally nobody is more upset about this loss than her.Poor Ann Coulter. She s been having a fabulous time riding on Trump s coat tails these last few months, and then out of nowhere, defeat. Let s face it, her last brain cell died of loneliness some considerable time ago and she simply has neither the real nor emotional intelligence to deal with such a shock to the system. Plus, she has access to Twitter. Let the lunacy commence.She sowed a little lie ahead of time, just in case Trump did get a drubbing. Apparently, Fox News are trying to keep Trump out of the White House. You know, those liberal hippies at Fox!GOPs just show up & vote. Fox trying to suppress Trump vote by telling 1st time caucusers that GOPs bicker all nite. https://t.co/9UTwAGYpdf Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 2, 2016Then she spent some considerable time attacking Marco Rubio for coming such a close third to Trump. With Trump on 24% and Rubio on 23%, there was just 1% in it. Coulter refers to the son of Cuban immigrants as the sweaty little Mario .Fox is slyly denigrating Cruz by ignoring him. IT APPEARS HE'S ABOUT TO WIN. But it's all hands on deck for the sweaty little Mario. Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 2, 2016But although Trump lost, he won to the only people who matter to Ann Coulter. First, the evangelical Christians. Coulter wants a Christian Conservative champion in the White House, hence her denigration of Rubio and her reluctant acceptance of Ted Cruz as Plan B.CNN's John King just explained that TRUMP is winning the most heavily Evangelical areas of the state! GO CHRISTIANS! Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 2, 2016Not just Christians that Coulter prefers though is it? No, Coulter seems to think the ethnicity of voters makes the vote more powerful too.Trump is the leading GOP vote-getter tonight, among natural-born-American candidates. Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 2, 2016Who are these natural-born-American candidates? The likes of Trump and Huckabee of course. To a thoroughbred racist like Coulter, Rubio, Carson and Cruz might well make themselves Evangelical enough, but they will never make themselves white enough. They just aren t good old-fashioned European immigrants to the United States, like the other children of immigrants in the race.So after a quick outburst of vitriol against Ted Cruz for winning and being a bit too Cuban and Canadian Has Cruz stopped speaking yet? I went out to get a sandwich 40 minutes in. Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 2, 2016 she turned on the caucus itself.Yes, I can barely remember Reagan, Bush, McCain & Romney all lost Iowa caucus, then became nominee (i.e. 1st!). https://t.co/o292AWWymj Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) February 2, 2016Finally this morning she was reduced simply to tweeting seemingly random numbers. To which some Twitter users had some brilliant responses.@AnnCoulter The number of babies you've eaten? Donald J. Trump (@Re_lDonaldTrump) February 2, 2016 @AnnCoulter pic.twitter.com/Hj2DSD6Rk5 neilsaavy7099 (@714_319) February 2, 2016@AnnCoulter Is that the number of times you've pegged Hannity or the caliber of handgun you're going to use on yourself when Sanders wins? Duke St. Rollins (@DukeStRollinsv2) February 2, 2016Sadly, not much sympathy around for Ann Coulter or her patron Donald trump this morning. But despite Coulter s bleating, choosing a Republican in this race is like choosing death by hanging, gas chamber or firing squad. You might have a personal preference, but every one of them is going to be fatal. The GOP s domination by extremist candidates is a death sentence, whichever candidate carries it out. Featured Image via Gage Skidmore (Flickr Creative Commons)/Gage Skidmore (Flickr Creative Commons) | 0 |
2,866 | JUST IN: THREE LIBERAL REPORTERS Bribed To Push “Trump Dossier” Propaganda | It s no wonder that Fusion GPS wants to block documents from coming out. The newest unsealed documents are explosive enough with the revelation that there was a payoff to three reporters to push negative news on Trump. Who are the three journalists? Well, Fusion GPS wants that to remain a secret Unsealed court documents reveal that the firm behind the salacious 34-page Trump-Russia Dossier, Fusion GPS, was paid $523,000 by a Russian businessman convicted of tax fraud and money laundering, whose lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, was a key figure in the infamous June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower arranged by Fusion GPS associate Rob Goldstone.In short, D.C. opposition research firm Fusion GPS is the common denominator linked to two schemes used to damage the Trump campaign.PAYOFF TO THREE JOURNALISTS:Newly filed court documents confirm that Fusion GPS, the company mostly responsible for the controversial Trump dossier on presidential candidate Donald Trump, made payments to three journalists between June 2016 until February 2017.The revelation could be a breakthrough for House Republicans, who are exploring whether Fusion GPS used the dossier, which was later criticized for having inaccurate information on Trump, to feed anti-Trump stories to the press during and after the presidential campaign. The three journalists who were paid by Fusion GPS are known to have reported on Russia issues relevant to [the committee s] investigation, the House Intelligence Committee said in a court filing.REDACTED DOCUMENTS AND RESTRAINING ORDERS:But the recipients names, the amounts, and purposes of those payments were either redacted from the documents that Fusion GPS filed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia or were not disclosed.Fusion has asked the court to issue a restraining order against the House committee, which is demanding documents from the company that, among other things, explain the payments it made to reporters. Most of the documents sought are banking records.Let s hope that the details come to light and all are held accountable for their corruption. | 0 |
2,867 | Study Shows Legalized Marijuana Reduces This Kind Of Death By 25% | The so-called War on Drugs has has taken another enormous blow as a study shows that states that legalize marijuana have seen a 25% reduction in the number of deaths due to painkiller overdoses. That s not some of the states but ALL of them: The difference is quite striking, said study co-author Colleen Barry, a health policy researcher at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore. She notes that the trend became visible in every state a year after the pot was legalized.The study suggests that because patients that are experiencing chronic pain can substitute or suppliment marijuana for their pain pills, they are able to take smaller (or no) doses of the pills and are less likely to experience an overdose.This is even more significant than it seems (and it seems pretty significant). Since the Great Recession destroyed thousands of white communities all over the country, there has been a surge in drug abuse by white people. In fact, the death rate among white males has jumped dramatically, while it s decreased in every other demographic. Much of this has been from addiction to pain killers and, later, heroin.The reasons for this are not hard to understand: When confronted with the same kind of crushing poverty and despair that has afflicted black communities for generations, white people turned to drugs the same exact way. This, of course, means that we ll be forced to crack down on white drug users and send them to prison for decades.Just kidding!No, we won t be locking up millions of white people. This is America, silly! When white people are in trouble, we have to help them, not lock them up!What this means is that legalizing marijuana can and mostly likely will be seen as a partial solution to the opioid epidemic devastating white communities. Big Pharma won t like this because fully legalized marijuana will annihilate their pain killer profits. Normally, Big Pharma s profits are more important than human lives but when it s only WHITE lives on the line, you can be sure that something is going to be done about it. Featured image via Getty | 0 |
2,868 | Florida governor replaces anti-death penalty prosecutor | TAMPA, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida Governor Rick Scott on Thursday replaced a local prosecutor who declared she would not seek the death penalty in a case against a man accused of killing an Orlando police officer and refused to recuse herself. In an executive order, Scott removed State Attorney Aramis Ayala, the elected prosecutor in central Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, and reassigned the murder case to State Attorney Brad King of the nearby Fifth Judicial Circuit. Ayala, at a news conference earlier on Thursday, said Florida’s death penalty system was the cause of “legal chaos” and said she would not seek the death penalty against Markeith Loyd, charged in the Jan. 9 shooting of the policewoman. He was arrested after an intensive manhunt that drew widespread attention. The statement by Ayala, who took office early this year, outraged law enforcement groups, some state lawmakers and State Attorney General Pam Bondi. But several groups, including Amnesty International USA and the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, rose to her defense. “She has made it clear that she will not fight for justice and that is why I am using my executive authority to immediately reassign the case to State Attorney Brad King,” Scott said in a statement. After a discussion with Scott on Thursday afternoon, Ayala issued a statement saying she offered to have “a full conversation” about her decision, but he “declined to explore my reasoning.” “Upon receipt of any lawful order, my office will follow that order and fully cooperate to ensure the successful prosecution of Markeith Loyd,” she said. Florida’s governor signed legislation on Monday tightening state law to require a unanimous recommendation by a jury before judges can impose the death penalty. The law is the state’s latest effort to restart its death penalty process, which was put on hold twice last year after rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court in separate cases. Loyd was arrested on Jan. 7 after a nine-day manhunt that followed the shooting death of Orlando police Master Sargent Debra Clayton. At the time, Loyd was already a suspect in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend, Sade Dixon, in December. Florida prisons hold 382 people who have been sentenced to die. Some have been on death row since the 1970s because the process of appealing death penalty verdicts can take decades. | 1 |
