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4,800 | U.S. top court rejects bid to revive Wisconsin governor probe | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a request to revive an investigation in Wisconsin into whether Governor Scott Walker’s campaign to withstand a union-backed 2012 recall election illegally coordinated with conservative advocacy groups aligned with him. The justices, on the first day of their new term, let stand a 2015 Wisconsin Supreme Court decision to end the probe into whether the Republican governor and conservative groups violated campaign finance laws. The investigation, led by special prosecutor Francis Schmitz, was launched two months after Walker became the first state governor in U.S. history to survive a recall election. Walker last year mounted an unsuccessful bid for his party’s presidential nomination. “The United States Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Supreme Court and multiple judges have all reached the same conclusion with every ruling - that this investigation by prosecutors was without merit and thus must be ended,” Walker said in a statement. Walker last year signed a state law prohibiting prosecutors from using Wisconsin’s secret investigation statute, which had been used to convict four of his aides and investigate his campaign, to probe political crimes. Three Democratic county prosecutors who asked the justices to hear an appeal of the state court ruling expressed disappointment. “The state Supreme Court decision, left intact by today’s order, prohibits Wisconsin citizens from enacting laws requiring the full disclosure of disguised contributions to a candidate,” they said in a statement. That includes money spent by third parties at the direction of a candidate to support that candidate’s election, they added. The investigation focused on possible unlawful coordination between Walker’s campaign and conservative groups including the Wisconsin Club for Growth in 2011 and 2012. A federal judge in 2014 initially stopped the probe after the Wisconsin Club for Growth filed a lawsuit accusing investigators of sidelining the group from political activities and violating its rights under the U.S. Constitution to free speech, association and equal protection under the law. A federal appeals court later said the investigation could continue but Wisconsin’s high court ultimately stopped it. Brendan Fischer, a lawyer with the Campaign Legal Center that advocates strong enforcement of campaign finance laws, said the justices’ move did not endorse Walker’s actions. “Governor Walker secretly told out-of-state donors they could support him by secretly giving to Wisconsin Club for Growth which, he emphasized, could accept corporate contributions without limit,” Fischer said. “Walker’s campaign adviser controlled how Wisconsin Club for Growth spent the money, and after winning re-election, Walker signed legislation advancing the interests of the secret donors.” | 1 |
4,801 | WATCH: Adviser Who Wrote Trump’s Tax Plan Says You Will Be Able To Buy A NEW Car For $1,000 | Gary Cohn, a Goldman Sachs recruit, now serving as Trump s White House economic adviser and has assets worth $252 million to $611 million, says that under the former reality show star s tax plan you can buy a brand new car for $1,000, but that s not all, folks, In addition to that, you can renovate your entire kitchen for $1,000. And you can buy a UNICORN for just five bucks, and all because Trump is the best person ever!Cohn took the podium to tell voters about all of this good news which has to be for real because Trump is going to MAGA so hard, you ll also be able to take your family on a vacation for $1,000. Are you getting goosebumps, too? If we allow a family to keep another $1,000, they can renovate their kitchen, they can buy a new car, they can take a family vacation, Cohn said.Maybe Cohn meant you can take your family on a vacay in your basement for $1,000. As for the brand new car and the renovated kitchen, I got nothin .Watch:That time when Gary Cohn who is worth hundreds of millions of dollars says a kitchen renovation costs $1K. Yea.pic.twitter.com/zFn4jtHIoy Ricky Davila (@TheRickyDavila) September 28, 2017The Internet was not buying it, probably because Mr. Goldman Sachs just told a big fat lie.#1000DollarKitchen pic.twitter.com/g0jNlknPVo Adil (@AdilG) September 28, 2017Lol Gary Cohn thinks you can buy a car for $1,000 Militia Etheridge (@MaryEmilyOHara) September 28, 2017"Gary Cohn" Just ordered my $1,000 Cohn car. pic.twitter.com/m7MEWpXHJq Oracle (@TruePolTalk) September 28, 2017"What does $1,000 mean? I means they can renovate their kitchen. They can buy a new car." Gary Cohn, who apparently shops in the year 1922 Shane Morris (@IamShaneMorris) September 28, 2017Gary Cohn says families can 'renovate their kitchen, buy a new car' with $1,000 in tax savings pic.twitter.com/pXEaQKxAHf Michelle Ye Hee Lee (@myhlee) September 28, 2017The car you might be able to buy with that $1,000 Gary Cohn mentioned. pic.twitter.com/B5XQE9y4Mh Cornelia (@PaladinCornelia) September 28, 2017Trump, his family members, and his Goldman Sachs alumni-filled White House would benefit greatly from his tax plan. People just like Gary Cohn. In fact, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the top 1 percent of Americans would get half of the tax cuts under Trump s plan. By eliminating the estate tax, the plan would benefit Trump, his family, and other wealthy Americans. So, now we know why Trump was so vague during his short speech in Indiana on Wednesday.We re wondering what Mr. Fancy Pants thinks a new house costs. By the way, the estimated average transaction price of a new car or truck in 2015 was $33,560. We re sure that s higher now. Mr. Cohn was only off by $32,560. He was soooo close. Missed it by that much! The average cost to renovate a kitchen is actually $21,797. According to American Express, the average vacation expense per person in the United States is $1,145, or $4,580 for a family of four.Image via screen capture. | 0 |
4,802 | Saudi sovereign fund to develop holy sites in Mecca, Medina | RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is forming two real estate development firms to boost the capacity of Mecca and Medina to receive pilgrims, in projects expected to create billions of dollars of business, it said on Monday. The plans are part of an array of commitments which the PIF, the country s main sovereign wealth fund, is taking on under economic reforms designed to reduce Saudi Arabia s dependence on oil exports. The government is mobilising the fund, believed to have about $180 billion of assets, to lead urban development and industrial projects around the country, even as the PIF manages stakes in top Saudi companies and makes foreign investments such as last year s purchase of a $3.5 billion stake in Uber. The scope of the PIF s activities has caused concern among some private Saudi businessmen. The reforms aim to stimulate the private sector but with so many huge projects going to the PIF, some businessmen fear they could be crowded out by the deep-pocketed fund. The PIF said the first phase of its development of an area near the Grand Mosque in Mecca would cover 854,000 square metres (9.1 million square feet) and deliver 115 buildings. It is to include 70,000 new hotel rooms and 9,000 housing units. Construction will start this year with the first phase expected to open in 2024. By 2030, the area will contribute $2.1 billion annually to gross domestic product, the fund said. It also plans to develop 1.3 million square metres near the Prophet s Mosque in Medina, adding 500 housing units and 80,000 hotel rooms. Expanding Islamic tourism is a top goal of Saudi reforms, which seek to develop non-oil income to offset a plunge in oil export receipts due to low crude prices. The PIF did not reveal how much money it would invest, how it would award contracts, or the extent to which private investors would be brought in. Riyadh has said it wants to involve private capital in major projects to reduce pressure on state finances, but in many cases a legal framework for such ventures has not yet been created. Most Saudi real estate developers are small, so state bodies often have to be used to jump-start large projects, especially when the government wants to move quickly. Among other PIF projects, the fund said last week that it would lead the $4.8 billion redevelopment of Jeddah s waterfront corniche. [nL8N1M83KV] In August, the government said it would develop resorts on about 50 Red Sea islands in a PIF-backed project. The fund will be the main investor in a 334 square kilometre (129 square mile) entertainment city near Riyadh featuring cultural and recreational facilities. | 1 |
4,803 | BREAKING: EMERGENCY Room Doctor In Dearborn, MI Hospital Arrested, Charged With Genital Mutilation Of 6-8 Yr Old Girls [VIDEO] | B b b but that doesn t happen in America does it? A Henry Ford Hospital emergency room doctor has been arrested and charged in connection to performing female genital mutilation on young girls.Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville Michigan is accused of performing female genital mutilation on underage girls.According to a criminal complaint, Nagarwala performed the procedure on girls ages six to eight years old at a medical clinic in Livonia.Some of the children were brought from out of state for the illegal procedure. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is considered the complete removal or partial removal of the clitoris, known as a clitoridectomy. FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of women and girls.The investigation revealed that in one particular case, a 7-year-old was brought by her family from Minnesota. An investigation into phone records revealed their location. The child was interviewed on April 10. She stated that she was brought to Detroit for special girls trip. The child victim also stated that she said she had to go to the doctor to get the germs out. Upon a medical exam on April 11, a doctor determined that the child s genitals had been altered or removed. The child identified Dr. Nagarwala as the doctor who performed the procedure.Some consider FGM as a religious and cultural practice. The purpose of this illegal practice is to suppress female sexuality in order to reduce sexual pleasure.In the criminal affidavit, Nagarwala performed FGM on girls who were approximately 7 years old at the time at a clinic in Livonia. According to the complaint, despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr. Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco. The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse. Female genital mutilation constitutes a particularly brutal form of violence against women and girls. It is also a serious federal felony in the United States. The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform FGM on minors will be held accountable under federal law, stated Acting United States Attorney Daniel Lemisch. The allegations detailed in today s criminal complaint are disturbing. The FBI, along with its law enforcement partners, are committed to doing whatever necessary to bring an end to this barbaric practice and to ensure no additional children fall victim to this procedure , said Special Agent in Charge David Gelios.Via WXYZ TV | 0 |
4,804 | Arizona Is Out Of Death-Penalty Drug Options | On May 31 the state of Arizona ran out of midazolam, a sedative which, when mixed with other drugs, can be used to carry out state-sponsored executions. Arizona officials later announced that the state had discontinued use of the drug altogether.This is good news for opponents of the death penalty. Thanks to their advocacy, the supply of midazolam has all but dried up in Arizona and elsewhere. Better still, Arizona is no longer able to obtain other drugs used in executions, such as pentobarbital and sodium thiopental.In a court filing this week, lawyers for the state basically admitted Arizona s hands are tied. According to the documents, Arizona is not able to execute inmates at this time, due to lack of access to various execution drugs.The last person to be executed in Arizona was Joseph Rudolph Wood. In 2014, Wood was given 15 doses of midazolam along with a pain killer. It took him two hours to die.Following the botched execution, attorney s from the public defender s office filed suit on behalf of Wood and other Arizona inmates. A coalition of media organizations joined in the suit, asking the court to compel the state to fully disclose how it handles executions.In a recent court filing, attorneys for the state of Arizona asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The state claims that the suit is now moot, citing the fact that it is no longer able to carry out executions, due to lack of access to lethal-injection drugs.As Addicting Info reported here, federal authorities busted Arizona officials smuggling illegal drugs into the U.S. in October of last year. Federal agents confiscated an illegal shipment of sodium thiopental at the Phoenix Airport, which Arizona officials spent more than $27,000 of taxpayer money to obtain from Asia.The states of Texas and Nebraska were also busted for smuggling illegal drugs into the country last year.With Arizona s recent decision to discontinue the use of midazolam, the state s lack of access to other death penalty drugs in the U.S., and the federal government blocking attempts to obtain the drugs from overseas, Arizona is officially out of options for killing people.Image credit: Wikimedia Commons | 0 |
4,805 | WATCH: Louisiana GOP Rep SLAMS Her Sexist Male Colleagues On The Statehouse Floor | It was an epic shaming they all deserved.When Democrats introduced a bill to increase the age limit on exotic dancers from 18 to 21 in an effort to curb sex trafficking, a Republican proposed a sexist amendment that would regulate stripping so that only women between twenty-one and twenty-eight years of age and no more than one hundred sixty pounds in weight would be able to work as an exotic dancer.Democratic state Rep. Walt Leger introduced House Bill 468 and it didn t take long for a Republican colleague to demonstrate that lawmakers aren t taking the issue seriously.GOP state Rep. Sam Jones responded by asking if Leger wants to institute a maximum age as well as the House broke into laughter. Leger responded that he s open to suggestions but doesn t want to comment on anybody s tastes. That s when GOP state Rep.Kenneth Havard chimed in by offering his amendment complete with an offensive sexist remark. In the spirit of this legislative session, I will offer up this amendment as a part of keeping the spirit alive of trimming the fat, he said. Again, the male GOP lawmakers thought this was hilarious and an appropriate way for a government body to act.Not everyone in the chamber was amused, however, as their female colleagues were quick to shame them and forced Havard to withdraw his amendment in humiliation. I ve got to say, looking out over this body, I ve never been more repulsed to be part of it, GOP state Rep. Julie Stokes said during her condemnation of her sexist colleagues. I m going to tell you one thing, the disrespect and I saw it in 2013 in committee, and I ve never been so disgusted to be part of a committee as I was in 2013, somebody made comments, like, What if it s a classy strip club like Cheetah s in Atlanta? That s not the way we behave in this body. Becoming visibly more upset as she continued, Stokes slammed Havard for his amendment and told her colleagues to consider their own daughters. I don t even know what Representative Havard was thinking. That s a dangerous thing to do politically. It was a bad idea I suggest that everybody in here look at their own bodies and their own daughters.Stokes pointed out that these lawmakers are somehow completely fine with barring women under 21 from drinking and buying a lottery ticket but have no problem with 18-year-olds stripping in a men s club.By the time Stokes reached the end of her remarks, the floor was dead silent and she finished by expressing her disgust over their comments and expressed her wish that they show respect to Leger s effort and to all the women present in the chamber. I refuse the spirit of everything that I heard. And I can t even believe the behavior in here. I think we need to call an end to this. I hear derogatory comments about women in this place regularly. I hear and I see women get treated differently than men, and I m going to tell you what, you gave me a perfect forum to talk about it right now. Because it has got to stop. That was utterly disrespectful and disgusting. I really don t have anything left to say. Here s the video:House Bill 468 came about as Leger explained because back in October Alcohol Tobacco Control did a sting where they found prostitution and drug dealing in at least 14 strip clubs in the state.Leger went on to explain that strip clubs become havens for trafficking where teen girls are preyed upon because many of them are stripping because they are desperate to earn a living. That s why Leger and Democrats are trying to raise the age limit and that makes HB 468 a legitimate piece of legislation that is not a joking matter.The sexist pigs of the Louisiana Republican Party should be ashamed of themselves.Featured image via screencapture | 0 |
4,806 | WATCH CRAZED LEFTIES PROTESTING TRUMP Shut Down Syrian Refugee Who Disagrees [Video] | THIS IS SO IRONIC! CRAZED LEFTISTS with an anti-Trump agenda had a hard time relating to reason from a Syrian refugee who actually has skin in the game. They claim to be speaking to protect this guy and other Syrians, but they actually don t care about what he has to say. They don t care about the facts!A Syrian refugee shut down by protestors, trying to make his point in a polite way. Is this really acceptable? #stopthewar #syria pic.twitter.com/yvEgNfuPZZ Tehmoor Khalid (@TehmoorKhalid) April 7, 2017Is anyone surprised?Watch the crazy lefty shake her finger in his face and yell at him. Of course, she knows more about what s going on in his country than he does. He asks the woman if he could speak, when the head guy who s probably a Soros employee, tells her to keep chanting What these people forget is that we are supposed to have the right to free speech in America! Why is it the left that continuously silences anyone and everyone they disagree with?ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE LEFT TRYING TO FRAME THE NARRATIVE:A set up by CNN to try and push the anti-Trump narrative experienced a major detour today when a survivor of a gas attack in 2013 didn t follow the line of propaganda that CNN was pushing. CNN pundit Brooke Baldwin had interviewed this victim of the 2013 attack just 3 days ago. This survivor spoke of the attacks on innocents setting up the liberal humanitarian perspective.Fast forward to today when we have the aftermath of last night s airstrike, Ms. Baldwin brought Kassem Eid back to frame a narrative about President Trump launching an airstrike in Syria, but being unwilling to accept Syrian refugees. They wanted to make Trump out to be a hypocrite.To set up the attack on Trump, CNN producers showed Hillary Clinton saying, we cannot speak of protecting Syria s babies, and in the next breath close America s doors to them .What happened next shocked Baldwin and she couldn t shut this guy down fast enough Epic!Kassem Eid, who survived a 2013 chemical gas attack in Syria, expresses his gratitude to President Trump for his missile strike of a Syrian airbase. | 0 |
4,807 | NY Lawmakers Compare MMA Fighting To ‘Gay P*rn’ And Police Abuse | On Tuesday, the New York State Assembly passed a bill that legalized mixed martial arts (MMA), but it was the debate leading up to the passage of the bill that got the most attention. State lawmakers compared the sport to slavery and gay porn, the claims were so outrageous that former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman said he was embarrassed for them. New York is currently the only state that bans the popular MMA sport and this was the first time the State Assembly has ever brought it to a vote, despite the fact that the Senate has passed it seven years in a row. So when lawmakers finally passed the bill, it was a big deal, unfortunately, it was overshadowed by a whole lot of stupidity during the debate.Sadly one of the most mindblowing comments came from a Democrat: I thought I should learn a little bit about (MMA), said Assemblyman Daniel O Donnell (D-Manhattan), who is gay. Well, I should really like it. You have two nearly naked, hot men trying to dominate each other. That s gay porn with a different ending. I m going to assume that O Donnell, the brother of actress/comedian Rosie O Donnell, was trying to channel his sister and be funny with his dissenting opinion, but he failed miserably. He wasn t the only lawmaker to make a crazy comparison, Assemblyman Charles Barron said it was like slavery and police violence: You know how we feel about the chokehold in New York City. You can put him in a chokehold and the ref has to be determining whether he got choked enough or she got choked enough. This (sport) is not something we should legalize or regulate. That s taking it a little far. MMA fighters know exactly what their sport is about; Eric Garner, however, did not expect the NYPD to choke him to death when he sold loose cigarettes. Comparing a sport to systematic police abuse is outrageous and offensive.When asked about the lawmakers comparisons, Chris Weidman said: Some of the things they were saying were so ridiculous that I was actually happy and embarrassed for them for even bringing it up. It s things I ve heard people behind closed doors might be saying, but to hear them say it live and to the public, I actually thought it was pretty interesting and probably good for us. I just thought it was embarrassing on their part. I have to agree with him, the lawmakers sounded ridiculous. We expect Republicans to make outlandish claims when they are arguing against something, but when Democrats do it, it s even more embarrassing. We are smarter than that and frankly, they should both apologize for their crass remarks.Featured image via Steve Marcus/Getty Images | 0 |
4,808 | FINALLY! THE 538 ELECTORAL COLLEGE MEMBERS Cast Ballots Today…What You Need To Know About The Process | WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:In all 50 state capitals and the District of Columbia, electors chosen by the state parties of the candidate who carried their state, Trump or Hillary Clinton will meet to cast their ballots. There s no national meeting of the Electoral College. Instead, electors gather in each state usually in the Capitol.Under federal law, though, electors must gather on December 19. And each elector must sign six copies certifying their votes for president and vice president.Two ballots go to the National Archives. One goes to the president of the Senate. Two go to their state s chief elections officer. And one goes to a local judge. After Monday s votes, there is still one last step: On January 6, Congress has to officially count the electoral votes. Vice President Joe Biden will preside over the count. Lawmakers can technically object in writing, with objections signed by at least one House and one Senate member to individual electoral votes or entire states results. If the House and Senate support that objection, the vote or votes in question are thrown out. But that has never happened. After the votes are counted, the results are final, and Trump is officially set for his inauguration at noon on January 20.Read more: CNN | 0 |
4,809 | Chaos Ensues After Man Accidentally Shoots Himself And Wife In Church During Gun Safety Talk | Maybe thoughts and prayers aren t the remedy following a shooting, after all. At the First United Methodist Church in East Tennessee, about 20 senior citizens gathered around for a holiday meal. After the meal, the group of elderly churchgoers decided to discuss gun safety. There has, after all, been a spate of mass shootings recently as many as 317 so far this year. They got the idea for the conversation reportedly after a nearby county s sheriff s department held similar seminars at its local churches, according to Tellico Plains Police Chief Russ Parks. Well, I ve got my gun on me, an 81-year-old member of the church in Tellico Plains said, according to Parks, The Washington Post reports. The man then pulled out his holster in which he had a .38-caliber Ruger handgun. He promptly removed the magazine for everyone to see, then cleared the chamber and showed the gun to his fellow parishioners.The churchgoers discussed how to safely bring guns to church, then spoke of the deaths with recent mass shootings, like, for example, the recent Texas massacre in which a gunman shot 26 people dead as they sat in church.The 81-year-old man put the magazine back into the gun and put the gun back in the holster, Parks explained, but then later, while parishioners were cleaning up, one church member who had missed the demonstration asked the man to see the firearm and that s when everything turned chaotic inside the church.The 81-year-old accidentally pulled the trigger without realizing the gun was loaded, then a bullet fired across the palm of the man s hand and toward his 80-year-old wife, who was sitting in a wheelchair next to him, entering her lower left abdomen, then it went out of the right side of her abdomen, into her right forearm and out the backside of her forearm. Following that, the bullet then ricocheted off the wall and landed under his wife s wheelchair, Parks said.That prompted panic in the church because some of the folks thought an active gunman was on the premises. They had their backs to it, Parks said. Somebody hollers, He s been shot! She s been shot! Call 911! Due to a lot of panic during the calls to 911, the dispatcher assumed someone had entered the church and was shooting, so several schools were put on lockdown.The injured husband and wife were flown to the University of Tennessee Medical Center where they are listed critical condition.We re waiting for the NRA to say, If only the wife had a gun, she could have protected herself. Image: Ken Wilcox via Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0. | 0 |
4,810 | Wikileaks Admits To Screwing Up IMMENSELY With Twitter Poll On Hillary’s Health | Wikileaks, which is more a conspiracy enterprise than it is a whistleblowing watchdog these days, put up a poll on Twitter that asked users to tell them which health issue they thought was causing Hillary s coughing fits and unusual body movements. All four of their answers have been bandied about by conservatives everywhere, as they try and diagnose Hillary in a frantic attempt to prove she s unfit to be President.They ve since deleted the poll and put a tweet in its place that s supposed to be a sort of retraction and apology, or as close as Wikileaks will ever get to admitting they royally screwed up. However, the Internet is keeping the poll and publishing it everywhere they can. Buzzfeed s Andrew Kaczynski republished a screencap of it while needling Wikileaks about transparency, since that s what Wikileaks was supposed to be about before they turned into conspiracy theorists with a hate-on for Hillary:.@wikileaks deleted their tweet. Obviously in the nature of openness & transparency I have preserved it right here: pic.twitter.com/IdrgFlxP3A andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) September 11, 2016Wikileaks apparently didn t like the flack they were catching for that poll, though, and tweeted out their non-apology accordingly: We removed our earlier poll on what people perceive are the reasons for Clinton s medical issues as the possibilities are too speculative. WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 11, 2016They should know that poll is never going to die, though, and their non-apology is almost as insulting as the poll. They revel in this kind of thing, along with the backlash involved in fact, they have yet to remove the credit card information of DNC donors from their collection of the hacked emails, despite the outrage over that.Hillary left the 9/11 event she was attending early and appeared to collapse before being helped into a van. Her campaign later revealed that she d been diagnosed with pneumonia, and that she was overheated and dehydrated, which can happen when someone s sick and in the sun. Her doctor later said that she was recovering nicely from this episode.Seeing as how a lot of people have completely forgotten, here s a little reminder that this isn t unprecedented: In 2002, George W. Bush passed out in the White House after eating a pretzel. After eating a pretzel. Apparently, it went down wrong and stimulated a nerve that decreased his heart rate. Enough for him to faint.But Hillary momentarily succumbing to an illness while standing in the sun is some sort of scandal. Right.The medical term for what happened to Bush is vasovagal syncope, and it s actually quite common. So are run-of-the-mill respiratory infections that lead to pneumonia when left unchecked, even in presidential candidates. Hillary s schedule has been grueling, to say the least, and yet she s supposed to either be a super woman and never get sick, or admit that even the merest cold means she s too sick to run for President.The haters, however, are looking for any shred of evidence they can find that proves Hillary is unfit to serve. Wikileaks decided to take it too far.Featured image by Carl Court/Getty Images | 0 |
4,811 | Pence Does His Best Trump Impression; DEMANDS Apology From AP Over Email Story (DETAILS) | Donald Trump s number two man, Mike Pence, has largely been seen as the antithesis to Trump s erratic, bombastic, authoritarian style of governing. However, Pence is crazy in his own way. He s a theocrat who wants to usher in mandatory Evangelical Christianity and force it upon all Americans. What s really scary is that he is so quiet about it that most people don t know what kind of monster Pence really is until they do a bit of research and discover his horrifying beliefs. Well, all that may be changing, and we might have the Associated Press to thank for it.By now, everyone knows that it turns out that while he was Governor of Indiana, Pence used a private AOL email address to conduct sensitive government business and the email was actually hacked. This is amazingly hypocritical, considering the fact that Republicans everywhere including Trump and Pence, of course hammered Hillary Clinton relentlessly, and even had their crowds screaming LOCK HER UP! all for doing the exact same thing that Pence has just been caught doing. The hypocrisy here defies description.The plot of the whole thing thickens, because it appears that the AP repeatedly asked for transcripts of Pence s secret emails that were not released to the public. As a result, in the story of Pence s email scandal, Pence s wife, Karen Pence, had her private email address published. This, of course, has Pence beside himself with rage. He is now trying to bully the AP into an apology, Trump-style.Mark Paoletta, Pence s White House counsel, sent the following directive to the AP: The publication of Mrs. Pence s active private email address to millions of your readers has subjected her to vitriolic and malicious emails and raised serious security concerns. There was absolutely no reason to publish this private email address and you should be ashamed of your reprehensible contact. Your organization should apologize to Mrs. Pence for violating her privacy, and the Associated Press should observe the basic tenets of fairness, decency and journalistic integrity and covering the Vice President, Mrs. Pence and their family in the future. Here is Pence s belligerent tweet, with the entire letter included:When we requested they take it down, they refused. The @AP owes my wife an apology. pic.twitter.com/LdMmnewnWF Vice President Pence (@VP) March 4, 2017This is REALLY rich, considering that Trump tweeted out Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) s personal cell phone number during the campaign, all because Graham dared to criticize Trump. Pence really has no moral high ground regarding anything resembling decency, considering that he is in bed with The Donald, especially on these sorts of matters.As for the AP, they are being good, tough checks on these bullies, and have refused to remove Karen Pence s email address from the original. As a consolation, though, they did omit the address from further writings on the subject of the Pence email situation, according to spokeswoman Laura Easton, who says, AP removed the email address from subsequent stories after learning Mrs. Pence still used the account. This is all Pence s fault, anyway, because according to the AP, the story only ran because Pence: repeatedly stonewalled media requests to view public records when he was Indiana s governor, including emails about state business distributed from a private AOL account that was hacked last year. This is really getting ridiculous, these threats to the press every time a story this incompetent, chaotic administration doesn t like drops. They are corrupt, vindictive, malicious, and likely engaged in criminal activity.Keep the pressure on, journalists. They re cracking.Featured image via Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images | 0 |