2,869 | California Tells NRA To F*ck Off, Passes Several Gun Reforms | While the federal government is at a chronic standstill in dealing with gun violence, the largest state in the union is doing something about it. On Friday, California s governor, Jerry Brown, signed six bills into law that would make it harder for the wrong people to get guns.The bills would require background checks to buy ammunition and the purchase would be registered with the California Department of Justice. The term assault rifle will be broadened to include more guns, as assault rifles can only be loaned to family and magazines will be limited to 10 rounds or fewer. My goal in signing these bills is to enhance public safety by tightening our existing laws in a responsible and focused manner, while protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners, Brown said in a statement.Source: USA TodayBrown also vetoed some bills, including one that would make stealing a gun grand theft. That, Brown said, proposes to add an initiative that is nearly identical to one which will already appear on the November 2016 ballot. He also vetoed a bill that expanded the definition of firearm to include the homemade kind. It also would have limited purchases of guns to one a month. While well-intentioned, I believe this bill would have the effect of burdening lawful citizens who wish to sell certain firearms that they no longer need. said Brown.The third vetoed bill would have allowed employers, coworkers, metal health workers and school workers to get restraining orders against gun violence. Currently, restraining orders are only available to family members when it comes to gun violence.The fourth would require gun theft victims to report to law enforcement within five days. I continue to believe that responsible people report the loss or theft of a firearm and irresponsible do not, Brown said. It is not likely that this bill would change that. California currently has some of the toughest gun control laws in the nation. They work. The last time California passed major gun laws was in the early 1990s and the result has been dramatic.Gun violence across California dropped 56% from 5,500 gun deaths in 1993 to 2,935 in 2010, according to the study, which took into account California s expanded population from about 30 to 37 million people over the same period.Among all 50 states, California has perhaps the strongest gun control laws. California is at the very top end of firearms regulation, legal expert Bryan L. Ciyou and author of Gun Laws By State told msnbc.The current laws include a ban on military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines. There are also laws empowering law enforcement and adding safety requirements to handguns. The bills that Brown just signed will strengthen the laws that are currently on the books.Featured image via Justin Sullivan with Getty Images | 0 |
2,870 | HAPPY DAY! WATCH NEIL GORSUCH Take Oath Of Office…Gives Speech In Rose Garden: “I am humbled…” [Video] | Who says President Trump isn t moving on his agenda? Neil Gorsuch became the 113th justice of the Supreme Court today! Be happy America! Our president chose a perfect candidate to replace Justic Scalia.Now if we can just get Ruth to step down That would be great! She s hanging on for dear life because she knows Trump will pick someone who s NOT a liberal hack. It s puzzling that she even made it on the court because of her very liberal views! She s an outspoken critic of President Trump and has recently spoken out on his immigration policy.Gorsuch took the Constitutional Oath in a private ceremony, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Supreme Court s Justice s Conference Room. He was accompanied by his wife Louise, who held the Bible, and his two daughters. That oath will be followed by a public ceremony at the White House where Justice Anthony Kennedy Gorsuch s former boss will administer the Judicial Oath.Gorsuch takes the seat of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February last year, and whom Gorsuch has been compared favorably to by conservatives hopeful for another originalist on the court.Gorsuch is likely to cast a deciding vote in a number of high-profile cases, which in part explains the terse and partisan hearing the 49-year-old faced. The high stakes led Republicans to trigger the nuclear option last week to kill the 60-vote filibuster threshold for Supreme Court nominees.Justice Anthony Kennedy, Gorsuch s former boss, administered the Judicial Oath in the Rose Garden with President Donald Trump present. Fox News continued: In his remarks, Gorsuch thanked his family and the American people for entrusting him with such an important job: To the American people, I am humbled by the trust placed in me today, Gorsuch said after taking the oath. I will never forget to whom much is given to much will be expected, and I promise you that I will do all my powers permit to be a faithful servant of the Constitution and laws of this great nation. | 0 |
2,871 | Iran may drop nuclear deal if U.S. withdraws, foreign minister tells al Jazeera | ANKARA (Reuters) - Iran may abandon the nuclear deal it reached with six major powers if the United States decides to withdraw from it, Iranian foreign minister told Qatar s al Jazeera TV in New York. U.S. President Donald Trump has called the 2015 deal an embarrassment . The deal is supported by the other major powers that negotiated it with Iran and its collapse could trigger a regional arms race and worsen tensions in the Middle East. If Washington decides to pull out of the deal, Iran has the option of withdrawal and other options, al Jazeera TV wrote on its Twitter feed, quoting Mohammad Javad Zarif. Washington will be in a better position if it remains committed to the deal, the network quoted Zarif as saying. Al Jazeera deleted an earlier tweet citing Zarif as saying that if Washington withdrew from the deal Iran would do so too, rather than just having the option to do so, after an Iranian official said Zarif had been misquoted. Trump is considering whether the accord serves U.S. security interests. He faces a mid-October deadline for certifying that Iran is complying with the pact. A State Department official said Washington would not comment on every statement by an Iranian official. We are fully committed to addressing the totality of Iranian threats and malign activities, the official said. Iranian authorities had repeatedly said Tehran would not be the first to violate the agreement, under which Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear program in return for lifting most international sanctions that had crippled its economy. The prospect that Washington could renege on the deal has worried some of the U.S. allies that helped negotiate it. French President Emmanuel Macron said last week that there was no alternative to the nuclear accord. If Trump, who has called the accord the worst deal ever negotiated , does not recertify it by Oct. 16, Congress has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions suspended under the accord. | 1 |
2,872 | The White House Released Trump’s Border Wall Requirements, And They Are Comedy GOLD | Trump just will not stop hammering his border wall as the solution to every problem we ve ever had. In addition to the U.S. government sending notices of taking to Texans living along the U.S.-Mexico border, the White House has now released its requirements for the wall. Fox News posted the list to Twitter, and it s just ridiculous.Border wall requirements. pic.twitter.com/AFYG0s5pCS Fox News (@FoxNews) March 19, 2017At first it looks like this could be a joke, until you see the blue checkmark next to Fox News Twitter name. These three requirements are hilarious because they re so vague they say absolutely nothing. It s like Fox called Trump up out of the blue, said, What are the requirements for the border wall, and Trump replied with, Oh. Um. Yes. The wall. Yes. Um. Requirements Nothing about a better pricing estimate, what materials they think they need where, how they plan to keep it from interrupting migration patterns or diverting floodwaters, or anything that might actually tell us what the true requirements for this wall are. Just three vague things that demonstrate the Trump administration is more about touting the wall than they are about actually planning for it.The last two are especially odd. Look good from U.S. side. It must also look imposing from the Mexican side. Aside from the fact that this looks like a toddler wrote it, we do know that nobody wants an eyesore in their backyard.But a 30-ft wall may well be an eyesore anyway no matter how tasteful they try and make it look. For instance, those living along the Rio Grande, where their view is of a river and they re closely intertwined with sister cities in Mexico, are likely to suffer both from the eyesore that is a giant wall. Are they going to build it out of Plexiglas to avoid interrupting views? No. It has to look imposing from the far side.In reality, some communities might benefit from rising property values, while others would suffer grievously when their local economies crash as people from their sister cities can t come across to shop anymore. The way it looks won t help the communities that are going to suffer regardless. Difficult to climb or cut through. Well duh. Really? They ve been saying the entire time that the whole point of having a wall is to keep people from being able to climb over it or cut through it like they can in places along the existing fence. But people will still climb it, people will still tunnel under it, and some might find ways around them via the oceans.When you consider the fact that most undocumented immigrants entered the U.S. legally on a visitor visa, and then just never left, it makes difficult to climb or cut through seem even more absurd. It would be nice to know what the administration believes this wall will truly require in terms of, well, everything, since we re the ones who are going to pay for it. But it would be even nicer if they d drop it altogether, since our tax dollars are going towards a massive waste of time, money and resources.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images | 0 |
2,873 | Samantha Bee Tells Ted Cruz What He Should’ve Done With His Campaign, And It’s Beyond Perfect | Coming into Tuesday s Republican primary in Indiana it was pretty much do or die for Ted Cruz. He had to win or his campaign for the presidency was effectively over. And boy did he try. He put all he could into trying to win over the Hoosier state, but try as he might, he failed miserably. Donald Trump won with over 50 percent of the vote and Ted Cruz was left with a tough decision to make.By the end of Cruz s speech after his Indiana loss it was pretty damn clear that he was about to suspend his campaign. He spoke in broad, sweeping conservative analogies that had nothing to do with becoming president. And what seemed obvious became reality when he told everyone that he was pulling out of the race.One person, however, saw the delicious irony in Cruz quitting early, and that person was Full Frontal s Samantha Bee. She took to Twitter to tell Cruz what he should have done with his campaign.Bee wrote: Shouldn t Ted Cruz have been forced to carry his unviable campaign to term? Shouldn't #TedCruz have been forced to carry his unviable campaign to term? Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) May 4, 2016Of course, this being a play on Cruz s ridiculous stance on abortion rights. The man claims he stands up for women, but apparently that means loving women so much that he s the person to make all of their health decisions. He s also been one of the key reasons the Planned Parenthood myth of baby body parts has gone on for so long.Ted Cruz is a liar and a smarmy salesman that just couldn t figure out how to sell himself to the American voting public. He was so bad, in fact, that he couldn t even make himself look good next to Donald Trump.Bee also tweeted:At least the #TedCruz campaign died as it lived under Trump's heel while Republicans looked on with indifference. Full Frontal (@FullFrontalSamB) May 4, 2016Good on Samantha Bee for pointing out such delicious irony. Never stop being you.Featured Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Twitter | 0 |