4,812 | MACY’S CELEBRATES AMERICA’S INDEPENDENCE BY PUTTING ILLEGAL ALIENS FIRST | Americans need to put American citizens first and dump Macy s. Macy s has a Customer Service Department phone number that should be ringing off the hook with Americans who love their country and are sick and tired of the left bullying us into submission. Tell them it s time to put American citizens first and you appreciate Donald Trump standing up for LEGAL immigration: 1 (800) 289-6229 I ll be canceling my Macy s credit card today. Macy s just lost its Magic #MakeAmericaGreatAgain .Dump Macy s!Real-estate mogul and GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump called for a boycott of Macy s on Wednesday after the retail company said it would drop Trump s products. Earlier in the day, Macy s said it was snubbing Trump because of the disparaging characterizations he made about Mexican immigrants during his campaign launch. Among other things, Trump accused Mexico of sending its rapists and drug dealers to the US.In addition to blasting Macy s in an official statement, Trump attacked Macy s in a series of tweets for being weak on border security : Those who believe in tight border security, stopping illegal immigration & SMART trade deals w/other countries should boycott @Macys. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2015For all of those who want to #MakeAmericaGreatAgain, boycott @Macys. They are weak on border security & stopping illegal immigration. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2015Macy s is only the latest in a string of businesses that have cut ties with Trump in the past week. NBC, Univision, and the Mexican media company Televisa all recently announced they would not show Trump s Miss Universe Organization beauty pageants because of his comments about immigrants. When Mexico sends its people, they re not sending their best; they re not sending you, Trump said in his June announcement speech, according to a transcript. They re sending people that have lots of problems, and they re bringing those problems with us. They re bringing drugs. They re bringing crime. They re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. Trump, who said he was criticizing the Mexican government and not its people, has aggressively responded to the companies that are ending their relationships with him. He said he was suing Univision for $500 million. He denounced NBC as weak. And he insisted that he was the one cutting ties with Macy s not the other way around.He also argued that the Macy s snub proved how difficult it was for billionaires like him to seek political office. I have always said that if you are successful, it is very hard to run for office, especially the office of president, he said in his Wednesday statement. I have also continually stated that I am not beholden to anyone, and this includes NBC and Macy s. Clearly, NBC and Macy s support illegal immigration. Trump products at Macy s include $70 dress shirts, $65 ties, and a fragrance called Success. Via: Business Insider | 0 |
4,813 | Bosnian Serbs make shoes for Melania Trump's White House march | BANJA LUKA, Bosnia (Reuters) - A Bosnian Serb factory on Monday presented two pairs of shoes as a gift for the wife of U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, Slovenian-born Melania, in a gesture of support for Trump’s White House campaign. Many Serbs in the Balkans back Trump, ill-disposed to rival Hillary Clinton whose husband Bill backed NATO air strikes on Bosnian Serb positions toward the end of the 1992-95 Bosnian war. He also advocated a 1999 NATO bombing of then-Yugolsavia to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians. Marinko Umicevic, technical director at the Banja Luka shoe factory Bema, said the gift countered what she called a “dirty campaign” against the aspiring First Lady whose homeland, like Bosnia, was a part of Yugoslavia when she was born. Melania Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention in July ignited controversy, containing a section strikingly similar to words delivered at the Democratic convention in 2008 by President Barack Obama, Michelle. “The shoes for Melania Trump are our response to the dirty comments she has been exposed to as a wife and a mother,” said Umicevic. The shoes, to be sent by express post, were displayed for media on a table, set in a display of white roses. One pair was gold-colored, with cushioned soles fashioned, according to Umicevic, to help Melania follow her husband’s campaign across America. The others were white stilettos for a triumphant walk into the White House. Umicevic said the shoe moulds were made by a factory in Melania Trump’s hometown of Sevnice and designed by Bema’s best shoe designers. “We hope that America will stop being the world policeman,” Umicevic told Reuters. “We are hoping a friendship will come in the future from the United States instead of bombs that Serbs got from Bill Clinton,” he added. | 1 |
4,814 | U.S. appeals court says Texas can implement voter ID law | (Reuters) - The state of Texas won at least a temporary victory on Tuesday in its bid to implement a controversial voter identification law when a federal appeals court stayed a ruling by a U.S. district court judge that barred its enforcement. A three-member panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans voted 2-1 to put the lower court judge’s ruling on hold while it considers the constitutionality of the law, which was passed this year by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature. That bill was meant to fix elements of a 2011 voter ID measure that was considered one of the strictest in the United States and subject to years of court challenges during the Obama administration. President Donald Trump, who campaigned on cutting voter fraud, has supported Texas’ bid to require that voters show a form of identification. “The state has made a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits (of the case)” Judges Jennifer Elrod and Jerry Smith wrote in a six-page ruling. In a four-page dissenting opinion, Judge James Graves wrote that if the 5th Circuit was going to take up the case, it should have stayed the entire law from taking effect until a final ruling was issued. Lauren Ehrsam, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said in a written statement “We are pleased that the Fifth Circuit has stayed the injunction and allowed Texas to proceed with its duly enacted voter identification laws.” “Preserving the integrity of the ballot is vital to our democracy, and the Fifth Circuit’s order allows Texas to continue to fulfill that duty as this case moves forward,” Ehrsam said. Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa could not be reached for comment on the ruling on Tuesday evening. Hiojosa has previously likened the voter ID requirements to “Jim Crow-era tactics” designed to keep Republican lawmakers in power.Critics say the Texas law and similar statutes enacted in other states were tailored to make it harder for minorities and immigrants, including black and Hispanic voters who are less likely to have the authorized IDs and tend to favor Democrats, to cast ballots. Backers say the laws are necessary to prevent voter fraud and are no more onerous than the requirements imposed by states for driving a motor vehicle. | 1 |
4,815 | HILLARY SUPPORTERS Launch VILE ATTACK On Woman Hillary “Threatened” For Coming Forward With Rape Allegations Against Bill Clinton: “Hillary should have beat her up, not ‘silenced’ her. Liar” | Alleged Bill Clinton sexual victim Juanita Broderick hit back after Chelsea Clinton complained that her parents were always being attacked and is some sort of tradition. Her parents being attacked is a tradition? What about your father s victims of sexual assault? Is that some sort of tradition?Following the debate, Trump told the press that he was holding back on bringing up Bill Clinton s sexual predator history out of respect for Chelsea being in the audience.Chelsea, who apparently is okay with her father receiving oral sex in the Oval Office, and her mother berating and threatening his alleged sexual abuse victims, had this to say about Trump: It s a distraction from his inability to talk about what s actually at stake in this election and to offer concrete, comprehensive proposals about the economy, or our public school system, or debt-free college, or keeping our country safe and Americans safe here at home and around the world. And candidly, I don t remember a time in my life when my parents and my family weren t being attacked, and so it just sort of seems to be in that tradition, unfortunately. Juanita Broderick hit back after Chelsea s disgusting flippant attitude about a woman who claims (one of many who have bravely come forward to expose Bill Clinton after being sexually assaulted by him) she was raped by her father:1. Here is my response to Chelsea Clinton's statement about her father's sexual misdeeds Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20162. Chelsea you said you don't remember a time in your life that your parents weren't being attacked. Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20163. There's a very good reason for this your parents are not good people. Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20164 your father was, and probably still is, a sexual predator. Your mother has always lied and covered up for him. Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 20165. I say again "I was 35 when Bill Clinton Raped me and Hillary tried to silence me. I am now 73. It never goes away". Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 28, 2016Here s the vile way people who are supporting the FEMALE candidate for President responded:Another foul mouth. And he's from Canada. pic.twitter.com/NmnJIIFcMz Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 30, 2016And this one wants me beaten pic.twitter.com/rCKPUyuROz Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 30, 2016Now this idiot is saying I have been in prison. pic.twitter.com/yMhKb1i1kb Juanita Broaddrick (@atensnut) September 30, 2016 | 0 |
4,816 | Exclusive: West edges towards punishing Myanmar army leaders over Rohingya crisis - sources | YANGON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Union and the United States are considering targeted sanctions against Myanmar military leaders over an offensive that has driven more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslims out of the country, officials familiar with the discussions say. Interviews with more than a dozen diplomats and government officials based in Washington, Yangon and Europe revealed that punitive measures aimed specifically at top generals were among a range of options being discussed in response to the crisis. Nothing has yet been decided and Washington and Brussels may decide to hold off for now, the sources said. There are also discussions about increasing aid for violence-riven Rakhine state. The active discussion of sanctions not even on the table a month ago shows how the dramatic exodus of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar s northwest is putting pressure on Western policymakers to take action. While much of the outcry overseas has focused on Nobel laureate and Myanmar s national leader Aung San Suu Kyi, few Western diplomats see an alternative to her leadership. Suu Kyi does not control the military, which still wields considerable power under Myanmar s army-written constitution. The EU Foreign Ministers Council will discuss Myanmar on Oct. 16, although officials do not expect any move on sanctions that soon. Danish minister for development cooperation, Ulla Tornaes, told Reuters that Copenhagen had been working to get the crisis on the agenda, with the wish to put further pressure on the military . Two Washington-based U.S. officials with knowledge of the Trump administration s Myanmar deliberations said targeted sanctions against commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing and several other generals, as well as leaders of ethnic Rakhine Buddhist militias accused of torching Rohingya villages, were under consideration. Such sanctions - if decided on - would likely entail U.S. asset freezes, bans on travel to the United States, prohibitions against Americans doing business with them and other unspecified penalties. Washington was moving cautiously as it consulted with governments in Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia, the U.S. officials said. A senior Yangon-based European diplomat also said Western countries were coordinating their response to the crisis and were in agreement that it was the military, and specifically the commander-in-chief, who needed to be targeted in any punitive action. Any punishment was likely to be symbolic at first to allow room for further talks, Yangon-based diplomats said, giving the example of formally banning the army chief, who over the past year visited Brussels, Berlin and Vienna, from further travel to Europe. Western diplomats admit their leverage is limited: compared with China, whose ties with Myanmar have warmed since Suu Kyi took office 18 months ago, U.S. and European investment and military engagement with the country are small. They are also wary of action that could hurt the wider economy or destabilize already tense ties between Suu Kyi and the army. The United Nations is pressing for increased humanitarian access to other parts of Rakhine, where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya remain. How Myanmar responds to calls for increased aid, the investigation of alleged atrocities or repatriation of refugees would be a key consideration in deciding what action to take, U.S. and EU diplomats in Myanmar said. We can pile political pressure, look into financing we have in Myanmar. We have humanitarian aid, as well as development aid ... the European Commission won t invest in the development of Myanmar if the conditions, including security, are not there, said a Brussels-based EU diplomat who follows Myanmar. There is also the arms trade embargo and we discuss regularly whether we should reward the reforms in Myanmar and look at gradual easing of that, or the opposite. EU economic sanctions on Myanmar were lifted after the army stepped back from direct rule of the country in 2012, beginning the democratic transition that brought Suu Kyi to power last year, but an arms embargo in force since the 1990s remains. The United States removed most sanctions on Myanmar last autumn. It too has kept an arms embargo in place. One Washington-based U.S. official said that, while there was no firm deadline, Washington hoped to have a plan of action on Myanmar in place by the time President Donald Trump travels to Asia for a series of summits in the first half of November. The administration wanted to send a strong message to Myanmar s military, but was concerned that too drastic action could allow China to expand its growing diplomatic and economic influence in the country, the official said. There is little support in the administration for the re-imposition of broader economic sanctions, the official added. The White House declined comment on internal deliberations on the Rohingya crisis. In another sign of pressure building on Myanmar, New York-based diplomats said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the U.N. General Assembly was pushing for a human rights resolution on the country. Last year the EU announced that for the first time in 15 years it would not introduce a resolution at the General Assembly s Third Committee, which focuses on human rights, condemning Myanmar s record - rewarding it for progress. The European bloc could revive the resolution in the current session, taking on board the OIC draft and broadening it out beyond the Rohingya crisis, one diplomat in New York said. Diplomats said some members of the U.N. Security Council were exploring whether the 15-member body could agree a formal statement, or even a resolution, calling for an end to the violence, full access for aid and the safe return of refugees. However, Myanmar has said it was negotiating with China and Russia, which have veto powers in the Security Council, to protect it from any possible action. China and Russia have both expressed support for the Myanmar government. Myanmar s relations with the U.N. have grown increasingly testy since the discovery of World Food Programme-branded biscuits at a suspected militant camp in July prompted the government to accuse the U.N. agency of supporting the insurgents, forcing it to shut down its operations in Rakhine. Myanmar is stalling on accepting a plan by the U.N. to upgrade the U.N. country head to the more powerful rank of Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) when its current top official, who is due to be rotated, is replaced. Thaung Tun, Suu Kyi s National Security Advisor, told Reuters that the U.N. must treat us equally . We ll be fine with anybody if all member states have an ASG assigned. Not just us, he said. | 1 |
4,817 | Trump says he has decided to decertify Iran nuclear deal | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump struck a blow against the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement on Friday in defiance of other world powers, choosing not to certify that Tehran is complying with the deal. “Based on the factual record I have put forward, I am announcing today that we cannot and will not make this certification,” Trump said at a White House event as he unveiled a tougher strategy against Tehran. Trump’s move does not pull the United States out of the agreement, formally known as the JCPOA. | 1 |
4,818 | WATCH: RACIST RAPPER WHO HUNG WHITE KID In Latest Video Gets Cold-Cocked On Stage | Rapper XXXTentacion released a controversial video for his singles, Look at Me and Riot, on Tuesday, which featured the hanging of a young white child, but he wasn t able to do much against a grown man.Video from June showed the raper XXXTentacion got sucker punched onstage and knocked out cold during his show in San Diego which turned into an all-out brawl that left one person stabbed.Go HERE for black conservative Terrence Williams take on the horrific video showing a white kid being hung in front of a black kid.The video of the attack is insane XXX was up on the mic performing Wednesday night when the attacker socked him out of nowhere. Security scrambled and beat the piss out of the unidentified puncher.While all the attention was on the nasty rapper who got knocked out, the person who cold-cocked him on stage was pummeled by security. Is it part of the security detail s job to mob beat anyone who harms the performer they ve been hired to protect, or is it their job to capture and detain him until the proper authorities have arrived? Let s hope this guy who jumped on stage and gave this disgusting rapper a little dose of karma has a good lawyer because he needs to sue those security guards for using excessive force XX was eventually carried offstage. One of his tour managers tells us he was unconscious for at least 2 minutes. We re also told XXX and his camp believe the attacker was hiding backstage.Cops say another fight broke out later in the parking lot as well. Fans at the venue seemed to blame rapper Rob Stone for the melee they chanted his name as soon as the fight started, but it s unclear if he s really involved. Conservative Fighters | 0 |
4,819 | Australian PM puts foreign minister in charge amid government crisis | SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Saturday appointed his foreign minister as acting prime minister as he tried to stem the fallout of a citizenship crisis that has cost his government its parliamentary majority. Turnbull delayed until Monday a long-planned trip to Israel and held an emergency Cabinet meeting to shore up support after Australia s High Court ruled on Friday that his deputy, Barnaby Joyce, and four other lawmakers should be expelled from parliament because they held dual nationality. The court s shock decision had immediate ramifications, stripping the coalition government of the one-seat majority it holds in the lower house, forcing it to call a by-election in Joyce s seat and sending the Australian dollar lower. The opposition Labor Party has said it is considering a legal challenge to every decision made by Joyce since last year s election. Turnbull said on Saturday that the deputy position would remain vacant until after the Dec. 2 by-election for Joyce s seat. The position normally goes to a member of the National Party, the junior partner in the coalition government. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, a member of Turnbull s Liberal Party, would instead be acting prime minister when he travels to Israel on Monday, three days behind schedule. Government goes on, good government goes on, Turnbull told reporters in Sydney, dismissing suggestions that the inability to agree on a deputy indicated tensions within the coalition. When times get tough, that s when you put your arms around your mates. Turnbull now needs the support of one of three independent lawmakers to keep his minority government afloat, with two sitting weeks of parliament left until it recesses for the year. At least two independent lawmakers have promised initial support, but noted that it may be conditional. Turnbull is under particular pressure after refusing demands from the opposition to remove Joyce, who has renounced his New Zealand citizenship, from the cabinet while the court decided his fate. Turnbull said the court s interpretation of the constitution, which bars dual citizens from parliament in a bid to prevent split allegiances, was very strict and very hard . He added that he was considering whether to recommend a change to the constitution, noting that more than half of the country s population of 24 million was either born overseas or has a parent who was born overseas. Our objective is to ensure parliament is open to everybody, he said. A referendum would be needed to change the constitution. The High Court ruled on seven lawmakers, some of whom had already resigned. All seven accepted that they were dual nationals at the time of their election but claimed they were unaware of their status. Some were conferred a second nationality by birth, others by descent. The others dismissed were all senators in the upper house and their seats can be assigned to party-appointed alternatives. | 1 |
4,820 | Russia seeks two-day ceasefire in Damascus suburb; dozens killed by air strikes | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Russia proposed a two-day ceasefire on Monday in the last major rebel stronghold near the Syrian capital Damascus, where warplanes killed at least 41 people in two days of air strikes as Russian-backed government forces tried to capture the area. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitoring body, said 18 people were killed by bombing on Monday and 23 on Sunday. At least 147 have been killed by air strikes and shelling since the Syrian army, with Russian air power, began the offensive to take the besieged rebel-held Eastern Ghouta nearly two weeks ago. The area of densely-populated agricultural land is the last major territory near the capital still held by rebels fighting against President Bashar al-Assad s government. Across Syria, fighters have been driven out of most towns and cities in the past two years since Russia joined the war on Assad s behalf. Eastern Ghouta is also one of several de-escalation zones across western Syria where Russia has brokered deals to ease fighting. Russia proposed imposing a ceasefire in the de-escalation zone for Tuesday and Wednesday, Interfax news agency reported, quoting the Defence Ministry. Such measures will ease tension in the western part of the de-escalation zone, General-Lieutenant Sergei Kuralenko, in charge of Russia s ceasefire monitoring center in Syria, was quoted as saying. The enclave has been besieged by Assad forces since 2012, but the siege has become far worse in recent months since routes used to smuggle in food were shut. Residents are so short of food that they are eating trash, fainting from hunger and forcing their children to eat on alternate days, the U.N. World Food Programme said in a report last week. On Monday, 13 shells hit government-held Damascus and its surrounding areas, Syrian state media SANA reported. Four people were injured from a shell that hit the capital on Sunday, SANA said. | 1 |
4,821 | DEMOCRATS FUMING Over Vote To Keep “Hurtful” Word In Library Of Congress | The left wants to change hurtful words to whatever they deem to be ok but they got some push back with the order to keep the word illegal alien in the Library of Congress In a victory against political correctness, the House voted to order the Library of Congress to continue referring to illegal aliens rather than change the designation to noncitizen. The party line vote had Democrats fuming, claiming the term was pejorative and that liberal doublespeak can never be repealed once it s in use.Well that s not exactly what one Democrat said. Texas Democrat Rep. Joaquin Castro told the House, The words illegal alien will be retired. This will change, whether it s now or six months from now or 10 years from now. For the first time in history, conservatives hijacked a legislative appropriations bill to stop the Library of Congress from abandoning the term illegal alien from how it catalogs the 162 million-item collection it manages. Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro attempted to make an amendment to the legislation allowing the Library of Congress to make the change, but it failed to gain traction in the Republican-dominated House. Each year, the Library of Congress makes thousands of changes to its subject headings; in 2015 alone, it added 4,934 new subject headings. Never before has Congress weighed in on the Library of Congress subject headings in any way, let alone legislated on the issue, Castro said in a statement.Via: PJ Media | 0 |
4,822 | Swedish opposition parties drops vote of no confidence in defense minister | STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden s center-right opposition no longer plans to bring a vote of no confidence in Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist over a botched IT outsourcing deal, after new information came to light, the alliance said. Losing Hultqvist, one of the government s most popular ministers, would have been a blow to Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, with Sweden due to hold elections in just a year s time. Other parties can still go ahead with a vote, but they would not get the majority necessary to oust him. Lofven has already replaced two ministers in his minority center-left government over the IT deal, and the opposition had also demanded the removal of Hultqvist, who has maintained he has done nothing wrong. However, the Liberals and the Center Party have now changed their minds, saying new information showed Hultqvist s involvement was not as serious as previously thought. This new information means that we can t support a vote of no confidence, Liberal Party Leader Jan Bjorklund told a news conference. Votes of no confidence are not common in Sweden. Since 1980, only seven have taken place and none of them has been successful. | 1 |
4,823 | Great Answer! Sean Spicer Asked To Name CNN Reporter Who ‘Did Good Work’ During His Time In The Trump Administration | Sean Spicer was asked during a Washington Post interview, which White House reporters did good work . He was able to rattle off eight names and then said, I m missing a bunch, for sure. Spicer was then asked if he forgot to include anyone from CNN who did good work during his time in the White House YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING:Spicer gave the best answer ever Oh, no We have to agree that the CNN correspondents have had it out for President Trump from day one. This is also a dig at combative WH correspondent Jim Acosta. How could we forget the exchanges with Acosta! A bulldog!CNN s Jim Acosta keeps trolling President Trump and keeps making a total fool of himself! The latest moment was after signing a trade bill when Acosta asked why the president didn t hold a press conference Trump s response is priceless!President Trump to @Acosta: I like real news. Not fake news. You re fake news. https://t.co/TssGvNyUct pic.twitter.com/sQ3IR8IRdX CSPAN (@cspan) August 14, 2017REMEMBER THIS JIM ACOSTA MOMENT?We wish President Trump could clone SENIOR ADVISOR Stephen Miller! He s so brilliant and knows immigration like no other! We can t say the same for the White House Press Corp! The Trump administration made some positive announcements on immigration and the left went nuts! Miller got the best of them!ANOTHER GREAT TAKEDOWN!Fox News reported:Trump and Acosta have famously traded jabs since the president called Acosta fake news during a press conference earlier this year. If Spicer was going to compliment anyone from CNN, it would presumably have been the reporter he dealt with on a regular basis but the former press secretary failed to mention Acosta when he had the chance.Acosta comes off as combative toward the White House on a regular basis and some insiders feel his grandstanding was one reason press briefings weren t televised over an extended period this summer. In addition to Trump and Spicer, Acosta sparred with White House adviser Stephen Miller last month over the administration s immigration policy. Miller famously accused the CNN reporter of having a cosmopolitan bias. | 0 |
4,824 | At least 1,300 Dutch girls per year trafficked, exploited | AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - At least 1,320 underage Dutch girls between the ages of 12 and 17 fall victim to sexual exploitation in the Netherlands each year, a report on human trafficking published on Wednesday showed. That group makes up nearly half of female trafficking victims in the Dutch sex industry, Corinne Dettmeijer, National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children, said in the study. Dettmeijer said the report contained the first reliable statistics on human trafficking in the Netherlands and the first of their kind in Europe, but was concerned by a decline in cases indicating that fewer were being reported. The 108-page report compiled both domestic and United Nations figures from 2012-2016. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, which cooperated on the report, is encouraging other countries to produce similar data, to help create a clearer international picture of the scale of the crimes. The total number of human trafficking victims in the Netherlands is roughly five times higher than reported figures indicated, at about 6,250 cases per year, it said, meaning that many victims stay out of sight of authorities and support agencies. Roughly half of about 3,000 cases of sexual exploitation, predominantly woman, involved underage girls. The number is high, but what makes these statistics unique is that they show us what specific groups are falling prey to human trafficking, National Rapporteur Corinne Dettmeijer said in an interview. It has exposed our blind spots. In a report published in 2015, the European Commission said there had been over 30,000 victims of human trafficking between 2010-2012 across all EU member States, of which around 1,000 were child victims were trafficked for sexual exploitation. Dettmeijer said it was known that a relatively high number of women from Central and Eastern Europe were being forced into the sex industry, but the number of underage Dutch girls was surprising. The figures were also remarkable because the number of reported cases of trafficking has fallen sharply over the past five years, from nearly 1,300 in 2012 to below a thousand last year. I am very concerned about the falling number of reported cases, Dettmeijer said. This means that an increasingly larger portion of trafficking of humans is going unreported. | 1 |
4,825 | Austria's likely next chancellor hopes to form govt. in 60 days: paper | ZURICH (Reuters) - Austria s likely next chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, wants talks over a new government to last no more than two months, he said in a newspaper interview published in Sunday. Austria s president on Friday gave the green light to conservative leader Kurz, whose People s Party (OVP) secured 31.5 percent of the vote in last week s parliamentary election, to form a government. The Austrians expect that there is quickly a strong and stable government which takes up work, Kurz was quoted as saying by Austria s Kronen Zeitung. That means that negotiations should be concluded in less than 60 days. Kurz campaigned on a platform that combined a hard line on immigration similar to that of the far-right Freedom Party (FPO) with traditional conservative principles like slimming down the state and cutting taxes. To form his coalition, only two of Austria s parliamentary parties, the Social Democrats (SPO) and FPO, have enough seats to give Kurz a majority if they go into coalition with the OVP. Kurz is currently holding an initial round of discussions with the leaders of all parties in parliament, the last of which is his meeting with outgoing Chancellor Christian Kern, the head of the Social Democrats, later on Sunday. In a separate interview with tabloid Oesterreich, Kurz said his party has common ground with the FPO and that he had already held constructive talks with FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache. In the conversation with Heinz-Christian Strache, I also had the impression that he has a strong willingness to effect change and creative drive, Kurz was quoted as saying by OE24. But now I will conclude these talks on Sunday, and then take up coalition negotiations with a partner. | 1 |
4,826 | France's Macron says work on Brexit bill not even halfway done | BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that work on settling Britain s financial obligations to the EU when it leaves was not even halfway done. He said more than half the work remained to be completed on the crucial issue of Britain s exit bill and that discussions could not move to the next phase on the future relationship until the three divorce issues of citizens rights, the Irish border and financial settlement have been settled. A lot is in the hands of Theresa May, Macron said in a news conference at the end of an EU summit. | 1 |
4,827 | China says 'significant progress' was made on 100-day trade plan with U.S. | BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Thursday that it and the United States acknowledged “significant progress” on a 100-day action plan for trade and discussed a one-year plan on economic cooperation. The Chinese embassy in Washington made the comments in a statement after an annual economic dialogue ended there on Wednesday with canceled news conferences. The talks failed to agree on major new steps to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, casting doubt over President Donald Trump’s economic and security relations with Beijing. | 1 |
4,828 | Officials: Obama Warned About Flynn, But Trump Thought He Was Joking | The Trump administration has finally, definitively, admitted that President Obama personally warned Donald Trump about hiring Michael Flynn within 48 hours of the election .The conversation occurred during the 90-minute sitdown the former President and the guy who was kinda-sorta elected by a minority of the population (and Russia) and against the wishes of most Americans.A senior Obama official tells NBC that the President, who actually fired the disgraced Trump foreign policy advisor in 2014, made it very clear that he is not a fan of Michael Flynn. NBC reports:According to all three former officials, Obama warned Trump against hiring Flynn. The Obama administration fired Flynn in 2014 from his position as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, largely because of mismanagement and temperament issues.Obama s warning pre-dated the concerns inside the government about Flynn s contacts with the Russian ambassador, one of the officials said. Obama passed along a general caution that he believed Flynn was not suitable for such a high level post, the official added.Two administration officials said Obama also warned Trump to stay vigilant on North Korea.One official says that Trump thought the remark was made in jest, according to NBC.Recently, Trump attempted to blame President Obama for his failure to vet Flynn. General Flynn was given the highest security clearance by the Obama Administration but the Fake News seldom likes talking about that, The Donald tweeted Monday as Sally Yates was preparing to testify.But in fact, it was his team not Obama s who failed to vet the former General. When Flynn was fired, for example, he had not even completed a CIA background check.NEW: Flynn never received broader security clearance needed to serve as Natl Security Advisor before his firing. via @KenDilanianNBC pic.twitter.com/xDDFxtYjuW Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) May 8, 2017Trump has a lot to be worried about right now and more will be coming.Featured image via Getty Images (Pool) | 0 |
4,829 | U.S. top court puts some limits on contractor fraud lawsuits | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday imposed some limits on the kind of fraud claims that can be brought against federal contractors in a case involving a suit against one of America’s largest hospital operators over a woman’s death at one of its facilities. But the 8-0 ruling was not the broad victory for business sought by the company, Universal Health Services, and other healthcare providers fearful of suits under the U.S. False Claims Act, which lets individuals make claims that the federal government has been defrauded. The justices threw out a 2015 appeals court ruling that had allowed the parents of Yarushka Rivera to sue Universal Health Services under the False Claims Act, but sent the case back to a lower court, meaning the suit could potentially still proceed. Rivera suffered a fatal seizure in 2009 at age 19 a mental health facility owned by the company in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The lawsuit said the facility provided “gravely inadequate treatment” and used “unsupervised and unqualified personnel.” The ruling represented a partial victory for the business community because it rejected the lower court’s expansive view of a company’s liability under the False Claims Act. Roy Englert, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania-based Universal Health Services’ lawyer, said he was pleased the justices threw out the appeals court ruling and set a “new rigorous standard” for determining if the claims can move forward. Rivera’s parents, Julio Escobar and Carmen Correa, accused the company of defrauding the government because it was getting federal Medicaid funding to provide treatment to low-income people and did not comply with personnel regulations at the Lawrence facility. The ruling “accepts the basic notion that fraudsters can’t provide shoddy services to the government and expect payment without incurring significant liability,” said David Frederick, the lawyer for Rivera’s family. Businesses had hoped the justices would put more limits, or disallow completely, lawsuits based on a federal contractor’s failure to meet certain legal or regulatory requirements not specifically outlined in a government contract. The court instead said such lawsuits can be filed as long as they are relevant to the government’s decision to make the payment to the company. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the court, said the parents “may well have adequately pleaded a violation” of the fraud law, but added that the False Claims Act “is not a means of imposing treble damages and other penalties for insignificant regulatory or contractual violations.” The Obama administration had backed the parents. | 1 |
4,830 | Trump’s RNC Gift Bags Included DISGUSTING Fetus Action Figures (IMAGES) | Yes. Seriously. Republican delegates all received a Trump-themed gift bag after they suffered through the train wreck that was the Republican National convention. The bags, which read Make America Great Again on the sides, contained all sorts of Trump-related goodness including glasses and Trump s political fiction novel, Crippled America. These lucky recipients also got themselves a Make America Great Again hat so their neighbors and friends know they have no problem wth racism and willful ignorance, Kleenex they can use when Hillary Clinton trounces Trump in November, and a fetus action figure. The fetus figure doesn t have kung-fu action grip, but it does come with a stupid little card that serves as a reminder that Republicans are entirely against women s rights. This card, which accompanies the disgusting fetus figures, is produced by the pro-life company, Heritage House:Bust reports that:The Heritage House site itself describes the models as the most realistic fetal model ever developed. It s beautiful detail, softness and weight can really move hearts and change minds! Well, I think if you re receiving one of these goodie bags as an RNC attendee, your mind is probably already made up.This is just another reminder that a Trump/Pence ticket is extremely dangerous. The Republican Party, at this point, has dedicated itself to radically dismantling Planned Parenthood, and they have worked hard to put as many roadblocks as possible between women and their legal right to choose to have an abortion (although, let s hope this soon changes due to a recent Supreme Court case).It may seem shocking that Trump would include this in a self-serving, self-promoting collection of products that celebrate himself, but let s remember that he thinks women should be punished for having an abortion. Pence has also signed a law that mandates funerals for aborted fetuses, so an item dedicated to making things harder on women during a time in which they are forced to make a difficult decision whether or not to terminate a pregnancy is absolutely something important enough to shove in a Trump gift bag.Watch Trump speak on the importance of punishing women for their health care choices below:Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
4,831 | IT BEGINS: Wisconsin Company First in US to Implant Microchips in Employees | If you worked for a company that offered the convenience of a microchip implanted in your hand, would you get it? A company in Wisconsin is going with the trend: It s the next thing that s inevitably going to happen, and we want to be a part of it. RIVER FALLS, Wisc. A company in Wisconsin is about to become the first in the US to offer microchip implants to its employees. It s the next thing that s inevitably going to happen, and we want to be a part of it, Three Square Market Chief Executive Officer Todd Westby told KTSP.The company designs software for electronic break room markets, are commonly found in office complexes.People are currently able to purchase items at the market using phones, but Westby wants to take things a step further and implant a microchip inside a person s hand. We ll come up, scan the item, he explained, while showing how the process will work at an actual break room market kiosk. We ll hit pay with a credit card, and it s asking to swipe my proximity payment now. I ll hold my hand up, just like my cell phone, and it ll pay for my product. More than 50 employees are having the devices implanted starting next week. Each chip, which is implanted between a person s thumb and forefinger, is about the size of a single grain of rice.Along with purchasing market kiosk items, employees will be able to use the chip to get into the front door and log onto their computers.Each chip costs $300, but the company is eating the cost. They re implanted between a person s thumb and forefinger.Westby added the data is both encrypted and secure.* There s no GPS tracking at all, he said.FORTUNE reported:The company is working with Biohax International, a Swedish company specializing in smart biometric sensors. The embedded chip uses the same sort of near-field communications (NFC) technology that enables people to hold up their phones to a device to make payments. *The chips also rely on wireless RFID (radio frequency identification) technology used to track packages in transit.***DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE A RED FLAG HERE?No employees at Three Square Market will be required to get the chip implant.Via: wbrz | 0 |
4,832 | Illinois governor fails to budge as fiscal deadlock drags on | SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Reuters) - Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner refused to step away from his stalled legislative agenda on Wednesday while insisting that a spending deal remains within reach, but his words appeared to leave his Democratic rivals unmoved. Republican Rauner and the Democratic-controlled legislature have been locked in a budget stalemate for nearly seven months. “To achieve a grand compromise, we must cast partisanship and ideology aside,” Rauner told the state legislature in his State of the State address. “We must break from the politics of the past and do what is right for the long term future of our state. I’m ready, and it’s my genuine hope that you are too.” Rauner, a political newcomer, became governor a year ago. The wealthy venture capitalist used last year’s annual speech to lay out an ambitious agenda that included business-friendly changes to workers’ compensation, a freeze on local property taxes, curbs on public-sector collective-bargaining, and legislative term limits. But Rauner’s so-called turnaround hit a brick wall in the legislature, where House Speaker Michael Madigan pronounced it “extreme.” The stalemate has left Illinois without a budget more than halfway through fiscal 2016. About 90 percent of state government is being funded through court orders, an enacted spending bill for K-12 schools, and continuing appropriations for pensions and bonds. In a nearly 40-minute speech that drew robust Republican applause but only a tepid Democratic response, Rauner did not abandon his stalled plan and lobbed barbs at two primary Democratic constituencies. “I understand that union leaders and trial lawyers are putting pressure on you to keep the status quo, but if we don’t offer a competitive environment for businesses, pretty soon the unions won’t have any more jobs to unionize and the trial lawyers won’t have any more businesses to sue,” Rauner said, producing sarcastic laughter from some Democratic lawmakers. After the speech, Democrats continued to balk at the governor’s agenda and questioned why he made no direct reference to the casualties of the budget impasse, including the state’s university system, rape-crisis centers and other human-service providers that have been deprived of state funds. “I certainly would have appreciated it had he done that,” Madigan told reporters. But Rauner’s GOP ally, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, dismissed the speaker’s criticism. “Today is the state of the state, not the state of the budget,” Durkin said. The day ended with the spectacle of the lone public Rauner sympathizer within Madigan’s 71-member super-majority Democratic caucus lashing out at the speaker while appearing before reporters and carrying a red sleeping bag and backpack. State Rep. Ken Dunkin, a Chicago Democrat, used his props to dramatize his willingness to stay at the Capitol and even “shower” in the speaker’s private statehouse bathroom for as long as it takes to strike a budget deal. For a deal to happen, Madigan needs to “stop holding the citizens of Illinois hostage to his political maneuvering, to his political shenanigans, and actually get things done,” Dunkin said. | 1 |
4,833 | OUTRAGE: Bundy Family Terrorists Get Off Scot-Free | The domestic terrorists who staged an armed takeover of a federal facility have been given a not guilty verdict by a jury in Portland, Oregon. Despite their actions not being in dispute the group led by Ammon and Ryan Bundy have just become the latest example of a justice system bending over backwards for some, while punishing others.Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five of their followers, charged in the armed takeover of a federally owned Oregon wildlife sanctuary in January, were acquitted Thursday of federal conspiracy and weapons charges.The verdict brings to a close a case that gripped the nation earlier this year with its public debate about government powers, public lands and constitutional rights.The brothers and their followers took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and held it for six weeks. Their extreme demands were that the federal government surrender control of the 188,000-acre property.The brothers also issued a call to arms to fringe militia groups across the country, asking them to stand with them on the property in the apparent hope that they could trigger another dangerous standoff with the government like Ruby Ridge or Waco, which both ended in death.The Bundy brothers came to national prominence after their father Cliven Bundy refused to pay the Bureau of Land Management after his livestock had grazed on federal property for years. Bundy, an extreme right-winger, believes that the government does not have proper jurisdiction over federal lands. But in fact, repeated court decisions show his position to be in an extreme minority.Initially, mainstream Republican and conservative figures rallied to Bundy s side, including Senator Rand Paul and Fox News host Sean Hannity. But that support faded away when video surfaced of Bundy musing that blacks may have been better off as slave instead of having government assistance.Featured image via Multnomah County Sheriff s Office | 0 |
4,834 | German court rules in favor of third gender category | BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany s highest court ruled on Wednesday in favor of the introduction of a third gender category for people who do not identify as either male or female or are born with an ambiguous sexual anatomy. The Federal Constitutional Court called on lawmakers to enact legislation by the end of 2018 to either allow the introduction of a third category or dispense with gender altogether in civil status documents. In 2013, Germany became the first European country to recognize indeterminate sex by allowing babies born with no clear gender-determining anatomy to be put on the birth register without a male or female classification. Wednesday s decision overturned a ruling by a lower court last year in a case brought by a German citizen born in 1989, identified as Vanja by the Third Option campaign group that supported the plaintiff in the case. The lower court said it was not possible to be registered as third gender because Vanja could leave the gender identity blank. However, the Federal Constitutional Court said Germany s Basic Law, or constitution, protected the personality rights of individuals who do not define themselves as male or female, adding that the current law on civil status interfered with that right. The Basic Law does not require that civil status be exclusively binary in terms of gender, the court said in a statement. The Third Option group described the ruling as historic , but said it is only the first step on improving the situation of inter and transgender people . Finally it s recognized by the Federal Constitutional Court that there are more genders than man or woman, said Mortiz Schmidt, the spokesman of the group. Antke Engel, the director of The Institute of Queer Theory in Berlin, said she was impressed that ruling gave lawmakers the possibility of dropping the gender category altogether. Of course that would be the more radical version, Engel said. Jamie Zulauf, a 30-year-old medical student who identifies as transgender, welcomed the move but said it could mean new problems when traveling to countries where a third gender is not accepted. It s going to be visible and it s not always safe to be visible, Jamie said. The government in Berlin estimated in 2013 there were 8,000 to 10,000 intersex people in Germany but interest groups say the number could be closer to 80,000. | 1 |
4,835 | California sues Trump administration over border wall | SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California filed a lawsuit on Wednesday over the Trump administration’s plan to construct a wall along the border with Mexico, adding to the obstacles facing one of the Republican president’s key campaign promises. President Donald Trump has insisted Mexico would pay for building the wall, which experts said could cost about $22 billion and take more than three years to complete. With Mexico refusing to pay, Trump has said since taking office in January that the wall will initially need U.S. funding but that he will find a way to make Mexico ultimately pay for it. Democrats in the U.S. Congress, however, firmly oppose the border wall, and at least some Democratic senators would need to vote for its inclusion in a spending package. Democratic attorneys general including California’s Xavier Becerra have sued the Trump administration on a range of issues. The border wall lawsuit filed in a San Diego federal court alleges that Trump’s wall violates federal environmental standards, as well as constitutional provisions regarding the separation of powers and states’ rights. Representatives for the U.S. Justice Department declined to immediately comment on the case. The lawsuit asks a judge to stop the administration from building the wall until it demonstrates compliance with environmental laws, and issue an order that the Department of Homeland Security cannot waive any federal guidelines in order to facilitate the project. Last month the Trump administration said it had selected four construction companies to build concrete prototypes for a wall, which will be will be 30 feet (9 meters) tall and about 30 feet wide and will be tested in San Diego. | 1 |
4,836 | Uganda parliament debate on presidential age cap halted as scuffles break out | KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda s parliament abruptly adjourned a debate on Tuesday over extending President Yoweri Museveni s decades in power after a lawmaker said soldiers had entered the building and members of parliament scuffled with police. There were so many (soldiers), I saw them. They were in the chaplaincy, legislator Gaffa Mbwatekamwa, among several in Museveni s ruling party who oppose extending his rule, told a local television station. Scuffles broke out between lawmakers and police shortly after speaker Rebecca Kadaga adjourned the debate, just moments starting it early on Tuesday. It was unclear what triggered the confrontation. Television footage showed chaotic scenes of lawmakers and police both trying to address the cameras. The incident followed a similar disruption to a debate on the issue in September. The army did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Police spokesman Emilian Kayima said they had no immediate comment but would issue a statement later. Lawmakers were debating a draft bill that would remove a constitutional age cap that bars Museveni from standing again. The constitution limits the age of a presidential candidate to 75, making 73-year-old Museveni ineligible to stand at the next election in 2021. Museveni has ruled for 31 years but public anger is mounting over corruption, rights violations and poor social services. The opposition, church leaders, and even some members of the ruling party oppose the amendment. Police have put down protests against it using teargas, beatings, detentions and live bullets. At least two people have been killed. A previous attempt to debate the bill in September ended with lawmakers trading punches and throwing chairs and the forcible intervention of security forces. Several legislators were hospitalized with injuries. Mbwatekamwa said he recognized some members of the military in parliament from the fracas in September. Some are in civilian clothes, some of the soldiers are the ones who manhandled us the other time, he said. Proceedings resumed about two hours after they were suspended and stretched on for about seven hours before Kadaga adjourned them again to Wednesday, when a final vote on the bill is expected. The latest attempt to debate the law started on Monday with the presentation of a report by a House committee. The speaker suspended six legislators opposed to the measure on Monday for disorderly conduct. Both police and military have been deployed around parliament this week. Lawmakers say the heavy security is designed to intimidate them, but police say it is to prevent protests. The military usually does not comment on political matters. Several African leaders have amended laws designed to limit their tenure. Such moves have fueled violence in countries including Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan. | 1 |
4,837 | U.S. House Speaker Ryan to focus on protecting Republican congressional majorities: spokeswoman | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Monday suffered another political setback when U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan distanced himself from the Republican presidential candidate’s troubled campaign. Ryan, according to someone familiar with a conference call held by the speaker and House Republican lawmakers, will not campaign with Trump in the run-up to the Nov. 8 elections and will not defend the Republican Party nominee. The source did not say whether Ryan intended to withdraw his support for Trump. But a spokeswoman added that the Wisconsin congressman will focus on maintaining a Republican majority in the House. | 1 |
4,838 | ANTI-POLICE BEYONCE To Campaign For Hillary Clinton In Ohio | Beyonc is reportedly set to join Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Friday in Ohio, as the final days in race for the Presidency begin.According to a source for CBS News, the singer will be joining her husband Jay-Z at Cleveland State University for a get-out-the-vote concert, although the Clinton campaign has not provided a comment on the report. Ohio is a key battleground state in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, where a recent poll put Clinton s opponent Donald Trump ahead by two points.With a line up of performers including Katy Perry and John Legend, CBS News reported that Friday s concert is an attempt to win over the area s young and African-American voters, as well as encourage Ohio residents to vote early ahead of Tuesday s election day.Via: CBS | 0 |
4,839 | Senators close to bipartisan deal on health exchanges: Schumer | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two U.S. senators from both parties are close to finalizing a bipartisan deal to shore up the health insurance exchanges created under Obamacare, the chamber’s top Democrat said on Thursday. The move, which Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said was “on the verge” of completion, would stabilize the market for individuals who buy their own insurance plans on the federal or state-based exchanges. The potential agreement comes after Republicans have repeatedly failed to carry out their years-long pledge to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Act, former Democratic President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare overhaul. Schumer said Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, a Republican, and ranking Democrat Patty Murray had resurrected a bipartisan approach, which had been cast aside amid the latest near-vote on a repeal bill. Alexander and Murray had been working to protect the government payments made to insurers to help reduce medical expenses for low-income Americans enrolled in Obamacare. Alexander also wanted states to have more flexibility to design insurance plans under the program. “They both inform me that they’re on the verge of an agreement, a bipartisan healthcare agreement to stabilize markets and lower premiums,” Schumer said on the Senate floor on Thursday. The pact could buoy health insurance companies, which came out forcefully against the Republican repeal effort and have faced uncertainty since the November election of Republican President Donald Trump, who vowed to sink the law. While the majority of insured Americans receive coverage through their employers or government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, more than 10 million people have individual plans through the online exchanges, and about 11 million are expected to sign up next year. Most of these consumers receive income-based tax credits and subsidies to reduce costs. Insurers have filed their premium rates for 2018, many of which are expected to rise at least 20 percent because of uncertainty that the government will continue paying some of those subsidies. Despite those worries, insurers on Wednesday signed contracts with the government that will result in every U.S. county having at least one company selling Obamacare plans. Trump has signaled that his administration would take other action to unwind the law, and on Wednesday said he would sign an order next week allowing people to buy insurance coverage across U.S. state lines. Republican Senator Rand Paul, who has been pushing for the move, says Trump can do this by legalizing nationwide health associations that individuals could then join. | 1 |
4,840 | Sinn Fein says proposed UK time limit on soldier prosecutions 'unacceptable' | BELFAST (Reuters) - Sinn Fein on Monday dismissed as unacceptable a bill proposed by a British Conservative Party lawmaker to set a 10-year limit on prosecuting soldiers, saying it breached a 2014 deal intended to rescue the province s power-sharing arrangements. If the bill wins the backing of the British government, it could seriously complicate efforts to resolve a political crisis in Northern Ireland, which is facing a return to direct rule from London for the first time in a decade. The bill was sponsored by a member of Sinn Fein s main rival the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which did a deal this year to support Prime Minister Theresa May s government. Sinn Fein, the largest Irish nationalist party in Northern Ireland, has repeatedly warned that the deal would undermine power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Conservative Party member of parliament Richard Benyon on Wednesday proposed the bill, which would set a 10 year-statute of limitations beyond which it would be impossible to bring a case against any individual about whom an allegation was made regarding actions he or she took while serving. While presenting the bill, sponsored by DUP lawmaker Emma Little Pengelly, Benyon cited the case of a 78-year-old former British soldier facing prosecution for the shooting of an unarmed 27-year-old Catholic in 1974. Sinn Fein says the commitment to prosecute crimes committed by British soldiers during the three decade conflict in Northern Ireland is a key foundation of the peace process in the British region. About 3,600 people died before a 1998 peace deal, approximately half of them killed by Sinn Fein s former armed wing, the Irish Republican Army. Under the terms of the 1998 peace agreement, Sinn Fein and the DUP have shared power in Northern Ireland for a decade. The proposed bill is simply unacceptable, said Linda Dillon, a Sinn Fein member of the Northern Ireland assembly, who accused British forces of being directly involved in state sponsored killings. The decision of the DUP to support it is in direct contravention of the (2014) Stormont House Agreement which ruled out any amnesties and instead provided a range of mechanisms to deal with the past, she said. The bill, whose second reading is not due until June next year, was brought to parliament within hours of the collapse of talks between the DUP and Sinn Fein to re-establish a Northern Ireland devolved executive following its collapse in January. Failure to reach agreement is expected to force the British government to impose direct rule of Northern Ireland, in effect cutting Irish nationalist parties out of the governance of the region during a key stage of Britain s negotiations to leave the European Union. | 1 |
4,841 | Gunmen assassinate mayor of Libya's biggest port city | TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Gunmen fatally shot the mayor of Libya s third-largest city, Misrata, late on Sunday, ambushing his car inside the city, security officials said. The North African oil producer has been in chaos since the 2011 uprising that unseated Muammar Gaddafi, but Misrata, Libya s biggest port, had been relative peaceful until now. Gunmen chased the car of Mayor Mohamed Eshtewi after he left Misrata airport following his arrival on a plane from Turkey, a security official said, adding it was unclear who was behind it. In October, a bomb exploded at the city s court, killing about four people and wounding 40 others in an attack claimed by Islamic state. Misrata, almost 200 km (125 miles) east of Tripoli, is the gateway for food and other imports into Libya and the country s only tax-free zone. It is one of the few places still frequented by foreign business people fearing poor security elsewhere. | 1 |
4,842 | Ohio governor signs bill legalizing medical marijuana | (Reuters) - Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich on Wednesday signed a bill legalizing marijuana use for medical purposes under certain circumstances, his office said. Over the last few years, state legislatures and voters in the United States have been much more receptive to making marijuana legal for medical purposes, and to a lesser extent, recreational use. The Ohio legislature approved the measure in May. Some 24 states and Washington D.C. currently allow some type of medical marijuana use, and just a handful of states allow its recreational use. It remains illegal on the federal level. Kasich, who earlier this year dropped out of the U.S. presidential race, signed the bill but provided no statement on Wednesday. The Ohio legislation only allows patients with specific medical conditions to use an oil, edible, tincture or vapor form of marijuana prescribed by a physician licensed in the state, starting in 2017. Medical marijuana users would not be allowed to smoke or grow their own marijuana under the measure, which also would create a commission responsible for regulating and licensing of all operations of the drug. The measure was fast-tracked to head off a possible less-restrictive medical marijuana ballot initiative in November. Ohioans for Medical Marijuana suspended their campaign for the ballot measure late last month, saying that while the lawmakers’ bill had its shortcomings, it was “a moderately good piece of legislation.” Last November, Ohio voters soundly rejected a measure that would have made it the first U.S. Midwestern state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. The proposal was criticized for allowing the main backers of the proposal cartel-like powers over the industry in the state for several years. | 1 |