2,874 | Blast at Tupras refinery in Turkey kills four, production unaffected | ISTANBUL (Reuters) - An explosion in a storage tank at a Tupras refinery in the western Turkish province of Izmir on Wednesday killed four people but had no impact on production, the company said. Tupras said in a statement that the explosion occurred following maintenance work on Wednesday morning. Television footage showed black smoke rising from the site of the blast. | 1 |
2,875 | Timeline: U.S. prosecutors lay out Flynn's dealings with Russian ambassador | (Reuters) - The legal document charging Michael Flynn with lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation lays out a chronology of events connected with the offense that the former U.S. national security adviser pleaded guilty to on Friday. Here is a timeline based on the document, known as a statement of the offense, and events at the time. The document was drafted by prosecutors working on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of ties between President Donald Trump’s 2016 election campaign and Russia. The period covered includes the presidential transition that followed Trump’s election victory on Nov. 8, 2016, and the first few months of his presidency: * Dec. 21, 2016: Egypt submits a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlement building. * Dec. 22: A “very senior member” of the Trump transition team directs Flynn to contact officials from foreign governments, including Russia, to learn where each country stands on the resolution and to influence them to delay the vote or defeat the resolution. * On the same day, Flynn contacts Russia’s ambassador to the United States about the pending vote. Flynn informs the ambassador about the incoming administration’s opposition to the resolution and asks that Russia vote against or delay it. (The statement of offense does not name the ambassador; Russia’s envoy at the time was Sergei Kislyak.) * Dec. 23: Flynn again speaks with the ambassador, who informs Flynn that if it came to a ballot, Russia would not vote against the resolution. (Russia is among the 14 countries on the 15-member council that approves the resolution that day. The United States abstains, making passage possible, despite heavy pressure from Israel and President-elect Trump.) * Dec. 28: President Barack Obama signs an executive order, to take effect the next day, imposing sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s actions intended to interfere in the presidential election. * The Russian ambassador to the United States contacts Flynn. * Asked by reporters if the United States should sanction Russia, Trump suggests the two countries lay to rest the controversy over Moscow’s interference in the election, saying, “I think we ought to get on with our lives.” Trump, who is at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, has cast doubt on U.S. intelligence agencies’ findings that Russian hackers took information from Democratic Party computers and posted it online to help Trump defeat Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. * Dec. 29: Flynn calls a senior transition team official, who is with other senior transition team members at Mar-a-Lago to discuss what, if anything, to communicate to the Russian ambassador about the sanctions. The discussion between Flynn and the official touches on the potential impact of the sanctions on the incoming Trump administration’s foreign policy goals. The officials and Flynn also talk about transition team members’ desire that Russia not escalate the situation. * Immediately after the conversation, Flynn calls the ambassador and asks that Russia not escalate and that it only respond to the sanctions reciprocally. * Shortly afterwards, Flynn discusses the substance of the call with the ambassador with the transition official, including their discussion of the U.S. sanctions. * Dec. 30: Russian President Vladimir Putin releases a statement indicating Russia will not retaliate in response to the sanctions at that time. * Dec. 31: The ambassador calls Flynn and informs him that Russia has chosen not to retaliate in response to Flynn’s request. * After the call, Flynn speaks with senior transition team members about his conversations with the ambassador regarding the sanctions and Russia’s decision not to escalate. * Jan. 13, 2017: In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump suggests he might do away with the sanctions if Russia proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other goals important to Washington. * Jan. 16: The Times of London publishes an interview with Trump in which the president-elect says he will propose offering to end sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in return for a nuclear arms reduction deal. * Jan. 20: Trump takes office, and Flynn becomes national security adviser. * Jan. 24: Flynn agrees to be interviewed by FBI agents. During the interview, he falsely states he did not ask the Russian ambassador to refrain from escalation in responding to the U.S. sanctions. Flynn also falsely states he did not remember a follow-up conversation in which the ambassador said Russia had chosen to moderate its response to the sanctions due to Flynn’s request. Flynn makes additional false statements about his phone calls to Russia and several other countries about the U.N. Security Council resolution on Israeli settlements. Specifically, Flynn falsely says he only asked the countries’ positions on the vote and did not ask any countries to take any particular action on the resolution. Flynn also falsely states the Russian ambassador never told him Russia’s response to his request regarding the resolution. * Jan. 27: At a joint news conference with visiting British Prime Minister Theresa May, Trump says he is only in the early stages of considering whether to lift sanctions on Russia. * Jan. 28: In their first conversation since Trump’s inauguration, Trump and Putin agree to try to rebuild U.S.-Russia ties and to cooperate in Syria, the Kremlin says. A Kremlin spokesman says two days later that sanctions were not discussed. * Feb. 2: The U.S. Treasury Department adjusts sanctions on Russia’s FSB intelligence agency, making limited exceptions to the measures Obama put in place. * Feb. 13: Flynn is fired following disclosures that he had discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with Kislyak, Moscow’s U.S. ambassador, and misled Vice President Mike Pence about the conversations. * Feb. 16: Trump says he did not direct Flynn to talk to Russia’s ambassador about sanctions before taking office. * March 7: Flynn files multiple documents with the Justice Department involving the Foreign Agents Registration Act pertaining to a project conducted by him and his company, the Flynn Intel Group Inc, for the benefit of Turkey. In the filings, Flynn makes false statements and omissions. | 1 |
2,876 | WATCH: Kellyanne Conway Accuses Obama Of Being Un-American for Not Ignoring Russian Espionage | If someone had called Ronald Reagan un-American for taking on Russia, Republicans would have thrown a hissy fit.But President Obama is a black Democrat and the Republican Party has become the Party of Putin, so of course, conservatives like Kellyanne Conway would question Obama s patriotism for defending our country.During an interview on Fox News, Conway whined about President Obama pursuing an investigation of Russian interference in our political process.As we all know, Donald Trump openly encouraged Russia to commit espionage against our country when their hack of the DNC was revealed this past summer. I will tell you this, Russia: If you re listening, I hope you re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing, Trump said in July. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Here s the video via YouTube.And they obeyed, continually hacking our institutions in an effort to help Trump win the presidency so Putin would have a puppet in the White House.White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest pointed out that Trump knew about Russian meddling all along, and President Obama has promised swift retribution against Russia.But Conway is still pretending that Russia didn t do anything to help Trump and accused President Obama of not loving America because he is unwilling to ignore Russia s crimes. She even demanded that Obama shut down the investigation and pretend the election interference never happened. If you want to shut this down and you actually love the country enough to have the peaceful transition in our great democracy between the Obama administration and the Trump administration, there are a couple people in pretty prominent positions, one is named Obama, one is named Hillary Clinton, since his people are trying to fight over her election still, they could shut this down. Here s the video via YouTube.Ignoring Russia s clear espionage against the United States would be a total disservice to the American people and would only embolden Russia and other nations to interfere in our political process in future elections. Allowing Trump to be president would also embolden Republicans to seek foreign help in future elections as well. In short, Republicans are happy to allow another country to spread propaganda and violate the integrity of our elections as long as it helps them stay in power.If anyone is anti-American, it s Kellyanne Conway and Donald Trump. They re the ones defending Putin and Russia instead of backing an investigation. They are the ones defending Russian espionage against America. And the only reason they want to bury it is because they know Trump is an illegitimate president-elect.Featured Image: Screenshot | 0 |
2,877 | That Time Trump Mocked Marco Rubio For Drinking Water Just Came Back To Haunt Him | While on the campaign trail, candidate Donald Trump, a former reality show star, repeatedly mocked Sen. Marco Rubio for that time he drank water on the stage. Trump mocked Rubio at rallies about that and on Twitter, too. As they say, with this guy, there really is a tweet for everything. Trump did this after he kicked off his day blasting that loser network CNN, the failing New York Times and demanded a thank you from the UCLA basketball players who arrived in the states after being released from China. Then he summarized his trip to Asia, declaring it to be the longest visit to the region by an American president in more than a quarter of a century. He added that America is back and the future has never looked better. Then he seemed to have difficulty breathing and paused for water.Here is Trump doing that think he disparaged Rubio for doing:more proof that we're living in a simulation pic.twitter.com/7fGMxvRKUj kevin driscoll (@kevndriscoll) November 15, 2017Trump grabbed a bottle of Fiji to quench his thirst, the exact brand that Rubio drank during the campaign. The Florida Republican responded on Twitter, saying, Similar, but needs work on his form. Has to be done in one single motion & eyes should never leave the camera. But not bad for his 1st time. Similar,but needs work on his form.Has to be done in one single motion & eyes should never leave the camera. But not bad for his 1st time https://t.co/s49JtyRo3S Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 15, 2017Trump has blasted Rubio multiple times for drinking water, perhaps because the former reality show star thinks he can walk on water. Next time Marco Rubio should drink his water from a glass as opposed to a bottle would have much less negative impact, he tweeted.Next time Marco Rubio should drink his water from a glass as opposed to a bottle would have much less negative impact. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2013In another tweet, he wrote, Marco Rubio is being crucified by the media for drinking water during speech! Marco Rubio is being crucified by the media for drinking water during speech! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 13, 2013And here is Trump at a rally mocking Rubio for drinking water.More than a tweet, there's also a video of Trump mocking Rubio's SOTU water moment. pic.twitter.com/dkKyrOIUGO Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 15, 2017The Internet never forgets these things.2 hands Donny no dribbles good boy El Diablo ? (@joe23gavbrown) November 15, 2017OMG, there REALLY IS a tweet for every single thing! Jennifer Sage?? (@vivavelo) November 15, 2017Hey lil-fingers: Take your own advice? Russell Drapkin (@russelldrapkin) November 15, 2017Great work, Donald. pic.twitter.com/aG5vtxaFgt Craig Harrington (@Craigipedia) November 15, 2017Trump pulls a Marco Rubio & slurps down water during his speech. But it s worse than Rubio. Trump holds the bottle with two hands like it s a baby bottle. Fitting.#ImpeachTrump #AMJoy pic.twitter.com/5CPKzSSCKq Scott Dworkin (@funder) November 15, 2017Everything Trump accuses someone else of doing, he is guilty of that same thing, even something as simple as needing to quench his thirst.Image via screen capture. | 0 |
2,878 | SUNDAY SCREENING: ‘The War on Democracy’ (2007) | 21st Century Wire says Each week, 21WIRE will curate a series of informative documentary films designed to educate and enlighten our readers about many of the key issues facing people worldwide. The War on Democracy is one of award-winning Australian filmmaker John Pilger s most intimate film creations. In this film, Pilger takes an inside look at the Hugo Chavez epoch in Venezuela, the CIA coups and fascist takeover in Chile, as well as the American derailment of El Salvador, Guatemala and Bolivia. Pilger also traces the modern origins of the death squad . The film delicately chronicles the issues facing the people of South America before, during and after the brutal CIA years.Watch this powerful documentary production:Run time: 1:34:00 Directors: John Pilger, Christopher Martin Producers: Christopher Martin, Wayne Young Editor: Joe Frost United Kingdom/ Australia (2007)SEE MORE SUNDAY SCREENINGS HERESUPPORT 21WIRE SUBSCRIBE & BECOME A MEMBER @ 21WIRE.TV | 0 |
2,879 | Conservatives Demand Purge Of LGBT Employees From State Department, And This Is How Trump Replied | Conservatives apparently want a witch hunt in every government department.Earlier this month, Donald Trump s transition team demanded that the Energy Department give them a list of names of employees who study climate change and the labs used to research it. It is assumed that Trump s team wanted the names so they could fire anyone who supports what science already tells us: that climate change is real and humans have contributed to it.Well, the Energy Department told Trump to go f*ck themselves.But now the hate group known as the Family Research Council is calling on Trump to persecute gay employees and any employee who supports LGBT rights within the State Department.In a letter to Trump s team, Tony Perkins whines about how President Obama and Hillary Clinton protected the LGBT community from anti-gay bigots who want to strip them of their human rights.He then complained about how America is offending some nations by hiring gay people. You know, because the Family Research Council is a fan of how Russia persecutes gay people. To carry out this extreme agenda, the Obama administration has systematically filled the ranks of State with LGBTQ and abortion activists, Perkins wrote before calling for Trump and his team to conduct a witch hunt. Unless the next secretary of state is willing to resist and remove this embedded agenda, the promotion and protection of true human rights, like religious liberty, will continue to languish. That s right, Perkins wants Trump to be like Joe McCarthy and he doubled down by literally demanding that LGBT people and those who support LGBT rights be ferreted out and replaced by anti-gay bigots.It s for this reason that I have raised concerns about the nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson for secretary of state. I certainly don t see Tillerson cut from the same cloth as Clinton or Kerry, but he doesn t have to be for these anti-life, liberal social policies to continue. He must have the courage to stop the promotion of this anti-family, anti-life agenda, which is very much a question mark given that he capitulated to activists pushing to liberalize the Boy Scouts policy on homosexuality when he was at the helm of the organization.The incoming administration needs to make clear that these liberal policies will be reversed and the activists within the State Department promoting them will be ferreted out and will be replaced by conservatives who will ensure the State Department focuses on true international human rights like religious liberty which is under unprecedented assault.But Donald Trump was in no mood for Perkins hate and sent a strong message delivered by Trump spokesman Jason Miller that discrimination will not be tolerated. President-elect Trump campaigned on a message of unity in order to bring all Americans together. To think that discrimination of any kind will be condoned or tolerated in a Trump Administration is simply absurd. In other words, Perkins can go f*ck himself.Now, this doesn t mean that we should trust that Trump will keep to his word. After all, he has repeatedly flip-flopped through his campaign and ever since the election. But it should be noted that Trump sent a similar message to anti-bigots last month. After being asked about marriage equality, Trump told 60 Minutes that same-sex marriage has been settled by the courts and that he s fine with that. So for now, at least Trump is being consistent when it comes to LGBT right. Conservatives must be furious.Featured Image: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images | 0 |
2,880 | Trump Just Thanked His Supporters For Being ‘Vicious’ And ‘Violent’ Toward Hillary (VIDEO) | Donald Trump s supporters are vicious and violent a fact the incoming President-elect has traditionally refused to acknowledge even after two of his fans beat a Hispanic homeless man (and U.S. citizen) to death s door with a pipe and then urinated on him (Trump called those men passionate gentlemen who want to make America great again ) or when they beat up random African-Americans at his rallies (he offered to pay their legal fees).Yes, The Donald s violent, xenophobic, meth-addled deplorable, racist, mindless followers are all that and more but on Friday at a Florida stop on his ridiculous thank you tour, he made an unpresidented (that s not a typo, just quoting a tweet of his) move: he actually admitted what sort of people flock to him, and it s exactly the sort of terms everyone else has always used to describe his fans: You people were vicious, violent, screaming, Where s the wall? We want the wall! Screaming, Prison! Prison! Lock her up! I mean you are going crazy. I mean, you were nasty and mean and vicious and you wanted to win, right? But now, you re mellow and you re cool and you re not nearly as vicious or violent, right? Because we won, right? But it s terms like vicious and violent (especially deplorables ) that used to set Trump off before he was elected. The Hill reminds us:I m likely going to need therapy (and strangely an enema for some reason) after saying this phrase, but Trump is right. Sure, it s not climate change, foreign policy, China, Obamacare, or anything important, but he finally nailed what sort of people back him.That s a start, right?Watch Trump s remarks below:Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
2,881 | Sessions says he will discuss Comey with Senate panel | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a letter on Saturday that he will appear before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday to address matters former FBI Director James Comey brought up this week in testimony to the same panel. In a letter seen by Reuters, Sessions told Senator Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies, that the intelligence committee is the “most appropriate” place to address matters that came up during Comey’s hearing on Thursday. The letter did not say whether Sessions planned to give public testimony or to appear before the panel behind closed doors. “In light of reports regarding Mr. Comey’s recent testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, it is important that I have an opportunity to address these matters in the appropriate forum,” Sessions said in the letter. The committee “is the most appropriate forum for such matters, as it has been conducting an investigation and has access to relevant, classified information,” he added. The Senate panel is investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. In March, Sessions removed himself from any probe into alleged Russian meddling in the elections, but maintained he did nothing wrong by failing to disclose that he met last year with Russia’s ambassador. In testimony to the Senate panel on Thursday, Comey accused President Donald Trump of firing him to try to undermine the FBI’s investigation of possible collusion by people in Trump’s campaign with Russia’s alleged efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election. Comey’s appearance raised new questions about the attorney general’s relationship with Russian officials and others with ties to President Vladimir Putin. One question is whether Sessions had any undisclosed meetings with Ambassador Sergei Kislyak or other Russians during the campaign or after Trump’s inauguration. In the most eagerly anticipated U.S. congressional hearing in years, Comey told lawmakers the Trump administration had lied and defamed him and the Federal Bureau of Investigation after the president dismissed him on May 9. Sessions had planned to appear before the Senate and House Appropriations Subcommittees, but the deputy attorney general will take his place, the letter said. | 1 |