4,843 | Lou Dobbs Blasts Mueller Investigation: ‘What is going on here?’ [Video] | Lou Dobbs has had it with this kangaroo court situation and the Trump Russia Fake News. He and Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch discuss the fact that Mueller s appointment could be constitutionally suspect ..@TomFitton: I think the special counselor regulations, and Mueller s appointment, are constitutionally suspect. https://t.co/OTC2kFtmii pic.twitter.com/b5s704lR6F FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) September 21, 2017Fitton s best point: Mueller is investigating himself in my view. The firing of Comey led to his appointment. Comey s leaking of information led to his appointment and Sessions recused himself almost immediately Today, we hear that Mueller is going after Trump s notes on policy clearly adding to the question of whether he s going over the line in the investigation.Lou has been a voice of reason and concern throughout the entire Trump Russia debacle:THIS IS HUGE! Lou Dobbs joined Sean Hannity to discuss the constant effort to destroy President Trump. Dobbs has mentioned a coup before (SEE BELOW) but is doubling down on his concern that the deep state and lefty media are in a full court press to get Trump out of office ASAP.Lou Dobbs had this to say about the effort to destroy Trump: The double standard is more than that by a long measure. This is an effort to subvert the administration of President Donald Trump. It is nothing less. It is an effort by the Deep State to roll over a duly elected president and a legitimate government and to break the will of the American people. This is no longer about Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, this is about a full-on assault by the left, the Democratic party to absolutely carry out a coup d etat against President Trump.LOU DOBBS AND CLINTON CASH AUTHOR DISCUSS THE DEEP STATE AND THE EFFORT TO TAKE DOWN TRUMP: Never in American history has there been a more highly organized group of people, the deep state , attempting to subvert the will of the American people, in this case, the Trump presidency. Peter Schweizer discusses the efforts of the deep state , their conspiracy campaign against Donald Trump and its potential impact on President Trump s administration.TAKE NOTES AND CALL OUT YOUR CONGRESSMEN IF THEY RE NOT SUPPORTING PRESIDENT TRUMP! | 0 |
4,844 | bahrainis support senior shia cleric sheikh qassim | iraq federal police forces launch a rocket during clashes with daesh militants south of mosul on october photos by reuters
daesh executes over civilians in mosul as the battle to liberate the iraqi city from the takfiris gains momentum
daesh militants continued to commit atrocities in the province of nineveh they executed people in the area of hammam alalil after taking them hostage in different areas of mosul saidthe chairman of the iraqi parliamentary human rights committee abdel rakhim shamri on wednesday
he added that another people were taken from the village of arij and executed after they refused to cooperate with the terrorists federal police forces take part in an operation against daesh militants south of mosul on october
shamri also called on iraqi prime minister haider alabadi to facilitate the airlifting of civilians from daeshheld areas in mosul as the terrorists are using them as human shields
on tuesday the un human rights office said it had preliminary reports about scores of mass killings by daesh around mosul in the past week federal police forces take part in an operation against daesh militants south of mosul on october
un human rights spokesman rupert colville told a regular un briefing in geneva that the bodies of civilians with bullet wounds had been discovered by iraqi security forces in tuloul naser village on october and police officers being held outside the city had also reportedly been killed
daesh employing scorched earth policy
on wednesday the commander of the mosul operations major general najm al jabouri announced that government forces had liberated the villages of saf al tuth and nana after engaging enemy snipers stationed close to the villages
locals report that daesh militants are employing a scorched earth policy destroying buildings farms detonating explosives torching industrial plants and kidnapping and killing civilians as they are forced to retreat
my brother was killed by daesh because he wanted to join the security forces anyone who wanted to join the security forces would be killed they took a lot of people they carried them in pickup trucks and i have no idea what their fate will be said a resident of nana village
regional officials have confirmed the terrorists are kidnapping and executing people as they are forced to retreat by advancing iraqi forces
a member of the nineveh provincial council abdul rahman alwagga noted that the executions were carried out to terrorize the others those who are in mosul in particular
daesh was taking families from each village it left he added iraq army forces drive a military vehicle during the operation against daesh militants in qayyarah south of mosul on october
earlier military sources announced that peshmerga fighters had established control over dirik village near the town of bashiqa which lies kilometers northeast of mosul
iraqs joint operations command also announced that iraqi counterterrorism units were only two kilometers away from mosul
since the beginning of the operations the iraqi army backed by volunteer forces has been engaged in a large military offensive to cleanse mosul of daesh terrorists the city fell in when the terror group started ravaging the country naming mosul as its socalled headquarters in iraq loading | 1 |
4,845 | Arizona Governor Blocks 31,000 Low-Income Children From Access To Life Saving Healthcare | As Arizona grapples with passing their Constitutionally required budget, its governor, Doug Ducey, informed legislators that he will no longer be supporting the extension of the state s KidsCare program. The program, which is a branch of the Children s Health Insurance Program (which Hillary Clinton lobbied for), serves over 31,000 low-income children, many of whom have chronic illnesses.Steve Farley, a Democratic Senator in the legislature, posted on Facebook:Such sad news. We just received word that the Governor is no longer supporting the extension of KidsCare healthcare to 31,000 low-income children, and is now saying those kids, many of whom are suffering chronic illnesses, will have to wait till next year. We remain the only state in the country that does not cover these kids.Gov. Ducey decided it would be too much trouble to overcome the opposition of extremist ideologues in the House, even though we had the Senate votes to win.There would be ZERO COST to the state to extend this coverage. Some of those kids will not be alive next year. This is a complete failure of leadership on the part of the Governor and the legislative majorityLet that sink in: if the Governor gets his way, Arizona will continue to be the only state that does not cover low-income children s healthcare services. Even Kansas, which is on the brink of near total financial collapse, extends this program.The program was cut almost in its entirety in 2011 thanks to Arizona s former governor Jan Brewer. Not only did she cut the program, she imposed enrollment caps on the Medicaid system to ensure that program would almost never return. Those actions caused 14,000 children to lose their healthcare. In total, with the caps put into place, over 300,000 lost their access.Reports released by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families found these startling facts about Arizona s heartless treatment of children:But don t worry, folks. In the Arizona budget, there s about $18 million that will go towards private prisons. So while some kids face a totally preventable death, prisons will get their coffers stuffed with all sorts of monetary rewards.Hooray for pro-life Republicans!Featured image via Maury Phillips/Getty Images | 0 |
4,846 | ASPIRATIONS: Young Chinese seize the day, seize the hour | (Reuters) - The world is this generation s oyster. China s Class of 2012 is mostly ambitious and pragmatic. What do they want out of life? For some, it's a husband. For others, an apartment in a city. Still others are happy with a stable job, or travel and new experiences. Wang Siyue, a product specialist at an internet education company: To be honest, how can I imagine what will happen in the next five years? You can make some plans but the world is unpredictable ... There s a very good saying: the luck of man is in balance. It s balanced. If you have good luck in the beginning, you ll have less luck later on. I believe in fate. Hu Ruixin, a computer technician, talked about his dreams when he was in university: I had a 15-year-plan for myself. For the first five years, I d open an advertising studio. In the next five years, I d let the studio develop into a company. With five more years, I d grow the company. But when I finally graduated from university and went into the world, I found this was hard to realize. There are too many restrictions and it s difficult, so I gave up. The most important thing in life is responsibility. I ve got a child now and since becoming a parent feel that responsibility is really important. Zhang Weixuan, an assistant secretary at a software company, who recently managed to get Beijing residency - a coveted hukou : My China Dream is simple. I hope to establish myself in a big city. Last year I got my Beijing hukou , I successfully got it, and now I want to get married here and start my own family. In my work field I hope to do well and in two years time, or even now, buy a small apartment. Then I can establish myself. I think that d be pretty good. Qi Jing, a township leader for the Communist Party Youth League, who grew up in Wuhan: I think now my dilemma is when you reach a certain age you have less and less opportunities. Especially as a woman, your choices at work, your choices between work and family, you have to face them. Then you ll give up a lot of things. Maybe there s something you wanted to do when you were young and thought why not give it a shot? But what I feel now is I should slowly give them up, and focus on stability. | 1 |
4,847 | Ageing German 'super-spy' convicted of tax evasion | BOCHUM, Germany (Reuters) - A 77-year-old spy, known as Germany s James Bond for his secret missions during and after the Cold War, was convicted of tax evasion on Thursday and handed a suspended two-year sentence. Werner Mauss, whose career spanned 40 years, says on his website that he was involved in smashing more than 100 criminal gangs and in the arrests of around 2,000 individuals. In a trial that has been going on for about a year, Mauss - who wore a hooded jacket in court - was accused of concealing millions of euros from German tax authorities in offshore accounts between 2002 and 2011. Ultimately, the extent of the damage is only one aspect to consider (in determining the sentence), said Volker Talarowski, spokesman of the court in Bochum. All aspects have to be considered, among them the age of the defendant. The defendant is 77 years old and he has never been sentenced, and he has achieved a special life s work. German authorities say nothing about Mauss. But media credit him with being one of Germany s most distinguished undercover agents. The Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper said he had had 100 different identities and a line to the chancellor s office. The charges were raised after the Sueddeutsche Zeitung named him as being involved with shell companies exposed by the Panama Papers , documents leaked by law firm Mossack Fonseca. He is one of the most mysterious figures in post-war German history. He was used by countries, companies and individuals as a private agent, the newspaper said at the time. He worked for the German foreign and domestic intelligence agencies and the police. They named him the Institution M. Mauss argued the offshore accounts were set up by third parties to pay for undercover missions, such as the freeing of hostages. He says he was involved in finding treasure from Cologne Cathedral hidden near Belgrade in the 1970s and catching the robbers. He also says he helped in the arrest of Red Army Faction militant Rolf Pohle in Athens, as well as being involved in hostage releases in Lebanon and Colombia. | 1 |
4,848 | Trump's wife seeks to soften his image at raucous Republican convention | CLEVELAND (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s wife Melania, in her first major political speech on Monday, portrayed her husband as a talented, compassionate and unrelenting leader who would unify rather than divide the country if elected to the White House. The Slovenian-born jewelry designer and former model delivered the speech, part of which strongly resembled an address given by current First Lady Michelle Obama in 2008, to a cheering crowd at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland after a one-minute introduction from Trump. The presumptive Republican nominee made a dramatic entrance, silhouetted against a white background, to the accompaniment of Queen’s 1977 rock anthem, “We Are the Champions.” “I have been with Donald for 18 years and I have been aware of his love for this country since we first met,” the aspiring first lady told the convention. “He’s tough when he has to be, but he’s also kind and fair and caring.” “Donald wants prosperity for all Americans,” she said, reading from a teleprompter, as people applauded. Her roughly 15-minute speech was a bid to soften the image of the New York businessman-turned-politician, who has been accused of bigotry and callousness for his calls to suspend Muslim immigration and deport millions of undocumented immigrants if elected. He has also been criticized for insults directed at women, political opponents and journalists. Part of the text referring to the values held by her family was strikingly similar to a section of Michelle Obama’s speech to the Democratic convention in 2008. A Trump campaign official suggested the similarity was the result of an error by her speech writers. “In writing her beautiful speech, Melania’s team of writers took notes on her life’s inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking,” Jason Miller, Trump’s senior communications advisor, said in a statement. Trump’s Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, has accused Trump, 70, of lacking the experience and temperament needed to work in the Oval Office. On Monday, Clinton, 68, used an address to a largely black audience to cast Trump as someone who would divide the country along racial, ethnic and religious lines. The convention’s opening night featured a string of emotional speakers attacking Clinton’s record as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, many arguing she had made Americans vulnerable to Islamist militancy. “I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son,” said Pat Smith, the mother of an information management officer who was among the four Americans killed in an attack on a U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, whose administration has been credited with sharply reducing crime in the city during the 1990s and who oversaw the city’s response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and killed almost 3,000 people, gave a highly charged speech slamming Clinton and making the case for Trump. “What I did for New York, Donald Trump will do for America!” he said. The convention erupted in chaos earlier when Trump opponents inside his party stormed out of the room and others chanted, in a failed attempt to force a vote opposing his candidacy. The turmoil threatened efforts by the Trump campaign to show the party had united behind him and distracted from the day’s theme of “Make America Safe Again”. The anti-Trump forces wanted to change the party’s nominating rules to allow delegates to support alternative Republican candidates over Trump. Party leaders held a voice vote, then declared the opponents lacked enough support, triggering pandemonium on the floor of the Cleveland basketball arena where Trump is due to be formally nominated this week for the Nov. 8 election. “This entire system is rigged to force the vote for Donald Trump,” said Kendal Unruh, a delegate from Colorado. While delivering a jolt to the highly scripted program, the rebellion by the anti-Trump forces was quashed. But the furor, an embarrassment to Trump, put a spotlight on the deep divisions within the party that have emerged over his candidacy. A string of senior Republicans, worried about Trump’s temperament and policies, were already avoiding the convention. The gathering opened on Monday afternoon in the shadow of racially tinged killings of police officers and black men, and as protesters for and against Trump faced off in a plaza a few blocks from the convention, shouting slogans at each other, separated by a wall of police. The protests were largely peaceful, with law enforcement officers outnumbering demonstrators. Sunday’s shooting of three policemen in Baton Rouge, Louisiana - a targeted attack that may have been retaliation for a series of police killings of black Americans - hung over the gathering. Trump criticized Obama early on Monday over the shootings, saying the Democratic president “doesn’t have a clue.” The Baton Rouge shootings happened nearly two weeks after police fatally shot a black man there, and after another such death near St. Paul, Minnesota, both of which sparked nationwide protests. Five policemen were also killed in an ambush in Dallas this month. Trump has sought to position himself as the law-and-order candidate, in an echo of Republican Richard Nixon’s successful presidential campaign of 1968. (This story has been corrected to delete paragraph 20 which erroneously cited a parody Twitter account in suggesting Donald Trump Jr. threatened the leaders of the attempted revolt) | 1 |
4,849 | Syria calls on U.N. Security Council to condemn Israeli strikes | BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria s Foreign Ministry on Thursday called on the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israel s attacks on Syria after an Israeli strike late on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry asked the Security Council to take strict and immediate measures to stop such Israeli attacks, in a statement carried on the state-run SANA news agency. Wednesday s strike hit a copper factory in the industrial town of Hisya, 35 km (21 miles) south of Homs and 112 km north of Damascus, SANA reported. In Jerusalem, Israel s Foreign Ministry declined to comment. On Wednesday, Israel s Channel 10 said the aircraft were not hit and returned safely to base. The Israeli air force says it has struck arms convoys of the Syrian military and its Lebanese ally, the Iran-backed Hezbollah, nearly 100 times in recent years. Israeli officials have expressed alarm at Iranian influence in Syria, where Iran-backed groups have played a critical role fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad during the conflict that erupted in 2011. | 1 |
4,850 | Respect Mexicans, President Pena Nieto tells visiting Donald Trump | MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday told U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that Mexicans deserved his respect, hosting him during a brief visit to Mexico City. Pena Nieto told Trump his government would work with whoever wins the U.S. election, and called for a constructive relationship. | 1 |
4,851 | Now or never: Trump's 'wall' talk sparks migrant rush on U.S.-Mexico border | CIUDAD JUAREZ/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gang violence and poverty have for years pushed Mexicans and Central Americans north to the United States, but recently a new driver has emerged: the anti-immigrant tone of leading Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. From the slums of Central America to close-knit migrant communities in U.S. cities, Trump’s rise to the front of the Republican pack has not gone unnoticed and is partly behind a spike in the numbers of migrants trying to enter the country, including children traveling without guardians. Interviews with migrants, people smugglers and officials show many migrants are trying to cross now instead of facing tighter policing and new policies to halt illegal immigration if Trump or another Republican wins the Nov. 8 election. “If Trump wins, we’re all screwed and all Latinos are screwed,” Isaias Franco, a 46-year-old from El Salvador who was deported from the United States late last year and is now trying to get back, said at a migrant shelter in Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data shows 150,304 migrants were detained trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border between October and February, up 24 percent from the same period last year. Similar data for “unaccompanied” child migrants - those traveling without a guardian - is not yet available, but between October and January, 20,455 kids were apprehended on the southwest border, up over 100 percent from a year ago. (For a graphic, click on tmsnrt.rs/1TM7iDF) The numbers of migrants typically rise as summer approaches. Like other migrants, Franco is aware of the U.S. presidential race and Trump’s vow, matched by fellow Republican candidate Ted Cruz, to deport all the illegal immigrants in the United States, estimated at more than 11 million. “You watch the news ... There’s a lot of fear among Latinos,” Franco said, adding that a Republican victory would spell the end for proposed reforms to give many immigrants greater legal security. Hope Hicks, a spokeswoman for Trump, said migrants understand his policies. “It seems they agree Mr. Trump will be tough, build the wall and stop illegal immigration.” Blanca Rivera, who manages the Ciudad Juarez migrant shelter, said she had noticed a recent surge in the numbers of migrants and also blamed the inflammatory rhetoric. “They think they need to take advantage while they can.” Trump has built a strong lead in the race for the Republican nomination in part by taking a tough stance on immigration. He says Mexico is “killing” the United States with cheap labor and has sent “criminals” and “rapists” across the border. He is also promising to build a huge border wall and proposed a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country. Although Trump has been the most outspoken candidate, his main rivals also say the government must stop the flow of illegal migrants into the country, mainly from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Trump, Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio all say they would overturn President Barack Obama’s executive orders that shield some illegal immigrants from deportation. In 2014, tens of thousands of child migrants traveling without family members overwhelmed the southern U.S. border, sparking a political crisis. The flow then fell in most of 2015 but has surged again in recent months. Brenda Barrios, a 30-year-old Guatemalan based in Silver Spring, Maryland, crossed illegally into the United States in 2003 with her parents and two sisters. Her parents were later deported back to Guatemala, and they think it is too dangerous to return but Brenda is encouraging them to come before the end of the year in case Trump wins. “He’s one of the reasons why people are crossing the border. They think he looks like a dictator,” she said. “It’s very dangerous for them to cross. But it will be worse if Trump is president ... Life will be very difficult for us. He doesn’t want us here.” Still, Barrios and other migrants interviewed said the United States, even under an administration seeking to halt illegal immigration, would still be better than the poverty and violence of their home countries. Since 2014, the murder rate in El Salvador has risen dramatically amid an escalation of gang violence and a regional drought has forced thousands of people, particularly from Guatemala, to head north. But there are also signs that human smugglers, or “coyotes”, are taking advantage of the anti-immigrant rhetoric and peddling the idea that now is the time to go. Victoria Cordova and her 11-year-old daughter Genesis were deported back to Honduras in 2014, after hiking through Mexico and being detained trying to cross into Texas. She said coyotes in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa - who charge about $7,000 per person - have been telling people now is the time to leave. “Lots of the women here were talking about it, and asked me if I was going to go,” she said. “People here were saying that in June of this year they were going to give new entry permits.” Ruben Garcia, the director of the Annunciation House migrant shelter in El Paso said the next U.S. president, whoever it is, will face the same challenge of migration flows. “Things in Central America are terrible,” he said. “People are going to continue to flee because it’s just really hard for people to survive right now.” (Additional reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador and Anna Yukhananov in Mexico City; Editing by Kieran Murray) This article was funded in part by SAP. It was independently created by the Reuters editorial staff. SAP had no editorial involvement in its creation or production. | 1 |
4,852 | U.S. Treasury dashes hopes for near-term World Bank capital hike | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Treasury official dashed hopes for a World Bank capital increase in the near term, saying the multilateral lender first needs to review its balance sheet to ensure resources are going to countries and projects that need them most. The World Bank Group two years ago had set a goal of agreeing on a capital increase for its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development arm by the time of the 2017 World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings, which start this week. The IBRD provides concessional financing for projects in middle-income and creditworthy low-income countries. But U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda and plans to cut back foreign aid had cast doubt over the bank’s ability to win the support of its largest shareholder. Last week, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the capital increase was a question of timing as the “vast majority” of the bank’s 189 member countries supported it. But the Treasury official told Reuters on Tuesday that it was too soon to discuss such an effort because too much of IBRD’s resources were tied up in countries that had ample borrowing ability, including China and other larger emerging markets. The World Bank needs to do a better job of “graduating” such countries off of IBRD support to private sector lending resources, the official said. “Our view is that the World Bank Group as a whole needs to present substantial work on its balance sheet and the direction of that balance sheet as we go forward, the official said. “It’s early to be talking about a capital increase for the IBRD.” The World Bank cannot proceed without the approval of the Treasury, which controls an effective veto on the institution’s executive board. “So the bottom line here is right now we’ve got too high a percentage of the World Bank’s balance sheet that’s going to countries and to projects that already have ample borrowing capacity.” China is IBRD’s largest borrower country, with $2.42 billion in loan commitments in the fiscal year ended June 30. The other top 10 borrowers were India, Indonesia, Colombia, Argentina, Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Ukraine and Romania. China is the World Bank Group’s third-largest shareholder, with 4.77 percent of voting power. But China also controls 28.7 percent of the new Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which has $20 billion in paid-in capital, exceeding the World Bank’s $16 billion. In August, the World Bank approved a $100 million IBRD loan to finance a program aimed at helping farmers clean up heavy metals pollution of agricultural land in the rice-growing Hunan province. With a recent replenishment of the bank’s fund for the poorest countries, the International Development Association, the Treasury official said there were ample multilateral lending resources, and administration was concerned that some countries were jeopardizing future growth by taking on too much concessional debt. “To fund development needs, there needs to be renewed focus on domestic resource mobilization and engagement in private sector development,” the official said. A World Bank spokesman said that the bank started work last April to develop options to expand its financial capacity, and “extensive technical work is being undertaken.” | 1 |
4,853 | hollande set to lose french presidency after complaining there are too many immigrants | aig quadruples limits for terrorism insurance to billion
october by sonali basak bloomberg
httpwwwbloombergcomnewsarticlesaigquadrupleslimitsforterrorismtobillionasfearclimbs
aig seeks to respond to terrorist attacks worldwide
insurer has hired more than engineers to manage risk | 0 |
4,854 | Washington’s Criminal Activities Are Only Getting Messier | 21st Century Wire says It was a major scandal that broke out in 2009. Academi, formerly known as Blackwater, was accused of murdering civilians and smuggling weapons in Middle East ops.Further to the prosecution of four Blackwater employees five years later, guilty of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad during one spate of violence, there has been a historical boom of private contractors occurring since Iraq and Afghanistan incursions began.More on this report from New Eastern Outlook Martin Berger New Eastern OutlookThe unpunished slaughter of thousands of civilians in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan carried out by the US over the course of the last decade is now being gradually replaced by new types of crimes committed by Washington s henchmen in the course of its ongoing instances of armed aggression against sovereign states.As it s been reported by Bloomberg with a special reference to AP, a well-known American contractor firm Sallyport Global has recently been engaged in a number of illegal operations in Baghdad s vicinity. According to the report, its employees would get engaged in alcohol smuggling and slave trade. It s curious that Sallyport Global s staff would overload cargo planes with illegal alcohol so hard that they could barely fly, while stealing generators and armored off-road vehicles from the Balad air base that they were dispatched to protect. Bloomberg would note that some of company s employees were also involved in selling local residents to sex slavery.Meanwhile, it is a well-known fact that Sallyport Global received 686 million dollars from the US government to fulfill a number of missions in the best interests of the American people. Or at least it was supposed to.One could also recall a major scandal that broke out back in 2009, when a military contractor firm Academi (that was called Blackwater back in the day) was accused of murdering civilians and smuggling weapons. Five years later the jury in the state of Washington found four employees of the Blackwater private company guilty of killing 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in just one instance of violence. After this attack Iraqi authorities demanded that Blackwater paid 8 million dollars in compensation to each of the 17 families whose relatives were murdered in the raid that its employers conducted. Additionally, local authorities demanded that a total of 250 both former and acting employees of Blackwater would leave Iraq within a week after the tragic event.As soon as the US military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan began, along with an number of other military interventions across the globe, the number of private companies involved in providing so-called security services to the Pentagon started booming.In the absence of any independent audit, the actual number of military contractors deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and other countries can only be guessed, since the official evaluation provided by the Pentagon is pretty misleading. The tangled web of contractors and subcontractors and the lack of any comprehensive control led to the situation when even the top US officials had no real information on the actual of number of US contractors deployed in a particular country. Thus, when the Congress demanded the Interim Coalition Administration (ICA) of Iraq to provide it with the exact number of military contractors deployed in the country back in 2004, it took the latter quite a lot of time to draft a list of 60 firms employing a total of 20,000 people. However, six year later the number of people employed by the Pentagon, the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development to carry out security related missions in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeded 260,000 people with only every fourth contractor being an American citizen. At times, the number of contractors deployed exceeded the total number of troops US Armed Forces had in these two countries.Private military firms carry out a wide range of missions in the areas controlled by the US military personnel, such as the participation in actual combat engagements, reconnaissance missions, special operations, carrying out security tasks and logistical support. They have also been training local army and police units that are loyal to the forces that Washington supports. Private contractor firms are playing an important role in ensuring that the situation in a certain country, occupied by the United States, remains under control. The best example of a wide range of activities that military contractors are engaged in is the fact that the people employed by the Anteon International have been maintaining communications systems that Pentagon is using for its operations.In Afghanistan, for example, such military contractor firms as MPRI, Sandline, Control Risk Group, Chilport, along with Israeli Golan Group and Beni Tal were deployed long before the actual invasion began. Back then the CIA was determined to send the maximum possible number of infiltration groups that were formed out of employees of private intelligence companies. Those groups were tasked with the mission of killing Osama bin Laden and other leaders of the Taliban movement. Additionally, they were demanded to get engaged in the bribing of local warlords, collecting operational data, conducting reconnaissance and carrying out acts of sabotage.To this date Washington relies heavily on the services that private intelligence companies would provide. This phenomenon can be explained by the fact that Middle Eastern warlords are getting extremely violent when they find a snitch in their ranks, which results in his death and, quite possible, the deaths of all of his relatives, regardless of the degree of kinship, age and sex. This is the main reason behind the reluctance that most locals towards cooperating with the occupying force. So in a situation when the CIA cannot establish a comprehensive intelligence network, contractors are the only people that lend it a helping hand.The large-scale involvement of private contractor firms led to the practice of bribing local commanders, when money are being paid for the relative security that the employees of such a firm can enjoy in a certain territory. Thus, an impressive margin of all the money that such firms are getting end up in the pockets of the Taliban movement leaders, who are acting in the capacity of some sort of subcontractors. According to official data, the Taliban movement has received over 360 million dollars from the US budget for the services it has been providing to private contractor firms. This number constitutes the second largest sources of income for the mujahideen movement, with the proceeds from drug trade still occupying the top of the list.When the number of US troops in certain conflict zones of abroad decreases, it is usually accompanied by an increase in the number of employees of private contractor firms willing to risk their heads for a paycheck...Continue this report at New Eastern OutlookREAD MORE WASHINGTON NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire WASHINGTON FilesSUPPORT OUR WORK BY SUBSCRIBING & BECOMING A MEMBER @21WIRE.TV | 0 |