2,882 | Trump Threw Himself A Victory Party And Barely Anyone Showed Up | Trump s attempt at self-fellation following his kinda-sorta victory in the election went a bit limp when he threw himself a party and no one came. Sure, there were people there, but many of the seats at his Cincinnati rally Thursday remained unwarmed by the freedom farts of his racist, xenophobic, and otherwise deplorable fans.The Guardian s Ben Jacobs posted a photo of the event shortly before Donald Trump was scheduled to speak a time that, before he was elected, would have virtually ensured a stadium packed with meth-addled, cretinous assorted bigots. Let s just say it was underwhelming. Trump s victory tour in Cincinnati an hour before he takes the stage pic.twitter.com/1zriYO7s21 Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) December 1, 2016 Sure, Trump supporters will undoubtedly say, he chose the worst possible angle to something-something l genpresse. Calling the rally surprisingly uncrowded, the Daily Telegraph s Ruth Sherlock also tweeted a photo of the extremely disappointing crowd:Crowd gathering at #Trump thank you rally in #Cincinnati #Ohio surprisingly uncrowded. pic.twitter.com/7ZX1VwIhAV Ruth Sherlock (@Rsherlock) December 2, 2016One Trump supporter fired back at Sherlock, calling her out on her lying photo by tweeting one of people who were actually there. Crowd gathering at #Trump thank you rally in #Cincinnati#Ohio surprisingly uncrowded.@Rsherlock Funny how your pic looks nothing like the pics of people who were actually there. #FakeNewsAlert!https://t.co/tl1YqVNXkg E.D. Skovbo (@EDSkovbo) December 2, 2016Unfortunately for him and anyone else who will inevitably use that photo in their nonsensical claims that the media is lying to them, this photo is from a rally in October same venue, different (and far fewer) people.Where is the horde of people who used to flock to Trump s rallies? Maybe 50,000 of them were being held outside by a freedom-hating fire marshal. Perhaps that dastardly lying media used camera tricks and Photoshop to try to embarrass him. Were there actually eleventeen million vampires present that the lying media s lying cameras didn t capture?Perhaps they just weren t there because the far fewer than half of Americans who voted for him are waking up to the fact that they just made a gigantic f*cking mistake. In any case, we re sure to hear what a success Trump s victory party was, and how the media is unfairly attacking him for being unable to fill a room as President-elect.Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
2,883 | BREAKING: House Republicans Work To Cut Off Federal Funding For Syrian Refugee Resettlement Program | Time will tell how serious the House Republicans are about keeping our nation safe. Goodness knows it s the furthest thing from our Climate Change Promoter In Chief s mind Following the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris, House Republicans are proposing to block federal funding for resettling Syrian refugees until a series of new conditions are met, Foreign Policy has learned.The growing momentum behind new legislation, still being drafted, sets up a future clash between the White House and Congress as the Obama administration seeks to offer residency to 10,000 Syrian refugees who currently live outside the conflict zone. Currently, 60 million people worldwide have been forced from their homes or are otherwise considered refugees higher than at any other time in recorded history. An estimated six million to eight million displaced people are still in Syria, and more than four million Syrian refugees are in Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon.The draft legislation, a copy of which was obtained by FP, is backed by Reps. Brian Babin, Lou Barletta, Diane Black, Mo Brooks, Jeff Duncan, John Duncan, Blake Farenthold, Louie Gohmert, Frank Guinta, Gregg Harper, Walter Jones, Steve King, Mike Pompeo, Mark Meadows, and Bill Posey. It would prevent funding for the resettlement of refugees from the Middle East and North Africa until authorities adopt processes to ensure that refugee and related programs are not able to be co-opted by would-be terrorists. Once those processes are in place, details of the security checks must be given to Congress in both classified and public forums, and the administration must establish a longer-term monitoring process to track refugees in the U.S.The 15 Republican lawmakers pushing the legislation aren t the only politicians looking to slam the brakes on Obama s resettlement program. The governors of 15 U.S. states have already said they would not allow Syrian refugees to live in their states. Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions (R) has proposed legislation to restrict U.S. funding for refugee resettlement and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) has said he will introduce legislation to prevent Syrian refugees from obtaining U.S. visas.Additionally, House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul plans to raise the issue of blocking Syrian refugee resettlement at a Tuesday meeting with fellow Republicans, according to two congressional sources.In a Monday letter to President Barack Obama, McCaul called on the White House to immediately suspend the admission of all additional Syrian refugees. The high-threat environment demands that we move forward with greater caution in order to protect the American people and to prevent terrorists from reaching our shores, McCaul wrote.The rising opposition to assisting Syrian refugees is already alarming humanitarian organizations, which say that doing so defies America s long tradition of helping individuals fleeing persecution. A senior Obama administration official, speaking to FP on condition of anonymity, said security concerns about incoming refugees were unfounded in large part because they undergo the highest level of scrutiny by intelligence and security government agencies. All refugees, including Syrians, are admitted only after successful completion of this stringent security screening regime, the official said.Fears about taking in refugees spiked after a Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the assailants in the deadly Paris attacks that killed at least 129 people. Questions remain, however, over the identity of the attacker: French officials on Monday said he used a fake Syrian passport to travel to Europe through Greece and the Balkans. While his actual identity is unknown, the attacker is believed to have posed as a Syrian refugee to enter Europe through the Aegean Sea. Via:Foreign Policy | 0 |
2,884 | TRUMP WINS! Supreme Court Rules On Travel Ban In Unanimous Decision [VIDEO] | This is gonna be a tough pill for the left to swallow after working so hard to stack the courts In a victory for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court on Monday lifted key components of an injunction against President Trump s proposed ban on travel from six majority-Muslim nations, reinstating much of the policy and promising to hear full arguments as early as this fall.The court s decision means the justices will now wade into the biggest legal controversy of the Trump administration the president s order temporarily restricting travel, which even Trump has termed a travel ban. Today s unanimous Supreme Court decision is a clear victory for our national security, Trump said in a statement. As President, I cannot allow people into our country who want to do us harm. I want people who can love the United States and all of its citizens, and who will be hardworking and productive. He added: My number one responsibility as Commander in Chief is to keep the American people safe. Today s ruling allows me to use an important tool for protecting our Nation s homeland. The court made clear that a limited version of the policy can be enforced immediately with a full hearing to come in the Fall. An American individual or entity that has a bona fide relationship with a particular person seeking to enter the country as a refugee can legitimately claim concrete hardship if that person is excluded, the court wrote. As to these individuals and entities, we do not disturb the injunction. But when it comes to refugees who lack any such connection to the United States, for the reasons we have set out, the balance tips in favor of the Government s compelling need to provide for the Nation s security. The justices decided to review the broader constitutional issues over executive authority on immigration with oral arguments to be held in the fall. FOX News | 0 |
2,885 | Israeli minister says Trump speech may start war with Iran | JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel’s intelligence minister said U.S. President Donald Trump’s speech against the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran on Friday was “very significant” and could lead to war given threats that preceded it from Tehran. Israel’s Channel 2 TV asked Intelligence Minister Israel Katz whether he saw a risk of war after Trump’s speech. “Absolutely, yes. I think that the speech was very significant,” Katz responded. “Iran is the new North Korea. We see where things are goings.” | 1 |
2,886 | Supreme Court divided in immigration detention dispute | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A divided U.S. Supreme Court struggled on Wednesday with how to resolve a dispute over whether immigrants detained by the U.S. government for more than six months while deportation proceedings take place should be able to seek their release. The case takes on additional importance with the expectation that President-elect Donald Trump will ramp up immigration enforcement, placing more people in detention awaiting deportation, when he takes office on Jan. 20, as he pledged during his election campaign. During a one-hour argument, the court’s four liberals appeared to support requiring that immigrants held more than six months be automatically eligible for hearings in which they could argue for their freedom while their deportation cases unfold. Conservative justices were skeptical. The shorthanded court could be heading toward another 4-4 deadlock, divided along ideological lines. A 4-4 split would leave in place an October 2015 ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a lower-court injunction requiring a hearing after six months of detention. The justices potentially could issue a narrow decision sending the case back to lower courts without resolving the question of whether hearings are required. The Obama administration, which asked the justices to decide the case, has said hearings can be permitted in certain instances but opposed a blanket rule requiring them. The long-running class action litigation brought by the American Civil Liberties Union includes some immigrants who were held at the border when seeking illegal entry into the United States and others, including legal permanent residents, who have been convicted of crimes. The case also could affect long-term U.S. residents who entered the country illegally. Liberal justices asserted that hearings should be required in order to meet the U.S. Constitution’s promise of due process. “You can’t just lock people up without any finding of dangerousness, without any finding of flight risk, for an indefinite period of time, and not run into due process,” said Justice Elena Kagan “We are in an upended world if we think 14 months or 19 months is a reasonable time to detain a person,” added Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Conservatives including Chief Justice John Roberts said the court had been asked to decide only whether the immigration laws in question required the hearings and not whether there was a potential constitutional violation. The case would have to be litigated further in lower courts for that issue to reach the justices, Roberts said. The lead plaintiff is Alejandro Rodriguez, a legal immigrant from Mexico who was working as a dental assistant when he was detained for three years without a hearing. Rodriguez was placed in removal proceedings based on prior convictions for drug possession and joyriding. Although he was released eventually, the case brought on his behalf continued. | 1 |