4,855 | Deadline nears for Catalan leader to clarify independence stance | MADRID (Reuters) - Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont has until 10:00 a.m. local (0800 GMT) on Monday to clarify whether he is calling for the region s independence from Spain, with Madrid threatening a return to direct rule if his stance remains ambiguous. The wealthy region s threat to break away following a referendum that Spain s Constitutional Court said was illegal has plunged Spain into its worst political crisis since an attempted military coup in 1981, just six years after the death of dictator Francisco Franco. Puigdemont made a symbolic declaration of independence last Tuesday, only to suspend it seconds later and call for negotiations with Madrid on the region s future. Spain s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy then gave him a Monday deadline to clarify his position and until Thursday to change his mind if he insists on a split and said Madrid would suspend Catalonia s autonomy if he chooses independence. The Spanish government said Puigdemont should answer the formal requirement with a simple Yes or No and that any ambiguous response would be considered a confirmation that a declaration of independence had been made. This would trigger the Article 155 of the 1978 constitution, under which the government in Madrid can install direct rule in any of Spain s 17 autonomous communities if they break the law. The central government can then sack the local administration and install a new governing team, take control of the police and finances, and call for a snap election. Sources close to the Catalan government said Puigdemont would send Rajoy a letter before the deadline expires, although they declined to say what his answer would be. Local media, including Catalan public broadcaster TV-3 and Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia, said on Sunday Puigdemont was unlikely to say clearly whether he had declared independence and send instead a more elaborate response. Puigdemont, who is consulting local parties to prepare his answer, faces a dilemma. If he says he did proclaim independence, the central government will step in. If he says he did not, the far-left Catalan party CUP would probably withdraw its support for his minority government. The Catalan government says 90 percent of Catalans voted for a breakaway in an Oct. 1 referendum that central authorities in Madrid declared illegal and which most opponents of independence boycotted, reducing turnout to around 43 percent. Puigdemont said on Sunday his answer would be inspired by democracy, something most political observers in Spain said was a sign he would push ahead with secession plans. If this was the case, and article 155 was invoked, Rajoy would then replace the Catalan government with a new set-up to manage the region, which could be run by politicians or technocrats, Madrid-based newspaper El Mundo reported on Sunday. Elections to the Catalan parliament would then be held within three months. | 1 |
4,856 | The thinking behind Kim Jong Un's 'madness' | SEOUL (Reuters) - On an icy December day in 2011, North Korea s new leader Kim Jong Un was accompanied by seven advisers as they escorted the hearse that carried his father, Kim Jong Il, through the streets of Pyongyang. None of the men remain with the young Kim. This October, he demoted the last of his father s aides, both men in their nineties. They were among around 340 people he has purged or executed, according to the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank of South Korea s National Intelligence Service (NIS). Kim, obviously a madman in the eyes of U.S. President Donald Trump, has completed a six-year transition to what the South calls a reign of terror. His unpredictability and belligerence have instilled fear worldwide: After he tested a breakthrough missile earlier this week, he pronounced North Korea a nuclear power capable of striking the United States. But a closer look at his leadership reveals a method behind the madness. At 33, Kim Jong Un is one of the world s youngest heads of state. He inherited a nation with a proud history, onto which a socialist state had essentially been grafted by Cold War superpowers to create a buffer between Communist China and the capitalist South. Under Kim s father, the economy was mismanaged, and the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union eliminated an important source of support. Up to three million people starved. To consolidate a weak position, the young leader has been cultivating three main forces: military and nuclear power, a tacit private sector market economy, and the fear and adoration of a god. To this end, he has executed two powerful men and promoted one young woman Kim Yo Jong, his younger sister, who Korea-watchers say is also Kim s chief propagandist. She is Kim s only other blood relative to be involved in politics: His elder brother, Kim Jong Chol, was rejected by their father as heir. Over the five years to December 2016, Kim spent $300 million on 29 nuclear and missile tests, $180 million on building some 460 family statues, and as much as $1 billion on a party congress in 2016 including $26.8 million on fireworks alone, according to the Institute, which employs high-level defectors. Yes, he has replaced many top commanders and officials so easily and ruthlessly killed some of them, which could make you wonder if he s sane, said Lee Sang-keun, a North Korean leadership expert at the Institute of Unification Studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. But this is a historical way of governing that can put you in power for a long time. (Graphic - Kim family tree: tmsnrt.rs/2AJM8F1) (Graphic - Purge and launch: tmsnrt.rs/2ApSfhC) In ancient days, Pyongyang was the capital of a mighty empire, Koguryo, the root of the modern word Korea. Going back through history, the Great Leader concept is a blend of several ideas handed down through time: an almighty god, the Confucian worship of a parent, and a king with the Mandate of Heaven, according to Lee Seung-yeol, a senior researcher at the National Assembly Research Service in Seoul. Lee, a leading North Korea leadership researcher, said the state s theory of succession means Kim the younger s rise should have been completed while his father was alive: Kim s father was anointed 20 years before he took over, giving him time to build allies and a leadership system. Kim Jong Un had just three years as leader-in-waiting. Born in 1984, he was third in line for power and a fractious, competitive child, according to Kenji Fujimoto, a Japanese chef who worked for the family and one of the few people to recount meetings with the young Kim. In his memoirs published in 2010, Fujimoto, who now runs a sushi restaurant in Pyongyang, said Kim once snapped at his aunt Ko Yong Suk for calling him Little General. Kim wanted to be called Comrade General. When Kim Jong Il knew his young son would soon succeed him, researchers have said, the father took several measures to protect the boy. Lee said these included shifting the country s power base to create rivalry between the elites so Kim the younger could play one group off against another. Kim Jong Il had declared the military the country s supreme power a policy known as songun, which means military first. At a party conference in 2010, he changed the setup so the military had to compete with the party administration for the leader s favour. Military strategy was the first thing Kim changed. His father had used the promise of nuclear disarmament as a bargaining chip for aid, and in February 2012, young Kim started in his father s footsteps, promising to freeze North Korea s nuclear program in return for food aid from the United States. But weeks later he changed tack, saying North Korea would fire a long-range rocket. The negotiations were carried on as the legacy of Kim Jong Il, said Wi Sung-lac, a former South Korean envoy to talks in 2011 that contributed to the February deal. Since then his strategic thinking has shaped up. In Kim s view, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya were fatally weakened by not having nuclear weapons, North Korean media say. History proves that powerful nuclear deterrence serves as the strongest treasured sword for frustrating outsiders aggression, the official KCNA news agency said in an editorial in January 2016. North Korea is racing to achieve a nuclear deterrent because the state feels threatened, worrying particularly that Kim may face a fate like Gaddafi. The Libyan leader agreed in 2003 to eliminate his weapons of mass destruction; in 2011, he was killed by rebels that the United States and its allies had supported. Months after Kim s accession, North Korea updated its constitution to declare itself a nuclear weapons state. One leading pallbearer at Kim Jong Il s funeral was Ri Yong Ho, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People s Army. Kim sacked him in July 2012. South Korean intelligence later confirmed that Ri had been executed. By December 2012, North Korea had carried out another, successful, rocket test. In 2013, Kim outlined a new policy: The byungjin line, or parallel development, to combine the nuclear buildup and economic growth. A nuclear deterrent is essential to that, says Thae Yong-ho, North Korea s former deputy ambassador to London, who staged a high-profile defection to South Korea in 2016. The threat of absolute destruction makes a nuclear bomb a poor man s weapon with which to tighten control of the country and ensure long-term rule, Thae said. Once he has assumed control of usable nuclear weapons, he has more room to allocate resources more flexibly, and allocate the military forces for civilian construction, said Thae. North Korea spends about a quarter of its GDP on defense: Russia s President Vladimir Putin has said Kim Jong Un would have his people eat grass rather than give up its nuclear program. But with a legacy of famine, Kim also says he wants to boost people s prosperity. The former chef, Fujimoto, said that on one summer break from school in Switzerland in 2000, the young Kim was preoccupied with a visit to Beijing his father had made. Let s talk, Fujimoto recalled the future leader saying over drinks on his father s private train. I hear from higher up that China seems to be succeeding on many fronts engineering, commerce, hotels, agriculture - everything, Kim said. In many ways, don t we need to take them as a model example for us? In 2012, shortly after taking power, Kim went a small way to mimic reforms China made in the 1980s. Farmers were allowed to keep most of the harvest. State enterprises were given the right to buy and sell at market prices and to hire and fire workers. Private entrepreneurs and traders were encouraged to invest in state projects or with party and military entities. Kim also began to turn a blind eye to informal markets a force his father tried in vain to contain. That April, Kim addressed the nation - the first time in 17 years North Koreans had heard the voice of their leader. It is the party s steadfast determination to ensure that the people will never have to tighten their belt again, he said. Outsiders hoped the reform signaled a new political openness as Kim drove to promote the North in the world: In 2012 Antonio Razzi, an Italian senator for Forza Italia who calls himself the only Italian to have met the leader, said Kim had asked him to find training facilities for soccer players in Italy. I have talked with many (North Korean) local leaders, Razzi said. They have no plan to attack anybody. North Korea is interested in nuclear only as a form of defense. Kim worked to ensure the economic freedom would not unseat him. Also escorting his father s funeral car in 2011 was Jang Song Thaek, an administrator at the vanguard of the reforms. He was married to Kim Jong Il s sister, was a special envoy to China and had overseen a host of new Special Economic Zones all over the country. In December 2013, Jang was hauled out of the Politburo in front of the cameras and accused of plotting a coup. Jang dreamed such a foolish dream, state media said, adding Jang hoped his reformist plans would help him get recognized by foreign countries. Jang was shot dozens of times by an anti-aircraft gun and his remains removed with a flamethrower, according to South Korea s National Intelligence Service (NIS) an account no one has confirmed. From that point on, Kim honed his personality cult. On the day Jang s purge was announced, North Korea s official daily the Rodong Sinmun unveiled a song dedicated to Kim Jong Un, titled We Know Nothing But You. More were to follow. The next year, Kim also ordered school textbooks be revised to focus on idolization of himself and include images of nuclear weapons and missiles, according to the NIS-affiliated Institute for National Security Strategy. The idolization campaign kicked into high gear in 2016, focused on pop culture and youth: Kim s chosen female singers, the Moranbong Band, staged a series of musical performances and plays calling for loyalty to the leader, while the Shock Brigade, a crew of young North Koreans in charge of major economic construction, produced about 1,200 poems and other literary works, the Institute said. He has linked his own legitimacy to improving the economic situation in the country, said John Delury of Seoul s Yonsei University. Kim Jong Un wants to become a development dictator. At home, he casts himself as a bringer of plenty. In 2015, almost half the times he was photographed were at economic events, data from Seoul s Unification Ministry shows. Only this year, as his weapons tests multiplied and met an angry response in the United States, have military appearances come back into prominence. Standing tearfully behind Kim Jong Un at their father s funeral was his younger sister, 28-year-old Kim Yo Jong. On the same October day that Kim dropped the last two of his father s aides, he included her in his Politburo. Kim Jong Chol, their elder brother, leads a quiet life in Pyongyang where he plays guitar in a band, according to former ambassador Thae. I think Kim Jong Un has been making good use of the existing system, while strengthening his power base and dictator regime in a very shrewd manner, said Lee Su-seok, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy. | 1 |
4,857 | obsolete | home this month popular things indian guys have to understand when learning game things indian guys have to understand when learning game february comments culture
as a guy of indian ethnicity there are some obstacles you have to overcome in order to have a balanced game circumstances can dictate what these are but following my last post a red pill infused indian pal of mine and myself had a conversation about what these obstacles are let go of limiting beliefs about being an indian in the western world
what do i mean by limiting beliefs there is a particular mindset among indian guys that they can only get with indian girls you must let go of these fears dictating that your ethnicity holds you back in what you can do being indian does not mean you have to work in it accounting business construction or own a corner shop as in the same way it does not mean you have to date indian girls let go of your mummys sari
its something ive noticed among the large indian community here in london there are a large number of mummys boys men who are afraid to stand up to their mothers and what they want themselves no one wants to disrespect their parents but also at the same time standing up for what you want should be your primary objective many a man will settle with their girlfriends due to pressure from their mothers as one acquaintance said he preempted conflict by just doing what his mother wanted even though he does not love the girl he married let go and expand beyond your indian comfort zone
your extended family plays a large part of your life not a bad thing but a lot of guys also have their friends circle exclusively indian expand your knowledge gain new friends travel and learn new languages its a difficult transition to move from becoming over reliant on this little setup to independence from all influence but it can be done and it will benefit your internal well being the thing to remember is you are the average of the five people you spend most of your time with it is highly likely none of your existing five friends will agree with your path into game they will tell what is best for you but in essence this is them subconsciously pulling you back down to their value as you increase your own stop putting white women on a pedestal
white women are easy white women are fun white women are flirts white women are great at sex or white women are sluts whatever white women are as an indian guy you must stop putting them on a pedestal for being all these sexually related things that you think indian girls are not there is no magical things that white women do that others do not besides there is not a certain place in the world where white women will see you and jump on your cock as there is not a certain bollywood film that will make a white woman gush all wet and demand you ravage her aryan style white woman pedestalization can be categorized as an inferiority complex displayed by indian men stop thinking youre inferior to any woman regardless of her ethnicracial origins understand that indian girls are not different and are not more chaste
being constantly around these indian girls at family gatherings community events and religious events makes you programmed into believing that you will marry one for certain because of their chaste and low promiscuity a strong belief that indian girls dont ride the cock carousel is blind faith because they do in fact all women in the western world do regardless of culture and their strong family traditional values they are women they get pussy tingles to the same game as white black asian orange maroon and kiwi women they have the same subconscious processes as all women that help them place a value on a man and inevitable slamming and spunk gobbling if he passes with flying colors in a western society these girls have the same external pressures and influences that appeal to their inner slut as much as any other woman your objective as a man is not to fall into the line of romantic thinking that they are different do not be afraid of the man
theres a man a dominant man somewhere in your family he dictates he dominates and he makes the decisions you have a fear of causing him displeasure you do as he says as hes done the leading since your father emptied his ball sack into your mother stop as much as a lot of indian men have pressures from being mummys little lad theres plenty of them that disintegrate under the pressure of their fathers or uncles avoiding conflict is prevalent in your attitude you do as you are told even though your mind is telling you this is not in your interest and possibly not in the wider interests of those close to you but you do it as uncle or dad has told you to
no one is telling you to fight but start slowly speak out say what you think is best for you get out of your shell and decide how you will live your life not how dad thinks you should live your life you might be scared of the conflict and dissuade yourself from it but trust me when you finally grow some balls and exude some confidence and ability in yourself these men will respect you see you as equal and place trust in your decisions
this list could also apply to other cultures who follow similar dynamics to indian culture but dont stop at the above and think thats all you have to doyou still have to hit the ground running and approach just like any other guy learning game | 0 |
4,858 | China's media calls Trump's withdrawal from Paris accord 'global setback' | SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China’s state news agency Xinhua described U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord as a “global setback” and rejected Trump’s claim that it would lead to many more jobs in America. In a commentary published on Friday, Xinhua suggested that no one country was now likely take up leadership of global efforts to fight climate change. China overtook the United States as the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2007 but analysts see the U.S. withdrawal as an opportunity for China to burnish its image as a global leader. “Trump’s decision to ditch the Paris deal will leave a fairly big shoe for a single country to fill,” Xinhua said, adding that major players such as China, the European Union and India had reiterated their willingness to step up efforts. Leaving the 2015 Paris accord would hardly translate into a substantial increase in new jobs as the fossil fuel industries were highly automated, Xinhua said. Noting that Trump said he had had “extensive discussions” with people on both sides of the climate debate, it said: “One can only assume that Trump has very good reasons to leave the Paris agreement, and that he knows the implications of U.S. retreat from the landmark deal”. Trump, tapping into the “America First” message he used when he was elected president last year, said the Paris accord would undermine the U.S. economy, cost U.S. jobs, weaken American national sovereignty and put the country at a permanent disadvantage to other countries such as China. The Global Times, an influential state-run tabloid, said in an editorial published on Thursday before Trump’s announcement that China was not interested in discussions about the leadership of fighting climate change and would focus on its own promises to reduce emissions. It called the withdrawal “reckless” and would “waste increasingly finite U.S. diplomatic resources.” “There are indeed some underprivileged people in the U.S, but their troubles are mainly caused by bad internal governance. Seeking external reasons for domestic woes is by no means what the world’s largest economy should do,” it said. | 1 |
4,859 | BLOCKBUSTER COURT RULING On Obama/Clinton Benghazi Emails Forces The Hand Of The State Department | Thanks to Judicial Watch for keeping it up with the effort to find out more on what happened in Benghazi. We know that the State Department was and still is protecting Hillary Clinton and Obama. We know that it s hard to keep up the hope that these crooks will be held accountable for what they did. Rest assured that Judicial Watch is calling out the State Department on this and especially Patrick Kennedy (see more on Kennedy below).(Washington, DC) Judicial Watch today announced that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson has ordered the U.S. Department of State to turn over to Judicial Watch eight identical paragraphs of previously redact material in two September 13, 2012, Hillary Clinton emails regarding phone calls made by President Barack Obama to Egyptian and Libyan leaders immediately following the terrorist attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.Both emails had the subject line Quick Summary of POTUS Calls to Presidents of Libya and Egypt and were among the emails stored on Clinton s unofficial email server.Judge Jackson reviewed the documents directly and rejected the government s contention that the records had been properly withheld under the FOIA B(5) deliberative process exemption.Judge Jackson ruled: the two records, even if just barely predecisional, are not deliberative. [The State Department] has pointed to very little to support its characterization of these two records as deliberative, and the Court s in camera review of the documents reveals that they do not fall within that category. The full emails may reveal what former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama knew about the September 11, 2012, terror attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi.Following Judge Jackson s March 20 ruling, the State Department asked the court to reconsider. The State Department argued that, due to an internal mistake, it failed to claim that the emails were classified and, therefore, exempt from production under FOIA Exemption B(1).In response, Judicial Watch argues that the failure was not a mistake, but instead was part of a deliberate effort by the State Department to protect Clinton and the agency by avoiding identifying emails on Clinton s unofficial, non-secure email server as classified.Judicial Watch s filing cites an interview of an FBI employee who told federal investigators that top State Department official Patrick Kennedy pressured the FBI to keep Clinton s emails unclassified. The employee told the FBI he believes STATE ha[d] an agenda which involves minimizing the classified nature of the CLINTON emails in order to protect STATE interests and those of CLINTON. :FBI documents say Kennedy offered the FBI additional positions overseas if the Secret label, the middle level of classification, would be removed. Clinton, who used a private server for her emails while she was secretary of state, has contended she never sent or received classified information. The FBI has ruled otherwise.4 KEY PEOPLE OUT PARTICULARLY PATRICK KENNEDY:Judicial Watch s filing also cites an interview of a State Department employee who told the FBI that the State Department s Office of Legal Counsel interfered with the FOIA processing of email from Secretary Clinton s server, instructing reviewers to use Exemption B(5) (deliberative process exemption) instead of Exemption B(1) (classified information exemption). According to the FBI interview:STATE s Near East Affairs Bureau upgraded several of CLINTON s emails to a classified level with a B(1) release exemption . [Redacted], along with [Redacted] attorney, Office of Legal Counsel, called STATE s Near East Affairs Bureau and told them they could use a B(5) exemption on a upgraded email to protect it instead of the B(1) exemption. However, the use of the B(5) exemption, which is usually used for executive privilege-related information, was incorrect as the information actually was classified and related to national security, which would be a B(1) exemption.Judicial Watch argues:An agency s deliberate withholding of a FOIA claim, either to gain a tactical advantage or, as appears to be the case here, to protect the agency s interests and those of its former head, is a motive undoubtedly inconsistent with FOIA s broad remedial purpose It counsels denying the Government s request. The emails in question were sent to then-top administration officials, including Clinton, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Clinton Deputy Chief of Staff Jacob Sullivan, Special Assistant Robert Russo, and Deputy National Security Advisor Denis McDonough. Does President Trump know his State and Justice Departments are still trying to provide cover for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama? said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. An extraordinary court ruling that could result in key answers about the Benghazi outrage is being opposed by the Trump administration. This may well be an example of the deep state trying to get away with a cover up if so then the Trump administration must put a stop to it. Judicial Watch obtained the original documents in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:14-cv-01511)). The lawsuit was filed on September 4, 2014, after the State Department failed to respond to a June 13, 2014, FOIA request seeking:All records related to notes, updates, or reports created in response to the September 11, 2012 attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. This request includes, but is not limited to notes taken by then Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton or employees of the Office of the Secretary of State during the attack and its immediate aftermath. The timeframe for this request is September 11-15, Judicial Watch s numerous FOIA lawsuits have forced the State Department to release hundreds of Benghazi-related documents.THIS IS ALL WE NEED TO SEE TO BE REMINDED TO KEEP UP THE FIGHT FOR TRUTH Via: Judicial Watch | 0 |
4,860 | Fox News Correspondent Arrested For Rape And Forcible Sodomy (VIDEO) | Since sexual harassment is almost a sport at Fox News, it is unsurprising that a man who worked as a Miami correspondent for the network until fairly recently was just arrested for raping someone.Orlando Salinas, who worked for the network from 2000-2012 until he was hired by a CBS affiliate in Roanoke, Virginia, was arrested Tuesday and charged with forcible sodomy and rape. Due to the horrific nature of the allegations, the victim s identity is being shielded but reports specify that the accuser is not his wife or a relative.Salinas, whose prior criminal record includes contributing and three counts of larceny, faces five years to life for each of his felony charges.Salinas was an employee of WDBJ7 from 2012-2015, but was terminated last April for insubordination. Since then, he has been working as a real estate agent in the New River Valley. In a whatever happened to article published by the Roanoke Times in December, Salinas current employer called him a wonderful person and said that people who know who he is really trust him. The judge, however, apparently doesn t really know him because he is being held without bail for the horrific crimes.Salinas told the Times that his firing was the result of a refusal to tone down his aggressive interview style, an idea with which he disagreed because he seeks truth like a missile. But, hey, he says some of the most annoying people make the best reporters. Seems like they make pretty accomplished rapists, too.Watch a report on the Fox contributor s arrest below:Featured image via screengrab | 0 |
4,861 | FBI: We Do Not Expect To Find Any Criminal Wrongdoing On Hillary Clinton’s Part | CNN recently broke the news that according to investigators working with the FBI regarding Hillary Clinton s use of a private email server:The FBI has not yet interviewed Clinton as part of its investigation. As CNN first reported, investigators have not found evidence to support criminal charges against Clinton and none are expected, but no final determination will be made until that interview has taken place.The story, published this weekend, has been buried as more information emerges regarding the horrific terrorist attack in Orlando that left 50 people dead and 53 injured.The revelations from the FBI come as investigators begin poring through her emails regarding a classified drone campaign, which was eventually scrapped. Before it was scrapped, however, several media outlets (including the Washington Post) obtained information and circulated. Such information subsequently then ended up on Clinton s private email server. According to CNN:So sorry, Republicans (and Susan Sarandon), it looks as though there won t be any indictment. And it s not because President Obama endorsed her. It s not because of a rigged system. It s not because of the liberal media. It s because she broke no laws.And we all know Republicans hate the truth, so only time will tell until they start to turn their backs on the FBI and denounce them as traitors to America.Featured image via Angelo Merendino | 0 |