2,887 | Trump campaign chairman helped pro-Russians in Ukraine move money to U.S. firms: AP | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, helped a Ukrainian political party with close ties to Russia secretly move at least $2.2 million to two major Washington lobbying firms, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday. The AP, citing sources with direct knowledge of the effort, said the transfers were set up in ways to obscure the Ukrainian party’s attempts to sway U.S. policies, using a nonprofit organization to distance funds from Ukrainian politicians. U.S. law requires American lobbyists to register and report in detail any ties to foreign political parties or leaders to the U.S. Justice Department. The heads of both firms - Podesta Group Inc and Mercury LLC - told the AP they had concluded their work did not merit disclosure to the department, according to the report. Representatives for Trump and Mercury did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Podesta Group Chief Executive Officer Kimberley Fritts said its lawyers worked with those at Mercury to determine that registering under the Foreign Agent Registration Act was unnecessary. It also obtained a statement from the nonprofit in question saying it was not directly or indirectly involved with a foreign entity, she said in an emailed statement. The Podesta Group was founded in 1987 by Tony Podesta and his brother John, who now is campaign chairman for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. John Podesta has not been with the firm for several years, but his brother is its chairman. The AP report comes less than three months before the Nov. 8 election and as polls show Trump slipping behind Clinton. Trump’s campaign on Wednesday announced a staff shake-up replacing Manafort as campaign manager after just two months. He will remain chairman and chief strategist. The New York Times this week reported Manafort’s name was found on secret ledgers showing cash payments designated to him of more than $12 million from a Ukrainian party with Russian ties. Manafort has denied any impropriety. Ukrainian officials confirmed Manafort’s name appeared on a ledger and that more than $12 million had been allocated as an expenditure but said the presence of his name did not mean he received the funds. Clinton’s campaign has said Manafort’s associations are a troubling sign of ties between Trump’s campaign team and pro-Kremlin elements in Ukraine. According to the AP, in 2012 Manafort and associate Rick Gates worked on behalf of Ukraine’s then-president, Viktor Yanukovych, and helped steer the efforts of European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, an advocacy group that once included members of Yanukovych’s party. The group paid at least $2.2 million to the Washington firms to push positions favorable to the party from 2012 until 2014, when Yanukovych was ousted and fled to Russia, the AP said, citing sources. That work included efforts to counter a potential congressional resolution pressuring Yanukovych to release a political rival from prison, the AP reported. Gates, who also works for the Trump campaign, told the AP his actions were lawful. He said he and Manafort had introduced the advocacy group to the firms and sometimes consulted with the firms on Ukrainian politics, the report said. Podesta’s Fritts said her firm was unaware that Gates was a consultant to the Ukrainian party when he introduced the advocacy group: “Our assumption was that he was working for the Centre, as we were hired to do.” | 1 |
2,888 | Trump Chooses Racist Anti-Gay Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions For Attorney General | Donald Trump just selected a racist homophobe as the nation s leading law enforcement officer.Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is a lifetime bigot who viciously joined his Republican colleagues in opposing President Obama at every turn. So naturally, he supported Trump s campaign and become one of his top cheerleaders who didn t care if Trump committed sexual assault or discriminated against black people.Now Sessions is reportedly Trump s top pick for Attorney General, which would likely set back civil rights for years to come. Oh, and Sessions is just fine with the KKK.According to the New York Times,While serving as a United States prosecutor in Alabama, Mr. Sessions was nominated in 1986 by President Ronald Reagan for a federal judgeship. But his nomination was rejected by the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee because of racially charged comments and actions. At that time, he was one of two judicial nominees whose selections were halted by the panel in nearly 50 years.In testimony before the committee, former colleagues said that Mr. Sessions had referred to the N.A.A.C.P., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and other civil rights groups as un-American and Communist-inspired. An African-American federal prosecutor then, Thomas H. Figures, said Mr. Sessions had referred to him as boy and testified that Mr. Sessions said the Ku Klux Klan was fine until I found out they smoked pot. Mr. Sessions dismissed that remark as a joke.Mr. Sessions was also accused of speaking disparagingly of the Voting Rights Act and the stringent oversight it placed on Southern states.So we can expect Sessions to ignore civil rights laws as Attorney General since he will likely direct the Justice Department to turn a blind eye towards civil rights violations across the country, thus giving racists the opportunity to treat minorities however they please. It s going to be a racist free-for-all.It also likely he will refuse to stand in the way of Republican efforts to suppress minority voters while fighting anti-discrimination laws tooth and nail.Make no mistake, Trump s Justice Department is going to be full of racists and Sessions will be the top racist in charge.Featured image via Wikimedia | 0 |
2,889 | Trump Whines About Unfair Media During Coast Guard Commencement Address (VIDEO) | Amateur president Donald Trump used his commencement speech at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday to make the day all about him. Trump did not address the scandals which have inundated the White House directly, but indirectly he did by saying that he s receiving unfair treatment by the media. Even though Trump s scandals have been compared to Watergate, he said, Look at the way I ve been treated lately. Especially by the media. Trump whined that no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. Apparently, the former reality show star has forgotten how he treated Barack Obama, dogging our first black president for years with baseless allegations saying that he s a scary Muslim from Kenya.Trump gave the cadets some advice, saying that they will need to fight, fight, fight. Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not always fair. You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted, he said, seemingly referring to bombshell reports, which he even admitted to on Twitter, saying he disclosed highly classified information to top Russian officials. Or he could be referring to the other bombshell reports, stating that he asked former FBI Director James Comey to shut down an investigation into his first national security adviser, Michael Flynn.Trump went on to brag that he s accomplished a tremendous amount in a very short time. Then he boasted of his upcoming first international trip which is to begin on Friday. As you leave this academy to embark on your exciting new voyage, Trump said, I am heading on a very crucial journey, as well. In a few days, I will make my first trip abroad as President. Things will work out just fine, Trump concluded. Great honor. Good luck. Enjoy your life. Watch:Poor Trump, the media has treated him so unfairly by quoting him verbatim. When Flynn was forced to resign, he called the disgraced retired General a wonderful man then went on to blame the fake media. Tell me if this sounds familiar. Michael Flynn, Gen. Flynn, is a wonderful man. I think he has been treated very, very unfairly by the media, as I call it, the fake media in many cases, Trump said at the time. And I think it s really a sad thing that he was treated so badly. And today, President Bone Spurs addressed graduates who may be headed to active duty to cry about the fake news media.Photo by Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images. | 0 |
2,890 | State Department approves $3.8 billion in arms sales to Bahrain: Pentagon | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has approved arms sales packages worth more than $3.8 billion to Bahrain including F-16 jets, upgrades, missiles and patrol boats, the Pentagon said on Friday. The approvals coincide with the State Department s notification to Congress, which had held up a similar arms deal last year over human rights concerns. The proposed sales include 19 F-16V jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp which could have a value of up to $2.7 billion, the Pentagon said. Other potential sales approved Friday include two 35 meter (114 feet) patrol boats with machine guns, 221 anti-tank missiles made by Raytheon Co and $1.8 billion worth of upgrades to Bahrain s existing fleet of F-16 jets, the Pentagon said in separate statements. In May, U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington s relations with Bahrain would improve, after meeting with the king of the Gulf Arab state during a visit to Saudi Arabia. However in June, U.S. Senator Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would block arms sales to members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, including Bahrain, until they made progress in resolving a simmering dispute with Qatar. But a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity earlier on Friday, said the proposed sales were cleared by the Senate Foreign Relations and House Foreign Affairs Committees through the regular tiered review process which precedes this formal notification. The U.S. official also said the United States has regular discussions with Bahrain on human rights and political reform and continues to urge its government to pursue efforts that will enhance regional security. | 1 |
2,891 | U.S. lawmakers reach deal on Russia sanctions bill, creating limits for Trump | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Republicans and Democrats have reached agreement on legislation that allows new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, leading congressional Democrats said on Saturday, in a bill that would limit any potential effort by President Donald Trump to try to lift sanctions against Moscow. The Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act, which was passed by the Senate a month ago, was held up in the House of Representatives after Republicans proposed including North Korea sanctions in the bill. The House is set to vote on Tuesday on a package of bills on sanctions covering Russia, Iran and North Korea, according to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office. The measure will “hold them accountable for their dangerous actions,” McCarthy said in a statement Saturday. Under the proposed bill, Trump must submit to Congress a report on proposed actions that would “significantly alter” U.S. foreign policy in connection with Russia, including easing sanctions or returning diplomatic properties in Maryland and New York that former President Barack Obama ordered vacated in December. Congress would have at least 30 days to hold hearings and then vote to uphold or reject Trump’s proposed changes. Many lawmakers hope the bill will send a message to Trump to keep a strong line against Russia. Trump, who met Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg earlier this month and said it was an “honor” to meet him, has been criticized for seeking to reset U.S.-Russian relations. His administration has been bogged down by ongoing investigations of possible ties between his 2016 campaign and Russia. With the bill, Republicans and Democrats are seeking to punish Russia for its 2014 annexation of Crimea, a peninsula belong to Ukraine, and for meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Putin has denied any meddling in the U.S. democratic process last year. Trump has said that his campaign did not collude with Russia. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Russia’s “outrageous and unacceptable” behavior in the 2016 U.S. election and in Europe “demand that we have strong statutory sanctions enacted as soon as possible.” Even so, she expressed concerns that by including North Korea the legislation could face procedural delays in the Senate. Senior Republican lawmakers did not immediately comment on the latest bill. In Brussels, the European Union sounded an alarm about the U.S. moves to step up sanctions on Russia, urging Washington to coordinate with its Group of 7 partners. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, warned of possibly “wide and indiscriminate” “unintended consequences,” notably on the EU’s efforts to diversify energy sources away from Russia. McCarthy and Ed Royce, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement the revised bill helps “bolster the energy security of our European allies by maintaining their access to key energy resources outside of Russia.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said a strong sanctions bill “is essential,” and said in a statement that he expects “the House and Senate will act on this legislation promptly, on a broad bipartisan basis.” Senator Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the agreement was reached after “intense negotiations.” “A nearly united Congress is poised to send President Putin a clear message on behalf of the American people and our allies, and we need President Trump to help us deliver that message,” he said in a statement. | 1 |
2,892 | Thai king marks completion of royal cremation site ahead of funeral | BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand s King Maha Vajiralongkorn on Wednesday presided over a ceremony marking the end of the construction of the royal crematorium that will be used in the funeral of his father, the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, on Oct. 26. The king blessed and then raised the Nine-Tiered Great White Umbrella of State, the most sacred regalia of the Thai monarchy, to the top of the lavish crematorium - the main site of the royal funeral that was built from scratch on an open space in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok s old quarter. Artisans have worked for 10 months to build the site that includes eight structures decorated with ornaments of various gods and goddesses, mimicking a vision of heaven in Bhramin-Buddhist traditions of Thailand s royal court. Hundreds of thousands of black-clad mourners are expected to camp for days near the palace to observe the five-day funeral ceremony, a last goodbye to much-loved King Bhumibol who reigned over Thailand from 1946 until his death on Oct. 13, 2016. [nL4N1MM1N6] Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai said at least 30 foreign dignitaries will attend the royal cremation and the number could rise. The dignitaries who have confirmed their attendance include King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan, Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Japan s Prince Akishino, Australia s Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Singapore s President Halimah Yacob. About 12 million people, or almost one sixth of Thailand s population, have paid their respects to the late king, queuing up to visit the Grand Palace where he has been lying-in-state. Oct. 26 has been declared a national holiday. That night, more than 3,000 performers will join a final tribute of music and puppet shows to end a year of mourning. | 1 |
2,893 | Colombia's congress approves peace tribunals for ex FARC rebels | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia s lower house of congress late on Monday backed a bill to regulate transitional justice under the nation s peace deal with Marxist FARC rebels, including special tribunals that will try guerrilla leaders for war crimes. The bill, which was approved with some modifications, is considered the cornerstone of the peace agreement signed last year between the government and the FARC, known until recently as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The special courts will mete out alternative sentences like landmine removal for ex-guerrilla leaders who are convicted of war crimes committed during the five-decade war. Under the peace deal, those convicted will not serve time in traditional jails. The lower house made changes to the text agreed this month by the Senate, so it must now go for conciliation between the two chambers. Once there is agreement on alterations the bill will go to President Juan Manuel Santos to be signed into law. With this step, we move towards peace: transitional justice guarantees the rights of the victims and establishes the basis for the reconciliation of Colombians, Santos said on Twitter. Congress had until the end of the month to approve the law using a court-approved fast-track mechanism to reduce the number of required debates in an effort to implement the peace accord as quickly as possible. The FARC, now a political party known as the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, has argued against any changes to the original agreement, including extradition for crimes committed after demobilization. The law, which would also apply to members of the military who have been accused of atrocities, is part of the agreement that allowed more than 11,000 members of the FARC - combatants and others - to lay down their arms and enter politics. With the modifications, the FARC will be able to participate in politics, but face the risk of losing benefits if they committed sexual abuse against minors. They can be also be extradited for crimes committed after the culmination of the peace process. We have achieved an agreement with teeth, said Rodrigo Lara, president of the lower house. Any FARC member who commits a another crime will immediately leave the special regime and go to the ordinary jurisdiction. Sexual crimes will not be protected. The leader of the FARC, Rodrigo Londono, a presidential candidate for next year s election, has said any changes put at risk the implementation of the peace agreement. Under the agreement the FARC will have 10 guaranteed seats in Congress until 2026. The group has announced a slate of candidates for elections next year. | 1 |
2,894 | California ballot has record number of local revenue measures | SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A record number of local tax and bond measures will fill the California ballot this November, including over $32 billion of proposed funding for education, infrastructure and homeless services. Some 650 local measures will go before voters, including 427 revenue measures. That is considerably more than the number proposed during any of the last five gubernatorial or presidential elections, according to data compiled by the local government finance consulting firm CaliforniaCityFinance.com. Previously, the most measure-packed election was in November 2014, with 268 local revenue measures. California is one of 24 states that allow initiative rights to its citizens. Voter-approved measures are used to raise revenues for specific construction projects, change tax policy, or create new laws. In the Golden State and nationwide, a boom in bond proposals follows years of federal cutbacks to state and local programs, continued low interest rates and years of unmet infrastructure needs. The largest monetary requests by local municipalities in California include $3.5 billion for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), $1.2 billion for Los Angeles homeless housing and services, and $950 million for affordable housing in Santa Clara County. There are 184 local measures to fund public school and community college projects, totaling more than $25 billion. Michael Coleman, head of CaliforniaCityFinance.com, said the surge in education bond measures coincides with statewide Proposition 51, which authorizes $9 billion in general obligation bonds for public school facilities. Proposition 55 aims to increase education funding by extending upper income tax rates. “There’s a lot of folks that think this is the time to go for a new school bond,” said Coleman. “They see it as a synchronous message, and time to get in line for matching funds.” The Nov. 8 election is a focus for statewide propositions as well. There are 17 in total, regarding issues ranging from marijuana legalization to the public cost of prescription drugs, tobacco taxes and the death penalty. The surge of ballot measures comes during an election year in which the presidential race is sure to draw large crowds to voting booths. There is also the lingering effect of low voter turnout during the November 2014 election that reduced the signature threshold for a proposition to qualify. Across the country, 74 citizen-initiated measures fill state ballots, more than double the number certified in 2014, according to Natalie Cohen, senior analyst at Wells Fargo Securities. Growing populist sentiment and frustration with traditional government contributed to the groundswell, Cohen wrote in a recent report about upcoming ballot measures. In California, some local measures are reactive to state propositions. For example, Proposition 64 aims to legalize recreational cannabis, and 37 local measures would create marijuana taxes for local cities and counties. Thirteen countywide measures would fund transportation improvements. “That’s coming from an acknowledged, pent-up demand for badly needed infrastructure repairs,” Coleman said. Eighty-eight measures would increase or extend local sale taxes. Another 39 support parcel taxes for road improvements, fire and emergency services, hospitals and police. Parcel taxes are flat taxes on properties that originated after Proposition 13 severely limited property taxes in 1978. Three Bay Area measures would tax sugary beverages. | 1 |