4,862 | BUSTED: Trump Supporter Tries To Rig Election For The GOP, Gets ARRESTED | Donald Trump has repeatedly accused Democrats of rigging the election against him, but it turns out his own supporters are doing everything they can to rig it in his favor.And that includes voting twice, something Republicans continually claim that Democratic voters always get away with doing.The Des Moines Register reports,Terri Lynn Rote, 55, was booked into the Polk County Jail about 3:40 p.m. Thursday on a first-degree election misconduct charge, which is a Class D felony.Rote, a registered Republican, reportedly cast an early voting ballot at the Polk County Election Office, 120 Second Ave., and another ballot at a county satellite voting location in Des Moines, according to a Des Moines police report.So just to recap, Rote literally committed voter fraud in a desperate attempt to get Trump and the Republican Party an extra vote in this election.That s the precise definition of election rigging, but you won t hear Trump say anything about this because he thinks that Democrats are the ones committing voter fraud, which is why he has called for his supporters to intimidate minority voters at polling places.But this incident is far from the only time during this election that a Republican has been caught trying to rig the election.A Wisconsin city clerk was recently busted for trying to deny an extra polling place near the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay because she argued in an email that students lean Democratic. I was reading the statutes and read: No site may be designated that affords an advantage to any political party, Kris Teske wrote. UWGB is a polling location for students and residents on Election Day but I feel by asking for this to be the site for early voting is encouraging the students to vote more than benefiting the city as a whole. I have heard it said that students lean more toward the democrats and he is a democrat. I have spoken with our Chief of Staff and others at City Hall and they agree that budget wise this isn t going to happen. I would like to know your thoughts on this. Do I have an argument about it being more of a benefit to the democrats. Imagine if a Democratic clerk denied letting a church be a polling place on the premise that most religious people are Republicans. The outrage and whining would last for days.And a right-wing group is literally creating fake badges so they can infiltrate polling places in order to intimidate voters on Election Day. Keep in mind that Republicans often accuse Democratic voters of using fake IDs to vote multiple times, but here s a right-wing group making fake IDs so they can use voter suppression tactics to swing the vote in favor of Trump.Thus far, it appears that only Donald Trump s supporters are trying to rig the election, not Democrats as he so often claims. And just think, there are still ten days left until Election Day. Still plenty of time for even more hypocritical Trump supporters to be caught trying to rig the election for the small-handed man who whines about how unfair our democratic system is.Featured Image: Joe Raedle/Getty Images | 0 |
4,863 | BATON ROUGE COP KILLER Had “Inspirational” YouTube Channel, Was Racist Member Of Farrakhan’s Nation Of ISLAM: “My Religion Is The Religion Of ‘Justice'” [VIDEO] | This cop killer was a hateful, racist sub-human. He not only hated white people and cops, he bragged about it. The scary thing is, much like ISIS, who has no trouble recruiting people with hate in their hearts, there are no shortage of people to carry out Obama s war on cops in America. These are terrorists and our very own President has inspired these people to act on their hate for Whites, for cops and for America. This, is Obama s real legacy The 29 year old ex-marine, Gavin Eugene Long, who ambushed and killed three unsuspecting Baton Rouge police officers on Sunday morning, hated those who did not share his skin-tone and harbored a particular hatred for the police. As revealed in the hours after the shootings, a Youtube account operated by Long under the handle I Am Cosmo where the alleged killer posted dozens of clips, provides insight into what motivated the young man to kill three police officers and wound three more on his 29th birthday.In the Youtube videos, Long rants against crackers, and makes multiple references to the July 5th killing of Alton Sterling at the hands of police officers only five miles away from Sunday s attack. The videos also detail that Long is a member of the Nation of Islam, labelled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its black supremacist and racist views towards Jews, Asians, and whites which the group s leaders argue have sucked the blood from and exploited the black community.As Daily Caller details, the 29-year-old was a native of Kansas City, Missouri and was honorably discharged from the Marines in 2010 after reaching the rank of E-5. He preferred to go by the name Cosmo Ausar Setepenra rather than Gavin Eugene Long.In a video published on Thursday, the racist shooter says that If I would have been there with Alton Clap before promoting a book that he wrote that discusses black liberation ideology. I wrote it for my dark-skinned brothers, said Long. If you look at all the rebels like Black Panthers, Huey P. Newton, Malcolm X, and Elijah Muhammad, they was light-skinned. But we know how hard y all got it. https://youtu.be/kGuUq6eUoFwThe assailant also suggested that the black community should buy only from black-owned businesses rather than working for the white people. In one video Long is heard lamented working for the white people. He encouraged one man riding in his vehicle as he filmed using a body camera to shop only at black-owned businesses. He brought up a hypothetical scenario in which a family member who wanted to buy carpet was forced to buy from non-black business owners saying Who s she going to f with? The cracker, the Arab, the Chinese? These Arabs, these Indians, they don t give two fucks about us, said the shooter.Come to think of it, he may have a point. Via: Zero HedgeThis loser has his own Youtube channel. If you care to stomach has cancer-like rhetoric, you can find his channel HERE. | 0 |
4,864 | Putin Tells Obama and Western Media: “Either stop talking about it or finally show some kind of proof” | 21st Century Wire says It appears that Putin has had enough with being accused of tampering with the US election process this year. The Russian President s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, pointed out that it was indecent of the US to accuse Russia of tampering with its election. Remember: On Thursday evening CNN reported that Barack Obama vowed to retaliate against Russia for the hack that has not been verified by any independent sources nor has it provided a shred of evidence to support the claim Tyler Durden Zero HedgePutin has had enough of the relentless barrage of US accusations that he, personally, hacked the US presidential election. The Russian president s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said on Friday that the US must either stop accusing Russia of meddling in its elections or prove it. Peskov said it was indecent of the United States to groundlessly accuse Russia of intervention in its elections. You need to either stop talking about it, or finally show some kind of proof. Otherwise it just looks very indecent , Peskov told Reporters in Tokyo where Putin is meeting with Japan PM Abe, responding to the latest accusations that Russia was responsible for hacker attacks.Peskov also warned that Obama s threat to retaliate to the alleged Russian hack is against both American and international law , hinting at open-ended escalation should Obama take the podium today at 2:15pm to officially launch cyberwar against Russia.Previously, on Thursday, Peskov told the AP the report was laughable nonsense , while Russian foreign ministry spox Maria Zakharova accused Western media of being a shill and a mouthpiece of various power groups , and added that it s not the general public who s being manipulated, Zakharova said. the general public nowadays can distinguish the truth. It s the mass media that is manipulating themselves. Meanwhile, on Friday Sergei Lavrov, Russia s foreign minister told state television network, Russia 24, he was dumbstruck by the NBC report which alleges that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in an election hack.The report cited U.S. intelligence officials that now believe with a high level of confidence that Putin became personally involved in a secret campaign to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. I think this is just silly, and the futility of the attempt to convince somebody of this is absolutely obvious, Lavrov added, according to the news outlet.As a reminder, last night Obama vowed retaliatory action against Russia for its meddling in the US presidential election last month. I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections that we need to take action and we will at a time and place of our own choosing, Obama told National Public Radio.US intelligence agencies in October pinned blame on Russia for election-related hacking. At the time, the White House vowed a proportional response to the cyberactivity, though declined to preview what that response might entail. Meanwhile, both President-elect Donald Trump, the FBI,and the ODNI have dismissed the CIA s intelligence community s assessment, for the the same reason Putin finally lashed out at Obama: there is no proof.That, however, has never stopped the US from escalating a geopolitical conflict to the point of war, or beyond, so pay close attention to what Obama says this afternoon.According to an NBC report, a team of analysts at Eurasia Group said in a note on Friday that they believe the outgoing administration is likely to take action which could result in a significant barrier for Trump s team once he takes office in January. It is unlikely that U.S. intelligence reports will change Trump s intention to initiate a rapprochement with Moscow, but the congressional response following its own investigations could obstruct the new administration s effort, Eurasia Group analysts added.Continue the story at Zero HedgeREAD MORE MSM LIES AT: 21st Century Wire MSM Watch Files | 0 |
4,865 | Violent Sheriff Who Threatened Federal Prosecutor Wants Gun Back Because He’s Scared (VIDEO) | After two very high profile mass shootings of police, which followed two very high profile shootings of black men by police, Lafayette, Louisiana Sheriff Louis Ackal is scared and despite being under federal indictment, he wants his guns back.Ackal is not a good guy, at least if you believe the indictments against him. He and his second in command, Lt. Col. Gerald Savoy, are accused of orchestrating the beatings of five pre-trial inmates in areas where video cameras couldn t catch them.Prosecutors allege Ackal directed deputies to assault the inmates three in connection with a lewd comment to a deputy, one for writing letters complaining about jail conditions and a fifth for no stated reason and was present in the chapel for at least one of the beatings.Source: The AdvocateEight inmates have died in the jail. One, the death of Victor White III is under federal investigation, and Reverend Victor White Sr., the father of the victim, says all evidence points to the fact that his son was beaten to death. Ackal was asked to step down, and his response was it ll be a cold day in hell when I resign. Here s a video:Even beyond those accusations, Ackal is accused of antisemitic attacks against a federal prosecutor, calling him Jew bastard, and saying he s shoot the prosecutor between his Jewish eyes. According to a transcript of portions of the recording filed into the court record, Ackal made reference to this sorry son-of-a-bitch Jew bastard in Washington, saying he is going to send me to a federal pen. Ackal also talks about how prosecutors discussed a possible deal with the sheriff. You know about these people. You can give them to us, Ackal said, recalling what federal prosecutors told him. I said the only thing I m gonna give you f*****g shoot you right between your g*******d Jewish-eyes-look-like-opossum bastard. No one is denying he made the threat.Source: The AdvocateIn fact, his only defense was that his words were said in a fit of anger, as if no one has ever done anything violent in a fit of anger. Because of his fit of anger, and the alleged beatings of the inmates, Ackal s guns were taken away and now he says he s a sitting duck. In a court document filed this week, an attorney for the sheriff also claimed there was a threat made recently against a deputy. Though the threat against the deputy was not carried out, the atmosphere in this country, especially in south Louisiana, makes this a very realistic possibility, attorney John McLindon wrote. In view of what s happening across the country, I think it s wrong that I, as a police officer, am told that I can t carry a gun even though I ve not been convicted of anything, Ackal said Tuesday.It s absurd, but so very American, that this powder keg of a sheriff thinks he s entitled to his guns, despite what he s said and has allegedly done. It s doubtful that civilians, especially those of color, would ever get their guns back under similar circumstances, but this bigoted sheriff expects that his badge will give him special privileges, which is really a metaphor for our militarized police force.If Ackal is really in danger, which is possible given the accusations against him, a judge should put him in protective custody, either that, or give him back his guns and put the rest of the country in protective custody.Featured image via KLFY video screen capture. | 0 |
4,866 | Two Stunning New Polls Show These Staunch Red States Could Turn Blue To Avoid Electing Trump | The GOP didn t panic when a poll conducted earlier this year showed that Utah might vote for the Democratic candidate in November in order to avoid electing Donald Trump. However, they might want to start showing a little concern now, because two new polls show something similar for two more strongly red states. Arizona and Georgia, which tend to vote red in presidential elections, are showing signs that they, too, would turn blue before they d vote for Trump.Donald Trump has long claimed that he s going to win states that typically vote blue in presidential elections, which would rewrite the electoral map, at least for 2016. Georgia and Arizona, however, don t like his misogynistic statements about women or his racist, hardline comments and unworkable policies against immigrants (Utah just plain can t stand him).So can he rewrite the electoral map? Sure, but not necessarily in his favor. In Georgia, Trump leads Hillary by just four points, which is within that poll s margin of error. In other words, they re in a statistical tie there. Georgia has voted Republican in every presidential election for the last 20 years, but they re making themselves into an example of the disdain many feel for Trump s fitness to lead a nation.Over in Arizona, Trump leads Hillary by just two points, influenced by a huge Never Trump movement among Republicans there. If Trump can unite the party, he ll probably win Arizona, but for now, it s not looking good for him (and it s looking just terrible for John McCain in the Senate, too. The horror).Trump and his campaign think that his appeal among white, blue collar workers are what will put traditionally blue states back into play for Republicans, creating a ton of new swing states that haven t existed for a long time.They re totally ignoring the fact that this goes both ways, though they ve already made three red states look at the color blue with new appreciation. Some Republican strategists are pointing out that his polarizing rhetoric, which is alienating women and minorities, will make him struggle in a lot more Republican states.In fact, there is really only one way he ll gather enough electoral votes to win the White House. Hillary has a much wider path than our dear Mr. Trump has.It s not likely that Arizona and Georgia, to say nothing of Utah, will be the only three of these states to start leaning away from Trump. Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said: With Donald Trump, I think he ll have the ability to turn some working class, blue-collar Democrats the so-called Reagan Democrats he ll have the ability to get them to switch over. The question is, are there Republican moderates that will switch over to Secretary Clinton or Bernie Sanders? For every one blue collar worker that Donald Trump picks up, he has the potential to lose one or more suburban Republican moderate to come over and vote for our side. There are actually a lot of those moderates who won t vote for Trump, as noted above. Arizona and Georgia are now key states, along with Utah and many others. Trump might be crowing over his success in states that have lost a high number of manufacturing jobs, but other states have other issues, and all he s proving is he might not rewrite the electoral map so much as partially invert it, giving even more states to the Democrats than usual.Featured image by Mark Lyons/Stringer/Getty Images | 0 |
4,867 | Philippines, Russia sign two military deals | MANILA (Reuters) - Thousands of assault rifles and helmets were among the military gear Russia donated to the Philippines in a bid to widen its arms market in Southeast Asia at a time when Manila is seeking to diversify weapons systems, officials said on Wednesday. Manila received about 5,000 Kalashnikov rifles, 5,000 steel helmets, about a million rounds of ammunition for the rifles and 20 army trucks in a ceremony attended by President Rodrigo Duterte, who also toured one of five visiting Russian warships. The gift came a day after Russia and the Philippines signed two military pacts, including a sales contract with Rosoboronexport, a state-owned vendor of Russian defense equipment. We are looking at acquiring some equipment for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, but there are no specifics yet, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told Reuters. We are still discussing. Lorenzana said the Rosoboronexport contract was not a sales deal but signaled the Philippines intention to acquire small arms, vehicles and special equipment for disaster operations. But the Philippines biggest source of arms, the United States, was not worried at the prospect of equipment donated by its rivals China and Russia. I don t attach very much significance to it, some trucks or guns being dropped off to a country that s fighting terrorists right now, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters on the plane to Bangkok. It s a sovereign decision by the Philippines, he added. So it s not a big issue...other nations are coming to their help. The United States and China dominate regional arms trade. Since 2000, the United States has donated close to $1 billion worth of military equipment to the Philippines, ranging from surveillance planes, drones and boats to small arms. China, which promised to donate a third shipment of small arms after a meeting on Wednesday between Lorenzana and his Chinese counterpart, General Chang Wanquan, has already given the Philippines about $7 million in small arms. The deals with the Philippines will allow Russia to expand its arms market in the region, said another senior Philippine official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to media. The Philippines is now open to buying Russian arms as Manila cultivates closer ties with Moscow, he added, particularly as the military looks to diversify its equipment, reining in costs while maintaining quality. Moscow has been offering to sell arms to us since the mid-1990s and they are willing to barter guns for bananas, he said, adding that Russia was selling fighters, helicopters and submarines to the Philippines. | 1 |
4,868 | White House says committed to implementing Iran deal, climate change agreement | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration remains committed to implementing the Paris agreement on climate change and the Iran nuclear deal through its final months, the White House said on Wednesday after the presidential election victory of Republican Donald Trump. “This administration will be committed to implementing those policies through January 20th, and we will live up to the commitments that we have made in each of those areas as we do so,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said at a news briefing. Trump, who strongly criticized the Iran deal and the Paris agreement, will start his four-year term on Jan. 20. | 1 |
4,869 | Illinois lawmakers override vetoes to enact first budget in two years | CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois ended its historic budget drought on Thursday after the House of Representatives enacted the state’s first complete spending plan since 2015 by overriding the governor’s vetoes. But the $36 billion fiscal 2018 budget and $5 billion tax hike may not save Illinois from becoming the first-ever U.S. state with a junk credit rating. The Democratic-controlled House mustered some Republican votes to enact a trio of budget and revenue bills into law over Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s objection. The House’s action, which was delayed by a nearly two-hour lockdown of the state Capitol in Springfield after a woman threw a white powder into the governor’s office, followed successful Senate veto override votes on Tuesday. The spending plan for the fiscal year that began on July 1 ends an unprecedented two-year budget impasse between Rauner and Democrats who control the legislature. Rauner pointed to House Speaker Michael Madigan as the architect of the 32 percent permanent increase in the state’s personal income tax rate, which will rise to 4.95 percent from 3.75 percent. “His tax-and-spend plan is not balanced, does not cut enough spending or pay down enough debt, and does not help grow jobs or restore confidence in government,” Rauner said in a statement, adding that Illinois “desperately” needs local property tax relief and term limits for elected officials. Madigan, who next month will becomes the longest-serving House speaker in U.S. history, said he acted in the state’s interest. “The people in this chamber did not do what was easy today, but we did what was right for the future of our state,” Madigan said after the House completed veto overrides of the budget and tax package, which ranks as one of the brightest legislative victories of his three decades as speaker. After the security scare, when a woman threw a white powder which was later determined to be harmless into the offices of the governor and lieutenant governor and the House gallery, the bipartisan turning back of Rauner’s budgetary vetoes came swiftly. For Rauner it was the most significant and humiliating political blow of his 30 months in office. Representative David Harris, who was among the 10 Republicans who voted to overturn the tax hike veto, rhetorically asked Rauner from the House floor how he willingly could take the state into the “financial abyss” considering the governor’s long-established business acumen as a former private equity investor. “You are an astute, capable businessman. You understand what the numbers are here,” Harris said. “You understand the implications of junk-bond status. Is that what we want for the fifth-largest state in the union?” Rauner’s allies made an effort to defend the governor’s position to hold out for non-budgetary priorities like a property-tax freeze and changes in how injured workers are compensated by employers, but it was a lost cause. “I hope that everybody back home and everybody across this state will rise up, let everyone in this chamber know exactly how they feel after this vote is taken,” said Representative John Cabello, a Republican “no” vote. Illinois has been operating for two fiscal years on stop-gap budgets and spending ordered by courts and mandated by Illinois law. Its unpaid bill backlog has ballooned to $15 billion, leaving state universities, social service and health care providers and scores of vendors starving for cash. Moody’s Investors Service, which rates Illinois one notch above junk, placed the state under review on Wednesday for a potential downgrade, saying the budget plan may fall short in addressing the state’s huge unfunded pension liability and the bill backlog. The new budget aims to initially reduce the bill pile by only about a third, while banking on a projected $1.5 billion in savings from creating a hybrid retirement plan for new hires and other pension measures. Praise for Thursday’s House action flooded in from cash-deprived social-service groups, including the Chicago-based Ounce of Prevention Fund, a group dedicated to fighting childhood poverty whose president is Diana Rauner, the governor’s wife. “We applaud the members of the General Assembly in both parties who took the tough vote to try to end this impasse,” the group said in a statement. With a new budget in hand, the Illinois Lottery will immediately seek leave to resume sales of Mega Millions and Powerball tickets after they were suspended in late June, and a shutdown of billions of dollars in state road projects will end, according to state spokespeople. | 1 |
4,870 | U.S. tax reform debate moves away from Ryan blueprint | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s tax reform blueprint appears to be losing its status as the likely framework for the first major tax overhaul since 1986, with rival approaches emerging from the White House, Senate and other quarters in Congress. Congressional aides, lobbyists and analysts say the changing focus could delay passage of a tax bill until late 2017 or 2018, potentially foiling Republican efforts to score a legislative victory for President Donald Trump by August, following last month’s failed bill to repeal and replace Obamacare health insurance. Like the healthcare bill, the House Republican tax blueprint stems from Ryan’s “A Better Way” legislative agenda launched during the 2016 election campaign. “The House can go and do what they want to do. We are going to formulate our own policies,” White House budget director Mick Mulvaney told CNBC in an interview posted on the channel’s website on Wednesday. “You will have a White House, Donald Trump tax plan that we are going to take down to the Hill and try and sell. In the meantime, Senate Republicans are expected to review a 2015 tax package from former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, as a starting point for their own tax legislation. Members of the House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of conservative lawmakers that helped derail Ryan’s healthcare bill, have also suggested that expanding the deficit to stave off adding new taxes could be acceptable. “The blueprint was the Republican ideal, written as a campaign document. Now they’re dealing with the realities of a closely divided Congress and a president who wants a win on this key, signature issue,” said one business lobbyist, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But Ryan is not giving up on the idea of forging agreement with the White House and Senate leaders. “Our intention has always been and continues to be to coalesce around a unified GOP plan and those conversations continue,” said his spokeswoman, AshLee Strong. Business lobbyists and tax experts warn that a loss of focus could prove fatal for the tax overhaul effort, if the House blueprint disappears from the political stage. “Right now the blueprint is the only plan we have. There’s a great amount of uncertainty about how this would play out without it, or whether this would play out at all,” said John Gimigliano, who heads federal legislative and regulatory services for the accounting and consulting group KPMG LLP. Lawmakers on the House Ways and Means Committee say the blueprint’s viability could become clearer next month, when the committee is expected to hold a series of public hearings and hopes to see a floor vote before the August congressional recess. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met this month with a bipartisan group of House lawmakers about possibly including infrastructure spending in an administration tax package, a feature that is not part of the blueprint. The House blueprint, which Ryan rolled out last June, would bring sweeping change to the U.S. tax code by slashing business tax rates by 15 percentage points, allowing companies to immediately write off capital investments and ending taxation of foreign profits of U.S.-based multinational corporations. But its future has become clouded by mounting opposition to two provisions that would raise a combined $2.4 trillion to pay for those tax changes: a border adjustment tax, or BAT, that includes a new 20 percent import tax and the elimination of business deductions for interest payments. Advocates of Ryan’s plan say it would generate revenues that would help Congress avoid paying for tax cuts by expanding the national deficit. | 1 |
4,871 | U.S. House Republicans end plan to weaken ethics watchdog | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday reversed course and withdrew their proposal to weaken an outside ethics watchdog charged with investigating lawmakers’ behavior, House Speaker Paul Ryan spokeswoman AshLee Strong said. The move to abandon the plan comes just hours after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized the move aimed at giving lawmakers greater control over the Office of Congressional Ethics. | 1 |
4,872 | Episode #119 – SUNDAY WIRE: ‘You Know the Drill’ with guests Robert Singer and Jay Dyer | Episode #119 of SUNDAY WIRE SHOW finally resumes this Sunday Jan. 24, 2016 presented by host Patrick Henningsen with 3 HOURS of power-packed talk radio LISTEN LIVE ON THIS PAGE AT THE FOLLOING SCHEDULED SHOW TIMES:SUNDAYS 5pm-8pm UK Time | 12pm-3pm ET (US) | 9am-12pm PT (US)This week s very special edition of THE SUNDAY WIRE is broadcasting LIVE, as host Patrick Henningsen returns this week with another very special show, covering the top news stories internationally. In the first hour we ll look at the latest incarnation of the Litvinenko murder mystery, the upcoming Iowa Caucuses, new reports of MH370 wreckage found in Thailand, as well as the stand-off in Burns, Oregon. In the second hour we re joined by special guest, independent researcher and investigator, Robert Singer, to discuss some new information in the San Bernardino Shooting story. In the third hour we re joined by writer and social commentator Jay Dyer to talk about the wider effects of Mass Shootings in America with including political manipulation and the implications of social engineering.Strap yourselves in and lower the blast shield this is your brave new world *NOTE: THIS EPISODE MAY CONTAIN SOME STRONG LANGUAGE AND MATURE THEMES* // <![CDATA[ broadstreet.zone(46707); // ]]> | 0 |
4,873 | Factbox: Legal issues in Supreme Court immigration case | (Reuters) - When the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday takes up a challenge brought by Texas and other states to President Barack Obama’s executive action on immigration, the eight justices face a series of legal questions beginning with whether Texas and the other state challengers even have grounds to bring the case. Obama’s November 2014 orders affect immigrants in the country illegally whose children are U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents or who themselves have been in the United States since they were children. Here is a look at some of the key legal questions in the case: LEGAL STANDING To bring a case, challengers must first demonstrate that they have legal “standing,” arising from some injury or negative consequences. In this case, that means the states need to show that they would be hurt by the Obama administration’s deferral of deportation for immigrant parents and children with deep ties to the United States but who are in the country illegally. The state of Texas has taken the lead in the lawsuit against the Obama administration to block the president’s actions. Texas asserts that it has standing largely because of the expected financial cost to the state of processing temporary driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants with new authorization to live in the United States. Texas subsidizes the cost of processing driver’s licenses and contends Obama’s actions would cost it millions of dollars. The Obama administration rejects that basis for standing to file suit, asserting that any such costs are “incidental” and could be avoided by the state. Obama administration lawyers say Texas could eliminate the subsidies for these driver’s licenses and eliminate the harm claimed by the state. If a majority of the justices finds that Texas lacked a sufficient injury to sue, the case of United States v. Texas ends there and the Obama administration wins. RULE-MAKING REQUIREMENTS If the justices agree that Texas has standing to bring the case, they then would consider whether deferred-deportation policies that were part of Obama’s actions violated rule-making requirements in a federal law called the Administrative Procedure Act. Under that law, federal agencies typically must issue a general notice of a proposed rule and give interested parties a chance to comment. Obama administration lawyers say the deferred deportation practices are not binding rules subject to the Administrative Procedure Act. Rather, they characterize these policies as an outgrowth of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s discretion in determining deportation priorities. The administration contends that the homeland security secretary should be able to focus his department's limited resources on deporting serious criminals and securing the border. ’TAKE CARE’ A final possible question for the justices is whether the deferred deportation violates a dictate of the U.S. Constitution that presidents must “take care” to “faithfully execute” the nation’s laws. Texas and the other states that brought the lawsuit say Obama, in taking executive action that bypassed Congress, crossed that line because Congress is in charge of deciding who is a lawful or unlawful immigrant. The Obama administration says it was faithfully executing the authority to determine priorities under immigration law. | 1 |
4,874 | Exclusive: Trump administration considering separating women, children at Mexico border | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Women and children crossing together illegally into the United States could be separated by U.S. authorities under a proposal being considered by the Department of Homeland Security, according to three government officials. Part of the reason for the proposal is to deter mothers from migrating to the United States with their children, said the officials, who have been briefed on the proposal. The policy shift would allow the government to keep parents in custody while they contest deportation or wait for asylum hearings. Children would be put into protective custody with the Department of Health and Human Services, in the “least restrictive setting” until they can be taken into the care of a U.S. relative or state-sponsored guardian. Currently, families contesting deportation or applying for asylum are generally released from detention quickly and allowed to remain in the United States until their cases are resolved. A federal appeals court ruling bars prolonged child detention. President Donald Trump has called for ending “catch and release,” in which migrants who cross illegally are freed to live in the United States while awaiting legal proceedings. Two of the officials were briefed on the proposal at a Feb. 2 town hall for asylum officers by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services asylum chief John Lafferty. A third DHS official said the department is actively considering separating women from their children but has not made a decision. HHS and the White House did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement to Reuters, DHS said: “The journey north is a dangerous one with too many situations where children - brought by parents, relatives or smugglers - are often exploited, abused or may even lose their lives. “With safety in mind, the Department of Homeland Security continually explores options that may discourage those from even beginning the journey,” the statement said. U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes about 200 miles (320 km) of the border with Mexico, slammed the proposal. “Bottom line: separating mothers and children is wrong,” he said in a statement. “That type of thing is where we depart from border security and get into violating human rights,” he said. About 54,000 children and their guardians were apprehended between Oct. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2017, more than double the number caught over the same time period a year earlier. Republicans in Congress have argued women are willing to risk the dangerous journey with their children because they are assured they will be quickly released from detention and given court dates set years into the future. Immigrant rights advocates have argued that Central America's violent and impoverished conditions force mothers to immigrate to the United States and that they should be given asylum status. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/2m4aPAs) Implementing the new policy proposal “could create lifelong psychological trauma,” said Marielena Hincapie, executive director at the National Immigration Law Center. “Especially for children that have just completed a perilous journey from Central America.” Hincapie said the U.S. government is likely to face legal challenges based on immigration and family law if they decide to implement the policy. The policy would allow DHS to detain parents while complying with a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals order from July 2016 that immigrant children should be released from detention as quickly as possible. That order said their parents were not required to be freed. To comply with that order, the Obama administration implemented a policy of holding women and children at family detention centers for no more than 21 days before releasing them. Holding mothers in prolonged detention could also strain government resources, said Randy Capps of the Migration Policy Institute, a Washington-based non-profit. “You are talking about a pretty rapid increase in the detention population if you are going to do this,” Capps said. “The question is really how much detention can they afford.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly last week ordered immigration agents to deport or criminally prosecute parents who facilitate the illegal smuggling of their children. Many parents who arrive on the U.S.-Mexico border with their children have paid smugglers to guide them across the dangerous terrain. | 1 |
4,875 | fascinated with sex | billion even after they are known to be keeping all supposedly deleted messages in their server well i guess they need to somehow profitprobably selling content to rich blackmailers | 1 |
4,876 | Trump says signs new order to widen sanctions against North Korea | NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had signed an executive order that would allow the United States to ramp up sanctions on North Korean firms in an effort to dissuade Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear missile program. “Our new executive order will cut off sources of revenue that fund North Korea’s efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind,” he told reporters ahead of a luncheon meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea. He said North Korea’s textiles, fishing, information technology, and manufacturing industries were among those the United States could target. | 1 |
4,877 | Duterte berates Canada's Trudeau at end of Philippines summit | MANILA (Reuters) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte attacked Canada s Justin Trudeau at the end of a summit of Asian and Western nations for raising questions about his war on drugs, a topic skirted by other leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump. At the traditional news conference by the host nation at the end of the summit on Tuesday, Duterte was asked how he had responded to the Canadian prime minister raising the issue of human rights and extra-judicial killings in his anti-drugs drive. I said I will not explain. It is a personal and official insult, the Philippines president said in the course of a rambling answer, although he did not refer to Trudeau by name. I only answer to the Filipino. I will not answer to any other bullshit, especially foreigners. Lay off. Earlier in the day, Trudeau told a news conference that during his meeting with Duterte the president was receptive to my comments and it was throughout a very cordial and positive exchange . Human rights activists had been hoping that leaders at the summit, including Trump, would raise the issue of the thousands of users and small-time pushers killed in the campaign that was launched by Duterte after he took office in mid-2016. His government says the police act in self-defense during drug-busts, but critics say executions are taking place with no accountability. There was no pressure from Trump on the drugs war when he met Duterte on Monday and the U.S. president later said the two had a great relationship . A joint statement after the meeting only said the two sides underscored that human rights and the dignity of human life are essential, and agreed to continue mainstreaming the human rights agenda in their national programs. Duterte cursed Trump s predecessor, Barack Obama, last year for raising concerns about the war on drugs and he subsequently declared that he was breaking ties with the United States, a close ally of the Philippines since World War Two. The relationship appears to have got back on track after the bonhomie between him and Trump. Trudeau also said that he raised the issue of the exodus of Rohingya during a meeting with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi, another sensitive topic bypassed by most other leaders, although he did not mention the Muslim minority by name. This is a tremendous concern to Canada and to many, many countries around the world, he said. The government in mostly-Buddhist Myanmar regards the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and does not recognize the term. Over 600,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh since military clearance operations were launched in response to attacks by Rohingya militants on Aug. 25. The plight of the Rohingya has brought outrage from around the world and the United Nations has called the operations ethnic cleansing. There have been calls for democracy champion Suu Kyi to be stripped of the Nobel peace prize she won in 1991 because she has not condemned the military s actions. Some countries in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), particularly Muslim-majority Malaysia, have voiced strong concern over the issue recently. However, in keeping with ASEAN s principle of non-interference in each others internal affairs, it appeared to have been put aside at the summit, which brought Southeast Asian nations together with the United States, Russia, Japan, China, India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Duterte reported that China had agreed at the summit to work on a code of conduct in the South China Sea with ASEAN nations to ease tensions over disputed claims to the busy and resource-rich waterway. The group also signed agreements on protecting migrant labor and fighting terrorism and cybercrime. Trump skipped the plenary session of the summit because of scheduling delays, but he said his marathon trip to Asia had been a tremendous success. He told reporters on Air Force One that he had delivered his prepared remarks during a lunch before the summit meeting. Trump said at least $300 billion, possibly triple that figure, of deals had been agreed in the trip. He did not elaborate. We ve explained that the United States is open for trade but we want reciprocal, we want fair trade for the United States, he said. Trade and concern about possible protectionism under Trump s America First agenda have come up during his visit to the region, which included stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam before concluding in the Philippines. After Trump left Manila, a group of Asia-Pacific nations pursuing a separate Beijing-backed trade deal that does not include the United States agreed to intensify efforts in 2018 to bring their negotiations to a conclusion. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) appeared to have been given new impetus at the summit by Trump s withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, to which China is not party. The two trade deals are not mutually exclusive. ASEAN is joined in the RCEP talks by China, India, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and South Korea. | 1 |
4,878 | Heckler Screams ‘F*ck Hillary’ At Clinton Rally – And She Just Laughs At Him (VIDEO) | Sometimes you ve got to laugh especially if you re the Democratic nominee, who is currently facing down a level of unbridled hatred that rivals all previous presidential candidates with the exception of Barack Obama. Recently, Hillary contracted pneumonia or, if you listen to our friends on the Right, she s on her deathbed and completely unfit to serve as President because reasons. The downright comical reaction to this, coupled with the numerous right-wing anti-Hillary witch hunts like Benghazi and the manufactured controversy over her emails, is enough to give one a chuckle but it s even more fun when one of the ignoramuses who subscribe to such ridiculous notions stops by one of her rallies to tell the Democratic nominee how he really feels about her.As Hillary spoke to a crowd in Greensboro, North Carolina, a heckler screamed: F*ck Hillary. Hillary s reaction was priceless. As the crowd cheered for her and Hillary chants broke out, a grin formed on the face of the former Secretary of State, quickly turning into a chuckle then a full-blown laugh. Now, I just want to have a conversation and other people can wave their arms and their signs, she said after the moment passed, going back into her speech like nothing happened as the heckler was escorted out.Interestingly, she didn t order her supporters to attack the man. She didn t lash out, she didn t insult him. She respected his right to display a dissenting opinion. This is something you would never see at a Trump rally, where the 2016 nominee s basket of deplorables regularly beat protesters especially the elderly and minorities senseless for expressing themselves.Vote for the candidate who can keep her cool in November the future of our nation depends on it.Watch the incident below: Featured image via screen capture | 0 |
4,879 | Trump names Cruz ally Mike Lee as possible Supreme Court justice | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Friday named U.S. Senator Mike Lee as a potential Supreme Court nominee, turning to an ally of former rival Ted Cruz in an apparent gesture to conservative Republicans who have been wary of the Republican presidential candidate. Lee was included on a new list of 21 potential Supreme Court justices that Trump would consider for the high court if he is elected over Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election. “This list is definitive and I will choose only from it in picking future justices of the United States Supreme Court,” Trump said in a statement. The announcement came out on a day in which neither candidate had a public event and were preparing for Monday’s first presidential debate. The list Trump announced included 10 new names and 11 conservative jurists from a list the New York businessman had announced in May. Lee’s brother, Thomas Lee, an associate justice of the Utah Supreme Court, was on the initial list and remains on Trump’s expanded list. Trump’s listing of Mike Lee amounted to a gesture to U.S. Senator Cruz of Texas, a conservative who fought Trump fiercely as a rival for the Republican presidential nomination and who has refused to endorse Trump. Trump’s bombastic style and proposals breaking with some conservative orthodoxies such as support for free trade agreements have sparked unease among traditional conservative Republicans. Mike Lee, in a statement, said he appreciated being considered. “Right now I’m focused on my job in the Senate, where I’m in a good position to defend the Constitution by fighting against government overreach. Both lists that I’ve seen from the Trump campaign are fantastic. “While my brother and I might disagree as to which list is better, they’re both great,” he quipped. The death of conservative Justice Antonin Scalia on Feb. 13 left the court with a four-to-four tie between right-leaning and left-leaning justices. Democratic President Barack Obama has nominated Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, but the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has refused to consider confirming him. Trump said his list was based on who would follow constitutional principles on the high court. The possibility of Republicans ceding control of the court to the Democrats has been one of his main rallying cries at campaign events. Others on Trump’s list include Keith Blackwell, a justice on the Supreme Court of Georgia; Charles Canady, a Florida Supreme Court justice; Neil Gorsuch, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, and Edward Mansfield, an Iowa Supreme Court justice. Other names included Federico Moreno, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida; Margaret Ryan, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces; Amul Thapar, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Timothy Tymkovich, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit; and Robert Young, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan. | 1 |
4,880 | Boston Globe denounces Trump candidacy in 'front page' satire | (Reuters) - Headlines screaming “Deportations to begin” and “Markets sink as trade war looms” top a parody newspaper front page the Boston Globe posted on Saturday, with a scathing editorial denouncing Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump’s candidacy. The mock-up, offering the Globe’s satirical view of America under a Trump presidency, was set to run as the front page of the newspaper’s “Ideas” section, followed on page 2 of that section by the anti-Trump editorial. The novel front-page spoof, says the editorial, is designed to take Trump’s rhetoric and his policy positions to their “logical conclusion.” “It is an exercise in taking a man at his word,” the editorial says. “And his vision of America promises to be as appalling in real life as it is in black and white on the page.” There was no immediate comment from Trump or his campaign. The editorial brands the billionaire businessman as a “demagogue” whose own political vision is “profoundly un-American.” It casts his closest rival for the 2016 Republican nomination, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, as “equally extreme” and urges Republicans, if possible at the party’s nominating convention in July, to draft a “plausible, honorable” alternative, suggesting U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan or former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. The mock Trump page was conceived and executed by the Globe’s editorial writers, columnists and commentary editors, who make up the newspaper’s editorial board, said Ellen Clegg, the newspaper’s editorial page editor. Noting that she reports to John Henry, the Globe’s publisher, Clegg stressed to Reuters in a telephone interview that the front-page parody “does not involve our newsroom.” Clegg said she knew of no other such expression of political satire ever published by the Globe or any other major metropolitan daily in the United States during her 30 years at the newspaper. But it was reminiscent of the kind of parody regularly featured by the farcical online news outlet, The Onion. The mock front page envisions a host of political, financial and international scenarios ranging from disturbingly surreal to darkly humorous, all playing on Trump’s real pronouncements about illegal immigration, Muslims, national security and the First Amendment. A color photograph of Trump making a speech is centered near the top of the page under a banner headline reading: “Deportations to begin,” with a subhead reporting that Trump was calling for a tripling of immigration enforcement personnel as “riots continue.” A top story on the page opens with the paragraph: “Worldwide stocks plunged again Friday, completing the worst month on record as trade wars with both China and Mexico seem imminent.” Other mock entries include a story about unrest in the ranks of the U.S. military as soldiers refuse orders to kill family members of Islamic State militants, and the headline: “New libel law targets ‘absolute scum’ in press.” In a more tongue-in-cheek vein, a brief item reports Trump on the “short list” for the Nobel Peace Prize. “His feat? Healing a 1,385-year-old schism between Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims, which has fueled bloody conflicts across the globe for centuries.” Clegg said it was not the first time the Globe, which tends to lean Democratic on its opinion pages, has editorialized against Trump, but it marked its most “resolute” opposition to his candidacy. | 1 |
4,881 | Globalization, migration fears reawaken Germans' interest in 'Heimat' | BERLIN (Reuters) - Most Germans are wary of anything that smacks of nationalism given their Nazi history but the concept of Heimat (homeland) is enjoying a renaissance driven by rising anxiety about migration and globalization. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier used the resonant word 18 times in marking the 27th anniversary of German reunification on Tuesday, saying the nation needed honest dialogue about immigration after taking in over a million migrants since 2015. Cem Ozdemir, head of the environmental Greens party, applauded Steinmeier for reclaiming the word from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which emphasized nationalist and anti-immigrant themes to capture around 13 percent of the vote in the Sept. 24 national election. Germany s post-war history included migration from Italy, Turkey, Greece and eastern Europe, but it has resisted thinking of itself as a country of immigrants. That is changing now amid calls for a proper immigration law to differentiate between political refugees and economic migrants. Along with that has come new soul-searching about what it means to be German, as well as resurgent demand for dirndls (traditional Alpine dresses), cuckoo clocks, local foods and mystery novels set in regions like the northern island of Sylt. Raed Saleh, a Berlin politician whose Palestinian parents moved to Germany from the Israeli-occupied West Bank when he was five, said he was reminded of his own identity struggles when he spoke at a high school in Berlin s Wedding district - where 90 percent of the students come from immigrant families. I saw really talented, engaged people and I want them - and all children in Germany - to feel that they belong here, said Saleh. I didn t have that feeling myself for a long time. In his book, German Me: The New Guiding Culture published earlier this year, Saleh called for a more inclusive common vision for Germany and its 82 million people. His book is one of over a dozen published over the past year that explore German identity and the concept of homeland. Susanne Weingarten, who oversaw production of a special issue of Der Spiegel magazine dedicated to Heimat , said interest by both rightists and liberal young hipsters pointed to a certain rootlessness in Germany that had been exacerbated by digitalization, globalization and the migration crisis. In Germany, it s a scorched concept because of National Socialism, she said, referring to Nazism. The attempt to define Heimat for oneself is difficult. That s something that only the young generation born 50 to 60 years after the Holocaust can do unselfconsciously. Christian Schuele, whose book Heimat: A Phantom Pain was published this spring, says the trend and support for far-right parties is driven by a sense of loss of national identity as immigration has surged, especially for those whose towns have shriveled and where local traditions have died out. The current debate is long overdue, he says, noting the election revealed deep cracks in society caused by the lack of integration of many from the country s formerly communist east, and others, such as those with backgrounds in Russia and Turkey. It s definitely a topic that moves people, said Bianca Kroemer, spokeswoman for Berlin s Dussmann bookstore, which has a whole section focused on the issue. Heimat is in vogue, agreed Juergen Kron, managing director of the Duesseldorf-based Droste Verlag, whose focus on regional titles had kept sales up despite the overall drop in the publishing market. National pride became acceptable for the first time since the Nazi era during the summer of 2006, when Germans reveled in their hosting of the soccer World Cup by waving flags long associated only with the far-right. In recent years, the buy local movement has fueled interest in regional books of all kinds, Kron said. Next week s Frankfurt Book Fair will feature nearly a dozen events related to the subject of homeland. Dorothea Suh, a 33-year-old music teacher in Hamburg whose parents came from South Korea two years before her birth, worries that the discussion about German identity comes too late and that other parties will ultimately co-opt the AfD s agenda. Stung by recent experiences - including a neighbor yelling Foreigners out, Suh is actively planning to emigrate. Germany is my home. I don t want to leave, but I m starting to feel like a stranger in my own country, Suh said. I don t want to wait too long and then find myself facing closed doors. | 1 |
4,882 | ‘The Black Room’ Revealed: Fox News’ Secret Spy Network Used To Hunt Enemies | The fallout from the sexual harassment scandal involving Fox News founder Roger Ailes continues as secrets about how he operated leak out. The latest revelations are about a creepy misuse of corporate funds, if the allegations are true.New York magazine s Gabriel Sherman, who broke the Ailes harassment story, is reporting that sources inside Fox say that Ailes used corporate money in order to finance surveillance and spying on writers that were seen as hostile to Fox News.Sherman reports that News Corp., Fox s parent, recently fired five consultants whose only job was to do the thug work for Roger Ailes against his enemies.They were part of what is being described as the Black Room, a program Ailes set up.According to one highly-placed source, Solivan worked out of what Fox insiders called the Black Room, an operation Ailes established around 2011 to conduct PR and surveillance campaigns against people he targeted both inside and outside the company. The Black Room was located on the 14th floor of the News Corp building at 1211 Avenue of the Americas, a quiet part of the office that housed Fox News Latino and some marketing and promotions employees.The Black Room allegedly went after John Cook and Hamilton Nolan, writers for Gawker who covered Ailes aggressively.According to one source, private detectives followed Cook around his Brooklyn neighborhood and Fox operatives prepared a report on him with information they intended to leak to blogs.Sherman also reports that he was a target of Ailes Black Room operation:In 2012, while I was researching a biography of Ailes, Fox operatives set up web pages to attack my reputation, and Fox funds paid for Google search ads against my name that linked to the sites. One source also said private investigators employed by Fox contributor Bo Dietl were instructed to follow me and my wife.Fox News is a creepy network, set up and operated by a major creep who also appears to have been some sort of sexual predator. This revelation, which would sound bizarre coming from any other cable news channel, seems to fit right in.Featured image via YouTube | 0 |
4,883 | REPORT: Civil Rights Groups Say Voter Suppression Is Responsible For Trump’s Win | In the wake of election day and Donald Trump s win, many Americans have been left scratching their heads and wondering just what the heck happened. According to a report by McClatchy, some civil rights groups say that voter suppression is what happened.Kristen Clarke, the president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said that in hindsight, we will find that voter suppression figured prominently in the story surrounding the 2016 presidential election. While voter suppression is hardly the only factor that brought us to this point, as McClatchy explains, it did play an important role. Fourteen states had restrictive new voting laws on the books for the first time in a presidential election this year, according to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law: Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.The laws included a mix of photo ID requirements for voters, cuts to early voting opportunities and curbs on voter registration activity. These laws began to spread across the country after the midterm elections of 2010, supposedly to protect against voter fraud, which is virtually nonexistent by the way.The Brennan Center reports that 10 states have imposed stricter voter ID laws, seven made registration more difficult, six have cut early voting opportunities and three have made it harder to restore voting rights to people with criminal convictions. The center explains that these laws, which have been fueled by race and partisanship, disproportionately affect minorities, the poor, and younger voters; all groups who tend to lean to the left.Clarke said on Thursday that systemic barriers weren t the only obstacles voters faced this year. Long lines at polling places, voters whose names were missing from registration lists, a lack of assistance for non-English speaking voters, and poll workers who requested strict photo ID in states where no such ID was required also made it much harder to cast a ballot than it should have been.Wade Henderson, the president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said that groups monitoring the election have documented beyond any doubt that voter suppression and a conscious effort to shave off 1 or 2 percent of the vote in key states, in all likelihood, influenced the outcome of this election. Activists also voiced concerns about purges of inactive voters from registration rolls in numerous states and a drastic reduction in polling places across the country.A report by the leadership conference found that voting locations were reduced in about 43 percent or 165 of 381 counties that were previously covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. The result: There were 868 fewer sites in which to cast a ballot in those jurisdictions with histories of discriminatory voting practices.It is worth noting that many of these laws were only able to be enacted because of the gutting of the Voting Rights Act. While voter suppression is hardly the only factor responsible for Trump s win, it very well may have been what tipped the scales in his favor.Featured image via Sandbox News | 0 |
4,884 | Thai politician eyes kingmaker role as election plotting starts | BANGKOK (Reuters) - An election could be a year away in army-ruled Thailand, but Anutin Charnvirakul is already eyeing a role as a potential kingmaker with ties across the traditional political divide and to the politicized generals. A businessman and amateur pilot whose party came third in the last election, Anutin, 51, has seen his political profile rise as parties start to map out a strategy for an election the junta has promised for the end of next year. Pundits have tipped Anutin as a possible prime minister in a coalition government made more likely by a new voting system expected to weaken the color-coded parties behind more than a decade of turmoil leading to a 2014 coup. I think it is better to be a kingmaker in this situation rather than an opportunistic prime minister, Anutin told Reuters in a recent interview. The main support for Anutin s Bhumjaithai party is among farming communities in the lower northeast and he reckoned it could increase its share of seats to 50 out of 500 at the next election, from 34 in the last vote in 2011. I have never been closer to the doorstep of Government House, he said, referring to the official prime ministerial offices. Anutin said he had a good personal relationship with both major parties - a rarity in polarized Thailand, where the army took power in a 2014 coup in the name of ending bloody protests. Anutin was once a senior official in the party led by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose red populist movement has strong support in the north and among the poor. It has won every election since 2001 and it was a government led by Thaksin s sister, Yingluck, that was ousted in the most recent coup. But Anutin also has links to Thaksin s rivals, led by the yellow Democrat Party which draws support from the south and particularly from Bangkok s elite. Anutin s father - Bhumjaithai s founder - served in the last Democrat government. There are major ideological differences between political groups and I no longer want to take sides, Anutin said. The bottom line is, the country should not return to turmoil plagued by street demonstrations between different camps. Anutin was identified in 2009 as a close associate of Thailand s then crown prince, who is now King Maha Vajiralongkorn, according to a U.S. embassy cable published by Wikileaks. Thailand s king plays a powerful role behind the scenes. Anutin did not comment on any relationship. The Democrat Party s deputy leader, Ong-art Klampaiboon, said it was too early to comment on what might happen at the election. Former deputy prime minister Phongthep Thepkanjana of the Shinawatra-linked Pheu Thai Party shared a similar view. Suspicions are rife that junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, or another military-backed candidate, will seek to become prime minister after elections. A new constitution guarantees the army a lasting say. Anutin is the former chairman of Sino-Thai Engineering & Construction Pcl, Thailand s third biggest building firm, which was founded by his father. His fortune has helped finance his political ambitions as well as his hobbies of flying light aircraft and collecting antique tea sets and Buddha statues. | 1 |