2,895 | Trump Tried To Distance Himself From His ‘Senior Advisor’ Who Promised Russia Would Help Get Him Elected | Remember the name Felix Sater, because it s going to come up a lot while Robert Mueller and his special counsel team tear down the fa ade surrounding Donald Trump s collusion with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election.According to the New York Times, Mr. Sater, a former broker for the Trump Organization, wrote a series of emails that played up his ties to both Trump himself and to Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. Those emails were sent to Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump s lawyer. In the communications, Sater said that if the company built a Trump Tower in Moscow, he would personally get Putin on board and, more importantly, that it would help them engineer Donald Trump s election as President of the United States:I will get Putin on this program and we will get Donald elected. We both know no one else knows how to pull this off without stupidity or greed getting in the way. I know how to play it and we will get this done. Buddy, our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.That s quite a boast, coming from a man who by the time he even worked for Trump had already worked as a mob informant for the U.S. government, fled to Moscow to avoid criminal charges while boasting of his KGB and Kremlin contacts there, and had gone to prison for slashing apart another man s face with a broken cocktail glass, according to Bloomberg.At another point, Sater promised to arrange for Ivanka Trump to sit in Putin s chair. Felix later escorted Donald s kids around Moscow, though Ivanka now says she had nothing to do with any business dealings.Trump insists he barely knows Felix Sater, and has for some time. But Sater, post-prison, carried a Trump Organization business card describing himself as a senior advisor to the future president. One might imagine that litigation-happy Trump would have fits if he saw an unauthorized person toting this around:Sater's business card pic.twitter.com/6AOZcb7QHd Kerry McCue (@krrmcc) May 13, 2017Does all that sound a little too James Bond-ish for you? How about a video of Donald Trump walking out of an interview four years ago with BBC s Panorama after being asked about Sater:Even in the video, Trump attempts to put as much space as possible between himself and the man whose emails to his lawyer just two years later would cast such a long shadow on his dealings with Russia.I just want to know if Ivanka ever got to sit in that chair.Featured image via video screen capture | 0 |
2,896 | BREAKING: MORE HACKED E-MAILS From DNC Released By A Vengeful Guccifer | It s not the first time that the name of Vladimir Putin has been brought up in the US presidential campaign, but this time the US president used this argument while openly campaigning for Clinton against Trump. The situation has become really ludicrous and it borders on the ridiculous, believes Gregory R. Copley, editor of Defense & Foreign Affairs. In my 50 odd years covering the US government, I have never seen this level of partisanship within the administration where a sitting president actually regards the opposition party as the enemy of the state, Copley told RT.The analyst said that the democrats are blaming the messenger to revert the attention from the message. The message which Donald Trump delivered on RT was unambiguous in his campaign. Just like the fact that WikiLeaks revelation of the hacked emails was very explicit in showing up what the Democratic party itself was doing, Copley added.The US establishment is sacrificing key bilateral relationships in order to win [a] domestic election, believes Copley. He added that neither Obama nor Clinton are interested in unifying the country, but they are rather interested in winning and engaging in what modern democracy seems to have become the tyranny of the marginal majority over the marginal minority. When you think about the number of times that the Clinton campaign has brought up President Putin and the alleged Russian hacking of Hillary Clinton s service, it makes you wonder just how desperate they are, Copley noted. President Obama has lost literally all prestige in an international community with the loss of prestige he has become desperate. Read more: RTAnother round of hacked Democratic National Committee documents have been released. Provided by an anonymous representative of a hacker, Guccifer, the 500 megabytes detail the DNC s information technology infrastructure and internal reports on donors.Forbes reports that on Tuesday in London at the Future of Cyber Security Europe conference, Guccifer addressed cybersecurity experts through an unknown and remote transcriber.The notorious hacker then shared a trove of documents ostensibly obtained via a breach of the DNC s cybersecurity. According to Forbes, a password and login was given to them, and the documents they accessed appeared to show details of DNC donors and finances as well as the information technology setup to protect the sensitive data.In July, just as the Democratic National Convention was getting underway, WikiLeaks released the results of the first DNC hack carried out by Guccifer. That hack revealed signs of bias in favor of Hillary Clinton over her primary opponent Bernie Sanders, and consequently led to the resignation of the DNC chair, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, as well as several other top officers.The DNC responded to the latest hack claim Tuesday through its Interim Chair Donna Brazile, who stated that the DNC is the victim of a crime, which she blamed on Russian state-sponsored agents, while also cautioning that the hacked documents were still being authenticated by the DNC legal team, as it is common for Russian hackers to forge documents. | 0 |
2,897 | Colombia peace deal cannot be modified for 12 years, court rules | BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia s next three governments must comply with a 2016 peace deal signed with the Marxist FARC rebel group, the Constitutional Court said in a ruling late on Wednesday, shielding the accord from potential changes should the opposition win next year s elections. The decision blocks modifications to the peace deal for the next 12, stymieing right-wing opponents of President Juan Manuel Santos who have long rejected the accord and who may have sought to change or cancel it. The deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels ended more than 52 years of war. More than 220,000 people have died and millions have been displaced during the Andean country s conflict between the government, leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries. Institutions and authorities of the state have the obligation to comply with what is established in the final accord in good faith...until the end of three complete presidential periods following the signing, reads the constitutional reform approved by the court. The government welcomed the ruling, with peace commissioner Rodrigo Rivera saying in a statement that the ruling should ease any worries among former FARC combatants, some 7,000 of whom have demobilized and formed a political party, that the accord will not be respected. Right-wing opposition politicians, including ex-president turned senator Alvaro Uribe, said the ruling ignored the will of Colombians, who narrowly rejected the deal in a referendum held just over a year ago, before it was modified and passed through Congress. | 1 |
2,898 | Bannon, Priebus top candidates for White House chief of staff: NY Times | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s campaign chief, Steve Bannon, is a leading candidate to become White House chief of staff, but Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus is also being considered for the job, the New York Times reported on Thursday. Bannon, the executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, is well liked among Trump’s circle of advisers, the Times said. Priebus is said to be viewed favorably by Trump’s daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the newspaper said. | 1 |
2,899 | primaire françois fillon se désiste au profit de sarkzoy après la découverte dune tête de cheval dans son lit le gorafi | keywords alkaline water
water can either be acidic or alkaline depending on its ph level ph stands for potential hydrogen or power of hydrogen and refers to a number of hydrogen ions contained within the substance the ph or potential hydrogen scale runs from zero to fourteen with as the neutral middle an acid is a substance with a ph of less than a basic or alkaline substance has a ph of greater than
your tap water is a mixture of chlorine antibiotics hormones disturbing chemicals and other metals that will go straight into your system impure water can cause a weakened immune system and an array of other illnesses that occur when the immune system is vulnerable alkaline water simple recipe
with the proper ingredients and some guidance you can learn to make water alkaline and see for yourself the way it can enhance your health
ingredients
two liters of filtered clean water one teaspoon of himalayan salt a quarter of sliced lemon organic
directions
pour the filtered water into a clean glass jar after that place the lemon in the water dont squeeze it next add one teaspoon of himalayan pink salt in the water put the lid on top of the jar and leave it overnight consume three glasses of alkaline water in the morning on an empty stomach
the beauty of lemon water is that it is delicious refreshing nourishing and best of all alkalizing by alkalizing our water we can easily contribute to our health by improving our metabolism lowering the acidity in our bloodstream slowing the progressions of aging down and kickstarting our bodys full potential by lowering its overall acidity
cancer cells cannot live in alkaline water
the alkaline water is extremely powerful alkaline water has a high redox potential and it has its water molecules in smaller clusters than normal water lemon is well known for its ph balancing and it has quite an acidic taste it is inherently alkaline and helps the body maintain its balance most importantly they do so without damaging the healthy cells
all of these things help inhibit the spread of cancer and aid in killing cancer cells directly or indirectly it is also a powerful disinfectant and antibacterial compound aiding in the treatment many conditions from bad breath to cholera
sources include | 0 |
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