4,885 | Israel hails Trump's 'historic' declaration, Palestinians condemn | JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH (Reuters) - Israel hailed U.S. President Donald Trump s recognition of Jerusalem as its capital on Wednesday, but the Palestinians condemned the move and said it diminished Washington s role as a peace mediator. In a landmark speech in Washington, Trump reversed decades of U.S. policy in defiance of warnings from around the world that the gesture risked creating further unrest in the Middle East. Past U.S. presidents have insisted that the status of Jerusalem - home to sites holy to the Jewish, Muslim and Christian religions - must be decided in negotiations between the two sides. Palestinian factions called a general strike on Thursday throughout the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Palestinian areas of Jerusalem and for rallies to be held at midday (1000 GMT) in protest at Trump s move, raising the chances of violent clashes. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a pre-recorded video message that Trump s decision had made for a historic day and was an important step toward peace . He added that any peace deal with the Palestinians would have to include Jerusalem as Israel s capital and he urged other countries to follow the U.S. lead by also moving their embassies to the city. He said there would be no change to access to Jerusalem s holy sites. Israel will always ensure freedom of worship for Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Trump s move was tantamount to the United States abdicating its role as a peace mediator and declared Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the State of Palestine . Israel captured Arab East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war. It later annexed it, declaring the whole of the city as its capital, a move not recognized internationally. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state which they want to establish in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip. With this announcement, the American administration has chosen to violate all international and bilateral agreements and resolutions and it has chosen to violate international consensus, Abbas said. The move, he said, would serve the extremist groups which try to turn the conflict in our region into a religious war that will drag the region ... into international conflicts and endless wars. Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been frozen since 2014. Trump s adviser and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is leading Trump s efforts to restart them but those efforts have shown little progress. Israel s West Bank settlement building has been one of the main obstacles. Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which dominates the Gaza Strip, said Trump s move was flagrant aggression against the Palestinian people and urged Arabs and Muslims to undermine the U.S. s interests in the region and to shun Israel. | 1 |
4,886 | study finds women now drinking as much as men | black activist blasts hillary clinton over wikileaks revelation eric garners daughter speaks out against clinton campaign for using her fathers death infowars nightly news october comments
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4,887 | 'Made in Syria': Refugees in Germany drive exports from home | HAMBURG (Reuters) - Many Syrian refugees in Germany have resigned themselves to the reality that there will be no swift return to the land of their birth, where a civil war is nearing the start of its eighth year. They are starting to build new lives in their host country, driving up demand for Made in Syria goods there as they seek to soothe homesickness with a precious slice of their old lives. Products popular among the half a million Syrians, who mainly arrived over the last three years, range from nuts, sweets and sesame paste to clothes, vertical spinning grillers used to make shawarma meat in diners and hair removal wax. People want the very same things they were used to in Syria, said trader Anas Msouty, sitting in his dim underground office near Hamburg Port as workers sorted out parcels of baklawa sweets and clothes that had just arrived from Syria. The German market is full of similar products from Turkey, but Syrians want Syrian (goods), added the father-of-six, who had to abandon his Islamic women s clothing factory outside Damascus when he fled the country. Orders have grown 25-fold since Msouty set up his trading firm Sajeda three months after his arrival in Germany in early 2016. He now imports 25 tonnes of Syrian goods a month. He is not alone in capitalizing on this trend; dozens of Syrian restaurants, stores and supermarkets have sprung up in all major German cities over the past two years, with more opening every month. In Berlin alone, at least half a dozen new Syrian eateries and as many supermarkets have opened this year. The rise in demand for Syrian goods is contributing to a gradual revival in Syrian exports to Germany, which has taken in more Syrian refugees than any other Western nation. Exports from Syria rose to 15.5 million euros ($17.9 million) in 2016 and totaled 8 million euros in the first five months of this year alone, according to official German data. This is still a far cry from the pre-war level when non-oil Syrian exports to Germany totaled around $100 million a year. More than 5 million Syrians - almost a quarter of the pre-war population - have fled the Middle Eastern nation, according to the United Nations. It is unclear how much support rising demand for Syrian goods among refugee populations in Germany and elsewhere may be having on Syria s shattered economy. Little data is available from the war zone. The revival in trade in Germany nonetheless appears to have coincided with a bottoming out of economic activity in Syria. The World Bank estimates the country s gross domestic product contracted by an accumulated 61 percent in 2011-2015, but in 2016 it shrunk by only 2 percent, though it mainly puts the improvement down to a slowing in the population exodus. Msouty, who supplies Syrian individuals and businesses in Germany, said he was proud of his contribution to recovering Syrian exports, which he said is providing much-needed income to factory owners and workers in Syria. We are resuscitating the Syrian economy, he said. In Berlin, the boulevard of Sonnenallee - dubbed Arab Street for its abundance of Arabic shop signs - has become one of the most popular shopping destinations and hangouts for the capital s Syrian refugees. It boasts three Syrian supermarkets, two Syrian restaurants and one Syrian sweet shop, which have all opened over the past two years. This is just a smell of home, said Houda Bayyad, a veiled young mother shopping at one of the supermarkets, which opened in recent weeks. It doesn t solve our problems like learning German and finding a job. But it makes our life here easier, said the 20-year-old, holding a jar of Makdous, a Syrian delicacy of baby aubergines stuffed with walnuts, garlic and sun-dried red peppers pickled in olive oil. Most Syrian goods come from factories in areas under government control mainly in and around Damascus but also from Aleppo. Three companies in Damascus that supply Msouty with goods declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. The products are transported in trucks through relatively safe areas under government control to the port of Latakia in northern Syria and loaded onto container ships bound for Hamburg. Other products come by plane via Beirut. This trade is proving indispensable for Syrians setting up businesses in Germany. Sweet shops, and coffee and nut roasters, need specialized machines to make sweet and salty delights such as baklawa and roasted kernels. They prefer to import equipment from Syria as it is cheaper than to buy them in Germany from European or Turkish manufacturers. Restaurateurs depend on specialty raw ingredients to recreate the flavors that Syrians crave. L Amira Falafel, a Syrian restaurant in Hamburg that opened in 2015, has proved so popular that it has now opened at a second location in the northern city. Our main goal was to make sure that everything we prepare tastes like in Syria, said Mohammad Abou Saeed, co-owner of the eateries where it is hard to find a table any time of the day. To do that we needed the same sesame paste, pickles and spices we used in Syria, he added, gesturing at a waiter to bring baked bread to a couple who had just walked in. It makes us very happy when diners tell us our food reminds them of Syria. | 1 |
4,888 | ABC NEWS: Emails Show Hillary’s Top Aide Arranged “Special Seating” At State Dinner For Top Clinton Donors [VIDEO] | This woman should be in a jail cell not sitting around laughing and opening pickle jars on the Jimmy Fallon show. Judicial Watch s release this week of 725 pages of State Department emails involving Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin demonstrates the Obama administration considers a large percentage of the emails sent through Clinton s private server too sensitive for Congress or the American public to read.Of the 725 pages, more than 250 pages were 100 percent redacted, many with PAGE DENIED stamped in bold.Judicial Watch said the new cache includes previously unreleased email exchanges in which former Abedin provided influential Clinton Foundation donors special, expedited access to the secretary of state. Judicial Watch added that in many instances, the preferential treatment provided to donors was at the specific request of Clinton Foundation executive Douglas Band. The Abedin emails reveal that the longtime Clinton aide apparently served as a conduit between Clinton Foundation donors and Hillary Clinton while Clinton served as secretary of state. In more than a dozen email exchanges, Abedin provided expedited, direct access to Clinton for donors who had contributed from $25,000 to $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, Judicial Watch said in a statement announcing the release. WNDWATCH:#CrookedHillary scandal #9,999 and counting | 0 |
4,889 | Check Out The New Dating Website That Caters Specifically To White Pride (IMAGES) | Let s just say that if you consider being white the best thing about yourself, you must live one sad, lonely, and pathetic life. One of these pathetic people apparently felt the need to create a whites only website to meet like-minded folk. And not just any website, a dating website.What is this dating website called? Where White People Meet, of course. Duh.Of course, they re not gonna just come out and say they re racist. They re just going to make the website, in the predominantly white state of Utah, and claim that it s just like any other dating website. Here s what it says in their About Us! section: We developed this dating website as an alternative to the other dating websites that cater to certain groups. We simply want to help people connect in a safe and fun online environment without costing them a ton of money. Enjoy! Except, who is it an alternative for? It looks as though, for just $4, it s an exclusive alternative for anti-gay white supremacists. It seems as though one can t search for a same-sex pairing, and the website doesn t state where it stands on polygamy.via WhereWhitePeopleMeet.com What s even more bizarre is the fact that they would advertise this whites only on billboards in Utah, a state that is 91.4 percent white. Is it really that hard to find other white singles in Utah? Chances are, if you run into a single person, they re going to be white. So, why bother, unless you just want to be a racist douchebag?West Valley billboard promotes Utah-based dating site geared toward white people: https://t.co/aiEKVRuMD8 pic.twitter.com/5PY1rs58pc Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) December 31, 2015Of course, the website states that it has nothing to do with racism: I am sure some of you are wondering about the concept and need for a dating website titled Where White People Meet.Com. Our answer to that would be why not? There are various dating websites that promote and cater to just about every origin, race, religion and lifestyle out there. So again, why not Where White People Meet.Com ? Basically, it s a don t forget white people exist, too website. Which is often code among white supremacists who feel they are being overrun by people born with more melanin in their skin. They have to make sure they are seen and heard. So, while they try to say things like: As you navigate the website and begin to interact with other members, please remember the golden rule of treat others as you want to be treated. The staff here at Where White People Meet will not tolerate rude, aggressive or racist behavior. The last thing we want it to have to remove a member of this community but please know that we will. They should be aware that creating a website in a nearly entirely white state to cater to only white people is pretty damn racist in and of itself. And while the NAACP has determined that it doesn t seem to be the work of a hate group, the whole thing just seems really weird and unnecessary. In fact, if this whole thing turned out to some satirical joke, it wouldn t at all be surprising. It s that weird.Featured image: WhereWhitePeopleMeet.com | 0 |
4,890 | Morocco arrests six suspected Islamic State militants | RABAT (Reuters) - Moroccan authorities said on Monday they had arrested six suspected Islamic State militants who had been planning attacks. The arrested belonged to a group linked to Islamic State that was dismantled this month which had been active in eight towns and cities and which had planned terrorist operations, an official statement said. One of the six arrested was an expert in explosives, the statement said. Eleven other militants had already been arrested earlier this month. Moroccan authorities say they have dismantled dozens of jihadist cells since 2002, including about 50 with alleged links to Islamic State. | 1 |
4,891 | Donald Trump Jr. wants 'leak' probe, as Congress' Russia probes press on | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s eldest son asked a House of Representatives committee on Tuesday to investigate possible leaks of information about his Dec. 6 interview with lawmakers, as congressional probes of Russia and the 2016 election picked up steam ahead of the New Year. Alan Futerfas, an attorney for Donald Trump Jr., asked Representative Michael Conaway, the Republican leading the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of alleged Russian meddling in the election, to look into comments he said came from committee members and staff that were included in media reports. “To maintain the credibility of the Investigation, this Committee should determine whether any member or staff member violated the Rules,” he said in a letter to Conaway. A spokeswoman for Conaway declined comment. Separately, the Associated Press reported that Trump Jr. was due to appear in Congress again on Wednesday, this time before the Senate Intelligence Committee, citing a source familiar with the matter. Republican Senator Richard Burr, the committee’s chairman, would not confirm the report. Other committee members and their aides declined comment. Futerfas also declined comment. The Senate and House Intelligence panels are conducting the main congressional investigations after U.S. intelligence agencies found that Moscow attempted to influence the campaign to help the Republican Trump defeat his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton. They are also working to determine whether Trump associates colluded with Russia. Moscow denies seeking to influence the election, and Trump has dismissed any talk of collusion. The two committees, sometimes members and sometimes staff, have been conducting frequent interviews with a variety of witnesses, seeking to wrap up their investigations well before the U.S. congressional elections in November 2018. Burr said he felt “some urgency” related to election security related to next year’s vote. He said he expected the Senate committee’s investigation would last into 2018, and that there were dozens more people still to be interviewed. “So it’s going to carry over (into next year), but it’s not going to carry over far unless the basket of people (to be interviewed) changes, and the only way that changes is if we learn of individuals that we didn’t know about today,” Burr told reporters at the U.S. Capitol. He said the committee did not now plan any more public hearings in its Russia probe. Separately, Sam Clovis, a former Trump campaign official, was interviewed by the House Intelligence Committee for more than four hours on Tuesday. He came to the attention of investigators after a report that he encouraged George Papadopoulos, a one-time Trump foreign policy campaign adviser, to improve relations between the United States and Russia. Clovis’ attorney denied those reports. She did not respond immediately to a request for comment about his House testimony on Tuesday. | 1 |
4,892 | Trump replaces chief of staff Priebus with retired General Kelly | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump replaced his beleaguered White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, after only six months on the job on Friday, installing retired General John Kelly in his place in a major shake-up of his top team. Trump announced the move in a tweet a day after his new communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, accused Priebus of leaking information to reporters in a profanity-laced tirade. Kelly, 67, a retired four-star Marine Corps general, is currently secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and will assume the chief of staff post on Monday. He was hired with the goal of bringing more discipline to the White House, a senior White House official said. Trump issued his decision just as he landed aboard Air Force One after a visit to Long Island and hours after Republican efforts to repeal Obamacare failed in the Senate. Priebus was on the plane with the Republican president and made no comment. Reporters had noticed no sign of stress from Priebus during the day.Priebus told CNN he had been talking to Trump for some time about exiting the White House, and is the latest in a long line of officials to leave or not take a job at the White House. “The president has a right to hit a reset button. I think it’s time to hit the reset button,” Priebus said in a televised interview from the White House. “He intuitively determined that it was time to do something different, and I think he’s right.” Trump had lost confidence in Priebus, privately questioning his competence after major legislative items failed to pass the U.S. Congress, a Trump confidant said. A source close to Priebus said the former Republican National Committee chairman turned in his resignation on Thursday night, after Scaramucci’s rant against him was published by the New Yorker magazine. A senior White House official said Trump had informed Priebus two weeks ago that he would be replacing him and that the move had no connection to Scaramucci, whose hiring a week ago prompted Sean Spicer, a Priebus ally, to abruptly resign as press secretary. After frequent conversations with Kelly, Trump recently warmed up to the idea of naming Kelly chief of staff to more effectively manage personnel and offered it to him earlier this week, a senior White House official said. Carrying an umbrella, Trump approached reporters as he stepped off Air Force One, with rain storming down. “Reince is a good man. John Kelly will do a fantastic job. General Kelly has been a star, done an incredible job thus far, respected by everybody. He’s a great, great American. Reince is a good man,” Trump said. Priebus’ 189-day tenure was the shortest in modern history for a White House chief of staff. He had hoped to stay on at least a year but struggled to manage his unpredictable boss and was unable to get a handle on conflicting factions in the White House who have frequently squabbled. In a statement, Priebus said it had been one of the great honors of his life to serve Trump and the country. “I will continue to serve as a strong supporter of the president’s agenda and policies. I can’t think of a better person than General John Kelly to succeed me and I wish him God’s blessings and great success,” he said. Trump loyalists had chafed at Priebus, feeling he had installed his RNC allies at the White House and overlooked the people close to Trump who helped get him elected president in November. But Priebus allies felt he was an important link to establishment Republicans in Washington as the capital attempted to adjust to the anti-establishment style of the president. “He has served the president and the American people capably and passionately,” House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan said of his close friend in a statement. “He has achieved so much, and he has done it all with class. I could not be more proud to call Reince a dear friend.” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said she did not think Priebus’ exit would affect the White House’s relationship with the Republican Party. “I think we’ve still got a good relationship. We’re going to continue working with the party and doing what we came here to do,” she said. Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Elaine Duke will become the acting chief of the department on Monday, DHS said in a statement. U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, is among those being considered for Homeland Security secretary, a DHS official said. | 1 |
4,893 | Kerry says all should celebrate Clinton win, regardless of party | ABU DHABI (Reuters) - - Hillary Clinton’s victory in the Democratic presidential primary race is a “historic moment” for the United States and should be celebrated by Republicans and Democrats alike, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. Clinton declared herself the Democratic Party nominee on Tuesday evening after winning the New Jersey primary, setting up a general election campaign against Republican candidate Donald Trump in the Nov. 8 election. She is the first woman in American history to attain the presidential nomination of a major political party. “As a father of two daughters, I’m proud,” Kerry told reporters while traveling from China to the United Arab Emirates, adding that he had sent a message to Clinton congratulating her on the outcome. “She’ll make a terrific president.” Kerry, who was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004 but lost to Republican incumbent President George W. Bush, said Clinton’s achievement was a “truly historic moment for the nation.” “Everybody ought to celebrate it, Republican or Democrat alike,” he said. “It’s a breakthrough, and I think that whether you’re voting for Trump or you’re voting for her or whoever, you ought to take pride.” | 1 |
4,894 | [VIDEO] SHOULD RINOS AND DEMOCRATS FEAR TRUMP’S PRESIDENTIAL BID? “I would build a great, great wall on our southern border and make Mexico pay for it” | Donald Trump announced he will be running for President as a Republican in 2016. Here s what he had to say about our military and Iran: Nobody would be tougher on ISIS than Donald Trump nobody. Within our military, I will find the General Patton or I will find General MacArthur. I will find the right guy. I will find the guy who will take that military and make it really work. Nobody nobody will be pushing us around. I will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And we won t be using a man like Secretary Kerry that has no concept of negotiation. Video h/t: Gateway PunditHis announcement can be seen here:Donald on TPA and why Obama is a bad negotiator:Donald on his net worth: | 0 |
4,895 | U.S. partnership with Turkey in Islamic State fight 'very strong' | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. partnership with Turkey in countering Islamic State is “very strong,” U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said at a news conference on Thursday. “With respect to Turkey, our partnership is very strong in the counter-ISIL campaign,” Carter said, using an acronym for Islamic State. Carter made the comments after Turkish air strikes pounded a group of Kurdish fighters allied to a U.S.-backed militia in northern Syria overnight, highlighting the conflicting agendas of NATO members Ankara and Washington in an increasingly complex battlefield. | 1 |
4,896 | RIDICULOUS! CHUCK SCHUMER Wants Republicans To Pick Another Supreme Court Nominee [Video] | RIDICULOUS! Sen. Schumer on Gorsuch nominee: When a nominee doesn t get 60 votes, you shouldn t change the rules you should change the nominee. Sen. Schumer on Gorsuch nominee: When a nominee doesn t get 60 votes, you shouldn t change the rules you should change the nominee. pic.twitter.com/1QmmZZSkcT Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) April 2, 2017 | 0 |
4,897 | NATIONAL SECURITY ALERT! Obama Administration Giving Out Green Cards Like Candy To Migrants From Muslim Nations | OUR GOVERNMENT IS GIVING OUT GREEN CARDS LIKE CANDY at double the rate to Muslims over everyone else. A green card is a path to American citizenship so this is very important. Besides the security risk, this is an attempt to change the nation forever. Look at Europe! The citizens of Europe are screaming to get their sovereignty back after basically being invaded by thousands and thousands of Muslims. This is a quiet invasion but is still very serious and wrong: National security has never appeared to be a priority for the Obama administration, but this is downright alarming as the U.S. encounters burgeoning threats from radical Islamists. With Islamic terrorism on the rise in the United States and Western Europe, it s worth mentioning that the Obama administration issued around 680,000 green cards to foreigners from Muslim countries during a five-year period, according to data published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The stats, the latest made available by DHS, also show that the U.S. government admits more than double the number of immigrants from Muslim nations than from the European Union.This disturbing information was circulated by the Senate Judiciary Committee s subcommittee on Immigration, which assesses that if there s no change in the current policy, the U.S. will likely grant another 680,000 migrants possibly more from Muslim-majority countries green cards in the next five years. According to the DHS figures cited by the panel, Uncle Sam issued approximately 680,000 green cards to immigrants from 49 Muslim nations from fiscal year 2009 through fiscal year 2013. Over the same period, the U.S. issued only 270,000 green cards to migrants from the European Union, according to a committee announcement that reminds us a green card entitles recipients to access federal benefits, lifetime residency, work authorization, and a direct route to becoming a U.S. citizen. Some of the recipients are admitted to the U.S. as refugees so they immediately qualify for federal welfare benefits like food stamps and Medicaid.The DHS stats include a breakdown of the countries where the migrants came from. Pakistan and Iraq sent over the most with 83,000 apiece and Bangladesh had 75,000. Seventy-three thousand came from Iran, 45,000 from Egypt, 31,000 from Somalia, 24,000 from Uzbekistan, Turkey and Morocco had 22,000 each, Jordan and Albania 20,000 each and Lebanon and Yemen each had 16,000. Rounding out the five-digit club is Indonesia (15,000), Syria (14,000), Sudan (13,000), Afghanistan (11,000) and Sierra Leone (10,000). The rest, including Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Kosovo and Libya, only sent over a few thousand during the five-year period covered by the DHS data. By contrast, only 65,000 green cards were granted to migrants from the European Union country (United Kingdom) with the highest number during this period. The Senate committee reveals that DHS has not yet published statistics covering fiscal year 2014 and fiscal year 2015 so we ll be on the lookout for that.National security has never appeared to be a priority for the Obama administration, but this is downright alarming as the U.S. encounters burgeoning threats from radical Islamists.Read more: Judicial Watch | 0 |
4,898 | Migrants in Serbia's north brave winter to cross to EU | SID, Serbia (Reuters) - Mudassir, 18, from Pakistan s city of Peshawar has tried to enter the European Union 30 times but was always caught and sent back to his starting point in Serbia. Now, he and dozens of other migrants are braving near-freezing temperatures in shrubs and fields near Sid, a northwestern Serbian town just outside European Union s member Croatia, hoping to make another border run. They spend nights in tents and makeshift shelters in a shrub they call - the jungle. I have tried 30 times, I am in Serbia for 16 months, ... I am tired of sleeping in the jungle , said Mudassir, dressed in a black hooded jacket. Meanwhile, other migrants, all young males, huddled outside an abandoned printing factory in the outskirts of Sid, waiting for a meal delivered by an international volunteer group, the No Name Kitchen. The so-called Balkan route for migrants was shut last year when Turkey agreed to stop the flow in return for EU aid and a promise of visa-free travel for its own citizens. But people mainly from the Middle East, Africa and Asia continued to arrive in Serbia, mainly from Turkey, via neighboring Bulgaria, attempting to enter Croatia and the EU. According to official data there are as many as 4,500 migrants in government-operated camps in Serbia. Rights activists say that hundreds are scattered in the capital Belgrade and towns along the Croatian border. Muhammad, 22 from the Moroccan town of Oujda, said he has tried to reach the EU 26 times. Three times he made it to Slovenia, but was caught and deported back to Serbia. I will try again ... my family is in France and my girlfriend is in Italy, Muhammad said. Bruno Alvares of the No Name Kitchen said migrants are given two meals a day, water, clothes, footwear and tents. Even if it is cold, it doesn t matter, they will keep on trying because there s ... no evolution in their lives in camps, Alvares said. Migrants who cannot afford to pay smugglers, often hide in passing trucks and freight trains or ride on the top of them. Recently an Afghan girl was killed by a train as she and her family attempted to cross into Croatia. | 1 |
4,899 | ANGRY PUNK ADMITS TO SLASHING TIRES, Dumping Rotten Yogurt In Sunroof Over Trump Bumper Sticker: TRUMP Supporter Has PERFECT Response | The victim of the angry Bernie Sanders supporter has an amazing attitude. It s the civility many of us have come to expect from Trump supporters who ve been unjustly attacked by uncivil and in many cases, unlawful Bernie Sanders supporters. A politically-motivated vandal in Washington State admittedly vandalized a Trump supporter s car, slashing its tires and dumping rotten yogurt through its sun roof, according to a police report filed last Monday.The suspect, named in the report as one Riley M. Silva of Gig Harbour, Washington, confessed his crime to the police. Showing no sign of remorse, he claimed his victim was an ignorant bigot and that he improved the community by vandalizing the car. According to the report, the culprit became angry after noticing that the car sported a Donald Trump sticker.His full confession to the police, which was originally posted on the blog of lawyer and author Mike Cernovich, reads as follows:I on the 11th day of the 4th month of 2016 did maliciously attack a hate symbol protected by the first amendment. After disabling the vehicle and dumping rotten food into the interior I feel I have improved the community and supported our nation s values by stopping a promoter of hate speech. I do not wish to have ignorant bigots in my town and in a just world the person deserved what was received and the situation is made whole.As America is far from just, I expect the bigot will want to be made whole. With this I declare he is owed nothng. But as the situation is what it is, I intend to make the individual whole provided he cease to promote ignorance and hate. I do not expect the law to recognize damage to tools of hate or fascism. Such things need to be destroyed so good people may remain and become free.The victim, Nathan Elliot, later posted pictures of the damage to his vehicle. In his statement to the police, he said that the damage to the tire alone would cost $500 to repair.Bernie Sanders supporter didn't like my Trump bumper sticker, so he vandalized my personal property. Cool. pic.twitter.com/QghClfl2ak Nate (@pulsarVision) April 10, 2016The police report describes Riley Silva as a skinny white male in his 20s, with long blond hair. The victim saw him while he was in the process of vandalizing his car, at which point he yelled at and ran towards the culprit, who fled in his own vehicle. In the report, Elliot claims that the culprit almost hit two other cars as he drove away from the scene. In addition to vandalizing the victim s car, Silva has been charged with reckless driving. -Breitbart NewsEven though I have amazing @USAA insurance, all costs will come out of my own pocket. That's a $400 tire by the way. Nate (@pulsarVision) April 12, 2016USAA Insurance tweeted an awesome reply to Nathan:@pulsarVision We are here to help. Is this a claim related need ? Please DM us your full name, claim# if applicable and you phone# . Thank u USAA (@USAA_help) April 12, 2016UPDATE on Nathan s new tire:@BreitbartNews @Cernovich @DanScavino @realDonaldTrump @Nero Update: new tire came in today can't tread on me!!! pic.twitter.com/AlVPDLym85 Nate (@pulsarVision) April 16, 2016Nathan has the perfect response to the violent Bernie Sanders supporters:It was only through learning how much others don t like the truth exposed, that I learned for myself how much I crave its very existence. Nate (@pulsarVision) February 14, 2016 | 0 |
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